15 Ways to Make Your Characters Suffer WITHOUT Killing Them Off

A story that draws you in, only to needlessly kill off your favorite character is—at least to me—a major turnoff. Yes, character deaths add a sense of reality to your story, reminding the surviving characters (and the reader) that they are not invincible to the dangers they face. Deaths can kick off mysteries, drive plots forward, and make a story emotionally impactful. In fact, if you're like me, you've probably looked at one of your most beloved characters and thought, "What if I killed them off just for the sake of breaking my readers' hearts?" Because of course, there's nothing we writers love to do more than making our brainchildren suffer.

But—but—killing off a character often doesn't take much creativity. The character dies heroically in a fight, or perhaps succumbs to a long battle with their health or injuries right when we were beginning to hope they might survive, and maybe even gets in a few tragic last words before they release their final breath. And then the surviving characters go through the 5 stages of grief as they put up messy and mismatched coping mechanisms before coming back together as a united team, stronger than ever. Or something like that. Because of course, losing a loved one is the worst thing that can happen to us. But does that always make it the best way to kick off the protagonist's (or the antagonist's) character development? Nope!

Now, that's not to say that killing off characters is pointless and easy. For example, if it hadn't been required for Thanos to sacrifice "that which he loves" in order to get the Soul Stone in Avengers: Endgame, Gamora (his daughter) would have lived. But we wouldn't get to see for ourselves that no one—not even one of the MCU's most powerful villains—is incapable of loving. By choosing his vision over his daughter, Thanos establishes that while he is no stranger to love, it won't stop him from pursuing his vision, which shows how ruthless his efforts will go. Even so, the fact that he still cries about his daughter makes it much more believable that a small shred of his villainous heart loved Gamora—a small shred that still feels pain and grief and vulnerability—which makes him just another person with human emotions, even if he's spent so much time pushing those emotions down. And there's something really tragic (and terrifying) about seeing someone throw out the last shred of their humanity to do what they think is right.

Anyways, there are also times when the loss of a character simply outweighs the benefits that the death may have held for the plot and the protagonist's character development.For example, the Ranger's Apprentice series. I agreed with a lot of the author's decisions when it came to "what should go wrong" and "who's most likely to do what". Except for one: Alyss's death.

For context, Will (the main character) spent years pining for his childhood friend, Alyss. Eventually, they get together. They're a strong team. In the eleventh book, they get married. And in the twelfth and final book, Alyss dies trying to save someone from a burning building after the roof collapses on her. Overall, her death feels unfair and sudden, and the only plot it helps drive forward is that of the last book, where Will slowly comes to terms with his grief and finds the strength to raise an apprentice Ranger, just as his mentor had done for him years earlier. Apart from that, it just felt like my soul was being ripped out watching Will grieve for Alyss, and there were other ways Will could have struggled with raising an apprentice Ranger that don't involve crippling grief.

So without further ado, here are a bunch of ways you can put a character through emotional pain without killing someone:

Their life's work gets lost/destroyed. Whether it be research, an invention, or even just having their massive collection of exotic items getting stolen, this is a pretty strong incentive for a character to do whatever they have to do to drive the plot forward. Personality-wise, if you're really into the dark and brooding type, you can have the character develop an inability to trust others and a knack for secrecy as a result of losing their life's work.

Betrayal. One of my personal favorites, especially if it's a trusted friend who does it to the main character.

Failed relationship. This doesn't just have to be a breakup. It can even just be a friendship falling apart or being estranged from one's family: the final blow in an ongoing tense relationship.

Failed relationship after the MC tries so hard to make it work out. Usually when the MC tries really hard to make something work, we root for them. It's painful when the MC is riding on all that hope and optimism, only to get disillusioned while losing a relationship they value.

Failed relationship where the reader can clearly tell it was doomed from the start but the MC was too naive to see it. Not to be confused with the previous one. In this case, we're not rooting for the MC to make it work and we're not getting let down when it doesn't work. Instead, we're bracing for the moment they get hit with reality.

Arguments and misunderstandings between characters who usually get along. And I'm talking about big arguments. The kind that splits a team into two. The kind that makes couples question whether they can keep going. The kind that makes you wonder how the characters will make any more progress when they're questioning their trust in each other.

Relapsing. Just in general, seeing someone make progress with conquering a drug addiction or getting better at managing their mental illness, only for it all to get undone in a matter of one bad day, is painful. Writing about this would likely also mean exploring other aspects of the healing process. Alice Oseman's Heartstopper Vol 4 does a great job at depicting Charlie's healing journey as he grapples with his depression and eating disorder. Side note: if you choose to write about this, do your research. Mental illness and drug addiction are sensitive topics.

Losing a precious item. Although we like to say that the most precious things in life cannot be bought, there's no denying that there is always something of monetary value that we would hate to lose (or break). Family heirlooms, for example. Especially expensive ones. If you break or lose it, you lose more than just the item. You lose a piece of your ancestors, of your family history, and perhaps even your family's trust. What if a character inherited a locket from their deceased grandmother and it's all they have left of her, and then they lose it? You can't tell me that that won't hurt.

Losing the thing they value the most about themselves. I'll give an example, but there are many ways to do this. In Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone book series, Genya is one of the most beautiful Grisha that the main character, Alina, has ever come across. And Genya takes great pride and consideration into her appearance. Later, the Darkling (the villain) unleashes vicious nichevo'ya at Genya, and she is left with an unrecognizable face full of permanent scars and only one eye left. The Darkling could have just killed her, but doing this to her instead leaves room for character development as Genya slowly finds the confidence to show her face again. The author's decision to do this also lets the plot explore other forms of grief—like grieving for the people we once were.

The rival wins and it's unfair. This can fall into any context, whether it be a rival who takes a position that the MC is more qualified for, or a rival who wins first prize of a competition while the MC is stuck with second. Maybe the MC has been preparing for this all their life and they're devastated to realize that it still wasn't enough.

Physical torture. Duh.

Their loved one gets tortured and the MC has to do something they wouldn't normally do to stop it. Cliché, but it works.

When they spend so much time trying to attain a single goal, and they achieve it, and it isn't worth it. This is the sort of thing that makes you question everything you've ever wanted and have an existential crisis over all the time you wasted over nothing. Except the MC slowly grows to realize that it's okay to change your path later on. One odd example I can think of is in the Penguins of Madascar movie, where the villain, Dr. Octavius Brine, has this diabolical plan to turn every penguin into an ugly monster (as revenge for them getting all the attention for being adorable). When he manages to do this, he realizes that he feels weirdly unsatisfied, and for comic relief, he decides he needs more revenge (on all other cute animal species) instead of acknowledging that he'll never be satisfied if he keeps chasing revenge. If he were a protagonist, he would've done the latter.

When they don't achieve their life's goal. Many happy endings consist of the main character finally getting their dream job/dream status/dream home. But in reality, a lot of people end up changing their minds—changing their dreams. And more often than not, life feels much easier if things don't change. If your character has spent their whole life working towards one goal and starts questioning it, an internal conflict develops where, instead of continuing with their predetermined path, they now have to choose between what's easy and what's fulfilling. One example of this is Frances Javier's rejection from Cambridge in Alice Oseman's Radio Silence. She's dedicated all her free time, academics, and research towards getting into Cambridge. But during her interview, when she's asked why she wants to major in literature there, she blanks out. It's clear to us that she loves art, but until her rejection, she doesn't consider art college an option since she's pursued prestige and academia for so long. At first, she's devastated at the rejection and doesn't know what to do next, now that so much time has gone to waste. In the end, she's happy with art college.

Struggling to escape or speak up for themselves. This is such a vague standard but it applies to so many levels and types of situations. The situation can range from struggling to come to terms one's sexual orientation and hiding it from disapproving relatives (anyone out there going through this, I feel you!) to struggling to find the guts to leave the only home/career they've ever known in pursuit of a better life. If your MC is a people-pleaser, this challenge of fighting their way out of their currently awful (or even just overall dissatisfying) lifestyle instead of continuing to accept it and suffer is so authentic to their personality and will resonate with any other people-pleasers out there! It's more of a "character vs. self" conflict but is certainly a painful one to go through. But once they overcome this, it's totally worth it.

Also, the MC doesn't necessarily need to be the one going through any of these! These challenges can contribute towards great subplots for side characters, too!

And if you're looking for a backstory for your villain, all you have to do is build off one of these 15 ideas and, instead of having them figure out their way through it and learn big lessons, have them deal with it in a destructive or toxic way that turns them into someone "evil." Because in the end, villains are usually just misunderstood people who lost their way.

I hope these helped anyone who's on the fence about whether or not to kill a beloved character! Again, it's certainly possible that none of these will create the emotional impact you want your story to have. Maybe killing off a character is the way to go, and that's okay!