I once read a fanfiction where the main character figures out he's got Plot Armor and abuses it until they get to the final battle. The mentor/guide-character gets nerveous and the sidekick is like "why are you worrying, he's got plot armor", then the mentor responds: "What plot? This is the final battle. Whether he wins or loses, the story is over." Added quite a nice amount of sudden stakes in an otherwise lighthearted comedy.

@spriteplug2286

11 ай бұрын

I really want to know more about this fanfiction now! I've had this concept in the back of my head for a while now, and would love to read something with the same premise to see if it would really work in a story! (also it just sounds cool)

@vtuberclipamikiri8842

11 ай бұрын

​@@spriteplug2286 Sorry, I've forgot the name :-( I only remember it was a Legend of Zelda one (Occarina of Time I think), since the author talked about how he found out only after finishing the story that there's apparently a game of the timeline where the MC wins and one game of the timeline where the MC loses, which made this even more hilarious...

@spriteplug2286

11 ай бұрын

@@vtuberclipamikiri8842 lol, no worries! I'm very forgetful as well, so I understand. (also that last bit was hilarious)

@anthonyscheibmeir2444

11 ай бұрын

That is actually genius

@siegfriedmordrake3229

10 ай бұрын

This idea is just BRILLIANT

Worst case of plot armour I’ve seen is in the force awakens. Rey battles a SITH LORD that had TRAINED ALL HIS LIFE to use the force and a lightsaber yet he loses to someone that learnt to use the force yesterday.

@Kmadden2004

11 ай бұрын

I wouldn’t really say that’s plot armour since she won that battle more through circumstance than skill.

@mrmacross

11 ай бұрын

@@Kmadden2004 Agreed. When the scene was originally written, it's hinted that Kylo was hurt and there's more to Rey's backstory. However, everything became a mess with TLJ, to the point I didn't even want to watch RoS. TFA could've been OK but then Lucasfilm completely fumbled the ball.

@lqlaliut897

11 ай бұрын

she was even able to bypass the compressor when she pulled a random wire and it stopped the ships alarm. force awakens and its sequels have too much plot armor it should be a fortress.

@Kmadden2004

11 ай бұрын

@@mrmacross I don’t know, I actually really liked what TLJ did with her character.

@Kmadden2004

11 ай бұрын

@@lqlaliut897 is it really that unbelievable that a girl who has spent her entire life dismantling ships from that era and has experience flying ships would know to remove a component installed by her former boss/slave owner that Han Solo would have been unaware of?

Related to plot armor, it is kind of common knowledge that children don't tend to die in action movies so when they do I go "damn, we're going there".

@aaronbeckett4062

Ай бұрын

Im writing a series and for the first 2 books and the majority of the 3rd it’s a hard rule that no children or women die and then at the end of the third book, two main characters, one pregnant and one 12 years old both die on the last page, last paragraph, leaving the audience on a HUGE “WTF JUST HAPPENED” Cliffhanger

@jaustill237

25 күн бұрын

Or dogs.

Nuking the fridge stretches the believability of the Indy franchise

@prehistorichero2755

5 ай бұрын

To be fair, he did drank the Holy Grail at the end of the last movie.

"Audiences know that a main charakter cant be killed early on in a story. And so when situations get dangerous the audiances wont nessesary fear for the charakters life." (2:20) I can hear G.R.R. Martin giggling in the background 😅👌

@nqabayomuzikhulilekamangwe2690

11 ай бұрын

hahahahaha

@vilandellys8825

11 ай бұрын

And Alfred Hitchcock as well.

@innocuousalias6632

11 ай бұрын

Martin's trick was to have a massive deck of cards/characters that left us wondering who the main character actually was. But even he started running out of cards eventually.

@JWalters388

10 ай бұрын

@innocuousalias6632 Need to finish his two books, if he decided to show who the main characters are. Probably one more book, if he decided to change his mind.

@Dumbstuffwatcher

10 ай бұрын

​​@@JWalters388read Joe Abercrombie instead! He's following through with his own epic fantasy GRRM just couldn't deliver

Game of Thrones later seasons are some of the worst cases of plot armor, because it clashes so strongly with the earlier seasons. It's hard to pick which one was the worst, but I have 3 different scenarios: 1. Arya getting stabbed in the gut multiple times. This was a lethal injury, no way she should have survived that. 2. Jamie Lannister getting pushed off the horse by Bronn to avoid the dragon fire, to land in the side of the "river". The scene then shifts to show the "river" being ridiculously deep and Bronn and Jamie seem to sink into this abyss at the end of the episode. 3. The entire Long Night. All the main characters survived somehow, despite almost all of them being put in mortal danger. Even worse, the entire Dothraki army (which we see get slaughtered in the darkness) is mysteriously respawned by the next episode, because the plot needs them to attack King's Landing. In this case, we have plot armor for main characters and also extras.

@TMtheScratcher

10 ай бұрын

The funny thing about all three of them is that none of the action was necessary to progress the plot. It just showed a dramatic visual and if they just hadn't tried to show the characters almost die, everything would work exactly the same way, just with more credebility. For 1) for example one single stab would be believable, we have seen other characters getting a stab and survive before, but not this shit

@plr2473

10 ай бұрын

GoT plot armor was more about contractual obligations to the actors, than what good writing demanded. More aggravating was how they killed tertiary characters off to make it seem like the stakes were still there, but did so in lame ways, like Selmy Barristan.

@domskillet5744

10 ай бұрын

Don't forget about Jon surviving the Battle of the Bastards after being stranded at the front line without a horse, and surviving multiple volleys of arrows that magically missed him and killed everyone within 5 feet of him. When the show aired I was willing to accept it because I figured there had to be some Lord of Light chosen one shenanigans but that plot line went nowhere so looking back it's absolutely ludicrous he didn't die

@aaronhunyady

10 ай бұрын

You'd think a series that tells you it's serious by killing off most of its characters wouldn't have this fault...

@j.f.monahan3589

10 ай бұрын

All of the heroes, surrounded by the undead out in the ice. The only ones that die are the extras and the least important character out of them all.

The worst case of Plot Armor is from the show Game of Thrones. Not from the story itself, mind you, but from how long the lead writers managed to keep their jobs while making such poor writing decisions.

@thezonadychannel

6 ай бұрын

LOL Hilarious

There's also The Blues Brothers, where plot armor is used for comedic effect. Jake and Elwood survive literally everything thrown at them (whether or not the audience accepts the "mission from god" reason), although they do face consequences at the very end.

@hammalammadingdong6244

9 ай бұрын

Great example.

Honestly one of my favourite uses of plot armour is from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, where the main character survives an impossible situation and defeats an invincible villain through sheer contrivance, _then acknowledges to the audience that he survived through sheer contrivance,_ but then out loud declares it as a calculated victory just to troll the villain as hard as possible.

@Greyman-Gaming

9 ай бұрын

Truly a Joseph moment

@personunknown491

9 ай бұрын

Is that a Jojo reference 💀

@quiltzgamingyt237

7 ай бұрын

Joseph vs Ultimate Lifeform Kars be like:

Not really the worst case but the 2003 movie Van Helsing had a good moment of spoofing plot armor. It happens in SO many movies that the villain gets the upper hand on a protagonist, the logic would be for them to kill the protagonist off right then and there, but instead they go into a narcissistic monologue allowing the protagonist to find a way out. In that movie, Anna (main character's love interest and second protagonist) is essentially cornered by a vampire that wants to and could kill her, but does go into the stereotypical monologue. Anna impales the vampire (killing her, obviously) and says to her something along the lines of "if you're gonna kill someone, just do it instead of just talking about it". Good way to use and spoof plot armor at the same time :)

@lqlaliut897

11 ай бұрын

Watch good bad and ugly, tuco does mocks the villain monologue in a classic manner. It is quite dumbfounding how villains keep monologueing even in james bond when they would have easily solved their worries by killing him.

@malvoliosf

11 ай бұрын

@@lqlaliut897 “When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.”

@wombat6

11 ай бұрын

@@lqlaliut897 been a while since I watched that movie. But speaking of James Bond, in Goldfinger they're doing that. Bond is bound to a table with a laser cutter. Bond asks "do you expect me to talk?" and Goldfinger answers "No, I expect you die" with a laugh.

@intergalactic92

11 ай бұрын

@@lqlaliut897I was thinking that.

@AnotherDuck

10 ай бұрын

That’s also a good example of lampshading.

It immediately reminds me how Robert Jordan treated plot armor in the Wheel of Time. He literally made it a feature of the world, saying that there is some kind of destiny, and the world itself protects some people and bends to their needs so that they could fulfil it. And everybody is aware of it, so it even affects their actions towards the characters protected by the plot armor.

Obi Wan was a good example. There’s a shootout early on where the jeopardy is that the characters are in mortal danger. But it’s a prequel, so we know they both survive. The same is true of the end fight, except here, the tension in the scene is more about Obi Wan getting closure, so that one works much better.

I think a really cool tactic that I've seen is from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In the first season, the main character dies, setting up the next main character. This made it so that in every single other season, I was constantly worried about the main character, because I knew that he could, just, die. The only problem is that this tactic only really works with extended stories, like shows or book series, but it still is an interesting tactic.

@sdrummato

4 ай бұрын

I think this works in a lot of other shows, like in GoT: there is never a really central main character and they quickly establish that ANYONE could be the next that will die. I think that's part of the huge success of the books and the shows. That is kinda lost in the last seasons though

"But if you plan out your story..." Stephen King has left the chat

You never know if there's plot armor before they're in danger and this is why Madoka Magica (spoiler for the first twist of this masterpiece everyone should see) has such a great twist. There's one of the heroes fighting in ep 3 and you think they will survive because there's no way they die that early in the show but in fact, they do. No plot armor here. That cute girly anime ? Turns out it's an horror masterpiece.

@marknezanuto

10 ай бұрын

So sad about cheap copies of this who tried to recreate success of show by going doble down and make world unbelievably dark like "magic girls website". I understand that mysticism can be infinitely dark, but portraying an ordinary school as an analogue of worst colony at the same time as a sadistic brother is just way to lose any interest and empathy couse thay are not people, they are plot devices to cheap bite.

@Dark_Peace

10 ай бұрын

@@marknezanuto are you talking about Magical girl Site ? I was gonna watch this next Don't spoil me

@marknezanuto

10 ай бұрын

@@Dark_Peace you will see school in 1st ep and brother in...cant remember, not very far, so nothing really spoiled. Anyway dont recommend, maybe see beginning, its just so bad that becomes somehow comedic.

Brandon. Thank you for everything you're doing! I was a poet, I published 1 theatre play, but thanks to you I decided to give a shot to a prose and finally I'm writing something that I'm truly proud of and I'm not shy to show it to the world. Currently writing my fourth short story of cosmic horror, that I'm going to publish in collection. I even inspired 2 of my friends to start writing their own stories after they read one of mine! I really appreciate your effort and wish you best. Pardon my English, it's not my native language.

The origin story of Sun Wukong gives him multiple layers of plot armour so that even the collected armies of heaven cannot defeat him nor the gods effectively punish him. That's because the point of the story is that nobody but Buddha can stop him and nobody but himself can control him ie, the moral of the story is one of self control through Buddhism. It was written to introduce Buddhist ideas to laymen without being preachy kind of like the Chronicles of Narnia.

This is why GRRM and a select few others were so refreshing - it was horrifying and gut-wrenching to see a person you thought was your go-to get killed, and yet that's EXACTLY what made those stories fantastic.

@amorojaz27

11 ай бұрын

What's JRRM?

@officiallydeadchannel886

11 ай бұрын

​@@amorojaz27George R. R. Martin (op used the wrong first letter) is the guy who wrote A Song of Ice and Fire aka the book series that Game of Thrones is based on

@officiallydeadchannel886

11 ай бұрын

At least I'm assuming the comment is about him

@onlythatonetime

11 ай бұрын

@@officiallydeadchannel886 LOL you're correct. I've edited it.

@jerbganderwood8433

11 ай бұрын

I dunno. It worked for the first books but after awhile it just seemed to me like he was killing a character out of spite and made me want to stop reading cuz he kept killing off characters I was invested in. Not saying every character I like should have complete plot armor but there is such a thing as overkill. (Pun intended)

Peter Jackson's "An Unexpected Journey" was non-stop plot armor, with Hobbits completely unaffected by gravity, falling boulders, and white water. I passed on parts 2 and 3.

@KopKing11

10 ай бұрын

Oh you did yourself a solid there, it gets much worse don't you worry.

@lupo5586

10 ай бұрын

Somewhere at the beginning of the movie, Gandalf tells Bilbo: "Well, all good stories deserve embellishment". Also, the entire trilogy is framed as being Bilbo's book. My interpretation is that we don't see the events exactly as they happend, but rather the way 100 year old Bilbo likes to tell them to hobbit children at campfires. With this explanation for all the ridiculousness I ended up quite liking The Hobbit, the unbelievable plot armour moments also fit the goofiness of the dwarves quite well in my opinion.

@KopKing11

10 ай бұрын

@@lupo5586 Well first off I feel that if that is the intention then they should have made it more clear than a throwaway line and secondly, why would Gandalf tell Bilbo about Dol gûl dor?

@TucoBenedicto

9 ай бұрын

This is a recurring issue in ALL of Jackson's cinematography and it gets worse as the time goes on. He constantly HAS to escalate every single scene to the point of breaking its credibility. It can't be two characters moving out of the way of a dinosaur stampede. NO, it has to be these character running an entire mile while miraculously dodging hundred of elephant-like legs stomping. It can't be Kong wrestling a T-Rex for few seconds to protect the girl. NO, it has to be Kong going on for MINUTES juggling three different T-Rex while the girl is being tossed tens of meters away and caught at the last instant before falling to her death, being swallowed or stomped. And so on. The man is a hyperbole personified as movie director.

@tjsogmc

9 ай бұрын

The sad part is that if you take all 3 movies and do a skillful edit, you can get a single awesome movie out of it.

I often find that a story written in first-person can come with an inherent sense of plot armor. Since the story is from our hero's POV, it's almost a given that they will be there from beginning to end. So then, plot armor becomes this passive thing, which can then be exaggerated with an overindulgence of unrealistic close-calls and narrow escapes, turning our relatable and interesting main character into an eye-rolling, untouchable, super being that dispels our sense of immersion. Granted, I think it also depends on the type of story someone is writing, what kind of hero/MC is being written, and the level of popcorn entertainment value. I guess, it comes down to something like, "your actual mileage may vary."

@jyjaeskz

11 ай бұрын

Imagine writing a first person story like this but then killing the main character just randomly in the middle and making one of their friends or companions take over

@anthonyscheibmeir2444

11 ай бұрын

Rorschach's journal in watchmen is a potential way to kind have your cake and eat it too. spoilers below he narrates but still dies at the end and we see his journal being read by another person.

@TMtheScratcher

10 ай бұрын

but you can still make the main POV character suffer

@unintendedmango5825

10 ай бұрын

I actually read a book once where the author completely took advantage of that expectation. Each book in the series maintained a single character's first person POV for the whole book, and there was one a good way in where the POV character made a deal with a villain that involved her shapeshifting into a caterpillar and trapping herself in that form forever. And I was like, 'It's her POV. The book's not over. She'll be fine!' And then for the first time in the series, book 19 I might add, the book switches to another character's POV for the next chapter, and when I tell you I got chills down my spine-- To this day, one of my favorite POV switches of all time.

@lotharrenz4621

10 ай бұрын

I once read a fanfic where the story told in POV, ends with the character dying and joining their ancestors in the afterlife... right, and who wrote the story, then?

I didn't think I needed one, but I'm glad you've done a video dedicated to one of Batman's suits! His plot armor is probably just as powerful as the Hellbat.

John Scalzi’s book “Red Shirts” is built on silliness of plot armor. If you want to see the concept used as THE central theme of a story, give it a read. Love the channel Brandon. Keep up the excellent work.

@sidequestingwithtimberfox1263

5 ай бұрын

I second this suggestion! Characters getting PTSD because the plot demands constant danger and injuries, but only death for the “Red Shirts.”

I think the worst use of plot armor was in the Kelvin star trek reboots (don't get me wrong, I actually like them, for the most part) when Kirk sacrifices himself to shock the audience expecting spock to do it, you know he's coming back, and the second they mention the healing properties of Khan's blood you know how, and the huge beat down fight between spock and khan, for all the amazing effort has ZERO stakes because you know he can't lose...

Worst case of plot armour? It showed up in this video, actually - Arya Stark being STABBED MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE STOMACH by The Waif, but then somehow still able to vault over a bridge and parkour her way around Braavos and THROUGH FILTHY CANAL WATER to avoid being caught, and then make it to a healer who just happened to be a) be hanging out in the town, b) know how to patch up stab wounds so they don't get infected and c) be willing to help Total Stranger Arya. Oh, and then she can do the whole parkour-chase-through-the-city-thing AGAIN a few days later (while still healing from her stab wounds) before killing The Waif in a pitch-black battle to the death.

@Conserpov

11 ай бұрын

You just didn't pay attention. The Waif deliberately stabs her painfully, but non-dangerously, then backs away. This is a properly set up plot point. Canal water is the only relevant point here.

@danieljeyn9847

11 ай бұрын

Spot on. I can't think of a worse one. She took a full dagger to the gut three times. Guaranteed death in pre-industrial world and hard to survive today. And add on the canal water and it just became silly. That's when I checked out.

@ronaldbell7429

11 ай бұрын

​@@ConserpovA blade in the abdomen is a blade in the abdomen. There are intestines, there's the liver, there's the diaphragm, there are arteries, and there are the abdominal muscles which were clearly but which were necessary for the acrobatics she immediate performed. So you (and the writers) can say "painfully but non-dangerously" but that's absolutely not what they actually put to film.

@Conserpov

11 ай бұрын

@@ronaldbell7429 I agree that it wasn't filmed well, but this is an issue with almost all fighting scenes too. But the plot is clear: the Waif does not want to kill Arya, not yet. She wants to play cat and mouse.

@danieljeyn9847

11 ай бұрын

@@Conserpov It's not clear. Nor does it make sense. The Faceless killed others for less. It's poor writing.

In the traditional sense of plot armor, the worst I've seen is "The Happening" by M. Night Shyamalan. In one scene later in the movie, Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel are traveling through the countryside with two random kids that tagged along with them. They come upon a house trying to get food for themselves, but the owner tells them to get lost. The two kids turn into Rambo for no reason and threaten the homeowner, who then BLASTS THEM TO DEATH WITH A SHOTGUN. The homeowner then tells Mark and Zooey that they have til the count of three to leave or get shot, too. Wait...so you murder two children and THEN count to three for the main characters???

@johnfernandez2751

10 ай бұрын

Darn, I knew I was smart to avoid that movie

@laurentv.6631

10 ай бұрын

Maybe he realized burying two little ones was enough hassle for the day ?

The wheel of time books had a thing where some extremely rare characters were special, in the sense that instead of being another part of the fabric of the world, the lives of others and the events of the world revolve around them, making them stand out, becoming great kings or achieving historical feats from very humble begginings. This basically also meant they had canonical plot armor, since they were literally destined for greatness, so they couldnt die anonymously. There was still risk, because the main villain was a god not bound by the normal laws of reality, and while not participating directly, he could still influence events to an extent where the characters were in danger.

One of the worst cases of plot armor I’ve seen is in an anime called Fairy Tail which is notable for having bs moments. It’s when a character by the name of Erza despite having every bone in her body pretty much broken, somehow jumps in the air and slices a meteor in half. There’s many moments in fairy tail that I think are bs but this one by far has to be one of the worst examples of it

@mirzapramudya1580

9 ай бұрын

Power of Friendship :)

@tbhgodrick6120

6 ай бұрын

FT is one of the worst abusers of plot armor in existence. People win so many battles they decidedly should lose…

The worst plot armor is in the movie "The room", because, cmon, bro, how can the actors do not have a mental breakdown while making that goofy movie

A fun bad use of plot armor was brought to my attention by Robert Wuhl (actor/comedian). He pointed out how it's interesting the 1950's George Reeves Superman would stand there while bullets were being fired. But would then duck if the gun was thrown at him.

One thing I hate even more than the plot armor of not allowing the main character to die mid-story is the one where the writer tries to convince that the main character is dead when it's blatantly obvious they're not. One of the worst offenders was when Liz "died/faked her own death" in the Blacklist. She was the main character of the show with unresolved story arcs, and the actress was clearly pregnant. Of course she was going to come back later on, but they tried to sell it so hard that she was actually dead that I gave up on the show entirely.

Worst plot armour I saw was in Die Hard 2 when John Mclane hides in a cockpit and some mercenaries shoot it up with machine guns. He never gets hit once.

@BooTheJudge

11 ай бұрын

Also when the enemies start throwing grenades into the cockpit, they take ages to explode.

I've never heard the term 'Plot Armor" before, but Galaxy Quest does a good job of pointing out the lack of it with "Crewman Number 6," Guy Fleegman.

@drewx3199

10 ай бұрын

Moreso he comments out loud that he's the only one WITHOUT plot armour.

Every time James Bond gets put in an escapeable death trap and left alone. I love how Austin Powers called that out.

I loved how Money Heist handled situations which seemed like "now there is no way out without dying or getting into prison" and the characters went out of it in a believable way I could never come up with ... and this basically all the time! At some point I knew, something like plot armor must happen, the season is still far from being over, but it just turned into a believable twist - excellent writing!

Another great video. :) The only thing I would add as a tip is to just put a different character in danger. Like if James Bond has plot armor, put his latest female romantic interest in danger instead. edit: Actually, upon rewatching the video, I notice you did quickly say it would be a good idea to have a different character die as a consequence of the hero's actions. So I didn't really add anything, I guess. Oh well.

It's Baron Munchausen's plot armour that makes the whole movie work.

@jdunnatl

11 ай бұрын

So true! Love that movie.

@brianedwards7142

11 ай бұрын

@@jdunnatl It's delightfully preposterous.

@ronaldbell7429

11 ай бұрын

It was a thing of beauty. Gilliam had already shown a penchant for unhappy endings with Brazil, and there he did it again with Munchausen. It really hurt. And then he totally pulled the rabbit out of the hat. One of my favorite movie endings ever.

One of the best pieces of writing advice I got was in a creative writing class where a girl was writing about the roommate of a superhero. The superhero kept going out and saving the world and doing amazing things while the roommate watched from home. The teacher said "Why are you writing about the roommate? I want to see what the superhero is doing" The girl answered. "But not everyone is a superhero." The teacher's advice. "If 100 people enter a race who do you want to hear about when the race is finished? The 99 who lost or the 1 who won?" If you're going to tell the story of one of the 99 losers, there better be a damn good reason why. Simo Häyhä was a WWII sniper who killed over 500 enemy soldiers, many of whom specifically sent to kill him. If one of them succeeded, would anyone remember his story? Plot armor just means we tell the stories of the winners.

@ErenRaven

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, it's crazy that many people don't realize that.

What's the WORST case of Plot Armor that you've seen? Let us know!

@brianedwards7142

11 ай бұрын

Roger Moore in Live and Let Die Especially the boat chase and the alligator farm. Still my favourite James Bond (which isn't saying much).

@coreymyers5613

11 ай бұрын

The entire Star Wars sequel trilogy.

@lqlaliut897

11 ай бұрын

Thanks for this video!! I have been looking forward to this since last video. Also love the clever johnwick thumbnail

@demondog45

11 ай бұрын

@@coreymyers5613 "Somehow, Palpatine returned."

@malvoliosf

11 ай бұрын

@@brianedwards7142 The alligator-farm stunt in “Live and Let Die” was not faked. They just had a stuntman (actually an experienced gator-wrangler) in a suit walk on some alligators.

It's very interesting that nobody seems to be mentioning this... but the worst examples of plot armor happen with the villains. Occasionally you might kill off a main character if you have a spare (cf Executive Decision, where the movie "co-starred" Kurt Russell and Steven Seagal, and they killed off Seagal in the opening moments) (cf almost all of GoT) but but the heroes at least get beaten up early on (modern Disney, Marvel, Star Wars excepted). But not only is the main villain always going to triumph early on, he or she will laugh off whatever unbelievable damage he or she takes, and most amazingly they'll succeed throughout the early part of the film in setting the most ridiculous traps which, if anybody stopped to think about it, should have made even the most gullible people wonder how exactly they managed that. As examples, I give you every Nolan Batman movie, every Halloween movie (heck every slasher movie), etc etc. We'll at least criticize the hero's plot armor. But we make endless excuses for the villains.

I love your channel so much, Brandon! Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with others! Not only is your channel a great source of writing tips, it’s also a source of inspiration for me in a way. I love that you never look down on your viewers or act like you know better than anyone else (unfortunately, I see that a lot among writes on KZread). You’re always kind and polite, your videos are informative and well-structured - that’s what makes me come back over and over again for every new video. I think at this point I’ve watched almost all your videos, haha. Thank you! :)

How to hide plot armor Tip 6:Avoid putting characters in unsuvrvial situations

Whenever the villain has the hero in their grasp but let’s them leave to carry a threatening message to their allies… I think if they killed the hero, that would send the message pretty clearly

@valentinegonsalves7322

11 ай бұрын

I can do you one better: Solo A Star Wars Story. Never have the stakes been lower. I already know Han Solo and Chewie live for another 30 years. Seeing them in danger means nothing. Also, Han doesn't change or take any significant damage. He loses a girl he loves, but...she betrayed him and the emotional weight is not earned because she's missing for a major part of the movie. Compare that to Casino Royale. Bond and Vesper share multiple scenes together, throughout the movie, the dialogue and characters go through serious physical and emotional changes. They start of cold, until they save each other's lives and when Vesper betrays Bond, he understands her, yet makes it a point never to get attached to someone again. And we know Bond is gonna return, but his character goes through an character arc which is well-written. Solo could've been just that. But they rush it and keep throwing Easter Eggs at you instead of good story beats

DUDE you read my mind. I was planning on doing a post on plot armour for my German readers and I'm very pumped to hear your take. I think plot armour is GoTs greatest weakness.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty

11 ай бұрын

Yeah, especially in the later seasons. Early on, there was a feeling that nobody was safe from death, but as the show went on, it became clear that certain characters would be around until the end.

@MyMy-tv7fd

11 ай бұрын

yes, I lost interest at the point Arya survived being assasinated by her nemesis the Waif

@LoudWaffle

11 ай бұрын

@@MyMy-tv7fd Hey, what's a couple of stab wounds to the belly followed by extended swimming through canal water? This isn't a setting where disease and infections exist! 🤡

In the Arrow series, the hero will shoot an arrow then run across open ground while multiple enemies return fire with machine guns. He does this frequently. One competent or lucky gunman and it's all over. Many movies fall for this. Ok if used sparingly and you're desperate, but it often seems to be Plan A which requires a healthy dose of plot armor

Don't know, if it's the worst plot armor, but it is the most consistent one: James Bond! He got skills, is adaptable and can take a beating, and that's okay. But every time, when he is tied up, left to be tortured and/or killed, some miraculous event happens. Someone appears unexpectedly out of nowhere to save him, a timer is set to give him enough time to get free or be freed. I mean, really? Which villain wouldn't kill the hero instantly, giving him no chance to get in the way again? "Oh Mr. Bond, how nice of you to drop dead." Gunshot. The end! But we like JB and so he gets away with it again and again

@goodgulfgas

9 ай бұрын

He finally dies in the latest movie. It only took, like, 20 movies to kill him.

@Guy_With_A_Laser

24 күн бұрын

I've always loved the theory that "James Bond" is just a codename, and that the different actors playing him are actually really different people at different time periods who are assigned the name. When one dies, they just find a new Bond to replace them (similar to the Kingsman in that series).

Sisu was an awesome movie. Just like in John Wick, I didn't mind Aatami having plot armor, it just fit the story.

@valentinegonsalves7322

11 ай бұрын

Agreed, because the main character has some damn good motivation and purpose. Even though you know he will win, you can't wait to see the bad guy get taught some lessons.

You’re an inspiration! I love all of your videos, they make me want to write more and more!

Guardians of the Galaxy 3, when Rocket gets fatally wounded but somehow survives what seems to be several days as the team searches for the magical cure

Once again thank you for these lessons you're doing a better job at this than most university professors

The absolute all-time worst lot armor is the General Lee's indestructibility, in the TV series Dukes of Hazzard

Bro comes up with all the topics I want to learn. You are great and I am grateful!

@galfisk

11 ай бұрын

The villain may not know that the hero is the hero. The hero may not know either, or may not be a hero yet. It can be done well if done right.

Proteus from the 'Ultramarines' movie (was knocked out but left alive by the daemon): also, Richard Sharpe from 'Sharpe's Challenge' and 'Sharpe's Peril' (survived a wall being under a castle wall that was exploded, and won swordfights where he fell on his face and had the villains had their blades ready to impale him).

When the villain could kill the hero but doesn't, for no good reason other than to allow the plot to continue. Well written stories have the villain completely ruin/destroy the hero, or even kill a vital character, leaving the hero with no hope of success (only for the hero to turn it all around in the end).

Cool video! Always when I see your tips and writing advices there are man things I already do in my stories without learn it in some sort of writing school or something. It is like a check of my writing skills. Thank you very much, your videos are always logical and very good presented!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty

10 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Thanks for covering this!

Super informative and helpful as always. Thanks Brandon!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty

11 ай бұрын

Thanks!

Nice video! I've been watching alot of your videos lately and they've helped me improve some of my ideas. For your next video (if you haven't done it already) you should do it on the topic of if you have a *great* idea for a story but have no idea on how to actually put pen to paper and execute the idea well.

When I saw Brandon uploading a video on plot armor, I just knew that 24 would be up there 😂

One of the best cases of subversion of plot armor I’ve seen is in Star Wars: Rebels. Halfway through the final season, the writer kills a main character, and even writes a scene where said character can be brought back, but the built philosophy of the show keeps the character from being brought back. Absolutely heart-wrenching subversion of plot armor.

Thanks for showing ways that plot armor can be used skillfully. I’ve never heard anyone speak to that! Hey, could you possibly make a video on how to deliver exposition without mind numbing info dumps? This is more relevant to fiction than screenplays, I think.

The way you take the time to explore & explain tropes that are generally considered 'bad' is a drink of cool water in a hot day. I love your content mate!

I also like it when there are extras or minor characters who also survive an event(like an attack or explosion) makes it more believable that it was surviveable.

your videos have made me a better writer and I always feel bad i can't give anything back but one day I promise i will purchase your novels

This isn't the worst one I've ever seen, but I felt like in Lightyear the rookies had plot armor. Sox even mentions that the odds of succeeding with an inexperienced team are 38%. I was hoping the mission would have higher stakes for them, but it felt like they just survived because Buzz's character needed to learn the value of teamwork

Plot armor is not always about not dying, sometimes it's always succeeding. In John Wick, it's not about "Will he survive?", it's "Will he succeed".

There are so many cases of plot armor in media that it's hard to pick the absolute worst one. But Jon Snow surviving the enemy cavalry charge in Battle of the Bastards is definitely up there. It's made worse by the fact that it comes from the same show that used to be well known for its careful and limited use of plot armor in earlier seasons. Edit: Arya surviving the assasination attempt might actually be even worse. Boy, is season 6 ridiculous at times

@Conserpov

11 ай бұрын

Arya didn't survive an assassination attempt, because it wasn't one. You just didn't pay attention.

@thehardyfan9908

11 ай бұрын

I mean I guess with jon snows situation you can’t say it’s actually impossible to of lived that because it’s not impossible, and it makes a cool scene so the writers went with it

@birdyjireh6391

10 ай бұрын

There's a whole load of plot armors in latter GOT seasons and you pick up battle of the bastards? That's hardly plot armor. You could have picked the time Jon died and came back to life.

@ErenRaven

2 ай бұрын

Second season also had a lot of plot armor. Tyrion fighting in Battle of Blackwater and keeping up in battle despite being half the heigth. Also Stannis being in the first row and without helmet. And Sam at the end of the season when The White Walkers just walk past him didn't make any sens.

@BooTheJudge

2 ай бұрын

@@ErenRaven Sam being left alive by White Walkers was definitely supposed to mean something later in the show. But then, I guess, the writers _kinda forgot_ about that scene, so it never got explained.

Great. Added more stuff to my plot armour note.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty

11 ай бұрын

Glad it helped!

Most extreme plot armor I've ever seen that somehow worked anyhow: Sisu. So beyond ridiculous...yet still entertaining.

The Beekeeper is a movie that has fun with its plot armor. Jason Statham's character is never in any real danger, but the ways he doles out justice and runs rings around his enemies make for fun watching.

I loved how Ron D Moore subverted plot armour in his BATTLESTAR GALACTICA remake. There are shades of gray. Characters move from doing awful things to heroic things. It’s main cast was set in stone for most of its run but supporting characters sometimes were killed off. One main character appeared to die at one point and they had kept it under wraps and I remember people online were shocked! They even removed the actor from the credits… but then in I believe the season cliffhanger something happened and it was like woah. I won’t say if the character comes back or not for those who haven’t seen the show… but it was another way the writers subverted things and created new mysteries while wrapping up others. So well done!

In Gundam, Amuro was supposed to be killed off halfway through the series, to be replaced as the MC by Char Aznable. This happened in the novel version.

Probably has to be an episode of Fear the Walking Dead in which Alicia, who is the only main character in the group in the scene, happens to be the only one who doesn’t get killed. I believe it was some type of noxious gas that somehow killed everyone EXCEPT her

How do you feel about showing a character as if it was the main character, only to kill it early in the story and then have a seemingly non-important character emerge from the shadows and become the ACTUAL main character instead of the killed one? Seems like a way to deal with the main character's immortality

@coreyevans835

11 ай бұрын

The movie 1917 is a great example of this.

@blshouse

9 ай бұрын

Spoiler for a mediocre 27-year old "action/thriller" movie... . . . . . . Executive Decision. Watching it in the theater, cold and unspoiled. It sort of worked, I guess.

@mirzapramudya1580

9 ай бұрын

Danganronpa V3 does exactly that

Ever see "The Big Red One"? It's the only war movie I know in which characters notice their improbable yet ultimately predictable survival luck.

Great videos, I've learned so much already after only watching a few videos.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty

10 ай бұрын

Glad they're helping. And thanks for the support!

8:16 - Game of Thrones. "Imma jump into a frozen lake, with armour an fur on me, stay underwater in that frozen lake long enough for the really slow moving army to leave calmly, then swim up, covered in frozen water and run a cross-country race, in a snowstorm, at Night, and not even suffer frostbite."

My first thought was Danny Aiello's character at the end of "Hudson Hawk" who is presumed dead and miraculously survives and only to have a happy ending for the film's last scene.

I like LITERAL plot armor. Like the bulletproof suit in John wick and Master chief’s Spartan armor + Cortana

I'm actually re-reading a book right now I loved as a teenager that has significant plot armor for the protagonist, but it's done well. In _The Legend of Huma,_ the hero Huma is consistently thrown into dire situation after dire situation and he expects that he's about to face his death. But he's an honorable Knight of Solamnia--and not one who just wears the symbols and armor, but one who deeply believes in the knighthood's principles and legacy, despite often being mocked for it by some other knights and other peers. So when the odds are stacked against him, he pulls himself together and heads into the fray expecting it to be his end, but shocks himself over and over when he comes out on top. And it's that very bravery and integrity that leads him to being the one worthy to set the world-saving events into motion. I have to say living in an era of anti-heroes and classic-heroes-who-are-actually-terrible, it's refreshing to read a story about a hero that has good character.

Pratchett, Going Postal. Chapter one, the hero, Moist von Lipwig, dies. He's hung by the neck til he's pronounced dead. Chapter two, he wakes up in Vetanary's office, where he is made postmaster general. "You have talents I need. And if you die, no one will notice." So Moist makes himself noticeable, thus donning plot armor.

Sometimes trying to create more stakes and tension can lead to excessive plot armour. I love The Lord of the Rings movies. But one detail that does annoy me is how Peter Jackson constantly tries to up the drama with close calls. Many characters get a fake death scene, even when that didn't happen in the book. We know most of the main characters will survive, so there's very little tension to begin with. In the Extended Editions Gandalf gets overpowered by The Witch King. Just when he is about to deal the finishing blow, he just gets distracted and leaves.

@drewx3199

10 ай бұрын

I call that "Steven Spielberg Syndrome". See Jurassic Park as an example, how they survive the Tyrannosaurus Rex and avoid getting crushed by their own vehicle.

This really helps a lot. I'm actually writing a webcomic where the main character ends up losing a fight to the main bad guy, and I was a bit worried that the plot armor didn't work well since the main character does end up surviving but not before being dropped into the ocean and presumed dead. I'm confident it works now but I do want to be more careful of how I handle plot armor in the future.

@valentinegonsalves7322

11 ай бұрын

Good luck with your webcomic. 💯

Worst case is probably the Black Widow movie. She’s in numerous collisions that would kill most people, or at least require months or rehabilitation, but she emerges without a scratch with zero justification as to how.

@ronaldbell7429

11 ай бұрын

And she wasn't really a super. The writers seemed to forget that.

I think John Wick's plit armour gets ridiculous as the movies go on. But we still see him get hurt and bleed and we are mostly behind him because of his purpose. So even if he is unbreakable, we can't wait for the bad guys to get their comeuppance. That's one way to negate plot armour. Have a good villain, as in someone the audience can hate. The other way to negate plot armour is be innovative with your world and your setting and your rules. We know John Wick is gonna come out on top, but it is still a joy to watch because the action is set against such vivid backdrops in a really cool world and John Wick uses it to his best of his ability.

Worst case is Sasuke and his team getting washed and folded by Killer Bee but managing to not die somehow. I get that the fight was largely meant to show off his new team member's abilities, but it was kind of ridiculous how badly he was getting his shit cooked.

Hey, to add credence to your point about Indiana Jones and Raiders, if you have not heard Rob Ager's analysis of the movie I highly suggest you go check it out. In the movie Rob points out a lot of symbolic and hidden themes regarding a mystical power emanating from the ark itself. It's almost as if Spielberg had embedded the ark in the movie with a magical and/or spiritual power to imbue Indy with not only a power to seek it out, but also to empower his own abilities to do righteous acts. It's somewhat akin to your point regarding mysterious super powers. But yeah, if you've not heard of Rob Ager himself or his channel "Collative Learning", your welcome. He is one of the oldest youtubers and greatest film analysts and psychoanalysts regarding symbolism out there.

I think it can be boiled down to "plot armor is when a character survvies something passively that they shouldn't". If a character does something to survive, even if it's far fetched, the audience can usually accept it. But if the character does nothing, it just doesn't feel earned. Exception, of course, if this happens very early in the story. That's when they are the miracle survivor, and you tell the story of the only person that survived X. Such things happen as well, but other than "they were lucky", there's no story in it.

@MatrixQ

11 ай бұрын

@@danieljeyn9847What do you mean?

@danieljeyn9847

11 ай бұрын

Oops. I responded to the wrong comment.@@MatrixQ

@MatrixQ

11 ай бұрын

@@danieljeyn9847Oh, ok. :)

I have written a low-fantasy adventure novel about a group of 8 blood brothers, told by their newest member, the Accadian former slave Pearl. Now, here's my methods to work around their plot armour: 1. The heroes have ideals. They have a code, and this code is the meta-legitimation for their plot armour. "Who does what he deems rights, needs no excuse for luck", is a saying that Pearl has picked up years ago from his tutor. So I don't make the story hinge on whether they live or die - but instead, I let it focus around if they manage to stay true to their code. And in the end, a violation of that code could very well lead to the death of one or more of the brothers. 2. Apart from whether their ideals live or die, I let beloved side characters die, be corrupted or just turn their shoulder on the heroes due to certain actions. Both of these are in my opionion important building bricks for a story that works with a certain amount of plot armour. But all of this made me curious to analyze further what p.a. is really "made of" regarding certain literary genres. [Edit: The novel is called "Brüdergesänge aus der Toten Ebene" and unfortunately (for the English-speaking world ;-) ) it is written in German.]

John McClaine in Live Free or Die Hard. He hops on top of a jet plan about ready to crash onto the highway. He leaps off the plane, slide down the concrete pavement of said highway (as it was already in rubble); escapes an explosion unscathed. Then, in spite the distance, or the fact that half his flesh should have been ripped clean off his bones from said slide, he gets up and walks away.

Yo! Love your videos. Could you consider making a video about how to strike a balance between subtlety and obviousness? Since a lot of times I'm not sure when a reader will pick up on what I'm hinting at, but I don't want to just outright say: "Louis did this, because of this" Sometimes it feels forced even though I know that my characters actions are fully out of their own beliefs, but I'm not sure if the reader will notice it. And it might feel forced. Thank you! (And no pressure if you don't wanna make a video about this). By the way, I'm picking up a copy of Entry Wounds and I'll be sure to leave a review!

@WriterBrandonMcNulty

11 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for picking up a copy of Entry Wounds! Hope you enjoy it, and I appreciate you leaving a review--those are a big help! I'll add a "Subtle/Obvious" video to my list. Clarity is a vital part of storytelling, but it's also tough because different readers might not understand a character's motives/intentions unless those motives are spelled out to them. I'll mull over this idea and see what I can do.

@JustLooseMe

11 ай бұрын

​@@WriterBrandonMcNultythats definetly a topic I struggle a lot with.

@pehpunkthahpunkt4179

11 ай бұрын

quick idea: maybe it is more "subtle" to let another charakter within the story come to the conclusion you want your reader to get and say it to someone else. He might even question his own conclusion and bring up counterarguments to soften up the obviousness. That seams far less 'in your face' to me than an allmighty narrator preaching to his reader. also a sideeffect is that you can present another charakter as beeing smart.

Jason Bourne's leap from a great height indoors while fighting an adversary, their intertwined fall through several stories' worth of space, and Jason's landing unharmed in a sprawled, lying-down posture on the other guy's body on a hard marble (or similar) floor.

Having a true ensemble cast of characters, without a single main protagonist, is a great way to deal with Plot Armor. Even if one or two main characters must survive along the way to advance the plot, not knowing who this will be creates a sense of suspense, especially when one or more members of the ensemble are killed off along the way

Bullet Train and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy both have plot armor as an in-world mechanic, which I find interesting. (This would kinda fall under your superhuman category)

@dionmcgee5610

10 ай бұрын

Fantastical comedies like Hitchhiker's Guide" don't need plot armor because they're fantastical- they are not weighed down with reality. Did Naked Gun need plot armor for Oj's character?

Another excellent video.

@WriterBrandonMcNulty

6 ай бұрын

Thanks!

The more I watch these videos, the more I can have faith that I got this… I have the capabilities of proving those who doubt me wrong. And now, I have even less reasons to fear writing, so much so that it the number of reasons may be in the negatives.

Suggestion: McGuffins; the good way to use them vs the wrong way to use them. (ie: The One Ring vs the Unobtanium from Avatar).

@williamstormo2922

7 күн бұрын

Good mcguffin: Infinity stones Bad mcguffin: Dagger from the rise of skywalker

Two anime series that deal with plot armor masterfully are One Punch Man and Overlord. In both of these the main characters are unbeatable, but both series manage to keep a high level of suspense with each new threat that it makes you question their invulnerability.

@AndersonMallonyMALLONY-EricCF

10 ай бұрын

Overlord has zero suspense and zero intelligence. Literally all aspects of this show were objectively poorly done.

@ramondejesus65

10 ай бұрын

@@AndersonMallonyMALLONY-EricCF your opinion is "objectively" full of 💩

@hgman3920

8 ай бұрын

One Punch Man has the added bonus of exploring the psychological effects of a character being for all practical purposes invincible

New writer, always great videos. Show the other side, so I can realize how my plot should go. Make it more real and Believable.Thanks

good example that JUST happened is this last episode of Netflix's the Witcher (season 3). Vilgeforz walks away from Geralt for absolutelty NO SENSICAL REASON

This is why my character that has the most plot armour firstly has full plate armour and trains intensely in it regularly. His plot armour is very camoflagued firstly often with well, real armour and his proficiently at and reputation for arsekicking.