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(http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view8/4604169/death-of-mufasa-o.gif)
Hello, everyone - another topic I wanted to add. We love having parents and we nuzzle the ones we have. Parents are great, every shape and size. So, here's my question, why do we always have to kill off the parents?
Think about it - some people like to be detailed about their character's back-story, fair enough. In the end, the parents always have to die at some point. Whether it's them or the whole family, they usually are dead. Or never even bring them up as if they never existed.
Recently, I realized how many times I axed out the parents and came to the conclusion, "I might be a terrible person...!" I usually kill off the parents (if any) of my characters because either no one can play a parent or I don't feel like squeezing in an NPC.
What are your thoughts on the topic?
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lol so true.
Though I've never really killed off any of my characters' parents I often notice users in game who do just that. Think about how often you hear the story of the abandoned pup or cub...yeah. Too often xD Especially in Bonfire.
The stories of these abandoned pups and cubs are always the same too. Either their parents were killed by another pack, pride or hunter(s), or they killed their own parents, or their parents died of some disease etc. I never understand why people can't just say they grew up and left their parents, or maybe one of their parents died of old age or the parents sacrificed them self for them idk.. Why must they always be murdered though xD?
Here are some of the reasons why I think people do this:
- To lazy or not good at coming up with a more original story
- Want to play as a pup or cub but don't want to require having a user or user(s) to play as their parents
- These users just want to get into an adventurous rp without all the nurturing and childhood stuff expected when there's parents around.
- These users are young and either don't like their parents or are tired of rules or something lol
- It makes them look cool or pathetic and cute.
- They don't know how to rp as a real pup or cub
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Ah yes.... the parent killing.
In pretty much every Disney movie I've seen, the parents are killed off, and I guess that's where it all started. I think it's really unneeded; it's a bit scary whenever I hear some little girls playing princess and one says "Let's pretend our parents died!" "Okay!". A bit unsettling, how kids think that it's okay. I can't say for myself, but it's awful being an orphan. Sorry, this is already getting a bit off topic I'll get back to the point.
I'll admit, my OC, M'ulakrin, had both her parents killed off (well, not the dad, she never knew him). She sought revenge for about a year, when she ran into her brothers again and they fought the dog who killed their mom. Krin died in the fight, but her brothers lived on. Not the deepest story, but I mean, it's not like the other ones, where the kid grows up to be a physco. I'm proud to say its different from most of the other story's I've read.
Another thing I meant to get to, where the parents die and then the kid goes insane and murders the siblings. What's up with that? I've watched tv shows where both parents die, the kids didn't go mad and kill each other/everyone. I've also wondered where it started. Maybe Jeff the Killer? Or another CreepyPasta? I'm not sure, it can get a bit annoying. But as long as the story isn't that stereotypical, I'm okay.
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Oi! These guys. I don't mind people not having parents... as long as they have a good reason why there aren't any. I don't like, however how almost every charry without parents makes up some horribly unrealistic story of how he killed them all and became leader of Bloodclan. Most of the time (unless I'm in a pack or something) when I roleplay, I myself don't have parents present... but the reason why is because of the following reasons:
1. My character is a dispersal (when an adolescent wolf leaves their pack in hopes of starting their own)
2. They are a demon, created by some element or ritual
3. They are an evil deputy in Dragonclan (a joke clan Devy, Darkky and I created)
4. Ghostly entity with no memories of previous life
But yeah. Like Starry said, so many people do Creepy Pasta stuff like psycho murder family things. If there was in incident in which the parents died,
make up a creative story of how they died.
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Most of my characters don't live with their parents anymore, since most are over the age of twenty. owo I can't say that I haven't killed off a character's parent, though.
Wolfie is probably the main one that is taken care of a guardian (as she doesn't know her parents, though they're not dead). She loves him to bits and he loves her back, though sometimes it's not horribly obvious.
A lot of my underaged characters (ranging 14-17) don't really hang around their house too much, so I haven't really planned if they have parents or not - though there are a few who live off by themself, their parents are perfectly fine, though.
-Wolfie
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Most of my characters don't live with their parents anymore
This is pretty much where most of my characters are at.
Now, I do have TWO, 'underaged' characters, that would normally be around their parents, but one of them had wandered off, therefore she isn't around them. The other one just... Doesn't like to be around them. Kids these days, AmIRight?
Other than that, there are no parents to be found. Much.
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The normal 'i killed my parents' or 'my parents were killed' is, as stated, a normal excuse for people to not have parents at all. I myself honestly have one character I can name off the top of my head at the moment who has no known blood relatives.
Rosalva Arce, one of my PR fancharacters.
Yeah, yeah, she's a human, she shouldn't get a voice in this, shut it. Rosy did what any kid her age (14) with reasonable mind would've done in the event of a huge monster attack and being home alone. She fled on foot. The other bits of her family were caught in the attack on San Fransisco, be it falling buildings, fires, or getting trapped, and did not make it out. Rosy managed to get out because she ran. She dumped out her bookbag, grabbed some non-refrigerated food and one bottle of water, maybe a few memoirs and a change of clothes and took to fleeing on foot. She barely got out with the backpack and the clothes on her back, but she made it out. Rosy made it out by pure luck, and that is why she's managed to be here today. Even though she has adopted parents nowadays, she doesn't live with them, or barely even has a connection to them. Along with the 'barely' status, her talk on her past. Of course, she has good reason, and I wouldn't blame her for keeping silent.
Comparing the pups stories of 'i killed them all' or Rosy's brush with death, it's obvious the latter is the choice of go for a dosage of realism in such an event (Though I wouldn't expect an attack by a godzilla-sized monster anytime soon). Rosy is the only character of mine who has a story like this (Yeva, my other PR fancharacter, lives in Florida) and I plan to keep it that way.
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Normally I prefer making my characters leave behind their parents as they grow up and decide to follow their own path. However, I think the top reason why parents are normally 'killed' is because:
One, when your character joins a pack/pride/clan/other group, it can be difficult to find someone to be your parent(s). Normally they're never active or sometimes you can't find anyone who would want to 'adopt' your character!
Two, it shapes your character more. It's a traumatic experience, thus causing your character to have 'problems' with being social or being fun and bubbly. However, I think you COULD make a character that is more anti-social without killing their parents. You just need to be imaginative.
Three, it can be hard to think of a past. I hope I'm not the only one when I say this, but it can be difficult to think up a backstory for your character...so the easiest thing to turn to is to just kill off everything important to the character and call it quits.
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Normally I prefer making my characters leave behind their parents as they grow up and decide to follow their own path. However, I think the top reason why parents are normally 'killed' is because:
Same thing here... my 'sona Astuzia is a dispersal from her pack.
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The parent killing bugs me but im sure there could be a reason behind it, Mostly, it is because theyre just lazy to get parents and just want to roleplay first. Thats all I know..
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I for one prefer to see how it would affect my character. If said character was at a young age, they may be scarred, but if they were older they should expect that, Y'see?
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Ah yes.... the parent killing.
In pretty much every Disney movie I've seen, the parents are killed off, and I guess that's where it all started. I think it's really unneeded; it's a bit scary whenever I hear some little girls playing princess and one says "Let's pretend our parents died!" "Okay!". A bit unsettling, how kids think that it's okay. I can't say for myself, but it's awful being an orphan.
You know, Stargazer, you may just have a point there about Disney. I mean, aside from kings and princesses, I'd would probably hate being a parent in a Disney film. Let alone, the main character's. Anyway, yes, this could possibly be a factor that adds to the trends of parent killing with people's characters. It is such a mainstream aspect, the people usually shrug it off like, "ok, let's kill the mom, no one cares."
As some people said before, it could also just be from laziness. I, myself, have shared in just being lazy in establishing parents because either one, I just would like to focus on something else with my character. Then, there's the other reason of just brushing it off. Before then, I just killed off the parents like, "meh." These days, I'm being more creative with parents and how they contribute to my character's story. Why can't Disney take my example! Mufasa didn't need to die!
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This isn't just Disney, mind you. Animes have a ton of it. Various video games, other movies that are not related to Disney as well.
It's the number 1 kick starter for any "amazing" character. It is the most common thing used when making any character. Which is why most people are drawn to it. They are familiar with it all too much that they use it. Even if it is twisted up, it's kind of like a reflex to some people to explain why their character doesn't have one.
Especially on FH, having an actual parent that is still alive, still active, etc is REALLY difficult to obtain. Yes there is always the whole: parents left option, but if you say "my parents are dead for [insert reason]" it's 1: a conversation starter [even if they are seeking attention], 2: A way to give their character certain tragic traits [extreme determination, motivation, want for revenge, closed off and doesn't speak much, more hostile, the want to be someone good, or even bad, the possibilities are limitless!] Yes there are always other ways to achieve these traits, maybe they were born with it, maybe they had it thrust upon them by some tragic event. However, to fill in blanks without spending ages on making some elaborate story as to how you are who you are now, parents death will always come up first.
It may be annoying under some [okay maybe most] circumstances, but what can you really do about the matter?
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I have also spotted this in character bios and descriptions of the family.
It's either they killed their parents, the parents died and the children ran away, or the parents got killed by something no one knows about. I personally think that this method is a waste of time.
People try and make it dramatic and creative.
But it has stopped working quite a long time ago. It sure is hard to find a parent in game, but you don't need to kill them off if you can't find anyone.If you decide to permanently end their character's parent's lives, put some effort into it.
Another thing I don't like are completely and stupidly unrealistic killing stories.
"A Fox killed my wolf parents"
Really. A Fox. Firstly, a Fox wouldn't even try to kill an adult wolf.
Second, it wouldn't kill two either. It would be the other way around, if it had to happen.Why did your parents get killed by a tiger? Your a horse?
That's all I can say. On a phone, typing like this is like writing an exam paper.
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Honestly, I think people kill off their character's parents or say that they didn't know their parents was because they want to start out fresh and not want to have to create a whole back-story on the character, not look for people to play as the parents of the character, or think of the names for the parents because they want to role-play as that character. They don't want to put everything about their "Family Tree" in their bio much of less have to think about it. I, myself, I guess am one of these people but I don't say that 'my parents were killed by _____' and act dramatic about it, I just put they're deceased or they're unknown. Because I don't want to think about the whole Family thing unless it took part in a huge role-play plot of some group.
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Honestly I never really noticed that. xD
I guess I make some parents in my characters bios pass away due to the fact of wishing to make their story a bit more interesting. Though other times I just tend to make their bios tragic by using other ideas.
Though I am not sure why I like to make tragic bios anyway. xD
Yet I would like to find people, and make a good story with them, and have them be my parents then just let them die of old age or something. I do hope to find a good rp soon that would end like that. ^^