"If you don't get out of my territory I will kill you!"
"Stay away from my cubs, or I kill you!"
"If you don't be mates with my son, I will kill you!"
"If I catch you on my turf again I will kill you!"
"I KILL you!"
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll4/Nomad_Pix/Forum%20pics/silence_I_kill_you.gif)
Why is it that whenever someone threatens another character in this game, it's always got to be the "kill" threat? Is it supposed to be the most intimidating threat? Should I be scared for my character's life? ::)
Okay, being serious now... is there anyone here who gets sick of hearing this line? Do you think it's over-used? I know it's mostly just an empty threat in a roleplay, but I think it's used too much. Why is it that most charactrs want to resort to that kind of violence instead of doing something different?
This doesn't annoy me so much anymore, now it's more of an old joke to me. The only time this really gets on my nerves is in a Warrior Cat RP. Me being a fan of the series myself I know the general guidelines the characters follow, one of the rules being;
"An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his/her battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or if it is necessary for self-defense."
Now, when do Warrior Cat Rpers ever consider this when RolePlaying? I've rarely seen it at all actually, and it's one of my pet peeves when someone roleplays a fanfiction incorrectly. Why can't you just threaten to severely wound or maim a tresspasser/enemy? X3
On another note, I actually find it funny when I purposely have my character wander back through the threatener's range, just to run around them in circles as they chase after me. Can't kill a moving target with c aws! :D
I just think people use the word because their just kids, no offense. You know kids are just young and have nothing else to say, but that word... :/ If you know what I mean. So they probably don't have anything else in mind. (Have you guys every notice it mostly the kids (13 years old or younger). Yeah, it probably just a habit. xD
Good point, Thrillex. If there was an internet version of "Kids Say The Darndest Things" I think the "I kill you" line would be at the top of the popularity list.
As many of said I think its an element of the younger portion of the game's players doing this. Its a naive assumption that death is the worst thing that can happen to anyone. Call this dark thought if you want but in comparison to being killed, which in respect to other things is pretty abrupt, short, and ended compared to other types of prolonged suffering. Most of my characters, if they threaten harm at all, do not threaten with death/killing.
What I find rather amusing and contradictory is that usually the SAME people who have characters who make characters who threaten killing are the same ones who make chars who are NEVER afraid of being killed themselves. If you're REALLY trying to make it seem like being killed is THAT bad and the absolute WORST thing that could happen, shouldn't that mean your character KNOWS how bad it is and if someone parades up to them with the same threat that they should be concerned as well instead of growling/snarling/"being ferocious/etc? Oh wait, scratch that. I forgot, nearly everyone has "super-fearless-overpowered-Mary Sues that are never-ever scared of anything". Nevermind. >_>;
But again, really, getting killed is'nt the ONLY bad thing that could happen to somebody. You'd think with the number of "my parents abused me and sob sob sob cry" characters that being beaten to excess or being maimed would be an equally common alternative to saying "kill" all the time, but its not. So is that to say, according to that logic, that your sob-story char doesn't have it as badly as he/she claims to? Oh wait, "Oh but you don't know what its like to be abused and blah blah blah" Obviously these folks don't know either, as their logic massive holes in it.
Flipping the "kill switch" on your character when things don't go the way you [or your character] would like is'nt a proper solution to keep a RP going, not even for an evil character. And its not a good thing to "flip the switch" JUST because you're bored and want to create conflict. There is more than one avenue to some kind of fight or conflict without killing being involved. I'll give a little example,
Mikey is one of my evil characters, and lets say he's looking for Character A for some reason. If he can smell Character A is in the area but isnt anymore and believes Character B might know something about where Character A went, he is going to ask. Afterall, he just wants to know and move on to finding Character A. He doesn't care about Character B. And if for some reason Character B tries to withold that information and Mikey doesn't get the answer he wants, he's not going to kill Character B. He's just going to threaten to torture them and if they refuse to answer again, do so until he gets the information he wants. That MIGHT put Character B on the brink of death but not necessarily, especially if Character B gives up the answer. He doesnt barge in and go "IM GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU DONT DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO." That does'nt make a character look intimidating, only barbaric and sometimes, stupid.
You always seem to bring in some good logic in conversations like these.
It doesn't really make any sense when a "good-natured" or "docile" character suddenly flips a personality switch by becoming hostile and "deadly". I've seen that too many times in roleplays. Someone would be playing as a character that is supposed to be docile and reasonable when it comes to conflict. But then when it comes to them encountering someone they see as a "threat" to their territory/cubs/pups/clan/pride/pack, their character goes from gentle Fluttershy to friggin' Freddy Kruger! They start to pull out the, "Imma kill you if you don't get your sorry carcass out of my territory!!!" or "I'll rip your head off if you don't get away from my pups!" If you're going to play a gentle character, stick to the darn gentle script, or don't do it at all!
I got plenty of characters that range in different personailities. NONE of my gentle or docile characters use the "K" word to threaten someone. If I have a character that's shy, fragile, and kind, I'm going to stick to that personality no matter what circumstances he/she may face. When I play as my unicorn fox, you will never EVER hear her threaten to kill another character. It's just not her nature to think like that or be violent at all. In fact, she is more of the flight than fight character. It doesn't make her a coward, either.
Same goes with Kojak the bobcat. Yes, a bobcat is capable of killing animals smaller than they are. Bobcats have been known to make domestic cats their meals. But just because that's true, it doesn't mean that Kojak has to threaten to kill a clan cat whenever he sees one. And if a clan cat, rogue cat, loner, or kittypet do cross his path and show aggression toward him, he's going to try reasoning with them before resorting to violence. He isn't going to drop the "I'm gonna kill you!" line either. He will probably say something like... "If you don't leave my daughter alone, you're gonna regret ever messing with this fat daddy bobcat." Does that mean he is going to kill the opponent? No! It just means that he is going to defend his daughter with everything he's got. He doesn't necessarily have to kill the one who is threatening him and his daughter.
The other thing that gets me is why some people lable a character as a "coward" when they refuse to fight or threaten to kill. Just because my character refuses to make a kill, it doesn't make them weak or a coward. TheWarrior brought up a good point when she mentioned the Warrior code of...
"An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his/her battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or if it is necessary for self-defense."
Now, when do Warrior Cat Rpers ever consider this when RolePlaying? I've rarely seen it at all actually, and it's one of my pet peeves when someone roleplays a fanfiction incorrectly. Why can't you just threaten to severely wound or maim a tresspasser/enemy? X3
Why is it that some roleplayers-especially some Warrior roleplayers- think it's so important to kill an opponent to win battles? Does killing an opponent make your character that noble and brave? Does it make them look like someone you wouldn't want to mess with? Does it really make them honorable? That's the question I would have liked to ask that one so-called "honorable" warrior tom that wanted to "break the neck" of a little baby fox if the mother fox didn't do what he told her to do and leave the territory. Some noble warrior that is. -_-