# Romantic Sub-Plot VS Dramatic Main Plot



## Grimm Hund (Feb 8, 2018)

When you combine a romance plot and dramatic or a danger plot, what is the best way to balance it out?

Take Superman and Lois Lane for example. When we find Lois in peril, Superman confronts the bad guy and saves her so they can be together. If he were to fail, Lois would be dead.

Now, thinking of this, what is the best way to approach this kind of conflict? Say, the hero isn't Superman or there is more of a risk to him failing.

Would it be better to say that the hero can always win and save his girl or would that notion become too repetitive? If the audience knows the hero is meant to win, is there any interest left?
Or say the hero failed and his love interest dies. Would that make for a more impactful story even if there was an entire sub-plot devoted to their romance?


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## ellaerna (Feb 8, 2018)

Grimm Hund said:


> Would it be better to say that the hero can always win and save his girl or would that notion become too repetitive? If the audience knows the hero is meant to win, is there any interest left?


You've kind of answered your own question here. Superman and other heroes are very popular, particularly right now. But it's a conceit of the genre that they're going to win in the end. Good triumphs over evil and justice prevails and all that. In some of the darker comics, there will be death and loss, but in general you can expect the hero on the cover to make it out okay and save the day. Or think about shonen anime (bleach, naruto, etc). While everyone in universe is concerned about the main character dying or the world ending or losing the big tennis tournament, we as the audience know that it's going to be okay. I know when I watch Bleach that Ichigo is never going to die. He's just not. He'll get beaten up, resolve to get stronger, go through a training montage, and then beat the person who originally beat him up. Rinse and repeat ad nauseum. But I still watch and enjoy it, as do many other people.

It's good not to overuse your plot lines or overtly telegraph where a story line is going- you shouldn't outright tell your audience "this dude will never lose, ever"- but you can get away with a lot so long as the characters are likable. And saving the girl doesn't have to be clean or without consequence. Even if he does make it in time and ultimately saves her, she could still be wounded or traumatized by the event. Maybe he contemplates ending the relationship because his enemies are targeting her and she wouldn't have to be saved all the time if it wasn't for him. Meanwhile, she thinks this is bullshit and is ready to do whatever it takes- even surviving the tortures of the big bad- if that means they stay together. Or a reversal of that where she wants to leave but he swears to keep her safe. Or maybe one or both of them develop some strange kinks around the whole ordeal. There's a lot of room to make the danger salient and pervasive without having it have to ultimately end in death and despair.



Grimm Hund said:


> Or say the hero failed and his love interest dies. Would that make for a more impactful story even if there was an entire sub-plot devoted to their romance?


I would be _very_ careful with this, as it is a very old trope and can be extremely frustrating for the reader, especially if the love interest is a woman. Media has a long and storied tradition of killing off the woman in order to motivate the main character in some way. Just think of James Bond. There are always 3 women in bond films: the chick he's banging in the beginning who never shows up again, the woman who dies in the middle to spur him to action, and the one he rides off into the sunset with at the end of the movie. It is something that has been done to death. Or killing off their gays for _~drama~_.  Just... please don't.

If it makes sense for your story, go for it. Sometimes characters have to die for the plot in your head. Sometimes, it just makes sense that the hero wouldn't get there in time, or choose to save a multitude of others instead of just their lover, or simply be unable to do what they would need to do to save them.  And if it's an honest death, it will be impactful without being annoying to your audience. But if you're just doing it for the DUN DUN DUN! moment, then it will likely read as forced or hollow.  Death doesn't automatically make things more deep or interesting. As with anything, it depends on how you use it.


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## Grimm Hund (Feb 8, 2018)

I think I like the approach where he does save her, but it will be a challenge for him.
Coincidentally, I seem to have gone with the 'God among Men' approach like writers do for Superman, but like the Kryptonian hero, my protagonist isn't infallible. He could still be holding back all this time, not wanting to hurt her. The moment this major challenge comes along to threaten her life, he steps up his game and realizes that the only way she could come out of this alive is if he stopped holding back, as if he unleashed his power.
After that, there could be a little tension in the relationship. Is he too dangerous? Will she always be targeted like this? Of course, it could end with her not caring what it takes to love him or even a kinky resolution as he shows a little of that restrained power under the bed-sheets that drives her wild.


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## Grimm Hund (Feb 8, 2018)

I've thought about it and I've personally grown too attached to this character after all I've done building a slow and believable romance between them just to kill her off for motivation or shock-factor. I can't do it. She's very likable and I want her to be around for my protagonist.


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## ellaerna (Feb 8, 2018)

Grimm Hund said:


> I've thought about it and I've personally grown too attached to this character after all I've done building a slow and believable romance between them just to kill her off for motivation or shock-factor. I can't do it. She's very likable and I want her to be around for my protagonist.


And that's perfectly valid! Nothing should be done _just_ to drive the plot or give the audience a shock. It should all make sense in the world that you are building.


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## Grimm Hund (Feb 8, 2018)

ellaerna said:


> And that's perfectly valid! Nothing should be done _just_ to drive the plot or give the audience a shock. It should all make sense in the world that you are building.


If you're curious, look at the two characters in my profile icon. The male is the story protagonist and he's holding the love interest in question. They're currently engaged and a nice continuation of the plot would be for them to actually marry and not kill her off.  Look at them being adorable!


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## ResolutionBlaze (Feb 8, 2018)

The fact that so much time and devotion was put into a subplot only to kill a person off makes that killing off that much more impactful.

At the same time though you don't wanna go killing off people to have impact.  You want their deaths to be unexpected or impactful, but not_ cheap_ if that makes sense.  You want a character's death to feel earned, in a way.

I'd say it depends on what you want.  If you want a story to take a darker twist, kill the loved one off, and dig deep into the psychology thereof, stages of grief, and how the hero copes with it... if he ever does.  Perhaps it goes into an Injustice situation, where Superman is tricked by Scarecrow's fear toxin to kill Louis and her unborn child, then kills the Joker for putting it all together, which by his death triggers a bomb that blows up the entire of Metropolis.  That shit brought Superman so far down that he became a tyrant in the Injustice universe in order to prevent anything like that from ever happening again.  Of course, your character doesn't need to go into a whole turn-villain scenario, BUT it's always interesting to see the hero doubt not only their ability but themselves.  Is anything worth fighting for anymore if the one love I swore to protect is dead at my feet?  Investigate that if you go down that path!


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## reptile logic (Feb 10, 2018)

OK, I'll drop a nugget: Once grief has done taking its share, everything is worth fighting for. It can start with fighting for a quick end to existence. If the protagonist somehow survives this, then purpose may reveal itself. Grow into this feeling a kinship to a cause.

Or do something completely different.


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## dragon-in-sight (Feb 10, 2018)

I don't think that it is a good idea to mix both of these. I always hated this in hollywood films like pearl habour for exemple. Dramatic and Romance both invoke contradicting feelings. So you are inevitably pulled out of the flow when putting them abreast. I would suggest to set a focus on one aspect and deepen it.


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## Grimm Hund (Feb 12, 2018)

dragon-in-sight said:


> I would suggest to set a focus on one aspect and deepen it.


I'm thinking that I'll stay with the romance since I've started the story with these two characters in an update of their relationship since my last story. These two are main characters now, and while something dramatic will happen, the overall theme will still be romance.
She's not going to be killed off so my protagonist could brood over it like Batman on a rooftop. I'm keeping her around so that overcoming an obstacle like this makes their relationship stronger.

On a slightly related note, I agree with that there's a disconnect in the Pearl Harbor movie. 'Let's pause all the action and drama in this major catastrophe to focus on this couple that may or may not survive the event.'

In contrast, my story starts with these two living every day life and exploring one another in the relationship as their connection grows. The moment will come that he has to step up and let loose. At that point, he's becoming a Superman, but he's doing it as long as he has a Lois Lane to fight for.


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