How to Use Plot Armor in Stories (Writing Advice)

[@vtuberclipamikiri8842]

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]

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]

​@@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]

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

[@anthonyscheibmeir2444]

That is actually genius

[@siegfriedmordrake3229]

This idea is just BRILLIANT

[@taragnor]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[@LordBaktor]

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".

[@aaronbeckett0714]

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]

Or dogs.

[@MightyDrakeC]

VivaLaDirtLeague Kids in games are indestructible kzbin.info/www/bejne/nabXdHeuf7ppna8

[@pehpunkthahpunkt4179]

"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]

hahahahaha

[@vilandellys8825]

And Alfred Hitchcock as well.

[@innocuousalias6632]

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]

@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]

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

[@alkristopher]

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]

Great example.

[@travishill3711]

Nuking the fridge stretches the believability of the Indy franchise

[@trevorclive]

To be fair, they don't make fridges like they used to.

[@neilkurzman4907]

@@trevorclive Also, to be fair, they don’t use lead in refrigerators anymore

[@RafaelSilva1981]

The franchise died before that movie. :)

[@reginaldforthright805]

No it was the awful cg, Blanchets haircut, the snot-nosed brat, and the stupid aliens.

[@wombat6]

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]

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]

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

[@wombat6]

@@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]

@@lqlaliut897I was thinking that.

[@AnotherDuck]

That’s also a good example of lampshading.

[@BoredTAK5000]

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]

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

[@mrmacross]

@@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]

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]

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

[@Kmadden2004]

@@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?

[@themadhatter3989]

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]

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

[@mishatsaritsyn4843]

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.

[@marvcollins7842]

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]

LOL Hilarious

[@dawidwidera1819]

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.

[@alexp6712]

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.

[@n00bplayer72]

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]

Truly a Joseph moment

[@personunknown491]

Is that a Jojo reference 💀

[@quiltzgamingyt237]

Joseph vs Ultimate Lifeform Kars be like:

[@RaphaelPowery]

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.

[@Dark_Peace]

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.

[@markfreenick]

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]

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

[@markfreenick]

@@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.

[@brianedwards7142]

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.

[@idawizard]

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]

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

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

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

[@brianedwards7142]

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]

The entire Star Wars sequel trilogy.

[@lqlaliut897]

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

[@demondog45]

@@coreymyers5613 "Somehow, Palpatine returned."

[@malvoliosf]

@@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.

[@onlythatonetime]

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]

What's JRRM?

[@officiallydeadchannel886]

​@@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]

At least I'm assuming the comment is about him

[@onlythatonetime]

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

[@jerbganderwood8433]

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)

[@JosephSchneider26]

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]

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]

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

[@LoudWaffle]

@@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! 🤡

[@pitchforker3304]

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

[@leolightfellow]

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.

[@TMtheScratcher]

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!

[@Gruzbee]

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]

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]

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]

but you can still make the main POV character suffer

[@unintendedmango5825]

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]

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?

[@doomofthedestiny8065]

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...

[@H.P.Loveshack]

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.

[@greenmarble638]

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.

[@darksquirrel7436]

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

[@PatMcAnn]

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]

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

[@peregrine.somerville]

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.

[@darktitan4906]

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]

Power of Friendship :)

[@tbhgodrick6120]

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

[@Blackmuseops]

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!

[@ConradSpoke]

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]

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

[@lupo5586]

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]

@@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]

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]

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.

[@nqabayomuzikhulilekamangwe2690]

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

[@MynameisS_A]

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

[@galfisk]

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.

[@RoxanaLine]

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 KZbin). 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! :)

[@Maerahn]

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]

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]

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]

​@@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]

@@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]

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

[@Strakester]

Plot armor makes much more sense when you realize (or subtly remind the reader) that stories are written and retold because they are noteworthy, and being noteworthy means being atypical. If you have a million people, and one person wins the lottery, it doesn't mean everyone wins the lottery -- it means the person who won the lottery is going to have a story to tell, precisely because not everyone wins the lottery. So if you have a story where crazy unlikely things happen to some character -- well, maybe that's why you're telling a story about this character, and not some other character. Kind of related to idea #5, it's how I've learned to see things.

[@steveleeart]

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!

[@Nulify-jc4fs]

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]

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]

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

[@pehpunkthahpunkt4179]

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.

[@OratoryJamesIV]

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]

Darn, I knew I was smart to avoid that movie

[@laurentv.6631]

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

[@mageprometheus]

Great. Added more stuff to my plot armour note.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Glad it helped!

[@Jonaelize]

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

[@valentinegonsalves7322]

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.

[@smorsnbread1002]

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

[@nicholasmcconnell7883]

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.

[@c704710]

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

[@CJ_1406]

Thanks for covering this!

[@1012-v9r]

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).

[@nikagogibedashvili6476]

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

[@Mysticmegster1]

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]

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

[@lexietalionis]

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

[@damien_writer]

Super informative and helpful as always. Thanks Brandon!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks!

[@wynautwarrior2161]

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]

Good luck with your webcomic. 💯

[@brianedwards7142]

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

[@jdunnatl]

So true! Love that movie.

[@brianedwards7142]

@@jdunnatl It's delightfully preposterous.

[@ronaldbell7429]

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.

[@Piccadilli017]

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]

Thank you!

[@-Miguelzim-]

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

[@FrankCosbyNo-Relation]

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

[@Suiiiivlaki]

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.

[@billowspillow]

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.

[@bramijdema759]

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.

[@robbiej3642]

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

[@thebiologist8662]

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]

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

[@MonsterMasterFightingLucario]

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.

[@brozy5720]

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]

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

[@Guy_With_A_Laser]

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).

[@thabangpatiko9869]

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

[@markmarkel5120]

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

[@ronaldbell7429]

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.

[@Guywithnonamereviews]

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

[@Gnardonic_2]

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.

[@TroySpace]

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.

[@nima314]

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

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

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

[@parkourbee2]

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]

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?

[@atteheikkinen]

Hey Brandon! It would be great to see a video on how to grasp turning a synopsis into a full book. Meaning, if I can summarize a story idea in a couple of sentences, how do I stretch it all out to fill 300 pages? 😅 I'm a copywriter at an ad agency and my job is sort of the opposite. As I'm used to effective brevity being key, I find the idea of stretching things out overwhelming.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks for the request! I'll think this over and see if I can come up with something

[@atteheikkinen]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty thanks! :) I'm trying to figure out some of it myself: picked up Memory Man by David Baldacci specifically for this study purpose: After each chapter I'm writing down what that specific chapter achieved and sort of how much time it takes in universe. It really helps me "zoom out" and see the story on a macro level while I'm reading the micro.

[@mrsturtevant1]

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

[@isabellepiette7328]

Good advice, as always! Could we have a video on epilogues? How to do them right? That would be awesome. Thanks!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Good idea! I'll add that to my request list

[@deckardcanine]

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.

[@MattBellzminion]

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.

[@seanmurphy7011]

How to write plot armor: have other stakes besides the protagonist's life or death. The end.

[@Ryan-lr9gw]

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

[@jawstrock2215]

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".

[@Ari-jj9op]

In Supernatural Castiel was all armor since he's an angel. They had to literally either make him human or later on make his powers 'lessen' in certain situations by saying he was 'temporarily closed off to heaven'. It was quite a dance but they managed to pull it off over the years.

[@margaretwordnerd5210]

Plus there was the episode revealing that Chuck had plot-armored the brothers all along. Because Chuck was angry, that protection was withdrawn. The Winchesters fought for their lives, but also dealt with allergies, indigestion, car troubles, and their credit cards being rejected.

[@Ari-jj9op]

@@margaretwordnerd5210 Yes. Really hated 'Chuck' at the end.

[@blaustein_autor]

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.]

[@seanmoore7436]

Thank you. I couldn't catch the name of the movie about the Finland man in WW II. I need to visualize it in type in order to search for it. Thank you for answering me a while ago about Pinch Points.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

You’re welcome! And Sisu was a fun movie. Hope you enjoy it

[@yotamdelazerda8455]

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]

The movie 1917 is a great example of this.

[@blshouse]

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]

Danganronpa V3 does exactly that

[@dawnkravagna3200]

Another excellent video.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks!

[@steveleeart]

The prequels to Star Trek, especially Strange New Worlds, has plot armour for several of its characters: Pike, Spock, Uhura, M’Benga, Chapel, Scotty… cause they all show up in TOS.

[@MatrixQ]

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]

@@danieljeyn9847What do you mean?

[@danieljeyn9847]

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

[@MatrixQ]

@@danieljeyn9847Oh, ok. :)

[@h.ar.2937]

Hey Brandon I have a question: What are good examples of movies (or stories) where we get to know a character's inner thoughts without it being too cliche/riddled with exposition? I was thinking of having the character narrate, but I am not sure. Personally, I feel like it cheapens things - for example like the Blade Runner cut where Harrison Ford's character is narrating the movie. Not sure if you already made a video on that, I don't think I found it

[@notsostealthmission5184]

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

[@qbertq1]

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.

[@DravenWolfe]

The movie US Marshals with Tommy Lee Jones. that airplane crash at the beginning just killed the movie for me. It was just so ridiculous. I always try to be wary of plot armor when it comes to my own books, And put my characters through realistic situations. But I do have writer's armor, Or I just tried to avoid killing characters I like, lol. Which, Unless it serves The plot, most characters will survive.

[@grizzly_manbanimation8436]

I think the worst case of plot armor I’ve seen, and I know I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this, is Korra from LOK. In the first season Amon has korra at his mercy but chooses not to take her ability to bend. Why did he not do it? Because it make her a martyr. Why would that make someone like Amon restrain himself? He was established as a man who wouldn’t hesitate in the beginning. Don’t get me wrong I like legend of korra as well as the character korra it’s just in that one instance it made no sense as to why the villain spared her.

[@DatsWhatXiSaid]

When 3 important characters and a red shirt go exploring an alien planet.

[@ronaldbell7429]

That's just occupational hazard ;)

[@AdelShaheen-cr6mh]

Hey Brandon, I haven't seen alot of videos discussing the genius of the villain character Omni Man in the show Invincible. I'd really love to see a video on him or even invincible himself!

[@ezioblazesit9017]

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.

[@DarkTider]

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."

[@JamesLavrakas]

A fun example of plot armor that comes to mind is from Pulp Fiction when Vincent and Jules get shot at in the living room and survive. And then Vincent is affected by it for a while after it happens. And then I think of a silly example in the last Fast and the Furious X when Roman is convinced he is invincible and can't die. That was pretty amusing.

[@alexp6712]

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]

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

[@geraldfrost4710]

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.