Let's say there was a story Let's say story had nine main characters three of whom were POC. Two of which were black woman. (besides them You have a dragon man, A dwarf, A Lesbian couple, a redhead queen, and the little sister of a trash hero) Let's say by the end of said story one of said black woman was the leader of a military group with a presence in every nation on the continent. The other once had died, Sacrificing her life spectacularly to save the rest of them.

Is this racist?

None of the white characters die though the redhead queen did get hideously and permanently disfigured.

I'm a straight white male, so take that into consideration as you read my post.

It's literally only racist if you're doing one of these things: Making the character successful because of their race. Killing off the character because of their race.

Unless it has a reason in the story. Like in The Hunger Games, Roo is from a district of only black people. They are intentionally segregated, and her death angers Katniss for a reason. Her race plays a role in her character, but is not the whole focus.

There's been some intense debate over diversification for diversification's sake lately in the gaming community. Do we include people who are different just because they are different or do we include them because they make the story better? I think inclusion to simply make it seem more diverse is more offensive than inclusion because there's a reason for it.

But, again, straight, white, middle class male here.

The best creative advice I have is this;

Don't be afraid to just add "diverse" characters. Shia LeBouf that shit and 'JUST DO IT.' Avoid harmful stereotypes, avoid racial pitfalls.

Just don't tell our stories, especially if you're not exceedingly knowledgeable about the experiences of said group or if it makes you uncomfortable.

Idk how just adding a black character is more harmful tbh. There's no reason given for most characters being white, why is there suddenly a need to justify someone being black, gay, or trans? It literally wouldn't add or take away from...anything? Especially in any new game IP

It takes away exclusively if it's blatantly pandering.

This argument is not a good one because this assumes the only character who doesn't need to be justified is a straight white male, as if this were the "default" for all humans. Do you see people of different races irl and assume we must be there as a plot device or to benefit the story of those around us? If a story doesn't have anything to do with race, the characters can be of any race. And including them casually is important, because they are just as normal as the straight white male characters. There is no actual reason to exclude us, it only feels that way because we are so normalized to think straight white men are the "default" characters in fiction. It is not offensive just to include diversity for the sake of diversity, it should be the norm to have diverse characters.

As for OP, I don't think anything in your plot summary is racist. I think, like any story poorly written, it has the potential to be offensive, but it also has the potential to be great! I'd say write it first and then get many people to look over it if you're still worried. Avoiding stereotypes is always a good way to start.

Everything is racist to someone.

The only people that think things are racist are the ones looking for it.

I don't know if you're still looking for input on this, but I'm black and the Death Question is something that I've struggled with a lot.

My original ideas for my story centered around the deaths of a lot of characters, but as time went on I started to consider if it was even necessary; a lot of these characters were LGBT poc, and the thing about the death of an LGBT character or a character of color is that, no matter how incredible or cunning the death is, it's adding to a humongous pile of already existing deaths of LGBT characters and characters of color.

The thing is, you want people to get attached to your characters, and if these characters represent people who aren't usually seen in media, let alone seen in a positive way, then people are going to get especially attached, because they are finally seeing people, likable people, who are like themselves-- not villains, not caricatures, but beautiful, multifaceted people. And when they die, it will not be an incredible plot twist, it'll just be taking away that positive light from those people.

One of the better ways I've heard it put is that there's a difference between a plot twist that's painful in a good way, and that sucks you further into the story, and a plot twist that's painful in a way that hits too close to home, that makes you want to not continue the story, like with The 100 killing off its canon lesbian characters.

It's also not much of a plot twist, because it's been done thousands of times, thousands of ways. I know I've already written a lot, but this post on tumblr really summed it up very nicely. Once I came to terms with the fact that I was just using an idea that I personally wasn't even very invested in, I found that it was harder and more fulfilling to consider other ways in which that story might unfold. Which isn't to say that you won't find that this death works best for your story!! These are all just things to consider.

I know I wrote a lot, but I hope that it was helpful!!

How is having a character that sacrifices themselves heroically racist...? What the hell even.

I was wondering the same thing myself; what's described is an act of heroism, which is a positive portrayal of the character, so I don't see how racism would be an issue there.

this is a little late, but I couldn't resist adding my two cents. >.<

I think your question probably has a few...layers here.

Anytime you write a character you run into the opportunity to write harmful stereotypes; this is increased when writing any race/ethnicity/sexuality/etc. that isn't directly your experience. I firmly believe it's why writers need a community around them where they can freely ask questions and get honest feedback; preferably a diverse community. I think it's splitting hairs here to ask if harmful stereotypes (specifically: killing off your minority characters) is just a harmful stereotype or if it's racist.

I am not a WOC myself. What I am, is an ally who is incorporating racial/ethnic/sexual diversity into my in-progress novel. It's taking me longer to write because I have to stop and research things and get opinions and push myself as a writer not to fall into the trap of easy stereotypes.

And I think, more than anything, that's what you're going to have to do here. Is it outright a Bad Idea TM to kill off one of your leads who is a WOC? No. is it an outright Good Idea TM? Possibly not. More than anything I think you're going to need to address some of the following questions.

1. Is this absolutely necessary? This is something worth asking anytime you are considering killing off a major character. Is this for effect? Is there an ACTUAL plot reason someone has to die? Can you try something more interesting? What if your character has to choose exile instead of death? Knowing that this person is alive but can never come home is powerful. It severs her relationships, it means she's either facing a life of hermitude or, at the very least, a life away from her loved ones. It opens up a lot future plot potential. What if she sacrifices her sanity instead of her life? The killing-off-ur-fave trope is pretty tired, no matter WHO you're killing.

2. Are you writing these diverse characters with intention? Are you crafting real people who have real flaws? Killing off a walking stereotype will have less effect because if you've written her poorly odds are you've already lost your audience long before her Heroic Sacrifice TM.

3. As said so well, I think the larger scope of this is - do you really want to hurt/infuriate readers? A well-written WOC, or someone on the sexual or neurodiverse spectrums or any minority at all is pretty darn rare -- especially as a lead. You're asking your readers to invest in your characters, and as someone on the asexual spectrum I would automatically and willingly give my heart over to a leading ace. It's more damaging to these populations when you snuff out one of the few representations they ever get to see- and I think that's why there's such an outcry when it happens. If you kill of Straight White People TM it's not such a big deal because they're everywhere, in just about every story. You can just go find another book to read to soothe your feels or whatever.

So the TL;DR is to just make sure you know what your goal is as an author, the requirements of your story, and maintain an awareness of your audience. If you're intentional about what you're doing and the reasons for it, this is something that you can definitely pull off. I think you just really need to consider whether or not it's something that you should do.

I'm dark skinned mixed race (and queer, since that's become relevant in the discussion), and I've put a lot of thought into this sort of thing as a writer and a fan. Basically, you shouldn't be afraid to have minority characters suffer and die for plot relevant reasons just like so many straight white characters do, it isn't necessarily racist. However, the issue I've felt is that it's USUALLY the minority character that dies. There's always very few of us, and they're usually disposable. And then the stories that are about minorities tend to be about them suffering and dying. Especially with black and queer people everything is either stereotype fuled comedy, or gritty tragedy. The result is I rarely see characters like me who get to be happy, alive, and taken seriously. It's always a pick one situation, and that does serious damage to people's self esteem. The flip side to this ends up being the special snowflake treatment where any minority character is by default the coolest and toughest and most idolizable. Which is almost equally dehumanizing. So to sum it up, no. Having a black character die heroically is not racist, unless you're choosing to kill her because she's black. It still hurts though, and the fewer POC characters there are in the story the more it hurts. But having her live purely because she's black does feel alienating. At this point things are just more complicated than weather or not it's racist, so I'd say follow Maven's advice have diverse proofreaders give their opinions on it.

......But how, exactly, do you determine that something is pandering? I've never actually seen any work in which I felt a character's race, gender or sexuality constituted "pandering" but I've seen virtually EVERY work accused of it by somebody or other.

I think it's a complaint as wholly meaningless as it is run into the dirt.

......But how, exactly, do you determine that something is pandering? I've never actually seen any work in which I felt a character's race, gender or sexuality constituted "pandering" but I've seen virtually EVERY work accused of it by somebody or other.

I think it's a complaint as wholly meaningless as it is run into the dirt.

To your point, I can't say I've seen it in a book or story I've been interested enough to read or consume, either. Definitely not ones with any critical acclaim.

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