- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
For any story idea revolving around a killer tournament where to lose is to die.
I've heard these called a number of names, like 'Elimination Game', 'Survival Game', 'Battle Royale' a bit confusingly, 'Killing Game' (though that last one's more linked with Danganronpa specifically), but 'Death Game' is the term I'm going with here for clarity's sake.
Death Games have been around since, well, the Roman Colosseum at least, but in modern times the two most genre-establishing examples are probably Highlander and Battle Royale, so much that any other Death Game series has probably been called a rip-off of either of these at some point. I won't be going that far obviously, but but I do think Death Games can broadly be separated into the mystical Highlander-style, where you find Fate/stay night, Kamen Rider Ryuki, and X/1999, and the dystopian Battle Royale-style, where you find Hunger Games, Danganronpa, and most famously these days Squid Game.
Also, Goosebumps of all series had a Death Game book (The Beast from the East).
While Magical Girls are defined mainly by aesthetic and theme, and Isekai by a plot starter and to a lesser extent certain tropes as of late (both two genres we've had general Ideas Threads for), Death Games are defined by their plot structure first off, meaning they're a little more limited by nature. However, an overall plot of 'players gradually kill each other off till one (theoretically) remains' is still broad enough that it gives you quite a bit of leeway to mix things up.
My completed Quest, Persona: The Beautiful, and longest incomplete Quest, Danganronpa Showa, were both Death Games. Think part of the reason why is because the structure of the Death Game helps create a clear plot progression and inherent tension, both helping to get around plot block and keep up reader interest (er, and hopefully not for any other reason in my case~).
Now with Showa it came with the series, but with P:TB I wanted to try out a Death Game in a series that hadn't really had them (tournaments yes, death games no, though the wider SMT has with Digital Devil Saga). My original idea was for 21 characters (for each Arcana except World) to all fight each other, but I scaled it down to a more standard six.
As for any future Death Game ideas I have, Ar Tonelico: Elegy of Sacrifice is my main one, though I've stalled on it since the extensive lore and physics of the Ar Tonelico series can make writing in that setting... daunting, at least for me (have written up a rough prologue though). Given the Knight and Lady dynamic you tend to see with Vanguards and Reyvateils in those games and their post-apocalyptic setting, a 'tournament gone wrong' might be fitting.
I also have ideas for a X/1999 fic, though with a new set of Dragons of Heaven and Earth. While they'll still be in Tokyo, I do like the idea of widening the lore by having other major cities have their own Dragons, even if Tokyo takes priority because of its population.
While I could elaborate, I think just over 500 words is good enough for a starter post
I've heard these called a number of names, like 'Elimination Game', 'Survival Game', 'Battle Royale' a bit confusingly, 'Killing Game' (though that last one's more linked with Danganronpa specifically), but 'Death Game' is the term I'm going with here for clarity's sake.
Death Games have been around since, well, the Roman Colosseum at least, but in modern times the two most genre-establishing examples are probably Highlander and Battle Royale, so much that any other Death Game series has probably been called a rip-off of either of these at some point. I won't be going that far obviously, but but I do think Death Games can broadly be separated into the mystical Highlander-style, where you find Fate/stay night, Kamen Rider Ryuki, and X/1999, and the dystopian Battle Royale-style, where you find Hunger Games, Danganronpa, and most famously these days Squid Game.
Also, Goosebumps of all series had a Death Game book (The Beast from the East).
While Magical Girls are defined mainly by aesthetic and theme, and Isekai by a plot starter and to a lesser extent certain tropes as of late (both two genres we've had general Ideas Threads for), Death Games are defined by their plot structure first off, meaning they're a little more limited by nature. However, an overall plot of 'players gradually kill each other off till one (theoretically) remains' is still broad enough that it gives you quite a bit of leeway to mix things up.
My completed Quest, Persona: The Beautiful, and longest incomplete Quest, Danganronpa Showa, were both Death Games. Think part of the reason why is because the structure of the Death Game helps create a clear plot progression and inherent tension, both helping to get around plot block and keep up reader interest (er, and hopefully not for any other reason in my case~).
Now with Showa it came with the series, but with P:TB I wanted to try out a Death Game in a series that hadn't really had them (tournaments yes, death games no, though the wider SMT has with Digital Devil Saga). My original idea was for 21 characters (for each Arcana except World) to all fight each other, but I scaled it down to a more standard six.
As for any future Death Game ideas I have, Ar Tonelico: Elegy of Sacrifice is my main one, though I've stalled on it since the extensive lore and physics of the Ar Tonelico series can make writing in that setting... daunting, at least for me (have written up a rough prologue though). Given the Knight and Lady dynamic you tend to see with Vanguards and Reyvateils in those games and their post-apocalyptic setting, a 'tournament gone wrong' might be fitting.
I also have ideas for a X/1999 fic, though with a new set of Dragons of Heaven and Earth. While they'll still be in Tokyo, I do like the idea of widening the lore by having other major cities have their own Dragons, even if Tokyo takes priority because of its population.
While I could elaborate, I think just over 500 words is good enough for a starter post
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