Why I Didn’t Kill Either of my Heroes’ Parents (In Fantasy!)

*Gasp* A fantasy book where both the hero’s parents are still alive!? What is this craziness? And not only one, but both characters have a living mom and dad? Yes, I broke with the usual tradition of having orphaned main characters. (At least, in this project…) Why did I do that? Especially because none of said living parents are in the book for very long? I’m so glad you asked. 😁

I did it because while killing off parents can be a great way to add that backstory drive most fantasy characters need, it has also become the easy way out. Everyone has dead parents at this point. And I believe that there are better ways to create emotionally developed and yes, traumatized and driven characters without murdering people. 

For example (I’m going to toot my own horn here for a minute, so please forgive me, I promise I’ll use examples from other books). In my book, Tiger Lily, all four parents of my two MCs are alive. But I still use them to create a drive and emotional change in my characters. 

Lily Maverik. Two parents. She’s much closer to her dad than her mom, because she has this little problem called, “I turn into a tiger and can’t control it.” Yeah. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Anyway, I thought it would be fun (author’s dark humor, just roll with it) if instead of having a dead family, Lily’s parental units give her up. As a sixteen year old. Yup, that’s a lot of trauma. But the best part is, neither of them really want to. They just don’t know what else to do. So it’s even more heartbreaking than if they were just murdered. 

Jason Strike. Two parents. Similar situation, but I did make this a bit less traumatizing. Or more, depending on where you’re standing. His parents gave him up when he was five after he accidentally injured his dad and his baby sister turning into a snow leopard. Ok so maybe it was more traumatizing. But before they gave him up, his parents basically quarantined him from his baby sister, because they were terrified of what he might do to her by accident. I haven’t met a perfectly mature five year old yet –have you? So his parents gave him up as well, knowing full well that they would never see him again. That was one of the terms. Lily’s parents were under the impression that they at least had the possibility of talking to Lily. Albeit very infrequently. 

I have to be honest, my last character of the trio has dead parents. Shyra’s parents died from malaria in Africa when she was twelve, trying to cure their village. And their daughter was right beside them, working furiously to help. They inspired their child, who went to live with her aunt and cousins, to be a doctor just like them. So technically, yes, I killed her parents to create drive. (It sounds so cold when you say it like that) But she doesn’t carry around deep guilt or pain or anything like that. Does that make it a little better? Yes? No? Maybe? 

A final example from a work that is not my own. Percy Jackson. Technically, the guy has two living parents. Spoiler alert, Percy is a demigod, so he has a mortal parent and a godly parent. So technically, both parents are alive. And his mom is fantastic, absolutely amazing, the most supportive mother ever!  It makes it even better that Percy has a caring mom, because instead of creating drive or east development, this gives him the chance to be a character who calls his mom right after he finishes a fight. Amazing, right!?

So to recap: Killing your main character’s parents is not, I repeat NOT, always the best choice. Pretty frequently, it’s the easy way out, and I believe you can come up with some far more interesting and creative ways to use the parents. Maybe they’re a crazy artist who lives in the woods and paints all day while their child is out saving the world, but they’re rooting for them the whole time. Maybe they work as a pilot and are gone from home all the time and they try to make up for it by bringing home presents and lots of love and affection, but their kid still has abandonment issues. I believe in you! You can do this!!!