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Death Trap

Disciplines > Storytelling > Story Devices > Death Trap

Description | Example | Discussion | See also

Description

The villain of the piece devises a fiendish machine that will kill the hero slowly.

The villain may then leave the scene, giving the hero the opportunity to escape.

Example

The hero is strapped to a block of wood that is being slowly sawn in two by a giant saw.

The victim is tied to a mill-wheel that is slowly moving towards the water.

The hero is chained to the atomic bomb that is counting down to destroy the city.

Discussion

The villain does not just shoot the hero, because that would be boring and would end up with a dead hero. Instead they have masochistic tendencies that lead them to much moustache-twirling and evil laughing (ha-ha-ha-ha!!!) as they pull levers and press big red buttons.

This scenario is so comic that it often appears in comic book stories where melodrama is used as a substitute for subtle plot.

See also

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Site Menu

| Home | Top | Quick Links | Settings |

Main sections: | Disciplines | Techniques | Principles | Explanations | Theories |

Other sections: | Blog! | Quotes | Guest articles | Analysis | Books | Help |

More pages: | Contact | Caveat | About | Students | Webmasters | Awards | Guestbook | Feedback | Sitemap | Changes |

Settings: | Computer layout | Mobile layout | Small font | Medium font | Large font | Translate |

Please help and share:

Quick links

Disciplines

* Argument
* Brand management
* Change Management
* Coaching
* Communication
* Counseling
* Game Design
* Human Resources
* Job-finding
* Leadership
* Marketing
* Politics
* Propaganda
* Rhetoric
* Negotiation
* Psychoanalysis
* Sales
* Sociology
* Storytelling
* Teaching
* Warfare
* Workplace design

Techniques

* Assertiveness
* Body language
* Change techniques
* Closing techniques
* Conversation
* Confidence tricks
* Conversion
* Creative techniques
* General techniques
* Happiness
* Hypnotism
* Interrogation
* Language
* Listening
* Negotiation tactics
* Objection handling
* Propaganda
* Problem-solving
* Public speaking
* Questioning
* Using repetition
* Resisting persuasion
* Self-development
* Sequential requests
* Storytelling
* Stress Management
* Tipping
* Using humor
* Willpower

Principles

Explanations

* Behaviors
* Beliefs
* Brain stuff
* Conditioning
* Coping Mechanisms
* Critical Theory
* Culture
* Decisions
* Emotions
* Evolution
* Gender
* Games
* Groups
* Habit
* Identity
* Learning
* Meaning
* Memory
* Motivation
* Models
* Needs
* Personality
* Power
* Preferences
* Research
* Relationships
* SIFT Model
* Social Research
* Stress
* Trust
* Values

Theories

* Alphabetic list
* Theory types

And

– About
– Guest Articles
– Blog!
– Books
– Changes
– Contact
– Guestbook
– Quotes
– Students
– Webmasters

| Home | Top | Menu | Quick Links |

© Changing Works 2002-
Massive Content — Maximum Speed