Do dead characters stay dead for you?

[jdb1984]

I'm curious to hear how many of you restart a chapter because of one death, and how many of you just continue on without him/her? Also mention if there's special circumstances that have you make the decision one way or the other.

[Othin]

Depends on the game. I avoid resets in FE8 and TRS to keep the game interesting, but I avoid it in the harder ones, like FE13 and Berwick Saga. And I don't really play the other games anymore anyway.

[Celice]

When I first started, I didn't really allow them for the sake of trudging through. My own team rarely died, but sometimes new characters who just joined didn't hold up as well and they'd get shot down--I'd restart to just keep them in the roster. I also used to not use any good weapons because Iron weapons sufficed for everything (end-game chapters became a spam of all sorts of high-rank weapons).

Now, after completing basically every game at least twice, I don't care if other characters die because I know what relation they'll have to the rest of the game's plot. I still restart if one of my team members go down, but maybe one day I'll try and play with perma-death as an actual feature.

[I.M. Gei]

Depends; sometimes I just can't be assed to restart a chapter if I don't give a crap about the unit who died, and other times a unit I was training died (and thus I restart).

[Ema Skye]

If I don't care about the unit, like if I don't want to pair them in FE4 (Briggid and Tiltyu for example), I don't care if they die (or I'll just let them sacrifice themselves against the Meteor Sages in Ch.5), I just let them stay dead.

[Integrity]

Depends; sometimes I just can't be assed to restart a chapter if I don't give a crap about the unit who died, and other times a unit I like died (and thus I restart).

I have a feeling that this is going to be a very common answer.

It's just mixed. If Roger bites it in an FEDS run who cares; if Catria does the same I reset.

[Cain Magnus]

For me, it depends on the situation and the character. If it's one of my absolute favorites or desired unit(s) I seriously want to train for the playthrough, I'll restart. If I'm WAY too far into the chapter, I'll keep going...IF the chapter is too frustrating. I'd even let one of my favorites die on rare occasions if it's that bad. Perfect example:

In my recent FE10 HM run, I had no choice but to move on in chapter 3-11 (The great bridge) after Gatrie was mobbed by two Warriors/Halberdiers and then killed right after by a Silver Bow Sniper who landed an 8% critical hit. Why? Everyone and their mama crossed ALL the traps and I was ready to kill the boss/seize and several units nearly got perfect level ups...and I was going to lose all that time and effort if I restarted. As much as I'm not a fan of Armored Knights, Gatrie is an exception...but I had to let him go because not only for the reasons already stated, but it was also my fault for getting cocky with a tank...so I had to suffer for it.

So yeah. Summed up: Depends on the situation. But generally, I try to keep everyone alive as much as possible.

[Specta]

Depends on the playthrough. I decide before each playthrough whether I'm going with final death or not. ^^

[Thor Odinson]

Generally I reset when a character dies because I feel I could rework the strategy for the chapter better, or it happened because of a misclick. Then there's FE11 Gaiden runs and some special runs where I'll just move on.

[Quintessence]

If I'm training a unit and it dies because I got unlucky with a crappy 2% crt, of course I'll restart. I never let any unit die on casual play throughs.

But in drafts, if any undrafted/free unit dies (except lords of course), then bye bye.

However there are occasions were I have to let them go, like Ashera OHKOing Sothe, or ORKOing Gareth because he wasn't in a wardwood tile, or killing Kyza because other spirits with 50-70% hit dealt him dmg.

[marcus90]

Shit stays dead. Gold has to live on. In ranked, shit is used not.

[Raven the Obsidian]

Like most people, it depends for me. If I've made good enough progress, and I didn't care enough about the unit, I'll let it slide, albeit reluctantly. If I have a strong intention to use that unit though, then I'll reset regardless. Though, in Shadow Dragon, I couldn't care less about deaths unless the character in question is strictly meant to be part of my team...

[I don't play for turns]

I almost never let characters die. The exceptions:

FE8 chapter 15 Knoll.

FE10/11 insignificant characters when they die on a relatively level.

I've also let characters die if they aren't that good, they die on a tough level, and they die when I'm close to winning.

[Kon]

I never let my units die, even if I don't really like them or I never plan on using them for any particular playthrough.The only exceptions were Dozla in the Desert chapter and Vanessa in the next to last chapter on one of my first playthroughs of SS. Dozla died trying to weaken Valter for someone (can't remember who, it was years ago) and Vanessa was coming to whoever offed Morva's aid when she was ganged up on by everything. It was awful. ;-;

Edited May 22, 2012 by Kon

[Sunwoo]

I almost always restart for every character (and sometimes NPCs), even if I don't like them or plan on never using them. However, I've let characters die before when I was sick of restarting. Like ... I let NPC Jaffar and NPC Farina die on at least one occasion when they were costing me numerous restarts and I wasn't planning on using them. I let Nils die on part 2 of the final chapter in my Sacae-only run because I didn't want to start final over again.

[Ansem]

If your name is Erk, Lowen, Will, Rebbeca or Batre and you die... yeaaaaaaaaaah not restarting.

[Just call me AL]

If your name is Rath or Florina, you're getting absorbed by the Lifestream.

To be honest, I usually don't continue on after I've lost a unit because I would like to correct a mistake I've made with them. Even if it's a character I don't plan on using, a character that I plan on benching, or a character I really dislike. There was that Gaiden chapter playthrough however in Shadow Dragon, and that one time during FE7 (I forgot which mode it was) where Athos died against the Fire Dragon and I didn't feel like restarting. Tiki and Sylvia were other cases, but they were done purposefully and retconned via the Aum/Valk Staff. Greenshirts (faceless NPCs) are generally another thing altogether unless if a reward is received by keeping them alive should the reward be worth it.

[Only My Unit]

In every FE I play: ZOMG noonediesIwon'tletyouuuu

In Shadow Dragon: Replacement Unit Runs

[Titamon]

I do it all the time on FE:SD

Bye bye deadweight

[Agro]

I killed a lot of recruitable characters in FE12 because I couldn't be screwed restarting the chapter to find out who needed to recruit them. Didn't even bother with Roger, my MU killed Lorenz (he's not recruitable but w/e), etc.

... It was a blind run.

[Darros]

There's only two reasons I move on with people dead.

1) I kill units on purpose because I'd rather have them dead.

2) I kill units on purpose for the sake of recruiting another unit.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Generally I reset when a character dies because I feel I could rework the strategy for the chapter better, or it happened because of a misclick. Then there's FE11 Gaiden runs and some special runs where I'll just move on.

More or less this. I almost always restart a chapter if someone dies. Even if its some shitass character. I just yeah. Exceptions: Lute in FE8 died in one of my early runs in the final chapter and i wasnt arsed to restart. (even though i used her throughout the game.) Cormag died in the Lagdou Ruins and i was hella far in and didnt wanna restart the whole thing over again. Laura died in one of my RD runs and i just left her that way.

But yeah, almost always do i restart.

[Sunwoo]

Meh, I hate killing off units. Like I said, I only leave them dead if I've already restarted on that chapter so much that I'm sick of it.

[sallas09]

I never let any of my units die. Ever. Even if I absolutely despise them(how's it goin', Lowen?) or they're one of Shadow Dragon's countless blank recruits that just show up with a significant character, and have no lines of dialogue whatsoever. No unit left behind I say. Also, resetting every time a unit dies forces me to go back and think of a new solution to finishing the chapter without any losses. Though I do admit, I had a really good laugh in my last run through Blazing Sword, seeing Jaffar get absolutely crushed by the NPC's(as an NPC), and then resetting the chapter and watching him rip everything in his way to shreds.

[Mystical Mermaid]

Very rarely do I not restart the chapter if one of my units dies. With limited amounts of units available to begin with, FE as a series encourages you to be more conservative with your units, as they can't be simply replaced like in its sister series, Wars. Also unlike in Wars, each and every unit has their own name and unique appearance, at least a little bearing on the overall plot, and a backstory. One can get extremely attached to their favorite characters, and not want to move on without them, forcing us to restart (drafts/ competitive play in which the rules disallow restarts or they carry a penalty is a different case, obviously). The only time I'll continue on when a character dies is if they are someone I was never planning on training and disliked that character's personality. That being said, I may make an exception if a plot-important character whom I'm not training is defeated, but due to their importance are not killed an instead become crippled and unable to fight, such as Marcus in FE7 after the "younger" units no longer need him as a "crutch" to kill strong foes. The final exception would be the Phantoms called forth by Summoners in FE8, as they are faceless and totally expendable. This of course opens up many doors in the gameplay that would be far too risky otherwise.