Writing How to avoid plot armor?

[DismaiNaim]

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My question is, how do you avoid plot armor in your fiction?

Planning and extensive revisions

 

[Edenc2708]

I think we should not avoid plot armor, but well some type of plot armor should be avoided according to your own taste. As for me, the plot armor should be logical and that's it. The kind of plot armor I will avoid is nakama plot armor....

 

[Eldoria]

As for me, the plot armor should be logical and that's it

Plot armor acts as a narrative shield that allows the character to continue progressing in the story, even if the situation illogically prevents his/her survival. Looking for a logical plot armor is like justifying a wrong answer, like saying 1+1=3 is correct, is it possible?

 

[Wenlock]

Unfortunately, realistically in some scenarios, your protagonist may not have a choice, and could be forced into a scenario where they aren't ready. If they're ready for every situation they have to face, that still feels like its own kind of plot armor. It's like power rangers, where they just keep sending weaklings because the big bad either doesn't care, is too arrogant, or for plot reasons can't fight them because of some lack of energy or something. In the end, sometimes in real situations, your not ready, and in those scenarios, that's when you make sure there's a reason your main character doesn't die, be it a rescue, or maybe they're wanted alive, and killing them is pointless. Really, no matter how you write conflict, unless you actually CAN kill off your main character, it will never truly be realistic, because your main character will never die.

Unless you're just writing a power fantasy where your protagonist is just the most broken character in the story.

I see your point. Using "luck" as a factor isn't unrealistic at all because we survive on luck ourselves (some veritasium video explains that) but using it as if the world owes your MC a big one turns luck into plot armor.

 

[MFontana]

Methods for Avoiding Plot Armor​

Plot armor is a narrative device in which a character (usually the protagonist) miraculously survives a danger that would otherwise kill her/him, simply to advance the plot. Plot armor acts as a narrative shield that allows the character to continue progressing in the story, even if the situation illogically prevents his/her survival.

Some methods for avoiding plot armor that I've considered:

1. Create a human, imperfect MC.
2. Create commensurate stakes. For example, the MC is not invulnerable. They can lose, be injured, be maimed, be destroyed, or even die.
3. Simulate multiple scenarios simultaneously. For example, narrate two different plots in two different locations, then bring them together in the same location with a broader conflict. This way, if the MC "survives," it's not a sudden case of plot armor, but rather a logical consequence of the narrative.
4. Shift the POV to another character, allowing the reader to gain a broader perspective and understand that the MC's survival isn't a "miraculous" occurrence.
5. Creating an alternate protagonist if the MC deserves to die in the face of tragedy. This is the last option I've considered... but it usually changes the entire narrative direction.

My question is, how do you avoid plot armor in your fiction?

Where to begin...
Well typically, I just don't give plot armor to anyone, in any of my stories.
Anyone can be injured, or killed, or worse, at any given time. Ultimately, though, the key lies in maintaining narrative tension for the story, in much the same way one needs to manage an over-powered protagonist.

 

[Worthy39]

Yeah, one of the few stories that really managed to succeed at not using plot armor was probably Jojo's bizarre adventures. Obviously, it's not the only one, but it's one of the better examples. They made sure you knew early on that even their protagonist could be replaced, and they did just that several times. Some protagonists even died in that series.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Literally the only way is to plan things out. Makes it that either you don't have to force a plot armor moment or to have developed one that makes narrative sense, so it won't come out as obvious to readers. Pantsers tend to be the only ones that suffer from this.

You don't have to plan the entire story out. Just figure out the course of events before hand.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Fill the gun with plot armor piercing rounds, of course.