Deathtrap (plot device)

A deathtrap is a literary and dramatic plot device in which a villain, who has captured the hero or another sympathetic character, attempts to use an elaborate and usually sadistic method of murdering him/her.

Related Topics:
Literary - Dramatic - Plot device - Villain - Hero - Murder

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It is often used as a means to create dramatic tension in the story and to have the villain reveal important information to the hero, confident that the hero will shortly not be able to use it. It may also be a means to show the hero's resourcefulness in escaping, or the writer's ingenuity at devising a last-minute rescue or deus ex machina.

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This plot device is generally believed to have been popularized by movie serials, though it is best known for its use in the James Bond film series and superhero stories, and has precedents in the 19th century theatrical melodramas from which the cliché of the moustache-twirling villain leaving the heroine tied to the railroad tracks is derived.

Related Topics:
Serial - James Bond - Superhero - 19th century - Melodrama - Cliché

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It is a common criticism that it is unbelievable in story plots to have villains try to kill the heroes in such elaborate ways when they could use simple methods like shooting them. Through the decades, comic book writers have responded to these complaints by devising ways in which the deathtraps have served other purposes. For instance, one Legion of Super-Heroes story by Jim Shooter had a team of Legionnaires put into a variety of deathtraps whose real purpose was to have them use so much energy to successfully escape so the villains can harness it to their own benefit. Other stories have had villains use deathtraps as a means of testing the heroes or to distract them while the villain attends to other matters. Other supervillains use it for personal reasons like The Riddler, who has an uncontrollable compulsion to create intellectual challenges for his enemies, and The Joker, who simply enjoys the challenge.

Related Topics:
Comic book - Legion of Super-Heroes - Jim Shooter - Supervillain - The Riddler - The Joker

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