And while it does happen to male characters, it happens to female characters much, much more. It creates an intense antagonism (and a particularly relatable one, especially for traditional masculine sensibilities and self-image) but renders the event itself more or less pointless the protagonist has been wronged, but the exact form of that wrong only influences the intensity of the assumed feeling. "Women in Refrigerators" or "fridging women" is a term coined by Gail Simone , which is used to refer to the disempowerment or maiming of female characters. Dont go too far with this sounding too defensive wont help, and its easy to go too far but if you have a clear point to make, this can be a good way to signal to the reader that youve thought about what youre doing and they can trust your judgment. Even when you're aware that it's an issue, it's difficult to make work. Not in a vacuum, but in an environment where theres a pattern of killing off female character in a way that encompasses existing prejudices, its worth considering. Technology consultant John Bartol edited the content. Manage Settings Part of the reason behind this is that a fridged character is, by definition, there to influence the protagonist. Robert Harris,[6] a librarian and comic-book fan, contributed to site maintenance and updates along with fan John Norris. Many argue that Deus ex Machina has lost all distinction in popular usage, since its definition has widened so liberally. As a standalone story,The Killing Joke is textbook fridging. I mean really learn. Fridging women as a trope applies to much more than just comic books. Simone published many of the responses she received on the website. 9) Stop thinking female characters only talk about men. Tip: A character is "fridged" if the thing that happens to her permanently places her in the victim role. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Again, Im sure youve covered this already, but one of the things that makes readers suspect a fridging is that the details about a character only matter until theyre gone, at which point they become a plot point. He wears her ring as a necklace, but, he has donated all of her belongings to charities and to people that needed them. [12] Marz's reply stated (in part): "To me the real difference is less malefemale than main character supporting character. These are superheroines who have either been depowered, raped, or cut up and stuck in the refrigerator. Once you've learned about it, you'll have a much better understanding of what it is and how to keep from doing that to your . Try to figure out their personality (maybe look into something like Myers Briggs for ideas to keep each person unique and consistent). In other words: expendable. Yes, they should have a goal, but why is that goal so important to them? It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. What is 'fridging?'. 6 Ways To Hook Your Reader From The Start (UPDATED AND IMPROVED), 6 Things You Need To Know About Character Development (UPDATED AND IMPROVED), 6 Insanely Good Dialogue Tips From Your Future Literary Agent, Improve Your Story By Hanging A Lampshade On It. However, the husband has moved on. They still held high power over him. This isn't meant as, for example, a defense of the poor writing of the "come home to find a . Different respondents had different interpretations of what the trope's existence meant, and Simone herself wasn't after definitive answers at the time. "[13], Within the comics medium, during the 2009 DC storyline "Blackest Night", Alexandra DeWitt was one of many deceased characters temporarily brought back to life as part of the Black Lantern Corps. One would think writers would know how to avoid these poor characterizations nowadays, when it's been done a thousand times already. Based on what you've said here, I'm not completely sure if this would qualify as fridging, but it seems dangerously close. So if you have a cast of 10 characters and 7 are male and 3 are female, if you kill 1 female character is killing a third of all the females in the book! So the thing to remember if you want to avoid fridging someone is that every character, no matter how small their role, exists as a unique person. There is no right way to be a woman, and the more women you have in the story, the more clearly your story will convey this. Theres a vocal audience who want pulp fiction without harmful clichs. Deadpool 2 openly called out its own "lazy writing" rather than attempt to make Vanessa's fridging amount to more than just a James Bond parody and a sexy, ghostly rendezvous. Basically, its an easy way to make the protagonist hate the antagonist, and this is part of why it has such a negative connotation. Learning how to avoid female stereotypes and clichs will strengthen your writing and make your work more enjoyable to read. This won't be long. Over time, the trope has evolved to encompass not only the damage done to a female character, but the consequential effect the damage has on her closest male ally, be it her friend, boyfriend, husband, father, brother or son. We are entirely reader supported. If it is a love relatioship, I feel the audience would be upset if he didn't want revenge. There has been some error while submitting the form. It's better to have several women, with diverse skill sets, instead of having a single walking talking Swiss Army knife of a female character. In those cases, what can you do? Or let a woman save another woman. The Waystar Royco team travels to L.A., where Kendall pitches eternal life (kind of), Shiv reconnects with the most unlikely of men, and Roman can't stop firing women. Location and Maps Thankfully, it was always a blunt instrument, and authors are free to take the opportunity to explore more integrated and expressive forms of motivation for their characters. So what do you think? Fridging is a lazy device digging deeper will usually leave you with a stronger story. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/4\/4b\/LR22-D-Past-Pipers.png\/460px-LR22-D-Past-Pipers.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/4\/4b\/LR22-D-Past-Pipers.png\/728px-LR22-D-Past-Pipers.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader Image by: Uploader
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/8\/85\/LR22-D-Keira-Thinks-with-Pencil.png\/460px-LR22-D-Keira-Thinks-with-Pencil.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/8\/85\/LR22-D-Keira-Thinks-with-Pencil.png\/728px-LR22-D-Keira-Thinks-with-Pencil.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/a\/ae\/LR22-D-Grace-Talks-Happily.png\/460px-LR22-D-Grace-Talks-Happily.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/a\/ae\/LR22-D-Grace-Talks-Happily.png\/728px-LR22-D-Grace-Talks-Happily.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/d\/d4\/LR22-TDF-Tara-Worries-in-Her-Room.png\/460px-LR22-TDF-Tara-Worries-in-Her-Room.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/d\/d4\/LR22-TDF-Tara-Worries-in-Her-Room.png\/728px-LR22-TDF-Tara-Worries-in-Her-Room.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/3\/3a\/LR22-D-Zoey-and-Amirra-with-Takeout.png\/460px-LR22-D-Zoey-and-Amirra-with-Takeout.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/3\/3a\/LR22-D-Zoey-and-Amirra-with-Takeout.png\/728px-LR22-D-Zoey-and-Amirra-with-Takeout.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/a\/a9\/LR22-D-Grace-Does-Integral-Calculus.png\/460px-LR22-D-Grace-Does-Integral-Calculus.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/a\/a9\/LR22-D-Grace-Does-Integral-Calculus.png\/728px-LR22-D-Grace-Does-Integral-Calculus.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/4\/4b\/LR22-SV-Claire-and-Pop.png\/460px-LR22-SV-Claire-and-Pop.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/4\/4b\/LR22-SV-Claire-and-Pop.png\/728px-LR22-SV-Claire-and-Pop.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/1\/10\/LR22-D-Cousins-Watch-TV.png\/460px-LR22-D-Cousins-Watch-TV.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/1\/10\/LR22-D-Cousins-Watch-TV.png\/728px-LR22-D-Cousins-Watch-TV.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/c\/c3\/LR22-SV-Claire-Kisses-Ava.png\/460px-LR22-SV-Claire-Kisses-Ava.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/c\/c3\/LR22-SV-Claire-Kisses-Ava.png\/728px-LR22-SV-Claire-Kisses-Ava.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/b\/b8\/LR22-RTW-Haven-Receives-Compliments.png\/460px-LR22-RTW-Haven-Receives-Compliments.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/b\/b8\/LR22-RTW-Haven-Receives-Compliments.png\/728px-LR22-RTW-Haven-Receives-Compliments.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/7\/74\/LR22-D-Amirra-is-Bad-at-Sports.png\/460px-LR22-D-Amirra-is-Bad-at-Sports.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/7\/74\/LR22-D-Amirra-is-Bad-at-Sports.png\/728px-LR22-D-Amirra-is-Bad-at-Sports.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/4\/49\/LR22-TDF-Aurora-Dressed-Up.png\/460px-LR22-TDF-Aurora-Dressed-Up.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/4\/49\/LR22-TDF-Aurora-Dressed-Up.png\/728px-LR22-TDF-Aurora-Dressed-Up.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/25\/LR22-D-Zoey-Spins-Amirra.png\/460px-LR22-D-Zoey-Spins-Amirra.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/2\/25\/LR22-D-Zoey-Spins-Amirra.png\/728px-LR22-D-Zoey-Spins-Amirra.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/e6\/LR22-D-Alan-Comforts-Crying-Amirra.png\/460px-LR22-D-Alan-Comforts-Crying-Amirra.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/e\/e6\/LR22-D-Alan-Comforts-Crying-Amirra.png\/728px-LR22-D-Alan-Comforts-Crying-Amirra.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/b\/b1\/LR22-SV-Milo-Crying.png\/460px-LR22-SV-Milo-Crying.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/b\/b1\/LR22-SV-Milo-Crying.png\/728px-LR22-SV-Milo-Crying.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/d\/dc\/LR22-D-Lorelai-and-Amy.png\/460px-LR22-D-Lorelai-and-Amy.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/d\/dc\/LR22-D-Lorelai-and-Amy.png\/728px-LR22-D-Lorelai-and-Amy.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"
\nLicense: Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}, {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/22\/LR22-D-Amirra-in-Ace-Pride-Shirt.png\/460px-LR22-D-Amirra-in-Ace-Pride-Shirt.png","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/2\/22\/LR22-D-Amirra-in-Ace-Pride-Shirt.png\/728px-LR22-D-Amirra-in-Ace-Pride-Shirt.png","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"