In a film, the role of characters is established by the scriptwriter. It is in scriptwriting that the cast is assigned roles and what to say in the film. In the film, the actors’ pursuits are presented differently with some winning while others dying. This creates the existence of the plot armor and reverses plot armor in a film. The character shields, also known as character armor are normally plot devices you can use in a film and television whose aim is to prevent the death of some characters in the film or from getting injured.

Plot Armor

It refers to a scenario where the protagonist wins the battle or emerges as the hero in a scenario, based on their expertise or position they were not expected to win. The person should not have won, but due to how the story was written, necessitated the winning of the protagonist.

An example of it is when batman ends up fighting superman without any armor. A batman refers to a person whose physical capabilities you would not expect to be too far beyond the capabilities of normal human beings. Superman, on the other hand, mainly refers to a character with extraordinary capability. It is that sort of person who can kick the planet to oblivion.

Reverse Plot Armor

A reverse plot armor also referred to as plot-induced stupidity, is a scenario where the character fails in a task. The person may also have failed to win a battle that they were expected to have won. It indicates that the writer was inconsistent and ‘stupid,’ and thus failed to adequately recognize and appropriate the abilities of the characters well.

A good example, in this case, is when superman fights batman but does not have a single shot at him. Similarly, when a character fails to lift one ton of material yet it is known that he or she can lift the planet, it’s referred to as plot armor.

It refers to a scenario where the main cast ends up dying with no adequate justification. They die as if they never mattered in the game. 

For instance, in a film, almost all the important characters end up dying as if they indeed never mattered in the film. It differs from plot armor where the writer of the script safeguards the characters and ensures that even though they are injured, they do not end up dying. 

It is the prerogative of those developing these films to decide whether the characters playing diverse roles will emerge as the plot armor and reverse plot armor. Nevertheless, it is also dependent on the themes that the developer of the film intends to present. It is also used in the form of suspense threat the filmmaker wants to create and the intended twists in the film to gain the attention of the viewer.

As indicated in this post, one may be a plot armor or a reverse plot armor. It all depends on how the developer of the film or script assigns the actors. In the film, some people are expected to be winners due to their skill, cleverness, or love from the public. Nevertheless, this may not always happen.

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