I thought this might make for an interesting discussion.
I find it really interesting to learn about RP characters that are no longer actively played- either because they are retired, (temporarily) shelved or deceased IC.
I want to hear their stories, since they are often untold. What happened to them? Would you ever like to bring them back? For you, when is a character’s story ever complete?
I have two deceased characters. One died from infection that overtook her throughout a few years, knowing she would die. The other got ripped apart.
Retired characters are just doing their usual thing, depending on said char.
My draenei vindicator settled down for a civilian life.
My worgen, after years of wandering the earth, decided she wanted to heal the land from the scars of wars and cataclysms. She joined the Cenarion Circle as a druid apprentice and now helps cleanse the Nightmare in Val’sharah.
My two night elf sisters, a druid and a Sentinel, both died offscreen in the Burning of Teldrassil.
These days, I practically never kill off my characters. They’re generally treated as just doing their own thing away from the spotlight and repurposed as an NPC in other storylines. When I first started to roleplay many years ago, I often killed them off recklessly in a spur of being frustrated irl, only to revive them later on.
My blood elf crusader, whom I actively played some years ago as my main character, now rests in limbo. She’s most likely still dutifully working for the Argent Crusade. She might’ve died at the Fall of Dalaran; it’d suit her character. But I’m reluctant to kill off my characters, after all.
Jeyce, my SI:7 spy, continues to fight against bureaucracy, fish out and recruit potential recruits/assets/informants for the circus and if needed, get his hands dirty like in the good old days to do what must be done to serve the Crown. In his spare time, he’s busy raising his son on his own (though with some help of friends and colleagues).
I consider his story to be pretty much ‘complete’ yes, I’ve explored a lot of themes on him (guy started out as a northrend veteran struggling with heavy ptsd who was picked out of the military for spook work) and had a lot of great roleplay, both in and outside the guild. There are times when I think about playing him again naturally, he’s my most favourite character and, if I may humbly say so, the best one I’ve ever written. I always did have a soft spot for spy themes, still do.
I do like to tie all my characters in a more or less direct way. Jeyce so far has been the most involved in this character’s backstory out of all of the ones I have with him being responsible for leading Galek’s father and his warband into an ambush during the Fourth War.
I also had my Draenei who I roleplayed for a long time before I started meddling with Jeyce in Mists but his story I considered to be more than over and so he has met his end during the Argus campaign back in Legion.
I also dabbled in some Worgen RP back in Cata and haven’t touched that character since but… now I’d like to imagine that he settled down somewhere and started a tavern. Somewhere nice, in the middle of nowhere but on the ‘road’ to serve and accomodate those few adventures that might pass through.
My druid, Southridge, died during RP that occured during the shadowlands pre-patch by a horde warband. My other druid I also killed off because I was kinda short sighted and assumed that a confrontational, says-what-he-thinks type character was beyond me but because I offed him off-screen I was able to retcon it without it impacting other players.
The only other character I’ve killed is an old tauren who has the rare distinction in Warcraft which is dying of old age, but that wasn’t a character I put as much time or effort into.
Beyond that I’ve never really retired characters, not permenantly at least. Their stories end, but sometimes those stories start back up again if the right circumstances roll around.
My pandaren monk Kai after her life through rp ran its natural course, she retired around the midway point of BFA between the fall of Rastakhan and the events of Nazjatar. She lives a life of quiet seclusion in the Valley of Four winds tending her small farm and simply studying and training, seeking spiritual and mental enlightenment. She only leaves the valley anymore twice a year for a pilgrimage to the Jade Forest first for a personal ritual, maintaining a shrine dedicated to lost family, friends and loved ones. Then to Kun Lai to the Temple of the White Tiger. Its a simple life.
By contrast, my Orc, Ghorall, being the elderly orc he was before Azeroth knew more peaceful days went out as all Orcs he beleived should. Weapon in hand for what he beleived in alongside his aging Frost wolf. Both Orc and Wolf met their end during Legion against a Fel Lord in the Broken Shore. It was a lengtny battle that ended in victory, however short term. It was a violent end but one given in defense of another. Just as he would have wanted to go.
My troll witch doctor Jebanza went into seclusion in Zandalar after learning of the fate of her Loa, Hir’eek, and living for sometime in futile denial. She went on a very long spiritual journey of grief, reflection, loss, healing and transformation. While shes come to terms with much she isnt ready to join the world at large again. Not yet anyway.
Finally, my gnome Kinzy. She retired from her life in the Gnomeregan air force to try and broaden her horizons after losing someone. Shes kept her feet on the ground and has chosen to live among the Dwarves in greater Dun Morogh away from her gnomish kin, training to be a better fighter in the hopes she might one day be useful again.
My Knight of Theramore (survivor) found his soul mate, married her, and retired from fighting to be a father to a beautiful daughter. For a tall, gruff man he’s really enjoying being a girl dad attending tea dates with her toys with all his heart and soul, because losing Theramore put him in a dark place. His daughter is a fresh breath of life he didn’t know he was missing.
For a character that struggled with survivor’s guilt for years, I was glad that he managed to have a happy ending as his send off.
I don’t really retire characters as sometimes opportunities present themselves even years after I stop actively playing them. But I do kill off characters quite a lot. The ones that weren’t relegated to the role of NPCs at the time of their death were:
Tolby Cogspark was a young gnome tinker who wanted to become a wizard. So, naturally, he created a flamethrower in the shape of a staff. Magic! He was fighting the Horde and Loyalists (this was late BfA) in Zangarmarsh, using his family plane for aerial combat and evac of wounded. Day by day, the plane was getting more damaged until eventually a Loyalist Forsaken threw a grenade to it when it was low. Clueless, Tolby rose higher and higher and became a ball of fire in the Outland sky and crashed into the ground. Ultimate magic!
Syelia Whitewing (not this char, I have many a Syelia) was a mage of Kirin Tor. Due to her exceptionally low mana reserves, she often needed years to be able to pull off a spell, making her still just an apprentice at the age of 40. Despite this she took part in the defense of Dalaran when the nerubians attacked. She survived the fight, only to break her neck as the city fell, unable to cast a rotective spell on herself.
Horby Manaspark was another mage of Kirin Tor and coincidentally Tolby’s grandfather. A not so respectable gnome of respectable age of 512, he spent his time being a cranky old person stereotype. His unwillingness (some would say laziness) to take part in more scientific parts of being a Kirin Tor mage meant he never rose in their ranks despite actual centuries of membership. He became solely responsible for fall of Dalaran by repeatwdly loudly proclaiming how he is looking forward to his retirement. He got flattened by a large rock as Dalaran fell, succumbing to that greatest of enemies of his line: the ground.
Tolby I killed off in snap decision because I thought it would be funny. Both Horby and Syelia were what is called a “sacrificial lion”, a character that exists to be killed off but is involved in the story a lot before it happens for maximum emotional damage.
Boush quite literally retired. He was already old when the war during BFA started.
He could have kept going for a few more years, but the events of Teldrassil deeply affected him. He was there during the drums of war campaign and saw the tree go up in flames.
He’s got 15 kids between him and his wife, and the thought of seeing them go out in such a brutal, horrible way troubles him to this day.
Then, during the defence of Undercity, he got friendly fired by some of the plague used by Sylvanas and got some pretty nasty chemical burns. After that he saw that the Horde he had been proud to sell his services to the past two decades or so had changed for the worse, and he decided to peace out.
He’s still alive, just focusing on his civilian crafts back in Ratchet. The OOC reason for not playing him anymlre was that Atahalni became my new main in BFA.
My forsaken shadowmage settled down in the gradually rebuilding Lordaeron with her wife, after both of them slowly retraced their respective pasts and missing memories. Now they focus on helping the forsaken as a people, but have the occasional cameo now and again.
…Also I have about 16 sappers that died in service, in various ways, but detailing that would be a long post. Let’s just say most of them exploded.
I’ve killed off a couple of characters and retired a couple of others.
My twilight cultist, Renfred, I offed during a campaign I was collaborating with a friend on, with both our characters being villains destined to die for the guild of heroes to succeed. It was a good way to put a pin in a character I’d played for many years.
Retired wise - my vagrant Alb got shelved after his long storyline came to an end. The mystery of the rat themed deity he was worshipping in the sewers was uncovered by a friend’s character, after a good five years or so of having the concept just be some background motivation to various misdeeds.
I haven’t the foggiest figured out even years later what he’d be up to now off-screen. Partly it’s just pleasant to put my earliest character to bed, and all those memories of bumbling around in my early days of RP and the server as a whole.
Wretch wise - retirement just sort of happened for various reasons, mostly OOC motivated, he never really got his ending. Although I do vaguely imagine him out there, somehow surviving mishaps and mistakes, probably being the weird guy of some remote village somewhere.
I haven’t killed off a character yet, but retired a few. Among them are my first two characters I made on AD when I got here, both I stopped playing when the people I played them together with stopped playing and/or switched to other of their chars.
One of them now lives a simple farm life with her partner, all in peace. The other is a priestess and she teaches, helps, travels around (in my mind). I somehow would love to bring them both back and with the priestess I already started, letting her hold lectures sometimes, but by now it is more an event char so to say then someone who really has contacts and alike. For the other one, I might need to retcon a few things and find a solution of how to handle the story with her partner, since the player sadly won’t return to play the character.
I hope they both get chances again for more roleplay, though by now I am not forcing it.
My first deceased character had served the Old Gods in secrecy. She tried to rise to great power at the height of the Black Empire’s return in BFA, only to be killed by the faithful companions of her father, whom she had earlier imprisoned.
My second was mortally wounded by an Ascended Nerubian during the fall of Dalaran and in his last moments ported his associates away before dying when the city turned into dust.
My first retired character remains in the Reliquary and is likely still in the Dragon Isles with the Dragonscale Expedition while others have moved to Khaz Algar.
My second retired character is probably in Stromgarde with her brother, focusing on trade and restoration.
NPCs aside, I haven’t quite had the heart to kill off characters of mine in the past. Not that I can recall at least! If I lost interest or time constraints IRL forced my exit from the stage, I’d write up a somewhat open-ended epilogue explaining their absence and future fate somewhat. For instance:
I have had a Blood Elf outlaw sign on with the Farstriders, and she’s presumably still protecting the forests of Quel’Thalas to this day. Her moral redemption was a long time coming when actively role-played, so it made sense for that trajectory to continue off screen.
My old (practically ancient history with this one) Vindicicator-to-be is assuredly wearing grossly incandescent armour by now, living in Shattrath to care for her crippled mother. I can’t imagine it’s quite the adventurous life she had dreamt of, but it’s one of relative peace and purpose. Maybe she’ll grow into that, maybe she won’t - that might be something to explore if ever she returns.
And then there was my Blood Elf magistrix, whom I brought out of cold storage only recently in Dragonflight. Until then, she had been trying to reestablish her family’s winery for several years, explaining her prolonged absence at court. Here’s to hoping the Void won’t wipe out that progress in Midnight!
I’ve yet to kill a character IC in my three years of lurking ArgentDawn as a more permanent server.
Though, back in the days of LosErrantes - during the Battle For Azeroth, the wise tauren elder ‘Oak-Step’ found his death as he led a mixed group of tauren to Darkshore, alongside friends from an orcish clan, the old bull’s heart shattered at the burning. He was an old, old druid, and after a heated discussion with the leader of the orc warband, anger and sorrow proved too much for a hundred-year-old healer.
He was later survived by a more war-loving, younger tauren - “Barren-Breaker” - who led the little tribe in the elder’s stead, as the hunters made camp in Feralas and the Kraul and became insurgents amidst the Horde’s lands, up until the gathering at the gates of orgrimmar.
He was fun to write, old, very old however, and from the moment I created him in the latter half of Warlords of Draenor, I knew the day would come where he’d find death. War of Thorns seemed like an appropriate story beat for it, a lesson to the younger members of his tribe - and a wound to his orcish friends.
My first retired/killed off character was the human rogue I played in Vanilla and TBC, killed them off in Wotlk pre-patch. Edgy paranoid idiot sort of rogue, the kind of character only a teenager (which is what I was when I made them) thinks is cool. Died after losing a duel they started with someone who was ostensibly their ally but who they had decided (with some circumstantial evidence) was in league with that server’s resident evil cult guild. Actual ooc duel too, I even threw it so that they’d die. I’d got tired of that character and didn’t see them as the quietly retire sort. I’ve had a few other characters die but none that I’ve played for as long as that.
I retired the priest I played on Defias Brotherhood because I wasn’t playing on that server anymore and they shared a name with Paia who had existed on AD for over a year. I like to think that alternate universe version of the character quietly does tinkering around Gnomeregan now.
Jenit has low-key retired. She’s had an arc going from idiot who is completely out of her depth to fairly accomplished adventurer. Not in a super permanent way but in a ‘now has a desk job’ way that in theory allows a way back into RPing more regularly if I get any idea of what I might like to do with her.
Mine just bought a farm. Ayup.
She keeps coming back from death.
Akamito is retired.
He ultimately failed in his goal to restore his tribe after they were almost wiped out at Hyjal, but he has found purpose in sharing their stories and those of his ancestors at every campfire in Kalimdor to keep their memory alive long after he has passed on.
It’s a simple life, but one that gives him fulfilment.