Today, I am going to do something that I never imagined doing in the four cliché editorials I have written; somewhat defend a trope that most see as overused. That trope is ending a character's arc once their mortal body dies, something that most writers would agree is the most logical move to make.

Normally, when writing a character arc, death always means the conclusion. After all, to most people, what are you going to do with a ghost in your cast of characters? You could go the spirit guide route that many mentor type characters end up in after death, especially if you are talking about figures such as Mufasa from The Lion King film or most Jedi in the Star Wars movie franchise. However, that limits the actions of the character to exclusively spouting out exposition or motivational triggers for a conflicted protagonist. When talking about the actions of a character after death, most authors believe there really isn't much you can do with their arc unless you revive them. What most authors don't realize though is that even with a deceased character, there are various routes you could take to guarantee they are still useful to the plot besides being a motivational speaker. If you are a fan of supernatural stories or especially in the case of this editorial, horror, then you are probably getting a sense of where I am going with this idea.

You could for one keep the character as an invisible ghostly entity that has a goal of finishing any business they have not completed on the Earthly plain while alive. By doing this, you can continue a character's arc beyond the end of their mortal existence and potentially evolve their character further.

If your character is on the morally light side of the spectrum, they could be given an arc resolving unfinished business with their friends and family. Despite being limited in influence due to their ghostly form, they can still help the cast by finding someone who can see them or using their invisible state to strategically take down any threat trying to harm the ones they love. This is exactly what the character Sam Wheat from the film Ghost did in order to protect his still living girlfriend Molly Jensen from getting killed by their traitorous friend Carl Bruner. After getting killed all for a deep money scheme Carl Bruner was leading, the ghost of Sam finds the psychic Oda Mae Brown in order to inform Molly about the dangerous situation she is in and then get revenge on Carl. Through being a ghost, Sam Wheat continues to develop as a character all the way to the end of the film, where he is in a suitable enough position to find eternal peace.

If your character is on the morally dark side of the spectrum, they can be turned into an antagonistic force of evil upon their moral death. They can be reborn into an entity bound solely on revenge, using their ghostly state to kill slews of victims in new and creative ways. Even if that is not satisfactory for the evil spirit, they can always possess the body of an innocent bystander and use their supernatural ghostly powers to reek havoc. It is through this route that the strongest of horror narratives have find themselves going down. Iconic horror characters like Freddy Krueger and Samara Morgan are strong examples of such characters, whose arcs have only continued to evolve through the multiple interpretations they have been given over the years.

There is the obvious route of having the character haunt the living, but that idea is one that is best left alone due to the repetitive nature haunted house narratives tend to have. Remember, these deceased characters are meant to continue functioning as members of the cast, not baseless spirits trying to destroy entire families. These deceased characters need a reason to continue developing their character arcs beyond death that is not for purely fan service or baseless hauntings. Like with the living characters of the arc, these deceased characters need a reason to be a part of the narrative.

A more creative route to go down besides the typical haunting is to make these characters be reborn as a demonic entity from the bases of Hell. This idea develops the character as a strong antagonistic force the cast has to take down, and takes the better aspects of the vengeful spirit storyline. Not only will this character develop further mentally, but physically with a scary new form to use against the innocent lambs of the public. A reborn demonic spirit not only allows for more creative ventures to be taken in the narrative, but perfectly fits a horror narrative. It is an alternative to ending the character arc at death that I am surprised not many writers have gone down.

Just because the character is dead does not mean their potential in the plot has to end too. There are multiple routes you can go on to continue developing the character even deceased, while making sure that their death still has a memorable impact on the plot.