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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/40874
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I have a main character that cannot die. I'm trying to convey this information to the reader, but since my character isn't aware of this, I've decided to leave hints throughout the adventure. This is mainly done through rumours that are dismissed by the characters as crazy talk from the villagers.

I'm afraid that once I put this mechanic into use, my readers will accuse me of jumping the shark or pulling a deus ex machina because they missed the setup and are now angry with the payoff. What I've already thought of is to make the _first_ occurrence of this phenomenon happen in an irrelevant, random encounter and not somewhere that a different outcome (Character dying) would have a major impact on the story. Furthermore this will not help the character in any significant way (From a logical perspective it makes no difference if the character was to die permanently and someone else continued his work or if it remains the same character). I see it more as a burden than anything else, since it will impact the character in a harmful way.

I don't have any better ideas than reworking the whole story to make him know or at least suspect that something like this is in effect. The story takes place in a fantasy world but resurrection isn't all that common and most inhabitants of the land don't really believe it to be possible.

**I suppose the question would be:** How to lay out the setup so readers won't disregard it and then feel the payoff came out of nowhere and was not implied earlier?

Original score: 15