This is a request for help. The proofreader has been going through the manuscript of
Hippo Eats Dwarf looking for errors. This is the final check that the book receives before it goes to print. After this, nothing can be changed. Anyway, in the final chapter of the book (about death), I include the following definition:
Xenacate, v.: To kill a TV or movie character off so completely that no chance remains of bringing her back from the dead. Inspired by the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess. Its occurrence usually indicates that the actor playing the character has lost her job under unpleasant circumstances and has no hope of being rehired.
The proofreader has pointed out that it would be good to name a character to whom this occurred. (And I suppose it would be best to name a character on Xena itself to whom it occurred... It must have occurred to someone on that show in order to inspire the term. Though, in a pinch, an example from any show will do.) So can anyone think of a character who has been xenacated? If I use your answer I'll send you a free, signed copy of the book once it comes out (which will be in about three months). I need the answer by Friday, or Monday at the latest.
Update: I ended up using the red-shirted characters on Star Trek as an example. So thephrog wins the contest. I should note that I pulled a bit of a bait-and-switch, because I decided to revise my definition of Xenacate by deleting the part about the actor getting fired. After reviewing the few uses of the term on the internet, I decided that wasn't part of the word's meaning. Instead, it means to get killed off and not return. In which case the red-shirted characters are probably the most famous example of characters who only exist to get killed off. (Though I was tempted for a while to use the guy from MASH, but decided he didn't fit as well with the new definition.)
Comments
Maude may not qualify because she did return for one of the Simpsons Hallowe'en episodes, but she "returned from the dead" which implies she really was dead in the first place.
I just saw Boone fall in the yellow plane earlier on tonight. I thought there was still a chance I'd find out he'd survived next week, and now it's been ruined for me, by the comment above.
("Lost viewer," sorry about the spoiler. I'm an idiot.)
I heard that the female fan base bailed on the show in droves, so he was written back in for season 7 ('descended' with no memory of his time 'up there'). I suppose flexible SciFi scientific and philosophical rules tend to allow anything to happen.
But the series continued to do well, and eventually Gurney wanted to come back on board, so to speak. Everybody involved was regretful that, this not being a sci-fi or fantasy series, it was no-go.
But, in keeping with the spirit of competition, I nominate Coach on "Cheers" to be the definition of Xenacate. They did a special episode in honor of him so they wouldn't have dared bring him back after that.
A similar thing happened with Detective Nick Yemana on "Barney Miller" when Jack Soo died.
(However, they did bring him back a couple seasons later. Ah well.)
Also, they killed off *the main frickin' character* in Earth, Final Conflict.. That show was rife with important characters dying left and right.. Which does add some drama, but you lose fans of individual characters.. Still, if TV and Movies have shown us one thing, it's that writers are endlessly creative (and non-creative) in coming up with ways to bring back favorite characters from beyond the veil..
It should be noted, regarding Henry Blake on MASH, they didn't tell the cast and crew they were going to kill him.. Was just going to be 'oh, ok, he's off back hom, yay for Henry!', then they shot the final scene. It's why some of the reaction shots are so good in that one; they were genuine expressions of shock, including someone dropping a tray of instruments.
Radar: "I have a message. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Blake's plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors."
The term probably applies more to bit characters and villians who might otherwise start casting a shadow on the main ones, given their popularity.
Also in the Buffy-verse, there is Anya in the final episode. Supposedly that one was due to the actress who played her asking writer/creator Joss Whedon to kill her off, so that no future stories could be done using the character with a different actor (a la Bewitched or Roseanne).
The other idea that occurred was the Blackadder series. At the end of the first series, the main characters are killed off fairly thoroughly; also the second, and fourth, and one in the third series. I suppose that it doesn't fit your original definition, as the actors all came back, but they had very thorough killing-off of their characters.
I believe this qualifies for your original definition: Wash, a character from the Firefly TV show was killed with a giant spike through the chest in Serenity, a movie that continues the (cancelled) show. He was mourned and buried, and this is not the type of show that would bring back a clone. Another character died, but he didn't get a giant spike through the chest. I don't think there were contract disputes, though.
Rank tyranny, that.
Most current shows have little respect for continuity or a narrative structure that would prevent returning a dead character. Particularly sci-fi. Even when the death of the character is the main narrative focus of a previous story, like the death of Spock in Star Trek II, they still come back. I don't even believe that Xena is forever gone. Offer enough money and anybody could be back. Heck, they may run into Colonel Blake wandering around on that Island in Lost. He's been in one of the bunker living off thsoe wierd old candy bars they found.
Ironically, a lot of the younger kids in the "Simpsons" audience genuinely liked Poochie. He did have a certain style, I guess.
However, the closest I can come to an example of a "Xenacate" is Prudence Hallowell on the show CHARMED. They killed Pru off because of a falling out with the actress/producer Shannon Doherty and have yet to bring her back in any form. Doesn't meant they can't - just that so far they haven't.
Get's my "vote" anyway. 😊