@manwhohaseverything:
Yeah..I can see why folks say that, but IMHO, that's not true, or even close to true.Seems I'm in the minority so far, but a plot device is something used to advance the story and nothing else. For example if a detective is looking for the bad-guys hangout, but can't find it, than some guy comes up and says "pssst, buddy, for a price I can give you the info you need." This info allows the detective to find the bad-guy hang-out and advance the story. The guy that gave the info and is never heard from again, than he is a plot device. Doomsday going on a rampage is providing Superman an antagonist to his protagonist role. That makes him a character. I'd also say if you're going to define plot device as something that merely gives the main character something to do, than all villains in comics are plot devices.
Sigh.at least KNOW what a plot device is folks.
He's only there to kill superman and advance the plot to Superman being dead, therefore he is in fact a plot device. His sole creation to a means to and end. When you write a story a plot device doesn't have to help the protagonist it actually can be something that weakens them. Kyptonite is a plot device, its conveniently weakens Superman so that writers can make Superman vulnerable. There's a long list of different types of plot devices. Doomsday isn't a fully well fleshed out character with a whole lot of depth. DC wanted to kill superman and tell a story of Superman being dead, but didn't want to deal with the complications of a villain having actually killed Superman and the amount of sh**storm that would rain down on that villains head if he actually killed off the world's most beloved hero.
Have to disagree. (BTW, thanks for disagreeing civily) To me, plot device has a very specific meaning and neither Doomsday or Kryptonite qualify. To be a plot device means to move the plot and do nothing else. Doomsday killing Superman was the result of the story, not the plot of the story. Plots aren't defined as merely "what the story is about." It's the events that make up the story. So the plot of the Original "Superman dies" story wasn't "Doomsday Kills Superman" It's Doomsday crashing on earth, rampaging and when the JLA fails to stop him , Superman intervenes and fights him in battle that leads to the death of both combatants. The "plot device" in that storyline was really the JLA. Why did Superman have to fight Doomsday one-on-one? Because of the failure of the JLA to stop him. Granted that's why Doomsday was created but he didn't "advance the plot" of Superman being dead. He was the means to the end, but since the story couldn't be a 3 page story of Doomsday fights Superman and they die, they needed to come up with ways to make that happen through a series of events. A plot device is there to get a story from point A to point B. Simply put: If something is a major part of the story, it, by definition can't be a plot device. It's part of the plot, of course, but not a device. Devices show up and disappear, that's what makes them devices. If it's there at the end of the story, it's not a plot device. By the definition folks in this thread are using Superman is a plot device, because the only reason he was in that storyline was to die. In fact, every hero in every story isn't a character but rather a "plot device" by the definitions folks are using here. Why was Spider-Man in the "Gwen Stacy's Death" storyline? He was there to advance the "plot" of Gwen dying by not rescuing her in time. He's a plot device! Of course, Gwen Dies was not the plot of the story) How well "fleshed out" the character is, is irrelevant. (FWIW, I think the original Doomsday was pretty well fleshed out in "Hunter/Prey". New Doomsday, not as much.) Now I agree Kryptonite is a gimmick, but to me that's different from a plot device.
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