What is 'plot armor'?

[The Marquis de Leech]

Plenty of people have "plot armour" in real life (ie luck). Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Caesar etc. all had plenty of narrow escapes from death and could all have been killed long before they became famous.

Hitler's a particularly notorious example. The guy survived at least one assassination because he (for no reason) decided to cut a speech short.

[Woman of War]

The weirdest plot armor has been given to Forrest Gump. Really, Winston Groom should have killed him off after the first pages, his story lacks all credibility. And we would have been spared that dumb, pointless and boring movie with that rotten soundtrack.

..........irony, just in case.

[dread pirate davos]

I don't really like the term but I have to admit Tyrion has had some situations that were beyond lucky. The main one is when he's fully submerged in and swallows greyscale water on that river with no ill effects, yet Jon Con dips his arm in and immediately gets terminal greyscale. That I have to admit, is plot armor.

[Game Of Thrones]

Plot armor is a type of armor.

[DavosSeaworthy]

Something that people invented to bitch about characters they don't like, and why they aren't dead.

Pretty much this. 'Plot Armor' is needed to make stories more interesting. Let's use when Stannis arrived at the wall as an example. The odds of Jon being in Mances tent when this goes down would be slim in reality, but picture the alternative. We read about this in a PoV chapter after it happened. That sounds way better than Jon being sent to kill Mance only to have Stannis show up during that time and lead Jon out of a situation that he likely would have been killed, even if he was successful. in killing Mance, which was the intended point of sending him on said mission. Why read about it as it happens when we can read about it later, and remove all the suspence and drama.

[Talking Hodor]

I see this thrown around all the time, and I just don't get it.

cf. Jack Bauer in 24.

[Cas Stark]

Pretty much this. 'Plot Armor' is needed to make stories more interesting. Let's use when Stannis arrived at the wall as an example. The odds of Jon being in Mances tent when this goes down would be slim in reality, but picture the alternative. We read about this in a PoV chapter after it happened. That sounds way better than Jon being sent to kill Mance only to have Stannis show up during that time and lead Jon out of a situation that he likely would have been killed, even if he was successful. in killing Mance, which was the intended point of sending him on said mission. Why read about it as it happens when we can read about it later, and remove all the suspence and drama.

I don't think this is what most people mean when they talk about plot armour. We kind of know that there are going to be some level of artificial situations that occur, such as the odds being that Cat and Tyrion are at the same inn at the same time, etc. etc.

It's more when characters are put in death defying situations over and over again and they always defy death.

As far as I'm concerned, to say that it's the "plot" and the author is lame, because, everyone already knows that every event, word, action that occurs in any novel is because the author wrote it. That attitude makes the majority of what is discussed on here about character motivations completely silly...since the answer to all questions then becomes: GRRM made them do it.

Is it really debatable that some characters defy death and get in multiple dangerous situations again and again and live through it, while others, die at the first encounter?

And, again, while some of this is to be expected, e.g. we expect that Dany will to get to Westeros....it would to me a bit better if for example Tyrion had fewer "adventures' that put him in harms way and more realistic.

[The Imperator]

Something that people invented to bitch about characters they don't like, and why they aren't dead.

Typical answer given by fanboys/girls who can't handle the fact that their favorite character has an over-reliance on plot armor.

[Woman of War]

Typical answer given by fanboys/girls who can't handle the fact that their favorite character has an over-reliance on plot armor.

That's what people always say about other posters' favorite character - while their own fave, oh no, does never have such thing as plot armor.

(Die already, you villainous, despicable piece of shit, I want my favorite to have all the POV chapters! )

[The Imperator]

That's what people always say about other posters' favorite character - while their own fave, oh no, does never have such thing as plot armor.

(Die already, you villainous, despicable piece of shit, I want my favorite to have all the POV chapters! )

Nah, that's what smart people like me who can view the fandom objectively say. Oh yeah, and who have made their peace with the fact that their favorite characters won't have as much plot armor as your average Mary Sue or Scrappy-like character.

Speaking of characters with an over-reliance on plot armor: Daenerys Targaryen. She really gets a lot of things handed to her on a platter. I guess when you have a character that has a helluva lot of plot gifts, you're bound to get annoyed by said character.

[Cas Stark]

That's what people always say about other posters' favorite character - while their own fave, oh no, does never have such thing as plot armor.

(Die already, you villainous, despicable piece of shit, I want my favorite to have all the POV chapters! )

Not always. I love Arya. Luvs her. But, I am able to admit that her multiple kidnappings, and by some of the worst of the worst villains in the series, being used as forced labor, witnessing multiple fights, massacres and rapings....and all she gets is two mild beatings?....is plot armour. She has a lot of plot armour, she probably has had a few too many dangerous adventures, much as I have enjoyed them all.