This chapter is dedicated to my fellow writers who enjoy writing about death and murder like I do. (Trigger warning?)
First of all, there's different types of murder. If you want to get scientific with it, here's a list of different names for each act of killing:
Homocide- murder of another human
Genocide- murder of a certain group of people
Amicicide- murder of a friend
Filicide- murder of one's own child
Fratricide- murder of one's own brother
Gynaecide- murder of a woman
Mariticide- murder of one's own husband
Matricide- murder of one's own mother
Neonaticide- murder of a newborn infant
Parenticide- murder of one's own parents
Parricide- murder of a parent figure
Patricide- murder of one's own father
Prolicide- murder of offspring/the human race
Regicide- murder of a monarch
Senicide- murder of an old man/men
Siblicide- murder of one's own sibling/s
Sororicide- murder of one's own sister
Speciocide- murder of an entire species
Tyrannicide- murder of a tyrant
Uxoricide- murder of one's own wife
Vaticide- killing of a prophet
How much blood loss does it take to kill a human?
A liter and a half won't kill them. The victim will probably be anxious and confused after, and lightheaded. They'll probably be ok.
Two liters of blood probably won't kill them either... usually. There is a good chance they will, but more likely they'll faint. And they'll find it hard to breathe as well.
Two and a half or more... yeah they're probably going to die from that if they don't get a blood donation quickly. Their heart rate will be incredibly fast and it will be extremely hard to breathe and they probably already passed out a while ago. They're dead soon.
How might one character murder another?
On accident:
-The killer was drunk and didn't realize what they were doing.
-The killer was using magic and didn't know how to control it, and the victim was in the wrong spot at the wrong time.
-The killer wasn't thinking clearly and pushed the victim too hard or accidentally killed them when it was supposed to be a threat. (Threatened to shoot them but actually did.)
-The killer hit them with a car but that's not really murderous...
-The killer was upset with the victim and in their anger or frustration, killed the victim.
-The killer was being possessed.
-The killer had intentions of harm but not to kill the victim... it just went too far.
-The killer killed them in their own self defense. (Victim tried to kill them first and so the killer shot the victim to save themself.)
-Etc
On purpose:
-The murderer wanted to kill the victim.
-The murderer wanted revenge.
-The murderer was paid by someone else to kill the victim.
-The killer had to kill them in a war or battle.
-The murderer didn't have a sense of right and wrong. They're slightly or seriously insane and definitely did it for fun.
-The murder kills for sport.
-The killer did it to save themself or someone they love.
-The murderer killed someone to keep a secret.
-The murderer did it for attention.
-The murderer did it as a hate crime.
-The killer did it out of love for the victim.
-Etc
Absurd ways to have a character murder someone that doesn't involve being beaten to death, strangled, shot, executed, or stabbed:
-Heating them to death. At 107.5°F in the human body will die. That's why fevers can kill you. However, the human body can last air temperatures up to 300°F before death. Being burned alive, boiled, cooked, thrown in a giant microwave, or tossed into a fiery cavern is certainly a creative way to kill off a character through murder.
-Cold water only has to be 40°F to kill you. That doesn't seem that cold but in terms of water, it is. Toss that character into an icy lake and they might as well die trying to get out.
-The human body can survive 45 days without eating food. Or 7 days without water. Have one character starve another one to their death. That's always fun.
-This may be surprising but the human body can live for 11 minutes without oxygen. You could do whatever you want with that so long as it stays in writing and you're not actually killing a real person.
-Have a character get tortured to death.
-Have one character purposely give the other a deadly virus or sickness through a blanket or sharing food/clothing.
-Have one character disguise their murder as a suicide.
-Poison.
Other facts to keep in mind:
-If you chop off a body limb, the blood pressure in a human body is high enough to make it spew everywhere. It looks dramatic in movies and animation but it's actually legitimate. Even slicing a neck with a deep enough cut will act like a hole in a hose full of running water. Except with blood. Duh.
-Blood loss makes you drowsy.
-You can die from a bloody nose by drowning in your own blood.
-Cannibalism is bad. Not only because of how morally incorrect and sick it is but also because the human flesh is poisonous to humans and will trigger a chemical in your brain that basically makes you go insane.
-Mercury pills will also make you go insane because mercury in a high dosage is not good for you. Fun fact: hats used to be made with Mercury ingredients, hence the Mad Hatter in wonderland being a hat maker who lost his mind.
-A decapitated head is still alive and conscious for a few seconds after losing connection to its body.
-Stealing organs from living bodies is a thing.
-Stealing organs from dead bodies is also a thing.
-Murdering hospital patients to harvest their organs is also a thing.
-Organs are valuable and cost a lot of money.
-Dead bodies bloat when submerged in water for a long period of time. Bloated bodies float.
-When someone dies their eyes will remain open unless they died while unconscious.
-Rape can kill people from shock. I'm sorry for mentioning it...
-If a dying character has enough time to talk to their loved ones or think about their life then they're probably going to survive.
-Bullet entry holes are smaller than their exit holes.
-When stabbed, a character can survive much longer if the knife or sword stays in their body. TWIST THE KNIFE-
-Bullets will actually shatter in the body so there isn't always an exit hole. This is why bullets can be hard to remove.
-Rasputin was really hard to get killed...
-If a lot of blood is lost, it's hard to form words.
-Brain trauma? Throw up.
I am not a murder. I'm just an author.
Questions, concerns? Comment them!
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