He's Aaaaliiive!!! (How cheap is it?)

[Iffix]

First off, I would never zombify a character. (I have an exceptional hatred of zombies anyhow.) But here's the situation.

I have a single action scene as the basis for my story arc. In that scene, four characters are henchmen of an arch-villain. They have been sent to do a dirty deed in her behalf. Two of those characters turn tail, leaving one character (supposedly) dead while the other survives.

To further deepen the impact of this scene, the two heroic traitors are best friends, whereas the two who were abandoned were brothers. Now the surviving brother is miffed that his brother was killed by the traitors.

Fast forward. Through no fault of his own, one of the two friends has his memories erased and he is brainwashed against his best friend by an unidentified assailant. Meanwhile, the miffed brother has encountered the other friend and been persuaded to form a shaky alliance against a greater enemy.

Now, my great struggle. If this greater enemy is actually the (supposedly) dead brother who survived at the hands of the arch-villain and was turned against the others, would this be too much of a stretch?

In other words, when the villain is supposedly dead but returns from the dead (via realistic means) does this anger readers? (I know it feels cheap when the hero comes back from an almost certain death. But what about when it's the villain?)

I apologize for any vagueness to this question. I'm trying my best not to spoil this rather complicated story-arc. Any feedback you have is most appreciated.

[Iffix]

Thanks Libby.

[April]

I doubt readers would be very surprised. But you should leave at least some tiny clues to make the resurrection plausible.

It's a well-known cliche in storytelling that just because we think a character is dead doesn't mean he really is dead. In fact, as readers/movie watchers, we've been conditioned to think that a dead character will likely return (especially a bad guy). There's a main character in Game of Thrones who died at the end of the last season, and the viewers are waiting with baited breath for him to "return." The producers are saying, "No, he's really dead. Honest." But the viewers are like, "Yeah, riiiiiight. When's he coming back?"

[Christina]

Like everything else, it's going to be how you present the scene that makes or breaks it. I don't fully subscribe to the theory that there are no new ideas. Concepts can be reused over and over. In some cases, you see copycats of previous works, yes, but if the existing and well known concept is executed in a way that blows the audience away,they may not even realize that you have been working with a common trope.

[Iffix]

Hmm... I appreciate the insights. Thanks for your replies.