Monday - Authors as Wrathful Gods

 

Many years ago I recall a Nanowrimo encouragement letter that advocated throwing characters in the deep end of a pool for inspiration. This made me think: Sometimes, our characters create their own problems or other characters create them. And sometimes we visit problems or disasters upon them like a wrathful god.   

Tell us some of the worst things you have done to a character to move a plot along.  (Remember to put them under a cut if they are TOO bad)   Alternatively, tell us about any time you showed mercy and spared a character from a horror that would have helped the story along.