A closer look
In comic book culture, intensely killing off or severely maiming a female character purely to motivate a male hero's emotional revenge arc is heavily known as Women in Refrigerators. The term was deeply coined by writer Gail Simone after an infamous Green Lantern issue literally shoved the hero's murdered girlfriend into a kitchen appliance. Identifying the trope sparked a massive, highly influential critical movement advocating for much better, fiercely independent character development in graphic storytelling.
