
A redshirt is a 
stock character, used frequently in 
science fiction but also other 
genres, whose sole purpose is to die violently soon after being introduced. Redshirts are a 
plot device used to indicate the dangerous circumstances faced by the main characters at the start of a 
narrative without having to kill any of the vital main characters. The term comes from the popular American 
science fiction television series 
Star Trek, in which security officers wore red shirts, and were often killed on missions under the aforementioned circumstances.