Some characters live.  Some characters die.  It is up to the author to choose which.  Or is it?

If a book is done right, it is up to the story itself whether a character should live or not.  Readers may disagree, but there are some characters who just needed to die.  There are others who shouldn’t have.

One of the Writing Excuses podcasts discusses killing off characters and how to keep from foreshadowing it.

Die

Mentors and parents.  Mentors often have to die (E #1), as do parents (FP #1),...