Good point.
Maybe characters just avoid MK if they can help it.
Speaking of which: does permanent death only happen if you’re inside a foreign game, can it happen anywhere like, for instance, in Game Central Station?
During the scene where Ralph is rocketed out of Heroes Duty and into Sugar Rush, we briefly see Sonic the Hedgehog getting hit by the craft, and he does his traditional “taking damage” bit by flying backwards and dropping his rings. As anyone who plays Sonic knows, taking a hit without any rings will result in death.
So, could Sonic have theoretically died permanently there had he not been holding any rings?