Most shocking death of a main character in a movie or TV series

[WillParkinson]

For me I'll never get over the deaths of

Denise (Tasha Yar) Crosby in The Next Generation


or

Matthew (Adric) Waterhouse in Doctor Who


I'm sure there has been others but for me these two came as the biggest shock.

[sarge43]

1. M.A.S.H. Henry Blake

[joeybee12]

4. That was my first thought, too...nt

[sarge43]

5. I read that the cast wasn't informed

So when Radar stumbled into the ER set to announce his death, they weren't totally acting the shock.

[hifiguy]

7. That's the one for me, too.

Felt like I had been poleaxed at the end of that episode.

[HopeHoops]

11. That's the first thing that came to mind.

[kimi]

27. Yep, me too

Such a shock, totally did not expect it. Young as I was, it sticks with me to this day, it was like losing a good good friend.

[fishwax]

45. +1

:thumbsup:

[meegbear]

54. +1

[Deep13]

2. Wash in Serenity. nt

[baldguy]

85. "Wash ain't comming."

;(

[DainBramaged]

91. I remember going to see Serenity in the theater and people crying when he died...

It gets watched a couple times a year....

[charlie and algernon]

3. Jin and Sun in LOST

The LOST creators even said that they had to kill them off just to show what an evil motherfucker the MIB was and that NOTHING was off the table.

[freshwest]

32. I forgot a lot of that. Didn't they come back later?

[CBGLuthier]

49. everyone came back

because it was a magic fairy tale life after death ending.

Great show. Terrible ending.

[freshwest]

71. Wait, so they were dead from the beginning?

Writing that sentence I was struck by how absurd it sounds, so in our belief system that time goes in one direction only, and don't want to write it. Yet that is what happened, right?

I thought they were living in an alternate reality when the time shift happened. Later it seemed the Darma gang caused the plane to crash, that they drew them in for their own purposes. I did not like those guys, especially their leader. I kept slipping back to ignoring the weird flashes, making the illusion of the storyline conventional. Which is what I think we all do on a daily basis.

I haven't watched TV for a decade, just what I get from online sites and youtube so I didn't have anyone to discuss the show with while it was on. I first found people chatting about LOST and went to a streaming video site (hulu?) and watched it from the beginning.

It was an amazing production using many science fiction themes while maintaining interest in the different personalities. It had to end eventually. I wonder if anything of that quality is still on.

[charlie and algernon]

73. no, the purgatory only showed up in the last season

They were alive and well on the island. From the way it was explained on the show, when they died, whenever that was (either on the island or long after the island) they went to purgatory. Because the time they spent together on the island was the most important time in their lives, their purtagory reflected that time period. But that was only shown in the final season. I don't believe that they've ever suggested that the flashbacks in the first 5 seasons were anything other than flashbacks, or flashforwards.

[freshwest]

74. Thanks, that was my impression of the way it went.

[XemaSab]

41. Hello?

Alex? :o

[alsame]

102. I agree, Alex's death shocked me more than any other on Lost. nt

[lukasahero]

58. I thought Libby's death was even more shocking

By the time they got to Jin and Sun, I was used to them killing off good characters.

[freshwest]

72. I've forgotten too much of the show. I'll have to watch it again now. Epic.

[XemaSab]

113. Two for the Road

is one of my favorite episodes.

It wasn't just that two main characters got killed, it's that the culprit was one of the losties. :o

[Dr. Strange]

6. Rita

[cbdo2007]

15. Awww, I'm starting to tear up again just thinking about it....

That was the most shocking for me. We were still processing that for weeks afterward.

[Initech]

19. "Born in blood... just like me."

Man that was such a disturbing ending... :scared:

[EOTE]

122. That's it for me.

I've missed a lot of the other deaths listed on this thread, but Rita's death literally knocked the air out of me. I was struggling for breath a good minute after seeing that. That was one of the most amazing seasons of television I had ever seen. And the ending was just brutal.

[LynneSin]

8. Nate Fisher in "Six Feet Under"

SFU probably had the absolutely best series finale either. But I was shocked they killed off Nate a few shows before the ending, but it worked will with the storyline. But the best was the ending when they showed how all the main characters died while Claire drove off into the sunset.

For those who have not seen the show, it takes place in a Funeral Home.

[PassingFair]

9. +1 nt

[CBGLuthier]

50. It went out very well

I thought they faltered a little in the year after Michael Hall's character had been brutalized but they went out very well.

And killing Nate early after making it seem all was well was sheer genius,

[Kashka-Kat]

105. Yep, the way he just (spoiler alert)

keeled over like that - I shrieked, and Im not usually the shrieking kind. Not only does this deserve an award for shockingness, but also for excellence in story writing - it was so integral to the very meaning and intent of the series. The transience of life and all that. Because we got to know Nate and all his foibles his death was an emotional wollop that I just don't usually get out of a TV series.. or many movies or books for that matter. I honestly felt for days like someone I knew had died! BTW, the "faltering" of season 4 I think was significant too because it reflected the tediousness of real life - the way we repeat our same dysfunctional patterns over and over and over.

As opposed to most other TV deaths which are just convenient plot devices they stick in when an actor leaves the series or whatever.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Colin the techie in Season 5 of MI-5 (Spooks)

Here was a character supposedly not in any danger of being killed off (as most of the series regulars eventually are).

[TheMightyFavog]

17. Agreed.

Is it just me, or did I detect a bit of a thing between him and Malcom, the other techie?

Speaking of MI-5/Spooks there are several gut-punching deaths. *SPOILERS*









































































Fiona Carter, Adam Carter, Danny come to mind.

[txwhitedove]

39. Agree with you on all counts. Also, the torture death of

Zaf.

Edit, so shocked I couldn't remember his name!

[txwhitedove]

107. OMG! Watched MI-5 Episode 1 of Season 9 last night..... spoiler

not going to tell, but it was a shock.

[GCP]

128. Yup

I hated that.

[geardaddy]

12. Kenny

[Lindsey]

14. Rita in Dexter....man I did NOT see that coming. n/t

[Initech]

25. You bastards!!!

[Lionel Mandrake]

13. Kevin Spacey in L. A. Confidential

Just before he dies, he smiles and says "Rollo Tamasi".

[Mad_Dem_X]

52. Brilliant death scene.

Watching the life slowly drain out of his eyes...a terrific piece of acting by Spacey.

[jp11]

16. Optimus Prime, scarred me as a child.

http://udoncrew.deviantart.com/art/CCE-Optimus-Prime-46689042

[Frank Cannon]

46. I had a friend who worked in a movie theater when that film came out.

He said the audiences were just full of kids bawling and crying their eyes out. He thought it was really pretty close to child abuse.

[applegrove]

18. For me it was the DEA agent in Weeds. He turned out to be an ass but still

I was not happy when he died. I kept thinking..okay he's an ass, divorce him, break up with him but don't kill him off.

[Tikki]

20. Waking The Dead (*SPOILER ALERT*)....

Just in case the NetFlixers haven't finished the SEASON 4 yet....

http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=40082
Was pushed by psycho woman and fell 5 stories to death. :(


Tikki

[CherokeeDem]

22. Absolutely blew me away...

Waking the Dead is one of my favorite shows of all time and I was stunned at this. What an amazing show....loved it.

[petronius]

23. That's very high on my list as well

And it was very well written for the effect it got - the scene was over, problem defused... and then bam! :(

[CherokeeDem]

26. Yeah....

totally unexpected....raw, emotional scene.

[Ptah]

21. Chuckles the Clown

Lou Grant Has Bad News About Chuckles the Clown - - > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTi9cUyfXgY

http://estergoldberg.typepad.com/views_from_a_broad/2009/10/mary-tyler-moore-chuckles-the-clownfunniest-episode.html

[hifiguy]

59. That had to be perhaps the funniest single episode

of any sitcom ever. Priceless.

[CherokeeDem]

24. To be honest....

I wasn't all that upset about Tasha Yar...she grated on my nerves.

I'm a major scifi fan...the death of Dr. Carson Beckett in Stargate Atlantis was horrible...as was the lost of Wash in Serentiy.

But Henry Blake on MASH was a stunner.....tough one.

[Dr. Strange]

30. Heh, good call on Tasha.

Her death was a timely one in my opinion.
And Wash--damn, that was a shocker.

[WillParkinson]

51. Tasha...

Her death was just a shock to me. I had not heard that Denise Crosby wanted out of the series and it was just so....over when she was killed. Though it did give Data a nice line of reflection.

[freshwest]

28. The one that really bothered me was the black guy that got killed near the very end of the movie,

'The Night of the Living Dead.'

He'd saved everyone but got killed in the last seconds of the film. To me he was the star and I found it so unfair.

Not only that, the actors didn't even seem to care as the sun came up and they walked away.

As the years went by I found there was a pattern, so much that it has become a trophism called 'Black Dude Dies First.'

[petronius]

37. I think you're being extremely unfair to Hollywood - sometimes, the black dude dies second

Or even third. In fact, someone told me once that there was a movie where the black dude didn't die at all (but I can't recall what it was...)

[freshwest]

40. Yep, but they always get one. It always bugged me after that old movie.

[kimi]

29. "Walking Dead"

When Amy died, that was kind of a shock to me. Some people who'd read the graphic novels probably expected it, but I hadn't read them, so I sure didn't.

[Mojambo]

31. Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. n/t

[crim son]

34. That would be mine too. n/t

[Iggo]

44. Two more, same series...

Jenny Calendar


Joyce Summers

[rug]

33. Guido Orefice

[tigereye]

55. yes (and spoilers about West Wing)

and the secretary in the West Wing

[siligut]

120. That just pissed me off

That was written into the screenplay, someone made the conscious decision to kill him. I get we Americans want happy endings, and the film would be different, but not lesser had he lived.

[Yukari Yakumo]

35. It all started out innocently enough...

Near the end of Episode 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnuRMlxRRbA

Lesson Learned: Whenever Gen Urobuchi says he's writing a happy story, he's lying.

[pokerfan]

36. Mrs. Landingham - The West Wing

Completely unexpected.

[pokerfan]

38. Anna Sheridan - Babylon 5

Hubby drops two 500 megaton nukes on her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E0PoL4Tpq4

"Consider this a divorce!" Same old story. She wants to work it out, he wants to move on...

[tigereye]

57. that's a great, great series- one of the best, IMHO

[Duer 157099]

42. George in "Dead Like Me" n/t

[Luciferous]

95. :)

[Lucian]

43. Wesley in "Angel."

[lukasahero]

60. That one hurt

Fred's did too. :(

[slay]

115. Indeed

i still tear up when Illyria asks Wes as he's dying would he like her to lie to him now - and he says yes please - and she changes to look and act like Fred. ~sniff~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPD7CN1xTfU -- Wesley & Fred :: Close Your Eyes

[slay]

116. woops

replied wrong place - doh.

[Frank Cannon]

47. That guy in the red shirt on Star Trek.

You know the episode I'm talking about.

[sarge43]

53. Can't call Ensign Red Shirt's death shocking.

Not when the crew heads to quarters to rifle his footlocker as soon as he's assigned to the landing party.

"He'll be taking a dirt nap in 3 .... 2 ...."

[CBGLuthier]

48. 30 Something

Gary. It was one of those while you are worrying about everything else life throws you a surprise kind of things.

[tigereye]

56. hey you might want to put a spoiler alert - although I

suspect most would understand that when reading the thread! ;)

[NV Whino]

61. Varro in Spartacus Blood and Sand

The character was so loved that the writers kept him two episodes beyond the original plan. Still they killed him, and still it brings me to tears.

[petronius]

112. I was pretty surprised at that one - it seemed like they were on the way to developing the character

Still, it set up one of the most spectacular moments in the finale, IMO: "He was mine! He was mine!"

I was a lot more pissed, however, when they killed Barca - and even more pissed after they deepened the character in the prequels...

[Godhumor]

62. John Wayne in "The Cowboys"

Totally unexpected.

[kwassa]

63. When they killed Pussy.

Pussy Bonpensiero.

The Sopranos.

[BlueIris]

64. Toss up between Gandalf in Lord of the Rings: FoTR (I hadn't read the series) and Lynn Kresge on 24.

Yes, I know she didn't really die, but she might as well have. And what made it shocking was the character responsible. Previous to that plotline he had not been a spineless, conspiratorial git.

I was also shocked by the death of Mrs. Landingham on The West Wing and good ole' Rosalind. Shays on L.A. Law. Finally, even though I hated the actress who played her, I was also sad when Elizabeth Weir "died" on Stargate: Atlantis.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

65. Scrubs - Nurse Laverne Roberts

it surprised/shocked/saddened me. She was Carla's best buddy for so long.

[patricia92243]

69. I never could understand why that happened - why did they need to write her character off the show??

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

76. I really believed, at the time, it was because the

actress that played her had passed. I couldn't see any other reason, it was just so random.

But the actress is still with us, so I have no clue why in the world the series took that plot turn.

[peekaloo]

87. She got a more steady gig on 'Days of Our Lives' at that time.

Funny because LaVerne loved her some stories! It was really funny when she popped back up in a smaller role and JD refers to her as "LaVernagin". :-)

[Bunny]

100. They thought the show was going to end after that season, so they

wrote her off. When the show was unexpectedly renewed, the producer brought her back as the always-masked nurse Shirley, who confused JD every time he saw her.

I read that somewhere.

[Supply Side Jesus]

66. Game of Thrones **Spoiler**

hit me back after the 1st season concludes....}(

[Iggo]

70. Yup.

[NewJeffCT]

106. Which one?

there are more than a few deaths in the book...

[kiva]

111. Yup, I think that death will make future lists. n/t

[Zorra]

67. Henry Blake was the most shocking. W.P. Inman in Cold Mountain

getting killed was a real bummer.

[abq e streeter]

68. Maude Flanders

[Philippine expat]

75. TV series

Col Blake on MASH
Movies John Wayne in Cowboys

[Orrex]

77. Tasha Yar was a much better character post mortem than pre mortem

Skin of Evil, the episode in which she died, is (IIRC) considered among the worst of the ST:TNG offerings, in part because of the sheer pointlessness of her death. It's shocking, to be sure, but it achieved no dramatic end and simply servced to remove her from the show's primary continuity. And what was up with that purple splotch on her cheek?

[Orrex]

78. For TV series, Col Blake's death is the winner.

At the same time, a number of shows have had to recover from the real-world deaths of their actors, such as Eight Simple Rules reeling from John Ritter's death and Gimme a Break facing the loss of Dolph Sweet. It's a rare show that survive such upheaval, so I'd have to say that these characters' deaths--contingent upon the actors' deaths--are quite shocking in their own right.


The two most shocking deaths in film, for me, both occur in Schindler's List. The first is the newlywed bride murdered by a shot to the head in the Kraków Ghetto. The other is the Jewish engineer likewise murdered by a shot to the head. Both of these made me gasp out loud--a rare event for this jaded movie-goer.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

79. Dan Turpin in the Superman animated series -nt

[WillParkinson]

98. Oh, Turpin was totally unexpected...

Especially for an animated series.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

80. I'm disappointed that nobody mentioned Spock in ''The Wrath of Khan'' yet.

[freshwest]

82. Only because he was resurrected in the next flick.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

83. Well, nobody knew that for sure while watching TWoK.

And for roughly one year afterwards. So yeah, it was shocking at the time.

[freshwest]

96. It was very harsh, and Khan appeared to have won at the end of that one, didn't he?

He was a perfect 'Superman,' as envisioned and called for by the more honest followers of Ayn Rand.

I'm hoping it won't take an eugenics war to stop their plans for the wonderful world they want for themselves. It seems we're living the precursor to that piece of science fiction. Wait, what am I saying?

We *are* living in a world where any of those issues are safely confined to fantasy, or a distant future. The future is here, and we can see the signs all around us. We must influence it, or perish.

[peacefreak]

81. Rosalind Shay's

fall down the elevator shaft in L.A. Law.

[Redford]

125. yep

[Incitatus]

84. Julias Caesar

:silly:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

86. "Take care of the baby"...Sharon Lawrence in NYPD Blue.

[woo me with science]

88. When Samantha murdered Darrin and replaced him with that imposter. nt

[dipsydoodle]

89. City of Angels.

:(

[DainBramaged]

92. OH, one of my top 10 favorites, killed me when I saw it for the first time

sad sad wonderful movie...Iris still one of my favorite songs....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdYWuo9OFAw

[dipsydoodle]

99. Check out Made in Heaven too

if you've never seen it. Some hero has loaded it all onto YouTube. Part 1 here etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWd8WWzkq2Y End of that always cracks me up.

Not a spoiler : Emmett is Debra Winger which isn't mentioned in the cast list.

[Orrex]

94. Even better is the actual movie

At the risk of being one of those "the foreign original was better" people...

[The Wielding Truth]

90. Dr. Duane Jones who played "Ben" in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

[Orrex]

97. Excellent choice!

How could I forget?!?

[Xipe Totec]

93. Definetly Tasha Yar, and also Kara Thrace

[Gidney N Cloyd]

101. Dr. Pulaski on Star Trek NG stepping into that empty turbolift shaft.

[Z_I_Peevey]

103. Teri Bauer

That was pretty shocking in Season 1 of 24.

[BlueIris]

127. Yeah. The wrong Bauer died that year. nt

[qwertyMike]

104. "Psycho" shower lady

Sh u d d d d d d der

[blue neen]

108. Adrianna in the Sopranos.

I never got over it, and it seems like the show didn't either.

It was way beyond disturbing.

[fadedrose]

109. Edith Bunker

[fadedrose]

110. Radar (wasn't killed, just done away with)

[XemaSab]

114. Maddy on Twin Peaks

:evilgrin:

[slay]

117. Captain Bialar Crais and Talyn in Farscape

Talyns End - pt1 -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TocBiVkPdVs&feature=related pt2 -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYl8AR-YNOQ&NR=1

[deutsey]

118. The main character at the end of "Looking for Mr. Goodbar"

I guess I knew what the movie was about before I saw it, but the ending still shocked me.

[Tikki]

126. Stunning closing scene...

I read the book first...still doesn't prepare, though.



Tikki

[kentauros]

119. Death of Kosh, Babylon 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6beF9u5-5Ko

Kosh!

[meow mix]

121. Yar. no... Datas death was much worse

its between commander data, dr paul beckett, or trinity.

[Divameow77]

123. The Prospect

in Sons of Anarchy. I really liked Half Sack...

[KG]

124. Coover Bennet- 'Justified'

:P