Yahoo News 14 of the saddest-ever TV character deaths
Not all TV shows can be as lovely and laid-back as Bagpuss. At some point or another, something utterly tragic has to occur to break our hearts. And, for some reason, we keep going back to them, like the TV equivalent of ice cream after a brain freeze.
This is therapeutic for us, so stick with it.
1. Hodor (Game of Thrones)
A silly amount of favourites have met a horrid demise on Game of Thrones. Everyone at the Red Wedding, Shireen and, of course, Ned Stark to name but a tiny fraction of the corpses. But the most tragic and heartbreaking of all was Hodor.
Not only did he have a pretty horrid way to go (savaged by White Walkers), but we found out how his whole life up to that point was essentially dictated by that moment: holding the door shut so that Bran could escape. Bran's time-travelling ways basically turned him into the one-word man-mountain in the first place. Poor, sweet Hodor. Hodor!
2. Charlie (Lost)
Again, Lost saw pretty much everyone dead at some point, and technically they all were at the end. But for us, the saddest will always be Charlie Pace's underwater end in the season three finale.
The writers had toyed with us all season when Desmond kept saving Charlie from his inevitable death, and even the episode before saw him swim down to an underwater station and just about survive. For anyone who watched it, the words "Not Penny's Boat" will still send shivers. Though we still reckon he could easily have got out of the room in time.
3. George (Grey's Anatomy)
Creator Shonda Rhimes toys with our hearts on a weekly basis, and the deaths of Derek, Lexie, Mark and Denny (ironically played by Negan himself, Jeffrey Dean Morgan) were unbelievably tough to handle.
And then there was George O'Malley. One of the original interns and best characters at the start had seen his storylines reduced by the end of season 5, when he was unceremoniously run over and killed. But not before he was brought into the hospital so scarred that nobody realised it was even him until the last moment. Horrid.
4. Badger (The Animals of Farthing Wood)
Yep, we went there. This is what kids from the '90s had to deal with. Regular heartbreak.
Yes, we know they're animals and all that and it made sense that some of them would start dropping off after a while, but that doesn't mean lovely Badger's lonely death wasn't horrific.
5. The Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who)
Strictly speaking this is more of a regeneration than a proper death, but try not to cry when David Tennant pleads to stay a bit longer. Go on, try.
6. Everyone in Blackadder Goes Forth
For a comedy about the horror of WWI, Ben Elton and Richard Curtis couldn't have come up with a more fitting, beautiful and tearjerking end, as Blackadder, Baldrick, Darling and George go over the top to face their inevitable fate. It's made doubly sad by George and Baldrick's forlorn belief at the end that the ceasefire has come in time.
7. Edgar (24)
This episode proved that anything was possible and that nobody was safe in 24 (unless you were Jack Bauer).
After a nerve gas is unleashed in the CTU offices, sweet and dependable Edgar found himself trapped when everyone else was secured in the lockdown room. His desperation and realisation upon seeing best friend Chloe fully deserved its silent clock treatment.
8. Ben (Scrubs)
For a show as silly as Scrubs could be at times, it also had its fair share of poignant moments. The biggest of which wasn't even for a main character. It was Dr Cox's best friend Ben, played brilliantly by guest star Brendan Fraser.
Ben had been suffering from leukaemia, but all seemed to be getting better for him. By the end of the episode however, it turned out that only Dr Cox had been interacting with "him", and it was simply his way of coping with his death. How did John C McGinley not get an Emmy for this?
9. Seymour (Futurama)
We're finding it hard to even write when remembering this scene. After Fry finds his beloved dog's remains in the 31st century, the Professor was able to extract DNA and create a clone, complete with memories. But Fry declined, assuming that Seymour would have forgotten him in his remaining years.
However, a flashback revealed how Seymour had waited outside Panucci's Pizza for Fry every day since he was frozen in time, 12 years in total, before he eventually passed away. Sniff.
10. Matthew (Downton Abbey)
Even a Sunday-evening treat like Downton didn't shy away from horrendous character deaths from time to time.
Sybil's was bad enough, but it was Matthew's car crash which nudged us over the edge. How dare they kill lovely Matthew off minutes after discovering he was to be a dad? And on a CHRISTMAS SPECIAL for crying out loud.
11. Adriana (The Sopranos)
Adriana didn't deserve this end. She had to put up with a lot of crap from husband Christopher, and by accident she was forced to become an FBI informant.
After telling Chris out of desperation in the hope that they could live together in Witness Protection, it turned out that his "family" meant more to him than his wife, and she was promptly whacked in the woods by Sylvio. Crushing.
12. Joyce (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
This one came out of nowhere, and it took the characters quite some time to get over it, as well as us. After Joyce suddenly died of a brain tumour, Buffy's call of "Mommy?" is just too much.
13. Marvin (How I Met Your Mother)
Not one of the main characters, but the suddenness of Marshall's loving father dying and how Lily was the one that had to tell him was so tough to watch, especially for a comedy show.
It was made even worse when Marshall realised he had a voicemail from his dad from the day he died – and made even more powerful when you learn that actor Jason Segel had no idea what was about to happen, to make his reaction more realistic.
14. Mark (ER)
The only original ER character to die was also arguably THE main character for the first eight seasons, until he was suddenly diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour.
His decline in health shone a light on cancer, and Mark's final days are still difficult to watch. His final moments saw him listening to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of 'Over the Rainbow' while imagining himself walking through the hospital. A beautiful end.
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