Let's face it, some characters are crafted so horribly, it's impossible not to laugh at their ridiculous lines and actions. Storytellers mess up too and when they do, we get imaginary people who are just that — not real. Even worse, their unconvincing behavior can break the suspension of disbelief and ruin an otherwise totally sound book, TV show, or movie.
Luckily, that's not always the case and every once in a while, we relate to make-believe folks so much, we can even learn from them and grow as human beings. In fact, we can develop such a strong bond with them that their joys and sorrows start affecting us on a personal level. So we at Bored Panda decided to explore these beautiful connections.
Researching the topic, we came across a couple of Reddit threads (one and two) that we think you'd be interested to go through as well. They both essentially ask the same question: which characters' passing away have scarred you the most? And people's answers along with their explanations provide an interesting insight into our relationship with fiction.
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John Coffey from The Green Mile. I’m a grown man, and his death makes me ugly-cry every damn time. Too much time thinking about it makes me tear up
Ellie from Up. Up's intro sequence was so beautiful: It told the story of a couple's life together. Real life with all of the difficulty and broken dreams along with it. And it shows the deep and incredible loss Carl felt with her death. This short sequence imbues the film with a deeper sense of meaning, using almost no words at all, and gives Carl a profound gravitas you cannot find in many other films
Sam(the dog) in, I am legend. Because he was Will smiths friend and he had to put her down.
Fred Weasley from Harry Potter. The twins may have annoyed some people with their pranks, but their ultimate goal in life was to have fun and bring joy to their friends. They were generous and brave and clever and pure. To kill Fred and permanently tear them apart was the WORST! Especially when George had already been injured! You didn’t think they could be at risk anymore now that one of them had gotten hurt. They weren’t on my radar during the Battle of Hogwarts. I remember the moment I read it the first time. I was inconsolable
Rue from The Hunger Games. Rue getting speared and having Katniss sing to her. The 12-year-old me couldn’t handle that trauma
Seymour the dog from Futurama. I normally skip 'Jurassic Bark' as I know I can't handle it. But upon a recent rewatch from beginning to end, I decided to put on a brave face, knew what I was getting into, braced myself, and watched it along with all the other episodes. I had to stop watching because I couldn't see the TV through my tears.
Dobby. I've read the books before and knew he would die but when i saw him dying in the movie.... it just broke my heart. so i cried my eyes out in the cinema (i was ten)
Bobby Singer....
Brooks from Shawshank Redemption. It was so sad seeing that old man just trying to be normal but realizing his normal was within the cell walls and prison halls. It really bothered me when he was working at the grocery store, and everyone was b*tching at him while he was bagging people’s groceries. It truly goes to show that society will f*ck you if you don’t keep up. RIP.
Little Foot's mom in The Land Before Time.
When I first saw it as a kid it was the first time that I realized that my parents could die. That thought had never even really occured to me at that point.
Even now as an adult that scene where he thinks he sees her but it's just his shadow and the narrator says, "Then Little Foot knew for certain he was alone." still gets to me.
That girl from the bridge to terabithia. That hit me so hard as an 8 year old
Henry Blake from MASH
In Cher's variety show in 1975 he showed up on a life raft, waving and shouting "I'm fine!" lol. Legend also has it that they didn't tell the cast about it and when they hear the message the upset silence and dropping of instruments we hear was a genuine reaction.
Thomas J from My Girl. When Vada is crying at his funeral, screaming about his glasses... that hits different. Gets me every time.
Yondu. sh*t was sad asf and i actually cried a lil in the theater
Hedwig. Idk, hedwig was there from the start. Ken Miles in Ford v. Ferrari. He never got his full recognition. Although, the nod from Enzo was huge.
Yes! It was awful. Though jkr said it was a metaphor for Harry's childhood being over. Still, why?!
Tadashi Hamada in big hero 6
Ok. Ok. Yeah I cant even watch big hero 6 without bawling my eyes out.
Shireen Baratheon from Game of Thrones. It will all be over soon, Princess' and the music. F*ck, it makes me want to barf. The series is full of scenes that are truly painful to watch, but the burning of Shireen is the worst.
Boromir from The Lord of the Rings. First time I ever cried during a movie.
Prim from The Hunger Games. Unlike most character deaths, hers wasn't in the midst of the action/excitement. It was after they'd won. It felt so spiteful and unnecessary. Fu*ck Coin
We thought it was over, that she had made it out alive and then BOOM!! 😭
Loki in Infinity War. Not because of some great affinity for the character but because I was absolutely certain that he was the ONE person who was safe from being offed. Of course, he not only died but he died FIRST.
Yeah but as we all predicted, Loki didnt die. He can't just lay down and die for some reason.
Rosie from Jojo Rabbit. It took me a while to realize why Jojo was crying about the hanging victim he'd bumped into...and then it f*cking hit me. That one was absolutely brutal.
Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter. This one gets me more now than when I first saw it. Then, as probably a lot of people do on their first read/watch, I looked at it from the perspective of Harry. His friend died needlessly, and it hurt.
Now, older and a father, I can’t help but look at it from Cedric’s dad’s perspective: proud and supportive of the man his son is growing into. And it’s all taken away in that horrid moment that they Apparate back
Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey. That was absolutely traumatizing.
George O’Malley from Grey's Anatomy. I gotta mentally prepare myself to rewatch that episode
It was a time before major character deaths were common. They set everything up so well that we were so focused on the idea that Izzy might die that the thought of another main cast member dying was inconceivable. Now it's a game: "oh who do you think they'll kill off next?".
Rob stark. The whole episode was a mind f*ck and I’m sure all GofT fans will agree it’s by far one of the best episodes if not the best.
I read the books before the show came out and that scene was so traumatic. It was 2AM, and I'd been reading non-stop since the early morning, when I got to the Red Wedding. I felt so numb and I just put the book down. it took me a while to go to sleep.
Joyce Summers (Buffy's mom) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This was the most traumatic and saddest. When she says, 'Mommy?' Ugh. And it wasn’t supernatural, just super sad
Ben Sullivan from Scrubs. When JD says, 'Where do you think we are?' That was one of their best episodes, but I have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it, or I get all blubbery.
Glenn from The Walking Dead. Such a genuinely good guy, too. Even to the very end, he was keeping an eye out for Maggie.
Boxer, from animal farm. He worked so hard his whole life and to be sent to a glue farm while his best friend screams and runs behind him, chills man.
It was a hell of a thing when Spock died. hell of a thing.
live long and prosper
The tenth Doctor.
"I don't want to go."
Only second to Donna Noble's fate when it comes to sad endings on Doctor Who.
"I was going to be with you, forever."
Stoick from How to Train Your Dragon 2. Not so much the way he died, but the funeral scene, the music and the recital by Gobber.
And when Hiccup screamed at Toothless it made me cry even harder. It wasnt his fault.
Washburn in Serenity. He was my favourite character from Firefly, and I just wasn't expecting it at that point in the movie.
Lennie in Of Mice and Men.
ali from squid game. they did my man dirty
Dang that episode was doubly brutal until you got to the end of the series and realised...
Poussey Washington from Orange Is the New Black. I cried for days. I love the character and the actor, and I wanted Poussey to get out of there so much. She really didn't deserve to be in prison. It breaks my heart that she died trying to help her friend. Really shows how many people get lost in the system
OMG yes. When her bestie got on the FLOOR beside her just sobbing her soul out...whew, that scene is incredibly intense. Instant ugly cry.
Uncle Iroh's son from Avatar the Last Airbender: Tales of Ba Sing Se (the real Avatar- Last Airbender, not the hack version from M. Night Shamalan).
You're never introduced to him, but you can convey from the deep sorrow Iroh pours out how his death affected his personal purview and moral edict. It made me cherish the worlds, friendships and lives you build with people because you are an influence to many, and pouring poison into a vessel is a quick way to make you regret how you passed along what you said and did.
Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games. I remember being a junior in highschool, reading Mockingjay in class and then suddenly... Finnick dies. I was so taken aback and shocked, I had to look up from my book and glance around because I thought I had made a noise. Turns out, I didn’t but I had to read his death scene a few times to really understand what just happened. Needless to say I started to tear up and had to go to the bathroom to calm down, lol.
I was waiting for someone to say this! Especially because Annie had a child after he died.
Ragnar, from vikings. He was the one aspect that balanced everything. After he went, their community went to sh*t. Also, he used is head to lead. Hvitserk and Ivar were stupid leaders concerned with superficial things. Ubbe and Bjorn were still much better and wiser. But anyway, after Ragnar left, i kinda got depressed man. What a character
Logan. Cause I literally grew up with those movies and that character. When I went to bed after seeing it for a second time, I just...cried. Probably cried to sleep. It was as if my childhood ended there
That polar bear in the Planet Earth (2?). Can’t watch it again, absolutely devastating seeing it just give up and die next to the walruses because it has no energy to hunt anymore.
There’s a specific episode of Doctor Who, ‘Father’s Day’, where Rose goes back in time and saves her dad from getting killed in a car accident.
Her dad gets to meet her but because the timeline change caused complete chaos and destruction, he figures out he was supposed to get hit by the very car she saved him from. He then steps onto the road and … fixes the timeline.
I never bawled so hard. It was such a well-written episode. It was tragic and upsetting. At the same time it was haunting watching Rose’s dad accept his fate. I still cry hard every time I watch his death scene.
Adriana La Cerva from The Sopranos. It’s one of the most heartbreaking, cruel death scenes I’ve ever seen on a TV show. Just brutal and sad and shocking
Blackadders Squad when they needed to get out of the trenches ...
A british top comedy series starring many comedians with A tragic end....
Charlie in LOST.
NOT PENNYS BOAT.
Ben from Scrubs. He wasn’t even a major character, but at the time he was Dr. Cox’s only friend, the only one who made him a joyous person, and that gut-punch of a twist was something else. “Where do you think we are?”
Opie from Sons of Anarchy. Opie's death was the hardest in the show for me to watch. I love that after his funeral, SAMCRO all have an 'In memory of Opie' patch on their cut
The Iron Giant. Give me a good growling voiced “SuperMan” and I start to tear up.
Technically he didnt die. He "regenerated" at the end while his body parts came together
Chidi wasn’t the saddest but made me cry when he went to the door.
He was already technically dead, but Ben Hargreeves from Umbrella Academy.
Sokka.
But mostly because we don’t know how he died, and it bothers the f*ck out of me.
What is worse is that we don't know what kind of life he lived in Legends of Korra?
Nell in Haunting of Hill House. The whole bent neck lady episode and the funeral episode were absolute TV masterpieces. The realisation of what happened is heartbreaking.
The death of Marvin Ericsson- How I Met Your Mother
Oh and when you watch it again and notice the numbers in the background of each scene count down.
lil Sebastian
Jiraiya from Naruto.
The kid deserved a f*cking break. Grew up with no parents and in a village that resented him. He worked his tail off and made people respect him and realize he's not a monster through hard work and determination alone.
Midway through Part I, Jiraiya enters his life, becomes a strong father figure (though he does have his flaws), and then he's killed in Part II. Watching Naruto break down in the popsicle scene after Jiraiya passed had me bawling my eyes out.
I lived a childhood a lot like Naruto's. Didn't really relate well to my parents (they were abusive) and spent a lot of time alone as a result. I was also poor as hell and told I'd never amount to anything. I worked so hard growing up to be where I am now, and to see a character I identified with so much get something stolen from him that he truly deserved sucked.
I'mma go cry now.
Maes Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist. FMA was my introduction to anime, and Maes's death shook me a lot. It's such a raw, emotional scene
Andrea Cantillo from Breaking Bad. That’s the worst moment in Breaking Bad. It’s one of those moments that’s so awful, you almost resent the writers for putting it in there. In a way, it shows you how Jesse would feel, just wishing it wouldn’t have happened. That show always blows my mind with how they're able to make you feel such strong emotions
The Dad in the book “ The Road “. Maybe because my son was born just a month earlier, but it was incredibly sad.. the father tried so hard to live , to care for his son... who is now alone.. in the cold. Devastated
Hank in Breaking Bad and Walters face afterwards just matched mine
Captain K’s death in Jojo Rabbit, watched it last night expecting the mom to die but the captain’s death made me tear up because it was unexpected
Poussey on Orange Is The New Black. She was one of the few characters I really cared about on the show and her death was just so unnecessary and realistic. Just devastating.
Sarah Lynn from BoJack Horseman. God, just the fact that her last words were 'I wanna be an architect.' Her wish since she was a child, but that her mother took away from her. And that BoJack could've saved her but waited 17 minutes to call an ambulance and tried to set everything up so that he wouldn't get blamed
Vesemirs death in Witcher 3, cried like a baby and I still cry every time I replay the game
Practically everyone who died in Clone Wars. Specially during season 7.
Count Olaf in A series of unfortunate events (the books)
Just something about a man so shaped by his own misery becoming a figure of cruelty and greed, relentless in pursuing the misery of others. He believes all people are this way in reality, and cannot see through the darkness use his intelligence and skills for good.
Then he just dies, unredeemed on a coastal shelf, and no one has anything to say.
That’s also what I liked about the books as a kid. There was an underlying message of : sometimes terrible things happen and there’s not much you can do about it, but try to get out the other side kicking.
Opie. Sons of Anarchy. Just why?
Rudy, The Book Thief. We read the book in middle school English then watched the movie. The entire class was sobbing because we had studied this book and fallen in love with the characters, and to see it brought to life was just heartbreaking. Great book and movie by the way. Edit: thank you SO much for the awards!
Aaah read that last year, still a tear jerker, Liesels family and friends are gone, having to restart everything for the second time.
John Marston. He suffered so much in an attempt to move on from his past, killing all of his former comrades in the process. He finally reunited with his wife and kid, gets a small glimpse at a new life, and then he’s shot down in front of a barn like a damn dog. Was painful to watch, doubly so after RDR2 came out.
Greed from Full Metal Alchemist.
“Greed may not be good, but it's not so bad either. You humans think greed is just for money or power, but everyone wants something they can't have.”
Greed had the most selfless death and damn did it hit home.
Legion, on ME3. That is heartbreaking, more if you choose to kill him
When Stringer Bell died on the Wire I seriously considered not watching the rest of the series.
I'm glad I did continue, but later deaths like Omar and Snoop were no easier.
Charles from henry stickmin. You know why
:( this should be the highest one. He had the greatest of plans, just not good enough for him to survive. I cant even play that ending without crying. And the damn sad music, gets me every time.
Scooter in Tales from the Borderlands. I loved Scooter so much from BL2, and it hurt so much to see him go the way he did. The worst part was knowing exactly what was going to happen just before it did.
So long, Space Cowboy.
I stopped watching after Vincent. Such a good character was thrown away for shock value, like Zack was. The show was already starting to go downhill and that was the final nail in the coffin for me. I'm so glad I didn't stick around to see Sweets die too.
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We watched Hachiko in our ELA class in 6th grade and there was not a SINGLE person in the class who was not crying at the end
Omgg I was already crying before he died. Watching him waiting at the station every single day, in the snow and rain - just broke my heart. I can’t even write any more about it right now. 😢
Load More Replies... I stopped watching after Vincent. Such a good character was thrown away for shock value, like Zack was. The show was already starting to go downhill and that was the final nail in the coffin for me. I'm so glad I didn't stick around to see Sweets die too.
Load More Replies... We watched Hachiko in our ELA class in 6th grade and there was not a SINGLE person in the class who was not crying at the end
Omgg I was already crying before he died. Watching him waiting at the station every single day, in the snow and rain - just broke my heart. I can’t even write any more about it right now. 😢
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