Tell the truth: Do you cry when a favorite fictional character dies? Have you ever been caught weeping in front of the TV while watching that one devastating episode of Grey’s Anatomy or Game of Thrones? If so, you’re not alone. Which fictional death do you think is the saddest of them all? It’s a matter of opinion, but we’ve chosen 15 totally devastating ones — so proceed at your own risk.
Bambi’s Mom (“Bambi”) or Mufasa (“The Lion King”)
Pick your favorite Disney parental tragedy — both of these heart-wrenching deaths affected the children of their generations and the generations to follow. Whether you watched Bambi’s mother die at the hands of hunters or Simba’s father be killed by his own brother — or both — odds are that you had a rude awakening when a cartoon full of cute animals taught you the horrible lesson that parents die.
Dr. Mark Greene (“ER”)
“ER” was one of the hottest dramas of the 1990s and early 2000s, and millions of viewers got to know Dr. Mark very well over the course of eight seasons. Our relationship with this character lasted longer than many of our real-life friendships last, and we got to know his complexities better than we get to know some of the people in life whom we consider friends. Mark is one of several TV characters you’ll find on this list whom we mourn in part because of how long we “knew” him or her.
Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie (“Steel Magnolias”)
Probably anyone with any knowledge of how stories work knew from the very beginning that Shelby was not going to make it through the movie. That didn’t make her death any less sad. The movie is so good at portraying the heartbreak of a family deciding to remove a loved one from life support, the pain of a mother who has to bury her child, and the way a death can affect so many people in a community. The reactions of Shelby’s family and friends are terribly familiar to many of us.
Charlie Pace (“Lost”)
When Charlie sealed his fate by locking himself into a room filling with water in order to save his friend Desmond — and relay critical information for the survival of all the castaways via a note drawn with a permanent marker onto his hand — it was cue-the-tears time. He was a difficult character to love, with his many weaknesses and unsuccessful attempts to be a better man. But when he sacrificed himself, his faults were forgotten.
Charlotte (“Charlotte’s Web”)
Sometimes the saddest thing about a fictional death is the way the survivors react. When Wilbur learns that Charlotte is soon to die, his confusion and despair echo what many of us felt when we first learned about mortality the hard way. Reading or watching him go through it is a painful reminder — or, for those of us who read it as children, first lesson — of how it feels to prepare for a loved one’s death.
Augustus Waters (“The Fault in Our Stars”)
This book — as well as the movie adapted from it — is chock full of tear-jerker moments. We begin to shed our tears long before anyone actually dies, since the two main characters are teens fighting cancer. But the emotions ramp way, way up when Augustus holds his own funeral before he dies, so he can find out what his friends will say about him when they attend the real thing.
Hershel Greene (“The Walking Dead”)
It’s a show that thrives on death — without the dead, and the undead, there’d be no hit series at all. But some of the deaths are more painful than others, and for many fans, Hershel’s was the worst of all. His death, at the hands of another survivor rather than by zombie attack, seems especially senseless and awful in a show full of senseless and awful deaths.
Joyce Summers (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)
Joss Whedon is known for his easy willingness to kill beloved characters on his TV shows and in his movies. But perhaps the most painful of all the deaths in the Whedonverse was that of Buffy’s mother. Nothing supernatural or violent killed her; she died of a brain tumor, and the pain and confusion that Buffy and her friends went through was just as realistic as her cause of death.
Neil Perry (“Dead Poets Society”)
Fans of “Dead Poets Society” know that the pain of learning about Neil’s death is a special kind of pain, because Neil dies by suicide. A creative soul who dreams of becoming an actor, Neil is stifled by his father and on the verge of being sent to military school. When we see him in his darkest despair, we so wish we could tell him all the things we wish we could have told loved ones lost to suicide: You are loved, and it gets better!
Ellie Fredricksen (“Up”)
We barely get to know Ellie — she’s only in “Up” for a few minutes, really. But her tiny bit of screen time makes her such a vivid and lovable character that it’s hard not to miss her after she’s dead. We also see the overwhelming pain Carl feels at the loss of his wife, and for many of us, this is tragically familiar – we’ve seen it in grandparents, parents, friends … maybe even experienced it ourselves at the death of a partner.
Old Dan and Little Ann (“Where the Red Fern Grows” )
Something about the death of a fictional pet can somehow be worse than the death of a fictional human. It’s hard to explain exactly why, but talk to anyone who’s cried their way through the end of “Old Yeller” … or “My Dog Skip” … or “Where the Red Fern Grows,” in which you get two dog deaths to make your reading experience even more miserable. Maybe it’s the way we can always count on pets for unconditional love.
Sirius Black (“Harry Potter”)
Sirius Black (“Harry Potter”) – Maybe his death is so painful to readers because although he was a parent figure to Harry, he was also much more than that. Sirius was a potential dad (Harry was looking forward to moving in with him for the summer), a cool big brother type, a mentor and a friend, all wrapped up in one wizard. His death, on top of all the other losses Harry had suffered in his young life, was devastating to Harry and to readers, too.
Leslie Burke (“Bridge to Terebithia”)
Here we are, enjoying the everyday adventure and fantasy that a couple of children dream up, and bam! One of those children drowns. If you read this book or saw the movie adaptation when you were young – its intended audience is 8-12 – you might not have ever known of a young person who died in your real life. Discovering just how fragile our lives can be is a scarring experience, and the blunt finality of a sudden death makes it even worse.
Rue (“The Hunger Games”)
The youngest, tiniest tribute in the 74th Hunger Games, Rue forms an alliance with Katniss – who is reminded of her younger sister by Rue. Then she’s killed, one of the many inevitable deaths in the horrific futuristic reality show. As if the death itself weren’t sad enough, Katniss’ loving gesture of singing to Rue as she slips away, then covering her body in flowers, is almost too much to bear. If you kept both eyes dry during this scene, I’ve got to wonder if you even have tears.
