# Deaths of Fictional Characters



## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

It's trending on twitter. The deaths of fictional characters you will never get over. Just curious as to which characters deaths people found the most traumatising.

The first one that comes to me is always Sirius Black. I'm trying to think of something that maybe was worse for me but I can't right now as my brain for some reason has a block on it... 

For example, I almost wrote write instead of right there...


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## Lewdog (Mar 3, 2013)

What about the death of Aunt May?


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

I have no idea who Aunt May is, so I guess it wasn't that traumatic for me


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## Lewdog (Mar 3, 2013)

Aunt May was Spiderman's aunt.  Well Peter Parker's really...


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

She died? I thought his uncle died, not his aunt? Or are the films different?


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## Lewdog (Mar 3, 2013)

nicolam2711 said:


> She died? I thought his uncle died, not his aunt? Or are the films different?



His Uncle died in the very beginning, his Aunt died in the comic books in the 90's I believe.  They made a big deal of it and it had special covers.


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

Hm, turns out I never know these things as I only learn about superheroes from the films


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## Lewdog (Mar 3, 2013)

I used to collect comics and work at a store, that's how I know most of it.  Robin died too.  I believe the first Green Lantern died as well.  The first Green Lantern was black.


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## Bruno Spatola (Mar 3, 2013)

Chris in _The Body_/_Stand by Me. _We don't see it happen; we're merely told that (*SPOILERS*) he tried to stop a fight and was stabbed in the throat, but you contemplate the changes Chris must have gone through from child to adult -- how he became a hero -- and I just cried my eyes out. The way him and Gordie are with each other as kids is quite beautiful, too, and to see all of those wonderful bits first doesn't prepare you for that kick to the chest. This person who you just watched grow up is dead, just like that boy by the tracks . . . ripped out of time. I'll never get over that.

That's all I can think of right now.


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

May sound stupid, but why was he the Green Lantern if he was black?


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

I've never read a Stephen King novel. May add that to my list of things to try.


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## Lewdog (Mar 3, 2013)

nicolam2711 said:


> May sound stupid, but why was he the Green Lantern if he was black?



The green lantern is only a ring that gives them special powers to defend their are of the universe.  The color of the skin didn't matter.  Hal Jordan in the "Green Lantern" movie was played by Ryan Reynolds.  They are planning of making a Justice League of America which will have someone else playing the Green Lantern.


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## Bruno Spatola (Mar 3, 2013)

It's not a novel, but you should check it out. The film is as good as the story, if not better.


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

Ohh didn't realise you meant black as in skin I was thinking costume. Like the one Reynolds wore.


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## Lewdog (Mar 3, 2013)

Bruno you make me think of Pony Boy in "The Outsiders."


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

I just realised I've clearly seen the Stand By Me film. Just didn't realise it was based on something by Stephen King, haven't seen the film in such a long time though.


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## Ariel (Mar 3, 2013)

Primrose in the Hunger Games.  I identify with Katniss solely because of Primrose--I lost my younger brother in a fire and I watched my house burn knowing he was inside.  Most of the deaths in the Harry Potter books also bothered me.

For some reason I cried hardest when I _thought_ Hagrid was going to die.


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

Harry Potter had a lot of deaths that upset me. But I was just so fond of Sirius and how him and Harry bonded. Then that Bellatrix killed him


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## Lewdog (Mar 3, 2013)

amsawtell said:


> Primrose in the Hunger Games.  I identify with Katniss solely because of Primrose--I lost my younger brother in a fire and I watched my house burn knowing he was inside.  Most of the deaths in the Harry Potter books also bothered me.
> 
> For some reason I cried hardest when I _thought_ Hagrid was going to die.



Didn't the guy who played Hagrid die?


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## Bruno Spatola (Mar 3, 2013)

Bellatrix is my favourite character in the whole series by far, though. I found Dumbledore's death the saddest, and Snape's (once you know the full story it's sad). And Robbie Coltrane isn't dead, no.


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

See I realise after the full story we're supposed to sort of forgive Snape. But you know I was proud of him for helping Harry for his mum, but I still found it a little difficult to get over everything haha.


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## Bruno Spatola (Mar 3, 2013)

I think we'd have a lot more empathy towards people if we knew everything about them. I already feel it towards Voldemort, Magneto -- even real villains like Hitler. 

_The Green Mile_ had some very unforgettable deaths. They're embedded in my head somewhere.


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## Lewdog (Mar 3, 2013)

Bruno Spatola said:


> I think we'd have a lot more empathy towards people if we knew everything about them. I already feel it towards Voldemort, Magneto -- even real villains like Hitler.
> 
> _The Green Mile_ had some very unforgettable deaths. They're embedded in my head somewhere.




John Coffey...like the drink but not spelled the same.


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

I mean I can see empathy for Voldemort, but Hitler?

Twitter has reminded me that Mufasa is also one of the earliest fictional deaths that effects you.


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## Bruno Spatola (Mar 3, 2013)

Why Voldemort but_ not_ Hitler? Are they so different? Think about it. I've thought about it a lot.


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## nicolam2711 (Mar 3, 2013)

I generally believe the main difference in my head is that one actually was real and done everything. The other is fictional. I realise that Hitler probably had a story and things that influenced him just like Voldemort. I guess the reality of Hitler stops me feeling the empathy there.


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## Bruno Spatola (Mar 3, 2013)

I feel bad for someone who's disillusioned or unbalanced enough to commit/sanction murder, real or not. I feel worse for their victims, of course.

Anyway, that's another topic for another day .

Not a person, but the horse in _The Neverending Story_ . . . man. I cried for a week after I saw him die. Not continuously, obviously -- _I'd_ have died -- but still.


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## Rustgold (Mar 3, 2013)

amsawtell said:


> Primrose in the Hunger Games.  I identify with Katniss solely because of Primrose



The way Collins wrote that made me feel cold towards the author.


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## Ariel (Mar 3, 2013)

It's personal history that I'm thinking of, not the author's work.  The character's loss, after everything she had done to save her sister (I would have done anything I could have to save my brother, given the chance) just strikes me.


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## Angelwing (Mar 3, 2013)

Hmm, I'll have to think about _fictional_ characters, although two (maybe more) deaths were 'traumatic' for me in _Black Hawk Down_. Yeah, I read a lot of military type literature. Blackburn's and Pilla's specifically :cry:. Don't want to spoil it for anyone but both of those deaths... 

From the movie, 

I believe this is them trying to help Pvt. Blackburn: 







And Dom Pilla, the joker of the group:


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## Nee (Mar 3, 2013)

nicolam2711 said:


> I've never read a Stephen King novel. May add that to my list of things to try.



Do Bag of Bones first.


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## Nee (Mar 3, 2013)

nicolam2711 said:


> Harry Potter had a lot of deaths that upset me. But I was just so fond of Sirius and how him and Harry bonded. Then that Bellatrix killed him



But I like that Molly killed her though.


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## Nee (Mar 3, 2013)

nicolam2711 said:


> See I realise after the full story we're supposed to sort of forgive Snape. But you know I was proud of him for helping Harry for his mum, but I still found it a little difficult to get over everything haha.



What I found interesting is how Rowling clearly showed throughout the series that people can be jerks without being evil. Just because someone was interfering with the hero's progress doesn't mean they are evil...they may just not like them. And I think it was a well conceived story element to make the most despised character of the entire series turn out to be not only the bravest character but the most loyal as well.


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## Morkonan (Mar 3, 2013)

Old Yeller

[video=youtube;osRX86BYsVg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osRX86BYsVg[/video]


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## Gamer_2k4 (Mar 3, 2013)

There are two movie deaths that were significant enough for me to recall right now.  In _The Dark Knight_, I was shocked that they let Batman's girlfriend die.  Movies always have some sort of copout, and the fact that this one didn't really surprised me.

The second, and much more moving death, was the American soldier who was stabbed by the Nazi in _Saving Private Ryan_.  The guy with the ammo is just sitting on the stairs, doing NOTHING, and you're screaming for him to move, to act, to just get up there and help somehow.  But because of his cowardice, his fellow soldier was killed - slowly and painfully.  That stuck with me.


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## Ariel (Mar 4, 2013)

Lenny from "Of Mice and Men."

Muldoon in "Jurassic Park."


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## Travers (Mar 4, 2013)

The most traumatizing for me would probably be Derek Vineyard, Edward Furlong's character from American History-X.

After the intense journey the film takes you on, to end with so little hope is almost unbearable.


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## Rustgold (Mar 4, 2013)

amsawtell said:


> It's personal history that I'm thinking of, not the author's work.  The character's loss, after everything she had done to save her sister (I would have done anything I could have to save my brother, given the chance) just strikes me.



I had my character names mixed up.  I was thinking of the girl who was killed off the moment she provided the vital service of the 'author darling' main character Katpiss in the first book.  I didn't get to the third book, the part where the 'president' was doing 'girlie talk' in Katpiss's bedroom was one too many too stupids to read pass.


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## Tiberius (Mar 4, 2013)

Libby Gant in the Scarecrow series.


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## popsprocket (Mar 4, 2013)

Seconding Libby Gant from Scarecrow. Her death was so unforgiving and brutal.

Robin from Tomorrow When the War Began. Another unceremonious death. Also Corrie, but mostly because none of the characters know about it. One day they're stalking through a graveyard in enemy territory in the middle of a mission and they spot her head stone. It's so terribly sad because they all knew she'd die if she hadn't already, but that really drove the whole thing home without warning.


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## Travers (Mar 4, 2013)

Ooo, Alex Maxwell, the 15 year old protagonist from Stephen King's 'Cell'.

The book wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but her death had me reeling. I had to read that chapter three times in a row in order to fully comprehend that it had happened.


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## Bilston Blue (Mar 4, 2013)

> The most traumatizing for me would probably be Derek Vineyard, Edward Furlong's character from American History-X.


Good call. I remember that kid's death having an impact on me after watching that. 



> The second, and much more moving death, was the American soldier who was stabbed by the Nazi in _Saving Private Ryan. The guy with the ammo is just sitting on the stairs, doing NOTHING, and you're screaming for him to move, to act, to just get up there and help somehow. But because of his cowardice, his fellow soldier was killed - slowly and painfully. That stuck with me._


The soldier on the stairs was Technician Upham, though he wasn't a soldier in the truest sense. He was a cartographer, a drawer of maps, so his cowardice is perhaps understandable and in keeping with his clumsy, bookish character.  I think the thing about that scene, whilst not detracting from the emotion you describe, is that Mellish's death was inevitable as the German soldier was Steamboat Willie, who Upham insisted they not execute after the earlier battle.


One film death I've seen for the first time only recently, and which left me feeling like I'd been punched in the stomach, was that of Bruno in _The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas_. I didn't expect it at all, even at the last moment I thought they'd get him out. I found it remarkably sad, distressing even, and felt sympathy for his father despite his role at the camp.

Also, Justin Quayle's (Ralph Fiennes) death in _The Constant Gardener_ was one I found very sad.


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## Tiberius (Mar 4, 2013)

On a related note, when I saw Toy Story three, I really thought the toys were going to die in the furnace.

I should have remembered it was a Disney movie...


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## Ariel (Mar 4, 2013)

The guy's wife in "UP."

No idea why that one was so effective but it was.


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## moderan (Mar 4, 2013)

Lewdog said:


> I used to collect comics and work at a store, that's how I know most of it.  Robin died too.  I believe the first Green Lantern died as well.  The first Green Lantern was black.


And you didn't read them, apparently. Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, was a white guy. John Stewart, the 75th or so Green Lantern, was black. And it was the death f Gwen Stacy that was the big deal in Spider-Man's continuum. Green Goblin threw her off a bridge.
And I still hold out for Snowden, in Catch-22, as the most memorable fictional character death, as well as one of the finest death scenes.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Mar 4, 2013)

Tiberius said:


> On a related note, when I saw Toy Story three, I really thought the toys were going to die in the furnace.



So did I, come to think of it.


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## Lewdog (Mar 5, 2013)

moderan said:


> And you didn't read them, apparently. Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, was a white guy. John Stewart, the 75th or so Green Lantern, was black. And it was the death f Gwen Stacy that was the big deal in Spider-Man's continuum. Green Goblin threw her off a bridge.
> And I still hold out for Snowden, in Catch-22, as the most memorable fictional character death, as well as one of the finest death scenes.




Eh, I got the Green Lantern thing wrong, but the Death of Aunt May was in the Amazing Spiderman #400 though later it was considered to be fake.  It still was a big deal.


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## The Rust on the Razor (Mar 5, 2013)

Beth in Little Women. I first read it when I was 13 or so and even now just hearing the words ..."and laying against the bosom where she had breathed her first breath, she took her last"  (or something like that)...

Yup, tears on the desk now!


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## Staff Deployment (Mar 5, 2013)

amsawtell said:


> The guy's wife in "UP."
> 
> No idea why that one was so effective but it was.



I think it was the ten solid minutes of montage through every major event in her life.


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## Kevin (Mar 5, 2013)

Staff Deployment said:


> I think it was the ten solid minutes of montage through every major event in her life.


 It was that she was this great, dynamic person who was better than him at everything, had to draw him out of his fears to get him to do things, and yet was totally in love with him without question, all of which made his life so much better...and then she declines and dies.


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## Bruno Spatola (Mar 5, 2013)

Aslan. When Lucy and Susan are cutting him free of his bonds after he's been tormented and killed, I wept. A deep silence enveloped me when I read that.


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## Dave Watson (Mar 5, 2013)

There have been a few that have got me a bit misty eyed. Barty's mother in Dean Koontz's _From the Corner of His Eye_, Nighteyes the wolf in Robin Hobb's _Tawny Man_ trilogy, Scott Landon in Stephen King's _Lisey's Story_. The all time tear jerker for me however is the scene in _Forrest Gump _when he's standing over Jenny's grave talking to her. Just that bit where he's talking about how smart their son is and finally breaks. Would bring a tear to a glass eye!


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## Dave Watson (Mar 5, 2013)

Travers said:


> The most traumatizing for me would probably be Derek Vineyard, Edward Furlong's character from American History-X.
> 
> After the intense journey the film takes you on, to end with so little hope is almost unbearable.



I've heard that there is an alternate ending that shows Derek in his bathroom shaving his head again following Danny's death. 

Tremendous film. Edward Norton's performance in it is one of the best I've seen. The scene with his escalating rant at the dinner table when his mum brings her Jewish boyfriend over is amazing. You can just see the screws coming loose in the guy!


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