Top 20 Stupidest Ways TV Shows Killed Off Characters 

Yeah I think Tara’s demise was justified because she became a root cause of why True Blood went downhill, Caitlin’s demise doesn’t count but Frost’s does although they “got over it” because Chilbane didn’t accept they were gone & that their was still a chance to bring them back. Maybe number 20 was kind’ve executed awkwardly but the justifications don’t make them that stupid & Coral’s demise was shown at the start of the s8 mid season premiere episode plus Dakota’s demise was very satisfying & poetic after she did in John. Finally your no 1 is a stupid pick

Deborah Morgan's death is one of the most infuriating things that I've ever seen in a TV Show.

Beth from The Walking Dead

definitely cerise and Jamie 8 FREAKING SESONS OF BUILDUP AND CERSIE BEING SATAN AND JAMIE GROWING. TO JUST DIE BY RUBBLE?. CERSIE SHOULD HAVE BEEN COOKED TO A CRSIP OR DEMOLISHED BY ARYA. Jamie should have "stayed face" (Wrestling character reference) not turned heel and stay with Brianne ...

You should have a new Top 10 Watchmojo video for Top 10 time Characters where turned into babies or Also Top 10 Time Characters where Repressed Younger in Movie's and also TV Series as well too Please Please Please Watchmojo!

there are other characters that survived til the end. Michonne is a judge, Sophia is married to Carl and Maggie is President of the Commonwealth

@@ranwolf7650 yeah sorry you're right. Been a minute since i read that last volume

Really? Why didn't they just go with that route? That's a shame

@@aresdonachelo5283 Money, is almost always the answer.

There was an interview where he talked about wanting out of the show. It had gotten too stressful and was interfering with his school and home life. He left the show because he wanted to focus on school instead of acting, so they had to write him out of the story, and they decided to just kill him off, since anyone who had read the comics wouldn't see it coming. I'm sure there was probably some money grubbing involved too, but the actor actually did want to leave as well.

i agree they should've just kept his original exit his ending him leaving off into the sunset and finding peace was a much better ending for his character.

At most they could have just had the unsub make them think they got to him but in an ending scene have Reid receive a letter and it left upto the viewer to decide if it was from Gideon revealing he was alive and well or not. Like a callback to how he let Reid know he was leaving etc;

Not only that, eff him. He was a jerk to everyone. Sure, he had some good moments every once in awhile but eff him. Karma. Lol.

I loved that kill. It was like the helicopter finally finished the job that we had hoped for the first time.

Still a stupid death. The show absolutely jumped the shark for me after that scene.

yes, his death would have been much more dramatic if he had a full redemption arc first. they only teased at one then pulled the plug. the helicopter thing was cheap. the first time it was awesome, but the death scene was just premature ej.. with a cheap prostitute who kinda looks like the love of your life but old and ugly

Exactly what I was thinking. Hubby's grandmother and I were shocked to see him killed off, and by a helicopter yet.

especially the fact that he didn't actually die IN the fire, he died as a result of a heart attack brought on by smoke inhalation, and he only inhaled so much smoke because he went back to save kate's dog, which was a stray she had just brought home like 3 weeks earlier. he made it to the hospital and his vitals were good so they thought everything would be okay, only to find out how random, senseless and cruel life can be.

Fr I remember a family RU-vid channel I used to watch here and there and the son who was around a young adult died cuz of a condition he had it happens.

@@dietotaku They focused on Kate's dog and how she think it was her fault, but everyone forgets that he also went for the family photos and other stuff.

Thanks. Came to say this. Jack dying "because of a faulty crock pot" is an oversimplification written by somebody who just couldn't wait for their moment to trash the show. You worded your response better than I ever could've worded mine.

Seriously.... That show is episode after episode of brilliant writing, and this storyline is yet another example.

to be honest they had such a horrid way of killing characters off (charlie, castiel, dean - off the top of my head as the main ones but there are certainly more)

THIS! I was so damn angry at the show that they did but boy did it hurt the hurt and the feels when her body was discovered by Dean 😢

@@CadmusAU Dean was the correct person to find her. Definitely heartwrenching. I still cry every single time.

@@leighnicole100 I agree - it made the feels hurt even more 😅 that was done well - I just loved Charlie as a character waaaaay too much 😞

Or how they killed off Crowley. That too was bullshit!

Exactly. They knew he would have a much larger role going forward, because they were going keep in line with how his character makes it to the end of the comics. But once he asked for a fair shake when it came to pay they killed him off.

Such idiots

And also he wasn't bitten offscreen. We see the moment he was bit when he was helping the Indian dude

@@Silverude That doesn’t count

But didn’t he die in the comics? I actually haven’t watched since Glenn, Carl, and Abraham died 😓 so I don’t remember. Anyone who I knew died in the comics, I expected to die on the show

Yeah, Carl's the main point of the comics ending. They completely screwed that up

The showrunners' decision to kill Laurel Lance so Oliver Queen/Green Arrow can be together with Felicity Smoak as a endgame was one of the controversial and dumbest decisions CW had ever done.

It’s been rumored Guggenheim hated Katie Cassidy and there’s quite a bit of evidence to support that claim

Not only that, when Oliver remade the multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths, he brought everyone who died back instead of her.

@@hobyboy07 Glad Guggenheim essentially got blacklisted after Arrow ended.

THANK YOU. #stillmad

And Bill.

What about another Tara from "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer"? The one that gave name to the "Bury Your Gays" trope, it belongs on this list. Bullshit!!

Especially when the bullet or bullets Warren fired would have never gone through the window to hit her straight in the heart . RIP Tara

I am STILL pissed about that

It made absolute sense as a means to effectively end the war between Rick and Negan without one side getting destroyed, plus it proved that absolutely NO ONE is immune or safe from getting killed off, just like in life!

Right? And knowing how experienced he is around walkers, it's what put me off the walking dead.

​@@collegebro85lmao your defense of it is laughable seeing as the head writer got canned for his decision to kill off Carl.

@@ryangordon133 you mean the same head writer that got “canned” yet became head of ALL TWDU productions!? The same Scott M Gimple that has the final say on every story decision?? Only thing laughable is your lack of actual research or know how of what you spew…

@@collegebro85 Scott Gimple was replaced by Angela Kang after Season 8. Looks like you are the one that needs to do research.

I was hoping he would be immune.

She was the original attending doctor on his case and the face that they decided to pin all their grief PTSD on when she transferred to their hospital

She wasn't a nurse.

What nurse?

Yeah, I know. It still makes me mad to this day.....

I was way more upset with Fred. I liked her so much more when it happened. Maybe that says something with how Cordelia's downfall was so long in the making, that it was almost sort of a relief when she was gone. Fred was sudden and unacceptable in a world of magic and monsters. And we never got closure for Fred by the end

@@thebroken0wastaken True, but at least we got to see a new character be shown even if she was played by the same Actress.

@@JadenYukifan28Just like Caitlin/Khione in The Flash But yeah, Fred’s death seemed as pointless as any on this list, especially when she ‘returned’ to calm Wesley as he died in the finale I’d also add Tasha Yar in TNG (suffocated by a tar/glibber hybrid) and what was meant to be the final demise of Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1 (a slow death by irradiation to save people who hadn’t wanted his help and were trying to make him leave)

@@garibaldilebeau Don't get me started on Tasha Yar's death, that was way to sudden.....

I personally think Jamie didn't even deserve his redemption arc in the first place. He also got plot armoured a lot for a show that "doesn't do plot armour". Even if Adrian of Tor not wanting to finish him off, even though major characters were killed off by people who were even more randos than her at the time, fine I guess that makes sense. But in season 7 when he was charging the Mother of Dragons the Dragon really should've incinerated him. Dying to defend a homeland he abandoned would've been a much better cap to his redemption arc the character imo didn't deserve. I do agree your idea with Arya finishing them both off is better than what we got lol

That would be perfect, to bad that they didn’t use that as a ending for Cersei

I was sure he was going to King’s Landing to kill Cersei…. But I was boo boo the fool :(

Exactly plus the Valonqar prophecy would have made sense.

talking about "she deserved worse": in the books, the Mountain dies poisoned by Oberyn's spear, alright -- same as in the show. BUT they explain he went thru tremendous suffering up until his demise and return as Ser Robert Strong (BTW the shittiest name in the whole series). He screamed in agony for days. But nothing was mentioned in the show about that. Sigh.

I read that the finale of The Winchesters (the prequel made by Jensen Ackles) actually helped to fix and improve the finale of the OG show, which got heavily impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic. They had to rewrite the last two episodes and scrap most of the cameos planned due to travel restrictions.

@@MrRonald2796 it was a great show. But it didn’t fix or undo the ending of the OG show. And the finale was not bad because of the lack of cameos and the lack of cameos was not because of covid either. A lot of important characters were never even asked to come back. And if you watch the first episode and the final episode and no others, all you will have missed is 15 years going by. All the character growth and storylines were completely undone in those two final eps. Dean Winchester was dragged to hell and came back. Among other ways he died. But he really dies by falling on a rusty rebar? And in heaven doesn’t go see anyone? Covid made things difficult to film. But they could have waited. They could have taken all kinds of measures. Plus they did have room for unknown vampires. But not for the family members and friends they made along the way? They ruined the entire show. The show Jensen made, makes it a little easier to rewatch the OG show. But even most of the cast pretends the last two episodes don’t exist and haven’t seen them and the rest don’t talk about it or say they don’t agree with how it ended. And nobody of the crew or anyone besides cast members that worked on the show, ever talked about the ending of a show of 15 years. Which is telling. Also: they may have rewritten parts of the last two episodes. But the showrunners said it went the way they wanted it to. So they didn’t change much. But then again most aren’t allowed to talk about it still. So we may never know the truth about why it went the way it did.

Yes! Like are you freakin kidding me?

In my opinion, they should have ended the series on the episode before.. Jack taking away Chuck’s powers Last Airbender style was a good way to end the series. It was a shitty season anyway…. The series finale felt pointless! Even Jensen hated the way it ended, even much do that he had to go to Kripke to tell him it was okay.

@@robanah I agree with most, but I also didn’t enjoy that episode. Mainly because they didn’t bring back Eileen or Cas and just glossed over everything. But yes Kripke having to convince Jensen, who played that character for 15 years… That just says it all about how wrong it is. And then he got convinced. It must have been such a punch in the gut that fans hated it. And now his show is cancelled too. Just sucks.

Jadzia was my favorite character on DS9. I was so angry about her death that I didn't watch the rest of the series.

@@pattierotondo1108 Thats was all down to the producers wanting to prevent her from working on other projects, while other actors like Avery, were permitted to.

Dean's was even worse because not only did it make zero sense ~coughbadwritingcough~ but they then reversed fifteen seasons of character development and made him act so out of character (though everybody was out of character in that episode). Plus, he'd had a history yet they still had him die by assisted s**c***. Not cool, not cool at all. And even after all that, it's not even on this list. 😓

@@VampAmber I don't know how much of the ending they had to change because of COVID. Jensen Ackles said everyone was supposed to be in Heaven at least. I thought either Sam and he would both die saving the world or get the lives they deserved, but Dean to die like that was disappointing.

Alot was for that show.

At least we got Caitlin back for the finale

What what I hate about her the most is how she defeated Zoom, who broke Barry into doing Flashpoint, without much effort

Hush for Batman? Popular at all?

Thank you katlyns story was all over the place I mean a 3rd personality that was a elemental God? Really?

Great movie. I, for one, loved the campiness and dark humor. As a side note, much of the film was made in Dallas. The controller of the "ED 209" in that crazy malfunction scene was Jerry Haynes, a local celebrity known as "MR. Pepperment" to a generation of kids. I went to school with his son, Gibby. I actually played in his first band at the Senior talent show. He named the band "Maximillion and his Malignant Marauders". He later was front man for "The Butthole Surfers". Jerry was one of the nicest men I ever met. So funny to see HIM in that role.

I was wondering why he looked so familiar. RoboCop is one of my favorite movies, I just haven't seen it in a few years.

But they made him chief content officer

The more I think about the SPN ending, that could have easily happened to any of them during a hunt if God hadn't been shaping their lives. He didn't just, die on a piece of rebar, he died on a hunt. Now that they were officially free, no one was protecting them anymore. My only real gripe is Dean didn't get to live long enough to really enjoy it. But that's the life of a hunter.

Jadzia got it stupid too due to Berman being a bitch.

Dax from DS9 was worse though

@@Hahnfruh True, that was sudden and unsatisfying (and probably the main reason I raged quit on Star Trek for a while), but at least it came from Gul Ducat, a respected antagonist, and not some random black blob that to my knowledge was never encountered again.

And Tripp on Enterprise, I’m sticking with the Beta Cannon that he faked it all to join Section 31 and stop the Romulans from developing faster ships than the Federation.

I was gonna say that. Yes. She deserved a way better death.

They already ruined what might have been when they killed Sofia.

That show lasted SO MUCH LONGER THAN SHOULD'VE!!!!! That SAD ASS EXCUSE FOR A FRANCHISE NEEDS TA DIE!!!

@@ZeldaSam1 For me the show went downhill when Travis died at start of episode 2 in Season 3.

@@robertreid1579 The FRANCHISE SHOULD'VE DIED after OG season 3!!!

@@robertreid1579 Season 6 was, my opinion, the best the show has ever been. But dear god does it go off a cliff in the next season! And the current and final season is even worse.

Don’t forget Varys

Considering that they wrapped up the entire series in a shortened final season, it felt rushed, poorly written, and badly edited. For such a brilliantly cast and acted tv series, it felt like the production side of the show had already vacated their offices in a rush to go on holiday.

​@@foolofatook1271ugh Varys was the absolute worst. A master spymaster basically walking around and saying "hey I'm gonna betray Daenerys" and then executed? So dumb

@@joshuahiltpold248 even his actor was so disappointed about the death scene during the table read that his fellow actress friends hugged him and shared his same reaction when the actors themselves hated how they were written in that final season, you knew it was gonna be shit lol

@@martinde-serres8724 lol I saw the clip, man legit threw that script on the table like a disappointed father with his kids report card

Sorry, but Romano was such an overt jerk to everyone that I really enjoyed them dropping the helicopter on him. It was like they finally finished the job that originally took his arm off. I might even say it was one of my favorite scenes on the show. However, to your point, I would have been happy to see a big kill of Clooney as well. I never liked him either.

YES!!! Exactly!!!

@@pattierotondo1108 Heeheehee...!

@@NoveltyTheClown Ouch... Sorry, George, nothing personal, I'm sure. [ But I DID like "Brother, Where Art Thou?" . ]

I'm not particularly a fan of Peleton myself.

Just cause he didn’t do anything wrong

The ambulance never would’ve made it on time.

The "backlash" against Peloton lasted all of a hot minute. They're doing fine now, and what they're charging is evidence of that.

He would not 'have' stopped in the middle of the road, to get his phone like that!

Prue's Death was Due to Shannen Doherty's behavior on set

Well Taras actress Amber Benson wanted to be written out of the show, same with Wentworth Miller who didn't want a longer lasting role in the CW DC verse.

Even though I have seen bits of the show, I'm curious on what the writers were thinking and if they think of LGBT people in that way. Yes, there have been some LGBT people who have been murdered, but many of them are still alive and living well for themselves and their partners.

@@kamsismith Preach, I hate when writers succumb to the whole "Bury your Gays" trope, as if they can't receive their own happy endings.

⁠​⁠@@trinaq I could also say the same thing about transgender characters as they’re either villains or their transition is used as a plot twist. In most cases, they're killed. While we're better with representing gay and trans people, we still have work to do.

@@kamsismith Precisely, at least gay and Trans people have moved beyond being the butt of many a joke, and progress is still progress.

Bellamy's death was way dumber because Clarke killed him just to not let Madi get harmed by the Disciples which happened anyway. Everything Bellamy's death was supposed to stop happened anyway, there was legit no reason to kill him.

What got me with Prue's death is that, they showed Shax attacking both Piper and Prue but then in at the beginning of the next Episode, you only see Piper standing. You don't really see Leo healing her or attempting to heal Prue.

Shannon left the show amidst arguments with everyone. Hence why Prue was killed. She was fired.

@@TheXion92 I figured that out after the fact, but I was referring to what was going on between the time the two were killed and how Piper was the only one of the two who were still standing.

Yeah, that one was really twisted. I wish she had gotten more air time. She really was the one for him.

I didn't know that anyone actually watched ms marvel, to even care about a death in it.

Tbf, his death makes sense cause it is during war time, so the shock that he was shot down felt real

@@yoelmprieto7817 They actually didn't tell most of the people on the set about Blake's death. Only Radar had that part in his script, so the reactions of the cast were real.

That episode and Dreams really were sad. I'm glad they made more than a comedy out of the show.

@@dwightgrant6360 And let's not forget about the episode with the bomber pilot.

What I find strange is that he just stands there as the fiery Helicopter just falls on top of him....

Would've been funny if he died from toxic waste like in Robocop.

It's just that he was badass in the clone wars and went out to easily I think

@@kaiyacoxon5360 correct

There is a strong hint at the end of the series that Cad Bane is in Fett's Bacta tank, which is why he was not using it

@@iestyn11 No that was the Marshal from Freetown

@@bennywark3103 Ok cool, that works too for the setting

I think the same

I don't know what they talk about but, the series kept going strong

Seeing Carl's death makes me glad we 86'ed the show right after Negan killed Abe and Glenn.

but killing a character that's supposed to survive until the end of the story...just because the actor turned 18 and wanted to get paid an ADULT salary? Fear the walking dead? nah, FUCK "The Walking Dead"

Did he die though? That was only a holographic recording of known history, a history Section 31 created after Trip went working undercover for them following the NX-01 decomission. It would have helped had they actually carried on the series and explained this.

Lol she murdered innocent people. She did not deserve a happy ending.

Would’ve swapped it for Maul in Rebels. Yeah he & Obi Wan were both old at that point but there should’ve been a bit more effort with that final confrontation

@@davidlance5310 the simplicity is what makes that fight so good. Maul saw that Obi-Wan was mimicking Qui-Gon’s fighting style so he attempted to do the same fatal blow that he had performed decades ago, but that was exactly what Obi-Wan was anticipating

I didn't know he wanted to leave, but how he died was not that odd. He wasn't paying attention and in a day dream state. Very sad, but it made sense.

While I don't want him to die either, I don't think his death to be particularly bad... he should be quite old at the time.

Helicopter 2 - Unfinished Business.

said actor who played him had just as brutal death in Robocop as well as his character in Robocop drove a van into a vat of toxic acid while trying to run Robocop over only for Robocop to shoot at the van and turned into a deformed man howling like a wolf and then is run over by a car driven by Clarence Boddicker (played by Kirkwood Smith aka Red Foreman) as Clarence was being chased by officer Lewis, Robocop's partner after Leon Nash threw him screaming "Get off me man".

u gotta have the worst sense of humor if u saw that and found it funny

Charlie's death was random, but not unlike the whole show being just as random.

God I remember that. The show was already going downhill slowly, that just added the nail to the coffin.

How about Aiyesha Tyler's character actually being the dead one, not her brother? That was so stupid to me!