Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Saddest Fictional Character Deaths Of All-Time

A good story—whether it's a book, movie, manga or TV show—can really draw us in.

We can get invested in the story to the point we begin to have real feelings about the characters.

That's why having a favorite character die can cause real grief.


Redditor Iridescent126 asked:

"What was the saddest fictional character death for you?"

Spock

"Spock, in Wrath of Khan."

- Lisa_Anns_Ass

"'I have been, and always shall be, your friend'.”

- MadMacs77

"'Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human'."

- bozoconnors

Star Trek GIF Giphy

Stoick the Vast

​"Stoick the Vast How to train your dragon"

"Dude literally just reunited with his wife after over 15 years of being gone and spends a total of about 15 minutes with her. Cause of death: basically took a bullet in the chest to protect his son."

- 24Nitro-gamer

"I saw it in theatres and a bunch of kids started to cry. Not like sniffing but out loud wailing. It added to the atmosphere."

- ThePurpleMister

"I cried, 20-something y.o. dude just ugly crying"

- leotushex

The Iron Giant

"​The Iron Giant will ALWAYS have me ugly crying when he goes up to stop the missle"

- muhfckinuhhh

Iron Giant GIF Giphy

Where The Red Fern Grows

"The dogs in 'Where the Red Fern Grows'."

- johnny*mseed

"Came here to say this. This book destroyed me in grade five but also really demonstrated grief in such a profound way."

- such_sweet_nothing

Bubba

"Bubba in Forrest Gump. That whole scene had me wrecked."

"From Bubba's weak, 'I wanna go home,' to Forrest's narration saying he died by that river in Vietnam while showing him holding Bubba....."

"God damn, I'm crying just thinking about it."

- ChuckZombie

Forrest Gump GIF Giphy

Saving Private Ryan

"Saving Private Ryan has two of the saddest, most brutally gut wrenching deaths I’ve ever seen on screen in Wade and Mellish."

"Wade trying to talk the guys through his injury that goes from panic and terror to acceptance of his own death as he cries out for his mother and says 'I want to go home'? Jesus Christ."

"Mellish is brutal for all the more uncomfortable and raw reasons you’d imagine. War is horrific. Young men are sent off to die, and their lives are cut short for no reason."

"It’s tragic and heartbreaking, and this is one of the only movies to really nail that feeling"

- Tuna-No-Crust

Ellie From Up

"Ellie from 'UP' gets me everytime"

- MaterialScientist420

"Sometimes I wonder how movies ever took off when the first ones were short with no sound."

"Then I remember the time a 10 minute animation with no dialogue absolutely wrecked me. It's a god-damned masterpiece and I hate it."

- cycloptian_tit

Up GIF Giphy

​M*A*S*H Had A Few

​"Henry Blake. MAS*H. The scene in the operating room. The actors weren’t told about it, just called back for one last scene shoot and Radar walks in and tells them. The silence is amplified by the sounds of instruments still working. Haunting"

- Salami_sub

"Piggy backing off this, the guy they tried to keep alive so his kids wouldn't remember Christmas as the day their dad died. That one gets me just thinking about it."

- GaussfaceKilla

"I just saw that one like a month ago! That was totally heartbreaking. Hawkeye spins the clock forward to twelve o five December twenty sixth and they all conspire to forge his death certificate"

- The_Dynasty_Group

​My Girl

"'He can’t see without his glasses'"

- peesherman42

"What made this especially shocking/sad is that the entire movie was a huge bait-and-switch, but in a really effective way."

"At the time, 11-year old me thought -- based on the trailers and the marketing -- that I was about to watch a lighthearted coming-of-age movie."

"And while it does have some of that, boy did it have a macabre edge to it."

- Geekboxing

​Littlefoot's Mom

"​Littlefoot’s mother’s death"

- 2-DMan

"My son fell in love with this movie when he was 3 or 4, and every time that part would come on I would have to leave the room because no matter what age I am, I will always get emotional. Something about the music and the overall vibe that really just punches me in the gut."

- isurfnude4foods

"The music plus the quote 'Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely'. It's so beautiful and tragic."

- fiofo

Land Before Time GIF Giphy

The sign of a great story is how it can touch our hearts and sometimes break it.

So what was the saddest character death for you?

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Chris Pratt
@prattprattpratt/X

Chris Pratt Roasted For Pretending To Close His Eyes While Praying In Viral Video

Chris Pratt is being roasted once again for what many consider yet another bit of performative Christianity.

Pratt, like many religious types, has been seizing the ongoing social media discourse about Charlie Kirk's death as an opportunity to highlight his faith.

Keep Reading Show less
Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Ripped After Griping About 'Sissy' New NFL Kickoff Rule In Unhinged Rant

President Donald Trump was criticized after he complained about the NFL's new "Dynamic Kickoff" rule that is designed to make playing football safer, calling it "sissy" football in a Monday morning post on Truth Social.

Under the previous rules, kickoffs began at the kicking team’s 35-yard line, with the goal of sending the ball as far as possible to pin the opposing offense deep in its own territory. The receiving team would try to advance the ball, which would often lead to high-speed collisions as players sprinted directly at each other.

Keep Reading Show less
Mehdi Hasan; JD Vance
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Crooked Media; Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images

Political Commentator Epically Fact-Checks Vance's Baseless Claims About Political Violence

In the wake of far-right activist Charlie Kirk's assassination, Vice President JD Vance has stepped up his attacks on leftists, this time by baselessly claiming that the far-left is more likely to commit political violence than the far-right.

Vance hosted a special episode of Kirk's podcast to attack what he referred to as “the lunatics in American politics" and said without any evidence that the suspect in Kirk's killing was motivated by far-left ideology.

Keep Reading Show less
group of people using laptop computers in an office
Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Open Up About The Biggest Morons They've Ever Worked With

Have you ever met someone who made you wonder how they survive day-to-day? Simple tasks seem beyond their ccapabilities.

Have you ever worked with someone whose skills are completely inadequate for sustainment of life—let alone the needs of the job?

Keep Reading Show less
Rafael "Ted" Cruz; screenshot of video Cruz posted on X
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; @tedcruz/X

Ted Cruz Dragged Over Cringey Video Of Him Painting Over Charlie Kirk Graffiti In Houston

On Sunday, Texas MAGA Republican Senator Rafael "Ted" Cruz exploited graffiti—allegedly found on a busy roadway in Houston—that was unkind toward murdered Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, for a self-promoting photo-op and video.

He then posted both still images and the video on X.

Keep Reading Show less