Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Saddest Fictional Character Deaths Of All-Time

Make us preferred on Google

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

Kaia Gerber; Presley Gerber
Scott Kirkland/FX via Getty Images; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Kaia Gerber Opens Up About Brother Presley's Death At 27 With Heartbreaking Tribute: 'I Was Born Loving You'

Actor and model Kaia Gerber has opened up about the tragic death of her brother Presley Gerber last month.

Gerber, the daughter of model Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, penned a heartfelt post for Instagram in which she mourned her beloved "prez."

Keep Reading Show less
woman's hands on a Bible; school children with lunch trays
Tetra Images/Getty Images; Westend61/Getty Images

MAGA Christians Rage After Being Asked Why They're Against Free School Lunches

With Christianity so closely tied to Republican President Donald Trump, the GOP, and Trump's MAGA movement, a person might assume a government controlled by MAGA Republicans would try to enact legislation based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Things like feeding the hungry, housing the unhoused, caring for the sick and the poor, welcoming the immigrant, and loving their neighbors. But MAGA is a manifestation of White supremacy and Christian nationalism, so MAGA Republicans at all levels of government have embraced the greed of the Evangelical Christian "prosperity gospel" that glorifies the rich and vilifies the poor.

Keep Reading Show less
Melania Trump and Donald Trump
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump's Awkward Kiss With Melania After Dig About Her Signature At Rose Garden Event Sparks Flurry Of Jokes

Social media users couldn't help commenting after First Lady Melania Trump turned her head to the side and away from President Donald Trump when he leaned in for a kiss in the White House Rose Garden after signing an executive order to establish a task force and a National Institutes of Health division for women.

Trump admired his signature for a moment—"Oh, that's a good one!"—before motioning for the first lady to sign her name as well, only to joke:

Keep Reading Show less
Jan Crawford; Abdul El-Sayed
CBS; Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

CBS News Reporter Sparks Backlash After Deleting Post Attacking Abdul El-Sayed

CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford sparked backlash and was forced to apologize after praising a town hall attendee who questioned Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed about disavowing the Muslim Brotherhood.

The since-deleted response featured footage of an encounter between a heckler identified as "Tommy" and El-Sayed. Tommy raised an allegation promoted by El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, suggesting the candidate had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a subject discussed in previous coverage.

Keep Reading Show less
Reporter Has Blunt Response After RFK Jr.'s Aide Attempts To Block Question About Measles Deaths

Reporter Has Blunt Response After RFK Jr.'s Aide Attempts To Block Question About Measles Deaths

With the midterms approaching, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia Beach to discuss healthcare. But when a reporter asked about measles deaths, a staffer apparently decided the nation's top health official had reached the limits of his job description.

The exchange unfolded at Tidewater Community College, where Kennedy and Kiggans met with medical professionals to discuss staffing shortages and access to care.

Keep Reading Show less