Tori Angeli (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tori_angeli) wrote2010-11-06 09:44 pm
tori_angeli) wrote2010-11-06 09:44 pm
Most Devastating Character Deaths
Sometimes, when a character dies, you cry. Other times, it makes you disown the book/movie/series altogether. Here are some of the character deaths I took hardest.
Obviously, SPOILERS will happen here.
5. Tidus from Final Fantasy X
Okay, this is a weird one: I haven't even played all the way through the game. The REASON is because I know Tidus dies at the end and I don't want to see that. I don't even LIKE him that much, but it's awful to see someone so high-spirited go like that. So the death is so devastating that I won't even get that far.
4. Allen Frances Doyle from Angel
I have a love-hate relationship with this series, but Doyle was by far my favorite character. He dies ten episodes in. Honestly, I never liked the series as much after that. I thought his struggle to overcome sloth and fight for good was fantastic. For a bit, it looked like they were going to replace him with Lindsey as a character fighting that same fight, but it never paid off. So really, I never had a favorite character after he left. I cried, and was never really invested in the show again.
3. Charlie Pace from Lost
Yeah, this death was a deal breaker for me. Despite being a less-than-likable character in the second season, he was my favorite in season 1, and he was one of the first we could really bond with. He was on the original expedition with Jack and Kate and had a redemption story I was dying to see play out. And it did! He had a death truly worthy of his character arc. Still, it HURT. I lingered for a few more episodes, then gave up. I couldn't bear it without him, somehow.
2. Archie Kennedy from Horatio Hornblower
Now, THIS death wasn't just a deal breaker--it pissed me off. Kennedy was a PERFECT foil for Horatio, always keeping him from getting too serious. While Horatio was protective, Kennedy was nurturing. Horatio was somewhat stoic and naive, Kennedy was both high-spirited and troubled. They even have the greatest buddy movie shot at one point, running in slow motion across and exploding bridge. It was like Lethal Weapon in 1795. But apparently the author's estate was not keen on Horatio's best friend in the A&E series being someone who didn't really exist in the books, so they made them kill off the character in time for Horatio's canon best friend to step in. Thing is, Bush is serious, too. They could have been a power trio!. Horatio would be Kirk, Bush would be Spock, and Kennedy would be McCoy! It's perfect!
What really made it devastating, I think, was the fact that Kennedy went through so many horrible things in life that we really, really wanted him to live happily ever after--he's earned it, dammit! But he ends up sacrificing both life and reputation to save Horatio, who he's always had a raging inferiority complex with. After years of abuse at the hands of a man who single-handedly gave him stress-induced seizures (there's implied sexual abuse), two years in a Spanish prison where he was psychologically tortured, and a constant life in his best friend's shadow, he needed something better. But he dies young, and the only one who will remember him as he really is is the one person he really, really cares about knowing. Horatio nursed Kennedy back to health after Kennedy had given up on life entirely and neither party forgets something like that, ever. Neither do I.
1. Sirius Black from Harry Potter
Every time I mention this one, people say, "Yeah, and DUMBLEDORE! Dumbledore was the worst! I mean, Sirius was bad, but DUMBLEDORE!"
Fuck Dumbledore. By the time that came along, I didn't care enough to read the book. The only reason I read it was because a friend bought it for me, and unless it's a singing fish, you can't just let a gift lie around unused, right? Anyway, I still haven't read the last one, and I don't plan to do so.
No, Sirius Black's death killed the series for me. I respect and understand those who still love it, but he was my favorite character, dammit, and that always tends to make it harder to be interested. I don't like character death as a rule, and when the majority of your reason for reading has died, you lose motivation. It happens.
See, when Sirius died, I didn't just throw the book down. I threw the book down and WEPT. I was crying on and off for the next day. I don't usually GRIEVE for fictional characters. Maybe I'll get a little misty-eyed over the sadness, but I don't GRIEVE. It was actual GRIEF. That is embarrassingly extreme. I eventually found it in me to finish the rest of the book, but I decided I was done with the series after that. I don't like getting invested, then being paid off that way. It's not really that the author is at fault--actually the fact that I got THIS invested is really to her credit--but I, individually, couldn't do the series anymore. So the author was TOO good. Hence this being the most devastating character death in my memory.
Obviously, SPOILERS will happen here.
5. Tidus from Final Fantasy X
Okay, this is a weird one: I haven't even played all the way through the game. The REASON is because I know Tidus dies at the end and I don't want to see that. I don't even LIKE him that much, but it's awful to see someone so high-spirited go like that. So the death is so devastating that I won't even get that far.
4. Allen Frances Doyle from Angel
I have a love-hate relationship with this series, but Doyle was by far my favorite character. He dies ten episodes in. Honestly, I never liked the series as much after that. I thought his struggle to overcome sloth and fight for good was fantastic. For a bit, it looked like they were going to replace him with Lindsey as a character fighting that same fight, but it never paid off. So really, I never had a favorite character after he left. I cried, and was never really invested in the show again.
3. Charlie Pace from Lost
Yeah, this death was a deal breaker for me. Despite being a less-than-likable character in the second season, he was my favorite in season 1, and he was one of the first we could really bond with. He was on the original expedition with Jack and Kate and had a redemption story I was dying to see play out. And it did! He had a death truly worthy of his character arc. Still, it HURT. I lingered for a few more episodes, then gave up. I couldn't bear it without him, somehow.
2. Archie Kennedy from Horatio Hornblower
Now, THIS death wasn't just a deal breaker--it pissed me off. Kennedy was a PERFECT foil for Horatio, always keeping him from getting too serious. While Horatio was protective, Kennedy was nurturing. Horatio was somewhat stoic and naive, Kennedy was both high-spirited and troubled. They even have the greatest buddy movie shot at one point, running in slow motion across and exploding bridge. It was like Lethal Weapon in 1795. But apparently the author's estate was not keen on Horatio's best friend in the A&E series being someone who didn't really exist in the books, so they made them kill off the character in time for Horatio's canon best friend to step in. Thing is, Bush is serious, too. They could have been a power trio!. Horatio would be Kirk, Bush would be Spock, and Kennedy would be McCoy! It's perfect!
What really made it devastating, I think, was the fact that Kennedy went through so many horrible things in life that we really, really wanted him to live happily ever after--he's earned it, dammit! But he ends up sacrificing both life and reputation to save Horatio, who he's always had a raging inferiority complex with. After years of abuse at the hands of a man who single-handedly gave him stress-induced seizures (there's implied sexual abuse), two years in a Spanish prison where he was psychologically tortured, and a constant life in his best friend's shadow, he needed something better. But he dies young, and the only one who will remember him as he really is is the one person he really, really cares about knowing. Horatio nursed Kennedy back to health after Kennedy had given up on life entirely and neither party forgets something like that, ever. Neither do I.
1. Sirius Black from Harry Potter
Every time I mention this one, people say, "Yeah, and DUMBLEDORE! Dumbledore was the worst! I mean, Sirius was bad, but DUMBLEDORE!"
Fuck Dumbledore. By the time that came along, I didn't care enough to read the book. The only reason I read it was because a friend bought it for me, and unless it's a singing fish, you can't just let a gift lie around unused, right? Anyway, I still haven't read the last one, and I don't plan to do so.
No, Sirius Black's death killed the series for me. I respect and understand those who still love it, but he was my favorite character, dammit, and that always tends to make it harder to be interested. I don't like character death as a rule, and when the majority of your reason for reading has died, you lose motivation. It happens.
See, when Sirius died, I didn't just throw the book down. I threw the book down and WEPT. I was crying on and off for the next day. I don't usually GRIEVE for fictional characters. Maybe I'll get a little misty-eyed over the sadness, but I don't GRIEVE. It was actual GRIEF. That is embarrassingly extreme. I eventually found it in me to finish the rest of the book, but I decided I was done with the series after that. I don't like getting invested, then being paid off that way. It's not really that the author is at fault--actually the fact that I got THIS invested is really to her credit--but I, individually, couldn't do the series anymore. So the author was TOO good. Hence this being the most devastating character death in my memory.