There are some fictional characters who die in ways that seem scientifically designed to ruin days, provoke tears, and cause audiences to run out of movie theaters to scream at the unfeeling heavens. So there were plenty of responses when Redditor u/DonutGold4210 asked the folks of AskReddit, "What’s the saddest fictional character death, in your opinion?" Here are 18 of the characters whose demises make people sniffle, "I know they're not real, but still!"
Responses may have been edited for length and/or clarity. Also, there are almost certainly spoilers ahead.
1. "Without commenting on any other aspect of the show, the fact that Hodor's entire life was taken from him because his future was already written (or however that whole continuity should be interpreted). And then he dies a horrific death, while whatever was left of his consciousness was presumably tugged away in a remote corner of his soul only able to watch what his body was doing. No. That is a level of unfair no one deserves, least of all that sweet giant."
2. "Bobby Singer from Supernatural. I never realized how much that character meant to me until he died."
3. "Bridge to Terabithia crushed me as a kid."
4. "Finnick Odair's death was the first fictional death that actually genuinely upset me. He went through so much, only to die right as he was on the brink of getting the happy ending he deserved."
5. "Artax, the horse from The NeverEnding Story. And yes, I know he comes back in the end. But try being a kid and not making it out of the swamp scene with a dry eye."
6. "Ruth in Ozark. Dammit, she was about to break the Langmore curse. I wanted her to succeed so bad."
7. "The Tenth Doctor, while in most of Doctor Who, regeneration is seen as healing and rebirth. But the Tenth Doctor saw it as death, he describes a burning sensation as every cell in his body dies and is reformed, and when it’s over, it’s no longer him, it’s someone else with his memories. This is likely kinda true because each Doctor has their own distinct personality. He fought regenerating for so long, even doing it only halfway so he could heal without changing. When he finally was at death’s doorstep and couldn’t hold it in anymore, he looks almost directly into the camera, tears in his eyes, and says, 'I don’t want to go!'"
8. "Lu Ten from Avatar: The Last Airbender. You don't see it, but that episode with Iroh in Ba Sing Sei, man, you feel that pain."
9. "Buffy’s mom Joyce, obviously. That episode was so Lynchian and heartbreaking. It was one of the most successfully upsetting episodes of TV I’ve ever seen."
10. "It's probably not the saddest, but Tony Stark gets me every time. It's symbolic of the end of an era."
11. "Ellie from Up. Pixar pulled more emotion out in those five minutes than they have in the last five years."
12. "Gotta say I'd probably go Ben from Scrubs or Leslie from Bridge to Terabithia overall, but one that needs to be mentioned is Thomas J. from the movie My Girl. Very much in the same vein as Bridge to Terabithia in that it's incredibly random and the aftermath is brutal. The 'he can't see without his glasses' scene is heartbreaking."
13. "I’m such a softie, I teared up when Tom Hanks' volleyball 'died' in Cast Away. There was something brilliant about that scene."
14. "Sirius Black. I'm not even a big Harry Potter fan but his death makes me cry every time. Doesn't matter if it's the book or the movie."
15. "Rue dying in The Hunger Games was the only time I've cried over a book."
16. "Tadashi from Big Hero 6. He was in his early 20s and he had friends and a loving family. And his death was for nothing in the end since it was the guy he was attempting to save who set the fire to cover up the theft of Hiro's tech. (His plan was also stupid, so it was unnecessary to set the fire in the first place)."
17. "Bob from Stranger Things. He was the most beautiful soul on Earth."
18. And finally: "Bing Bong from Inside Out. As a 36-year-old man watching it for the first time, it killed me."
