Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best shows with the worst tendencies to kill off any of their characters.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the best shows with the
00:06 worst tendencies to kill off any of their characters.
00:10 Warning, there will be massive death spoilers to come.
00:23 Political intrigue always has a high body count, but this show takes it up a notch.
00:27 One of the most shocking deaths is certainly that of Mrs. Landingham, the President's
00:31 secretary.
00:32 Her warm wisdom and comic commodge and antics made her a show favourite, so it was beyond
00:36 shocking when she was killed by a drunk driver at the end of season two.
00:45 Another beloved character, Leo McGarry, was killed off due to the real-life death of his
00:49 actor.
00:50 Sharply written and critically acclaimed, the West Wing clearly doesn't hesitate in
00:54 killing off even the most beloved characters in the service of its narrative.
01:07 Following a slave uprising led by its titular character, this sword-and-sandal show predictably
01:12 had its fair share of grisly deaths.
01:14 Spartacus' body count alone, either through battle or by accident, is in the double digits.
01:23 Among the major deaths Spartacus is responsible for are Theocles and Varro.
01:28 Other gruesome deaths involve Lysenia's death at the hands of Illithia, Numerius stabbed
01:32 by Varro's wife, Aurelia and Melita through poisoned wine intended for Titus.
01:38 And of course, there is noble Crixus' innoble death through a backstabbing, literally, by
01:43 Tiberius.
01:44 When it comes to gladiator games and Roman slavery, a bloodbath is inevitable.
01:52 True Blood.
01:57 An adult twilight, this show about vampires has plenty of bite, no pun intended.
02:02 Set in a world where vampires openly live among humans and struggle for equal rights,
02:06 True Blood begins with waitress Sucky Stackhouse investigating a murder mystery, and the bodies
02:11 keep stacking up.
02:17 She discovers her grandmother in a pool of her blood, and dispatches the killer, Renée,
02:21 with a shovel.
02:22 Sucky also stakes Lorena, her boyfriend Bill Compton's maker, and shoots Debbie after
02:27 the latter killed Tara.
02:29 And that's just the protagonist.
02:31 Other deaths involve humans, witches and, of course, vampires.
02:34 These bloody delights have bloody ends.
02:47 Speaking of bloody dramas, this series, based on Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories novels,
02:53 is filled with bloody and heartbreaking deaths.
02:56 Set in a time of Anglo-Saxon resistance to Viking invasion, "The Last Kingdom" follows
03:00 Uhtred of Bebbanburg and his defence of King Alfred in the Kingdom of Wessex.
03:11 The series freely disposes of even important and beloved characters.
03:15 From Ragnar, cruelly betrayed, to Breda's death from an arrow, to Uhtred's father
03:20 surrogate, Father Bjokur's death in saving Uhtred's son, the show does not pull its
03:24 punches.
03:25 Such is the nature of occupation and resistance.
03:43 This legendary drama has a legendary body count.
03:46 The gangster life, after all, is not a bed of roses.
03:48 The series certainly doesn't lack for heartbreaking and emotional deaths, so many that it's
03:53 hard to count them all.
03:54 There is innocent girlfriend turned reluctant FBI agent Adriana Leceva and her horrific
03:59 death.
04:03 There is closeted Vito Spazzafour who briefly escapes the homophobic mob life, only to be
04:08 beaten to death upon his return.
04:10 And of course, there is Christopher Malesante's tragic death by Tony himself, a betrayal that
04:15 truly stings.
04:16 At the end of the series, even Tony dies.
04:18 Probably, maybe.
04:19 We don't know.
04:20 There is a hit implied, but it's left ambiguous by a blackout.
04:31 It's time for the Vikings' telling of their historical sagas, which just happens
04:35 to be pretty darn blood-soaked.
04:37 The show follows the legend of Norse warrior Ragnar Lothbrok as he conquers England and
04:41 West France.
04:42 Vikings is notable, however, in deviating from its historical source material by killing
04:47 off its characters, so you can never tell who will get the axe.
04:51 Ragnar's own offspring turn on each other, with Ivar the Boneless killing Seagood, Snake
04:58 in the Eye, while his eldest, Bjorn Ironside, goes out in a noble soldier's death.
05:03 Then there is Ragnar's close friend, Athelstan, murdered and betrayed by Floki.
05:07 And above all, we have the death of Ragnar himself, thrown into a pit of snakes by King
05:12 Aella.
05:13 A cruel fate for a cruel world.
05:27 This survivor drama has a death toll the size of a ship.
05:31 Set in an apocalyptic future, "The 100" follows 100 young people sent back to a devastated
05:35 Earth to determine its habitability for life, only to discover violent clans of humans who
05:40 have survived the apocalypse.
05:49 Delving into the harsh realities of post-apocalyptic survival, the series does not stint in killing
05:54 off characters in diverse ways.
05:56 There is the death of Marcus Cain, who valiantly chooses to die rather than live in another
06:00 body.
06:01 Comic relief and fan favourite Jasper goes out on his own terms after losing Maya.
06:05 But Bellamy's death at the hands of Clark is definitely what makes this series truly
06:09 ruthless in its death count.
06:27 The longest-running espionage series, "24" is as deadly as the secret agent missions
06:31 it dramatises.
06:32 Following counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer in real time, the series kills its characters
06:37 with regularity.
06:42 There is Gael Ortega, the triple agent who goes out via virus, in a heroic attempt to
06:46 contain it.
06:47 The death of George Mason, whose satisfying redemption arc culminates in self-sacrifice.
06:52 But it is the death of Jack's own wife Terri at the end of season one that sends a clear
06:56 message.
06:57 No character is sacred and safe from death.
07:12 Carry on, my wayward son.
07:14 Demon Hunters Dean and Sam Winchester had a hell of a time during their 15 seasons on
07:18 the air.
07:19 From vampires, ghosts and angels, to Lucifer, death and God himself, it's enough to keep
07:24 the brothers in therapy for years.
07:26 Apart from the thousands of victims by the supernatural, Dean and Sam have also been
07:30 killed, and in a variety of ways.
07:39 Among the most heartbreaking deaths fans have a hard time accepting include mother-daughter
07:43 duo Ellen and Joe, friend Charlie, and of course, beloved Angel Castiel.
07:49 Just thinking about all 15 seasons' worth of deaths makes our hearts ache.
08:04 With a protagonist who's a serial killer, hunting other serial killers, there's bound
08:07 to be some collateral damage.
08:09 Throughout the series, many people connected to Dexter die in one way or another.
08:13 As Dexter, actor Michael C. Hall is compelling to watch as his mind ticks away with any new
08:18 information he discovers about other serial killers, and watching him take them on is
08:22 always riveting.
08:28 While there was never any real risk that he would ever leave the show (it's called "Dexter"
08:32 after all), the leading ladies aren't quite as lucky.
08:35 Dexter's wife is brutally murdered by the Trinity Killer, and toward the end of the
08:39 series, his own sister was shot by another serial killer, resulting in her death.
08:54 Stuck on a seemingly deserted island after a plane crash, survival skills are a must
08:59 if you want to, well, survive.
09:00 And a lot of people don't make it.
09:02 By a lot, we really mean almost all of them.
09:10 Part survival mystery, part spiritual sci-fi drama, "Lost" combines multiple genres
09:15 to create a highly engaging story, and if that happens to include the deaths of those
09:19 we've grown to love, then so be it.
09:25 Killings aside, it's fascinating to watch the survivors work together, as well as the
09:28 inevitable conflicts that arise, with a finale that is still managing to spark debate years
09:33 after its debut.
09:43 The Prohibition era was prime time for organised crime and murders, and "Boardwalk Empire"
09:47 highlights that fact beautifully, yet brutally.
09:50 When the fan-favourite co-lead, Jimmy Darmody, died at the end of the second season, viewers
09:54 were anxious to see how it could continue.
09:56 But the show surprised everyone.
09:58 And with that came a plethora of more deaths.
10:09 Included in that list was another fan-favourite who dies tragically in the fourth season,
10:13 prompting viewers to vocalise how they were never going to watch the show again.
10:17 When something happens in a show that makes you never want to watch it again, you know
10:20 it's a good series.
10:26 A harrowing journey of descent and darkness,
10:36 "Breaking Bad" succeeds at every level in making viewers gasp, and cringe in disgust,
10:41 when something awful happens, with most of it being caused by the show's lead.
10:52 Forgetting lung cancer, chemistry teacher Walter White turns to manufacturing methamphetamine
10:56 to support his family financially before he dies.
10:59 The hole he digs himself in gets deeper and deeper, with the body count rising.
11:10 Known as "Eisenberg" in the drug community, he takes out anyone who poses a threat to
11:14 him, and after managing to keep his criminal life separate from his personal one for a
11:18 long time, it all catches up with him in the end.
11:27 We're pretty sure the goal of this show was to kill off as many named characters as
11:35 the show has episodes, and for season one at least, HBO's "Oz" manages to pull
11:39 that off.
11:42 Sudden, tragic and almost always violent, the prisoners of the Oswald State Correctional
11:50 Facility's special unit, dubbed "Emerald City", live in a dog-eat-dog world with
11:55 absolutely no remorse.
11:57 Sometimes characters will be introduced, built up and killed off in a single episode, while
12:01 other times, show favourites and people considered untouchable will find themselves at the business
12:06 end of a prison shank.
12:17 Bodies continue to pile on top of one another in this show centred around a dangerous motorcycle
12:21 club.
12:22 Hell, even the central protagonist himself, Jax, dies.
12:25 But not before his best friend dies, and his significant other is killed by his mother,
12:29 ultimately leading Jax to kill her.
12:32 It's easy to forget that outlaws and killers have families of their own, too, and more
12:37 often than not, they're dragged into the mess against their will.
12:40 It's interesting to watch how both sides of the coin intertwine, and how our actions
12:44 can affect the people we care about.
12:54 This prestige drama's commitment to urban realism and the consequences of the war on
12:58 drugs inevitably leads to many tragic deaths.
13:01 Most of the casualties belong to the Stanfield and Barksdale organisations.
13:05 There is fan favourite Bodhi, for instance, with his cruel and unexpected death in season
13:09 four.
13:10 Idris Elba's Stringer Bell, second in command to Avon Barksdale, was shot down after a betrayal.
13:21 Young, naive Wallace was gunned down on the mere suspicion of his disloyalty.
13:26 Even Cheese shooting his prize dog in a rage is a cruelty beyond degrading.
13:30 And Omar's shocking death is made even sadder, knowing that Michael K. Williams, who betrayed
13:35 him, would pass away tragically some years later.
13:46 A suspected terrorist suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, protagonist Nicholas Brodie
13:51 was an intriguing character to watch.
13:59 Fans didn't know what to think.
14:00 After certain things he did, affirm that he wasn't a terrorist until he did something
14:04 that cemented the fact that he was.
14:07 Until he became a triple agent for the CIA, and then we just didn't know what to think.
14:14 Surprisingly, after two seasons, and most of season three, fans didn't think he would
14:21 ever be killed off.
14:22 I mean, what kind of show kills the main character halfway through the series?
14:26 Oh, right, "Homeland".
14:38 Being set in a hospital, people are bound to pass away, as seen in other medical dramas
14:41 such as "ER".
14:42 But with doctors dying almost as often as patients, one should rethink whether they
14:46 want to set foot in Seattle Grace Hospital.
14:55 With aircraft accidents, car accidents, murders and severe weather posing threats to lives,
15:00 maybe the best idea is to just stay home.
15:02 Some of these deaths are heartbreaking, especially when they occur as a result of the victim
15:06 trying to help someone else.
15:07 And there's a surprising amount of violence, considering it's not a dark crime drama
15:11 or action show.
15:17 The Walking Dead In all fairness, how can you expect a show
15:28 set during a zombie apocalypse in which the living have become more of a threat than the
15:31 dead not to kill anyone?
15:38 As the setting implies, minor and major cast members die every season.
15:42 Just as we get attached to a survivor, they lose a head to an evil dictator, or they're
15:46 distracted by something, resulting in a sneaky zombie bite from behind.
15:50 Only four cast members from the first ever group of characters remain alive.
15:54 With a lot more main characters dead than who are currently living, and with the ongoing
15:58 threat of insane enemy survivor leaders, the death toll is only going to rise.
16:12 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos, or all of them.
16:15 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
16:30 When you play the Game of Thrones, you either win, or you die.
16:33 Spoiler alert, nobody wins.
16:36 With multiple pivotal character deaths occurring every single season, Game of Thrones cements
16:40 itself as a heartless and cruel TV show that just wants to break the viewers' hearts.
16:45 And boy do we just eat it up.
16:55 No death is just tacked on, and they all serve a purpose in fulfilling the story, highlighting
16:59 the cruelty of the land the characters inhabit, while serving as a reminder that danger lurks
17:04 right around every corner.
17:05 Loyalties can sway when power or wealth is involved.
17:08 Every death propels other character motivations and the pace never lets up, making it immensely
17:13 satisfying.
17:14 Although, some might disagree with that where the final season is concerned.
17:22 And that's it for this list.
17:23 Which other great show made you close acquaintances with death?
17:26 Let us know in the comments down below.
17:39 [music]