Plot twists galore! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the TV shows that feature the most deaths of primary, supporting, and recurring characters. There will be lots of spoilers ahead!
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00:00 - When you play the game of thrones you win or you die.
00:03 - Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks
00:07 for the TV shows that feature the most deaths
00:10 of primary, supporting and recurring characters.
00:13 Keep in mind that these are rough estimates
00:16 and since we're dealing with character deaths,
00:18 there will be lots of spoilers ahead.
00:20 - I told you, I always look for revenge.
00:25 - Number 10, Boardwalk Empire.
00:28 - How many people have you killed?
00:30 - 63.
00:33 - Given that it centers on Prohibition era Atlantic City,
00:36 Boardwalk Empire is set during the USA's big crime boom.
00:39 Crime means gangsters and gangsters means people get whacked
00:43 a lot.
00:44 No less than 35 key characters sleep with the fishes,
00:47 so to speak across the show's five seasons.
00:50 - This is your choice, James.
00:51 - I died in the trench years back.
00:58 - So you knew this.
00:59 - Characters are gunned down in the street,
01:01 strangled, jump out of windows
01:03 and all manner of sudden ends.
01:06 Protagonist, Nucky Thompson is certainly responsible
01:08 for his fair share, whether directly or indirectly.
01:11 - Who are you?
01:12 - Tommy Dormody.
01:18 - Tommy.
01:25 - So in the finale, even he meets a violent fate.
01:28 Number nine, Homeland.
01:30 Spy thrillers tend to feature pretty high body counts
01:33 and Homeland is no exception.
01:35 - I just took a man's life today, Gary.
01:37 - He was a bad guy, Brody.
01:43 - With most of its storyline focusing on counter-terrorism,
01:45 both success and failure by the protagonists
01:48 usually result in violence or death.
01:50 No less than 38 important players are killed off
01:53 during the show's event.
01:54 - Wanna see this thing in action?
01:56 Just about got in the sweet spot.
01:58 - Terrorist attacks, shootings, executions,
02:01 characters are rarely safe in Homeland.
02:03 Even lead characters like Nicholas Brody
02:05 get killed off fairly early into the show's run.
02:08 Homeland keeps you on your toes,
02:10 which helps make it one of the best spy series
02:12 in recent memory.
02:13 - These men are confirmed associates of Hey Sammokani.
02:16 If the target appears, we will take him out.
02:17 - Number eight, The Last Kingdom.
02:19 Set during a time of upheaval in the British Isles,
02:22 The Last Kingdom follows Uhtred,
02:24 a Saxon raised among Danish Vikings.
02:26 - You will tell him that Uhtred of Bevanberg is coming
02:29 as a shadow walker, and they will die as my brother died.
02:33 I will send them all to Niflheim.
02:37 - Often torn between loyalties,
02:38 Uhtred becomes involved in the power struggles
02:41 between both sides of his heritage
02:42 and is central to the formation of a united England.
02:45 He also has some truly abysmal luck
02:48 as he loses almost everyone close to him during the show.
02:51 With the number of major deaths exceeding 40.
02:54 - You will go to hell.
02:55 - Additionally, given the huge number of battles,
03:02 betrayals, and even rampant disease,
03:04 deaths are as common as Uhtred calls himself
03:06 Uhtred, son of Uhtred.
03:08 And that happens every episode.
03:10 Suppose that's destiny for you.
03:12 - I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred.
03:14 - Number seven, True Blood.
03:16 - Our existence is insanity.
03:19 - We don't belong here.
03:20 - But we are here.
03:22 - It's not right.
03:23 - It's a vampire show with a Southern fry twist
03:25 and blood is kind of right there in the title.
03:28 Vamps kill humans for their blood.
03:30 Humans stake vamps.
03:31 All manner of supernatural creatures kill
03:33 or die in various ways too.
03:36 - I have cured you, you listen.
03:38 (grunting)
03:40 (dramatic music)
03:43 (grunting)
03:48 (grunting)
03:49 - Grudges, jealousy, and just plain hunger motivate them.
03:53 An excess of 40 major characters meet permanent ends
03:57 during True Blood, but few, if any of them, go quietly.
04:01 Some of the ways they die are shockingly violent,
04:03 sometimes to an absurd and comic degree.
04:06 So much for Southern hospitality.
04:08 (dramatic music)
04:11 - Was there no God?
04:13 - Number six, The Walking Dead.
04:15 - So.
04:16 (dramatic music)
04:19 Back to it.
04:22 - Yeah, it was only a matter of time with this one.
04:25 Death is literally in the name.
04:26 This hit post-apocalyptic zombie show is absolutely brutal
04:30 with how frequently it kills off its main characters.
04:33 It's another series with 40 plus
04:35 prominent characters that die.
04:36 (screaming)
04:38 (dramatic music)
04:43 Although, if we count zombies or walkers,
04:47 this number would probably be much, much higher.
04:50 They are already dead though.
04:52 Regardless, in addition to death
04:54 by the ever-present Walking Dead,
04:56 the various survivors also kill each other over territory,
04:59 for revenge, or because they're just sadistic jerks.
05:03 Looking at you, Negan.
05:04 By the show's end, only a scant few characters
05:07 from the original cast remain alive.
05:09 - I found 'em.
05:10 (explosion)
05:13 - Number five, The Wire.
05:15 (whistling)
05:17 - Hey, yo, lesson here, bae.
05:25 You come at the king, you best not miss.
05:28 - Baltimore can be a rough town.
05:30 The Wire explores many aspects of how crime
05:32 can affect the city and the people living there.
05:35 To that end, the streets of Baltimore are mean indeed,
05:38 as the show kills off upwards of 40 or so
05:41 major or recurring characters.
05:43 - Is that it?
05:44 'Cause if it is, man,
05:47 I could be a better friend to y'all alive.
05:49 - Criminal kingpins once considered invincible
05:51 meet violent ends.
05:53 Underdog heroes go out unexpectedly.
05:55 The war between the police and criminals
05:57 have people caught in the crossfire too.
05:59 The Wire always has us on the edge of our seats,
06:02 wondering who will die next.
06:04 - Hey, yo, yo, put it in his ear.
06:07 Martin Stamfield is not a man for this town.
06:09 You dig?
06:10 - Number four, Lost.
06:12 - We can't be so naive as to think
06:13 nothing can happen to us.
06:14 Any one of us can die, Jack.
06:20 - This mystery show has began with dozen of survivors
06:23 of a plane crash on a mysterious island,
06:25 but not all of them, well, survive.
06:28 Between the island's inhabitants, humans or otherwise,
06:31 each other, the dangerous environment,
06:33 and a surprising number of explosions,
06:35 staying alive in this tropical paradise
06:37 proves rather difficult.
06:38 - Nitroglycerin is extremely temperamental, so we--
06:41 (explosion)
06:43 - If you want to get technical,
06:45 none of the main characters make it out of the series alive,
06:48 but we won't go into the finale.
06:50 No less than 44 prominent characters
06:52 lose their lives in Lost, but that's fine.
06:55 They'll see each other in another life.
06:57 - I'll see you in another life, brother.
06:59 - Number three, Vikings.
07:00 We mean, it's about Vikings.
07:03 Of course people die.
07:04 Primarily detailing the saga of Ragnar Lodbrok
07:07 and his family, as well as his enemies,
07:09 this series is an absolute bloodbath.
07:12 (thudding)
07:14 (groaning)
07:16 - No, no!
07:19 - Hardly anyone makes it through alive.
07:21 Upwards of 70 or more primary
07:23 and secondary characters get killed.
07:25 The series features some of the most brutal
07:27 and visceral deaths ever put on TV too.
07:30 Just look up Blood Eagle.
07:31 Not while you're eating, though.
07:33 - What is a Blood Eagle?
07:34 (water dripping)
07:37 The offender gets down on his knees
07:45 and his back is open with knives.
07:51 And then with axes.
08:00 - In battle, by treachery, or by beasting,
08:03 no, really, literally, no one is safe in Vikings.
08:07 - I never knew my own mother.
08:08 She died when I was born.
08:11 But you boys, you have to care for your mother.
08:18 - Even Ragnar himself is executed
08:20 and there's still plenty of show after he's gone.
08:22 Number two, Oz.
08:24 - What good is going to come of that?
08:26 - Death is inevitable.
08:29 - Not necessarily.
08:30 - Prison can be a violent environment in real life,
08:33 but in the brutal confines of the experimental unit
08:35 depicted in Oz, the morality rate is shockingly high.
08:39 Emerald City is supposed to help rehabilitate inmates
08:41 and avoid conflict, but its various factions
08:44 are always at each other's throat, sometimes literally.
08:47 - On one condition, though.
08:48 You kill Redding.
08:51 - My pleasure.
08:54 - Murders and revenge killings
08:56 between the various gangs are common,
08:58 but personal vendettas are rife throughout the show as well.
09:01 Plenty of main characters meet their ends,
09:03 even the narrator character.
09:05 That's just cheating.
09:06 Over 100 prominent characters are killed in some fashion
09:09 during the inmates' time in Oz.
09:10 How they kept the place open continues to baffle us.
09:14 - You're a dead man, sweet pea.
09:17 (crowd yelling)
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09:35 - Number one, "Game of Thrones."
09:38 Oh, you sweet summer children,
09:41 please tell us you're not surprised.
09:43 (sword slashing)
09:45 - For the watch.
09:48 The epic fantasy show not only treats its supporting
09:51 and recurring characters as disposable,
09:52 but its main cast dies with infamous regularity.
09:55 Before "Game of Thrones" ends,
09:57 the series kills off over 100 major characters
10:00 and in some truly gruesome ways.
10:02 - Those are brave men knocking at our door.
10:05 Let's go kill them.
10:08 - Molten gold, beheadings, poison, dragons.
10:11 This series goes for broke
10:13 with how terrible its characters killed one another.
10:15 From its first to its last episode,
10:17 we're kept on our toes wondering
10:19 if each character will survive to see another winter.
10:21 "Game of Thrones" has practically become a byword
10:24 for killing off characters.
10:26 - Mother.
10:27 - The Lannisters send their regards.
10:31 (sword slashing)
10:34 - Is there a TV show with a high morality rate
10:36 we made a fatal mistake by forgetting?
10:38 Revive our chances for next time
10:40 by sharing your favorites in the comments below.
10:42 And don't forget to like and subscribe
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10:45 - Dracarys!
10:47 (roaring)
10:49 (screaming)
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