For me, it was always Optimus Prime from The Transformers movie.
Wash’s, in “Serenity”. It was just so unexpected and abrupt, and it served to generate a sense of unease in the viewer; after Wash’s death, no character seemed to be protected by plot armor. Granted, Shepherd Book bit it before Wash did, but the movie seemed to set him up to be separate from the rest of the crew. I loved that Whedon played with this concept of fragility in the ensuing battle, with Kaylee getting darted, Zoe getting sliced up, and Simon getting shot. And then, Mal’s battle with the agent… I thought the misdirect was masterfully done.
I’ve been affected by character deaths before and since, but Wash’s death was the only death I’ve seen in media that has made me worry for the safety of the other characters. It made a lot of sense outside of the movie, too, as “Serenity” was more or less a tribute to some IP that was never going to get resurrected. While watching the movie for the first time, I was left thinking: “what if Whedon just said ‘fuck it’?”
There’s something people always leave out in all this. The crash right before wash dies really feels as if serenity could be totaled. So first that crash… Then all of that
“I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.” are some damn fine final words.
You can’t take the sky from me.
Noooo, I refuse to believe that the movie is canon 😭
Ooof! I was gonna add something from my own childhood, but then I read this and now I gotta take a knee and go cuddle something soft.
First time I saw Wash die in firefly was brutal.
More recently, after watching better call Saul I am heartbroken over Mike’s death. Particularly for Stacey and Kaylee.
Howard’s death hurt me the most out of all of them. Not sure why.
I guess because he was an innocent guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. They just wanted to fuck with the guy just a little but instead they tore him down and destroyed him. It just feels bad.
And for a huge portion of the show he was the only ally they had.
Mordin Solus from Mass Effect.
“Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong”
“Too many. Lost shields. Sorry, Shepard. Tell them… I held the line.”
And I had to reload an old save.
Companion cube
You monster
Joyce Summers. That episode of Buffy was a masterpiece.
I just saw this for the first time recently. It hit me so hard that I had to call my therapist for an extra session. The look on her face was identical to my father’s when he passed.
My mom died when my sister and I were approximately Buffy’s and dawn’s ages, respectively. It was an absolute gut punch to watch for me too.
Sirius Black in Harry Potter. I had to go back and reread the paragraph several times, then put the book down. Seemed just so unfair.
Put in there just as a cheap way to get emotional reactions from the audience, it’s the story telling equivalent of having the dog in the story die.
Technically, Sirius is the dog in the story.
Artax from The Neverending Story
Cowboy Bebop spoilers
spoiler
Spike Spiegel
The English dub actors that voiced Spike and Julia got married a couple years ago. That made me feel slightly better when I learned about it.
^Bang!
Great answer. Such a bummer.
Gotta knock a little harder…
Big dan and little anne from where the red fern grows. Fucked me up at like age 10
I can’t believe they had us watch that in gradeschool.
Its probably worse in the book, it is graphic
Oh, it was. They had us watch the movie after reading the book.
Mufasa would be the most popular answer for us oldies.
It’s been 25 years since I first read it and I’m still not ok with the fact that Old Dan and Little Ann didn’t make it.
Made me cry:
Gotta be Schindler’s List. That movie was so goddamn sad, and I just started sobbing when I saw that splash of red color. You know when. Ooof. A masterpiece I will never watch again.
For a more recent example, I watched the second season of Arcane. Lots of sad scenes, but anyone else who has watched it knows the most heart-wrenching one:
spoiler
Cried manly tears when Isha sacrificed herself to save Jinx.
Left me disturbed:
Another Spielberg movie, Saving Private Ryan. Didn’t cry when the Nazi soldier sloooooowly stabbed Mellish to death. But afterwards, I had nightmares about it for months. Cripes, what a brutal death scene.
are you sure that what made you cry in Schindler’s List is “fictional”?
The second death of Jake Chambers in Stephen King’s ”The Dark Tower” comes quite quickly to mind…
The Tali/Legion decision is brutal if you made mistakes in ME2 and 3.
Carter from Person of Interest.
The Paragon interrupt not being enough to save anyone if you side with Legion just makes it hurt more.
