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Most surprising deaths in fiction

TissueBox

TissueBox

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,032
Urinated States of America
Killing off characters is either never easy or never boring. But dropping a guy outta narrative orbit mid-dinner can le--

AGHCK...ARGLE!

*chokes on ball of lint and spiritually leaves body*
_________________

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
One of the most infamous deaths in shonen Japanimation nation was etched into history during episode 7(?) of TTGL, culminating in Kamina's flashy, yet unremarkable death. Main Character himself: the man to burst through heaven. TTGL had a near perfectly built story arc and moments like that really hit home that this wasn't going to hold punches. Still one of the finest narrative detours taken in a story where you wouldn't have expected it.

FFVII
Say whatcha will now, but that would have been extra traumatizing in a photorealistic, probably less hammy skin. *raises brow at remake*​
 

Deleted member 3208

Oct 25, 2017
11,934
I'd say the death of that important character in Harry Potter 5. Many people were in denial even when Rowling admitted he died.

Also, the first Red Dead Redemption. Personally, I was traumatized enough that after ending the epilogue, never played the game again.
 
vestan

vestan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
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Dec 28, 2017
24,638
If I had to point to something recent, RDR2 was guilty of this with

Sean and Kieran, that shit genuinely came out of nowhere
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
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Oct 26, 2017
10,564
NieR Automata

How they managed to telegraph a character's death in your face for 10 minutes straight and still shook me to my core when they did die is a narrative magic I still don't really understand
 

Deleted member 2809

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
25,478
Linkark07 said:
I'd say the death of that important character in Harry Potter 5. Many people were in denial even when Rowling admitted he died.

Also, the first Red Dead Redemption. Personally, I was traumatized enough that after ending the epilogue, never played the game again.
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The death in 6 is much more impactful tho :P That meme still goes strong
 
matcha pocky

matcha pocky

Member
Oct 27, 2017
276
5048012.jpg


god damn every time i watch i feel so sad that leo's character doesn't get a happily ever after ending with all the shit he went through
 
Mathieran

Mathieran

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,863
It's super temporary but Wolfenstein 2 had my jaw dropping to the floor in a mid game scene. They telegraphed it really obviously earlier in the game though I'm just not smart enough to catch things like that.
 
Mr. Poolman

Mr. Poolman

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,992
As a kid, who watched cartoons like GI Joe, He-Man and such, the death of Roy Fokker on Robotech truly caught me off-guard.

Many mention Optimus' death as a turning point on their childhood, but to me it was Roy's. Not only he died, he did by bullet wounds, instead of an heroic flashy way, he just... died.
roy1.png
 
deathsaber

deathsaber

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,099
The Departed, easily has the most "sudden and out of nowhere" instance. Would have loved to experience that one in a packed movie theater.
 
WedgeX

WedgeX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,206
Collateral pulled this off surprisingly well.

Mark Ruffalo figures everything out, and then is unceremoniously killed in what felt like the beginnings of a chase scene.
 
Violence Jack

Violence Jack

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Oct 25, 2017
41,808
The Untouchables

Watching Sean Connery getting gunned down all of a sudden genuinely hurt because he was the best part of that film.

Pulp Fiction

John Travolta getting gunned down after starring in the film

Burn After Reading

When Brad Pitt gets shot in the head, I legit jumped out of my seat. Totally was not expecting that.

But Scream pulled off the most surprising death scene ever since Psycho, and it was masterfully done.
 
MechDX

MechDX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,688


For kids in 1986 Primes death was a first for a beloved cartoon character. Even Hasbro had no idea of the effect of this. Add in that during the first 10 minutes of that movie they killed of a large chunk of the G1 characters in a blaze of glory at the hands of Megatron. As a kid during that time I was in disbelief
 
ConanEd

ConanEd

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Dec 27, 2018
1,033
Personally the Joffrey scene was most surprising for me. It was going full speed on a totally different subplot and then the book did a 180 and pull the rug off my feet.
 
Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric

Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric

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Another vote for the Departed. My jaw hit the fucking floor the first time I saw it.

Also, Ned Stark.

Also, even though I saw it coming, Han Solo:

1*x2YGSyN1Pm2V93VVEW26gg.gif
 
MadLaughter

MadLaughter

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
13,101
The Departed is an all-timer, for me. Combination of completely out of nowhere and a star that I had assumed was untouchable.
 
bjork

bjork

Member
Oct 27, 2017
887
Tesshou in the manga Worst. They build him up to be this force to be reckoned with, then he gets hit by a truck and dies.

[edit - Also, Jinnai in Crows. His gang loses but you think he's gonna have the redemption deal that a lot of bad guys have in shonen stuff, but he ends up being stabbed by a guy and bleeds out at some back alley.]
 
Timbuktu

Timbuktu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,234
Axelotl said:
The original is so much better than the departed
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I can't fairly judge the Departed. The story beats were pretty much exactly the same as the original; it felt so familiar to me that I couldn't get into it at all. I would say that I prefer the originals actors apart from maybe Andy Lau.
 
Heshinsi

Heshinsi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,093
GoT with
Ned. I've never felt so betrayed like that before. I even had a whole plot line worked up as to what the plan was for Ned after he confessed. He was going to go back North (to the wall in black), join up with Jon, and wreck these dummies.

*A FEW MOMENTS LATER...*

"WHAT THE FUCK?!!"

My reaction the moment it happened was:

tenor.gif
 
Andokuky

Andokuky

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
721
Infinity War, when that guy gets choked out basically right at the start of the film. It was big not only because of the popularity of the character, but it was a very dark, brutal way to go out and set the tone for the rest of the film.

I guess they'll all be back though.
 
HellforLeather

HellforLeather

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
3,166
Ned Stark since he was shaping up to be the protagonist more or less...but that didnt last long

Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading. Comes out of nowhere, super shocking violence in a relatively up beat film to that point. The Cohens seem to love doing this.
 

Deleted member 13642

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Oct 27, 2017
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Game of Thrones, for sure. Specifically,
The Red Wedding

I remember reading that shit and nearly dropping the book, and I didn't even like the characters that died (yeah yeah I know)

Later on, watching like episode 4 or 5 of the show with some friends who'd never read the books, it hit me out of nowhere. Oh. Shit. These people have no idea what they're in for.
 
LakeEarth

LakeEarth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,178
Ontario
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Major character Derek Reese just gets shot in the head in the middle of a random episode. Most episodes of the show would have two action scenes, one for each half of the episode. They killed him off in the FIRST action scene, the one that tends to be inconsequential to the story of the episode. NOT IN THAT EPISODE! I was seriously in complete disbelief, took me like 10 minutes to accept what happened.
 
CyrilFiggis

CyrilFiggis

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Nov 3, 2017
939
Pennsylvania
WedgeX said:
Collateral pulled this off surprisingly well.

Mark Ruffalo figures everything out, and then is unceremoniously killed in what felt like the beginnings of a chase scene.
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Great call out. He was pretty much the only one who had it figured out and then BAM. Great film.

I know it's been said a lot but Leo's death in The Departed was probably the most surprising to me upon first watch. There is a similar scene with Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading that is close, but I wasn't as invested in his character in that movie (though he was great in it).

edit: Damn, Burn After Reading was already mentioned twice, too. I love the goofy smile on his face right when it happens.
 
BDS

BDS

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,845
People have already mentioned Ned, the Red Wedding, and Oberyn, so I'll throw in
Jon too. That was definitely unexpected when I read ADWD. It also didn't really occur to me at the moment that he might come back to life until I went online and read the theories.
 
PoppaBK

PoppaBK

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Oct 27, 2017
2,165
As I just watched it the other day
Goliath - the original plaintiff.
Also in same season - main 'bad guy'. Doesn't die but his confrontation with his nemesis did not go as expected.
 
skipgo

skipgo

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Dec 28, 2018
2,568
Nearly everyone dying in Twilight: Breaking Dawn pt. 2

But then, it turns out none of it was real
 

Deleted member 8197

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
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Oct 26, 2017
1,340
BDS said:
People have already mentioned Ned, the Red Wedding, and Oberyn, so I'll throw in
Jon too. That was definitely unexpected when I read ADWD. It also didn't really occur to me at the moment that he might come back to life until I went online and read the theories.
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This too. The one point in all the books that I put it down and stopped reading for a while.
 
Woetyler

Woetyler

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,418
Heshinsi said:
GoT with
Ned. I've never felt so betrayed like that before. I even had a whole plot line worked up as to what the plan was for Ned after he confessed. He was going to go back North (to the wall in black), join up with Jon, and wreck these dummies.

*A FEW MOMENTS LATER...*

"WHAT THE FUCK?!!"

My reaction the moment it happened was:

tenor.gif
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
EP9 of any season makes me feel this way.
 
Lulu

Lulu

Saw the truth behind the copied door
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Oct 25, 2017
26,680
Teresa of the faint smile in Claymore stands out to me as shocking.
 
Kernel

Kernel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,894
Optimus Prime dying in the movie fucked me up as a kid.

Reading Dragonlance as a kid,
Sturm
dying the way he did in Dragons of Winter Night shocked me. Didn't see that coming at all.
 

ahoyle

Member
Feb 16, 2018
542
I remembered being shocked and disappointed by 2 in The Phantom Menace. Both were the wrong choice for the PT.
 
etrain911

etrain911

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,817
Extra obscure bonus round:

Tails Gets Trolled. Tails Gets Trolled is a terrible web comic with awful humor that's kingdom-hearts esque in the amount of characters brought together for seemingly no reason. And yet, the author manages to make deaths feel weird and surprising all the time.
 
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