So by definition, here be spoilers for various tv shows, films and books. 13 character deaths that have had an impact on me. Just in case you haven’t seen them this post contains spoilers for Robin of Sherwood, Xena, Angel, Buffy, Serenity, Heroes, Kushiel’s Dart, The Tudors, Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who and Torchwood.
I’ve also sorted these by category. 
1 – OH NO! Robin of Sherwood (Michael Praed) Major childhood trauma here. Still probably one of the most memorable character exits ever. Nobile, futile and heartbreaking. (Clip is slightly long, but the moment when Marion realizes what Robin intends to do…)
2 – OH NO! Xena – Major fan trauma. I’m one of the people who hated the way the series ended. I fanwank the ending by taking the episode When Fates Collide to be the last episode. Julius Caesar rewrites history so he never crucifies Xena, hence she never went to Japan – YAY!
3 – OH NO! Adam Monroe (Heroes) Noooooo. You can’t kill Sark. What’s wrong with you people? I console myself with the fact that on Heroes you’re never certain whether someone’s dead for sure. There’s always the possibility of history being rewritten. Plus, they’ve killed off Ali Larter’s character off twice now and it hasn’t stopped her coming back.
4 – OH NO! (Darn you Joss Whedon) Fred (Angel) I defy anyone to watch Fred’s death scene and not be crying buckets. (I admit here that I actually loved the character of Illyria though I hated the notion that Fred’s soul had been annihilated). I’d also include Wesley’s death at the end of the series here too.
5 – OH NO! (Darn you Joss Whedon) Wash (Serenity) I’m a leaf on the wind…a leaf on the wind. My favourite dinosaur loving character gone.
6 – OH NO! – Compton (The Tudors) PLEASE the series had rearranged history to its satisfaction already. It wouldn’t have hurt to let Compton and Tallis have a happy ending.
7 – OH NO! Alcuin and Delauney (Kushiel’s Dart) Just as I was starting to really enjoy the book. :sigh:
8 – KIND OF INEVITABLE – Daphne (Heroes) I really liked her and Matt Parkman together, but it didn’t seem to matter whether she was fried by Sylar’s nuclear blast in the future or dying of an infection in the present, her days were always numbered. A case of live fast, die young.
9 – OH NO! (Darn you Joss Whedon) – Anya – My favourite Buffy character. Perhaps because like me she had a tendency to take folks literally.
10 – KIND OF INEVITABLE – Admiral Cain (Battlestar Galactica) Okay, she was always going to get killed off. But we don’t see nearly enough of Michelle Forbes on the television. Thank goodness for Razor.
11 – OH NO! – Donna (Dr. Who) I didn’t think I was going to like Catherine Tate’s companion. But I ended up preferring her over Rose. Whilst death of personality isn’t the same as physical death (in some ways it’s perhaps worse). The character I’d come to love over the course of the series is gone forever.
12 – OH NO! – Toshiko (Torchwood) Another death scene that I blubbed at. Even knowing she’s dying, Toshiko lies to Owen to be ‘with’ him as he faces his own destruction.
13 – WHY NOT? – Buffy – Maybe because I’m a Faith fan, maybe because I saw the Buffy finale whilst still feeling bitter over the Xena finale, maybe because I was annoyed that Anya was killed off. But I think it’s the only time I’ve been disappointed that a character hasn’t been killed off.
