Fictional deaths that hit you the hardest

[renegade7]

Well first there was Avatar TLA when

Spoiler

Azula shot Iroh. Of course he turned out to have lived, but I had a week to the next episode to think he was dead. I was 12 when I saw it on TV and if memory serves that was the first time I was really exposed to a character's mortality in fiction beyond "Some guy you didn't care about died. Be sad.". Later on, when Sozin betrayed Roku, that was also quite sad

Then in Final Fantasy 6

Spoiler

When Kefka murdered General Leo, and later on when Locke reminisced over how Rachel died

Then in the Fellowship of the Ring

Spoiler

When Gandalf "died". Obviously he came back in the next book, but there was a very palpable sense that the rest of the Company was substantially less powerful and very alone after that.

And I don't think I need to say it, but here goes:

Spoiler

Mordin

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Dumbledore, because I seem to have a thing for kind wise old men... err, I mean... well this is awkward.

 

[Furioso]

Spoilers from Fullmetal Alchemist

Lieutenant Colonel Brigadier General Maes Hughes... I cried like a baby. D:

This, so much this. There is a reason that this exists...

Spoiler

At least Hughes got avenged pretty well, what with Mustang deep frying Envy over and over and over and over...

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Persona 3 & 4 spoilers

Spoiler

Main Character in 3 and Nanako in 4

 

[Vigormortis]

Several I was going to mention have already been listed, so I'll list a few I haven't seen so far in this thread:

Spoiler: Star Trek

The death of Data in Nemesis. Just...just...fuck whoever wrote that script.

Spoiler: Half-Life

The death of Eli Vance. Maybe it was because he was portrayed as such a strong father figure, and the only family Alyx had left. Or, maybe it was because the scene didn't feel as scripted as a cut-scene and therefore felt more intense and visceral. Whatever the case, watching him writhe in the clutches of that Advisor, telling Alyx to look away while Alyx pleaded for his life....it just hit me. It hit me hard.

 

[OutcastBOS]

The ultimate renegade interrupt.

Spoiler: Why?

Yeah when I did that I just had to stop playing the game immediately and couldn't play for an entire day because it hit me so hard. It was a bit weird, I've been saddened by deaths in videogames before but none have stopped me in my tracks and just stunned me for days to come.

Also in the same game when

Spoiler

Goddamn...those are two of the reasons why I can NEVER do a pure Renegade (more like evil fucking asshat) playthrough, because I know I could never do that.

Spoiler: also from Mass Effect 3

Oh my Blue Rose of Illium... *sniffle*... I cried when I heard Charr's last tape...I know he was a REALLY minor character...but I had to go NOOO!

I also went NOOOOOO during

Spoiler: More ME

Grunt's apparent suicide attack against the Ravagers. DAMN THAT SAD MUSIC! *shakes fist*

And from literature

Spoiler: Harry Potter books

Fred Weasly. One half of one of my favorite duos from anything...that really hit me right where it hurts. I didn't cry or anything but it made me really down.

==EDIT==

I don't recall TV or Film, I'll edit post if I do, but for games it would have to be:

Spoiler: RDR

John Marston. I did not see it coming. That game was untarnished by the internet for me so it was 100% fresh, especially since I had played its spiritual ancestor back on PS2 I had actively avoided reading anything about Redemption.

When Marston died, I nearly shed a tear.

Nearly? I blubbered like a baby when this happened

Spoiler: RDR

Oh bury me not...on the lone prairie...

 

[Deathmageddon]

Fry's dog in Futurama, the dog in I am Legend, Hedwig... people can eat it, SAVE THE FUZZIES!!!

Full Metal Alchemist

Spoiler

Hughes

Dammit, I forgot about that. I'm sad now.

 

[Wereduck]

Spoiler: Mass Effect

Mordin. No question.

Buffy had an odd effect on me as well when

Spoiler: Buffy

Jenny Calendar was killed by Angelus, and a HUGE effect on me when Joyce Summers died. Although Buffy's reaction to the second hit me harder than the death itself.

Can't believe it took 32 posts for someone to mention:

Spoiler: Buffy

Miss Calendar, not so much with Joyce (she kinda bugged me)

I'm sure this guy's already been mentioned too but I'd like to add my voice for the chorus for:

Spoiler: Death Note

L

Both of those deaths had me messed up for days.

 

[doomspore98]

Probably red dead redemption.

SPOILERS

John Marston's death.

How do you create the spoilers box?

put: spoiler and /spoiler inside these [] on either end of the stuff you want to hide.

Thanks

 

[PurpLemons]

Ace Combat 5

Spoiler

Chopper's sacrifice made me bawl my eyes out when I first watched it. He was such an enjoyable character and it felt like there was a big hole in my squad that could never be replaced.

 

[Wereduck]

Aside from several ME3 ones already posted all I'm going to say is this.

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."

Oh dear god yes - nobody abruptly kills off sympathetic characters like Whedon.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Buffy had an odd effect on me as well when

Spoiler: Buffy

Jenny Calendar was killed by Angelus, and a HUGE effect on me when Joyce Summers died. Although Buffy's reaction to the second hit me harder than the death itself.

Can't believe it took 32 posts for someone to mention:

Spoiler: Buffy

Miss Calendar, not so much with Joyce (she kinda bugged me)

That first one hit me pretty hard. The character had been one of my favorites.

Spoiler

I mean come on! She was a brilliant and clever technopagan who was GORGEOUS! What's not to love? I mean, she had done some morally grey stuff but she was literally in the middle of making up for it when *neck snap*

Spoiler: But with that second death, it was more

Buffy's reaction. That whole scene is heart-wrenching, especially when Buffy says to the 911 caller:

"[Mom is] cold.
S-should I make her warm?"

Seriously, that line broke my heart.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Snip

Hello Mr. Lemony 19-poster. How are you?

You might want to edit the post you linked, it's a double post.

Spoiler: Buffy

Jenny Calendar was killed by Angelus, and a HUGE effect on me when Joyce Summers died. Although Buffy's reaction to the second hit me harder than the death itself.

I know it's been said to the point of being annoying, but Joss Whedon really f*cking knows how to write a character death that stings.

Spoiler: Buffy (again)

Joyce in particular, that episode has got to be the most uncomfortable 40 minutes I've ever watched on TV. It's the weird kind of shakeup you get from watching a show about a superhuman girl constantly putting her own and her loved ones' lives in danger fighting demons and undead, only to have her mother die from post-surgery complications. Here's a show about all these supposedly scary supernatural monsters, and yet the most terrifying thing in the entire show is something that can, and does happen to people in real life. That's unnerving in a very special way :-S

Did you realize that entire episode has no musical score? Adds so much to the creepifiying and disorientation, especially if you've been powering through the series on Netflix like I totally haven't been.
(only 3 episodes left!)

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Is it really too hard for people to actually MENTION WHAT THEY'RE SPOILING before they put down the spoiler tag?

Agreeing with and Adding to that... a spoiler tag is useless if you give the name of the fiction and then THE TITLE OF THE CHARACTER THAT DIES.

 

[Psychoninja7]

Spoiler: Mass Effect 3

Well Mordin, Legion, Wrex and Tali have been mentioned so... I was pretty sad when Primarch Victus' son died. And Shepard, I was so sad, but happy sad, because I was proud. OH! And Andersons' death! How can I forget that?

Spoiler: Infamous 2

I think someone said Cole Macgrath in the good ending. Ninja'd. Zeke's death in the evil ending sucked too, because you had to kill him. I didn't even like him that much, but I was sad for him.

Spoiler: Prototype 2

I was pretty upset when Alex Mercer died, mostly because I had so much fun with him in the first game and I was upset that Radical changed him so much. I teared up

 

[SecondPrize]

How is it possible that no one has brought up Chewbacca?
You are some soulless bastards.
Went out like a champ though, moon dropped on his head in "Vector Prime."

 

[Nannernade]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Spoiler

When Kamina was killed

 

[littlealicewhite]

Code Geass

Spoiler

Leluoch's death made me cry like a baby. I was proud of him, at the end.

Mass Effect 3

Spoiler

Tali... Tali's death blew me away. I chose to save the Geth, because I truly felt it was the right thing to do, but then...

I knew a girl for five years. We didn't spend a lot of time together, but I liked her. She was smart and funny and *interesting*. I helped her with her Pilgrimage, and she followed me to hell and back.

Skip forward two years and I saw how she'd grown into a strong, intelligent young woman. I was so proud. When her people accused her of treason, I stood beside her so she wouldn't have to face it alone. When her father died I held her in my arms as she cried. For the second time, we charged into near-certain death and returned alive.

Then, finally we were near the end. I defeated the Reaper, and won back her homeworld. But, I had to choose.

Who do you save, the people who blindly attack out of fear and hate, or the people who never did anything but defend themselves?

It was the right thing. I know it was. But...

Tali died. The Quarian people died. Because of me.

I was screaming on the inside when she fell.

 

[Kapri]

Cowboy Bebop:

Spoiler

MOTHER FUCKIN' SPIKE SPIEGEL!

I cannot watch the end without choking up, honest to god.

And Shadow of the Colossus:

Spoiler

Wander