10 Heartbreaking TV Deaths

Fictional deaths can be hard to get over— so hard, in fact, that WikiHow has a step-by-step guide on how to get over the death of a fictional character that has been viewed over 17,000 times. So next time you’re blubbering over the death of your favorite TV character, just remember, we’re all in the same boat. Here are the top 10 television deaths that I still haven’t gotten over.

10. Teri Bauer- 24

Photo by Icgyy2003 on Flickr.com

Played by Leslie Hope

After Jack’s (Kiefer Sutherland) pretty terrible day, viewers were excited to see him reunite with his wife Teri, who had just been through the ringer herself. Still, everyone’s hopes were dashed when Teri was shot by mole Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke) in a surprising turn of events that left everyone shocked.

9. Brian Griffin- Family Guy

Photo by Colin Devroe on Flickr.com

Played by Seth MacFarlane

Yes, it was only temporary, but the Internet exploded when Family Guy’s beloved pup died. The show, which usually resets after every episode, made Brian’s death feel final this time, even replacing him and giving the Griffins a new dog, voiced by Tony Sirico, who stuck around for three episodes. Many viewers were convinced that Brian was never going to come back, and no one was sure how the show would fare without him.

8. Ben Sullivan- Scrubs

Played by Brendan Frasier

Although Jordan’s (Christa Miller) brother Ben didn’t appear on very many episodes, he still made a huge impact on viewers with his positive attitude and fun relationship with Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley). His death was made even more sad by the way the show handled it— making us think that he was okay, only to have all of the characters end up at his funeral at the end. Just heartbreaking.

7. Lily Kane- Veronica Mars

Photo by Alex Fokin on Flickr.com

Played by Amanda Seyfried

Of course, it helps that the entire series was initially conceived based on Lily Kane’s death, but her adventurous spirit and fun attitude is clearly apparent in flashbacks, and she managed to become a fan favorite despite her limited screen time. Fans were able to mourn Lily Kane’s death with Veronica (Kristen Bell) throughout the first season, which made finally finding out who murdered her even more satisfying.

6. Katherine Pearce- The Vampire Diaries

Photo by _nmbb on Flickr.com

Played by Nina Dobrev

There was no way that the show was going to keep Elena (Nina Dobrev) away forever, but for those few episodes, viewers were able to get away from her annoying whining for a bit and see what Katherine would be like as the lead character—feisty, fun and just plain awesome. I for one would not have been upset if she took Elena’s place for good, but, sadly, that was not the case. Katherine’s death was beautiful and shocking all at once, and, although executive producer Caroline Dries has said that we definitely won’t be seeing her for a while, a possible return for the character has not been completely ruled out. Fingers crossed!

5. J.T. Yorke- Degrassi: The Next Generation

Photo by Enrico Diaz on Flickr.com

Played by Ryan Cooley

Degrassi may be pretty cheesy now, but back in its glory days, the show did a good job of tackling real issues like drug use, suicide and teen pregnancy. J.T. was the perfect comic relief for such a serious show, but he also had his own issues, especially having to do with his relationship with Liberty (Sarah Barrable-Tishauer). The saddest part of his death was that, after seasons of being broken up, he was about to tell Liberty that he loved her, something that many viewers had been waiting for for a long time. That, plus the extremely surprising nature of his death, made it a real shock for viewers.

4. Hoban ‘Wash’ Washbourne- Firefly

Photo by riftintimeandspace on Flickr.com

Played by Alan Tudyk

To see such an amazing character–the lovable, fun-loving guy who was first introduced to us while he was playing with dinosaurs in the ship’s cockpit–get stabbed through the chest after successfully (and awesomely) piloting his friends to safety was terrible enough, but to have to watch his wife, Zoe (Gina Torres), mourn at his funeral just made it all the worse.

3. Charlie Pace- Lost

Photo by Previously on “Lost” on Flickr.com

Played by Dominic Monaghan

The fact that Charlie died sacrificing himself for his friends really shows his character development throughout the show. Even though he started out as a heroin addict, Charlie’s character completely changed throughout the series, and in the end he became a loving boyfriend to Claire (Emilie de Ravin) and a surrogate father to her child, Aaron (William Blanchette). Charlie’s death was extremely sad, but the fact that he was willing to die to get his friends off the island was a real tribute to his growth as a character.

2. Tara Maclay- Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Photo by Juliet_noire on Flickr.com

Played by Amber Benson

Most people talk about Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) when they talk about sad Buffy deaths, but that’s mostly because of the absolute cry-fest that is “The Body.” From a straight character perspective, though, Tara’s death is much more sad. She was one of the show’s more normal and stable characters, and her relationship with Willow (Alyson Hannigan) was not only groundbreaking for television at the time, but also adorable and sweet. Tara really started to grow on me throughout the sixth season, and for her to die right after her and Willow finally reconciled was extremely painful to watch.

1. Tracy McConnell, a.k.a. The Mother- How I Met Your Mother

Photo by Frases_HIMYM on Flickr.com

Played by Cristin Milioti

Although we didn’t get to know Tracy McConnell for very long (we didn’t even find out her name until the last episode!), we had been hearing stories of Ted’s (Josh Radnor) love for her for nine seasons, which is what made her death really hurt. On top of that, from what we saw of her, she seemed awesome: she was beautiful, smart, funny, and she made English muffins sing. The show made a huge mistake in killing her off just so that Ted could end up with Robin (Cobie Smulders), and the finale was not well received by most viewers. Luckily, her funeral was cut from the episode, because I’m not sure I could have handled that.