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Often the most dramatic and moving parts of fiction involve the deaths of main characters, and as such, there are a lot of them. Some are heroic, others completely suprising, some just really moving. So I ask you, which death scenes, in film, television, and literature, are your favorite?

My top spot would of course be taken by Anakin Skywalker's death, redeemed at last after decades of pain and servitude, in the arms of his only son.

Then, Ganner Rhysode in Traitor. What's better than making a stand against thousands of Yuuzhan Vong, on a hostile world all by yourself, and finally falling with mountains of the dead piled around you, pulling down the roof in a final act of defiance? And there's his awesome quote: "Bring on your thousands. One at a time or all in a rush, I don't give a damn. None shall pass!"

Marta's death in ep. 40 of Full Metal Alchemist also struck a cord with me. Discovering just how bad things really are in the governement, fleeing to Al to spread the word, and then being executed inside of his body, before the information can get out. The image of Al kneeling on the ground, "weeping" as her blood drips out of his body is pretty moving.

Off the top of my head, the death of Qui-Gon in Ep. I was very surprising; so were the deaths of Sirius Black and Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

Wash's death in Serenity. Totally out of thin air.

*spoilerized for those who have not seen Serenity. Where have you been?

Surlethe wrote:Off the top of my head, the death of Qui-Gon in Ep. I was very surprising; so were the deaths of Sirius Black and Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

When did Sirius Black die? I ain't read the books.

Theoden's death in the movie version of Return of the King was the best that I've seen the cliched, "I'm mortally wounded, but I still have time to talk a little bit more before I die."

The top spot goes to Boromir, followed by Anakin Skywalker.

Ganner is a good mention, although I though Anakin Solo's was also done well.

Kirk in ST: Generations. "It... was... fun..."

The 7th Harry Potter book will probably change my mind, though. Although so far, I can't say that Dumbledore's, Sirius's, and Cedric's actual death scenes were really moving. We'll see.

CaptainChewbacca wrote:

Surlethe wrote:Off the top of my head, the death of Qui-Gon in Ep. I was very surprising; so were the deaths of Sirius Black and Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

When did Sirius Black die? I ain't read the books.

In The Order of the Pheonix, fifth book. Accidentally killed by an ancient execution device, as I recall.

CaptainChewbacca wrote:

Surlethe wrote:Off the top of my head, the death of Qui-Gon in Ep. I was very surprising; so were the deaths of Sirius Black and Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

When did Sirius Black die? I ain't read the books.

Sirius died (at least, we think he did) by going behind the veil at the Department of Mysteries at the end of book 5. No one has ever returned from there.

Starting with book 4, a major character would die in the end of every book:

Goblet of Fire: Cedric Diggory dies.
Order of the Phoenix: Sirius black dies.
Half-Blood Prince: Albus Dumbledore dies.
Book 7: ???

The only thing we know so far is this: in one interview, JKR said the last word of the 7th book will be "scar". Make of it what you will.

When I first saw Star Wars I was upset when Ben Kenobi died. For some reason I covered my eyes right as Vader cut him in two even though I never saw the movie before.

When Wade and Mellish were killed in Saving Private Ryan. Wade's death made me sad. Mellish's death made me want to choke the little shit who sat at the bottom of the stairs and did nothing. He just sat there like the Madame of a whorehouse and let the kraut walk out like a high-paying customer!

Sam Peckinpah filmed two of the best death scenes ever. The one at the end of Ride the High Country was a real tearjerker (By the way, this just came out on DVD. It's an overlooked classic and I hope everyone checks it out.). The one at the end of The Wild Bunch (four outlaws vs the Mexican Army -FIGHT!) is the greatest heroic death scene in movie history. Even more so because the outlaws weren't exactly heroes except when they decided to blast their way out of town.

As in every other thread, I'll say "For repairs..." from Brother, such a bad-arse to the last...

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've seen C-beams glitter in the dark over Tanhauser Gate. All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to die." - Roy Batty, Blade Runner

"A heavy cost. I pay it gladly." - Errol Partridge, Equilibrium

The Braveheart death scene was, I thought, decent, though quite protracted.

General Hummel from The Rock. he wasn't going to fire off those rockets and slaughter hundreds, and he paid for that with his life. Nonetheless, in his final breath he did give the two heroes the information they would need to stop the Psycho Marines from pulling the trigger.

On the same note, Major Baxter, who stayed loyal to the General until the end. And also the loss of the Navy SEALs in the shower room.

In books, I would have to say the death of Ton Phannan in Iron Fist actually had me all choked up when I first read it through. It was a very moving ending and just worked so well for those characters. I didn't expect that kind of thing from the Wraith Squadron books, but it was definately worth it.

Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. "And I, I am not your enemy, not you destroyer...I am, as before, your right hand...your sword..." Perfect.

Angelica in the last episode of Gunslinger Girl. That entire episode was so sad.

Drooling Iguana wrote: "A heavy cost. I pay it gladly." - Errol Partridge, Equilibrium

Damn Straight. The one I was going to suggest.
Also Spock's death or are we only counting ones that stuck?

Added Spoilers tag.

Nothing comes to mind but Wash's death was damn surprising.

Whiskeyjack's death in Memories of Ice, as his injured leg collapses on him as he's lunging at High King Kallor.

The Captain's (Jurgen Prochnow) death at the end of Das Boot; mortally wounded and living just long enough to watch his beloved submarine die before he too slips into oblivion.

John Bernard Books' (John Wayne) death at the climax of The Shootist.

Cody Jarret's (James Cagney) last moments at the end of White Heat: "Top of the world, Ma!"

Since playing other games I've come to the conclusion that Squaresoft really screwed up the execution of the storyline for Final Fantasy 7. The plot was there, so were the primary protagonists and antagonists, but somewhere long the line in Disk 1 shit got lost and didn't get found until the Temple of the Ancients. Shit then got lost again somewhere in the middle of Disk 2 and wasn't found again until Disk 3 when they headed into the mountain. The core storyline was quite good however, and Aeris's death struck a chord as Sephiroth jumped her as she activated the White Materia. No surprise on her face whatsoever, she just accepted it.

For unmentioned book deaths, most of mine lie in the Dune series. The death(s) of Duncan Idaho in Dune and Children of Dune were some of the coolest I've read. The other would be Leto Atreides in his failed attempt to kill the Baron.

The only other unmentioned fictional deaths that comes readily to mind happen in Dragonlance. Sturm's death in Dragons of Winter Night was quite cool, especially with how it led to the death of the blue dragons in their next attack after Laurana managed to get the Dragon Orb working for her. His funeral when she bitched out the Knights was quite cool.

There we go...off the wall deaths from squaresoft's worst game execution ever, classic sci-fi, and stereotypical fantasy. Sad that these are the ones that come to mind for this thread.

The crew of the Andrea Gail in The Perfect Storm. John C. Riley had me in tears.

Manus Celer Dei wrote:Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. "And I, I am not your enemy, not you destroyer...I am, as before, your right hand...your sword..." Perfect.

Angelica in the last episode of Gunslinger Girl. That entire episode was so sad.

Augh, GSG... Now I need to finish that series >_>

Scrapped Princess; I forgot the name, but he's the ex-Soldier who dies fighting off pursuers so Pacifica can escape.

Sgt. Grodin in Platoon.

Boromir in FOTR.

The entire Jedi Order in ROTS.

Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean. ("I feel...cold.")

Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. ("The horror...the horror...")

Exonerate wrote:Scrapped Princess; I forgot the name, but he's the ex-Soldier who dies fighting off pursuers so Pacifica can escape.

Fulle was his name.

The death of the Third Hokage, defending his village and trying his best to get rid of Orochimaru, was pretty well done too. It's too bad the sacrifice was half in vain, but it did do the job.

Manus Celer Dei wrote:Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. "And I, I am not your enemy, not you destroyer...I am, as before, your right hand...your sword..." Perfect.

Actually, I didn't like that one too much. I think it would have been more fitting if Raziel had kept up his sardonic demeanor up to the end. The way he acted after being stabbed just seemed too far out of character for him.

Boromir, bitches.