One of my wife’s favorite shows unexpectedly killed a favorite character this week, and we still haven’t quite recovered from the shock. As a fan, I enjoy being surprised by storytelling, but I’m also not a fan of sudden, brutal moments, ala the patented Johns “impaled from behind by an off-panel assailant” technique. The death of Gwen Stacy came with a cover blurb that promised a shocking death, and it was still an incredibly moving sequence that became one of the most-remembered moments of Spider-Man history, leading to today’s unexpected query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) is a fan of surprises, depending on how they’re done, but hates a senseless death in a story that hasn’t had fatal consequences before, asking: Which sudden death in fiction is the most moving for you?
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The Tulip fakeout in Preacher, especially after Jesse spent the last 2 issues explaining why he disappeared, was a real gut punch reading that as a teen. Thankfully, it didn’t last.
And of course, Wash in Serenity. Pour one out.
Bambi’s mom getting shot was the most heartbreaking thing for me as a kid. I watched and rewatched that movie probably 50+ times between the ages of 4 and 7. I don’t think any sudden death quite affected me that much since then.
Colonel Henry Blake.
Chewbacca or Shepherd Book for me.
In BTVS, Joyce Summers. Sarah Michelle Gellar sold that moment.
Oh, god yes.
That suddenly frightened “Mommy?” just kills me every time.
Wiley E. Coyote in Animal Man #5. Scarred for life.