Saddest On-Screen Death

[Petros]

This topic kinda covers all three entertainment forms mentioned.

Over the years I'm guessing we've all watched many deaths in TV, Movies and Video games. What do you think was the saddest, most tragic death? If possible compile a top 5 or 10 or something like I will do:

Also Spoilers don't hurt to stop people knowing the endings of certain games.

Spoiler: 5. Final Fantasy X

5. TIDUS - FINAL FANTASY X

Tidus' death in Final Fantasy X was a death of great sacrifice that was truley emotional to watch. Every time you go back to it you somehow expect him to surivive but he doesn't. It's kinda why I have an undying hatred for FFX-2 also because it ruined the ending, especially without reasoning for a third game to conclude it all.

Spoiler: 4. The O.C.

4. MARISSA COOPER - THE O.C.

Towards the end of the third season of The O.C. I had seriously begun to hate Marissa, she'd become a stupid bitch of extreme proportions towards Ryan, Seth and Summer, drifting away from her friends by dating Volchok. However her death at the end of "The Graduates" the Season 3 Finale I believe to be tragic as hell! Whilst I believe it was the one thing that saved The O.C's final season from being boring and the same old repeated storylines as before, it gave a new twist The O.C. and whilst the Fourth season which I believe to be the best, was not enough to save it from cancellation. I believe that her death was portrayed in a brilliant manner, and a great plot device too. They had a song purposely recorded for a death scene too.

Spoiler: 3. Final Fantasy VII

AERIS GAINSBOURGH - FINAL FANTASY VII

Many fanboys will put this at number one, but I don't think it comes down to being the saddest ever. However at the time of seeing it, it really impacts on you, and you're kinda like, holy shit did that just happen, but also really sad, especially when Cloud starts freaking out and suddenly you're pitted against Jenova LIFE, whilst Aeris' theme continues to play in the background of the battle. Well written stuff.

Spoiler: 2. Highlander: Endgame

CONNOR MACLEOD - HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME

The death of Connor Macleod is portrayed both emotionally brilliantly and dramatically. His death serves as the one thing to defeat Jacob Kell, an unstoppable villain. And the fact that he dies to Duncan is a real passing of the torch. I would put this at number one had I not actually cried when watching number one.

Spoiler: 1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

SPOCK - STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN

In my personal opinion, the saddess death EVER! He sacrifices his own life to save the Enterprise, and has one of the best dying lines ever, "I am, and always have been, your friend", I would probably put Kirk's death also up here with him but I feel this was better. His death serves to show that no matter how emotionally cripped Spock was by his Vulcan half, he was more human than any of us deep down as William Shatner showed in the heartbreaking funeral scene as he shed a tear as Kirk. Best death, EVER!

Now what you're opinions?

 

[Petros]

Crap, can a Mod move this to the "Other Entertainment" forum please. I posted in the wrong one.

 

[Speedpaws]

Ha ha, I agree that the death in FF7 was like stunning. Hmm, I'm not sure about any other games.

 

[ArtBane]

Hope you don't mind but I am going to stick with games for my saddest death scenes.

Spoiler: Super Metroid

I found the death of the baby metroid during the battle with Mother Brain in Super Metroid very saddening. Still one of the most powerful death scenes I seen in a game even though there was no dialog.

Spoiler: Silent Hill 2

The death (disappearance?) of Angela in Silent Hill 2 was also very sad. She seemed like a good person but was consumed by her own internal demons. Seeing her walk up that stairs lit in flame and then being consumed by it was very powerful.

Spoiler: Final Fantasy VI

I must of watched the scene where Cid dies and Celes jumps of the cliff a hundred times when I was kid. It always got my emotions stirring.

Spoiler: Metal Gear Solid 3

The death of Big Boss was probably one of the best death scenes I ever seen in any form of media. Holding the gun to her head in that field felt like an eternity since I refused to pull the trigger myself. Eventually the game did it for me though.

Spoiler: Mario Bros

Watching someone die at that first goomba in Mario Bros. Now that is just tragic.

 

[Double_Clawshot]

Titanic.

Edit:

Seriously, Dana in season three of The L Word. I think that I literally cried myself to sleep the night I watched that episode. Almost worse is the following episode. It's heartwrenchingly sad and beautiful.

 

[Fafnir]

Spoiler: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

Franz, and then the Count as well. In Franz' case, he gave his life to save Albert's(as a birthday present no less), and the way he goes is really sad, especially with the letter he writes. The count also gets a sad death too. Don't want to spoil that any further though

Spoiler: Elfen Lied

The chief and his daughter is easily one of the saddest deaths ever. After all those years after almost having to kill his daughter, he finally gets to see her again, only to have both of them blown up. EL was incredibly emotionally impacting(Know a guy who cries whenever you mention Nyuu), but this was easily the most impacting part of it.

 

[TheBlackMarket]

There was a little girl that was just rescued from giant bugs or something in the one episode of Blue Gender I watched, only to be casually stepped on by a passing bug. That one shocked the crap outta me 'cause I wasn't expecting it.

The one that got to me the most was in the very end of Dragon Ball GT when

Spoiler

Goku dies for good, along with the Dragon Balls. He was a kid again, and rode Shinron's back. He laid down and said something like "y'know, I've never been this tired" and died in his sleep. Sure, he's died many times in the series, but that was the last one and it was over for him.

Maybe it was nostalgia that did it for me, but that one really got me teary. Ugh, so many of my teen years wasted on the Dragon Ball series...

 

[Zankoku no Yami]

FF7 is actually first place on mine =D;;; Its the ONLY time I EVER cried when someone died in ANYTHING (i was way too attached by that point). Seriously, very few have ever come close. FF8, Cowboy Bebop and Metal Gear Solid come close after. But i cant think of anything else that really touched me when there was a character death. I still cry when i just hear the song =D;; (Oh, and I guess Eyes On Me makes me kinda choke everytime i hear it too, haha)

 

[Dopples]

I dunno about on screen, but my favorite so far has actually been in a book (Harry Potter 6 to be exact)

Spoiler

Dumbledore's death in it was horribly tragic, as he's the last person you expect to die, and his death was a bad experiance for Harry. I mean, how would you feel, after being tortured by a horrible family for 11 years, you finally find someone who cares for you like a father, only to see him killed by one of his most loathed people. And it didn't effect just him either. Look at Hagrid, Dumbledore was the only one who gave him a chance, since he was half giant.

Oh, and I guess the second one would be Ben-Kenobi's death in Star Wars IV....I dunno why, maybe cause it was the first death I saw that was important to a storyline. :-/

 

[arcthemonkey]

How about basically EVERY SINGLE DEATH in the Margaret Weis/Tracy Hickman Dragonlance novels?

Spoiler

Flint, specifically, got to me - as did the supposed death of Tasslehoff in the battle with Chaos and again when he actually died in Vanished Moon.

I got a little misty at the ending of Xenosaga III, as well.

And no, I did not see the death of Aeris coming :P That got me.

Edit: Oops, forgot to move the thread.

 

[sixtyandaquarter]

The original Night of the Living Dead. 1968

Spoiler: why am I explaining in a spoiler, a legendary scene in such an old movie?!

When Duane Jones, the hero of the flick, gets shot threw the window by the police thinking he was a zombie. After all he fought to survive this, when I was 7, pissed me off so much. It was the first time I saw that being a hero, or at least a reluctant hero, could get ya hurt

Does that count as "on-screen" anyway?
I'd have more, but most of them happened completley "off-screen".

Spoiler: for the hell, best off-screen death scene

Old Yeller (1957)... sniff... sniff...

That's all I gots to say...

 

[Kraft]

Most tragic death...
In movies... hmm, let me think...

Anyone seen Mulan 2?
Don't, it sucked, but if you have seen it, when Shang is falling off the bridge in the end, and Mulan is holding his hand... and then he lets go... man, that is tragic!

In games, well... Halo 2, when you kill the Brute Cheiftan Died at the end, that is tragic, because it meant that that was the end of the game!

 

[Roman Candle]

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dagger

Spoiler

Li Mu Bai

edit:
And Bahamut Lagoon, maybe:

Spoiler

Sauzer, then Palpaleos

 

[Anonymous]

Spoiler: Not like anyone watches Uninhabited Planet: Survive! anyway.

Howard and Sharla. Howard was a huge huge jerk, but was just starting to make friends with the group and soften up after a rocky start. Sharla had been weak and a quitter since the beginning but was starting to get stronger. They're travelling through the desert and running out of food. When they stop the ship to search, Sharla finds a cluster of minerals in the shape of a flower. When they return, everyone is empty handed except Sharla, who shows everyone the flower. No-one is really too happy about the lack of food, but they pretend to appreciate the thing except for Howard, who slaps it out of her hands and breaks it, telling her that everyone is going to die and that she is stupid.

Later, Adam is helping Sharla bring what is left of the food. When the others realize that there are only 7 portions for the 8 of them, Sharla says she ate hers before she brought the food in. Adam tells his 'big sister', Luna, that she is lying and later Luna secretly challenges Sharla about not eating. Howard overhears them. Then suddenly the ship lurches. As they were travelling across the desert, Survive! had begun to make the sand drain away at points. So far they had been safe as the ship travelled above land, but it had just run out of feul.

The ship is sinking into the ground and the eight of them prepare to jump to safety. Sharla makes sure everyone has made it and goes to jump last, but the ship changes angle dramatically, throwing her back. She loses her glasses, leaving her pretty much blind, and is tossed off the ship. Luna and Menori stop Bell from running to save her, but no-one thinks to stop Howard because he's a jerk and no-one expects him to try. Howard grabs Sharla's hand and tries to pull her back onto the ship as Bell ties a rope around his waist and goes to help the two of them. He gets onto the ship but can't reach Howard. Clinging to Sharla's arm with one hand, Howard unties his jacket from around his shoulders and tosses one arm to Bell. Then the ship shifts again. Howard loses grip of his jacket and grabs the side of the ship and Sharla clings onto Howard. Bell yells to everyone else to let go of the rope so that he can help them, but they do not. Howard tells Sharla not to worry and that "[they're] all going to go home together" before the ship shifts a final time and Howard and Sharla disappear with it into the sand, leaving Bell stood in the shifing sand, safe because of his rope, holding Howard's jacket.

Spoiler: Spoiler in a spoiler.

They don't actually die, Survive! saves them.

 

[Lene]

How about basically EVERY SINGLE DEATH in the Margaret Weis/Tracy Hickman Dragonlance novels?

Spoiler

Flint, specifically, got to me - as did the supposed death of Tasslehoff in the battle with Chaos and again when he actually died in Vanished Moon.

I agree with you on both parts, that was pretty sad.

Spoiler: MGS 2

When E.E died...I cried. Yep I did. And that stupid Parrot going "Hal..." ad infinitum freaked me out and made me tear up some more. Good thing right after that came the Hallway Walk of BADASSERY so I had time to recover and root on the heroes.

Spoiler: Life is Beautiful

I was a total wreck. A total wreck after this movie. Like uncontrollable loud sobbing and people wondering if someone in my life actually died wreck. The father kept the "game" going for his child so long, even to his death.

Not spoilering this because the chances of anyone other than me watching this movie on this forum is pretty slim:

When Bette Midler's best friend dies in Beaches and her character (CeCe Bloom) sings The Glory of Love. Oh mah gawd, I was in tears you do not understand. I thought it was a fitting send off to a friend, and even fitting because it was a moment were everything came full circle. CeCe Bloom sings this song as a child but it was emotionless and showboaty. There was no emotion or understanding of the lyrics observed in it. But after she lives her life and returns to the song, it makes a world of difference.

 

[kip]

well here my on screen death

Spoiler: Ichi Rittoru no Namida

Aya's Death you realise that she actually existed it makes it more sadder

Spoiler: Star Trek II

Spock death was a memorable one

Spoiler: Star Trek X

Data i was so attached to him .. Never saw the sun.. never saw the sun shining so bright...

Spoiler: Dawson's Creek

Jen's death for me this character death affected me alot

Spoiler: Smallville

Jonathan Kent death damn the whole episode was more meaningfull than his death on superman 1

 

[KhaoticErase]

I'm gonna post the one from Skies of Arcadia:

Spoiler: Skies of Arcadia Spoiler

Even though Belleza wasn't exactly a main character, it felt like she was. They were always describing her horrible childhood and her romantic infatuation with Galcian. When she sacrificed herslef to kill Galcian, both me and my friend Nick felt our blood run cold.

Also, it'd be neat if someone posted a tutorial on creating effective death scenes. There's one in my game, and I want it to be as sad as possible.

 

[BlueScope]

I basically agree with ArtBane on the MGS3 nomination...

Spoiler: MGS3

I was stunned by the whole sequence, as it reminded me of the whole idea of a 'beautiful death', and after I killed her (well, can't say I needed a second yell of her to kill her ^_^ ), the flowers turning from white to red made one of the most beautiful moments in my video game time ever... so it's not only 'saddest death', but most likely 'best scene in a video game' for me, I guess...

 

[Selwyn]

I think one of the most tragic death was in the movie : Road to Perdition.

Spoiler

When the kid and his father reach the kid's aunt's house at the beach, the mad photographe-killer shout down the father and the kid stays alive.
Now I've gotta say that the death isn't particulously tragic but it's the boy's speach that follows.

 

[BlueScope]

Oh right, talking about movies...

Spoiler: The Green Mile

Both the Frenchman's and the John Coffey's death were horrible sad... For those who saw the movie, I don't need to explain why, for all the others, I won't, since you have to watch this ^_^

Spoiler: The Last Samurai

Katsumoto's death was also very touching... a man leading the last group of those people living values I value high, killed by guys lead by others pushed by greediness and bid for power only, with weapons so coward... I don't know for sure, but maybe you can tell how that scene made me feel...

Spoiler: Braveheart

The death of William Wallace was just stunning... FREEDOM!