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People Are Sharing The Character Deaths That Truly Shattered Their Hearts, And I Need A Tissue

"I'm a grown man, and I cried like a baby."

Morgan Sloss
by Morgan Sloss

BuzzFeed Staff

A little while ago, Reddit users u/RIGORR_MORTIS and u/squeezeday asked about the saddest character deaths of all time. Here are some of the heartbreaking responses:

Warning: Spoilers obviously ahead!

1. Rosie from Jojo Rabbit

Jojo sees his mother's shoes, realizes she has been hanged, and hugs her legs
Fox Searchlight Pictures

"It took me a while to realize why Jojo was crying about the hanging victim he'd bumped into...and then it fucking hit me. That one was absolutely brutal."

—u/CrypticBalcony

2. Opie from Sons of Anarchy

Opie saying "I got this" and Jax looking upset
FX

"Opie's death was the hardest in the show for me to watch. I love that after his funeral, SAMCRO all have an 'In memory of Opie' patch on their cut."

–u/UnsureOutlaw

"Effing devastating. I'm a grown-ass man, and I cried like a baby that episode. I even almost refused to watch after that...almost!"

—u/Big_Toe_Baelish

3. Rue from The Hunger Games

Rue asking Katniss to sing to her, then Katniss leaning over Rue's body with flowers around it
Lionsgate

"Rue getting speared and having Katniss sing to her. The 12-year-old me couldn’t handle that trauma."

—u/Aerialchinook1

4. Andrea Cantillo from Breaking Bad

Andrea being held at gunpoint and Jesse yelling, "No!"
AMC

"That’s the worst moment in Breaking Bad. It’s one of those moments that’s so awful, you almost resent the writers for putting it in there. In a way, it shows you how Jesse would feel, just wishing it wouldn’t have happened. That show always blows my mind with how they're able to make you feel such strong emotions."

–u/BDady

5. George O’Malley from Grey's Anatomy

Meredith looking sadly at George lying on a bed in the OR
Scott Garfield / ABC / Courtesy: Everett Collection

"I gotta mentally prepare myself to rewatch that episode."

–u/simp4tedlasso

6. Joyce Summers (Buffy's mom) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy finding her dead mom and the couch and asking, "Mommy?"
20th Television

"This was the most traumatic and saddest. When she says, 'Mommy?' Ugh. And it wasn’t supernatural, just super sad."

–u/BobbieLS

7. Shireen Baratheon from Game of Thrones

Shireen crying and tied at the stake
HBO

"'It will all be over soon, Princess' and the music. Fuck, it makes me want to barf. The series is full of scenes that are truly painful to watch, but the burning of Shireen is the worst."

—u/tortugastation

"Seeing Davos’s reaction when he realized who had been burned was heartbreaking."

—u/holyheckigotwrecked

"I mentally block that scene from my memory. Her screams...absolutely haunting stuff."

–u/shocksalot123

8. Seymour the dog from Futurama

Seymour growing older and dying while waiting for Fry
20th Television

"I normally skip 'Jurassic Bark' as I know I can't handle it. But upon a recent rewatch from beginning to end, I decided to put on a brave face, knew what I was getting into, braced myself, and watched it along with all the other episodes. I had to stop watching because I couldn't see the TV through my tears."

–u/LittlestSlipper55

"He waited and waited and waited like a good boy."

–u/pushing-rope

9. John Coffey from The Green Mile

John standing with light behind him
Warner Brothers / courtesy Everett Collection

"I’m a grown man, and his death makes me ugly-cry every damn time. Too much time thinking about it makes me tear up."

—u/Graphics_Nerd

10. Ben Sullivan from Scrubs

Dr. Cox talking with Ben, JD saying, "Where do you think we are" and Dr. Cox looking at him
Disney-ABC Domestic Television

"When JD says, 'Where do you think we are?' That was one of their best episodes, but I have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it, or I get all blubbery."

–u/Sephonez

11. Glenn from The Walking Dead

Glenn looking terrified
AMC

"Such a genuinely good guy, too. Even to the very end, he was keeping an eye out for Maggie."

–u/Chozo-trained

"This absolutely messed me up and was pretty much the end of TWD for me. Glenn. That hurt so, so bad."

–u/smokylimbs

12. Fred Weasley from Harry Potter

Fred and George smiling together
Warner Brothers / courtesy Everett Collection

"The twins may have annoyed some people with their pranks, but their ultimate goal in life was to have fun and bring joy to their friends. They were generous and brave and clever and pure. To kill Fred and permanently tear them apart was the WORST! Especially when George had already been injured! You didn’t think they could be at risk anymore now that one of them had gotten hurt. They weren’t on my radar during the Battle of Hogwarts. I remember the moment I read it the first time. I was inconsolable."

—u/yojothobodoflo

"Fred Weasley was the most devastating death to me. I have a twin sister, so it hit extra hard for me. Picturing life without my twin is not a life at all."

—u/kasmarina

13. Sarah Lynn from BoJack Horseman

Sarah Lynn saying she wants to be an architect, BoJack saying the only thing that matters is this moments, and her not responding
Netflix

"God, just the fact that her last words were 'I wanna be an architect.' Her wish since she was a child, but that her mother took away from her. And that BoJack could've saved her but waited 17 minutes to call an ambulance and tried to set everything up so that he wouldn't get blamed."

–u/aosjcbhdhathrowaway

14. Adriana La Cerva from The Sopranos

Adriana being pulled out of a car and trying to escape
HBO

"It’s one of the most heartbreaking, cruel death scenes I’ve ever seen on a TV show. Just brutal and sad and shocking."

–u/GlassOnionMan

15. Ellie from Up

Carl kissing Ellie in the hospital and then him sitting my her casket at her funeral
Disney

"Up's intro sequence was so beautiful: It told the story of a couple's life together. Real life with all of the difficulty and broken dreams along with it. And it shows the deep and incredible loss Carl felt with her death. This short sequence imbues the film with a deeper sense of meaning, using almost no words at all, and gives Carl a profound gravitas you cannot find in many other films."

—u/zaogao_

16. Maes Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist

Mae on the ground bleeding over a family photo and his daughter at his funeral saying that Daddy has a bunch of work to do and to stop putting dirt on him
JNN

"FMA was my introduction to anime, and Maes's death shook me a lot. It's such a raw, emotional scene."

–u/mothman_luvr

"First time I ever got truly sad and angry about a fictional character's death. He was the best man."

—u/thebardass

"This is the only thing in this comment section that can actually put a burn behind my eyes just from reading it. Blows any other character's death out of the water."

–u/Octorokpie

17. Poussey Washington from Orange Is the New Black

Poussey being held down by a guard while trying to intervene for Suzanne, and then Suzanna crying and holding Poussey's body
Netflix

"I cried for days. I love the character and the actor, and I wanted Poussey to get out of there so much. She really didn't deserve to be in prison. It breaks my heart that she died trying to help her friend. Really shows how many people get lost in the system."

—u/icyhot09

"That one broke me."

–u/katiejim

18. Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter

Harry crying over Cedric's body and Amos yelling, "That's my son! That's my boy!"
Warner Bros.

"This one gets me more now than when I first saw it. Then, as probably a lot of people do on their first read/watch, I looked at it from the perspective of Harry. His friend died needlessly, and it hurt.

Now, older and a father, I can’t help but look at it from Cedric’s dad’s perspective: proud and supportive of the man his son is growing into. And it’s all taken away in that horrid moment that they Apparate back."

—u/DontWorryImADr

19. Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey

Sybil holding her baby beside Tom
Joss Barratt/PBS / courtesy Everett Collection

"That was absolutely traumatizing."

–u/APeacefulWarrior

20. Prim from The Hunger Games

Katniss yelling Prim's name and then the explosion
Lionsgate

"Unlike most character deaths, hers wasn't in the midst of the action/excitement. It was after they'd won. It felt so spiteful and unnecessary. Fuck Coin."

—u/dipshit8304

21. Brooks from Shawshank Redemption

Brooks wearing a sweater
Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

"It was so sad seeing that old man just trying to be normal but realizing his normal was within the cell walls and prison halls. It really bothered me when he was working at the grocery store, and everyone was bitching at him while he was bagging people’s groceries. It truly goes to show that society will fuck you if you don’t keep up. RIP."

—u/3pointstonibbadore

22. Boromir from The Lord of the Rings

New Line Cinema

"First time I ever cried during a movie."

—u/vinaigrettchen

"'I would have followed you, my brother. My captain. My king.' As a kid, Legolas was so cool. As a high school/college kid, Gimli was the party/fun dwarf. As an adult, Boromir. I understand him."

—u/ZapIsMyZeldaSaveName

23. And finally, Marley from Marley and Me

John saying goodbye to Marley and saying he was the best boy and loved more than anything
20th Century Fox

"I got this movie and thought Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, a comedy! Needless to say, when Marley died, I cried so hard that I had snot coming out my nose."

—u/tutorgurl07

Which character's death broke your heart? Let me know in the comments below!

Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.