15 Of The Most Heartbreaking Character Deaths In The History Of Television

I'm not crying, you're crying.

This week, Reddit user u/RIGORR_MORTIS posed the question, "What was the saddest death in any TV series?" Here are some of the heartbreaking responses:

Warning: Spoilers obviously ahead!

1. Opie from Sons of Anarchy

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

2. George O’Malley from Grey's Anatomy

Scott Garfield / ABC / Courtesy: Everett Collection

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

–u/simp4tedlasso

3. Andrea Cantillo from Breaking Bad

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

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

20th Television

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

–u/BobbieLS

5. Glenn from The Walking Dead

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

6. Seymour the dog from Futurama

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

7. Sarah Lynn from BoJack Horseman

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

8. Chidi Anagonye from The Good Place

NBC

"Made me cry when he went to the door."

–u/reilmb

9. Ben Sullivan from Scrubs

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

10. Adriana La Cerva from The Sopranos

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

11. Maes Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist

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

"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

12. Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey

Joss Barratt/PBS / courtesy Everett Collection

"That was absolutely traumatizing."

–u/APeacefulWarrior

13. Bob Newby from Stranger Things

Netflix

"My man Bob did not deserve that. I still get a little upset whenever someone brings it up."

–u/Cantcrackanonion

"Dude lived and died the kind of quiet hero we all can look up to."

–u/LurkerZerker

14. Poussey Washington from Orange Is the New Black

Netflix

"That one broke me."

–u/katiejim

15. And finally, Shireen Baratheon from Game of Thrones

HBO

"Sacrificed by her parents and burned alive while they watched and didn’t help her."

–u/littlesparrow3645

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

–u/shocksalot123

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

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