10 TV Character Deaths That Still Break Our Hearts (2025)

When watching a beloved television show, there is nothing more heartbreaking than the unexpected death of a favorite character. After following a character's journey for a while, it is absolutely devastating when that character is suddenly killed off, without any warning or reason. Even after the show has ended, these deaths tend to stick with fans that loved the character, and still break their hearts after a lot of time has passed.

Sometimes, when a beloved character is killed off, it feels like a betrayal from the show, especially if the death doesn't make sense. Other times, it feels inevitable, but still utterly gutwrenching. Character deaths can be very sad, not just for the loss of that character, but for the other characters' reactions to this death. Sometimes it goes on to impact the rest of the show until the show's end. These are 10 TV character kill-offs that still break our hearts.

10 J.T. Yorke

'Degrassi: The Next Generation'

The Degrassi franchise has always been known for "going there," which led to some seriously devastating storylines. Degrassi: The Next Generation had three main character deaths, and each one was absolutely heartbreaking. The first of these was that of J.T. Yorke, who had been introduced as the lovable class clown in the very first season of the show. J.T. was always an extremely funny character, and often served as comic relief to the other storylines.

J.T.'s storylines became more serious in Season 5, with Liberty's pregnancy and his struggle with addiction. In Season 6, J.T. was finally doing better. He realized that he was still in love with Liberty, and that his relationship with Mia was going nowhere. J.T. never got the chance to confess his feelings to Liberty, though, because he was randomly stabbed at a party. J.T.'s death is still heartbreaking due to how unnecessary it was, as well as how much it affected his friends.

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Degrassi: The Next Generation

Release Date

October 13, 2001

Creator

Cast

Drake , Nina Dobrev , Shenae Grimes , Cassie Steele , Brendan Fletcher , Jake Epstein

Rating

Seasons

14

WATCH ON TUBI

9 Emma Morley

'One Day'

One Day is a beautiful and devastating story that has been told as a book, a movie, and now a television show. The show was a limited series, following the lives of Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley on the same day over the course of 20 years. After spending a night together, the two became close friends, occasionally leaning towards a romance. They also had multiple fights, one of which led their friendship to end for a long time.

Towards the end of the show, Dex confessed his feelings for Emma, and the two finally got together. The following episode flashed forward to show the two of them happily married and trying to have children. As Emma was riding her bike to go meet Dex to look at a house, she was unexpectedly killed in a hit-and-run. Emma's death was absolutely devastating, and felt very unnecessary, especially because she and Dex were finally happy.

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One Day (2024)

Comedy

Drama

Romance

Release Date

February 8, 2024

Creator

Nicole Taylor

Cast

Leo Woodall , Ambika Mod , Amber Grappy , Brendan Quinn

Main Genre

Comedy

Seasons

1

WATCH ON NETFLIX

8 Hodor

'Game of Thrones'

Game of Thrones hardly had a shortage of devastatingly sad character kill-offs. Its prequel series, House of the Dragon, has already had many of its own. A truly memorable and painful Game of Thrones death was when the show killed off Hodor in Season 6. Hodor had spent most of his time on the show taking care of Bran and traveling with him. Additionally, Hodor could only ever say one word: "Hodor."

When Bran and his companions were attacked by wights, Bran used his powers to wrap into Hodor's body. As Meera pulled Bran away from the wights, she urged Hodor to hold the door for them. At that moment, Game of Thrones showed Bran warging back into the past, revealing a much younger Hodor. The show revealed that Hodor wasn't always like he is in the show, and that Bran's warging completely changed his life. Hearing "Hold the door" made him only able to say Hodor. In the present, Hodor held the door for them, which led to his death.

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Game Of Thrones

TV-MA

Drama

Action

Adventure

See Also

Watch Degrassi: Next Class | Netflix Official SiteShows That Actually ‘Get’ Young Adults: Where TV Gets It Right (and Wrong)What to Watch the Week of December 8: Lisa Kudrow in No Good Deed , the Blue Bloods Series Finale, the BBMAs, and MoreGet In, Loser, We're Binge-Watching the Best Teen Shows Again

Fantasy

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

April 17, 2011

Creator

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

8

Website

Studio

Creator(s)

David Benioff , D.B. Weiss

Story By

George R.R. Martin

Writers

D.B. Weiss , George R.R. Martin , David Benioff

Streaming Service(s)

MAX

Franchise(s)

Game of Thrones

Directors

David Nutter , Alan Taylor , D.B. Weiss , David Benioff

Showrunner

David Benioff , D.B. Weiss

7 Anya

'The Midnight Club'

Mike Flanagan's horror shows have had some truly heartbreaking deaths. One of these was that of Anya in Episode 7 of The Midnight Club. The show followed terminally ill teenagers in a hospice, but it didn't seem like any of them would actually die during the show. Anya got sicker about halfway through the show, though. Her friends tried to do a ritual to save her, and it briefly seemed like it would work, but she died anyway.

What made Anya's death so devastating was the episode, "Anya," which primarily took place in what was either limbo or Anya's subconscious. As Anya's body was dying, her soul wandered around in an alternate version of her future. In this one, she outlived all her friends, and ended up completely and utterly alone. Anya got to hear her friends speaking to her one last time, and then she died. It was truly devastating, as was the additional fact that she never got to make up with her best friend, Rhett, before she passed away.

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810

The Midnight Club

Horror

Mystery

Drama

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

October 7, 2022

Cast

Samantha Sloyan , Zach Gilford , Igby Rigney , Heather Langenkamp , Matt Biedel , Annarah Cymone , Ruth Codd , Aya Furukawa

Seasons

1

Story By

Christopher Pike

Writers

Mike Flanagan , Leah Fong , Jamie Flanagan

Network

Netflix

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix

Directors

Mike Flanagan

Showrunner

Mike Flanagan

6 Tracy McConnell

'How I Met Your Mother'

The killing off of How I Met Your Mother's Tracy McConnell is probably the most infamous in sitcom history. The show had a beautiful and unconventional storytelling structure, where Ted told his kids the story of how he met their mother decades before. How I Met Your Mother may have had some sad storylines, but it was by no means a drama series where main characters regularly die.

Tracy was introduced in the Season 8 finale, and she was absolutely wonderful. She was perfect for Ted, and she fit in seamlessly with every other member of the group. In the last few minutes of the series finale, it was revealed that Tracy had been terminally ill and then died many years before Ted told this story. It was heartbreaking and disappointing, and felt like the show's way of just having shock value and putting Ted back with Robin.

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How I Met Your Mother

Comedy

Drama

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

September 19, 2005

Cast

Josh Radnor , Jason Segel , Cobie Smulders , Neil Patrick Harris , Alyson Hannigan , Bob Saget

Seasons

9

Story By

Carter Bays; Craig Thomas; Rob Greenberg

Writers

Carter Bays , Craig Thomas

Network

CBS

Streaming Service(s)

Amazon Prime Video

Directors

Carter Bays

Showrunner

Craig Thomas

5 Wes Gibbins

'How to Get Away with Murder'

How to Get Away With Murder always felt like it had two main characters. Annalise Keating was the center of the show, but Wes Gibbins was the clear lead among the five students. Wes was the underdog of the group, chosen due to Annalise's connection to his past, which was slowly revealed over the course of the first two seasons. His relationship with Rebecca put him at the center of everything, and in the position of killing Sam to protect her.

Wes being killed off was absolutely tragic, but it was also infuriating. Wes didn't need to die, and the show never recovered from the loss of him. It was devastating to see Wes reduced to a plot device, just so that Laurel's father could become more of a cartoonish villain. Everything after his death felt so disrespectful to the character as well, with Annalise and the rest of her crew destroying his legacy, and the show constantly displaying his dead body.

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How to Get Away With Murder

TV-14

Drama

Crime

Mystery

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

September 25, 2014

Cast

Viola Davis , Billy Brown , Jack Falahee , Aja Naomi King , Liza Weil

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

6

Studio

ABC

4 Cristobal Sifuentes

'Barry'

Naturally, since Barry was quite literally a show about a hitman who became an actor, the show had many brutal and sudden deaths. The show didn't start killing off main characters until its final season, though, and the first of these was definitely the most devastating. Cristobal Sifuentes was first introduced in the penultimate episode of Barry's first season, as the head of the Bolivian mob. He could have easily been a forgettable character, but he and Hank bonded against all odds, and Cristobal's true personality was slowly revealed.

Cristobal and Hank were the best couple on Barry by far, and they usually served as comic relief to the show's more intense plotlines. In Barry's final season, however, Hank betrays Cristobal by killing the other men that had been working with them. This was out of character for Hank, but he was being pressured by the Chechen mob, and he felt like he had no other choice. Hank's new bosses were only going to let Cristobal live on various conditions, as a favor to Hank. After Cristobal dumped Hank, both of them knew that Cristobal would be killed, but he left anyway. Cristobal was immediately shot, and it was a devastating end to an otherwise beautiful romance.

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Barry

Comedy

Crime

Action

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

March 25, 2018

Creator

Alec Berg, Bill Hader

Cast

Bill Hader , Sarah Goldberg , Anthony Carrigan , Henry Winkler , Stephen Root , D'Arcy Carden , Paula Newsome , Jessy Hodges , Robert Wisdom , Glenn Fleshler , Sarah Burns , Gary Kraus , Fred Melamed , Zachary Golinger , Patricia Fa'asua , Andrew Leeds , Rightor Doyle , JB Blanc , Nick Gracer , Turhan Troy Caylak , Tobie Windham , Andre Hyland , Darrell Britt-Gibson , Elsie Fisher , Charles Parnell , Christopher Marquette , Dale Pavinski , Miguel Sandoval , Laura San Giacomo

Main Genre

Comedy

Rating

TV-MA

Seasons

4

3 Sarah Lynn Himmelfarb

'BoJack Horseman'

Sarah Lynn's death was a defining moment in BoJack Horseman. In a lot of ways, the show can be divided into two parts at its halfway point: before Sarah Lynn died, and after. Many of the deaths on this list were unnecessary, but Sarah Lynn's was not. It was absolutely crucial to the central storyline of BoJack Horseman, and it is clear that this was always the show's plan for this character.

That being said, the foreshadowing didn't make Sarah Lynn's death any less painful. She was a tragic character who started as a sweet and scared little kid, and grew into a lost and lonely adult. Every time she reached out to BoJack for help, he either took advantage of her low points or pushed her away. BoJack was the one who got Sarah Lynn to break her sobriety, who left the drug (aptly named "BoJack") in his glove compartment, and who left her to die for 17 minutes before calling for the paramedics. Her death was absolutely devastating, and the episode is still painful to watch.

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BoJack Horseman

TV-MA

Animation

Comedy

Drama

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

August 22, 2014

Creator

Raphael Bob-Waksberg

Cast

Will Arnett , Aaron Paul , Alison Brie , Amy Sedaris , Paul F. Tompkins

Main Genre

Animation

Seasons

6

2 Lexie Grey

'Grey's Anatomy'

Now in its twenty-first season, Grey's Anatomy has a reputation for killing off its characters in horrific and tragic ways. The most heartbreaking of these was the death of Meredith's younger sister, Lexie Grey. Lexie was first introduced in the middle of Season 3, and became a regular on the show in Season 4. In spite of the hand that she'd been dealt in life, Lexie was warm, kind, and bubbly. She also had a photographic memory, and had a lot of potential as a future neurosurgeon.

Lexie and Mark had an epic on-and-off romance for four seasons. In Season 8, they were broken up, but they both still loved each other. After getting some clarity, Lexie broke up with Jackson and later confessed her love to Mark in the best romantic speech on Grey's Anatomy. Mark was afraid to take the risk, though, so he stayed in a relationship with Julia. When the two wound up in a plane crash, Mark confessed his love for Lexie as she died. It was one of the saddest moments in the entire show, and it still hurts.

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Grey's Anatomy

TV-14

Drama

Romance

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

March 27, 2005

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

21

Creator(s)

Shonda Rhimes , Michelle Lirtzman

Writers

Shonda Rhimes , Julie Wong , Jen Klein , Tameson Duffy , Meg Marinis

Network

ABC

Directors

Rob Corn , Kevin McKidd , Debbie Allen , Chandra Wilson , Allison Liddi-Brown , Jeannot Szwarc , Tony Phelan

Where To Watch

Hulu

1 Aiden Mathis

'Revenge'

The murder of Aiden Mathis in the Season 3 finale of Revenge is one of those television deaths that left viewers feeling absolutely broken and sick to their stomachs. Aiden was first introduced in the Season 2 premiere, as someone who had trained with Emily under Takeda. They had dated, but Aiden had left her, unable to fully let her in, due to his own grief and quest for revenge. Aiden and Emily worked together again when she left the Hamptons for a while after the Season 1 finale, and they reconnected, even though she wasn't ready to forgive him yet.

Aiden was Emily's best love interest, and they had an epic romance in the second and third seasons of Revenge. He knew her fully, unlike Daniel and Jack. Even after Jack was let in on the truth, though he still never got Emily like Aiden did. They had been hurt in the same ways, and they completely understood each other and had each other's backs. Aiden loved Emily fully, and it was their combined quests for vengeance that put him in Victoria's crosshairs. Aiden's death was completely unnecessary, with Victoria murdering him just so that she could hurt Emily. Aiden and Emily were supposed to get married, and the show's vengeance team was never the same without him.

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Revenge

Drama

Thriller

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

September 21, 2011

Cast

Emily VanCamp , Madeleine Stowe , Joshua Bowman , Nick Wechsler , Gabriel Mann , Christa B. Allen , Karine Vanasse , James Tupper

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

4

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