Characters that were killed off too soon

[alharingrey]

I had a lot of fun chatting to folks about villains on my other thread. So, let's chat again!

In your mind, which character(s) in any book, film, comic, manga, game, etc. was/were killed off far too soon? I don't just mean "I loved this character and was sad they died". I mean you really felt the character had a lot more to give to the overall plot.

I've been sad at character deaths before (woe is the fan of villains, for surely our faves do fall...), but while many of my faves end up six feet under, seldom do I bitterly think, "Oh, what a waste!".

How about you? I'll add my thoughts in later...I want to see what everyone else says first!

[MeltingCORE]

I don't want to give away a crucial plot point for those who haven't seen it yet but... there is a certain character in the Made In Abyss franchise that... I understand why they were killed off but their story was so depressing and morbid that I had to stop watching for a bit lol. In the manga it also feels a bit more rushed than the anime, a bit like a sidenote to advance another character's arc... Still love the series though, it's become one of my all-time faves!

[oshirockingham]

Any character portrayed by Sean bean.

[alharingrey]

Oh, that's a good point actually; I forgot to consider potential spoilers in this thread.

Hmmm...is there a hide spoilers function on this forum? If not, we will just have to be careful, as you have been.

[ar-ninetysix]

There is a function like that but.. Sometimes it doesn't work for people and it ends up looking like

Summary

Test

..though idk if that's just people not knowing how to properly use it. It works for me pretty much all the time. Like so

btw, to answer the original topic's question..

Yeah, Naruto had a death way later on in Shippuden that was honestly unnecessary. This character's death was handled so poorly that people say the character died so someone else could fall in love. The character could have easily redirected or blocked the attack as well, even if he was in midair. Just.. overall a stupid decision. We were robbed of scenes involving this character in later installments of the story like in The Last and Boruto...

[WillowTree]

Dr. Melendez in 'The Good Doctor.' I'm not watching the newest season because of it. He was my favorite actor on the show, excluding Freddie Highmore.

[colorgoat]

FFXIV A Realm Reborn + Heavensward spoilers if anyone needs them

Summary

Moenbryda really only existed for like 20 minutes She had so much personality, I loved her. Ysayle was needlessly sacrificed, too. They really don't treat their female characters well.

[migxmeg]

Legend of Korra spoilers:

Summary

Amon from the first season of Legend of Korra. I think he was the most interesting villain and the politics of the Equalists could have been explored a lot more.

[DiegoPalacios]

Yeah, it would have been interesting to see his reaction to:

Summary

harmonic convergence

[domisotto]

Thane in Mass Effect.

On the other end of the spectrum, the character who just wouldn't die, no matter how much efforts I've invested into it is Morrigan in Dragon Age.

[Memento_Mori]

Lancelot in "Merlin"

It was so depressing.

[Berserker]

Judeau from Berserk. I liked all of the Band of the Hawk, but none of the new crew can replace Judeau. The guys from the later arcs are all a little too OP or magical. Judeau was just really good at throwing knives. He felt more real.

[alharingrey]

Woah, Merlin, that's a blast from the past!

[nostalgicroxas]

Summary

I'm literally just hoping for the day they kill off Yda/Lyse because damn did she get annoying when she became Lyse. Horrible writing choice. Horrible horrible.
As for deaths that were also unneeded, Papalymo. Like. Why? I mean sure it's a cool spell and all, but he had no set-up for even telling us that he knew that spell, let alone had the plan to use it.
I also feel like Minfillia just turned into a McGuffin they couldn't get rid of any other way, but again why do they need to get rid of her? They enjoy introducing characters to just have them die, in like the next scene. Moenbryda as you said is probably the worst of this, and that her death has such a lasting effect on Urianger, and we as the player are like "meh who was that again?" They don't have the guts to kill off any real political characters that would add to the plot, ie killing off the essential Queen of Thanalan- nope can't do that - nope, nope. heavy eye rolling but we'll make you think she's dead for FOREVER.

I feel like a lot of character's death I have issues with are obvious "too many characters" problems for the writers and they have no idea how to fix it.

Summary

Star Wars's dude that was Obi Wan's teacher is a prime example. He dies so fast that movie might as well just be a parody of the first, where Obi Wan himself dies. It just has no impact or meaning to me. He could've done a lot more to the plot if he lived.

[HGohwell]

Lise from Schwarzesmarken. Like, you knew she was gonna die. It was obvious. And I appreciated the parallels from episode 1 but it was like episode 9 or 10 when she died and I remember live tweeting it at the time and being totally confused as to why they resolved the big emotional issue (the choice between the MC's little sister and the woman he loves) several episodes before the end of the show.

Also IV in YGO Zexal. I know they "killed" him off to prove how badass and scary the new villains were as we went into the everyone "dies" season of the show (as is YGO tradition, it's not a finale season unless everyone but the hero is in the shadow realm) and prove what a serious threat they were, but even their choice of who did it was wrong. He had an entire story beat involving one of the girl villains, that they never acknowledged. They never even got a moment on screen together! It would have been so much more satisfying to either have him live on and deal with the villains or at least let him get his closure with the villain girl he had history with.

[cherrystark]

I feel like a lot of character's death I have issues with are obvious "too many characters" problems for the writers and they have no idea how to fix it.

I've faced this problem myself. Usually, if the character doesn't fit, they can be edited out in rewrites.

Star Wars's dude that was Obi Wan's teacher is a prime example. He dies so fast that movie might as well just be a parody of the first, where Obi Wan himself dies. It just has no impact or meaning to me. He could've done a lot more to the plot if he lived.

I can see where you are coming from with Obi Wan's death, but that's more of a plot device that unsatisfactory writing. His death was a big turning point for Luke to grow up and begin his journey. It wouldn't have been the same story if he had had Obi Wan to hold his hand the whole way.

[Memento_Mori]

it still haunts my nightmares... He was too young

[NickRowler]

I guess this sounds random, but Gaara's dad from Naruto. He was randomly killed off without really much of an impact on his children. It also left unresolved drama between him and Gaara that was never really addressed until the very end of Shippuden. He had a strong setup that would have created a lot of tension that I think would have created interesting character drama.

[colorgoat]

Summary

YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT LYSE, she's supposedly the leader of the liberation, but she shows little sympathy for the people she's trying to liberate, whether they're hesitant or are vengeful toward the fascists that hurt them. Her character is such a huge mess, Raubahn should've been the face of Stormblood.

H. Anyway, back to the topic of death; Papalymo's death certainly sucked, too. His sacrifice was for a temporary solution, and--like other characters--he was forgotten quickly by the writers. And I do really like Nanamo, I'm glad she lived, but get you. It'd make more sense to save her if she actually carried on with disbanding the syndacate, but the writers seemed to have forgotten that whole plotpoint as well.

[nostalgicroxas]

True but that parallel of Obi Wan's death -> strengthens Luke does not parallel with Qui Gon's death -> strengthens... Obi... Wan.... Aniken? Who is it supposed to strengthen?!