Warning: discussion of major spoilers ahead.
In terms of unforgettable television sequences, there are few onscreen moments that can rival an iconic character’s death in terms of memorability, shock factor, or emotional impact, a creative choice implemented by many of the best television shows of all time. Many of these celebrated big hitters have produced at least one stunning death scene that still haunts viewers to this day; shocking and devastating their devoted viewers in equal measure as they kill off a beloved character in brutally unexpected fashion.
This harrowing state of affairs sounds like a surefire recipe for putting viewers off the story for life, making it all the more remarkable that shows utilizing this ambitious technique tend to be the ones that most fans will never get tired of rewatching such TV shows, highlighting the dramatic potential posed by these scenes. From prominent love interests to long-serving supporting characters, television’s most stunning death scenes over the years have proved that nobody is ever truly safe from this perilous status quo.
10 Rita Bennett
Dexter (2006-2013)
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A series regular across four seasons of acclaimed crime drama Dexter, Rita Bennett’s death against the backdrop of the fourth season finale still stands as one of television’s most harrowing demises more than a decade after it originally aired. Julie Benz’s charge was brutally murdered by John Lithgow’s Arthur Mitchell, with the devastating reveal coming just as Dexter believes that he has finally outsmarted and defeated the Trinity Killer.
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Believing that Rita had safely left town, Michael C. Hall’s character instead finds his dead wife in a bathtub filled with blood, revealing that Mitchell had already killed her before their final showdown. Placing a desolating exclamation mark on proceedings, Dexter and Rita’s young son, Harrison, is sitting in a pool of his mother’s blood, a haunting mirror image of Dexter’s own childhood. A visually shocking sequence for the ages, Rita’s death signaled a new and even darker direction for the show moving forward.
9 The Starks
Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)
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Contentiously the most famous death scene seen on television, Game of Thrones’ depiction of the Red Wedding has been haunting fans’ dreams since “The Rains of Castamere” debuted in 2013. The immortal sequence sees Robb Stark fatally betrayed by Walder Frey at his uncle’s wedding after the Lord of the Crossing conspires with the Lannisters. The King in the North is slaughtered along with his mother, pregnant wife, and direwolf, while his entire army is put to the sword by the Freys.
Arguably the most disturbing and controversial moment that Game of Thrones has to offer, the Red Wedding is one of those scenes that simply never loses any of its stunning shock factor. Seeing one main character die is often haunting enough, but to watch several beloved fixtures of the show ruthlessly betrayed and butchered in such a manner makes for invariably devastating viewing every time.
8 Jane Margolis
Breaking Bad (2008-2013)
Serving as a pivotal line in the sand for arguably the best crime drama of all time, Jane Margolis’ demise in the second season of Breaking Bad represents one of the show’s most harrowing moments. Walter allowed Krysten Ritter’s charge, after an overdose, to choke to death on her own vomit after accidentally knocking her onto her back, letting Jesse’s love interest die to prevent her from continuing to blackmail him and marking the beginning of his true transformation into “Heisenberg.”
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An unrelentingly graphic depiction of death by overdose, Jane’s death is an unforgettably disturbing sequence due in no small part to the sterling efforts of Bryan Cranston. The actor imagined his own daughter in the place of Ritter’s character, lending heartbreaking authenticity to his depiction of White’s personal turmoil as he watches her die.
7 Christopher Moltisanti
The Sopranos (1999-2007)
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The former protégé and nephew to James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano, Christopher Moltisanti’s demise in The Sopranos’ final season was a narrative development that sent shock waves running through the show’s fandom. Chris’ struggles with substance abuse finally came to a head when he crashed his car while under the influence in “Kennedy and Heidi,” sealing his fate.
Upon realizing that Chris’ daughter would have died if she had been in the car, a furious Tony rids himself of his troublesome nephew once and for all. With a severely injured Christopher incapacitated by the events of the car, Tony sets The Sopranos’ most unforgettable death in motion by pinching his nephew’s nostrils shut and allowing him to choke to death on his own blood. It’s a harrowing end for one of the show’s longest-serving faces, a chilling demise that lingers long in the memory after the credits roll.
6 Glenn Rhee
The Walking Dead (2010-2022)
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Widely regarded by many fans as The Walking Dead’s most controversial moment, the fate of Glenn Rhee remains one of the most shocking, graphic, and heartbreaking deaths ever brought to life onscreen. In keeping with his comic book counterpart’s fate, Steven Yeun’s beloved character was bludgeoned to death by Negan and Lucille to begin the show’s seventh season in an indescribably haunting fashion.
Compounded by the equally brutal loss of Michael Cudlitz’s Abraham Ford in nearly identical fashion mere seconds earlier, Glenn is killed by Negan to punish Daryl after he steps out of line. The show pulls absolutely zero punches in depicting the horror of Rhee’s death, capturing the nauseating visual of his eye-popping out of his crushed head and the sickening crunches of his skull breaking in a manner sufficient to make some people quit the show.
5 Howard Hamlin
Better Call Saul (2015-2022)
Arguably Better Call Saul’s most tragic character, series-long Howard Hamlin dies in a manner befitting of his unenviable status. Patrick Fabian’s character confronts Jimmy and Kim following their attempts to destroy his reputation against the backdrop of the Sandpiper Crossing case, only to find himself in the path of Tony Dalton’s Lalo Salamanca when he arrives on the scene unexpectedly.
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Lalo executes Howard with a single shot to the head in a jaw-dropping fashion to the absolute horror of Jimmy and Kim, marking a completely undeserved end for a character who had never been the monster McGill had made him out to be. Ending the mid-season finale of Better Call Saul’s climactic season with an almighty cliffhanger, the destruction of Howard’s reputation culminated in one of the most disturbing Breaking Bad scenes throughout the entirety of Vince Gilligan’s universe.
4 Opie Winston
Sons Of Anarchy (2008-2014)
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While Sons of Anarchy’s Opie Winston boasts one of the best last-stand scenes in television history, the bravery exhibited during his demise still does little to take away from the haunting nature of his death. After ruthless mobster Damon Pope forces Jax to pick a club member to die in recompense for the murder of his daughter, Opie heroically gave up his own life to save his brothers, poignantly informing them: “I got this.”
Forced to fight several prison inmates to the death, Winston gives a valiant account of himself but is ultimately overpowered and beaten to death as his friends watch in horror. A brutal sequence that pulls no punches in terms of violence, it’s an absolutely devastating end for one of the show’s most prominent and most beloved faces. The quintessential example of a television moment so shocking that it made many fans stop watching, Opie’s demise haunts viewers to this day.
3 Bob Newby
Stranger Things (2016-2025)
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The ill-fated love interest to Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers, Sean Astin’s Bob Newby deserved better than the desolating end that Stranger Things bestowed upon him. Using his computer skills to help our heroes escape Hawkins National Laboratory after the facility is overrun with Demodogs, Bob’s only reward for his courage is to bite the dust in an exceedingly brutal fashion to cap off one of Stranger Things’ saddest deaths.
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Mere feet from safety, Bob is tackled by the Demodogs and savagely mauled to death in front of the woman he loves for one of the worst television demises in recent memory. A thoroughly unfair end for one of the show’s bravest and most compassionate characters, Bob’s death remains a frontrunner for the show’s most tragic moment to date, serving to highlight the second season’s increased stakes while leaving fans reaching for the tissues.
2 Omar Little
The Wire (2002-2008)
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Widely regarded as The Wire’s best character, the late Michael K. Williams’ Omar Little is virtually synonymous with David Simon’s masterful crime drama at this point in proceedings. As charismatic as he was deadly, the whistling Little departed the show in a decidedly ignominious manner for such an iconic character, gunned down in retribution for his campaign of vengeance against Jamie Hector’s Marlo Stanfield.
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Following Omar into a convenience store, young drug dealer Kenard shoots a completely unaware Little in the back of the head; Omar is dead before he even hits the floor. While the undignified manner of his death was in keeping with the dangerous lifestyle he lived, Omar’s end still remains one of television’s most shocking demises because it came completely out of left field; a violent end to a violent existence that haunts fans to this day.
1 Abigail Hobbs
Hannibal (2013-2015)
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The second season finale of NBC’s Hannibal is a frontrunner for horror television’s best cliffhanger moment, with the shocking events of “Mizumono” leaving virtually every main character’s fate up in the air ahead of the third season. While many of these characters were duly revealed to have survived their murderous encounter with Hannibal, the same could not be said for Kacey Rohl’s Abigail Hobbs, who was savagely murdered by Lecter mere seconds after the reveal that she was alive in the first place.
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Lecter kills Abigail before a stricken Will Graham’s very eyes, informing Hugh Dancy’s charge of his responsibility for her inimitably ruthless death before slicing her throat open with a carpet knife. Abigail bleeds to death in a thoroughly traumatic fashion, a state of affairs compounded by Will’s desperate and fruitless attempts to tend to her fatal wounds as she slips away.