These deaths marked the end in more ways than one. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most jaw-dropping character exits that spelled doom for their TV series. Animated shows deserve their own list, so we’ll just be focusing on live-action death for this one.
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00:00I'm just getting started.
00:02Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most jaw-dropping character exits that spell doom for the TV series.
00:09Animated shows deserve their own list.
00:11So we'll just be focusing on live-action death for this one.
00:15Oh, and if it wasn't obvious before, expect some major spoilers.
00:18I loved him and I'm devastated that he's gone, leaving me with nothing but my memories and my regrets.
00:25Number 10, Ragnar Lothbrok, Vikings.
00:30From a show literally airing on the History Network, it's no surprise that Vikings mostly stuck to the facts,
00:35even though it meant killing off its leading man at the end of season four.
00:43So since Ragnar was the star of the show, Vikings ended too, right?
00:46Sadly, the answer is no.
00:48This is a good day, Ragnar Lothbrok.
00:51For this is the day that the souls of every innocent Christian man, woman, and child that you and your pagans slaughtered
01:01shall escape from their purgatory.
01:04Dazzled by high ratings and strong fan support, the History Network dragged Vikings along for another two seasons.
01:10The decline in quality was quick and steep.
01:12It didn't even finish airing on History at all.
01:14In the face of fan backlash, the final half of its last season was unceremoniously shoved to Amazon Prime,
01:20ensuring these Vikings never made it to Valhalla.
01:40There's only one case that needs solving in Neptune,
01:43and that's how this acclaimed teen mystery got cancelled in the first place.
01:47Thankfully, ardent fan demand paved the way to a sequel film,
01:51and eventually a full-on fourth season.
01:53It was every fan's dream.
02:02Veronica and Logan were finally going to get there happily ever after.
02:05Or... that's what everyone thought.
02:07In the final episode, Logan ends up dying in a car explosion.
02:16Oh, and did we mention it was he and Veronica's wedding day?
02:30Since viewers waited over a decade for this ending,
02:32the heartbreaking farewell left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
02:35It wasn't the ending fans wanted, needed, or deserved.
02:47Gone are the dive bars themselves.
02:55Eight seasons is nothing to scoff at,
02:57but for Mark Green, it still didn't feel like enough.
02:59When actor Anthony Edwards requested to spend more time with family,
03:02ER had no choice but to fire the attending physician of Cook County General Hospital.
03:07Remember when I used to sing you to sleep?
03:09No.
03:13You made me do it for years.
03:15However, instead of respectfully sending the fan favorite off into the sunset,
03:19the show diagnosed him with terminal brain cancer.
03:21It was a drawn-out, overly sentimental way to write off a character,
03:25and unfortunately, ER never quite found his footing again.
03:31While the medical drama had dealt with cast departures before,
03:34Mark Green was the series' ostensible lead.
03:36No amount of fresh blood ever filled the hole he left behind.
03:46Way up high.
03:52No, I really hope Phoebe's doing better down there than we are up here.
03:55There's not a spell in the world that can save the Halliwells from the dreaded threat of actor drama.
04:00Even though the series was entirely built around the story of three magical sisters,
04:03rumored feuds between the leads led to Shannon Doherty's abrupt exit at the end of season three.
04:08I'm not looking for your approval, Piper.
04:10Just your support.
04:12Well, Phoebe, it's sort of hard to give you support when you're just setting yourself up to get hurt again.
04:16And just like that, Prue was gone too.
04:33Charmed tried its darndest to recreate the magic with a conveniently never-mentioned-before half-sister,
04:38but despite everyone's best efforts, Paige Matthews was simply no Prue.
04:47As sad as it is to admit, most fans agree that once Prue went six feet deep,
04:51Charmed's best days were officially behind it.
05:09Ironically, there's a hundred reasons why this death feels like a slap in the face.
05:13Clark and Bellamy were the heart and head of the show since day one.
05:23But, bound by his out-of-character allegiance to the cult-like disciples, Bellamy turns against Clark.
05:39Then, instead of negotiating, incapacitating him, or doing literally anything else,
05:45Clark raises her gun and shoots one of her closest friends.
05:48No goodbye, no fanfare.
05:58This one moment effectively flushed seven seasons of character growth, fanshipping, and audiences' trust right down the drain.
06:05The 100th ending remains extremely divisive, and looking back, Bellamy's frustrating death is definitely the point of no return.
06:17Romance was always in the air at Yorkshire Country Estate.
06:20Matthew and Mary's love story was simply addictive, and even had a healthy newborn to sweeten the deal.
06:36It all seemed too good to be true, and that's because it was.
06:43Mere minutes after Matthew greeted his first child, he drives off and dies in a crash.
06:47Even though actor Dan Stevens wanted to pursue other opportunities,
06:50killing off Matthew in the same episode of his wife giving birth is just needlessly cruel.
06:56You better go down. They'll be here in a minute.
07:01And tell Mr. Matthew he must wait his turn.
07:03Heart-wrenching exit aside, Matthew's death left Downton Abbey without its key romantic spark.
07:08The ho-hum plotlines to follow made one thing very clear.
07:11The show needed weddings, not funerals.
07:15Abbey Mills, Sleepy Hollow
07:21Even in a show with plenty of demons,
07:23the most unbelievable part is that anyone thought Sleepy Hollow could work without Abbey Mills.
07:28Outside of her connection to the show's lore,
07:30her calm and committed presence helped balance out the show's zanier elements.
07:38So when Abbey bit the bullet in an eye-rolling self-sacrifice in season 3,
07:42many were quick to call foul.
07:44I'm right here.
07:58Abbey, no!
07:59Later, actress Nicole Beharie admitted to feeling a double standard behind the scenes with her white male co-stars.
08:05As if losing Abbey wasn't a big enough blow,
08:07knowing what Beharie went through makes it an even tougher pill to swallow.
08:10It's really no surprise Sleepy Hollow only lasted one season without her.
08:23It may be a sitcom, but this is no laughing matter.
08:28Following a very long, very public fallout with the show's creator,
08:31Charlie Sheen officially left Two and a Half Men before season 9,
08:34leaving his character to die off-screen.
08:41And his incredible love for life.
08:43He also loved being spanked.
08:46While wearing my panties.
08:47Instead of rebranding as One and a Half Men,
08:49the series brought in Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt.
08:57For all of his comedic timing,
08:58there's just no replicating Sheen's legendary dry sense of humor.
09:02When the good lord was handing out courage,
09:03you were crouched in a locker, peeing on your gym socks.
09:07While all the cast shake-ups did give Two and a Half Men a healthy ratings boost,
09:10the tiresome scandals sucked all the fun out of the actual episodes.
09:13Evidently, Two and a Half Men's glory days died with Charlie.
09:17Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of his passing,
09:20the remains aren't exactly...
09:22spit-able.
09:27When I was a girl,
09:28my brother told me it was made with a thousand swords from Aegon's fallen enemies.
09:32The Mother of Dragons always had to die.
09:35In fact, several fans had theorized for years
09:37that she'd followed the same path as the Mad King,
09:39forcing Jon to put her down.
09:41I saw them executing Lannister prisoners in the street.
09:45They said they were acting on your orders.
09:48It was necessary.
09:49Necessary?
09:51Have you been down there?
09:52And yet, when this heavily-hyped scene finally came to fruition,
09:55the whole thing felt incredibly hollow.
09:58No!
10:13Symptomatic of the whole last season,
10:15Daenerys's fall from grace felt rushed, unearned,
10:18and distinctly unsatisfying.
10:23Her death should have been a tragic exclamation point
10:26point, capping off a fantastic series, but by skipping the build-up, Game of Thrones
10:30killed off Daenerys and any remaining goodwill in one fell swoop.
10:33After all that, the rest of the finale was nigh unsalvageable.
10:53Number 1 – Glenn Rhee – The Walking Dead
11:04Look no one expected Rick's crew to escape Negan's clutches unscathed.
11:07Still, you can't help but wonder how much better The Walking Dead would have been if
11:12they hadn't killed Glenn.
11:15The former pizza driver brought some desperately needed optimism to the hardened ensemble,
11:20making him a standout with fans as early as the first season.
11:25Seeing him end up on the wrong side of Negan's bat wasn't just gratuitous, it marked the
11:29first real moment The Walking Dead prioritized shock value over character growth.
11:41Without Glenn to buoy things with his trademark wit, the show became as lifeless as the actual
11:46workers.
11:49Case in point, look at what happened to poor Karl.
11:54What character death made you abandon a show for good?
11:56Let us know in the comments.