the bird on fire

By Peter Kadel

Let’s face it, reading/watching/enjoying works of fiction (i.e: books, movies, and videogames) is really fun and helps all sorts of people get away from the everyday and helps them escape occasional sadness. But sometimes… grief follows us into the realm of fiction as creators of fiction rob us of our favorite characters–giving us emotional scars from which we will never recover. In honor of these fallen fictional figures, here is a list of fictional deaths I still haven’t gotten over. (In no particular order).

* SPOILERS AHEAD * * SPOILERS AHEAD ** SPOILERS AHEAD *

Wash (Firefly/Serenity): The short lived sci-fi hit Firefly and its cinema followup Serenity followed a crew of misfits who were all lovable in their own way. But the character that stole hearts was the pilot Wash. The wise cracking, Hawaiian-shirt wearing, moral center of the team was brutally killed in the movie Serenity, and this loss has scarred me forever. He was the character I wanted to be in real life. Not only was the Firefly series ended too quickly, so was Wash.

Wolverine (Logan/Death of Wolverine): Everyone’s favorite X-man. The hardcore healing mutant with unbreakable bones and claws. Most of his fans thought he would never die, after all that was his main ability. So imagine my surprise when he died TWICE, once in the comic universe and once in the cinematic universe. I had to witness the death of my favorite superhero ever TWICE: first when he was encased in metal as he reflected on all he had done and was finally content after a life of sadness; and a second time when he died holding the hand of his daughter fulfilling the prophecy that he would die with his heart in his hand. I cried both times. So needless to say, I’m still upset about it.

Han Solo (Star Wars: The Force Awakens): I think it is safe to say that this one made everyone cry, to see our favorite bold and brash smuggler gutted by his bratty Sith lord son was an emotional hell that no one deserved. He deserved better. And Chewy’s reaction to watching his longtime pal Han fall into the abyss of Starkiller Base (“BBBrrrrwwwrrroooo”) was truly heart wrenching and, yes, I cried when it happened.

(The West Wing): The are too many deceased characters to list from this show. The show’s creator Aaron Sorkin seems to delight in toying with the audience’s emotions. The saddest death was that of a staple character, Leo McGarry, who was killed off in the final season because the actor passed away. Leo was everyone’s grouchy yet endearing older relative, and the way he cares about his coworkers made him even more lovable.

Chak (Guardians of the Flame: The Silver Crown): Now most of you have probably never heard of this book series, so let me explain. A group of college students are playing a tabletop RPG similar to D&D and they get transported into the game world which turns out to have a huge slave trade which the students vow to dismantle. One of the first slaves freed by the group is a man named Chak. He was a wisecracking swordsman who becomes a key member of the team until his untimely death in the third book of the series. Chak gave himself in a heroic act of self sacrifice to save his friends. Chak easily has the most entertaining characteristics, and his enduring sense of humor made him lovable. His death hit me so hard that I stopped reading the series after I finished the book.

While there are dozens of other deaths I’m still grieving, I’m pretty sure I’m not emotionally capable of listing all of them, so if there are any you think I should have included, let me know in the comments!

Editor: Claire Jenkins