The Saddest On-Screen Deaths Of All Time

Sometimes, the only thing that helps ease the pain is diving right back into it. Say what you will about popular media, but the genuine emotions these stories evoke — as well as the real connections people form with fictional characters — say a lot about how empathetic the human race really is. You know, deep down, that your favorite character sprang from the mind of some writer, but you still erupted in tears when that same writer made your imaginary buddy stumble, fall, slip into a black hole, or get stabbed in the neck by their evil clone.

It's always a sad day when your favorite movie character dies before your eyes. Sure, future sequels might have a flashback or two, and sometimes you'll even get a whole prequel trilogy, but cinematic deaths can often feel almost as traumatic as real ones.

Even if you're not a fan of Marvel movies (and come on, what's wrong with you?), you have to admit that Marvel has really done something amazing with the superhero format. Somehow, we believe that these humans and humanoids who are endowed with unfathomable powers are also real, vulnerable, complicated people, and a lot of us develop actual emotional attachments to them. Don't worry, it's not weird. Maybe it's a little weird, but we all do it, just some of us more secretly than others.

If you're reading this, you've survived yet another decade on planet Earth. Sadly, the same can't be said about some of your favorite entertainers. As you may have noticed, the 2010s have been particularly rough for celebrities, and chances are at least one of your morning internet browsing sessions has delivered the terrible news that a famous face you used to look up to has suffered an untimely, tragic fate.

Seeing just how many film genres there are out there, if you'd rather avoid really sad movies, you should be able to. But moviemakers wouldn't be the creative types they are if they didn't slip a little sadness into every one of our popcorn-and-soda outings. When it comes to the films on this list, nobody but a true sociopath could exit the theater without at least dabbing a single tear from their eyes.