While it wasn’t sad to see some movie characters die, others didn’t deserve their unfortunate fates. A satisfying film often ends with its villain’s demise. This is a common trope throughout cinema. However, not every film has a happy ending, and often times good-hearted characters who deserve better are killed off. The emotions evoked help the audience connect with the character and the film, even if it’s hard to fall in love with a character only to watch them die.
In films like Avengers: Endgame, where a character sacrifices themselves, like Tony Stark, it isn’t any easier to watch them die, but at least they’ve gone down a hero, and their fate was in their own hands. Sometimes character deaths act as a send-off for the character. If their story has been completed and there is nothing left for them to offer, death is the most logical choice. However, there are also times when a character had a lot more to offer but still died. Here are a few characters who didn’t deserve their fate in movies.
10 Dobby In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One
Harry Potter‘s adorable house elf Dobby was a kind and courageous character who put himself in dangerous situations if it meant helping others. Harry was his best friend, which is why it was so heartbreaking to watch him die in Harry’s arms in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One. Dobby’s Harry Potter death resulted from a battle at Malfoy Manor.
Bellatrix threatened to cut Hermoine’s throat with a silver knife, but Dobby arrived just in time, making a chandelier fall on the antagonist. Bellatrix later threw her knife at Harry, and it wasn’t until he got to Shell Cottage that he realized Bellatrix’s knife had stabbed Dobby in the chest. The sweet elf didn’t deserve to die at the hands of Bellatrix but happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as a result of his selfless heroism.
9 Apollonia Vitelli In The Godfather
Apollonia Vitelli got swept up in Michael Corleone’s lifestyle in The Godfather when Michael fell in love with her. Their relationship had a lot of positive effects on the Sicilian character, as Michael taught her to speak English and to drive, which wasn’t common for women in Sicily at the time. Unfortunately, getting involved with the son of a mafia boss wasn’t in her best interest.
Michael’s guard was paid off by the Barzini family to put a bomb in his car that would explode and kill him if he tried to drive the car. Instead, the bomb went off when Apollonia tried to drive the car, killing her instantly. The Godfather character wasn’t involved in the mafia and was an innocent woman persuaded into marrying Michael because he was in love with her. Her death could have been avoided had someone warned her about the dangers of marrying Michael.
8 Kyle Reese In The Terminator
Kyle Reese was sent to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor from the Terminator’s plan to eradicate her so her son would never be born and couldn’t build a resistance movement against Skynet. Reese fell in love with Sarah when he saw a photo of her, which further drove him to save her from the Terminator. Unfortunately, his love for Sarah and dedication to saving her cost his own life. Reese died when he blew up the Terminator and injured himself in the process. Reese was a hero trying to do what was right for Sarah and should have been able to live to see the demise of the Terminator and how his dedication saved Sarah’s life, just like he set out to do.
7 Marion Crane In Psycho
Marion Crane’s shower death was the most iconic scene in Psycho and one of the most memorable in horror film history. While the film wouldn’t have been the same without Marion’s death, she still didn’t deserve to become Norman Bates’ victim. Luckily in the 2013 prequel series Bates Motel, Marion, played by Rihanna, gets away. Unfortunately, the original film sees her brutally stabbed to death by Norman, dressed as his mother. Marion had just committed a crime, stealing $40,000 from her employer, but this doesn’t justify her death, and technically she was acting out of love. She wanted to pay off her boyfriend Sam’s debts so they could get married, making her demise seem somewhat undeserved.
6 Bruce In Jaws
Jaws had a satisfying ending when Martin Brody shot the scuba tank in Bruce, the great white shark’s mouth, and it exploded, causing the shark to explode with it. At that moment, Martin avenged everyone who Bruce killed that summer. However, there have been some arguments that the Jaws shark wasn’t the movie’s villain. After all, Bruce was doing what all sea creatures do, swimming around in the ocean and eating whatever they see in order to stay alive.
Bruce only seemed to be terrorizing citizens because the film is told from the human perspective. In reality, no one should have been going in the ocean that summer when they knew how many shark attacks had occurred, and Mayor Larry Vaughn should have cared more about others’ well-being than making money by keeping the beaches open. Bruce was doing what sharks do, and if the other characters had been responsible, Bruce wouldn’t have had to die.
5 Jack Dawson In Titanic
Jack Dawson’s death is easily one of the most controversial deaths in movie history. Titanic fans have been debating for 25 years whether or not Jack could have fit on the wooden door frame with Rose, which could have prevented him from freezing to death. The debate is so popular that James Cameron finally tested the Titanic theory out. However, there’s no going back, as Cameron already made the decision to kill Jack in the film.
Jack was the most honest, genuine, and selfless character in the film, and he deserved a seat on the lifeboat more than Rose’s mother or Cal, who schemed his way to safety. Jack taught Rose what real love is like and how to live a fulfilling life, which money couldn’t buy for her. His death was devastating because he and Rose could have gone on to live a beautiful life together.
4 Mufasa In The Lion King
Disney animated films are aimed at a young audience, but that doesn’t mean they’ll hold back from some heart wrenching deaths. The Lion King came out in 1994, but Mufasa’s death hurts just as much on the 100th viewing as it did on the first, especially because his death was at the hands of his own brother, the ultimate act of betrayal. Mufasa was a strong leader, and his murder wasn’t because he did anything to deserve it but because his brother was so power-hungry that he was willing to kill his own blood to get what he wanted.
3 Dick Halloran In The Shining
In Stephen King’s novel, Dick Halloran survives the events in The Shining and makes it out of The Overlook Hotel with Wendy and Danny. However, his fate is one of the many things Stanley Kubrick changed that infuriated the author. Dick bonded with Danny over their mutual psychic abilities. He provided him with the attention his father, Jack Torrance, couldn’t give to him, and ironically it’s Jack who killed him in the film. Dick returned to The Overlook when he sensed Wendy and Danny were in danger, but unfortunately, his act of kindness and protection ended in his own death. Jack struck Dick in the chest with an ax, instantly killing The Overlooks’ head chef.
Even Sylvester Stallone thinks Apollo shouldn’t have died in Rocky IV. Apollo was originally Rocky’s rival, but the two later became friends, and Apollo became a mentor to Rocky. It was devastating to see him die in the ring during Rocky IV. He had been so good to Rocky, which is why it was so hard to see him go.
However, if he didn’t die, it would have significantly changed the dynamic of the Creed franchise. Adonis might have actually known his father, and Mary Anne wouldn’t have had so much fear around Adonis becoming a boxer. While Apollo didn’t deserve to die in Rocky IV, his death was what was best narratively for the Rocky and Creed films.
1 Rue In The Hunger Games
Rue was only 12 years old when she competed in the 74th Hunger Games. She had a sweet bond with Katniss and a kind disposition. Rue loved music, often singing with the mockingjays, and trusted Katniss because of her mockingjay pin. It’s never easy to watch a young character die, but one who was so innocent and kind like Rue was even harder. Luckily, Katniss gave her a memorial, covering her body in flowers. Still, it didn’t make her death any easier to watch. A lot of The Hunger Games movie characters deserved a harsher fate than they got, but Rue is one who deserved to live on.
