Top 10 Movie Characters We Didn't Want to Die

Death is usually a little hard to deal with, but sometimes some are harder than others! Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 movie characters we didn’t want to die.

For this list, we’ve looked at those big screen characters that met the most untimely of ends. To be in contention, the character has to have definitely died. Appearances in some form of afterlife are OK, but full-blown resurrections are not. And obviously, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT – we cannot stress this enough.

As Peter Pan’s replacement, Rufio has some really rather big shoes to fill... The leader of the Lost Boys 2.0, he’s been presiding over Neverland while Peter’s swapped his green smock and tights for the life of a grown up! Though a reputable rival for this film’s titular captain, Hook has just one manoeuvre too many for our crazy-haired hero... It looks as though Rufio has his enemy cornered, but in the end he’s the one skewered. His end was swift, sad, and so not a happy thought!

The Grim Reaper lurks throughout this entire scene, but he strikes just when we least expect him to! When Leonardo DiCaprio catches Matt Damon on a Boston rooftop, it would seem as though this Scorsese mobster flick is about to be granted its happy ending. How naive we were to think that justice would prevail! Costigan gets the criminal to the elevator, but as he counts down the floors, he counts away the last seconds of his life. A shot to the head is not what he, or we, wanted at all!

We certainly didn’t want this guy to die, but by the time his lights actually did go out, it would probably have been more cruel if he’d have lived! In the ring with Ivan Drago, there’s nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, and no hope of remaining in one piece! A patriotic Apollo Creed refuses to throw in the towel though, or at least he refuses to let Rocky do so... Sly Stallone honors his friend’s wish, but he pays a terrible price for it!

There’s an honorable death, and then there’s this! Creasy’s an ex-CIA agent haunted by his past. He has little to live for except the nine-year-old Pita (played by Dakota Fanning), whom he has been hired to protect. Unfortunately, the girl’s kidnapped while on Denzel Washington’s watch - cue an hour and a half of hell-bent revenge-ridden violence! Creasy survives almost all that he is faced with... So much so that when he does die, the reminder that he wasn’t really invincible is just too tough to take!

In many ways the archetypal damsel in distress, and in many ways not, Gwen Stacy is Peter Parker’s love interest, but she can more than look after herself without Spider-Man’s help! In fact, it could be that the web-slinger does her more harm than good! She’s often caught between Spidey and an NYC super-villain, and when the Green Goblin turns up, it’s one monster too many! She was going to study at Oxford... She had success laid out before her... But it just wasn’t meant to be!

It’s bad enough when human beings kick the bucket when we don’t want them to, but when a dog dies... That’s a whole different thing! Sam is Will Smith’s guardian, sidekick and best friend. The pair lives in a grossly inhospitable environment, but there is at least a little light as long as they have each other. When darkness falls, however, so does their safety, and eventually, so does Sam... We’re shedding the tears that Smith holds back, as he does what no man should have to do!

The ultimate anti-hero, when the Terminator shuts down permanently, it doesn’t matter that he’s a machine; it only matters that he’ll be motoring no more! Arnold Schwarzenegger is the iconic cyborg, but by the end of this movie, even Arnie has to admit that he has no place on this Earth! The Terminator wants to prevent the creation of the apocalyptic Skynet, and the only way to do that is self-sacrifice... A vat of molten steel might get the thumbs up from Schwarzenegger, but it’s an emotional thumbs down from us!

In truth, the “Harry Potter” films are a goldmine of deaths we didn’t want. First Sirius falls through the veil, and later Dobby breathes his last on the beach - but it’s Dumbledore’s passing that gets us most! As the Hogwarts headmaster falls from the school’s tallest tower, he seems to take Harry’s very last hopes with him! The only wizard ‘he who must not be named’ was ever scared of... He was dead before he even hit the ground.

When Bruce Willis dies, he really dies! As Harry Stamper, Willis is the traditionally over-protective father. However, while most guys have to face their girlfriend’s dad over dinner, over a drink, or on the golf course, Ben Affleck’s A.J. tackles his aboard a spaceship! Stamper has a heart of gold though, and as this movie draws to a close, it shines out beyond the stars! When Willis forces Affleck back inside, our hair stands on end and our stomachs do back-flips. What a man!

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Leone ‘Léon’ Montana
“Léon: The Professional” (1994)
- Danny Vinyard
“American History X” (1998)
- Ricky Baker
“Boyz n the Hood” (1991)
- Johnny Cade
“The Outsiders” (1983)
- Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw
“Top Gun” (1986)

Capital punishment is a thorny subject, and this adaptation of Stephen King’s novel provides a particularly painful insight into it. John Coffey’s on death row, but he doesn’t deserve to be! Played by the late, great Michael Clarke Duncan, Coffey’s bound for the electric chair, but he shouldn’t be there... Tom Hanks has to give the order, and we’re all willing him not to... For a second we think he won’t... And then he does...

Do you agree with our list? Which movie death did we forget? For more untimely Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.