It was a rough year to be a TV fan. The 2017-2018 TV season left the streets littered with the bodies of characters you both loved and hated. Whether it was iconic villains that finally put up their final fight or the heroes viewers have been cheering on for years, seemingly nobody was safe.
In the end, though, these are the stories that get told on TV. Not everyone makes it out alive in most action and drama series. If the stakes aren't real, it's a lot harder to get invested in the journey. GameSpot went back through the year in TV to pick out what we believe are the 30 biggest TV deaths this season. Some made us cry, other made us cheer. And yet, there were also some that simply left us scratching our heads.
Come along as we look back on a year of TV and say goodbye to the characters that have taken their final bow--at least for now. After all, there are some shows that kill people all the time, only to find ways to resurrect them later.
1. Quentin Lance (Arrow)
It came as little surprise that Paul Blackthorne was leaving the show, once it was announced he had a new series this fall. Still, the death of Quentin Lance was a rough one on Arrow. After being on the series from the beginning, the former police officer that worked his way up to the mayor's office was an integral piece of the show when he was gunned down by Ricardo Diaz in the Season 6 finale.
Image: The CW
2. Jerome (Gotham)
For four years, Gotham has led fans to believe that Jerome, the murderous psychotic circus castoff was becoming the FOX show's version of the Joker. As Season 4 came to an end, though, the truth was revealed in Jerome's death. He was about as Joker as you could get until his unhinged twin brother Jeremiah came into the picture. With Jerome now dead, Jeremiah is primed to rule Gotham.
Image: FOX
3. Butch (Gotham)
Butch has been a constant on Gotham since the very beginning. He was muscle for Fish Mooney, an enforcer for Penguin, anything Tabitha Galavan wanted, and, eventually, Solomon Grundy. That's what makes his death in the Season 4 finale so difficult. While Penguin's justification for killing him--retaliation against Tabitha for killing his mother seasons earlier--made sense, seeing Gotham's favorite thug take his final bow was difficult. Then again, this is Gotham and he could always somehow rise from the dead… Again.
Image: FOX
4. David (Scandal)
A show like Scandal couldn't end without at least one major death, right? That poor target was David Rosen. Long seen on the show as one of the few people in Washington, D.C. that weren't corrupt, it makes sense that one of the most evil--Vice President Cyrus Beene--poisons and kills him in one of his final acts on the show.
Image: ABC
5. Rip Hunter (Legends of Tomorrow)
Rip Hunter's role on Legends of Tomorrow has been confusing, at best, since Season 1. Though he initially led the team of misfits, he was technically a villain in the show's second year, before heading up a rival time traveling team in Season 3. Still, even though he never had any real stability as a character, it was always nice seeing him. Thankfully, Legends is a show that constantly alters its own timeline, so it's not impossible for him to show back up someday.
Image: The CW
6. Damien Darhk (Legends of Tomorrow)
Once again, Arrow-verse fans think they've seen the last of Damien Darhk. The villain made lives miserable and killed Laurel Lance during Season 4 of Arrow, before his own death. Time travel brought him back to the present on Legends of Tomorrow, though, where he became a primary antagonist for the team during Seasons 2 and 3. However, now he's dead again and presumably for good. Truth be told, you can only put this universe of heroes against the same bad guy for so long before it gets boring. So while his death is major, it's also somewhat welcome. You had a good run, Damien.
Image: The CW
7. Simon (The Walking Dead)
One of Negan's most trusted associates was anything but. When Simon realized he had a chance to steal his boss's crown and run the Sanctuary, he took it, without looking back. Unfortunately for Simon, Negan is a cockroach that will never die. So when the boss made a comeback, Simon's days were numbered. He attempted a coup, failed, and paid for it with his life. In the end, he became nothing more than a walker strapped to the gates of the Sanctuary.
Image: AMC
8. Carl (The Walking Dead)
It's the latest in a long line of deaths that did not sit well with fans of The Walking Dead. Losing Carl completely changes the DNA of The Walking Dead, as the show continues to veer away from the comics it's based on. Now, with Andrew Lincoln leaving next season, it seems like an even worse idea. Carl would have carried on in Rick's place.
Image: AMC
9. Nick (Fear the Walking Dead)
Losing Nick meant losing a lot of what makes Fear the Walking Dead special. As one of a few remaining original characters, he was the imperfect warrior constantly struggling to make a better life for those he loved. He survived drug addiction, several instances of near-death, and somehow found love in the apocalypse. And still, in the brutal world this show and The Walking Dead are set in, nothing is permanent. He was gunned down by a scared child, bringing his character to a shocking conclusion.
Image: AMC
10. Chase Graves (iZombie)
Will viewers miss Chase Graves? Not likely, as he was a real jerk. The head of the zombie-controlled corporated Fillmore Graves wanted a zombie apocalypse that played by his rules paid for it with his life. Of course, his rules were barbaric, and he fell victim to his own head-smashing guillotine, so it's rather poetic.
Image: The CW
11. Astrid (Vikings)
The fight between Ivar's and Lagertha's forces saw many deaths in the Vikings mid-season finale. None hurt as much, though, as Astrid at the hands of the woman she loved. Astrid begged Lagertha to kill her so she would not give birth to Harald's child, marking the end of the love affair between the two shield-maidens.
Image: History
12. Halfdan the Black (Vikings)
As with Astrid's death, Halfdan's demise was rather emotional. He and his brother Harald found themselves on different sides of the Kattegat civil war, during which Harald killed his sibling by cutting him down with a sword. There was no ill will between the two, however, as Harald promised to see his brother in Valhalla.
Image: History
13. Jack (This is Us)
Jack dying was never really a secret on This is Us. Fans knew it was coming for two seasons, but were never sure of how it happened. That question drove a number of conspiracy theories about the series. In the end, it was faulty wiring in a Crock-Pot sparking a deadly fire that took Jack's life.
Image: NBC
Tom (The Blacklist)
He survived a failed spin-off, but Tom Keen was still unable to make it out of Season 5 of The Blacklist alive. He was stabbed and strangled trying to keep Liz alive, and when she awoke from her coma ten months later to learn that, it was one of the show's most heartbreaking moments.
Image: NBC
15. Skinner (The X-Files)
As with most things on The X-Files, the death of Walter Skinner is confusing and possibly not real. During the Season 11 season finale, Skinner is run over by a car driven by the nefarious Cigarette Smoking Man, who leaves him for dead. While he could potentially survive in a future season of the show, star Gillian Anderson's public stance that she's done with the series leaves more X-Files in doubt. At this point, it might be safe to say Skinner is likely dead and buried.
Image: FOX
16. Cigarette Smoking Man (The X-Files)
Another murky death during the most recent X-Files season. In a fit of rage, Mulder shot CSM multiple times, seemingly killing him, before kicking him into a lake. It's as final a moment as the character has ever gotten. That said, it's not like this nefarious monster hasn't been killed on the show before.
Image: Fox
17. Monica Reyes (The X-Files)
As CSM sped toward Skinner, with Agent Reyes trying to stop him, the former FBI agent fired off several shots at the car, one of them fatally wounding Reyes.
Image: FOX
18. Midge (Riverdale)
It wouldn't be Riverdale is somebody wasn't being killed. That said, it's hard to believe the show murdered Midge in such a public and graphic way--especially given how prominent a character Midge is in Archie Comics. That image of her stabbed to death on the stage of Riverdale's high school musical is one that's not going away anytime soon.
Image: The CW
19. Lucifer (Supernatural)
How do you kill the devil? Well, on Supernatural all it takes is Dean Winchester. After Lucifer escaped to the real world in the Season 13--yes, 13--finale, he came to blows with the Winchesters, and it was Dean who finally put him down once and for all.
Image: The CW
20. Leo Fitz (Marvel's Agents of SHIELD)
Agents of SHIELD can be a very tough show to follow. In its fifth season, Fitz and Simmons were finally married--sort of. In truth, the Fitz that married Simmons was actually from the future. He stuck around and, by the end of the season, was killed when a building caved in on him. Of course, given that this if future Fitz, the modern day version is still floating out in space somewhere waiting to wake up. Unfortunately, that version of the character has no idea he's married, which could make for an awkward Season 6.
Image: ABC
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