Most poignant/greatest deaths/death scenes in fiction. (SPOILERS)

[smurphy]

I am referring to deaths or death scenes in any type of fictional media such as anime, gaming, books etc. Do you have one(or several)that stand out at you for differing reasons. They are not just restricted to sad, but can also be memorable or in some cases the perfect way to say goodbye to a character. So what in your opinions are the best deaths/death scenes? And read any suggestions with caution as there may be spoilers to books you havent read yet, film you havent seen yet etc.

My personal favourites:
Boromir(LOTR trilogy)
Spike(Cowboy Bebop)
The Tachikomas(GITS 2nd gig)
The little sister in Grave of the Fireflies
Aeris(FF VII)
Sgt Jackson(COD:Modern Warfare)
Maes Hughes(FMA)
The Boss(MGS 3)

Thats all I can think of for now.............

[Clint]

The finale of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Western masterpiece, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. It's a three way standoff between Blondie (Clint Eastwood,) Sentenza (Lee Van Cleef,) and Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez (Eli Wallach.)

YouTube - The Good The Bad and the Ugly Finale

Yeah, it's pretty much the greatest thing that anybody will literally ever see. Let's just say that that damn Angel Eyes gets what's coming to him.

[Lucid]

Dr. Carson in Stargate Atlantis. Well, it was sad until they brought him back later as a clone. That just ruined the impact of his death right there.

[Dodie16]

I agree with a lot from the OP, particularly the ones mentioned from FMA and Grave of the Fireflies. Even though the viewer is outright told/shown from the beginning the fate of the characters from Grave of the Fireflies, it's still heartbreaking to watch.

Uhm, one that I witnessed not too long ago was from Persona 3 Portable, and it happened to be one of the characters that I really, really liked.

SPOILER!!:

Shinjiro gets shot twice in the chest, and one of those times was to protect a young boy who was trying to kill him too.

I haven't finished the game yet, so I dunno if any more characters will be offed. I was pretty bummed when he got killed off though, so I hope not...

Another video game death, this time from Bioshock:

SPOILER!!:

Andrew Ryan getting beat to death with a golf club was pretty graphic, and he just stood there and took it.

I'm sure there's plenty more, but I think I'll leave it at that.

[Unknown Entity]

Eh... most of the deaths I can think of are in video games. There's Aeris' death (FFVII), The Boss' death (MGS3), either your cousin's or girlfriend's death (GTAIV), Yumi's death (Yakuza)... and of course,

Red Dead Redemption.:

John Marston. You spend the entire game clearing his name, dealing with his past, and burying it so that he can go home with his wife and son to settle at their ranch.

That's never able to fully develop, as the US Army ride up and surround his ranch. After a gun fight, him, his wife and his son make it into the barn where the later two people get on a horse, and John tells them to keep going and not look back. Upon walking out of the barn at the front end, he's killed by the US Army. ;-;

In films and books...

Harry Potter:

Probably Dobby's, Lupin's and Tonk's death from the final Harry Potter books. Dobby sacrificed himself to save Harry, which was a huge shock and tear jerker at the cinema. And apologies if you've not read the book, but Lupin and Tonks had just had a baby.

Wuthering Heights:

Catherine Earnshaw. Has a romance with Heathcliff, says that marrying him would be degrading, so he does a runner for a few years, in which she marries the wealthy Edgar. She dies after giving birth to her and Edgar's daughter, who he names Cathy. Her entire relationship with Healthcliff changed him, and even after her death, she haunted him.

Lost:

Boone died because of Locke's antics in trying to understand the island, which was highly irritating all the way through. He died because Locke was a persistent asshole.

Charlie drowned. Can't quite remember if he sacrificed himself or just wanted to die anyway, considering he loved Claire, but he turned a signal or something on in the underwater station. Last moments, he told Desmond that the boat that was coming in wasn't Demond's ex's boat.

Hmm... I'll add more later.

[Taco-Calamitous]

I wholeheartedly agree with Maes Hughes and Boromir. Those were both very touching death scenes in their respective stories, that deeply effected the rest of the characters for the rest of the story. And Maes Hughes' death made me cry. The Clint Eastwood, that scene is amazing too.

Kamina's death in TTGL was another that deeply effected the rest of the cast. He was the heart and soul of the show for the first 8 or so episodes, and then he dies, and his leadership is gone. But he goes out in spectacular fashion. Another sad one is Walt Kowalski at the end of Gran Torino. And of course, Darth Vader's death is pretty heavy, though not exactly sad, really.

A lot of the death scenes in the God Father movies are pretty shocking and violent, obviously. Sonny's death in particular is a pretty famous one, been parodied a lot. Two that stick out to me are the two murders the young Don Corleone-played by Robert De Niro-commits (against murderers, but still.)

SPOILER!!:

He shoots this guy in the stomach, and the guy has this look on his face like "How could you betray me?!" and then he shoots the guy in the face, and the guy still stands there for a few seconds, then falls down. The guys is STILL ALIVE apparently, and shoots him again and kills him. The other one, he puts this knife in this old man's gut and runs it across his belly.

Both of them "deserved" it, but whoah.

Trying to think of other things, but I can't really think of anything else. If you play any Fallout game though, and you don't like a character, you can pretty much obliterate them. Especially with the 'bloody mess" perk. (That video is pretty violent, forwarning.) Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[motscroises]

Ben Sanderson in Leaving Las Vegas
Tony in West Side Story
Charlotte in Charlotte's web
Sol in Soylent Green
McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Roy Batty in Blade Runner
Mufasa in The Lion King
Leon in The Professional
Uncle Ben in Spider Man
Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth
and I would like to second Maes in FMA... ; ;

This is so depressing...

[Kurt Zisa]

Yeah Sonny's death was a holy ****! moment

Spoiler: considering the amount of times he gets shot

While this isn't the greatest death scene it was certainly surprising. At the end of The Departed

Spoiler: when DiCaprio has arrested that guy (apologies i havent seen it in a while) and is in the elevator with him. The moment the doors open this guy shoots DiCaprio in the head as he walks out. The shooter goes on to free the guy he'd arrested who then shoots him in the head.

Serioulsy i wasn't prepared at all for this scene

[Lucid]

Oh yeah, and in Angel when

Spoiler: Fred "dies".

That was so messed up! Cause she was still there, but it wasn't her anymore.

I also hated when

Spoiler: Cordelia died.

I really got to like her during the series.

And also

Spoiler: Wesley and Doyle. Wesley was my favorite too! He was so badass when he broke away from the group.

Angel sure had a lot of sad deaths.
I'm surprised Lorne lasted the whole series after always getting beat up. lol

[Lunasa]

King Arthur's Death, in King Authur, when he was played as Sean Connery.
Seconding Boromir, adding Theodin.
When the Vampiress died in the Sun during Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
Fullmetal had some pretty bad deaths, but I thought it was badass when Scar obliterated anyone who was a legit jerk.
DBZ, When Freiza finally kicked the damn bucket. It did take forever, though.

[Kyreaan]

One of my first thoughts would be the anime scene in the first Kill Bill. It was classic death scene style from mangas and graphic novels. Oren got them where it hurts.

Kill Bill Vol.1 (Warning: Graphic):

Then, there's also death scenes that are pretty much a standard throughout anime. Many of you have seen these already on Adult Swim. The one with Spike (Cowboy Bebop) really got to him. You'll probably recognize Bleach and a few others.

General Death Scenes:

OOOoooooo. Do you remember Ninja Scroll?

Ninja Scroll, Headbutt scene:

Ahhh, and how can you forget about Vampire Hunter D?

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust: