Best death in a Joss Whedon show

[Ethros]

If there's one thing that happens a lot in Joss Whedon show, it's beloved characters dying.
So basically for fans of said creations what would be your favourite death? Whether it be most memorable, sad, shocking, warranted, disturbing, whatever

So include Buffy, Angel, Firefly/Serenity, Dr Horrible, Dollhouse, and you can also include stuff like Astonishing X-Men and Buffy: Season 8 etc

I think my Top 5, in no particular order would have to include...
Joyce Summers – Buffy (I Was Made To Love You/The Body)
The Body. Duh. Amazing.
"Mom... mom... mommy."

Fred – Angel (A Hole in the World)
"I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm not scared... Please... Wesley... why can't I stay?"
If you don't choke up on that you have no soul

Lindsey McDonald – Angel (Not Fade Away)
"Come on. I could sing for you"
"I've heard you sing"
I just love that bit in Not Fade Away. A great 'whoa' moment, Lindsey taken out by a flunky

Wash – Serenity
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I-"
I love Wash, but I never get why this such a controversial part of the film. For me that moment is by far, easily, the most "oh my fucking Christ what the fuck NO NOT WASH!!!" emotion I've felt watching any film ever. I just love how brave it is, and how it completely puts all the others characters fates in complete jeopardy for the remainder of the movie.
"Wait, Wash! Where's Wash?"
"… He ain't comin'"

Paul Ballard – Dollhouse (Epitaph Two: Return)
This is just another one that totally knocked me for six. A lot of character deaths you might see coming, but this (reminding me of a certain someone in TSCC late Season 2) was an awesome "blink-and-you-miss-it-bang-they're-dead-move-on" scenario. And I just really liked the character and Tahmoh Penikett in general. Plus the ending with Echo reuniting with his personality is great


Some other great ones I would say are The Anointed One, Jenny Calendar, Doyle, Wesley, Maggie Walsh, Tara, Bennett Halverson, Penny, and Lilah Morgan.
Lilah- "He's gonna kill us!"
Cordelia- "I know... why do you think I let him out? You stupid bitch."

 

[T J]

Wash, hands down! I think I'm still traumatized.

 

[Captaindemotion]

1. Doyle, Angel

2. Wesley, Angel

3. Cordelia, Angel (offscreen, but that episode was so powerful)

4. Fred, Angel

5. Wash, Serenity

5. Lindsay, Angel (boy, that show was a right character-killer, wasn't it?!)

6. Joyce Summers, Buffy The Vampire Slayer

7. Tara, BTVS

8. Shepherd Book, Serenity

9. Jenny Calender, BTVS

10. Buffy Summer, BTVS. Okay, you knew it would never be permanent, but still, it was a moving episode, with all her friends weeping, even Spike, the vampire who had previously slayed two slayers.

 

[sojourner]

Vampire #3, episode 2, BTVS.

 

[Sky]

Joyce Summers in The Body. That was devastating, and so effective and serious. I still can't watch it without going all weepy, especially when Anya loses it.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Darla.

 

[Joe Washington]

Doyle.
Wesley.
Fred.
Joyce.
Wash.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Miss Calender's was the best one. It made sense and was shot brilliantly. Joyce's death was done well too. I especially liked the fantasy sequences where Buffy imagines her being saved just in the nick of time. So cruel. Wash, Tara, Anya, the girl in "Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog", the chick Summer Glau played on "Dollhouse" (forgot her name) and Mellie/November, were all bullshit shock moments that annoyed me because I felt like it was just Whedon pulling out his old trick in a really stale and uninspired way.

 

[Rii]

Gotta go with Fred.

Fred – Angel (A Hole in the World)
"I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm not scared... Please... Wesley... why can't I stay?"
If you don't choke up on that you have no soul

I can has soul?

 

[FPAlpha]

Back when i saw Serenity i was already spoiled that Shepherd Book was going to die.. sad i was but then he was not one of my favorites.

Then we make it to the last third of the movie and suddenly Wash gets impaled!!! I was really shocked and speechless and that doesn't happen often when i watch movies. I was really sad for a while because Wash was perhaps my most favorite character on Serenity because i identified with him the most and i knew this was no comicbook death.. he was really gone from the story

The other one was Angel in the season 2 finale of Buffy.. after a brilliant turn of events that has Angelus emerge (and brilliantly played by Boreanaz) he gets his soul back but Buffy still has to kill him to save the world. To me that was the pinnacle of the entire show and everything else that followed was quite good too but never reached me that emotionally.

Third in line has to be Fred's death.. so heartbreaking and well played by one of the cutest women ever onscreen. I mean there's sexy and the kind of woman where you only have a single thought but that actress was so adorable that i fell a little in love i believe.
The lovestory of Wesley and Fred was awesome too and especially in the final episode.. "Would you like me to lie to you now?"

 

[Mr Light]

Fred in Angel... Wash in Serenity... Jenny Calender in Buffy... Tara in Buffy... I would probably have counted Angel's death in Buffy 2X22 if it had actually stuck.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Pretty much every death in Angel was great.

Doyle: Heroic, and heart wrenching.

Cordelia: A quiet moment, but at the end of one of the best episodes of the series.

Fred "Why can't I stay?" Possibly the saddest line in the whole series.

Lindsey: The "holy shit" of it is really what makes it. Lorne! Lorne of all people is the one that does the deed. What an awesome scene.

Wesley: Well, he's my favorite character in the Buffyverse, and easily its most tragic. The guy can just never ever win. He loses his job, his friends, and has to live with the consequences of his actions. Then when the love of his life finally returns his feelings, he loses her. Then, he loses his own life in the final battle. When Illyria lies to him, my eyes always start tearing up.

Oh, and not Angel but Wash's death still upsets me to this day.

 

[Lt. Trull]

The firefly episode where the gentleman gets sucked into the engine.

 

[saturn5]

Joyce, Cordy, Doyle, Darla and Wes in that order

 

[od0_ital]

Penny in Dr Horrible. Its Joss Whedon, ya know its gotta happen, even in that short web chapter format...but, still, it was a punch to the gut.

 

[T J]

The firefly episode where the gentleman gets sucked into the engine.

Gentleman...?!

 

[Jetfire]

Warren.

 

[I am not Spock]

My top five would be:

Joyce
Fred
Jonathan
Wesley
Tara

All shocking, and unbearable to watch without tearing up.

 

[Lt. Trull]

i was going to say entity... but I was being nice...

 

[Pauln6]

Any of the above, Joyce and Wash especially. Let's face it, Joss knows how to kill...