*SPOILER ALERT* Anime Deaths

[The Grey Crane]

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Character deaths aren't uncommon occurrences in the world of anime, many times have we seen our loved (and hated) characters meet their final demise. While such events (not all) have caught many people off-guard these events also managed to beef-up or affect the story one way or another. Though not new to such occurrences i've decided to post a thread about the most memorable deaths we, the AF people, have seen. Let us mention these momentous deaths and hopefully spawn related discussions in the process.

Please let us make our posts more meaty and informative by stating reasons or add-ons. Let me start with these few entries:

The death of Condor Joe (Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman) - The brooding loner of the Kagaku Ninjatai, Condor Joe, met his demise after being diagnosed of having a fatal head injury caused by shrapnel fragments. This death would go on being referenced by the largely Gatchaman-influenced Super Sentai show, Chojin Sentai Jetman.

Goku's first death (DBZ) - I guess there's no need for me to mention how and why it happened. I was very young (8 or 9 during the early-mid 90s) when i first saw how it happened and thought it was a sad moment. I thought it's gonna be Gohan era afterwards, but hey, i soon realized that dying ain't much of a problem for those DBZ folks. Goku dying and living again for the second time were both "meh..." moments for me though.

Maes Hughes is killed by Envy (FMA) - One of FMA's nice guys, Maes Hughes is killed by Envy who is then disguised as his wife. Though the death scene itself might prove moving for some people, it doesn't even compare to the corresponding funeral scene.

Roy Focker's badass death in "Pineapple Salad" (Macross) - Mortally wounded after defending Macross, Roy Focker chose to go to his girl Claudia rather than going to the hospital. This fact alone is one reason that I should've mentioned him in B Gundam's GAR thread.

The death of the universe (The Ideon: Be Invoked) - This is arguably the most notorious and memorable death in anime in terms of kill count, gruesomeness, and sheer unexpectedness. It doesn't only feature the death of the main characters but also the death of the universe itself.

[aishiteru333]

L's death!!! Gosh was I sad. I thought his death would be owed to how many sweets he ate and rarely any real food... I'm still sad!

Ed's death. I cried! Why did Envy have to stab him?! Why did he have to get crushed by a zeppelin?! I'm glad he came back to life though...

[Doom85]

You know, you guys can add spoiler tags if you want, just list the series outside the tags, and the death/spoilers in the tags. To use tags, just type "[spoiler ], then type the spoilers you want, then end with "[/spoiler ]" (obviously, don't leave a space before "]", I just did that so it wouldn't automatically make it a spoiler tag).

Anyway, the most powerful deaths in anime to me are:

Cowboy Bebop -

 

Spike. Oh come on, how has this not been listed yet? Not only did the series brilliantly foreshadow the death constantly, but the way it was executed was perfect. Greatest anime ending ever IMHO. "Bang", indeed.

Fullmetal Alchemist -

 

Like the OP said, a powerful moment. The death is painful to watch, the funeral adds to the tears, and Ed seeing Hughes' spirit is the final twist of the knife. Seeing as how Hughes was my favorite character, it was hard to watch, but I'm glad he got such a great death

Neon Genesis Evangelion -

 

Kaji being shot by an assassin and facing his killer with a mere "what took you so long?" was cool, but Asuka's in End of Evangelion stands out the most. After hearing her mother's voice and snapping out of depression, she faces 12 mass-produced units, and has only 5 minutes to take them all out. She does so in spectacular fashion....until the units all regenerate, the Lance of Longinus hits her mecha directly, and the units slowly devour the mecha (and Asuka, *shiver*) slowly. Truly a shocking death.

Gurren Lagann -

 

While Kittan, Lord Genome, and Nia all get great deaths, Kamina's is the king. While lifting Simon's morale, he manages to ignore his fatal wounds, and proceeds to unleash not one, but TWO new attacks with Gurren Lagann, and kills the first of the Spiral King's generals. Dying with a smile on his face added to the epic-ness.

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket -

 

Hey kids, war is NOT fun. This hits you hard when Al teams up with Bernie, an "enemy" soldier, and they try to defeat the Gundam (which, unbeknownest to them, is piloted by Bernie's love interest, Christina), but Bernie loses and dies, Al finds out the battle was pointless (their reason for fighting, to protect the colony, turned out to have been solved already), and Al's classmates, ignorant to what happened, continue to act as if war is some fun adventure. Cue tears from Al, and this poster

Gundam Seed -

 

(Seed Destiny is non-canon, as far as I care) "Didn't I tell you I could make the impossible, POSSIBLE?!" A terrific heroic sacrifice by Mu La Flaga.

Naruto (manga) -

 

Asuma, whose death was handled even better in the anime with episode 82, a moving episode showing Shikamaru trying to overcome his grief of the loss of his sensei, Jiraiya, not only because of his final act before dying, but Naruto's sense of loss afterwards ("I wanted him to see me become Hokage" ) and recovery, and Itachi, when we find out just how tragic his life is, and his dying words, "this is his last time, Sasuke".

One Piece -

 

Who knew the burning of a ship (the Going Merry) could be so heart-breaking? Also, if we count flashback deaths, Belldandy's death was very painful and sad

Gantz (manga) -

 

Everyone save Kurono dying at the end of the Buddha mission, which lead to Kurono's incredible character development, and Tae's death, which was heartbreaking to watch (but she comes back, yay!)

[BestFly]

 

Clannad after story/movie when Nagisa and then the daughter (whoes name escapes me) die. I mean just nagisa was enough (while being somewhat predictable) but the kid dying was just too much.

even so I don't seem to have seen a lot of shows with very memorable deaths besides the ones listed.

[rikumi]

I like the deaths in Naruto Shippuden and I really like the author. The plot even moves on so smoothly with those side characters dead. =3

 

Lelouch's death form Code Geass is the most epic of them all.

[Capernicus]

Chrno Crusade

 

I was really pissed the way Chrono and Rosette died at the end. I thought it was a major cop out, but I guess a lot of people disagree.

Burst Angel

 

The way Jo "dies" (and I put that in quotations because I haven't seen the second season so am not sure if she's really dead or not, but for the purposes of the 1st season we assume she died) in the end was so...anticlimactic. I mean...GOD! One bullet and then asplode? pffffft So disappointing.

Death Note

 

Does this really need spoiler tags? I think everyone knows about it. Anyway, it saddened me, and I never really liked Near or Mellow as much as I liked L. Though, it's not nearly as tragic as people seem to want to make it.

Full Metal Alchemist

 

I was so depressed when Hugh died. Seriously, he was like the life of the show, always fawning over his ADORABLE little girl. <3 I kept hoping some alchemy would come along so that Ed and Al could resurrect him along with their mother. Silly, eh?

Final Fantasy 7

 

Aeris dies. ;____________________;

I can't really think of any more to talk about. As I remember I'll post.

[Heinekenrana]

Trigun (anime only here, as I'm unsure if it happens in the manga):

 

Wolfwood dying. Especially after spending the night with Milly. Jeeze, that was depressing, because he was always one of my favorite characters, even just for the brief time he was in the show.

[Ashminigun]

Off topic: The whole Code Geass setup reminds me of the French Revolution.

Back to the topic:

I'm second with Roy Focker, Gurren Lagann, Gundam 0080, Asuka and Trigun death scene. I would agree if they didn't revive him in Destiny, his death would be heart-wrenching but meh.

Mine:

Macross Frontier:

 

Michael Blanc's death was one of the most shocking and unexpected thing had happen in the series. Even though they parodized Ozma Lee near death similar to Roy Focker "Pineapple", but that didn't near the feeling when Michael sacrficed himself in order to protect Klan Klan from been killed during the macronization process. His last word before been suck into the oblivion really send cold chills down to my spine

Gundam 00 S1:

 

Lockon Stratos/Neil Dylandy death really have an impact on the series. It had effect on other characters esp, Sestuna, Tieria and Feldt.

[Capernicus]

Trigun (anime only here, as I'm unsure if it happens in the manga):

 

Wolfwood dying. Especially after spending the night with Milly. Jeeze, that was depressing, because he was always one of my favorite characters, even just for the brief time he was in the show.

D= How could I forget about this? I was so depressed for like...an hour. o.o

[Cotaku]

Death Note:

 

Nobody ever mentions Light's death. That part made me sick to my stomach. It still does. I have no clue why. Anyway, I just thought it was really pathetic the way he went out. L's death was pretty sad too, but I got over it quickly.

Air TV:

 

I cried when Misuzu died at the end. It was so sad!

[Eku]

FMA (first series)

 

Ed's death O.O I was weeping.

[Deadeye31]

Just finished Samurai 7 (actually bought it this time too).

 

I almost cried at the end. So many of them died. It was very sad. They could have at least saved Kikuchiyo. But that's war, the old veterans and the the newbies survive when all the rest die.

[_-Anonymous-_]

I should have never read this topic .

[Dark Magus]

Yu Yu Hakusho

 

Genkai's death. She died fighting Younger Toguro in the episode "The Death of Genkai." They had an epic battle containing drama and emotion. Even though her death was expected (as shown by the name of the episode in which she died), seeing her go was still sorrowful. She is an excellent heroine and a great mentor to Yusuke. Fortunately, she did return to life in the episode "Toguro's Wish."

Fullmetal Alchemist

 

Ed and Hughes' deaths. Enough said.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

 

Misato and Asuka's deaths. They were both intriguing and complex characters. To see them killed in "The End of Evangelion" was sad.

[Funkgun]

You know, you guys can add spoiler tags if you want, just list the series outside the tags, and the death/spoilers in the tags. To use tags, just type "[spoiler ], then type the spoilers you want, then end with "[/spoiler ]" (obviously, don't leave a space before "]", I just did that so it wouldn't automatically make it a spoiler tag).

Anyway, the most powerful deaths in anime to me are:

Cowboy Bebop -

 

Spike. Oh come on, how has this not been listed yet? Not only did the series brilliantly foreshadow the death constantly, but the way it was executed was perfect. Greatest anime ending ever IMHO. "Bang", indeed.

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket -

 

Hey kids, war is NOT fun. This hits you hard when Al teams up with Bernie, an "enemy" soldier, and they try to defeat the Gundam (which, unbeknownest to them, is piloted by Bernie's love interest, Christina), but Bernie loses and dies, Al finds out the battle was pointless (their reason for fighting, to protect the colony, turned out to have been solved already), and Al's classmates, ignorant to what happened, continue to act as if war is some fun adventure. Cue tears from Al, and this poster

Gantz (manga) -

 

Everyone save Kurono dying at the end of the Buddha mission, which lead to Kurono's incredible character development, and Tae's death, which was heartbreaking to watch (but she comes back, yay!)

I agree with the these ones immensely.

I guess to add to this nice list,
Super Dimensional Macross

 

Roy Fokker dieing had a pretty big impact on me watching anime. I said, OMG heroes die in animation? His death was noble, but out of left field; as he died strumming his guitar at his long time girl's place.

[IFS]

H2O footprints in the sand

 

Kohinata's death near the end of the series where she got hit by the train trying to save a kid who was following his ball onto the train track

Gungrave

 

In the end where both Harry and Beyond the Grave (sorry can't remember hes real name) fight together in the bar and in the end they die get killed

[naotavespaboy]

FMA - Maes Hughes death. Not only was he a really great character but also the fact that he had figured out so much up to that point. Also the effect that it had on Roy was profound.

Naruto - There are many deaths to mention in this one (Zabuza the fourth hokage, etc etc...) I won't mention any in depth but all of them are handled well and help to move on the plot.

Chrono Crusade - A sad end to an excellent series. Particularly poignant as both characters are developed well throughout the series and are very likable.

Grenadier - The Jester. A love to hate enemy who's end at the hands of Yajiro a former student who hero worshipped him is handled very well.

Gantz - Loads of death's here. Kishimoto's and Sato's are the ones of most note and seriously affect Kies actions which lead to his own (possible?) demise at the gantzs hands.

GITS - Tachikoma. Nuff said.

Trigun - Wolfwood. Been a long time since I've seen this but I remeber it being very good.

Bebop - Spike went out in great style taking on Vicious and his Yakuza goons alone. Brilliant animation and a wonderful end to a classic series.

[nekosenshi]

Samurai X: Tomoe. Made me cry both times I saw it.

[Faceless111]

Since everyone has already mentioned the only deaths that have affected me (Spike, Hughes, Aeris, etc) I'll just mention the deaths of several other characters from FMA that haven't been shown love. Lust and Greed. Their deaths evoked minute sadness, but mostly anger. Two of my favorite characters from the series, killed. Figures.

[Rem Nightfall]

Off topic: The whole Code Geass setup reminds me of the French Revolution.

Back to the topic:

I'm second with Roy Focker, Gurren Lagann, Gundam 0080, Asuka and Trigun death scene. I would agree if they didn't revive him in Destiny, his death would be heart-wrenching but meh.

Mine:

Macross Frontier:

 

Michael Blanc's death was one of the most shocking and unexpected thing had happen in the series. Even though they parodized Ozma Lee near death similar to Roy Focker "Pineapple", but that didn't near the feeling when Michael sacrficed himself in order to protect Klan Klan from been killed during the macronization process. His last word before been suck into the oblivion really send cold chills down to my spine

Gundam 00 S1:

 

Lockon Stratos/Neil Dylandy death really have an impact on the series. It had effect on other characters esp, Sestuna, Tieria and Feldt.

Just finished Samurai 7 (actually bought it this time too).

 

I almost cried at the end. So many of them died. It was very sad. They could have at least saved Kikuchiyo. But that's war, the old veterans and the the newbies survive when all the rest die.

Yu Yu Hakusho

 

Genkai's death. She died fighting Younger Toguro in the episode "The Death of Genkai." They had an epic battle containing drama and emotion. Even though her death was expected (as shown by the name of the episode in which she died), seeing her go was still sorrowful. She is an excellent heroine and a great mentor to Yusuke. Fortunately, she did return to life in the episode "Toguro's Wish."

Fullmetal Alchemist

 

Ed and Hughes' deaths. Enough said.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

 

Misato and Asuka's deaths. They were both intriguing and complex characters. To see them killed in "The End of Evangelion" was sad.

I agree with these ones. But I also must add my own from Gundam 00.

Gundam 00 Season 2

 

Teira's death at the end of season 2. He was my favorite.

I also agree with L's death.