So, I’ve been thinking about all the deaths I’ve seen in movies and thought I’d list them. Now I am getting old, so obviously, I will miss some, but it’s from age, not disrespect. If you read this list, there is a chance you’ll read some spoilers, so turn back now if you want. This isn’t a complete list just the ones I had on my mind at the time.

Now, I don’t want to put them in an order where they will seem more tragic than the others, and yes, I know it’s all fiction, but I’m a bit of a dork and a softy, so forgive me.

Captain Hector Barbossa Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Knowing his past and that he died once makes me wonder if he might come back, and I’m sure if they get things going with Johnny Depp, we’ll see Geoffrey Rush reprise his role somehow, too. With recent talk of the franchise going with an all-female lead, I know it may be a stretch. However, I am a sucker for the anti-hero. I love it when the character you’ve come to hate shows who they truly are and pay the ultimate price for being good, like another one on our list you’ll read later. When Jack called out to his long-time friend, former enemy, and first mate, Hector knew exactly what would happen. He knew he would die for his daughter right after telling her she was a treasure to him. This is one of my all-time favorites, though he redeemed himself very well. I will stop everything I am doing to watch this movie. This entire movie was great, and I wish they had done more with the original cast.

Obviously, you can’t have a list dealing with movie deaths and NOT include one of the biggest franchises in history. When Severus Snape dies in Deathly Hallow 2, it was both heroic and tragic. The entire “always” line delivered by the Oscar-worthy Alan Rickman was even more shattering. I knew nothing of the books and only knew the movies, and from the first movie, I could tell they were setting him up to be the anti-hero, and I was all there for it. While people were hating him, I knew and hoped he would redeem himself, and man did he. This death is one of the more tragic but masterfully played by Rickman. The entire “you have her eyes” just makes the character more tragic, and it’s beautifully done, and Alan Rickman kills it in this part. He played the character very well. So much so that I pictured him acting it out when I read the books. Incredible death and incredible performance.

In modern cinema, there is no greater twist or death than that of Malcolm in The Sixth Sense. This death at the time was one no one saw coming. It helped that the writer was the director M. Knight Shyamalan and filmed the movie in a way that wouldn’t give anything away until the final moment before the reveal and seeing it for the first time was such a “what the fuck” moment that has yet to be replaced by anything put out since. Though the death wasn’t as tragic for anti-hero ways, it was still a big damn moment and deserved mentioning.

Now, this one isn’t a death scene, I know; I know this blog is about shocking movie deaths, but Once Upon a Time in Hollywood should be mentioned not for the deaths but for what the movie is. This movie was Quinton Tarantino’s childhood trauma and the outcome he wished would happen to one of Hollywood’s real-life murders, that of Sharon Tate. The real-life murder of this actress was the centerpiece of arguably one of Tarantino’s best movies, and the reasoning behind it all made sense in the end. Brad Pitt plays an awesome role in this movie, and even Leonardo DiCaprio gives us an enjoyable performance. Still, Quinton was deeply impacted by the deaths that led to this movie, and the real-life tragedy is what puts this movie on the list for the final 20 or so minutes of the film really bring it home.

Now, I could go on about which deaths were the most shocking, and I could list some cartoon deaths, such as Bing Bong in the movie Inside Out or Stoick the Vast in How to Train Your Dragon, but some deaths are so satisfying, to watch you put them on repeat. For me, the Oscar-worthy role of “Beggars Man” by Kevin Wayne is a death scene I replay over and over; it’s satisfying because the actor is a real piece of work in real life, having “worked” with him and knowing the real-life piece the actor is in real life I enjoyed his short time in this movie and even bought it on digital and DVD so I could watch it over and over again. If you know the actor in real life, you should also check it out.

I have two satisfying deaths from Pirates at World End, the first being Mercer when Davey Jones finally gets control back of his ship and crew, and he suffocates Mercer. It is one of the more satisfying deaths of the miserable prick played by David Schofield I’ve ever seen. Still, nothing compares to Cutler Beckett’s death at the pivotal point of the movie as he utters, “It’s just good business” before accepting his fate. Benny in The Mummy has a satisfying death to a weasel of a character deserving of a slime like him. Lastly, not a death but still a satisfying need for a character you hated was that of Percy in The Green Mile. It’s nice to see when some shitty characters get their comeuppance.

Let me know some of your anti-hero deaths and some of the more deserving deaths. I will make a more informed list regarding TV and movie deaths in the future.