In case the audience hadn't picked up on it throughout the brutal first episodes, Ned Stark's death really cemented the fact that this was no fairy tale.

Charlie was one of the most heartwarming characters on the show, so seeing him die was particularly brutal. At least he got to pass on an important message in his

death.

Buffy had seen her share of death throughout five years of television, but it had never hit quite so close to home before. Joyce's death affected the entire cast.

Fan of the novels had an inkling of where things were going, but that didn't make the Red Wedding any less brutal to actually experience on screen.

Willow and Tara had JUST gotten back on track in their relationship. So, naturally, it was the perfect time to kill Tara off. Curse you, writers.

Glenn seemed to be immune to death. He was killed off once in a fake-out and then brought back. It didn't ACTUALLY make him immortal, though, and he was killed

in much the same way his comic counterpart was.

Losing Fred so soon after losing another major cast member (Cordelia) made this death seem particularly hard to handle. Not to mention the fact that it was brutal as hell.

This golden couple was killed off almost immediately after they reunited in the final season of the series. The writers couldn't have had worse timing.

This dude basically invited the Grim Reaper into the hospital. He died and no cast member has been safe from the scythe since.

Okay, so he technically died in the movie continuation of the series, but still, he was a beloved part of the show and his death was 100% unnecessary. 

We got a sliver of hope when she woke up from her coma, only to be body slammed by her fake-out death. At least she went out macking on Angel.

So many people had died on the show at this point, that no one was really expecting the main character's sister to bite it...Well, here we are.

After a great first season, Glee went downhill. That didn't stop it from producing truly heartbreaking episodes every once in a while, as was the case with its handling of an

actor's real life death.

In case you had any doubts, this was the death that told you everything you needed to know: this show was not going to shy away from killing off kids.

Charlie was about as much of an audience surrogate as you could have on a TV show and seeing her die was particularly tough.

Derek was Meredith's true love—who honestly thought the show would have the cajones to kill him off?

Killing off Ann Lucia was completely understandable. But, then immediately killing of Libby? That is just too much. Hurley deserves love just like everyone else!

Depending on who you talk to, Prue's death was the death of the entire show.

Killing off a character off screen after years off the show is probably the most cold hearted thing a writer can do. That didn't stop writers from doing it in

this case.

Being trapped in prison is bad enough. Dying in a prison has to be even worse. Fans were NOT happy with this one. 

With this one, writers proved that they, shockingly, thought killing off kids was completely kosher. Maybe that's where 'The Walking Dead' got it from.

This show didn't really hesitate to kill off characters when it needed to, but the extremely personal nature of this particular offing really did a number on fans. 

This death was just distasteful. A summary of show: "This is how I met your mother. Oh yeah, your mom died. But who cares, isn't Robin great?"

As if we didn't already know that Walter White was straight up evil, letting Jane die pretty much cemented the fact.

This dude managed to survive two major heart attacks. Third time was the not-so-charm, I guess.

Sure, this show was a soap opera, but it wasn't THAT deadly up until the third season finale. The end of high school was the end of an era.

Allison's death was kind of a surprise, considering how integral she was to the narrative, but her tragic demise paved the way for the other characters to save the day.

Silver lining?

There are a ton of characters on this show that are absolutely despicable, but that doesn't stop the show from producing truly heartbreaking deaths.

House lost patients left and right, but it wasn't often that he lost staff members. Kutner's suicide was very abrupt.

Mulder's oldest confidantes were beloved by the nerd nation, and their deaths were the true sign that the end of the show was nigh. Well, up until it came back

in 2016. 

This one came out of absolutely nowhere. A courtroom shooting ended one of the great love affairs of the 2010s.

Tree Hill wasn't a town that was exactly made up of positive role models. Keith was one of the few worthwhile father figures out there, which naturally meant his death

had maximum emotional impact. 

If you needed any indication that the final episodes of the series were going to be going even darker than any of the episodes that had come before, Dualla's suicide

was what you were looking for.

No, not the first time. While that was sad, Buffy's second death and her scene saying goodbye to her sister, Dawn, were what truly made fans weep.

The open-ended nature of George's demise had fans speculating all summer about his fate. Well, things were just as dire as they looked and he marked the first of many

intern losses.

It was the series finale, so fans probably saw this one coming. Still, the bittersweet image of Jack's posse escaping the island was hard to handle.

As if all of the other losses on this show weren't enough, Wes kicking the bucket with the lingering essence of Fred at his side was almost too much to

handle.

In a move that was totally proto-Grey's, Lucy was attacked by a crazed patient and left for dead. Shocking, and a sign of things to come.

Yeah, yeah, a series finale means literally anything can happen. But dying and leaving behind a 1-year-old child? That is an awful lot for fans to handle.

This one didn't stick, but it didn't make the sight of Brian dying any less hard to handle. Sure, he was annoying at times (most of them) but he was

still an integral part of the Griffin family.