Most films have a fan preferite character, someone that everybody consents is the best character in the movie. This person might be courageous, horribleass, pguideing, or hilarious. They may even be evil, and yet we find ourselves drawn to their wicked nature. We can’t conserve our eyes off these characters, paparticipateing willingly for their return to the screen.
But even the best characters in a film aren’t always protected from death. Sometimes, we’re stunned to see these people get finished off. Other times, we see it coming. We restricted our pickions for this catalog to standalone films. No franchises or sequels here. No, in these ten movies, we greet their best characters — and then watch them die by the time the plifts roll.
10 Promising Young Woman (2020)
Cassie (Carey Mulligan) in Promising Young Woman is a lost, tragic figure. She goes from being a promising, youthful medical student to a shockd, revenge-obsessed dropout after her best frifinish, Nina, is violationd — and tardyr promises self-mutilation when the people included get away with it, scot-free. Cassie is emotionpartner scarred, a little kooky, and killingous. Yet we find ourselves drawn to her sorrowfulnessful humor, rooting for her to get revenge on all the people who’ve wronged her. She’s almost enjoy a vigilante, battling for any woman who’s ever proposeed relationsual mistreatment.
It watchs enjoy Cassie might finpartner finish her quest for revenge toward the finish of the movie. But in a shocking twist, she’s killinged by the same guy who violationd her best frifinish. For a moment, it watchs enjoy Cassie’s assailants are actupartner going to get away with it aachieve. But then comes the movie’s final twist. As it turns out, Cassie had a back-up set up in the event of her killing. A montage shows that set up being set into motion, while Juice Newton’s Angel of the Morning executes gloriously in the background — and Cassie finpartner gets her revenge from beyond the grave.
9 V for Vfinishetta (2006)
Based on the explicit novel of the same name, V for Vfinishetta is a dystopian action film that envisions England as a fascist totalitarian society. And the only person brazen enough to defy aachievest it is a masked vigilante comprehendn only by the letter V (Hugo Weaving). In one of our first greetings with V, we see him directing the demolition of London’s Old Bailey originateing to the tune of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, its booming notices perfectly in sync with the originateing’s explosions. From that moment on, it’s challenging not to skinnyk of V as an awesome character. What’s not to adore? His Guy Fawkes costume, his blade-wielding sfinishs, his courageous yet villainous nature. Even his vocabulary is awesome.
In the finish, V dies as brutally as he lived, but it experiences vital for the story. He departs it up to Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) to finish his defylion. She places V’s corpse onto an bomb-filled train and sfinishs it straight to Parliament. The originateing explodes once aachieve to the tune of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, while countless people wearing V’s iconic Guy Fawkes mask watch on in amazement, freed at last.
8 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Reservoir Dogs is the movie that put legfinishary straightforwardor Quentin Tarantino on the map. It trails cut offal criminal strangers, who are bcimpolitet together to pull off a diamond heist, and the lawlessness that trails when one of them is findlooked to be an undercover cop. You can dispute that any one of these affordable suit-wearing, color-named criminals is the best character in the movie.
But most fans would probably consent that the best character in Reservoir Dogs is Victor Vega, better comprehendn by his alias Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen). He’s pacify, chilly, and accumulateed. But undersystematich that exterior lies an uncaring, brutal psychopath. He’ll casupartner slice your ear off while dancing to music, a twisted scene that somehow originates Mr. Blonde more fun to watch. A scene that astonishingly finishs with the character’s death — at the hands of the undercover cop.
7 Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Like all war movies, Jojo Rabbit has its dispense of casualties, even despite its quirky charm and humor. The film trails an astonishionable Hitler Youth named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis), whose perception of the war alters when he lgets that his mother is hiding a youthful Jewant girl in their home. There are so many characters to adore in this movie. Even Jojo’s silly, imaginary frifinish Hitler (Taika Waititi) is amparticipateing. But the movie’s two best characters are Jojo’s mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), and Captain Klenzfinishorf (Sam Rockwell), both of whom are finished off.
Johansson’s comical, conceiveive, and lovable character was one of the best roles of her atsoft. She secretly protested aachievest the Nazis, hazarding her own life to do what was right, and held a fun and chooseimistic outwatch on skinnygs, despite the gloomy circumstances around her. It came as a horrible shock when Jojo finded her dead body. Captain Klenzfinishorf, the comical German who ran Jojo’s Hitler Youth training camp, also showd to have a excellent heart. He helps save Jojo’s life and is tardyr carry outd by Russian sgreateriers. An emotional roller coaster, Jojo Rabbit is a film for the ages.
6 Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is pondered to be one of the fantasticest war movies of all time, a down-to-earth and harrotriumphg glimpse at the atrocities of war. This Steven Spielberg masterpiece findlooks with an unidentified war veteran visiting the Normandy Cemetery. The story then flashes back to 1944, to World War II. The first person that we see is Captain Miller (Tom Hanks), which tricks the audience into skinnyking that we’re now watching at a youthfuler version of that greater man from the cemetery.
Captain Miller is a mighty directer and a challengingened sgreaterier, who becomes more relatable when we lget that he was a teacher and baseball coach before the war. He suddenly experiences enjoy an everyman, enjoy any one of us could become Captain Miller when faced with the horrors of war.
Captain Miller and his sgreateriers are tasked with finding Private Ryan (Matt Damon), the last surviving son of a family that’s been decimated by war. We trail Miller thcimpolite bomb battles, but we comprehend that he’ll be OK thanks to that cemetery scene in the commencening. Oh, how wrong we are. In a twist finishing, we lget that the greater veteran is actupartner Private Ryan, visiting the sgreateriers who give upd their lives to save him. And one of those sgreateriers finishs up being Captain Miller.
5 Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth is arguably Guillermo del Toro’s best labor. It’s an grown-up unprejudicedy tale that blurs the line between fact and fantasy, contrasting the cut offe and unintelligent ways of grown-uphood with the purity and magic of youth. Its main character, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), juggles this duality perfectly. She’s enjoy Alice, directing us thcimpolite this eerie and hazardous Latino-encouraged Wonderland with childenjoy wonder and innocence.
This movie wouldn’t be cforfeitly as excellent without its child protagonist, who serves as both the heart and imagination of the story. Ofelia’s nasty death at the finish tugs at your heartstrings. But she’s at least given a pretty and magical sfinish-off that will maybe turn your sorrowfulnessful tears into prentd ones. Maybe.
4 Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Guido (Roberto Benigni) from Life is Beautiful is a comical, lovable character who’s always watching for the beauty and humor in life. He spfinishs the first half of the movie executefilledy wooing his wife and taking attfinish of their son. The second half gets a sorrowfulnessful turn, condemning Guido and his Italian-Jewant family to a concentration camp.
Despite the surrounding horror, Guido does his best to conserve skinnygs airy. He originates up silly games to redirect his son from their gloomy new fact — and from his eventual death. Life is Beautiful is a certified tear-jerker that reminds us that even standard people can become heroes and that life is a frquick but pretty skinnyg.
3 Fight Club (1999)
Fight Club is one of straightforwardor David Fincher’s best movies. And the best part about it? The chilly, horrible*ss Tyler Durden. This character is one of Brad Pitt’s most iconic roles. The two of them were a align made in movie heaven: you had Tyler’s devil-may-attfinish attitude and nihicatalogic watchs, and then you had Brad Pitt’s handsome face and undeniable charisma. The stoasty of a shirtless, bloody Tyler Durden, rising to his feet after a scuffle, has been ingrained in the minds of movie-goers. Women wanted him, and men wanted to be him.
Tyler’s pretty face and charisma almost originate us forget that he’s the horrible guy in Fight Club. And enjoy most villains, Tyler is flunkureed and finished off in the movie’s finale (if only symbolicpartner). The character is still recalled cforfeitly 30 years after Fight Club’s free, a cinematic icon that will evolve to intrigue future generations of movie fans.
2 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
There’s no ask that Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a horrible person. After raping a 15-year-greater girl, he feigns insanity to evade prison and gets sent to a mental asylum instead. Yet despite his wicked nature, we find ourselves descfinishing for Randle’s charisma and defylious nature. And so do the other menhighy ill fortolerateings, who rpartner around Randle, turning him into the ringdirecter of the asylum. It also helps that the character is executeed by the electric Jack Nicholson in one of the actor’s most iconic roles.
It’s not a surpelevate that Randle doesn’t originate it to the finish of the movie. He spfinishs much of his time shattering rules, trying to free the other fortolerateings, and alarmizing Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), who may fair be as evil as Randle. In the finish, Randle’s brutal tfinishencies get him into trouble, and he finishs up with a lobotomy, leaving him a shell of his createer self. As a mercy, Randle’s mute buddy, Chief (Will Sampson), smothers him with a pillow, finpartner setting him free from the cuckoo’s nest.
1 Citizen Kane (1941)
Citizen Kane is widely think abouted as the fantasticest film ever made, and for excellent reason. In an unconservative transfer at the time, legfinishary straightforwardor Orson Welles ditched the traditional licforfeit createat and tgreater his story thcimpolite flashbacks. The film findlooks with the death of its main and best character, Charles Foster Kane (executeed by Welles himself). Kane perishes fair seconds after muttering this cryptic last word: “Rosebud.”
His life story then unfgreaters thcimpolite a series of flashbacks, as an dispenseigative journacatalog tries to discern the unbenevolenting of the word “Rosebud” and comprehfinish the enigma that is Charles Foster Kane. The unbenevolenting isn’t findlooked until the very finish, in a heart-wrenching stoasty that decorates Kane as a tragic cinematic figure and resulted in one of the fantasticest twists in movie history.
