'Game of Thrones,' 'Mad Men' and Other Shocking TV Deaths
See what deaths had fans saying goodbye to their favorite characters.
April 14, 2014 — -- intro: "Game of Thrones" fans were shocked Sunday night when King Joffrey was killed off in epic fashion.
Joffrey choked to death at his own wedding. Some fans rejoiced that the evil king is now gone, while others will miss their favorite "GoT" character.
"I knew from Day 1. When I got the part, I read the first book. And before that, I Googled the character summaries," Jack Gleeson, who plays Joffrey told EW.
Here are some other TV deaths that had fans up in arms.
Read: 'Game of Thrones' Star Opens Up About Shocking 'Purple Wedding' Episode
quicklist: 1title: A Lot of People (Game of Thrones)text: This isn't the first time "GoT" has killed off a character.
In last year's season finale, Robb Stark broke a marriage pact between House Stark and House Frey -- and he ended up paying dearly for it. Lord Walder Frey wanted revenge and had Robb Stark, Robb's wife Talisa and mother, Lady Catelyn murdered along with most of his men. Frey had Robb's direwolf, Grey Wind, killed as well. The animal's head was sewn on to Stark's decapitated body and paraded around.
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title: Zoe Barnes (House of Cards)text: By the end of "House of Card’s" first season, we all knew Frank Underwood was a ruthless politician. Still, the death of Zoe Barnes made jaws drop when her ex-lover and White House connection savagely pushed her in front of an oncoming train in the very first episode of season 2. Just like that, Netflix erased the show’s second-leading character. And now it struggles to find another interesting journalist to parallel Underwood’s storyline.
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quicklist: 3title: Brian the Dog (Family Guy)text: Last November, "Family Guy" killed off Brian the Dog as a "Fun Way To Shake Things Up," producers said. Fans didn't think it was so fun as they petitioned to have their favorite pup back.
”NO NO NO NO !!!!! I AM NOT AMUSED AT ALL!!!” and “I AM NOT OK WITH THIS FAMILY GUY DEATH. NOT OK!!!” someone posted on Twitter.
In December, he was brought back from the dead. Baby Stewie Griffin used a Christmas wish to go back in time and save his four-legged friend.
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quicklist: 4title: Gus (Breaking Bad)text: Remember "Breaking Bad’s" Gus Fring? The undercover drug kingpin made an explosive and dramatic exit when a surprise bomb in Hector Salamanca’s nursing home ravaged half his face. But Gus maintained his eerily calm composure till the very end. Like a scene from a Wes Craven film, we get a close-up of the stripped and bloodied bone structure. And with a bizarre adjustment of the tie, good bye.
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title: Lane Pryce (Mad Men)text: After Don demanded his resignation for forging checks to the tune of $7,500, Lane Pryce took matters into his own hands and hanged himself in his office. It was Joan who discovered the body. No one saw that coming.
Pryce was the upper-class Brit with a soothing voice and despite some faults became a character on "Mad Men" most had grown to love. He had helped the boys spin off into their own company -- Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce -- and probably thought taking his own life was the right and noble thing to do since he betrayed his colleagues.
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title: Amanda Clarke (Revenge)text: Warning for future TV show characters: If someone is willing to pay money to switch identities, there is probably a good chance there is a dangerous reason for it.
Amanda Clarke, after switching identities with Emily Thorne during their time at juvenile detention together and moving to the same town as Emily, was killed in the middle of season two during her honeymoon boat trip with husband Jack Porter. Unfortunately, Nate Ryan, a man whose father’s murderer was helped by Jack’s father, was bent on revenge and was also aboard the boat and with a gun. Jack was shot, but Amanda was able to get him on a raft. Emily showed up to the boat just in time to help Amanda and was able to shoot him. Nate ended up blowing up the boat with a lighter. Amanda is killed in the explosion, while Emily is left perfectly fine. Sure, the identity-switch wasn’t the exact thing that got Amanda killed, but it definitely contributed inadvertently.
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quicklist: 7
title: Marissa Cooper (The O.C.)text: Who knew only dating “bad boys” would get someone in serious trouble one day? The on-and-off again relationship between trouble maker Ryan Atwood and girl-next-door Marissa Cooper came to a fatal end during the season three finale. Marissa had just gotten out of a bad relationship with Kevin Volchock, who also happens to hate Atwood, and was driving with to the airport at night with Ryan when Volchock came out of nowhere and slammed his car against theirs. Ryan’s car ended up off the road, flipping over and going up in flames. Ryan’s able to get Marissa out before the car blows up, but she is barely alive and ends up dying in his arms.
Fans had rooted for this couple since the very first time the characters met. Marissa asked Ryan who he was, to which he said "Whoever you want me to be" -- wearing his usual Chino-style, bad boy smirk, of course. Marissa had gone down a dark and dangerous path during season three, but she was turning her life around and was going to live with her dad in Greece for a year. And, if fans had any say, marrying Ryan immediately after that year was over because obviously these two main characters would get back together.
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title: Will Gardner (The Good Wife)text: A courtroom shooting by a man on trial for murder is one awful way for a character to die. Add the fact that lawyer Will Gardner, one of the main male leads, was the one killed and that it was done so by his own client was alarmingly worse. Will’s client, Jeffrey, was feeling the pressure of the trial and couldn’t handle it. After finding his way to a gun, Jeffrey decided randomly shoot where -- unfortunately -- Will was killed.
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