Ever since Joss Whedon signed on to direct the 2012 film, The Avengers, all of Whedon’s fans have be asking one question; who is going to die? Whedon is infamous for killing off fan-favorite characters in such a dramatic and surprising ways it leaves people pissed off for years. Just the other month Whedon made the decision to take out Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8. Giles had been around ever since Buffy began which just goes to show you that no character is safe from Whedon’s rath.
I started making a list of all the characters Joss Whedon had killed, both in his television shows and comic book runs, and boy was it long. However, most of them weren’t permanently dead. Angel came back from a hell dimension, Spike was brought back after being burned to ash, and I lost count how many times Buffy has died and came back to life. Whedon even did X-Men fans a favor by resurrecting Colossus during his run of Astonishing X-Men. With all this death Whedon has made I tried to think of my top five, but felt only four really shocked or moved me. So here are four characters I love to watch die over and over.
#4 Tara (Buffy the Vampire Slayer): When super-geek Warren comes to the Summer’s residence to shoot Buffy he thought he had succeeded. Xander races Buffy to the hospital not even knowing that someone else had been shot. Warren had fired several shots before running away, and one of those crazy shots went right through an up-stairs window and through Tara’s chest, right in front of her lover Willow. This caused Willow to go black-haired and evil. She hunted down Warren and skinned him alive for revenge, and then wanted the whole world to burn for her pain as well. But the only thing that saved us all from a lover scorned is the understanding and sacrifice of a friend. Thanks Xander.
Tara started out as a character who just meant the end of Willow and Oz, but grew to become a crutch for everyone to lean on. When Buffy’s mom died it was Tara’s words that helped Buffy through, and when the slayer died at the end of season 5 both Willow and Dawn looked to Tara for support. She was a mother figure in Buffy when the mother figure was gone, and that’s why it was one of the most surprising and saddest death’s to watch.
TARA’S LAST WORDS: (Willow still standing by the dresser, smiling. Suddenly, redness splatters across her white blouse. She looks surprised. Tara still standing with her back to the window, looking surprised. There's a large red spot on Tara's chest, right over her heart.)(frowning) Your shirt. (Tara falls forward.)
#3 Darla (Angel): Darla started out in the pilot to Buffy the Vampire Slayer as such a shallow character, but when she was resurrected in Angel Julie Benz brought a whole new depth to the character that made us love her to the very end. Darla was resurrected as a human to mess with Angel’s head, then turned back into a soulless vampire to screw with him some more, and then they just literally screwed. That would have been the end of it except Darla showed up months later with a bun in the oven, and a soul to share. Darla knew that once her son was born she would turn back into an evil monster, probably destroying her own baby. So she made the sacrifice any mother would make. She staked herself to save her child.
The growth of Darla through two seasons on Angel brought a wide range of emotions that only few could pull off successfully. Benz was so perfect that you still felt sorry for Darla even when she was a murderous vampire. In an alley, in the pouring rain, Darla made the most humane choice anyone could make. Not bad for a woman who spent over 200 years not being human.
DARLA’S LAST WORDS: This child, Angel, it’s the one good thing we ever did together. The only good thing. You make sure to tell him that. (Stakes herself in the heart leaving dust and a naked baby boy)
#2 Fred (Angel): Fred started out in the second season of Angel as a shy girl in cave, but over the seasons grew into a confident, intelligent, and rather chatty, woman. She seemed to be the conscious of the group who was so sweet and innocent. Her charm was so strong it entranced two good friends, Wesley and Gunn, to fight over her for almost two years.
In season 5 of Angel a mysterious sarcophagus entered her lab at Wolfram & Hart, when it opened up Fred inhaled its contents. The being known as Illyria began the process of hollowing her out so she could take control of her body. Everyone in Angel Investigations rushed to try and help her. Angel almost sacrificed thousands of lives just to save Fred, but knew it’s not what she would have wanted. In her final moments Wesley held her in his arms as Fred’s soul was destroyed and Illyria had taken over Fred’s body. This scene still makes me teary eyed.
FRED’S LAST WORDS: (holding onto Wes's shoulders, looks into his eyes, quivering I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm not scared. (her grip softens, she can't hold herself up) Please, Wesley, why can't I stay? (she goes still as Wes holds her in his arms)
#1 Wash (Serenity): When you’re on the run from both Reavers and the Allliance there is no pilot I’d rather have at the helm than Hoban Washburne. His final act was crash landing Serenity safely with all his friends intact. Sadly it wasn’t a minute later that he was impaled by a Reaver hook. After that moment all bets where off for the crew of Serenity. Wash’s shocking end meant that no one was safe, and when the rest of the crew started getting shot and injured you didn’t know who was going to go next.
My wife vows to yell at Joss Whedon if she ever meets him for killing off Wash. But I just tell her that means he did his job well. Wash’s death effected everyone. It destroyed the only happy couple in the ‘verse, left Serenity without a pilot, and took out the comedy relief in the middle of a do-or-die situation. I’m still hoping for a post-Serenity story seeing how everyone is dealing with the death of Wash. If Whedon is keeping Buffy and Angel alive after they ended he needs to do the same with Firefly.
WASH’S LAST WORDS: I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how I---(impaled).
