The Simpsons: 10 Utterly Heart-Breaking Moments You'll Never Forget

6. Maude

There have of course been a number of deaths in the Simpsons, with Bleeding Gums Murphy and Dr Marvin Monroe (though that was retconned out for a laugh) probably the most high-profile, and others like Frank Grimes have happened as incidental narrative events. The death of Maude Flanders was far more important, and far more devastating.

The event itself was a particularly shocking moment in The Simpsons' history, since the only deaths we had witnessed were off-screen and mostly unimportant. But Maude was a key character, mostly thanks to her relationship with Ned, and we saw her death actually happen for all intents and purposes.

The effect on Ned was profound, forcing him to question his faith, and wonder how he could possibly cope, and that was heart-breaking enough without the profound additional impact that has now been added in hindsight with the death of Ned's second wife Edna. Ned has already known poignant pain and tragedy, and the idea of seeing him forced to go through the same again is particularly sad.