10 Devastating Comic Book Deaths That Came Out Of Nowhere

10. Stephanie Brown - Batman #633 (2004)

After Tim Drake hung up the Robin tights, his partner, Stephanie Brown, became Batman's new protégé. Even though it was nice to see a female Robin for once, Stephanie's tenure as the Girl Wonder didn't last long. After she used lethal force on a criminal, Bats fired her on the spot.

To prove her worth to Batman, Stephanie orchestrated a turf war between Gotham's gangs, hoping she would save the day before it got out of hand. Sadly, the situation spiralled out of control, leading to many deaths in the city.

After Black Mask seized control over Gotham, he had Stephanie kidnapped. Despite being horrifically tortured, Brown escaped and reached the clinic of Bruce Wayne's doctor, Leslie Thompkins. Sadly, Stephanie died shortly after being admitted.

To add to the tragedy, Batman discovered Leslie could've saved Stephanie but chose not to, because she wanted to prove that the Caped Crusader's methods to stop violence were making things worse.

At first, it was awful when readers were under the impression this teenage girl was murdered by a deranged supervillain. However, it was more heartbreaking when we learned Stephanie's death was caused by one of Bruce's most trusted friends, just to make a point.