10 Comic Book Villains That Died (And Never Returned)

9. The Shredder (Oroku Saki)

While The Shredder has (technically) returned in subsequent reboots of Eastman and Laird's original Mirage comic, he hasn't cheated death - at least not to tell the tale.

Fans of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon will no doubt remember the moment Leonardo sliced clean through the Shredder in the first season's finale, decapitating him and providing what was (until they get zapped off to space), a fitting end for the cartoon series.

What they might not know, however, is that the scene was a homage to a far bloodier battle from the original Turtles comic, in which Leonardo slices Shredder's very real and very human head clean from his neck.

It's a gruesome moment, but what's most interesting about this is that the death came in the wake of a previous resurrection. This proved to be the definitive end for the leader of the Foot however, and it's a moment that, time and again, each and every Turtles production returns to.