4. Vincent Vega Pulp Fiction
For a lot of the deaths on this list, their anti-climactic deaths were slightly awkward afterthoughts, and thats why they attracted my ire. But in the case of Pulp Fictions Vincent Vega, I guess being criminally anti-climactic was kind of the point. I know practically everything claims to have non-linear storytelling these days, so it only inspires scepticism and genre fatigue. Yet there was a time a time called 1994 where this was all relatively new. Sure, non-linear storytelling had obviously been done before, but combined with Pulp Fictions machine-gun dialogue and unapologetic ultra-violence it felt as if we were seeing something we hadnt seen before, which might explain why it made so many waves. The way Quentin Tarantino set his film out just seemed like a unique masterclass, and nowhere was that more apparent than with Vincent Vega. Throughout proceedings, we know Vegas a pretty formidable bloke hes not quite in Jules Winnifields bracket of pure awesome, but theres no shame in that and he does hold his own as his erstwhile partner as they talk about Royales with cheese. We see him at the start and he becomes a major character when hes forced to inject adrenalin into Uma Thurmans heart. And then he dies, horribly and suddenly. Its really pretty effective, entirely because its so anti-climactic. The man is shot by an antsy Butch as he comes out the toilet, which must be a particularly awful way to meet your maker. Theres no fanfare, no proper gunfights, no nothing just a man whos literally been caught with his pants down. It shows that despite Vincents winning presence in the film thus far, hes just an insignificant speck in Pulp Fictions day-of-the-life-of-the-city approach. The fact we see him later during Jules Winnifields final moment of badass-ness in the diner, knowing what's going to happen to him later, really rams this home. Well played, Tarantino, well played.