10 Movie Characters Who Got Undeservedly Brutal Deaths

2. Hoban "Wash" Washburne - Serenity

Method Of Death

Impaled through the chest.

Why It Was Undeserved

Joss Whedon clearly takes an almost fetishistic pleasure in killing off beloved characters he's created, and that's no more evident than with Wash's (Alan Tudyk) out-of-nowhere demise on the business end of a Reaver harpoon in Serenity's third act.

What should've been a joyous return to these beloved characters ultimately turned horrifying, made all the worse as Wash had just successfully evaded the Reavers and the Alliance.

He was calmly letting out his mantra, "I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar" when his life was instantly ended by that spear. He didn't even get to finish the quip.

While it's probably a relief that Wash's death was instant, did it have to be so damn brutal? Couldn't Wash have died in a giant explosion or something that wouldn't traumatise every fan watching?

Almost 15 years (!) later, Wash's death still rubs a lot of fans the wrong way, and with damn fine reason.