10 Movie Characters Who Had To Die To Win

Ah, Groot. We all fell in love with the polysyllabic lug in James Gunn’s 2014 sleeper hit Guardians of the Galaxy, with Vin Diesel’s instantly iconic performance and the ugly-cute character design making the gangly sentient tree an effective Chewbacca for this ragtag bunch of interstellar misfits.

And sure, we were all heartbroken when Ronan’s plan cost him his life. As glad as we were to see the titular Guardians emerge unscathed, it hurt to see our boy gone at their expense even if the plan did rid them of Ronan himself. That said, Groot’s death served to reaffirm the film’s deeper theme of abiding friendship and his sacrifice does serve to illustrate the bond between the Guardians.

The death works not because it’s an unexpectedly sad moment in an otherwise relatively light-hearted romp, but because the story has consistently depicted the Guardians as having strength in their friendship where Ronan’s strength comes from lone domination of his underlings. Groot’s plan works because his friends could rely on him to sacrifice himself for them, knowing they’d do the same for him, whereas the villain is vanquished not because of insufficient fire power but because he didn’t have any backup who believed in him the way Groot did the Guardians.