10 Movie Characters Who Sacrificed Their Lives Unnecessarily

6. Gandalf - The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

While the impact of Gandalf's "death" is lessened, regardless of whether his sacrifice was necessary or not, by the fact that he returned in The Two Towers, the fact is that his demise in the first movie was wholly unnecessary. When the Fellowship were attacked by the ancient fire and shadow demon known as the Balrog, Gandalf confronted the creature and told the rest of his group to continue on their quest to Mount Doom. While the others reluctantly looked on at the confrontation, Gandalf remained to destroy the tiny bridge on which the Balrog stood. But, standing on the edge of what was left of the bridge, he left himself open to an assault from the falling demon, which pulled him down with him. Had Gandalf simply destroyed the bridge from a position that wasn't actually on the bridge itself - and had remained on the edge of what was left of it as the Balrog fell - he would have quite easily survived the situation.