10 Sci-Fi Movie Deaths That Came Out Of Nowhere

Joss Whedon is the patron saint of getting audiences to care deeply about characters, only to kill them off in the most heart-wrenchingly depressing way possible.

Case in point, we have Serenity, the big-screen follow-up to his cult classic sci-fi TV series Firefly.

Though beloved pastor Shepherd Book (Ron Glass) was killed half-way through the movie, that wasn't exactly a massive surprise considering the character's age and the peripheral role he played in the story.

Far more jolting was the third act death of Serenity's pilot Wash (Alan Tudyk), a sure fan favourite character and seemingly vital member of the central cast.

After gingerly piloting the ship through an epic space battle between the Alliance and the Reavers, he makes a crash landing which seems to imply a safe breather for both the crew and the audience.

But mere seconds later, Wash is fatally impaled by a Reaver harpoon, and in an instant, he's gone. There's no death speech or emotional farewell with his wife Zoe (Gina Torres) - he's simply here one minute, and gone the next.

Not a single solitary soul saw this coming, though in the years since fans have basically trained themselves not to get too attached to any Whedon creations, no matter how likeable they are.