8 Movie Heroes You Didn't Realise Probably Died Horrible Deaths

5. Shaun - Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

The "Heroic" Ending...

Having battled an endless army of zombies over the course of the movie, Shaun, his ex-girlfriend Liz, and an assorted group of their family and friends, manage to make it to their local pub, where they hole up and prepare for the apocalyptic final battle against the undead.

When everyone else is either mutilated or transformed into a zombie, Shaun and Liz bid farewell to Ed, who has been bitten and will turn zombie soon, and he and Shaun share a final moment of friendship. Then the couple manage to make it back out on the street, where the army arrive and shoot down the hordes of undead.

Shaun and Liz, reunited by way of their circumstance, become a happy couple again... though it is revealed that the remaining zombies are being utilised by way of mundane, laborious jobs (like pushing trollies at supermarkets), and Shaun has even kept the zombiefied Ed in his garden shed, who he proceeds to join on occassion so they can play video games together. Aw.

But wait...

In the movie's iconic final shot, Shaun can be glimpsed sitting in extremely close proximity to his former best friend, who even attempts to bite him, only to be knocked away with playful charm. It's played for laughs, of course, and it's a good way to end the film, but how long can this behaviour last, exactly? Given that Shaun presumably plans to keep Ed in the shed indefinitely, there's going to be at least one occassion when Shaun - perhaps drunk or sleepy or too caught up in Timesplitters 2 - is going to get bitten by Ed.

And then what? Liz will come out to the shed to find that her boyfriend is a zombie. Imagine that! Maybe she'll get bitten, too. Maybe all three characters will go on a rampage and start the second zombie apocalypse. Because the precautions that Shaun is seen taking with Ed aren't at all fitting to the situation. It's a zombie.

The man has indadvertedly set himself up to not only end up as a member of the undead horde himself, but to potentially ruin London for a second time 'round. Still, we all know how good multiplayer is, so it's somewhat understandable.