8. Boardwalk Empire - Jimmy Darmody
Prohibition Chicago is a dangerous place. Bootleggers, gangsters, and a whole lot of Tommy-guns lead to a lot of fellas getting iced. Such was the case for Nucky's former ally Jimmy. Jimmy came back from World War I with a limp from a grenade injury and was hired by Nucky to be his driver and bodyguard. As the series progresses, Jimmy starts his own bootlegging business and plots with multiple partners to take down Nucky after realizing that Nucky was responsible for the sexual affair between his parents. After Nucky's business moves force Jimmy and his partners to start selling their alcohol outside of Atlantic City, Jimmy tries to have his partner Manny killed after he asks him one too many times to pay off a debt. The assassination attempt fails and Manny heads over to kill Jimmy at his house. He instead finds Jimmy's wife Angela and her lesbian lover and kills them. Jimmy is devastated, and in a fit of rage attacks his mother and kills his father. He tries to make amends with Nucky, but by then it's too late. He realizes Nucky is going to kill him, and accepts his fate as Nucky shoots him twice in the head. I'm not always a fan of characters who allow themselves to get killed, but it's understandable at times. Emotional pain often leads people to act differently than they usually would. Still, I feel like the writers of this show gave Jimmy way too much to deal with at one time. Being one of the few characters who wasn't based off a historical figure, he had potential to do so many things. To kill him off in the second season of the show seems like a waste of a good character, especially since it leads to some bizarre behavior from his mother.