10 TV Characters Killed In Desperate Attempts To Boost Ratings

First appearing in Sunnydale in 1999 during season four of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Amber Benson's Tara Maclay overcame some pretty nasty resistance from fans to become one of the first instances of a lesbian couple regularly appearing on prime time US television, as well as establishing herself as one of the most wholesome and likeable characters on the entire show.

Constantly the voice of reason and a symbol of overcoming one's own reservations, her magical skills and relationship with Willow made her increasingly popular as her character continued to grow and develop.

However, consensus amongst critics were beginning to note that the same couldn't be said for a lot of the other characters on the show by that point, especially Willow, which was contributing to the show's slow slip down the ratings.

Tara was killed by a stray bullet near the end of the sixth season, triggering a vengeful rampage from Willow that the series had never really experimented with before. One of only a handful characters from the show to have never been resurrected, Tara's death was as controversial with the fans as it was absolutely gut-wrenching to watch.

Sadly however the show was already in a spiral it couldn't get out of, and the seventh season for the show proved to be the worst received, least viewed and final one to date in the main run.