10 TV Characters Who Went Through Hell To Win (And Died Anyway)

American Horror Story could quite easily have filled this list alone, given the fact that the horror anthology show has made a habit of offing every character, major and minor, fan favourite and most hated, before each season’s closing credits roll. Executive producer and Glee head honcho Ryan Murphy has a zeal for tossing all and sundry off their mortal coil once they’ve fulfilled their narrative usefulness, and no amount of heroism or just straight up bad-ass-ness can insulate a character from the most unexpected, unwarranted, and straight up demeaning deaths in the American Horror Story verse.

It’s difficult to pick the most egregious case, but the one which drew the most ire from the Internet will suffice. Misty Day was a deeply likeable character who was utterly tortured for no discernible reason, and the ignominious end of her character arc is inexcusable, particularly in a show where characters played by Emma Roberts frequently go on to survive.

First off poor Misty was burned alive for the crime of being a witch, and not in Salem either—in contemporary America. Luckily she was, as accused, a witch, and as such survived to tell the tale, but she’s nonetheless isolated from the world, only to be buried alive and die of starvation when integrated into the titular coven. But she’s resurrected!

And ends up in her own personal hell, dissecting a frog on an eternal loop because—she can’t pass some wizarding test or another?