8 Main Character Deaths That Killed Great TV Shows
3. Fox Mulder - The X-Files
The X-Files was always about Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, whose relationship and investigations into alien activity drove the show's drama, humour and heart.
It was colossally detrimental for the show, then, when Mulder was abducted and believed dead at the end of the show's seventh season, and then appeared only sparingly (typically through archive footage and brief cameos, because David Duchovny quit following issues with Fox Studios) on the following two seasons.
Now, Mulder doesn't actually die, but his MIA status leads many to believe he is, and his absence is deeply felt. Whilst Scully is a great character in her own right, without Mulder she's not quite the same, unable to carry The X-Files' mysteries alone.
It also didn't help that Mulder was replaced by Agent Doggett, who despite being played by Robert Patrick is given very little to work with. By the time he returned for the show's final seasons, The X-Files wasn't able to recover from his absence.