This year brought it’s fair share of television awesomeness, like the perfect introduction of the anti-hero Mr. Quinlan on The Strain to the hilarious scene of Alison twerking on her bed in Orphan Black. However, even with all of the good comes great despair, as TV writers continued to make even bolder moves by killing some of the most beloved characters on television. In actuality, the number of fallen comrades are too many to count, but we managed to narrow down the list to 10 that no die-hard fan will forget anytime soon.

10. Dr. Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham — “Hannibal”

Nearly 3 years ago when NBC’s Hannibal premiered, I was one of the show’s biggest proponents — even with its consistently low ratings, even with the threat of cancellation constantly looming over its head. With its impeccable writing and cinematic atmosphere, it quickly became a favorite among other critics as well.

Going into season 3, I continued giving the show top ratings and even after it had been cancelled by NBC. However, as we embarked on the 2nd half of the season, the show began to change, in my opinion, and not in a good way. It became too over-the-top and artsy, key plot details were buried in convoluted imagery and symbolism that made it hard to follow, and it started to become predictable and somewhat boring.

So, by the time we got to the season 3 finale, the show was really starting to grate on me. The bromance between Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) had been highlighted since season 2 (and was becoming quite annoying BTW), and so it was quite poetic for the finale to end with a murder/suicide of the 2 characters and ironically right after their first kill together.

So if the show annoyed me so much towards the end, why did these 2 deaths make the cut? The main reason is because it brought an enormous amount of closure and made for a good series finale. Given that the show had no rights to the Clarice Starling character, there wasn’t much source material left, and this was a good way to close out the series. Of course, had there been a season 4, they would have found a way somehow to resurrect the characters, because, hey, no one dies on this show (which is pretty eff’ed up considering the premise is a cannibalistic serial killer).

9. Tyreese Goldstein — “The Walking Dead”

If you’re a character on The Walking Dead  and unless you are Rick or Carl Grimes, you should be prepared to go out at any moment. And, for Tyreese Goldstein (Chad Coleman), compared to his comic-book counterpart, he was living on borrowed time. In the comics, Tyreese is the one who is beheaded by the Governor, not Hershel Greene, and so by all accounts, he should’ve been dead going into season 5.

As it turns out, Tyreese didn’t last very long after the Governor’s final attack on the prison after all. In an attempt to locate Noah’s family, he is bitten not just once but twice and dies after a futile attempt to amputate the injured arm. The shocking part of this is the fact that Tyreese’s death occurred in the 5B premiere, which was right on the heels of Beth Greene’s death in the mid-season finale. Killing characters in mid-season premieres isn’t something the show had done before and definitely caught fans off-guard.

8. Paul Dierden — “Orphan Black”

A character that had been with Orphan Black  since day 1, Paul Dierden (Dylan Bruce)  was someone we were never completely sure which side he was on — well, until the season 3 episode “Certain Agony Of The Battlefield.” In a showdown with the Castor clones and with tears running down his face,  Paul reveals a huge grenade hidden in his hands, and within a matter of seconds, the entire military base explodes, with Sarah barely escaping.

As if pouring salt on the wound, Paul reveals his love for Sarah right before his demise, leaving fans to cry their little eyes out for the rest of the weekend.

7.  Noah — “The Walking Dead”

Before the season 5 episode “Spend,” the most shocking death on The Walking Dead for me was Dale Horvath being disemboweled by the swamp walker in season 2. Since then, the series has tried numerous times to top it, albeit unsuccessfully. But, in season 5 with the death of poor Noah (Tyler James Williams), they finally managed to pull it off.

Surrounded by zombies and being fish-hooked to death by the walkers’ bony fingers, all while being trapped in a revolving glass door. Can you imagine a death worse than that in the zombie apocalypse? I certainly can’t. Definitely one of the most gruesome images ever put on the zombie drama — and quite possibly all of television.

6. Mack Thompson — “Z Nation”

Unlike The Walking Dead, Z Nation  is a zombie drama where no one is truly safe. The show definitely proved this in season 1 with the death in the Pilot of the character, Lt. Hammond, who most fans thought was going to be the series’ Rick Grimes. The series did it once again later in the same season with the death of Charlie Barnett, the survivors’ new leader after the demise of Hammond.

Basically, you never know what to expect from this show, which has become one of its hallmarks. The pattern continued on into season 2 this Fall with the death of Mack Thompson (Michael Welch)  in episode 2.02 “The White Light.” Mack was one hell of a survivor already defying death once in the season 1 episode “Sisters of Mercy,” and so, when it showed him supposedly being eaten alive by Z’s, most fans weren’t quite sure of what they were seeing. Well, until he turned and poor Addy Carver had to give mercy to her boyfriend.

5. Derek Shepherd — “Grey’s Anatomy”

Truth be told, I haven’t watched Grey’s Anatomy  in years, but of course, I know who Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey)  is. Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past decade, you probably do too. So, when it was reported that the show had killed off its male lead and half of the series’ central and most iconic couple, the fandom went into shock — and into mourning. What’s more, watching his demise as a direct result of inept surgeons was very traumatizing and a big game-changer. Months after his death, it’s still not completely clear the full ramifications of a Grey’s Anatomy without its McDreamy.

4. Shireen Baratheon — “Game of Thrones”

I don’t watch Game of Thrones,  nor have I read any of the books. But, when Twitter slowed down to a crawl earlier this year, and a GOT character by the name of Shireen Baratheon started trending, I had to take a peek to find out what the fuss was all about. Deviating strongly from the source material, the television writers decided to kill off the young girl, daughter of Stannis, and in the most horrific way.

I am told that there were plenty of signs that this was coming, but most thought Stannis would change his mind at the last moment. But, no. Sigh. The look of horror on Shireen’s face as she is tied to the stake and realizes what is about to happen. Stannis’ stoicism in the face of his daughter’s screams. Selyse’s crumbling at the sight of her daughter’s agony. Oh. My. God.

In my opinion, burning is THE most sadistic way to kill someone, but when it happens to a child — not much can possibly be worse.

3. Vaun/Quinlan 1.0 — “The Strain”

For the regular television viewers out there, Vaun (Stephen McHattie)  of The Strain  isn’t a character that most are familiar with. But, for the die-hard fans of the series as well as the book trilogy, this character was a fan-favorite, which made his abrupt death in the season 2 episode “Fort Defiance” even more shocking and heartbreaking.

The character was also a source of great controversy in season 2. The Stephen McHattie character had initially been introduced in season 1 as one with no name but whom was confirmed by the Executive Producers to be the trilogy fan-favorite, Mr. Quinlan. However, in a pre-season 2 interview that had been published by Spoiler TV, it was revealed that they were going to re-invent the Quinlan character, and that the “real” Q wouldn’t be introduced until around mid-season. I didn’t like it, but it’s something I accepted. However, even in my wildest dreams, I never thought it would end like it did.

In the season 2 premiere, it was quickly revealed that the Quinlan 1.0 was, in fact, another character by the name of Vaun. Then, in just 3 short episodes, Vaun and his entire team met a fiery death at the hands of the show’s villain, Eldridge Palmer.

Since then the new Mr. Quinlan has been introduced and is portrayed by the immensely-talented Rupert Penry-Jones, but some fans still haven’t gotten over the stunt and hope for a Vaun resurrection.

2. Nora Martinez — “The Strain”

For the average viewer, the death of Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro)  in the season 2 finale “Night Train” of The Strain may have been a tragedy and for some quite surprising. But, for the fans of the book trilogy? Well, it was**huge**.  Vasily Fet and Nora Martinez are the last 2 main characters standing at the end of book 3, and in fact, they marry after it is all over. So with Nora’s death, they killed off one of the 2 survivors of the vampire apocalypse, which sent a shockwave throughout the fandom and raised questions of how this very unexpected event will change the course of of the story going forward.

Now, if only another apocalyptic series, cough, cough, would grow a set and do something bold like this, cough, cough, then maybe it will gain some of my respect back.

1. Glenn Rhee “Fakeout” Death — “The Walking Dead”

Well, what can I say? Most of the above deaths made the list for their shock effect or for their cinematic and production value, but not this one. While not truly a “death” since it was revealed later in the season that The Walking Dead’s Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun)  survived, it landed the top spot due to the ridiculous factor. After Nicholas shoots himself in the head in the episode “Thank You,” both he and Glenn fall off a dumpster, and it appears that Glenn is eaten alive by the surrounding horde of walkers.

As it turns out, Nicholas lands on top of Glenn, and it is he we see being torn apart instead. At the same time, Glenn miraculously is able to slide under the dumpster to safety and just wait for the herd to leave. Uh huh, yeah right. There’s more plot holes in this than I can possibly count.

The irony of all of this is that Glenn is one of the top contenders to get the famous “Lucille” death by the new super-villain, Negan, in the season 6 finale. In the comics, it is actually Glenn who dies in the iconic scene, and it is believed that this “fakeout” quite possibly was done to divert attention from Glenn dying, thus making his death at the end of the season 6 more of  a surprise.

The funny thing is if it all goes down like this, then Glenn will likely make the top spot (again!) on the 2016 Most Shocking TV Deaths — except this time it will be for real.

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