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Saetan SaDiablo & Jaenelle Angelline from The Black Jewels Series. They both had me ugly crying in front of people.

Poussey Washington hurt.

Kamina and Yang Wen-li

In Omori

Recency bias, but John Grady Cole

Wash's, in "Serenity". It was just so unexpected and abrupt, and it served to generate a sense of unease in the viewer; after Wash's death, no character seemed to be protected by plot armor. Granted, Shepherd Book bit it before Wash did, but the movie seemed to set him up to be separate from the rest of the crew. I loved that Whedon played with this concept of fragility in the ensuing battle, with Kaylee getting darted, Zoe getting sliced up, and Simon getting shot. And then, Mal's battle with the agent... I thought the misdirect was masterfully done.

I've been affected by character deaths before and since, but Wash's death was the only death I've seen in media that has made me worry for the safety of the other characters. It made a lot of sense outside of the movie, too, as "Serenity" was more or less a tribute to some IP that was never going to get resurrected. While watching the movie for the first time, I was left thinking: "what if Whedon just said 'fuck it'?"

I probably haven't seen The Neverending Story in 25 years, but I still think about Artax from time to time. Fuckin' Swamp of Sadness…

First time I saw Wash die in firefly was brutal.

More recently, after watching better call Saul I am heartbroken over Mike's death. Particularly for Stacey and Kaylee.

Companion cube

Mordin Solus from Mass Effect.

"Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong"

Robin Williams as the Bicentennial Man. The movie was okay; his performance was amazing. I've struggled with mortality for a while, like I expect a lot of people do, and to see him as a character who started their existence immortal, and to choose mortality. His death in the movie hit me much, much harder than I expected. I haven't watched the movie again since my first viewing because I'm honestly afraid of going through that again.

Aerith. Do I need to say more?

Artax from The Neverending Story

Mufasa would be the most popular answer for us oldies.

Bambi's mother.

Runner-ups:

• Carl's wife from Up
• The mother in Violet Evergarden
• Ghost and Roach from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Cowboy Bebop spoilers

Maes Hughes

Hazel from Watership Down.

NOT a children's movie, mum!

Made me cry:

Gotta be Schindler's List. That movie was so goddamn sad, and I just started sobbing when I saw that splash of red color. You know when. Ooof. A masterpiece I will never watch again.

For a more recent example, I watched the second season of Arcane. Lots of sad scenes, but anyone else who has watched it knows the most heart-wrenching one:

Left me disturbed:

Another Spielberg movie, Saving Private Ryan. Didn't cry when the Nazi soldier sloooooowly stabbed Mellish to death. But afterwards, I had nightmares about it for months. Cripes, what a brutal death scene.

It’s been 25 years since I first read it and I’m still not ok with the fact that Old Dan and Little Ann didn’t make it.

Dumbledore

Arthur Morgan's death scene in RDR2 really got to me. But perhaps even more so, when my horse was killed right before. I remember pausing the game for a moment because I had had that horse for so long and somehow it felt like a major deal that happened so quickly.

Never had a game affect me like that before.

This is all spoilers, spoiler tagging doesn't really work so proceed with caution

Several from the Misborn series really hurt. I think Vin's death most affected me, but Kelsier was a hard one to swallow as well.

I think the biggest impact though is probably from Swan Song? Sister Creep hit me so hard. I read the book young and I'd never read anything so bittersweet and hopeful but so painful. It really stamped some new emotions in me I think.

Or, gosh, almost anyone in Bly Manor, but especially Dani.

The second death of Jake Chambers in Stephen King’s ”The Dark Tower” comes quite quickly to mind…

Hedwig and Fred Weasley

My horse in Red Dead Redemption 2. I captured and tamed it from wild the moment I was able.

R.I.P Coffee!

Bloodwing

A lot of people hate on Sword Art Online, but in the second season...

Charlie from all dogs go to heaven.

Artax

Charlie in Lost sticks with me

And for my Stormlight fans >!Teft's death still hurts. He had grown so much...😭!<

The Tali/Legion decision is brutal if you made mistakes in ME2 and 3.

Carter from Person of Interest.

I started reading Dragonlance novels around 10 years old. When I got my hands on the third main one (IIRC), one of the main characters who's a knight died and that impacted me for quite some time.