5 Character Sacrifices to Take Note Of

Great characters generally tend to have some pretty great endings, sometimes with a bang, happiness, but in a lot of ways tragedy, and in a lot of ways it’s a tragedy that goes on to help others. Self-sacrifice is probably one of the hardest to write and hardest to watch method of sending off a character or series, planned or not. The ending result usually tends to be a crowning moment of pure awesome for the character that reminds us just how incredible they are while also leaving a simultaneously large gaping wound where our heart should be, and our heart flopping around on the ground like a dead fish while we sob and sob. The following are just five of some of the best sacrifices made by characters in sci-fi and fantasy.

1)      Kitty Pryde from Astonishing X-Men

 

Shadowcat had always been a fan favorite amongst readers and viewers alike, going from the kid sister that people identified with into the kick ass woman she is. Bright, intelligent, and incredibly skilled she served the X-Men for a considerable amount of time being one of the few to not have much in the way of their already drama and violence filled life. However, that comes to an end in the Breakworld arc of Astonishing X-Men.  In order to stop a bullet that is being fired at earth (in what has to be one of the weirdest attempts to annihilate the earth) Kitty phases into the bullet and simply phases it through the earth. But due to the speed and the fact that the outside of the bullet would only become harder, Kitty is effectively trapped inside, keeping the bullet phased so as not to obliterate any planet with life. In a sense, she becomes like Atlas, the only thing keeping worlds from being destroyed, a lot of the weight on her.

 

 

2)      Donna Noble from Doctor Who

 

 

Donna comes second as one of the best companions The Doctor has ever had, the first being Sarah Jane, but even that is contested. Demonstrating one of the biggest character growths  in the series, abandoning her homebody mentality and going to experience the universe and save entire planets and species her small time life is exchanged for experiences that no one can ever understand or have. And she loses them. All of those memories, memories of her best friend, The Doctor, the knowledge she had gained, the people she had saved she needs to give up in order to live. Due to some circumstance (i.e. stopping Davros in Journey’s End) Donna and The Doctor fuse, but the knowledge is essentially going to burn her out, being a human she can’t handle it. While it is not death her sacrifice is pretty large considering some of the most important events in her life and one of her best friends have to be wiped from her memory in order for her to live. But in the end, our memories are all we ever have, but Donna’s are taken away.

 

3)      Topher Brink from Dollhouse

 

 

Topher is one of those cases where, being a genius and young adult, he can be a bit of an asshat. He’s arrogant at times, abrasive, and really childlike. But at the same time he is one of the most intelligent minds around. His sacrifice comes in the fact that in the series finale of Dollhouse, he literally blows himself up to change the world from the hell it had become. After having improved technology that allows anyone to be imprinted with any type of personality,  he then suffers a minor bout of depression and insanity for having been an aiding factor in the world going apeshit crazy. In an attempt to redeem him, he then creates the technology to reverse the chaos (people having their personalities and memories wiped, corrupt businessmen imprinting themselves onto little girls) but in order for it to work, the force necessary would kill him. And he accepts that responsibly and effectively saves the world.

 

4)      Doyle from Angel

 

 

Doyle is a pretty okay guy. Half demon, half human, a bit of a drunk, kind of smelly, not the cleanest of people- but he intends to do some good in the world with the help of Angel. He knows he isn’t the big strapping hero and he doesn’t try to be, an admirable trait. However, despite undergoing a bit of character development in the first nine episodes of Angel, he is killed off. Rather, he sacrifices himself to save the world from Nazi demons who wish to purify the world of anything remotely human. After hunting down a half human, half demon clan, the Nazi’s trap the group, along with Doyle, Cordelia, and Angel on a ship. Rather than letting Angel sacrifice himself, knowing how much good he can still do out there Doyle knocks him unconscious, gives Cordelia their first and last kiss, and then jumps onto the device that is starting up and absorb the rays that would have killed everyone. All and all a pretty heroic gesture for a sometimes alcoholic.

 

5)      Kendrix from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

 

 

This season of Power Rangers, being darker and edgier, had some of the most character deaths a children’s show had ever seen, both on the side of bad and good. What stands out in any fans mind would be the surprising turn of events in not only having a ranger die, but having it be the pink ranger of all of them. Attempting to save her friends and the inhabitants of Terra Venture from death (like every week) from Psycho Pink, Kendrix scarified herself.  A girl who went from this quiet, science person turned into a pretty decent fighter and is one of the few power rangers to actually die in the line of duty, choosing to make sure Psyhcopink was destroyed along with her in order to save friends and family. The reason for this sacrifice was the actress playing Kendrix, Valerie Vernon, had been diagnosed with leukemia. Now, while other rangers had been written out for whatever reason, Kendrix is one of the few to actually die. Of course, Like Shadowcat, she does get better.

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