The Ten Cruelest Things Joss Whedon Has Done To His Characters

[CBR News]

Emmet O'Brien compiles his list of the top ten cruelest moments in Joss Whedon's original work, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Dollhouse" and more.


Full article here.

[Sabrewulf]

Emmet O'Brien compiles his list of the top ten cruelest moments in Joss Whedon's original work, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Dollhouse" and more.


Full article here.

Good list. I would've added in Darla getting re-vamped by Dru though.

[garthedwards]

Wasn't the character "Book" unceremoniously killed in the movie? Doesn't he at least deserve an "honorable mention" in your list? He was one of the most intriguing characters besides "River" I thought. And he was killed in a very off handed way as if he was a throwaway character. I thought less of Joss when I saw that happen.

[Deep_Sleeper]

I could not agree more about the number one pick. It may have been a cruel thing for Joss to do, but life is cruel and it just made the most/least sense in all of his shows. Joss knows how to make you feel something and I think the number one pick got me more than anything.

Well earned list. "Joss, you bastard" indeed.

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

Whedon sure did put a lot of women in the Refrigerator.

[Legato]

I could not agree more about the number one pick. It may have been a cruel thing for Joss to do, but life is cruel and it just made the most/least sense in all of his shows. Joss knows how to make you feel something and I think the number one pick got me more than anything.

Well earned list. "Joss, you bastard" indeed.

If there is one thing I liked about Joss is that yes he has a reputation of killing off beloved characters but he doesn't do it in a pointless way.

[Legato]

Whedon sure did put a lot of women in the Refrigerator.

And men. Just pointing that out

[Surtur]

Title of this topic made me think of this article:

5 Reasons it sucks to be a Joss Whedon fan

[Wellman]

If there is one thing I liked about Joss is that yes he has a reputation of killing off beloved characters but he doesn't do it in a pointless way.

Eh, Anya seemed like a pointless death to me. But I will say that he makes sure you feel something good or bad for the character (especially if they have appeared more then once) before he offs them. That is a talent not every creator has.

[Meadowsopranospimp]

For me Wesley's arc in Angel was the saddest thing.

Cordelia's story was also painful but in a completely different way.

[Legato]

Out of all of them Fred's fate has got to be the worst. Her soul was consumed to make room for Illyria so there is no chance for Fred to go to heaven since her death implied that she faded from existance

[dkostus]

Eh, Anya seemed like a pointless death to me. But I will say that he makes sure you feel something good or bad for the character (especially if they have appeared more then once) before he offs them. That is a talent not every creator has.

I don't know... I thought it was a fitting end to her story that after centuries of being a vengeance demon and either wreaking insane havok or bailing when that havok started happening, here she was staying and fighting and dying alongside this group of people because she had actually learned to care again.

If anything, Anya should have gotten a slot for F'ing Xander leaving her at the alter.

[reboot2099]

Eh, Anya seemed like a pointless death to me. But I will say that he makes sure you feel something good or bad for the character (especially if they have appeared more then once) before he offs them. That is a talent not every creator has.

Yeah, that's what I love most about Whedon offing characters. Sure, I like it that he doesn't do it just because. It always has a reason and an effect on other characters. It evolves the story and that's great. (except for Anya, I guess)

But what Whedon is the best at, is making you care for the character being killed JUST before he gets killed! If someone is going to die, in the episode before he dies or in the same episode, Whedon makes sure he has a fun, great episode and people like him. Even at times where I didn't really care about a character, if he was getting killed, I'd begin to really like him and at the end of the episode, wham! I'd be mad at Whedon because he just made me care about that character one episode before he offed him! I love/hate that and that's why Whedon is, in my book, the only writer I forgive killing off characters (in TV/movies, at least).

[ultraaman]

Yup, they all suck but I can accept all of them as essential elements to the story....with one exception.

I will never understand or accept the attempted rape by Spike. The last time through that I watched the series, I specifically skipped that scene.

[Legato]

Yup, they all suck but I can accept all of them as essential elements to the story....with one exception.

I will never understand or accept the attempted rape by Spike. The last time through that I watched the series, I specifically skipped that scene.

There are times I question if that rape scene was even Whedon's idea