101 Movie Deaths to Inspire You in Killing Off Your Characters

Conflict is everything when it comes to writing a great story. And there is no more compelling and compelling plot device than killing off a major or minor character to create much-needed conflict in your screenplays.

With that in mind, here are 101 ways to kill movie characters, to inspire you for the next big death scene in your script.

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101 Ways to Kill Your Movie Characters

1. Characters drive off a cliff while being pursued by authorities.
2. A character intercepts an incoming missile to save thousands of lives.
3. The hero turns into a zombie while his friends look on sadly.
4. A beloved pet is put down by its owner.
5. A character is stabbed to death while taking a shower.
6. A mother is murdered while her child watches.
7. A character dies on his deathbed, which begins the story.
8. An alien bursts out of a character’s body as his friends watch in horror.
9. A monster dies after being wrongly tortured.
10. Artificial intelligence slowly speaks its last words as its energy/life force is drained.
11. A father looks into his child’s eyes with regret, after years of living on the dark side of life.
12. An innocent man dies in the electric chair.
13. A sea hunter is eaten alive by the sea creature he hunted.
14. The characters play Russian roulette against each other until one dies.
15. A character sets out with weapons drawn.
16. Two main characters set out with weapons drawn.
17. An otherwise strong and powerful man dies of old age while playing with his grandson.
18. A character is wrongly killed by a police officer.
19. A character freezes to death during a winter storm.
20. An innocent character is forced to participate in a violent game of death and dies tragically.
21. A character dies peacefully but tragically in a hospital bed.
22. A character dies while his spirit is guided to the afterlife by an angel.
23. Soldiers unite in an epic battle.
24. A character is shot dead by a mugger while his partner tearfully holds him.
25. A character is crushed to death while stuck in a garage’s dog door.
26. A beloved character dies multiple times in a consistently dramatic manner.
27. A character is stung by bees in the forest.
28. A character jumps off a cliff to his death, but somehow survives.
29. Artificial intelligence kills its creator.
30. A character is pinned to the wall with the killer’s knife.
31. A character is shot by gangsters in an alley.
32. Long-time lovers die together, hand in hand, in the hospital.
33. Someone sacrifices himself so that others can survive.
34. A character is suddenly hit by a car while waving.
35. A character is suddenly hit by a car after another character has said goodbye to him and walked away.
36. A character defibrillates a victim, but his body changes into an alien hybrid creature, causing him to die.
37. A dying character discovers that the one love who gave up his life to be with him, despite knowing he would eventually die, himself died in an accident.
38. A character is taken by a demon instead of a child.
39. A beloved character is unexpectedly killed by someone he or she liked.
40. A character creates an explosive vest to save others from impending danger.
41. A character freezes in the cold water and is released by his beloved.
42. A theater full of villains is set on fire.
43. A room full of villains is destroyed by a hidden bomb.
44. A reporter on a hunt with an ambulance shoots someone dead for a story.
45. A character puts a grenade down a villain’s pants.
46. Gangsters are beaten to death in a cornfield by other gangsters.
47. An elderly person loses his or her partner and has to deal with this loss.
48. A character screams in defiance as he is beheaded.
49. A character atones for his sins when he dies at the hands of his pursuer.
50. A character is impaled by a broken tree branch.
51. A character reveals a shocking truth as he or she dies silently.
52. A character suddenly suffers a heart attack during a fight, after which his attackers try to save him.
53. A character drinks from the wrong cup and dies a horrible death.
54. A character dies in the arms of another character, without understanding what went wrong.
55. A beloved leader is betrayed and murdered by his own family.
56. A character is told that he/she died in an accident, but in reality he/she dies in a violent and unlawful manner.
57. A character who apparently committed murder with impunity is murdered in their apartment.
58. A gangster is fooled into thinking he is a real mafia boss, but he ends up being murdered.
59. A beloved character sacrifices himself to save the rest of a ship.
60. A hunter appreciates the hunting methods of a hunting dog before he kills him.
61. A martial arts master kills another man using an ancient technique.
62. A father sacrifices himself to save his children by warning them of the threat of his presence.
63. A character mercifully takes a loved one off life support.
64. When a box is opened, it is discovered that a character’s loved one has died.
65. A hero is mortally wounded before a final confrontation with the villain, after which he kills the villain before dying too.
66. A character dies a slow and tragic death from multiple arrows being shot at him.
67. Someone who wants to help a character in need is suddenly killed by the villain.
68. Someone who wants to help a character in need is suddenly killed by that character.
69. A boxer dies after a brutal fight.
70. Two characters watch as the planet they are on explodes and they die.
71. A character is devoured in his car by a beast.
72. A character tries to deactivate a bomb but fails.
73. A character has faked his own death, leading to a shocking revelation.
74. Someone is taken out by a sniper.
75. A witch dies after getting wet.
76. A mentor allows himself to be overpowered by a threat in order to save his student.
77. A character is killed by a beast while sitting on the toilet.
78. Someone dies from a ricochet shot from his own gun.
79. A person survives a night of zombie attacks until he is killed by people who thought he was a zombie.
80. A soldier who thought he was killed runs out of the jungle, pursued and killed by the enemy, in front of his fellow soldiers.
81. A character is suddenly killed by a forest predator, just as it is about to kill the main character.
82. A character falls down an elevator shaft and dies.
83. Bad guys are melted down to death by divine intervention.
84. A character hangs from an open elevator and as he passes the next floor, his arms are chopped off.
85. A robot has a pipe bomb in its exoskeleton.
86. A character eats himself to death.
87. A character drowns after holding his breath for too long.
88. A gangster is gunned down in the street as revenge.
89. The hero’s partner is killed as punishment.
90. A babysitter is murdered while babysitting.
91. A character is swept away by a tornado.
92. An astronaut in space experiences a defective spacesuit.
93. A character burned by an explosion.
94. Someone kills a character with a pencil through the eye.
95. Someone kills a character with an icicle.
96. A character dies by being pushed into a propeller.
97. A character dies by being sucked into a jet engine.
98. A deadly virus is injected into a person’s bloodstream.
99. A large boulder from above crushes someone.
100. A character is run over by a steamroller.
101. The villain falls off a building after releasing a character in distress.

Read more: Why You Should Try Writing Horror

‘Terrifier 2’ (2022)

Why Killing Your Characters is Important

Character deaths also work as an effective resolution to storyline and character development:

• Maybe you want that bad guy to get what he deserves.
• Perhaps you want the audience to cry during the cathartic moment and be deeply affected by the death of a character as they leave the room.
• Maybe you want an entertaining “death” that leaves the audience shocked and laughing.

Read more: 10 Reasons to Consider Killing Off Your Main Character

No matter what genre you’re writing in, killing off a memorable movie character can do wonders for your script.

This list contains effective types of movie deaths that you can:

• Transform it into something new.
• Homage or copy in various story and location settings.
• Mix and match to create an original hybrid.

Or you can simply use them as writing inspiration to spark your creativity.

If you want to make the list even more interesting, see if you can match the type of death in a movie to the original movie(s) the character appears in.

WANT MORE IDEAS FOR OTHER GENRES? CHECK OUT OUR OTHER STORY PROMPTS!

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly twenty years, primarily as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and later as a scriptwriter and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has been in many studio meetings as a producing screenwriter, meeting with companies such as Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, and many production and management companies. He previously had a development deal with Lionsgate, and multiple writing jobs including the produced miniseries Blackout, starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle and Bruce Boxleitner, the feature film thriller Hunter’s Creed, and numerous Lifetime thrillers. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies

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