The Worst & Shocking Deaths in Buffy History

[Dark Ages]

Well I was thinking to my self the other day who had the worst death in Buffy The Vampire history. So I wanted to know who do you think have the worst and shocking death. The two characters that I think of is Jenny's and Anya's When I watch there deaths I kinda get creeped out. Both of their deaths are fast and you dont really see them coming.

When Jenny was being chased by Angel in the school I new for sure that she was going to escape some how. Either Buffy was going to storm in and save her and kick Angelius ass or Jenny was going to get away some how. I was so wrong on so many levels and it was a totally surprise. When Anya died it was a quick and no one saw it coming. When I first saw it I jumped back and let out a little scream. It was just shocking. So who do you think had the worst and shocking death?

[Nina]

Jenny was the most shocking one. When she was running around in the school and Angelus chased her. He loved it so much.
It was the first time I really understood who Angelus was and what he could do.

The death of Angel was also a shock. I saw the portal, but somewhere I didn't knew that Angel had to die to close it.

[Pandora's_Box]

I voted for Joyce definetely.
I remember watching I Was Made To Love You, pretty boring stuff actually then: Buffy calls Ben to say she doesn't want to date him, thank god I don't like him, then go home, oh flowers, yes Joyce's date of course, maybe she wil finally have a man who is not a robo...who's on the couch behind Buffy, It's Joyce, did she faint again, I thought the doctors remo- Mom, Mom, Mommy-..................................................

I kept silent for like 1 minute, I understood she was dead and actually not prepared at all, big series trauma, probably the biggest!

[tangent]

I would als ohave to go for the death of Joyce as being the most shocking death. Although it had been forshadowed somewhat in earlier episodes joyce was nothing to do with the supernatural battles her daughter was going through and the fact that in the midst of these great god v evil struggles you have jJoyce dying the most human of deaths was shcoking both because it as unexpected and because you felt a sense of 'you can't do that' about it.

I think one other death that i count as shocking fwas that of Warren. Although he's a bad guy and we may not have all that much sympathy towards him is death was very well done. Both harrowing for the torture element but also so unexpected. Having watched a lot of t.v shows and specifically I think U.S shows i was expecting Buffy and o to get there in the nick of time and somehow either manage to talk Willow down or get Warren away from her. Of course they do get their in the nick of time but then to have the infamous 'Bored now' moment was a real shock for me.

[DigitalLeonardo]

Jenny was the biggest shock for me. When I watched season 2 on TV I was like 9 and yeah alot of Buffy scared me, but when Angelus chased Jenny through the school I was just biting my lip and afraid to watch. Then he grabbed her and I closed by eyes and looked up and she was on the floor.
Seeing the episode later, her death is just so dark. He didn't even bite her, he just snapped her neck, like an insult.

Joyce had a shocking death as well, but it was kinda in your head from the start of season 5.

[KingofCretins]

I get that they wanted the brutality of it to throw the audience, but wouldn't it have been pretty intense for him to turn Jenny? Not the least reason being that VampJenny is, uh, really hot?

[Jenni Lou]

Joyce had a shocking death as well, but it was kinda in your head from the start of season 5.

I voted for Joyce. Perhaps we knew it was coming. But I just didn't expect it to be so...calm. We didn't witness her faint or anything. Buffy comes home and Joyce is just...lying there. Lifeless.

I also voted for Joyce because it was the most real death. The most natural. No vampire or demon killed her. Natural did. And that is perhaps more haunting than Angelus taking Jenny's life, for example. Because Joyce's death could not have been prevented in anyway.

[Heather]

I agree with what Jenni Lou says about Joyce's death - it was the most real and, to me, was the scariest death of them all. It was unavoidable. She couldn't have been saved. It's one of those sudden, harsh realizations that the Buffyverse, despite having fantastical elements, is set in the real world too. It's a realization that real people die real ways too.

However, it wasn't the most shocking death for me. Instead, I voted for Tara's death. I never in a million years would've seen that coming. At all. I watched Buffy after it had already aired (or was in the last half of Season 7) and so I wasn't prepared for such a sudden, out of the blue death to happen. Again, it was a very real death - a shooting. Not a vampire attack or a demon attack or a magical...attack. It was a human being firing a gun and shooting a young woman down. It was depressing. It was shocking.

[Nostalgia]

In terms of saddest death, I believe that crown goes to Buffy in "The Gift" and runner up to Joyce.. but "shocking" and "worst" I would say would only apply to Tara and Joyce.


Tara's death was just perfect for the show.. she was exactly the type of character that they needed in terms of killing someone off.. one that isn't a close knit character.. but is very important to the viewers and would hurt them as well. It was just a shocker to me to see that she would die without any type of foreshadowing once so ever.. it was just.. 'she's dead.'

Jenny was the biggest shock for me. When I watched season 2 on TV I was like 9 and yeah alot of Buffy scared me, but when Angelus chased Jenny through the school I was just biting my lip and afraid to watch. Then he grabbed her and I closed by eyes and looked up and she was on the floor.
Seeing the episode later, her death is just so dark. He didn't even bite her, he just snapped her neck, like an insult.

I agree that maybe Jenny's was the most brutal.. but most shocking? Come on.. she had in coming (not in a deserving way.. but it was evident in terms of the show's clues that she had her number coming up). Tara was just completely out of the blue.

[Weredog]

I voted for Tara.

It was the most shocking and most horrific death in the entire series. Unlike Buffy, Joyce, Kendra, Angel, Spike and even Jenny, I don't think anyone could have predicted her death. And that was what Joss aimed for exactly: the most useless and inexplainable death.

[KingofCretins]

I have no idea what it must have felt like to see Tara get shot if you weren't spoiled. I had been bracing for whatever would happen since the commercial break, really.

[DigitalLeonardo]

I think for Tara there was clues. I mean she was added into the credits after almost 3 years. It is kinda strange don't you think? I mean yeah I was shocked as hell, but there was apart of me that was kinda "Hrmm?" about her in the credits.
Maybe if she was added at the top of season 6 rather then near the end, that haunting feeling wouldn't have surrounded me the entire episode.

[Weredog]

I think for Tara there was clues. I mean she was added into the credits after almost 3 years. It is kinda strange don't you think? I mean yeah I was shocked as hell, but there was apart of me that was kinda "Hrmm?" about her in the credits.
Maybe if she was added at the top of season 6 rather then near the end, that haunting feeling wouldn't have surrounded me the entire episode.

In my case, I didn't notice the newly modified credits because I didn't watch them on its original airing. I read on a website days later that Joss had inserted Benson into the credits to tease us, which I think it's just brilliant. And brilliance in Joss terms usually means sadistic and heartbreaking.
Yet, I think even if I had noticed the credits, I wouldn't have assumed she would've died. I mean, when you think about it, why was Seth Green added to the season 4 credits if they knew he was only going to be in the first 6 episodes? Because if they wouldn't have, it would suggest his leaving.

That being said, I still believe there were absolutely no clues that Tara was going to die. Unlike:
Buffy: Spike mentioned it in "Fool for Love"; The First Slayer foreshadowed it in "Intervention"; Buffy repeated it in "The Weight of the World"
Angel: Buffy and her friends constantly said that she has to ready herself to kill him.
Spike: There were many instances where people (mostly Buffy) said that he'll make a difference. His death justified this belief.
Joyce: The first half of season 5 had us wondering if she would survive from her brain tumor.
Jenny: I would have to say her death was the second most suprising and worst death following Tara, but her betrayal in "Surprise" confirmed that she isn't exactly Angel's ally. It was only a matter of time Angelus would seek vengeance for her people's vengeance (does that make sense? ).

I can't think of any foreshadowing events prior to "Seeing Red" that Tara was going to be on the Death List.

[Phoenix]

Im gonna have to vote for Tara, although closely followed by Joyce and Jenny.

I agree with others here, that there were no clues leading towards Tara's death. It was just heartbreaking and totally out of nowhere, whereas Joyce's and Jenny's death (and the others) could have been predicted.

[spuffbeste]

I voted for Joyce.
It was the most shocking, because in the episode,The Body it was kind of complicated. When Buffy imagined that she was alive, I thought she wasn't dead but then I found out that it was just a imaginary. To see it like that gave me a weird feeling that the others didn't... That's why I chose Joyce.

[Ahm Shere]

I voted Jenny. In my opinion, hers was the most shocking death. I totally didn't expect it. (And it's probably one of the *only* deaths (apart from Buffy in Season 5...and Spike ) in Buffy that I completely break down on. I'm just streaming with tears. (Especially when Giles finds her dead, but with Angelus setting everything out as if Jenny herself done it...and Giles going upstairs happy...only to find her on the bed, dead...it's just brutal.)

Jenny is definatly top of my list. The way she was killed...and the way Angelus enjoyed the kill...(and the aftermath of the kill...((well he probably did!)) It was just so shocking...and really the worst death on Buffy for me.

[Heather]

I think for Tara there was clues. I mean she was added into the credits after almost 3 years. It is kinda strange don't you think? I mean yeah I was shocked as hell, but there was apart of me that was kinda "Hrmm?" about her in the credits.
Maybe if she was added at the top of season 6 rather then near the end, that haunting feeling wouldn't have surrounded me the entire episode.

That, to me, doesn't reek of "Shocking-Death-Scene-Approaching," though. It seemed to me that it was just Amber Benson finally getting the title of series regular after 3 years. I never would've been able to predict Tara getting shot and killed, let alone the evil!eyed Willow, ending just from Amber making the credits, at last.

[Nostalgia]

I voted Jenny. In my opinion, hers was the most shocking death. I totally didn't expect it. (And it's probably one of the *only* deaths (apart from Buffy in Season 5...and Spike ) in Buffy that I completely break down on. I'm just streaming with tears. (Especially when Giles finds her dead, but with Angelus setting everything out as if Jenny herself done it...and Giles going upstairs happy...only to find her on the bed, dead...it's just brutal.)

Jenny is definatly top of my list. The way she was killed...and the way Angelus enjoyed the kill...(and the aftermath of the kill...((well he probably did!)) It was just so shocking...and really the worst death on Buffy for me.

Brutal? Yes. Shocking?

HOW did you not see that coming? Joss is big on the foreshadowing, and as indicated.. she had it coming. She was betraying Buffy, angering Angelus, she dug herself into a rut, and in television world, it's hard to not die without being resurrected when you're not a main character (with jossverse, even scarier for main characters ).

[carousel_girl8]

Spike's was the most shocking to me, I had no idea that he was going to die and I was so upset I couldn't stop crying lol. I knew about most of the deaths because I saw a lot of spoilers but Spike was one of the only ones I didn't know.

[buffyholic]

The most shocking death was Tara, Jenny and Joyce.
Tara?s death for me is truly heartbreaking, even worse when Willow gets covered with her blood. The last thing she says is "Your shirt" and no more Tara. Hearbreaking.
Jenny Calendar was and continues to be a shock to me, no matter how many times I see the episode. The chase throughout the school, and I?m always wondering "maybe this time it will end differently, Buffy is gonna save her" but of course that never happens. And when Giles finds the body (with the opera music) and Willow and Buffy?s reaction, just so sad! I cry so much everytime I see it.
Joyce is very hard too. And it gave us one of the best episodes of the series, very brutal.