Top Ten Characters Who Deserved Better Endings

Warning for spoilers for The Sandman, Avengers: Endgame, Supernatural, The Flash, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, Game of Thrones, Legacies, and Interview with the Vampire.

At some point, everyone has felt a character they loved had a terrible ending. Guess that's what fanfiction is for, right? Still, it doesn't change the fact that those characters deserved better endings to their stories in the source material. Here is my list of the top ten characters who I think deserved better.

10.      Morpheus (Dream of the Endless)

Those who have read The Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman know the ending of Morpheus (Dream of the Endless). For those who are only familiar with the show, don’t read this for it contains spoilers! In The Sandman: The Kindly Ones (Volume 9), Dream of the Endless meets his end at the hands of The Kindly Ones aka The Furies. This is a poor ending for a couple of reasons. One, let’s face it, people do not typically enjoy it when their main character whom they have been following for years dies at the end. Two, this ending seems to glorify suicide, as Dream allows himself to be killed by The Kindly Ones rather than try to find a way to avoid his fate. To be honest, there were several incidents in The Sandman comics where I felt as though Neil Gaiman was glorifying suicide, which makes this ending having the same vibe not all that surprising but it’s still greatly problematic. Morpheus is unhappy in his role as Dream of the Endless, but being the personification of dreams who holds the collective unconsciousness of the entire universe within himself isn’t exactly a job someone can just up and quit. So, rather than find a way to enjoy his life or leave his role as his brother, Destruction, did, Morpheus chooses to die so Daniel can become the next Dream of the Endless. But suicide should never be portrayed as the answer when someone is unhappy with their life circumstances.

9.      Steve Rogers

Truth be told, I don’t think I’ve talked to a single person who was satisfied with Steve Rogers’s ending in Avengers: Endgame. Steve’s entire character arc was about moving on from the past and finding a life and a home in the present day with the Avengers. To have him leave his found family, including characters like Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson, to return to the past to be with Peggy Carter, a woman he kissed one time in the forties, was the ultimate character assassination. It only becomes worse when we factor in the creepy element of Steve having had a romance with Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter’s niece, in modern day. Sharon Carter is Steve Rogers’s love interest from the comics, so him moving on with her in modern day was not a surprise whether fans of the MCU enjoyed it or not. And it was not icky or creepy for Steve to develop feelings for Sharon. His romance with Peggy in the past was fleeting, and it wasn’t as though he and Sharon held any familial relation. But now that Steve has returned to the past and married Peggy, they do have a familial relationship. Steve is now Sharon’s great uncle by marriage, something he wasn’t when they kissed, which just makes the whole situation really gross.

8.      Dean Winchester

Dean Winchester was one of the main characters on Supernatural, the TV Show that followed brothers Sam and Dean as they hunted monsters with their many friends and allies. Dean survived so much in his time as a hunter, including literally fighting the devil, God’s sister, and eventually God himself. Dean dies at the end of the series and goes to Heaven, and had he gone out with a bang fighting some big bad, maybe it wouldn’t be such an issue. But Dean didn’t go out that way. Instead, he dies battling a random nest of vampires, who manage to impale him on a rusty nail. And he dies from it. I don’t think I was the only fan who said, “Are you kidding me?!” when that ending aired.

7.      Killer Frost

Killer Frost, the alter ego of Caitlin Snow, quickly became a fan favourite on CW’s The Flash, only to die in season eight. This happens after Frost becomes Hell Frost in order to defeat Deathstorm so she can save Caitlin and their friends. But her death felt really forced. Frost was poisoned by absorbing Deathstorm in their fight, but Caitlin injected her with a cold fusion that should have saved her. Frost opens her eyes… and then closes them again and dies. If Frost was to make the ultimate sacrifice, it should have happened during the battle or right after it, not back in S.T.A.R. Labs where she was given treatment that should have saved her life.

6.      Stefan Salvatore

Stefan Salvatore sacrifices himself at the end of the series. A noble, selfless, and in character thing to do. There are two reasons why this a terrible ending for him. One, he’d just gotten married to Caroline Forbes right before he died, which makes me wonder why the writers had their characters get together and get married at all. Why give them their fairy tale ending just to kill Stefan off right afterwards? And two, when his ghost makes contact with Elena Gilbert before moving on to find peace, he tells her that his brother Damon is “the better man.” What. The. Hell?! Damon was a terrible person who only “changed” because he loved Elena, but that doesn’t erase the decades he spent as a serial killer, nor does it absolve him of being a literal rapist. Damon raped at least two women we know of as viewers: Caroline Forbes, Stefan’s wife, and a woman named Andie Star. He compelled these women to carry on sleeping with him after finding out he was being a vampire and being terrified of him. And in the case of Caroline, who was a sixteen-year-old human girl at the time, Damon abused her physically as well, covering her in bitemarks and bruises. Stefan just sacrificed himself for everyone, but he calls his evil brother the better man as he’s moving on to the afterlife. What a terrible ending for his character.

5.      Derek Hale

While I like to pretend the Teen Wolf Movie never happened, or that it’s an alternate universe at the very least, Derek Hale’s ending in the film is absolutely appalling. Derek’s entire family was murdered by hunters via fire when he was a teenager, and then he is killed off in the Teen Wolf Movie by being burned alive. This was a terrible death to give to a fan favourite character, especially considering how his family was killed in a fire that was set as a hate crime because they were werewolves.

4.      Natasha Romanoff

Natasha Romanoff’s ending in Avengers: Endgame was the ultimate sacrifice, and definitely in-character, but it also reeked of misogyny, especially misogyny against childless women. Natasha was the only OG female Avenger, and she’s the only Avenger missing from the final battle against Thanos because she sacrifices herself to get the soul stone earlier on in the film. She and Clint Barton aka Hawkeye when to the planet Vormir to retrieve the soul stone during the Avengers’ time heist in order to retrieve the infinity stones throughout history so they can bring back everyone who was destroyed during Thanos’s snap in Avengers: Infinity War. In order to obtain the soul stone, one must sacrifice something they love. This leads to a fight between Natasha and Clint about who is going to sacrifice themselves in order to get the stone. Natasha wins their fight and throws herself from the cliff where she falls to her death. The reason why this feels like misogyny against childless women is because it gives off this vibe that the reason why the writers have it be Natasha who sacrifices herself and not Clint is because Clint has a wife and kids whereas Natasha does not. Natasha Romanoff is infertile, as she was forcibly sterilized by the Red Room where she was trained. This feels like a slap in the face to childless women everywhere, especially after the horrible scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron where Natasha compares herself being forcibly sterilized to being a monster while talking with Bruce Banner. 

3.      Castiel

Castiel was a character on the TV Show Supernatural. He first appeared in season four and quickly became a fan favourite. Castiel meets his end in the third to last episode of the final season, sacrificing himself for Dean Winchester. He confesses to being in love with Dean, experiences a moment of true happiness, and the Empty comes to take both him and Billie aka Death, who was coming to kill him and Dean. However, whether or not Cas stayed dead is difficult to tell because of a line in the final episode. In the second to last episode, Castiel’s surrogate son, Jack Kline, absorbs the power of Chuck (God) and becomes God himself. It makes logical sense that Jack would do whatever he could to bring Cas back from the dead, and a line in the final episode makes it seem as though he might have. When Dean Winchester dies and goes to Heaven, he meets up with his old father figure, Bobby Singer, who tells him about the way Jack changed Heaven for the better, and tells him “Cas helped.” This implies that Castiel is alive again, but we never do see him after he is dragged into the Empty after giving Dean his love confession. This is a poor ending for a fan favourite character, and it’s deeply problematic because this was Castiel’s coming out moment. Up until the moment he told Dean he loved him in 15x18, Castiel was headcanoned as queer by the fandom, but it was not confirmed in the canon of the show. Having him come out as queer and then killing him off immediately afterwards falls into the trap of the “bury your gays” trope, which makes his ending horribly problematic.

2.      Daenerys Targaryen

Most everyone knows who Daenerys is and why her ending was terrible, but I’m going to explain anyway. Daenerys Targaryen was one of the main characters in the TV show Game of Thrones, which is based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Throughout the course of the series, we follow Daenerys as she seeks to return home and take her rightful place on the Iron Throne. We root for her season after season, just for the writers to have her “go mad” at the end, kill a bunch of people, and then get killed by her love interest, Jon Snow. I’m sure many fans felt as though they wasted their time watching all eight seasons of Game of Thrones just for this to be one of the beloved main character’s endings. We wanted to see Dany on the Iron Throne, not dead on the floor.

1.      Landon Kirby

I do not think I have ever seen an ending as terrible as Landon Kirby’s. Landon was a character from CW’s Legacies, a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals. He was the leading man in Legacies, being the love interest of the main character, Hope Mikaelson. But suddenly, Landon loses his supernatural phoenix powers, is abandoned in a prison world, gets possessed by his evil father, Malivore, and then is killed by his own girlfriend in order to save the world. Landon goes to limbo, but he’s not even able to find peace. Instead, he ends up as the new ferryman helping other souls find peace. In the final battle, some of the main characters on the show are killed, and they come to demand Landon bring them back from the dead, which Landon does at great personal cost to himself, as he has to sacrifice a piece of his soul to do so. He does this even though these are the same people who mistreated him and did little to rescue him when he was trapped in the prison world or possessed by Malivore. Landon Kirby seemed to be nothing more than the show’s punching bag who repeatedly sacrifices himself for others and ends his story miserable in limbo. Was this really Legacies’ ending for its male lead? Apparently, and it was terrible. There was a clear reason why this show was canceled after its fourth season.

Honourable Mention: Claudia de Lioncourt

Claudia is a character from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, as well as the film and TV show adaptations both entitled Interview with the Vampire. Few characters have deserved better more than Claudia, who was changed into a child vampire without getting her consent and was failed time and again by the people who were supposed to love her. A vampire trapped in a child's body, Claudia is unable to survive on her own and has her humanity ripped from her at a terribly young age, dooming her from the start. Claudia's story is a tragedy that ends with her death at the hands of a coven of vampires from Paris, who believe that child vampires should not exist. When the coven learns she made an attempt on the life of her Maker, they use it as an excuse to destroy her. The reason why she is an honourable mention rather than making this list is because I understand the reason for her ending. As much as I wish Claudia could have lived, her death was a way for Anne Rice to process her grief from the death of her own daughter. Knowing this, I understand why Claudia had to die for the story to hold the same meaning that it does, but that doesn't change the fact that I believe she deserved better in life.