31 TV Characters Who Deserved Totally Different (And Better) Endings Than The Ones They Got
We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which TV characters deserved much better endings. Here are some of the best responses:
🚨Warning: There are massive spoilers ahead!🚨
1.First, Cordelia Chase from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
"She went from a vapid mean girl to a selfless heroic woman. Then, the writers left her in a coma for half a season and then they have her just 'ascend,' aka die. What made it even worse is that it was all because Joss Whedon objected to Charisma Carpenter getting pregnant!"
2.Castiel from Supernatural
"Castiel needs to be here. He sacrificed himself to the empty just in time to not even see the final fight with Chuck. Also, his surrogate son Jack was the one who saved the universe. He didn’t even get an 'I love you too' from Dean. Cas deserved so much more."
3.Dean Winchester from Supernatural
"15 years of 'saving people, hunting things' and he gets taken out by getting impaled, on what was basically a giant nail, by a random vampire. Now I understand that the series finale we got was not the one they had originally planned (thanks, COVID) but if they were going to kill off a Winchester, they could have at least made it a little more epic."
4.Regina Mills from Once Upon a Time
"Even though she still got her 'happy ending,' it wasn’t fair for her to lose Robin. They did all of this character growth with her and made the reason for her going evil was losing her first love. I don’t understand why they killed him off and took him away from Regina when they could’ve brought him back like they did with Hook. Everyone else got their happy endings with the loves of their lives, even Rumple and Belle, but poor Regina couldn't have the happy ending she deserved with the love of her life."
5.Bellamy Blake from The 100
"I’ve honestly never seen an ending for a main character that was more of a slap in the face both for the character and for the remaining fans. Not only did he die cruelly at the hands of his very best friend, but he ended up being right all along in the way that he was trying to save them. Not only did Bellamy die alone just trying to protect the people he loved, but he never got to experience the very 'transcendence' that he was fighting for, and that he was killed for. He was barely even mourned. It was gross."
6.Lexa from The 100
"Listen, I feel like this is one of the go-to answers for this question. Lexa deserved so much better than the way she was treated on The 100. Not only did her death add to the growing list of unnecessary LGBTQ+ TV character deaths, but she had so much potential to do more alongside Clarke. I know Alycia Debnam-Carey had to leave the show for Fear the Walking Dead, but her exit deserved to be handled WAY better."
7.Beth Greene from The Walking Dead
"She had such great character development while she was alone with Daryl. They brought out such interesting parts of each other, and Beth was really turning into a badass. But then, she was just snuffed out by one of the STUPIDEST deaths of the series. She had so much potential and her death was so ridiculous. It brought nothing to the series."
8.Bonnie Bennett from The Vampire Diaries
"Throughout the series Bonnie sacrificed so much. The most selfless character in the show. I was thrilled when Bonnie and Enzo got together because she finally found love and appreciation. But, then the writers killed Enzo off and Bonnie couldn't even get a happy ending with the person she loved."
9.Enzo St. John from The Vampire Diaries
"The fact that Bonnie kept making sacrifices for her stupid friends all throughout the show and when she finally found someone who really loved her, the writers decided to kill Enzo. It just makes me so mad. They should've turned Enzo into a human and he and Bonnie should've spend their whole lives together and die peacefully. The most annoying thing is that Enzo didn't die fighting some big evil or saving some people, he died just because he got in the way of Stefan. I hate that his death was so useless."
10.Alex Karev from Grey's Anatomy
"I am not blaming the actor or the writers for Alex having to leave the show because I understand the circumstances. I just wish that my favorite character wasn't written as a bad person who would hurt Jo. I just wish he didn't go back to the person who hurt him so badly."
11.Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones
"Daenerys' ending made no sense whatsoever. Her entire character arc since the beginning of the show was that she wanted to help the common people from getting taken advantage of by the rich and powerful. People followed her, not because they were forced to, but because they wanted to and believed in her. She was a strong independent woman when that was not the norm. However in Season 8 they destroyed her character. She was no longer written to be kind or caring about regular people. They made her to be a mad queen who has to resort to begging Jon not to tell anyone his true parentage. She deserved better and we, as the fans, deserved a better and more coherent ending to the show."
12.Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones
"I hated Cersei and she was a great villain. She deserved a grand, gruesome death that was more cathartic for everyone. Not getting hit in the head by a rock."
—j1z1
13.Missandei from Game of Thrones
"If someone had to die between Missandei and Gray Worm, it should've been the latter. At least Gray Worm's death would've impacted Dany's army and morale. Missandei dying felt like it accomplished nothing other than just making the Mother of Dragons mad."
14.Justin Foley from 13 Reasons Why
"He admittedly started off as a horrible person but as the seasons passed he grew as a person and became a surprising fan favorite. Justin spent the entire last season talking about college and how all he wanted to do was survive, only to be killed off in the series finale."
15.Poussey Washington from Orange Is the New Black
"I'll never not be mad about Poussey. It hurt so bad I actually had to take time to get over it. She deserved the great life she had planned!"
16.Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars
"I'll never will get over his ending. In my head, he and Veronica are married and solving crimes together forever!!"
17.Penny from The Big Bang Theory
"It was cute tying in the line from earlier in the series about Penny and Leonard's babies being smart and beautiful, but why go through half a season of her not wanting kids only to have her be pregnant in the end? They could have had a happy ending without kids! It just bugged me that they included a whole storyline about how she didn’t want kids only to end with her almost apathetic response. Come on, you already did the hesitant-to-have-kids-until-having-their-own storyline with Bernadette, so why do that to Penny?"
18.Raj Koothrappali from The Big Bang Theory
"His character had changed so much since the beginning. Right before the show ended, he broke up with a girl who seemed perfect for him. Then, when all the other main characters were winning Nobel Prizes or having kids, his happy ending was meeting (a married) Sarah Michelle Gellar."
19.Oliver Queen from Arrow
"He deserved to grow old with Felicity and raise their kids."
20.Nairobi from Money Heist/La Casa de Papel
"Funny, loyal, and spirited, she was a fan favorite with a heart-gripping backstory. The writers made me love her, see her struggle, believe she was really going to make it, then I had to watch her get shot in the head. She deserved more."
21.Tracy McConnell, aka The Mother, from How I Met Your Mother
"The entire series was supposed to be a buildup to Ted meeting Tracy and getting their happy ending together, but the show killed her off as soon as they really introduced her. It made it seem like the Mother was just a throwaway character and once she served her purpose of making Ted a dad because Robin didn't want/couldn't have kids, they killed her off so Ted could be with Robin."
22.Fiona Gallagher from Shameless
"She sacrificed her entire life taking care of her siblings and no one appreciated it. When she started taking care of herself, doing stuff SHE wanted, it all came crumbling down and she lost everything and everyone. Her siblings ignored and blamed her when she turned into an alcoholic and they didn't offer any help. Then she left without saying goodbye to everyone and no one seemed to care. She deserved a way better ending, especially after everything she went through."
23.Isaac Lahey from Teen Wolf
"After everything he had been through with his dad and losing Boyd and Erica, he FINALLY had something good going for him. Plus, Isaac and Allison getting together was great. But then, Allison dies and they just write him off and he leaves the country. ISAAC DESERVED BETTER!"
24.Shiro from Voltron: Legendary Defender
"The final season of Voltron was a mess for a lot of the characters, but Shiro was the worst. He had been through so much and then he found out his fiancé was killed during a raid. Then, the series ended with a montage of him marrying some guy for his happy ending which was random because who was that guy? It was a very How I Met Your Mother–like ending."
25.Ruth Wilder from GLOW
"She worked so hard and deserved to reach her goal of becoming a famous actor and director. I can't believe they canceled the show before it happened."
26.Wallace from The Wire
Suggested by: ariellej4
I didn't watch The Wire until recently and I somehow remained completely unspoiled by this heartbreaking ending. It's wild to look back now and watch Michael B. Jordan as a little kid. He commands this show in the very little time he was given and Wallace should've gotten his happy ending.
27.Ellie Bishop from NCIS
"What even was that crap ending for Season 18? Her leaving was so out of character, and yes, we get that the actor had to leave, but did they have to write her out as a disgraced NCIS agent that helped leak classified NSA files? They spent four seasons building up her relationship with Nick and it was going somewhere this season when they had 'the talk' but then we just conveniently forgot about that!"
28.Eliot Waugh from The Magicians
"In Season 3, Eliot learned how compatible he was with Quentin as a life partner, but he chickened out instead of opening up about his feelings. He then spent 99% of Season 4 possessed and unable to control anything he was doing. Quentin spent the duration of that season either mourning Eliot or trying to figure out how to save him. After Quentin sacrificed himself, Eliot was saved, but he didn't get to see Quentin before he died. There was so much unfinished business between the two of them. Eliot spent the final season dealing with his feeling for his lost love, rebounding, and eventually 'ending up' with Charlton, which felt like a total cop out. After everything Eliot went through, he deserved more."
29.Rita Castillo from Why Women Kill
"Rita Castillo deserved a way better ending than what she got. Not only did Lana Parilla bring her to life incredibly well, but over just ten episodes she grew so much as a character that I was rooting for her by the end. Her future was starting to look brighter when she planned to run away with Scooter, and then she had the most anticlimactic death in the series thus far. I was so disappointed."
30.Donna Noble from Doctor Who
"They did my girl dirty. She didn’t die, but in some ways what happened was worse. All the beautiful character development that she had gained from her adventures was just erased in a matter of seconds. Eventually, Donna believed in herself as something bigger than just a temp, but now she’ll never remember that."
31.And finally, Andy Bernard from The Office
"In the last season, he turned into a major a-hole and I never understood it. He was a bit annoying early on but you end up coming around to him only to see him turn into a jerk, get fired, and go viral in the worst way possible."
Now, we can't fit everyone into one post, so tell us what other characters you think deserved much better endings in the comments below!
Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
