Line #54 SacrificialLion/LiveActionTV


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7	{{Sacrificial Lion}}s in LiveActionTV series.
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10	* ''Series/TwentyFour'':
11	** This show is riddled with these, especially in Season 5. Don't get too attached to ''anyone'' in this show; they'll probably be dead by the end of the series.
12	** To go into further detail, there have only been two main characters who managed to live throughout the show from start to finish: Jack and Kim Bauer. Everyone else [[AnyoneCanDie died]], [[WhathappenedToTheMouse went missing]], got put in jail, or [[PutOnABus disappeared after one season ended]].
13	* ''Series/{{Alias}}'': Another J.J. Abrams show that does the same thing. Irony points, the character in ''Series/{{Alias}}'' who was replaced by an identical assassin was named Francie. Awfully similar to Francis, ain't it?
14	* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In this ''Buffy'' SpinOff, [[TheLancer Doyle]] appears in the first episode, gets some strong characterization and a potential LoveInterest, and undergoes some noticeable CharacterDevelopment. Then, he pulls a HeroicSacrifice in the ninth episode [[RealLifeWritesThePlot because of his actor's drug habits.]]. Notably, unlike Jesse in [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer the parent series]], Doyle is [[DefiedTrope NOT]] [[ForgottenFallenFriend forgotten]], and even in the fifth and final season, his name and legacy are sore spots for the main characters.
15	* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', seems to have one of these every season.
16	** Tommy Merlyn, the best friend of [[TheHero Oliver Queen]] and the son of [[BigBad Malcolm Merlyn]] is killed at the end of Season 1 as the result of the Undertaking. His death inspires Oliver to adopt his ThouShaltNotKill ideology and even has Oliver saying how he's doing this to honor his deceased friend in the opening monologue of Season 2.
17	** Moira Queen gets killed during Season 2 by Slade Wilson in a HeroicSacrifice, out of revenge to Oliver Queen and to further crush his spirit. It's done both to show how much of a monster Slade is, as well as giving Moira a DeathEqualsRedemption moment after her immoral actions in Season 1.
18	** Sara Lance is killed at the start of Season 3, as her character was meant to be a springboard for her sister Laurel Lance to become the Black Canary. However, Sara was [[BreakoutCharacter so popular]] that she got brought BackFromTheDead and ended up as a lead role on a [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow spin-off show]].
19	** Laurel Lance herself gets killed near the end of Season 4, mainly to show how overwhelmingly powerful Damien Darhk is, and out of spite for her father, Quentin Lance, betraying Darhk earlier in the season. It marks the point Darhk crosses the MoralEventHorizon, and all the characters go from wanting him captured to wanting him dead.
20	* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Lieutenant Keffer, hotshot pilot, had an entire season of character development and screen time for the fans to get to know him. Then he's killed in the season finale so everyone would know the Shadows are back and ready to rumble. For fun, this was actually a WriterRevolt: The network insisted on the character.
21	* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Skulls, Racetrack, Kat, Socinus, Crashdown, Jammer, Dualla, and even Cally are all given screen time, character development, and plot points (in some cases, entire storylines and multi-episode story arcs). And then they die just to show how shitty the situation was.
22	* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'': Plays this trope straight and hard in the second season finale when after seemingly having patched things up Nucky murders Jimmy after two seasons of him as the show's most important character besides Nucky himself.
23	* In ''Series/TheBoys2019'', [[spoiler:Starlight's NiceGuy [[AmicableExes ex-boyfriend]] [[AdaptationalNiceGuy Supersonic]] is brought onto [[SuperTeam the Seven]] to replace [[ThoseWackyNazis Stormfront]], and spends half the season plotting with her to overthrow [[BigBad Homelander]]. He's then [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter betrayed by A-Train]] and brutally murdered by Homelander, who [[TargetedToHurtTheHero makes her look at his corpse and tells her that the same thing will happen to Hughie if she keeps sneaking around]].]]
24	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
25	** Season 2 brings the first of many examples in Jenny Calendar. She's specifically killed to convince the Scooby Gang that Angelus is an actual threat. And Puccini would never be the same again.
26	** Joss had intended to do [[SacrificialLamb something similar]] with Xander's quickly-forgotten best friend Jesse in "[[ThePilot Welcome To The Hellmouth]]," but was unable to sneak him into the opening credits for a single episode.
27	*** He finally got to do this in Season 6 with Tara who, after being a regular supporting/main character since Season 4, was added to the opening title sequence [[spoiler:in the same episode she was brutally killed]].
28	** WordOfGod has it that in Season 7, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the original plan]] was that Caleb [[ShooOutTheClowns would kill]] [[AuthorAvatar Xander]].
29	* ''Series/BurnNotice'':
30	** In the fifth season, Max. They introduce him, give him strong characterization, show that he's one of the rare, unambiguously good guys, and then they kill the shit out of him. And frame Michael in the process.
31	** In a villainous example (with a show that likes to keep around [[JokerImmunity the really cool bad guys]]), Brennan is killed just before the season finale by another bad guy, "Dead" Larry.
32	* This is the main role of Vasily in ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'', a firefighter who is one of the first to respond when the disaster strikes. He's kind, brave, showed up when he wasn't even on duty, and has a beautiful wife and a baby on the way... and so naturally, he's the character whose death of radiation sickness is shown in the greatest detail.
33	* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'':
34	** [[TheAce Bryce Larkin]] is killed in the second season finale when it's revealed that [[BigBad Fulcrum]] was just one branch of a much larger, much more dangerous, organization.
35	** [[DisappearedDad Stephen Bartowski]] is killed in the penultimate episode of the third season to demonstrate Daniel Shaw's MoralEventHorizon.
36	* The short-lived series "Series/TheCrossing" involved time-traveling refugees from the future arriving in a small town. Local sheriff Jude Ellis tries to help them while the federal government wants to sweep everything under the rug. This initially brings Jude into conflict with the feds' point person, Emma Ren, who is in the show's main cast. But she soon comes to agree with Jude, becoming a ReasonableAuthorityFigure as they work together to investigate the situation. Unfortunately, this quickly brings Emma too close to the truth and she's murdered by time-travel conspirators at the end of the fourth episode (out of eleven).
37	* ''Damages'': Kills off two out of its five cast members before the end of the first season to establish that yes, AnyoneCanDie.
38	* ''Series/{{Defiance}}'': Two important characters are killed in the first season. Sukar and Kenya Rosewater.
39	** Sukar is introduced as a father figure to Irisa and his death makes her faith stronger. Sukar's death is also a major plot point in one of the episodes.
40	** Kenya Rosewater is shown as the proprietor of the local brothel, and was also Nolan's lover, and later becomes Stahma's lover. In the finale, Stahma kills off Kenya to placate her husband. Kenya's death is used to demonstrate Stahma's loyalty to her husband and according to WordOfGod also set up major plot points in Season 2.
41	* In season 2 of ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'', Baby Doll and Flaming Katy are killed off to demonstrate that even the denizens of Jane's Underground aren't safe from the reality-warping Candlemaker. This also sets up the return of Miranda, Jane's morally-ambiguous precursor, who kills off Scarlet Harlot and Lucy Fugue in order to create a pretext to depose Jane as the Primary. The season finale features yet another example, as Niles Caulder dies of old age just as the Candlemaker arrives, leaving the Doom Patrol to their own devices to fight him.
42	* ''Series/TheExpanse'' does this at least twice in the first season:
43	** The first episode sets up the crew of the ''Canterbury'', an ice hauler bringing ice from Saturn's rings back to Ceres for Belters to live on. We're introduced to quite a few characters, including interpersonal tensions between some of them, and hints of dark secrets that others have. There are easily enough plot hooks to start off a whole season of getting to know these people. Then they're all vaporized at the end of the episode (except for 5 crewmembers who were on an away mission). The ''whole ship and everyone on it'' were all Sacrificial Lions.
44	** In episode 4, those 5 escapees have survived debris fields, low oxygen, and getting captured by a scary Martian dreadnought. They're finally starting to work together and beginning to have an inkling of what they're involved in. They sure look like the heroes. Then one of them gets his whole head obliterated by a stray railgun round during a battle.
45	* ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
46	** In the Season 1 finale, Eddie Thawne commits a HeroicSuicide to [[RetGone erase the Reverse-Flash (his descendant) from existence]] before he can kill Barry.
47	** In the Season 2 premiere, Professor Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond merged as Firestorm fly into the eye of the singularity above central city, and forcibly separate to close it. Only Stein makes it back, Ronnie doesn't. Later in the second to last episode, Zoom kills Henry Allen in front of Barry, in a particularly cruel YankTheDogsChain, after spending the entire past season trying to free him from prison for a crime he didn't commit.
48	** In Season 3, the major arc was preventing Iris from being this at the hands of Savitar. They succeed, by someone else taking her place with holographic technology: H.R. Wells.
49	* ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'' has Lou, by now a beloved character, dying in a second season episode. In this case, it's not so much about the particular bad guy (who's already dead) as to set up the possibility that AnyoneCanDie, which hadn't been a part of the show previously; it puts an edge on the suspense in every future episode where a member of the team is in danger.
50	** May's death in "Broken Peace" serves largely to set up a character arc for Ed, culminating in his HeroicBSOD near the end of the season.
51	* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'':
52	** Agent Charlie Francis. After getting through the first season relatively unharmed, being established as [[ActionGirl Olivia]]'s {{Wingman}} and one of the major Agents in [[TheMenInBlack Fringe Division]], and surviving a M-Preg gone horribly wrong, we all assumed that Charlie had developed PlotArmor as one of the core characters. Then the writers [[DroppedABridgeOnHim have him killed]] by a shape-shifter who steals his form, who later dies anyways.
53	** This also happens to William Bell and Alt-Broyles.
54	** And then to Lincoln. A funny, friendly badass who adored Fauxlivia, won the hearts of the fangirls, and survived getting blown up.
55	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
56	** Eddard Stark is a reasonable if flawed man who establishes in the first season that AnyoneCanDie. He is conclusive proof that decency, honesty, and Westeros don't mix very well.
57	** [[spoiler:Eddison "Dolorous Edd" Tollett]] is a veteran of nearly every onscreen battle involving the Night's Watch and survived them all, only to be the first casualty in the FinalBattle against the Army of the Dead.
58	* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': The first season finale sees Lucerys, Rhaenyra's sensitive second son, killed by her brother Aemond's dragon during a diplomatic mission gone wrong. The final scene implies that this will make her go all-in in the impending civil war when she had previously been hesitant.
59	* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
60	** Often an InvertedTrope to the villains, especially after Decade. They are usually offed by the end of the first quarter of the show, though there are some special cases...
61	** Kirihiko from ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' gets offed, though his Nasca Memory becomes a ChekhovsGun ''and'' a SuperMode for his killer late in the show.
62	** Mezool and Gamel from ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' are also offed, but thanks to Uva, they came back to life halfway into the show. As it turns out, Greeeds can only truly die if their conscious cores are destroyed, and [[spoiler:after getting his Lion Medal cracked by OOO [=PuToTyra=] Combo, Kazari is backstabbed by Dr. Maki, who yanks the rest of the intact Medals inside him, leaving him for dead, making him the first of the main four Greeed to permanently die.]]
63	** [[spoiler:Sarina Sonoda/]]Scorpion Zodiarts from ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' gets defeated... yet still hangs around for a few more episodes before he goes back into the fray again and gets defeated by the Meteor. Despite living through that, Virgo comes and sends him to the Dark Nebula where he/[[SamusIsAGirl she]] [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse will never be seen again]]. The Switch that he uses is kept though, and is used by both the BigBad and his second Dragon for different goals.
64	** Phoenix from ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'' gets defeated introducing the hero's MidSeasonUpgrade... then he revives. After a few more revives (he ''is'' a Phoenix, after all), he gets kicked into the sun, trapping him in an endless cycle of death and rebirth. After that, the gears of the endgame begin turning. And no, he doesn't come back save for an AlternateUniverse movie... where he gets offed again.
65	** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' has Ryoji Hase/Kamen Rider Kurokage. At first, he is introduced as yet another rival for the heroes to defeat but is soon reduced to being part of a GoldfishPoopGang with his friend Jounochi/Kamen Rider Gridon. But then the series has a case of CerebusSyndrome, resulting in Hase losing his powers, irreversibly mutating into a rabid monster, and then killed by one of the new Yggdrasil Riders to show this faction is a legitimate threat who'll do whatever it takes to reach their goal.
66	** ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' has Chikara Saionji, Ryu Tenkuji's EvilFormerFriend, who wanted the 15 Eyecons for his own ambitions, having his downfall stemming from not having a fully-functioning Ghost Driver brought with him when that time came, disintegrated and sucked into the Great Eye. After that, the show's plot focuses on the backbone of the Gamma World, while Saionji comes back in the second Hyper Battle DVD and Specter's V-Cinema, having been redeemed by that point.
67	** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' has Aoba, who was one of the three Crows led by Kazumi/Grease, being the first unintended fatality at the hands of the hero's DeadlyUpgrade, with his death being a motivating factor for his captain. Imitations of him and his two fellow fallen comrades made by Evolto towards the end of the series that led to [[spoiler:Kazumi's death]], while Aoba himself comes back to life in the New World after the two worlds merged.
68	** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' has Ansatsu-chan/Dodo Magia, where, unlike most Magias before him, can be remade and [[CameBackStrong come back stronger]] in the event that he is destroyed [[spoiler:(even though it turns out each version of him was made by four of the five Matsurida Z that was stolen and reincarnated).]] After Version 4's scrapping at the hands of the hero's first MidSeasonUpgrade, [[spoiler:with No. 5 ending up in Hiden's custody and the Dodo Key used for Raiden, Ansatsu-chan could not be remade again.]]
69	** ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' has [[spoiler: Yujiro Wakabayashi, who is apparently the '''[[BigGood BIG GOOD]]''' of the series.]] [[spoiler: The mere fact that he was killed by the MonsterOfTheWeek will remind you that Revice isn't pure light-hearted as other Kamen Rider shows before it.]]
70	* ''Series/Kingdom2019'': Mu-yeong, the Prince's guard and personal advisor, bites it halfway through Season 2, in a hail of arrows from members of the Haewon Cho Clan.
71	* ''Series/TheKilling'': Two back to back. Near the end of Season 3, Bullet is shockingly murdered (off-screen) by the Pied Piper. The next episode, Ray Seward is executed in prison despite his innocence.
72	* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'':
73	** In Season 1, Carter Hall/Hawkman is the first member of the main cast to bite it at the hands of Vandal Savage, and on the ''second'' episode, no less (though a later incarnation joins them temporarily as an EleventhHourRanger). In the second to last episode, Leonard Snart/Captain Cold stays behind to ensure the self-destruct of the Time Masters' main computer, along with all of them (after preventing Mick from doing it, who in turn had prevented ''Ray'' from doing it before).
74	** In Season Two, the main cast manages to survive the entire run, but some of their allies and {{GuestStarPartyMember}}s do not, like Henry Heywood/Commander Steel, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Rex Tyler/Hourman.
75	** In Season Three, during the climax of ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX'', Martin Stein is fatally shot. Realizing that his psychic link with Jax as Firestorm will only drag them both to death, Stein drinks a drug to cut it off to save Jax's life.
76	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'':
77	** Sadoc Burrows is killed by the Ascetic, and Malva has to take over the leadership of the Harfoots in his place.
78	** Tar-Palantír's death is setting Numenor on a dark path, as his death and Miriel being blind, gives Pharazôn a free hand to take over Numenor just like in the source material.
79	* ''Series/{{Lost}}'':
80	** Boone Carlyle receives a good deal of character development before being the first main character to die, restoring an AnyoneCanDie atmosphere to the show that it had lost after the first few episodes (thanks to the weird DisneyDeath of Charlie) and that it has maintained ever since.
81	** Killing super-survivor Rousseau, followed by her and Ben's daughter Alex the next episode, firmly established the mercenary Keamy as a deadly adversary for Ben. The way he kills Alex also sends him over the MoralEventHorizon.
82	** The deaths of Sayid, Jin, and Sun in the final season, which happened to show the audience that The Man in Black was truly the BigBad.
83	* ''Series/LukeCage2016'':
84	** In the second episode, Pop is accidentally killed when Tone tries to shoot Chico. His death affects numerous characters in the show and is what pushes Luke to use his powers to defend Harlem from the criminals who have been ravaging the community.
85	** In the seventh episode, Cornell Stokes, the BigBad of the series so far, is killed. His death becomes a StartOfDarkness moment for his cousin Mariah, who becomes a villain in her own right.
86	* ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'': Has [[ActionMom [=MagiMother=]]] fall in battle to [[BlackKnight Wolzard]] at the start of the second episode, leaving her children without her guidance in their battles against Infershia.
87	* ''Series/{{Merlin\|2008}}'' killed off Sir Elyan halfway through the fifth season in order to set the AnyoneCanDie tone for the rest of the show.
88	* ''Series/MotherlandFortSalem'': Libba is killed during the interception when a piece of the truck breaks off and tears right through her chest.
89	* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': Loves to point these out. Tom Servo once called out, "Ding-ding-ding--'''VICTIM'''!" at one blatantly obvious Sacrificial Lion in the ''Film/IWasATeenageWerewolf'' [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E09IWasATeenageWerewolf episode]]. It became a RunningGag as the teen walked through a desolate path.
90	* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Kate Todd, made even worse by the fact that it was looking more and more unlikely since Reveille that Ari would actually kill her; he'd already almost bombed a cafe, but this showed that he wasn't going to stop until Gibbs was in mental agony.
91	* ''Series/TheNightAgent'': Agent Monks is killed by the assassins. So is Peter's friend Cisco. Both are sympathetic supporting characters whose deaths show us just how dangerous they are.
92	* ''Series/{{Oz}}'':
93	** Longtime recurring character Kenny Wangler, who had been around since the first season and had been secondary only to the main cast in terms of prominence, is killed off early in Season 4 to establish that Adebisi is playing for keeps with his plan to take control of Em City.
94	** Augustus Hill, the show's narrator, is murdered in the fifth season finale to establish that AnyoneCanDie in the final season.
95	* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Alicia Corwin, to establish Root's level of villainy.
96	* ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'':
97	** Did this in the second episode (two-part season premiere) with the character Mike, leaving his brother Leo to take his place as the Red Ranger for the season. While Leo was obviously TheHero of the story from the beginning, such things never happen in Franchise/PowerRangers.
98	** Kendrix's death towards the middle of the season came as quite a shocking conclusion to the ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' crossover (caused due to the actress being diagnosed with leukemia and needing to leave for treatments). Both characters [[UnexplainedRecovery get better]].
99	* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'':
100	** Danny Matheson in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E11TheStand Episode 11]]. What really hits home about his death is that the protagonists spend the first half of the season trying to rescue him and this happens right after the [[Recap/RevolutionS1E10NobodysFaultButMine episode where he gets rescued]]. On the plus side, he saved a lot of lives as he died, and his death has inspired many younger people to join up with the rebels, such as Jason Neville in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E13TheSongRemainsTheSame Episode 13]].
101	** In the [[Recap/RevolutionS1E20TheDarkTower first season finale]], Nora Clayton. She had spent almost the entire season working with Team Matheson in rescuing Danny and subsequently fighting the Monroe Republic. [[Recap/RevolutionS1E5SoulTrain Episode 5]] and [[Recap/RevolutionS1E6SexAndDrugs Episode 6]] show her getting stabbed non-fatally in the gut and almost dying from an infection. [[Recap/RevolutionS1E8TiesThatBind Episode 8]] expanded on her backstory along with her sister Mia Clayton. [[Recap/RevolutionS1E16TheLoveBoat Episode 16]] had her rekindling her relationship with her ex Miles... which made her death very upsetting for him.
102	* ''Series/RobinHood'': Roughly 40% of the guest stars featured on this show, in particular Carter and Legrand.
103	* ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'': Thomas and Dickon are introduced together with Will Scarlet and have an active role in the first story, appearing to be intended as regular members of the outlaws. The two are killed in the final battle of the first story, showing both the surviving heroes and the audience that this isn't going to be all fun and games.
104	* ''Series/{{Rome}}'': Pompey Magnus. Of course, it wasn't a surprise to anyone who knew their history, but being killed halfway through the first season after the show had been focused entirely on the rivalry between him and Julius Caesar still makes it feel pretty abrupt.
105	* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'': Amanda Tanner and Gideon Wallace.
106	* ''Series/{{Siberia}}'': Tommy is set up to be easily likeable to drive home his death at the end of the first episode and show that the show isn't just another RealityTV show.
107	* ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'': Sees the death of main character Jax's long-suffering and devoted best friend Opie Winston out of nowhere just '''three''' episodes into the fifth season.
108	* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'': While no HistoricalDomainCharacter may count among these, Varro, Barca, and Mira certainly do.
109	* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
110	** Major Kawalsky (a character first introduced in the ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' movie) dies early on to show just how dangerous and downright evil the Goa'uld are.
111	** The seventh season episode "Heroes" fan-favorite character [[spoiler:Dr. Frasier]] is killed while treating a wounded airman during an off-world firefight, mostly to give us another reason to hate Anubis.
112	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
113	** ActionGirl Tasha Yar. Granted, [[DroppedABridgeOnHim her death]] was a way to shuffle Denise Crosby off the stage, but story-wise she's killed simply to make the MonsterOfTheWeek look even more lethal.
114	** An element of FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you remember that that's exactly what all the RedShirts died for in the Original Series -- the only difference is that this time the audience ''knows'' the RedShirt in question.
115	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
116	** Jadzia Dax's death in the episode "Tears of the Prophets" is there to make Dukat an even more ominous BigBad than he already was, and serves to give Sisko a TenMinuteRetirement in CliffHanger form. (Don't worry, [[TheNthDoctor Dax gets better]]).
117	** The destruction of the ''USS Odyssey'' in Starfleet's first engagement with The Dominion also counts; by the writer's admission, it was a Galaxy-class starship in the same family as the Enterprise to give the audience the idea of what could have happened to the ''actual'' Enterprise in that situation.
118	* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'':
119	** Icheb was an important recurring character in the last two seasons of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', but he's sacrificed in a gruesome OrganTheft to illustrate to viewers how much DarkerAndEdgier this series is compared to the previous ones.
120	** Hugh appeared in three episodes of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and three episodes of ''Picard'', but he meets his end in "Nepenthe" to further emphasize the latter series' DarkerAndEdgier tone.
121	* ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'':
122	** Hemmer appears in a handful of episodes and strikes up something of a friendship with Cadet Uhura, who is DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife, not even sure if she’ll stay in Starfleet. He meets his end in the penultimate episode of Season One, urging Uhura to stick around and become the woman she’s destined to be before he pulls a HeroicSuicide to save the other crew mates from the Gorn.
123	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Damn near everyone. In particular, Ash and the Roadhouse in "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One", John Winchester in "In My Time Of Dying" (all for the Yellow-Eyed Demon), Henriksen in "Jus In Bello" (for Lilith), and Jo and Ellen in "Abandon All Hope..." (for Lucifer). Another possible example is Kubrick in "Fresh Blood", who seemed to be getting set up as another recurring antagonist, only to be killed by Gordon in his second episode. Not to mention Bela in "Time Is On My Side" (to remind us of what's about to happen to Dean) and Anna in "The Song Remains The Same" (angels can stay dead and Heaven's torture is ''very'' bad news). Then we have [[CoolCar the]] [[CompanionCube Impala]], which doesn't ''die'', being a car, but does get hidden away for most of Season 7 after "Slash Fiction" to emphasize the Leviathan threat.
124	* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'':
125	** Derek Reese gets killed in the penultimate episode of the second season, just to show that the new AI isn't playing around like John Henry and Weaver were.
126	** Charley Dixon dies the episode before Derek; they are both examples of AnyoneCanDie.
127	** Derek also subverts the trope. Due to time travel, he reappears in the next episode alive and well.
128	* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'': Captain Jack seems like this at first in ''Series/DoctorWho''. [[AlwaysChaoticEvil The Daleks]] drive him and his army into a corner (Not to mention they also go to the lower floors of a space station just to wipe out the humans hidden away there). Everybody's dead, and his machine gun's running out of ammo. He pulls out a pistol and fires, quickly running out of bullets. He relents, and asks what the Daleks are going to do:
129	-->'''Daleks:''' ''EX-TER-MI-NATE!''\
130	'''Jack:''' I kinda figured that.
131	* ''Series/TheTudors'': Cardinal Wolsey's banishment from court and subsequent execution could arguable be a drawn-out version of this trope. The show had taken the time to build up Wolsey and establish him as a major force in the royal court and politics of Europe and billed the actor as a member of the main cast. His downfall helped establish Henry's fickle nature and demonstrate that in RealLife AnyoneCanDie. Though he [[SuicideNotMurder wasn't executed]].
132	** The execution of Thomas More halfway through Season 2 also applies here. More is portrayed right from the start as King Henry VIII's closest advisor and personal friend -- More is practically the only character who addresses the king as "Henry" or "Harry", rather than "Your Majesty". Until the second episode of Season 2, he is Henry's Chancellor. Henry then has him beheaded a few episodes later.
133	* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':
134	** Dale is the first major character to die in the series, and he dies just before the show takes on an ever darker turn in the third season. He's followed by Shane, whose death signifies the beginning of the Ricktatorship and the end of the cliques that had been employed during the second season. From there on, the group becomes far more cohesive and tight-knit, and fully dependent on Rick. It is also here that Daryl becomes Rick's new [[TheLancer Lancer]], signaling a big moment for his CharacterDevelopment.
135	** Lori and to a lesser extent T-Dog's deaths herald the beginning of Rick's SanitySlippage that he struggles with during the remainder of the third season.
136	** Merle's death signals Daryl fully embracing the prison group as his family. It also happened near the end of Michonne's CharacterDevelopment.
137	** Andrea's death affected a lot of people. It fully causes Rick to reflect on his humanity, it officially cemented Michonne's attachment to the group and it causes the Woodbury residents to see what kind of person the Governor really is and defect to the prison group.
138	** Hershel's brutal execution at the hands of the Governor comes at the mid-point of Rick's CharacterDevelopment as he realizes that you can come back from the things you do to survive. Hershel dies smiling, knowing Rick will be okay even without him around. It also signals that the Governor is past redemption, which ensured his death in the same episode.
139	** Joe's death is the culmination of Rick's CharacterDevelopment throughout the entire series -- he finally embraces both his humanity and brutality, turning him into a much more effective leader and father with no more doubts about his ability to lead or protect his family.
140	** In a much lesser example, Bob is the first casualty of Rick's group in the fifth season. His death also marked the beginning of Sasha's CharacterDevelopment for the rest of the season.
141	** Beth's death leads to development for both Maggie and Daryl.
142	** Tyreese's death happened at the time the group is still mourning and recovering from the previous character's death. The character's death is also an extension of his sister's CharacterDevelopment. In a meta sense, it's also proof that AnyoneCanDie at any time is still well and truly in effect since the character's death suddenly came one episode after the previous one, and that you don't have to wait for the season finales for a character to die.
143	** Glenn and Abraham's deaths at the hands of Negan are the villain’s bloody EstablishingCharacterMoment to show Rick that he no longer is the alpha of his world and he must now contend with a threat so dangerous and powerful it's made his group ''cry''.
144	** Sasha's HeroicSuicide is the culmination of the main characters regaining their confidence and pride to fight the Saviors after the latter group humiliated (and emasculated) them.
145	** Jesus's sudden death finally makes the group realize that Eugene's warnings of "walkers who can talk" aren't just crazed hyperbole and that there is indeed a dangerous new threat out there in the form of the Whisperers.
146	** The shocking heads-on-pikes deaths of Enid, Tara, Henry, Ozzy, Alek, D.J., Frankie, Tammy Rose, Rodney, and Adeline make the communities sit up and realize that Alpha is absolutely not screwing around, and that she will not hesitate for one second to slaughter anyone she perceives as a threat or challenge to the Whisperers. Arguably, the deaths do more damage to the morale of the three communities than Negan ever did during the Savior War.
147

Context SacrificialLion / LiveActionTV