10 TV Characters Who Were Written Out Way Too Soon

Some TV characters we have to endure far longer than we can stand, while others end their on-screen journeys at just about the right time. But then there are the ones who are taken from us far too soon. We’ve all been affected by a heartbreaking character death or tragic exit, but sometimes it goes beyond our personal feelings. On occasion, it's just plain dumb to remove a certain beloved character from the equation, in terms of the narrative of the show, and doing so can end up severely damaging the series as a whole. So, on that note, here are our top ten picks for TV characters who were written out of their respective shows far sooner than they should have been. If we’ve left off your worst offender for this, remind us about them in the comments section below. Oh, and a big spoiler warning for the TV shows still on the air is definitely in order. 10) Ronnie Raymond (The Flash) A common reason for characters being written out prematurely is because the actor suddenly decides to leave, either due to issues behind the scenes or conflicting schedules. This is what happened when Robbie Amell couldn’t commit to spinoff Legends of Tomorrow. Unfortunately, that meant The Flash’s Ronnie Raymond had to go to that big black hole in the sky. Unlike some, Ronnie did get a heroic death, but it still didn’t sit quite right in the show. For one, it meant that Barry pretty much had nothing to do with saving the day – in fact, it cost both Eddie Thawne and Ronnie their lives. Plus, we enjoyed having Arrow’s baby brother as part of the show. Franz Drameh has come into his own as Ronnie’s replacement Jax in Legends, but the original half of Firestorm could have stuck around a little longer. 9) Charlie Pace (Lost) Over its six seasons, Lost killed off so many characters that it was hard to keep track. While some of them were welcome (no one shed a tear when Paulo and Nikki kicked the bucket), others were downright heartbreaking. Probably the most emotionally taxing – and controversial – of the show’s deaths was that of Charlie Pace. The washed-up (literally) rocker stood as many fans’ favourite of the Losties, winning them over with his all-round sweetness, but that didn’t stop him from being written out in season three in a complex plot about destiny and averting the future. There was some consolation in the fact that, thanks to all the crazy time travel and flash sideways, Dominic Monaghan popped up a couple of times after Charlie’s death. However, that doesn’t make up for the fact that he should have been around permanently for a lot longer. 8) Ben Urich (Daredevil) Daredevil’s first season received widespread acclaim for getting just about everything right (the slightly dodgy final suit, notwithstanding). One of the most memorable moments was the shocking murder of journalist Ben Urich in the penultimate episode, but that doesn’t mean it was necessarily a good move. First of all, Urich is a pretty significant characters in the comics, being one of Daredevil’s core band of allies and also figuring into Spider-Man’s mythos, as well. Given that, fans were getting ready to see a lot more of Vondie Curtis-Hall going forward. The result of killing him off was that Daredevil’s second season had a large Urich-sized hole, which was somewhat awkwardly filled by legal secretary Karen Page taking a career U-turn and becoming a reporter instead. Urich’s death made for a great shock in the short term, but it certainly had unfortunate effects in the long term. 7) Robb Stark (Game Of Thrones) Given that we would be here forever if we listed every Game of Thrones character who was killed off when we were least expecting it, we'll limit the show to one entry. Unsurprisingly, it comes from the most celebrated – and most notoriously trigger-happy – episode 'The Rains of Castamere' - AKA 'The One With The Red Wedding.' While the pregnant Talisa was the most tragic death, Robb Stark’s demise is the one that had the most world-changing ramifications. He'd previously been right at the jaws of victory, but he was unceremoniously cut down in the middle of a wedding ceremony. While his death contributed to one of the most talked about TV episodes of recent years and kicked the whole series up a gear, it still would have been fascinating to see what would have happened if Robb had survived. 6) Tyreese Williams (The Walking Dead) This list wouldn’t be complete without The Walking Dead. When your show is set in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, it’s an occupational hazard that the characters are regularly going to snuff it. Still, one such death we could have done without was the loss of loveable leader Tyreese. It might have been one of the most emotionally taxing moments in the whole show, but Ty was such a good guy that there were several characters who should have met the wrong end of a Walker rather than him. Plus, the character had only turned up in season three (somewhat later than in the original storyline from the comics), so he definitely deserved to stick around longer. 5) Doyle (Angel) This list could also be filled with the works of Joss Whedon, who's turned killing off beloved characters in shock twists into an art form. The one that still rankles us the most, though, is the death of Irish half-demon Doyle only nine episodes into Angel’s first season. Loveable rogue Doyle really impressed as a lead character in that short time, but we were denied the chance to get to know him better. Thankfully, he did get a great heroic exit, and his absence did leave room for the terrific Alexis Denisof to take over. Some say this was Whedon’s plan all along, while others claim that Glenn Quinn’s drug problems made his continual employment impossible. One thing's for sure though, and that's that Quinn’s time on the show was far too short. Especially considering that he tragically died three years later. 4) Oz (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) Daniel ‘Oz’ Osbourne is actually one of the longer-serving characters on this list, arriving in season two of Buffy and not leaving until midway through season four. For such a great character, however, that wasn’t enough. Usually, memorable TV characters win us over with their big personalities. The opposite is true of Oz, as he was so unassuming and stoic that you couldn’t help but like him. The writers did their best to kill off our affections for him, though, as he left because he had an unsavoury affair with another werewolf and broke off his fan favourite relationship with Willow. It was a sudden and uncharacteristic plotline that could have been handled a lot better. One good thing that did come out of Oz leaving is that it brought Willow together with Tara, forming one of the first lesbian couples on TV. 3) Lexa (The 100) Speaking of which, another fan favourite LGBT character is Lexa from dystopian drama series The 100. When Lexa arrived in season two and developed a relationship with main character Clarke, the show and its creator Jason Rothenberg received widespread acclaim for the positive depiction of a lesbian romance. For once, they seemed to have ditched the recurring trope that such relationships – and gay characters, in general - always end up in tragedy. The outcry was enormous, then, when Lexa was shockingly killed off in season three – thereby falling into the very trap that fans hope it would avoid. On the one hand, Lexa’s death did give The 100 a sorely needed narrative kick in a somewhat muddled season. On the other hand though, it cost the show a great number of fans, a chunk of its reputation and one of its most interesting and complex characters. 2) Ianto Jones (Torchwood) Doctor Who’s adult-orientated spin-off Torchwood only ran for four short series but for its first three it consistently upped its quality. This culminated in the terrific mini-series Torchwood: Children of the Earth which explored the darker repercussions of an alien invasion that you don’t usually see. The show already had a cavalier attitude to killing off characters, but the showrunners really took the biscuit when team member Ianto Jones was gassed to death in the penultimate episode. Ianto had been many fans' MVP of the show, being both the comic relief and the heart of the series in his relationship with Captain Jack Harkness. So heartbroken were fans that a shrine to Ianto remains to this day at the real-life location of the Torchwood base in Cardiff, Wales. When the show returned in Torchwood: Miracle Day, it definitely lacked the Ianto Factor. 1) Ninth Doctor (Doctor Who) The secret to Doctor Who’s longevity is that it has an in-built reset switch – whenever the show needs a kick to up the viewers’ interests or make it feel fresh again, a new Doctor can be brought in. They usually change over every few years, but one version of the Time Lord regenerated far too soon. Christopher Eccleston’s contribution to helping the show return stronger than ever when it came back in 2005 is often overlooked. In fact, his gravitas-laden lead performance was instrumental in convincing the audience that this was serious drama and not just a nostalgic remake of an old children’s show. Fans were devastated, then, when Eccleston hung up his sonic screwdriver after only thirteen episodes in the role. His successor might have been the near universally-loved David Tennant, but Eccleston really should have stayed on for a couple more years at least.