List of dead comic book characters
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Below is a list of fictional characters who have died in American comic books, specifically in the superhero genre, and thus far have not returned.
While characters frequently die in comic books, it is just as common for them to be resurrected. Writer Peter David split the blame for the phenomenon between creators, publishers, and fans: creators and publishers kill characters to increase drama and sales, while fans demand that characters they don't like be killed. However, if a character is killed, fans who liked the character vocally support their resurrection, creators often wish to use characters who have died, and publishers find that returns of popular characters lead to a boost in sales. This causes a vicious circle: After witnessing several improbable returns, fans begin to doubt that the characters are permanently dead at all, and death begins to lose its dramatic impact.[1] A death thus reversed is called a comic book death.
While it is a recurring theme that no character ever remains dead, there are some exceptions. Usually, characters associated with the origin story of a major character (e.g. Spider-Man's Uncle Ben or Batman's mother and father), or those whose deaths significantly altered the later development of major character (e.g. Gwen Stacy or Karen Page), remain "permanently" dead. However, from time to time, a superhero or other comics character is judged by their creators to have served their dramatic purpose, and remains dead because their story is simply over.
As there are no "rules" to fiction, all characters carry the possibility of being resurrected at any time. The following characters are present exceptions to the standard conventions of comic book death. Currently, they remain deceased.
Contents |
[edit] List of dead comic book characters
[edit] DC Comics
| Character | Issue | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Abin Sur | Showcase #22, 1959 | Died on Earth as a result of injuries sustained from an attack by Legion |
| Azrael | Azrael: Agent of the Bat #100 (May 2003) | Shot to death by Nicholas Scratch and Carlton Lehah. |
| Black Condor | Infinite Crisis #1 (October 2005) | Killed by an energy beam presumably from Sinestro. |
| Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) | DC Countdown to Infinite Crisis (May 2005) | Shot through the head by Maxwell Lord |
| Booster Gold | 52 (comics) #15 (August 2006) | Killed while attempting to contain a nuclear explosion. |
| Ch'p | Green Lantern: Mosaic #2 | Run over by a yellow truck. |
| Commander Steel | Eclipso #13 (1993) | Caught in the detonation of the Sunburst 300, while battling Eclipso. |
| Alexandra DeWitt | Green Lantern vol. 2 #54 | Strangled and stuffed in a refrigerator by Major Force. (See Women in Refrigerators.) |
| Crimson Fox (Constance D'Aramis) | Starman #38 (1998) | Killed by the Mist |
| Crimson Fox (Vivian D'Aramis) | Justice League America #104 (1996) | Killed by Marucie Puanteur |
| Sue Dibny | Identity Crisis #1 (June 2004) | Killed by Jean Loring |
| Dr. Midnight (Beth Chapel) | Eclipso #13 (1993) | Killed by Eclipso. |
| Jack Drake | Identity Crisis #5 (October 2004) | Killed by Captain Boomerang |
| Dream (Morpheus) | Sandman #69 (1995) | |
| Epoch | JLA/WildC.A.T.s (September 1997) | |
| Fury (Hippolyta Trevor-Hall) | JSA #80 | 'Died' of exposure in the Himalayas. Her spirit was taken into the dreamtime by her son Daniel, the new Dream of the Endless. |
| Dove (Don Hall) | Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March 1986) | Killed by Shadow-creatures during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Is remembered as being crushed by building debris instead. |
| Ice | Justice League Task Force #14 (July 1994) | Killed by Overmaster. |
| Flash (Barry Allen) | Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 (November 1985) | Literally ran himself to death destroying the Anti-Monitor's main weapon during the Crisis on Infinite Earths |
| Freedom Fighters | Infinite Crisis #1 (October 2005) | Most murdered in an attack by the Society |
| Hawk (Hank Hall) | JSA #11 (April 2000) | Placed in a crashing plane by Atom Smasher |
| Hector Hall | JSA #80 | Died' of exposure in the Himalayas. His spirit was taken into the dreamtime by his son Daniel, the new Dream of the Endless |
| Jade | Rann-Thanagar War: Infinite Crisis Special (Feb. 2006) | Caught in an anti-matter energy blast attempting to stop Alex Luthor during Infinite Crisis. |
| Katma Tui | Action Comics Weekly #601 | Murdered by Star Sapphire |
| Maxwell Lord | Wonder Woman #219 | Neck snapped by Wonder Woman |
| Tommy Monaghan | Hitman #60 (April 2001) | Shot by Agent Truman's men |
| Ra's Al Ghul | Batman: Death and the Maidens #9 (August 2004) | Murdered by his estranged daughters Nyssa and Talia Al Ghul |
| Rocket Red (Dimitri Pushkin) | The OMAC Project #5 (August 2005) | Killed when he deliberately overloaded his battlesuit's power supply to destroy OMACs during Infinite Crisis |
| Sandman (Wesley Dodds) | JSA: Secret Files and Origins #1 | Threw himself from a cliff in the Himalayas rather than reveal the identity of the new Dr. Fate to Mordru |
| Shazam | Day of Vengeance #6 | Killed by the Spectre during his war on magic. |
| Spoiler (Stephanie Brown) | Batman #633 | Tortured and the injuries led to her death by Black Mask. Medical care that may have saved her life was deliberate withheld by Dr. Leslie Thompkins |
| Superboy (Kon-El) | Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006) | Caught in the explosion of Alexander Luthor's tower |
| Superman (Kal-L) | Infinite Crisis #7 (June 2006) | Beaten by Superboy-Prime |
| Ventriloquist (Arnold Wesker) | Detective Comics #818 (2006) | Wesker and the Scarface dummy were both shot in the head. |
| Vigilante (Adrian Chase) | Vigilante #50 | Suicide |
| Wildcat (Yolanda Montez) | Eclipso #13 (1993) | Killed by Eclipso. |
[edit] Marvel Comics
[edit] Earth-616
| Character | Issue | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Ant-Man (Scott Lang) | Avengers #500 (September 2004) | Murdered by Scarlet Witch with an explosion |
| Banshee | X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 (February 2006) | Plane crash |
| Betty Ross Banner | Incredible Hulk #466 (July 1998) | Cancer from long-term exposure to gamma radiation produced by the Hulk |
| Baron Heinrich Zemo | Avengers #15 (April 1965) | Crushed in an avalanche |
| Black Goliath | Civil War #4 (September 2006) | Killed by a clone of Thor |
| Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell) | Thunderbolts #100 (March 2006) | Torn apart by Baron Zemo |
| Captain Mar-Vell | Marvel Graphic Novel #1 (1982) | Cancer |
| Copycat | Deadpool #59 (December 2001) | Killed by Sabretooth |
| Destiny (Irene Adler) | Uncanny X-Men #255 (December 1989) | Killed by Legion |
| Jean DeWolff | Spectacular Spider-Man #107 | Shot in the chest by the Sin-Eater |
| DJ (Mark Sheppard) | New X-Men #23 (April 2006) | Missile struck by William Stryker on bus of depowered students |
| Dryad (Callie Betto) | New X-Men #23 (April 2006) | Missile struck by William Stryker on bus of depowered students |
| Nate Grey | X-Man #75 (2001) | Sacrificed himself to stop an alien race from killing the human race and harvesting their mitochondria. |
| Icarus (Jay Guthrie) | New X-Men #27 (August 2006) | Killed by Rev. William Stryker |
| Kraven the Hunter | Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #294 (Nov. 1987) | Shot himself in the head after defeating and impersonating Spider-Man |
| Maggott (Japheth) | Weapon X #5 (March 2003) | Executed in a gas chamber at the Neverland Concentration Camp |
| Magik (Ilyana Rasputin) | Uncanny X-Men #303 (August 1993) | Legacy Virus |
| Mastermind | Uncanny X-Men Annual #17 (1993) | Legacy Virus |
| Microbe | Civil War #1 (May 2006) | Caught in explosion created by Nitro |
| Mimic (Earth-12) | Exiles #73 (February 2006) | Killed by Proteus |
| Mockingbird | Avengers West Coast #100 (November 1993) | Died fighting Mephisto |
| Namorita | Civil War #1 (May 2006) | Caught in explosion created by Nitro |
| Network (Sarah Vale) | New X-Men #23 (April 2006) | Missile struck by William Stryker on bus of depowered students |
| Night Thrasher | Civil War #1 (May 2006) | Caught in explosion created by Nitro |
| Harry Osborn | Spectacular Spider-Man #200 (May 1993) | Experimental formula to increase his strength turned out to be poisonous. |
| Karen Page | Daredevil v2 #5 (March 1999) | Killed by Bullseye |
| Uncle Ben Parker | Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) | Shot by a burglar. |
| Pyro | Cable #87 (January 2001) | Legacy Virus |
| Quasar | Annihilation: Nova #4 (July 2006) | Killed by Annihilus |
| Quill (Maxwell Jordan) | New X-Men #27 (August 2006) | Shot by William Stryker's "Purifiers" |
| Revanche (Kwannon) | X-Men #32 (May 1994) | Killed by her lover when she contracted the Legacy Virus |
| Risque (Gloria Muñoz) | New X-Men Annual 2001 | Killed by the U-Men |
| Rubbermaid (Andrea Margulies) | New X-Men #23 (2006) | Missile struck by William Stryker on bus of depowered students |
| Gwen Stacy | Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973) | Died falling from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge during a battle between Spider-man and the Green Goblin. Whether the fall or Spider-man's effort to catch her with his webs caused her death is a subject of much debate. |
| Tag (Brian Cruz) | New X-Men #23 (April 2006) | Missile struck by William Stryker on bus of depowered students |
| Thunderbird I (John Proudstar) | X-Men #95 (October 1975) | Died attempting to stop Count Nefaria from escaping in a jet. The jet exploded. |
| Thunderstrike (Eric Masterson) | Thunderstrike #24 (1995) | Died fighting the curse of the Bloodaxe |
| Wallflower (Laurie Collins) | New X-Men #25 (June 2006) | Shot in the head |
| Mariko Yashida | Wolverine #57 (1992) | Poisoned by Matsu'o Tsurabaya and Silver Fox |
[edit] Ultimate Marvel
| Character | Issue | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Beast | Ultimate X-Men #44 (June 2004) | Crushed by a Sentinel |
| Gambit | Ultimate X-Men Annual #1 | Energy drained by Rogue after being fatally injured by Juggernaut |
[edit] References
- ^ David, Peter [August 1990]. Peter David, Myra David. "Dead and Recovering Nicely..." But I Digress. Krause, 1994. ISBN 0873412869, 15-17.
