11 Books in Which the Main Character Dies (This Post Is Less Spoiler-y Than You Think)

Maybe you were one of those twisted souls who desperately hoped Hagrid was indeed carrying Harry “The Boy Who Lived” Potter’s corpse at Voldemort’s behest. Or maybe you were one of the few who merrily accepted the end of a certain phenomenally popular YA heroine (don’t click if you fear spoilers). You just want to watch the world burn, and you know it. Lucky for you, there happens to be a buffet of wonderful books out there that kill off their main characters. Line up, aspiring Voldemorts, because here are a few of our favorites:

Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, et al.
And so on and so forth. To thine own vengeful self be true, Willy, but ’tis good that poor Yorick didn’t live to see all your protagonistic bloodshed. Word of advice, Globe stars: heed not the prophecies of witches and the plans of disastrous friars, but do listen to the danged soothsayer!

Atonement, by Ian McEwan
Robbie and Cecilia lived happily ever after. The end…as long as you don’t read to the end of the book. Because if you read to the end, Atonement becomes Briony: The Story of How Many Lives One Confused, Suspicious Child Can Ruin, and Why Reading Other People’s Mail Is a Felony.

Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“Just kidding, Reichenbach Smeichenbach. Doyle OUT.” *drops mic*

Animorphs, by K.A. Applegate
The battle against invasion claims the bloodthirstiest Animorph, Rachel—dear, dear “Xena, Warrior Psychotic” Rachel. She was a raging maniac, but she was our raging maniac, and, thus, deserved better than death by sludge slug Yeerk.

The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher
Not only does wizard-detective Harry Dresden die, but homeboy then, as a Boo Brother, has to solve his own murder. Frank Capra and George Bailey this is not.

The Sandman series, by Neil Gaiman
So, technically, Dream of the Endless does not—cannot—die. But Morpheus, with his mopey alt-rock hair and cheekbones, does bite the dust, much to his sister Death’s chagrin. While the whole affair is enough to turn you into Despair, there is one positive: the most well-attended, star-studded, momentous funeral in fictional history.

V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore
“Remember, remember, the 5th of November, for that is the date on my tombstone.” –V. Boy, howdy, most vigilantes don’t get this kind of spectacular Viking funeral, what with the destruction of 10 Downing Street and all. Though he did not in life, maybe V found in death the Land of Do-as-You-Please.

A Song of Ice and Fire series, by George R.R. Martin
…HA HAHA HAHAHAHAHA.

 What is your favorite story in which a main character bites the dust?