As a self-proclaimed Nerdy FanGirl, I get very invested in the shows, movies, and books I watch/read. While this provides massively entertaining experiences for me, it also causes the heartbreak the characters experience, to be my experience as well. THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW (for Whedon's work, at least), but there are a few shows I have to use as examples.
Primarily, the works of Joss Whedon. I first discovered how affected I can be by television when, at the end of season two, Buffy was forced to send Angel, the love of her life, to a hell dimension in order to save the world. I still cry whenever I watch that scene. One of my favorite things about Joss Whedon is how well he can write a death scene. Of course, at this point, I hope he can write them - they happen enough in his work!
Angel
For example, take the first season, when Doyle sacrifices himself so that Angel can continue saving the world. There's also the end of the fourth season when Angel sacrifices his only child - a son he wasn't even genetically supposed to have, and yet he magically does - by erasing his memories and giving him to a loving, normal family because Connor has become so mentally disturbed by his upbringing that he is going to destroy himself, his maternal figure, and several innocent people.
The fifth season of this show has a couple "twisting the knife" moments. At the end of season four, Cordelia had fallen into a coma as a result of Connor's actions (and because Charisma Carpenter was leaving to have a baby and be a mom) but everyone wanted closure with her character. So, for the show's One Hundredth episode in season five, Charisma came back for a single episode so that Cordelia could help Angel out of the moral mess in which he found himself. Everything was perfect, and Angel and Cordelia were finally together at last, right? WRONG. In perfect Joss fashion, we find out that Cordelia never actually woke up - the Powers That Be allowed her spirit to take corporeal form in order to help Angel - and she died while still in the coma. And that was not even the worst part of season five.
The most heart wrenching, gut twisting moment of the series is when a minor character who works with Fred in the lab, Knox, chooses her to be the vessel for his demon-god, Illyria. Knox has Illyria's sarcophagus delivered to the lab and Fred accidentally inhales Ancient-God-Dust, then she goes through a terrible sickness as Illyria literally burns away Fred's internal organs in order to make room for herself. AND THEN FRED DIES CRYING, COUGHING AND BARELY ABLE TO BREATHE. One of the most beloved characters on the show, and it is the most prolonged, horrible death in the series. What's even more emotionally distressing is that the actress, Amy Acker, does not leave the show - she becomes Illyria, forcing the characters and the audience to see a bastardized version of Fred every single day/week!
And in the series finale? Joss goes on a KILLING SPREE! It's awful! A character who has been with the 'verse since Buffy, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, dies - almost unnecessarily. Gunn is shown with horrible vampire wounds, and the implication that he will not survive another hour. Spike is battered and bruised, and Angel has already been through a major fight. The camera pans to show a massive army invading downtown LA - turns out they still have an even larger, more epic battle ahead of them!
Firefly and Serenity
Everyone actually survives the tv show, miraculously. Though there are definitely emotional moments (especially with Simon-and-Kaylee and Mal-and-Inara) but the series only lasted less than a season, so Joss had very little time to kill anyone off. Perhaps the most heart wrenching episode of the series is the one entitled "The Message," where Mal and Zoe receive the body of an old war buddy of theirs (played by the same guy who played Knox on Angel, fun fact). By the time they were filming this episode, they already knew that they were going to be cancelled, so it seems to have been filmed as a goodbye letter to the fans. But the only one who dies in this episode is the war buddy (who wasn't actually dead when they got his body, but ended up getting killed later. Oops!)
The movie, however, is a different story. The beloved preacher, Shepherd Book, has left the ship and is living in a place called "Haven" - safe, right? Except that he and his entire community are brutally murdered because they allow the crew of Serenity to rest and hide there. He is still alive when they find him, but dies in Mal's arms before Simon can help him.
As if that is not sad enough, later in the movie, they are running from Alliance and Reavers alike, and make a risky crash landing into a landing bay with a Reaver ship right behind them. There is some jostling and they are spun 180 degrees, but they land safely. They have just breathed a sigh of relief - Wash is in the middle of saying that he is "a leaf on the wind, watch how [he soars]" - when a giant spear-looking projectile breaks through the front window and stabs straight through Wash AND his chair, KILLING HIM INSTANTLY. This death is worse than Fred's in Angel, because it happens so quickly and unexpectedly that I was thrown into a state of shock. I could not believe that one of my favorite characters on the show could be gone in less than a single second.
And then there is a poignant scene near the very end of the movie when they are paying their respects at grave markers, and we are forced to deal with Book and Wash's deaths all over again.I could pull examples from every single work of Joss Whedon's - like when Paul Ballard is pointlessly shot by a NoName character, or when the shrapnel from the Death Ray explosion accidentally kills Penny - but I think I have made my point. Joss is an EXPERT at killing characters off, and making you "feel feelings" as Pedro would say. The bad thing is, I find myself emotionally invested in most shows I watch.
Supernatural makes me full on, tears streaming down my face, bawl my f*ing eyes out at least once a season, if not more. I can't give you every example unless you want this entry to be twice as long, but suffice it to say that they are very very good at killing off beloved characters.
Doctor Who doesn't always provide opportunities for me to cry (not that I'm complaining at all) but I have to admit that I will shed a tear every single time I watch the Tenth Doctor say goodbye to all of his companions and then finally regenerate in "End of Time: Part Two."
Also, the Eleventh Doctor seems to have more melodrama going on than his previous two modern counterparts (I blame Amy and, to a certain extent, Rory for this). Sure, there was the Will-They-Won't-They with Rose, and Martha's unrequited love, but during Matt Smith's era we see Amy torn between Rory and the Doctor, and I don't think anything tops the River Song drama - that one is straight from a daytime soap.
The Vampire Diaries doesn't kill off so many characters, but they are first class at building and destroying personal relationships, and aren't afraid to threaten your favorite character. The turmoil on this show causes me to go through an emotional rollercoaster every. single. week. It's kind of ridiculous.
And recently, a British show I discovered on Hulu called Misfits. I have to be careful here, because I don't want to spoil anything, but somebody dies almost every week. It's usually not a main character, but you never know. And they are good at writing the personal relationships, as well as "Next time on..." trailers. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster......
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