11. Clay, Sons of Anarchy
How they died: Having been broken out of prison transport by Jax (Charlie Hunnam), Clay (Ron Perlman) is taken back to the office where he's gunned down by Jax.
Why it's shocking: It's tough to choose just one major character death from Sons of Anarchy (our heart still bleeds for Opie). We've plumped for Clay's long-deserved demise because it was a major development for the show. In a masterfully-executed sequence, Jax finally gets his vengeance on Clay for all manner of despicable things. It's made more startling by the fact he does so as his wife and mother watches on.
10. Ned Stark, Game of Thrones
How they died: After arriving in King's Landing, Ned Stark (Sean Bean) is arrested for treason after he tries to arrest Cersei (Lena Headey). Despite Ned confessing, King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) ignores his mother's advice and immediately orders his execution by decapitation.
Why it's shocking: It's a running joke that Bean rarely survives in movies, but maybe things would be different for him on the small screen? After all, he was being championed as one of the main characters in Game of Thrones. Book readers knew differently. The show has more spectacular deaths (The Viper's crushed skull, for one), but none are as clear a statement of intent as this. No one was safe. Oh, and that Joffrey is a right dick.
9. Jane Margolis, Breaking Bad
How they died: Walt (Bryan Cranston) tries to wake Jesse (Aaron Paul) up after he's taken heroin with his girlfriend Jane (Krysten Ritter). However, Walt inadvertently moves Jane onto her back and she suffocates on her own vomit.
Why it's shocking: If we weren't aware that Walt was no longer the mild-mannered science teacher, then the fact that he literally watches Jane die and doesn't save her confirms the fact for us. Sure, Jane makes some mistakes, but it's clear that she and Jesse are in love, and it's a horrific, drawn-out way to go. She's not the only innocent to die during Walt's transformation to Heisenberg, yet Jane's death arguably has the biggest impact on Walt and Jesse.
8. Zoe Barnes, House of Cards
How they died: Meeting at a train station, journalist Zoe (Kate Mara) agrees to a "fresh start" to her relationship with Francis (Kevin Spacey). However, she continues to press about Peter Russo's (Corey Stoll) death and Francis decides to push her in front of an oncoming train.
Why it's shocking: Peter's death in season one may have been more of a gut punch, but there's no beating Zoe's untimely demise for sheer shock. For one, Mara was one of the major stars of the series and it was only the first episode of season two. That it comes about in such brutal, abrupt fashion had us - and likely all House of Cards viewers - gasping at the screen.
7. Lori Grimes, The Walking Dead
How they died: A walker invasion is just about the worst time to go into labour as Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) discovers. After giving birth via a C-section that she knows she won't survive, Lori dies and to stop her from turning into a zombie, her son Carl (Chandler Riggs) shoots her in the head.
Why it's shocking: Don't get us wrong, we kind of always wanted Lori to die in The Walking Dead given the character's many annoying traits. Yet that doesn't make her eventual death any less shocking, having to sacrifice herself to save her unborn child. The kicker is that Carl (equally as annoying) has to shoot his mother's fresh corpse to stop her getting all bitey. That's got to hurt.
6. Teri Bauer, 24
How they died: Teri (Leslie Hope) picks the wrong time to discover that Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke) is a CTU mole. She ties Teri to a chair while she wipes all evidence of her treachery, before shooting Teri in the stomach and leaving her for Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) to discover.
Why it's shocking: 24 became known for killing off characters with an almost Whedon-like abandon. However, no one was aware of this back in the season one finale. Where most shows would end on a triumphant note, the death of Teri is about as bleak as it gets. It's a gut punch to end a tremendous first season and leads to the show's first iconic silent countdown but, for us, it's not 24's most shocking death. That honour goes to...
5. Ryan Chappelle, 24
How they died: Bio-terrorist Stephen Saunders (Paul Blackthorne) threatens to release a deadly virus unless high-ranking CTU officer Ryan Chappelle (Paul Schulze) is executed. After CTU fails to capture Saunders, Jack Bauer (Sutherland) is forced to kill Chappelle by shooting him in the back of the head.
Why it's shocking: How do you top ending a season with the death of your main character's wife? You get your main character to kill another long-running character in cold blood. It's an astonishing moral dilemma and it's made all the more impactful by the fact that, right up until the last minute, we think Chappelle will be saved. He isn't.
4. Joyce Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
How they died: Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) arrives home after her latest mission to find her mother Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), who had just seemingly beaten cancer, dead on the couch after a sudden brain aneurysm.
Why it's shocking: Arguably, Tara's death was more immediately shocking (especially as Amber Benson had just been added to the opening credits), but Joyce's death impacts more because it's just so ordinary in a show of vampires and demons. Not to mention that it's the sucker punch at the end of one of the show's lighter episodes ('I Was Made to Love You'). That it leads to one of the finest portrayals of grief on screen cements the initial shock.
3. Drew Sharp, Breaking Bad
How they died: Innocently riding his bike one day in the desert, Drew (Samuel Webb) stumbles on Walt (Cranston), Jesse (Paul) and Todd (Jesse Plemons) carrying out a train heist. Despite Drew not knowing the significance of the heist, Todd shoots him dead.
Why it's shocking: Even in a series that blows up characters (hello, Gus!), Drew's death is seriously dark by Breaking Bad's standards. He's just a kid who wanted to collect a tarantula and, for that, he's shot and his body is dissolved in acid so his parents will never know what happened. It's the little wave that gets us the most, closely followed by Jesse's heartbreaking reaction.
2. Omar, The Wire
How they died: While on his mission to kill Marlo (Jamie Hector), Omar (Michael K. Williams) is in a convenience store when Kenard (Thuliso Dingwall), a young boy from a rival drug crew, shoots Omar in the head.
Why it's shocking: From the minute Omar starts his vengeance mission against Marlo, we're aware that he's likely going to his death at some point. But the shock comes from the fact that he doesn't go down in a blaze of bullets and glory, it's just some little upstart who offs him because Omar makes the fatal error of not paying any attention to Kenard. Omar is one of TV's greatest anti-heroes; he didn't deserve to go down like this.
