TV can be a cruel, cruel place, and we're not even talking about the writers' rooms. Here are some of the small-screen deaths that shocked us the most. 
On the April 17 season finale of "Scandal," creator Shonda Rhimes threw out a death-murder plot that stunned fans and altered the fate of one of the drama's main characters, President Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn). 
No one lives long in the world of HBO's "Game of Thrones," but for a while it seemed only the good were sentenced to be written off the show. Thankfully, season 4's Purple Wedding proved that death comes for the wicked just the same -- even when that person is the king of the realm. So long, King Joffrey! 
Josh Charles' turn as lawyer Will Gardner on "The Good Wife" has come to an end. The character was killed off in the 15th episode of the fifth season. "We've all experienced the sudden death of a loved one in our lives," the showrunners said in an explanatory letter. "Television, in our opinion, doesn't deal with this enough: the irredeemability of death." 
The death of the wise doctor, Hershel, during "The Walking Dead's" fourth season broke some hearts. 
On the November 24 episode of Seth MacFarlane's long-running "Family Guy," fans were stunned to watch one of the animated comedy's central characters bite the dust. The family dog, Brian, lost his life after being hit by a car. 
Author Helen Fielding killed off Mark Darcy in her latest Bridget Jones novel, "Mad About the Boy." Fans are reportedly not happy about the loss of Darcy, played by actor Colin Firth in the films. 
Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) didn't have a chance to live happily ever after on "The Walking Dead" since she died in childbirth. 
The character of medical student Lucy Knight (played by Kellie Martin) was stabbed to death by a mentally disturbed patient on "ER." 
Heath Ledger starred as the Joker and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes in "The Dark Knight." The death of Rachel hit Bruce Wayne/Batman hard. 
The birth of her daughter should have been a joyous time for Lady Sybil Branson (Jessica Brown Findlay) and her husband, Tom (Allen Leech), on "Downton Abbey," but fans were shocked when tragedy struck. 
The death of Kevin Spacey's character Lester Burnham in the 1999 movie "American Beauty" is accompanied by poignant words at the end of the film. 
The revival of John Travolta's career via playing hit man Vincent Vega in the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction" was almost as surprising as the way his character gets taken out in that film. Toaster pastries, anyone? 
Killing off a popular character early on has almost become a trademark of HBO shows (remember Stringer Bell on "The Wire"?) so fans really shouldn't have been stunned when Sean Bean as Eddard "Ned" Stark lost his life during the first season of "Game of Thrones." 
Viewers didn't actually witness the death of Gwyneth Paltrow's character Tracy in the 1995 film "Se7en," but "The Box" was enough to shock Detective David Mills, played by Brad Pitt -- and us viewers. 
Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) and Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) were a happy couple on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" until a bullet felled Tara, which led to much outrage from fans. (But what else is new?) 
"The Sopranos" offered up plenty of killing, but the murder of Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo) struck a nerve with fans. 
Michael K. Williams plays Omar Little, who was a bit of a Robin Hood on the critically acclaimed series "The Wire." His death in season five was more shocking for the manner in which it happened than that it happened in the first place. 
Peter Krause starred as Nate Fisher, who was expected to survive after a brain hemorrhage but ultimately died -- like the rest of the cast -- on "Six Feet Under." 
Is there any character on TV who's died as often as poor Kenny on "South Park"? The hooded kid has met his maker via death by tree, chicken pox, mosh pit and even giant bird. By some counts, Kenny's bid farewell roughly 89 or 90 times.
- "Scandal" ended its third season with a shocking finale
- There were plenty of twists, but one in particular stunned fans
- Even celebs like Mia Farrow were left saying "OMFG"
- Creator Shonda Rhimes says she kills characters only to service the story
Editor's note: This article includes major spoilers for the third season finale of ABC's "Scandal."
(CNN) -- ABC's "Scandal" lives up to its name pretty much every week, but its season three finale on Thursday managed to up the ante.
Then again, death tends to do that.
Even on a series where body counts can increase in the blink of an eye -- and Thursday's episode wasn't wanting for deceased -- there was one twist in particular that took fans' collective breath away.
After a church bombing and a seemingly lost election for Tony Goldwyn's President Fitzgerald Grant, one of Grant's kids suddenly takes a grave turn. And before "Scandal" viewers could find another bottle of wine to open, Goldwyn's Grant was a bereaved parent.
The death of a child is a sensitive plot point for any series, but this one seemed especially cruel, as it was revealed that the young character's death wasn't an accident. It was a vindictive murder.
"For me, it's never easy to say goodbye to a character. It's really always about the story," creator Shonda Rhimes told Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night show Thursday. "I feel like the Grim Reaper sometimes."
Since this is "Scandal," that murder was of course followed by the big reveal of its culprit and the insinuation that a longtime character is also a few steps from being killed off. Meanwhile, Kerry Washington's fixer, Olivia Pope, moved to wash her hands of D.C. grime for good.
By the end of the night, most fans were left echoing Mia Farrow, who could tweet no more than "OMFG."
In the words of star Washington, it's been "a ROUGH & TOUGH season. Dark. Full of depth," she tweeted Thursday. "Thank u 4 courageously riding this roller coaster w/ us."
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