Rockstar Games have produced some of the best stories and games of recent memory, with their expansive library of the Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption series reaching new heights, and introducing new characters that players and audiences alike pray are not killed off in a distressing and upsetting fashion. Yet, Rockstar Games loves to commit to sad deaths to play with the emotions of fans.

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Many of the saddest deaths in Rockstar Games’ titles have deeper meanings, layers that make them more upsetting to think about and witness. Rockstar has proudly put to screen some of the saddest deaths in gaming, and ones that stick with players even years later, leading to fears as to what they have up their sleeve with Grand Theft Auto 6.

6 Uncle

Killed By Agent Ross' Soldiers

Uncle may be good for nothing in his time in the Red Dead Redemption games, and his constant excuses of why he can’t work or do anything outside of eat and sleep may be comedically annoying, but at the end of the day, he’s family. Uncle, despite his laziness, dies for the Marston family and makes a triumphant last stand to defend the family ranch and the innocent wife and son of John Marston.

Sadly, Uncle is shot and killed in the ensuing gunfight. He may be a dirty old man, but in his last moments, Uncle showed what kind of man he was. His loyalty takes him far, and maybe in his youth, he was a hero of the Old West who can now finally sleep forever, lumbago and all.

5 Michael De Santa

Fell To His Death After Fighting Franklin

Michael De Santa is one of the three protagonists of Grand Theft Auto 5, and perhaps the one with his head screwed on the most. Michael is a mature character, one who has seen the criminal life, and been lucky enough to come out on the other side unscathed. Yet, it pulls him back in, making him a liability to new, richer, and powerful enemies of the law across Blaine County and Los Santos.

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Michael can be killed by Franklin due to a request from Devin Weston, which has Michael eventually fall from a water tower to his death. Michael did right by Franklin, and this betrayal cuts deep. Michael leaves his two children without a father, and his wife widowed, all so Franklin can gain more.

4 Roman Bellic

Shot and Killed At His Wedding

The charismatic and somewhat sleazy cousin of Niko Bellic, Roman loves to go bowling and loves his fiancée perhaps equally, if not more. Roman and Niko have a great relationship in Grand Theft Auto 4, so it’s not until the wedding of Roman that players feel the consequences of their actions as if they took a deal with Dimitri in the If the Price is Right ending path, Roman is shot and killed.

Niko is responsible for this death, dealing with the devil, and bringing war to his cousin who just wanted a fresh life in America. The fact that Roman is gunned down in front of friends and family, on his wedding day no less, is a tragedy that nobody should have to bear.

3 Trevor Philips

Burned To Death By Franklin & Michael

• Game Appearance: Grand Theft Auto 5

Trevor isn’t exactly of sound body and mind, and his abuse of himself and others is extremely concerning. However, it can’t be denied that there’s a charm to his lunacy, even if looking at him would get someone killed. Trevor may be deranged, but his death is pretty distressing, as he’s set on fire and burnt to death by those he called allies.

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Whilst some may be relieved that Trevor is dead, others might be sad, knowing that Trevor truly had no one to call family, nobody that would want to be his friend. Whilst most of this is self-inflicted in Trevor’s behavior, he’s still a great GTA character who didn’t deserve to go out the way he did.

2 Arthur Morgan

Dies Of Tuberculosis

Arthur Morgan is the protagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2, and his life draws to an end when he becomes infected with tuberculosis. Throughout the game, Arthur grows weaker in body, becoming sickly pale and coughing blood. Yet, his spirit remains strong, and aids his friends and family in escaping their potential demise, all at the cost of his own life, which is running short.

Arthur makes a last stand and fights the traitor of the Van der Linde gang, Micah Bell, and he bears witness to one final sunrise on the top of a mountain. His death is perhaps the saddest death in the Red Dead Redemption series, as his illness takes him, leaving players mourning the good man that Arthur became in the end.

1 John Marston

Shot to Death By Agent Ross & His Soldiers

• Game Appearance: Red Dead Redemption

The events of Red Dead Redemption have John Marston seeking out his old gang in order to bring them to justice and return his wife and son to their ranch at Beecher’s Hope. Players would grow a deep bond with John Marston, enjoying his humor and his skills with a gun, only to find out that the deal he had with the law has come back to betray him.

John sends off his wife and son, standing triumphantly so that they might escape this life of revenge and brutality. John opens the doors to his barn, to be met by over a dozen soldiers, who shoot him until he draws his last breath. It’s an emotional end to an iconic gunslinger, a fan-favorite protagonist.

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