Fictional Characters Who Committed Suicide

In fiction we see characters go through the worst experiences of their lives. Sometimes they lose everything, from all their wealth to the love of their lives. Sometimes they have to deal with a great deal of adversity. Every character deals with their problems in their own unique way. While some fictional characters fight hard to fix their life’s problems, others are swallowed up by them. In those cases, sometimes the fictional characters choose to end their own lives.

The characters on this list, from books, movies, TV, plays, and other sources, all committed suicide. In the works of William Shakespeare, many characters choose to commit suicide to end their suffering, such as Romeo and Juliet. A lot of classic books and plays end with amain character’s death, such as Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina. Television and movies sometimes kill off a character for a shocking moment, such as in the case of "House" and "Mad Men."

This list features characters who killed themselves in some sort of fictional work, from books to movies. Though they ended their lives, many of these characters are some of the most iconic in all of fiction. Vote up the best characters who committed suicide below.


  • 1
    310 VOTES

    Neil Perry

    Neil Perry is a popular student at the prestigious Welton Academy in the 1989 film "Dead Poets Society." After his father threatens to send Neil to military school because he participated in a play against his wishes, Neil kills himself in his father's office.
    • Appears In: Dead Poets Society
    310 votes
  • 2
    163 VOTES

    Daisy Randone

    Daisy Randone is a resident of the psychiatric hospital which was the setting for Susanna Kaysen's 1993 memoir "Girl, Interrupted" and the 1999 film of the same name. Daisy had an eating disorder, OCD and depression. She killed herself on her birthday.
    • Appears In: Girl, Interrupted
    163 votes
  • 3
    145 VOTES
    Ellen Ripley is the protagonist of the "Alien" film series. After discovering that an Alien embryo is growing inside her in the third film, Ripley kills herself and the Queen alien by diving into a furnace. She is later cloned for "Alien Resurrection."
    • Appears In: Alien
    • Played By: Sigourney Weaver
    145 votes
  • 4
    139 VOTES

    Billy Bibbit

    Billy Bibbit is one of the residents of the psychiatric hospital which is the setting of Ken Kesey's 1962 novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Billy is a cutter with suicidal tenancies. After Nurse Ratched threatens to tell Billy's mother about his breaking the rules, Billy kills himself by slitting his throat.
    • Appears In: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    139 votes
  • 5
    159 VOTES
    Violet Harmon is one of the main characters who live in the Murder House in "American Horror Story's" first season. After learning that Tate is a ghost, Violet kills herself in desperation, though it is not revealed the she was successful until late in the season.
    • Appears In: American Horror Story
    159 votes
  • 6
    137 VOTES

    Quasimodo is the Notre Dame cathedral's deformed bellringer and the title character from Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Heartbroken by the death of the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda, he carries her body to a mass grave to be buried. Never leaving her side, he dies of starvation with Esmeralda, the only person who has shown him kindness, in his arms. 

    • Appears In: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmeralda, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Hunchback, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    • Played By: Peter Woodthorpe, Anthony Quinn, Booth Conway, Lon Chaney, Sr.
    137 votes