Unnecessary RoughnessLists about the most shocking scenes and moments in film, TV, comics, and even children's cartoons — because in today's world, kids can see anything as long as it's not a bare breast.
Vote up the TV shows that are always a bloody good watch.
Are you the kind of viewer who loves gallons of blood and guts pouring out on-screen? Do you watch prime-time TV and think, why hasn't anyone exploded in the last five minutes? Then it's time to check out some of these TV shows with so many on-screen deaths that you'll lose count. Between the melting monsters, henchmen who were born to have their necks snapped, and games that end in bloodshed, all of these programs are certain to give audiences a taste of cinematic violence.
When a character dies in a movie, it's expected. It doesn't matter if an audience is watching Liam Neeson use a specific set of skills to whomp international baddies, or a fearless vampire hunter exposing bloodsuckers to the sun, destruction on the big screen is expected. But what about when someone dies on a TV show? Or what about when a lot of people die on a TV show? We're not talking about mass destruction on the level of an apocalypse - those come and go on television in the blink of an eye.
The maelstrom of on-screen deaths collected here are all from incredibly popular programs, many of which can be seen on prime time (admittedly prime time on cable). The most violent TV shows are a strange brew of animation and live action, with each series using its themes and visual style to create a unique brand of human destruction. It's genuinely staggering just how many bodies are ripped apart, snapped in half, and blown to bits on Netflix, HBO, AMC, and the CW.
The Boys takes an acidic look at a world besieged by superheroes based on the work of comic book madman Garth Ennis. In this world, most superheroes work for the Vought Conglomerate, and the titular Boys are working to take them down by whatever means necessary. It's not just members of the Boys killing superheroes or superheroes killing the Boys, it's everyone killing everyone - including civilians.
Some of the most exciting and out-of-the-box deaths are exactly what audiences want out of their superhero shows. Who doesn't want to see an airplane cut in half with heat vision? Or how about an invisible superhero exploding after a bomb is shoved up his rectum? If those are too high-concept for you, there are plenty of unnamed terrorists who get punched to death, sucked out of planes, and impaled with motorboats. Even when you expect this show to be violent, you never really know what's going to happen.
If you want blood, The Punisher is going to give it to you. This series about the grimier side of being a vigilante opens with the Punisher running over two gang members before Frank Castle (Mr. Punisher himself) snipes a cartel member and beats a couple of guys to death with a sledgehammer. Once again, this is just episode 1.
As one might expect from a series about a vigilante going sicko mode on the mafia, The Punisher isn't a show for the week at heart. No episode passes without some kind of body count, which is why it deserves a place in the violent TV show hall of fame. When comparing The Punisher to the rest of the MCU shows that began their lives on Netflix, it's absolutely ludicrous that it exists. If you're the kind of audience member who finds the MCU to be a little too shiny and nice, then this uber-violent series is worth a watch.
For anyone who wants to jump in and see what this show is all about without having to worry about the narrative, Season 2's "The Dark Hearts of Men" features Frank Castle bringing the hammer down on about 25 gang members while using everything from knives to his teeth in this bloody good episode.
Based on the Preacher comic by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, this AMC series does everything it can to keep up with the extreme violence laid out for it in the original 65 issues. With Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg at the helm, the series is able to maintain its bloody premise while somehow being fit to air on AMC.
Following a Texas preacher who gains the power to make others do what he says, each episode introduces audiences to weird characters and intense pseudo-magical violence that claims the lives of a wide variety of victims, including Hitler, archangels, vampires, and even God. These aren't off-screen kills, either - these are bloody, insane battles full of over-the-top magical abilities and fight scenes that will make your head spin.
When it comes to body counts, Ash vs Evil Dead has everything a gorehound could want out of a bloody good time. This series picks up a couple of decades after Army of Darkness and plunges Ash and a couple of new sidekicks into a world of demonic ultra-violence. In just three seasons, Ash and his cohorts lay waste to Deadites, weird little goopy demon baby monsters, and a whole lot of freaky creatures, but it's not just the undead who get got in this series.
Audiences can set their watch by the amount of time it takes for a human who's not in the main cast to be impaled, decapitated, ripped in half, or dragged to hell. Even the more prominently featured guest stars on this series end up eviscerated by some kind of creepy-crawly - it's brutal. One scene in Season 2 is especially hard to watch (spoilers to follow), and it involves a cast member who seems to be in this for the long run. Detective Amanda Fisher goes from unbelieving, cold police officer to Ash's love interest and someone who's all in on taking out the Deadites over the course of two seasons.
Just as it looks like she's about to make the jump from supporting cast member to main character, a doppelganger of Ash attacks her with a meat cleaver and impales her on a wall before turning her into a Deadite. It's not just shocking to see a beloved character taken out like this, but the sheer brutality of her final moments is hard to watch - and that's just in one episode.
Vikings focuses on a group of the most bloodthirsty killers in history, so if you're the kind of viewer who wishes Game of Thrones was a more historically accurate look at ancient cultures while maintaining its death-a-minute pace, then this is the show for you. This is a series where every episode features a ton of brutality, and much like life/a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.
In the first season of this show, characters are axed, strangled, stabbed, burned alive, impaled, and beheaded. The wildest thing about all of these on-screen deaths is that they never get boring. There's always something fresh and new happening in these bloody moments to keep things from getting stale. For instance, in episode 6 of Season 1, a character is thrown into a pit of venomous snakes. That's not the kind of thing audiences expect to happen, which is why this series rules.
Invincible is one of the few TV shows that show just how bloody it is to be a superhero. Born to Omni-Man, the most powerful being on the planet, Mark learns he has superpowers just like the old man after turning 17, and he decides to get into the superhero game. He quickly learns that violence and bloodshed go hand-in-hand with being a hero.
Things really get out of hand in episode 5, "That Actually Hurt," when Mark and his crew of superteens are whomped by a giant alien who goes by the charming name Battle Beast. Mark barely survives the ordeal, but some of his friends aren't so lucky. Black Samson and Monster Girl both have their heads smashed in, while multiple copies of Dupli-Kate (a teen with the power to make copies of herself) are ripped in half. Aside from the supporting characters, there are about 20 nameless baddies who have their necks snapped by Mark and his crew before things go south. Don't turn the deaths on this show into a drinking game, or your liver will actually file for emancipation.
