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(#2) Brian Griffin
- Family Guy
Cartoons are more than fair game for deaths and resurrections but in this case the fans would have none of it. The death itself was clearly a ratings grab. Family Guy's Brian just so happens to die in Season 12 right after Stewie destroys his time travel device and is unable to bring him back. The show was likely never going to leave Brian dead, but just in case there was any doubt fans got real vocal about bringing him back. Sure enough, two episodes later Stewie steals the time travel device from his past self and gets Brian back.
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(#3) Agent Phil Coulson
- Ultimate Spider-Man, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
When veteran Marvel Universe character Agent Coulson died in the first Avengers movie, many couldn't believe their eyes - which was fine for when Coulson came back to life for his own TV show, Marvel's Agents of Shield. While Joss Whedon felt the move cheapened Coulson's death, creators (and fans) believed the character to be too popular to kill off.
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(#5) Spike
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Longtime fan-favorite Spike met his supposed end in the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but he was such a beloved character that he ended up coming back to life in the Season 5 finale of Angel. No one complained, of course. And a show about the supernatural is always given a bit more leeway.
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(#1) Kenny McCormick
- South Park
One of South Park's longest-running jokes is that Kenny can never die. The parka-wearing elementary school student has been microwaved, beheaded, killed by a bear, and tortured in countless other ways, but he always returned the following episode good as new. So when he dies again of muscular dystrophy in Season 5, fans assumed he'd come back the next season like always - but then he didn't.
After fans complained non-stop about Kenny being gone for all of Season 6, creators Trey Stone and Matt Parker finally brought him back to life for good.
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(#4) Optimus Prime
Granted, this beloved character death happened in a movie, but the character in question, Optimus Prime, was resurrected on TV. A fan-favorite of children everywhere, this semi-truck transforming hero fought the Decepticons to keep earth safe. Then those same bright-eyed children watched tearfully in Transformers: The Movie (1986) as the Autobot fought his last fight and was killed. Not only were millions of children scarred, they were outraged. Optimus was practically a father-figure.
Needless to say, the character arose from the dead in 1988 on the Transformers cartoon.
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(#6) Catwoman
- Maggie
When Catwoman, as played by Julie Newmar, first appeared on the 1960s Batman TV series, she was meant to be a one-shot character. But after she fell to her death at the end of her second episode, fans began sending in mail asking for her to return. They had such a negative reaction to her death, in fact, that creators decided to bring back the character in the Batman movie - and then later in the second season of the TV show.
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About This Tool
When a classic character returns to a cameo on a TV show, it can be a gimmick, especially when the series ending upsets the audience. The death or loss of some famous characters made the audience very angry, although it is known that the production team may have overrun the budget or the actors have other work arrangements, it is too important for fans to see the return of their favorite characters again.
Some characters return for more than a came, all fans may still look forward to a new season of their favorite TV series or spin-off movie. The random tool lists 11 popular TV characters returned.
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