15 Grey's Anatomy Deaths Ranked Best To Worst

We all love the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy, but hot damn, can the deaths on the show be simply aggravating and exhausting. Show creator Shonda Rhimes is sometimes more bloody than George R.R. Martin himself when it comes to offing her beloved characters and fans are constantly worried that their favorite may end up biting the dust at any given time. At least we know that main character Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) is safe along with her counter-part and person Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), since she left the show safe and sound… right? Thing is, we all thought that Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) was immune to death in the world of Grey's, but we were all dead wrong on that one too. Here we rank Grey's Anatomy deaths from the “tragic” to “so soul-shattering that we may never recover ever in a million years”. And yes, I realize I'm leaving out a crap load of deaths, but they simply just didn't make the cut - deal with it.

15 Harold O'Malley

Poor George's pop. Everyone who ever encountered Harold O'Malley (George Dzundza) became instantly drawn to his positive energy and sunny demeanor. He didn't even appear to have a bad bone in his body and only wished the best for his little Georgie (T.R. Knight) and his other sons. After passing out suddenly and hurting his shoulder, Harold ended up at Seattle Grace hospital under the watchful eye of his surgical intern son and began a series of tests, which resulted in the doctors discovering he had an aggressive form of cancer that was literally killing him right before their eyes. Before surgery, he told Dr. Webber (James Pickens, Jr.) and Dr. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) that he wanted them to remove the cancer at all cost, which just ended up killing him. George never really recovered fully from his pop's death, either.

14 Samuel Norbert Avery

This one wasn't an easy death, even though the child in question hadn't entered the world yet, but it was still devastating. April (Sarah Drew) and Jackson (Jesse Williams) were thrilled when they found out April was pregnant with her first child even though they argued constantly about what religion they were gonna raise it. Sure, that was obnoxious to watch, but it was tear jerking when they discovered that the baby had a rare bone disorder that would kill him either before he was born, or minutes after arriving into the world. April and Jackson ended up making the decision to induce at 24 weeks. Samuel Norbert Avery only survived long enough to be baptized by his parents before passing away in the arms of his mother. I'm tearing up just remembering the entire scene.

13 Adele Webber

Adele Webber (Loretta Devine) was a prominent figure throughout Seattle Grace and almost everyone knew her independently rather than simply “Richard Webber's wife”. Before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Adele worked at the hospital and kept her loving husband (and pretty much everyone else) in check. While she knew about her husband's affair with Ellis Grey, she never held it against Meredith and actually thought fondly of the young intern. After coming down with the disease, Richard fought to get her into Meredith and Derek's Alzheimer's trial, which nearly got Meredith tossed out on her rear. Richard finally had to move her into a nursing home so she wouldn't become a threat to herself or anyone else. She was rushed to the hospital right before Bailey's wedding and ended up dying of a massive stroke following surgery.

12 Diane Pierce

WE BARELY KNEW YOU DIANE! Diane Pierce (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) was Maggie's adopted mother who Maggie (Kelly McCreary) simply worshiped. She came to the hospital under the rouse that she was visiting her daughter, but actually came to get a massive rash on her chest checked out by Dr. Jackson Avery. Turns out, Diane was suffering from inflammatory breast cancer and it was spreading aggressively and rapidly. Diane finally told Maggie, who did everything in her power to save her mother even though it was no use in the long run. Diana ended up dying peacefully in her hospital bed while Maggie was painting her nails. Even though she was there for a short time, it broke our hearts to see Maggie's world cut in half so very quickly. It appears that Maggie is STILL trying to recover from her mother's death.

11 Ellis Grey

Okay, so she wasn't everyone's FAVORITE person… . Well, come to think of it, she was a downright, cold-hearted b*tch who would mow down anyone that got in the way of her career, including her own daughter. DOES THAT MEAN SHE DOESN'T DESERVE LOVE LIKE THE REST OF US? Probably not. Ellis Grey (Kate Burton) was a genius in her heyday and everyone knew it, so when Meredith showed up in the surgical program with the Grey last name, everyone knew her place. Meredith managed to keep the secret that her brilliant mother was in a nursing home and slowly dying from Alzheimer's disease from everyone, including Dr. Webber, the supposed love of Ellis' life. During her lucid days, Ellis and Meredith had a rocky relationship, mainly because Ellis called Mere “ordinary” shortly before passing away.

10 Heather Brooks

When Heather Brooks (Tina Majorino) arrived with yet another group of interns in season 9, she was considered the odd ball of her class. No one really knew what to make of her and her quirky ways, until Derek Shepherd discovered that Brooks was a natural when it came to neurosurgery and quickly took her under his wing, much to the dismay of Shane Ross (Gaius Charles), who wished to be Shepherd's men-tee. This death was tragic because not only was Brooks finally starting to discover herself and her miraculous gift, but because it was unwarranted and could have been prevented if it hadn't been for Shane's jealousy. During the Season 10 super storm, Shane was sent to go track down Dr. Webber (who had been electrocuted and was lying in the basement) and he instead sent Brooks, knowing full well what she was about to walk into. Brooks ended up getting electrocuted which resulted in her brain injury and death. Shame on you, Ross.

9 Susan Grey

Finally, FINALLY, Meredith had the mother figure she always wanted when she was growing up, and she found it in her step-mother Susan Grey (Mare Winningham), who took pity on Meredith after Ellis passed away. Susan was a sweet and nurturing person, unlike the dark and gloomy Meredith, but she found a way to break through to her by forcing her way into her life with groceries and motherly ways. And then, you know what the hell Shonda Rhimes did? She freaking killed her off by giving her the hiccups. THE F***ING HICCUPS, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The woman had finally managed to get her husband Thatcher (Jeff Perry) and Meredith to start behaving like a family and she gets the mother effing hiccups and keels over. Thanks to this, a wedge was driven between Thatch and Mere because he believed Meredith was directly responsible for his wife's death. HE EVEN SLAPPED MEREDITH ACROSS THE FACE.

8 Craig Thomas

This one hit home because Cristina finally found the mentor figure she had been desperately seeking since going into the field of medicine. For whatever reason, Cristina always ended up nailing her mentor figures, but when it came to Dr. Craig Thomas (William Daniels), she only saw an older, brilliant form of herself. After a rocky start, Craig and Cristina became close after she bailed on Seattle for icy Minnesota and she did everything she could in order to block Craig from being forced into retirement. She even fought tooth and nail for him to be able to perform a risky surgery that was on his bucket list. And how did Shonda Rhimes thank Cristina? She killed off Craig in the middle of that same risky surgery. He literally dropped dead from a massive heart attack right in front of her. His tragic death is what sent Cristina running back to Seattle, though. So there's that.

7 Doc

Okay writers, you can kill off all the people you want on his show, but you're going way too far when you go after a dog, which is what you jack weasels did with Doc. Doc was a rescue pup that Meredith and Izzie adopted from a local animal shelter. Sure, he was a trouble maker who constantly went after George, but that didn't make Meredith love him any less. Doc ended up going to live with Derek and Addison because George threatened to move out (I totally would have chosen Doc over him anyway, the freaking whiner), but Meredith still took care of him. When Doc became ill, Meredith started a relationship with his vet Finn (Chris O'Donnell), which did no one any favors. Doc had to be euthanized thanks to stupid bone cancer and we were given one of the most emotional scenes ever. NO MORE KILLING DOGS, PLEASE.

6 Mark Sloan

I always believed that Dr. McSteamy was invincible. Unfortunately, writers didn't feel the same way I did. Plastic surgeon extraordinaire Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) crashed onto the scene with a reputation that had showed up long before he did. Sloan was Derek's best friend who had destroyed his marriage by sleeping with his wife Addison, so when he showed up one day and started to hit on Meredith, Derek quickly welcomed him by punching his perfect face in. Sloan quickly grew on us and everyone in the hospital, including his best friend (and eventual mother of his child) Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and the impressionable Lexie Grey, who he fell in love with. But, of course, Rhimes killed him off during season 9 after he suffered from complications from injuries that happened during the plane crash in season 8. That one hurt, Shonda.

5 Denny Duquette Jr.

I'm going to get crap for not putting him higher on this list, but I don't care. Denny Duquette Jr. (Jeffery Dean Morgan) was the first huge death that hit fans right in the feels. Denny was brought into the hospital with a weak heart and in need of a heart transplant when he met and fell in love with Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl). He won her heart and our hearts all at the same time, and then pow, what happens? The dude died alone from a stroke, AFTER getting a brand new heart and AFTER proposing to Izzie. It almost killed fans as well to see Alex (Justin Chambers) have to pick up Izzie in order to forcibly remove her from Denny's hospital room after she refused to let go of his dead body. The reason why he's not higher on this list is because his stupid ghost kept coming back after Izzie got a brain tumor. He was just annoying by that time.

4 Henry Burton

Henry Burton (Scott Foley) was incredibly adorable and charming for a dying guy, and he was completely smitten with his wife Teddy (Kim Raver) even though she just married him in order to give him great health insurance (in other words, she felt sorry for him). Henry and Teddy went about everything backwards, first getting married and then falling in love with each other. Unfortunately, that love was short lived. Henry went in for a routine surgery and Teddy came up with the idea of Cristina performing the surgery, though Cristina wouldn't know WHO she was performing the surgery on. Cristina did everything right, but Henry still ended up dying on the table. What made it worse was witnessing Cristina's breakdown when she discovered that she had killed her favorite mentor's husband. It seriously cut like a thousand knives right to the stinking heart.

3 Lexie Grey

Oh, Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) - you were our favorite sister of Meredith's (sorry, Maggie). Lexie was first seen at the bar hitting on Derek (which was, HARK! Just how Meredith met him!) and wormed her way into our hearts with her doe-eyed ways. All she wanted was her long-lost half-sister's love and affection, which Meredith was hesitant to give her. She had a rocky love life, first falling for George and then nailing Alex, which got her in trouble most of the time. Finally, she fell for Sloan, but that relationship kept coming back to bite her in the behind on multiple occasions. And then finally, FINALLY when it looked like she was going to find happiness, she's freaking killed off in a plane crash. She managed to die while holding Sloan's hand though, which was a crappy consolation prize, but you have to take what you can get.

2 George O'Malley

George would have been in front of Derek if he hadn't been such a big baby about the whole Doc situation. George's death was tragic and completely unwarranted, in my opinion. Sure, T.R. Knight wanted out of the show because writers didn't know what the hell to do with his character anymore, but man, having him get hit by a bus? THEN DRAGGED BY THE BUS?? That's low. George was nailed by a bus trying to save a woman, and was brought into the hospital with his face completely torn off. No one even knew it was him until he wrote “007” on Meredith's palm. When everyone found out, they flipped their lid and attempted to do everything in their power to save him, but he ended up dying from his injuries. It was horrible and not a worthy death of the character himself.

1 Derek Shepherd

Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) was the reason why everyone started watching Grey's Anatomy in the first place and we all rejoiced when we heard Dempsey had extended his contract during season 11. But we were all deceived. Dempsey had wanted off the show and Shonda Rhimes said that the only way Derek would ever leave Meredith was if he was dead, so them getting a divorce was out of the question. So she had Derek get hit by a Mack Truck AFTER saving a whole bunch of people. And then, AND THEN, she does the worst thing she could possibly do throughout the entire series - she has the brilliant neurosurgeon GO BRAIN DEAD. That b**ch. We all bawled our eyes out when Meredith showed up with her children in order to pull the plug on her beloved soul mate. It was heart shattering in a way that I can't even begin to explain.