Even with all the crazy story lines, sometime alien beings, incredibly powerful superheroes, beautiful landscapes, and epic budgets, comic book movies are really just about the human experience. As much as we love to get hyped up about battles and the settling scores, we often fail to admit that we’re into comic book movies for the emotional parts as well. In the end, we’re really just looking for a good story that makes us feel deeply. Comic book movie deaths are one way to get us all crying.

Our heroes suffer unimaginable loss throughout their stories. And even on rare occasions we experience the loss of a great hero that we have come to know and love. It’s hard not to get choked up when a character we so deeply care for has to suffer the loss of someone they love. And it’s even worse when we have to lose a favorite character or beloved hero ourselves. Often the characters we lose do not go gently, they suffer some of the most heinous deaths of all time. Comic book movies have a way of doing everything bigger and better, even the deaths can be more dramatic, more painful, and more trying for a fan to take in.

Without a doubt the moments where we find ourselves trying to hide our tears from our friends are some of our favorites across all universes of the comic book movie world. Today we honor the times when we have to bite our lips and try to hold it together. Here are our picks for the 10 Saddest Comic Book Movie Deaths out there.

Big Daddy – Kick-Ass

Starting our list of comic book movie deaths off with perhaps the saddest of deaths on this list, is the death of Big Daddy in Kick-Ass. Credited with making people like Nicolas Cage again, Big Daddy is a lovable weirdo who is trained to kill. The role is a tricky one. As both a trained killer and father, Big Daddy has to fill a couple of roles. Luckily, he circumvents this problem by just teaching his daughter, from a very young age, to be a killer as well.

Even while training his young daughter to be a ruthless killer, essentially sentencing her to a life of murder and mayhem, we can feel how much Big Daddy loves his daughter. Plus he wears a crazy Batman-like suit that let’s us still see deep into Cage’s famously crazy eyes. As for his death, he is gruesomely burned to death in front of Hit-Girl’s eyes as she rushes to save him, expertly taking out a room full of men with his instruction. Try not crying while they exchange their final words, his being, “I love you.” Ow.

Gwen Stacy – The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Aside from the mixed reviews that this movie received upon release, the death of Gwen Stacy was still a powerful and moving one. Gwen Stacy’s death is an iconic one in the comic book world and doing this one right was important to fans all across the globe. Director Marc Webb stays true to the story in some ways and fails to stay true in others. What’s most important is that he chose to leave the story inconspicuous as to whether the fall kills Gwen Stacy, or if the whiplash from Spider-Man’s own web is what ends her life. This is the most important part of the story to keep because it changes Spider-Man as a man and as a superhero.

Andrew Garfield gives a great performance as a heartbroken hero holding on to the body of the woman he loved. Leaving the question of how she dies open is painful for both our hero and the fans alike. But despite the pain and grief it causes, hers remains one of the most iconic in comic book movie deaths there is.

Harry Osborn – Spider-Man 3

Though the movie was essentially, terrible, the death of Harry Osborn was a memorable moment for Spider-Man and comic book movie fans alike. It was sad that the third movie of an otherwise awesome franchise fell apart, but luckily the death of an important and beloved anti-hero character, Harry Osborn, was handled well.

For two great movies movie goers watch as Harry Osborn struggles with his father’s identity as the Green Goblin and his death at the hands of Spider-Man. Harry also spends plenty of time contemplating his own role in the fight for the city, following his father’s death.

By movie three, Harry has sworn to avenge his fathers death and to take out Spider-Man permanently, even if it means taking out his former best friend, Peter.

Comic book movie deaths are nothing without a good change of heart. In the end, Harry learns the truth about his father’s death and sets out to help Spider-Man and Mary Jane against Venom and Sandman. Sadly, he loses his life in this battle. It’s sad to see a tormented character finally come to the “good” side of things, only to lose his life fairly quickly. Harry Osborn is a great character given even more flavor by James Franco.

Rachel Dawes – The Dark Knight

Listen, not everyone is a huge fan of Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes, but her death at the hands of The Joker in The Dark Knight remains one of the most heart wrenching out there. The backstory of a former failed romance between Rachel and Bruce Wayne adds not only unrequited love to the mixture, but also a flavoring of who Bruce Wayne once was, before Batman took over his life.

In the movie, Rachel is kidnapped along with Harvey Dent at the hands of the Joker, famously played by Heath Ledger. Like all classic Joker plans, he turns their lives into a game for Batman to play. Both Rachel and Harvey are tied up in separate rooms filled with explosives. They have phones so that they can talk to each other. It is during this exchange that Rachel tells Harvey that she’d like to marry him.

Batman is given the location of both rooms and of course speeds off to save his former love, Rachel. But the Joker tricks him and Batman winds up saving Harvey Dent. The Joker had swapped the addresses of the rooms. They do not save Rachel in time and she dies in her room explosion and the result of her death not only devastates Batman but drives Harvey Dent, now Two Face, insane. Of all comic book movie deaths, this is one that has the biggest impact on our hero.

King Leonidas – 300

Without a doubt one of the most visually stunning comic book movies of the 2000s, 300 tells the story of King Leonidas and his arm. His army of 300 Spartans takes on a Persian army of 300,000 in the movie’s climax. The 300 men go in without any support and though his Queen, Gorgo, tries desperately to get reinforcements sent to help her King defeat the Persians, even using her body to do so, corrupt politicians delay the help sent and Leonidas and his men must fact the massive army on their own. The tale is a classic, but its re-imagining capture the hearts and minds of comic book fans and moviegoers everywhere.

Leonidas ultimately dies in an arrow barrage, but not before proving that even god-kings, meaning Xerxes, can bleed. One of the oldest tales ever told, but one that inspires even today. And as one of our top 7 comic book movie deaths, one we won’t forget anytime soon.

Uncle Ben – Spider-Man

So Uncle Ben’s death is never a surprise, in any rendition, to anyone, because his death makes Spider-Man who he is. We all learn, usually at a pretty young age, that Uncle Ben’s death changes Peter Parker and inspires him to embrace the special spidey senses bestowed unto to him.

That said, it doesn’t make Uncle Ben’s passing any less difficult each time we witness it. Sam Raimi’s take on the death is moving and uncomfortable. Uncle Ben is played by the amazing Cliff Robertson, and when Peter, played by Tobey Maguire, approaches him on the street, it looks as though he’s already dead.

But after a couple “Uncle Ben?” questions by Peter, he opens his eyes. The pain in his face says it all but he does manage to speak, just a little and all he can do is say Peter’s name twice before passing. It is not a painless death and the fear and sadness in his eyes will haunt many of us for the rest of our days and a teary-eyed Peter Parker just adds icing to a cake made of tears.

Jonathan Kent – Superman

For this one we are throwing it back to an oldie but a goodie. The death of Jonathan Kent, Clark Kent’s father, in the 1978 Superman is a powerful one that demands recognition on a list like this one. Though we see Kent pass in other renditions of the superhero’s tale (like Smallville or Man of Steel) the ’78 version does it best.

After explaining to Clark Kent how proud he is to be his father, and the love in this scene is so obviously deep you almost start crying right then and there, Jonathan suffers a heart attack. Surprisingly, or may unsurprisingly, a heart attack is the most peaceful death on this list. The most moving moment is when Clark says, “…All those powers. And I couldn’t even save him.” A young Superman learns his limits.

And there you have it, our 7 saddest comic book movie deaths. Wait, are you crying?