It’s no secret that if you’re watching a movie or show with Sean Bean, chances are he’s not making it to the credits. It got to the point where Bean was declining roles in which his character would die to avoid being too predictable. Although, now that we know he won’t take roles where he dies on screen, isn’t he even more predictable?
Anyways, Bean has a long list of credits, easily totaling over a hundred movies, shows, and even video game voice roles. In a large chunk of these, his character has ended up on the wrong end of a bullet, knife, sword, or cow. We went through all of his credits and compiled a list of 27 times Sean Bean met his demise. We think we got them all, but if we missed one, be sure to let us know in the comments below.
It should go without saying, but spoilers ahead.
Caravaggio (1986)
One of Bean’s first films, Caravaggio, is the fictionalized retelling of the life of Michelangelo, but not the Michelangelo that painted the Sistine Chapel. This is Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, another famous Italian painter. Bean plays Ranuccio, a love interest of Caravaggio. In the end, things go south, and Caravaggio ends up slitting Ranuccio’s throat.
War Requiem (1989)
This is a film adaptation of Benjamin Britten’s musical piece of the same name. Sean Bean plays a nameless German soldier bayoneted to death in the film’s first half. The film utilizes the entire original 1963 recording of War Requiem, which is considered to be some of Britten’s best work.
Lorna Doone (1990)
Lorna Doone is the name of a delicious brand of cookies and the name of an 1869 novel by R.D. Blackmore that has been adapted to TV and film many times over. This particular version was a British TV film drama in which Bean plays Lorna Doone’s father, Carver.
To make a long story short, a young man named John Ridd falls in love with Lorna. At the end of the story, Lorna and John are getting married when Carver enters and shoots Lorna for some not-so-sane reasons. John then chases Carver into a mire and watches as Carver struggles to escape and ultimately drowns.
The Field (1990)
Another movie adapted from previous works, The Field, is based on John B. Keane’s play of the same name and stars Sean Bean alongside Richard Harris, John Hurt, and Tom Berenger. Unlike other movies where Bean meets his demise at the end of a pointed blade or a bullet, The Field utilizes bovine creatures to kill his character. Bean plays Tadhg McCabe, who is pushed off the edge of a cliff by a herd of his father’s cows at the end of the movie.
Clarissa (1991)
A 1991 British period drama miniseries, Clarissa tells the story of a virtuous young woman, Clarissa, that is controlled by her family and a young man that obsesses over her. Sean Bean plays the young man who ends up raping the woman at the end of the story. Clarissa ends up starving herself to death, and Bean’s character is killed by his friend for what he did to her.
Patriot Games (1992)
The sequel to The Hunt for Red October and based on Tom Clancy’s novel of the same name, Patriot Games, sees Sean Bean alongside Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones, and a bunch of other great names. Bean plays the main villain in this one, Sean Miller, so it’s no surprise that he meets his end at the hands of Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) in a rather creative way. In their final fight at the end of the film, Jack Ryan knocks Sean Miller onto the pointed edge of a ship’s anchor, killing him.
Scarlett (1994)
This American miniseries is partially based on the 1991 book of the same title. In Scarlett, Bean plays the diabolical Lord Fenton and is really a completely abhorrent person. He rapes the titular character, Scarlett, and another girl named Mary. For this, he is stabbed to death by Mary while he is sleeping.
GoldenEye
Pierce Brosnan’s debut as the suave James Bond also saw Sean Bean play Bond villain Alec Trevelyan. The gist of the plot is that Trevelyan fakes his death and creates the Janus crime syndicate, which James Bond is tasked with dismantling. At the end of the film, Bean finds himself dangling off an antenna, ultimately plummeting to his death on the roof below after Bond intentionally lets go of him.
Airborne (1993)
Airborne didn’t receive the greatest of reviews upon release, so don’t be shocked if you’ve never heard of it. This 1993 action film centers around a spec-ops team named Mach 1, who are tasked with retrieving a deadly virus stolen by a group of thieves. Sean Bean plays Dave Toombs, the leader of the group of thieves who is shot by Bill McNeil (Steve Guttenberg). If you haven’t seen this and you’re thinking of watching every film that Sean Bean has died in, feel free to skip it.
Essex Boys (2000)
This British crime drama is based on true events that took place in 1995. Three drug dealers were murdered in Rettendon, Essex, UK, and Sean Bean’s character, Jason Locke, is loosely based on one of them. Jason is murdered along with a few others while sitting in their car after being lured to an ambush. His character is shot with a shotgun and quickly dies on-screen.
Don’t Say A Word (2001)
Being buried alive is arguably one of the worst ways to go, and it’s exactly what happens to Patrick Koster, played by Sean Bean in the 2001 crime thriller Don’t Say A Word. Panned by critics on release, this film revolves around a jewel thief and double-crossing. It ends with Bean’s character falling into a pre-dug mass grave, only for the walls to collapse, undoubtedly suffocating him.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring contains perhaps Sean Bean’s most well-known death. The trilogy itself is, arguably, some of the best fantasy films to ever hit the big screen, and Sean Bean’s character is a crucial part of the success of the first part.
After attempting to harm Frodo and take the ring for himself, Boromir (Sean Bean) realizes what he’s done and dies valiantly, fighting off a horde of Uruk-hai so that Frodo and Sam can escape with the ring. Boromir is killed after being shot with three arrows by Lurtz, who is then killed by Aragorn. Boromir’s redemption is noteworthy, even if many feel that it is almost too late. He is certainly a character that is strong in his own way.
Equilibrium (2002)
Equilibrium actually has a really decent plot at the center of it. In a world where World War III caused the near-death of the human race, anything that can evoke emotion is banned, as that is what is believed to have caused WWIII. A group of law enforcement officers called the Grammaton Clerics regularly raid houses looking for art, literature, music, etc., and execute anyone on the spot that is found to be hiding these materials.
Sean Bean plays Errol Partridge, a cleric that saves a book of poems instead of burning it. He is quickly discovered by his partner, played by Christian Bale, and executed for his crimes.
Henry VIII (2003)
This two-part British television miniseries is a retelling of the life of Henry VIII of England, from his first marriage to his death in 1547. Sean Bean doesn’t play King Henry, though, and instead is Robert Aske. Aske led a protest against the crown called the Pilgrimage of Grace and was ultimately sentenced to death for his treason. He is hanged outside the castle walls.
The Island (2005)
The Island is a sci-fi action thriller directed by Michael Bay, starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean, and others. The premise of the film is that Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) lives in a highly structured world that he begins to question. After learning that everyone is a clone used for organ harvesting and or is a surrogate for wealthy people, he decides to break out and expose the entire operation.
Sean Bean plays Dr. Merrick, the scientist that runs the compound, who is eventually killed with a harpoon gun by Lincoln after Merrick decides to eliminate all of the clones.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
A lot of people don’t realize that Sean Bean has also voiced some major characters in video games, one of them being Martin Septim from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Martin is the illegitimate son of Uriel Septim and is the eventual savior of Cyrodiil. At the end of the story, Martin becomes the Avatar of Akatosh and fights Mehrunes Dagon, winning the battle but not without being mortally wounded himself.
Far North (2007)
Before Michelle Yeoh killed it in Everything Everywhere All at Once, she was killing it in other films, one of them being Far North. Sean Bean plays Loki, a man on the run from the military who is saved by two women hiding out in Siberia. As Loki stays with them, he begins to fall in love with one of the two women. We won’t spoil the chain of events that cause this to happen but just know that it ends with Bean’s character walking out into the tundra naked in order to commit suicide.
Outlaw (2007)
Sean Bean plays Danny Bryant, a soldier who has returned home to Britain and is shocked to find that his nation has become a sort of war zone due to rampant crime. As he tries to tackle the crime lords and corrupt cops with a group of like-minded individuals, Bryant ends up getting shot and killed.
The Hitcher (2007)
A remake of the 1987 version, The Hitcher is a horror-thriller about a hitchhiking serial killer that terrorizes a young couple on a road trip. Sean Bean plays the hitchhiker and is brutal in his methods, going as far as to handcuff a man by his feet and hands between a trailer and truck, splitting him in two as he drives away in the truck. The hitchhiker eventually meets his demise at the end of a shotgun barrel, but not before changing the main character’s life forever.
Red Riding: 1974 (2009)
This limited British crime drama series can be consumed as if it were three movies, each with a runtime of around one and a half hours. Sean Bean stars in the first episode and plays John Dawson, an unsavory figure that is almost certainly behind the disappearances and murders of several young girls.
There’s more to the episode than just that, and it truly is an engaging story, but to cut it short, Dawson is eventually shot by a man that was investigating him and the disappearances.
Black Death (2010)
This action-horror is set during the Black Death in Medieval England, and Sean Bean plays the part of Ulric, an envoy for the regional bishop. Ulric has been sent to a village untouched by the plague that is supposedly led by a necromancer. Things don’t go too well for Ulric as he’s eventually drawn and quartered after being tied to two horses.
Death Race 2 (2010)
A prequel to the 2008 Death Race, this film looks at the origins of the first Frankenstein car driver. Bean plays Markus Kane, Carl Lucas’s criminal employer. After putting a bounty on Lucas’s head, Lucas returns the favor, and Markus ends up getting shot and killed.
Ca$h (2010)
After a suitcase filled with money lands on his car, Sam Phelan (Chris Hemsworth) thinks he’s the luckiest man in the world. That is until Pyke Kubic (Sean Bean) shows up and demands that Sam and his wife start robbing stores to earn back the money they spent from the suitcase. After not earning enough money from robbing stores, they decide to rob a bank, where Sam swaps out his gun without bullets for one of the guards’ guns and kills Pyke.
Game of Thrones – Season 1 Episode 10 (2011)
Besides Bean’s death in The Lord of the Rings, his second most well-known on-screen death has got to be his beheading as Eddard Stark in Game of Thrones. If you’ve watched Game of Thrones, think back to that moment when you first saw this episode—hopefully spoiler free if you hadn’t read the books. We all sat and thought, “There’s no way; they’re not going to execute him, right? They can’t just chop his head off—” Eddard’s death would be the first of many that shocked fans, but no one being safe is arguably what made the show so good.
Age of Heroes (2011)
This film is somewhat based on Ian Fleming’s own service during World War II and the 30 Commando Unit. It’s not necessarily on-screen, but in Age of Heroes, Sean Bean is presumed to have died after covering the rest of his team as they retreat. Bean plays Major Jack Jones, and the final scene is him ushering his comrades to retreat to safety as he lays down fire on the Germans.
The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015)
The Frankenstein Chronicles is a British period crime drama in which Bean plays Inspector John Marlott. Marlott is a river police officer who discovers a body made up of the parts of eight missing children and is determined to find out who’s responsible. Cut to six episodes later, and somehow Marlott has found himself with a burlap sack on his head, being hung at the gallows. You’ll have to watch if you want to find out why.
Hitman 2 (2018)
Another video game where Sean Bean dies, Hitman 2’s Mark Faba is Agent 47’s first Elusive Target, a new concept introduced in the previous title. Mark Faba possesses a striking similarity to Sean Bean and even has a unique dialogue with Agent 47. No matter how big of a Sean Bean fan you are, the player will have to end up killing him. It’s your choice how to finish the job, though.
