The Most Controversial Deaths In Sci-Fi Movies

James T. Kirk may have famously referred to space as "the final frontier" in the introduction to "Star Trek," but he'd eventually be proven wrong in 1994's "Star Trek Generations." Death is the final frontier, the uncharted territory we all travel to at the end.

With resurrection or last-minute reprieves just a technological gizmo away, science fiction is a genre in which death is often not the great hindrance it once was, but there comes a time when even cloaking devices can only hide you from the Grim Reaper for so long. So the final curtain must fall — even on our sci-fi heroes. We often find ourselves not quite prepared. Here is a list of characters from science fiction films that bit the bullet — or more precisely, phaser blast or laser bolt. Although some departed permanently, others returned in ways befitting the genre.

There'll be more spoilers here than in the Stuttgart Porsche Factory, so be warned. With that in mind, let's take a look at some characters who boldly went on to the greater beyond, surprising audiences along the way.

The sci-fi credibility of "Logan" is established by it being part of a franchise that happily features aliens and obscenely powerful technology. Now we've established that, it must be admitted that the Wolverine was the last character from that franchise that we'd ever expect to die.

"Logan" is more of a Western than a superhero movie, and that's a genre with a long tradition of portraying the old and weary gunslinger dying at the end, having achieved his goals, which are typically some form of revenge.

"Logan" is set in 2029. The ex-X-man once known as Wolverine's powers are fading with age in a world with few mutants remaining. Assisting a young girl with powers similar to his own, the Ol' Canucklehead finds himself with a cause: leading mutant children to safety. That costs the adamantium Avenger his life, his healing factor pushed to and beyond its limits. It's an apt fate for our hero, albeit an unexpected one. When Laura, the young girl he saved, tilts the cross on his gravestone to form an "X," there's not a dry eye in the house.

It could be argued that Han was as lucky to live as long as he did, being a man with countless bounties on his head engaged in one of the most dangerous space-faring careers — smuggling. And that's not even to mention his frequent dangerous dalliances with the Rebel Alliance and later the Resistance.

Despite his apparent longevity and luck, audiences had a sense of trepidation when Han approached his estranged son, Ben (also known as Kylo Ren) in the chasms of Starkiller base. In a sentiment oft-expressed by multiple members of the Star Wars cast, they had a bad feeling about this.

In a move that well and truly established Han wasn't coming back (except as a ghost), the writers had him shish-kebabed by Ben's light-saber, fall down a chasm, and then they blew the planet up for good measure. It felt unexpected, unfair, and a far from fitting payoff for the lovable and scruffy scoundrel. It was a noble sacrifice, but for nothing, with the act only turning Ben further to the dark side.

We witnessed his very conception in "The Terminator" and his rise from arrogant kid to leader of the human resistance between the movies "Terminator 2" and "Terminator Genisys." However, the opening scene of the otherwise forgettable "Terminator: Dark Fate" sees the cybernetic legions of Skynet finally achieve their goal of nipping this troublesome time stem in the bud.

The movie opens three years after their destruction of Skynet, with Sarah Conner and John on a beach in Guatemala. Sadly, their vacation is interrupted by a T-800 that promptly guns down John Connor in cold blood.

It's a major paradigm shift for a franchise that has concentrated on John as the central character since 2003's "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," and it's hard to argue with the canonical aspects of it when it was all James Cameron's idea. It's an effective way to shift the expected character dynamics, and despite the rest of the film being decidedly lackluster in comparison, it's one heck of a memorable death. Sadly, with "Terminator: Dark Face" being a relative flop, the film may well have achieved the goal that Skynet failed at — wiping out the franchise once and for all.

It's arguable which of the two had the cruelest fate: the "Firefly" TV series for being canceled after a single season, or Hoban "Wash" Washburne (Alan Tudyk), the ship's laconic and lovable pilot.

After an incredible piece of piloting through a chaotic space battlefield of clashing Reaver and Alliance vessels (easily rivaling Han Solo's stab at the Kessel Run), Wash performs nothing shy of a small miracle and safely lands the ship. Any celebrations are short-lived, though, as Wash has barely finished his small celebratory dialogue about being "a leaf on the wind" before a Reaver spear turns him into a Wash-kebab.

Alan Tudyk did a marvelous job of making the character of Wash his own, being both a neat and level-headed foil to the more headstrong Capt. Mal and one-half of a convincing relationship with his on-screen wife, Zöe (Gina Torres). After the exhilaration and spectacle of the scene that unfolded moments before, what followed should have been celebratory, not upsetting. He's dead instantly, given no chance to say his farewells. The crew is forced to flee, with Zöe not even given time to grieve. This one still stings like a rusty spear to the gut.

It's the unfairness of it all that hurts. The grimdark "Aliens" universe had never been the most optimistic or hopeful, but Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Newt (Carrie Henn), and Hicks (Michael Biehn), a nuclear family thrown together by the nuclear explosion of the terraforming plant on LV-426, were dealt a particularly cruel and ugly hand.

They'd been through hell together, surviving the razor-clawed and fanged Xenomorph horrors of "Aliens," but for what? Their jettisoned escape pods crash land into the rain-sodden, rusted beige misery of a prison colony on Fiorina "Fury" 161 with Ripley being the only survivor.

It's not smooth sailing for anybody in this film, with Charles Dance's Dr. Clemens dying just as he becomes vaguely interesting, but this young, brave kid and her handsome, acid-scarred Marine protector deserve a far-less lugubrious ending. Fans of the franchise may wish to point out that there's a far more notable death at the film's climax, but as that's all partially undone by the events of "Alien: Resurrection," I'm reserving this spot for these two fallen souls. It would have been interesting to see what writer-director Neil Blomkamp would have done with his reboot, but now we'll never know.

The loss of some characters is more profound simply because they've always been there. Leonard Nimoy's half-human, half-Vulcan S'Chn T'Gai Spock has been on our screens since 1966 and was as essential an element to "Star Trek" as Kirk and the Enterprise. Many of us had known him longer than our own friends and family, and so his death hurt.

Faced with the immutable Vulcan logic that states that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (or the one), Spock decides to sacrifice himself to save the Enterprise and its crew. Having narrowly defeated Khan, it was only the actions of the loyal commander that restored the warp drive, allowing the ship to escape the deadly blast of the Genesis wave. His final scenes with Kirk are moving beyond words, reminding us that their relationship was more about them being friends than mere workmates. The death may have been undone one film later, but at the time, was intended to be permanent — and it shows. We could probably have done without Scotty's (James Doohan) bagpipe solo at his funeral, though.

Leonard Nimoy sadly died in 2015 at the age of 83, but he left behind a huge legacy that a new generation of actors has more than lived up to.

In hindsight, "The Matrix's" release on Easter weekend in 1999 was surely no coincidence. Keanu Reeves' Neo is a messianic figure foretold in prophecy and destined to save humanity, who dies, only to be reborn again.

Admittedly, this chosen one's resurrection takes place over 90 seconds as opposed to three days, but there's no denying that it gave audiences a fist-bump moment when he came back to life to take control of the Matrix. Neo's death is a gut punch that comes without warning when he's repeatedly shot by Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith at point-blank range.

All seems lost in both the Matrix and the real world, but like a gender-swapped Snow White, he's revived with a kiss from Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). This is where the prophecy is fulfilled, with Neo reborn with the powers of a god. He now controls every aspect of the Matrix and is granted new omniscience, thus neatly tying up the storyline and alleviating the need for any sequels, right? Right?!