Try not to cry, we dare you!
Over the past five seasons, The Vampire Diaries has ripped out our hearts more times than we can count when it comes to saying goodbye to fan-favorite (and some not-so-favorite) characters. Look back on all the deaths now from the ones that made us cheer to the ones that had us on the floor, uncontrollably sobbing. And yeah, some characters should just get frequent flyer miles when it comes to dying and coming back to life (cough, Jeremy, cough)! Here are all the deaths, ranked from least (#52) to most (#1) heartbreaking...
52. Atticus Shane
Professor Shadypants was just the worsttt. He put all our favorite characters through hell just so he could have hallucinations of his dead wife...seriously. Plus, he's the reason that Silas came to Mystic Falls. Honestly, he deserved his slow, painful death on the island. Sorry we're not sorry!
51. Wes Maxfield
Ugh, this guy. He loved torturing vampires—all in the name of science, of course—and even turned Damon into a ripper! So when Damon finally got his revenge on Wes and tortured and killed the good doctor, we actually cheered. Byeeee.
50. Connor Jordan
Sorry, Connor, we never liked you. You put too many of our favorite characters' lives in jeapordy. And even in death, you were still causing problems, since killing a member of one of The Five vampire hunters caused Elena to hallucinate suicidal thoughts until another hunter (Jeremy) was awakened.
49. Markos
Elena and Damon killed this Traveler in a fiery explosion to allow them to bring as many people back from the Other Side as they could before it crumbled, so we were more than happy to say goodbye to Markos if that meant we got Alaric back!
48. Silas
After all the crap that Silas put Stefan through, we did not shed a single tear watching Stefan finally get his long-awaited revenge on his doppelganger.
47. Qetsiyah/Tessa
Ditto for the original woman scorned, Qetsiyah/Tessa. Once she managed to get her revenge on Silas and Amara, separating them in death, she slashed her own wrists.Talk about a bittersweet ending!
46. Isobel Flemming
Elena's biological mother was compelled by Klaus to do so many villainous things that we weren't all that sad to see her go, but tearing off her sunlight necklace to violently burn to death in front of her own daughter? Now that's just extra cruel.
45. Bill Forbes
We hated Bill at first because of what he did to Caroline (torturing his own daughter?!), and he almost went out as a hero, trying to help Tyler fight his sire bond to Klaus. But his prejudices against vampirism were what really killed him, since he refused to complete his transition into a vampire even though it meant he would die. Caroline, don't waste your tears!
44. Esther Mikaelson's final death
After Alaric realized Esther turned him into an Original vampire/vampire hunter, he got his revenge by staking her. But she recently came back to life on The Originals, and is about to wreak havoc on her family once more, so it's not like we're all torn up inside or anything like that. This mama sure knows how to bring on the drama!
43. Bree
At least someone was trying to avenge Lexi's death! Too bad this bartender was no match for Damon.
42. Kol Mikaelson
As much as we loved watching Kol gleefully wreak havoc on Mystic Falls, it was about time he met his demise so Jeremy's hunter's mark could fill in and everyone could follow its trail to find the cure for vampirism.
41. Giuseppe Salvatore
We have no love for Damon and Stefan's father, since he shot both his sons for trying to help save Katherine from getting locked in the tomb with the rest of the vampires in Mystic Falls. Since they both had Katherine's blood in their system, they came back as vampires and Stefan got his revenge by killing Giuseppe. The sins of the father…
40. Logan Fell
Newly-turned vampire Logan was about to cause a lot of trouble for everyone, so it was a good thing vampire hunter Alaric just moved to town to take him out!
39. Mr. Tanner
Okay, we didn't actually mourn the loss of Mr. Tanner because he was the biggest and douchiest teacher ever. But you can't deny that watching Damon brutally murder him in front of Stefan just to prove there was no humanity in him shocked you to the core, since this was one of the first major murders on TVD!
38. Jules
Klaus needed to kill a werewolf in order to unlock his own werewolf side, and since we can't lose Tyler, we didn't shed too many tears watching Klaus kill Jules. She hurt Caroline, so she was already dead to us.
37. Amara
This doppelganger endured thousands of years of being the anchor to the Other Side, and it drove her so crazy that once she saw her love Silas' dead body, she immediately killed herself, finally finding peace...but as a human and separated from Silas' ghost, thanks to Tessa's spell!
36. Aimee Bradley
Katherine really wanted that moonstone, huh? Poor Aimee just wanted to dance, but thanks to a broken spine and neck, she'll never even breathe again. This is why you don't mess with Katherine.
35. Sarah
Poor Sarah never stood a chance. After Katherine compelled her to bait Tyler into killing her, thus triggering his werewolf curse, she got drunk with Tyler and Matt and stabbed Tyler's shoulder, causing him to reflexively push her away and hit her head, accidentally killing her.
34. Zach Salvatore
Damon and Stefan's distant nephew took care of the Salvatore boarding house and grew vervain in the basement just in case he ever needed to use it...which he did when Damon showed up in town! But Damon killed him when Zach saved Caroline from him back when she was just a human. Zach put it best: "Blood only runs so deep when you're related to vampires."
33. Richard Lockwood
When the vampire-finding device went off in mystic Falls, Tyler's father was mistaken for a vampire when he was actually a werewolf who hadn't triggered the curse yet, and so he died in a burning basement with all the tomb vampires.
32. John Gilbert
Elena's biological father was a villain for so long, but he redeemed himself in the end, tying his life to Elena's so when Klaus killed her in his sacrifice to unleash his werewolf side, she would come back to life. But nature had to find a balance, and that meant John sacrificed his own life for Elena's.
31. Andie Starr
This reporter met her end only because Stefan needed to show just how far gone he was to get Damon and Elena off his trail while he was off with Klaus. At least Andie got to enjoy a sexy bubble bath with Damon before she died. Silver lining?
30. Aaron Whitmore
The Whitmore family curse—a.k.a. Damon killing every single member of the Whitmore line—continued and finally ended with Elena's first college friend Aaron. His only crime? Having the last name of Whitmore.