Forever typecast as Hollywood’s protective father figure, courtesy of his paternal roles inThe MandalorianandThe Last of Us,Pedro Pascalis one of modern popular culture’s most instantly recognizable and celebrated faces. Bursting into the mainstream with his role as Oberyn Martell onGame of Thrones, the Chilean-American has gained a reputation as one of Hollywood’smodern franchise kingsthrough an array of prestigious roles in prominent movies and television series.
However, that’s not all he’s gained a reputation for along the way. Following in the vein of the likes of Sean Bean, Samuel L. Jackson, or Christopher Lee, Pascal’s characters seem to have a consistent knack of biting the dust before the credits roll. Moreover, the manner of his demise has a habit of being absolutely spectacular, underlining his status as one of the most “killable” performers currently plying his trade in film or television.
Many fans might not be aware, but the supernatural drama series,Buffy the Vampire Slayeractually served as the backdrop for one ofPedro Pascal’s earliest career roles. Appearing for just a single episode before bowing out, the long-running, fan-favorite show is also notable for hosting the Chilean-American actor’s first onscreen demise.
Pascal’s unassuming characterEddieis turned into a vampire in the early goings of season 4’s “The Freshman"by Sunday’s sinister gang of Sunnydale University vampires. In a tragic turn of events, Eddie then attempts to attack Buffy after she realizes he has transformed. Fortunately, his time as a vampire doesn’t last long before he’s dispatched in short order, staked through the heart by Gellar’s protagonist after a brief scuffle.
Following a hiatus of more than a decade since his most recent onscreen demise, Pascal would return to dying ways withLaw & Order: Special Units Victimin 2011. Appearing as a character on aLaw & Ordershow for the third separate occasion,Special Units Victimssaw the actor take on theLaw & Order: SVUguest star roleof Special Agent Greer in the twelfth season finale.
Unfortunately for Pascal’s charge, the corrupt ATF agent found himself being shot to death, riddled with bullets in a holding cell before the credits rolled on proceedings. Greer was gunned down by Hayley McFarland’s Jenna Fox in a deadly crime of passion, one that saw multiple bystanders killed to wrap up an explosive conclusion to the episode.
2013 was clearly the year of being shot to death onscreen for Pedro Pascal, with theaction thriller dramaNikitamarking his first of two fictional deaths by gunshot that would air on television in the space of just over six months. The actor played the one-and-done role of Liam, a renegade “cleaner” encountered by Nikita and Owen during the show’s third season entry, “Aftermath.”
Despite proving to be a worthy foil during his single-episode run onNikita, Pascal’s guest star ultimately still found himself outwitted by Maggie Q and Devon Sawa’s charges. Liam is eventually dispatched in the episode’s climactic sequence after Nikita slyly maneuvers him into an exposed position, allowing Owen to pepper him with bullets through a closed door.
Serving as one of Pascal’s more under-the-radar roles, police dramaGracelandsawThe Mandalorianstar credited as a regular supporting cast member across the first season. Playing FBI agent Juan Badillo,Pascal’s character served as protagonist Mike Warren’s handler until his demise, bowing out towards the end ofGraceland’sdebut installment.
…Daniel Sunjata’s Paul Briggs engages Pascal’s charge in a brutal brawl, one that concludes with Juan being killed in shocking fashion after his own gun accidentally discharges during a brief struggle.
Mistakenly believing Badillo to be the notorious cartel assassin known as Jangles, Daniel Sunjata’s Paul Briggs engages Pascal’s charge in a brutal brawl, one that concludes with Juan being killed in shocking fashion after his own gun accidentally discharges during a brief struggle. Badillo is last seen being buried in the desert by Briggs, concluding one of Pascal’s least spectacular ends.
Frequently touted as Pascal’s most infamous demise, the gruesome fate bestowed upon Prince Oberyn Martell is also widely regarded as a front-runner forGame of Thrones’most brutal death. A charismatic and deadly warrior known as the Red Viper of Dorne, Pascal’s character became a fan-favorite in short order,a state of affairs that rendered his vicious end all the more shocking.
True toGame of Thrones’source material, Martell snatches defeat from the jaws of victory in a trial by combat against Ser Gregor Clegane for Tyrion Lannister’s life in devastating fashion. Prematurely monologuing over his stricken foe, Oberyn is caught unawares by the Mountain who Rides, before Clegane proceeds to gleefully crush the screaming Dornishman’s skull through his eyeballs like a gorilla breaking a watermelon.
The fact that Pascal has died so many times onscreen that he has not one, but two, deaths as entirely separate vampire characters where he ends up getting staked through the heart virtually beggars belief. Serving as one ofPedro Pascal’s most underrated movie roles, 2015’s comedy-horrorBloodsucking Bastardssees the actor play the lead villain, Max Phillips, a new sales manager at a company who is revealed to be a vampire.
It’s mildly ironic thatBloodsucking Bastardsis one of Pascal’s most obscure credits, considering just how spectacular his death duly ends up being. Max gets shuffled off his undead coil after getting a blade lodged in his skull and a stake rammed through his heart, concluding matters by exploding in an apocalyptic cloud of blood.
While Julianne Moore’s simpering drug baron, Poppy Adams, is initially touted as thereal villain of 2017’sKingsman: The Golden Circle, Pascal’s Agent Whiskey arguably trumps her by the time the credits roll on Matthew Vaughn’s sequel. The movie’s climactic sequences see the Statesman operative unveil his desire to see all drug users in the world perish as revenge for the death of his pregnant wife at the hands of methamphetamine addicts.
Regrettably for Whiskey, his dreams are soon brutally crushed, in both a metaphorical and literal sense. Pascal’s villainous sleeper agent is overcome after an epic showdown with Eggsy and Harry, a battle that concludes with Whiskey getting literally slam-dunked face-first into an industrial meat-grinder.
Cast as the overarching villain of2018’sThe Equalizer 2, Pascal’s fate as Dave York in the franchise’s sophomore outing serves as an excellent example of why crossing Robert McCall is a terrible idea. A former friend and partner to Denzel Washington’s eponymous enforcer, York finds himself going toe-to-toe with his old ally after he is revealed to have murdered Melissa Leo’s Susan Plummer.
Unfortunately, for this wolf in sheep’s clothing,it’s a choice that costs him his life. In a cathartic demonstration of poetic justice, McCall prevails in a savage showdown atop a stormy seaside watchtower with his one-time friend. Washington’s charge mortally wounds Dave with similar knife strokes to the ones he used on Plummer, before contemptuously bundling the stricken assassin over the tower’s edge to the rocks below.
Featured in a supporting appearance against the backdrop of 2024’sDrive-Away Dolls, Pedro Pascal doesn’t even make it out of the first scene ofEthan Coen’s solo crime-comedy. Taking on the role of Santos, Pascal’s charge is murdered in short order by a villainous bartender in the movie’s introduction, due to his possession of a highly sought-after case containing an array of sex toys molded from the genitals of powerful individuals.
Going out in abjectly torturous fashion, Santos takes a corkscrew to the neck after being cornered. That’s all before the bartender sadistically gouges his eyes, invoking recollections of Pascal’s gruesome end onGame of Thrones. Mercifully, the sequence depicting his attackers removing his head with a hacksaw is left to the audience’s imagination, although his severed dome suffers further indignities long after his death.
One of the most highly anticipated sequels in recent memory, 2024’sGladiator IIsaw Pedro Pascal commissioned as part of an impressive ensemble cast, playing the significant supporting role of General Marcus Acacius. The new husband to Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla, Acacius finds himself targeted by Paul Mescal’s protagonist Lucius, who blames him for the death of his wife, Arishat.
Modern cinema’s quintessential killable actor, Pascal was never going to get a boring end against the backdrop of a film where men fight to the death for the masses' entertainment. Sure enough, Acacius is duly executed in spectacular style on the orders of the despotic twin emperors, Geta and Caracalla, after refusing to fight Lucius in the arena. The unfortunate general ends up being shot with so many arrows that he literally resembles a human pin-cushion by the time the archers have ceased fire.
