Famous Characters Who Could Still Be Alive

Back in the day, it was a big deal if a movie or TV show killed off a character. These days, no fictional character is safe onscreen, as the exploding array of entertainment options vie for viewers with the most wildly compelling stories—even if that means murdering everyone you hold dear. But fictional death can often be...well, fictional. Are all these characters as dead as they seem? Spoilers ahead...

The Sopranos gave us one of the most controversial, and most open-ended, series finales ever. Tony Soprano's eating at a diner with his family, he looks up from the table, and we fade to black. Did Tony die, with the show's consciousness disappearing as quickly as his own? Did he survive the whacking? Was there even a whacking? We don't know, which begs the possibility that Tony's still around, ready to film brand-new episodes of The Sopranos if anyone wants them (spoiler: we do).

Unfortunately, there don't appear to be any new episodes on anyone's schedule, especially following the death of actor James Gandolfini, who played Tony. In addition, no one on The Sopranos seems interested in solving the mystery of Tony's fate. Series creator David Chase, despite seemingly straight-up telling a journalist "Tony Soprano is not dead," insists he hasn't actually told us either way. In fact, through a rep, Chase insisted, "Whether Tony Soprano is alive or dead is not the point. To continue to search for this answer is fruitless. The final scene of The Sopranos raises a spiritual question that has no right or wrong answer."

So the guy who created him says he's alive, then backtracks and says he might be alive, might be dead, but it doesn't really matter. Perhaps he's both alive and dead, like Schrödinger's Mobster.

Samuel L. Jackson as a Jedi Knight was one of the coolest parts of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but the problem with being a character introduced in the prequels is that you probably won't last long. And sure enough, Windu met his end during Revenge of the Sith, with Anakin slicing off his hand and Palpatine's Force Lightning sending him plummeting countless stories to his doom. Or so we assume—we never see Windu actually die, and Jedi have survived far worse than a fall and one measly amputation. Mace Windu, despite not appearing in Star Wars since Sith, might well still be out there.

But don't take our word for it. Just ask Jackson, who's convinced Mace Windu has yet to rejoin the Force. During 2017's Star Wars Celebration, Jackson appeared via pre-recorded video to say, "We know Jedi can fall from incredible heights and survive. So, apparently, I am not dead!...We know the long and rich history of Star Wars characters reappearing with new appendages and being stronger and better than they ever were. Mace Windu is awaiting his return. Let's make it happen."

Unfortunately for Jackson and us all, no legitimate rumors have placed Windu in Episode VIII or IX, nor has there been any word of a Mace Windu spinoff. But that could change—after all, Windu's survival is theoretically possible, and nobody in their right mind wants to deny Samuel L. Jackson what he wants.

Heath Ledger's untimely death meant we'll never see his take on the Joker again, but that doesn't mean the character's dead. Remember, unlike Jack Nicholson in the Burtonverse, Ledger's Joker didn't plunge to his death. He was apprehended alive by Batman and taken to prison. But did the character follow his actor into the Great Beyond? The answer is as mysterious as the Joker himself.

By watching the movies, you'd have no idea what happened to the man. He obviously doesn't show up in Dark Knight Rises—he isn't even mentioned. So probably he died in prison? Not so fast. The official Dark Knight Rises novelization adds some wrinkles to Joker's tale. Apparently, Commissioner Gordon realized Joker was so dangerous, he couldn't be imprisoned like every other criminal. And so, "rumor had it, [he] was locked away as Arkham's sole remaining inmate." Yes, they cleaned out Arkham Asylum except for Joker, and just left him there. That way, an entire team of wardens and guards could focus on one task: making sure he didn't escape. Or, as the novel further ponders, "perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really even sure." Yes, he might've just escaped Arkham, despite being the only prisoner there. Either way, the novel surmises that Joker's death, unlike Ledger's, isn't a proven fact—he may still be out there, waiting for the perfect time to strike. After all, he's destined to do this forever.

It's real hard for a show to kill off its main character, even during the series finale. After all, what if the network wants more episodes down the line? Often they'll hedge their bets, like with Hannibal, where the titular cannibal and his adversary/true love, Will Graham, tumble over a cliff to their apparent deaths. It's a pretty high cliff, a fall from which nobody could be expected to survive. And yet, as the camera pans over the edge, we don't see either body, nor do we see any loose clothing or blood. It's almost as if nobody fell at all.

In an interview with Variety, Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller admitted they filmed that scene specifically to raise questions about the pair's survival, and to allow an opening should anyone ever order a Season 4. Fuller isn't saying they lived, but they might have, and if NBC or anyone else wants them to live, Fuller and company can easily make it happen.

There's legitimate debate surrounding whether Walter White of Breaking Bad is actually dead. The issue seems pretty straightforward—he was already dying of cancer, and we last saw him lying motionless on the ground, bleeding profusely. That equals total deadness to many. But not all.

There's a sizable group of fans who truly believe Walter White lives, and their evidence isn't all out there. For one, as explained by The Film Theorists, White's car wasn't high enough for him to sustain life-ending injuries while falling out of it, plus his cancer could very well have made his blood easier to clot. That, plus the police likely being heavily invested in keeping him alive for trial, tells them White didn't die.

Then there's Bryan Cranston himself, who opined on CNN that he didn't think White was dead. As the reporter told him, "Your eyes were open, and I thought, 'What if the police just take him into custody, he gets better, breaks out and just goes nuts?" Cranston replied, "You never saw a bag zip up or anything." Whether he believes that or was just being a big tease is unknown.

Series creator Vince Gilligan added to the mystery in 2017, by answering a Reddit AMA about whether White was alive or dead with "Sure looked that way to me." No doubt White looked dead, but such an answer makes us wonder.

In a franchise where every sequel takes place hundreds of years apart from its predecessor, it makes seemingly little sense to leave a character's fate open-ended. And yet that's exactly what they did with Alduin, the Big Bad of Skyrim.

The "World-Eater," Alduin is the one foretold to bring forth the apocalypse, so it's a pretty good idea to stop him before he gets around to it. You, as the Dragonborn, seemingly do just that at the end of the game (provided you ever got to the end, and didn't just spend 500 hours building the prettiest house in all of Tamriel). But then, something weird happens: you don't absorb his soul. A dragonborn can absorb the soul of seemingly any dragon, and doing so is the only way to kill them for good. If the soul's still out there, the dragon can be resurrected. But you never do this with Alduin—instead, his body explodes and his soul seemingly flows away into the atmosphere. That means there's a chance his soul is still out there, waiting for resurrection, waiting for his next chance to eat the world and fulfill his destiny.

If this is true, good luck getting an Elder Scrolls VI, since Alduin might simply destroy the entire ES world long before then. Thanks for nothing, Dovahkiin, and you're welcome even less.

One of the most brutal episodes of Game of Thrones features "the Red Wedding," the over-the-top murder spree that shocked viewers. During the wedding of Catelyn's brother, Edmure Tully, the Freys begin slaying Robb Stark, his wife, and just about everyone else in the room. After seeing her son's murder, the Starks' matriarch Catelyn herself has her throat slit. While the wedding was certainly grim, fans of the books have long been waiting for the appearance of Lady Stoneheart—the reanimated corpse of Catelyn Stark. Actress Michelle Fairley has said the character won't be appearing, but they kind of have to say things like that or risk spoiling the show entirely. If she does appear, resurrected by Beric Dondarrion, she could change the fate of a number of characters still on the show.

Ever since word of a new Star Wars trilogy came out, rumors have circulated that the overall villain of the new Star Wars movies will be, once again, Emperor Palpatine. Consider that his death in Return of the Jedi was more of an assumed death, as Vader simply tosses him down a hole. Seems like a Sith Lord as powerful as Palpatine could easily handle such a little thing like gravity. Recall that Luke Skywalker himself was tossed out a hole once and managed to survive, and he did that with only one functioning hand and a fraction of the Force powers as Palpatine. And also it's worth noting that Palpatine's teacher was Darth Plagueis, a Sith so powerful he learned how to use the Force to cheat death itself.