It doesn’t happen often, but there have been a few instances where Jackie Chan’s characters haven’t survived their movies. Over the years, Chan’s protagonists have endured death-defying falls, fights with dozens of armed henchmen, and all sorts of other deadly encounters, but they seem to almost always come out them alive. Even in The Medallion when Chan’s Eddie Yang actually did die, his character was resurrected shortly afterward.
In the 1970s and 1980s, it became all too common for Hong Kong martial arts movies to end with their heroes making the ultimate sacrifice to oppose an oppressive government. One of the biggest examples of this was 1971’s Fist of Fury, which saw Bruce Lee’s Chen Zhen go down in a blaze of glory. Chan, though, didn’t really follow the trend and mostly starred in family-oriented, wholesome films that avoided the tropes frequently seen in other kung fu movies. True to that approach, Chan’s characters were likable heroes who usually saved the day with lighthearted fun and reached the end of their journeys in one piece. However, there were some exceptions to this. Here’s every Jackie Chan character who died in a movie – and didn’t come back.
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Enter the Dragon
Albeit very briefly, Jackie Chan played a nameless ruffian in Enter the Dragon. He was one of several thugs caught in a fight with Bruce Lee’s character. After getting knocked down once, Chan’s character made a second attack on Bruce Lee’s hero, resulting in him getting his neck snapped.
The Golden Lotus
When Chan’s career was in its earliest stage, he landed a role in an erotic Shaw Brothers movie titled The Golden Lotus. Chan played lecherous fruit peddler whose trouble-making antics cost him his life. Chan’s character was stabbed and killed toward the end of the movie.
The Killer Meteors
One of Chan’s first big roles was in The Killer Meteors, a 1976 kung fu movie that saw him act opposite Jimmy Wang Yu, the pioneer of the kung fu movie genre and the star of The Chinese Boxer. Since Killer Meteors was made before Chan had established a name for himself, it was Wang Yu who played the hero in this film with Chan taking on the role of the villain, who in this case was Immortal Meteor, a bloodthirsty swordsman. In the movie, Jimmy Wang Yu’s character had to rise up against him, though it wasn’t him who killed Immortal Meteor. Rather ironically, a meteorite struck him in the movie’s finale.
Hand of Death
Before becoming the celebrated director that he is today, John Woo helmed Hand of Death, a 1976 Hong Kong kung fu movie. In the film, Chan played Tan Fang, one of five martial artists who team up against an evil warlord named Shih Shao-Feng, played by James Tien. Together, the group was able to overcome their enemy and save the village he and his men were terrorizing. But, their victory didn’t come without severe consequences. Only one of the five survived the ending. The other four, Chan’s character included, were all killed along the way. Chan’s Tan Fang, for his own part, didn’t even make it to the final fight. One of the villain’s guards had killed him with a spear.
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New Fist of Fury
In 1976, Chan starred in New Fist of Fury, which served as a sequel to the Bruce Lee classic. Given that the movie was heavily tied to the legacy of Bruce Lee, Chan was expected to mirror the late star in every way. Even his character’s ending was rooted in the original film. Like Lee’s Chen Zhen, Chan’s New Fist of Fury hero was a revenge-driven martial artist on a mission to drive out the Japanese from his Chinese community. In the end, he fearlessly led a charge against an array of Japanese soldiers, who rained bullets down on him and his fellow rebels. Even though the movie was a sequel to Fist of Fury and not a remake, this was essentially a recreation of Chen Zhen’s death.
Island of Fire
Years after developing a reputation as a kung fu star, Chan reteamed with Jimmy Wang Yu for a supporting role in 1990’s Island of Fire. Also known as The Prisoner, Island of Fire was a prison ensemble film packed with stars like Sammo Hung, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Andy Lau, and more. Chan’s character, Da Chui, was one of several inmates suffering under the watch of a corrupt warden. During an escape at the end of the movie, a handful of them were shot down by the guards. Da Chui was among the victims who failed to escape the prison.
The Myth
In The Myth, Chan played two different characters, the first being a Chinese general named Meng Yi. Tasked by the emperor with finding an elixir that can grant immortality, General Meng fulfilled his mission, only to be betrayed later and killed in the first quarter of the movie. Chan’s second character in The Myth and the movie’s main hero, Jack, was revealed to be the modern-day reincarnation of the fallen general.
Shinjuku Incident
In 2009, Jackie Chan took the lead role in Derek Yee’s Shinjuku Incident. Significantly more violent and much darker than most of Jackie Chan’s action movies, Shinjuku Incident was a crime drama about a Chinese man called Steelhead who finds himself in the middle of a gang war after crossing into the United States illegally. After getting wounded in an exchange of gunfire, Steelhead took shelter in the sewers and died in the water. Much like the story itself, Steelhead’s ending in Shinjuku Incident was a striking departure from his usual work.
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Little Big Soldier
2010’s Little Big Soldier was another period piece for Jackie Chan. Set in ancient China, Little Big Soldier followed the story of a foot soldier and a general who succeed in capturing a general from the opposing side. The two had to go on a long journey in an effort to deliver the prisoner and get their reward. In the end, Chan’s character died in a hail of arrows.
Railroad Tigers
In 2016’s Railroad Tigers, Chan played the aging leader of a band of Chinese rebels who attack Japanese trains and use their supplies to feed the poor and oppressed. Throughout the movie, Jackie Chan’s character orchestrated various raids and put his life in danger on multiple occasions in pursuit of his goals. At the end of the film, he sacrificed himself to blow up a bridge and fell to his death in the process.
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