The Unlucky 13: TV Characters Who Seem To Never Catch A Break! — Who Would You Add To The List?

Another Friday the 13th is upon us, and with it comes memories of Jason Voorhees shooting a harpoon gun in 3-D... that time my brand-new Schwinn Varsity 10-speed got stolen off of best friend Keith's front lawn... and, you know, just general triskaidekaphobia.

Friday the 13th is famously associated with bad luck (I saved for months for that bike!), and that got us thinking about TV characters who Just. Can't. Seem to. Catch. A break.

You probably know a magnet for misery or two from your channel surfing. There often is that one character to whom all (or at least, many of) the bad things happen. A hero is only as good as the threats he faces, the saying goes, but man, these incredibly unfortunate characters really get put through the TV wringer.

On the occasion of Friday the 13th, we came up with the "unlucky 13" current TV characters below, a variety of put-upon men and women who've dealt with all manner of adversity. From sourpuss boyfriends who draw them into shootouts, to sexual partners who turn up dead.... From season-ending odysseys that mangle limbs, to good ol' fashioned rebar in unfortunate places.... Bad luck comes in many shapes and sizes.

Review the unlucky 13 we drummed up below, then share your own picks for CURRENT TV CHARACTERS who just cannot catch a break.

Watched his brother die in a fire; got a rebar stuck in his skull, for which he was placed in a medically induced coma (and his then-girlfriend Tatiana wouldn't even visit him in the hospital); got stabbed by his new girlfriend Maddie's abusive ex-husband; got kidnapped and tortured, including having his heart stopped multiple times, by a serial killer posing as a paramedic; got amnesia on his wedding day after contracting viral encephalitis and ended up having to get married in a hospital bed; nearly died after contracting Congo-Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever; and blamed himself for Bobby's death. That's all.

The transplanted city girl faced a host of escalating affronts in the wilds of Montana, including miscarrying, getting attacked by a wolf and enduring painful rabies shots afterward. And she survived all of it... only to become a widow by the end of the series.

For a lawman pushing 60, Joe Leaphorn (played by Zahn McClarnon) has really been put through the physical wringer over the first three seasons. In Season 2, he dragged The Blond Man across miles of snowy terrain whilst nursing a shattered wrist. In Season 3, the "Ye'iitsoh" not only slashed one of Joe's thighs, but also doped him up bad with a ketamine-laced dart. And then there's the mental anguish Joe has endured. He has had to re-process his son's murder again and again; grapple with both leaving BJ Vines to die in Season 2 and the FBI investigation that ensued in Season 3; and watch wife Emma walk (OK, drive) away in response to his questionable decision-making. Here's to a shinier and happier Season 4!

Just off the top of our head, Special Agent Bell (played by Missy Peregrym) has been trapped in a van that was set on fire; had an exploded stairwell collapse on her; and nearly died this past season — at least once. She has also watched a visiting best friend suddenly die from an aneurysm, struggled in multiple ways with the prospect of parenthood, and let her most recent chance at romance (with 911 dispatcher Joel) slip through her fingers. Oh, and did we mention Season 4's incredibly harrowing sarin gas scare! Simply said, she is #TheFBIs' No. 1 drama magnet — but we'd frankly have it no other way?

We literally remarked to original Fire Country cast member Stephanie Arcila that Gabby has been through a lot! After breaking up with Jake in Season 1 to hitch herself to prison camp inmate Bode's wagon, Gabriela had to sit and watch as her would-be beau selflessly tanked his chance at parole. She then went all in with Diego, only to stand him up at the altar — partly because Bode nearly interrupted the ceremony himself, but also because pieces of a crashing plane came hurtling into the church. Gabby then went into a tailspin, making camp in an Airstream, hitting the bar at Smokey's a bit more than usual, getting rebuffed on a "friends with benefits" arrangement with Bode, and then re-hooking up with Jake on a whim. Throw in a "super-nice guy" love interest who turned out to be a crazy-ass stalker, and ... maybe an Edgewater "time out" is in order?

Where to begin...? Abandoned by her birth mother, Jo escaped from foster care at 16, assumed a false identity to get away from her abusive first husband, was dumped by her second husband and now looks like she might be widowed by her third.

Woke up to find his client and sexual partner dead in bed next to him, and then was made the scapegoat by his failing company and forced to testify in a government hearing. Finally got to have sex with his longtime crush Yasmin... but then was promptly dumped when she decided to marry a billionaire instead. 

Living in the shadow of her late brother, Carmen moved on from her ambivalent high-school boyfriend with one non-option (Benny, who is gay) after another (Peter, who is a scuzz) before ending Season 1 having betrayed both her male bestie and her new friend, Grace.

The deluge of heartbreak, the amount of setbacks that Kim Sunja (played by Kim Min-ha and Youn Yuh-jung) has weathered in her lifetime is the stuff of epic novels — ergo, the existence of Apple TV+'s adaptation of Min Jin Lee's multi-generational saga. Sunja lost her father to TB at an early age. Got pregnant by a mean who had no interest in making her his bride. Saw her minister husband get hauled away to prison, and then pass away upon his release years later (just before her community in Osaka was bombed). And as Season 2 came to a close, she watched college-age son Noa disappear, after he discovered that family friend Hansu was actually his father. We haven't even covered the 1989 timeline, where Sunja's best friend Kyunghee has died, grandson Solomon has struggled with his career, and her late-in-life chance at romance was cut short by the man's disgraceful past.

Had fertility issues that led to her marriage to Mark falling apart, and then found herself trapped in a perpetual time loop on the Lumon testing floor. Finally escaped... only to have Mark run back to his work wife Helly.

Got stuck with Danielle and Boston Rob as fellow Traitors, and had to dodge their backstabbing for the entire game before finally getting thrown under the bus by Danielle and banished before her time. 

Glenn's widow was forced to team up with her husband's murderer to rescue their son Hershel from the clutches of the evil Dama, only to discover upon his return that he had been brainwashed by the wicked witch.

Went on a luxury vacation with her boyfriend, but he was moody and miserable the whole time before ditching her for several days. And then when he did come back, he got into a gunfight — and she got shot dead in the crossfire.