Menu
Sign in now
Preacher is one of the gnarliest comic book series in history, and one of the main reasons that’s the case is due to its use of ultra-violence. Every story arc in this comic series is rife with gruesome violence and insane brutality, which is fitting given the supernatural nature of the book. Preacher deals with undead killers, murderous angels, and even blood-sucking vampires, and that’s not even considering regular humans committing unspeakable atrocities against one another.
Basically, Preacher has no shortage of violence. Indeed, the writer of the series, Garth Ennis, is famous for his use of ultra-violence in his storytelling. From The Boys and Crossed to Hitman and The Punisher, Garth Ennis always brings a healthy dose of brutal violence, and that’s one of the reasons fans love his work so much. Ennis brings a level of mature content to the comic book world that’s otherwise oversturated with superheroes, and Preacher is no exception. Here are 10 of the gnarliest deaths from Preacher that fans can never unsee!
Genesis is the half-angel/half-demon entity that gives Jesse Custer, aka the Preacher, his supernatural powers. Genesis possessed Jesse at the start of the Preacher series, and when it did, it murdered an entire church filled with people. Of course, Genesis (nor Jesse) did this on purpose; these people were simply standing too close to incomprehensible cosmic power. That's why they were immediately vaporized, which was an insanely gnarly death scene, especially for it being right at the start of the series.
The Saint of Killers is an undead cowboy wielding pistols with the power to kill anything and anyone, including and especially angelic/demonic forces. The Saint of Killers was awakened to hunt down and murder Genesis (along with Genesis' host, Jesse) by the angels that accidentally allowed Genesis to break free from its captivity, which it was kept in for being a force arguably more powerful than God Himself. But, divine power or no, the Saint of Killers' pistols could put Genesis down for good. However, upon his awakening, the Saint of Killers put down another couple of 'divine' entities first.
The Saint of Killers murdered a group of angels, using his pistols to blow their brains out, and readers see the full extent of this brutal killing. To make the scene even more gruesome, the angels didn't immediately die, as some were talking even after getting shot in the head. Though it wouldn't take long for the Saint of Killers to finish the job.
Cassidy is one of the main protagonists of the Preacher series despite the fact that he's a morally ambiguous (and sometimes downright repugnant) vampire. For the most part, Cassidy is a good man who fights for the side of goodness in the world, but that doesn't mean he isn't without his more barbaric moments. Indeed, Cassidy is more than a little complicated in terms of how fans should feel about him as a protagonist. However, what isn't complicated is how brutally Cassidy did away with a group of people upon his debut.
Cassidy finds himself in the middle of a bar fight, when one of his opponents takes things a bit too far. Cassidy gets stabbed in the eye with a knife, but since he's a vampire, he just pulls the knife out without suffering any real injury. Of course, the fact that someone stabbed him at all indicates that they were willing to turn this bar fight from an average brawl to a fight to the death, and Cassidy was happy to oblige. Cassidy murdered these guys and drank their blood, which was an incredibly gnarly scene to see.
A serial killer named Si Coltrane, aka Reaver-Cleaver, is a fairly low-level antagonist in the Preacher universe, but his contribution to the series will forever be immortalized in the sheer brutality and gruesome nature of his kills. Specifically, the first murder readers ever see him commit. At the very end of Preacher #5, fans bear witness to Reaver-Cleaver slicing off a man's face only to nail it back onto his head, making the victim wear his own face like a loose-fitting mask of human flesh. It's a pretty gnarly way to die, and utterly horrific to witness.
It's important to note that Jesse Custer never really wanted to be a preacher, as that was something his family pushed him into, and it wasn't because they were people of God. In fact, Jesse's family were perhaps the most repugnant group of people in the Preacher series. They were religious radicals, which is why they forced Jesse to become a preacher, but that also allowed them to justify every evil act one could possibly conceive. Jesse suffered abuse all his life, so when he was forced back into his family's clutches during the events of Preacher, he was finally able to give them a taste of their own medicine.
The way Jesse murdered his family was absolutely over-the-top, especially in the case of his grandmother, who burned to death while Jesse cheered for her demise. There are few people in comic book fiction who deserved their gnarly deaths more than these sick individuals, making their deaths oh so satisfying.
Okay, remember how Jesse's family was noted as being arguably the sickest individuals in Preacher? Well, this group of people definitely have them beat: The Grail. The Grail is a secret organization tasked with preserving the bloodline of Jesus Christ, who secretly had children after His crucifixion/resurrection. In an effort to ensure Jesus' bloodline remained pure, The Grail forced inbreeding between the members of the family for roughly two thousand years, which has the exact outcome anyone would expect.
While that's disturbing, to say the least, The Grail was also responsible for countless atrocities in the name of their 'mission from God', including kidnapping and experimenting on Cassidy. So, when Jesse and his allies break Cassidy out, what follows is a cluster of gnarly deaths, including the morbidly-obese Allfather D'Aronique, who gets pushed out of his helicopter and onto the last living descendant of Jesus Christ.
In a story that happens outside the main Preacher continuity in the comic Preacher Special: Cassidy: Blood & Whiskey, fans get an insanely gnarly kill courtesy of the vampire Cassidy against another (decidedly less heroic) vampire named Eccarius. Eccarius took pleasure in turning other people into vampires, as that was the source of his heightened vampiric abilities. He was even the leader of his own vampiric cult called Les Enfants du Sang, with each member basically being a living embodiment of Eccarius' sadism and lust for power.
It didn't take long for Cassidy to have a falling out with Eccarius, at which point, Cassidy decided to kill him in a manner that was as thorough as it was brutal. Cassidy nailed Eccarius to the top of a church, and when the sun rose, Eccarius was killed. Crucifixion before essentially burning to death? That's gnarly.
As previously mentioned, the Saint of Killers has a pistol with the power to kill anything and anyone, including entities of cosmic or divine power. That's why the Saint of Killers was tasked with hunting down Genesis, but it also means he's capable of killing other, more notable targets as well, including Satan himself. And the best part? The Saint of Killers shoots the devil in the head just because he insulted him after he thought the Saint of Killers was out of earshot.
The scene was gnarly, no question about it, but also absolutely hilarious, as the Saint of Killers literally murders Satan for almost no reason at all, and he does it like it's nothing.
Herr Starr is one of the main antagonists of the Preacher comic book series. He's a member of The Grail who acts as the organization's Sacred Executioner. That's why Herr Starr is after Jesse and his allies in Preacher (just like how the Saint of Killers is after them), since the Genesis-possessed Preacher poses a major threat to The Grail's power on Earth. Throughout Preacher, Herr Starr proves himself more than worthy of his Sacred Executioner title, as he murders countless individuals. However, arguably the most gnarly murder that Starr is associated with is his own.
Herr Starr winds up getting shot in the face by Jesse's girlfriend (and member of the main Preacher crew), Tulip O'Hare. More precisely, Tulip shoots Starr in the jawline, making his death slower than if he'd just gotten his brains blown out. That makes Starr's already gnarly death incredibly satisfying, as he more than deserved what he got.
There are few series (comic book or otherwise) bold enough to literally kill God. Not 'a god', but the actual Judio-Christian God who is worshiped by billions of people in real life. And yet, Preacher did it in the most humiliating and downright blasphemous way imaginable. In other words, it was pretty gnarly. See, God was the actual main antagonist of Preacher, and when it was all said and done, the Saint of Killers decided that God needed to answer for all the pain and suffering He's responsible for.
So, the Saint of Killers goes up to heaven, murders all of God's angels, waits for Him by His throne, and shoots Him in the head. But, the Saint of Killers doesn't kill God before God begs for His life in a truly pathetic fashion. Indeed, this scene was a bold one on Ennis' part, which is why it's one of the 10 most gnarly death scenes in the Preacher comic series.
Your comment has not been saved
We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.
Your comment has not been saved
Send confirmation emailThis thread is open for discussion.
Be the first to post your thoughts.
The Witcher's mysterious School of The Bear warriors take the spotlight in a new Dark Horse series, even putting Henry Cavill's Geralt to shame.
Doctor Who's "The Well" is tense, thrilling, and nostalgic with a reveal that will be sure to surprise and delight long-time fans of the show.
Wonder Woman has just received a costume upgrade designed to help her carry a very special kind of cargo, but it comes with its fair share of risk.
2025's latest video game movie adaptation faces quite a divisive response on Rotten Tomatoes, as critics and audiences' scores remain divided.
Neighborhood Watch's Duncan Skiles reveals the tonal inspiration and filmmaking challenges behind the Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan mystery film.
There are parts of the first Harry Potter books that hint at some of the long-running theories of the franchise, & the show should confirm this.
Doctor Who season 15 takes a detour, as the series revisits Millie Gibson's season 14 companion Ruby Sunday in the first trailer for "Lucky Day."
