Could you imagine a Breaking Bad where Jesse Pinkman never lived long enough to prove that magnets are cool? Or a Stranger Things where Eleven lost in a battle with the Upside Down?

Believe it or not, some of TV’s most iconic roles were only supposed to be around for a short time. Thanks to some serendipitous circumstances, they survived much longer than planned.

Here are 10 memorable characters who were originally supposed to die, but lived on to make their mark in TV history.

(Proceed with caution because spoilers abound!)

Jack Shephard — ‘LOST’

There was a time before Matthew Fox was cast in the role of Jack Shephard on LOST where producer J.J. Abrams contemplated killing the character half-way through the first episode … and having Michael Keaton play the character! Keaton was seriously considering it, but when Abrams informed him that the writers decided Jack would survive beyond the pilot, Keaton passed because he wasn’t looking to be a series regular. Fox got the role, which he played for the entire six-season run.

Instead of being a footnote, Jack became the leader of Oceanic 815’s survivors as they navigated the mysterious island where their plane had crashed.

Spike — ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

Spike (James Marsters) was introduced as a villain in the season 2 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, titled “School Hard,” and was supposed to die at the hands of Angel five episodes following his arrival in Sunnydale. Fans ended up loving him so much, Joss Whedon kept him on for the rest of the season, brought him back in Season 4, and the character eventually went from foe to Buffy’s beau.

Marsters ended up appearing in 97 episodes of BTVS and 24 episodes of the spinoff series Angel before Spike sacrificed himself to save the world in the series finale.

Carol Peletier– ‘The Walking Dead’

In Robert Kirkman’s bestselling comics, Carol Peletier commits suicide while they’re at the prison because she can’t deal with what’s become of the world. On the long-running TV series, Carol’s story was supposed to end in season 3’s “Killer Within,” but the producers changed their minds and T-Dog died at the prison instead.

The fan-favorite character went from being an abuse survivor and a grieving mother, to a fierce warrior and leader. The Walking Dead is now in its 10th season and many of the original characters are long gone, but Carol is still alive and kicking in the zombie apocalypse.

Boyd Crowder — ‘Justified’

When Justified was first being adapted from the novella by Elmore Leonard, the cards were stacked against Boyd Crowder. The outlaw dies in the source material and was supposed to die in the pilot after getting shot by U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant). Once series creator Graham Yost and test audiences saw Walton Goggins in the role, he went from being a guest star to a lead character.

Thanks to that creative decision, one of TV’s most memorable — albeit antagonistic — bromances was born, and Boyd Crowder was on the FX show until the very last scene in the finale.

Klaus Mikaelson — ‘The Vampire Diaries’/’The Originals’

If The Vampire Diaries had stuck to its original plan, Klaus Mikaelson would have died in the season 3 finale. Actor Joseph Morgan was so good in the role, that in the middle of the season, showrunner Julie Plec and her writing team decided there was more story to tell with Klaus and opted to keep him.

Instead of the heroes defeating the Big Bad and Klaus being killed off when Alaric (Matt Davis) used a white oak stake on him, he lived for three more seasons on TVD and also played the character for five seasons on spinoff series, The Originals.

Carol Hathaway — ‘ER’

Julianna Margulies was first hired as a guest star because Nurse Carol Hathaway was supposed to die of an overdose in ER’s pilot. After some test screenings, audiences really responded to her character and her chemistry with George Clooney’s Dr. Doug Ross.

Margulies was about to sign on for a sitcom when Clooney let her know there was a good chance the character would live beyond the pilot, and the rest is TV history. Doug and Carol had their ups and downs, but they remain one of the small screen’s most beloved couples. Margulies was a series regular for six seasons of ER and won an Emmy before walking away from a $27 million offer to stay on two more seasons.

Nicholas Brody — ‘Homeland’

Nicholas Brody eventually met his demise at the end of Homeland’s third season, but did you know that he was originally supposed to die at the end of the first season?

Showrunner Alex Gansa and Executive Producer Howard Gordon had planned to kill Brody in the season 1 finale by having him detonate a bomb vest, but because Damian Lewis delivered an exceptional performance in the role and had incredible chemistry with Claire Danes’ Carrie Matheson, they extended his arc over three seasons. By the time Brody’s story concluded, Lewis won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe during his time on the series.

Lafayette Reynolds — ‘True Blood’

In the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, Lafayette Reynolds doesn’t survive past the second book. In the source material, he is found dead in the backseat of Andy Bellefleur’s car after being murdered by a sex cult.

On HBO’s True Blood, the body of Miss Jeanette, the fake exorcist who targeted Tara (Rutina Wesley), is found in Andy’s car in the season 2 premiere. Meanwhile the spirited Merlotte’s short-order cook/medium/witch, played by Nelsan Ellis, was a part of the story until it ended in 2014 with its seventh season.

In a sad turn of events, Ellis passed away in 2017.

Jesse Pinkman — ‘Breaking Bad’

What would Breaking Bad be without Jesse Pinkman? When series creator Vince Gilligan envisioned the first season, Jesse was going to die a horrible death in the finale. Although rumors have swirled for years that the Writers Guild of America Strike in 2007-08 saved the character by cutting the season short — including the episode with Pinkman’s death — Gilligan actually changed his mind about Jesse Pinkman a couple of episodes into filming because Aaron Paul was so good in the role. Paul went on to win three Emmy awards for his performance and star in the 2019 Netflix original El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.

Eleven — ‘Stranger Things’

When the Duffer Brothers first envisioned Stranger Things, they saw it as a one-season show with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) sacrificing herself in the finale. When they realized that it could be more than a limited series, they kept their options open and decided that Eleven would survive the fight against the Demogorgon.

Besides all of the ways Eleven has saved the day in the following seasons, we also never would’ve seen her fall in love for the first time or become BFFs with Max (Sadie Sink). And the Duffers probably prevented an uproar by the series’ diehard fans as they wouldn’t have taken the death of their beloved Elle very well.