Over the past two and a half seasons, the characters on Shadowhunters have racked up quite the death toll. And since this is a show about half-angels who kill demons for a living, we have done graphs in the past to see how they fare (check out our graphs for Season 1, Season 2A, Season 2B). This time, as we gear up for Season 3B, we decided to do a deeper dive into the facts surrounding the kills.
For the sake of clarity and accuracy, we only count the kills we actually see on-screen. If someone or something is dead on the ground but we don’t see them die or who killed them, we don’t make any assumptions. If a character is possessed but has a chance of survival (in the case of those possessed using Owl!Jace) we do not count the possession as a death. For each episode, we kept track of the character making the kill, which weapon was used, how many they killed, and what species were killed.
Most of the analysis was performed using data from main and major secondary characters only.
To minimize weapon categories, some weapons were grouped:
- Random Objects (Silent Brother’s staff, alternative uses of arrows such as stabbing, pool cue, shovel, stele, broomstick)
- Magical Objects/Symbols (Clary’s runes, poison, forcefield, Soul Sword, Simon’s Mark of Cain)
- Blades (anything with a short blade: knives, Clary’s kindjals, daggers)
- Whip (any variation of Izzy’s whip)
- Brute Strength (any kills in werewolf form, kills by asphyxiation or hearts being ripped out, etc.)
Complete Kill Count by Character
This graph looks at the kills by character by season (Season 1-3A), and it turns out our deadliest warrior is Jace Herondale. He beats out his pseudo-father by three kills. Deaths caused by the Soul Sword we attributed to Valentine and not Jace since Valentine was the one wielding the sword during the actual killing – despite the fact that Jace activated it. Fun fact: Often when a kill happens, you’ll hear a “squish” sound. No squish? Likely there was no kill. Kills made while a character was possessed have not been included here.
Kill count by character (Seasons 1-3A).
Species Kill Count by Character
This graph shows character kills based on the species. For example, Valentine has killed the most Downworlders (anyone surprised?). Jace seems to be the most efficient at killing demons. Whether or not to count the dragon!demons as more than one kill was a source of hot debate on our team. Ultimately, we counted them as one regardless of how epic they seemed. Kills made while a character was possessed have not been included here.
Species kill count by character (Seasons 1-3A). (Illustration by @Obsidiayan)
Total Species Killed
This graph shows that Shadowhunters (which includes Circle members) have suffered the most fatalities over the past two and half seasons. Demons and Downworlders suffering the next highest casualties. While we are aware that you can’t truly kill a greater demon (you can only merely banish them) – and we assume the same is true for an angel – we have included their “deaths” on this chart. We have rounded to the nearest whole number on percentages (with only one angel death, they are 0.6% of on-screen deaths).
Species killed on-screen (Seasons 1-3A). (Illustration by @Obsidiayan)
Body Count vs. Times Used
In this graph, we look at how deadly a weapon can be. The body count (blue bar) is the number of deaths a weapon caused, and the times used (orange bar) is how often that specific weapon was used to kill. A seraph blade was used 41 times but caused 72 kills. We saw Jonathan take out six Shadowhunters with one use of a seraph blade.
The two weapons that caused the most destruction per use were the seraph blade and magical objects. Magical objects, such as the Soul Sword, can cause multiple deaths per use. Blades also cause a decent amount of damage because they don’t require reloading, and since blades are lighter than heavier weapons such as an axe, they don’t tend to get stuck in their victims as easily. For that reason, it makes sense why other weapons, such as Luke’s gun, have more of a 1:1 use to kill ratio.
Body count vs. times a weapon has been used (Seasons 1-3A).
Seraph Blade Use per Season
The seraph blade is a common weapon used by Shadowhunters. In this graph, we see that Jace uses a seraph blade to kill more often than any other Shadowhunter. Almost twice as often as Valentine. And the only other to come close is Clary. Note that Clary’s kindjals have not been included here as they have been counted as blades – they are a double-edged weapon as opposed to the single-edge of the seraph blade.
Seraph blade kill count (Seasons 1-3A). (Illustration by @Obsidiayan)
Shadowhunters Weapon Usage
We know that each Shadowhunter has their preferred weapons, but as a group, they have a diverse range of weapons at their disposal. Let’s see the breakdown of what our Shadowhunters are killing with.
Isabelle Lightwood
By the end of 3A, Izzy has used her seraph blade almost as often as she used her signature whip – this includes kills made by her whip in its staff form.
Isabelle’s weapon usage (Seasons 1-3A). Illustration depicts Isabelle’s most-used weapon: her whip. (Illustration by @Obsidiayan)
Alec Lightwood
Alec used his signature weapon (bow and arrow) more often than a seraph blade. Please note that for the sake of this chart, we have included the time a demon used Alec’s bare hands to kill Jocelyn.
Alec’s weapon usage (Seasons 1-3A). Illustration depicts Alec’s most-used weapon: bow and arrow. (Illustration by @Obsidiayan)
Clary Fairchild
Even though Clary has cool rune powers, she still uses a seraph blade more often than any other weapon. We expect to see blades (her kindjals) to make more of a showing in Season 3B.
Clary’s weapon usage (Seasons 1-3A). Illustration depicts Clary’s most-used weapon: seraph blade. (Illustration by @Obsidiayan)
Jace Herondale
Jace has the most diverse weapons breakdown out of any of our characters, even if he favors a seraph blade ~70% of the time. He’s killed using an axe, shovels, and even his brute strength. This Shadowhunter knows how to utilize the random objects around him to make the kill.
Jace’s weapon usage (Seasons 1-3A). Illustration depicts Jace’s most-used weapon: seraph blade. (Illustration by @Obsidiayan)
First, we did the statistics of Malec fanfiction, and now weapons. Have an idea for something else we should do a deeper dive about? Let us know on Twitter!
Shadowhunters returns with Season 3B starting Monday, February 25, 2019 on Freeform.
