In Guillermo del Toro’s *Pan's Labyrinth* (2006), death is a central theme that bridges the brutal reality of post-Civil War Spain with the dark fantasy world of the protagonist. Below are the notable deaths in the film and the specific details of how they meet their end.
### **Major Characters**
* **Ofelia (Ivana Baquero)**
* **How she dies:** Ofelia is shot in the stomach by her stepfather, Captain Vidal.
* **Context:** At the film's climax, Ofelia takes her newborn half-brother to the center of the labyrinth to complete the third task. The Faun tells her she must spill the blood of an "innocent" (her brother) to open the portal to the Underworld. She refuses. Vidal arrives, takes the baby from her, and shoots her at point-blank range. She bleeds out on the labyrinth floor, though the film suggests her spirit returns to the Underworld as Princess Moanna because she chose to sacrifice herself rather than her brother.
* **Captain Vidal (Sergi López)**
* **How he dies:** Shot in the face/eye by Pedro, a rebel leader and Mercedes’ brother.
* **Context:** After shooting Ofelia, Vidal walks out of the labyrinth only to find himself surrounded by the victorious Republican rebels. He hands his son to Mercedes and requests that the boy be told the exact time of his father’s death (an obsession inherited from his own father). Mercedes refuses, telling him his son will never even know his name. Pedro then shoots him in the cheek/eye, killing him instantly.
* **Carmen (Ariadna Gil)**
* **How she dies:** Complications during childbirth.
* **Context:** Carmen’s pregnancy is high-risk throughout the film. Her health briefly improves thanks to a magical mandrake root Ofelia keeps under her bed. However, when Vidal discovers the root, Carmen throws it into the fire to prove to Ofelia that "magic does not exist." She immediately goes into painful labor and dies while giving birth to Vidal's son.
* **Doctor Ferreiro (Álex Angulo)**
* **How he dies:** Executed by Captain Vidal.
* **Context:** After Vidal catches the doctor euthanizing a tortured rebel to spare him further pain, Vidal realizes the doctor is a rebel sympathizer. Before being shot, the doctor famously tells Vidal: *"To obey, just like that, for the sake of obeying... that’s something only people like you can do, Captain."* Vidal shoots him in the back as he walks away.
### **Supporting Characters & Rebels**
* **El Tarta / "The Stutterer" (Ivan Massagué)**
* **How he dies:** Euthanized by Dr. Ferreiro after being tortured.
* **Context:** A rebel captured by Vidal’s men. Vidal brutally tortures him (including shattering his hand with a hammer) and mocks his stutter, promising to let him go if he can count to three without stuttering. When he fails and begs for death, Dr. Ferreiro gives him a lethal injection of medicine as an act of mercy.
* **The Rabbit Hunters (Father and Son)**
* **How they die:** Brutally murdered by Captain Vidal.
* **Context:** Early in the film, Vidal stops a local farmer and his son on suspicion of being rebels. Despite their pleas that they are only hunting rabbits, Vidal bashes the son’s face in with a heavy glass bottle and shoots the father. He then finds a dead rabbit in their bag, realizing they were innocent, but shows no remorse.
* **Garcés and Serrano (Vidal’s Lieutenants)**
* **How they die:** Killed during the final rebel raid.
* **Context:** Garcés (Manolo Solo) is shot by Pedro during the chaos of the rebel attack. Serrano (César Vea) is killed during the final assault on the mill, typically cited as being blown up or shot during the explosion/skirmish.
### **Fantastical Creatures**
* **The Giant Toad:** Ofelia tricks the toad into eating three magic stones. This causes the toad to vomit up its own internal organs (and the golden key Ofelia needs) before collapsing and dying.
* **The Two Fairies:** While Ofelia is in the Pale Man’s lair, she disobeys the Faun’s warning and eats two grapes. This awakens the **Pale Man**, who snatches two of the three fairies guiding Ofelia and bites their heads off, devouring them.