Images That Don't Leave my Mind

I was thinking about what I mentioned in a previous post.
Every now and then, there will be a small piece of a movie or manga or something that gets stuck in my head. The only way to get rid of it is to go back and watch/read it a couple times.
I tried to list out all the ones I could think of. I wanted to figure out what they had in common.
Turns out they're all pretty similar. I'd never tried to link them, so I never realized how much they had in common. And once I found the reason, I was able to fish out some more things that fit into that category.
And there are spoilers involved, so if you notice something you don't want spoiled, skip it.

The one I mentioned a little while ago was from the Les Miserables movie - the non-musical one.
When we see Javert tied up in the Revolution's camp.

Another one is from a TV show I've been watching with Mom, called Fringe. In Fringe, there are these guys called Observers, and the main one is named September. This one actually takes place through the course of a few episodes (they travel through time, hence the confusion of the timeline). He shows up, shot in the chest and nearly dies. Then we see him actually get shot later on and he collapses.

Then, surprisingly, there's one in the Pokémon Adventures manga. It took place during the finale in the Ruby/Sapphire series (around chapter 263-265). But Steven dies, I think? And Wallace carries him around. (Then they take it all back by saying that someone went back in time and saved everyone... bleh. They don't have the guts to do any lasting damage)

And then in season 2 of the Merlin series. Arthur lets himself be drugged, so that he'll look like he's dead. And then he flops down to the floor.

In Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess when Midna gets hurt and almost dies.


Pretty obvious what these have in common, huh? Characters getting hurt or almost dying.
But not just any character. It seems to go with the tough characters. The ones that seemed like they were always strong, and always above getting hurt. The unflappable ones. But if they do get it, and it's done well, I go "Oh mah Gawd! Oh mah Gawd! He's dying! He dieeed! TT^TT "

There are some other instances that fall into this category. Like in one of the Legend of Zelda manga (the short one in the art book, about the very first Link and Zelda).

And some that should fit, but don't fill all the qualifications. It doesn't seem to happen as much if I know what's coming. For example, Jean Valjean at the end of the musical film. And there are plenty of character injuries/deaths that make me very sad, but don't hit quite the way these do. Like in X-Men. Lots of injuries/deaths there.
Or if I've seen them enough to be desensitized. Like Mik at the end of Crocodile Dundee 2. Or Han Solo frozen in Carbonite.