Friends: These 6 Minor Characters Had The Most Depressing Endings

Our favorite set of New Yorkers might've had happy endings, but within the 236 episodes of "Friends," some supporting characters wandered in and out of that iconic apartment or its vicinity and didn't get a great send-off for themselves. Why not? After hanging around with a struggling actor, sandwich-obsessed paleontologist, or a kook constantly getting out her guitar, why couldn't they have a happy ending of their own? It turns out that if you weren't part of that fortified friendship group, chances are you would have a bad time, and unlike the show's theme song, no one would be there for them when the rain or whatever else befell them.

Instead, there are a handful of characters through the coffee-infused history of "Friends" that got terrible luck covered up by its classic canned laughter. From embarrassed brides to confused roommates, many in-and-out appearances ended with characters being given a short straw. Those were exits that didn't deserve the boot out of the show that they got, and perhaps, if the "Friends" could turn on that fountain again, these folks might've had a better chance of happiness.

One of the most soul-shattering breakups in "Friends" history happens when Joey (Matt LeBlanc) moves out of the boys' apartment, forcing Chandler (Matthew Perry) to find a new roommate. The quick solution is short-fused and mega-paranoid buddy Eddie (Adam Goldberg). Although he initially checks all the boxes for our favorite transponster, Chandler is soon forced to take drastic action to get Joey back and Eddie out, leading to what might've been the meanest things the duo has ever done.

After realizing that enough is enough (even after evicting Eddie the first time), Joey moves back into the apartment with Chandler, denying that Eddie had ever lived there. This leaves the bonkers roommate questioning his current living situation and leaving the apartment without questioning it. While it was never confirmed what happened to Eddie, the only guess is that he was left wandering the halls of the "Friends" building and out onto the street with a Goldfish cracker in a fish bowl. We're sorry, Eddie. You deserved at least a roof over your head and a place to call home, "you fruit-drying psychopath."

Continuing the trend of playing on a character's mental state, Erika (Brooke Shields) was another lost soul in "Friends," whose confusion saw her cast out into the unknown after her heart was broken. In Season 2, Episode 12, "The One After the Superbowl Part 1," Erika Ford arrives at Joey's door as a devoted fan of his character Dr. Drake Ramoray, oblivious that he isn't actually a real person. Ultimately, it takes the rest of Joey's friends to make up a story that he isn't Drake but rather his evil twin, Hans.

Just like Eddie, Erika is sent packing thanks to Joey, who points her to Salem to find Drake as he was the one for her. As she was never seen again, we can only imagine that the poor woman caught a bus and wandered the streets and local hospitals, asking if they'd heard or seen Dr. Ramoray and then having her world destroyed when someone finally assured her she'd been living in a fantasy. It was worth it, though, because we all got to see Joey have water thrown at him, right? RIGHT?!

There were very few characters killed off in "Friends" (Rest in Peace, Mr. Heckles), but the death of Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston) boss, Joanna (Allison La Placa), is one that impacts one of the friends directly. After already enduring a complicated work relationship thanks to Chandler's brief thing that saw him locked in her office, Joanna causes interference for Rachel by blocking her from a job she was after. Eventually, the two settle the issue, with Joanna offering Rachel a higher position, which she was close to getting had it not been for Joanna being hit by a car and killed.

Could there be anything worse than a character being killed off? Well, what about Rachel being more concerned about whether Joanna had pushed the promotion through before her death or the fact that Rachel's colleague Sophie (Laura Dean), having taken the brunt of Joanna's abuse at work, returns the following day with a spring in her step upon hearing the news? We get it. She wasn't that great from time to time, but surely Joanna's passing could've been given a little more respect (even if she was such a big dull dud).

Of the many characters who went through "Friends," none arguably get a worse deal than poor Minsk-based Science Guy David (Hank Azaria). After having to part ways with Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) because of work and staying off the radar for years, David wanders back into her life in the penultimate season of the show, with the aim of asking her to be his wife. That hope is quickly crushed when Phoebe's other old flame, Mike (Paul Rudd), blocks the way and pops the question. Phoebe accepts the offer, all thanks to Chandler and Monica's (Courteney Cox) meddling.

From there, it's a long flight back home, with David carrying the pieces of his broken heart, his future also uncertain. Never to be seen again, it really is a wonder how he recovered from having such a tumultuous relationship with the woman who could've been "the one" for him. Poor David. Maybe he should've just stayed freezing in Minsk, after all?

If the groom says someone else's name at the ceremony, the bride-to-be has every right to go off in the fallout. Also, if that bride-to-be wants to make some very specific demands to fix the ruined relationship, that's okay as well. Unfortunately, Ross (David Schwimmer) doesn't play ball and instead leaves Emily (Helen Baxendale) looking like the villain of the piece when it was Dr. Geller's mega blunder that started it all.

It would've been nice if Emily got a similar fate as Julie, the last woman impacted by Ross' long-time love for Rachel. After all, Julie finds happiness with a new love in her life. Instead, Ross refuses to meet Emily's demands, which are pretty fair in the grand scheme of things. No matter which side of the pond you're from, Ross wrecks what could've been a good thing, and all Emily gets is a broken heart and a long list of wedding gifts to return. 

Besides Rachel's boss, Joanna, getting killed off-screen, the Friends' neighbor and regular wearer of a worn-down robe, Mr. Heckles (Larry Hankin), gets a similar exit he didn't deserve in Season 2, Episode 3, "The One Where Heckles Dies." The lonely but regularly nagging neighbor to the main cast appears in five episodes before suffering a massive heart attack. The truth is, though, that for all the times Heckles may have lied about owning various things or living in places he didn't, the Friends upstairs were pretty loud, after all.

As revealed following Heckles' passing, Monica, Rachel, and company were loudly wandering around their apartment, which, if you were living below, would've become an annoyance. Also, there was the added issue that besides being a mega hoarder, Mr. Heckles was just a lonely old guy who probably needed some Friends of his own. Well, at least they tried to keep it down in the end.