Spoiler alert: This story contains Game of Thrones spoilers.
He may not have been a real life person, but the grief people are feeling after Game of Thrones' character Jon Snow was killed is very real.
One fan in Brooklyn, New York, has even started a vigil on the street in memoriam of Snow.
Matt Doherty has been postingpictures of the shrine on his Instagram page along with videos of fans who have come to pay their respects, wailing things such as "We love you Jon Snow" in front of photos of Kit Harrington, the actor who plays Snow, and some lit candles.
Grief is a process and while some fans may have already accepted the death of Jon Snow there could be some who are still stuck in denial following Monday's finale.
Here is a guide to to how your Game of Thrones grief might look ...
Denial - "He's not really dead"
"He's not really dead ... He can't be." Photo / HBO
It's only natural to be in shock that the Lord Commander of Night's Watch is actually gone and many are clinging to the hope he will resurrect in season eight. There's been all sorts of fan theories that can help us out with this one. The strongest points to the red priestess Melisandre and how she has the power to resurrect him. The books' author George RR Martin has also added weight to the theory that Snow could return. He recently told Entertainment Weekly "if there's one thing we know in A Song of Ice and Fire is that death is not necessarily permanent."
Anger - "F*** you Game of Thrones. I'm never watching again"
"F*** you Game of Thrones. I'm never watching again." Photo / HBO
So here we are at anger and yes it's okay to yell abuse at the TV because not only has Snow left us but his loss has robbed us of a potential beautiful moment. If one fan theory is correct, Snow is related to Daenerys Targaryen (if his father is Rhaegar Targaryen, Daenerys' brother). So George RR Martin and the show's creators David Benioff and DB Weiss have taken that away from us. Feel free to lash out at family and colleagues because this is an outrage!
Bargaining - "Where were you Sam when he needed you most?"
"Where were you Sam when I needed you most?" Photo / HBO
Jon Snow, he was always doing the right thing. The just thing. But sending Sam off to become a Maester was pretty foolish. Surely if his trusty adviser had still been at the Wall he would have seen this coming, he would have been able to stop it before it happened? And where were Snow's new Wildling allies? He had just saved them from death by White Walker, why didn't they save him from death at the hands of his own men? Maybe we should have just cut Game of Thrones off at the end of season four. Then we could all live in blissful ignorance of the Jon-Snow-free world to come.
Depression - "There's no point in watching TV any more, just leave me here under my duvet"
"There's no point in watching TV any more, just leave me here." Photo / HBO
TV is no longer a comfort at the end of a long work day. It used to be we looked forward to Monday nights, settling in to watch Game of Thrones. But why bother getting in to any other TV show when they have the power to kill off your most beloved character? Snow was easily one of the most popular characters on the show, so what's the point in watching it next season? Sure there's Daenyrys and Tyrion, but now that we've been robbed of the chance to see all three together in the one scene there just doesn't seem to be any point. Let the White Walkers wipe them all out - even the Stark girls.
Acceptance - "Jon Snow is dead, and he's just a character in a TV show, remember?"
"I'm dead, and I'm just a character in a TV show ... Wait, what?" Photo / HBO
There's no fan theory in the world that could really bring Snow back from multiple stabbings, not to mention the hypothermia which would set in after he collapsed on to the snow. Who better to confirm this than the actor who played him. Kit Harington's comments to Entertainment Weekly on the character's potential return were pretty clear cut: "I'm dead. I'm not coming back next season." So it's time to move on and remember, there are still plenty more characters Game Of Thrones has yet to kill off ... although it's only a matter of time. Don't say you haven't been warned.
