fridging

Fridging is a storytelling trope where a character—typically a woman—is killed, injured, or otherwise harmed primarily to motivate another character, usually a male protagonist.

The term comes from a 1994 Green Lantern comic where the hero discovers his girlfriend's body stuffed in a refrigerator.

Critics use it to call out lazy writing that treats characters as disposable plot devices: The show got criticized for fridging yet another female character to give the hero a revenge arc.