Since his first appearance in the Doctor Who series 5 premiere "The Eleventh Hour," Rory Williams has been one of the best parts of the Eleventh Doctor's tenure. Though he didn't become a full-time companion until the sixth series, Williams (played by Arthur Darvill) quickly evolved from annoying to enjoyable, with his performance in the series 5 finale, "The Big Bang," being one of the best since the show's resumption back in 2005. He's only gotten better, except for one annoying little quirk: he keeps dying all the time.

Article: Doctor Who Will Give You 'Night Terrors' in the Fall

Seriously, the following episodes have sported scenes in which Rory dies (or at least appears to die): "Amy's Choice," "Cold Blood," "The Big Bang" (in which Amy assumes he has died), "Day of the Moon," "The Curse of the Black Spot," and "The Doctor's Wife." And that's not even counting the weird cliffhanger at the end of "The Impossible Astronaut," in which Rory appears to be attacked by the Silence -- the outcome of which is never addressed.

This means that every time Rory appears in an episode of Doctor Who, there is a 40% chance that he'll die. A little weird, considering he's a main character.

Obviously, though, those deaths aren't exactly permanent, since Rory's still alive in the most recent episode, "A Good Man Goes to War." But is it just one colossal in-joke, or is Arthur Darvill dying repeatedly actually going to have some impact on the story?

Article: Doctor Who: River Song and the Twelfth Doctor?

Reports from Comic-Con France are coming in that claim Steven Moffat has confirmed that Rory's deaths will have a "pay-off." That's as specific as it gets, unfortunately, but at least there are some hints that all those times "the pretty one" has died haven't been in vain -- at least from a story perspective.

Doctor Who will return in September with the episode "Let's Kill Hitler."