Cry Cute



Most women do not look pretty when they cry. Their eyes puff up and turn red. Their face becomes all splotchy. So fits of tears are rarely attractive. More often they are used with a character the audience already finds sympathetic to generate an emotional response. There is a major exception to this rule.

Perhaps she has been emotionally cold one times too many to the hero's affections, too damn cruel over the smallest of mistakes, or simply revealed her vulnerable side too damned late for the audience to care any more. Either way, no amount of garden-variety dere-dere moments is going to earn any tangible amount of audience sympathy.

Time to go for the big guns.

Show that the Tsundere is a girl after all by having her cry.

There is an inexplicable phenomenon that the tougher a character is, the more adorable they will be when Sparkling Stream of Tears pour out of their eyes, windows that prove they have souls. The tyrant instantaneously becomes The Woobie, whose endearingly vulnerable sobs and pleas for sympathy makes the coldest of hearts want to hug her till she feels better. This is considered Moe beyond belief by fandom in general, even those who are not fans of the Moe sub-genre.

This is an increasingly common tactic used by Manga and Anime authors who have created thoroughly unsympathetic Tsundere characters yet still wish the audience to sympathize with them, or merely wishing to convincingly give a feminine side to an otherwise overly-masculine or unemotional girl.

Occasionally this moment acts as a roadstop, a turning point in which the character starts to slowly become a better person.

Nine times out of 10, unfortunately, having felt embarrassed for daring to be vulnerable, the once adorable woobie will immediately thereafter turn into a tyrant of epic magnitude worse than the mere Tsundere she was to compensate for her brief moment of weakness.

Note that this can also occasionally apply to a male character. What differentiates this from Manly Tears is that whereas Manly Tears shows the sensitive attributes of an already decent male, Cry Cute used on a man character is as a rule in the Alas, Poor Villain context that humanizes an unforgivably evil male. See also Tender Tears, where tears are part of a consistent sensitive depiction.

Sometimes includes Biting the Handkerchief.

A Super-Trope to Cry Into Chest.

Contrast Inelegant Blubbering.

Anime and Manga
"Ranma: Gosh, you're cute when you cry."
 * Lampshaded in Fullmetal Alchemist, when Roy fondly remembers the generally stoic Riza crying and tells her he'd like to see her 'pure tears' again.
 * Kaname Chidori, resident Defrosting Ice Queen of Full Metal Panic has more than one moment when she breaks down crying, probably to keep her sympathetic despite her abrasive personality.
 * Evangeline of Mahou Sensei Negima, Thousand-Year-Old Vampire-Tyrant and Evil Sorceress, cries adorably as she asks Nagi to pat her on the head like a little girl one last time at the end of the Mahora Budokai Tournament.
 * She's not the only one. Deadpan Snarker and Tsundere-turned-Sugar and Ice Personality Chisame breaks down and cries when --and it's the most touching moment ever. Some readers even started to tear up right along with her.
 * Now, tears up . It's not possible to feel unsympathetic for.
 * C.C of the Code Geass franchise, when her Deadpan Snarker facade slips and she shows her Sugar and Ice Personality.
 * Aunt Haruka, Narusegawa Naru and Aoyama Motoko of Love Hina.
 * Especially Aoyama Motoko, in accordance with the Toughness/Tears inverse relationship mentioned above.
 * The death of Prince Vegeta in Dragonball Z is the definitive male example that makes you cry for a villain.
 * Vegeta is probably one of the last characters you'd expect to appear on this list.
 * Asougi Rin of Mnemosyne.
 * Also voiced by Noto Mamiko, Asagami Fujino of Kara no Kyoukai.
 * Also,  in the finale of the seventh movie.
 * Every girl (especially Nagi, voiced by Rie Kugimiya) and even Hayate himself of Hayate the Combat Butler.
 * Even mega Tsundere Hiiragi Kagami can be The Woobie of woobies on the few times she cries in Lucky Star.
 * Words Worth: Maria invokes this in response to being molested by Stallion, and as part of a ploy to get him to return her ring to her. It works. Then she shows him her "thanks".
 * Mobile Suit Gundam SEED's resident Tsundere, Cagalli, ends up crying in Kira's arms after.
 * An earlier (and rare male) Gundam example is Universal Century's Commander Bright Noa, during Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
 * Along with the aforementioned Nagi, Rie Kugimiya's characters do this a lot:
 * Pictured above: Louise of Zero no Tsukaima. Too bad she needs to be under the influence of a love potion to allow herself to be so emotionally honest.
 * The roar of a wounded tiger in Episode 8 of Toradora!: "Ryuuji is mine!!! Everyone stay off him!!!" And also: by Episode 19 ; and by Episode 24.
 * Rizel of Rizelmine also does this a lot, though she is a fairly cute character most of the time anyway.
 * Even a battle-hardened Action Girl like Aria H. Kanzaki cannot help but break down crying in the middle of the street after a visit to her mother, imprisoned on false charges of being a serial bomber, ends with said mother having to be dragged back to her prison cell. She tries to fight back her tears in front of Kinji, who joined her visit, only to give in to her soul-crushing grief.
 * Miu of Ichigo Mashimaro, though she's more of a Jerkass than a Tsundere.
 * When she . She doesn't put a stop to her Jerkass tendencies, but in the meantime...
 * Vita crying in Hayate's arms during the finale of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha As.
 * Also, Teana Lanster during the talk she and Nanoha had after Teana's Rage Against the Mentor in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S. She soon matures into a downright competent leader and The Smart Girl afterwards.
 * For all her attempts playing cool-headed and reasonable, Azusa Nakano finally breaks down crying in front of her senior bandmates after Graduation Day, venting out all her pent-up feelings since they hit third-year (and she second-year) of melancholy and loneliness, begging them to not leave her all alone.
 * In a more comical variant, Mio Akiyama frequently ends up in tears whenever her attempts to look cool and/or bring some sanity to the band backfires spectacularly on her.
 * Blue when confronted by Ho-oh in Pokémon Special. And immediately after that, when.
 * Brock's Sudowoodo in the Pokémon anime, when using Fake Tears. A spotlight comes down on it and maudlin music plays in the background.
 * Another example is Ash's Gligar, whose trait carries over even after it evolved into Gliscor. For those unaware, these Pokémon are Scary Scorpions, but this specific Gliscor's habit of crying has made it into the Ugly Cute category!
 * Carlos Santana. That's all.
 * Hiyoshi Wakashi from The Prince of Tennis, after losing to  in the manga.
 * Also,  in the very last OAV.
 * And Ryoma himself in the anime, when his beloved cat Karupin is brought by home after spending a whole day outside.
 * He cries again after  in the end of the TV series.
 * Tomoka, normally a Plucky Girl Tsundere, tears up in Sakuno's arms after Ooishi and Eiji lose a match despite all of their efforts. Similarly, in the manga An cries when Shinji and Kamio lose badly to.
 * England from Axis Powers Hetalia is a diehard Tsundere (and extremely heavy on the 'tsun', especially when America is around), but his tears in  were so damn genuine that everyone in fandom cried for and with him, tagging him as an Defrosting Ice Queen and sort of Woobie. America also pulls this a little in Episode 48 when
 * Russia does this in the Hetalia Bloodbath 2010, when he saw General Winter being defeated.
 * Haruhi Fujioka from Ouran High School Host Club manages to do this due to a contact lens almost coming out. Tamaki thought it was totally Moe.
 * Fakir of Princess Tutu spends the first half of the series being an Ineffectual Loner; it's not until he cries by the lake (admittedly hugging the duck didn't hurt) that he starts to become a sympathetic character.
 * All of the main female characters in Boku No Tsukuru Sekai manage to include this trope.
 * Higurashi no Naku Koro ni has an example, after Rena reveals Keiichi's Dark and Troubled Past. Luckily for his fandom, Rena does this in such a brutal manner that Keiichi breaks down almost instantly into Tears of Remorse. Rena's refusal to forgive him leaves him just crying on the ground pitifully, which is even more sympathetic.
 * Rossiu in Gurren Lagann becomes a Well-Intentioned Extremist after the Time Skip, even going as far as . And yet, all it took to make him sympathetic again was to show that he cried after doing it.
 * Akane Tendo from Ranma One Half. Sure, she's uptight, hot-tempered, emotional, and catapults to conclusions far too much for her own good... but when she cries, even Ranma can't help but think this way.
 * Akane Tendo from Ranma One Half. Sure, she's uptight, hot-tempered, emotional, and catapults to conclusions far too much for her own good... but when she cries, even Ranma can't help but think this way.


 * But careful (because that only applies whenever Ranma makes Akane cry): if someone else makes Akane cry, Ranma will hunt down and crush whoever is responsible. Given that he's generally a forgiving guy who rarely holds grudges, the fact that he went on a humiliating Martial Arts and Crafts contest purely to pay back the cheerleader who made Akane cry (and pay her back in combat) is certainly cause for alarm.
 * Even unstoppable ultra-badass Dark Action Girls are not immune to this. In Black Lagoon, during the first Roberta arc, Roberta looks at Garcia with a pair of adorably sad eyes as she's hanging off Dutch's car with a trench knife -- after she had just overtaken the vehicle at a full sprint Terminator-style.
 * Both  break down crying in Ai no Kusabi
 * Gundam Wing has, who breaks into sobs (and we cry too) when
 * Also
 * In Sailor Moon when Usagi was on the ground crying over her transformation and, Michiru and Haruka are in the background watching her with tears in their eyes. Enjoy it, because this will be the only time you'll ever see it. A more common one is Makoto's more often breakdowns over her friends.
 * Episode 172. . Not only Haruka and Michiru were openly weeping, but also Setsuna, Hotaru, every single Seishi, and the audience.
 * Toward the end of the final episode of Eve no Jikan, has two adorable seconds of this.
 * Although a boy,  from Tenshi ni Narumon gives an epic cry   in the final episode together with blushing cheeks and tears streaming down his face..
 * Also.
 * Many, many of the ukes- or just whichever person is more vulnerable in reversable pairings- in BL manga.
 * In the animated version of the incident where Haruhi Suzumiya treats Mikuru worse than she ever did and finishes it by referring to her as "her toy", when Kyon almost hits Haruhi and Koizumi stops him from doing so, Haruhi actually looks away from him with tears in her eyes.
 * from Oniisama e... gets a moment like this when
 * Also, when
 * And im the anime,
 * Both Junjou Romantica and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi use this trope on the Tsundere characters to show how adorable or sympathetic they can be. Most noticeably used by Misaki of the Junjou Romantica pairing, Hiroki of the Junjou Egoist pairing and Ritsu in the Nostalgia pairing.
 * One of the more heartbreaking examples in Sekaiichi Hatsukoi is when  starts crying after being rejected a second time by Chiaki.   you can't help but pity him especially when Hatori barges into his house and makes the situation worse.
 * Puella Magi Madoka Magica: An interesting variant occurs with
 * Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai has this trope Played for Laughs with Sena Kashiwazaki, a Rich Bitch who loves lording herself over her male schoolmates at the school her father runs. This is usually triggered by her Sitcom Arch Nemesis, resident Jerkass Yozora Mikazuki, saying or doing something outright mean to her. This is followed by Sena retorting with childish insults before running away crying.
 * And there's a heartwarming version at the end of Episode 11, courtesy of.
 * Misty and Dita in Vandread.
 * For Dita, it's the fact that Hibiki seems a bit too friendly and close to Misty, when he himself seems to be really bothered anytime Dita is around.
 * In Misty's case, since Dita is part of the ship's crew and they hate seeing Dita miserable, she says she was "bored" and just wanted have some fun, largely to avoid ostracizing the entire crew. But later she goes to the park alone and starts to cry since she knows she's going to be the Romantic Runner-Up in the Love Triangle. Fortunately Meia shows up and tells her that she's not alone.
 * THE iDOLM@STER - Let's see... Haruka, Yayoi, Chihaya, Yukiho... a third of the idols.
 * One Piece has a few examples, like Robin breaking down in tears after finally screaming that she wants to live, or Shirahoshi all the freaking time.
 * A number of them in Fairy Tail. Lucy gets one first, when everyone is hurt because of her having joined the guild. Carla also gets one in the Edolas arc when she's told her purpose in life was to harm the person who is most precious to her, prompting Happy to stand up for her, which leads to her finally being nice to him and becoming a likable character. The oddest example would probably be Zeref. Despite being the (supposed) villain of the series and without a doubt the one at fault, at least indirectly, for almost everything that goes wrong there's something endearing about him crying when he sees Natsu. The scene where he cries is enough to give him woobie status, despite him being the one to finally take Fairy Tail out of Nobody Can Die teritory.
 * Hana no Mizo Shiru: Misaki cries in several scenes. His tears after his grandfather's death spur Kawabata to kiss him - and then Arikawa also kisses him when he's crying at the train station later. Arikawa outright thinks at one point that Misaki's teary face is adorable.

Live Action TV
"Daniel:You'd better not be messing with me."
 * Arguably Faith in the episode of Angel she first appears in, though a much more extreme example.
 * Faith is more of a woobie. Rewatch Buffy Season 3, particularly Faith's first appearance and the Xmas ep "Amends."
 * Subverted, lampshaded, deconstructed or... something... by Vala Mal Doran in an episode of Stargate SG-1. Daniel accuses her of using sex as a weapon, and she starts looking hurt and crying, but about halfway through a very heartfelt apology, Daniel realizes that she's just messing with him. She doesn't deny it.
 * Played painfully straight later when Daniel, having had enough of her antics, gives one of the most vitriolic diatribes for how screwed up she is ever. Vala can't even look at him.Watch


 * Jade's breakdown in Victorious after she and Beck break up.
 * Annie's "Disney face" in Community.

Literature

 * In Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files novel Small Favor, Harry demands of Rosanna how many knights she's murdered with her trick of getting her eyes to well up with tears and looking helpless.
 * Many other female characters are jealous of Elayne in The Wheel of Time for being able to look pretty while crying.
 * Teela Brown in Ring World: "Her lips, he saw, were perfect for pouting. She was one of those rare, lucky women whom crying does not make ugly."
 * In The Black Company you are treated to the final humanizing moments of the up till this point nigh omnipotent and borderline eldrich abomination of a sorceress queen through use of this trope.

Video Games

 * Unbelievably, Caim of Drakengard
 * King of Fighters:
 * In Bioshock 2, it is revealed in one of the recordings left by Gil Alexander, one of the head scientists on the Big Daddy project, that in the event that an Alpha series Daddy lost its Little Sister, it become suicidal. He describes one time that he saw a Big Daddy who had lost its Sister kneeling in front of a Gatherers' Garden, crying. This certainly gives a great deal of insight into the motivation of the protagonist.
 * Even when Ragna is utterly exhausted,, and would probably like a good long rest after  , its not going to stop Noel from crying, screaming, and calling him stupid at the top of her lungs.
 * Serra from Fire Emblem Elibe, during her A supports with either Hector, Oswin and Lucius. Fan interpretation suggests this happens in her A support with Erk as well, which considering the circumstances may not be that far from the truth.

Visual Novels

 * Fate/stay night in its Unlimited Blade Works route has Rin doing this after
 * Claire from the Fading Hearts Visual Novel manages this in most scenarios, when she's not putting up a tough front with Ryou.
 * at the end of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All.
 * Caius from Frozen Essence completely breaks down in his Light path after, pinpointing the moment where he goes from a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk to a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
 * Tsugumi in Ever 17 as an example where the character genuinely stops being a Jerkass. There were signs beforehand that she wasn't, sure, and they were even getting more common. Seeing her cry basically makes you forget her doing stuff like pretending to push Takeshi down an elevator shaft for shits and giggles or randomly sucker punching him at the beginning, though. Mostly applicable to Takeshi's routes so they could spring a whole bunch of surprise reveals on you by letting her stay a jerk in The Kid's.
 * Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai has two notable examples:
 * Momoyo, while definitely a hero, is a Badass Blood Knight whose soft side is strictly limited to flirting with cute girls, but in one of the routes when, she cries for probably the only time in the entire series. Everyone is surprised. She's not all that happy about Yamato praising her for it, though.
 * Kokoro Fushikawa is a haughty Ojou, but one time when she cries in the anime, Yamato calls her cute. Her reaction, quite unlike Momoyo, is shown as a shot by a Cupid's arrow.

Webcomics

 * In Girl Genius, Bangladesh Dupree of all people starts crying and actually collapses in Gil's arms . She does threaten to kill him for making her cry, but it seems to be more for form's sake than anything else.

Western Animation

 * Ren of The Ren and Stimpy Show used to have these moments fairly often. Although it was not John Kricfalusi's attempt to make the character more sympathetic, but rather a case of Executive Meddling. They requested for a softer side to Ren, which John K criticized from the beginning (in the Adult Party Cartoon episodes, unsupervised by Nickelodeon, he changed Ren's personality into a Jerkass with no redeeming qualities - itdid not turn out well). However, the show undeniably benefitted from this change, thus creating several Crowning Moments Of Heartwarming that the audience and executives were very pleased with.
 * As an example, perhaps the most notable one is "Stimpy's Fan Club", where Ren is miserable upon discovering the fact that Stimpy is a more well-liked character than him and is jealous of the tons of fanmail that he receives. After having pondered murder and several other less radical methods of making himself more popular, Ren eventually gets a fan letter himself and starts rubbing it in Stimpy's nose... before realizing it was from Stimpy himself. Ren breaks down into tears and cries on Stimpy's chest, sobbing about how pitiful his actions were.
 * "Ren's Toothache" is a very good example too. While the conclusion isn't quite as heartwarming as the episode mentioned above, it has a breakdown scene when all of Ren's teeth fall out.
 * "Son of Stimpy" also featured Ren crying immensely after Stimpy had left for his search for his fart... I mean, son, Stinky.
 * Many Adventure Time fans agree that The Earl of Lemongrab invoked this trope in "Too Young". He constantly screams at people and sends them to the dungeon for very petty crimes. To make him leave the kingdom, Finn and PB dress up as bedsheet ghosts. Instead of scaring him, they punch him and push him onto the floor. Based on his usual angry, shrill reactions, one would expect him to freak out and scream at the kids. Instead, he starts crying; a very pitiful, childish, soft whimpering, as tears stream from his eyes. Whether or not he really deserved that is up to debate, and whether it's funny or adorable/sad to see LG cry is also debatable. However, AT fans agree that in that moment, he went from Jerkass to Jerkass Woobie.
 * In one episode of Taz-Mania, Digeri Dingo uses this tactic as a kid for Taz to get his ball that he kicked off a cliff.
 * June from Ka Blam! is usually portrayed as an adorable Tsundere...but when Henry left in Won't Stick to Most Dental Work!, she was in tears because she really missed him.
 * In the season 1 finale of Wakfu Evangelyne has two adorable moments like this, one in episode 25, one in 26. But while the first is a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, the second is a Tear Jerker.
 * Male Humanizing variant: Nox is heard sobbing at the beginning of episode 13, though like most of his Pet the Dog moments, it's deeply unsettling.