Dragon Ball/Tear Jerker: Difference between revisions

*** [[It Got Worse|It gets even worse]] when adult Goku sees Vegeta transform into a Great Ape and makes the connection about what happened to his grandfather. He realizes that {{spoiler|HE was the Great Ape that accidentally killed Grandpa Gohan, and says that if he loses the fight and dies, that he'll personally apologize to him in the afterlife.}}

* Vegeta breaking down and crying [[Manly Tears]] as he lays dying, his heart punctured by Freeza, telling Goku the story of how their race was murdered by the tyrant.

** {{spoiler|[[Fridge Brilliance|The great thing about this is that Vegeta's wish does come true, due to his own son Trunks killing Frieza on Earth.]]}}

** The beatdown immediately before is pretty damn sad as well. Made no better in [[The Abridged Series]], especially not with this exchange;

''Frieza: I know. '' }}

* Same scene but with the [[FUNimation]] dialogue.

** The fact Vegeta is reaching out to Goku with blurred vision from tears makes this all the more poignant. This is directly after he's told Goku that Freeza took him when he was just a child and used the threat of killing his father to keep Vegeta under his thumb and then did so anyway.

** In both examples, the true [[Tear Jerker]] moments of the scene are that Vegeta even when dying [[Don't You Dare Pity Me!|does not ask for Goku's pity]], but simply for his vengeance as he reveals the evil the Saiyans did under the manipulation of Freeza making the viewers realize that they were loyal to him, but Freeza killed him to protect his own megalomaniacal agenda.

** This scene is made even more powerful considering what Goku said right after Vegeta's death:

** The original version is even more moving, as it is a pivotal point in Goku coming to respect and take ''pride'' in his Saiyajin heritage.

* Piccolo's [[Final Speech]] after [[Taking the Bullet]] for Gohan.

** It's even sadder in English (Ocean dub, kept by Funimation until Kai) version, especially one of Piccolo's last lines:

*** Made even sadder because he is the reincarnation of a [[Complete Monster]] who had as equally [[Like Father, Like Son|horrible]] [[Our Demons Are Different|children]]; [[Fridge Logic|meaning that all the Demon King really wanted was a son that would actually love him and see him not as a monster.]]

* Gohan's death in the Trunks special. Enough said.

** {{spoiler|[[Dragon Ball/Awesome|Crowning Moment of Awesome]]: Making it more satisfying when he after training to beat Cell, had become much stronger than the Androids and gives exactly what's coming to them; made even more awesome when he beats Cell in his first form, the form that arguably had suffered the least humiliating damages compared to his higher forms, ridiculously easy.}}

* Android 16's dying speech to Gohan

** Made especially potent by the way 16 [[Dies Wide Open|looks right into Gohan's eyes as Cell crushes him]].

** Gohan going [[SSJ 2]] as "Day of Destiny" plays in the original version.

** In a series where '''[[Death Is Cheap]]''' the fact that Android 16 '''''NEVER REVIVED''''' hits very hard.

* Goku's second death. His [[Heroic Sacrifice]] might not get you, but Gohan's anguish afterwards certainly will ("It's all MY FAULT!!!!"). The episode is aptly named ''Gohan's Pain''.

** The punch to the gut comes in if you catch the fact that Gohan, by this point in the series, had started to call Goku "Dad" or the more formal and mature "Father." He's still in [[SSJ 2]] mode, he just literally kicked the shit out of Cell and caused him to have a [[Villainous Breakdown]]. But, just for that one moment, he snaps back and becomes the scared little kid from the first few episodes of the series.

** Goku's [[Last Words]] on Earth: considering how infamous Goku is for [[Parental Abandonment|being gone a lot of the time]], and the whole [[Arranged Marriage]] thing, there are always people skeptical about how much Goku cares about his wife, and sometimes even his son. But after saying goodbye to his friends, and getting ready to teleport...

'''Gohan:''' D-dad...<br />

'''Goku:''' [[Tear Jerker|Tell your mother I'm sorry. *disappears*]] }}

** Although the fact that the next thing we see him do is nervously trying to explain himself to King Kai killed whatever drama that moment had.

* Everything leading up to Vegeta's death against Fat Buu. EVERYTHING

** What really drives this one home is Trunks' reaction. On the one hand, he's much too cool to let his best friend see his papa hug him, but it's a very happy kind of embarrassed.

*** Not to mention Goten's reaction of looking innocent and sucking his thumb.

** And his last words especially.

** This is exactly why so many people were so upset that this ended up being a [[Senseless Sacrifice]].

** The others' reaction to learning of his and [[Not Quite Dead|Gohan's]] deaths. Especially [[Big No|Bulma]] and [[Never Got to Say Goodbye|Videl]].

* The moment leading to Tenshinhan's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in the Saiyan Saga certainly fits in. As the battle gets intense against [[The Dragon|Nappa]], an injured Tenshinhan sees his friend Chiaotzu, who has already died, saying sorry for not being strong enough, and then fades away. Then he regains the strength to stand on his feet:

** A montage is then shown of the times they had together, and it ends with Tenshinhan firing his last one-armed [[Ki Attacks|Kikoho]] at Nappa, which only damaged parts of his armor, and a few scars, before the triclops passes away.

** The Abridged Series still manages to keep this Tear Jerker intact.

'''Tenshinhan:'' You stupid... ugly... Son of a bitch. His name was Chiaotzu! '''KIKOHO!'''" }}

*** This can of course induce [[Mood Whiplash]] if you're a pokemon fan. Having seen self destruct fail for various reasons will do that.

* Tenshinhan's death made even Krillin cry. And he cried out for Goku to arrive soon, to prevent more [[Senseless Sacrifice|Senseless Sacrifices]]. Unfortunately, [[It Got Worse]]:

* And before that... Yamcha's death. Especially since Krillin actually goes over and confirms he's dead. You see his little partner crying agsinst the TV, calling out to him... and then the POV switches to a shivering, pale, almost [[Heroic BSOD|BSOD-ing]] Bulma. Her scream of despair as she breaks down in Roshi's arms is tear jerking.

* Watching warrior after brave warrior that we have come to love during ''Dragon Ball'' being slaughtered by Nappa during the Saiyan Saga. Particularly heartwrenching is the [[Senseless Sacrifice]] of Chiaotzu, whose [[Superpower Meltdown]] did not even ''scratch'' the Saiyan brute, much less hurt him. It was a wise narrative choice on Toriyama's part for Vegeta to not have ''personally'' killed any of the heroes, allowing the possibility of redemption in the audience's eyes for the [[Warrior Prince]].

** This is even more moving in ''Dragon Ball Kai'' considering that Chiaotzu '''knew''' that he couldn't defeat Nappa and that he had been revived with the Dragon Balls once, and wouldn't be able to be revived again, but the real moving moment is what Chiaotzu says right before he dies:

** The real heartbreaker is watching Chiaotzu knowingly sacrifice himself in an attempt to prevent Tien from dying, but shortly afterwards, seeing Tien using the last of his energy to try to avenge Chiaotzu's death, and dying in the process.

* After the Saiyan saga, watching everyone mourning the loss of the fallen Z-fighters and moving the coffins with their bodies onto the ship. This scene is made even more powerful with the beautiful song playing in the background of ''Dragon Ball Kai''.

*** {{spoiler|Goku telling his father it's not too late to have a change of heart and make a difference. While he didn't save himself or his homeplanet, Bardock managed to [[Redemption Equals Death|repent]].}}

** This is even more moving because of Bardock's last words:

* Every single time Krillin dies.

** From the original series: Krillin's first death, and Goku getting to him too late. ''Heartbreaking.''

* No idea why, but watching Majin Buu [[spoiler: watch Mr Satan almost die got me really choked up. Maybe it's the fact that Majin Buu is such an innocent little monster, or maybe it's the fact that he's [[Nightmare Fuel|screaming in horror and sadness the entire time,]] even while he's {{spoiler|[[Healing Hands|healing]] his [[Not Quite Dead|almost-dead]] best friend}} that makes it so painful to watch.

** When Buu is screaming at him to take the dog and leave, he knows what's happening, he knows he can't stop it, and he's desperately trying to keep his friends from getting hurt, It's just heartbreaking.

(''Mr. Satan scared out of his wits'')'''Mr. Satan:''' R-r-right! Okay! }}

** And later:

'''Majin Buu: GO-OOOOOO!''' }}

*** Watch the rest of the Buu Saga, then go back and watch that scene. [[Nightmare Fuel|His last "go" was in Kid Buu's voice.]] [[Fridge Horror|Implying that the original Buu was trying to take over at that moment, meaning for the first time, Buu was fighting against his evil nature and it was winning.]]

* Dende's death by Frieza on Namek. It was sad enough watching his brother Cargo killed by Dodoria earlier, but this took it to a whole new level.

* The scene where Goku first transforms into a Super Saiyan in ''Dragon Ball Kai'': It's not enough that Krillin gets launched up into the air and then blown up - worse if you notice the blink-and-you-miss-it frame of [[Nightmare Fuel|Krillin's chest heaving as the energy ball expands to blow him up from the inside.]] Poor [[Break the Cutie|Gohan,]] who just lost an [[Honorary Uncle]], is standing over the unconscious body of his mentor looking like a deer in headlights while Frieza threatens ''his'' life next. Goku is off to the side with his back turned, shaking with rage, and the only words he can get out of his mouth are [[You Bastard|You ruthless...heartless...]][[Precision F-Strike|bastard...]][[Unstoppable Rage|I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER!]] As if the impact of hearing those words coming from ''Goku'' of all people didn't do it, as soon as he transforms, he turns to address not Frieza, but Gohan, telling him to leave. Previously, it had seemed to mean, "get out of here, kid, the fight's about to get really ugly." But the Dragon Ball Kai version drops this line:

** And it's that moment that you realize that Goku has no idea what is happening to him and ''doesn't trust himself around his own son.''

* Mr. Satan tearing up when he finds {{spoiler|Fat Buu after Kid Buu spits him out.}} "[[Please Wake Up|Please, wake up]]...you're the only friend I have!"

* In one scene during the Cell saga, {{spoiler|Cell returns and Gohan is fighting him. As his Kamehameha wave is being overpowered by Cell's, we see Goku speaking to Gohan and telling him how much he believes in him}}.

* The last thing Buu says to Mr. Satan before {{spoiler|his [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in GT}}:

* Bruce Faulconer helps to create a particularly heartbreaking one with one of Hercule's conversations with Super Buu. In it, Super Buu has completely forgotten who Hercule was and has been consumed by the evil that's taken hold on him. Hercule is desperately trying to get Super Buu to remember who he once was by reminding him of his promise to not kill anymore, as well as how much he loved Bee, only for Super Buu to maniacally laugh in his face. Sad in both versions, but it was Bruce's music that really drives home how completely and utterly destroyed Buu's kindly side has become, as well as the sense of loss and desolation throughout the whole conversation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[[Zm X Ft Z]]-jvzE

* Goku's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] against Raditz was the very first Tear Jerker in Z that showed just how [[Darker and Edgier]] Z was and considering how dark the Piccolo Daimao arc was that's saying something.

* Eighteen's reaction after Seventeen killed Krillin had me bawling.

* When Goku is fighting Kid Buu in the last few episodes. Throughout all of Dragon Ball Goku never ever stopped fighting, never gave up, and wouldn't stop. This was the one time it was too much. Goku could NOT win. Pretty much the strongest anime character of all time is getting his ass handed to him by a LITTLE PINK BUBBLEGUM KID. Goku stomped a planet destroying tyrant into the floor. Avenged his entire race, done pretty much everything, and he finally is bested by Buu.... I cried harder than ever.

* The speech Goku gives when trying to get Vegeta to fuse with him:

* In ''Path To Power'', {{spoiler|Eighter's}} death.

{{spoiler|Eighter}}: I'm... So... Glad... }}

* In ''Cooler's Revenge'', seeing Goku, him and his friends utterly defeated, cupping in his hands a bird which died in the battle between Goku and Cooler, sobbing about how it didn't even do anything wrong.