Monster Rancher/Tear Jerker
The game series
- The death of one of your monsters in Monster Rancher can be pretty upsetting--especially if you happen to be a little kid. All the effort you've put into raising your monster makes it even more personal. Monster Rancher 2's is the worst--when you see shooting stars, you know your monster's going to go. In your barn, they keel over, and their pale, translucent ghost ascends to monster heaven. This isn't so bad in and of itself, but your assistant Colt's reaction is. The sad music doesn't help. If you hold a funeral for your monster, Colt ends the entire affair by saying, "Let's come visit sometime..."
- It's not just you. It really is that bad. Except for Phoenix.
- You can avoid it by mixing monsters into new creations the moment they start showing signs of old age, but to unlock the Ghost, you have to let at least one monster die. Harsh stuff. Monster Rancher 3 is both better and worse in this area--better because when your monster dies, you get their "Monster Heart", full of their spirit (and stats) which you can give to your new monster to help them live on, worse because you have to watch the death scene every time to get it. Guilt abounding. And speaking of guilt, there's what the Stimulants do to the monsters in Monster Rancher 2--specifically, up your monster's stats, but dramatically reduce their lifespan. If you don't know the downsides, you can essentially drive monsters to their ludicrously premature grave for the sake of the fight.
- That actually made some people stop playing the game. Especially since it can happen just as you're really getting into the training and showing serious results.
- You can get a generic Merchant Zuum just to work it to death, and it still won't be any easier to watch it die. "Goodbye, A."
- One of the themes of the Darker and Edgier MR4 is trainers using horrible methods to increase their monsters' strength. One such method is modifying monsters with rusty, ancient materials. One of your rivals eventually does this to his golem to try and catch up with your hero. At first, he claims that Dodongo was perfectly okay with this; Rio calls him out, spelling out how Dodongo only went along with the painful procedure to make him happy. She strips away all of Gramm's illusions and makes him break down with horror upon realizing what he's done to his best friend.
- The death of Monsters in general was so sad that 4, EVO, and the Advance games took out the death feature.
- But it returned. In Monster Farm DS 2(Monster Rancher DS), the death of a monster is quite similar to Monster Rancher 2.
- This Let's Play of Monster Rancher 2 has one with whatthef the Ducken's death right after winning the S Cup. It hits even harder when in the author's previous Monster Rancher 1 LP, he deliberately worked Bongo the Naga to death and celebrated when he finally died. In this, both Colt and the author are distraught.
The anime series
- When the third Japanese opening has a montage of characters crying, you know it has plenty of these.
- Episode 2 has one with Mocchi thinking Genki doesn't love him and running away in the rain. Mocchi thought that in the first place because Genki tried to give him to an elderly couple who longed for a monster to love and who Genki thought would take better care of Mocchi than he would.
- The episode that introduced Golem, when it was revealed why he was in the lonely castle. He was guarding the Lost Disks of monsters that couldn't be revived.
- Later, in an Unstoppable Rage, Golem destroys some Jell troops, including one that begged for mercy. When he finally snaps out of it and realizes what he's done, he starts crying...and a tear lands on a flower and makes it bloom.
- The episode 'Eternal Worm'. For the most part, Allan came across as an Anti-Hero at best and a jerk at worst, abusing and insulting his Worm monster. It got so bad that when the Monsters Of the Week asked Worm if it wanted to join the baddies, it accepted. However, it cut Genki and the others free instead, still loyal to its master. Enraged at being tricked, the enemies sucked the life out of the Worm and made it a Lost Disk...and Allan realized just how much he'd done with the Worm and how much he loved it.
- After defeating the baddies, Allan placed flowers on the Worm's grave, still remembering the good times he'd shared with it. Then, Genki and the others walked up and showed him the monster they'd just unlocked...It was a baby Worm, and they said he could keep it--as long as he treated it right.
- The slaying of Tiger's pack in his introductory episode. Brian Drummond's voice acting nails it.
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Tiger: Tigers, run! I said run! |
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- Tiger then starts to cry, and Captain Dino rubs salt in the wound by saying tears aren't enough, in a Call Back to a speech Tiger gave Genki.
- The episode "After the Rain", where we learn how Holly and Suezo got started on their quest. It involves a Disappeared Dad and a Destroyed Hometown.
- Everything involving Holly and her father.
- Undine's Redemption Equals Death, complete with Golem trying to save her. In the end he tosses flowers into her lake in memory.
- Tiger's reunion with his brother Gray Wolf, only for them to have a battle to the death. At one point, as Gray Wolf was telling him to join him, Tiger refused, replying that he would lose something too important. And for the first time, we see Tiger shedding a single tear. And as Gray Wolf was dying:
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Gray Wolf: "I wish we could just go back to when we were pups..." |
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- The English dub added effectiveness by cutting out some of the battle with the Cabalos, devoting time to a flashback of the brothers' time as pups. It ends with Grey Wolf telling Tiger he's the best brother ever, and that he loves him...and cuts back to Grey Wolf dying immediately after. And then Tiger howls in grief.
- As Grey Wolf gets the upper hand with a dirty trick and Tiger still refuses to join him, Grey Wolf snaps.
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Grey Wolf: You don't have a clue how I really feel! I'm grateful to Lord Moo for saving me! I was only able to build up these new powers of mine because I met up with Master Moo, and that's how I rose up in the ranks. |
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- A dub-induced one in "Battle With the Big Bad Four". In the uncut Japanese version, Suezo sees visions of his lost friends and gets the Heroic Resolve to attack Naga one last time, biting his arm so hard it's rendered immobile. In the dub, his attack was cut out, but not the scene leading up to it, making it seem as if he asked for strength...and failed.
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Suezo: My buddies...My good friends... Please, help me. Lend me your strength. |
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- "Goodbye, Baku". Even if you're not a dog-lover, you will be BAWLING by the end. Basically, Genki and company found a Baku, a monster who's like a big friendly dog. It latched onto Genki immediately, protecting him from harm. As it turns out, the Baku's owner had been killed by Moo's forces. And his owner looked like Genki. As a puppy, he tried to fight them off, but failed...
- It gets sadder. The Centaur monster that destroyed the village Baku lived in came back to attack the heroes. Baku defeated him, but was mortally wounded in the fight. So he went back to the house and curled up in front of a picture of his owner before dying. The last image we see in that episode is a flashback of him and his owner, happily playing...
- "Tiger Meets His Match" is a pretty big tearjerker thanks to Jagged Hound's Backstory and the others being led to think Tiger was killed.
- Captain. Astro. He tells Genki and Holly of how the ancient people ran out of resources and forced the Astros to look for more, working them well past their breaking points. Many of the Astros died, and now the Captain accuses humans of being evil and destructive. Genki tells him that not all humans are like that, but he won't listen...until Genki risks everything to save his life as they're about to go down a waterfall. With Suezo's grip on them weakening, Astro shoots his rocket fist to save Genki, finally realizing not all humans are bad. Despite the fall, Captain Astro meets with his troops and tells them to call off their war on the humans, asking that they try to enjoy their freedom...and then dies.
- Genki was absolutely heartbroken over it, only jumping up happily after being prompted to. But as he was crying, one of the other Astros wiped away his tears.
- The aptly named "Tears", which leads directly into the second season finale. It features Pixie, Big Blue, and the Dragon Army returning...but Pixie is mortally wounded fighting Moo. Big Blue decides to fuse with her to save her, even though it means he'd utterly cease to exist. He goes through with it, saying it's worth it if she lives. Pixie is reborn as Granity...and then she wonders where Big Blue is and why everyone's crying.
- The season two Downer Ending was a killer, especially for a children's series. In the space of a single episode all the Mons sacrificed themselves to resurrect the Phoenix, the Phoenix sacrificed itself to kill the Big Bad and the resulting explosion threw the main character off the back of the dragon he was sitting on... to collapse straight onto his back in the real world once again, rain falling onto grey streets. The sight of the Angst? What Angst? main character breaking down into tears over the trauma had many kids crying along with him.
- Even then, you may hold it together until you see the spirits of the Monsters saying goodbye to Genki, before they fused. What really nails it is Mocchi's "I love you, Genki..."
- And before that, we had the Monsters resolving to fuse in the first place and encouraging Genki despite his heartbreak over the situation.
- Even then, you may hold it together until you see the spirits of the Monsters saying goodbye to Genki, before they fused. What really nails it is Mocchi's "I love you, Genki..."
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Tiger: You said you were going to destroy Moo and make this world a peaceful place again. I came all this way because I believed in what you said, Genki. |
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- Even the music used in sad situations, in both versions--the Japanese one has a simple, sad piano theme, while the American one has an orchestrated sad theme.
- After watching the second season finale, the ending theme can cause one to tear up.