Persona 3/Tear Jerker

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  • The death of Shinjiro Aragaki in Persona 3 is another prime example of a Tear Jerker / Crowning Moment of Awesome / Heroic Sacrifice combination.
    • Not to mention that just before you seal Nyx, the last voice you hear is Shinji's simple 'Alright, let's do this' This troper cried manly tears.
    • The worst part of it is Akihiko's scene at Shinji's funeral (the voice acting in either version is heartwrenching). And his new "end-of-battle" line, "Did you see that, Shinji?" makes this troper put an active effort into not letting Akihiko end battles. Even if it contradicts Akihiko's (and Shinjiro's and Koromaru's) philosophy on moving on...sorry for the failure, senpai.
    • Just to twist the knife a little bit more, the next day, during Shinji's service, two upperclassmen start talking about Shinji, claiming he's probably just some punk, and how they don't have time for this, because they need to study for their mock-exams. They then turn to the Protagonist and ask him if they knew him, but then claim that since they're juniors, how could you know this Aragaki guy. After everything that's happened, this troper really wanted to throttle those two idiots. Shame Junpei didn't get to punch them for it.
      • You're given a few choices to react to these duys. It wasn't hard for me to pick "Shut up."
      • To twist the knife even more, the principal, one of those two upperclassmen? Both of them are voiced by Takaya.
    • Persona 3 Portable makes this even more painful. If you play as a female, he has his own Social Link and he becomes even more of a sympathetic character. Shinjiro warms up to SEES, and he is shown to be more than a brooding Jerk with a Heart of Gold, he really is a kind man, only with a fatalistic mindset on his situation. And if that isn't enough, even pursuing a romantic relationship is tragic, because he knows it would be a heartbreaking mistake for the both of them. And the Social Link is the first and only one to affect the story. It even amends the notable phrase he says as he's dying, to repeat one of his requests to her in a twisted fashion (twisted in the fact the reverse psychology will kick in).

Shinjiro: Don't cry. This is how it should be.

    • This Troper can top all Shinjiro romance social link tear jerker quotes.

Shinjiro as he holds you as you die in the end of NG+: I'm glad I met you.

    • This troper broke down during Akihiko's resolution when he visit's the school's shrine to Shinjiro alone. In Persona 3 Portable if Shinjiro's life is saved, Akihiko's resolution happens in a hospital room over Shinjiro's comatose body and it's just as, if more, effective.
    • Even before that, rank 9 of Shinjiro's social link: clinging to a few last precious moments of normalcy, trying not very successfully to make sure he has nothing to regret.

Shinjiro: I just... want it to be normal.

    • How did I handle this? I refused to do anything for the next two days. Free time at night? Go straight to bed. Free time after school? Go straight back to the dorm, and go to sleep ASAP. Again.
  • Similarily this troper teared up at the death of the protagonist. And his death is confirmed in FES where it serves as a major plot point.
    • This troper didn't tear up at the death per se, but rather the fact that he survives after using up his soul on pure willpower alone, despite his friends having forgotten him and the promise that was keeping him alive, until the very end, wherein it's too late — he lay down in Aigis's lap on the rooftop, watches the sky with her, and dies seconds before his friends arrive.
      • This troper knew when the game described the Protagonist as starting to feel warm while laying down on Aigis's lap, that he was going to die. The fact that your final attack against Nyx is the Great Seal makes this even more tear jerking. He's sacrificed himself for all his friends and for the world. And they don't even realize until the last minute, right after he dies. Tear Jerker material indeed.
      • This Troper didn't begin crying until she listened to Kimi no Kioku (Memories of you)in the credits, as she had looked up the translation days before. That song is truly beautiful and I still cry every time I listen to it.
      • This troper also still breaks out in Manly Tears whenever he hears "Kimi no Kioku". Sometimes, being bilingual is a curse.
  • In this troper's honest opinion, the Let's Play "My Life Is a Goddamn Mess" managed to build upon this, believe it or not. Instead of being a silent protagonist, the main character is a stereotypical Emo Teen, who apparently wasn't that sociable before the events of the game, and always complained that his life was a goddamn mess. However, over the time of the playthrough, he gets more and more happy with his life, due to the Social Links and his Nakama, eventually abandoning his Catch Phrase. At the very end, he makes a heartrending speech about how everyone should enjoy life to the fullest, because life wasn't something to be taken for granted. And then...

Minato: My life is a goddamn me...

    • This troper, even though she doesn't cry at things often, is not ashamed to say that the scene made her bawl like a wee child for at least half an hour. It would have been longer, but she had to suck it up and walk home. She was still sobbing all the way back. It didn't help that she played the game with an Alternate Character Interpretation of the protagonist, endearing him to her all the more.
  • The "bad" ending is pretty, well, bad in this regard as well. Everyone in SEES loses their memories of the Dark Hour, and subsequently the massive amounts of Character Development they went through. Except for possibly Aigis, who looks on sadly, not knowing what to do. And then suddenly, The End of the World as We Know It.
  • There are even more in the FES re-release, especially if you take a minute to think about it. The worst that sticks out in this troper's mind is the Hermit S-Link epilogue. Having accidentally shown off your cellphone's wallpaper to Ms. Toriumi, the Hermit S-Link, she suitably freaks out, aaaalmost recovers in time to ask you out for dinner, but freaks out and runs away. The main character dies the next day. Ouch.
    • This may in fact be the entire point of The Answer, being an epilogue to the king of all Bittersweet Endings, but particularly Yukari's breakdown as the epilogue progresses, becoming more and more angry and distant from the rest of the cast, but particularly the new main character, Aigis.
  • And what about the little girl you befriended, and helped to cope with her parents' divorce? Her last meeting with you, she gives you a toy ring and asks if you'll marry her someday. During the game's epilogue, the day before you die, you get a letter from her where she's holding you to your promise.
  • This troper never cries at games, yet choked up and started to sob when Yukari watched the true video her father made of the Incident, not the one Shuji Ikutsuki manipulated. Her father says that he loves her and was the happiest man on Earth when he was with her, and when the video starts to short out, she cries "Dad...Daddy!?" in the most heartbreaking way. Although, a lot of this simply struck a nerve because it reminded this troper of her own father...
  • The whole sequence with Junpei and Chidori, from the hospital visits to her death really tore at This Troper's heart. Also a Crowning Moment of Awesome for both the character and the game in my book.
  • The scene where Chidori gives her life to save Junpei, and he watches her die right in front of him, made this troper cry for a whole fifteen minutes straight. This troper's mother also watched and cried at that scene when she played through it herself.
    • Much moreso than this scene was the follow-up a week or so later, when Mitsuru gives Junpei Chidori's sketchbook and he sees it's full of pictures of him, and he just breaks down crying. And so did this troper.
  • In FES, Aigis, Metis, and Fuuka have to fight the rest of the members of SEES. The music doesn't help, though it is awesome.
    • This troper sobbed through the entirety of the fight with Akihiko and Ken. She kept waiting for some event dialogue, or anything, really, to stop the battle before it actually ended.
  • This manly troper nearly cried like a baby at the ending, and Aigis's tears. Though their meaning is debatable, I took it as Aigis knowing that the hero's dying in her arms, and she can't really help, even as she's saying that her purpose will be to protect him and stay by his side. When a dialogue choice comes up with telling her "it'll be okay", and picking that choice causes the hero to brush his hand across her cheek... excuse me, I've got something in my eye again...
    • Persona 3 Portable adds an even more heartbreaking variation to this scene: you can actually choose the last person you talk to at that moment. If it was painful with Aigis, imagine how hard it would be to see the hero dying in Yukari or Mitsuru's arms.
      • To be honest, all are very sob-worthy, whether as a guy or girl. In order to spend your last moments with them, you not only have to max their Social Link with them, but if you're the girl, you have to be lovers with them. That makes Shinjiro's ending excruciatingly heart breaking due to twisted irony. The girl he loved indirectly saved his life through her kindness, yet she dies in his arms and he can't do anything about it. Thanks Atlus, you cruel bastards.
      • P3P's New Game Plus endings.

Akihiko: "... and starting now, we'll never be apart."
Mitsuru: "Come what may...we'll always be together."
Ken: "From now on...I'll protect you."

  • Ken also has one as a part of his social link for Portable. In order to re-initiate the S.Link after the events of October 4th, Ken asks the heroine to come with him to that spot again. There, he thanks her, but breaks down crying and admits how he still finds living painful, even after he had his resolution. She's the only one he tells about this, proving how much she means to him. To learn he keeps on living for his love for her and devotion to SEES is very, very tender. That event (and the S.Link afterwards) redeemed Ken for this troper.
  • Maybe it's just this troper's favoritism towards Ryoji, but normally the whole star-crossed lover routine is used so often it just gets... bland. Actually, I blame it on Yuri Lowenthal's amazing voice acting. Listening to Ryoji try to figure out why being with the girl he loves is so painful and then after she holds his hand to prove that he's there and that he exists... excuse me, I have to go cry in a corner again. Damn you Atlus, I love you so much but sometimes I just hate your guts for doing these things.
    • Hell, Ryoji's social link in general if you've played the game before/spoiled yourself as to what happens.
  • And because it's worth mentioning here again, Akinari, the Sun Social Link. This troper had to pause and go do some miscellaneous house chores during some parts of the conversation to keep from becoming a depressed ball of gloom.
    • If you max Akinari's S. Link, you can talk with his mother during the two free school days between the final battle and graduation. She sits on the bench at Naganaki Shrine, right where her son sat. She speaks to you and you find out that Akinari died. She never got to read his story, and when you reveal that he gave you the notebook in which he wrote the story she tells you to keep it. She says that she'll hear it from him when she meets him again in the afterlife... Then she says that, in the memory of her son, she'll do all the things he couldn't: travel to faraway places, eat exotic foods, etc. Then she talks about Akinari's huge presence in her life, when he was a baby and... Sorry, I have to go grab a tissue now.
  • When you've played the game before or simply know the ending, a lot of very simple things can easily become this. First noticed by this troper in her first playthrough of Portable -- really, any time someone talks about their future with the protagonist is just heartbreaking. Akihiko's Christmas event in particular comes to mind, where he promises to buy the female protagonist something new every year to put in her music box. He also says that even though "Santa" never came for him before, he did this year, with one dialogue strain prompting him to say something along the lines of "Then I guess Santa will be heading my way next year, too." It brought a few tears.
    • YES. For those who had played the PlayStation 2 version (or looked up spoilers), it felt like a huge punch in the gut. Way to rub in the protagonist's inevitable death, Atlus!
  • The scene where Mitsuru's father, Takeharu, is shot and killed. Seeing the normally composed, elegant Mitsuru so utterly distraught was heartwrenching; and this troper doesn't even favor Mitsuru that much.
    • Ditto, its made this troper even more sad when reading this while playing Portable:

Mitsuru slumped to the floor, crying like a child

  • Not sure if a music track counts, but after December 31st knowing that you have one month until Nyx comes to commence the Grand Fall and the formally cheerful city theme "Moon's Reaching Stars" is replaced with "Memories of the City" and posters of the Nyx cult are placed all over the mall and town...it felt just numb to see a town you'd grown to love - and the main character found his best friends there - completely ripped of all enthusiasm. Made this troper all the more glad to get the true ending and seal Nyx away. Especially when you realise the new tune is a leitmotif of Kimi no Kioku, just much, MUCH sadder.
  • Another sad thing about playing as a female is the Emperor Social Link. The female protagonist helps Hidetoshi become a better person, and he realizes that he's fallen for her, but decides not to act on those feelings until he feels he's worthy of her, something he reiterates when you talk to him in March. The female protagonist is dead within two days. Ouch.
  • The Answer was very sad, with seeing the struggle the characters were dealing with what to do with the keys and the MC's death. And I know not many people would agree with me but I felt very bad for Yukari
  • At times it seems as if they took a bucket of sadness a slathered it all over the story. Two prominant examples being the fates of both Shinjiro and Chidori (At least before FES, in the latter's case).
    • As if the ending and Shinji's death wasn't depressing enough, in the PSP remake, it's possible to save Shinji as the female Protagonist by maxing out his Social Link. What's so bad about that? The fact that he basically wakes up from his coma and is reunited with the girl he loves...just in time to watch as she dies in his arms.
    • And Akinari. You can't forget Akinari. By the end of his Social Link, you'd be drowning in a lake of your own tears. And a garden would grow around you.
  • After completing Theodore's date requests, he'll tell you that he can no longer see you in that fashion, and from then on you'll only interact in the velvet room. His line when you choose the option "Ask Out" under the Talk option brought a giant sword through this troper's heart.

Theodore: I... cannot do that. I've told you before... Please, do not torment me with an offer like this... I beg you. Please...

    • Additionally, during his final 'date,' though he mentions he'll be punished even further for not breaking it off quickly the implication is he's doing it because continuing the relationship will be worse for you. Watching him be so torn up about it but forcing himself through it for your sake is a heartbreaking chance from his early enigmatic cool or his child-like naivety about the human world.
  • In the last two days before graduation, the lobby, heck, the whole dorm becomes eerily quiet. The game tells you that everyone is probably out enjoying themselves while you're too exhausted from defeating the big bad to go out yourself. This troper interprets this, along with the entire the-whole-universe-has-forgotten-but-you, as the game pointing out that you, the MC, performed a Heroic Sacrifice for these people and yet they don't seem to remember anything. You are truly alone in your suffering for them. At least, until they all remember everything and run up to you as promised, only to arrive seconds before you die.
  • This Troper finds the month of January to be extremely depressing. The Fall is near, the once beautiful city is now littered with flyers and graffiti, the Lost are everywhere, and a few of the sane people who have lost hope. Not to mention there's a kid who doesn't want to go home because her parents were absorbed by the cult.

Male Student at Port Island Station: The people who believe in the End have at least some energy left... I mean, they have enough to believe in something, y'know? I don't have that much, man. It's over for me.

  • Bunkichi and Mitsuko, the lively elderly couple who treats you like a grandchild, always giving you snacks and being so happy to see you; it's implied they were essentially alone until the petition to save the tree brought their old friends and their son's friends back into their lives. In the end, despite their age and past tragedies, their son's tree is safe, they're planning on remodeling the bookstore, and they hope the nice young student who helped them so much comes by to visit any time. Needless to say, that doesn't happen.
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