Tales (series)/Tear Jerker

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Tales of the Abyss

  • At Luke's lowest point he finds out he's a clone and his childhood that he thought he forgot never happened., the person he respected and admired the most had been lying and deceiving him all along, he killed ten thousand people, everyone hates him, they prefer the original over him and the only person who might care is having her doubts. The sum of all this caused this troper to not only burst into tears, but somehow felt as if everyone around him hated him Luke's feeling of guilt hitting way to close to home.
    • Asch's reveal is made even worse in the anime as you watch Luke relive all the hints leading up to his shattered identity as a replica - being unable to regain his memories, Legretta calling him a defective thing - in the middle of a total meltdown.
    • The worst part is probably playing a second playthrough and knowing what's going to happen but not being able to do anything about it.
    • If that part of Abyss makes you cry, then...well...here's hoping you didn't get attached to some of the other characters.
  • Ion's death gets this trooper every single time. If you can believe it, it's even worse in the anime - at least in the game, Mohs is right there for you - and the party - to focus their Unstoppable Rage upon. In the anime, he leaves without taking the chance to gloat, letting the event hit you in the gut with all the force of a sledgehammer.
  • The Tower gets this troper. This Tower's worse than Symphonia's, in this troper's opinion.
    • Not just the Tower of Rem, but the scenes preceding and following it, as well. Tear is heartbroken knowing that Luke is going to die and then Asch tells Luke to die in his place. After realizing that he wants to live, Luke finds out that he's actually dying; the hyperresonance created such a tremendous strain on his body that his fonons are separating and he will eventually fade out of existence. He doesn't want anyone to know because he's afraid that they'll treat him differently.
    • The part before the Tower that gets this troper each time is the conversation with Jade, who has just proposed that Luke commit mass suicide, rather than Asch. Luke asks Jade if that's really what he thinks is best, expecting a 'yes'. Jade does say yes, and then...

Jade: That's what I would say if I was an emperor, with a country and people to look after. As your friend... I feel compelled to stop you.

  • The ending. First with "You have to come home. You have to! I'll be waiting... always" and then the happy tears after the credits.
    • That ending actually affects this troper more than anything else she's played; depending on how you interpret it, it's a big case of Downer Ending or Bittersweet Ending because Luke dies. This troper did the contamination sidequest and choked when Jade says the only things that will be left of Luke are his memories. It doesn't help that after the credits, everyone's happy (save for Jade, whose really ambigous expression can be interpreted as happy or not so much) and thinks it really IS Luke.
      • The ending is a different flavor of bittersweet depending on how you interpret the identity of the person- if it's 100% Asch, then Natalia gets her beloved back, but Tear doesn't. If it's 100% Luke or Luke's mind in Asch's body (the most common), Tear gets her beloved back while Natalia doesn't. Either way, his existence will serve as a constant reminder of what might have been to the girl who loses out- especially sad for Natalia if you went with the last one.
    • This troper fully agrees with Luke's turning point, especially the part where he realizes everyone prefers the original over him. "It's no wonder everyone got sick of me and left me behind." The start of a nasty inferiority complex for Luke...and one that resonated all too well with this troper, who's lived in the shadow of his older brother for most of his school life. I knew all too well what it seemed like when everyone seems to consider you an inferior replacement for the person they really liked. It's not a good feeling, and it drove me to tears and angry outbursts several times. Thankfully, these feelings have long since been put to rest - and so, Luke's decision and the resulting Important Haircut warms this troper's heart.
    • Asch's death. Even after spending the entire game blaming Luke for taking over his life, he STILL ends up sacrificing himself so that his replica can move forward. He finally accepts Luke for who he is, and puts his faith in him as he's dying ("Looks like I had a little trouble... The rest is... up to you.) I knew it was coming, and I still had to put down the controller and cry for a good ten minutes.
    • The scene when Tear confronts Luke about his condition and the following skit caused this troper to, no pun intended, tear up when Luke is afraid of being treated differently because of he's eventually going to disappear and Tear is angry at herself for being powerless to help Luke.
  • "Class M and Class I's first and final cooperation together." Made all the worse in the anime.
  • The death of Arietta wasn't so bad when playing the game. In the anime, it was absolutely heartbreaking as Arietta hallucinates Ion and her animal family with her, reaching out to them, and then dies at that moment.
    • "You're the only Ion that matters to me." She's a real asshole to Luke after Akzeriuth, but when the chips are down, Anise is a good person. Guy also deserves a mention for one of his lines during the handful of introspective scenes he has with Luke in Aramis Springs: "Replica or not, you're real to me."
  • Frings' death. It's bad enough as mandated by the plotline, but you have the option of spending an entire long sidequest chain getting him together with General Cecille. To have done all that work for them, and seen the honest joy as they overcame the obstacle of being in opposite armies, to talk to Cecille who is so happy that she and Frings are going to be able to marry... it makes his death really hit that much harder. This troper nearly had a Heroic BSOD upon realizing that it was for real.

Tales of Symphonia and its sequel

  • Zelos's death scene sent this troper into a mad frenzy of hitting the reset button to do the ending properly.
    • To add to that, the rematch in the coloseum against Seles, who in really cared for her half brother and is wanting to avenge him. This is definitely salt on wounds for this troper, who played through Zelos' route the playthrough before. Damn you completionist impulse.
  • During the first third of the game, the cutscenes after every boss battle, when it becomes increasingly obvious just how much Colette is suffering for her quest, all start to add up, culminating in her losing her soul. This troper nearly cried...and only didn't because the next boss, Remiel, made some highly disparaging comments about her, and humanity in general. As such, the emotional response shifted abruptly.
    • The tearjerker factor of what happens to Colette also has later effects: when you have her in your fighting party and she doesn't speak - no start-of-battle quote, no incantations during her spells, nothing. It's incredibly jarring, and makes the emotional response even stronger because you don't realise all at once what's wrong.
  • This troper didn't fully play to the point where Colette loses bits and pieces of herself before she (temporarily) loses her entire being to know the details at the time about the trial and error of chosens and quickly turned a bit sour realizing Zelos, whose own experiences as chosen either are heavily downplayed if not brought up at all compared to Collete's, could also be suffering the same symptoms she suffered (as her symptoms were from her cruxis crystal, not the "trials" she endured) albeit unnoticed by the party. And you'll only ever see a hint he may have experienced these symptoms through the fact he has wings just like her, which he only exposes in the ending where you kill him, or in the sequel. When this troper finally did get a chance to play to this point, even though they have a bit more clarity, the feelings were made worse.
  • Raine's backstory, and especially the scene where she confronts her mother. Seeing the usually cool, rational, level-headed Raine break down in front of the brother she raised, who can do nothing but realise what Promotion to Parent meant to her... Yeah.
    • Also, the fact that on some subconscious level, Virginia seems partially aware of Raine's distress, only in her insanity, she begins to comfort the doll that she thinks is Raine.
  • How about Sheena during Corrine's death? That always gets to me, especially considering that Corrine, up until she met Lloyd and co, was Sheena's only friend and the only one who believed in her wholeheartedly. So when the little guy jumps in and makes a Heroic Sacrificefor her, it's so sad, especially as Sheena begs him not to die and then promptly beats the absolute CRAP out of Volt. The crack in her voice is amazing.
  • When Martel is revived and rejects what Mithos has done in her name, I couldn't help hurting for the guy. He may look like a kid, but he's got 4000 years of working towards his goal... only to have it fall apart around him.
    • Not to mention the times his apparition appeared after each rescue of your party in Welgaia. This troper found herself crying her way through the last hour of the game because every five minutes she'd remember those scenes and feel so sorry for Mithos, perhaps even more than anyone else in her party. The thought of how twisted his views had become after thousands of years without his sister, being discriminated against, being betrayed by the only people he trusted, and how young he might have been at the start of his madness ensured many tissues met their demise in his name.
  • The whole story of Mithos and Genis. Not only do both share a striking number of similarities and experiences, their friendship often blurs the line between villainous manipulation and Ho Yay best friendship, with Mithos' actual feelings for Genis never really being clarified. It gets worse with an obscure hidden scene where Lloyd gets to see Mithos and Genis' friendship for himself and just how close they are, including a promise Genis makes to stick by Mithos, which just makes The Reveal even more painful. A skit after, where Genis breaks down in tears from it, can become a real tearjerker as a result. And should you have taken Genis as partner for the endgame, You get to see just how much the betrayal has hurt him.
    • It affects his so much that in Dawn of the New World, unlike other Lloyd/character scenes, instead of pointing out the strong bond that has formed... Genis is still feeling the pain from it
  • A tear was shed for Genis in the sequel when he reminds us that, because of his elven blood, he and his sister will greatly out live the rest of their Nakama. Lloyd also knows of this in the first game, as he tells his beloved pet Noishe to stay with Genis and Raine when he dies. Noishe will actually outlive them even, but it's rather tear-jerking how Lloyd says it, thinking of their longevity as a good thing, compared to other humans who are terrified of it * coughPOPEcough* .
    • If you've realized this, and have chosen Genis for the late-game talks, a seemingly innocent talk about how Genis intends to stay with Lloyd "As long as you're alive" becomes startlingly tragic.
  • The Bad End of Dawn of the New World is strikingly horrifying. Interestingly enough, it's more difficult to get this ending than the good ending, as you have to defeat Lloyd and Marta alone, as opposed to lose to them in order to reach Emil's Battle in the Center of the Mind that serves as the final battle. Anyway, if Emil defeats Lloyd and Marta, he suddenly realizes that he's injured Marta...and in a state of grief, commits suicide in order to seal the door to the demon realm, instead of carrying out the party's original plan. This troper wasn't really a fan of Marta's voice acting, but her heartbroken scream of "EMIIILL!!" still gave him nightmares...and the small bit afterward where she writes the last journal entry, in which she promises to work for peace in his name, because she'll always love him...that really got the waterworks going. Thank goodness you really have to try to get this ending, huh?
    • Even the Good ending is a Tear Jerker if you think about it. Richter and Aster, two of the most brilliant minds of their generation, who could have been a shining example of half-elf/human friendship in the struggling new world are locked underground burning and dead respectively ultimately because of a hate that was born millenia before, and about which they knew nothing. Richter may deserve his punishment, but damn, what a waste. Even Emil doesn't get off easy since eventually he will die and return to the Ginnungagap, where he'll live forever without Marta. And while he is alive he'll have the burden of being reminded of his crime every time he looks in a mirror. Also good luck living figuring out how to relate to the relatives and neighbors of the other kid who's identity you stole Emil...
    • Okay, how many people didn't get the bad ending on the first try?! This troper is a die-hard Yaoi Fangirl who had been shipping Emil with all the males in the game, but the bad ending made her scream at her TV screen for the Marta/Emil Gone Horribly Wrong. Her heart was already breaking at thinking she had to attack Marta, but then... then... She couldn't even pick the game back up to get the good ending until a good hour later (which of course made her cry again)
    • On the bright side, it could have been worse. In a mistranslation of the Japanese version of the game, it says that Marta killed herself as well, not wanting to live in a world without Emil.
    • Alice and Decus' death scene in this game was heartwrenching for this troper. After fighting the two of them, Emil attacks Alice but Decus protects Alice from the fatal blow, using his last words to say he loves her, even though she said he disgusts her. Alice then admits she loves him too, picks up Decus' sword, and tries to attack Emil, but is knocked down by Tenebrae. She then gets up and is about to try again but is killed by Marta. She uses HER last words to say that her and Decus will be together again soon. Still makes me cry every time, even after beating the game many times...
    • The part of that scene that makes it worse is when Alice dies she's holding Decus hand. I saw it on my second playthrough and burst into tears.
  • Botta's sacrifice at the end of the Remote Island Human Ranch always gets to this Troper. He's a Mauve Shirt who has every reason to dislike the heroes' party, since they've been working at cross purposes for most of the game and are now more or less stuck in an Enemy Mine situation, but his devotion to his duty (and possibly his leader) supersedes anything else he might feel, even to the point of giving his life so that they can escape and carry the message of what happened.
  • Where's the love for Regal? The guy killed the woman he loved on HER request, closed himself in a life of prison, and then had to travel with the sister of the same woman he killed. Not to mention this same sister is being used in the same experiment that caused him to kill her. Not to mention a 33 year old, not to mention the most mature character in the game, cry.

Regal: I... I can't! I could never kill you with my own hands...

  • Kratos has perhaps the saddest story of all the characters.

    [[spoiler: After a brief happy life together, Kratos killed his wife in an attempt to protect their infant son when she transformed into a monster. The attempt fails however, and his son falls off a cliff to his death, or so Kratos thought, until he happened upon said son years later. Not only is he burdened with the knowledge that the only woman he's ever loved died by his hands, he finds out that had he simply looked hard enough he would not have lost his only child. It's no wonder he's a Death Seeker.

    He keeps their relation to himself for his own reasons, but Yuan spills his secret, and Lloyd goes into denial and rejects him. This doesn't stop Kratos from heroically protecting him.

    Kratos needs to die to release Origin's seal, and he's picked Lloyd out for this task. Lloyd spares him, so Kratos suicidally releases Origin's seal, but Kratos doesn't get his wish to die granted. Yuan saves him.

    Now at this point it sounds like it's going to end happily, but instead it actually gets worse for Kratos: Kratos leaves for derris-kharlan, and we find out in the sequel that he is never coming back, ever. The comet drifted so far all contact between it and the word of TOS was severed, ending Kratos only connection to his son and his last living friend from over 4000 years ago. Lloyd doesn't even get one last goodbye. He doesn't know he will never see his father again.]]

    You're welcome for the tissues.
  • Zelos's introduction after Colette becomes a doll. It was bad enough that she actually kicked a DOG (those animals she would ALWAYS name when she came across one), but then here comes Casanova and his fangirls. The girls insult her and make this troper want to slap them upside the heads and tell them that this poor girl just had her heart taken away, can't talk, can't sleep, can't feel. She doesn't even remember the three people she's known for like, EVER. Scratch that, the entire time Colette is in vessel mode is just heartbreaking.
  • "Farewell my shadow...you who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow."


Tales of Destiny

  • Tales of Destiny remake also had this troper in tears when how Leon Magnus died is turned from a sadistic Jerkass death (who deserves it) into one Heroic Sacrifice. As he sends the party to safety while dooming himself to drown in a flooding death, this troper just seems to want to yell alongside Stahn... '"LEON!! LEOOOOONNNNN!!!!" (And to think that his own mode in the Director's Cut still have him end up this way...)
    • The sequel of the game had this on the flashback scenes, especially on Loni and Nanaly. In Loni's case, watching in full blown detail on how Stahn was killed by Barbatos and how he blames himself for initially causing all of them by getting taken as a hostage was just crushing. Nanaly, on the other hand, after being given an alternate world where her dear brother was alive instead of dying, had to face the truth full blown that it's just fake happiness and while her brother constantly tells her that he exists, ALL WHILE CRYING, Nanaly had to say good bye on him, in tears, as the brother vanished. And she ends up bawling on Loni's shoulders. Seeing the usually strong hearted girl like her to eventually break down like that is just... * sniffle* .
    • Later in the sequel we see Harold a Genki Girl and also a rather Mad Scientist, when her brother Karell just do a Heroic Sacrifice right in front of her they have a heartbreaking conversation, it goes like this

Harold: Nii-san, nii-san!
Karell: Harold?...Thats odd...am i hallucinating? You always calls me Aniki...
Harold: Don't speak! The wound would get worse!
Karell: What's wrong Harold? Why are you...crying? Are you...being bullied again? Don't worry...Nii-chan will protect you...
Harold: I said don't speak!
Karell: Harold...no matter what...i'll always be...with...you...

    • Even sadder when you realize that this happens in the past timeline. Cue to the future, Karell's soul got kicked from the Swordian to be replaced by Miktran, the very guy he sacrificed his life to defeat, and then used to manipulate Hugo Gilchrist and caused all the troubles in the first series. You can't help but to feel sorry to both the Berseliuses.
    • First game, Mary recovering her memories and talking about them with her husband. The whole scene is sad, sad, SAD. It's even sadder when he tries to kill her and the rest of the party. And it worse when he dies. This goes DOUBLE when you consider that Mary was a Cloudcuckoolander and the happiest party member. It got this troper both times he played the game.
    • Another from the sequel, when the realization hits that if the party achieves their goal of destroying the goddess Fortuna, time will be rewritten so that everything that was caused or influenced by her, directly or indirectly, never happened- meaning the party, save for Kyle and Loni, will have never met, and none of them will remember the journey or each other. Not only that, but Reala and Judas, who only exist because of Fortuna, will never have existed in the first place, and they both knew this all along. Granted, Reala does recover in the ending, Judas is implied to have survived somehow, and you can visit the 9-year-old Nanaly, but it's still a pretty emotional moment.

Tales of Legendia

  • Many, many moments in Tales of Legendia.
    • Stella's death, especially, hits particularly hard. After making every possible effort to save her life, it doesn't work, and Stella ends up dying in the arms of her little sister and the man who loved her.
    • Senel and Shirley have a particularly powerful scene afterward, too. Shirley finally works up the courage to tell Senel that she loves him, only to end up getting her heart kicked to the curb by Senel because Senel "has to stay with Stella," who was dead by this point in the game. It's enough to make you want to jump through your TV and strangle Senel.
      • Not especially. It was a sad situation all around, and both were hurting immensely.
    • No mention of Fenimore's death? Before her Creepy Twin shows up.
    • The ending scene of Will Raynard's character quest. This troper doesn't cry, ever (not that he wouldn't mind, he just never gets there for some strange reason, and damned if he has to force it), but this one got him pretty close.
    • Moses's character quest, Manly Tears were shed in the ending when Moses and Giet parted ways in the Quiet Lands.
    • Grune's character quest, from the Wings of Light to the end. Everything about it. Especially the huge difference in Grune's personality before and after her awakening. She was this troper's favorite character...then the ending.
    • This troper may just be overthinking it, but the ending of Norma's character quest brought her to tears. The realization that she had completed her search for the Everlight not only to cure Zamaran's sight, but also in a sort of tribute to Sven itself was really touching. Sven's own sacrifice and the resolve that Norma showed in order to reach this point also contributed to the tears, since she's usually the one slacking off or joking around.
    • The end of Chloe's character arc hit this male troper fairly hard, especially since he had a soft spot for Chloe and her character arc had been the most emotionally charged in the plot. Moses' was also surprisingly touching. Giet's final howl just makes me really sad for some reason.
      • This troper sobbed like a smacked child at the end of Moses' quest, and hugged her dog.
    • Not to mention the part in the quiet lands where everybody is given a powerful blessing by The quiet Nerifes... except for Senel, who gets a temporary case of divine rejection, causing a bit of a breakdown. sure, he gets it later, but the brief period of time where he is being written out of the groups plans, and is quickly being rejected by them. just tends to bring back memories of regret and exclusion for this toper.

Tales of Vesperia

  • Vesperia. Anything and everything involving Alexei kidnapping Estelle, including her boss fight. At times, it even felt like a Player Punch.
    • It felt like that, because it was one.
  • For this troper, she was actually looking forward to kicking the crap out of Estelle due to hating the character, but the music. The music got me misty-eyed and I loved it so much. I paused the game and listened to it for a few moments, associating it more with Yuri then I did Estelle because it made me think of a softer side of him. Another Tear Jerker was the events BEFORE going to Zaphias to save Estelle, when you end up fighting Raven/Schwann in Baction. Rita and Raven were my favourite characters, so to hear Rita screaming, so close to tears, "I....I HATE YOU!!" and him replying with, "Heh. A lot of people hate me." just blew me away. And after the fact, when he risks his life to save everyone from the cascading ceiling, blood pouring from his head and his blastia heart giving him the strength to carry the rubble as everyone runs to safety. Then there's the fact that Rita and Karol were always so close to crying, it just broke my heart. But then when we fight Alexei in Zaude and when he cries, I wanted to cry. Just. AGH. And Duke, he made me want to cry too after I beat him! "Elucifer's wish..." Damn these people and making me saaaaad.
  • This troper tends to be very good at seeing what will happen next from a mile away, and the Tales series isn't exactly the most original series ever made, and while Raven in actuality being Schwann wasn't a big surprise, the way Schwann deflects their questions in such a flat and stolid tone really made the twist convincing, let alone dispelling the possibility that he'd switch sides again.

Karol: Raven, why? WHY?
Schwann: I will tell you again, I am NOT Raven.
Rita: I...I hate you!
Schwann: Heh, many people hate me.
Karol: Damn it, I really liked you Raven. I couldn't tell you before, but if my dad were...
Schwann: How unfortunate, "Raven" isn't here.
Judith: You, do you intend to die here?
Schwann: I am ALWAYS ready to die in battle, so I fight with everything I have.

  • In the Play Station 3 version, there's Patty getting her memory back and having to Mercy Kill her friend Seifer, who was turned into a monster (the Wandering Skeleton you fought a few times). After the deed, she keeps telling herself not to cry, but ends up doing so. Her cry made this troper rather sad.

Tales of Rebirth

  • Tales of Rebirth has one, in Hilda Rhambling's story arc. She finally met her blood mother, but got blatantly refused and thrown away like a thing many times. When Tohma appears trying to kill her, her mother took the hit and died. After she's dead, Hilda found a letter written by her mother that sums up that her mother really loves her, and found out that her mother refused her to prevent a prophecy that could bring about her death. All that, and Hilda has yet to even call her 'mother', which caused her to break down and cry. This troper at first didn't care much about Hilda, but after re-watching that scene, he really wants to give her a hug...
  • Don't forget the death of Agarte...

Tales of Hearts

Richea: Please... forgive me... I'll make up for this sin with my life... So... somehow... forgive me...

Tales of Eternia

  • Tales of Eternia: Pretty much every Trial of Seyfert that Reid has to go through is just heart wrenching to varying degrees.

Tales of Phantasia

  • The grand-daddy of all Tales games, has it's fair share of tearjerkers.
    • You encounter one at the very start of the game. Cless and Chester goes hunting, and their town gets attacked and leveled while they're away. Cless is effectively orphaned as a result and Chester loses his little sister. That's right, the game slams one in your face within 5 minutes of starting the game!
    • After you've avenged Arche's friend, her ghost thanks the party.
    • The scenes in Ary. The background music didn't help things. Although to be fair, it's of the happy variant since the player has come far and the party is about to enter the very definitive Final Dungeon.
    • The end of the game, where the party has to disband. Arche and Klarth has to return to the past. The game will soon be a figment of your memory as you put it away/sell it on eBay/pass it on to a friend/sibling and move on to something new.

Tales of Graces

  • Tales of Graces has a good share of tearjerking moments. Hell, even the first few hours makes such a drastic Mood Whiplash with Absel witnessing Sophie dying and living with the guilt, later discovering that his father is dead, and of course the rain scene where there was even an in-game Tear Jerker.
  • In the Future arc, where Sophie realizes that all her friends will grow old and die off without her, since she doesn't age like the rest of them, being non-human of course.
    • This Troper had teeth marks in her arm for days after playing this scene because it was 3am and I didn't want to wake my family up with my sobbing.
  • The ending for the main game when Asbel sacrifices himself in Sophie's place. Everyone helplessly screams out for him, especially Cheria. The quiet, sad remix of "Mamoritai white wishes" that plays during this scene doesn't help...
  • Lambda's flashback scenes. Every single one of them. Makes you almost completely forget that he's a Eldritch Abomination.
  • Narm or not, you have to admit that the infamous "TOMADATCHIIIII" scene is also saddening when (at least in th Wii version), Richard sounds like he's crying, and he honestly feels betrayed. Your Mileage May Vary, of course.
    • Watching Richard struggle against Lambda and turn into the exact opposite of himself. Especially when you consider he was aware of what Lambda was forcing him to do but wasn't strong enough to stop it. Then you realise he's being forced to fight against the only people who ever really made him happy.
  • Learning that Lord Aston's actions were done entirely out of love and a desire to not make the same mistakes his own father had made. Lady Kerri giving you his diary so you could hear his concerns first-hand didn't help.

There's an old saying: If you're playing a Tales game, expect lots of tearjerkers.

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