Tears of Remorse: Difference between revisions

Perhaps you have had a [[Heel Realization]], perhaps you are [[Dying as Yourself]] and just learned the enormity of your deeds, perhaps you have learned that the deed you sought [[Revenge]] for was fully justified, but you have already killed the character, perhaps you have ''[[My Greatest Failure|failed]]'', perhaps a character has died, and you can never make reparation for something you did (perhaps contributing to the death, or perhaps not) -- and there is nothing for it but to cry your eyes out, it was so horrible. (Or shed a [[Single Tear]].)

 

 

May be a form of [[Manly Tears]]. [[Tender Tears]] combine when they are grief-stricken by minor injuries to others. Note that crying because you didn't get away with it is [[Water Works]].

 

{{examples}}

* [[Naruto|Uchiha]] [[Fake Defector|Itachi]] cries after Sasuke pursues him after Itachi was forced to kill the clan.

** Gaara also cried a single tear after he realized that Sasuke was never gonna stop obsessing over revenge/darkness like he used to and that he was forced to fight him.

* Vegeta of all people does this in ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' when he [[Heroic Sacrifice|selfdestructs]] to try to kill Majin Buu. Of course, being ''Dragon Ball'', [[Senseless Sacrifice|it barely slows Buu down]].

** Buu took several minutes to regenerate from that one. That's ''far'' more damage than what anyone short of Vegetto or Gohan can do to him.

* Lelouch from ''[[Code Geass]]'' does this after {{spoiler|he loses control of his [[Evil Eye]] and accidentally forces his beloved half-sister to commit genocide, and has to shoot her to stop the bloody rampage}}.

** The sixth arc is full of this, actually (hence why it's called the [[The Atoner|Atonement]] Chapter). {{spoiler|Rena}} does this there too.

** Towards the end of Meakashi-hen (which is right before the Atonement Chapter), {{spoiler|Shion}} does this combined with [[Dying as Yourself]], at least in the anime adaption.

* Squad from ''[[One Piece]]'' does this after {{spoiler|he betrayed Whitebeard and stabbed him in the chest. When he realizes that the Marines played him like a fiddle, and that Whitebeard still considers him a "son", Squad breaks down sobbing.}}

* Lucy from ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' quite a few times, most notably from {{spoiler|murdering her love interest Kouta's family in front of him in a jealous fit}}.

* A brief glimpse of [[Berserk|Guts]] with [http://view.thespectrum.net/series/berserk-volume-01.html?ch=Volume+03&page=167 his face fallen and tears in his eyes] stops him from being a [[Villain Protagonist]], and adds a lot more depth to (and questions about) his character.

* {{spoiler|Zeref}} from ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' does this whenever he kills anything. It makes it a little hard to take the rest of the cast seriously when they talk about how he's pure evil.

* In ''[[Ginga Densetsu Weed]]'', after being offered to heal their wounds in the hot spring by Gin, three of Hougen's generals (Baruge, Bat, and Kite) start regretting what they have done and cried tears of remorse, promising to never follow Hougen ever again.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* In ''[[Booster Gold]]'', at Blue Beetle's funeral, what finally has Booster in tears is that he stood up to eulogize him, and couldn't speak. What sort of friend can't pay tribute [[Due to the Dead]]? When Wonder Woman tries to console him, Booster speaks bitterly of how he failed Blue Beetle, not having been there to help him.

 

* In ''[[The Abyss]]'', the most emotional character in the entire sequence of Lindsey Brigman's drowning and resuscitation, besides Bud, is "One Night". Earlier in the film, she said and thought some rather nasty things about Lindsey. Obviously her probably dying brought out a great deal of regret; she was the only one [[Please Wake Up|besides]] [[Cluster F-Bomb|Bud]] ([[How Dare You Die on Me!|Lindsey's husband]]) to openly have an emotional breakdown.

** Fortunately Lindsey was saved by the [[Worst Aid|Miraculous Bitchslap of Life]]. One Night [[Tears of Joy|again broke down]].

* The newly-forged Darth Vader in ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'', while massacring a roomful of untrained kids in the Jedi Temple and after slaughtering a roomful of surrendering [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|Trade Federation leaders]] and their bodyguards.

* In a daydream sequence from ''[[A Christmas Story]]'', Ralphie's parents shed these after they find out that the cause of Ralphie's blindness was from a bar of soap used to wash out his mouth when he said the "[[Precision F-Strike|F-dash-dash-dash word.]]"

 

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' [[Horus Heresy]] novel ''False Gods'', when Horus mortally wounds Temba, Temba recovers from the Chaos taint, realizes the scale of his betrayal, and sobs.

** In [[Ben Counter]]'s ''Galaxy In Flames'', after {{spoiler|Aximand}} kills {{spoiler|Torgaddon}}, he sobs, [[My God, What Have I Done?|asks what they did]], and speaks of how they had been their brothers. {{spoiler|Abaddon}} (who merely thinks [[Was It Really Worth It?]]) thinks he needs to be watched.

* In [[L. Frank Baum]]'s ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'', the Tin Woodman [[Tender Tears|cries]] because he stepped on a beetle and killed it. He ends up rusting from all the tears and Dorothy has to oil his joints so he can move again.

* [[William Shakespeare]]'s Sonnet 34

* An example brought on by less-than-heinous behavior in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel ''Half Life'': due to a [[Freaky Friday]]/[[Personality Swap]] situation, the Doctor learns just how [[Cowardly Lion|scared]] his companion Fitz is most of the time while traveling with him, and is brought to tears. He [[Men Don't Cry|doesn't usually cry]].

* In Suzanne Collins's ''[[The Hunger Games]]'', after Katniss shoots the Gamemakers' pig and stalks off insultingly, she [[Inelegant Blubbering|sobs]] over the low score they will give her—breaking [[I Gave My Word|her promise to really try to survive]]—and the possibility they will punish her mother and sister for it.

* The title character of the ''Rissa Kerguelen'' series by F.M. Busby is, though petite, a highly-trained [[Badass]], capable of defeating a larger, stronger, '''meaner''' person in unarmed combat. But when she kills someone, no matter how vile the other was and how necessary his/her death, Rissa '''will''', sooner or later, break down in tears over it.

 

* Andrew in the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "Storyteller". After several attempts to justify the murder of Jonathan, he breaks down crying as he realizes he killed his only true friend in cold blood.

* Faith in ''[[Angel]]'' episode "Five by Five". She agrees to take assassination contract to Angel, but keeps giving him openings he doesn't use. Eventually she's rendered sobbing wreck, revealing that she was trying to get Angel to kill her in order to stop her past crimes from haunting her.

* A major point in the ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' episode 'Beauty and the Beast'. Uther must cry tears of true remorse to break the troll enchantment. To accomplish this, Arthur takes a potion that makes him appear dead. Cue frantic, remorseful, crying Uther.

 

* [[The Protomen|Thomas Light]] has this during ''Funeral for a son'', when he realizes {{spoiler|He sent his ''son'' off to fight a battle he knew in his heart was unwinnable}}.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* {{spoiler|[[Parental Substitute|Master Eraqus]]}} and {{spoiler|[[Like a Son to Me|Terra]]}} both have this, in that order, due to a very important piece of plot. Also comes packaged with various flavors of [[Heel Realization]]s and a side order [[My God, What Have I Done?]]. Oh ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'': ''[[Birth By Sleep]]''...

* At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake stands before the grave of his mentor The Boss, with his newly awarded title of Big Boss marking him as her successor. As he reflects on the conspiracy that forced him to have to kill her Big Boss does all that he can do given the top secret nature of what really happened and salutes the grave of his mentor. As this happens a single tear of remorse flows from his eye as the gravity of what he had done and what he has lost weighs down on him. This marks the Start of Darkness for Big Boss's character, nothing would ever be the same after this.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Erfworld]]'': [http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F141.jpg here]

{{quote|''Sizemore, you weep for those you have ended. I love you for that.''}}

* ''[[Axe Cop]]'': In a rare comedy example; Axe Cop, thinking mermaids were bad guys killed one, only to find out that they made angry faces because they thought they were happy faces. Cue Tears of Remorse.

* ''[[Megatokyo]]'':

* In ''[[Sequential Art (webcomic)|Sequential Art]]'', [http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=464 Scarlet, after her past led to Kat being kidnapped in her place.]

* In ''[[The Beast Legion]]'' Gorgorath [http://www.thebeastlegion.com/issue-04-page-33-what-remains/ asks Xeus to kill him] after being defeated repenting for his sins.

* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', Barry was crying when he put the locket on Agatha (in a flashback). She needs it to protect her, but [[Dirty Business|it will damp her down and make her unhappy]].

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' Vaarsuvius cries some heartfelt and quite, until then, uncharacteristic Tears of Remorse in strip #843. For a very, very good and spoilerific reason.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Body Language]]

[[Category:Morality Tropes]]

[[Category:Sadness Tropes]]

[[Category:Redemption Tropes]]