History Heartwarming / Ironman

!!!Iron Man 3

-->'''Tony''': I just hope I can protect [''gestures to Pepper''] the one thing I can't live without.

-->'''flies off to save her'''

-->'''Yinsen'': [[spoiler: They're dead, Stark. I'm going to see them now]]...

* The friendship that develops between Yinsen and Tony [[spoiler: in spite of the fact that it ends with a TearJerker.]]

** Tony's TranquilFury while watching the people from Yinsen's hometown suffer and die on CNN, culminated by him shattering a wall in silent-rage, shows us truly for the first time that there beats a compassionte heart behind all that ice-cold sarcasm.

* Listen close: there are two instances where you can just barely hear Pepper's voice calling Tony's name. The first is when the Ten Rings are dunking Tony's head in a barrel full of water. The second is after the [[spoiler: battle with Stane. Tony's arc reactor is barely flickering, and then we hear Pepper's voice.]]

* Turns out the [[spoiler: drones]] have been set to explode after the final battle. Tony himself is surrounded, butwhat is the first thing to come out of his mouth?

** Tony's TranquilFury while watching watching Yinsen's tribe suffer and die on CNN, culminated by him shattering a wall in silent-rage, shows us truly for the first time that there beats a compassionte heart behind all that ice-cold sarcasm.

* When Tony first busts out the official, non-MacGayvered Iron Man suit in Afghanistan, he stops two terrorists from executing a guy whose wife and children were watching the whole thing. As soon as the bad guys are laid out, the guy's little boy runs up to his father and hugs him tight. A small moment in the overall ass-kicking, but definitely sweet.

* When Tony first busts out the Iron Man suit in Afghanistan, he stops two terrorists from executing a guy whose wife and children were watching the whole thing. As soon as the bad guys are laid out, the guy's little boy runs up to his father and hugs him tight. A small moment in the overall ass-kicking, but definitely sweet.

* In ''IronMan'' #182, Tony Stark had been living on the streets drunk. After helping deliver a baby and nearly freezing to death, he lay in his hospital bed telling Rhodey about his decision to quit drinking.

!!!''Iron Man''

-->''Tony'': Pepper!
-->''flies off to save her''

* Borrowed from the WMG page: despite everything that happened between them afterwards, it is still fairly moving to realize that Howard Stark may well have named his son, Anthony, after his former partner, Anton.

* Tony is [[strike: running]] flying for his life [[spoiler: from his best friend in another suit of armor that has been commandeered by the bad guy]]. The Expo is being evacuated because of the drones attacking. One brave little boy in an Iron Man mask and repulsor toy puts his hand up to fire at the drone. Tony lands the suit, takes out the drone with his repulsor, then looks at the little boy, says "Nice work, kid," and goes back to being chased.

** Also, when Tony arrives back in the states and reunites with Pepper, he notes that she's crying tears of joy. [[DeadpanSnarker The fact that they both snark about it does nothing to diminish the moment.]]

* After spending the whole movie as Tony's ButtMonkey, the robot "Dummy" instinctively senses that its creator is in trouble and reaching for his Mark I chest piece in order to save his life. Just when Tony collapses, with a look on his face that says, "Oh my God, it's over. I've lost", Dummy '''hands Tony the chest piece'''. Tony just looks at it and gives a heartfelt and surprised, "Good boy".

* In IronMan, Tony Stark upgrades the arc generator keeping his heart beating and instructs Pepper Potts to junk the old generator, stating that he's not a sentimental man. However, instead of throwing it away, Potts turns the old generator into a trophy with the words "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart." inscribed in it.
* Also, Stark is regularly seen ridiculing a particular AI-controlled robotic assistant, often unsatisfied with its work and at one point threatening to donate it to a city college. However, when a dying Stark tries to reach for [[ChekhovsGun the old arc generator Potts saved for him]], "Dummy" loyally grabs it for him and hands it over. The following shot of the robot makes it look almost like a concerned face. As Stark reaches for it, he whispers "good boy". Cue the sympathetic "Aaawwwwww" from the crowd.

* And there's the moment where Pepper and Tony are laughing in relief after Pepper manages to switch the arc generator from the old one to the new one without causing any serious damage. She asks Tony not to ask her to do that again. Suddenly, and surprisingly earnest, Tony says "But I don't have anyone but you." It could so easily have been sappy, but then Tony pulls an embarrassed "Oh my God, I can't believe I just said that" face which, oddly enough, makes it even more heartwarming. In fact, with this movie it seems that when it's not being [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome jaw-droppingly awesome]] it's being genuinely heartwarming instead.
* In the sequel, Tony complains about the ParentalAbandonment issues he had with his father, which makes Howard Stark's recording admitting that Tony was his greatest creation into such a powerful TearJerker. That and the outtakes of the recording, which acts as a posthumous LikeFatherLikeSon moment as we see the elder Stark was a lot like Tony.

* Also in the sequel: Tony is [[strike: running]] flying for his life [[spoiler: from his best friend in another suit of armor that has been commandeered by the bad guy]]. The Expo is being evacuated because of the drones attacking. One brave little boy in an Iron Man mask and repulsor toy puts his hand up to fire at the drone. Tony lands the suit, takes out the drone with his repulsor, then looks at the little boy, says "Nice work, kid," and goes back to being chased.

* In Iron Man, Tony Stark upgrades the arc generator keeping his heart beating and instructs Pepper Potts to junk the old generator, stating that he's not a sentimental man. However, instead of throwing it away, Potts turns the old generator into a trophy with the words "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart." inscribed in it.
* Also, Stark is regularly seen ridiculing a particular AI-controlled robotic assistant, often unsatisfied with its work and at one point threatening to donate it to a city college. However, when a dying Stark tries to reach for the old arc generator Potts saved for him, "Dummy" loyally grabs it for him and hands it over. The following shot of the robot makes it look almost like a concerned face. As Stark reaches for it, he whispers "good boy". Cue the sympathetic "Aaawwwwww" from the crowd.

* And there's the moment where Pepper and Tony are laughing in relief after Pepper manages to switch the arc generator from the old one to the new one without causing any serious damage. She asks Tony not to ask her to do that again. Suddenly, and surprisingly earnest, Tony says "But I don't have anyone but you." It could so easily have been sappy, but then Tony pulls an embarrassed "Oh my God, I can't believe I just said that" face which, oddly enough, makes it even more heartwarming. In fact, with this movie it seems that when it's not being jaw-droppingly awesome it's being genuinely heartwarming instead.
* In the sequel, Tony complains about the Parental Abandonment issues he had with his father, which makes Howard Stark's recording admitting that Tony was his greatest creation into such a powerful Tear Jerker. That and the outtakes of the recording, which acts as a posthumous Like Father Like Son moment as we see the elder Stark was a lot like Tony.
* This one takes a bit of Fridge Logic. After Rhodey [[spoiler: steals the Mark II Iron Man suit]], Romanov mentions that Tony's security system is designed to prevent unauthorized use of the suits. Thought it's never said explicitly, it's implied that Tony had been planning to make Rhodes into the next Iron Man [[spoiler: after he died.]]
* Also in the sequel: Tony is []strike: running]] flying for his life [[spoiler: from his best friend in another suit of armor that has been commandeered by the bad guy]]. The Expo is being evacuated because of the drones attacking. One brave little boy in an Iron Man mask and repulsor toy puts his hand up to fire at the drone. Tony lands the suit, takes out the drone with his repulsor, then looks at the little boy, says "Nice work, kid," and goes back to being chased.