History Main / TearsFromAStone

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' did this twice in the same {{flashback}}. First Demona sheds an off-screen tear right before she petrifies. Then, when she wakes up and finds her boyfriend petrified, she leaves a tear on his forehead that makes it look like he was crying.

* There's a Greek myth about a statue who cried: Niobe insulted the mother of Artemis and Apollo, who proceeded to [[DisproportionateRetribution shoot her 14 children to death]]. She wept so much that the gods had pity and turned her to stone. But even that didn't stop her tears. Niobe's fate is referenced in ''Literature/TheIliad'', making it an OlderThanDirt example.
* Also from Greek mythology: After Orpheus looked back in the underworld and lost Eurydice, he wandered around for a while playing such sad songs on his lyre that even the rocks and trees wept for him.

* Red Tornado sheds a single tear in a ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode. His episodes are huge {{tearjerker}}s though, so you can't blame him.

* RobotGirl Aigis cries at the end of ''Persona 3,'' when the main character [[spoiler:makes a HeroicSacrifice to seal away Nyx, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Death]].

* This is OlderThanDirt. In Greek mythology, after Orpheus looked back in the underworld and lost Eurydice, he wandered around for a while playing such sad songs on his lyre that even the rocks and trees wept for him.
* There's a Greek myth about a statue who cried. Niobe insulted the mother of Artemis and Apollo, who proceeded to [[DisproportionateRetribution shoot her 14 children to death]]. She wept so much that the gods had pity and turned her to stone. But even that didn't stop her tears.

[[quoteright:237:[[{{Gargoyles}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GolaithTear.jpg]]]]

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* ''{{Gargoyles}}'' did this twice in the same {{flashback}}. First Demona sheds an off-screen tear right before she petrifies. Then, when she wakes up and finds her boyfriend petrified, she leaves a tear on his forehead that makes it look like he was crying.

[[AC:RealLife]]

<<|SadnessTropes|>>

* In the original Japanese dub of ''{{Teknoman}}/TekkamanBlade'', Pegas (Teknobot) made a HeroicSacrifice in the final episode, and shed a single oil tear. The UK dub included this, but the US dub removed it form some reason.

* Done very effectively in the ''HarryPotter and the Goblet of Fire'' movie (that is, for people who had read the books to begin with.) A bit of rain gets spattered on the eyes of a dude in a stain-glass window.

** In the ''Final'' OVA, GaoFighGar has a single trail of oil leaking from its eye when Guy [[spoiler:destroys the Fake Mamoru and GaoGaiGar.]]

%%Please do not move the picture%%
[[{{Gargoyles}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GolaithTear.jpg]][[caption-width:240:[-Technically, he was alive at the time he was crying and ''then'' was turned to stone. He is a gargoyle after all.-] ]] [[MenDontCry Boys don't cry]]. Neither do statues, or robots, or things that generally lack tear ducts. But, if you ''really'' want to crank up the pathos or despair, have something that can't cry shed a tear -- perhaps saline, or perhaps some more appropriate liquid. Often effective, occasionally {{Narm}}.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode "Doomsday", the cyberized Yvonne breaks through her programming and fights off the other Cybermen as they corner the Doctor, constantly repeating, "I did my duty for Queen and country." A drop of oil leaks from one of her eyes.

* This troper can't believe that Pokemon: The First Movie hasn't been mentioned.
** ''This'' troper can, as Pokemon are not made of stone, and once the legend of the Pokemon tears came out, it was a foregone conclusion (to the audience, anyway) that they were going to cry near the end of the movie.

** It should be noted that this trope was also played for laughs in a comedic spinoff episode- instead of crying, Giant Robo suffers a nosebleed upon seeing an attractice IPO agent naked.

* RobotGirl Chachamaru of ''MahouSenseiNegima'' once cried after a major breech of her privacy ForScience. It was just lense-cleaning fluid, but tears nontheless.
** Especially since human tears are, primary, not much more then lense-cleaning fluid either, to keep the eyes moist.

* In ''[=~Yu-Gi-Oh!~=]'', after Noah kidnaps Seto Kaiba's [[MoralityPet little brother Mokuba]], he aims to escape the virtual world his father (and Kaiba's stepfather) created for him in [[GrandTheftMe Kaiba's body]] by defeating him in a duel. When Kaiba is about to defeat him, however, he used the kidnapped and now BrainwashedAndCrazy Mokuba as a human shield to convince Kaiba not to attack. A very touching TearJerker scene results when Noah's control is finally broken and Mokuba runs towards his older brother, only for the both of them to be turned to stone by Noah moments before they touch...and a single tear that had been in Mokuba's eyes shed from the stone as the episode closed.

* Mic Sounders XIII of GaoGaiGar sheds a few [[SparklingStreamOfTears tears]] after he helplessly watches [[spoiler: eleven of his brothers get disintegrated and twelfth die in his arms]]. This is both [[TearJerker hearbreaking]] and, in a sick way, [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] since this is not only one of his most [[TookALevelInBadass badass moments]] but the only time you will see him truly furious at ''anything''.

* ''In Gods & Generals'', General "Stonewall" Jackson breaks down into ManlyTears upon being informed of [[spoiler: the death of the child Jane Corbin from scarlet fever]]. A watching officer remarks in suprise that he has never previously cried after the deaths of any of his comrades or men. Another suggests that he is "crying for them all".

** And in ''Dirge of Cerberus'', when [[spoiler: Lucrecia sheds a tear within her crystalized stasis for Vincent]], as a final testimony to the end of her tragic life.

* ''FinalFantasyXIII'' - Not sure if this qualifies, but as Serah Farron is turned into a crystal, she weeps a single tear for her fiance and sister.

* In ''KingsQuest VI'', Prince Alexander faces Death himself and challenges him in order to resurrect the king and queen. The challenge? Make Death cry. Alex then shows him a magic mirror which reveals Death's horrific painful past, which shocks him so much that he sheds a single tear.

** Also done in "Lisa's Wedding." It's a parody, in that the robots aren't supposed to have emotions, but cry at sentimental events… and short themselves out.
* ''{{Gargoyles}}'' did this twice in the same [[{{Flashback}} flashback]]. First Demona sheds an off-screen tear right before she petrifies. Then, when she wakes up and finds her boyfriend petrified, she leaves a tear on his forehead that makes it look like he was crying.
* In [[XMenEvolution X-Men: Evolution]], we see a petrified [[spoiler:Mystique]] seem to shed a tear at one point -- or was it just condensation? Subverted in a later episode when [[spoiler:it turns out that the real Mystique is still alive and the statue was just a statue all along]].

<<|SadnessTropes|>>

** There's also Brook. A living skeleton who outright stated he could not cry, bursts into tears upon learning his crew's beloved TeamPet was still waiting for their return. WordOfGod (who in this case has a track record of not always answering with total seriousness) {{Handwave}}s it by saying "Because even when his tears of sadness dry... his tears of joy can still flow."

* The concept of the album ''Dead Winter Dead'' by {{Savatage}} centers around an old Gargoyle looking over the town of Sarajevo for centuries, trying to figure out humans and now watching the devastating Bosnian War. When an old musician, playing Cello in the ruins to keep up a last piece of culture ( based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedran_Smailovic Vedran Smailovic]] ) is finally killed, a single tear drops from the gargoyle's eye.

* Tiny drops of oil still leak from the wreck of the USS ''Arizona'', one of the battleships lost during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many claim that these are the "black tears" being shed by the ship as it mourns for the 1,177 sailors and marines who died aboard her. And, according to legend, the tears will only stop once the very last ''Arizona'' veteran dies.

* In YuGiOh, after Noah kidnaps Seto Kaiba's [[MoralityPet little brother Mokuba]], he aims to escape the virtual world his father (and Kaiba's stepfather) created for him in [[GrandTheftMe Kaiba's body]] by defeating him in a duel. When Kaiba is about to defeat him, however, he used the kidnapped and now BrainwashedAndCrazy Mokuba as a human shield to convince Kaiba not to attack. A very touching TearJerker scene results when Noah's control is finally broken and Mokuba runs towards his older brother, only for the both of them to be turned to stone by Noah moments before they touch...and a single tear that had been in Mokuba's eyes shed from the stone as the episode closed.
* In [[{{Kikaider}}Android Kikaider: the Animation]], Jiro (the titular android) can be seen shedding copious amounts of tears, despite the fact that robots obviously do not have tear ducts. [[spoiler: Arguably a justified situation; not only is Jiro in possession of a [[RestrainingBolt conscience circuit]] which blesses him with a full spectrum of human emotion, but he now has to stand on the sidelines while his LoveInterest is being traumatized for life by her MissingMom. Turns out Mom was a DeepCoverAgent working for BigBad Professor Gil, and only married Mitsuko's father in order to keep an eye on him and his robotics research. Mitsuko and her kid brother, Masaru, were just part of her cover. And if that wasn't bad enough, Gil has now given Mom orders to gun Mitsuko down before Jiro's very eyes. The experience of Mom holding a gun to her head is enough to give Mitsuko the [[HeroicBSOD Blue Screen of Death]]. It's when she softly whispers, "Please, Mother. Kill me," that Jiro's hurricane of emotions find their conduit.]]

* The concept of the album ''Dead Winter Dead'' by Savatage centers around an old Gargoyle looking over the town of Sarajevo for centuries, trying to figure out humans and now watching the devastating Bosnian War. When an old musician, playing Cello in the ruins to keep up a last piece of culture ( based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedran_Smailovic Vedran Smailovic]] ) is finally killed, a single tear drops from the gargoyle's eye.

* The MadArtist teacher from RosarioToVampire is a gorgon and likes to turn people to stone for her collection. Her victims and still aware and clue Tsukune in to what is going on by crying.