History TearJerker / Dragonball

* In episode 112 of the anime after King Piccolo summons Shenron. Poor Chiaotzu tries to thwart King Piccolo's wish, only to be killed rather brutally before he can even fully get his own wish out. As if that isn't enough. Once Piccolo gets his wish and has his youth is restored, he goes on to murder Shenron before the Eternal Dragon can disappear and disperse the Dragon Balls.

* In episode 112 of the anime after King Piccolo summons Shenron. Poor Chiaotzu tries to thwart King Piccolo's wish, only ro be killed rather brutally before he can even fully get his own wish out. As if that isn't enough. Once Piccolo gets his wish and has his youth is restored, he goes on to murder Shenron before the Eternal Dragon can disapear and disperse the Dragon Balls.

* In the King Piccolo arc, there's a filler scene of when Tien, Chiaotzu, and Master Roshi are gathering the Dragon Balls of the former having a run-in with an unnamed fighter from his past with the Crane School (the said man has a Dragon Ball in his infant son's crib). Long story short, Tien broke the man's leg in competition even though he'd been named the victor of their match. This left the fighter crippled with a permanent limp and it took two years for him to recover enough just to get back to his family. That backstory alone is sad enough, but when he encounters Tien again, he understandably is both bitter and possibly afraid that the ex-assassin-to-be would try to ruin his life again and has his wife call the police (though that was partially due to thinking he was responsible for Tambourine's murders). The police arrive, another long story short, Roshi is able to defuse the situation by vouching for Tien's character and the cops stand down. The man, however, accuses that Tien would probably just tear apart his place just to find what he wants, as expected of a man who formerly ruined his life, and even points a shotgun at him. Does Tien get angry? Does he attempt to take the gun? Does he attempt to use telekinesis to take the ball? None of the above; he gets on his hands and knees and ''begs'' for the ball, even offering the man vengeance by breaking his arms. The man is taken aback by the humble gesture and grants Tien his forgiveness and the dragon ball. It's honestly a powerful scene that one wouldn't expect from the [[EasilyForgiven Dragon Ball series]], let alone filler, and emphasizes the point of "just because you've had a change of heart doesn't magically erase all of your crimes".
* Muten Roshi's failure to re-seal Piccolo Daimao leading to his eventual death.
* Episode 124 of the anime has Piccolo's son Junior wonder through the woods until he spies a family celebrating the birthday of their son. Seeing this, Junior becomes angry and distracts the family before destroying the boy's cake and birthday present for seemingly no reason other than spite. It's then you realize that Junior isn't just a weapon Piccolo created to seek his vengeance, [[CryForTheDevil he's also a lonely child with no one to turn to]].

* On February 29th, 2020, Luis Alfonso Mendoza, the Latin American dub voice for Gohan, was murdered. He will be surely missed by all.

* On February 29th, 2020, Luis Alfonso Mendoza, the Latin American dub voice for Gohan, has been assassinated. He will be surely missed by all.

*** Worse, in the anime: Goku, who's a BigEater, doesn't even touch his food, struggling to shake off the fact that a simple friendly task of Krillin offering to get his 4-star ball back to him could lead to danger. He then flips out, after hearing Krillin scream and runs back to the contestant room, and the first thing he sees is Krillin's body on the ground. The announcer, who was also attacked, explains a monster came and fought Krillin and stole a list. The gang run back to see what happened. Goku tries to look for a heartbeat, but hears none. He then announces that Krillin is dead, and appears to fighting back tears, while deeply enraged. It's actually one of the first times we've seen Goku cry, and not in [[TearsOfJoy joy]] like the arc before.

** His fourth death, in ''GT'' when #17 is trying to get #18 to come back to him. Krillin (An aged man at this point, daughter Marron beside him) is telling him he has no control over her anymore, she's not a part of him, and she can make her own descisions. #17 doesn't like this. So he blows a hole through Krillin's chest, blowing him back and killing him. What sets it off is Marron and 18's reactions. Marron's shaking his limp body crying "Wake up Daddy... wake up!" while 18 is begging for him not to leave her, crying while a montage of scenes between the two are shown. She sheds a few tears and whispers a soft "I love you" before [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge rushing at 17]].
*** What's even worse is if you think about the whole thing from #18's perspective. She likely hasn't seen her brother in about two ''decades'', he shows back up, tries to convince her to go right back to the obviously-painful situation that they were in all that time ago, but at this point she has friends and new family. Then the brother she loves kills the husband who she legitimately loves, despite her SugarAndIcePersonality flaw that sometimes makes it seem like she doesn't. And ''then'' he tries to kill her daughter. She's not a very emotional person, but that just ''hurts''.
* King Vegeta's death: the guy is trying to rescue his son from the clutches of a monster like Frieza and dies trying. What makes it worse is that Vegeta doesn't even know how awesomely brave his dad was when he died. Up until Frieza told him on Namek how he died [[ForTheEvulz just to get a kick out of him]], he probably thought his father was on the planet when it happened.

* Bardock and Gine's sacrifice for their youngest son, Goku. They sent him off to Earth to protect him from Frieza, saving his life, and given the universe its savior. No one, however, remembers them for it. As far as Goku, the gods, and everyone else knows Goku was sent as an infiltration baby, ordered to kill all life on the planet. Goku himself doesn't seem to think much of his parents given he never bothered to connect with them when he was dead, probably thinking they were typical, bloodthirsty Saiyans. What they gave and their love for their child is utterly lost to history, making them both unsung heroes.

* The end of Mystical Adventure. When Upa gets the courage (from Goku) to ask Shenron to revive his father. It's more of a so happy it's sad moment, really. What really makes this scene is the song Dragon Ball Densetsu playing over it.

* When the Masked Fighter is revealed to be Gohan Sr. in ''Dragon Ball''. Goku begins to cry as he hugs his grandfather. Bulma even says "Gosh, even Son's crying!" A rare occasion indeed.

*** It turns FromBadToWorse when adult Goku sees Vegeta transform into a Ōzaru and makes the connection about what happened to his grandfather. He realizes that [[spoiler: [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone HE was the Great Ape that accidentally killed Grandpa Gohan]], and says that if he loses the fight and dies, that he'll personally apologize to him in the afterlife]].
* The murder of Bora by Taopaipai/Mercenary Tao. This was the first (onscreen) death of the entire series. Watching Upa run to this dead father while crying, and Goku charging at Taopaipai/Tao is the first major tragedy of ''Franchise/DragonBall''.

* In the King Piccolo arc, there's a filler scene of when Tien, Chiaotzu, and Master Roshi are gathering the Dragon Balls of the former having a run-in with an unnamed fighter from his past with the Crane School (the said man has a dragon ball in his infant son's crib). Long story short, Tien broke the man's leg in competition even though he'd been named the victor of their match. This left the fighter crippled with a permanent limp and it took two years for him to recover enough just to get back to his family. That backstory alone is sad enough, but when he encounters Tien again, he understandably is both bitter and possibly afraid that the ex-assassin-to-be would try to ruin his life again and has his wife call the police (though that was partially due to thinking he was responsible for Tambourine's murders). The police arrive, another long story short, Roshi is able to defuse the situation by vouching for Tien's character and the cops stand down. The man, however, accuses that Tien would probably just tear apart his place just to find what he wants, as expected of a man who formerly ruined his life, and even points a shotgun at him. Does Tien get angry? Does he attempt to take the gun? Does he attempt to use telekinesis to take the ball? None of the above; he gets on his hands and knees and ''begs'' for the ball, even offering the man vengeance by breaking his arms. The man is taken aback by the humble gesture and grants Tien his forgiveness and the dragon ball. It's honestly a powerful scene that one wouldn't expect from the [[EasilyForgiven Dragon Ball series]], let alone filler, and emphasizes the point of "just because you've had a change of heart doesn't magically erase all of your crimes".

--> [[spoiler: '''Hacchan''']]: Hi Goku, are you okay?

* On November 17, 2017, Bulma's original Japanese VA (Hiromi Tsuru) was found dead in her own car at the age of 57; needless to say this shocking news simply ''crushed'' the hearts of Otaku from all three generations of her career....'''especially''' on those who've grown up on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise.

** A particularly heart-wrenching line from this scene, in the dub: ''"I looked for you everywhere and I couldn't find you!"'' [[HarsherInHindsight Oh, Goku.]]

* In the 10th anniversary film ''Path To Power'', [[spoiler: Hacchan's]] death.

* Episode 124 of the anime has Piccolo's son wonder through the woods until he spies a family celebrating the birthday of their son. Seeing this, the boy becomes angry and distracts the family before destroying the boy's cake and birthday present for seemingly no reason other than spite. It's then you realize that this boy isn't just a weapon Piccolo created to seek his vengeance, [[CryForTheDevil he's also a lonely child with no one to turn to]].

* King Vegeta's death: the guy is trying to rescue his son from the clutches of an monster like Frieza and dies trying. What makes it worse is that Vegeta doesn't even know how awesomely brave his dad was when he died. Up until Frieza told him on Namek how he died [[ForTheEvulz just to get a kick out of him]], he probably thought his father was on the planet when it happened.

** Just before that, when Goku sacrifices his life to protect the Earth, Gohan breaks down sobbing and he gets upset with himself for not beating Cell earlier, and says it's his fault that Goku died. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Krillin then consoles Gohan and tells him that he fought well.]]

* The murder of Bora by Taopaipai/Mercenary Tao. This was the first (onscreen) death of the entire series. Watching Upa run to this dead father while crying, and Goku charging at Taopaipai is the first major tragedy of ''Franchise/DragonBall''.

* Episode 124 of the anime has Piccolo's son wonder through the woods until he spies a family celebrating the birthday of their son. Seeing this, the boy becomes angry and distracts the family before destroying the boy's cake and birthday present for seemingly no reason other than spite. It's then you realize that this boy isn't just a weapon Piccolo created to his seek vengeance, he's also a lonely child with no one to turn to.

* The murder of Bora by Taopaipai. This was the first (onscreen) death of the entire series. Watching Upa run to this dead father while crying, and Goku charging at Taopaipai is the first major tragedy of ''Franchise/DragonBall''.

** Her funeral was a private affair. Her [[https://kotaku.com/memorial-service-for-bulmas-voice-actress-hiromi-tsuru-1822083061 owakare-kai memorial]] was attended by ''hundreds'' and was an elaborate memorial to everything she'd done, with Bulma being the most prominent (her altar even included dragon balls). And then there's a line from the memorial speech Creator/MasakoNozawa gave for her comparatively-young friend (Nozawa was ''81'' when this happened, to Tsuru's mere 57):

* On May 15, 2018, the narrator of the Latin American Spanish dub of the series Creator/JoseLavat died at the age of 69 while working on the dub of the Universe Survival Saga. While he had a very prolific career in dubbing (being the recurring voice actor of Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/HarrisonFord, Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/IanMcKellen and Creator/AlPacino, among others), for a generation of anime fans who grew up with his work on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise, his role telling the adventures of Goku and his friends was still his best known role, and the news ''crushed'' the hearts of fans region-wide.

* On November 17th, 2017, Bulma's original Japanese VA (Hiromi Tsuru) was found dead in her own car at the age of 57; needless to say this shocking news simply ''crushed'' the hearts of Otaku from all three generations of her career....'''especially''' on those who've grown up on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise.

--->“If you gather the seven Dragon Balls, any wish you want will be granted. But this time, they’re useless... I’m so sorry.”

* The murder of Bora by Taopaipai. This was the first (onscreen) death of the entire series. Watching Upa run to this dead father while crying, and Goku charging at Taopaipai is the first major tragedy of DragonBall.

* The murder of Bora by Taopaipai. This was the first (onscreen) death of the entire series. Watching Upa run to this dead father while crying, and Goku charging at Taopaipai fits this trope.

* Every single time Kuririn dies.
** From the original series: Kuririn's first death, and Goku getting to him too late. ''Heartbreaking.''
*** Worse, in the anime: Goku, who's a BigEater, doesn't even touch his food, struggling to shake off the fact that a simple friendly task of Kuririn offering to get his 4-star ball back to him could lead to danger. He then flips out, after hearing Krillin scream and runs back to the contestant room, and the first thing he sees is Kuririn's body on the ground. The announcer, who was also attacked, explains a monster came and fought Krillin and stole a list. The gang run back to see what happened. Goku tries to look for a heartbeat, but hears none. He then announces that Krillin is dead, and appears to fighting back tears, while deeply enraged. It's actually one of the first times we've seen Goku cry, and not in [[TearsOfJoy joy]] like the arc before.
*** Even the [[SplitPersonality blonde Lunch]], who introduced herself to Goku and Kuririn by shooting at them, was sad and sorrowfully carried his body in her hands.
** "Death 1.5", where he's gored by Freeza's first transformation, but is barely saved by Dende. Especially with how long it took him to expire.
** His second death. Quick and senseless, but still just as wrenching.
*** [[spoiler: Goku's transforming into a Super Saiyan is at least partly a result of Kuririn's death[[note]](original dub, Freeza mocks how Krillin exploded; in Kai, Freeza says that Gohan's next[[/note]].]]
** His third death... not so much. Not quite as dramatically effective when you're [[ImAHumanitarian turned into candy and eaten]].
*** Although, it ''was'' a HeroicSacrifice as he acted as a decoy to protect his family which definitely has some emotional merit. [[spoiler: It gets really sad when you realize this ends up being a SenselessSacrifice since his wife 18 and his daughter Marron were the VERY NEXT victims of Super Buu shortly afterwards.]]
** His fourth death, in GT when #17 is trying to get #18 to come back to him. Kuririn (An aged man at this point, daughter Marron beside him) is telling him he has no control over her anymore, she's not a part of him, and she can make her own descisions. #17 doesn't like this. So he blows a hole through Kuririn's chest, blowing him back and killing him. What sets it off is Marron and 18's reactions. Marron's shaking his limp body crying "Wake up Daddy... wake up!" while 18 is begging for him not to leave her, crying while a montage of scenes between the two are shown. She sheds a few tears and whispers a soft "I love you" before [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge rushing at 17]].

* King Vegeta's death: the guy is trying to rescue his son from the clutches of an monster like Frieza and dies trying.
** What makes it worse is that Vegeta doesn't even know how awesomely brave his dad was when he died. He probably thinks his father was on the planet when it happened.

* A little too subtle to notice, but the fact that Chichi blames herself for being so stubborn in Gohan's raising and her stance against his martial arts training, and that as a result she indirectly caused Goku's death at the hands of Cell isn't too easy to face. This is the very reason she is seen training Goten.
** Just before that, when Goku sacrifices his life to protect the Earth, Gohan breaks down sobbing and he gets upset with himself for not beating Cell earlier, and says it's his fault that Goku died. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Kuririn then consoles Gohan and tells him that he fought well.]]
* Every time [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs9fEmbT2qE this song]] plays in Dragon Ball Z, it's almost guaranteed to make you cry, as it accompanies some of the most dramatic deaths in the anime, including Piccolo and Vegeta's.

[[folder: Dragonball]]
* The end of Mystical Adventure. When Upa gets the courage (from Goku) to ask Shenron to revive his father. It's more of a so happy it's sad moment. really. What really makes this scene is the song Dragon Ball Densetsu playing over it.
* In the first World Tournament when it looks like Jackie Chun(aka Master Roshi) killed an apeified Goku with a Kamehameha wave. The reactions of Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha, and company is really upsetting.

** Then we got Krillin yelling in horror for Goku not to leave them and accusing Jackie Chun of being a murderer.
** In the sub, the next episode preview has Bulma doing the commentary. The thing is, Goku is always the one who does it which makes the episode highly imply that he's dead.
*** Even sadder for Krillin considering he had bonded with Goku for the past several months and even had become best friends with him; to see that his new friend had apparently been killed right in front of him is absolutely heartbreaking. Sure Goku turns out to be fine but still...
* When the Masked Fighter is revealed to be Gohan Sr. in Dragon Ball. Goku begins to cry as he hugs his grandfather. Bulma even says "Gosh, even Son's crying!" A rare occasion indeed.

-->“If you gather the seven Dragon Balls, any wish you want will be granted. But this time, they’re useless... I’m so sorry.”

* On November 17th, 2017, Bulma's original Japanese VA (Hitomi Tsuru) was found dead in her own car at the age of 57; needless to say this shocking news simply ''crushed'' the hearts of Otaku from all three generations of her career....'''especially''' on those who've grown up on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise.

* On November 17th, 2017, Bulma's original Japanese VA (Hitomi Tsuru) was found dead in her own car at the age of 57; needless to say this shocking news simply ''crushed'' the hearts of Otaku from all three generations of her career....especially on those who've grown up on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise.

* On November 17th, 2017, Bulma's original Japanese VA (Hitomi Tsuru) was found dead in her own car at the age of 57; needless to say this shocking news simply ''crushed'' the hearts of Otaku from all three (four?) generations who've grown up on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise.

* On November 17th, 2017, Bulma's original Japanese VA (Hitomi Tsuru) was found dead in her own car at the age of 57; needless to say this shocking news simply ''crushed'' the hearts of so many people who've grown up on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise.