History TearJerker / FateZero

** Not quite a Tearjerker, but Kirei's brief-but-unmistakable reaction when [[spoiler: Kiritsugu looks right through him]]. For someone who rarely responds to anything besides physical pain and ''schadenfreude'', it's startlingly telling that he doesn't derive any joy from seeing [[spoiler:Emiya Kiritsugu as a broken man]].

* Kiritsugu [[spoiler:going through the wreckage of the city desperately trying to find someone - anyone! - that's alive. When Kotomine sees him, he has a broken expression on his face.]]

** Rider's incredibly blunt and harsh speech to Saber in episode 11, as he systematically tries to break down her ideals, ending with calling her a ''little girl''. Saber's shaken reaction and her flashbacks to the battlefield, where we see her broken and severely wounded, is ''definitely'' a tearjerker.
*** Notch it UptoEleven when [[spoiler:TheReveal of Berserker's true identity takes place,]] and plunges Saber into a serious HeroicBSOD. Seeing/reading about her breaking down [[spoiler:Even as Berserker delivered a vicious NoHoldsBarredBeatdown]] brought this troper close to breaking down as well.

* [[spoiler: Kayneth willingly gives up in the Grail war in order to save Sola-Ui, throwing away his pride and choosing to protect the woman he loves instead. [[KickTheDog Then they both die.]] ]]

** The tense confrontation between [[spoiler:Waver and Archer, where Waver stands up to Archer, proclaims his duty to Iskander to live, and ''earns Archer's respect'' before being left alone to break down and mourn over his fallen friend with ManlyTears]] Doubles as a CrowningMomentofAwesome.

* In the penultimate episode of the anime, Kariya's [[spoiler: death. His body finally gives out from the strain of the worms and he just sort of...falls over. Alone in a dark basement, and no one really cares.]] The fact that he appears to be ''smiling'' makes it even worse.

* The 2nd OP song [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome "to the beginning"]], by Kalafina. To those whose Japanese is not fluent, just read the translated lyrics & you'll know it makes '''DAMN''' well sure to remind you that the story [[ForegoneConclusion will not end well]], [[TearJerker as much as we want it to...]]

* Kiritsugu [[spoiler: ordering Saber to destroy the Grail. Saber's scream is just ''heart-wrenching''.]]

** [[spoiler:The ironic part? This episode aired on the day the real Alexander The Great died.]]

** Kiritsugu [[spoiler: ordering Saber to destroy the Grail. Saber's scream is just ''heart-wrenching''.]]

** [[spoiler:And the episode which adapted that scene aired on Father's Day. Another Irony!]]

* One of the last scenes in the fourth novel, Kiritsugu [[spoiler:having his [[TheNeedsOfTheMany methods in saving people]] brutally deconstructed by Angra Mainyu, which reveals that not only [[KillEmAll how exactly the Grail is planning to grant his wish]], it forces Kiritsugu to experience (and in some cases, ''re''-experience) killing everyone he ever loved and cared about. The kicker, though, is when the Grail reveals what Kiritsugu's true, hidden desire is- to live a happy life with Irisviel and Ilya, a wish that he sacrificed to save the world... and then Kiritsugu to proceeds to reject the Grail, which involves shooting the hallucination of Ilya in the head and strangling what's more or less an Avenger-possessed Irisviel, and "she" "dies" cursing him. His last words to her before she dies? "I will save the world". His last words to ''Ilya''? "Daddy loves Ilya too... I swear, no matter what happens, that's true..."]]

** [[spoiler:The episode in question aired just a few days before Mother's Day for extra despair.]]

*** Notch it UptoEleven when [[spoiler:TheReveal of Berserker's true identity takes place,]] and plunges Saber into a serious HeroicBSOD. Seeing/reading about her breaking down [[spoiler:Even as Berserker delivered a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown]] brought this troper close to breaking down as well.

** The tense confrontation between [[Waver and Archer, where Waver stands up to Archer, proclaims his duty to Iskander to live, and ''earns Archer's respect'' before being left alone to break down and mourn over his fallen friend with ManlyTears]] Doubles as a CrowningMomentofAwesome.

*** On the same topic, [[spoiler:Saber after Kiritsugu forces her to destroy the Grail. She returns to the hill of her scene of death, even more emotionally broken and undergoing a severe HeroicBSOD at the thought of what the rest of her men experienced. She concludes that the fall of her country was all because of her, because ''she'' was chosen as the king, and starts crying and and crying and apologizing, over and over again, after deciding that the only way she can repent is to use the grail to erase all her mistakes.]]

** [[spoiler:The episode in question aired just a few days before Mother's Day for extra despair.]]

** [[spoiler:The episode in question aired on Mother's Day for extra despair.]]

* Kiritsugu [[spoiler:having to kill his mentor and adoptive mother to prevent a zombie outbreak]] in his backstory.

* Kiritsugu [[spoiler:having to kill his mentor and adoptive mother to prevent a zombie outbreak]] in his backstory.

* [[spoiler: Kayneth willingly gives up in the Grail war in order to save Sola-Ui, throwing away his pride and choosing to protect the woman he loves instead. [[KickTheDog Then they both die.]] ]]

* [[spoiler: Kayneth willingly gives up in the Grail war in order to save Sola-Ui, throwing away his pride and choosing to protect woman he loves instead. [[KickTheDog Then they both die.]] ]]

* [[spoiler: Keyneth willingly gives up in the Grail war in order to save Sola-Ui, throwing away his pride and choosing to protect woman he loves instead. [[KickTheDog Then they both die.]] ]]

* [[spoiler: Keyneth willingly gives up in the Grail war in order to save Sola-Ui, throwing away his pride all for the woman he loves. [[KickTheDog Then they both die.]] ]]

** Caster's hallucination of Jeanne d'Arc, smiling kindly and holding out a hand for him to take [[spoiler:before his death.]] Even worse, it's implied that [[FaceHeelDoorSlam he might have been about to make a]] HeelFaceTurn.

** Caster's hallucination of Jeanne d'Arc, smiling kindly and holding out a hand for him to take [[spoiler:before his death.]] Even worse, it's implied that [[FaceHeelDoorSlam he might have been about to make a HeelFaceTurn.]]

** Caster's hallucination of Jeanne d'Arc, smiling kindly and holding out a hand for him to take [[spoiler:before his death.]] Even worse, it's implied that [[FaceHellDoorSlam he might have been about to make a HeelFaceTurn.]]

** Caster's hallucination of Jeanne d'Arc, smiling kindly and holding out a hand for him to take [[spoiler:before his death.]] Even, wrose, it's implied that he might have been about to make a HeelFaceTurn.

** Caster's hallucination of Jeanne d'Arc, smiling kindly and holding out a hand for him to take [[spoiler:before his death.]]

*** On the same topic, [[spoiler:Saber after Kiritsugu forces her to destroy the Grail. She returns to the hill of her scene of death, even more emotionally broken and undergoing a severe HeroicBSOD at the thought of what the rest of her men experienced. She concludes that the fall of her country was all because of her, because ''she'' was chosen as the king, and starts crying and and crying and apologizing, over and over again, after deciding that the only way she can repent is to use the grail to erase all her mistakes.]]

** Rider's incredibly blunt and harsh speech to Saber in episode 11, as he systematically tries to break down her ideals, ending with calling her a ''little girl''. Saber's shaken reaction and her flashbacks to the battlefield, where we see her broken and severely wounded, is ''definitely'' a tearjerker.