History TearJerker / FinalFantasyXVI

* Near the end of the game, Joshua's flawed resurrection due to Phoenix's powers [[YourDaysAreNumbered finally catches up with him]]. He has just enough time to transfer the powers of Phoenix to Clive, and tells him that he has [[SoProudOfYou always been proud to have Clive as both his Shield and brother]] before he succumbs. All Clive can do is sob brokenly and cradle his younger brother's body. It's implied that Clive potentially revives him using Phoenix's powers before destroying the last Mothercrystal, as evidenced by the ambiguously DistantFinale, but there's no immediate sign that the revival attempt worked at all.

** And without Garuda, she's just an exhausted woman alone in a forest, beset by bandits [[AttemptedRape with all that situation implies.]]

* Dion having a full mental breakdown as he tries to convince his father the Emperor that his stepmother Annabella and his half-brother Olivier are egging him on to steer Sanbreque to its doom. And then Olivier smugly talks down to Dion and makes it clear that yes, he is every bit as horrible as Dion thought him to be. At his wits' end, Dion throws his spear at the child...only for the Emperor to throw himself in front Olivier, taking the fatal blow instead. If the horror of seeing his father's limp body wasn't bad enough, he quickly witnesses the horrific revelation that Olivier isn't even ''human'' and has been nothing more than an undead proxy of Ultima's the entire time. All this, topped with a BreakingSpeech from "Olivier", is what finally triggers Dion's maddened transformation into Bahamut, and he subsequently lays waste to the home that he has been trying to protect.

* Dion having a full mental breakdown as he tries to convince his father the Emperor that his stepmother Annabella and his half-brother Olivier are simply egging him on to steer Sanbreque to its doom. And then Olivier smugly talks down to Dion and makes it clear that yes, he is every bit as horrible as Dion thought him to be. At his wits' end, Dion throws his spear at the child...only for the Emperor to throw himself in front Olivier, taking the fatal blow instead. If the horror of seeing his father's limp body wasn't bad enough, he quickly witnesses the horrific revelation that Olivier isn't even ''human'' and has been nothing more than an undead proxy of Ultima's the entire time. All this, topped with a BreakingSpeech from "Olivier", is what finally triggers Dion's maddened transformation into Bahamut, and he subsequently lays waste to the home that he has been trying to protect.

* Dion having a full mental breakdown as he tries to convince his father the Emperor that his half-brother Olivier is ''evil'', having being possessed by Ultima. At his wits' end, he throws his spear at the undead child...only for the Emperor to throw himself in front Olivier, taking the fatal blow instead. Seeing his father's limp body and enduring a BreakingSpeech from "Olivier" is what finally triggers Dion's maddened transformation into Bahamut, and he subsequently lays waste to the home that he has been trying to protect.

-->'''Benedikta:''' Where is she? [[MadnessMantra Where is she where is she]] ''[[MadnessMantra where is she?]]''
* What does break her out of her BSOD, just briefly? During the ambush by bandits, her beloved second-in-command dies in front of her. A man who clearly cared for her despite her seemingly having lost her power.

* After being slain by a berserk Ifrit to stop her from leveling the land while in a berserk state herself, Cid mourns Benedikta's death and the choices she made leading to it. He mourns over her body, placing her charm back with her (hinted to be a gift from him she kept on her person), asking why she chose to listen to Barnabas instead and how this couldn't possibly have been what she wanted.

* Clive discovering that ''he'' is the Dominant of Ifrit in present day when returning to Phoenix Gate, and ''he'' was the one who killed his own brother and subsequently falling into a HeroicBSOD.

* Clive watching as Hugo destroyed the Throne of Rosaria where Elwin once sat in order to spite Clive for apparently wanting to protect the empty throne. You can clearly hear the pain in Clive's voice as he says ''no'', and then you'll realize that this is the second time Clive has failed to be the ''Shield of Rosaria'', and on a more personal level, to Clive, the mark of him having failed his father. While he had discovered that Joshua was alive at that time, it still clearly didn't take away the fact that Clive had failed his father's high hopes for him: He had almost killed Joshua and left Rosaria vulnerable to the Empire and the Iron Kingdom as Ifrit, and now he was powerless to do anything as the throne of Rosaria is destroyed in front of his own eyes.

* Dion having a full mental breakdown as he tries to convince his father the Emperor that his half-brother Olivier is ''evil'', having being possessed by Ultima. At his wits' end, he throws his spear at the undead child...only for the Emperor to throw himself in front Olivier, taking the fatal blow instead. Seeing his father's limp body and enduring a BreakingSpeech from "Olivier" is what finally triggers his transformation into Bahamut, and he subsequently lays waste to the home that he has been trying to protect.

* Near the end of the game, Joshua's flawed resurrection due to Phoenix's powers finally catches up with him. He has just enough time to transfer the powers of Phoenix to Clive, and tells him that he has [[SoProudOfYou always been proud to have Clive as both his Shield and brother]] before he succumbs. All Clive can do is sob brokenly and cradle his younger brother's body. Fortunately, Clive revives him using Phoenix's powers before destroying the Mothercrystal, as evidenced by the ambiguously DistantFinale.

%%[[folder:Awakening]]

%%[[folder:The Wages of Guilt]]

%%[[folder:The Hunter and the Hunted]]

%%[[folder:Homecoming]]

%%[[folder:Building Bridges]]

%%[[folder:A Bearer's Lot]]

%%[[folder:Holding On]]

%%[[folder:Back in the Day]]

%%[[folder:Buried Memories]]

%%[[folder:The Meaning of Life]]

%%[[folder:Righting Wrongs]]

%%[[folder:The Dame]]

%%[[folder:The Crystals' Curse]]

%%[[folder:Cid the Outlaw]]

%%[[folder:Home, Sweet Home]]

%%[[folder:The Gathering Storm]]

%%[[folder:Dark Clouds Gather]]

%%[[folder:Release]]

%%[[folder:Bloodlines]]

%%[[folder:Black Light Burns]]

%%[[folder:Black or White]]

%%[[folder:Here Be Monsters]]

%%[[folder:Fire and Ice]]

%%[[folder:After the Storm]]

%%[[folder:Capital Punishment]]

%%[[folder:Bolts from the Blue]]

%%[[folder:Getting to Work]]

%%[[folder:Riddle of the Sands]]

%%[[folder:Follow the Crystals]]

%%[[folder:Into the Darkness]]

%%[[folder:Out of the Shadow]]

%%[[folder:Letting off Steam I]]

%%[[folder:Letting off Steam II]]

%%[[folder:Letting off Steam III]]

%%[[folder:Onward]]

%%[[folder:To Catch a Thief]]

%%[[folder:Blood from the Stones]]

%%[[folder:Fire in the Sky]]

%%[[folder:Things Fall Apart]]

%%[[folder:Why We Fight]]

%%[[folder:The Flames of War]]

%%[[folder:Down the Rabbit Hole]]

%%[[folder:Cloak and Dagger]]

%%[[folder:Evenfall]]

%%[[folder:A Song of Hope]]

%%[[folder:Like Father, Like Daughter]]

%%[[folder:Full Steam]]

%%[[folder:Through the Maelstrom]]

%%[[folder:Across the Narrow]]

%%[[folder:Footfalls in Ash]]

%%[[folder:The Last King]]

%%[[folder:Brotherhood]]

%%[[folder:Streets of Madness]]

%%[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Back to Their Origin]]

%%[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Of Gods and Men]]

%%[[/folder]]

* When Clive (seemingly) steals Garuda from Benedikta, she is so ''completely broken'' by having lost the only part of herself that she considers valuable that she can't even ''walk''. Her men have to carry her out of the castle.
-->'''Benedikta:''' Where is she? [[MadnessMantra Where is she where is she]] ''[[MadnessMantra where is she?]]''
* What does break her out of her BSOD, just briefly? During the ambush by bandits, her beloved second-in-command dies in front of her. A man who clearly cared for her despite her seemingly having lost her power.
** And without Garuda, she's just an exhausted woman alone in a forest, beset by bandits [[AttemptedRape with all that situation implies.]]
* After being slain by a berserk Ifrit to stop her from leveling the land while in a berserk state herself, Cid mourns Benedikta's death and the choices she made leading to it. He mourns over her body, placing her charm back with her (hinted to be a gift from him she kept on her person), asking why she chose to listen to Barnabas instead and how this couldn't possibly have been what she wanted.
* Clive discovering that ''he'' is the Dominant of Ifrit in present day when returning to Phoenix Gate, and ''he'' was the one who killed his own brother and subsequently falling into a HeroicBSOD.
** Clive is so deeply broken that as soon as he wakes up and Cid visits him, Clive ''begs'' Cid to kill him for having killed Joshua and everything he had loved with his own hands, straight-up calling himself a monster and sobbing on the ground, uncaring about his nakedness, once Cid [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan punches him down and tells him to cool off]].
** On the mission directly following this Clive is left alone with Torgal to pass through on the way to their next destination. Notably, in this area when a battle triggers, the BGM doesn't change at all - perhaps reflecting Clive himself just purposelessly going through the motions as he no longer sees the point (which he says almost verbatim when faced with his first enemies.)
*** There is a moment on this path where Clive reaches a bridge with a rushing river underneath, and just pauses and stares. Torgal whimpers to get his attention. No words are spoken, but given Clive's mental state at the time [[DrivenToSuicide it's not difficult to see what was being implied.]]
** This also raises a more troubling implication of what happened that night. The clash between Phoenix and Ifrit is not between enemies but loving brothers whom ''neither'' of which wanted this to happen. Ifrit showing up ''[[SpannerInTheWorks wasn't]]'' part of Anabella's plans. While it could simply be Clive losing control, it could also be taken as him being in full ''denial'' over what happened that night, blaming Ifrit as a separate entity and creating a SelfServingMemory.
* Clive watching as Hugo destroyed the Throne of Rosaria where Elwin once sat in order to spite Clive for apparently wanting to protect the empty throne. You can clearly hear the pain in Clive's voice as he says ''no'', and then you'll realize that this is the second time Clive has failed to be the ''Shield of Rosaria'', and on a more personal level, to Clive, the mark of him having failed his father. While he had discovered that Joshua was alive at that time, it still clearly didn't take away the fact that Clive had failed his father's high hopes for him: He had almost killed Joshua and left Rosaria vulnerable to the Empire and the Iron Kingdom as Ifrit, and now he was powerless to do anything as the throne of Rosaria is destroyed in front of his own eyes.

-->'''Benedikta:''' Where is she? Where is she where is she ''where is she?''

** Clive is so deeply broken that as soon as he wakes up and Cid visits him, Clive ''begs'' Cid to kill him for having killed Joshua and everything he had loved with his own hands, straight-up calling himself a monster and sobbing on the ground, uncaring about his nakedness, once Cid punches him down and tells him to cool off.

* Joshua's relationship with Anabella is pretty sad from his perspective, since he was the Phoenix, his mother actually liked him even if she was mean and strict on his well-being.
** The worst part is that ''[[BlessedWithSuck he doesn't want to be Phoenix's Dominant]]''. The role puts him under immense pressure, not the least of which is from his own mother. In his conversation with Clive, he almost makes it sound like he'd rather be the one ignored[=/=]scorned by Anabelle. And when you see traits like his refusal to eat carrots, you're reminded that Joshua's just a kid forced to try to grow up too fast by the circumstances of his birth. Which makes what happens to him in the end all that much more heartrending.

[[folder:Main Story]]
* Joshua’s relationship with Anabella is pretty sad from his perspective, since he was the Phoenix, his mother actually liked him even if she was mean and strict on his well-being.

* Jill’s treatment during the timeskip was…not kind. When Clive finds her again, she’s in the hands of people who view Dominants like her as abominations and living weapons. When they make her fight for them, it’s implied she just wants to die.

* When Clive (seemingly) steals Garuda from Benedikta, she is so ''completely broken'' by having lost the only part of herself that she considers valuable that she can't even ''walk''. Her men have to carry her out of the castle.
-->'''Benedikta:''' Where is she? Where is she where is she ''where is she?''
* What does break her out of her BSOD, just briefly? During the ambush by bandits, her beloved second-in-command dies in front of her. A man who clearly cared for her despite her seemingly having lost her power.
** And without Garuda, she's just an exhausted woman alone in a forest, beset by bandits [[AttemptedRape with all that situation implies.]]
* After being slain by a berserk Ifrit to stop her from leveling the land while in a berserk state herself, Cid mourns Benedikta's death and the choices she made leading to it. He mourns over her body, placing her charm back with her (hinted to be a gift from him she kept on her person), asking why she chose to listen to Barnabas instead and how this couldn't possibly have been what she wanted.
* Clive discovering that ''he'' is the Dominant of Ifrit in present day when returning to Phoenix Gate, and ''he'' was the one who killed his own brother and subsequently falling into a HeroicBSOD.
** Clive is so deeply broken that as soon as he wakes up and Cid visits him, Clive ''begs'' Cid to kill him for having killed Joshua and everything he had loved with his own hands, straight-up calling himself a monster and sobbing on the ground, uncaring about his nakedness, once Cid punches him down and tells him to cool off.
** On the mission directly following this Clive is left alone with Torgal to pass through on the way to their next destination. Notably, in this area when a battle triggers, the BGM doesn't change at all - perhaps reflecting Clive himself just purposelessly going through the motions as he no longer sees the point (which he says almost verbatim when faced with his first enemies.)
*** There is a moment on this path where Clive reaches a bridge with a rushing river underneath, and just pauses and stares. Torgal whimpers to get his attention. No words are spoken, but given Clive's mental state at the time [[DrivenToSuicide it's not difficult to see what was being implied.]]
** This also raises a more troubling implication of what happened that night. The clash between Phoenix and Ifrit is not between enemies but loving brothers whom ''neither'' of which wanted this to happen. Ifrit showing up ''[[SpannerInTheWorks wasn't]]'' part of Anabella's plans. While it could simply be Clive losing control, it could also be taken as him being in full ''denial'' over what happened that night, blaming Ifrit as a separate entity and creating a SelfServingMemory.
* Clive watching as Hugo destroyed the Throne of Rosaria where Elwin once sat in order to spite Clive for apparently wanting to protect the empty throne. You can clearly hear the pain in Clive's voice as he says ''no'', and then you'll realize that this is the second time Clive has failed to be the ''Shield of Rosaria'', and on a more personal level, to Clive, the mark of him having failed his father. While he had discovered that Joshua was alive at that time, it still clearly didn't take away the fact that Clive had failed his father's high hopes for him: He had almost killed Joshua and left Rosaria vulnerable to the Empire and the Iron Kingdom as Ifrit, and now he was powerless to do anything as the throne of Rosaria is destroyed in front of his own eyes.
* Dion having a full mental breakdown as he tries to convince his father the Emperor that his half-brother Olivier is ''evil'', having being possessed by Ultima. At his wits' end, he throws his spear at the undead child...only for the Emperor to throw himself in front Olivier, taking the fatal blow instead. Seeing his father's limp body and enduring a BreakingSpeech from "Olivier" is what finally triggers his transformation into Bahamut, and he subsequently lays waste to the home that he has been trying to protect.
* She deserved it, but Anabella's state when she kills herself is so pathetic that it illicits pity. On top of having her new home collapsing around her ears, she's forced to deal with the two-fold blow of seeing Dion kill her son Olivier (who disintegrates into aether, confirming he was ''never alive'') and Joshua alive after believing he was dead all these years. It breaks her completely, and she spends her last moments convinced that everything that's happened is a bad dream and screaming at Joshua to stay away from her. Even ''Clive'' can't help but feel pity at her suicide.
** Subtle, but when Clive finally gets to meet Anabella, he is definitely furious and disgusted with Anabella and doesn't hesitate to call her out over her disdain of Elwin and her betrayal of Rosaria, but while he was rejecting her beliefs, he never once defends ''his own self'', even when she rants about him not becoming the Dominant of Phoenix and being strong in ways that only made things harder for her. Either he is just resigned to Anabella never having any affection for him at all, or he actually ''agrees'' with her to an extent that had he been born as the Dominant of the Phoenix, things would have been better for his entire family, both of those possibilities can still be saddening.
** Joshua's perspective can also be a bit sad. Despite how his mother orchestrated the events that lead to him and Clive being separated, his brother enslaved, and their home falling, Joshua clearly did retain more genuine sentiment towards his mother than Clive, and then you realize no matter how strict Anabella was on Joshua, she ''still did love him'' and Joshua can't just forget about that, no matter how evil Anabella truly was. He probably did recognize her as just a pawn of Ultima and wanted to give her a chance to redeem herself. The despondent tone on his voice as he laments his mother's death can still tug a bit of heartstrings.
* Near the end of the game, Joshua's flawed resurrection due to Phoenix's powers finally catches up with him. He has just enough time to transfer the powers of Phoenix to Clive, and tells him that he has [[SoProudOfYou always been proud to have Clive as both his Shield and brother]] before he succumbs. All Clive can do is sob brokenly and cradle his younger brother's body. Fortunately, Clive revives him using Phoenix's powers before destroying the Mothercrystal, as evidenced by the ambiguously DistantFinale.
* When Clive and Jill are speaking to Martha in her inn, a Mother and her son enter and are overheard talking about how she gave away in disgust her newborn child all because he was a Bearer. Martha notes that Bearer's are treated as though they are less than human and no one cares what happens to them.

[[folder:Side Quests]]

[[/folder]]

* Near the end of the game, Joshua's flawed resurrection due to Phoenix's powers finally catches up with him. He has just enough time to transfer the powers of Phoenix to Clive, and tells him that he has [[SoProudOfYou always been proud to have Clive as both his Shield and brother]] before he succumbs. All Clive can do is sob brokenly and cradle his younger brother's body.

* After being slain by a berserk Ifrit to stop her from leveling the land while in a berserk state herself, Cid mourns Benedikta's death and the choices she made leading to it. He weeps over her body, placing her charm back with her (hinted to be a gift from him she kept on her person), asking why she chose to listen to Odin instead and how this couldn't possibly have been what she wanted.

* Near the end of the game, Joshua's flawed resurrection due to Phoenix's powers finally catches up with him. He has just enough time to transfer the powers of Phoenix to Clive, and tells him that he has [[SoProudOfYou always being proud to have Clive as both his Shield as his brother]] before he succumbs. All Clive can do is sob brokenly and cradle his younger brother's body.

* Returning to Eloise and Theo starts a storyline where they settle an abandoned town for Bearers that they buy and free. Late in the storyline, the duo learn that the village is under attack by [[TheCorrupted Akashics]], and Theo leads the charge to protect the village. Unfortunately, by the time Clive finds him, he himself is corrupted. Eloise makes it to the scene just as he has enough will left to say goodbye as [[DyingAsYourself he kills himself]]. El later confesses that everything she did was so she and her brother could be together in peace, and breaks down sobbing over the death of her beloved brother.