History TearJerker / FireEmblem

* First and foremost, if a unit dies, except in rare circumstances in earlier games or under the Casual or Phoenix modes in more modern games, they are gone ''[[{{Permadeath}} for good]]''. Depending on the game and character, you may get to see their FamousLastWords. In games where the PlayerCharacter is an avatar you give a name to, losing someone who is a Support, or worse, your ''spouse'', can feel as if you just lost a real best friend or significant other. More recent titles like ''Echoes'' with dubbing and even post-battle dialogue take this knife in your heart and ''twist'' it with convincing voice acting, having other characters ''react'' to the loss of their loved ones at the end of battle.

* First and foremost, if a unit dies, except in rare circumstances in earlier games or under the Casual or Phoenix modes in more modern games, they are gone ''[[FinalDeath for good]]''. Depending on the game and character, you may get to see their FamousLastWords. In games where the PlayerCharacter is an avatar you give a name to, losing someone who is a Support, or worse, your ''spouse'', can feel as if you just lost a real best friend or significant other. More recent titles like ''Echoes'' with dubbing and even post-battle dialogue take this knife in your heart and ''twist'' it with convincing voice acting, having other characters ''react'' to the loss of their loved ones at the end of battle.

* One of the worst thing that could happen to a person in the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' universe is simply by being a plucky young girl with a talent in magic. Because chances are pretty big that [[YouKilledMyFather their parents or some of their family members would have been killed nastily by the bad guys]], and it's always a pain for them to shoulder at such a young age. This is basically the Linde archetype in a nutshell.

** A rather subtle one: if you watch the portrait sprite of the character during their death quote, the character actually ''closes their eyes'' after the quote finishes (except for people who [[NonLethalKO just retreat]]).

--->'''[[ChivalrousPervert Forde]]''': "Ah, Prince Ephraim... It... It was fun while it lasted.\\

** To twist the knife even further, it can happen anytime, anywhere and to anyone. It can even happen randomly in an early chapater against some random mook. Fire Emblem as a whole really shows the reality of war; that good people, people that you grow to care about, sometimes do not make it out of the conflict.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'', [[spoiler:the death of Joshua's mother, Queen Ismaire]]. Also, [[spoiler:Lyon's conversations with Ephraim's are ''even more'' heartwretching than the ones he has with Eirika. The trick is how different the twins' reactions to Lyon are; Eirika has always been emotional and that's okay, but seeing the calm and collected Ephraim '''lose it''' when he faces Lyon...]]
** "C'mon, Ephraim. Smile for me, like you always do..."
** Knoll and Duessel's A support conversation: "We are dead men who strayed too far from our graves." Knoll himself is a magnet for tragedy, [[spoiler:especially his ending. He doesn't even stay to enjoy Grado being back to normal, and if you go by the aforementioned support, it's possible that he's dead]].
** Actually his ending and supports with Natasha implies that he stayed and helped restore Grado, and eventually left his homeland, likely out of guilt for being one of the assistants of Lyon who unintentionally assisted his prince in causing a war and resurrecting the Demon King, which is also quite depressing.
** The very last piece of dialogue in the game, a post-credits picture of Lyon meeting Eirika and Ephraim for the first time. [[spoiler:The text box only gives Lyon's speech, and it rends you to the core after the ending you've just been through:]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Lyon:''' Oh, are you... I'm... My name is Lyon. Uh-huh. That's me...The son of the emperor. You're Prince Ephraim and Princess Eirika from Renais, aren't you? I heard you were coming, and I've been waiting here all day. I've always wanted... I don't have any friends my own age... So, Prince Ephraim... Princess Eirika... What do you say? From now on, let's be friends...]]
* A bit of FridgeBrilliance — and Fridge Sadness, if it existed: 99% of the death quotes are extremely sad. Intelligent Systems likes to give the goofier, funnier characters the sadder quotes. Probably the best example in ''Radiant Dawn'' is Kieran; you can tell by looking at him he's a very silly guy. But his death quote for Chapter 3 in Part 2?
--> '''Kieran:''' General... Forgive me! I should have... trained harder...\\
'''Geoffrey:''' Kieran... No! I'm coming to help you! Hold tight! Kieran!!
** There's also Sain from ''[=FE7=]'': "Lady Lyndis... I was so happy..."
** And following the trend, have these from ''[=FE8=]''. All of these charas are among the funnier, more-stable, cheerier ones in the game, and then...

** Lex's death quote in ''[=FE4=]''. You'd think a big tough guy like him would be going on about how a little wound's not gonna take him down, but instead?
--->"I'm such a weakling...Sir Sigurd, please allow me to die in peace..."
* Hey, it's not like the Archanean saga is all happy place with happy things either. This is capitalized mostly on Book 2 about [[spoiler:Hardin. His life at Book 2 is just a massive TearJerker. We see his downward spiral from a just and honorable knight, who would've been Marth's greatest ally, but because of unrequited love for Nyna (who is ''another'' walking tearjerker, considering how painful her own life was as well) and Gharnef's tinkering, becomes a FallenHero and tyrant to his otherwise just Empire. And when you killed him, he went back to his senses, apologized for being too weak to resist Gharnef's influence... and died while asking Marth to take care of Nyna and asked for her forgiveness for what he did to her when BrainwashedAndCrazy. Poor Hardin.]]
** Don't forget that the conclusion to the above arc comes on the heels of [[spoiler:being forced to fight and kill most of the Wolfguard, Hardin's personal platoon who were party members alongside him in the first Book. In the remake, you can save most of them, although it's implied in his ending that Wolf goes on to commit SuicideByCop, so as the player all you can really do for him, at least, is postpone the inevitable.]]
* A rather subtle one from the eighth game: if you watch the portrait sprite of the character during their death quote, the character actually ''closes their eyes'' after the quote finishes (except for people who [[NonLethalKO just retreat]]).
* The twelfth game gives us [[spoiler:anything and everything to do with Katarina]]. Though what mostly stands out would be [[spoiler:her death quote in 16x]].
* The ending to ''Shadow Dragon'' if Caeda dies. Marth is clearly heartbroken that Caeda died for him and realizes he loved her. He and Nyna reflect on the curse of the Shadow Dragon. Thank Naga this ending is not canon.

* ''TearJerker/FireEmblemGaiden''

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblem8'', [[spoiler:the death of Joshua's mother, Queen Ismaire]]. Also, [[spoiler:Lyon's conversations with Ephraim's are ''even more'' heartwretching than the ones he has with Eirika. The trick is how different the twins' reactions to Lyon are; Eirika has always been emotional and that's okay, but seeing the calm and collected Ephraim '''lose it''' when he faces Lyon...]]

*** There's also Sain from ''[=FE7=]'': "Lady Lyndis... I was so happy..."

--->'''[[ChivalrousPervert Forde]]''': "Ah, Prince Ephraim... It... It was fun while it lasted."
--->'''[[ThePrankster Ewan]]''': "I'm sorry, Teacher... I never--"
--->'''[[GenkiGirl Tana]]:''' I've long been prepared for this day... Too long...
--->'''[[ThePollyanna Amelia]]:''' I... I did well, didn't I?
--->'''[[TheTrickster Colm]]:''' To think of it... Me... In this place... Neimi...

''Fire Emblem'' titles that have their own pages:

** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemGaiden''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemAwakening''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemFates''
** ''TearJerker/FireEmblemHeroes''

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance''
** The death of [[spoiler:General Shiharam, Jill's father]]: not so much during the actual event, but the conversation with Haar and the surviving troops afterwards.
--->[[spoiler:'''Haar:''' One, two, three...five in all. We're lucky to have that many.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Soldier:''' Captain Haar...what are we supposed to do now? General Shiharam is dead, and our homes are gone. What are we to do with our families?]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Haar:''' What do you want to do? We've lost any right we had to stay here. So that leaves Begnion or Crimea...]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Soldier:''' General Shiharam was slain by Crimea...joining with them now is not...it's not possible.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Haar:''' Then all you can do is return to Begnion. I doubt you'll get a hero's welcome but...I've an old friend in the pegasus knights. Shall I contact her?]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Soldier:''' Sniff...Ah, gods. Eighteen long years...what does any of it mean now?]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Haar:''' Don't say that! No matter what, I'm proud to have served under General Shiharam.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Soldier:''' You're right...it was an honor...]]
** And if you got Jill alive, the subsequent base conversation also punches you in the gut. [[spoiler:Ike and Jill met a Daein refugee who's just glad that Shiraham's daughter is alive... and proceeds to give an 'encouraging' rant on how Jill is going to drive away the 'Crimean monsters' with her 'bodyguard' Ike. Both Ike and Jill couldn't bear to deliver the news that they're fighting for Crimea and left the refugee in the dark about the truth, unable to save them from the illusion that Daein under Ashnard is anything but hell.]]
** It gets worse: Jill actually has [[DevelopersForesight alternate death dialogue]] if she dies during that chapter while Shiharam is on the map to witness it:
--->'''Shiharam:''' Jill! Why? Why must I see this?
--->'''Jill:''' Ah... Father... Father... ...
--->'''Shiharam:''' Jill!!!
** At the end, [[spoiler:when Ena is finally reunited with her boyfriend Rajaion, who has been driven insane and is about to die because of the Feral drug. Then the Heron Laguz sing the Galdr of Rebirth, which restores his sanity and turns him back into a normal Laguz... but he still dies a few minutes later. At least he got to die in the arms of the one he loved. ''And'' Ena's also pregnant with his child.]] Also, let's not forget...
** Ike watched [[spoiler:Greil kill Elena when he took the medallion]]. Making it even worse when he also watched [[spoiler:Greil die before his eyes as well]].
** ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' doesn't even ''need'' any plot-related scenes. [[http://www.serenesforest.net/fe9/death.html Just let certain characters fall in combat]].
--->'''Rolf:''' "I... wonder what will happen to me... I'm so scared... Boyd... Broth--"
** Soren's past in ''[=FE9=]'' and ''10'' has the works of ParentalAbandonment, AbusiveParents, and being ostracized and attacked by complete strangers based only on how he was born. He also almost died of starvation before Ike found and fed him, and was then immediately separated from him -- the only person who had ever shown him kindness -- for several years due to [[spoiler:Greil's killing spree happening later the same day]]. Later, he reunited with him, only to find that Ike didn't remember him at all because [[spoiler:his memory was erased after he saw Greil kill Elena]]. During Soren and Ike's conversation in the last battle in ''RD'', [[spoiler:Soren just lets it all out and cries in Ike's arms]].
** Japanese script. Geoffrey and Elincia's discussion on the walls, and the following discussion that Elincia has with [[spoiler:Ludveck]], especially her last comment [[spoiler:before she walks out and willingly leaves Lucia to her fate]].
---> '''[[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask Elincia]]:''' [[spoiler:Thank you for letting me see my own weaknesses. To have allowed your ambitions and your rebelliousness to carry out for this long...it was my weakness. To have Crimea, now, in such a broken state, these sins are all mine. I'll bear that sin forevermore, as I dedicate my life to Crimea. I am queen, after all. I will live...for Lucia...]]
** When Soren is finally reunited with [[spoiler:his mother. And he doesn't even recognize her, even though she recognizes him...]]
* The death of [[spoiler:Sephiran]] in ''[=FE10=]''. [[spoiler:He welcomes death with open arms. And if you have Sanaki Talk to him during the battle...Oh boy. Heck, every boss after Rebirth (1). Lekain was a pleasure to kill, albeit the other guy (Hetzel) didn't really deserve it.]]
* Happy tears at the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az_gsB4oUb8&feature=related Rebirth]] scene of ''Path of Radiance.'' After that battle, you ''deserve'' this. As if the scene and the music weren't enough...
** [[spoiler:The aftermath of chapter 4-5, where you finally kill Izuka once and for all. The fact that so many Laguz died horribly at either the army's hands or each other, Reyson singing a dirge to put their souls to rest, Tibarn and Ranulf's overall moods. It doesn't get any better when you're taken to none other than ''Bertram'' from the first game...who's actually Renning, Elincia's uncle who was thought to be dead! Luckily, Reyson is able to heal him and it becomes a HeartwarmingMoment.]]
** Rafiel's backstory. [[spoiler:The poor thing got captured by a slave trader and was lucky enough to be bought by the benevolent Hetzel. Unfortunately, he got sick, and by the time he was well enough to leave, the Serenes Forest had been burned to the ground.]]
** Being forced to kill [[spoiler:Pelleas]] in your first playthrough. [[spoiler:Almedha's reaction and Micaiah's guilt are heartwrenching, and the worst part is ''it didn't solve the problem'']]. Thankfully, you can avoid this on your second playthrough and beyond.

* In ''FireEmblem 8'', [[spoiler:the death of Joshua's mother, Queen Ismaire]]. Also, [[spoiler:Lyon's conversations with Ephraim's are ''even more'' heartwretching than the ones he has with Eirika. The trick is how different the twins' reactions to Lyon are; Eirika has always been emotional and that's okay, but seeing the calm and collected Ephraim '''lose it''' when he faces Lyon...]]

* ''FireEmblem: Path of Radiance''

** ''FireEmblem'' doesn't even ''need'' any plot-related scenes. [[http://www.serenesforest.net/fe9/death.html Just let certain characters fall in combat]].