History TearJerker / GuiltyGear

** Baiken's theme, ''Mirror of the World'', especially after the events of ''Another Story''. Baiken has lived her entire life for only one purpose: getting revenge on the one who destroyed her country and killed her family - Happy Chaos. As cool a character as she may be, it's easy to forget that she's a BrokenBird who's essentially been living just to kill someone and then resign herself to whatever fate may come afterward - including death. It's only after she meets Delilah, someone who's also lost her family to the same man she's after and is willing to do whatever it takes to avenge her brother and feels that Baiken is a kindred spirit, does she finally realize that there are people who care for her that she's pushed away and that throwing away one's humanity and life is never a price worth paying. In the end, Baiken finally finds the companionship which she has denied herself for so long, abandoning her quest for vengeance in order to truly live her own life, with Delilah by her side. Much like Sol, Baiken can now finally let go of the guilt she's been carrying for so long.

** Faust's theme, ''Alone Infection'', at first is a standard heavy metal track, but during the chorus changes to a more melancholy melody with lyrics that are unusually somber. It mixes in a sense of dread fitting to his sudden insanity, but also hints at Faust struggling with himself. In addition, the lyrics are both deranged and very depressing, with copious amounts of distorted, dual-toned [[MetalScream Metal Screams]] that give the impression that Faust is struggling with his own identity. Lastly, after the 2nd verse, the song suddenly cuts to a quiet, sad-sounding ballad.

* "'''The Name of Heaven'''". The final Arcade Mode ending theme of Sol's story arc, it's a tragic ballad whose lyrics describe someone who has suffered and is on the verge of death, pondering what the afterlife is like and if they can finally be free from all their pain. At first, you may think this song could apply to Sol and Aria just like all the other ending themes...until it plays in Story Mode and you realize that it's ''not'' just describing Sol and Jack-O' (Aria's reincarnation who in the moment the song plays is planning on sacrificing herself), but also '''I-No'''. She's been broken so much by the trauma of creating and erasing so many timelines yet never finding one that she herself could find happiness in, that the only two things that matter to her now are either sharing the experience of "heaven" with everyone else just to feel like she belongs, or for someone to MercyKill her. Combined with the references in the scene that follows her ascension to godhood, this song is basically Daisuke Ishiwatari's answer to "[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Komm, susser tod]]".

** Baiken's theme, ''Mirror of the World'', especially after the events of ''Another Story''. Baiken has lived her entire life for only one purpose: getting revenge on the one who destroyed her country and killed her family - Happy Chaos. As cool a character as she may be, it's easy to forget that she's a BrokenBird who's essentially been living just to kill someone and then resign herself to whatever fate may come afterward - including death. It's only after she meets Delilah, someone who's also lost her family to the same man she's after and is willing to do whatever it takes to avenge her brother and feels that Baiken is a kindred spirit, does she finally realize that there are people who care for her that she's pushed away and that throwing away one's humanity and life is never a price worth paying. In the end, Baiken finally finds the companionship which she has denied herself for so long, abandoning her quest for vengeance in order to truly live her own life, with Delilah by her side.

''Guilty Gear'' has a very dark backstory filled with deep pain and tragedy. From horrible misunderstandings, to forces outside of its characters' control, to people just plain being evil and acting akin to the monsters they grew to hate so much. It's easy to see what the world of ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' was based on.

** Testament's theme, ''Like a Weed, Naturally, as a Matter of Course'', is both a happy and a [[TearJerker sad]] one when one takes into account Testament's backstory. They have spent their whole life fighting on both sides of the Crusades, as a human and as a Gear, and all those years of war left them in despair, a broken shell of the idealist they used to be. Then, at their absolute lowest point, they met Dizzy, who left such an impact on them that even after their eventual separation, they still never forgot about her and her dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and Gears. Now, after all these years, that beautiful dream has not only been made a reality for the world, but for Testament as well, as humans later came to accept and befriend them. The song is an expression of their gratitude towards Dizzy for redeeming them and finally giving them a reason to live on. Even though Ky ultimately was the one to be with Dizzy in the end, she will always be Testament's eternal friend and savior.

** Testament's theme, ''Like a Weed, Naturally, as a Matter of Course'', is both a happy and a sad one when one takes into account Testament's backstory. They have spent their whole life fighting on both sides of the Crusades, as a human and as a Gear, and all those years of war left them in despair, a broken shell of the idealist they used to be. Then, at their absolute lowest point, they met Dizzy, who left such an impact on them that even after their eventual separation, they still never forgot about her and her dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and Gears. Now, after all these years, that beautiful dream has not only been made a reality for the world, but for Testament as well, as humans later came to accept and befriend them. The song is an expression of their gratitude towards Dizzy for redeeming them and finally giving them a reason to live on. Even though Ky ultimately was the one to be with Dizzy in the end, she will always be Testament's eternal friend and savior.

''[...]"If I am to be swallowed by fate I must have fought well,\\
Praying that it will become a seed of... new life..."''

The ironic rhythm is a grand orchestra!''\\

'''THAT'S ALL I WANT!'''"

** Leo's theme, ''Hellfire''. The lyrics reveal that underneath Leo's facade of a proud warrior and king is a man suffering from heavy PTSD and SurvivorsGuilt because his pride ended up getting his entire squad killed during the Crusades.

** The reveal of Asuka's key personality trait, namely that he has trouble understanding people and properly conveying his emotions and intentions, retroactively makes everything he's ever done and many plot details a lot sadder. Like Frederick, he didn't want to lose Aria to her disease. But rather than simply tell Frederick that she didn't want to live in a world without him and get his opinion on how to proceed, he went ahead and forcibly mutated him into a Gear against his will, causing Frederick to hate Asuka over a perceived betrayal for over 100 years. Because of the Prototype Gear project being labeled a "failure" due to Frederick's escape, the military seized control of the Gear Project and there was nothing Asuka could do to stop the Gears from being used for war, so he had no choice but to try and subvert those plans by implanting Aria's soul into the first Commander-type Gear: Justice. This resulted in Japan's destruction and Aria's effective death, leaving only a rampaging Justice to wage war on the world for over 100 years. The world was brought to the brink of destruction all because of one man's desire to see his friends happy together yet utter failure at interpreting his friends' will, on alevel of PoorCommunicationKills to perhaps rival [[Franchise/MetalGear Major Zero and Big Boss]].

** The reveal of Asuka's key personality trait, namely that he has trouble understanding people and properly conveying his emotions and intentions, retroactively makes everything he's ever done and many plot details a lot sadder. Like Frederick, he didn't want to lose Aria to her disease. But rather than simply tell Frederick that she didn't want to live in a world without him and get his opinion on how to proceed, he went ahead and forcibly mutated him into a Gear against his will, causing Frederick to hate Asuka over a perceived betrayal for over 100 years. Because of the Prototype Gear project being labeled a "failure" due to Frederick's escape, the military seized control of the Gear Project and there was nothing Asuka could do to stop the Gears from being used for war, so he had no choice but to try and subvert those plans by implanting Aria's soul into the first Commander-type Gear: Justice. This resulted in Japan's destruction and Aria's effective death, leaving only a rampaging Justice to wage war on the world for over 100 years. The world was brought to the brink of destruction, all because of one man trying to ensure his friends could be happy together.

* Asuka's backstory. He does admit he was the one who had Japan destroyed to contain Justice, but the Gear rampage afterwards wasn't his doing. ''His mentor'' of all people was the reason ''entire world'', possibly including his best friend Frederick wanted Asuka dead for ''centuries''.

-->'''Leo:''' [[SurvivorsGuilt Don't you die on me]], [[ThatsAnOrder that's an order!]]

** I-No's theme, ''Requiem'', is a dramatic and bombastic tune normally, but the lyrics describe I-No's true motivations behind her actions. Beneath her two-faced personality is a deeply hurt woman who only wanted to use her powers to create a bright future for all of humanity, but the more she used her powers the more disaster and tragedy she caused. The numerous alternate futures she created eventually drove her to despair and insanity, to the point where she's all but given up on her ideals.

* "'''The Name of Heaven'''". The final Arcade Mode ending theme of Sol's story arc, it's a tragic ballad whose lyrics describe someone who has suffered and is on the verge of death, pondering what the afterlife is like and if they can finally be free from all their pain. At first, you may think this song could apply to Sol just like all the other ending themes...until it plays in Story Mode and you realize that it's ''not'' describing Sol, but '''I-No'''. She's been broken so much by the trauma of creating and erasing so many timelines yet never finding one that she herself could find happiness in, that the only two things that matter to her now are either sharing the experience of "heaven" with everyone else just to feel like she belongs, or for someone to MercyKill her. Combined with the references in the scene that follows her ascension to godhood, this song is basically Daisuke Ishiwatari's answer to "[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Komm, susser tod]]".

* Sol's fridge-raiding NoodleIncident is played for laugh. But you get a sense that deep down the man still longs for the time before the Universal Will tore his life apart. He may be hailed as hero with all the previlage but his heart has never truly rest all this time.

** The music that plays during this scene, ''The Name of Heaven'', doesn't help matters either. It's an emotional ballad about experiencing true freedom and eternal bliss. It also describes I-No's true motivations, to be able to share the experience of heaven with everyone else, in part because it's what she was created to do and also to heal her broken soul.

** Sol and Jack-O', now once again Frederick and Aria, live peacefully near a scenic lakeside and run a machine parts shop.

** '''Sol Badguy dies.''' To be more specific, the identity that Frederick Bulsara had built up over the last century as an InvincibleHero bounty hunter. He is declared killed in action in order to stop the current world from being destroyed by I-No, but this allows him to finally settle down with Jack-O', who has become her own person following Aria's decision to not return.

** I-No's [[KilledOffForReal death]]. She is finally able to come to terms with what she is in her final moments as I-No. As her current form dies at the hands of Frederick Bulsara, she uses the last of her power to effectively be reborn as Megumi once more via switching places with her, allowing Megumi to take I-No's place in the present and granting her fellow time traveler's wish, as well as fulfilling her dream of giving at least one person a happy future. A heart-wrenching yet satisfying end to one of the most legendary and iconic villains in fighting game history.

-->"''Free...dom. '''Freedon.''' All of you are now free. From old age, hunger, and disease. From power, standing, appearance, location, and even time. I've freed you from all of these shackles. Now, what is your answer?''"

* '''''The ending.''''' If you thought the ending of ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction'' was bittersweet, the ending to ''Strive'' is even mroe so.