** Virmire... oh, Virmire. I didn't even ''like'' [[spoiler:Ashley]] up to that point, and because my Shep was [[spoiler:in a relationship with Kaidan]], I happily [[spoiler: let her die]]. But then, when it actually happened... it hit me so hard. I didn't realize how much I actually had [[spoiler:grown to like her]]. And then when you talk to [[spoiler:the survivor and Joker]] afterward... it's just hard. And then on my last playthrough, I [[spoiler:killed off Kaidan instead]] for the first time. So I finished up some other missions and was like "I'm going to go [[spoiler:see if Kaidan has anything to say]]!" And then I rounded the corner on the second deck and it hit me all over again... :-(
*** Sacrificing [[spoiler: Ashley or Kaidan]] is bad enough, but it's even worse if [[spoiler: they're your love interest.]] Just for an experiment, during my playthrough where my Shepard was romancing Kaidan, I made two saves: [[spoiler: one where he's saved, and another where he dies and Ashley lives.]] In most normal playthroughs I had where [[spoiler: Kaidan]] died, Shepard was clearly upset, but still managed to [[TheStoic keep a calm expression]]. [[spoiler: In the one where she and Kaidan had grown close and he died]] I could tell she was on the verge of tears.
** The music that plays during the debrief doesn't help. It's the same song that plays during a romance theme, but under some conditions, it'll keep playing even after the debrief as you're walking around the ship, replacing the usual Normandy theme. It gives you the feeling that something was irrevocably lost on that mission, and that nothing from here on out is going to be the same.
** Virmire will always hold a special place in my memories as well, not only because of the previously mentioned choice between [[spoiler: Ashley and Kaiden]] (Where's the [[TakeAThirdOption third option]]? What do you mean there's no third option? There has to be a third option! There's always a third option!) But more so for your encounter with Wrex. I generally dislike moral choice options in video games because almost always the choice is so extreme and telegraphed there's no real question as to what the "right" answer is, it's not so much a moral choice as chooses to be moral or immoral. You've got a choice between either saving the girl's kitten from the tree and while you're at it you might as well cure her cancer and pay for her collage or shooting the kitten out of the tree, slapping the little girl across the face with it, and laughing at her tears. Choosing whether or not to be evil isn't a moral choice. But there I was on Virmire, gun trained on one of my comrades, having to choose between giving the BigBad access to a nearly unlimited army of unstoppable killing machines or taking away the only chance Wrex has to save his people from a horrible genocidal bioweapon that has driven them nearly to extinction by taking their birth rates down to practically zero. It was the first time a moral choice in a video game really gave me a moral dilemma because the game didn't put a big flashing sign over one choice that said "This is the Right Answer! Get your Right Answer here!" It wasn't a TearJerker per se, but it was the deepest emotional conflict I ever found myself in in a video game. 
*** This is even worse if you haven't done Wrex's Family Armor mission or have enough charm or intimidate points to make him back down, since there is ''no way to save him'' and knowing this is a punch in the gut. I was actually so upset that I couldn't save him that I used a cheat -- something I never do -- to give myself enough charm points to make him stand down.
** ''Fucking Virmire''. This troper didn't like [[spoiler: Kaidan]] much... or so she thought. After the mission ended, she almost ended up screaming at the screen during the talk with the Council, because none of them even brought up the fact that one of the team fucking died there. My Shepard ended up spending a lot of time walking over to the spot where [[spoiler: Kaidan]] used to be and just staring.
* The final cutscene after defeating Sovereign. "Where's Shepard?" ...and then the camera cuts to that massive lump of Reaper, complete with heartbreakingly sad piano theme. Made exponentially worse by the fact that my party included my love interest, who truly did look like her world had come to an end. (Liara, in case you're wondering.) Even knowing that [[spoiler:[[DisneyDeath Shepard wasn't really dead]]]] didn't soften the blow.

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** Sacrificing [[spoiler: Ashley or Kaidan]] is bad enough, but it's even worse if [[spoiler: they're your love interest.]] 
** The music that plays during the debrief after Virmire doesn't help. It's the same song that plays during a romance theme, but under some conditions, it'll keep playing even after the debrief as you're walking around the ship, replacing the usual Normandy theme. It gives you the feeling that something was irrevocably lost on that mission, and that nothing from here on out is going to be the same.
** Your encounter with Wrex. Having to choose between giving the BigBad access to a nearly unlimited army of unstoppable killing machines or taking away the only chance Wrex has to save his people from a horrible genocidal bioweapon that has driven them nearly to extinction by taking their birth rates down to practically zero is even worse if you haven't done Wrex's Family Armor mission or have enough charm or intimidate points to make him back down, since there is ''no way to save him'' and knowing this is a punch in the gut.
*** The way Wrex stands away from everyone else and aimlessly fires his shotgun at the water as you apporach him does an excellent job to show his angst.
* The final cutscene after defeating Sovereign. "Where's Shepard?" ...and then the camera cuts to that massive lump of Reaper, complete with heartbreakingly sad piano theme. Made exponentially worse if your party includes your love interest. Even knowing that [[spoiler:[[DisneyDeath Shepard wasn't really dead]]]] didn't soften the blow.

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Sad moments in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'':

* The optional sidequest you get if you choose the Colonist background is just heartbreaking, as you have to deal with a girl who grew up as a slave taken from the same colony Shepard was born in - and is so mentally traumatized that she has to refer to herself in the third person because she can't think of herself as being the same person who was taken by the slavers. The most powerful moment is at the very end, if you convince her to take the sedative, and she says "It hurts when she....when I remember....me."
** When Shepard revealed that she was a survivor from the same colony. Talitha breaks down and demands to know why Shepard isn't broken like her and wonders how s/he is able to stand up in spite of losing everything in the same brutal way as Talitha. It drove home the point to me that, given a slightly different set of circumstances, Shepard could have wound up the exact same way as Talitha.
*** Maybe she did? The origin story didn't say how long before the Alliance rescued Shepard from slavery. It just brings a tear howling vengeance and righteous fury to my eye when I think of what they both suffered through, especially Talitha and FemShep. Female slaves throughout all of human history were more often [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil brutalized in a different way.]]
** My personal interpretation gives rise to the image of a 16-year-old Shepard coming home to find it ablaze, digging frantically through the rubble only to find his/her entire family dead. From the distance comes the sound of Batarians laughing as they round up another family. Without a moments pause, Shepard picks up their father's gun, cocks it and spends the next several hours proceeding to ''[[TranquilFury give them hell]]''. 
** Shepard's entire family fought to the bitter end, choosing death over slavery. All of Shepard's family were at least at some point willing fight for their lives.
--> I fought, my whole family fought. And got hit by an artillery barrage for their trouble. If they saw me, they probably left me for dead.
* If you have Liara in your party, Noveria is heartbreaking from start to finish. She starts out excited when the Elanus Risk Control guy at the Hanshan front-desk mentions Benezia's presence, manages to stay quietly optimistic at Peak 15, and then completely loses it when you finally confront Benezia in the hot labs.
--> '''Liara:''' What should I tell (Shepard), Mother? That you've gone mad? That you're evil? Should I tell (Shepard) how to kill you? ''What should I say?!''
** And later, when [[spoiler:Benezia finally dies by the team's hands:]]
---> '''Shepard:''' Hang on, we have medi-gel--
---> '''Liara:''' Mother! ''Don't go!''
---> '''Benezia:''' Goodnight, Little Wing... I will see you with the dawn. (pause) No... light... they always said... there would be...
*** If you replay the first game after having played the third and having talked to Liara about what Benezia had been like, and eavesdropping on the conversation between Liara and [[spoiler: her father]], you learn not only what she'd been like but where the "Little Wing" name came from, which makes it more touching.
* And then, there is Virmire... just Virmire. 
** "I'm sorry....I had to choose." "Its okay, Commander. I don't regret ''anything.''" Go ahead. Cry those ManlyTears. You know you want to. 
** "Hold on, [[TakeAThirdOption we're coming to pick you up, too.]]" "I think we both know [[SubvertedTrope that's not gonna happen.]]" Rest in peace, [[spoiler: Kaidan/Ashley]], rest in peace.
** "Fight hard, [[spoiler: Lieutenant/Chief]]. Die proud!" "Aye aye, Commander."
** What makes it worse is the fact that they make you choose. What the hell?! Bioware outdid themselves on that scene.
** To make Virmire even worse, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXLVFnl3WcE Captain Kirrahe's speech.]] Every single member of his species you encounter in the game is more or less impassive, but he delivers every line with total conviction and determination that even playing a Renegade path, I took pause at actively crippling him.
*** The worst part of it is the sentence Kirrahe says to Shepard at the end, all military bravado forgotten: "Good luck, Commander. I hope we will meet again." It just brings home the reality of the situation, that in all likelihood he and what's left of his Regiment will die in the attack. Makes saving him all the more satisfying.
----> '''Captain Kirrahe:''' Rest assured my people will not forget what you did here. You have made an ally of the salarian people.
----> '''Captain Kirrahe:''' We will work together again. I am certain of it.
*** Salarians with their short lifespans and even more fragile physiologies -only- do espionage and try not to do direct confrontation in war. So Kirrahe wasn't just throwing his squad (of spies and scouts) into the fire... they were going into a situation that they weren't trained for or accustomed to: make a big noise.
*** Virmire is just a bigger tear jerker than the entire SuicideMission, while you won't lose Shepard on Virmire, there is a good chance that a lot of people will die on Virmire alone and at least one of them won't make it.
** Virmire... oh, Virmire. I didn't even ''like'' [[spoiler:Ashley]] up to that point, and because my Shep was [[spoiler:in a relationship with Kaidan]], I happily [[spoiler: let her die]]. But then, when it actually happened... it hit me so hard. I didn't realize how much I actually had [[spoiler:grown to like her]]. And then when you talk to [[spoiler:the survivor and Joker]] afterward... it's just hard. And then on my last playthrough, I [[spoiler:killed off Kaidan instead]] for the first time. So I finished up some other missions and was like "I'm going to go [[spoiler:see if Kaidan has anything to say]]!" And then I rounded the corner on the second deck and it hit me all over again... :-(
*** Sacrificing [[spoiler: Ashley or Kaidan]] is bad enough, but it's even worse if [[spoiler: they're your love interest.]] Just for an experiment, during my playthrough where my Shepard was romancing Kaidan, I made two saves: [[spoiler: one where he's saved, and another where he dies and Ashley lives.]] In most normal playthroughs I had where [[spoiler: Kaidan]] died, Shepard was clearly upset, but still managed to [[TheStoic keep a calm expression]]. [[spoiler: In the one where she and Kaidan had grown close and he died]] I could tell she was on the verge of tears.
** The music that plays during the debrief doesn't help. It's the same song that plays during a romance theme, but under some conditions, it'll keep playing even after the debrief as you're walking around the ship, replacing the usual Normandy theme. It gives you the feeling that something was irrevocably lost on that mission, and that nothing from here on out is going to be the same.
** Virmire will always hold a special place in my memories as well, not only because of the previously mentioned choice between [[spoiler: Ashley and Kaiden]] (Where's the [[TakeAThirdOption third option]]? What do you mean there's no third option? There has to be a third option! There's always a third option!) But more so for your encounter with Wrex. I generally dislike moral choice options in video games because almost always the choice is so extreme and telegraphed there's no real question as to what the "right" answer is, it's not so much a moral choice as chooses to be moral or immoral. You've got a choice between either saving the girl's kitten from the tree and while you're at it you might as well cure her cancer and pay for her collage or shooting the kitten out of the tree, slapping the little girl across the face with it, and laughing at her tears. Choosing whether or not to be evil isn't a moral choice. But there I was on Virmire, gun trained on one of my comrades, having to choose between giving the BigBad access to a nearly unlimited army of unstoppable killing machines or taking away the only chance Wrex has to save his people from a horrible genocidal bioweapon that has driven them nearly to extinction by taking their birth rates down to practically zero. It was the first time a moral choice in a video game really gave me a moral dilemma because the game didn't put a big flashing sign over one choice that said "This is the Right Answer! Get your Right Answer here!" It wasn't a TearJerker per se, but it was the deepest emotional conflict I ever found myself in in a video game. 
*** This is even worse if you haven't done Wrex's Family Armor mission or have enough charm or intimidate points to make him back down, since there is ''no way to save him'' and knowing this is a punch in the gut. I was actually so upset that I couldn't save him that I used a cheat -- something I never do -- to give myself enough charm points to make him stand down.
* This troper nearly lost it in the final cutscene after defeating Sovereign. "Where's Shepard?" ...and then the camera cuts to that massive lump of Reaper, complete with heartbreakingly sad piano theme. Made exponentially worse by the fact that my party included my love interest, who truly did look like her world had come to an end. (Liara, in case you're wondering.) Even knowing that [[spoiler:[[DisneyDeath Shepard wasn't really dead]]]] didn't soften the blow.
** The scene becomes even more powerful if you A: romance Liara and B: take her with you onto the Presidium battle - [[spoiler: when Shepard climbs out the wreckage, the lighting makes it look like her face is all red and puffy from weeping.]]
** Taking Wrex is moving too. The way he hangs his head when they find them, and the way he lets Anderson steady him, then look back. For such a reserved character, seeing him crack that way...wow
**  This troper was most affected by the sight of a heartbroken Wrex, it made it all the more moving since it was so out of character.
*** The way he stands away from everyone else and aimlessly fires his shotgun at the water as you apporach him does an excellent job to show his angst.
***  I decided in one play through to kill Wrex - the brutal way Shepard does it was chilling and heartbreaking.
*  The space battle at the finale, whether you choose to save the Council or not both versions are extremely moving.
-->"It's the Alliance! Open a comm channel! This is the ''Ascension'', we are taking heavy damage. GUARDIAN systems are overwhelmed, kinetic barriers are off-line..."
-->"Captain... they've closed the channel."
*  Vigil is a sad character, as well, despite being a VI. The [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome understated, downbeat music]] adds to the scene.
**  And, to add extra punch to Vigil, you know that his message to you, giving you the knowledge to end Sovreign's threat, is probably the last thing that he'll do before he shuts down. Although he's a VI, he still seems to be pleased to know that he'd not maintained his vigil for nothing.
** Hell, everything about the character and his story is heartbreaking. From having to [[ShootTheDog shut off the life support chambers to preserve power so at least a few would survive]] to the fact that he saw the surviving dozen scientists go to the Citadel and knew they'd probably starve to death on the deserted station. And then in the second game, when you find out that he shut down, it almost seems like suicide...
** And yet, there is something awe inspiring about Vigil. He is only a VI but he and the last Prothean survivors sacrificed everything in order to give a tiny glimmer of hope to stop the Reapers forever. At the conclusion of his speech this troper swore that the Protheans will not have died in vain while wiping ManlyTears from his eyes. 
*  "Sovereign is too strong. I'm sorry. [[RedemptionEqualsDeath It's too late for me]]. [[DrivenToSuicide Goodbye]], Shepard...thank you." Yeah [[spoiler: Saren]] was quite a bastard if you have read the pre-novels but given, that in the game only he's more of a FallenHero and is truly sorry about his betrayal, that really is a saddening scene. Even more so when [[spoiler: Sovereign takes control of his technology-modified body after his death]] and you see, that he really could not have been saved. 
* The sidequest on Ontarom in the first game, where you meet Corporal Toombs, the only other survivor from Akuze, holding a Cerberus scientist at gunpoint. His half-deranged and agonized ranting is heartbreaking to hear as he simply tries to get closure and justice for what they did to him. One of the most potent lines in the exchange sums it up, when the scientist calls the soldier "Mister Toombs":
-->'''Toombs''': ''Its '''Corporal!''' '''CORPORAL Toombs!''' You don't '''get''' to lie! Not anymore!''
** Toombs's voice actor ''nailed'' that whole scene. You can hear the exhaustion and anguish in every line. And then the [[TearJerker tearjerkers]] continue into the sequel, when you get his WhatTheHellHero email.
*** And worse yet, if you offer to help him recover his psyche, he is no longer traumatized, just completely pissed off. And if you spared Wayne and not Toombs, turns out The Illusive Man finished the job for Toombs.
*** He still doesn't understand ''even'' if you have the Sole Survivor background (both him and Shepard did suffer in the same unit, right?). Makes it even more gut-kicking.
** The worst part is what happens if you're forced to shoot him. The description afterward mentions how his face is still pinched in anguish and pain. Even in ''death'' Toombs can't find peace.
** If you opt to kill Doctor Wayne, there's a brief bit of post-mission exposition regarding Toombs that eliminates any hope of calm stoicism.
-->''He opens his eyes, and you gesture to the door. He won't be left behind again.''
** Then there's Shepard's responses if s/he was an Akuze. If you choose the Charm option (ask Toombs to let Shepard arrest Wayne) then the Renegade dialogue to Toomb's WhatTheHellHero response, Shepard lets forth a lot of pent-up emotion. Mark Meer gets a lot of flak, a lot of it justified, but he does this line brilliantly, mixing anger, sadness, disgust and resolution.
---> '''Shepard:''' You think I don't want revenge for Akuze?! Listen, Toombs. Arresting him ''hurts them more''.
*** Even before that, if you pick the Paragon option in the second dialogue wheel, Shepard says that s/he didn't see anybody and that if s/he did see him s/he would have gone back to help him. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWhBe20a4Gs&feature=player_detailpage#t=50s You can hear the guilt in Shepard's voice.]]
** In all honesty, this troper has a hard time taking the options that let the doctor and Toombs live - there's something that seems gratifying in Toombs getting the peace he's been denied for so long, and reading the text box of how he dies peacefully gets some tears of joy that he is free of his demons.
* When talking with Wrex about the genophage, there's this quality in his voice when he says that he can't change his people. He sounds so...''resigned'', so deeply, fundamentally depressed about it all. Its not obvious, and Wrex doesn't angst about it or anything, which makes it even worse. He's ''accepted'' that his species is doomed, and that they're going to go extinct, because that's what they are. It kind of quietly drives home just what it means to the krogan that their species has fallen from the height of power and turned into fatalistic mercenaries.
** For this troper it's the brutal truth of what the genophage actually does. On the outside, it just sounds like a way to curb the Krogan's numbers by reducing their fertility, but then you read into it some more and find out that it's not actually making them less fertile in the sense of producing eggs and such; it interferes with the development of the fetal krogan, preventing every 999 out of 1000 from developing properly. It states that most krogan babies don't even reach the stage where they're stillborn. With the fact that not every krogan gets the chance to mate, the idea that even if you get the chance to try and have a kid and knowing that unless you're incredibly lucky the most you'll get is a stillborn son or daughter (and that's if you're lucky at all) is incredibly heartbreaking. Double because this troper wants to be a dad very badly in the future, and the idea of losing a child before they're even out in the world breaks his heart. 
** It's exactly this which made Virmire so damn difficult. I had a huge interest in Wrex because of his acceptance to all the BS that has happened to his species' history, and suddenly there's a hope in his voice for something that he had completely given up on. I absolutely hated having to convince him to go against his belief for our greater good, but it was even harder [[spoiler: knowing I'd have to kill him off]]. I wish there had been some middle ground...
* I actually had to set down the controller for a moment and collect myself when I completed the Citadel: Homecoming assignment. Samesh Bhatia, whose wife was part of [[RedShirtArmy Ashley's unit]] on Eden Prime, pleads with Shepard for help. All he wants is to have his wife's body back to give her a proper funeral, but the Alliance is holding her body and refusing to give any explanation as to why. His reaction to the situation is hearbreaking, especially when you convince him to let the Alliance keep his wife's body for further testing. He just breaks down, telling Shepard that he misses his wife so much and he just wants her to come home.
--->'''Samesh:''' [''after composing himself''] ...Let them run their tests. Let my wife saves lives, so that others are spared the loss I feel today. Goodbye. Thank you for finding me answers.
* Replaying the first game is especially tearjerking while you're just walking around the Normandy. You see two random crew members, sitting together talking happily in the mess. And then it hits you, that these are the same two crew members who were killed by explosions on-screen in the intro of the second game. And what's worse is, you suddenly realise, aside from a dying scream, they never have had ''any'' lines. Two members of Shepard's crew and you ''never'' got to know them.
* The VI's final message on Luna.
--> A burst of white noise over all frequencies nearly deafens you. Your hardsuit's heads-up display interprets it into a series of 0s and 1s:
--->01001000
--->01000101
--->01001100
--->01010000
--> They repeat again and again, blanketing all frequencies, until the lights on the final VI cluster flicker and die.
** Why is this sad? If you decode the binary, you realize that it's screaming HELP. Over and over and over, desperately. [[YouBastard And you just stood there and listened as it died]]. Worse in ''MassEffect2'' if you choose the dialogue option that reveals that the "VI" was actually an AI named Hannibal, who may have only been trying to defend itself when the Alliance realized what it had become and attempted to kill it.
** In [=ME3=] it is finally revealed that [[spoiler:your [=ME2=] friendly AI, EDI, is actually built from the remains of the Hannibal system, softening its death somewhat]]
* ''UNC: Geth Incursions'' has you going out and destroying Geth outposts in the Armstrong Nebula. When you complete the mission, this message appears.
-->As the last geth falls. you hear music come across the room. On the monitor, a quarian stands before a hushed crowd warbling a mournful a capella of worlds and innocence lost. [[DoAndroidsDream The recorded song is dispatched to the geth worlds beyond the Perseus Veil. The transmitter shuts down.]]
** It seems to indicate the Heretics regret what they lost when joining Saren and the Reapers.
* If the player chooses the Spacer background for Shepard, you eventually get the assignment Citadel: Old, Unhappy, Far-Off Things. While it's not as big a tearjerker as I Remember Me, poor Lieutenant Zabaleta is worthy of pity. He was sensitive, and the batarian raids on Mindoir scarred him enough that he had PTSD and turned to drinking to try and forget. But people like Shepard's mother still remember him and want to help.
** If the name of this assignment sounds poetic, it's because it is. It's a line from [[http://www.bartleby.com/101/528.html The Solitary Reaper]] by William Wordsworth.
* The death of [[spoiler:the Thorian]]. [[AKindOfOne It was one of a kind]]...

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