History TearJerker / Off

-->"You don't even know his first name."

* [[spoiler:Hugo's last words.]] ''"I'm scared... of the dark...."''

** The special ending also has an extra degree of soul-crushing if you stick around for the credits: [[spoiler:you get to see the Judge wandering the three zones you purified, completely alone]].
* Having played the game to the end makes the battle with the Queen in any subsequent gameplays a depressing ordeal.

--> "No, [[spoiler:Pablo, Valerie]] and Zacharie are best friends. He wouldn't do that to them."

** What's worse, you can see how they tried to retain their hopes of creating a better world for [[spoiler: Hugo. Dedan promised Hugo pedalo rides, and his office in Alma is the only area of the zone that contains them. Not to mention his fondness of dates and timekeeping probably came from Hugo showing him what day it was from a calendar. Japhet keeps the book that he got on orchids in his library, which he regards as his greatest creation. Enoch wanted to give Hugo sweets, so he created his own element, sugar, to do so.]]

* A meta example, but someone asked Mortis Ghost if the cat mask that Zacharie wears after [[spoiler: Valerie's]] death was made from his body. And what was his answer?
--> "No, [[spoiler: Pablo, Valerie]] and Zacharie are best friends. He wouldn't do that to them."

* After you [[spoiler: kill Sugar]], Zacharie says "...I guess it's better like that.". This is ''FAR'' from the [[MediumAwareness Fourth Wall Breaking]] [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments humor brigade]] [[OutOfCharacterMoment from the rest of the game.]] Implying that she was one of the ''only'' true friends he had. [[spoiler: [[YouBastard And you killed her.]]]]
** You could also interpret this as Zacharie knowing what the Batter was going to ultimately do, and considered her dying quickly rather than burning out with the rest of the universe a less painful fate.
** [[spoiler: Sugar herself]] can be seen as an incredibly tragic character. When you meet her, she's [[spoiler: hiding in the locked room in Zone 0, surrounded by sugar]] and wondering "why everything's so frightening." Even her laugh has a breathless, frightened tone to it. And then there's her last words:
-->'''[[spoiler: Sugar]]''': I'm feeling way too cold... I didn't like that dance... my dear friend. :-( [[spoiler: Say goodbye to Zacharie for me...]]

* If you subscribe to the theory that Baby Hugo [[spoiler: is the son of the Batter and the Queen, his death]] is extra tragic for several reasons. The world that we explore in ''Off'' is utterly artificial. Liquid water has been replaced by plastic and the land is all metal. The Elsens themselves are implied to be artificial as well, unable to reproduce and seemingly just there to mold the world back into something resembling what it once was. Hugo represents the first hope that [[spoiler: humanity in some form will survive the calamity that took place before the beginning of the game, as he seems to have been naturally born.]]
** And with the revelations from the better translations, it just gets worse. [[spoiler:Hugo's birth parents are [[ParentalAbandonment gone]], and the Queen and the Batter are constructs created by him--but given the motherly themes in the Queen's character (and attack names), he most likely intended her to be a surrogate mother. It's ''literally'' her purpose to care for him...and even ''she'' neglects him. [[FromBadToWorse And then his surrogate father kills her]], [[OffingTheOffspring kills him]], [[KickTheDog kills the cat]], and [[UpToEleven destroys the universe]].]]
* Just the idea that [[spoiler: all this time, you ''thought'' you were helping the Batter "purify" the world, but then you realize that all this time, ''[[PlayerPunch you were destroying the world, and killing the only means of the world itself]]''. You could blame the Batter for doing this, but who was controlling his actions? '''[[YouBastard You were]]'''.]]

* After you [[spoiler: kill Sugar]], Zacharie says "...I guess it's better like that.". This is ''FAR'' from the [[MediumAwareness Fourth Wall Breaking]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny humor brigade]] [[OutOfCharacterMoment from the rest of the game.]] Implying that she was one of the ''only'' true friends he had. [[spoiler: [[YouBastard And you killed her.]]]]

** And with the revelations from the better translations, it just gets worse. [[spoiler:Hugo's birth parents are [[ParentalAbandonment gone]]), and the Queen and the Batter are constructs created by him--but given the motherly themes in the Queen's character (and attack names), he most likely intended her to be a surrogate mother. It's ''literally'' her purpose to care for him...and even ''she'' neglects him. [[FromBadToWorse And then his surrogate father kills her]], [[OffingTheOffspring kills him]], [[KickTheDog kills the cat]], and [[UpToEleven destroys the universe]].]]

** And with the revelations from the better translations, it just gets worse. [[spoiler:Hugo's birth parents are [[ParentalAbandonment gone]] ([[WildMassGuessing unless they're actually Zacharie and Sugar]]), and the Queen and the Batter are constructs created by him--but given the motherly themes in the Queen's character (and attack names), he most likely intended her to be a surrogate mother. It's ''literally'' her purpose to care for him...and even ''she'' neglects him. [[FromBadToWorse And then his surrogate father kills her]], [[OffingTheOffspring kills him]], [[KickTheDog kills the cat]], and [[UpToEleven destroys the universe]].]]

-->"You don't even know his first name"

* After you [[spoiler: kill Sugar]], Zacharie says "...I guess it's better like that...". This is ''FAR'' from the [[MediumAwareness Fourth Wall Breaking]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny humor brigade]] [[OutOfCharacterMoment from the rest of the game.]] Implying that she was one of the ''only'' true friends he had. [[spoiler: [[YouBastard And you killed her.]]]]
** [[spoiler: Sugar herself]] can be seen as an incredibly tragic character. When you meet her, she's [[spoiler: hiding in the locked room in Zone 0, surrounded by sugar (which has in all probability turned her into a drug addict)]] and wondering "why everything's so frightening." Even her laugh has a breathless, frightened tone to it. And then there's her last words:

* After beating Zone 2, you can [[spoiler:find Judge]] wandering around the top of the library in the [[spoiler:now purified Zone, meowing out mournfully for his brother Valerie.]]

** And with the revelations from the better translations, it just gets worse. [[spoiler:Hugo's birth parents are [[ParentalAbandonment gone]] ([[WildMassGuessing unless they're actually Zacharie and Sugar]]), and the Queen and the Batter are constructs created by him--but given the motherly themes in the Queen's character (and attack names), he most likely intended her to be a surrogate mother. And even ''she'' neglects him. [[FromBadToWorse And then his surrogate father kills her, kills him]], [[KickTheDog kills the cat]], and [[UpToEleven destroys the universe]].]]

** And how about the credits music, huh? Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland plays, from the famous WizardOfOz.

* After you [[spoiler: kill Sugar]], Zacharie says "...that's probably for the best...". This is ''FAR'' from the [[MediumAwareness Fourth Wall Breaking]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny humor brigade]] [[OutOfCharacterMoment from the rest of the game.]] Implying that she was one of the ''only'' true friends he had. [[spoiler: [[YouBastard And you killed her.]]]]

** [[spoiler: Sugar herself]] can be seen as an incredibly tragic character. When you meet [[spoiler: her]], [[spoiler: she's]] hiding in the locked room in Zone 0, surrounded by sugar (which has in all probability turned [[spoiler: her]] into a drug addict) and wondering "why everything's so frightening." Even [[spoiler: her]] laugh has a breathless, frightened tone to it. And then there's [[spoiler: her]] last words:

** [[spoiler: Sugar herself]] can be seen as an incredibly tragic character. When you meet [[spoiler: her]], [[spoiler: she's]] hiding in the locked room in Zone 0, surrounded by sugar (which has in all probability turned [[spoiler: her]] into a drug addict) and wondering "why everything's so frightening." Even [[spoiler: her]] laugh as a breathless, frightened tone to it. And then there's [[spoiler: her]] last words:

'''[[spoiler: Sugar]]''': I'm feeling way too cold... I didn't like that dance... my dear friend. :-( [[spoiler: Say goodbye to Zacharie for me...]]

* If you subscribe to the theory that Baby Hugo [[spoiler: is the son of the Batter and the Queen, his death]] is extra tragic for several reasons. The world that we explore in ''Off'' is utterly artificial; Liquid water has been replaced by plastic and the land is all metal. The Elsens themselves are implied to be artificial as well, unable to reproduce and seemingly just there to mold the world back into something resembling what it once was. Hugo represents the first hope that [[spoiler: humanity in some form will survive the calamity that took place before the beginning of the game, as he seems to have been naturally born.]]

* If you subscribe to the theory that Baby Hugo [[spoiler: is the son of the Batter and the Queen, his death]] is extra tragic for several reasons. The world that we explore in ''Off'' is utterly artificial; Liquid water has been replaced by plastic and the land is all metal. The Elsens themselves are implied to be artificial as well, unable to reproduce and seemingly just there to mold the world back into something resembling what it once was. Hugo represents the first hope that [[spoiler: humanity in some form will survive the calamity that took place before the beginning of the game, as he seems to have been naturally born.]]

* This brief exchange after defeating the queen

** To which [[spoiler:the Batter]] replies, "There won't be any darkness anymore." Whether you find that bitterly reassuring or utterly callous and horrifying depends on how you view the story.

* If you subscribe to the theory that Baby Hugo [[spoiler: is the son of the Batter and the Queen, his death]] is extra tragic for several reasons. The world that we explore in ''Off'' is utterly artificial; Liquid water has been replaced by plastic, the land is all metal, and no plants are seen growing at all. The Elsens themselves are implied to be artificial as well, unable to reproduce and seemingly just there to mold the world back into something resembling what it once was. Hugo represents the first hope that [[spoiler: humanity in some form will survive the calamity that took place before the beginning of the game, as he seems to have been naturally born.]]

* If you subscribe to the theory that Baby Hugo is the son of the Batter and the Queen, his death is extra tragic for several reasons. The world that we explore in ''Off'' is utterly artificial; Liquid water has been replaced by plastic, the land is all metal, and no plants are seen growing at all. The Elsens themselves are implied to be artificial as well, unable to reproduce and seemingly just there to mold the world back into something resembling what it once was. Hugo represents the first hope that humanity in some form will survive the calamity that took place before the beginning of the game, as he seems to have been naturally born.

-->'''Batter:''' They are full of fear.

* On the OST, you might find Japhet's BattleThemeMusic less ominous and more mournful than the other two Guardians. The tearjerker part's at the end, when it hits a tape recording error sound then fades into cheerful birdsong and a bittersweet piano...knowing Japhet's backstory adds the impact.

* [[spoiler:Hugo's last words.]] ''"I'm scared... of the dark...."''

--> "No, [[spoiler: Pablo, Valerie]] and Zacharie are best friends. He wouldn't do that to them."