History TearJerker / ResidentEvil2

* Sherry meeting her almost dead mother in Claire B: she's spent the entire game looking desperately for her parents, hoping they've made it through the apocalypse alright... and, when she finds her mom, she's dying from a bleeding head wound and all she has time to do is to apologize to Sherry for being such a bad mom before dying in her daughter's arms. And all the while, the game is playing one of the saddest pieces of music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AQICKJNOiw]] in the entire ''series''.

** In the A scenario, it has probably the saddest piece of music in the game. It captures the utter grief and anguish of Leon perfectly. He holds his head and falls to his knees in complete despair. Before then, he'd promised her many times his duty as a cop compels him to protect her, only to lose her before the end.

!!WARNING: Per wiki policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies to Tear Jerker pages. All spoilers will be unmarked.

* ''Tearjerker/ResidentEvil2Remake''

* The fact that the entire Police Station had prepared a welcoming party for Leon, a new guy that probably none of them had ever met. You can tell that (demented Chief Irons notwithstanding) this cozy small town police station would have been an awesome place to work at just because of the camaraderie. Then of course, the T-Virus happens, and you spend the rest of the game eliminating the walking, cannibalistic carcasses of the very people who were dying to welcome you into the force.

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'''WARNING: Per wiki policy, spoilers are unmarked on Tear Jerker pages.'''

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[[folder: Original]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Remake]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kendo.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[MercyKill I'm gonna put you to bed too, okay?]]]]

* Elliot's death in the original was a [[IncrediblyLamePun rapid fire]] tragedy that was both stupidity-induced and unpredictable for the sake of extra drama. In the remake, however, Leon personally tries to save him from a horde of zombies - [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe and only pulls him out from the torso above]] as the zombies and security shutter tear the rest off. Not only do we see the life fade from Elliot then and there, Leon does ''not'' handle this well and is likely only a step away from a HeroicBSOD before zombies slamming on the door force him back to his senses.
** You'll eventually unlock the shutter from the other side, or it'll be open right away if you play the B scenario... And you'll find his upper half has zombified and is pathetically dragging itself along the ground. How narrowly he could have avoided this fate. [[MercyKill At least you can help him via a few bullets to the brain so that he doesn’t suffer for long.]]
* The first meeting with Officer Branagh, where Leon nearly breaks down when he reports his failure to rescue Officer Elliot. It's already pretty tragic in the original, but the {{foreshadowing}} in this version ''really'' packs a sting:
-->'''Branagh:''' "...And don't make my mistake. If you see one of those things --uniform or not-- you do not hesitate. You either take it out, or you ''run''. Got it?!"
** One cannot help but feel a bit teary when meeting [[ZombieInfectee Marvin]] since he's a [[DoomedByCanon dead man walking]] as soon as you see him. Any interaction with him is heart-wrenching since the man is possibly unaware of his impending doom.
** Later on, while being chased by the Tyrant in a first run, Leon/Claire runs into a zombified Marvin and is heartbroken by his death, with the former vowing to avenge him and the latter apologizing to him after killing his reanimated corpse.
* When you come across Leon's desk, you see that the RPD officers planned a surprise welcoming party and a little puzzle in order to break the ice. They even left a note for Leon welcoming him and telling him to learn his fellow officers' names as the clues to solve the puzzle. Reading the note now? It's covered in blood and there's an added message saying that they are glad that Leon isn't here to suffer with them.
** In addition, one of the zombies is sitting at a desk - he's dressed in a police uniform, so he's presumably the same George whose nameplate is left on the floor, having died at his desk.
-->''Be glad you aren't here, rookie.''
* After Sherry explains to Claire on trying to look for Annete amidst the outbreak, Claire asks Sherry about her father. Sherry hesitates -- unlike her original counterpart, who was blessedly ignorant of the truth, she ''knows'' what has happened to William.
-->'''Sherry:''' "He... uhm..." *cut to a mutating G-William roaring in pain, then a family photo of the Birkins with the glass cracked over William* "He's... gone."
* Leon's encounter at the Kendo Gun Shop is much more tragic than the original. He and Ada encounter an armed man, perhaps Robert Kendo, whose daughter has been infected and it's implied the man had to kill her mother after she turned. The man tearfully begs Leon and Ada not to kill his daughter, then finally accepts there's no hope. He [[WhatTheHellHero eviscerates]] Leon for being a cop and allowing the city to fall. The man takes his daughter into the backroom to "put her to bed", just like Mommy, and then we hear a single gunshot. This even moves Ada enough to open up to Leon a little. As one Youtube commenter put it;
--> The shop may be out of guns, but they've still got plenty of feels.
* You can watch a video tape belonging to a dead [=USS=] soldier, and you can see WhatMeasureIsAMook is being played here. In his point of view, you can see G-Birkin slaughter his fellow mercenaries (except Hunk, who survives), and is practically ''begging'' him to stop killing them.
* Sherry becomes infected with the G-Virus, and thanks to the updated graphics of the remake she is shown to be in agonizing pain. What's even worse is she starts doubting that her own mother even loves her; when Claire offers Sherry her pendant back, she refuses it, stating that it was a birthday gift from her mother, [[WhenYouComingHomeDad but all Sherry wanted was for her to be home more.]]
** The remake shows Annette's obsession with her work in the worst possible way; Annette actually finds Sherry in the sewers over her surveillance equipment, but ''scolds her'' for leaving the police station (where she wasn't any safer, thanks to Irons and the monsters). And when William infects her? Annette writes her own daughter off as a lost cause, leaving again to stop William. Her excuse is millions of lives are on the line, but still, [[KickTheDog that's just cold]]. No wonder Sherry is heartbroken on the tram.
** At the end of Claire's storyline, Annette finally does come around to showing she loves her daughter, and helps personally cure Sherry of the G-Virus.. only to succumb to her own wounds in front of both Claire and Sherry. Even for all the crap Sherry's been through and her prior doubts, she's so broken up that she can barely get herself together to escape the facility's self-destruct with Claire.
* Unlike in the original game, the budding romance between Leon and Ada is downplayed and portrayed more realistically this time around, which arguably makes their "final" parting all the more bittersweet. After learning of her true identity as a treacherous, manipulative spy, the conflicted Leon still trusts Ada enough to appeal to her inner humanity, and is proven correct in his assessment that she cannot bring herself to kill him. This defining moment between them sadly gets cut short when Ada is shot by Annette and then seemingly falls to her "death" afterwards, despite Leon's best efforts to try and save her. While making his escape, Leon later expresses that he cannot believe he still misses Ada in spite of everything that's happened, showing that he really did fall in love with her.
** The worst part is that Ada faking her death was the best option in a list of {{Sadistic Choice}}s; The bridge she and Leon were on was collapsing and he would have died if he tried to save her. And even if Leon did manage to, he would have had no choice but to arrest Ada. It was either that, or let her escape and betray his duty as a cop, even if he was the last one left in Raccoon City. There was no version of this where they lived HappilyEverAfter.
* Unlike in the original, where Annete is indifferent to William injecting himself with the virus, here she is clearly anguished to see what her husband has done. Not wanting him to turn, she picks up a pistol but cannot bring herself to fire. The look in her face can only be described as one of hope that the G will somehow fix him instead of mutating him. Alas, her hope is misplaced. The mindless abomination that was once William will cause much chaos and destruction to the city, all because Annette believed her husband was still in there somewhere.
** The worst part is she wasn't wrong. William fights against his own monstrous nature for the first two stages and even saves Sherry's life twice. As horrible as he was, the last thing he does before his own body betrays him? Saving Sherry and Claire from a Tyrant.
* [[https://youtu.be/RwBoQWzIhuk As this video details]], after Leon gets shot and Ada bandages him up, he's left wearing short sleeves. Combined with the dark blue of his outfit, he starts to resemble how he looks in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. This possibly was a subtle allusion by the developers to hint at who Leon will eventually become - a stoic badass. Leon was barely an adult at the start of ''Resident Evil 2'', and he was a dorky, affable CowardlyLion and the events during this game is his ComingOfAge, for better or worse. He loses that naive idealism and becomes a much more jaded character as the series progresses, which is understandable CharacterDevelopment, but bittersweet nonetheless.
* To drive the point home that the characters you're playing as did not canonically survive the outbreak, every mission in the ''Ghost Survivors'' DLC starts with this somber reminder:
-->[[WhatIf Here is a tale of a future that never was,]] [[DoomedByCanon of a night that never dawned.]]
[[/folder]]

* To drive the point home, every mission in the ''Ghost Survivors'' DLC starts with this somber line:

* Every mission in the ''Ghost Survivors'' DLC starts with this somber line:

* [[https://youtu.be/RwBoQWzIhuk As this video details]], after Leon gets shot and Ada bandages him up, he's left wearing short sleeves. Combined with the dark blue of his outfit, he starts to resemble how he looks in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. This possibly was a subtle allusion by the developers to hint at who Leon will eventually become - a stoic badass. Leon was barely an adult at the start of ''Resident Evil 2'', and he was a dorky, affable CowardlyLion and the events during this game is his ComingOfAge, for better or worse. He loses that naive idealism and becomes a much more jaded character as the series progresses, which is understandable CharacterDevelopment, but bittersweat nonetheless.

* Unlike in the original, where Annete is indifferent to William injecting himself with the virus, here she is clearly anguished to see what her husband has done. Not wanting him to turn, she picks up a pistol but cannot bring herself to fire. The look in her face can only be described as one of hope that the G will somehow fix him instead of mutating him. Alas, her hope is misplaced. The mindless abomination that was once William will cause much chaos and destruction to the city, all because Annette believes her husband is still there somewhere.

-->''Be glad you are't here, rookie.''

* [[spoiler: Unlike in the original, where Annete is indifferent to William injecting himself with the virus, here she is clearly anguished to see what her husband has done. Not wanting him to turn, she picks up a pistol but cannot bring herself to fire. The look in her face can only be described as one of hope that the G will somehow fix him instead of mutating him. Alas, her hope is misplaced. The mindless abomination that was once William will cause much chaos and destruction to the city, all because Annette believes her husband is still there somewhere.]]

* [[spoiler: Unlike in the original, where Annete is indifferent to William injecting himself with the virus, here she is clearly anguished to see what her husband has done. Not wanting him to turn, she picks up a pistol but cannot bring herself to fire. The look in her face can only be described as one of hope that the G will somehow fix him instead of mutating him. Alas, her hope is misplaced, and G-William will bring much chaos and destruction to the city.]]

* Leon's encounter at the Kendo Gun Shop is much more tragic than the original. He and Ada encounter an armed man, perhaps Robert Kendo, whose daughter has been infected and it's implied the man had to kill her mother after she turned. The man tearfully begs Leon and Ada not to kill his daughter before finally accepting there's no hope. He [[WhatTheHellHero eviscerates]] Leon for being a cop and allowing the city to fall. The man takes his daughter into the backroom to "put her to bed" and then we hear a single gunshot.

[[/folder]]

** The worst part is that Ada faking her death was the best option in a list of {{Sadistic Choice}}s; The bridge she and Leon were on was collapsing and he would have died if he tried to save her. And even if Leon did manage to, he would have had no choice but to arrest Ada. It was either that, or let her go and betray his duty as a cop, even if he was the last one left in Raccoon City. There was no version of this where they lived HappilyEverAfter.

** The worst part is that Ada faking her death was the best option in a list of bad ones; The bridge she and Leon were on was collapsing and he would have died if he tried to save her. And even if Leon did manage to, he would have had no choice but to arrest Ada. [[SadisticChoice It was either that, or let her go and betray his duty as a cop,]] even if he was the last one left in Raccoon City. There was no version of this where they lived HappilyEverAfter.

** The worst part is that Ada faking her death was the best option in a list of bad ones; The bridge she and Leon were on was collapsing and he would have died if he tried to save her. And even if Leon did manage to, he would have had no choice but to arrest Ada. [[SadisticChoice It was either that, or let her go and betray his duty as a cop,]] even if he was quite possibly the last one left in Raccoon City. There was no version of this where they lived HappilyEverAfter.

** The worst part is that Ada faking her death was the best option in a list of bad ones; The bridge she and Leon were on was collapsing and he would have died if he tried to save her. And even if Leon did manage to, he would have had no choice but to arrest her. [[SadisticChoice It was either that, or let her go and betray his duty as a cop,]] even if he was quite possibly the last one left in Raccoon City. There was no version of this where they lived HappilyEverAfter.

** The worst part is that Ada faking her death was the best option in a list of bad ones; Leon would have died if he tried to save her, and even if he did manage to, he would have had no choice but to arrest her. [[SadisticChoice It was either that, or let Ada go and betray his duty as a cop,]] even if he was quite possibly the last one left in Raccoon City. There was no version of this where they lived HappilyEverAfter.

** The worst part is that Ada faking her death was the best option in a list of bad ones; Leon would have died if he tried to save her, and even if he did manage to, he would have had no choice but to arrest Ada. [[SadisticChoice It was either that, or let her go and betray his duty as a cop,]] even if he was quite possibly the last one left in Raccoon City. There was no version of this where they lived HappilyEverAfter.

** The worst part is that Ada faking her death was the best option in a list of terrible ones; Leon would have died if he tried to save her, and even if he did manage to, he would have had no choice but to arrest Ada. [[SadisticChoice It was either that, or let her go and betray his duty as a cop,]] even if he was quite possibly the last one left in Raccoon City. There was no happy ending here.