History TearJerker / SonicAdventure

* To a certain extent, Knuckles' predicament. He is forced to stay on Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald. Bound by his duty to his species and to the gem itself, he is always tied to it, unable to stray too far. He will never be free like Sonic and Tails are.

-->'''Amy:''' ''*sadly*'' I feel sorry for you. Eggman failed to give you feelings.

-->'''Tikal:''' He must be sealed in the Master Emerald now.
-->'''Sonic:''' How can that help? It won't change how he feels inside will it? His heart will still remain in turmoil, and his anger just won't vanish! He'll just be trapped forever.

*** Actually, Gamma is only aware of the birdie inside of him and another of his siblings when he defeats E-102 Beta MkII and frees that birdie. On top of that, Gamma has seen with Beta that Robotnik wouldn't [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness give higher orders to the failures among his machines]]. Instead, Gamma faced his siblings (E-103 Delta, E-104 Epsilon, and E-105 Zeta) in order to [[DefeatMeansFriendship rescue them]] from their being little more than EliteMooks to Robotnik. Yet the mission is to "Destroy" the corresponding member of the E-series and the victory cutscenes shows their [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath absolute death-by-explosion]]. This actually makes Gamma's play-through a larger tear-jerker because it depicts a childlike innocence concerning what death really is. And this innocence is only broken at the end when he is able to actually understand [[HeroicSacrifice the cost of doing the right thing]]. With bonus tear-jerker points if you [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation carry out the implication that his finally understanding what death is]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath means that he has decided to join the rest of his family which he was responsible for killing]].

** Big's status as TheScrappy can also be this; he's just a guy trying to get his frog back and the fans hate him for it. Someone give the poor kitty a hug...

** As this [[http://sonicpositive.tumblr.com/post/148416573187/a-character-analysis-big-the-cat Tumblr post]] points out, there's a reason Big works so hard to get Froggy back: [[FridgeBrilliance because otherwise, Big would be all alone]]. He's not too familiar with the other characters yet; in fact, none of the other characters even refer to him by name throughout the game. Then, as Big tries to escape the Egg Carrier with Froggy, he comments that if [[NeverSayDie "something"]] were to happen, there would be no point in Big rescuing Froggy, because he can't think of anyone who would come save them. In other words, if Big (and Froggy) had somehow gotten hurt or killed on the Egg Carrier, ''nobody might have noticed.'' This of course becomes HeartwarmingInHindsight after Sonic instantly sticks up for him against Chaos Six, showing someone ''will'' go out of their way to care.

** As this [[http://sonicpositive.tumblr.com/post/148416573187/a-character-analysis-big-the-cat Tumblr post]] points out, there's a reason Big works so hard to get Froggy back: [[FridgeBrilliance because otherwise, Big would be all alone]]. He's not too familiar with the other characters yet; in fact, none of the other characters even refer to him by name throughout the game. Then, as Big tries to escape the Egg Carrier with Froggy, he comments that if [[NeverSayDie "something"]] were to happen, there would be no point in Big rescuing Froggy, because he can't think of anyone who would come save them. In other words, if Big (and Froggy) had somehow gotten hurt or killed on the Egg Carrier, ''nobody might have noticed.''

* In one of Big's recaps, he wonders to himself if Froggy keeps running away because he doesn't like him anymore.

*** [[spoiler: This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that at the end of Amy's story, she succeeds in reuniting Birdie with its family, which includes the Flicky that was inside Gamma. So in a way, they ''did'' meet again]].

* The death of E-102 "Gamma" at the end of his story in ''Sonic Adventure.'' Gamma the bird is free, Gamma the robot however deactivated and exploded in sphere of blaze. Though what really makes it is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-9FaXg5NOk the music]].

** The cutscene prior to the battle is particularly chilling, as Gamma assesses the remaining units he must destroy, he looks through flashback images in his memory banks, one of Beta being redesigned...and one of himself. As he looks at his hand and designates himself, we know Gamma's fate is sealed. The lack of background noise aside from a gentle sea wave greatly compliments the somber revelation:

** The prison cutscene. The supposedly intimidating robot confronts Amy for the bird, after she refuses, and in desperation, actually begs him to let it go. Gamma starts feeling pain from his new found empathy, going berserk before letting them out of their cell and ordering them to escape. He slumps over the door switch, dumbfounded and guilt ridden at disobeying his master's orders, though Amy shows sympathy and offers him her friendship before leaving. Gamma's heartwrenching theme playing in the background helps none.
*** Amy despite being locked away and under interrogation, can only feel pity for Gamma over his confusion over why she cares for Birdie so much:

** After his brethren fail to collect Froggy, Eggman angrily teleports them out of his sight to be made into something useful (which, as Gamma discovers throughout Beta, isn't a pleasant process at all). Before he vanishes in front of Gamma's eyes, a pained Delta turns to look at him. While no dialogue is said, most sources and media imply that Gamma felt guilty for dooming his brothers.

* The death of E-102 "Gamma" at the end of his story in ''Sonic Adventure.'' Though what really makes it is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-9FaXg5NOk the music]].
** Gamma's death isn't all that sad, upon considering that [[spoiler:the bird inside is finally free to be with its family]]. Although that's definitely touching.
*** It depends how you view Gamma's consciousness, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation is it composed of the brainwashed bird inside a lifeless robotic shell, or is it a sentient life sacrificing his new-found life for the sake of the being powering him?]] This comes off as even more powerful in the ''SonicX'' version, where Amy bares witness to his HeroicSacrifice. While happy that Lily is reunited with her liberated parents, after they flutter away, she immediately bursts into tears over the now decomposed robot shell on the ground (made EVEN MORE powerful in the formation Beta and Gamma have fallen, their hands collapsing on each other as if to represent unity).
---> '''Amy:''' You managed to free them. Thank you. We are friends from now on. Now you and your brother can live together again.

** The worst of it all is how there is no one to mourn Gamma. His cohorts are all dead by his hand, Eggman vanished from the storyline but wouldn't take kindly to hearing that his robot had gone rogue. Sonic, Tails and Big don't care about him, and Amy never gets to see him again like she wanted. The only solace is (if Gamma and the bird are separate entities) that the bird family might be thankful to him. If they're intelligent enough.

* To a certain extent, Knuckles' predicament. He is forced to stay on Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald. Bound by his duty to his species and to the gem itself, he is always tied to it, unable to stray too far. He will never be free like Sonic and Tails are.

** To think that Sonic wants to help SAVE the God of Destruction is heart wrenching to think about. All throughout the game, he saw Chaos as this huge enemy, determined to stop him and Eggman from destroying the world. To go from that over the course of the game, to understanding Chaos and wanting to save him could definitely count as a tearjerker.

-->'''Gamma:''' Units remaining...[[WhamLine Gamma]]...Beta."

*** Gamma's theme itself becomes hard to listen to after you beat his story, especially that ending synth melody.
*** The prison cutscene. The supposedly intimidating robot confronts Amy for the bird, after she refuses, and in desperation, actually begs him to let it go. Gamma starts feeling pain from his new found empathy, going berserk before letting them out of their cell and ordering them to escape. He slumps over the door switch, dumbfounded and guilt ridden at disobeying his master's orders, though Amy shows sympathy and offers him her friendship before leaving. Gamma's heartwrenching theme playing in the background helps none.

-->'''Sonic:''' How can that help? It won't change how he feels inside will it? His heart will still remain in turmoil, and his anger just won't vanish! He'll just be trapped forever.

* [[spoiler: Tikal's implied death.]]

*** Actually, Gamma is only aware of the birdie inside of him and another of his siblings when he defeats E-102 Beta MkII and frees that birdie. On top of that, Gamma has seen with Beta that Robotnik wouldn't [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefullness give higher orders to the failures among his machines]]. Instead, Gamma faced his siblings (E-103 Delta, E-104 Epsilon, and E-105 Zeta) in order to [[DefeatMeansFriendship rescue them]] from their being little more than EliteMooks to Robotnik. Yet the mission is to "Destroy" the corresponding member of the E-series and the victory cutscenes shows their [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath absolute]] [[NobodyCouldSurviveThat death-by-explosion]]. This actually makes Gamma's play-through a larger tear-jerker because it depicts a childlike innocence concerning what death really is. And this innocence is only broken at the end when he is able to actually understand [[HeroicSacrifice the cost of doing the right thing]].