History TearJerker / StarFox

** In a FreezeFrameBonus, you can actually see what looks like an Arwing lifelessly drifting through space, a hint early on in the series about James' fate...

* The [[https://youtu.be/dYHV-jeccG4 Star Fox 64 Menu Theme.]] A hauntingly ethereal, almost funerary track that evokes the vastness of space and tales of heroes long past. Anyone who grew up with the game will surely be grasping for the tissues.
* The Black Hole level of the original ''VideoGame/StarFox''. To be fair, there isn't much to the level as it only serves as a shortcut to 3 possible stages depending on which exit ring Fox flies through. However, there's one detail that Pepper brings up in the mission briefing: it's where Fox's father [[NeverFoundTheBody disappeared.]] Fox doesn't encounter him, and he's completely alone, much like in the ''Out of This Dimension'' stage. One wonders what Fox must have been feeling as he flew through the barren null space.

*** The team’s reactions to this are just as heartbreaking. Krystal and Slippy are pleading with Peppy to stop, while Falco reacts with shock. And at the end of it, [[TryingNotToCry Fox is barely holding it together, but composes himself long enough to rally his team;]] Krystal is solemn; Falco is distraught but brings himself back together; and Slippy is outright sobbing. We’re then treated to the shot of the team flying through the entrance right before the shield goes back up, and one last shot of Peppy before the Great Fox explodes behind them. It really drives home the ItsPersonal nature of the final mission.

---->'''Fox''': Peppy... you mustn't.\\
'''Peppy''': Yes. This is my duty. And now you must fulfill your duty as well, Fox.

--->'''Falco''': Don't listen to her, Fox, you know your father's--
--->'''Fox''': [[LampshadeHanging I KNOW!]]

** Add on Peppy's reaction, "THIS is Zoness?" as a result of an AllThereInTheManual piece of lore where Peppy and his wife Vivian (named in 64 not Command) had their honeymoon on Zoness.

--->'''Fox''': [[GoshDangItToHeck DANG!]]
--->'''Peppy''': Don't get so down, Fox.

--->'''Bill''': Fox! Get out of here, now!

*** The team’s reactions to this are just as heartbreaking. Krystal and Slippy are pleading with Peppy to stop, while Falco reacts with shock. And at the end of it, Fox is barely holding it together, but composes himself long enough to rally his team; Krystal is solemn; Falco is distraught but brings himself back together; and Slippy is outright sobbing. We’re then treated to the shot of the team flying through the entrance right before the shield goes back up, and one last shot of Peppy before the Great Fox explodes behind them. It really drives home the ItsPersonal nature of the final mission.

* For most of ''64'', if Fox falls in battle, either Slippy, Peppy or Falco (the teammate who screams randomized every time Fox dies) screams a BigNO. However, during the final sections of either Venom path, [[DyingAlone when he's taking on Andross alone, if he dies, you hear ''his'' screams instead]]. It's [[GuiltBasedGaming a pretty heartwrenching incentive to stay alive]].

* For most of ''64'', if Fox falls in battle, his wingmen scream for his life. However, during the final sections of either Venom path, [[DyingAlone when he's taking on Andross alone, if he dies, you hear ''his'' screams instead]]. It's [[GuiltBasedGaming a pretty heartwrenching incentive to stay alive]].

** During the escape sequence, one of James' lines to Fox is [[MeaningfulEcho "Never give up. Trust your instincts."]] After hearing Peppy say those words of encouragement throughout the entire game, it's put in a much more emotional light and everything becomes even sadder when you realize he's not just trying to encourage you to keep going even when the situation is looking dire for Fox, but is also echoing the words of his lost friend, someone who was probably his best friend in life before his life was snuffed out by a venom fleet.

** During the escape sequence, one of James' lines to Fox is [[MeaningfulEcho "Never give up. Trust your instincts."]] After hearing Peppy say those words of encouragement throughout the entire game, it's put in a much more emotional light and everything becomes even sadder when you realize he's not just trying to encourage you to keep going even when the situation is looking dire for Fox, but is also echoing the words of his lost friend.

** During the escape sequence, one of James' lines to Fox is [[MeaningfulEcho "Never give up. Trust your instincts."]] After hearing Peppy say those words of encouragement throughout the entire game, it's put in a much more emotional light when you realize he's echoing the words of his lost friend.

* In ''64'', if you time out the boss on Katina, [[ItsAWonderfulFailure it blows away the base]]. Instead of the usual victory fanfare, you hear the "mission ''failed''" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTBtmsm_qU theme]] (as opposed to the standard "mission complete" fanfare) while Fox looks on forlornly in self-disappointment.

* In ''64'', if you time out the boss on Katina, [[ItsAWonderfulTheme it blows away the base]]. Instead of the usual victory fanfare, you hear the "mission ''failed''" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTBtmsm_qU theme]] (as opposed to the standard "mission complete" fanfare) while Fox looks on forlornly in self-disappointment.

* In ''64'', if you time out the boss on Katina, it blows away the base. Instead of the usual victory fanfare, you hear the "mission ''failed''" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTBtmsm_qU theme]] (as opposed to the standard "mission complete" fanfare) while Fox looks on forlornly in self-disappointment.

* In ''64'', if you time out the boss on Katina, it blows away the base. Instead of the usual victory fanfare, you hear a unique "mission ''failed''" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTBtmsm_qU theme]] while Fox looks on forlornly in self-disappointment.

--->'''Fox''': Peppy... you mustn't.\\

-->'''Fox''': Peppy... you mustn't.\\

-->'''Peppy''': Yes. This is my duty. And now you must fulfill your duty as well, Fox.

* From ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'': Peppy and Rob's HeroicSacrifice. Particularly the part where Fox says: "Peppy... you mustn't."

** The death of Rick May, the voice of Peppy in Star Fox 64 on 13th April 2020.

** The death of Rick May, the voice of Peppy in Star Fox 64 on 12th April 2020.

* The cutscene after you accomplish the final mission in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' after playing the HARD route. [[spoiler:The final boss had been defeated, but the complex was exploding with Fox still inside... Then his father appears and leads him to safety before vanishing.]] To underscore it, if Peppy was ''not'' shot down in the battle with Star Wolf, when [[spoiler:Fox is looking around trying to figure out where his dad went]], Peppy asks Fox if there's a problem. Fox stammers, "N-nothing. Nothing's wrong." but with the original Japanese audio, you can tell Fox is fighting back tears.
** This scene also gets used in the ending of ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'' [[spoiler:(this time regardless of how you get to Andross)]], and this time around, the English audio manages to make it clear that Fox is having a hard time holding himself together.
* From ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'': [[spoiler:Peppy and Rob's HeroicSacrifice. Particularly the part where Fox says: "Peppy... you mustn't."]]
** General Pepper's fate during the Corneria stage in ''Assault''. The guy spends the entire game doing his best to guide Star Fox so they can stop the aparoids. Sometime when they were off saving Sauria, Corneria is invaded and Pepper's forced to watch most of the planet's defenses be slaughtered. As he's in the middle of calling to Star Fox for help, he loses the connection and presumably is captured by the enemy. And at the end of the stage? We see that the aparoids have infected his flagship... ''while he's still inside''. He spends the entire battle shouting for Star Fox to kill him so he won't be fully assimilated and forced to work for the aparoids. [[spoiler:He survives, but still!]]
*** And then [[spoiler:the Aparoid Queen uses the voices of the affected characters above to taunt Fox... and then uses [[DisappearedDad James']] voice]]. This exchange sums up the entire weight of the scene.
-->'''Falco''': Don't listen to her, Fox, you know [[spoiler:your father's--]]
-->'''Fox''': [[LampshadeHanging I KNOW!]]
* Say what you will about it, but the ending melody to the [[MultipleEndings nine endings]] of ''VideoGame/StarFoxCommand'' is heart-bending and tear-worthy, especially considering that most of the endings are [[BittersweetEnding very bittersweet]] or [[DownerEnding outright depressing]]. The humble melody invokes a feeling that someone is saying good-bye for the last time, or that hope is fading...
** [[spoiler:Or, if you get the [[HappilyEverAfter "Good-bye Fox"]] ending where Fox and Krystal retire, marry, and [[GenerationXerox have a baby]], the tearjerking melody actually feels happy.]]