History TearJerker / TheBindingOfIsaac

* More of a happy tearjerker, but in the ending of the fact that [[GoodAllAlong Isaac's parents (or at the very least the father) were actually just normal and supportive parents of Isaac]] and his [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior dark and twisted story idea]], with the father even giving Isaac one last happy bedtime story to help him sleep.

*** It's a [[spoiler:torn family photo. Isaac's father has been torn off]].
*** Becomes much worse in hindsight as noted below in that [[spoiler:Isaac blames himself for his family being torn apart]].

* The new endings of ''Rebirth'' also count. The first, number 15[[note]]if you're curious about the numbering, there are now 11 Womb endings instead of 10, so the previously-mentioned Ending 13 is now Ending 14[[/note]], shows that Isaac has gone missing, with his Mother desperately searching for him]]. The second, 16, shows Isaac locked in his chest, as his breathing gets faster and harsher, and his heart beats quicker and quicker. Flashes are shown of him turning into a demon, and as his heartbeat slows down, Isaac morphs into a demon, ''and stays that way''. A harsh DownerEnding.

*** It's a [[spoiler:torn family photo. Isaac's father has been torn off.]]

Hey, we're talking about [[VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac a game]] where you fight monsters with your tears. Got to [[TearJerker jerk them]] somehow.

* Many of the items that increase Isaac's tears are, [[JustifiedTrope understandably,]] Tear Jerkers:

** [[spoiler:It's doubtful by this point that Isaac's mother is chasing her son around the house and into a basement with a knife on her hands, but there IS enough evidence to support that she's cold and unloving at best, and [[AbusiveParents psychologically abusive]] at worst. Isaac is still deprived of his clothes for most of the game, one of the endings shows that his bedroom window has ''metal bars'' on it, he perceives his own mother as a ''literal monster'', laughing maniacally as she tries to ''stomp him to death'', and to top it all off, he's had a pet cat (probably even more) which has been long dead - most likely due to his mother's negligence - and all he has to remember Guppy by are his ''torn body parts''. The loading screen showing his mother giving Isaac a turd as a gift is probably one of the least awful things she's done, and she did that out in public for others to laugh at her own son, and, as previously mentioned with the other item examples above, there's a lot more leads to her treating her son like an afterthought, if not worse]].

** [[spoiler:And then there's his father, [[DisappearedDad a man we know very little about]] besides the fact he left Isaac and his mother behind after an angry scuffle, and the items that mention him in-game, none of them too flattering. If anything, [[AbusiveParents he seems very much like his ex-wife]]. The items are "Dad's Lost Coin" (which increases the Range stat and make Isaac look ''positively miserable''), "Dad's Key" (opens all doors), "Dad's Ring" (creates an aura around Isaac that petrifies enemies) and, albeit only implied to be his, a ''[[DontMakeMeTakeMyBeltOff BELT]]'' (increases the Speed stat)]].

* [[DemBones The]][[MechanicallyUnusualFighter Forgotten]], from Booster Pack Five. The reanimated skeleton of Isaac and a buffed version of The Lost would seem cool, but when one remembers the story, it is downright devastating. After Isaac's death in Ending 20, [[BarredFromTheAfterlife his soul is eternally chained to his bones, unable to move on]]. After the absolute hell his life was, he will find no peace in death.

* [[DemBones The]][[MechanicallyUnusualFighter Forgotten]], from Booster Pack Five. The reanimated skeleton of Isaac and a buffed version of The Lost would seem cool, but when one remembers the story, it is downright devastating. After Isaac's death in Ending 20, [[BarredFromTheAfterlife his soul is eternally chained to his bones, unable to move on]]. After the absolute hell his life was, he will find no peace in death.

** Which leads to a topic that isn't as touched upon: Isaac's school life. The loading screen flashbacks have quite a few instances of kids pointing and laughing at Isaac's misfortunes, even when he's not doing anything but just trying to mind his own business, hinting at a possible history of bullying from [[KidsAreCruel cruel classmates]]. Granted, [[spoiler:the validity of these flashbacks is questionable, given that it's still from [[UnreliableNarrator Isaac's]] perspective, his mind is shutting down from oxygen deprivation in the chest, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and one of them involves his junk falling off]]. But with the inclusion of a schoolbag as a passive item in Afterbirth+, one has to wonder if he really did go to school at one point, and how long he stayed there]].

* Ending 13. [[spoiler:It depicts Isaac, his pre-insanity mother, and a skinny man who's presumably Isaac's dad, the first few pictures are of all of them living happily, then it gets dark, it shows Isaac crying by a chest, a demonic him in the mirror, and the very last photo? Isaac, with his mother setting her hand on his back to comfort him, looking out to the hill where an earlier picture showed the family picnicking at, [[DisappearedDad that now houses a lonely grave]]]]. [[DownerEnding The End]].
** [[spoiler:That's not a grave, that's Isaac's father returning home.]]
*** [[spoiler:Or is it Isaac's father leaving?]]

* This [[http://images.pushsquare.com/news/2015/09/the_binding_of_isaac_afterbirth_will_be_released_on_ps4_vita_this_year/attachment/0/original.jpg bit of promotional art]] depicting Isaac weeping in fear to the point of flailing, clutching his head and wetting himself while a group of bosses looks on with [[EvenEvilHasStandards worried expressions plastered on their faces.]]

Hey, we're talking about a game where you fight monsters with your tears. Got to [[TearJerker jerk them]] somehow.

* Not precisely game related, but the notice that Guppy, Edmund [=McMillen=]'s cat and the base behind the Guppy-related items in the game, passed away.

* The new endings of ''Rebirth'' also count. The first, number 15[[note]]If you're curious about the numbering, there are now 11 Womb endings instead of 10, so the previously-mentioned Ending 13 is now Ending 14[[/note]], shows [[spoiler:that Isaac has gone missing, with his Mother desperately searching for him.]] The second, 16, shows [[spoiler:Isaac locked in his chest, as his breathing gets faster and harsher, and his heart beats quicker and quicker. Flashes are shown of him turning into a demon, and as his heartbeat slows down, Isaac morphs into a demon, ''and stays that way.'']] A harsh DownerEnding.
*** [[spoiler:This ending is extended further by Afterbirth's Ending 17, which confirms for good that Isaac is dead. His mother finally decides to look in the chest and finds nothing but flies and bones inside. Isaac's spirit is then seen looking over the afterlife's wastelands while a demonic shadow emerges from him. At least he seems surprisingly calm about it.]]

*** To add to it, [[spoiler: we see Isaac's mother not as the violently murderous madwoman she was introduced to us as. She's all too human and vulnerable, weeping over the bitter divorce she's going through. [[AdultFear And then she finds her (only?) son dead in his toychest.]] All the searching hinted at in the previous two endings, and [[FridgeHorror she overlooked him in his own bedroom.]]]]
* This [[http://images.pushsquare.com/news/2015/09/the_binding_of_isaac_afterbirth_will_be_released_on_ps4_vita_this_year/attachment/0/original.jpg Bit of promotional art]] depicting Isaac weeping in fear to the point of flailing, clutching his head and wetting himself while a group of bosses looks on with [[EvenEvilHasStandards worried expressions plastered on their faces.]]

Hey, we're talking about a game where you fight monsters with your tears. Got to jerk them somehow.

*** To add to it, [[spoiler: we see Isaac's mother not as the violently murderous madwoman she was introduced to us as. She's all too human and vulnerable, weeping over the bitter divorce she's going through. [[FridgeHorror And then she finds her (only?) son dead in his toychest.]] All the searching hinted at in the previous two endings, and she overlooked him in his own bedroom.]]

** The final floor, boss, and ending confirmed what many people had theorized based on previous endings. [[spoiler:None of the actual game is happening. [[DyingDream The whole game is in the final dream of Isaac's dying brain while he's suffocating from the lack of air in the toy chest he locked himself into.]] [[RealityEnsues There's no grand underground cave works under his house, no bibles falling to save him from his abusive mother, no deals with the devil to give him superpowers, no anything that we've seen thus far.]] Isaac is a suicidal boy who killed himself by suffocation and had one last wild dream as he slowly died. That's all this story ever was.]] [[DownerEnding It's an incredibly sobering note to end on,]] but considering how the rest of the game was, were you really expecting anything else?

** The final floor, boss, and ending drive home clear as day something that most people seemed to miss when it came to theorycrafting lore. [[spoiler:None of the actual game is happening. [[DyingDream The whole game is in the final dream of Isaac's dying brain while he's suffocating from the lack of air in the toy chest he locked himself into.]] [[RealityEnsues There's no grand underground cave works under his house, no bibles falling to save him from his abusive mother, no deals with the devil to give him superpowers, no anything that we've seen thus far.]] Isaac is a suicidal boy who killed himself by suffocation and had one last wild dream as he slowly died. That's all this story ever was.]] [[DownerEnding It's an incredibly sobering note to end on,]] but considering how the rest of the game was, were you really expecting anything else?

** The final floor, boss, and ending drive home clear as day something that most people seemed to miss when it came to theorycrafting lore. [[spoiler:None of the actual game is happening. [[DyingDream The whole game is in the final dream of Isaac's dying brain while he's suffocating from the lack of air in the toy chest he locked himself into.]] [[RealityEnsues There's no grand underground cave works under his house, no bibles falling to save him from his abusive mother, no deals with the devil to give him superpowers, no anything that we've seen thus far.]] Isaac is a suicidal boy who killed himself by suffocation and had one last wild dream as he slowly died. That's all this story ever was.]] [[DownerEnding It's an incredibly sobering note to end on,]] but considering how the rest of the game was, were you really expecting anything else?

* The definitive final ending of the game, Ending 20. Where to begin? [[spoiler:It serves as a MindScrewdriver to all of the other endings. In it, Isaac is within his toy chest, his life flashing before him. You hear his mom and dad arguing, and see a shot of Isaac watching his mother cry in front of her TV. As Isaac begins to turn [[WhamShot blue]] [[note]](just like Hush or ???)[[/note]] from the lack of oxygen, we see Isaac holding a family photo with his dad's face burned away, and (perhaps most heart-wrenching) a series of Isaac's drawings, [[SanitySlippage showing his descent into self-loathing and suicidal insanity]]. Finally, we see a shot of [[DeadAllAlong Isaac's skeleton]] within the chest as his mother opens it, and the missing poster from Ending 15 flies away, symbolizing Isaac's demise. The final shot of the ending is Isaac walking through the afterlife from Ending 17, while a somber remix of the title theme plays.]]

* Ending 13. [[spoiler:It depicts Isaac, his pre-insanity mother, and a skinny man who's presumably Isaac's dad, the first few pictures are of all of them living happily, then it gets dark, it shows Isaac crying by a chest, a demonic him in the mirror, and the very last photo? Isaac, with his mother setting her hand on his back to comfort him, looking out to the hill where an earlier picture showed the family picnicking at, [[DisappearedDad that now houses a lonely grave]]]], [[DownerEnding The End]].

* The new endings of Rebirth also count. The first, number 15[[note]]If you're curious about the numbering, there are now 11 Womb endings instead of 10, so the previously-mentioned Ending 13 is now Ending 14[[/note]], shows [[spoiler:that Isaac has gone missing, with his Mother desperately searching for him.]] The second, 16, shows [[spoiler:Isaac locked in his chest, as his breathing gets faster and harsher, and his heart beats quicker and quicker. Flashes are shown of him turning into a demon, and as his heartbeat slows down, Isaac morphs into a demon, ''and stays that way.'']] A harsh DownerEnding.

* The definitive final ending of the game, Ending 20. Where to begin? [[spoiler:It serves as a MindScrewdriver to all of the other endings. In it, Isaac is within his toy chest, his life flashing before him. You hear his mom and dad arguing, and see a shot of Isaac watching his mother cry in front of her TV. As Isaac begins to turn [[WhamShot blue]][[note]](just like Hush or ???)[[/note]]from the lack of oxygen, we see Isaac holding a family photo with his dad's face burned away, and (perhaps most heart-wrenching) a series of Isaac's drawings, [[SanitySlippage showing his descent into self-loathing and suicidal insanity]]. Finally, we see a shot of [[DeadAllAlong Isaac's skeleton]] within the chest as his mother opens it, and the missing poster from Ending 15 flies away, symbolizing Isaac's demise. The final shot of the ending is Isaac walking through the afterlife from Ending 17, while a somber remix of the title theme plays.]]
** The final floor, boss and ending drive home clear as day something that most people seemed to miss when it came to theorycrafting lore. [[spoiler: None of the actual game is happening. [[DyingDream The whole game is in the final dream of Isaac's dying brain while he's suffocating from lack of air in the toy chest he locked himself into.]] [[RealityEnsues There's no grand underground cave works under his house, no bibles falling to save him from his abusive mother, no deals with the devil to give him superpowers, no anything that we've seen thus far.]] Isaac is a suicidal boy who killed himself by suffocation and had one last wild dream as he slowly died. That's all this story ever was.]] [[DownerEnding It's an incredibly sobering note to end on,]] but considering how the rest of the game was, were you really expecting anything else?

** The final floor, boss and ending drive home clear as day something that most people seemed to miss when it came to theorycrafting lore. [[spoiler: None of the actual game is happening. [[DyingDream The whole game is in the mind of Isaac's dying brain while he's suffocating from lack of air in the toy chest he locked himself into.]] [[RealityEnsues There's no grand underground cave works under his house, no bibles falling to save him from his abusive mother, no deals with the devil to give him superpowers, no anything that we've seen thus far.]] Isaac is a suicidal boy who killed himself by suffocation and had one last wild dream as he slowly died. That's all this story ever was.]] [[DownerEnding It's an incredibly sobering note to end on,]] but considering how the rest of the game was, were you really expecting anything else?

** The final floor, boss and ending drive home clear as day something that most people seemed to miss when it came to theorycrafting lore. [[spoiler: None of the actual game is happening. [[DyingDream The whole game is in the mind of Isaac's dying brain while he's suffocating from the lack of air in the chest.]] [[RealityEnsues There's no grand underground cave works under his house, no bibles falling to save him from his abusive mother, no deals with the devil to give him superpowers, no anything that we've seen thus far.]] He is a suicidal boy who killed himself by suffocation and had one last wild dream as he slowly died. That's all this story ever was.]] [[DownerEnding It's an incredibly sobering note to end on,]] but considering how the rest of the game was, were you really expecting anything else?

** Combined with the other endings, this ending makes Isaac's backstory become as clear as crystal. [[spoiler:Based on the pictures from Ending 13, Isaac's family used to be a happy, loving family, until Isaac came out as somewhere on the LGBT spectrum, as shown by him dressing up as a girl. However, while his mom was supportive of him, his dad wasn't, and after some brutal arguments (which clearly traumatized the poor kid) left his mother. This caused his mother to become abusive, and only reinforced the image in Isaac's head that he was corrupted with sin. Finally, convinced that he was pure evil, he snapped and committed suicide by locking himself in his chest, suffocating to death. The whole game was just [[DyingDream Isaac's mind breaking down before he died.]]]] [[SandInMyEyes (sniffle)]]