History TearJerker / TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild

** Related to the two above, when Mipha's soul is freed and atop Ruta to help Link, she expresses how much she misses her father and wished she could see him one last time. Not a word about her little brother, just the father she knows was worried sick about her. At least Daruk got to see his descendant Yunobo when he gets his own Divine Beast into position, but this broken family just gets to stay as it was before Link helped.

* One of the very first signs of the state of the kingdom and how much time has passed is the ruins of the Temple of Time. Located near the cave where Link woke up, it's in very bad shape. Being one of the most iconic and important places in the franchise, it will definitely pull a few strings for players seeing this for the first time.

** Mipha wouldn't have had a happy ending if she ''had'' lived, because [[MayflyDecemberRomance she would have outlived her husband by an ''immense'' amount of time.]] This also puts the relationship of another Zora, Finley, and a male Hylian in the same boat after their sidequest. Sure, you bringing them together to confess their love to each other in person is sweet, but Finley will outlive her boyfriend/potential husband.
*** Alternatively, Link could have maybe made himself a willing test subject of Purah's [[FountainOfYouth reverse-aging rune tests... ''If'' she discovered them a lot earlier than when she actually used it on herself in the game itself. It would make him and Mipha having a relationship rather awkward for a decade or two as a result of course, assuming the massive amounts of de-aging it does in a rapid timeframe didn't kill him since he's a Hylian instead of a longer-lived Sheikah.]]

*** While Zelda's suffering here is the main focus, think about Link for a moment. As Zelda just said, in the span of the last few hours (or days at most), all four other Champions were killed. Link was particularly close with them (well, except maybe Revali), and outright in love with Mipha, to the point where she was effectively about to propose to him. Now they're all gone, along with however many other people Link knew. But he still pushes all that to the back of his mind so he can focus on comforting and protecting Zelda, even though you wouldn't blame him for having a similar breakdown.

** It's especially sad in the Japanese version, as Zelda's crying in that version is ''extremely'' [[InelegantBlubbering loud and realistic-sounding]] to the point of sounding horrifying.

--->'''Zelda:''' It's all my fault! Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost all because I couldn't harness this cursed power! Everything -- Everything I've done up until now... It was all for nothing...! [''voice breaking''] So I really ''am'' just a failure! All my friends... the entire kingdom... my father most of all... I tried, and I failed them all... ''I've left them... all to die.''

----> [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex To admit any of his weaknesses, even if he internally realized they were there, would be too crippling for him. With so much riding on him and so many Rito looking up to him... that facade was probably the only thing keeping him going.]] In a way, he was probably alot like Link, the difference being that Link hid his emotions and said almost nothing because of the stress, while Revali did the opposite [[NotSoDifferent for the same reason.]]

** However, at his highest before going to fight Calamity Ganon, the closest Link has to companions are the deceased spirits of the Champions lending him their power, some fairies, Zelda via telepathy and a dormant Fi in the Master Sword.

** Now that the context of the moment has been revealed, it's even more heartbreaking: Zelda is weeping because, despite all their preparations, everything has gone wrong--leading to the deaths of her father, the Champions, and the destruction of most of the kingdom. The kicker? She's supposed to be the one who can seal Calamity Ganon away, but she utterly failed in unlocking her hidden power. As far as Zelda's aware, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the cataclysm and death of nearly everyone she ever knew is due to her own incompetence.]] Patricia Summersett's performance in the English dub really sells it.

** Once you find out Dorian's backstory, you'll want to do more than the above rampage -- you'll abuse Stasis like [[TimeStop Dio]] [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Brando]] and actively [[KillEmAll slaughter the Yiga to the last man]] (or if you want to be [[CruelAndUnusualDeath cruel]], [[DisintegratorRay use Ancient Arrows]]). Dorian was a former member of the Yiga Clan, but his wife was the reason why he [[HeelFaceTurn defected]]. Unfortunately, the clan caught wind of this and murdered her, leaving Koko and Cottla without a mother. Upon his grief, he gave away information about Kakariko Village and Link in exchange for their lives, but they decided [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he outlived his usefulness]]. Had Link not intervened, they could have succeeded.

*** When she was ''seven''. ''SEVEN''! She nearly [[spoiler: drowned]] herself trying to unlock her sealing powers. She put so much effort into unlocking her powers, nearly [[spoiler: killing herself]] in the process and yet it didn't work. She failed.

* Poor Zelda is such a [[TheWoobie woobie]] in this game. She's more of an academic than a leader, and yet she's expected to be able to seal away Ganon when the moment arrives, despite having no guidance on how to unlock her power (since the Queen died before Zelda's training began). The future of the entire kingdom rests on her shoulders; Link and the other Champions can wound Ganon over and over, but only Zelda can lock him away. Yet, no matter how hard she studies and prays, she can't figure it out.

* The Leviathan Fossils are huge tearjerkers once you realize just who they once were. The one in the Gerudo Desert is a baleen whale with little wing bones, a dead ringer for the Wind Fish. The one north of Death Mountain has the plate and same exact facial structure of Levias. The one stuck in the ice in the Hebra Mountains just seems to be a humpback whale skeleton, which most likely means that it's the true form of Oshus, the Ocean King. These three powerful spirits who have helped heroes throughout Hyrule's history have been reduced to nothing but bone, and in the case of Levias, his body is reduced to once more being a hiding spot for monsters.

--->'''[=SteelWolfSentinel=]:''' When I read Revali's journal, I was struck by how much he worries about himself. I didn't take it as a sign of arrogance (otherwise he would have asked for a statue). He asked for a shooting range to be built for him instead, and to me that suggested that he secretly felt inferior, lacking self-confidence; and that knowing how many other Rito looked up to him and relied on his strength made it all the more stressful. Having a shooting range would let him keep his skills in top form, and probably be a place of peace and solitude.

---> Consider that he was simply a skilled archer among the Rito; not a leader like Daruk; not a princess like Mipha; not a chieftain like Urbosa; and not an appointed knight of Hyrule like Link. Consider also that the other three champions had their abilities for a long time; Revali had to develope his Gale on his own, making it that much more personal.

---> [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex To admit any of his weaknesses, even if he internally realized they were there, would be too crippling for him. With so much riding on him and so many Rito looking up to him... that facade was probably the only thing keeping him going.]] In a way, he was probably alot like Link, the difference being that Link hid his emotions and said almost nothing because of the stress, while Revali did the opposite [[NotSoDifferent for the same reason.]]

---> As arrogant as he could seem, I just can't bring myself to hate him.

---> To admit any of his weaknesses, even if he internally realized they were there, would be too crippling for him. With so much riding on him and so many Rito looking up to him... that facade was probably the only thing keeping him going. In a way, he was probably alot like Link, the difference being that Link hid his emotions and said almost nothing because of the stress, while Revali did the opposite for the same reason.