History TearJerker / TriGun

* In Episode 6, "Lost July", the reason Elizabeth decided to go after Vash. She was from July City and was there when Vash destroyed it twenty years earlier. No one died in the blast itself, [[RealityEnsues but thousands died in the aftermath of being stranded in the desert]], including her parents.

* In the movie, when you find out that [[spoiler:not only was Amelia Gasback's daughter, but she was only 19. If Vash hadn't let Gasback escape back then, she would have never been born.]]

* The entire latter half of Episode 18. After the traumatic events of "Fifth Moon", Vash finally finds some peace by taking on the alias "Ericks" and living with a young girl and her grandmother. Unfortunately, Vash's past catches up to him and he is forced to leave this life behind. Not only that, despite having saved the villagers from a local gang, they [[SarcasmMode show their appreciation]] by saying they should run him out of town.

** The very beginning of the episode, Vash finally regains consciousness after 10 days in an AngstComa and quickly remembers what he'd done. He lets out a primal scream as Meryl stands right outside the door, sobbing because she can't do anything to help him.

* Of course, Rem's death. [[spoiler:Imagine that the woman who's the closest thing you have to a mother just sacrificed herself to save you, your brother, and the entire race? ...Now imagine that the reason she had to do it was ''because'' of your brother. Knives, ''you bastard''.]]

* "Goodbye, For Now". It's been some time[[labelnote:*]] (a few months in the anime; two years in the manga)[[/labelnote]] since Vash [[spoiler:blew a hole in the Fifth Moon with his Angel Arm]], and he's been taking a TenMinuteRetirement with Lina and Granny Sheryl. After Wolfwood forces him back into the story, he says goodbye… and we flash back to when Lina found Vash lying half-dead in an alley. The two of them clearly cared deeply about each other.

* [[spoiler:Tessla's]] story. Even before considering the impact it had on the twins, it's heartbreaking to read that report, wherein some scientist dryly documents [[spoiler:how the SEEDS crew (apparently [[ForScience out of curiosity]]) performed so many experiments on Tessla that her body literally broke down from the stress until she died]]. Then [[spoiler:they dissected her and kept her parts in jars all around the lab]].

** Leonof. [[spoiler:As a kid, he had been friends with Vash. Some time later, he lost the woman he loved (Isabel) and tried to fill the hole in his life by making puppets. He keeps Isabel preserved in a coffin. When her coffin falls out of Sky City, he snaps the marionette wires Vash is holding him up with and falls to his death.]]
** Hopperd. [[spoiler:[[AllOfTheOtherReindeer He was a hideously-deformed hunchback reduced to begging to survive]]. Then he fell in love with a woman from July City. Not long after, she vanished (apparently vaporized) in the Lost July incident.]] Kinda makes his trash talking from the anime make a ''lot'' more sense, doesn't it?

* Knives finally getting sick and tired of there not being enough death, so he [[spoiler:absorbs most of the Plants into himself to become an unstoppable supervillain]]. Remember that up to this point, his ''entire reason'' for wanting to genocide the human race was because he was appalled at man's treatment of Plants. {{Hypocrite}}. Sadder still because we've seen via Vash that female Plants are (with the exception of Chronica) absolute sweethearts, and ''are'' sentient and probably sapient.
* [[spoiler:Wolfwood]]'s death. [[spoiler:Vash cries and prays for God to do him one favor in the manga as he and Wolfwood sit in the ruins of Wolfwood's childhood home and share one last drink before Wolfwood dies. And as the children he just saved fly to safety, they get one last message to him: Welcome Home.]]

* In Episode 6, "Lost July", the reason [[spoiler:Elizabeth]] decided to go after Vash. [[spoiler:She was from July City and was there when Vash destroyed it twenty years earlier. No one died in the blast itself, [[RealityEnsues but thousands died in the aftermath of being stranded in the desert]], including her parents.]]
** And then again when [[spoiler:she]] was unable to kill Vash, and then realized [[spoiler:he was the cloaked saviour [[HeartwarmingInHindsight who comforted and sheltered her after she became orphaned]]]].
* A little added scene in Episode 12 that cements Meryl's character development. The acting in both dubs during this scene is superb and emotional as hell.
-->'''Meryl:''' "Who ''is'' that? That is not Vash; that is not the same man. …He's walking away. If we don't stop him, he'll never come back."

** Vash's reaction as Legato forces him to unleash [[spoiler:his Angel Arm]] against his will.
** Just seeing Meryl so distraught after Vash left her at the end of the previous episode. She spends about half the episode crying, and it only gets worse after [[spoiler:Vash destroys Augusta City and blasts a hole in one of the planet's moons]]. By this point, it's now absolutely clear how much she cares for him.
*** Right as things start to hit the fan, Meryl sees [[spoiler:the light from Vash's Angel Arm]], knows instinctively it's him, tries to go to him, but Milly grabs her and runs, knowing if they stay they'll die. The entire time, Meryl is struggling and begging Milly to let her go.

*** Especially since it can be inferred that [[spoiler:Frank Marlon started drinking again as a result]].

** After the SEEDS Ship finally crashes on the planet (courtesy of Gray and Hopperd), all the people blame Vash, who did everything he could to save them. Brad, who up to this point had been kind of a {{Jerkass}}, defends him and rips his fellow Ship-dwellers a new one for refusing to accept reality. Cue Jessica coming up to greet them. [[spoiler:She's one of Leonof's puppets, who pulls a gun intending to kill Vash but ends up shooting Brad ten times in the back. As Brad dies, he thinks about how much he'd grown while Vash had not changed a bit. He dies as the real Jessica watches.]]
*** The beginning of the next episode, at [[spoiler:Brad]]'s funeral, Jessica has this reaction to Vash.
--->"It's not your fault. It's not, but… I'm sorry!" ''[-(runs away crying)-]''

** Wolfwood, wracked with guilt over [[spoiler:murdering Zazie]], recalls Milly's disappointed face and thinks "Please don't look at me like that."

** Most famously, of course, is ''That'' Scene (i.e. [[spoiler:Wolfwood's death]]). [[spoiler:As Wolfwood kneels in the church, dying from his wounds, he thinks about how happy he was travelling with the others and hopes to be reborn in a verdant Eden with Vash, Meryl, and (especially) Milly… then realizes his lifestyle really was the wrong choice and he doesn't want to die. His final words, depending on language, are either "I did not wanna die this way!" (English) or "I can't stand it." (Japanese).]]

*** And then after ''that'' scene, the episode ends with [[spoiler:poor sweet Milly kneeling beside Wolfwood's bed (where she had slept the previous night), wailing in despair]], while [[spoiler: Meryl watches over her and Vash waits outside the house, looking VERY serious]]. It is absolutely ''heartwrenching''.

** The episode ''starts'' with Vash alone in a different town buying $$30 worth of doughnuts, trying to keep up his happy façade despite the events of the previous few episodes... [[BeneathTheMask and he just can't take it anymore]]. He breaks down crying in the middle of the plaza.

*** When Meryl presses Milly, she says "I'm sure… it's what ''he'' would have done."

** At the end, Vash is forced to [[spoiler:shoot Legato execution-style to keep Meryl and Milly from being beaten to death]]. The look on Vash's face as he[[spoiler:, for the first time, knowingly and willfully kills a man]], is painful to see.
*** Even sadder is watching [[spoiler:the vision of Rem in Vash's mind fade away as he pulls the trigger]].

** The sequence where Vash screams at Knives that he wants to save the spider ''and'' the butterfly, Knives insists Vash is being unrealistic, and Rem sits there horrified, realizing that something has irrevocably changed for the worse and she can't do anything about it.

* In Episode 6, "Lost July", the reason [[spoiler:Elizabeth]] decided to go after Vash. [[spoiler:She was from July City and was there when Vash destroyed it twenty years earlier. No one died in the blast itself, but thousands died in the aftermath, including her parents.]]

** The episode ''starts'' with Vash alone in a different town buying $$30 worth of doughnuts, trying to keep up his happy façade despite the events of the previous few episodes… and he just can't take it anymore. He breaks down crying in the middle of the plaza.

--->"Sempai, he told me to wait here. He told me to wait until he comes back." [[note]]Milly's not stupid; her tone makes it clear she knows he's not coming back.[[/note]]

** Most famously, of course, is ''That'' Scene (i.e. [[spoiler:Wolfwood's death]]). [[spoiler:As Wolfwood kneels in the church, dying from his wounds, he thinks about how happy he was travelling with the others and hopes to be reborn in a verdant Eden with Vash, Meryl, and (especially) Milly… then realizes his lifestyle really was the wrong choice and he doesn't want to die. His final words, depending on language, are either "I don't want to die!" (English) or "I can't stand it." (Japanese).]]

** Later in the episode, the townsfolk - who had been friendly up to that point - find out Vash's true identity, drag him out of his safe-house, and ''keelhaul'' him.[[labelnote:†]] For those who don't know, keelhauling is when you tie someone up with a long rope, attach one end of that rope to some sort of vehicle (usually a truck), and drive, dragging the victim along the ground/road. It's a nasty way to die.[[/labelnote]] Keep in mind that he was still recovering from being shot and hadn't done anything to hurt anyone in the village. All because of his [[HeroWithBadPublicity reputation]]. The way he just takes it is ''heartbreaking''.

** And then again when [[spoiler:she]] was unable to kill Vash, and then realized [[spoiler:he was the cloaked saviour who comforted and sheltered her after she became orphaned]].

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'''''Trigun''''' is a story about one guy trying to preserve and spread his pacifist ideals in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where AnyoneCanDie (except ''maybe'' him). Needless to say, a lot of this series is just plain sad and only gets more so as it goes on.

*** And then after ''that'' scene, the episode ends with [[spoiler:poor sweet Milly kneeling beside Wolfwood's bed (where she had slept the previous night), wailing in despair]]. It is absolutely ''heartwrenching''.

* [[spoiler:Tessla's]] story. Even before considering the impact it had on the twins, it's heartbreaking to read that report.