History Tearjerker / PacificRim

* As revealed in ''Ascension'', Viktoriya's background. She is raised by her grandmother and grandfather, and mentions being attacked and bullied by other children for being an orphan. Her grandmother tells her her parents were Alexis and Sasha Kaidanovsky, but it quickly becomes apparent that this might not be true, as the grandmother also has a propensity for drinking, and seems to be slightly mentally unstable (at one point telling Viktoriya to watch out for "Kaijus who are the same size and shape as humans"). At the end of the novel she suffers a near-death experience and sees her grandfather standing over two graves and lamenting the loss of his child. Mako does some digging and gives Viktoriya some closure, telling her her parents were actually a foreman at a petrochemical plant and a mathematics teacher who both perished during a Kaiju attack when Viktoriya was very young.

** Made even worse in the novelization, which reveals that Onibaba's attack coincided with Mako's first visit to Tokyo. [[AdultFear She's alone, in a strange city, being chased by a giant alien, not long after her father promised her that 'the monsters aren't real' and that he would find her again. Guess what doesn't happen...]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pacific_rim_our_fallen_hero.jpg]]

-->'''Raleigh:''' (''panicking'') It went through the hull! It went through the hull!
-->'''Yancy:''' Raleigh, listen to me. Raleigh, listen to -- (''gets ripped out of the Conn-pod by Knifehead'')

* The whole fact that Raleigh was linked to Yancy as he was killed by the Kaiju, making the experience all the more traumatic though experiencing all of his pain and despair in that moment.
-->'''Yancy:''' Raleigh listen to me. Raleigh listen to -- (''ripped out of the Conn-pod by Knifehead'')
** Worse is when Raleigh forces himself to pilot his Jaeger to shore and stumbles out of the cockpit. He just walks around dazedly, repeating Yancy's name before collapsing.
** Look at it from the perspective of the old man and his grandson who saved Raleigh. They just watched a Jaeger, the pinnacle of human engineering, a walking god-like warrior just stumble and fall to pieces before them, and out of the Jaeger walks a single wounded, delirious pilot, when everyone knows that pilots are paired. When the old man falls to his knees beside Raleigh, you can see how horrified and crushed he is just by the implications of Gypsy Danger falling dead in front of him. The Jaegers, humanity's last hope, ''aren't good enough''.
* The demise of Cherno. While both Typhoon and Striker's pilots were killed quickly, the Kaidonovskys got to enjoy a Rasputinian death until the kaiju found the cockpit. The HopeSpot didn't help.

** Really, Herc's lot in life in general. He loses his wife, his young son, his closest friend, numerous family members, and several of his fellow pilots and is left with nothing but his dog, Max.
** The fact that Chuck took the time to say goodbye to Max, and that he's going to miss him.
--->'''Chuck:''' Hey, handsome. Oh, I'm gonna miss you. You look after him for me.
** Everyone knows how much love a dog has for their owner. Now imagine how much sadness that Max would feel seeing Chuck go away and not understanding why when he doesn't come back.

* The last few moments of Stacker and Chuck before their HeroicSacrifice.
** Perhaps even worse on Stacker's end. He's essentially taking his closest friend's son to an inevitable death. Considering how close and long Stacker and Herc have worked together, it's very likely that Stacker has known Chuck since he was a little boy, or at least a young teenager. Just imagine taking someone who you've mentored since they still had ''baby teeth'' into such a terrible situation.

* Mako's final words to Pentecost are "I love you". Doubles as a super-sad BilingualBonus since she says it in Japanese with no subtitles. This was intentionally left untranslated, because her words were only for him.
* Very briefly, among the scattering of images/memories that show up when [[GeniusCripple Gottlieb]] and Newton drift together interspersed with the shots of the Kaiju is... a young boy crying and hugging his knees. Judging from the clothes and setting, it's a very young Gottlieb. What happened to him?

** This deserves further mention. Think of who Mako has already lost at that point: her entire family when she was a child, several Jaeger pilots (Chuck, the Wei triplets, etc.) who she has likely known for many years, and, mere moments earlier, her adopted father. Now imagine her thinking she lost someone who she shared a strong mental connection with. It's not hard to imagine her thinking she's cursed to lose everyone close in her life at that moment.
* The novelization, and likely cut scenes, show why Chuck has a chip on his shoulder towards his father. Hercules could only guess as to where his wife and son were with only an hour before the fourth Kaiju, Scissure, would be nuked. Herc picked his son to save and would never know if his wife died by the Kaiju or nuke. Every time father and son drift Herc knows his son begrudges him but they still love each other. Despite any decent parent preferring their child be saved instead of them, Chuck still has unresolved anger. Drifting somehow makes it better and worse.

** One of the deleted scenes included on the DVD had him calling out that Herc never raised Chuck to be anything, and that the only reason they're still together after all this time is because they're Drift-compatible, so they don't even need to talk to each other outside the Conn Pod. The look on Herc's face is heartbreaking.

** Honestly, Chuck's whole life in general. He's been raised since early childhood to be the perfect Jaeger pilot, has an extremely strained relationship with his father, displays many of the unhealthy habits and emotional issues that are commonly attributed to [[ChildSoldier Child Soldiers]], and willingly sacrifices himself without a second thought to his own future. In the books, Chuck's greatest wish was to be able to live his own life and make decisions for himself, instead of always having the fate of humanity pressing down on him. He never gets to experience this.

* A more subtle one: when meeting Raleigh for the first time, Newt says that "only his mother calls him 'Doctor.'" This becomes much sadder after finding out that Newt was an illegitimate child from an affair his dad had with a married woman, and was raised solely by his father's side of the family; his mom probably calls him Doctor because they don't have a close relationship, supposing they have one at all.

* When we first see Raleigh after Yancy's death, he's working building the Wall in Alaska... And then comes in the news that the Wall at Sidney was breached and the city was saved by Striker Eureka, a Jaeger that was about to be moved at Hong Kong, and the workers realize that [[AllForNothing what they're doing is useless]]. And all that mere minutes after the revelation that three men fell to their deaths the previous day, with the implication that deaths on the construction crews are a ''daily'' occurrence.

* The whole fact that [[spoiler:Raleigh was linked to Yancy as he was killed by the Kaiju, making the experience all the more traumatic though experiencing all of his pain and despair in that moment.]]
-->'''Yancy:''' Raleigh listen to me. Raleigh listen to -- [[spoiler: (''ripped out of the Conn-pod by Knifehead'')]]
** [[spoiler: Worse is when Raleigh forces himself to pilot his Jaeger to shore and stumbles out of the cockpit. He just walks around dazedly, repeating Yancy's name before collapsing]].
** Look at it from the perspective of the old man and his grandson who saved Raleigh. They just watched a Jaeger, the pinnacle of human engineering, a walking god-like warrior just stumble and fall to pieces before them, and out of the Jaeger [[spoiler: walks a single wounded, delirious pilot, when everyone knows that pilots are paired]]. When the old man falls to his knees beside Raleigh, you can see how horrified and crushed he is just by the implications of Gypsy Danger falling dead in front of him. The Jaegers, humanity's last hope, ''aren't good enough''.
* The demise of [[spoiler:Cherno]]. While [[spoiler: both Typhoon and Striker's pilots were killed quickly]], the [[spoiler: Kaidonovskys]] got to enjoy a Rasputinian death until the kaiju found the cockpit. The HopeSpot didn't help.

** The worst part is how it all plays out. Pentecost and Chuck [[spoiler: ''know'' they are going to die, and they've already accepted it.]]
** Really, Herc's lot in life in general. He loses his wife, [[spoiler: his young son, his closest friend, numerous family members, and several of his fellow pilots and is left with nothing but his dog, Max.]]

* Mako's flashback, revealing [[spoiler: a scared little girl bawling her eyes out after losing her parents in the middle of a devastated Tokyo.]]
** Made even worse in the novelization, which reveals that [[spoiler: Onibaba's attack coincided with Mako's first visit to Tokyo. [[AdultFear She's alone, in a strange city, being chased by a giant alien, not long after her father promised her that 'the monsters aren't real' and that he would find her again. Guess what doesn't happen...]]]]
*** Even worse -- [[spoiler:the reason that Mako and her parents had to visit Tokyo in the first place was because her father needed treatment for cancer.]]
* [[spoiler: The last few moments of Stacker and Chuck before their HeroicSacrifice]].
** Perhaps even worse on Stacker's end. He's essentially taking his closest friend's son to an [[spoiler: inevitable death]]. Considering how close and long Stacker and Herc have worked together, it's very likely that Stacker has known Chuck since he was a little boy, or at least a young teenager. Just imagine taking someone who you've mentored since they still had ''baby teeth'' into such a terrible situation.
** The comics reveal that [[spoiler:all Stacker thought about after saying goodbye to Mako was his son Jake. Making an internal AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, wishing that he had been a better father to him, and apologizing that he is going to die before they could make up.]]
* Mako's [[spoiler: final]] words to [[spoiler: Pentecost are "I love you"]]. Doubles as a super-sad BilingualBonus since she says it in Japanese with no subtitles. [[spoiler: This was intentionally left untranslated, because her words were only for him]].
* Very briefly, among the scattering of images/memories that show up when [[spoiler:[[GeniusCripple Gottlieb]] and Newton]] drift together interspersed with the shots of the Kaiju is... a young boy crying and hugging his knees. Judging from the clothes and setting, it's [[spoiler:a very young Gottlieb. What happened to him?]]

* The fear Mako shows when she thinks that [[spoiler:Raleigh died.]]
** This deserves further mention. [[spoiler:Think of who Mako has already lost at that point: her entire family when she was a child, several Jaeger pilots (Chuck, the Wei triplets, etc.) who she has likely known for many years, and, mere moments earlier, her adopted father. Now imagine her thinking she lost someone who she shared a strong mental connection with. It's not hard to imagine her thinking she's cursed to lose everyone close in her life at that moment.]]

** [[spoiler: And then, in spite of everything, Chuck ends up being killed by a Kaiju, anyways.]]

** Honestly, Chuck's whole life in general. He's been raised since early childhood to be the perfect Jaeger pilot, has an extremely strained relationship with his father, displays many of the unhealthy habits and emotional issues that are commonly attributed to [[ChildSoldier Child Soldiers]], and [[spoiler:willingly sacrifices himself without a second thought to his own future]]. In the books, Chuck's greatest wish was to be able to live his own life and make decisions for himself, instead of always having the fate of humanity pressing down on him. [[spoiler:He never gets to experience this.]]

* When Pentecost reveals he'll be [[spoiler: Chuck's copilot, he and Mako have a quick heart to heart about her protecting him. The look on her face is heartbreaking, since she already lost one father, and she's about to lose another.]]

* [[spoiler:The fact that Raleigh was essentially poisoned by his visit to the Precursor world, and eventually died. Mako obviously takes his loss very hard, and is described as essentially visiting with his "ghost" through the Drift.]]
* As revealed in ''Ascension'', Viktoriya's background. She is raised by her grandmother and grandfather, and mentions being attacked and bullied by other children for being an orphan. Her grandmother tells her [[spoiler:her parents were Alexis and Sasha Kaidanovsky]], but it quickly becomes apparent that this might not be true, as the grandmother also has a propensity for drinking, and seems to be slightly mentally unstable (at one point telling Viktoriya to watch out for "Kaijus who are the same size and shape as humans"). At the end of the novel [[spoiler:she suffers a near-death experience and sees her grandfather standing over two graves and lamenting the loss of his child. Mako does some digging and gives Viktoriya some closure, telling her her parents were actually a foreman at a petrochemical plant and a mathematics teacher who both perished during a Kaiju attack when Viktoriya was very young]].

* When we first see Raleigh after Yancy's death, he's working building the Wall in Alaska... And then comes in the news that the Wall at Sidney was breached and the city was saved by Striker Eureka, a Jaeger that was about to be moved at Hong Kong, and the workers realize that [[AllForNothing what they're doing is useless]].

** [[spoiler: Worse is when Raleigh forces himself to pilot his Jaegar to shore and stumbles out of the cockpit. He just walks around dazedly, repeating Yancy's name before collapsing]].

* As revealed in ''Ascension'', Viktoriya's background. She is raised by her grandmother and grandfather, and mentions being attacked and bullied by other children for being an orphan. Her grandmother tells her [[spoiler:her parents were Alexis and Sasha Kaidanovsky]], but it quickly becomes apparent that this might not be true, as the grandmother also has a propensity for drinking, and at one point tells Viktoriya to watch out for "Kaijus who are the same size and shape as humans". At the end of the novel [[spoiler:Mako tells her her parents were actually a foreman at a petrochemical plant and a mathematics teacher who both perished during a Kaiju attack when Viktoriya was very young]].

* As revealed in ''Ascension'', Viktoriya's background. She is raised by her grandmother and grandfather, and mentions being attacked and bullied by other children for being an orphan. Her grandmother tells her [[spoiler:her parents were Alexis and Sasha Kaidanovsky]], but it quickly becomes apparent that this might not be true, as the grandmother also has a propensity for drinking, and at one point tells Viktoriya to watch out for "Kaijus who are the same size and shape as humans". At the end of the novel [[spoiler:Mako tells her her parents were a foreman at a petrochemical plant and a mathematics teacher who both perished during a Kaiju attack when Viktoriya was very young]].

* [[spoiler:The fact that Raleigh and Mako were both poisoned by their proximity to the final fight and while Mako recovered, she had to watch as Raleigh worsened and eventually died.]]