Line #94 TearJerker/BlackButler


1	Black Butler is filled with tearjerking moments and downer scenes.
2	----
3	[[foldercontrol]]
4
5	[[folder:Red Butler Arc]]
6	* Madame Red's death at the chainsaw of Grell, and Ciel's reaction. "Red is... your favorite color".
7	** Bonus in that Grell killed her because she refused to kill her beloved nephew. Double bonus in that Grell then calls Angelina along the lines of a "boring person" because she dared to display genuine love and restraint instead of violent passion and even steals her red coat claiming that she doesn't deserve it.
8	** Her horrific backstory as well. Yikes.
9	** From the Alice in Wonderland OVA, Madam Red played the Queen of Hearts and after the trial Sebastian saves Ciel from being beheaded. Suddenly, Madam Red is wearing her normal clothes and smiles sadly. And then, to twist the knife further, she says this:
10	-->"So, you're going home. I hope we can meet again in another dream."
11	* Madame Red's funeral. Ciel placing the dress on her corpse is an "aww" moment.
12	[[/folder]]
13
14	[[folder:Indian Butler Arc]]
15	* Soma, after finding out that Agni is working with the person who kidnapped Meena, has a temper tantrum, angry that everyone around him has left him. Sebastian brutally and honestly tells him that no one ever loved him, and that he is nothing but a spoiled brat.
16	* It turns out Meena wasn't kidnapped at all. She ran away to get away from Soma so she can become a rich wife. This is what Agni had been trying to keep from Soma and now he feels he's failed. However, Soma gently understands and happily forgives Agni and accepts him as his butler once more.
17	[[/folder]]
18
19	[[folder:Circus Arc]]
20	* It could be considered a borderline tearjerker when Agni refers to Sebastian as his friend. His genuine surprise that he would label him as such may indicate that Sebastian has never had a friend before (his being a demon aside) and is happy to be considered one. Life as a demon may be lonely for Sebastian.
21	* "Would you like an orange, sir?" said the poor little girl with freckles right after Ciel and Sebastian kill Doll. After that and burning the rest of the children alive Ciel's grasps at redemption were hopelessly despairing to see.
22	* The ''entirety'' of the story revolving around the Noah's Arc Circus. Especially Doll's death.
23	** The overall theme of it as discussed in a couple interviews, from hard work sometimes not paying off to showing that oppressed individuals sometimes never receive justice (the children) or become too tainted by wicked deeds to even deserve it (the troupe).
24	** Special mentioning should go to Snake. He spent his young life being used as a sideshow attraction and mocked for his appearance. One day, the circus troupe found him and took him in, treating him like family. Then during one mission, they all go missing and never come back. Snake searches for weeks, and finally finds Ciel, who he correctly deduces was involve with their disappearance. [[BlatantLies Ciel tells him he had nothing to do with it, and will help Snake find them.]] He takes Snake on as his new footman, and the other staff gladly take him in. After a while, Snake is as loyal to Ciel as the others. It might not be as bad for those who believe the theory that Ciel lied and took Snake in because he was still torn up inside with guilt over killing Doll/Freckles.
25	* Ciel and Sebastian find the townhouse the first tiers lived in is now nothing but an abandoned ruin. Sebastian says that the children inside were probably all made into the doctor's special prosthetics. Ciel, overcome with trauma, starts LaughingMad when he realizes it was AllForNothing and the first tiers didn't even realize it. He then goes on a rant on how HumansAreTheRealMonsters and that he is one of them.
26	* For those sympathetic to them, seeing the troupe's spirits go to Heaven can invoke this. They really did make it to the other side of the hills. Ciel and Sebastian are somehow able to see this, and while Sebastian smiles warmly Ciel looks awestruck but also has a touch of forlornness. Then you remember that while the troupe were ForcedIntoEvil and heavily regretted their actions Ciel gave his soul away to a demon and is steadfast on the path of darkness, thus Ciel has no chance of salvation. He'll never be going where they are.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Phantomhive Manor Murders Arc]]
30	* The scene in Chapter 41 where Ciel straddles Sebastian's supposedly dead body, buries his face in Sebastian's throat and insists his butler was never to leave his side is comparable to a boy mourning his beloved dead dog. Negated in that he knew Sebastian was alive and was just passing along orders for their plan.
31	* In chapter 44, watching Mey-Rin and Finnian's breakdowns after it seems to seriously and completely dawn on them that Sebastian is dead is utterly shattering Luckily, Sebastian is not really dead.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Luxury Liner Arc]]
35	* Chapter 57. Elizabeth is about to be seemingly killed by a horde of zombies. "I wanted you to think I was cute, up until the end..." Cut to shot of Ciel's anguished face.
36	* Elizabeth's backstory in chapter 58. At first, we see her as a genius at fencing, but Ciel doesn't know that and is happy to marry just plain sweet Elizabeth since women like her mother scare him, and she promises to be a wife he can protect. Then when Ciel returns with Sebastian and she realizes she's now taller than him, she wishes to be a wife to protect him. Elizabeth refusing to wear the high heel shoes so that she won't be taller than Ciel. In any other context this might be silly, but it's another example that she will sacrifice whatever necessary for Ciel's sake.
37	* During Elizabeth's flashbacks in [[http://www.kuroshitsujimanga.com/58/08/ chapter 58]], her mother slaps her when she complains about having to fence wasn't "cute". Cue a combination between a tearjerking and heartwarming moment between mother and daughter. It goes to show that Francis, despite all of her cold aloofness towards her family, she truly does care for them and seems to want to protect her daughter and Ciel in any way possible given the Phantomhives' unfortunate profession.
38	--->Elizabeth: I don't want to practice the sword anymore! Swords aren't cute at all!
39	--->Francis: I know it's hard, but it's for his sake and yours. You understand, don't you?
40	* Chapter 61. When Sebastian is stabbed by the Undertaker; especially when Sebastian reaches out to grab Ciel's hand, but then gets a giant death scythe through his body. Cue the beginning of a dramatic flashback.
41	* Depending on your point of view, any scene which shows the deep trust and appreciation the servants of the Phantomhive household have for Sebastian (or Ciel, again depending on your point of view) can be soul wrenching to know that the person/people they care about is nothing more then an illusion created to manipulate them. The same goes for anybody who befriends Ciel while he's undercover- namely Doll, since she trusted him deeply and learns the truth in the worst way possible.
42	** One chapter revealed that after Sebastian saved Ciel from the kidnappers, they arrived at the hospital Tanaka happened to be at for his stab wounds. Tanaka, at the sight of Ciel, stands up ''out of his wheelchair'' because he's so happy to see him alive. That, and the end of the murder mystery arc when Tanaka gives Sebastian the pin back, saying he is the rightful bearer of it. If only he knew...
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Emerald Witch Arc]]
46	* The end of Chapter 91: Ciel sobbing his eyes out and telling Finnian he isn't worth protecting.
47	* Crosses with NightmareFuel, but the cliffhanger of Ch. 94 when Sebastian is about to devour Ciel's soul while he was in the middle of a HeroicBSOD, complete with him pretty much calling the boy a waste of his time. He didn't since Ciel snapped out of it in time, but this still serves as a grave reminder that Sebastian only sees Ciel as a meal and of what could easily happen if the boy either gives up on his revenge or even simply changes in a way Sebastian does not like.
48	* For all of the things that happened, you have to feel at least a little sorry for Wolfram when he sees that Sieglinde hates him after she found out the truth. Just look at his expression when she calls him a liar! Anybody can see that he truly does care for Sieglinde, down to being shameful and repentant for having to break her legs himself, most likely against his will. However, Hilde Dickhaut (who's actually the Major of her troupe) reminds him that he has his "duties" - To kill Sieglinde if she ever found the truth and tried to run away. Wow...that's hard. But seeing all of his time together with Sieglinde, not to mention traces of hesitation towards his colleagues, one might bet that he would eventually go against her and join Ciel's group.
49	** There's good news and bad news: Wolfram was able to save Sieglinde by shooting down Grethe before she could kill her/the other servants, but he was ultimately killed by a shot in the back by Hilda. Judging by Sieglinde's reaction, she most likely accepted his apology or at least still has some non-hateful feelings left for him intact.
50	** However, the next chapter reveals he was saved because Ciel needed someone to look after Sieglinde.
51	* Put yourself in Sieglinde's shoes for a second...Actually, don't. She has lived her whole life with the women of the village within the forest,only for everything to be a lie because her mother, the old and disfigured women, saw that she was a child genius. She had her feet bound and worked meticulously on the magic to rid the village of the werewolves, all because her mother wanted her daughter to develop the poison. The old woman had isolated Sieglinde from the world, took away entertainment, and created an imaginary world, all simply because Sieglinde had happened to be born a child prodigy. Ciel's reaction in chapter 98 says it best:
52	---> Ciel: You ruin a child's feet and threaten her to develop a weapon...Is that what a mother would do? Children are not their parents' tools!
53	** And to top it off, after everything has crashed all around her, the boy that she viewed as her first outside friend basically tells her that her life is worthless, it will never get better, and that she should just die...while holding a gun to her forehead, no less. And even though the following chapter shows that he was really convincing her to live rather than accept death, the only reason he did that was because he was given an order to bring her to a monarch who could very well be planning on using her for reasons similar to her mother.
54	* Chapter 105 drops a major one for the Shinigami in general. As it turns out, all of the Shinigami were once regular humans who were DrivenToSuicide and are now being punished by being forced to face death daily by reaping souls until they have been forgiven. It also gets worse; considering that the German reaper Sascha is noticeably younger than the other reapers, it's implied that this fate also applies to young teens/children who killed themselves.
55	* Undertaker crying over Vincent Phantomhive's death, along with the implication that Diederich began overeating/no longer visited England because Vincent is gone.
56	* Even though it was probably for the best, Ciel telling Sieglinde to view everyone and himself as the enemy out to use her and that she must use others to survive has a tinge of sadness to it.
57	** In the same chapter there is Victoria's comment to Ciel on how he is becoming so much like Vincent along with how Ciel momentarily reacted to it, though this also crosses into NightmareFuel for those who saw this as Victoria threatening Ciel...
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Blue Cult Arc]]
61	* Lizzie's current situation: she has become involved with Bravat's cult after he gave her some sort of information regarding Ciel. Even after Sebastian was able to bring her home (knocking her out after she attacked him) she wound up escaping and returning. Also, ever since joining the cult she has been portrayed as solemn and nearly broken, a complete 180 from who she used to be.
62	--->'''Lizzie:''' I'm sorry...''I can't save you.''
63	* Ciel coldly admitting that he never viewed Soma as a friend and instead just a simple piece to utilize just like everyone else, adding that if Agni refuses to let Ciel use Soma the Indian duo should leave since they have no further business in England.
64	* Ch.127 continues from the previous chapter of Soma and Agni being ambushed from a mysterious attacker. After being wounded multiple times, Agni throws Soma into a room and [[HeroicSacrifice holds the door locked as he is stabbed to death.]] Despite bleeding and having lost his right eye, Agni still has the strength to place Soma in a room to be safe, all while giving a thank you for Soma in his mind and hopes that Soma could always be the same sun that shone for him, smiles at him despite the fact that he knows he's going to die, and the final page with them depicts Soma screaming and crying for Agni, and Agni holding onto the door resigned to his fate. When Sebastian and Ciel show up scenes later, they find Agni still at the door ''seven knives'' stabbing him through the back, but his hand still gripped on the door all while Soma is crying.
65	* Ch. 128, continues from the previous chapter when Ciel approach traumatized Soma, He punched Ciel in a tearful blinded by rage toward him. You can tell Soma is suffering afterwards. It implied that he blames him for Agni's death. Ciel putting the blame for Agni's death on Soma since he wouldn't stay out of his business, all the while it looks like he's either about to cry or panic.
66	* Also in 128, how Grell confirms Agni's death has a very rubbing-salt-in-the-wounds vibe to it, especially given her smug demeanor, dismissal of his remarks, and reminding the viewers that, as said earlier, we were going to see her soon.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Blue Memory Arc]]
70	* Ch. 130, as has been long suspected it was confirmed that the Two Ciels Theory was correct and Our Ciel has a twin brother who is the real Ciel Phantomhive. Our Ciel's reaction is quite upsetting as he hardly speaks at all (quite uncharacteristic for him) whilst his brother speaks down to him. This is made worse by Our Ciel referring to himself as an "extra", less important than his brother.
71	* As heartwarming as it is, Ch. 131 and onward that depicts the Phantomhive twins as happy and loving toward each other doubles as this ''big time'' of the HarsherInHindsight variety.
72	* The last three pages of chapter 135 is a huge trigger warning, a huge spoiler warning, and has brought literal tears to many readers eyes. If you're sure you want to know: the Phantomhive twins RapeAsBackstory is confirmed, and it is horrible even through the heavy symbolism and use of RapeDiscretionShot. At first it appeared that the twins were bought by a man who could have given them a good life, which is what the younger twin genuinely believed.
73	* Chapter 142 is a whopper. After the previous chapter explains how Undertaker resurrected the True Ciel, this chapter starts off with Undertaker, Othello and Grell about to fight, only to be interrupted by Scotland Yard, Alexis and Edward Midford and Fred bursting into the mansion. And as you would expect, they are shocked and confused as to why there are two Ciels. At that moment, Elizabeth appears and says Our Ciel is a liar. And just like that, Our Ciel's whole fabrication comes crashing down.
74	* Ch. 143 Blavat has been hiding in the Phantomhive Mansion and as he's arrested, he calls Our Ciel "Lord Sirius". It's now become clear that the Real Ciel is the leader of the Blue Star Cult and he's framing his brother. Worse still, it's revealed that the number of deaths have gone up since the Phantom Five Music Hall. The shocked look on Edward's face when he learns this says it all. With all these factors against him along with the charge of identity theft, Abberline declares Our Ciel the prime suspect of the Blue Star Cult murders.
75	* Ch. 144 shows Lizzie going through a crisis. If "Ciel" had never returned, she would have just married Ciel and spent her entire life with him, never figuring out the truth. There were days when she had suspected that something was not quite right, but she had never once thought that Ciel was an impostor. And when "Ciel" came back, it threw her into despair. How could she have mistaken someone else for her fiancé? What kind of fiancée did this make her? For a while, Elizabeth accused Ciel of mocking and hurting her like this. How could he have been so cruel to her? But then, she realised that she was even worse than him as she thinks that if Ciel had never lied about his identity, she would have most likely wished that "Ciel" had survived instead. She couldn't even bear to imagine herself thinking, let alone saying, something so cruel. Lizzie has become so crushed by the revelation that she decides her love for "Ciel" and Ciel is fake. Edward has no idea what to do after Lizzie reveals this. All he can do is ask God why He gave Lizzie such a burden.
76	* Ch. 146, ever since Our Ciel's true identity was revealed, he began to lose more of his associates except his servants. First, is Pitt, who rats out him and the others' location to Scotland Yard because he doesn't want to be killed. Lastly, Lau betrayed Our Ciel and only wants the bounty money on his head. It also implies he now works for the real Ciel.
77	* Ch. 147 averts Lau's betrayal. He helps Ciel and his servants escape to one of his dens. However, Ciel has a huge breakdown at the dinner table and begins scoffing down his food and drink like a savage as he succumbs to his anger after doing all the tasks as the Queen's Watch Dog and all the annoying duties as Earl only to have his dead twin come back to life and take it all away. At this point, Ciel is done pretending and declares he will fight his brother to take everything back from him.
78	* Ch. 148: It's heavily implied that Prince Soma is leaving London with nothing but a suitcase of clothes and an urn containing the cremated remains of Agni. Even worse is that it's implied his personality is about to do a complete 180 from the kind, charitable, and cheerful person that he was before...
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Blue Revenge Arc]]
82	* Chapter 158: We learn more about Mei-Rin's past. She came to England with her family who soon died of a disease. She disguised herself as a boy and became friends with the local urchins, who used her sniping abilities as a way to steal from rich people. Then one day, her friends got caught and ratted her out. The man in charge swore that he would let her friends go if she were to use her far-sighted eyes and sling shot skills on a rich lady's earrings. She did as she was told and the man let the two boys go...off the roof of the building. And then he tells her she works for him now.
83	* Chapter 172: Baldroy and Lao sneak into the hospital disguised as a patient and therapist respectively, but the doctor in charge, Ada, does not want Lao in as she does not approve foreign medical treatment. Baldroy then pretends to have a PTSD-triggered panic attack and has a flashback of being back in the Apache Wars. The performance is so convincing that Ada reluctantly lets Lao stay.
84	* Chapter 178: We see a flashback to Baldroy's first few days at the manor. Sebastian tries to teach him how to roast a chicken, but when he sees Mei-Rin and Finny together, they remind him of his dead wife and child, and he gets trapped in a PTSD episode until Sebastian yells at him.
85	* Chapter 182: We finally learn Baldroy's origins. He was once a farmhand who grew up in the west during the Gold Rush. He wanted to pass the farm to his son, but that would never happen as his family was killed and his farmhouse was burnt down by Native Americans during the Apache Wars.
86	* Chapter 205: The group sees Doll in the process of having blood transferred into her, and she decides now is the time to tell Snake that the Phantomhive servants killed the first tier members of the Noah's Ark Circus. The lie Ciel told him is broken.
87	* Chapter 206: Snake going into a breakdown upon learning not only that the circus troupe were killed by the servants but that they were involved in the child kidnappings and were trying to kidnap Ciel during the night in question. Then during the confrontation with the staff Doll goes in to kill Mabel which leads to Snake getting between them and getting his throat deeply slashed by Doll.
88	** Subtle, but when Finny talks about the troupe [[ForcedIntoEvil the circumstances of their involvement]] is never mentioned and he refers to them merely as "evil people" lumped into the same category as Baron Kelvin. Worse is that Doll doesn't even try to explain things and instead claims that Snake shouldn't even listen to Finny.
89	** In a case of OOCIsSeriousBusiness when Snake was told the full truth of Noah's Ark Circus. Not once did he have one of his snakes speak for him.
90	* Chapter 209: His death is confirmed when Grim Reaper collects Snake's soul. He is also the first Phantomhive servant to be killed off.
91	** Snake’s final thoughts were that his relationship with his circus family and Phantomhive servants were all lies and why they bother to help him.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Anime]]
95	* In the anime, Ciel appears downright cruel and malicious at times, although in the manga, he is simply bitingly icy and elitist. It's eventually revealed that he was a happy, loving and carefree child, though sickly and shy. Then his parents (and pet) were murdered, their mansion set on fire, and he was kidnapped. He was locked in a cage with other children his age to be a child sacrifice until he called upon a demon in his desperation to live. He shortly after unleashes terrible revenge on those who he felt wronged and humiliated him. ''All before turning eleven.''
96	** A particular moment in the manga triggers Ciel to suffer an intensely brutal [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder PTSD]] attack. Heartbreaking stuff.
97	* The deaths of Lau and Abberline in episode 20. Though Lau comes back somehow in the second season.
98	** Maria, Abberline's pregnant wife-to-be, breaks down after reading about his death and receives merely a handful of toys as compensation.
99	* Finnian's very harsh backstory. It depicts him in a room with a barred window with sunlight and a little bird chirping before flying off..cue him on a dissection table with a syringe going in him as he screams and cries and ''begs'' for the people to not hurt him. Then he runs off and bumps into Sebastian and he, for the first time in his life, is actually surprised that him rushing into Sebastian didn't hurt him. Even if he doesn't know that Sebastian is a demon, he looks so relieved that he's not considered a monster for those horrible treatments.
100	* The house servants having to put down poor Pluto.
101	* Episode's 7 and 8 of the second season in which Alois, who before seemed like a complete jackass, is stabbed and ignored by Claude for a bit who's busy practically orgasming over the taste of Ciel's blood. Alois's tearful response "Oh, you look like you've seen a bunch of maggots squirming in a dung pile" to Claude's indifference towards him, we learn his backstory where his little brother died and left him alone, and he practically confesses his love for Claude, telling him he's the only one he has left in the world, before Claude tenderly holds his face and stabs him to death.
102	** Made even worse due to the ending song for episode eight, Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa. If the song itself isn't sad enough, there are always the visuals. Remember the shot of Luka running to hug Alois from behind?
103	* In Episode 11 of second season, Alois (in Ciel's Body) asks Hannah to tell him that she loves him and give him a hug, which he's ALWAYS NEEDED. She does both, which prompts him to cry tears of joy and say "Love is...warm, isn't it?" Pass the tissues please.
104	* The final episode of anime season 2 which is either a BittersweetEnding or an outright DownerEnding, possibly both.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Movie]]
108	* From the live-action movie:
109	** Ciel lost his parents at the age of 10 and was severely tortured for one month. Shiori watched her parents die at the age of SEVEN and then who knows what happened to her for SIX months before she made the contract. And the aunt who raised Shiori? She helped the perpetrators and even watched as the event occurred.
110	*** Said aunt was driven to that action because of a situation that mirrors Madame Red's but manages to be even worse. Hanae was at first HappilyMarried to Shiori's father and pregnant with his child until one day she got into an accident that caused a miscarriage and rendered her barren. Instead of looking into other options he coldly divorced her, and to add more salt to the wounds he goes on to marry '''''her sister''''' of all people who would later become Shiori's mother.
111	** If the movie is considered as canon and if what Hanae says is true, then since Ciel there's been an ongoing curse-like cycle where every head of the Phantomhive/Genpo family, possibly including Shiori's father, has been in similar tragic situations where they were pretty much forced to sell their soul to Sebastian. The fact that Ciel was driven that far into despair is sad enough; but just the idea that every generation after him will suffer heavily and fall right into his exact position [[FromBadToWorse is downright horrific.]]
112	*** Considering the close resemblance to Madame Red and Hanae's stories, it wouldn't be surprising if many of the darkest moments of the series are also doomed to repeat themselves but in new ways. It doesn't help that movie actually starts off with Shiori burning countless trafficked women alive in a similar vein to Ciel torching the children in Baron Kelvin's manor.
113	** At some point of the movie, Shiori tells Sebastian something in the lines of she feels relief during her nightmares solely because she doesn't have to see his face during them, leading to Sebastian calling her a "rotten ass brat" for it behind her back. This was most likely PlayedForLaughs, but there is still something sad to it if it implies that Shiori would rather deal with nightmares than have to face the demon who will one day devour her soul/most likely manipulating her 24/7.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Other]]
117	* The end of the second musical. Eric's willingness to do anything to save Alan in itself is pretty tear-inducing, but it gets even worse when Eric ends up not only failing, but also being the one who kills his friend, shortly before he is killed by Sebastian. Cue emotional music as Sebastian and Ciel comments on the snow-like souls being released from Eric's body, and states how "there is no meaning in life and death, however beautiful things... are simply beautiful." as Alan and Eric stands up and walks together to the back of the stage.
118	* Alois's character song: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaJjOxDXxmg The Slightly Chipped Full Moon]].
119	* Though Ciel does not really have a character song, the lyrics and melody capture his character turning his back on the good and light for the dark, and inevitable tragic end that awaits him when he accomplishes his goal. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4-tn_7CHvw]].
120	* In the last scene of the seiyuu event, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bFHJxmvs7Q Kuroshitsuji Red Valentine]], we're treated to [[BittersweetEnding what would have occurred had the second season never happened]]. Sebastian, with the contract ended, has eaten Ciel's soul, but he's not happy as one may think- he quite obviously misses his young master. The scene opens on Sebastian having made a cake for the now dead Ciel, and carries through him coming to grips with the fact that there's no manor for him to protect, no young master to serve, there's nothing left for him. This apparently takes place only a day after the end of the contract, as Sebastian says, despite in the past having seen a hundred years as no more than the blink of an eye, a single day can seem like an incredibly long period of time as well. It ends with Sebastian's famous [[CharacterCatchphrase "I'm merely a butler/I'm a devil of a butler"]] being twisted into "I'm merely... alone/I'm a lonely devil".
121	-->'''Sebastian''': Like falling snow... Everything disappears, before you can savor it.
122	[[/folder]]

Context TearJerker / BlackButler