Line #9 TearJerker/BlazBlue


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2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[Anime/CowboyBebop See You Space Cowboy...]]]]
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4	As ''[=BlazBlue=]'' is one of the darkest video game franchises, expect plenty of these.
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6	'''''All spoilers below are unmarked,''''' as per TearJerker guidelines.
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10	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SYAS5G_J_o This song, called ''rimelight,'' plays during sad, gut-wrenching and heartbreaking scenes in BlazBlue's story]]. Scenes like Rachel and Jubei helplessly watching Ragna becoming the next Black Beast and destroy the world once again, Litchi putting Arakune out of his misery, but losing her memories due to the corruption and dying 2-6 months later, and Litchi calming down an extremely distraught and violent Carl in a touching mother-and-child like moment.
11	* Ragna's flashback in the beginning of his ''Calamity Trigger'' story mode. Dear God, no wonder [[JerkassWoobie Ragna]] is the way he is.
12	* In one path in Rachel's story, where she realizes it's too late for the world to be saved and she'll be forced to keep reliving the events until Ragna succeeds, she begs Ragna not to give up or accept his fate. She then she travels back in time, lamenting on the fact that she can only continue observing.
13	* The Murakumo units (Noel/Mu-12, Nu-13, and Lambda-11) are all tragic characters by their very nature, as they are [[ArtificialHuman artificial clones]] of Ragna's sister Saya who have been subjected to horrific torture and experimentation by their creators. Throughout the series, their creators have been shown time and time again to be [[MadScientist heartless]] [[{{Jerkass}} jerks]] who don't treat them as people and only see them as merely machines, tools to be used for their own purposes and discarded when no longer necessary. No matter how many times they beg for their creators to stop hurting them, their pleas fall on deaf ears as their hellish suffering continues, and they ultimately end up either being driven too insane or too broken mentally by their torture to function anymore. Mind you, this has happened ''at least 13 times'', once for each new Murakumo unit. And for those that could not function to begin with? They get jammed into caskets and used as catalysts for cauldron activity, as Makoto discovered during her visit to Ibukido.
14	** Lambda-11 is just one big TearJerker from start to finish. You will probably never find such a depressing character in a game. Her Story Mode starts during the events of the Calamity Trigger prologue, from Lambda's point of view, with the varied tests being run on her. She is clearly in pain from the testing, and is screaming in her mind, but she is unable to do anything to stop the procedures. Going through her recovery by Tager from the Ikaruga ruin, to the eventual wipe of her memories and original personality by Kokonoe, and it becomes readily apparent how much of a [[TheWoobie Woobie]] she is; just about every waking hour she had was ruled by pain and helplessness, and she was trapped in that until she functionally died in Kokonoe's lab. All the while, she's crying and begging for help.
15	** There's also her Bad Ending. Holy hell, is her Bad Ending a TearJerker. Trapped in a dimensional void by Hazama and Relius, Lambda must fight [[SNKBoss Unlimited Nu-13]]. If Lambda loses, she wakes up in a strange space with Ragna and begins cheerfully chatting with him, and decides to rest with him. It pans out to reveal that [[AndIMustScream her mind has been utterly shattered beyond repair, and she is stuck like this forever]]. The last you see has Kokonoe futilely calling out to Lambda through the comm-link.
16	** Hell, even her ''gag reel'''s a TearJerker, [[GallowsHumor or extremely dark humour]]. Don't tell me you didn't shed a tear (or laugh, or both) when Kokonoe accidentally threw away the rare, puppy-like insect she'd adopted and erased her memory of the diversion that caused her to encounter it. The worst part is that if Kokonoe knew about it, she may well have started treating Lambda more like she treats Tager (i.e. more like a subordinate she cares about than an EmptyShell).
17	** Also on the subject of Lambda, we have Relius' opening fight in ''Darkness Visible'' - Relius vs Lambda... at the... Heritage Museum... The prelude to the fight involves Relius coming upon Tager and Makoto during their meeting, and Kokonoe sends Lambda as interference while the aforementioned bail. The outcome is bad enough - Lambda loses, gets apprehended, and everything goes to hell - but the circumstances make it worse. While Relius had some interest in Tager and his artificial Armagus, the intel Makoto was carrying couldn't be ignored, either, and Kokonoe had to choose whether to [[SadisticChoice sacrifice either of them or Lambda]], with [[TakeAThirdOption no fourth "safe" option]]. Having to give up Lambda in exchange for those two was one of the toughest choices Kokonoe had to make in her life, and like ''That Which Is Inherited'' it's going to weigh upon her for the rest of it. And since she may have inherited some of Jubei's longevity, unless she makes a HeroicSacrifice of some sort (fat chance), death is going to take its sweet time in finding her.
18	** Lambda-11's eventual HeroicSacrifice during ''Continuum Shift's'' Final True Ending, where she gets between Hazama and Ragna just as Hazama is about to finish him off. With her dying breath, Lambda gives him her Idea Engine, allowing Ragna to overcome the restrictions Hazama is placing on his Azure and ultimately save the day. Lambda-11 so far is the only playable character to be KilledOffForReal.
19	** It becomes a different kind of TearJerker in the next game. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments She comes back to life in CPEX, and her first thought is to find and see Ragna again.]]
20	* Litchi and Tsubaki both performing a FaceHeelTurn at the end of ''Continuum Shift''. And um, why is it TearJerker? First, considering that before signing her FaceHeelTurn, Litchi has been thinking of her happy times with Tao and Bang, you know she clearly dislikes turning her back on them AND hates Hazama, but not only Arakune's situation, but her degrading condition basically [[ForcedIntoEvil forced her into it. As many would say, if you put yourself in Litchi's shoes, you know it's a sad and heavy decision, even for her... not a happy choice based on selfish obsession. As for Tsubaki, first she just realized that her superior Hazama was an utter evil bastard, just for her blindness to kick in, and then when she tried to find consolation with Jin during her encounter in his story, Jin wasn't even giving the answer, which culminates with Phantom putting her under mid-control and finalizing her turn.]]
21	** To compound the matters for Litchi, she has actually asked Kokonoe for help, but Kokonoe just flat out refused, too busy of thinking to kill Terumi by her own hands. [[FridgeBrilliance When you squint carefully]], it just looks like a DamselInDistress (she mentally is, needing help to cure her corruption and dependence over Arakune) who is refused of the only help she knows and the only path for her is to act on herself with the remaining option to stay alive. No matter what you say, if you're a DamselInDistress and when you ask for help, the response you got was "Go away, I'm busy.", it is a pretty depressing thought. Making matters worse for her, when she tried to justify her distress and desperation to Rachel, Rachel's response was pretty much not helping and calling her stupid for accepting the NOL/Terumi's offer. Damn it, somebody please give Boobie Lady a hug for a change, rather than calling her selfish, obsessed and stupid.
22	** Arakune's bad ending in ''Continuum Shift's'' story mode. He finally remembers Litchi and realizes that his subconscious memory of her has been one of the few things keeping him from truly losing it (well, more so anyway). He then cures her of the erosion that would've turned into something like himself (if it didn't kill her) and erases her memory of him so she can move on with her life. Just goes to show that there's still something of a heart in that blobby mass, which MAY count as a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment\|s}}... until it is realized that considering Litchi's other bad end... it turns out because Litchi will degenerate into a mess at best and is incurable, not even by Kokonoe.... which means... Arakune just committed a SenselessSacrifice due to him not knowing the true nature of the Boundary corruption fully. Way to poison the heartwarming, Arcsys - you'd have to be a total jackass to think succumbing to an Alzheimer's facsimile is preferable to risking a thick, but still cleanable, stain upon your morality!
23	* Oh God, Hakumen running into Tsubaki, in the story "Old Man's Tale." The stone-hearted warrior lightens for the first time. The first moment of heart-cracking comes when he asks to see Tsubaki's face, which is covered by a hood and a mask. After she reveals it, Hakumen touches her face like a lover. This is the man who claims to be the reaper of the sins of this world. He speaks from experience, trying to warn Tsubaki against the use of the Izayoi. Hakumen then tells a beautiful story about how he fell in love with an old childhood friend, how he left her side, and how she followed him only to die at his side. She changed his life so much, that he named a technique of his combat style for her. That woman was an alternate Tsubaki, and Hakumen hasn't seen her in nearly a century. Watch it and cry.
24	** And if that doesn't get you crying, the Drama CD's reveal that Jin was basically forced to [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice watch Tsubaki die]] and it was at the hands of Nu-13's [[StormOfBlades Legacy]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Edge]], who was in a rampage of unjustified jealousy thinking Ragna was "cheating" on her with Tsubaki. Depicted [[http://i.imgur.com/rzCS1YH.jpg here]] for your viewing displeasure.
25	** Hakumen actually ''wills'' himself into this timeline and runs into Hazama and Relius, eventually picking a fight with them. Shortly in, Hazama is screaming for Relius to help as Hakumen beats his ass, and when Relius eventually sends Ignis in, Hakumen rocks her as well. All is good until he is eventually dragged back into the Boundary, leaving the two villains to clean up and be on their way. Losing Tsubaki once was bad enough, but being cheated of the opportunity to save her like that, knowing she is going to die and he can do naught about it? Geez, it ''sucks'' to be Hakumen.
26	** ''Central Fiction'' decides to add SadisticChoice into the mix. At the end of Act 3, Hakumen has defeated Tsubaki in her Izayoi form after she refuses to use it against Noel. Hakumen tries to convince her to use her weapon "for the world's sake", but not only Tsubaki refuses again, ''she tells him that he will have to kill her and take Izayoi with him'' if he wants to kill Noel... and Hakumen can't bring himself to do it. Hakumen's arcade mode ends with the mighty leader of the Six Heroes laments his failures and, likely remembering the time Hakumen told her of his past, Tsubaki finally realizes the awful truth the moment he mournfully says her name.
27	--->'''Hakumen:''' I have no hesitation... no doubt...\
28	'''Tsubaki:''' Lord...Hakumen? Why are you waiting?\
29	'''Hakumen:''' [[MyGreatestFailure This is my original sin...]] No matter how many times it repeated itself, I could not take that vital step. This is to be my one chance at redemption...? Tsubaki...\
30	'''Tsubaki:''' ...! Don't tell me you're... ''Jin...?''
31	** Didn't think it could get worse? Hakumen ''is killed'' by Terumi, his own soul cruelly destroyed by the latter. Made even worse by the fact that Tsubaki was there in person, so she saw Hakumen's death with her own eyes.
32	* Makoto's bad ending. Trying to locate Jin when he goes missing, Makoto loses her way and runs headlong into Relius. The two fight, and things don't go well for Makoto, with Relius instructing Ignis to pin Makoto down, [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty leaving her at his mercy]]. Relius [[MindRape begins reaching into her mind]] and torturing her by forcing her to relive all her worst moments, like the racist abuse she suffered at the military academy, all while Makoto is screaming and desperately pleading for mercy. [[HeroicBSOD Injured, paralysed and humiliated]], she can do nothing to stop Relius from mockingly laughing as he begins to rebuild her soul and turn her into a weapon like Ignis and Nirvana.
33	** Even worse, there is a section of the ending where the character portraits disappear, and all we can hear is Makoto's sobbing and pleading, with Relius [[ToThePain describing in detail what he's doing to her]]. This whole thing amplifies the effect that there is something ''[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil horrible]]'' happening offscreen.
34	* Ragna's bad ending in ''Continuum Shift''. He finally loses control over the Azure Grimoire, transforming him into a new Black Beast. Apparently unaware of what's going on and drifting in a half-conscious state, Ragna kills Jin and goes on a [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt world-destroying rampage before being stopped by Noel and Hakumen. Waking up paralysed and on the verge of death, he can only look up and ask Rachel to stop crying as she gives him a tearful goodbye. Ragna dies alone and in agony, blissfully unaware to the extent of his failure.]]
35	* Tsubaki's bad ending in ''Continuum Shift'', in which she begs Noel for forgiveness for her secret jealousy, all the while going blind due to using too much of the Izayoi's power, eventually passing away in Noel's arms.
36	** Not to mention the ending to the ''Wheel of Fortune'' drama CD, which ends almost the same way. Except Hazama turns up, laughs at Tsubaki for dying, and then ''kicks her dead body'' afterwards.
37	* And yes, there's also a TearJerker when you play Arcade mode. Play as Mu-12, get beaten by Makoto and you'll get a win quote involving Makoto sobbing and desperately trying to get Noel (not Mu) to wake up, even promising to let her play with her tail as much as she wants. Oh, and getting up means you get Mu to beat the crap out of Makoto and possibly kill her. Drat.
38	** If you lose to Tsubaki, she will recognize Mu as Noel and insists that she's dreaming and begs for someone to wake her up. Litchi will recognize her and will apologize for not being able of doing anything. Sena will recognize her and then asks Mu why she looks like she's about to cry. Hell, the whole Noel-becomes-Mu incident is gut-wrenching AND terrifying! With enough MindRape, BreakTheCutie, BreakThemByTalking and [[TheReveal awful truths,]] Hazama turns Noel, a {{sh\|rinkingViolet}}y yet [[NiceGirl kind woman]] into a [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds hateful]] DeathSeeker. And judging by Noel's reaction after regaining consciousness in the anime, it's HEAVILY implied that Noel [[AndIMustScream was aware of what was happening and could do nothing to stop it]].
39	* All of Carl's bad endings. Nirvana, who is actually his sister Ada, gets ripped apart in both. In CT's Carl Bad ending, Litchi doesn't show up (Because Tao never beat Carl, and he never showed up in Litchi's clinic.) So Ada protects him from Nu's attacks. In CS, Hazama brutally rips her apart, while Carl cries, and begs him to stop.
40	* The reason behind Litchi's tearful outburst in her the end of her ''Chronophantasma'' Arcade ending is frustratingly heartbreaking. Kokonoe, being a stubborn woman who explains herself and her methods to nearly no one, has always been at odds with Litchi since Roy's transformation, to the point of frustrating her to go out and save him on her own, even she knew how virtually difficult it could get. Litchi wanted to go back to Kokonoe and consult with her some ideas on saving Roy, but Kokonoe, still angry that Litchi moved away from her, has stubbornly hidden her feelings from even her closest student and flat-out refuses Litchi the chance to even speak to her--breaking Litchi's heart all the while. And even in Litchi's most desperate moments to get Kokonoe to even ''listen'' to a way to save Roy, Kokonoe grows colder and colder towards her, becoming insincere and ordering Tager--a good friend of Litchi--to beat her, subdue her and take her back to Sector Seven jailing. So, in her arcade run, when Litchi has exhausted herself beyond fighting against Rachel, it takes Rachel Alucard of all people to reveal to her that Kokonoe ''does'' care about Roy (she is Observing him, which is the only thing maintain his existence and keeping him alive) and is doing her damnedest to see to it that he is cured and back to his normal senses as well. Then, she remembers the plea Roy made to her--he understands ''exactly'' Litchi's feelings about Kokonoe, because she's been cold to him and made him feel like a subhuman idiot, too. But as much as he hates to admit it, Kokonoe ''really cares'' about her allies and pupils, even if she refuses to show or even acknowledge it. Roy's plea, along with the realization that she wasn't always completely alone in her journey, is what leads the sweet-natured and compassionate doctor to break down into tears, with her GuiltComplex likely overwhelming her afterwards. Where is the light at the end of this hellish tunnel Litchi's in?
41	* The climax of the Chronophantasma story, it's ''hard'' to watch Bang Shishigami breaking down, witnessing that Litchi has remorsefully sided with Relius to create a world where Lotte Carmine lives, meaning that every one of his fantasies of her being a perfect PuritySue were shattered, ''hard'', and he couldn't even lift a finger to defend from Litchi's attack. Then it was ''also'' compounded with Carl, his 'Apprentice #2', ''also throwing his lot to Relius'' just for the cure of Ada. And not just Bang, you'll also feel sorry for both Litchi and Carl having to beat up Bang despite apologizing, as they already considered him a great friend, but have been too invested in their goals, which ''had to lie in Relius' palms'' of all things that they can't stop. Though Bang managed to persevere, succeed his mission and later both Litchi and Carl could reverse their misfortune of being manipulated by Relius, it's pretty sad that their friendship could never be the same again... And to compound this on Bang? His 'Apprentice #3', Platinum, supposedly ''dies'' against Terumi outside his sight, meaning that there's only Tao remaining that he knew as his Apprentice...
42	* The resolution as well. Ragna has finally destroyed Gigant: Takemikazuchi and even saved Nu-13 from its core! Well... ''cue the cruelest YankTheDogsChain to commence'': Nu rises back and ''backstabs'' him and the Imperator uses a trigger word that turns Ragna into a beastly abomination nearly similar to his CS Bad End form, and all he can do is to urge Jin, Noel and Celica to run off as he eventually wgoes completely berserk, and attacks Jin and Noel who stayed to stave him. All that's known was that Jin was heavily wounded to the point of bedridden and Noel was thankfully just lightly wounded. But Ragna's gone, now a mindless beast and probably a core of the Imperator's Takemikazuchi Embryo and will likely have to be put down for good by the next game... [[CosmicPlaything our hero, ladies and gentlemen. Damn it, Ragna...!]]
43	** To twist the knife even further: This is after Ragna vowed not to use the Azure Grimoire's power as much and become a protector as Celica suggested. So for him to not only succumb to his fate against his will, and hurt people, just makes it sting further.
44	** And then an added scene to the ending in ''Extend'' reveals that Ragna has somehow emerged from the Embryo...[[LaserGuidedAmnesia with no memory of where he is or who he is.]]
45	* A small one, but with the introduction of system voices, you can chose any character to be the narrator, including saying the name of the characters in the select screen, sometimes calling them by nicknames, insulting them or adding a small comment. In Arakune's case, he names all characters by their weapons instead of their names... with one exception, which he says with a rather sad tone: "...Litchi". In a similar vein, Litchi and Tager reffer to him as "Roy".
46	* Nine's motivations, as revealed in ''Central Fiction''. She wants to destroy the world and recreate it like many of the other villains we've seen in this story. Terumi wants a decadent world where people sin for his amusement. Relius wants a world where he could start humanity anew by killing everyone and replacing them with his "perfect" dolls. Izanami wants the world destroyed, leaving a desolate wasteland where nothing can survive. All of their desires require that the Amaterasu unit be destroyed. What does Nine want? Retribution for what the Amaterasu unit has done to her family. Her father Shuichiro Ayatsuki's life became consumed by its presence, causing him to develop a machine that used his own daughter, Nine's sister(Celica), to power it. She herself was killed by Terumi, who killed her sister later in life, causing her to be cloned and technically reborn by her daughter Kokonoe, who is consumed by hate and a desire for revenge against Terumi. And to top it all off? Her husband Jubei is now a wanted fugitive, framed by Terumi in order to keep his betrayal of the Six Heroes a secret. One of her comrades, Hakumen, found out about Terumi's betrayal and sacrificed himself in an attempt to end Terumi, causing him to be reborn in a very fragile state which could result in his erasure from existence. You thought Ragna's backstory was tragic? After reading this, you can't help but feel sympathy for Nine; no wonder she's acting this way.
47	** Act 2 just makes matters worse. Hakumen confronts her and asks why she's enacting her plan to destroy Amaterasu. Nine says that she's tired of her and Celica being used like pawns, and is going to destroy the current world for Celica's sake. It seems well-intentioned, but then she mentions that in the new world she creates, only Celica and herself will know happiness. Nine cements herself as a true FallenHero by revealing that she's gone completely mad from everything she's been through, and has become a vengeful revenant fixated only on protecting her sister, not caring about Celica's say in the matter.
48	** And then Story Mode reveals why she wants to restart everything. The entirety of Act 1? That was her getting to know the innermost desires of the cast members. The Story Mode reveals that she's not a FallenHero after all, but rather a WellIntentionedExtremist. Nine hates Amaterasu because it's done absolutely nothing to help the suffering of others, yet it gets to continuously reset everything because it never gets her desired outcome, which is eventually revealed to be Ragna saving it because it contains a part of Saya's soul. Simply put, it's a god PoweredByAForsakenChild, and that child only cares about one thing while not caring about anything else. Nine is fed up with there not actually being any god, and wants to kill Amaterasu to replace it with a secret 11th Nox Nyctores named Gaisou: Requiem. It's not Take-Mikazuchi, but rather a replica that runs off of Nine's own life force so she can perform Phenomenon Interventions on the scale of Amaterasu. As the new god of the world, she intends to give everyone a happy life free of suffering. This puts her at odds with Ragna, who, rather than kill Amaterasu, wants to [[ChronicHeroSyndrome save it by denying its desire, as well as the desires of everyone else so that the passage of time can finally move forward]]. The two clash, and Ragna fatally wounds her. Nine finally sees the error of her ways and asks Celica not to heal her. Nine then pulls a HeroicSacrifice that will buy Ragna one extra week to stop Izanami by using her remaining life force to power Gaisou: Requiem.
49	* Ragna crying when Lambda (and Nu, controlling her body) dies at the climax of ''Continuum Shift''. For being a stoic smartass, hearing him sobbing and demanding to know why she sacrificed herself for him is painful.
50	* Carl's arcade ending in Act 2 of CF is quite tragic. Izanami gives Carl a fragment of the Azure, which shows his desired world - being together with his sister again. The vision is suddenly twisted back into harsh reality, and [[ForegoneConclusion she gets turned into Nirvana anyway. Izanami says that his desires are being overruled by a higher-ranked Entitled, and that in order for his wish be granted, he must kill that Entitled - Noel Vermillion. (That's one of his former FRIENDS, by the way). Poor kid can't catch a break...]]Except Act 3 crosses this over into NightmareFuel, as it's shown Carl would ''happily'' kill Noel without a second thought if it would bring Ada back.
51	** And when Bang hears this intent in his own Arcade at Act 3, the reaction was just also equally sad: Carl pretty much has embraced the fact that Bang has been so far ineffectual with his 'justice', and none of the notions of 'good and evil' matter anymore to Carl, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality his justice has become 'Whatever methods that can save Ada']]. Bang just failed as a master overall, and what makes things worse, Carl happily and eerily hints that Litchi is probably thinking the same as him (except replace 'Ada' with 'Roy'), meaning that Bang ''failed'' to redeem his love again, and deep down you just know why he failed: He focused too much on his noble duty of the restoration of Ikaruga as his own desire that he failed to actually help those two, and they went astray. And to rub the salt in the wound? In his final battle, he got sucker-punched by Nu while fighting Nine, and then had the hope of Ikaruga, the Phoenix Rettenjou, snatched right in front of his eyes. All in all, that was ''really'' [[DarkestHour the lowest situation Bang fell into]]: Not only had he failed to save those close to him, ''he even failed his country.''
52	** What's even sadder? ''Carl doesn't even have a happy ending by the end of Central Fiction.'' In the end, [[LikeFatherLikeSon he became the person he absolutely hated, he's cut off ties with the two adults he considered to be good, and he ''isn't even close to returning his sister back to normal.'' Which means his father basically still won in the end. Fuck you, Relius Clover.]]
53	** Everything that happened to Carl ''[[ButForMeItWasTuesday wasn't even a sidenote for Relius.]]'' He brushes Carl off throughout the series and only when Carl's hatred drives him to desperate lengths does Relius begin to acknowledge him-- Not as the son Relius wronged but simply as someone with "potential." Relius ''wasn't even trying'' to ruin Carl's life and he certainly isn't remorseful over it. Adding insult to injury, Carl's path teaches him that his father may have been right, that his previous efforts were for nothing and that the only way to get what he wants is to discard everything else.
54	* The way Ragna screams Saya's name when using Overdrive against Izanami. Unlike Jin and Terumi, whose names he yells in anger, he desperately and pitifully cries out for her, trying to wake her up from Izanami's control.
55	** Hell, Ragna vs. Izanami altogether! Ragna's Overdrive scream, Izanami's constant switching between Izanami and Saya's voice, the versus theme even has an air of sadness in the chorus! And then there's Izanami's win quote...
56	--> Izanami: Brother, Saya is right here… right here.
57	** It all comes to a head in his Act 2 ending, where he rushes Izanami, sword at the ready...and then Izanami lets herself be stabbed. She then congratulates him for actually doing it. All while he's now undergoing the mother of all MyGodWhatHaveIDone moments.
58	* And then there's the overall conclusion of Act 2. Izanami has told almost all of the main cast that in order to make their desires come true, ''they have to kill Noel'' (the girl inside Amaterasu). Naturally, a lot of characters are horrified at this revelation(mainly Makoto, Tsubaki, Bang, and Kagura) that they have to turn against the poor girl who's suffered so much throughout the entire series. '''''Damn you, Izanami!''''' Of course, this is presuming she's telling the 100% God's honest truth on this...
59	** Let's go over Makoto's deal for a bit: the girl's had to stare down racism's ugly head for years, Noel's one of the first people to accept her as a ''person'', she's had a boss who made more than one attempt on her life, said boss has made life miserable for her and Noel whenever possible, and now Izanami is telling Makoto to kill the girl. If it were just that, it'd be nothing special, but Izanami explicitly states that, since the Noel in the Master Unit is overwriting the desires of the other Entitled, Makoto's wish - to live a peaceful, happy life with her friends and family - is nothing short of a '''''paradox'''''. If Makoto is crying in any capacity after that, it's due to either anguish or, more likely, unbridled '''rage'''. Knowing Makoto, she's won't to do everything in her power to fulfill her wish without sacrificing either Noel, but if Izanami's statement turns out to be reality after all...
60	** Of course, all of the above only applies if you're Entitled in the first place; tragically enough, Izanami pointed out that Litchi is '''not''', and is merely part of the game of destiny because of Roy's backup invitation. Said invitation's name: ''Lao Jiu''. Yes, it turns out the only reason Litchi hasn't disappeared in the midst of Doomsday is all because of that little panda she's been carrying around this whole time, which so happens to have a mere part of Roy's soul in it, and she was never meant to be on the board in the first place. It will be a miracle if she hasn't flown across the Despair Event Horizon at terminal velocity after this...
61	* For all the shit that Izanami has pulled, Rachel's ending reveals a shocking truth about her that casts her in a rather sad light. Izanami is actually a being called "Drive-existence", which is someone's Drive manifested into a corporeal form. She was merely programmed with the personality and powers of a Goddess of Death, leaving her to wonder if she's even real. For all of her buildup as the main villain, she's revealed to be just another puppet in a grander scheme, and now she has lost her sense of identity. And to top it all off? ''Saya, her body, is beginning to deteriorate because of the strain she's putting on it by fighting.'' Her entire Act 3 story is her researching the nature of souls, and wondering if a being like her even has a soul. She eventually beats Relius and is told that because she has a desire, she does have a soul. Cue an immediate JumpScare cut to the NightmareFace from the Act 3 preview, with Izanami stating that her desire is to grant death to this world where destiny is predetermined.
62	** Come the actual story mode proper, and we finally know the truth about the former Imperator. She ''is'' Saya. Well, a SoulFragment of her anyway. When Terumi and Relius tortured Saya, they broke her soul apart into three fragments, with each ending up developing their own will. The original Saya is the girl in the Master Unit, who continues to reset and destroy everything because Ragna doesn't come for her no matter the possibility. Noel is all of the good aspects of Saya, who represents Saya's desire to see her brother again, and is the one closest to her original personality. But while Noel represents all of Saya's positive aspects, there must also be a counterbalance. Enter Izanami, who represents all of Saya's negative emotions, essentially acting as her "will" the same way Terumi is the will of Susanoo. Izanami represents Saya's pain and hate towards Terumi and Relius forcing her into repeating everything, and wants to destroy this world that she's forced to recreate over and over again. Izanami's last moments as Noel begins to absorb her, while awesome because it means that Saya will essentially be reborn, are still quite sad. She's ''scared shitless'' over Noel absorbing her, and when it finally does happen, her last words are a terrified "Brother...!" before she fades away into Noel's subconscious.
63	* You may be wondering, at the end of everything, will Ragna ''finally'' get his happy, deserved ending? NOPE! Act 3 continues the sad, vicious cycle of "Ragna's Life '''Sucks'''". How? After encountering Amane, Ragna is offered the chance to be observed by him in Rachel's stead since she is 1.) no longer an Observer and 2.) dying. Doing so would allow Ragna's eventual breakdown into the Black Beast to be postponed and let him make peace with himself before he eventually dies as well. Ragna's response? ''He refuses'', as it is because of Amane's proposition that he finally figured out the answer as to why the Amaterasu unit is looping time over and over again: the desires of the Entitled. Every single member of the cast wants the world changed, but to suit their own selfish wants, whether it be to remake the world as a bright or dark place, or to simply undo a mistake or decision they once made. Unless the cast can accept their losses and the truth, there will never be change. Ragna's ultimate decision is to fully embrace what it means to be "the enemy of the world". He pulls a [[Franchise/CodeGeass Zero Requiem]] and decides to devour and destroy all of the Entitled's wishes, and then Amaterasu's as well, despite the fact that by doing this, he has no choice but to sever the ties he made with the majority of the cast in ''Chronophantasma'', and may even have to seriously hurt or worse, kill them, including his own brother Jin. The saddest part about this is that he will most likely succeed in saving everyone from themselves, which will subsequently save the world in the process, at the same time possibly dying himself or [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence bidding farewell to the world he knows]], '''but [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold no one will ever know why he did what he did]]'''. They'll just see him as a cruel, treacherous bastard who has crushed their dreams for no reason, no different from Terumi.
64	* '''''The ending of Central Fiction. All of it.''''' The world is reverted back to normal, and almost all the characters have a happy ending and are living normal lives again. The catch? Ragna has erase ''everyone's'' memory of him and remove himself from the world. Rachel is later seen standing at his grave, with his sword on the ground. She then proceeds to ''tear up'', and ties one of her ribbons on Ragna's sword. In the end, the world got a happy ending, but they won't ever know who was the reason behind it.
65	* Ragna's final fate: He '''''[[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence no]] [[HeroicSacrifice longer]] [[{{Retgone}} exists]].''''' He uses his last moments of living in this world to single-handedly stop every single one of the villains. He wounds Nine and makes her see the error of her ways, with her eventually succumbing to her wounds while helping him. He kills Izanami, but also saves her because it's revealed that she's a fragment of Saya, who Noel merges with to complete her revival as Saya. He faces Terumi, who is actually the demon god Takehaya Susanoo and the sworn enemy of the Amaterasu unit, and ends him once and for all. But after everything is said and done, his corruption begins to take over. He settles the score with his brother Jin at long last, before bidding his siblings and Rachel goodbye. In his last moments, he meets with Amane and has one last conversation with him before entering the Azure Gate and creating a new "possibility." He overcame everything thrown at him and saved the world, but in becoming doing so, '''he took away everyone's memories of him''' just so they wouldn't suffer or be sad about losing him. Rest in peace, Grim Reaper. You've earned it.
66	** That final shot; the group hug you see as the page image? [[HarsherInHindsight It is far more heartbreaking within the context of the story as a whole.]] Ragna, Jin and Saya (now Noel) had finally been reunited after years of tragedy after tragedy: Terumi manipulating the fire that initially separated them, Saya being split and the creation of Noel and Izanami and Ragna and Jin's rivalry over their shared loss. ''Chronophantasma'' saw their reunion come into motion with their alignment against the Imperator, but it was not until ''Central Fiction'' where Saya would finally return through Noel, and by then her brothers have put aside their feud for the common good. That hug you see is one of the first and last acts they share together as a family, compounded by Ragna delivering some brotherly advice to Jin and Noel, who [[PleaseDontLeaveMe tearfully and desperately wish that he could stay with them]].
67	** There's also Jin's final attempt at killing Ragna. He explains that it is his own attempt to preserve Ragna's existence and memory instead of having it disappear with him into the Boundary. Gone was the [[AxCrazy murderous and psychotic rage]] that fueled Jin in ''Calamity Trigger'' and ''Continuum Shift'', and in its place is a desire to hold on to his brother at all costs.
68	* Would you have believed before ''CF'' that ''' [[CardCarryingVillain Hazama]]''', of all people, would end up being a tragic character? Now that he's separated from Terumi, we finally get to see what Hazama is really like when his personality isn't being overridden. Because he's an ArtificialHuman created solely as a storage unit for Terumi, Hazama is essentially a BlankSlate. Since [[{{Jerkass}} Terumi]] had control over his body, he didn't really give a damn about Hazama's well-being, so long as he functioned properly. While Terumi was in control, Hazama watched as his host indulged in sadistic pleasures without ever understanding pain or emotions himself. When Trinity stabbed him, however, Hazama suddenly felt alive, and that pain becomes his motivation in ''Central Fiction''. He gains his own ambitions and starts to take after his creator, [[MadScientist Relius Clover]], moreso than his former host. Hazama's goal is to know every aspect of pain and emotion, which is why he starts manipulating and experimenting with people such as Hibiki.
69	* You know how throughout the series, Ragna would always threaten to make Rachel cry after she pissed him off? By the end of Central Fiction, [[HarsherInHindsight he succeeded]]. And what's worse is that she can't even remember who the person that's making her cry is.
70	* Just when you thought Ragna couldn't be more of a tragic character, piecing together several critical plot details of the ''Central Fiction'' story mode reveals that [[YouCantFightFate he has had absolutely no control over his own life and destiny]], and the cruel wheel of fate forced him into becoming the bitter, hateful, vengeful AntiHero we were introduced to in ''CT''. He is the titular "Central Fiction". That is to say, he's the hero of the story Rachel told him in ''CP''. The girl who wants to be saved is Amaterasu herself, the Origin, a godlike being PoweredByAForsakenChild who desires only to see the person who matters to her the most again, but in her hysteria due to not getting her wish continued to make the timeline and suffering of everybody else repeat for eternity. To her, only Ragna mattered, and the rest of the cast have suffered because of her wish. The monster and villain of the story? Susanoo, AKA Yuuki Terumi. Ragna and Susanoo were destined to be enemies from the very beginning. Because of Susanoo's hate and spitefulness towards Amaterasu, he actively went out of his way to target the person she wanted to save her. At long last, the reason Susanoo really has a bone to pick with Ragna is finally revealed: because he's the one that his sister has designated to kill him, he devoted himself to making Ragna suffer. It's immensely satisfying to see his ultimate plan to kill Amaterasu and become the new, evil god of the world go horribly awry due to the [[GoneHorriblyRight very monster he shaped]], but Susanoo's legacy still lingers like a curse from beyond the grave. His actions turned an innocent boy who only wanted to live in peace with his family and protect them into a sad wreck of a man writhing with bitterness and hate, who is eventually forced to [[MessianicArchetype suffer, struggle, and eventually die]] for the sake of the world, sacrificing his own chances at happiness so that the world of the people he's come to know and even love, which has eased his pained heart and soul, can live on without fate fucking them over.
71	** Sadder still? Ragna actually did have a friend whose circumstances paralleled his own, and could have perhaps been on his side under different circumstances: '''Nine'''. She met Ragna in the past, back when he had amnesia and was known as Bloodedge, and made a promise with him that resulted in Celica's life being saved from being sacrificed and the world's destruction being halted. She had gratitude towards him for his aid. That all went to shit when Susanoo killed Nine and threw her into the Boundary, where she learned that the man who helped save her sister Celica and helped prevent a world-ending calamity was the apple of a god's eye. A god that she hated because its inaction resulted in her family and friends suffering, and the world taking a dark turn at the hands of the god's EvilCounterpart. This single revelation made her hate the ally she once placed absolute faith in to save the world.
72	* '''Hakumen's death.''' Yes, many [[DeathFlag flags]] were tripped and it was heavily foreshadowed, but he goes out in one of the most undignified and cruel ways imaginable - getting backstabbed by Terumi's Hihiirokane-enhanced Ouroboros, having his soul yanked out of them, and then crushed in Terumi's palm. Terumi essentially ripped out Hakumen's "heart" and destroyed it right before his eyes, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Worse still is that this came ''right after'' Hakumen redeemed himself. He saved Tsubaki, whom he failed to save before at the hands of Nu, and beat the ever-loving shit out of Nu until she was comatose, making his demise ADeathInTheLimelight. Tsubaki herself took this especially hard, seeing her idol die in front of her.
73	* '''Celica's second death'''. Anyone who reads this story will know Celica as [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth one of the sweetest and kindest souls who ever existed ''period]]''. Despite being brought to a time by her niece where her "original" self is long dead, Celica acclimates just fine into the world and does the best that she can to aid others, even if that calls for self-sacrifice. Ragna, demonstrating a surprising amount of intuition, correctly guesses that the more Celica uses her powers to heal, and the more intense that healing is, the greater the likelihood of her just winking out of existence on the spot. This later comes to pass near the end of the story where, after being forced to watch her older sister die defending them from Izanami, she uses the remainder of her powers to boost Rachel's dwindling powers to teleport herself, Ragna, Jin, Noel, Kokonoe to safety. After spending some time in a church that matches the childhood home of Ragna and his siblings, Celica has one last conversation with Ragna under the stars but ultimately couldn't bring herself to telling him the true nature of her feelings. The next morning as the group prepares to teleport back to prepare for the final battle, Celica starts to slowly glow and, channeling her "original" self, encourages her "children" to do their best and never give up, before disappearing in a swirl of light. Noel is devastated. Ragna can barely hold in his sadness but resolutely plows on...Pass the tissues.
74	--> '''Celica''': (starts disappearing)...Noel, Jin, Ragna. I was really happy to see your world. It was fun being with all of you. Painful and sad things might happen. But you're all strong, kind, and "good children". Don't look back, and don't stop. Just keep looking ahead, and walk forward. Do your best, and don't lose. Take care. (gives one last smile and "dies", disappearing for good)
75	--> '''Noel''': (shocked) Celica...!
76	--> '''Ragna''': (quietly) Let's go.
77	--> '''Noel''': (tearfully) But Ragna...Celica...!
78	--> '''Ragna''': (more quietly and filled with grief) Keep looking ahead...and walk forward.
79	--> '''Noel''': (sobbing)..Okay.
80	** Later:
81	--> '''Kokonoe''': Where's Celica?
82	--> '''Rachel''':...
83	--> '''Ragna''': Celica "went home"
84	--> '''Kokonoe''': ...I see.
85	* At her core, Nu-13 is just a sad, lonely girl who only wants Ragna for reasons she herself doesn't really understand. So what happens to her over the story of ''Central Fiction''? She gets manipulated by several of the other villains who only see value out of her as a weapon, she gets beaten to within an ''inch of her life'' by Hakumen, and THEN her only reason for existing just vanishes completely as if he never even existed. Nu doesn't get a good ending of any sort. [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen She ends up bedridden in Noel and Lambda's church, in a completely unresponsive, catatonic state akin]] to a MadwomanInTheAttic scenario. It's implied that Noel and Lambda are trying to care for her and snap her out of it in much the same way Noel managed to encourage Lambda to embrace her human side, but so far their efforts have yielded no results.
86	** Her final moments as herself, with the personality we've come to know her for, are spent utterly distraught after being defeated once and for all by Ragna. Right before he proceeds to take her memories of him away so she no longer has a "desire" for him, all she can do is mutter to herself in a scared tone like she's about to cry if Ragna truly hates her ''that'' much that he'd go so far as to rip away her love of him just to spite her, almost sounding like she's wondering if she's even meant to be happy in the first place. All Ragna can do is assure her that, more or less, "everything will be alright afterwards" like he's putting a pet on its last legs to sleep. Then Terumi decides this scenario isn't nearly entertaining enough for him and wakes her up with Mind Eater. Without her focus on Ragna, Nu is reduced to nothing more than a rabid killing machine who hates everyone and everything and goes berserk trying to destroy all that she sees. This is what causes Hakumen to step in and beat her to within an inch of her life, completely breaking her already-fractured mind in the process.
87	** Another bit of tragic fact that applies to both Nu and Lambda. Noel, at that point in the story now a reincarnation of Saya after absorbing Izanami, confirms that despite both of the other Murakumos being {{Soul Fragment}}s of Saya, they can no longer return to being a part of the whole reincarnation. And it's all because of the years of horrific experimentation they underwent as living weapons. The pain they were forced to endure ended up breaking down and warping their minds and souls to a point where they no longer recognized themselves as "Saya", and instead ended up observing themselves as their own beings. Again, you have Terumi and Relius to blame for this.
88	* With the ending of ''Central Fiction'' and all the pieces finally put together comes a realization - '''the entire plot of ''[=BlazBlue=]'' is a Greek-level tragedy'''. And it all leads back to Amaterasu and an event called the Prime Field War. A long time ago, before the events of the series began, there was an original timeline. In that timeline, humanity was experimenting in order to find a way into the Boundary - the source of all information and all that exists, essentially "the realm of the gods". One day, they made a discovery that would change the course of history forever - the Susano'o unit. They used Susano'o's inherent link to Amaterasu in order to locate it within the Boundary. Desiring Amaterasu's power but unable to enter the boundary themselves or even with their own machinery, humanity decided to create a series of [[ArtificialHuman artificial humans]], which they dubbed "Boundary Interface Prime Field Devices". The first, a girl who would later become referred to as The Origin, succeeded in touching the Amaterasu Unit. In doing so, she not only gained the Eye of the Azure, but also grew a soul. And as she became sentient, so too did her fellow Prime Fields. Sounds great, right? '''WRONG.''' In their arrogance, the humans who created her and her siblings grew jealous of their newfound RealityWarper powers. Angry that mere "puppets", something of ''their'' own creation, could obtain the power of a god and dare to upstage them, they decided to betray the Prime Fields by imprisoning them in the Boundary. Fearful of the sudden threat that Prime Fields posed to them, the humans decided to kill them all, starting the Prime Field War. All the Prime Fields ever wanted was to live normal lives, but humanity refused and in the end, the world was destroyed when the first Black Beast was created. After the world was destroyed, The Origin remade it based on her own memories, but was still imprisoned in the Boundary. And so, she created "the dream that God observes", AKA the Central Fiction - Ragna the Bloodedge, a man whose fate has already been predetermined - to rescue her from her prison. Whenever Ragna did not come for her, she would just keep resetting everything in hopes that the events would change somehow. Over and over again, she did not get the results she wanted, even as more pieces of her soul became manifested in the new world as other Prime Fields such as Noel, Lambda, and Nu. At some point, she even fell into despair and her suicidal thoughts became manifested in the form of Izanami, wanting the entire world to disappear. '''Finally''', only after Susano'o's will is destroyed, is she able to meet Ragna at long last, who decides not to take her out of the Boundary but instead to stay with her, granting her soul peace. If Ragna's life is Hell, then the Origin's is the 9th circle.

Context TearJerker / BlazBlue