Line #23 TearJerker/SonicAdventure


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mission_complete.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDcVeEzXGlw Mission complete.]]]]
3	![[Administrivia/SpoilersOff All spoilers are unmarked]]! Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
4	* The death of E-102 "Gamma" at the end of his story in ''Sonic Adventure.'' After downing E-101 Beta MKII, he goes up to his brother, who [[LastBreathBullet uses the last of his energy to blast him one last time]] before exploding, [[MutualKill fatally wounding Gamma in the process]]. The crippled Gamma limps away a short distance, and upon being met by the white Flicky bird that Beta had inside him, his last memory of their family reawakens; at which point [[TheHeroDies Gamma's body gives out, then he collapses to the ground and explodes]], releasing the pink Flicky inside of him and reuniting the two birds. What really makes it is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-9FaXg5NOk the music,]] being a slow, [[LonelyPianoPiece piano-based reprise]] of his theme.
5	** In the actual game, one scene between Amy and Gamma becomes very, very sad in retrospect. When fleeing the crashing Egg Carrier with Tails, Amy expresses hope that she and Gamma will meet again; but [[NeverGotToSayGoodbye that ends up being the last time they ever see each other]].
6	*** This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that at the end of Amy's story, she succeeds in reuniting Birdie with its family, which includes the Flicky that was inside Gamma. Gamma's Flicky also comes with Amy to help give Sonic what's left of the Chaos Emeralds in the Last Story. So in a way, they ''did'' meet again.
7	** The cutscene prior to the battle is particularly chilling, as Gamma assesses the remaining units he must destroy, he looks through flashback images in his memory banks, one of Beta being redesigned... [[FiveSecondForeshadowing and one of himself]]. As he looks at his hand and [[SuicideMission designates himself, we know Gamma's fate is sealed]]. The lack of background noise aside from the gentle sea waves greatly compliments the somber revelation:
8	-->'''Gamma:''' Units remaining... (''looks at hand'') [[WhamLine Gamma]]... Beta.
9	** Gamma's theme itself becomes hard to listen to after you beat his story, especially that ending synth melody. In particular, once you make out what the distorted phrase is actually saying, it becomes outright chilling.
10	---> ''It's my pleasure''
11	---> ''[[DeathSeeker Ready to die]]''
12	** The prison cutscene. The supposedly intimidating robot confronts Amy for the bird, after she refuses, and in desperation, actually begs him to let it go. Gamma starts feeling pain from his new-found empathy, going berserk before letting them out of their cell and ordering them to escape. He slumps over the door switch, dumbfounded and guilt-ridden at disobeying his master's orders, though Amy shows sympathy and offers him her friendship before leaving. Gamma's heart-wrenching theme playing in the background helps none.
13	*** Amy, despite being locked away and under interrogation, can only feel pity for Gamma over his confusion over why she cares for Birdie so much:
14	--->'''Amy:''' (''sadly'') I feel sorry for you. Eggman failed to give you feelings.
15	** After his brethren fail to collect Froggy, Eggman angrily teleports them out of his sight to be made into something useful; which, as Gamma discovers through Beta, [[PainfulTransformation isn't a pleasant process at all]]. Before he vanishes in front of Gamma's eyes, a pained Delta turns to look at him. While no dialogue is said, most sources and media imply that Gamma felt horribly guilty for unintentionally dooming his brothers.
16	** Keep in mind, the E-100 units in Sonic Adventure were essentially ''siblings.'' Gamma was forced to kill the only people he ever cared for -- with the exception of Amy and his creator Eggman (who he probably saw as his ''father'') -- for the greater good of saving the birdies from a FateWorseThanDeath.
17	*** Actually, Gamma is only aware of the birdie inside of him and another of his siblings when he defeats E-101 Beta [=MkII=] and frees that birdie. On top of that, Gamma has seen with Beta that Robotnik wouldn't [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness give higher orders to the failures among his machines]]. Instead, Gamma faced his siblings (E-103 Delta, E-104 Epsilon, and E-105 Zeta) in order to [[DefeatMeansFriendship rescue them]] from their being little more than EliteMooks to Robotnik. Yet the mission is to "Destroy" the corresponding member of the E-series and the victory cutscenes shows their [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath absolute death-by-explosion]]. This actually makes Gamma's play-through a larger tear-jerker because it depicts a childlike innocence concerning what death really is. And this innocence is only broken at the end when he is able to actually understand [[HeroicSacrifice the cost of doing the right thing]]. With bonus tear-jerker points if you [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation carry out the implication that his finally understanding what death is]] means [[RedemptionEqualsDeath that he has decided to join the rest of his family whom he was responsible for killing]].
18	*** Gamma's recap text -- from quitting the story and resuming at various points -- actually has him describe his mission as destroying Robotnik's "Evil Machines" to explicitly rescue both the animals and the other E-Series. This suggests [[IAmAMonster he regards them all, including himself, as villains]] at best deserving of a MercyKill, and adds another depressing angle to [[SuicideByCop his fight with the upgraded Beta]].
19	** The worst of it all is how [[DyingAlone there is no one to mourn Gamma's death and sacrifice]]. His cohorts are all dead by his hand, Eggman vanished from the storyline but wouldn't take kindly to hearing that his robot had gone rogue. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Big knew him as little more than a generic badnik of Eggman's, and Amy never gets to see him again like she wanted[[note]]Bar the ''Anime/SonicX'' adaptation, though that is [[BreakTheCutie just as heartbreaking]] when she outright sees Gamma and Beta kill each other[[/note]]. The only solace is, if Gamma and the bird are separate entities, that the bird family would likely be very thankful to him for doing what he did for their sake.
20	* Speaking of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' music, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPbtnGU30fE Sadness]]'' is truly ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
21	* Tikal's implied death.
22	* [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Chaos.]] Once a peaceful soul who cared for Chao and befriended Tikal, Chaos eventually lost it after witnessing Pachacamac invading his shrine to take the Emeralds, [[WouldHurtAChild callously trampling over his own daughter]] and slaughtering the very creatures he tried to protect to get to it. Driven over the DespairEventHorizon, Chaos transformed and wrought vengeance on the Echidnas that had caused the catastrophe. Then he's sealed inside the Master Emerald to prevent him from harming anybody else, which means Chaos spends [[AndIMustScream 4000 years trapped in a cocoon of anguish and sorrow]], only eventually [[EvilIsNotAToy being re-released by Eggman to be used as a pawn in one of his schemes]]. Once the blue hedgehog sees how Chaos came to be, [[SympathyForTheDevil even Sonic sympathizes with him]].
23	-->'''Tikal (JP):''' He has absorbed the power of the Emeralds... We must hurry and seal him inside the Master Emerald again!
24	-->'''Sonic (JP):''' Won't it just be the same as before?! His heart will still be bound by anger and sadness. He will never be free!
25
26	-->'''Tikal (ENG):''' Look! He's absorbed the Emeralds' power... he must be sealed in the Master Emerald, ''now!''
27	-->'''Sonic (ENG):''' How can that help?! It won't change how he feels inside, will it? His heart will still remain in turmoil, and his anger just won't vanish! He'll just be trapped ''forever''.
28	** To think that Sonic wants to help ''save'' the God of Destruction is heart-wrenching to think about. All throughout the game, he saw Chaos as this huge enemy, determined to stop him and Eggman from destroying the world. To go from that over the course of the game, to understanding Chaos and wanting to save him from his fate is something that's both heart-warming ''and'' heart-breaking.
29	** To say nothing of poor Tikal who sealed herself in the Master Emerald with him, just after her entire clan turned on her and the Chao and were destroyed by Chaos. The implication was that in her sorrow she intended to doom herself to that state again to save everyone, and while she given a more peaceful alternative, her original sacrifice still seemingly cost her mortal form.
30	* Knuckles' predicament. He is forced to stay on Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald. Bound by his duty to his species and to the gem itself, he is always tied to it, unable to stray too far. He will never be free like Sonic and Tails are.
31	* In one of Big's recaps, he wonders to himself if Froggy keeps running away because he doesn't like him anymore.
32	** As this [[http://sonicpositive.tumblr.com/post/148416573187/a-character-analysis-big-the-cat Tumblr post]] points out, there's a reason Big works so hard to get Froggy back: [[FridgeBrilliance because otherwise, Big would be all alone]]. He's not too familiar with the other characters yet; in fact, none of the other characters even refer to him by name throughout the game. Then, as Big tries to escape the Egg Carrier with Froggy, he comments that if [[NeverSayDie "something"]] were to happen, there would be no point in Big rescuing Froggy, because he can't think of anyone who would come save them. In other words, if Big (and Froggy) had somehow gotten hurt or killed on the Egg Carrier, ''nobody might have noticed.'' This of course becomes HeartwarmingInHindsight after Sonic instantly sticks up for him against Chaos Six, showing someone ''will'' go out of their way to care.
33	** Big's status as TheScrappy can also be this; he's just a common guy trying to get his frog back and the fans hate him for [[ScrappyMechanic things]] that aren't even his fault. Someone give the poor kitty a hug...
34	** The cutscene after the Emerald Coast stage is pretty sad as well. [[HopeSpot Big has finally gotten Froggy back at the third time of asking]], only for a pre-HeelFaceTurn Gamma to snatch the frog out of Big's hands and make off with him. Big is left staring at his empty hands in shock and disbelief for a moment before chasing off after Gamma, pleading ''desperately'' for the robot to give him back his only friend. Now consider the fact that, when you collect Froggy in Gamma's route, Big isn't there. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Big is utterly heartbroken at having his friend snatched away from him, and the robot]] ''[[ButForMeItWasTuesday doesn't even acknowledge his presence]]''.
35	-->'''Big:''' (''frantically chasing after Gamma'') No! Hold on, there! Come back, please! Gimme my friend back! [[AintTooProudToBeg I'm begging ya,]] ''[[AintTooProudToBeg pleeease!]]''
36	* As [[{{Narm}} cheesy as it may seem]], Tails' theme, "Believe in Myself" is [[LyricalDissonance sadder than the upbeat music would suggest]]. It's basically about Tails becoming disillusioned with his role as Sonic's {{sidekick}} and his own limits while trying desperately to make a name for himself. Then there's the implications of the chorus, which sound troublingly like Tails wanting to reunite with a departed loved one.
37	--> I wanna fly high, so I can reach the highest of all of the heavens. Somebody will be waiting for me...
38	** Come to think of it, there's the (possibly related) implication in his backstory that he's an orphan...
39	* The flashback cutscene of [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Tails meeting Sonic for the first time]], which plays after he and Sonic are separated after their plane is hit and crashes. He wanders through the jungles alone and forlorn before Sonic speeds right past him. Tails follows him, trying to keep up. No words, only feels. The [[LonelyPianoPiece sad piano theme music]] doesn't help either. Doubles as Heartwarming though when he awakens

Context TearJerker / SonicAdventure