[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paranorman_tearjerker.jpg]]
* A tiny one in the montage where we see what Norman sees every day on his way to school -- there's a ghost crow with plastic rings around its neck from drink packaging, implying it died from human litter.
* The film has a very accurate depiction of bullying.
* Norman yelling at his friends (out of frustration) to get out when searching for Agatha's records.
* Norman's vision of Agatha being sentenced to death.
** ''Everything'' about Agatha's story is just depressing and sad, but actually seeing an ''eleven-year-old girl'' crying as she's sentenced to death -- by ''hanging'', no less -- by a group of stoic-faced adults makes the scene completely heartbreaking.
*** Made, somehow, even worse when you consider that methods of hanging that are intended to break the victim's neck weren't developed until over a hundred years after the setting of the film. Her death would have been long and dragged-out, especially because she doesn't weigh as much as an adult...
* The look of remorse on the Judge's face as Norman yells at him and the rest of the zombies over what they did to Agatha.
-->'''Norman:''' Why did you do it?\\
'''Judge Hopkins:''' We were scared.\\
'''Norman:''' Of what?\\
'''Judge Hopkins:''' Of her. I believed we were doing what was right; I was wrong. Now, this is our punishment. We thought we knew our way in life, but in death... We are lost.
* Pretty much the entire climax, with Norman trying to get through Agatha's three centuries of built-up rage over an unjust death -- which eventually turned her into the very thing the 18th-century Blithe Hollow residents thought they were protecting themselves against in the first place -- and finally getting through to the person underneath... a scared little girl that just wanted to be back with her beloved mother. The book of fairy tales his uncle read to Agatha every year? It contained the one her mother always read to her to put her to sleep. The tearjerking reaches full capacity as Norman tries to reach Aggie by telling her the story of her life, which then begins to converge and sound like his life too. Then she falls asleep on his shoulder and passes into the next life.
-->'''Norman:''' ...[[AlasPoorVillain Sleep tight]].
** What ''really'' gets viewers about that scene is the way Agatha is driven [[TheOphelia nearly to the breaking point]] [[IgnoredEpiphany trying to block out]] what Norman is trying to get through to her. You can see the utter horror on her face at the prospect of facing [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the truth]], and her face even warps and distorts itself as she screams in furious self-loathing. She even tries to block out his words with a [[MadnessMantra disturbing singsong mantra]]. For anyone who's suffered from mental illnesses, especially as a result of bullying or abuse, this can hit ''unsettlingly'' close to home. Notably, during the {{denouement}}, Agatha scares ''herself'' by accidentally incinerating a butterfly when she experiences a flash of anger.
*** And, of course, the conversation that ensues right after the climax.
---->'''Norman:''' You think just because there's bad people out there, that there's no good ones either? I thought the same thing for a while, but there's always someone out there for you, somewhere.\\
'''Aggie:''' [[IWantMyMommy ...I just want my mommy.]]\\
'''Norman:''' I'm sorry. She's gone.
** It's brief, but when Aggie asks Norman if he ever wanted revenge and to hurt the ones hurting him, ''Norman agrees'' -- but he quickly points out [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty that it wouldn't actually help]].
* When Aggie is finally at rest, and it cuts to all the zombies crumbling away, just look at the expressions of the freed souls before they fade. They don't seem happy, they look scared and regretful, and it's the last we ever see of them. Then you realize it's most likely because, as Puritans, they probably believed that in passing on to the next life, they would go to Hell for sentencing Aggie to death for a naturally occurring gift she couldn't control.
** Really, their expressions seem more regretful than anything, which definitely doesn't make the tearjerking aspect of the scene go away. They could very easily be disturbed by the idea of confronting the reality of what they did when they spend eternity with the now-forgiving Agatha, which might be more painful for them than any FireAndBrimstoneHell, even if they're glad to see her happy again. She's forgiven them for what they did, but there's no reason to think that they've forgiven themselves.
** They might have asked to be saved, but probably deep down, they believe they still deserve punishment.
** Even the Junior Novelization does a good job at describing the scene and its emotions.
-->''Norman closed his eyes and said a silent farewell to Aggie. She would be safe now. She had gone to sleep. She had gone home.''
* The fact that Agatha's mother or some other loved one went out to her grave and read her her favorite story, every year until she passed away, is also quite sad.
* The fact that Mr. Prenderghast was given the same hate the town gave Norman, but to the point where his own family seems to have disowned him (as Norman's parents forbade him from ever talking to him), and he ended up not only dying alone, but having nobody even come to clean up his corpse. Even after Norman goes home after meeting his ghost at school, later on, Mr. Prenderghast's body is still in his house. If Norman did remember to tell his parents (or anybody), it seems no-one gave enough of a crap to do anything about it. (Though one could justify this as being for plot convenience, as his ghost outright stated that his corpse was holding the McGuffin book. If Norman told officials, then police would have arrived before Norman and sealed off the house, preventing him from getting the book in time, not to mention they would be curious how Norman knew that he was dead and might bring him in for questioning, which would waste the few scraps of beyond-valuable time he had).
* The fact that Norman's locker apparently gets vandalized ''so'' often, he just keeps a rag and spray cleaner in his locker, as does Neil's.
** And the fact that the vandal's graffiti is spelled correctly implies it's ''not'' just Alvin who harbors sufficient malice toward both boys to harass them.
* After the school play, where Norman has a vision and talks about the dead coming and talking trees, his father grounds him and forbids him to mention ghosts or anything similar. Norman's mom tries to explain this as just fear. Norman's response? "He's my ''dad''. He shouldn't be afraid of me." Worse, her claim ("He's not afraid ''of'' you, he's afraid ''for'' you...") is clearly one Norman doubts.
* The FridgeHorror of the witch's true identity is both this and NightmareFuel: the fabled witch is a little girl named Agatha Prenderghast, a last name shared by Norman's great-uncle. Combine that with the fact that she looks almost exactly like Norman, and everything is thrown into sharp relief: Aggie is Norman's long-ago relative, and Norman's family is at the center of this entire mess. Her powers were passed down through the family for generations (her mother or father might have even had the power as well and were just better at hiding it), and it's been up to the family members who end up with this power to keep Aggie's curse at bay by reading her to sleep every year on the anniversary of her execution. The attitudes of the townsfolk clearly haven't improved in 300 years, and even after the identity of the witch was forgotten, the stain on the family's reputation wasn't, which probably explains why Norman's mother is more patient and tolerant regarding Norman's behavior and beliefs, and why Uncle Prenderghast is an outcast who lives in squalor in an abandoned house on the hill. Even though she doesn't have the power herself, her Uncle Prenderghast did, and she probably believed him. Tellingly, it doesn't seem to be entirely her idea that Norman isn't allowed to talk to her uncle, as she's rather upset at the idea that he doesn't even know what Norman looks like.
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