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Cry Into Chest

Boy, has she had a bad day.

"30 years of karate. Combat experience on five continents. A rating with every weapon that shoots a bullet or holds an edge. Still haven't found any defense to Mom crying into my shirt."

— Michael, Burn Notice

A variant of the Security Cling, but differs a bit in timing and execution. Usually, this will take place after a large emotional ordeal when some character, in search of some catharsis, will finally just break down and bury her head into someone else's chest, sobbing and weeping.

There are two main varieties. If the character whose shirt is being used as a handkerchief is male, the character crying will frequently be female, and the reason this situation is occurring is due to a height differential, since men are on average taller than women. The point will be to accentuate the guy's stronger, more protective attributes. Frequently, the two are a couple, and in this case, it will serve as a sort of Cry Cute.

If, on the other hand, the chest belongs to a woman, the relationship will be closer to that of a mother and child, and the woman's more motherly attributes will be emphasized. This case is far less likely to be between love interests, and the two characters are a bit more likely to be same-sex. If a woman's more "motherly attributes" wind up in a character's face by accident, it's a Marshmallow Hell.

In both forms, this trope is likely to double as a Tear Jerker and Crowning Moment of Heartwarming for the audience, since it often serves double duty as a Sadness Trope and a Love Trope.

A Sub Trope of Cry Cute and Glomp. Compare Funbag Airbag.

Examples:

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Anime and Manga

Mikuru does this in the faux Dating Sim Yuki does in episode 25 of Haruhi Chan.
One of the pivotal scenes in Ranma � involves Akane finally releasing all her angst and heartache while crying into Dr. Tofu's chest, after realizing that he'll never look at her the way he looks at her older sister Kasumi. She clings to him tightly while he silently lets her vent, unaware of the reason for her distress but knowing how much she needed it anyway. By the end, she even confesses to Ranma that "a good cry really did make [her] feel better," and that she thinks she's finally over Dr. Tofu.
In Clannad, one of the things that Sanae teaches Ushio is that the only place it's alright to cry is in the bathroom, so nobody can see it. Ushio later reveals to her father, Tomoya, that there's actually 2 places, in the bathroom, and in her daddy's arms.
In the final scene of End of Evangelion, Shinji breaks down sobbing onto Asuka's chest.
In Code Geass, Lelouch cries into CC's chest after shooting his half-sister Euphemia/
- Shirley cries into Lelouch's chest after telling him that her father was killed in the Battle of Narita. It's made worse by the fact that Lelouch is Zero, and thus is indirectly responsible for her father's death.
Bleach: Orihime confesses her insecurities to Rangiku and then breaks down in tears. Rangiku then comforts her with some words of encouragement, and subsequently embraces her.
Homura does this to Madoka in episode 10 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
- Madoka also does this to a dead Sayaka in episode 9.
After Marie's New Old Flame is murdered in Soul Eater, Stein pulls her to his chest and just holds her while she sobs her eyes out. Take note that this is literally pages after Nygus warned Marie that Stein was incapable of loving anyone.
In the Love Hina anime, Mei bursts into tears in Keitaro's chest when she thinks her step-sister Naru doesn't love her.
In the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and the 2009 anime series Brotherhood, Winry cries into Edward's chest after he talks her out of murdering Scar out of revenge for her parents.
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch has its shares, with Lucia crying into Kaito's chest for example.
Himeko does this to Bossun in Sket Dance.
Chapter 21 of To Love-Ru Darkness has Nana pulled into one by Rito to act as a Cooldown Hug (fits neatly as Rito is One Head Taller).
Tsubaki does this to Black*Star after defeating her brother in Soul Eater. Of course she's on her knees since she's taller.
Erika of Heartcatch Precure suggests Yuri do that after she finds out why the then-former Precure acts like she does. Made funnier at the fact that she's the one flinging herself on Yuri's chest when she suggests it.
Towards the end of the first season of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (in its Tsumihoroboshi-hen arc), Rena cries into Keiichi's chest after shaking off the effects of Hinamizawa's Hate Plague and realizing how close she came to murdering all of her friends. The unusual circumstances don't make it any less heartwarming.
Setsuna in Mahou Sensei Negima! does this to Asuna for pages and pages when she finds out Asuna will be leaving to sleep for 100 years inside the Gravekeeper's Palace in order to save the Magic World.
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. After realising she's going to be killed by Fuse, Kei begins to quote from Little Red Riding Hood (a reoccurring theme throughout the film), eventually throwing herself to Fuse's chest and crying out, "Mother, what big claws you have! Mother, what big teeth you have!" whereupon a distraught Fuse shoots her.
In Saint Beast, Maya does this to Judas after throwing a rock-shattering tantrum over Kira's plan to leave heaven on the day of the trial for the Saint Beast positions.
In Cross Game, Aoba cries into Ko's chest after he gave her a big hug.
"There are only two people who can make Aoba cry. Ko and Wakaba."
Standard procedure for Mai from Popotan. Ai is the chest-provider.
In Oniisama e..., Mariko does this to Nanako at the end of episode 26 after learning about her parents' divorce and her father's affair.
In Volume 6 of Sangatsu No Lion, a victim of bullying cries into the chest of a close friend after the latter finds the other depressed near the river. The two people in question are Hinata and Rei, respectively.
A Cruel God Reigns: Jeremy sobs into Ian's chest after hallucinating Greg talking to him following he and Ian recount all the times Greg sexually abused Jeremy. Mixed with one of Jeremy's Freak Outs.
In the last episode of Sonic X, Tails is shown to have done this after being forced to shoot Cosmo. In a rare both-male example, the chest he cries into is Sonic's.
This is a very common occurrence with between Tomoe (the comforter) and Nanami (the one usually doing the crying) in Kamisama Kiss.
In One Piece, after an intense argument between Luffy and Vivi, the former reveals that he doesn't want Vivi to only risk her life to save her country, but also risk theirs as well, because they're friends. This moves the young princess to tears, and Nami hugs her near her chest to comfort her.
Cyborg 004 from Cyborg 009 does this to both Hilda and Venus after they die.

Comic Books

In ''Sonic Universe'' #38, E-123 Omega comes across Hope Kintobor crying and curled up on the floor after a meeting with Snively, distraught that she would never have a normal life or family again. In a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, Omega holds her in his arms and lets her cry into his chest plate.
Omega: Um... there-there? Please do not leak anymore? I am sorry. I was not built to comfort.
An Archie comic had Betty out of sorts emotionally because her dad's business was going under. Archie lets her cry into his chest, which Veronica mistakes as him cheating on her. Archie flat out says "OH, SHUT UP, VERONICA!," which offends her greatly and impresses Reggie.

Film

In the Disney film Treasure Planet, Jim believes it is his fault that Mr. Arrow was killed by being sucked into the black hole, prompting Silver, who knows it wasn't actually Jim's fault, to give him a pep talk in a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming. Jim, who has begun to look up to Silver as the father he never had, puts his head against Silver's chest and cries into it. Silver is awkward at first, but then hugs him, telling him it's alright in one of the film's biggest Tear Jerker and heartwarming moments.
Occurs in Night of the Blood Beast, with a traumatically-resurrected astronaut crying into his wife's chest. Which, as Joel and the bots are quick to point out, gives him a faceful of her breasts.
Joel: Hmm... this helps!
Shown in Barry Lyndon, when the title character's friend is dying, after giving him the final kiss he requested, Barry collapses onto his chest, weeping.
Parodied in Blazing Saddles, when it's done with two guys, the crier being a Camp Gay.
"You brute, you brute, you vicious brute!"
"All right, all right.."
Happens in When Harry Met Sally. Sally calls Harry in tears after finding out that her ex is getting married. He comforts her, and she cries on him.
How about the first 20 minutes of Fight Club? A major theme is how random people in the support groups pair up to cry on one another.
- Of particular note is the narrator being paired up with Bob, a former bodybuilder who has 'bitch tits' due to steroid abuse; it doesn't matter to the narrator after discovering how good it feels to cry.
In Star Trek Into Darkness, Uhura cries into Scotty's chest when she follows Spock into Engineering just in time to see Kirk die.

Literature

Hermione does it to Ron in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He is terrified.
- She also does it at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince after Dumbledore's funeral. This time, Ron just holds her and is crying Manly Tears.
Katniss cries into Peeta's chest toward the end of the first book in The Hunger Games. Notable because she had been fighting her emotions all throughout the book, because the situation was the one moment when she had to make the romance seem most genuine, and because they were on national TV.
- The trailer for the Film of the Book shows Prim crying into Katniss' chest, an example of the "motherly" version of the trope (since Katniss essentially plays the role of mother in the Everdeen family).
The Novelization of Return Of The Jedi is slightly different from the film in several places. The scene where Luke tells Leia who they both are and that he has to face Vader is much more emotional than in the film. Before Luke pulls away and leaves to meet his destiny, the twins hold each other, weeping "openly".
In Count To The Eschaton, Rania invokes this with Menelaus. (He's a clueless Science Hero, she's had a crush on him for a long time...)

Live Action TV

Inspector Lynley provides the page image. After being held hostage at gunpoint - on her first case back after taking a bullet to the stomach in the previous series finale - DS Barbara Havers goes a bit insane and uses the man who held her hostage as a punching bag. Her partner DI Lynley hauls her off the guy and manages to punch through her Flashback Echo, whereupon she absolutely falls apart and sobs hysterically into his shirt while he kisses her hair and clutches her close.
In Smallville, Chloe, Lana, and Lois all do this on occasion, Lois and Chloe usually to Clark and Lana to both Lex and Clark. Allison Mack, Chloe's actor, even says in the commentary of ''Truth'' that she loves those scenes because Tom Welling's chest makes the perfect headrest due to their height difference.
The X-Files
- In the episode "Irresistible", Scully finally breaks down and cries in Mulder's arms after being rescued from a necrophiliac serial killer. It's actually an important moment of character development, since beforehand she made a point of not showing weakness in front of him.
- It happens again in "Deadalive" after Mulder comes back from the dead and is in a coma.
Doctor Who
- When the Doctor is apparently killed in "Pyramids of Mars", Sarah Jane Smith sobs into his chest, causing the Not Quite Dead Doctor to wake up and complain that she's shrinking his shirt.
- The same thing happens in "The Impossible Astronaut", when Amy sobs into the Eleventh Doctor's chest just after he appears to have been shot dead.
Torchwood: Upon Jack's return at the end of "End of Days", Owen does this to Jack, out of combined relief and guilt.
Skins: Emily breaks down and cries into her father's chest after she discovers Naomi has cheated on her. His comforting her is a huge Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, though, especially when you consider how unsupportive her whole family was of her being gay.
Friends In Season 1 Monica cries into Chandler's chest after her Mom says that she's never going to get married or have children, (which she desperately wants). He also offers her a Fall Back Marriage Pact.
Joan of Arcadia Adam cries into Joan's chest while watching home videos of him with his mother, who committed suicide several years ago.
Burn Notice lampshades it in a voiceover in the pilot:
Michael: 30 years of karate. Combat experience on five continents. A rating with every weapon that shoots a bullet or holds an edge. Still haven't found any defense to Mom crying into my shirt.
On Yo Gabba Gabba!, Brobee can be seen in the background sobbing into Foofa's chest after Muno knocks over his building blocks.
At the end of the episode "Baelor" in Game of Thrones (you know the one), Arya sobs into Yoren's chest as he forces her not to look when her father is beheaded for treason. In this case, it's not romantic but an act of Yoren's respect for and loyalty towards her father and their family.
Brennan does it on Bones, crying into Booth's chest as she's trying to come to grips with the revelations about her family.
- More recently, Brennan cried on Booth's chest after the team investigated the death of a homeless man who turned out to be a Desert Storm veteran who died from injuries sustained while rescuing people from wreckage of the Pentagon during the 9/11 attacks. She recalled that she had helped identify remains taken from the World Trade Center, and how dry-eyed she remained, but now she found herself thinking that Booth could have been killed during the attack, and that they might have never met.
In the NCIS episode "Swan Song", Ziva cries into Tony's chest in the elevator after Mike Franks dies. When the elevator doors open, McGee is seen comforting Abby, which leads to the four of them in a Group Hug in the elevator. Bring the tissue box.
From Flower Boy Ramyun Shop Eun Bi does this to the image of her dead father after he dies, it's not until a little while later she realises it was Kang Hyuk.
In the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Troi loses her empathic power, she cries into Riker's chest while he comforts her.
In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy cries into Angel's chest after smashing the master's bones in the episode "When She Was Bad."
- The Season 6 finale ended with Willow crying into Xander's chest after his gesture of friendship combined with the magic she had stolen from Giles taps into her humanity, forcing her to see the consequences of her psychotic rampage and to come to grips with the fact that she had murdered Warren in cold blood
In Merlin Guinevere cries into Arthur's chest when Morgana is badly wounded.
In Kamen Rider Fourze, JK does this after apologizing up and down for what he did during the Capricorn Zodiarts incident and how Gentaro forgives him.
In Korean Drama series The Great Doctor, the titular doctor Eun Soo breaks down crying on the nearest friendly shoulder after a very stressful Embarrassing Rescue—somewhat awkwardly for the recipient, as her Love Interest arrives right after that.
Twice on CSI NY: Lindsay cries into Danny's chest after impersonating a robber goes wrong and she's rescued in 'Not What It Looks Like'. Much later, Christine does this with Mac after he rescues her in 'Seth and Apep', though they're on the floor at the time.
In Flashpoint, after Lewis was killed in a bomb explosion, Parker was gently comforting and cradling a sobbing Spike.
Will and Vara were heading for this in The Legend Of William Tell in The Spirit of Kale, when Aruna was thought dead. Will got as far as getting an arm around her shoulder before Aruna turned up alive and it turned into a Group Hug.
In Breaking Bad at the end of season 2, Walt finds Jesse on the floor in a meth den, drugged and practically passed out. When he tries to pick him up, Jesse breaks down and starts to sob into his jacket, so Walt sits back down and just holds him while he cries about Jane's death.
Emily and Nolan have one in the season two finale of Revenge, after Emily finds Takeda's body on the floor and starts crying uncontrollably. Nolan just holds her.

Theatre

In West Side Story, Maria breaks down and collapses into Tony's chest after bitterly confronting him over having shot Bernardo.

Video Games

Apparently, in Dragon Age: Origins, Zevran really wants to cry into Wynne's bosom. He brings this up on several opportunities. Wynne assures him that he's capable of crying well away from her bosom. It's sort of toying with the motherly idea; Wynne is a very grandmotherly figure in general, but Zevran is being shamelessly sexual when he suggests it.
In Mass Effect 2, Shepard can offer this option to Tali during her Loyalty Mission.
- Shepard can do the same for Liara during Lair of the Shadow Broker.
In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, after Carl had a break down, Litchi offered to hug him and let him cry on her chest. Despite some Dramatic Irony about how Carl never knew that Litchi has in fact joined NOL and sided with the source of most of his anger, his father Relius, the fact that Litchi still wanted to genuinely ease his mind despite technically being his enemy definitely counts as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
In Persona 4 when Rise cries after finding out the fact that her Idol Singer-self Risette is a part of her that she can't give up, the Protagonist is given the option to do this.
- And goes both ways in Persona 2. In Innocent Sin, after having a flashback about her father, Maya Amano broke down and Tatsuya can opt to have her cry on his chest. Then in Eternal Punishment, when Tatsuya reveals the Innocent Sin side, how he failed to stop Nyarlathotep and get the Maya on that side dead and the world destroyed, he's utterly troubled. EP!Maya (you, the protagonist) has the option to let him cry on her chest.
In Magical Diary, the protagonist can end up soaking William's robes with tears after Damien breaks her heart. He's more a older brother figure than a romantic one, though, and the pair commiserates over the fact that Damien betrayed them both.
At the end of Act II in Diablo III, Leah has just been through a hellish vision courtesy of Azmodan, the last of the Evils that you have to take down, who reveals to her that he knows about the plan to trap him and his brothers in the Black Soulstone, and has sent all of his legions to the mortal realm from Arreat Crater to capture it. After relaying the info about the above to Tyrael after he breaks her out of this vision, she breaks down in his arms.
At the end of Zone Of The Enders: The 2nd Runner, Ken embraces Dingo and sobs on his chest upon hearing that her father was secondhand.
Seen in this◊ promotional image for Final Fantasy X, depicting the scene in Macalania Woods where Yuna is forced to accept her duty as a summoner, and that she cannot live the idealized normal life in Zanarkand that Tidus describes.

Visual Novels

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - See its anime listing.
Battler from Umineko no Naku Koro ni cries into Natsuhi's chest in Ep 1 after the murder of Kanon. It's shows both how motherly and protective Natsuhi really is and Battler's surprisingly tender and emotional nature.
In Remember11, Satoru wakes up back at SPHIA being held in Utsumi's chest. She did that in order to calm "him" down after "he" blew a gasket and started destroying the kitchen/family room area.
In Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Clover does this to Junpei when she learns that Snake isn't actually dead.
- Akane cries into her brother's chest after Junpei helps her escape the incinerator.
Katawa Shoujo has more than one girl doing this if you (as Hisao) play your cards right an build strong relationships with them. Specially poignant in the cases of Rin Tezuka and Emi Ibarazaki.
Clannad, in Kappie's route of the Visual Novel, there are two C Gs of Ryou doing this to Tomoya.

Web Comics

Bangladesh Dupree, of all people, does this at one point◊ in Girl Genius.

Web Original

There are several instances of this in Shadowhunter Peril. They are all the angel Nicholas' doing.
In Wedding Peach Abridged, Yuri gets annoyed that Jama-P keeps doing that to Momoko... when she can't do it herself.
Syrius from The War Comms is extremely prone to doing this.
In Demo Reel, a very high Rebecca breaks down crying in Tacoma's arms after ruining a fair few takes screaming about her abusive family.

Western Animation

Upon their reunion in the finale of Avatar The Last Airbender, Zuko breaks down and sobs into Iroh's shoulder upon their reunion.◊
In The Legend Of Korra, Amon and his Equalists ambush and easily subdue Korra. Amon states that while he can't de-bend her now, as that would only make her a martyr, he proceeds to psychologically rip her to pieces. By the time he's left and Tenzin arrives, Korra, who is utterly terrified, breaks down into his chest.
- It happens again with Asami and Mako at the end of episode 7, after it turns out Asami's father was an Equalist.
Ren from Ren and Stimpy has these moments a lot with his emotional crutch Stimpy.
In the episode, Hereafter, in Justice League, Lois Lane ends up sobbing into Lex Luthor's chest just after tearing him a new one for showing up to Superman's funeral.