Cry Into Chest - Television Tropes & Idioms

She's had a bad day.

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 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 & Manga

Mikuru does this in the faux Dating Sim Yuki does in episode 25 of Haruhi Chan.
One of the pivotal scenes in Ranma ½ 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 the final scene of End of Evangelion, Shinji breaks down sobbing onto Asuka's chest. After attempting to strangle her.
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.
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, leading to this. Simultaneously a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and moment of Les Yay, as Rangiku is naked. (Though this aspect is still at least somewhat tasteful, as it represents Rangiku's emotional honesty and pure willingness to protect Orihime.)
Homura does this to Madoka in episode 10 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
- Madoka also does this to a dead Sayaka in episode 9.
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 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and manga, 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. She sometimes also cried into others' as well.
Himeko does this to Bossun in Sket Dance.
Tsubaki does this to Black*Star after defeating her brother in Soul Eater. Of course she's on her knees since she is 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, 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.

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.."

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).

Live Action TV

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-slash-Not Love Interest 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. It was at about this point that most of the unconvinced fanbase said "screw it" and began to ship them with abandon.
In The X-Files 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.
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.
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 Momentof Heartwarming, though, especially when you consider how unsupportive her whole family was of her being gay.
Joan of Arcadia Adam cries into Joan's chest while watching home videos of him with his mother, who committed suicide several years ago. Joan actually approached Adam and drew his head into her chest, so it was a "motherly" moment, but they're love interests.
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.
In the NCIS episode "Swan Song", Ziva cries into Tony's chest in the elevator after Frank dies. When the elevator doors open, McGee is 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.
Buffy cries into Angel's chest after smashing the master's bones in the episode "When She Was Bad."

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.
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 do ease his mind genuinely despite being technically 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. Seeing as how doing it makes the Social Link romantic...

Visual Novels

Rena does this to Keiichi at the end of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's Tsumihoroboshi-hen.
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 NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors Clover does this to Junpei when she learns that Snake isn't actually dead.
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.

Web Original

There are several instances of this in Shadowhunter Peril. They are all the angel Nicholas' doing.

Western Animation

Upon their reunion in the finale of Avatar The Last Airbender, Zuko cries into Iroh's shoulder.◊
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.
Ren from Ren and Stimpy has these moments a lot with his emotional crutch Stimpy.