Tear Jerker / Final Fantasy VII Remake

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Tifa, please don't cry...

• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
• Crisis Core
• Dirge of Cerberus
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Most people know all of the sad and heartbreaking moments from the original game, but now Final Fantasy VII Remake makes them hit even harder, and even adds some entirely new moments that rip your heart to shreds.

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General

• It can be heartrending to see just how terrified of Sephiroth Cloud really is. His first instinct is usually to go on the offensive. Cloud very nearly kills his neighbor in a panic when he believes he has found Sephiroth in the room next door in chapter three. Later on, in chapter eight, he runs into a Sephiroth clone in the children's hideout, who grabs him and shows him a vision of Sephiroth musing about the Reunion. He finds himself trembling and only finally calms when Aerith holds his hand. Then, everything comes to a head in chapter fourteen. Sephiroth appears once again, this time to mock Cloud over his failures. Cloud has just watched two friends die, failed to prevent the Sector 7 plate from falling, and Aerith has been taken captive by Shinra. As Sephiroth approaches him, Cloud backs away a few steps before freezing in place. Cloud ends up reduced to whimpering in childlike terror, nearly in tears. It quickly becomes obvious that Cloud is close to his breaking point.
  You have failed again I see.
  • A subtle example, but if one looks back at how Sephiroth seems to be genuinely sincere as he tells Cloud he will grow stronger through suffering, then it's quite evident that even after how far he fell into insanity, Sephiroth never truly forgot about all that he had to endure in order to gain as much power as he did.
• Marlene gets a couple of sad scenes, which can hit hard to see such an adorable little girl get so sad for any reason. A small and simple one is a flashback Tifa has in the train graveyard of a cheerful conversation between her and Marlene halting as soon as Marlene mentions her friend's dad. At once, she goes quiet and asks Tifa when her dad will be back, only for Tifa to tell her that he might not make it home tonight. Marlene's reaction is a small one, but she's clearly quite heartbroken and Tifa seems equally heartbroken to realise how sad she is.
  • There's also the scene between Aerith and Marlene when the plate is about to fall. A scared Marlene asks Aerith if their bar and house are going to be destroyed and an honest Aerith pulls her into an empathetic hug and reassures her that although it's hard, she and her dad can still build a new home elsewhere. However, it's still hard and Marlene still cries into Aerith's shoulder for a bit afterwards. She's going through so much at her age. Thankfully, Aerith does cheer her up after this.

Chapter 2: Fateful Encounters

• Sephiroth rubbing it in that he murdered Cloud's mother.

Chapter 4: Mad Dash

• Near the end of chapter four after Cloud escorts Wedge home, you can find a lone child at the same Sector 7 playground where you meet Betty. While Cloud never interacts directly with her, wait long enough and the little girl will talk to him and ask if he's there to play too. She tells Cloud that she is sick and sneaks out to play at night. Thinking that Cloud is all alone with no friends, she says she has no friends either in a forlorn tone. The lonely little girl will eventually ask if Cloud wants to be her friend.

Chapter 7: A Trap Is Sprung

• During the confrontation with President Shinra's hologram at the reactor, Shinra gloats to Cloud that he may die soon anyway due to Power Degeneration, as Tifa turns to Cloud and lets out a little gasp in horror.

Chapter 9: The Town That Never Sleeps

• When Cloud and Aerith meet up on the passage to Sector 6, Cloud has another one of his vision-induced headaches triggered as he watches Aerith walking ahead of him. Unlike in his earlier episodes, the vision is not shown. However, the framing and music that accompany the scene call back to the original game, heavily implying that Cloud experienced a brief glimpse of Aerith's destined fate. Cloud is caught off guard when he finds himself shedding a tear, leaving him in pained confusion; unable to understand what it was he just saw, or why he suddenly cried, except that it triggered something deep within his subconsciousness. When a concerned Aerith comes back to check on him, Cloud can only insist that nothing's wrong, quickly turning away to hide his face from view.
  • Pay attention to the narrowly framed walkway, the greenish-tint of the dim lighting, and the soft tune she's humming as she walks off. The view looks uncannily similar to the forest leading to the Forgotten City, and Aerith is humming the theme of the Temple of the Ancients (albeit at a slower pace than the original track)^note Briana White, Aerith's VA, said it was just a random tune she came up on the spot, although that doesn't exclude her having heard of that track before., which was the last time you got to use her as a party member in the original game. All this adds up to why Cloud had his vision at this moment.

Chapter 11: Haunted

• A flashback of young Aerith playing hide-and-seek, trying to look for her mother. When she gets no response, she soon falls to her knees and breaks down crying, which present-day Aerith does as well.

Chapter 12: Fight for Survival

• Biggs' death. He does not actually die, but neither the characters, nor the audience know that at this point in the story. Biggs shows a surprising amount of warmth and kindness to Cloud. It's at this point that it becomes clear that Biggs has seen through Cloud's facade, comparing him to the orphans in Sector 5 before tenderly touching Cloud's head. Cloud is genuinely moved by the gesture, looking as if he is close to crying. Cloud himself shows a massive amount of character development, going as far as to (depending on your dialogue choice) offer words of comfort, and holds Biggs' hand. By the end, Cloud is struggling to keep his composure before moving on and leaving Biggs behind.
  • Given the ambiguous nature of the ending and the possibility of alternate timelines, whether or not this is the Biggs we know is still up in the air.
• Jessie's death. Calmly accepting her fate as karma for the lives her bombs supposedly took, she asks Cloud and Tifa not to mourn for her despite them doing otherwise.
  • Jessie does express one regret, however. She wishes that everyone could have enjoyed her mother's cooking again. She is also sorry she made Tifa cry and her last words are light-heartedly encouraging them to go on without her.
  • Cloud and Tifa's reactions to her death are also heartrending. Tifa breaks down completely and ends up crying into her hands. Cloud, judging by his facial expressions, is close to tears himself. His voice cracks when he tries to get Tifa's attention in order to continue their mission. The two, tragically, do not have the time to grieve. However, if you decide to not move for a second, both Cloud and Tifa will mournfully look down at Jessie's corpse.
  • Jessie had to have the most sadistic case of Ascended Extra ever conceived. Players who already experienced the original game would know what will inevitably happen to her but the remake has many more bonding moments with her not in the original game for the players to love her more. However, these moments only hurt those who played the original game more, seeing all her sweet moments yet also having her fate in mind. The game teases that she might not die...only for the Arbiters to ensure that her fate comes to pass.
  • Additionally, the music that plays during her dying speech, as well as the following section in which you prepare for the battle ahead. Solemn and tearjerking amidst a place that's on fire and falling apart around you. Fittingly, the name of the track is, officially, "The Look On Her Face".

Chapter 13: A Broken World

• The fall and aftermath of the Sector 7 plate is treated with much more seriousness than in 1997. After the group comes to, they look around to what used to be a bustling place full of people, now crumbled and reduced to rubble. Tifa begins to blame the transpiring events on herself, and Barret holds her to assure her everything that happened earlier was all Shinra's doing. She agrees, but doesn't look convinced.
  • More hauntingly is when Tifa and the others return to check up on the bar and a sad rendition of Tifa's theme plays.
  • What makes it worse is the sudden appearance of Cait Sith arriving too late to try and stop the plate from falling and falling to his knees in despair at the sight of the destroyed Sector 7. This only makes an earlier scene with Reeve desperately pleading to President Shinra not to go through with his plan much worse.
  • Seeing the fall of Sector 7 from Yuffie's perspective in Intergrade is just as tearjerking. After her mission falls apart, she runs outside and witnesses the plate's fiery collapse with her own eyes. All she could do is let out a heartwrenching scream in anguish, sobbing at the sheer brutality. This after everything she goes through in her side-story, the poor girl has to then witness the senseless deaths of countless people as sector 7 burns to rubble.
  • The various Midgar resident NPCs you pass during these chapters. You get to hear and experience people's fear in the wake of the situation firsthand including a woman being held back from running to the sector as she cries for her daughter, a man praying for the safety of some people he knows, and a man encouraging his son in the underground passageway between Sectors 7 and 6 to keep going while said son tearfully asks where his mother is.
  • One of the most haunting is if you return to the spot where Cloud and Aerith first spotted Wall Market. Here will be a terrified woman who suddenly says she can't breathe: a nearby man will aid her, explaining that she's having a panic attack, something he already went through, and that she should take deep breaths, which helps her recover. While the act of kindness to a stranger is heartwarming, this moment of something so real in the aftermath of such a catastrophic event is incredibly chilling.
  • The aftermath of the fallen plate is no better when it comes to NPC chatter. After finding Wymer alive and relatively well, wandering around Evergreen Park features heartrenders like multiple NPCs expressing their hopeless desire to wake up and see it was all a bad dream, an old lady lamenting that while she survived so many young people died and most soul-crushing of all a young girl asking her mother where her brother is. Her mother's strained response that he's with the girl's father indicates that both of them likely died when the plate came down.
  • At the end of that chapter, after finding Wedge, Barret says he's going back to look for Biggs and Jessie. Cloud and Tifa have no choice but to tell him that they were already mortally wounded at the pillar and most assuredly already dead. Tifa tries to assure Barret that they've returned to the Planet, but he utters one more heartbreaking line before finally breaking free of his denial.
    Barret: They were supposed to return to us...
• Although the audience, Cloud and Tifa know that Marlene is safe, it's still terrifying to hear Barret scream for his daughter, believing he had lost his little girl. Considering this is a man who pushed Cloud away for just accidentally scaring his daughter, it's a nightmare that no parent wants to even consider: Outliving One's Offspring.
  Barret: (staring at the rubble of Sector 7) Marlene... Marlene... Marlene! Marleeeeene! Biggs! Wedge! Jessie! Goddammit...! (starts punching the rubble) Goddamn you! Goddamn you all! AARRGH! MARLENE! (breaks down crying) Marlene...
  • After Cloud lets him know that Aerith probably took Marlene to Elmyra, Barret begs him to give him a guarantee on that to hold on to, saying that even if it's a lie, he'd understand, before shaking his head and admitting that if it was, he would probably just rip Cloud's head off.

Chapter 14: In Search of Hope

• Depending on your Relationship Values, if you get the dream sequence with Aerith (which as with her appearance in Cloud's dream in the original game is very strongly implied to be 'real'), she warns Cloud not to fall in love with her, which comes across as an attempt to spare Cloud the heartbreak of her fated death. Aerith's hesitant and pained delivery also makes it seem like she's forcing herself to say the words, regardless of what her heart wants.
  • When Cloud admits to being concerned for her safety, it's obvious she feels very guilty about making her friends and loved ones worry, and immediately apologises to Cloud for it.
  • Aerith also states that Cloud's feelings for her aren't real, the implication being that she's trying to drive him away from her as above. One can't blame Cloud for asking if he gets any say in the matter.
  • After Aerith caresses Cloud and goes to leave, he reaches out to stop her but his hand goes straight through her arm. Fate literally and metaphorically has Aerith slip through his fingers.
  • The Italian translation of the scene is even more heartbreaking: Aerith says "We can't fall in love. It would be useless,"^note "Non possiamo innamorarci. Sarebbe inutile." strongly indicating his feelings are requited.
• Meanwhile, if your relationship with Tifa is maxed, you get a cutscene with Cloud and Tifa. It's only after they save Wedge and get him back to Elmyra's place does Tifa finally start to let her grief sink in. After she realizes the flower Cloud gave that was from Aerith's garden was now buried underneath their home and everything else. She slowly walks up to Cloud, leans onto his shoulder and begins to break down crying as she holds onto him tightly. Cloud can't offer anything else but a hug as he lets Tifa grieve. On top of that, Cloud has pretty much never shown any physical affection ever - but even when he tries, having No Social Skills, he hugs Tifa too tightly and accidentally hurts her, prompting him to let go awkwardly.
  Tifa: They took everything from us. Again.

Chapter 16: The Belly of the Beast

• Cloud not being able to remember the unnamed grunt who recognized him as a friend from their days as fellow troopers, due to his messed up memories. Cloud might've missed his only chance at reconnecting, and it's a possibility that the main party's continued war with Shinra will eventually require them to kill that "old friend."
• The scene of Aerith being interrogated by Hojo. Since Aerith refuses to answer his questions, Hojo decides to provoke her instead: he gloats that not only did he take her mother's corpse, he also desecrated it by dissecting it and keeping the body parts for his pleasure to experiment. While Aerith maintains her poker face throughout, it's clear that she is struggling to keep her emotions in check. Sure enough, the moment Hojo leaves, she immediately breaks down.

Chapter 17: Deliverance from Chaos

• Wedge has the most extreme and tragic case of You Can't Fight Fate in the whole game. There's a glimmer of hope as he's treated from the injuries of his fall from the pillar of Sector 7, managing to rally an evacuation that saves a good deal of the slum's inhabitants... only for the Arbiters of Fate to prevent him from escaping with his cats, as the plate comes crashing down on him. Miraculously, not only does he survive by falling underground, but he's saved, nursed back to health by Elmyra, and even rallies Avalanche HQ to launch an assault on Shinra HQ to give Cloud's gang a chance of escaping with Aerith... but as everyone makes their escape, the Arbiters show up once more, taking it upon themselves to just push Wedge towards a window to his apparent death to maintain the stability of the timeline. Cloud's crew are too caught up in their escape to go back for him, not knowing of his untimely encounter.
  Wedge: I'm sorry, Cloud... just tell me that—that I made a difference...
  • And the larger tragedy is that he'll never know that he actually did make a difference, by helping evacuate a majority of Sector 7's population before the plate comes down, something that didn't occur in the original 1997 timeline.
  • As of Rebirth, we get confirmation that he did, in fact, fall to his death. With three people from Avalanche HQ watching him fall right in front of them. When they tell Barret, he doesn't take it well.
• The Avalanche helicopter that came to extract Cloud and company gets unceremoniously shot down (presumably killing everyone in the crash) so that the player has to fight Rufus. The Arbiters of Fate don't even show up to personally enforce storyline continuity and they still get their way, screwing the helicopter crew in the process.

Episode INTERmission

Chapter 2: Covert Ops

• In the second chapter of the Intermission DLC, Sonon and Yuffie may reflect upon the differences between Wutai and Avalanche — the main cell that Barret and the others broke away from, that is — that puts them at odds against each other and may eventually make them come to blows. Primarily they talk about the problems central to their different struggles: Avalanche are fighting against the Shinra company for the people of Midgar in order to get free elections, workers' rights, fair distribution of wealth, that sort of stuff — all of them good and sound things in their own right... but none of them quite on the level of the issues that Yuffie and Sonon are trying to combat: Homes bombed to dust, plumes of gunsmoke, people pleading for their lives, bloodshed and lost family members... And with Avalanche, their only ally against Shinra, being mostly out for making their own lives better and anti-Wutai sentiments being common among people out on the streets, it's no wonder "Shinra" and "Midgar" have become largely interchangeable as threats as far as Yuffie is concerned.
• The end of the Intermission DLC. After having seemingly defeated Nero, Sonon and Yuffie attempt to leave the facility. However, Nero, still alive, attempts to kill them again prompting Sonon to cover Yuffie with his body. Yuffie can only watch as Sonon is stabbed right in front of her, telling her to escape without him. He pushes her into an elevator and she has to watch the doors slowly close on him, with blood and tears on her face. With the doors closed, she presses herself against it wailing in sorrow. As he is alone, he sees a hallucination of his sister, and in final moments imagines himself holding her, before Nero whisks him away. Then, after escaping, Yuffie runs away crying, just in time to see the Sector 7 plate fall with her screaming in anguish. Needless to say, this was not a good day for the young ninja.
  Yuffie: This is just wrong!