Tear Jerker / Ghosts of the Future

Unmarked spoilers

• Before you get to know the characters, the opening slaughter in issue 1 doesn't have quite the same impact, but once the universe is established, there are tearjerkers every time Sonic thinks of the friends he lost... such as when in issue 3, he uses Tails's Emerald Radar for the first time, and finds that Tails left a message on it... but the clincher was during the issue 5, when he has to apologize to Amy through Morgianna, and the line, "Amy... I know you're not really her and all, but I gotta say this..." Sniff...
• And it really plays rough with your heartstrings toward the end of issue 6. Shadow's Arabian Nights counterpart, Uhu the djinn, is forced to Mercy Kill Blaze's counterpart, Fouh the djinn and his partner, to save her from a Fate Worse than Death. As he cradles her dead body, he tells a distraught Silver to go home, find his version of Blaze, and proclaim his love for her, while tears run down his cheeks. Just to twist the knife further, when Silver tries to fulfill his promise, Blaze shuts him down, tearfully asking why he hasn't told her what's been going on, then tells him that she doesn't want to see him any more (pictured on the right). Ouch.
• Sicily has been completely abandoned and ostracized by her family and friends, as they all blame her for the crippling of Vennie by Metal Sonic, though it was Nicole's fault.
• Because of Metal Sonic's ambush and Tikal's botched healing attempt, Vennie is permanently disabled and can never walk again, destroying her dream of being an actress.
• In issue 14, Blaze reveals herself to have accidentally killed her mother, Cinder, when she was only four and couldn't control her powers. While her father never blamed her, she still thinks it's all her fault.
• Several in issue 15:
  • Scourge's Dark and Troubled Past. See it for yourself. Fiona found Scourge all depressed and tried to comfort him, only for him to slap her in the face, causing her to leave. Scourge immediately regrets the incident and then makes a deal with his "boss" in exchange of immortality and great power, which kills him and creates his ghost, and petrifies and kills everyone else, including Fiona... While it's a Tear Jerker when mentioned in issue 14, it becomes a full-on Tear Jerker when you see it in pictures.
  • In Moebius, Shadow comes across the petrified and partially broken remains of Rouge and E-123 Omega. A Flashback then plays out in which the New Chaotix have hidden in Club Rouge and Sonic and Shadow decide to go out to lead G.U.N. away from the others. Rouge then reminds Shadow with a "Shut Up" Kiss to return to the New Chaotix the next year. One year later, Sonic and Shadow return to Club Rouge, only to find it boarded up. Now, Shadow knows why.
    Okida (in provided excerpt of the writers' chatlog): Remember that dog in Futurama? The one who waited for Fry until it laid down and died? Yeah...the one you cried your eyes out over. Shadow is that dog.
  • Scourge's implied demise after he takes a Heel–Face Turn and goes to beat up the Second Devourer, along with Antique's. Even Vennie doesn't take this well...
    Silver in issue 16: I always wished Vennie was quieter. Not much now.
• From the lore:
  • The fact that Sonic and many other Hybrids came to be because G.U.N. took advantage of human women, most of whom were poor and from developing countries, by offering them and their loved ones free healthcare and pensions only if they decided to bear the Hybrids in exchange, is outright depressing. It hurts more when G.U.N. has erased evidence of this from public knowledge. There's a good reason it's only mentioned in the backstory.
  • Sonic, one of the Hybrids produced by the breeding program, when he only had a government-issued ID to identify him then the name of Nicholas, was bullied by others in the G.U.N.-run foster system for his then-rare Amazing Technicolor fur. As a result, he was The Quiet One and would often run away as far as he could. He only started to grow the carefree personality he was known for when he met Tails.

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