Moments subpages are Spoilers Off.
"I believed in you! I BELIEVED IN YOU!!"
Just like his video games, an anime with a blue hedgehog with attitude produced some heart-wrenching moments. Be warned. These can strike a chord in a way the video games can't. open/close all folders
General
- The concept of the Sonic characters being warped to earth and away from their home planet. Imagine just being taken away from the home that you lived on for your whole life and now being stuck on a new planet you don't know about, far away from home for all you know, and you might not know where your friends are.
- Although Chris is regarded with disdain by a lot of fans for his clinginess and hogging screentime, he is by some fans seen as a sympathetic Lonely Rich Kid. His parents are often away for months, sending him toys and gifts, under the belief if they gave him the best of everything, he would never need anything and would be happy. Their best intentions resulted in neglect, leaving Chris wishing to be able to depend on someone who would never leave. He becomes particularly attached to Sonic and friends, developing separation anxiety.
- "THE. SHINING. ROAD". Enough said. It's difficult on what's more saddening: the soothing vocals of Aya Hiroshige, the lo-fi-esque instrumental, or the the meaning behind the lyrics.Our world is under a spell
Even the excitement of our love is sealed in our tears
Boy, let's go together to find that charm,
To the land of where forbidden dreams may come true. *
Season 1 (Series 1, Part I)
- Episode 17:
- Knuckles being tortured by E-91 with electrocution shock while being tormented with flashbacks of the fallen Master Emerald shrine.
- Hawk tearing up over having to say goodbye to his pal Knuckles as he leaves for home.
- The flashback showing Knuckles, Tails, and Amy Rose looking on helplessly as Chaos Control happens on their home planet, all set to sad music.
- Episode 26:
- After getting tricked and having all the 6 Chaos Emeralds taken by him, Eggman clasped Chris against the wall of his E-99 Eggsterminator's note cockpit, forcing him to watch the battle.
Chris: He's using the Chaos Emeralds to beat Sonic and It's All My Fault!- But it gets worse. During the battle, the Eggsterminator goes ballistic, beating Sonic to a pulp while Chris tearfully cries out for the hedgehog.
- Eggman, unable to bear seeing his arch-enemy being mercilessly beaten nearly to death, tries to talk his robot down to let Sonic go. It works, but not without the Eggsterminator delivering a final drop-kick on Sonic to send him into the sea and a watery grave. Frightening Eggman, and leaving Chris horrified.
- After seeing his best friend possibly dead, Chris, while screaming his lungs out, finds the strength to yank the bar that was holding him out of the wall, tears the Chaos Emeralds from the control panel, burning himself in the process, and smashes through the ship's glass, while still holding the burning Chaos Emeralds in his hands.
Chris: They're mine... Mine... I won't... I won't let you take them away from me... ever again... Ever...- Then Knuckles comes crashing through the robot to save Chris, but ends up accidentally breaking the control unit, meaning Eggman can't control the robot, which ends up biting him badly when Rogue and Chris (the former took him for the Chaos Emeralds he had, but his squirming caused them to be dropped into the sea) end up being crushed by the Eggsterminator's hand.
- While in the void of Chaos Control, Chris is begging and pleading to Sonic to let him come with him. Sonic just thanks him and fades away.
Chris: You can't go!!!- And for the cherry on top, the song that plays (at least in the broadcast version), "Kotoba Ni Dekinai" (Words Can't Describe), is extremely heartbreaking. You can listen to it with translated lyrics here
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Season 2 (Series 1, Part II)
- The adaptation of Sonic Adventure:
- Gamma's brethren being teleported away by Eggman is far more chilling in this adaptation, partly because of the less goofy animations, and also because they are genuinely just left for dead in this account. Here, Decoe and Bocoe are given the order to deal with them, and they clearly don't like it one bit, Bocoe even closing his eyes and making a small sob as he presses the button.
- The death of E-102 Gamma is generally less of a tearjerker than in the game, where it plays out in total silence, but Sonic X does add two more details that actually makes it more heartwrenching: Gamma's hand falls onto Beta's as he collapses, and Amy witnesses the whole thing, being unable to do nothing to save him. Afterwards, she kneels by Gamma's remains and says:
Amy: (tearfully) Oh, Mr. Robot... I'll never forget you. - The adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2:
- In the subplot of this arc, Scarlet Garcia and Franklin speak with an old worker for GUN, Mr. Schmitz note at the retirement home. After Scarlet all but begs him to explain so that she can finally understand what happened to her father (who also investigated the Space Colony incident years earlier and was presumably killed to keep the secret quiet), Schmitz then recalls to his memories on the ARK and him accidentally murdering twelve-year-old Maria Robotnik, leaving him in tears.
Mr. Schmitz: I volunteered for that force as a young man because I wanted to give back to the country I loved! But then... But then, they... [cries]
Scarlet: (putting a hand on his shoulder) I understand now. Thank you.- As this twitter post notes, the 4kids censorship arguably improved the scene by cutting out the gunshot itself and cutting straight to the haunted expression of Mr. Schmitz in the present. A few comments on the post pointed out that the attempt to censor Maria's death by saying "they took her away" backfired with the fact that many people knew that Maria indeed died, and made the scene much more depressing. If that wasn't enough, Mr. Schmitz is explicitly remorseful about this given his tone and body language.
Mr. Schmitz: She was so young... (grasps face in hands) I'll never forget her face...(cries)- Note that he says that Maria was so young. WAS. Mr. Schmitz knows Maria is dead, he's not comfortable with saying it outright. Holy fuck, 4Kids... you made the scene genuinely more sad than usual.
- Keeping in mind that "took her away" could refer to Maria being put in a body bag. In an attempt to censor her death, they only made it more explicit.
- Really, the censored version isn't that less explicit than the actual game! The game never shows a gun, never shows any blood, and heck! It never even explicitly states that Maria was shot! All it ever says was that she died (which is about the only thing more explicit in the game than in the anime.) Other than that, the anime is just family-friendly (or family-unfriendly) as the game.
- In the finale of the arc, Shadow starts to explain his hate for the humans and his dedication to revenge for Maria in an unusually emotional way. After Chris reminds him of his true promise to Maria, Shadow starts to tear up while remembering a flashback to Maria.
- After Shadow performs his Heroic Sacrifice in the end, resulting in his "death", you don't see what happened to him compared to the game.
- The final episode of the Sonic Battle arc has Emerl going berserk after acquiring the Chaos Emerald prize. He wreaks havoc across the city and is nigh-unstoppable to Sonic and the others, thanks to his Copy System. Eventually, Cream and Cheese are the only ones Emerl is unable to copy because they are too nimble. After seeing him earlier attack her mother and seeing Sonic take a hit meant for her, she regretfully believes they have no choice but to fight their robot friend. He sinks into the bottom of the sea, regaining his memories and shedding tears after "copying" Cream's feelings. Unfortunately, he explodes. Cream and Cheese are both visibly on the verge of tears, while the others just watch sympathetically.Cream: Don't cry, Cheese... We had to do it... [...] Goodbye, Emerl...
- The original version manages to be even worse. Both Cream and Cheese start bawling and screaming their eyes out once Emerl explodes, with the former even shouting for the robot.
- An episode later, Cream still remembers that incident and believes Emerl is still deep under water, showing that she still needs time to move on.
- Episode 50:
- There's a scene where Shadow and Maria are holding hands. It's brief, but it's saddening just as it's heartwarming.
- When it's finally time for Sonic and the gang to go back home, Chris just can't bring himself to say goodbye to his best friend, so he deactivates the portal at the last second.
- Episode 51:
- Chris' parents naturally believe giving Chris a whole toy store will bring him home, forcing Chuck to step in and set them straight on their neglect. During their runaway adventure, Chris begins to grow concerned he is too reliant on Sonic, trying to act independently.
- In the following Campfire Character Exploration scene, Chris confronts Sonic about his lack of anger. When Sonic explains he owes Chris for saving his life in the pilot, Chris assumes Sonic has been sticking around out of obligation. Sonic denies this, encouraging Chris to decide what to make of their friendship, but as long as he can run freely, he is fine with staying with Chris. Chris blames himself for tying Sonic down, finally confessing to his loneliness and separation issues. Sonic encourages Chris that he isn't as weak or alone as he thinks, allowing Chris to come to terms with his flaws, and thus, being able to let go of Sonic.
- Episode 52:
- Amy confronts Sonic upon his return from defeating Eggman. At first, she angrily yells at him for leaving her, but then breaks down sobbing hysterically and begs him to never leave her again. Sonic ultimately says, "Don't you worry, Amy. I never will!" This causes Amy to sob even harder while hugging him.
- To make matters worse, in the Japanese dub, what Sonic says is completely muted, "The Shining Road" plays throughout, and Amy's sobbing sounds even more heartwrenching, with Taeko Kawata's delivery hitting even harder than her character's hammer. The whole thing can be watched here. Better get those tissues ready.
Amy: You idiot! Don't you understand how I've been feeling for the past week? (begins tearing up) I was afraid that you'd never come back... I thought about it a hundred times. Then I thought that you might come back a hundred and one times. It was never going to end! I was going crazy! So, I had to make a decision—I decided last night that I would wait for you forever, no matter how old I became. And then... (falls to her knees) YOU CAME BACK! Just when I made my decision! (cries) You idiot! Say that you love me!- The ending of (what was intended to be) the series finale shows Sonic taking Chris' arms, telling him to hold on tight while he takes him for one final run before returning home. You can see that even though Sonic's face isn't shown, there are still tears streaming down his face. Y'know, just to hammer it all home.
- And what makes the last few episodes of Season 2/Series 1 so depressing is that you'd think that Sonic and company would maybe be able to see all of their human friends again and eventually reunite with them, but this never happens for the rest of the series (besides Chris returning in Season 3/Series 2), meaning that when Sonic's friends have their tearful goodbyes with Chris' family and the other human characters, this is actually the last time they will ever see each other.
- And just to make the scene tearjerking overkill, this whole scene is accompanied by the depressing music Sonic Adventure 2note players would remember from the end credits.
- And just to make the scene tearjerking overkill, this whole scene is accompanied by the depressing music Sonic Adventure 2note players would remember from the end credits.
Season 3 (Series 2)
- Episode 68:
- The Revolutionary Molly flies her ship into the Metarex fleet, effectively committing suicide, albeit heroically as she went down fighting for the planet she loved. She pauses to look at Shadow as she passes, smiling and with tears in her eyes. With Shadow's look showing that he realizes what's about to happen and he can't do anything to save her. Then seeing her blow up right in front of him, and after he hits the ground you can see the pain on his face and how deeply it affected him.
- After Molly's death, Shadow falls to the ground sobbing while having flashbacks of her. And after sobbing away his sorrows, Shadow, without saying a single word, removes the limiters from his wrists and destroys the whole Metarex fleet in complete rage while Rouge is observing the scene. It's also heavily implied in the finale that Shadow even made a tombstone for her, which doubles as heartwarming.
- It's not just Shadow who feels Molly's loss — the normally stoic Rouge screams Molly’s name, one of her human friends looks on in horror, and even Eggman watches in silent, resigned dismay.
- The dub has her escape the whole mess like Shadow implored her to, but her final fate is still left in the air:
Rouge: Hey, Shadow... You okay?
Shadow: Sure. I'm fine.
Rouge: It's just... you seem to like her and all.
Shadow: Well, sure, I liked her. She was a good kid — I just hope she'll be okay... She's all alone out there. That's all. - In episode 72, after getting knocked back by Knuckles, the ledge Yellow Zelkova is standing on crumbles, and Zelkova starts falling into the lava below. Knuckles dives in after him, and asks Zelkova for his hand; Zelkova reaches out, but realizes he is beyond saving and smiles to Knuckles as he starts sinking into the lava. Knuckles looks in shock as Zelkova completely sinks into the lava, and looks away in sorrow. Anyone else getting Metal Sonic flashbacks?
- In the 4Kids dub, Zelkova curses the heroes for his defeat and swears that Dark Oak will avenge him — which is still kind of sad, in a way.
- In episode 76, in a desperate attempt to stop Dark Oak, Knuckles calls on the power of the Master Emerald, shattering it into pieces in the process. Afterwards, there's a shot of the Master Emerald, in pieces, drained of energy. Knuckles, kneeling beside the shattered gem, slowly reaches out and picks up a tiny shard. He cradles it gently, closing his eyes in grief. The only sounds in the scene are the gentle music and the sound of Knuckles' breathing, slightly choked as if he's fighting tears. When you realize how much the Emerald means to him, his reaction is almost heartbreaking. Thinking about his character, and his reactions to other tragedies, his silence is almost eerie; he has no other way of reacting to this, the destruction of the most precious thing in his life.
- It also makes his treatment in previous episodes seem rather saddening. The team were generally apathetic and dismissive of his devotion to the Master Emerald, and took it rather disrespectfully as a mere power source for the ship. When he made the decision to risk it against the Metarex, the others' reaction pretty much added up to a nonchalant "Sure why not?". No one ever quite understood the emotional weight of guarding it and why the rock was so important to him.
- The final two episodes. Where do we begin with these ones?!
- Cream seeing Cosmo transform and realizing she's about to pull a Heroic Sacrifice to stop Dark Oak causes her to run back to Tails and the others about what she is about to do in tears.
- Tails' heartbreaking reaction to having to shoot Cosmo, especially in the Japanese version, where he screams in agony and slams his head on the control panel.
- The wiki describes it best: "[Tails'] command says one thing, but his mind and body… his heart… screams no."
- When Tails finally musters the courage to shoot the cannon at Cosmo, he blurts out an Anguished Declaration of Love before getting it over with. Cue "The Shining Road", which, given the context, becomes all the more heartrending.
- And as the song continues to play, the following bit of parting dialogue occurs between Tails and Cosmo:
Cosmo: Thank you, Tails.
Tails: I will never forget you...
Cosmo: Nor will I! We've had fun...
[flashback to the party in Episode 65]
Cosmo: Why is this? Right now, all I see is everyone smiling...
[scene cuts back to Tails and Cosmo]
Tails: Cosmo...
Cosmo: Tails...I'll always love you.- And then there's everyone's reactions: on one hand, we have Chris, who's visibly fighting back tears, and on the other, we have Cream, Cheese, and Amy, who have given up any semblance of restraint and have completely broken down. But perhaps the most painful out of all of them come from Rouge, who's audibly sobbing, even with her back turned to the audience, Tails, who screams her name at the top of his lungs, and Sonic himself, who wishes Cosmo a solemn goodbye. In the original version, he just whispers her name, choking back tears and all.Super Sonic: C... Cosmo...
- One scene has Tails curled up in front of the console with his tails wrapped around him like a blanket. That's adorable. But then you realize that Tails is 8 years old, and he has just lost one of the people closest to him (who was also confirmed to be the same age as him). That's saddening. Anyone who has lost someone when they were a child can relate.
- Shortly before all of this, there's the scene when Cosmo enters her "adult" form. While the scene proper manages to be surprisingly beautiful, and an awesome moment to boot, it's the music playing during the scene in the Japanese version that makes the scene a Tear Jerker, starting out on a somewhat triumphant note throughout Cosmo's transformation, but then shifting to a more somber tone as it completes and her fate is sealed.
- And then there's the scene that's the image header for this page: after Sonic gives Tails the only thing he could find of Cosmo, a single seed, Tails literally collapses at his feet, bawling his eyes out and berating Sonic for not saving her. Ryō Hirohashi truly did a phenomenal job sounding like a little boy utterly broken over the loss of such a close friend.
Tails: It's not true! Just a second ago, that was Cosmo! Answer... answer me! I thought, Sonic, you could have saved her! I believed in you! I BELIEVED IN YOU!!!! [falls to his knees, wailing in anguish]- To make things worse, Sonic's lack of reaction also makes this moment even more heartbreaking. He knows there's no way out of this one. There's nothing he can do or say that will lessen the blow of what Tails just did. The only thing he can do is stand there, saying nothing, as Tails breaks down in tears on his chest and sobs at his feet, with his eyes shut in shame for not saving the one person that meant so much to his best friend.
- In the dub, Tails can only weep silently as he mourns Cosmo's loss. Really, it may not have the same effect as the original, but it's still heartbreaking nonetheless.Tails: Oh, Sonic... why did this have to happen? It's... just not fair! Now I'll never see her again! She was... she was my friend! I miss her... She can't be gone!
- In the dub, Tails can only weep silently as he mourns Cosmo's loss. Really, it may not have the same effect as the original, but it's still heartbreaking nonetheless.
