Tear Jerker / Soulcalibur VI

• Siegfried's feelings of remorse and guilt in his Soul Chronicle over having killed his father Frederick and the massacres he committed as Nightmare are truly heartwrenching. He's practically a crying wreck during the first half of his story.
  • The above is only compounded by Nightmare's own Soul Chronicle, the final scene of which shows Siegfried-as-Nightmare being manipulated by Soul Edge—in the guise of Frederick—into amassing more and more souls, genuinely believing the sword will bring his father back to life if he complies with its wishes. The accompanying narration describes Nightmare as a Tragic Monster, and it's hard to disagree.
  • The ending of Siegfried's Soul Chronicle. He returns to Ostrheinsburg Castle in order to dispose of Soul Edge, only to suddenly be transported to Astral Chaos and be pitted against a shadowy, illusory version of his past self as Nightmare created by the cursed sword, who is not only trying to possess him once again but also attempting to corrupt and absorb the dormant Soul Calibur into itself. Siegfried tries to fight it, only for the illusion to fade away, revealing a freshly-reborn Inferno who swiftly crushes any hope Siegfried had of victory. Severely weakened and tired out by the long journey he undertook, along with the lingering trauma he underwent, Siegfried ultimately loses and succumbs to the sword's influence, becoming Nightmare once again. The one glimmer of hope he gets is that he is able to prevent Soul Calibur from falling into Inferno's hands, sending it out of Astral Chaos into the real world.
• Maxi's Soul Chronicle showcases the close relationship he has with his pirate crew, whom Maxi regards as family. (In fact, Maxi's first mate and sworn brother Kyam is also his adopted brother who he's known since childhood according to this game.) Which makes it all the more tragic when Astaroth slaughters them in the main story. It also puts new context into Maxi's friendship with Kilik in that since his crew brought Kilik onboard their ship as one of their own, Kilik is now all that Maxi has left of his family.
  • To twist the knife further, one other member of Maxi's crew actually did survive: Yagaji, the shipwright who crafted Fatibal for Maxi and was sent back to the Ryukyu Islands due to an injury that ultimately spared him from suffering the same grisly fate. Yagaji would later learn of his family's demise and put down his chisel for good in response; Fatibal was one of his final creations, if not the very last.
• At the end of Cassandra's Soul Chronicle, we finally learn of what became of the Cassandra from the Original Timeline. In that she was driven to insanity and became a Malfested after spending years trapped in the Astral Chaos, to the point that she had forgotten her own name. After she is defeated, the future Cassandra becomes lucid enough to warn her past self of what will become of Sophitia and Pyrrha if the former were to ever remove the fragment of Soul Edge close to her heart, and begs Cassandra to save her sister before disappearing.
• Hilde's Soul Chronicle depicts the entire tragedy of the kingdom of Wolfkrone, previously only told via the text in Hilde's biographies. King George von Krone is transformed into a berserk and insane Malfested by the Evil Seed, forcing the Aval Organization to have to sedate and capture him. Hilde has to serve as acting regent in her father's place, robbing her of her childhood and a chance at a happy life. Her fiance Wilhelm, the captain of Wolfkrone's most elite military force known as the "Silver Wolves", descends into cynicism and grows to resent the kingdom for the burden it places on the one he loves. The legendary hero Johan Durer, a staunch ally of Wolfkrone and Hilde's teacher, has his entire regiment killed by Nightmare, including his two sons, and is later revealed to have been transformed into a Malfested slave and a new acting general for the newly-returned Nightmare's forces. Hilde eventually has to battle against her own father, who had been released from his confinement by the now-evil Johan, and in a brief moment of lucidity tells her how proud he is of her and tearfully begs her to kill him so that he won't cause her and the people of Wolfkrone any more suffering, as well as to take his place as acting ruler. His life is spared, but his previous attack has left the Silver Wolves without an acting captain due to severing Wilhelm's arm, forcing Hilde to take his place as the new commander.
• Setsuka's Soul Chronicle. The full story of how Setsuka became motivated to avenge her master Shugen Kokonoe is finally told in detail, and it's just as tragic as the original text descriptions made it out to be. Setsuka's gaijin appearance due to her mixed heritage earned her scorn from her relatives, who were abusive to her despite taking her in due to her parents' deaths. She ran away from home only to get lost in a bad snowstorm, nearly freezing to death until Shugen found her and took her in. It was he who gave her the name Setsuka and raised her as his foster daughter and student in the way of the sword. Unbeknownst to her, Shugen was attached to a powerful family of politicians who raised him as an assassin, and eventually his family's dark legacy finally caught up to him when Mitsurugi was hired to eliminate him under false pretenses. The two enjoyed an epic battle, culminating in the fateful moment where Mitsurugi saw through Shugen's ultimate technique and countered it, mortally wounding and weakening him. Never one to allow anyone else's machinations to sully an honorable duel, Mitsurugi saved Shugen from an ambush laid out by his pursuers and swore to fight him again in the next life, a sentiment Shugen gladly returned. The man's last days were spent teaching Setsuka everything he could, including his greatest techniques as an assassin, before sickness and stress from his wounds eventually claimed his life. After a series of events uncovering Shugen's past and getting involved in a new plot involving Soul Edge, Setsuka realizes her love for her master, and ultimately decides for herself that she must go against his wishes to seek revenge against Mitsurugi.