History TearJerker / TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild

** This is made a bit better by the Champions' Ballad, which shows Kass, a member of his kind, writing a song to honor him as he does the other Champions, and reveals through Revali's journal that the Flight Range was first made for his personal use.

** It's even worse when you look at it from his point of view: you just woke up from a century-long slumber. You have no memory of who you are or where you're from, and the world before you is completely unfamiliar (not to mention dangerous). Yet everyone else knows who you are, and will gladly point out how ''you'' failed to stop the world from going to hell. And you have no idea why they blame you.

* The Leviathan Fossil go from being odd landmarks to sad reminders once you realize just who they once were. The one in the Gerudo Desert is a baleen whale with little wing bones, a dead ringer for the Wind Fish. The one north of Death Mountain has the bone-plate and same exact facial structure of Levias. The one stuck in the ice in the Hebra Mountains just seems to be a humpback whale skeleton, which most likely means that it's the true form of Oshus, the Ocean King. These three powerful spirits who have helped heroes throughout Hyrule's history have been reduced to nothing but bone, and in the case of Levias, his body is reduced to once more being a hiding spot for monsters.

** Once you find out Dorian's backstory, you'll want to do more than the above rampage. More than likely, you'll abuse [[TimeStop Stasis]] like [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders DIO and The World]] to actively [[LeaveNoSurvivors slaughter the Yiga to the last man]]; or if you want to be [[CruelAndUnusualDeath cruel]], [[DisintegratorRay use Ancient Arrows]]. Dorian was a former member of the Yiga Clan, but his wife was the reason why he [[HeelFaceTurn defected]]. Unfortunately, the clan caught wind of this and murdered her, leaving Koko and Cottla without a mother. Upon his grief, he gave away information about Kakariko Village and Link in exchange for their lives, but they decided [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he outlived his usefulness]]. Had Link not intervened, they could have succeeded.

* Prince Sidon is cheerful, encouraging, and never gives up at all. Despite all that, there are a few things that bring him down quite a lot. Mipha was his older sister, who was killed by the Waterblight Ganon. While he never shows it unless you sneak up on him. he's still in mourning over his sister and wishes she was still alive so that she could guide him. If you catch him like this, he weakly apologizes for displaying a moment of weakness. He also has a bit of self-loathing since he feels like he was being very intrusive and pushy on Link when he asked for his help. When Ruta is calmed by Link, Dorephan praises Sidon and Link for their efforts, but Sidon feels like he doesn't deserve any credit because he didn't do anything besides help Link get inside Ruta. Despite being strong for his people and doing what he can to help them, Sidon feels like he won't always be able to live up to everyone's expectations. And just to pile it on even more, Sidon could have been Link's brother-in-law had Mipha not died since she was planning to marry Link after Calamity Ganon was defeated. Poor guy needs a hug.

----> Consider that he was simply a skilled archer among the Rito; not a leader like Daruk; not a princess like Mipha; not a chieftain like Urbosa; and not an appointed knight of Hyrule like Link. Consider also that the other three champions had their abilities for a long time; Revali had to develope his Gale on his own, making it that much more personal.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Everything I've done up until now... it was {{all for nothing}}..."'']]

** When you eventually get to Hyrule Castle Town and Hyrule Castle itself, [[{{Understatement}} it's not much better]]. When you look back at those places as they were during games like ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', or ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap The Minish Cap]]'' and recall how these places were a testament to Hyrule's days as a peaceful and thriving kingdom reduced to ruins dominated by evil, it's pretty darn depressing to watch, not helped when you enter certain parts of Hyrule Castle where a very somber and bittersweet version of the iconic zelda theme music plays in the background, as if to remind veteran players of what this castle used to be.
* Some concept art showed us that Link had a family, we can see his father and sister in a photo. The fact that Link probably forget about them is heartbreaking and will probably never remember them since they died a long time ago, maybe during the Calamity.
** We can ad that his mother isn't here with them.
** The worst part is probably that his father is only mentioned as a knight, implying that he may have died before Link could join the royal guard.

* On a Meta level, you have another one at the very end of the Staff Credits: Creator/SatoruIwata is credited as Executive Producer alongside Tatsumi Kimishima. This is the last time we'll ever see his name credited in a ''Zelda'' game.

* Another meta example, at least for UsefulNotes/WiiU fans; the fact that the Wii U version is the last Nintendo-published game on that system, after it had already been discontinued. Sure, the day was coming, especially after the announcement of the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, but it can still be sad knowing that the day finally came.

* We need to insist ghat unlike most of the games from the franchise, Link is completely alone. It's been years that most of his incarnations have at least one other character to travel with him like Navi, Midna, Fi or even Zelda in some games. Even if the fans doesn't like some of them, we can imagine that Link feels lonely during his adventure.

* Among the Champions, each of their tribes took great pains to honor their memories as seemed fit, with one exception. Mipha has a beautiful statue in the center of the domain and a festival held in her name with a replica of her WeaponOfChoice as a focal point. Daruk also has a statue of himself in his hometown (alongside some other Gorons), his champion's scarf is being passed down in his family which is still going strong, and even his signature technique has been preserved thanks to his bloodline. Urbosa has children imitating her because she's such a strong role model for them, one of her helmets is still a highly prized heirloom for the current chief, and where most of the Champions only have their one weapon preserved, she has both her sword and shield. Meanwhile, Revali has... a landing named after him, and even that we see existed well before he died in one of Link's earliest memories. That's basically it. No one in his village is physically capable of using his signature bow anymore, much less mimic his aerial technique, it's unclear if he ''has'' any descendants due to how young he was when he died, and there is no imagery of him or songs in his memory to be found. He was an arrogant jerk (to Link) from what we saw of him, but this can seem pretty harsh, since he seems so disconnected from his people compared to the others and it's not clear if it's just a result of how much time has passed or not.
** Revali does at least still have people remember him enough to aspire to be like him, like Urbosa does, so it may not be as bad as it first seems. Now, ''Link'', on the other hand? No statues, no landmarks...really, nothing besides some older Hylians vaguely remembering that a Hylian Champion once existed and died. Other than the Sheikah and the resentful older generation of Zora, it doesn't seem like they even remember his ''name'' and unlike the other champions his WeaponOfChoice doesn't help since the Master Sword is legendary in its own right instead of being unique to him as a person.

* A piece of Heartwarming that is also simultaneously Tearjerker. Whenever you're at a bridge and get on the edge of it while a friendly NPC is there, they'll immediately try to talk you off of it as if you're about to commit suicide...but let's look at why [=NPCs=] would say such a thing. It's clear that Hyrule ''really'' hit the fan when Calamity Ganon showed up, and for the century afterwards, they've have been plagued by monsters who respawn every few nights underneath a [[BadMoonRising blood red moon]] making them have ResurrectiveImmortality, a Clan of Shiekah known as the Yiga who signed up with Ganon and decided to [[KillEmAll kill all Hylians who crossed their paths]] for a MistreatmentInducedBetrayal they suffered in the past, and absolute loads of monsters who could kill anyone with a single blast from their EyeBeam. The generally depressed state of Hyrule makes it sorrowfully clear that it'd be very hard not to fall off the DespairEventHorizon for those who are most affected by these events. Add the factor that many [=NPCs=] have the same reaction, and it's clear that many people have been DrivenToSuicide.

** Now that the context of the moment has been revealed, it's even more heartbreaking: Zelda is weeping because, despite all their preparations, everything has gone wrong--leading to the deaths of her father, the Champions, and the destruction of most of the kingdom. The kicker? She's supposed to be the one who can seal Calamity Ganon away, but she utterly failed in unlocking her hidden power. As far as Zelda's aware, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the cataclysm and death of nearly everyone she ever knew is due to her own incompetence.]]