History TearJerker / FatalFrame

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!Per wiki policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

*** In Miu's good ending: Her mother stays with her, but considering she's is still suffering the consequences of giving birth to a Yomi Ko, it is unknown how long she'll be able to remain with her daughter.

* When you realize that, though Kei is the more stable of the characters in Fatal Frame III, the poor guy must be so lonely. His close friend Yuu is dead (to which Rei was too depressed to inform Kei of), both his friend Mafuyu and niece Mayu were spirited away, and his other niece Mio is afflicted by the Tattoo Curse. Indigo, the color of his tattoo, is the ink that represents taking on the grief of others. While he is not the one who mourns for them directly, he is still affected by their deaths. What drives it in is him pleading in his sleep for his friends and family not to leave him behind.
** It gets even worse after completing Hour XII. Kei is seemingly caught by Reika in the end, causing Rei to awaken and check on him. On a first playthrough, Rei finds nothing but ''black soot'' where Kei was lying down, confirming his tragic death. Rei is so broken down and depressed at this point from her and Miku's own condition, that she can only quietly mourn his death. Furthermore, due to Kei's death, [[ForegoneConclusion Mio's fate is now tragically sealed.]] On a NewGamePlus, however, obtaining Kyouka's Earring will save Kei's life and lead to a much happier ending.

* When you realize that, though Kei is the more stable of the characters in Fatal Frame III, how lonely the poor guy must be. His close friend Yuu is dead (to which Rei was too depressed to inform Kei of), both his friend Mafuyu and niece Mayu were spirited away, and his other niece Mio is afflicted by the Tattoo Curse. Indigo, the color of his tattoo, is the ink that represents taking on the grief of others. While he is not the one who mourns for them directly, he is still affected by their deaths. What drives it in is him pleading in his sleep for his friends and family not to leave him behind.
** It gets even worse after completing Hour XII. Kei is seemingly caught by Reika in the end, causing Rei to awaken and check on him. On a first playthrough, Rei finds nothing but ''black soot'' where Kei was lying down, confirming his tragic death. Rei is so broken down and depressed at this point from her and Miku's own condition, that she can only quietly mourn his death. Furthermore, due to Kei's death, [[ForegoneConclusion Mio's fate is now tragically sealed.]] On a NewGamePlus however, obtaining Kyouka's Earring will save Kei's life and lead to a much happier ending.

** Her backstory is also heart-wrenching. Part of the ritual involves spending 10 years locked up in a cell in the attic. No one except the monks are allowed to visit her and when they do, they wear masks to keep her from seeing their faces and becoming attached to them. One of the major parts of the Strangling Ritual is to make the sacrifice so depressed and lonely that she ''wants to die.'' Mind you, this whole process starts when she's about 7-years-old. To add to it: Kirie ends up falling in love days before the ritual and in an attempt to keep the ritual from failing, the monks murder her lover and hide his body in a nearby lake.
* Linked to Kirie's is also the horrible story of the Blinded Maiden. While Kirie got chosen as Rope Maiden by being last to be caught in a game of tag, the Blinded Maiden is the unlucky one who got caught first. She also got locked into a cell for ten years. Her special ritual then involved getting a mask with gigantic spikes pushed into her face. Her sole purpose from then on is to be the seeker in the next game of tag to find the future Rope Maiden and Blinded Maiden before succumbing to her wounds.

* After spending the whole game trying to reunite with Mafuyu only for him to decide to stay behind to keep Kirie company, poor Miku loses the last of her family. This is the canon ending. Even if you get the non-canon ending where Mafuyu escapes with Miku, it would mean Kirie would spend eternity guarding the Hell Gate alone. There is an Xbox exclusive ending where Kirie gets to reunite with her lover's spirit, but it is also considered non-canon.

* There's nothing more heartbreaking than realizing that ''you'' are the one who is supposed to kill your sister and then watching Mio, realizing ''what she just did'', run after Mayu's butterfly/spirit begging to not be left behind.

* Some of the ghosts, despite being freaking ''terrifying'', can still make you tear up. Take Chitose Tachibana, who is alone, terrified, and spends all her time crying and hiding. Or the Kiryu twins (yes, those creepy "Why do you kill?" twins), who were forced to undergo the Crimson Sacrifice at around age ''five'', and Akane Kiryu, the survivor, going into total depression afterwards, eventually having her soul stolen by a life-sized doll of her sister that her father made to comfort her.

* Misaki finally remembers Sakuya, and begins weeping while embracing the doll that came to represent them both. Sakuya slowly steps forward and embraces Misaki, who is weeping inconsolably...and then Misaki collapses.

*** In Yuri's bad ending: Ouse asks her to join her in death, as she was the only person to ever understand her. Yuri accepts and embraces her as they both fall into the night spring, appeasing it. Hisoka watches all this in horror and is left to lament her failure to save Yuri. In the last scene we see [[TogetherInDeath Yuri and Ouse peacefully sinking down, still embracing.]]

** It gets even worse after completing Hour XII. Kei is seemingly caught by Reika in the end, causing Rei to awaken and check on him. On a first playthrough, Rei finds nothing but ''black soot'' where Kei was lying down, confirming his tragic death. Rei is so broken and depressed at this point that she can only quietly mourn his death. Furthermore, due to Kei's death, [[ForegoneConclusion Mio's fate is now tragically sealed.]] On a NewGamePlus however, obtaining Kyouka's Earring will save Kei's life and lead to a much better ending.

* After spending the whole game trying to reunite with Mafuyu only for him to decide to stay behind to keep Kirie company, poor Miku loses the last of her family. This is the canon ending. Even if you get the non-canon ending where Mafuyu escapes with Miku, it would mean Kirie would spend eternity guarding the Hell Gate alone. There is an Xbox-exclusive ending where Kirie gets to reunite with her lover's spirit, but it is also considered non-canon.

* After spending the whole game trying to reunite with Mafuyu only for him to decide to stay behind to keep Kirie company, poor Miku loses the last of her family. This the canon ending. Even if you get the non-canon ending where Mafuyu escapes with Miku, it would mean Kirie would spend eternity guarding the Hell Gate alone. There is an Xbox-exclusive ending where Kirie gets to reunite with her lover's spirit, but it is also considered non-canon.

* After spending the whole game trying to reunite with Mafuyu only for him to decide to stay behind to keep Kirie company, poor Miku loses the last of her family. This the canon ending. Even if you got the non-canon ending where Mafuyu escapes with Miku, it would mean Kirie would spend eternity guarding the Hell Gate alone. There is an Xbox-exclusive ending where Kirie gets to reunite with her lover's spirit, but it is also considered non-canon.

* Early every ghost has a tragic backstory if you take the time to read the various logs, as many are either victims of the Calamity, the various sacrifices or the already existing ghosts in the mansion. The reason Long Arms is killing children is some kind of attempt to replace his daughter who was used in a ritual, and Broken Neck woman fell off the building trying to escape from an insane Lord Himuro when he went on a rampage, only to fall and break her neck instead. The Hellgate seems to be causing nothing but misery, even when sealed.
* Spending the whole game to finally reunite Mafuyu only for him deciding to stay behind to keep Kirie company, poor Miku lost her entire family and this the canon ending. Even if you got the non-canon ending where Mafuyu escapes with Miku, it would mean Kirie would spend eternity guarding the Hell Gate alone. There is also a ending during the Xbox version where Kirie gets to reunite with her lover's spirit but that is also considered non-canon.

** In the Wii remake, Mayu can join you for an optional cut scene required to unlock 3 of the possible endings. Right after she rejoins you, she says that she wants to see Itsuki again. When she does and remembers he's dead, she cries uncontrollably until you leave the shed.

* Anytime an innocent person died because they had the misfortune to stumble upon the cursed location or happened to be in the area when the disaster happened. Not all them went painlessly. A lot have been haunting these locations for who knows how long, only being released when the curse is lifted at the end of the game. What's worse is if they were spirited away or simply disappeared, as their loved ones will most likely never get closure on what happened to them.

* Despite having been terrorized by her for the last three nights or so, the flashback near the first game's climax where you see [[VirginSacrifice Kirie]] being dragged by her implacable guardians to her gruesome fate will rend your heart.

* In the second game, there's nothing more heartbreaking than realizing that ''you'' are the one who is supposed to kill your sister and then watching Mio, realizing ''what she just did'', run after Mayu's butterfly/spirit begging to not be left behind.

* In the second game when you go to Itsuki, the only person in the village who doesn't want to kill you, for help, and his window is closed. Then you finally get to enter the locked building... and see his lifeless body hanging from a noose in a vision. What's worse, if you check the window from the inside, it says that it is rusted shut and hasn't been used in a very long time.

* Some of the ghosts, despite being freaking ''terrifying'', can still make you tear up. Take Chitose Tachibana from the second game, who is alone, terrified, and spends all her time crying and hiding. Or take the Kiryu twins (yes, those creepy "Why do you kill?" twins), who were forced to undergo the Crimson Sacrifice at around age ''five'', and Akane Kiryu, the survivor, going into total depression afterwards, eventually having her soul stolen by a life-sized doll of her sister that her father made to comfort her.

* In the third game's 11th Hour, choosing for Miku to head into the passage of the shrine instead of turning back and waking up. Miku runs off into the shrine, desperate to see her brother again and monologuing about her feelings for him, her desire to be with him and how guilty she feels. All the while, ''Rei'' is running after her and pleading with Miku to come back. She tells Miku, who is stronger than Rei, that she knows about the longing and how she felt it for Yuu, but that Miku can't give up this easily. The English voice acting, despite being a little [[DullSurprise lacking]], still manages to convey the emotion of the scene well.
* The BigBad's story in the third game is one hell of a contender, never mind the actual ''ending'' of the game, which is more of a BittersweetEnding. After longing to see Kaname for the last time, even to the point of having hallucinations, she finally has the chance to do so when he comes to the Chamber of Thorns to take her away with him to live happily ever after. She looks up... smiles... then watches in horror and the inability to do anything as he is murdered right before her eyes by Yashuu, and is forced to spend her eternity of sleep staring into the cold dead eyes of her lover until Rei comes along.
* When Rei enters Yuu's room for the first time in 3, there's a brief moment of Yuu being on his bed and asking if Rei needs anything. She turns to answer, then stops midsentence when she remembers that he's dead. A very short scene near the beginning of the game and it can really hit home, showing how fresh the wound is.

* When you realize that though Kei is the more stable of the characters in Fatal Frame III, how lonely the poor guy must be. His close friend Yuu is dead (to which Rei was too depressed to inform Kei of), both his friend Mafuyu and niece Mayu were spirited away, and his other niece Mio is afflicted by the Tattoo Curse. Indigo, the color of his tattoo, is the ink that represents taking on the grief of others. While he is not the one who mourns for them directly, he is still affected by their deaths. What drives it in is him pleading in his sleep for his friends and family not to leave him behind.
* The ending song of 3, "Koe" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_EWumK_ebI link]] with lyrical translation). Especially tragic if you understand the lyrics which strongly imply it's being sung from Reika's perspective.
** The final verses, which thunder on as Rei tearfully screams for Yuu's ghost to not leave her again, are particularly gutwrenching. Loosely translated, they claim that "the piercings aren't enough", and the heartbreakingly relevant "Your voice is fading into noise."

* Ruka finally reconciling with her [[GoOutWithASmile smiling]] [[DeadAllAlong father]] at the end of the fourth game, after trying to remember what his face looked like in the past when he was working (he had a mask on while working on the titular Mask of the Lunar Eclipse).
* In the fourth game, discovering that Kirishima has been DeadAllAlong would already be a pretty damn big PlayerPunch, but the way you find out makes it so much worse: you get to watch a [[SarcasmMode wonderful]] cutscene where the man relives his own death, ending with him [[TomatoInTheMirror staring at his own dead body]] as the realization sinks in. Then the ending tops it off when he reappears at a crucial moment [[BigDamnHeroes to save Ruka and end the curse on the island]], then looks back at her and [[GoOutWithASmile smiles at her in farewell]] as he joins the spirits leaving for the afterlife. Cue the waterworks from the player.
* In the fourth game, Misaki finally remembers Sakuya, and begins weeping while embracing the doll that came to represent them both. Sakuya slowly steps forward and embraces Misaki, who is weeping inconsolably...and then Misaki collapses.

** The games BigBad, Ouse Kurosawa, also had a sad story: She became a miko after her entire village had drowned in a flood, and then she was chosen to become the next great sacrificial pillar. Before dying she fell in love with the man who photographed her, Kunihiko Asou (again), but he left the mountain shortly after. As she was being sacrificed she had to endure a vision of all her fellow mikos being viciously slaughtered at that very moment. In her despair, Ouse's thoughts turned to her lover and she wished that she could have ''lived'' with him, instead of being together in death like she was supposed to. All this caused her ritual to fail and now she haunts the mountain calling for someone to die with her.

* In the second game, there's nothing more heartbreaking than realizing that [[spoiler:''you'' are the one who is supposed to kill your sister and then watching Mio, realizing ''what she just did'', run after Mayu's butterfly/spirit begging to not be left behind.]]

* In the second game when you go to Itsuki, the only person in the village who doesn't want to kill you, for help, and his window is closed. Then you finally get to enter the locked building... [[spoiler:and see his lifeless body hanging from a noose in a vision]]. What's worse, if you check the window from the inside, it says that it is rusted shut and hasn't been used in a very long time.
** In the Wii remake, Mayu can join you for an optional cut scene required to unlock 3 of the possible endings. Right after she rejoins you, she says that she wants to see Itsuki again. [[spoiler:When she does and remembers he's dead, she cries uncontrollably until you leave the shed.]]

--> Can we go back to that day
--> Watching the sunset together?
--> If I could only see, one more time
--> The one that I love so dear

--> The distance from my heart
--> can't compare to the longing I feel
--> Though the way is long and dark
--> my love will find a way to you

* In the Deep Crimson Butterfly remake for the Wii, the "Shadow Ritual" ending is both this and a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

* Spending the whole game to finally reunite Mafuyu only for him deciding to stay behind to keep Kirie company, poor Miku lost her entire family and this the canon ending. Even if you got the non-canon ending where Mafuyu escapes with Miku, it would mean Kirie would spend eternity guarding the Hell Gate alone. There is also a ending during the Xbox version where she gets to reunite with her lover's spirit but that is also considered non-canon.

* Spending the whole game to finally reunite Mafuyu only for him deciding to stay behind to keep Kirie company, poor Miku lost her entire family and this the canon ending. Even if you got the non-canon ending where Mafuyu escapes with Miku, it would mean Kirie would spend eternity guarding the Hell Gate alone.

* Linked to Kirie's is also the horrible story of the Blinded Maiden. While Kirie got chosen as Rope Maiden by being last to be catched in a game of tag, the Blinded Maiden is the unlucky one who got catched first. She also got locked into a cell for ten years. Her special ritual then involved getting a mask with gigantic spikes pushed into her face. Her sole purpose from then on is to be the seeker in the next game of tag to find the future Rope Maiden and Blinded Maiden before succumbing to her wounds.