History TearJerker / FatalFrame

* 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, realising ''what she just did'', run after Mayu's butterfly/spirit begging to not be left behind.

** In the Wii remake, Mayu can join you for an optional cut scene required to unlock 3 of the possible endings. As you traverse the town, 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.]]

* 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.

** The third game makes it worse by making it canon that [[spoiler: neither Miku nor Mio ever really recovered properly from their loss, and if they ever came close, then the sight of Mafuyu and Mayu respectively must have thrown them into an enormous state of guilt and depression, so much so that they were perfectly willing to accept their fate. Especially Mio]].
** The fifth game reveals that Miku was so unable to get over the loss of her brother that [[spoiler: she goes through a ritual to spiritually ''marry'' him. It's also strongly implied that Mafuyu is the ghostly father of Miku's half-ghost daughter Miu. Speaking of, giving birth to Miu greatly reduced Miku's lifespan, so even if you get the good ending, she doesn't have long to live.]]

* Despite having been terrorized by her for the last three nights or so, the flashback near the first game's climax where you see [[spoiler:[[VirginSacrifice Kirie]]]] being dragged by her implacable guardians to her gruesome fate will rend your heart.
** Her backstory is also heart-wrenching. Part of the ritual involves [[spoiler: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: [[spoiler:Kirie ends up falling in love days before the ritual]] and in an attempt to keep the ritual from failing, the monks [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: 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 [[spoiler: got catched first]]. She also [[spoiler: 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]].

* 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, realising ''what she just did'', [[spoiler:run after Mayu's butterfly/spirit begging to not be left behind]].
-->[[spoiler:"'''Mayu!''' I'm sorry..! ''I'm sorry..!''" All between desperate sobs of despair.]]
* 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]].

** [[spoiler: [[TogetherInDeath The final shot of the twins, who have become spirits like the other residents of Minakami Village]].]]
* The creation of the Kusabi: [[spoiler: A folklorist that was in the village by pure coincident is chosen to become the Kusabi. They capture him and bind him so tightly in rope that he get slowly cut to death. By the end - no matter if he is still alive or not - he gets thrown into the Abyss to return as the Kusabi. And to make matters worse: the more ''painful'' it is for the victim, the better the Kusabi turns out to be]].

* 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. [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: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 you realize that though Kei is the more stable of the characters in Fatal Frame III, how lonely the poor guy must be. [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: which strongly imply it's being sung from Reika's perspective]].
** The final verses, which thunder on as [[spoiler: 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 [[spoiler:(he had a mask on while working on the titular Mask of the Lunar Eclipse)]].
* In the fourth game, discovering that [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:Sakuya]], and begins weeping while embracing [[spoiler:the doll that came to represent them both. Sakuya]] slowly steps forward and embraces Misaki, who is weeping inconsolably...[[spoiler:and then Misaki collapses.]]
** From the "Photograph" ending, [[spoiler: Misaki wakes up to see Madoka, appearing as she did before she died. She drops Miya to run up to her, who smiles at her before she joins the other spirits. In a way, it's Madoka congratulating Misaki for finding the truth about her friend, and maybe accepting the remorse she had for abandoning her.]]

** The fates of both Fuyuhi and Haruka. [[spoiler: Both dying while searching for the other/being led to their death by the other's ghost.]]

*** In Miu's bad ending: [[spoiler: Her mother vanishes immediately after the curse is lifted, leaving Miu crying and all alone.]]
*** In Miu's good ending: [[spoiler: Her mother stays with her, but considering she's is still suffering the consquences of giving birth to a Yomi Ko, it is unknown how long she'll be able to remain with her daughter.]]
*** And the best part? [[spoiler: Her mother is none other than Miku Hinasaki, the protagonist from the first game! Ultimately Fatal Frame has no happy endings for anyone...]]
*** That fact gets even more depressing when you find out who Miu's father is. [[spoiler: Miku is so unable to get over her brother's death that ''she bears his half-ghost child.'']] Makes the ending of the third game HarsherInHindsight.
** Shiragiku's back story. Being born with albinism and deemed to not live long, she is selected to be a sacrifice before she is ''seven''. Because of her appearance people [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer shunned and feared her]]. All except her childhood friend, [[spoiler: Kunihiko Asou]], who she decided would eventually join her in death with the yuukon ritual. But then he forgot all about her and later fell in love with someone else, leaving her to suffer alone. [[spoiler: Centuries later his descendant, Ren Hojou, returned to the now cursed mountain and Shiragiku tries to make him join her in his ancestor's place. But in both her endings she eventually decides to let him go and live on, content with the knowledge that her friend had remembered her after all.]]
** The games BigBad, [[spoiler: 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, [[spoiler: Kunihiko Asou (again)]], but he left the mountain shortly after. [[spoiler: 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 Yuri's good ending: [[spoiler: She accepts [[DyingAlone dying alone]], after Yuri uses mitori on her to see her last moments and takes on her feelings.]]
** Then we have Yuri herself, whose [[spoiler: family died in a terrible accident, leaving her all alone. From this experience she gained a strong sixth sense which caused her to be constantly harassed by ghosts seeking her help. Eventually it became too much for her, resulting in a [[DrivenToSuicide suicide attempt]]]]. She was saved by Hisoka who took her in and cared for her, but deep down she still feels terribly lonely.
*** In Yuri's bad ending: [[spoiler: 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.]]]]
--->[[spoiler: '''Ouse''']]: [[YouAreNotAlone You are not alone.]]
*** Hisoka witnessing [[spoiler: Yuuri's death in the bad ending is especially cruel, as that would be the second time Hisoka has witnessed a young woman kill herself because Hisoka failed to save her. ''Especially'' after she managed to barely stop Yuuri from killing herself before.]]

* [[spoiler: Asou's reaction to being rejected by Ouse]]. After waiting an eternity to finally join her, she says her thanks and disappears. [[spoiler: He tries to reach out, but she is gone already, so he breaks down crying]]. Considering the story of both, it is painful to see that there is just no way for them to be properly happy.
** Alternatively, [[spoiler: if Ren's first reaction is to make a photo of Ouse, then she will despair over Asou having grown to reject her, now that she has been blackened]]. Instead of having a final battle against her, [[spoiler: she will pose one last time for Asou and then disappear]].

** In This Cage (Good End) is also about a lonely woman, but instead of begging him to return, she tries actively to reach him begs for help so she can reach who is beyond her reach.

* 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.

* 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 [[spoiler: which strongly imply it's being sung from Reika's perspective]].
** The final verses, which thunder on as [[spoiler: 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."

* Despite having been terrorized by her for the last three nights or so, the flashback near the first game's climax where you see [[spoiler:[[VirginSacrifice Kirie]]]] being dragged by her implacable guardians to her gruesome fate will rend your heart.
** Her backstory is also heart-wrenching. Part of the ritual involves [[spoiler: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: [[spoiler:Kirie ends up falling in love days before the ritual]] and in an attempt to keep the ritual from failing, the monks [[spoiler:murder her lover and hide his body in a nearby lake]].
* 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]].

* 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.

* When you realize that though Kei is the more stable of the characters in Fatal Frame III, how lonely the poor guy must be. [[spoiler: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.]]
* In the Deep Crimson Butterfly remake for the Wii, the "Shadow Ritual" ending is both this and a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
--> '''Mio''': [[YouAreNotAlone This time, we fall together.]]
** [[spoiler: [[TogetherInDeath The final shot of the twins, who have become spirits like the other residents of Minakami Village]].]]
* 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 [[spoiler: which strongly imply it's being sung from Reika's perspective]].
** The final verses, which thunder on as [[spoiler: 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."

* Anytime an innocent person died because they had they 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.

** The third game makes it worse by making it canon that [[spoiler:neither Miku nor Mio ever really recovered properly from their loss, and if they ever came close, then the sight of Mafuyu and Mayu respectively must have thrown them into an enormous state of guilt and depression, so much so that they were perfectly willing to accept their fate. Especially Mio]].

* Anytime an innocent person dies because they have they 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.

* Anytime an innocent person dies because they have they 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. 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.

* Anytime an innocent person dies because they have they 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 of them have been haunting these locations for who knows how long, only being released when the curse is lifted at the end. 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.

* Anytime a innocent person dies because they have they misfortune to stumble upon the cursed location or happened to be in the area when the disaster happened and not all them went peacefully and painlessly. A lot of them are haunting these locations without end and not totally sane for who knows how long, only being released when the curse is lifted. What is worse if they are spirited away or simply disappeared as their families and friends might never get full closure about what really happened to them unless the protagonists go around and tell them what happened to them.

* When Rei enters Yuu's room for the first time, 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.

* 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 [[spoiler: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.]]

** From the Photograph ending, [[spoiler: Misaki wakes up to see Madoka, appearing as she did before she died. She drops Miya to run up to her, who smiles at her before she joins the other spirits. In a way, it's Madoka congratulating Misaki for finding the truth about her friend, and maybe accepting the remorse she had for abandoning her.]]

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

* The ending song of 3, ''Koe'' ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_EWumK_ebI Link]] with lyrical translation). Especially tragic if you understand the lyrics [[spoiler: which strongly imply it's being sung from Reika's perspective]].

* 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 aftwerwards, eventually having her soul stolen by a life-size doll of her sister that her father made to comfort her.

** From the Photograph Ending, [[spoiler: Misaki wakes up to see Madoka, appearing as she did before she died. She drops Miya to run up to her, who smiles at her before she joins the other spirits. In a way, it's Madoka congratulating Misaki for finding the truth about her friend, and maybe accepting the remorse she had for abandoning her.]]

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

** The final verses, which thunder on as [[spoiler: 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".

* 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. [[spoiler: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 voiceacting, despite being a little [[DullSurprise lacking]], still manages to convey the emotion of the scene well.

* When Rei enters Yuu's room for the first time, 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.

** Just the fact that Yuu is DeadToBeginWith. The game's opening cutscene shows the aftermath of the car crash, with Rei giving a horrified gasp as she discovers Yuu's body amidst the wreckage. Rei often makes comments about Yuu when examining things around the house, most notably his personal belongings. Imagine how hard it must have been for her to go into Yuu's room for the first time after his death.

*** Hisoka witnessing [[spoiler: Yuuri's death in the bad ending is especially cruel, as that would be the second time Hisoka has witnessed a young woman kill herself because Hisoka failed to save her.]]

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

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

* In the fourth game, discovering that [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:the man relives his own death, ending with him [[TomatoInTheMirror staring at his own dead body]] in shock]]. Then the ending tops it off when [[spoiler: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.

* The cutscene in the third game, if the player chooses for [[spoiler:Miku to head deeper into the dream and not back, to be with Mafuyu]]. The entire scene is a little {{Narm}}y, but the overall atmosphere is still good. [[spoiler:Miku runs off after Mafuyu's spirit, deeper into the Manor's version of the shrine and talks about how she realized her feelings and wanting to be with her brother again. In turn, you see Rei running after her, begging and pleading for her to not go on. That Rei knows the pain that Miku is going through, having felt the same longing for Yuu, and telling Miku that she's stronger than this.]]

* 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 [[spoiler: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.]]

* Anytime a innocent person dies because they have they misfortune to stumble upon the cursed location or happened to be in the area when the disaster happened and not all them went peacefully and painlessly. A lot of them are haunting these locations without end and not totally sane for who knows how long, only being released when the curse is lifted.