History TearJerker / FinalFantasyVII

* Zack's death alone is stuck in hidden, optional content, but witnessing it is a massive GutPunch. Zack is a cheery, optimistic guy who will do anything he needs to care for his mako poisoned friend Cloud, carting him across half the Planet and trying to hold a conversation with him hoping his friend will respond sooner rather than later while talking about how he really wants to meet up with Aerith again back in Midgar, their current destination. Then the Shinra troops catch up to them, and in a moment of making sure Cloud is safe, Zack is shot -- [[NoKillLikeOverkill and then mowed down in excess]] to absolutely make sure he's not getting back up. After Cloud's so messed up that the soldiers assume he'd die out there and they leave, Cloud barely starts to get his head working again and crawl over to his deceased friend, [[TragicKeepsake hefting up his Buster Sword]] and raising his hands to the sky in absolute anguish. Then the camera pans up [[ShaggyDogStory to show Midgar just down the way]], meaning Zack died ''within mere miles of meeting Aerith again.''

*** Her appearances in ''Crisis Core'' makes this worse through FridgeHorror. In that game, her appearances all stem from wanting to take revenge on Shinra for the Wutai War. Imagine how much she lost during that war. And guess who spearheaded the final crushing blow that left her homeland a shell of its former self? Hell,she was just a kid back then, and even now is still the youngest of the party in terms of age and maturity. Now he's taken yet another life of someone she got to personally know, even consider a friend. Aerith being cruelly murdered by the SOLDIER that led the final battle of the war probably hit closer to home than anyone thought, and she couldn't hide her grief under her bravado anymore.

* The moment where Nanaki learns the truth about his father, Seto. When Nanaki starts referring to himself as "Nanaki, son of Seto!", he says it with such ''pride''. This causes the petrified Seto to start weeping. (Even though he's paralyzed and in stone, Seto is somehow still conscious and trapped like that forever, unable to go home or reunite with his son.) Bugenhagen can't even finish stating the obvious, just trailing off after a broken response, and Nanaki stands and gives his mournful howl until the fadeout. The fact it's easy to time this scene to the most poignant part of [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=lrI8bHs6Qvk "The Great Warrior"]] only turns on the waterworks more.

## The game makes you, the player, nearly execute Aerith as Cloud. Imagine one's horror when they walk up to her and press the controller, and instead of a text box, [[OhCrap Cloud pulls his sword out...]]

* Somehow it's worse knowing the NES Fan translation also has Aerith's death in it... it's just as heartwrenching as the real thing.
* There's a bit of meta manipulation at play here as well. Gamers are used to receiving rewards after working through long, complex levels, such as the Forgotten City. The game has you spending possibly hours going back and forth, solving puzzles and fighting monsters all for the purpose of finding Aerith and bringing her back to the fold. You finally reach your objective and there she is, everything's going to be alright. Then you have to watch as she's cut down before your eyes. You did all that work and ''it wasn't enough''!

'''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''

* [[TraumaCongaLine Cloud's "true" backstory]]. To recap, 1) he was raised only by his mother, since his father died before his birth; 2) as child, [[IJustWantToHaveFriends he wanted to befriend his peers, especially Tifa]], [[KidsAreCruel only to be rejected and treated as an outcast by them multiple times]], until he finally gave up and became arrogant to cope with his loneliness; 3) when he was 9, he was blamed by everyone in his town for an accident involving Tifa that mostly wasn't his fault, but he never told his side of the story to anyone out of [[MyGreatestFailure guilt]]; 4) as a teen, he left his hometown to become a Soldier, only to fail and become an infantryman, due to his mental issues; 5) after returning to Nibelheim for a mission, his own village was destroyed and his mother killed by Sephiroth who went crazy; 6) after defeating his idol, he was subjected to inhuman experiments for 5 years, which left him comatose from Mako poisoning, once he was freed by his mentor and best friend, Zack Fair; 7) he woke up too late to stop Zack from committing an HeroicSacrifice, and watched him die. Is any wonders he became an EmptyShell of himself filled with FakeMemories? And then there's the matter of Aerith's death on his watch, one that ''he'' almost did himself, and was forced to be unable to do anything when he resisted. The man's life is full of feeling like he's nothing but a failure. Hojo's last KickTheDog moment was the rotten cherry on the horrible sundae he was getting served until this point.

* Shortly afterwards, the party is gathered around the Cosmo Candle, and Aerith comes out from speaking with the elders, having learned much about the Cetra...and in the process learning that she's alone. She's in a melancholy mood for the rest of the evening, and brushes off Cloud's attempts at comfort. Every time you try to speak to her, she just looks away.

* [[TraumaCongaLine Cloud's "true" backstory]]. To recap, 1) he was raised only by his mother, since his father died before his birth; 2) as child, [[IJustWantToHaveFriends he wanted to befriend his peers, especially Tifa]], [[KidsAreCruel only to be rejected and treated as an outcast by them multiple times]], until he finally gave up and became arrogant to cope with his loneliness; 3) when he was 9, he was blamed by everyone in his town for an accident involving Tifa that mostly wasn't his fault, but he never told his side of the story to anyone out of [[MyGreatestFailure guilt]]; 4) as a teen, he left his hometown to become a Soldier, only to fail and become an infantryman, due to his mental issues; 5) after returning to Nibelheim for a mission, his own village was destroyed and his mother killed by Sephiroth who went crazy; 6) after defeating his idol, he was subjected to inhuman experiments for 5 years, which left him comatose from Mako poisoning, once he was freed by his mentor and best friend, Zack Fair; 7) he woke up too late to stop Zack from committing an HeroicSacrifice, and watched him die. Is any wonders he became an EmptyShell of himself filled with FakeMemories?

*** Cait Sith is most likely operating on his own here; Reeve would be unable to control Cait Sith directly because of his own grief and the astronomical bombshell he has to give to the people under his protection, Elmyra and Marlene, both of whom were very close to Aerith.

** Alternatively, despite his lack of emotions, he's distraught that Hojo's mad experiments, which he failed to stop and blames himself for, has claimed the life of another innocent, one that he personally got to know, even if not for very long. Aerith's murder would be yet one more sin he feels he needs to atone for.

** Vincent basically just silently glared at Cloud emotionlessly, though you can argue that he was disturbed by Aerith's death, but because of his own traumatic past and zombiefication, he's unable to express any emotions to convey it. And as you discover his past, this becomes even sadder: Vincent was there to witness his lover Lucrecia die and unable to do anything about it and he, along with Cloud, let a similar tragedy befall Aerith.

* Aerith's fate was inspired by the death of a real person: Sakaguchi's mother, who died early in the production of ''Final Fantasy VII''. This made the developer team, include a realistic death in the game as opposed to the Hollywood-style deaths in earlier ''Final Fantasy'' games.

** Cloud catches Aerith as she falls, and cradles her broken body to him, murmuring to himself that '''this can't be real'''. Sephiroth, ignorant to the depth of Cloud's pain, tells him that Aerith will soon be part of the Lifestream before going on about his own plans for the future. Still grieving, Cloud cuts his speech off and tells him to "'''shut up'''", and that the cycle of nature and Sephiroth's stupid plan don't mean a damn thing because Aerith is gone. The way his shoulders move and his speech on how his eyes are burning heavily imply that he's crying. Even more heart wrenching is when he says "'''What about my pain?'''", because it makes it clear that at that point, Cloud cannot focus on anything -- not the impending doom of the planet, not even the fact that his archenemy is standing '''right there''' -- but his grief over Aeris/Aerith's death.

--->'''Cloud:''' Aerith is gone.\\
'''Cloud:''' Aerith will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry... or get angry...\\
'''Cloud:''' What about us... what are WE supposed to do?\\
'''Cloud:''' What about my pain?\\
'''Cloud:''' My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!

* Aerith's fate was inspired by the death of a real person: Sakaguchi's mother, who died early in the production of ''Final Fantasy VII''. This made Sakaguchi, the man behind the entire series, include a realistic death in the game as opposed to the Hollywood-style deaths in earlier ''Final Fantasy'' games.