History TearJerker / HildaAndTheMountainKing

** This is even worse if you think about the real life implications for her motivations: Trylla is the equivalent of a single mother raising a child in a rough neighborhood, and she constantly fears for the well-being of Baba. It doesn't excuse her actions, but it's hard not to feel pity about her.

* Hilda is spends a good chunk of the first act running from Trylla, for once terrified to be surrounded by trolls and having apparently gone through being kidnapped.

* When Hilda's efforts to protect her from the Bearded Troll send both of them plummeting into a ravine, Johanna rushes to the ravine thinking she just saw her daughter pull a HeroicSacrifice. Thankfully, Hilda's transformation has made her too tough for such a fall to kill her, but Johanna's panic is [[AdultFear all too understandable]].

-->'''Johanna''': (Once the cave entrance closes) No! No! No! Open up! (begins crying) Give her back to me! (proceeds to sob)

** Note that this says "Johanna, Twig, and Alfur". Not Cedric, Alfur's mount. During the attack, Alfur flies Cedric into a Troll's face to allow Johanna to escape. However, he's knocked off Cedric while they're trying to escape themselves and helplessly watches as one of the hostile Trolls eats the poor bird alive.

Who would have thought that her most traumatic adventure had would [[BreakTheCutie be so]] [[TheWoobie agonizing]]?

** The first time, pictured above, was her first reaction upon finally seeing herself as a Troll, she has a nervous breakdown with BrokenTears.
** The second time was when she tearfully asks Trundle if it's permanent takes a moment to cry silently.

* The entire story of Amma trying to get her children closer to her but the townsfolk drove them further away and the wall was built, separating the Trolls from Amma ''forever''.

* When Hilda gets out of her petrified state, she immediately continues heading back to Trolberg... only to learn ''why'' trolls don't like having bells tied to their noses. Namely, the fact the ringing causes '''[[SensoryOverload horrific physical pain]]'''. The poor girl, already panicked after being TakenForGranite, spends several seconds ''screaming'' in agony, and is still covering her ears even after she manages to uncover one long enough to get the bell off. And that's just a little bell; when she gets within range of [[FromBadToWorse Trolberg's bell towers]], her reaction is ''heartbreaking'' to hear from a child.

** This is even worse if you think about the real life implications for her motivations: Trylla is the equivalent of a single mother raising a child in a rough neighborhood and she constantly fears for the well-being of Baba. It doesn't excuse her actions, but it's hard not to feel pity about her.
* As soon as Johanna and Trylla spot each other at the cave entrance, Johanna immediately pursues the latter until the cave entrance seals itself between them, as the former proceeds slamming her fists against the wall, tearfully begging to have Hilda back as Twig can only try to console her... only to realize that a group of other Trolls have approached her. Johanna, Twig, and Alfur barely make it back to the car alive, and as they drive away, Johanna has a look of utter heartbreak and defeat on her face.

* After finding out that Trundle was the [[ActuallyIamHim Mountain King himself]], Hilda was clearly upset that he basically lied to her and [[UnwittingPawn used her as a pawn]].

** The first time, pictured above, was her first reaction upon finally seeing herself as a troll, she has a nervous breakdown with BrokenTears.

* The entire story of Amma trying to get her children closer to her but the townsfolk drove them further away and the wall was built, separating the trolls from Amma ''forever''.

* Once Hilda finally sees that she's become a troll, she panics and starts crying, breaking down in tears. You can't help but want to help her and give her a hug.

* Hilda's question about whether or not she has a troll dad implies that she wishes she knew who her human father was, with her looking wistful when asked why she is asking about it.

* Upon getting back to Trolberg, Hilda pleads with both sides not to fight. For a moment, a troll seems to consider her words [[HopeSpot only to attack her.]] And Erik outright [[CassandraTruth ignores her pleas]] not to attack the trolls and risk awakening Amma and destroy Trolberg.

* The Night of the Trolls is clearly eroding the FantasticRacism between humans and trolls, but as Hilda acknowledges, something that ingrained in the city's culture won't go away anytime soon, and neither will the trolls' fear of humans. The former is shown through a lady scolding her son for trying to watch the proceedings through the window, clearly because she wouldn't let him join the crowd outside, and rolling her eyes in sheer bigoted disgust as she closes the blind.

Who would have thought that her most traumatic adventure had never [[BreakTheCutie been so]] [[TheWoobie agonizing]]?

* Hilda's BreakTheCutie moments throughout the film is hard to hear and watch:

* The Night of the Trolls is clearly eroding the FantasticRacism between humans and trolls, but as Hilda acknowledges, something that ingrained in the city's culture won't go away anytime soon, and neither will the trolls' fear of humans. The former is shown by a lady scolding her son for trying to watch the proceedings through the window, clearly because she wouldn't let him join the crowd outside, and rolling her eyes in disgust as she closes the blind.

* When Hilda gets out of her petrified state, she immediately continues heading back to Trolberg... only to learn ''why'' trolls don't like having bells tied to their noses. Namely, the fact the ringing causes '''[[SensoryOverload horrific physical pain]]'''. The poor girl, already panicked after being TakenForGranite, spends several seconds ''screaming'' in agony, and is still covering her ears even after she manages to uncover one long enough to get the bell off. And that's just a little bell; when she gets within range of [[FromBadToWorse Trolberg's bell towers]]...

** Frida continues to study into the night exhausted, still trying fruitless to find a way to change Hilda back.

** Johanna can barely sleep, weeping over whether or not she'll see her little girl again.

* Even if she takes enjoyment in her newfound freedom as a troll, Hilda makes clear that she is still upset that she was essentially taken from her life as a resident of Trolberg with no visible way back to being a human girl with her mother, angrily ranting to Trylla about this before crying. And that was after Trylla revealed that she has no idea how to undo the changeling spell.

* Though she takes enjoyment in her newfound freedom as a troll, Hilda makes clear that she is still upset that she was essentially taken from her life as a resident of Trolberg with no visible way back to being a human girl with her mother, angrily ranting to Trylla about this before crying. And that was after Trylla revealed that she has no idea how to undo the changeling spell.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s3e01_hilda_tearing_up.jpg]]

** The first time was her first reaction upon finally seeing herself as a troll, she has a nervous breakdown with BrokenTears.
** The second time, pictured above, was when she tearfully asks Trundle if it's permanent takes a moment to cry silently.

* When Hilda gets out of her petrified state, she immediately continues heading back to Trolberg... only to learn ''why'' trolls don't like having bells tied to their noses. Namely, the fact the ringing causes '''[[SensoryOverload horrific physical pain]]'''. The poor girl, already panicked after being TakenForGranite, spends several seconds ''screaming'' in agony, and is still covering her ears even after she manages to uncover one long enough to get the bell off.

* As soon as Johanna and Trylla spot each other at the cave entrance, Johanna immediately pursues the latter until the cave entrance seals itself between them, as the former proceeds slamming her fists against the wall, tearfully begging to have Hilda back... only to realize that a group of other Trolls have approached her. Johanna, Twig, and Alfur barely make it back to the car alive, and as they drive away, Johanna has a look of utter heartbreak and defeat on her face.

[[folder:The Mountain King]]

[[/folder]]

* Hilda's BreakTheCutie moments throughout the film. And seeing her cry is hard to hear and watch:

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX7dTcYVg7g emotional breakdown montage]] with the song "When I Can't Sleep" by Pascal Pinon.
** This shows the main characters' darkest hours in their respective stories: Hilda is nowhere close to becoming human again, Johanna failed once again to bring Hilda home, Baba is still separated from Trylla, Gerda is still being forced to work under the orders of Erik Ahlberg, Frida trying endlessly to find the answer to the spell, and David's mum is hired to work at the Safety Patrol to David's horror.

[[folder:The Mountain King]]

* The entire story of Amma trying to get her children closer to her but the townsfolk drove them further away and the wall was built, separating the trolls from Amma ''forever''.

[[caption-width-right:350:"I remind myself when I'm in the darkness..." - Pascal Pinon, ''When I Can't Sleep'']]