History TearJerker / LeagueOfLegends

* Akali's rework had her finally left the Kinkou Order. After years of her, Shen and Kennen sticking together like TrueCompanions, TheFellowshipHasEnded in a sour note...

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Kai! No!"'']]

* The Dragon Trainer Tristana skin has one of the most saddening death animations. Tristana and Riggle are blasted apart, and Tristana dies. Riggle then gets up, goes over to Tristana's body and nudges it before quietly laying down beside her.
** In a somewhat similar vein, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKdjz_O41bI Penguin Skier wards of all things]] have surprisingly painful and heartbreaking animations for not just taking them down, but simply hitting them! It's almost as if Riot's [[YouBastard trying to punish you for fighting back.]]
** Star Guardian Ahri's death animation is sad in a very similar manner. Kiko is knocked out of Ahri's arms as she falls to her knees. As her body fades away, Ahri tries to reach for him just as he tries to jump back to her, but her body vanishes before he can reach her. Poor Kiko's left alone to stare up in sadness as Ahri's star light flies away, leaving him behind to sit sorrowfully on the ground.

* The tale of the actress Magga. One fateful night, she wanders from her camp and meets [[DontFearTheReaper Lamb]] and [[EnemiesWithDeath Wolf]], who ask her how she would prefer to die: accept her fate and Lamb's arrows, or run and feel Wolf's teeth. Magga chooses the arrows, asking Lamb if it would be like climbing eternally to the highest boughs of a tree. Her response? "No, though it is a nice thought." The duo then reveal that they were [[SecretTestOfCharacter testing Magga]], who flees back to her camp. [[spoiler:When she returns, the camp is in ruins and her compatriots dead, leaving Magga alone in the world. She flees the woods, and becomes an actress, famed for her portrayal of Kindred, but her heart is joyless. [[DeadlyDistantFinale And then there's the matter of her final performance...]]]]

-->''“I can’t heal you,” she said, “but I can at least give you that.”''\\

''“It’s so beautiful...” he whispered.''

* Annie's new backstory in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTU-GnxVuM ANNIE: Origins]]... well, it just couldn't be sadder. After her beloved mother (who gave her Tibbers as a present) died, her father remarried, bringing a new sister called Daisy to the family. Although Daisy could be a bit mean, causing Annie to inadvertently hurt her with her uncontrollable fire once when she tried to take Tibbers away, Annie didn't hate her. Then Daisy died when she fell into a river and Annie couldn't save her, causing her stepmother to blame Annie for Daisy's death, calling her a monster. In her despair, Annie's powers went out of control again, setting their cottage on fire and, although her father saved her, he died in the blaze, leaving Annie alone in the ashes with her weeping stepmother. Her stepmother furiously snatched Tibbers from Annie and tried to tear him apart, but Annie snapped and Tibbers unraveled, growing into an enormous fiery bear that crushed her stepmother into a charred corpse, leaving Annie all alone in the ashes of her ruined life.

* SKT's reign as the world champions came to a shocking end at the hands of SSG in the finals of Worlds 2017, being completely crushed 3-0 in a devastating clean sweep. The match wasn't just SKT's chance for a three-peat, it also meant so much for the team's players - it was Huni's first time playing in the finals at Worlds, it was Peanut's second chance to win a championship after failing once while with ROX, Wolf and Bang would have gotten another championship under their belts, and Faker would have kept his record of winning every Worlds he had played in alive. Even more heartbreaking is Faker slumping over in his chair and beginning to cry whe it was all over, as his team sits around him desolately. SSG, when coming to shake hands with SKT after winning, seemed genuinely stunned upon seeing Faker weeping. Bang quietly helped Faker onto his feet before he shook SSG's hands, and crumpled then in his chair and began crying again when they had left. Watching the person universally considered to be the world's greatest player so utterly crushed and defeated is nothing short of heartbreaking.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Kai! No... Kai!"'']]

Runeterra, the world of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' teethers between being a CrapsaccharineWorld and a pure CrapsackWorld, with war, betrayals, and personal tragedies being very common among the League's champions.

Runeterra, the world that ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' has quite a bit of depressing things within.

* Mixed with [[HeartWarming/LeagueOfLegends]], the story of Doran, creator of Doran's Ring, Shield, and Blade. He was born with a passion for crafting, and at the age of 15, he became an UltimateBlacksmith who got invited to the Institute to be their blacksmith. However, on route, he suffered an accident that robbed him of his genius, but not his passion, and where once he produced single, masterpiece items, he now produces simpler items in large quantities. The fact that his items are daily used in matches, and he has a permanent home at the Institute, shows that, even if bittersweet, he still got a happy ending.

* You can't help feeling sorry for Xerath. After years of being promised his SlaveLiberation as a reward for saving Azir's life, but never actually having it granted, he starts scheming to claim the freedom he was promised himself. This leads him to sabotaging Azir's ascension ritual. The real tearjerker comes at the moment of Azir's Ascension -- Azir's last act as a pre-Ascended being is to free all the slaves in Shurima, including Xerath. With guards saluting him, unknowing of what he has done to the ritual, Xerath can only stare up at the Sun Disk that's about to kill Azir, bury Shurima, and grant him his corrupt ascension -- [[FaceHeelDoorSlam unable to do anything to stop it.]]

* SKT's reign as the world champions came to a shocking end at the hands of SSG in the finals, being completely crushed 3-0 in a stunning clean sweep. The match wasn't just SKT's chance for a three-peat, it also meant so much for the team's players - it was Huni's first time playing in the finals at Worlds, it was Peanut's second chance to win a championship after failing once while with ROX, Wolf and Bang would have gotten another championship under their belt, and Faker would have kept his record of winning every Worlds he had played in alive. Even more heartbreaking is Faker slumping over in his chair and beginning to cry, as his team sits around him desolately. SSG, when coming to shake hands with SKT after winning, seemed genuinely stunned upon seeing Faker weeping. Bang quietly helped Faker onto his feet before he shook SSG's hands, and crumpled then in his chair and began crying again when they had left. Watching what is widely considered to be the world's greatest player so utterly crushed and defeated is nothing short of heartbreaking.

* SKT's reign as the world champions came to a shocking end at the hands of SSG in the finals, being completely crushed 3-0 in a stunning clean sweep. The match wasn't just SKT's chance for a three-peat, it also meant so much for the team's players - it was Huni's first time playing in the finals at Worlds, it was Peanut's second chance to win a championship after failing once while with ROX, Wolf and Bang would have gotten another championship under their belt, and Faker would have kept his record of winning every Worlds he had played in alive. Even more heartbreaking is Faker slumping over in his chair and beginning to cry, as his team sits around him desolately. SSG's Ambition, when coming to shake hands with the team, seemed genuinely stunned upon seeing Faker weeping. Bang quietly helped Faker onto his feet before he shook SSG's hands, and crumpled then in his chair and began crying again when they had left. Watching what is widely considered to be the world's greatest player so utterly crushed and defeated is nothing short of heartbreaking.

* When Dyrus, the last member of the original TSM and a truly legendary LoL-Veteran retired after TSM got knocked out of the 2015 World Championship group stage as dead last. The usually so [[TheStoic stoic Marcus "Dyrus" Hill]] cried all the time and was torn between happiness for the continuing support of his fans and the feeling of letting them down, despite his fans (and the casters!) reassurance that he never let them down.

* During the 2015 NA LCS World Chmapionship Qualifier Finals, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Td8uVV3JrE Team Liquid's FeniX and Piglet]] cry after losing their chance to go to the World Championship. Despite this troper being a fan of the other team, it was still sad to see Piglet, [[ATasteOfDefeat who had been to Worlds before as a World Champion,]] lose his chance of revisiting that stage. And it was even more heartrending to see the rest of Liquid to try to comfort them. [[CombatCommentator Jatt]] says it best:
--> '''Jatt:''' ...and nobody cares about Worlds...more than FeniX and Piglet.

-->''He squeezed her hand, his mouth falling open in wonder as Demacia’s light shone within him.''\\

*** Just to really kick Orianna in the gut as a reminder [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman for what she's become]], in her side story, ''Fiream'', she bonds with the titular automaton at a fair behind a glass booth, and they seem to get along fine enough... [[spoiler:until it turns out that the automaton is just that, [[WelcomeToCorneria repeating recorded, pre-programmed messages, and repeating pre-programmed gestures.]]]]

* Updated Warwick when you think about it, is just as sad; he was experimented on by Singed when he was still a human, being forced to turn into a cyborg-wolf-chimera while also being no different from the rest of the cruel thugs in Zaun prior to that. To this day, he's letting his bestial instincts take over so he can task himself into [[PayEvilUntoEvil slaying the very same criminals he used to be part]] of while having little hope of returning to normal and/or getting rid of his cyborg implants.

* Lucian's backstory. Originally a NiceGuy who also happened to be a {{Badass}} who was very good at doing his job in purifying evil, [[BattleCouple along with his hardass wife Senna]]. Then they visited the Shadow Isles. As he watched, Senna was killed and her soul taken into Thresh's lantern, gone forever. This caused Lucian to destroy his NiceGuy image out of grief and become a bitter, humorless guy who's probably too dedicated to slaying all the Shadow Isles abominations. What makes this sad is that he knows that Senna is not coming back, but he keeps going in order to honor her memory.

** Orianna's bio is by far the most tragic of them, one of the main facts being that this Orianna isn't the ReplacementGoldfish from before, it's the real deal, forced into being a mechanized ClockworkCreature in an effort to stay alive. Specifically, after trying to connect with the world beyond Piltover, Orianna nearly succumbed to illness after assisting Zaunites after a toxic explosion, only having survived by her father replacing her failing lungs with clockwork bio-mechanical replicas. [[HopeSpot This didn't last for too long,]] as the rest of her body began to fail, having to replace her body piece by piece, [[LossOfIdentity and growing more and more distant from her past identity]], culminating in her eventually sacrificing her last shred of humanity - her heart - in order to save her dying father.
*** What makes the story worse is [[AdultFear how this must be from the perspective of Orianna's father, Corin Reveck.]] Imagine trying to shelter your young daughter from danger until she ends up trying to explore, only to find herself dying as a result. You try and fix her, and it works out for a few months before she goes right back into requiring mechanical pieces to survive. [[FromBadToWorse Then you realize]] [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul that she's gradually losing her mind,]] slowly no longer being the daughter you once knew and loved, but you do still love her, sacrificing your wealth and clientele and having to relocate to an area with Zaun Gray that nearly killed your daughter in the first place in a futile attempt to save her. ''[[TraumaCongaLine Then]]'' you yourself become affected by illness, then finding that your daughter, in a final act of humanity, saved you by providing her heart, [[BittersweetEnding then disappearing forever, leaving you with enough clockwork figurines to make you rich and return to Piltover again.]] It's not a happy story.