History TearJerker / Portal

* [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Wheatley's]] VillainousBreakdown during the final boss fight. His speech is less like an villain's evil gloating and more like the ranting of a heartbroken child who doesn't understand why everyone has turned against him, or maybe that of a scorned lover who hates you for choosing someone else. Although his perspective is completely twisted from how it actually happened, it can be heartbreaking to hear Wheatley hysterically accusing you of using him and abandoning him when he needed you most. His accusations about how you never caught him are worse because it's impossible to actually catch him, too. If one listens closely to his voice during the rant, he sounds an awful lot like he's ''crying''.

* PotatOS Lament, the menu theme that plays while you're in the old Aperture Science testing spheres is a sad piece of music on its own, but it's made even sadder due to who's singing it: [=GLaDOS=] herself, after being usurped by Wheatley, turned into a potato, and tossed down an elevator shaft into the depths of Aperture. The sheer emotion in her voice is enough to shed tears.

* Lament, the menu theme that plays while you're in the old Aperture Science testing spheres is a sad piece of music on its own, but it's made even sadder due to who's singing it: [=GLaDOS=] herself, after being usurped by Wheatley, turned into a potato, and tossed down an elevator shaft into the depths of Aperture. The sheer emotion in her voice is enough to shed tears.

-->"You won't say goodbye... Never say goodbye..."

* As much as it was intended to be a parody of the PlayerPunch, some people did get genuinely upset at the death the faithful [[spoiler:CompanionCube]]. ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' makes it worse, with [=GLaDOS=] claiming that the companion cubes are ''sentient.'' This is right after she vaporizes two or three cubes in a single test chamber.

** The turret voices have been updated in ''Portal 2'', with a heartrending "Nooooooo!" if you fling them into space. [[spoiler:Thankfully, the turrets forgive you in the end and sing you a song.]]

* The Curiosity Core is a childish, naive little AI that asks questions about anything it sees and cheerfully greets you once it recognizes you, all in a cutesy voice that sounds like the turrets but absent the creepiness. [[spoiler: It's also the second core you incinerate. Its scream is also pretty horrible to listen to.]]

** In the sequel [=GLaDOS=] claims that she spent the time since the first game being forced to relive Chell killing her over and over. And that's not even counting the crap she goes through later. Combined with the fact that Valve went out of their way to make her more sympathetic as the game goes on... [[spoiler:Fortunately, she gets a relatively happy ending.]]
* Finding out that [[spoiler:Chell gets dragged back into the lab again]] was depressing enough, but hearing that in ''Portal 2'' she wakes up God knows how long after, maybe even ''centuries in the future'', Jesus, there is literally nothing left for her outside. The world outside the lab is a completely different place by now, and she can't even have the TragicDream of going back to a normal life anymore.
* When it's revealed in the comic that [[spoiler:Doug Rattmann attempted to save Chell from getting dragged back into the labs, ignoring his spirit Companion Cube telling him to run, insisting that he had to try to save her. Seeing that the Party Escort Bot had put her in an offline cryo-stasis chamber, Chell would have died if it hadn't been for Doug activating the chamber, even though he knew that he couldn't set an automatic wake-up time. Without the intervention of Wheatley, she would ''never'' have woken up.]] TearJerker for Doug and Chell indeed.

* The end of Chapter 5, if you think about it. You're so close to achieving your goal, [[spoiler:Wheatley is getting you out at long last,]] only for the triumphant music to suddenly take a dark turn... and you watch as everything starts to go terribly wrong and [[spoiler:Wheatley, your one friend]] starts to lose it[[spoiler:, [[DrunkWithPower mad with power]] and suddenly turning on you, claiming your work was his]]. The worst bit? When the music swells again, you can hear nearly the exact same victorious music from merely a MINUTE ago, when you had seemingly won, but now it serves as a [[DarkReprise Dark Reprise]] of what you almost had together. [[spoiler:[[EtTuBrute Why, Wheatley? Why?...]]]]

* Even after hearing all the hilarious craziness of Cave Johnson in the sequel, you'll be sad by the end. Cave Johnson made some amazing things and had absolutely no morals whatsoever, but...everything he created, he did by accident. He wanted to make diet pudding; he made repulsion gel instead. He wanted to make a fuel injection system de-icer; he got a psychotic AI instead. This is all very funny...until then you find out [[spoiler:he's dying from exposure to all the crazy things he's experimented on, and despite the amazing devices his company has created, by the end they can't even afford to pay the homeless and unemployed a few bucks to act as test subjects. Even his plan to save himself by uploading himself to a computer never works out...for him, anyway]].
** [[spoiler:Perhaps epitomized by his scream in the middle of his "when life gives you lemons" rant. Creator/JKSimmons puts a lifetime of failure, despair, and impotent rage into the words "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"]]
** The real moment is just at the end of his final message. [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=]' usual monotone voice sounds less robotic and more emotionally drained here.]]
---> [[spoiler:[[AC:[=GLaDOS=]: Goodbye, sir.]]]]
** What makes the above (including the farewell) even more sobering is when you stop and actually realize that these recordings are all that's left of Cave Johnson, and that they'll almost certainly never be heard again. [[spoiler:They, along with his image and the parts of the facility he oversaw himself, will now sit underneath Aperture Laboratories forgotten, in silence, forever]].
** Cave's undeniably awesome combustible lemon rant is quite sad when visualizing what he must have looked like when recorded it. [[spoiler:A near penniless man overlooking his empire as it stands on its last legs while slowly dying a painful death, hunched over a tape deck, screaming his frustration at life. Even sadder is that his misery is almost entirely his fault to begin with, and his rant is likely an attempt to deflect his own personal responsibility.]]

** The recording you hear before the [[spoiler:Conversion Gel]] chamber.[[spoiler:"Welcome to the Enrichment Center...*cough*"]] At this point, [[spoiler:with just that one line of dialogue, you already know everything about Cave's situation. He's broke. He's sick. He's completely demoralized. The enthusiasm of a once magnificent entrepreneur and one of the greatest minds of a generation, gone. All that remains is science, and so, almost as soulless as the robots installed to replace his management, Cave greets you with a simple line...and yet the way he says it, all the subtext of a defeated man...]]
*** For that matter, the obvious crash Aperture goes through as told by Cave's recordings and portraits. [[spoiler:First batch, he proudly congratulates you (presuming you are an Olympian or an athlete) on helping to contribute to science, his portrait is a smiling young man, and the waiting room is warm wood and plush carpets and furniture. Second batch, he's muttering under his breath about having to recruit hobos and homeless people on the promise of sixty dollars, his portrait is an older man going bald but still looking proud, and the waiting room is a more cold but professional office space. The third batch has the defeated and sick Cave saying employee testing is now mandatory, his portrait is a bitter and haggard old man, and the "waiting room" is a sterile office with some folding chairs set up in front of a projector.]]
* [[spoiler:Wheatley floating through space]] in TheStinger of ''Portal 2''. Especially because [[spoiler:he's genuinely sorry for what he did, but in all likelihood, he'll never be able to make it up to Chell]]. Even moreso when you remember that [[spoiler:he honestly couldn't control himself when he was attached to the body. The fact that he remembers it means he knows he did it.]]
** The fact that Chell's arms extend in an attempt to reach [[spoiler:him as he's sucked into space (and even linger and go limp after he's gone) means that Chell probably knew this and tried to save him. If this was a TearJerker for you, just imagine how she felt, knowing she's doomed the only being who has been nice to her in a really long time to a horrible existence floating through space forever.]]
** Another part is when Wheatley screams [[spoiler:"GRAB ME, GRAB ME!" Given just shortly before in the boss dialogue, he revealed how hurt he was that you never caught him, it just twisted the knife.]]
* In typical [=GLaDOS=] fashion, in "Want you Gone" she contradicts herself repeatedly in the ending song, first admitting again that you were her "only friend", then denying that she was talking to you, then erasing the words [[spoiler:"Maybe I'll stop feeling so bad"]] from the screen even though she still sings them. You're watching her struggle with complex and conflicting emotions towards someone who's become so important to her, first as an enemy and then as an ally and then as a friend, and she is struggling with it even as she desperately pushes you away and denies that she needs anyone.
* When you wander into the Bring Your Daughter to Work Day Science Fair in ''Portal 2''. [[spoiler:There are names on all of the projects, and on the very last project, in small grade-schooler scrawl, is written 'Chell'. This has led to theories that she was a daughter of scientists working there, and they were most likely killed by [=GLaDOS=].]]

* During the final boss fight, [[spoiler:the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device is the first thing to get sucked out into space.]] Goodbye, old buddy...You served us well.

* In Co-Op mode, one of the voice-overs [=GLaDOS=] is her saying you both have gotten very close, and she's known one other team like you. [[spoiler:One was "an imbecile" she had to destroy, the other she doesn't elaborate on. Obviously, this is referencing Wheatley and Chell, and how they did have a friendship between each other as they tried to escape the facility, before Wheatley goes [[DrunkWithPower mad with power]]. Thanks for depressing me with the reminder that Wheatley is stuck in space, unable to apologize for what he did, game!]]
** Most of [=GlaDOS=]' comments in Co-op are sad when you realize she's saying things she told Chell in single player [[spoiler:Because she might miss her after all]].
* In the final Co-Op level, when you [[spoiler:find the vault containing human subjects]] you see a reprogrammed turret which screamed [[spoiler:"I need to protect the humans!"]] The turret is quickly killed off by [=GlaDOS=] just so she could deploy blue gel (and possibly silence the turret.)
* The way [=GlaDOS=] just casually crushes [[spoiler:Wheatley]] after waking up.
* The way [=GlaDOS=] screams in pain while [[spoiler:you replace her with Wheatley]] may result in this, with a dash of [[WhattheHellHero What the Hell, Hero?]] since it's entirely your fault. [[ButThouMust Not that you had any other options, though]].

* Lament, the menu theme that plays while you're in [[spoiler:the old Aperture Science testing spheres]] is a sad piece of music on its own, but it's made even sadder due to who's singing it: [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] herself, after being usurped by Wheatley, turned into a potato, and tossed down an elevator shaft into the depths of Aperture]]. The sheer emotion in [[spoiler:her]] voice is enough to shed tears.
* This is definitely YMMV given people's opinions, but [[spoiler:every single time Wheatley says "I! [=AM=]! '''[=NOT!=]''' A [=MORON=]!"]] can be a TearJerker, because he sounds not only offended, but heartbroken that [=GLaDOS=] and perhaps even worse, his best friend, thinks he's stupid, and the fact that [=GLaDOS=] constantly asserts he is one makes all of his plotting look like someone desperately FeigningIntelligence. The idea that Wheatley tries to kill someone just so they'll think he's smart is eerily similar to the behavior of neglected children who do terrible things so their parents will be proud or even just notice them.
* Once again YMMV, but [[spoiler:during the final boss battle, one of Space Core's lines. Even though he's a robot, in any other situation...]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Space Core:''' Dad! I'm in space! [low-pitched 'space' voice] I'm proud of you, son. [normal voice] Dad, are you space? [low-pitched 'space' voice] Yes. Now we are a family again."]]

** [=CaveDOS=], who, unlike [=GlaDOS=], begins to realize that BrainUploading himself was a terrible idea. He's still hilarious though.

--->[[spoiler:Space Core: Dad! I'm in space! [low-pitched 'space' voice] I'm proud of you, son. [normal voice] Dad, are you space? [low-pitched 'space' voice] Yes. Now we are a family again."]]
* An unused song for [=GLaDOS=] called "Don't Say Goodbye". It shows a side of [=GLaDOS=] that deeply cares for the one she's singing for (i.e. Chell) and is deeply sad that she's leaving, emphasizing that she had been waiting for her to wake up all that time in the relaxation chamber and that she cares for Chell more than she could know.
-->"You won't say goodbye... Never say goodbye..."
* The sequel song (or AnswerSong) by [=GlaDOS=] "[[https://youtu.be/j370EOXd2RY You Wouldn't Know]]" has her telling Chell that she's [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial perfectly happy not having her around anymore]], but she ''should'' come back because, hey! Batman's here! And there's cake! FOR REAL. (The video also has Master Chief, Samus and Snake there, too.) Basically, [=GlaDOS=] is lonely (despite making P-Body and Atlas) and really wants her to come back (while admitting she knows why Chell is staying far, far away from her.)
-->'''[=GlaDOS=]''': Talking and ''fun''! Testing and ''fun''! ''All'' of this ''fun''! Without you.

-->"You won't say goodbye... Never say goodbye...

-->"You won't say goodbye. [[PleaseDon'tLeaveMe Never say goodbye...]]

-->"You won't say goodbye.''[[PleaseDontLeaveMe Never say goodbye...]]''"

-->"You won't say goodbye...''[[PleaseDontLeaveMe never say goodbye...]]''"

-->"You won't say goodbye...''[[PleaseDontLeaveMe ...never say goodbye...]]''"

* An unused song for [=GLaDOS=] called "Don't Say Goodbye". It shows a side of [=GLaDOS=] that deeply cares for the one she's singing for (i.e. Chell) and is sad that she's leaving.
-->"You won't say goodbye...''[[PleaseDontLeaveMe Never say goodbye...]]''"

-->"You won't say goodbye...''[[PleaseDontLeaveMe never say goodbye...]]''"

** Most of [=GlaDOS=]' comments in Co-op are sad when you realize she's saying things she told Chell in single player [[spoiler:Because she might miss her after all]]. Like the deer, the weight thing, ect. [[spoiler:Plus her reference about how human subjects are better doesn't help... She says it in a cruel way, but that's just how [=GlaDOS=] is. Tsundere much?]]
* In the final Co-Op level, when you [[spoiler:find the vault containing human subjects]] you see a reprogrammed turret which screamed [[spoiler:"I need to protect the humans!"]] The turret is quickly killed off by [=GlaDOS=] just so she could deploy blue gel (and possibly silence the turret).

* In typical [=GLaDOS=] fashion, in "Want you Gone" she contradicts herself repeatedly in the ending song, first admitting again that you were her "only friend", then denying that she was talking to you, then erasing the words [[spoiler:"Maybe I'll stop feeling so bad"]] from the screen even though she still sings them. You're watching her struggle with complex and conflicting emotions towards someone who's become so important to her, first as an enemy and then as an ally and then as a friend, and she is struggling with it even as she desperately pushes you away and denies that "She needs anyone".

* [[spoiler:Wheatley floating through space]] in TheStinger of ''Portal 2''. Especially because [[spoiler:he's genuinely sorry for what he did, but in all likelihood, he'll never be able to make it up to Chell]]. Even moreso when you remember that [[spoiler:he honestly couldn't control himself when he was attached to the body. The fact that he remembers it means he knows he did it, and he probably didn't want to hurt Chell at all.]]

** Cave's undeniably awesome combustible lemon rant is quite sad when visualizing what he must have looked like when recorded it. [[spoiler:A near penniless man overlooking his empire as it stands on its last legs while slowly dying a painful death, hunched over a tape deck after he just downed another round of pain pills, screaming his frustration at life while tears stream down his face, most likely breaking down into sobbing after the tape stops recording. Even sadder is that his misery is almost entirely his fault to begin with, and his screaming rant is likely an attempt to deflect his own personal responsibility.]]

--> '''Rattmann''': So it's the long sleep...or the long sleep. And I don't know which is worse. Forgive me.

* Finding out that [[spoiler:Chell gets dragged back into the lab again]] was depressing enough, but hearing that in ''Portal 2'' she wakes up possibly ''centuries in the future'', Jesus, there is literally nothing left for her outside. The world outside the lab is a completely different place by now, and she can't even have the TragicDream of going back to a normal life anymore. She doesn't have anything worth fighting for anymore besides her own life.

* The sequel song (or AnswerSong) by [=GlaDOS=] "You Wouldn't Know" has her telling Chell that she's [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial perfectly happy not having her around anymore]], but she ''should'' come back because, hey! Batman's here! And there's cake! FOR REAL. (The video also has Master Chief, Samus and Snake there, too.) Basically, [=GlaDOS=] is lonely (despite making P-Body and Atlas) and really wants her to come back (while admitting she knows why Chell is staying far, far away from her.)

* The way [=GlaDOS=] screams in pain while [[spoiler:you replace her with Wheatley]] may result in this, with a dash of [[WhattheHellHero What the Hell, Hero?]] since it's entirely your fault.

** When picking up the Oracle Turret for the first time, she just sounds so relieved and sad and exhausted in those two words: "''[[VideoGameCaringPotential Thank you...]''"

* This is definitely YMMV given people's opinions, but [[spoiler:every single time Wheatley says "I! AM! '''NOT!''' A MORON!"]] can be a TearJerker, because he sounds not only offended, but heartbroken that [=GLaDOS=] and perhaps even worse, his best friend, thinks he's stupid, and the fact that [=GLaDOS=] constantly asserts he is one makes all of his plotting look like someone desperately FeigningIntelligence. The idea that Wheatley tries to kill someone just so they'll think he's smart is eerily similar to the behavior of neglected children who do terrible things so their parents will be proud or even just notice them.

* An unused song for GLaDOS called "Don't Say Goodbye". It shows a side of [=GLaDOS=] that deeply cares for the one she's singing for (i.e. Chell) and is sad that she's leaving.

* No love for the death of the faithful [[spoiler:CompanionCube]]?
** The worst part? In ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] says the companion cubes are ''sentient.'' This is right after she vaporizes two or three cubes in a single test chamber.]]
** In Test Chamber 7 of the sequel, you run into another Companion Cube. At the end of the chamber, [=GLaDOS=] tells you that while the Emancipation Grill would normally eliminate anything you try to take with you, this one is broken, so don't take anything. So you go to get it back, take it down to the elevator and...

** In the sequel its revealed early on that [=GLaDOS=] spent the time since the first game being forced to relive Chell killing her over and over. And that's not even counting the crap she goes through later. Combined with the fact that Valve went out of their way to make her more sympathetic as the game goes on... [[spoiler:Fortunately, she gets a relatively happy ending.]]
* Finding out that [[spoiler:Chell gets dragged back into the lab again]] was depressing enough, but hearing that in ''Portal 2'' she wakes up ''centuries in the future'', Jesus, there is literally nothing left for her outside. The world outside the lab is a completely different place by now, and she can't even have the TragicDream of going back to a normal life anymore. She doesn't have anything worth fighting for anymore besides her own life.
** It doesn't help that the Earth is already ravaged by the Combine during ''Half-Life 2''. Who knows what horrors are waiting for her on the surface?
** Not only that, but as revealed in the comic, [[spoiler:Doug Rattmann attempted to save Chell from getting dragged back into the labs, ignoring his spirit Companion Cube telling him to run, insisting that he had to try to save her. Seeing that the Party Escort Bot had put her in an offline cryo-stasis chamber, Chell would have died if it hadn't been for Doug activating the chamber, even though he knew that he couldn't set an automatic wake-up time. Without the intervention of Wheatley, she would ''never'' have woken up.]] TearJerker for Doug and Chell indeed.

** Even after Chell gets out of Aperture Science and she's totally in freedom with her Companion Cube, remember something, in the start of the game, you woke up to do your physical exam, just 2 months after Chell killed [=GLaDOS=] (The announcer said 50 days), and when you go back to sleep, you find out that Chell was "asleep" (Well, she maybe sleeped in a cryo-genic chamber) for 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 years if you count the nines the announcer said, if you give those nines to google it will spit out 2.73791e56, the calculator will give you 3.129488844409788e24, put the number back and it will give you 778684960148.6571, those are the years that Chell had been sleeping for. [[spoiler:You know what it means, right? She's like the last human on earth, maybe, after [=GLaDOS=] killed the humans that were left on the old Aperture, and remember too that ''Portal'' is in the ''Half-Life'' universe, Gordon Freeman may be dead, Alyx, Kleiner, Everyone, dead. Or they just maybe succeeded and saved the human race and their civilization, and everything that Chell knew tons of ages ago, will have nothing to do with the present. And maybe there will be some humans left, but she is isolated, and she's maybe going to die alone, helpless, with nothing but a Companion Cube, she will have it hard trying to find food, a comforting bed, and maybe, civilization out of that field.]]
*** By that time, the Sun would have reached the end of its main sequence lifespan, swelled up, swallowed Earth and exploded its outer layers, leaving a white dwarf behind. Chell and [=GLaDOS=] would both have died in their sleep, meaning that the announcer's audio could have just been broken and repeating itself.

** [[spoiler:Perhaps epitomized by his scream in the middle of his "when life gives you lemons" rant. Creator/JKSimmons puts a lifetime of failure, despair, and impotent rage into the words "'''''DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!'''''"]]
** The real moment is just at the end of his final message. [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=]' usual monotone voice sounds less robotic and more ''emotionally drained'' here.]]

*** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlFRkP6C8Ps This]] video probably sums Cave Johnson and Caroline's story perfectly. Expect to shed tears.
*** "Haec omnia transeunt" [[spoiler:All things pass away]]
** [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments It's implied in the Co-op mode, however, that]] [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] eventually got to link herself with the old facility's power grid, which means that she, along with her new batch of test subjects, hasn't seen and heard the last of Cave Johnson]].
** His undeniably awesome combustible lemon rant is quite sad when visualizing what he must have looked like when recorded it. [[spoiler:A near penniless man overlooking his empire as it stands on its last legs while slowly dying a painful death, hunched over a tape deck after he just downed another round of pain pills, screaming his frustration at life while tears stream down his face, most likely breaking down into sobbing after the tape stops recording. Even sadder is that his misery is almost entirely his fault to begin with, and his screaming rant is likely an attempt to deflect his own personal responsibility.]]

* [[spoiler:Wheatley floating through space]] in TheStinger of ''Portal 2''. Especially because [[spoiler:he's genuinely sorry for what he did, but in all likelihood, he'll never be able to make it up to Chell]].
** Even moreso when you remember that [[spoiler:he honestly couldn't control himself when he was attached to the body. The fact that he remembers it means he knows he did it, and he probably didn't want to hurt Chell at all.]]
*** The fact that Chell's arms extend in an attempt to reach [[spoiler:him as he's sucked into space (and even linger and go limp after he's gone) means that Chell probably knew this and tried to save him. If this was a TearJerker for you, just imagine how she felt, knowing she's doomed the only being who has been nice to her in a really long time to a horrible existence floating through space forever.]]

** For a bit of horror mixed in, remember that this IS the ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' universe, and there are very likely to be mind-breakingly horrible things [[spoiler:in space.]]
* At the end of ''Portal 2'', [[spoiler:when [=GLaDOS=] says she's letting Chell go and deleting Caroline. She could've killed Chell and deleted Caroline easily while you were knocked out, but she didn't. It's implied by her actions and "Want You Gone" that she lied about deleting Caroline to intimidate Chell into never coming back, probably because [=GLaDOS=] is worried she'll go insane again.]]
** In typical [=GLaDOS=] fashion, she contradicts herself repeatedly in the ending song, first admitting again that you were her "only friend", then denying that she was talking to you, then erasing the words [[spoiler:"Maybe I'll stop feeling so bad"]] from the screen even though she still sings them. You're watching her struggle with complex and conflicting emotions towards someone who's become so important to her, first as an enemy and then as an ally and then as a friend, and she is struggling with it even as she desperately pushes you away and denies that "She needs anyone".
** What's more, in another tear-jerking occasion at the end and also possibly a contradiction, [[spoiler:the turrets singing the "Cara Mia" opera at the end. Translated, the lyrics are a final farewell to Chell as she ascends to the surface, possibly organized by the Caroline part of [=GLaDOS=].]] Personally, it was perhaps the most emotionally affecting part of the whole ending ([[spoiler:and not because of the beautiful soprano]]).
** Of course, as she herself states [[spoiler:"Killing you hasn't worked out all that well in the past."]]
*** This is after she admits that you weren't her greatest enemy, but her best friend. The ensuing MoodWhiplash is what makes it so sad.
** Note too that a few scenes before, [=GLaDOS=] mentions [[spoiler:that she's hearing a conscience and it's her own voice. Where as before, she may have been conflicted between a handful of negative emotions, now [=GLaDOS=] has to deal with more positive ones that outright contradict everything else she's thinking. In short, she now has a Wheatley she can't ever get rid of and one that's much more powerful than the actual Wheatley.]]
* Right before the above example, when [[spoiler:Chell wakes up after the complete and utter Lunacy]]:
-->'''[=GLaDOS=]''': (genuinely) [[spoiler:Oh, thank God! You're all right!]]

* In regards to whether [=GLaDOS=] [[spoiler:deleted Caroline]] or not, WordOfGod confirms [[spoiler:[[http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/04/26/erik-wolpaw-on-portal-2s-ending-the-spoiler-is-probably-lurking-out-there-somewhere/ she did]].]] Except for ''[[FlipFlopOfGod now]]'' WordOfGod says that [[spoiler:[[http://www.fastcompany.com/1750003/portal-2-valve-eric-wolpaw-jeep-barnett-doug-lombardi she only ''might'' have deleted Caroline.]]]] Oh Valve and your ability to change your mind that leaves things up for speculation! [[spoiler:So Caroline might not be deleted after all!]]
* And just to twist in the knife, here's the translation of [[spoiler:lyrics to the opera the turrets sing to you as you leave:]]
-->[[spoiler:Dear beautiful, my beautiful darling]]\\
[[spoiler:My child, oh Chell [pun: "oh heavens"] ]]\\
[[spoiler:For I hold her in esteem]]\\
[[spoiler:For I hold her in esteem]]\\
[[spoiler:Farewell to my dear!]]\\
\\
[[spoiler:My dear girl,]]\\
[[spoiler:why do you not walk away]]\\
[[spoiler:Yes, far away from science]]\\
[[spoiler:My dear, my dear girl]]\\
[[spoiler:Ah, my beautiful]]\\
[[spoiler:Ah, my dear]]\\
[[spoiler:Ah, my dear]]\\
[[spoiler:Ah, my child]]\\
[[spoiler:Oh dear, my dear]]
** "Cara Mia" is at the top of this list for some players, as the translation shows it's essentially [[spoiler:an aria sung by a mother saying goodbye to her child]]. Take that with some of the LukeIAmYourFather theories and it becomes downright heartbreaking: [[spoiler:if you think of [=GlaDOS=] as Chell's mother (or something that ''[[BodyHorror used to be]]'' her,) then the song is basically [=GlaDOS=] announcing to Chell that she loves her and she's sending her away to protect her. "Stay away from science..."]]
** Some of her words in Want You Gone have an interesting twist when you think she loves Chell:
--->One day they woke me up, So I could live forever, It’s such a shame the same will never happen to you. ([=GLaDOS=] is genuinely sad she will outlive Chell?)
--->You’ve got your short, sad life left, that’s what I’m counting on, I’ll let you get right to it... ([=GLaDOS=] is saying that life is short, enjoy it now and forget about everything that's happened?)
--->Go make some new disaster, That’s what I’m counting on, You’re someone else’s problem... ([=GLaDOS=] wants Chell to ruin someone else's plans? Considering this is set in the ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' universe)
* [[http://rain.nxe7.com/ Fan content, but beautiful.]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v6RFiI7_xU This]] fan video, which uses the same song and looks a bit reminiscent of ''WesternAnimation/WallE'''s ending credits at times. If you didn't pity Chell before, this will do the trick.
* Playing Chapter 9 right after 5 is absolutely heartwrenching. Watching what was basically your best friend go mad as the rush of power reinforces every negative emotion, then having to take down said friend while he raises some concertingly good points (You DID drop him and you DID fail to mention [=GLaDOS=] would be rather pissed if she ever woke up) is an emotional [[PlayerPunch sucker punch]].
** [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Wheatley's]] VillainousBreakdown during the final boss fight. His speech is less like an villain's evil gloating and more like the ranting of a heartbroken child who doesn't understand why everyone has turned against him, or maybe that of a scorned lover who hates you for choosing someone else. As he starts to lose it more and more, he accuses you of taking advantage of him all along as a means to escape, then abandoning him when he needed you most so that you could run off with your "best friend over there." He even brings up the fact that you didn't catch him when he dislodged from his management rail, which he honestly believed would have killed him, and hysterically accuses you of missing on purpose because you wanted to get rid of him. (This is made much, much worse by the fact that even if you honest-to-god tried to catch him, [[CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption it's impossible to do so.)]] What makes it even worse is that, if one listen closely to his voice during the rant, he sounds an awful lot like he's ''crying''.

** Although still sad, some of this is tempered a bit by the fact that the only reason you 'abandoned' him was that he went insane, double-crossed you, trapped you in an elevator and punched you down an elevator shaft. Not to mention that all his ranting about how you've been manipulating, bossing and betraying him all along [[UnreliableNarrator is the exact opposite of]] [[SelfServingMemory how events actually transpired]], and that his punishment for your actual 'transgressions' towards him can at least be described as DisproportionateRetribution.
*** Granted, if you stand there long enough during the final boss fight, he starts ranting about how much he loathes you, and that everything could have been perfect if not for you. [[IronWoobie Poor Chell]].

** When picking up the Oracle Turret for the first time, she just sounds so relieved and sad and exhausted in those two words: "''[[VideoGameCaringPotential Thank you...]]''"
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKURvGuWOso I'm Different]]".
* When [=GLaDOS=] retorts [[spoiler:"What exactly is wrong with being adopted?", which speaks volumes about her ability to access some of Caroline's memories.]]
** Especially when you contrast it to one of her quotes from the first game: "[Your profile] also says you're adopted, so that's funny."
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4KLv8Iuv7E Why, Wheatley, why?]]

** You think the song's sad enough on its own, right? Well, guess what Someone made a stop-motion music video of the song with Rattmann and Chell. It makes the song go from tearjerking to outright '''depressing'''. You can watch it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUwkGFw226U here.]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9t6zGesLi0 Here's]] another music video, made specifically for a contest, with Wheatley singing it. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Well, that is until you realize that he's singing it [[spoiler:in space...]]
* Is Caroline's consciousness really stuck inside [=GLaDOS=], alone and unloved, for eternity? That's pretty heartbreaking. %% Speculation on this point does not belong here.
* [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] sounds so sad and alone when singing 'Want you Gone'. The strongest part of the song is either how she tries to retract the lines "maybe I'll stop feeling so bad", but still says them, or the part when [=GlaDOS=] says "I don't need anyone now." The way she sings it is really sad: a bit deeper, and her voice trembles as much as it's possible for a robot. It sounds as she's forcing herself to say it and/or is in the verge of crying.]]
** Either that, or [[spoiler:she's just stopped caring about anyone outside]]. Which is also pretty heartbreaking, given what it [[DespairEventHorizon implies about her]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcBVf5Nq-To PotatOS Lament]], the menu theme that plays while you're in [[spoiler:the old Aperture Science testing spheres]] is a sad piece of music on its own, but it's made even sadder due to who's singing it: [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] herself, after being usurped by Wheatley, turned into a potato, and tossed down an elevator shaft into the depths of Aperture]]. The sheer emotion in [[spoiler:her]] voice is enough to shed tears.
** Fan theories have suggested that [[spoiler:it's actually ''Caroline'' singing and not [=GLaDOS=]]]. This actually makes things worse: [[spoiler:Caroline had already gone through the procedure that would transform her into [=GLaDOS=] and went crazy, but at least she had control over the Aperture Science facility as a consolation. Now she's been stripped of even that, and thrown into the depths of Aperture Science, where (had Chell not found her) she would have laid. [[AndIMustScream Forever]] ]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgiNKEXtx7I This unused song for GLaDOS]]. It shows [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther the side of [=GLaDOS=] we never saw, but always suspected was there]]. What's it called, you ask? "Don't Say Goodbye". "[=GLaDOS=]-ified" music video version [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihYVZFl-Ck0 here]].

* At the end of the game, [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] has Chell trapped on the elevator where the turrets could have easily delivered a lethal blow. However, she lets Chell go. [=GLaDOS=] is demonstrating how sincere her last words to Chell were and possibly even suggesting that she could've killed her at any moment but just chose not to; be it out of caring or curiosity.]]
** One of the things she says after [[spoiler: supposedly deleting Caroline]] is [[AC: "Killing you? Is hard."]] She has Chell [[spoiler: trapped in a situation with no escape, faced with four turrets, killing her would be extremely easy... Yet [=GLaDOS=] just sings her a song.]] Killing Chell isn't hard for her ''physically'', but '''''emotionally'''''.
** The sequel song (or AnswerSong) by [=GlaDOS=] "You Wouldn't Know" has her telling Chell that she's [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial perfectly happy not having her around anymore]], but she ''should'' come back because, hey! Batman's here! And there's cake! FOR REAL. (The video also has Master Chief, Samus and Snake there, too.) Basically, [=GlaDOS=] is lonely (despite making P-Body and Atlas) and really wants her to come back (while admitting she knows why Chell is staying far, far away from her.)

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v6RFiI7_xU&playnext=1&list=PL498F06D99B95BFB3 This]] fan video, which uses the same song and looks a bit reminiscent of ''WesternAnimation/WallE'''s ending credits at times. If you didn't pity Chell before, this will do the trick.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9t6zGesLi0&feature=related Here's]] another music video, made specifically for a contest, with Wheatley singing it. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Well, that is until you realize that he's singing it [[spoiler:in space...]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgiNKEXtx7I This unused song for GLaDOS]]. It shows [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther the side of [=GLaDOS=] we never saw, but always suspected was there]]. What's it called, you ask? "Don't Say Goodbye".