History TearJerker / SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics

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* The [[http://archive.sonichq.net/images/scans/archie/sonic/wipeout1.jpg Knothole]] [[http://archive.sonichq.net/images/scans/archie/sonic/wipeout2.jpg Wipeout]] in Endgame: Director's Cut. Robotnik [[spoiler:apparently]] vaporizes Knothole Village and everyone in it with the Ultimate Annihilator.

* Sargent Simian's backstory, [[spoiler: in which he singlehandedly fights against Robotnik's forces during the Great War on behalf of his village. By the time that the villagers are confident enough to commit themselves to war against Robotnik, Sargent Simian abandons them, saying that they don't deserve him.]] Lightning Lynx's definitely qualifies too, as well as Predator Hawk's from the perspective of wasted potential.

* Issue 225. [[spoiler:Eggman attacks Sally with a gun turret that goes off three times. Sonic turns to the scene and gives a look of pure horror and despair. The last image of the issue is a closeup of Sally's shattered goggles...]]
** The end of [[WhamEpisode Issue 230]]. [[spoiler: Following the events of the above example, Sonic resets time by ten seconds, enough to save Sally from the turret. However, Eggman has an ace up his sleeve... a [[ApocalypseHow World]] [[UnwillingRoboticization Roboticizer]], poised and ready to fire. Sally goes down into the workings of the Death Egg II to try to stop it, but the only way to do so in time is to [[HeroicSacrifice invert the beam on her exact location.]] Sally orders Nicole to do so without hesitation, uploads a final message, and says a teary "Goodbye" as she presses the button. There is a massive explosion. Sonic and Eggman pull themselves out of the rubble, with Sonic gloating that they've won again... and then a metal fist punches through the debris behind them. Sonic's expression changes to one of absolute horror, and Eggman starts to laugh as [[FaceMonsterTurn Mecha Sally]] emerges again, intoning "Hedgehog, priority one." End of issue. Ben Bates' drawing sells the mood throughout, but Sonic's face at the end is just ''heartbreaking.'']]

* A subtle one: [[spoiler:After Ixis Naugus was made King, he ordered that Nicole be exiled from New Mobotropolis. While the council, including Rosemary Prower (Tails' mother), didn't want to do it, they didn't have much choice; the public outcry was too much to argue with. When Sonic and the others found out, Tails couldn't bring himself to call Rosemary "mom". In a later issue, Tails spots Elias under dubious circumstances (he's about to secretly return to the city to covertly fight Naugus), with the latter asking Tails to trust him, even though he may ''never'' be able to say what he's doing. Elias has no authority over him and could be doing something dangerous for all he knows, but Tails agrees and hasn't said anything about it to anyone since. To think that Tails has lost ''that'' much faith in his own mother is just heartbreaking.]]
* Issue 234 has to be the ''biggest'' emotional gut punch in pre-Super Genesis Wave. [[spoiler:Mecha Sally is ordered to kill Elias, her own ''brother'', as he evacuates New Mobotropolis with his wife and child. Thankfully, her ambush is intercepted by the Freedom Fighters, and Elias escapes... but the attack is so devastating, it knocks Antoine into a ''coma''. Sonic ends up reflecting on how badly he treated Antoine over the years, while Tails, Amy, and ''Bunnie'' are bawling their eyes out. Bunnie outright ''refuses'' to let Antoine out of her arms, until Sonic tells her he can get him to Dr. Quack and recover him to full health. What's worse is that, until the Super Genesis Wave, Antoine ''never'' awakens from his coma, and Bunnie ends up [[FaceHeelTurn defecting to the Dark Egg Legion]] to be with her uncle Beauregard. The final panel shows Antoine's wedding hand going limp, accompanied with this quote that concludes his story arc for good.]]
-->No matter what challenge we meet tomorrow, or any other day, [[ItHasBeenAnHonor it will always be an honor to serve alongside my friends for the greater good]].
--->[=-=][=-=][[spoiler:Antoine]]
* It doesn't stop there. An issue later, [[spoiler: everyone is affected by Antoine's coma. Amy and Tails are barely holding it together, and Bunnie leaves for a way to become more useful. Sonic ''loses it'' when Silver comes back, believing that Antoine, and later Bunnie, would be the traitor that dooms his future. Sonic later, tearfully, believes that the Freedom Fighters (as he knows it) are done. Though not for long...]]
** Meanwhile, [[spoiler:Naugus and the Council finalize NICOLE's exile, isolating her to Freedom HQ. A frustrated Rotor quits the Council out of protest]].

* After Sonic returns from [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]] he [[spoiler:winds up on a version of Mobius he hardly recognizes. He's also not on the Death Egg anymore, meaning all of that hard work to try and rescue Sally was in vain]].
** One for Geoffrey St. John as well, since he just wanted to make his home strong and prosperous and honor his family. [[spoiler: Restoring Naugus was pointless because -despite having a Chaos Emerald- Naugus was powerless to protect even himself from any enemies or heal the sickness that the first Genesis Wave gave him in the old timeline. Additionally, this made New Mobotropolis vulnerable to both the Tails Doll and Naugus' magic. There's also the fact stealing the Chaos Emerald to begin with led to Sally's roboticization (and Silver's disaster as a result) by dividing the Freedom Fighters to where only Sonic and Sally could get in the Death Egg, and possibly the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide crossover]] which dragged Mega Man and Blaze's world into the crossfire. As of 252, Naugus was stripped of his powers by the first Genesis Wave in the new timeline, further sealing the fact that after all his work Geoffrey's failure spans ''three'' universes and ''two'' histories. And now that we've learned the full effects of Eggman interfering with Sonic's Chaos Control in 251, see below, Geoffrey has played a role in multi-versal ''genocide''. Not even ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' takes its failure theme that far.]]

* Issue 256. [[spoiler:The entire multiverse collapsed on itself, with Mobius Prime and Blaze's world being the only confirmed survivors. And ''then'' Mobius breaks apart]].

* Although the Black Arms are a genocidal hive-mind bent on consuming other worlds' resources, it's still pretty hard not to feel sorry for [[spoiler: Eclipse the Darkling, who is devastated that Black Death and all of the other known Black Arms are dead. It's not made any easier that in his final moments aboard the New Black Comet, he is forcibly dragged into an escape craft on orders of Black Death, kicking and screaming and begging his master to give him a chance to help him the entire way.]]

* The crap that poor [[TheWoobie Coral the Betta]] gets put through in her introduction. Her duties as a priestess are already putting her through some stress; [[spoiler: Aquarius, the sacred Chao of Merpolis, mysteriously doesn't reincarnate on time]], naturally causing her to suffer a freak-out. Captain Striker and his soldiers arrive seconds later; he chews her out for allowing "trespassers" onto sacred ground, and when he finds out about [[spoiler: Aquarius's failure to reincarnate]], decides to drag her to the King and Queen along with the others. [[TheNapoleon King Puff]] and [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Angelica]] continue to chew her out for her "incompetence", mock Sonic and Amy when they try to explain what's happening to the world, and eventually ''strip Coral of her title for something that wasn't even her goddamn fault'', heaping on the emotional abuse as she's led out. And when the shield around Meropis fails in part because of the grief that Coral is in and Dark Gaia demons close in and start attacking people, Captain Striker's comment implies that ''they still expected her to perform important rites even when she can no longer legally do so''. [[spoiler: Thankfully, Aquarius was not only fine, but re-hatched as an immortal Chaos Chao; Coral's, Aquarius's, and Tikal's combined efforts are enough to save the city, and Coral is formally forgiven. Everything up to that point is still pretty brutal, though.]]
* "Spark of Life" introduces Dr. Ellidy, an aged lynx whose field is in programming; we learn early on that he created Nicole. Why did he create Nicole? [[spoiler: Because his very young daughter had some sort of terminal illness and he was trying to save her life via digitization. Not only did Nikki die anyway, Nicole didn't even display the vaguest hint of sentience before he handed her over to Sally. This despair and frustration is reflected in the way he treats present-day Nicole.]]

* Sonic's apparent HeroicBSOD [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/6/62/CryFreedompage3.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20131031064906 in the opening of Issue 236]]. To see him look so defeated and ''done'' with everything after all the crap that's gone down is just awful, and for a moment it genuinely looks like he's all but ready to throw in the towel.

* So, Sonic's saved the world from Robotnik's atomic arsenal, and there's a big-ass homecoming party in his honour... [[YankTheDogsChain then Sally dumps him.]] [[KickTheDog And they were engaged.]]
** You can even ''see'' Sonic in the background of the final page [[InelegantBlubbering with the faucets on full force.]] This is someone who built his reputation on fighting for freedom, witty and optimistic wisecracks, and, to quote [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 THAT game]], kicking ass fast and putting on a show, breaking the hell down because the girl he loved dumped him called off their wedding. Looks like water isn't Sonic's only AchillesHeel.

* For all of the resentment from fans towards Tommy Turtle, it's hard not to feel bad when he threw himself towards Eggman's missle barrage to rid Mobius of ADAM, who poseesed him while using the Chaos Emeralds. Considering he was depicted as one of Sonic's oldest friends, he is sullen with the aftermath as shown above.

!!Meta
* In July 2017, after 6 months of a hiatus and 24 years of publishing, the comic was '''''[[https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/887809496898088960 officially canceled]]'''''.
** Notably, part of this cancellation may well have related to the ongoing legal troubles that saw over half the cast excised in one go, SEGA effectively felt it was no longer a viable series, not helped by SEGA itself forcing several heavy restrictions on the publishers.
** What makes it worse, is how unceremonious it all is. 24 years of publication, 290 issues, not counting the numerous mini series, spinoff ongoings, specials, etc., and not only does the book get absolutely no closure, no final issue, no celebration of the ride, no epic final battle between Sonic and Eggman familiar to the one in issue 50, but the last issue was just a WholeEpisodeFlashback to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' in part 3 of a 4-part flashback retelling of classic ''Sonic'' games, with the final part ready to go for colors and lettering. Even ''Comicbook/SonicTheComic'' had an epic final arc with the Freedom Fighters fighting Chaos, Super Sonic, and the death of one of the Freedom Fighters, and ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'' spent its final issue with an ode to all the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' stories it never got the chance to adapt upon cancellation.
** What makes this even worse is that the following three issues had covers made up and at least scripts done, with one of the artists, Tracy Yardley, auctioning off the unfinished pages for Issue 291 and 292 for charity. If they'd been given just a couple more months, they ''could'' have made that coda. Oh yes, and it happened on July 19, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking which also happens]] to [[ContrivedCoincidence be her]] [[IronicBirthday birthday]].
** Gets worse when you realize that there's an entire generation of Sonic fans born in the 90s who had grown up with the Freedom Fighters. Seeing them go is like saying goodbye to part of your childhood. Even sadder when you realize that by the end of its run, the comic was pretty much the [[LastOfItsKind lone remaining remnant]] of the days when ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' was considered a major part of the franchise by Sega. With the series cancellation, even ''that'' is gone.
** And on top of that, while they weren't planning it anyways, those who were hoping Ian might change his mind and decide to bring back his characters in the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW series]] had their hopes dashed when the team themselves found out even if they wanted to, due to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers legal issues]], likely similar ones to the issues that ''caused'' all this trouble in the first place, they can't bring back ''any'' Archie Sonic characters, ''not even the ones Ian himself created''.

** Notably, part of this cancellation may well have related to the ongoing legal troubles that saw over half the cast excised in one go. SEGA effectively felt it was no longer a viable series.
** What makes it worse, is how unceremonious it all is. 24 years of publication, 290 issues, not counting the numerous mini series, spinoff ongoings, specials, etc., and not only does the book get absolutely no closure, no final issue, no celebration of the ride, no epic final battle between Sonic and Eggman familiar to the one in issue 50, but the last issue was just a WholeEpisodeFlashback to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' in part 3 of a 4-part flashback retelling of classic ''Sonic'' games. Even ''Comicbook/SonicTheComic'' had an epic final arc with the Freedom Fighters fighting Chaos, Super Sonic, and the death of one of the Freedom Fighters. Even ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'' spent its final issue with an ode to all the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' stories it never got the chance to adapt upon cancellation.
** And even worse that it happened on July 19, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking which also happens]] to [[ContrivedCoincidence be one of the artists]], Tracy Yardley's [[IronicBirthday birthday]].

** And on top of that, while they weren't planning it anyways, those who were hoping Ian might change his mind and decide to bring back his characters in the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW series]] had their hopes dashed when the team themselves found out even if they wanted to, due to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers legal issues]], likely involving Archie still holding some rights to this series, they can't bring back ''any'' Archie Sonic characters, ''not even the ones Ian himself created''.

-->No matter what challenge we meet tomorrow, or any other day, it will always be an honor to serve alongside my friends for the greater good.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6e601db0_bfab_4e85_ab1b_950c4e544a24.jpeg]]

[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/when_the_comics_became_memorable.png]]
[[caption-width-right:210:[[ShooOutTheNewGuy We just met this person 18 issues in, and she's already dying.]]]]

** What makes it worse, is how unceremonious it all is. 24 years of publication, 290 issues, not counting the numerous mini series, spinoff ongoings, specials, etc., and not only does the book get absolutely no closure, no final issue, no celebration of the ride, no epic final battle between Sonic and Eggman familiar to the one in issue 50, but the last issue was just a WholeEpisodeFlashback to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' in part 3 of a 4-part flashback retelling of classic ''Sonic'' games. Even ''Comicbook/SonicTheComic'' had an epic final arc with the Freedom Fighters fighting Chaos, Super Sonic, and the death of Johnny Lightfoot one of the Freedom Fighters. Even ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'' spent its final issue with an ode to all the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' stories it never got the chance to adapt upon cancellation.

** What makes it worse, is how unceremonious it all is. 24 years of publication, 290 issues, not counting the numerous mini series, spinoff ongoings, specials, etc., and not only does the book get absolutely no closure, no final issue, no celebration of the ride, no epic final battle between Sonic and Eggman familiar to the one in issue 50, but the last issue was part 3 of a 4 part story. Even the ''Mega Man'' book went out with more dignity than that. Even Fleetway's Comicbook/SonicTheComic had an epic final arc with the Freedom Fighters fighting Chaos, Super Sonic, and the death of Johnny Lightfoot one of the Freedom Fighters.

** Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Naugus and the Council finalize NICOLE's exile, isolating her to Freedom HQ. A frustrated Robot quits the Council out of protest.]]

There is a bit of sweetness though as her boyfriend Antoine tells Bunnie he would love her no matter what she looks like or which decision she makes.

** The end of [[WhamEpisode Issue 230]]. [[spoiler: Following the events of the above example, Sonic resets time by ten seconds, enough to save Sally from the turret. However, Eggman has an ace up his sleeve... a [[ApocalypseHow World]] [[UnwillingRoboticization Roboticizer]], poised and ready to fire. Sally goes down into the workings of the Death Egg II to try to stop it, but the only way to do so in time is to [[HeroicSacrifice invert the beam on her exact location.]] Sally orders Nicole to do so without hesitation, uploads a final message, and says a teary "Goodbye" as she presses the button. There is a massive explosion. Sonic and Eggman pull themselves out of the rubble, with Sonic gloating that they've won again... and then a metal fist punches through the debris behind them. Sonic's expression changes to one of absolute horror, and Eggman starts to laugh as [[FaceMonsterTurn Mecha Sally]] emerges, intoning "Hedgehog, priority one." End of issue. Ben Bates' drawing sells the mood throughout, but Sonic's face at the end is just ''heartbreaking.'']]

** Sally had it arguably ''worse''. When she takes NICOLE, she relives everything she did as Mecha Sally and falls into a HeroicBSOD.

** The rest of the wolf pack also suffer greatly from Lupe's roboticization. They were basically put in a position where they couldn`t fight back against their captors and [[ForcedToWatch had to watch their leader and friend turn into another robot slave to their worst enemy]].

** The rest of the wolf pack also suffer greatly from Lupe`s roboticization. They were basically put in a position where they couldn`t fight back against their captors and [[ForcedToWatch had to watch their leader and friend turn into another robot slave to their worst enemy]].

** Actually, [[CompleteMonster he deserves it. And even WORSE than that.]]

** The end of [[WhamEpisode Issue 230.]] [[spoiler: Following the events of the above example, Sonic resets time by ten seconds, enough to save Sally from the turret. However, Eggman has an ace up his sleeve... a [[ApocalypseHow World]] [[UnwillingRoboticization Roboticizer]], poised and ready to fire. Sally goes down into the workings of the Death Egg II to try to stop it, but the only way to do so in time is to [[HeroicSacrifice invert the beam on her exact location.]] Sally orders Nicole to do so without hesitation, uploads a final message, and says a teary "Goodbye" as she presses the button. There is a massive explosion. Sonic and Eggman pull themselves out of the rubble, with Sonic gloating that they've won again... and then a metal fist punches through the debris behind them. Sonic's expression changes to one of absolute horror, and Eggman starts to laugh as [[FaceMonsterTurn Mecha Sally]] emerges, intoning "Hedgehog, priority one." End of issue. Ben Bates' drawing sells the mood throughout, but Sonic's face at the end is just ''heartbreaking.'']]

* After Sonic returns from [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide Worlds Collide]] he [[spoiler:winds up on a version of Mobius he hardly recognizes. He's also not on the Death Egg anymore, meaning all of that hard work to try and rescue Sally was in vain.]]
** One for Geoffrey St. John as well, since he just wanted to make his home strong and prosperous and honor his family. [[spoiler: Restoring Naugus was pointless because -despite having a Chaos Emerald- Naugus was powerless to protect even himself from any enemies or heal the sickness that the first Genesis Wave gave him in the old timeline. Additionally, this made New Mobotropolis vulnerable to both the Tails Doll and Naugus' magic. There's also the fact stealing the Chaos Emerald to begin with led to Sally's roboticization (and Silver's disaster as a result) by dividing the Freedom Fighters to where only Sonic and Sally could get in the Death Egg, and possibly the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide crossover]] which dragged Mega Man and Blaze's world into the crossfire. As of 252 Naugus was stripped of his powers by the first Genesis Wave in the new timeline, further sealing the fact that after all his work Geoffrey's failure spans ''three'' universes and ''two'' histories. And now that we've learned the full effects of Eggman interfering with Sonic's Chaos Control in 251, see below, Geoffrey has played a role in multi-versal ''genocide''. Not even ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' takes its failure theme that far.]]

** Even Sonic's feeling it at this point. Beyond his own memory restoration, he practically recoils in pain when restoring his friend's memories and is clearly conflicted on whether or not he's acting in their best interests when he does so. When he restores Antoine's memories it sounds more like he's trying to convince ''himself'' that Antoine would've eventually recovered from Metal Sonic's attack in 234 than anything else.

** Even Sonic's feeling it at this point. Beyond his own memory restoration, he practically recoils in pain when restoring his friend's memories and is clearly conflicted on whether or not he's acting in their best interests when he does so. When he restores Antoine's memories it sounds more like he's trying to convince ''himself'' that Antoine would've eventually recovered than anything else.

[[caption-width-right:210:[[RememberTheNewGuy We just learned of this person, and we're already crying over her.]] [[GrowingTheBeard That's how you know the comics just got great.]]]]

* The comic made itself stand out from other TalkingAnimal books by way of the story in issue #18 where Sally's mentor, Julayla, passes away.