History TearJerker / TheAvengers2012

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_avengers_tearjerker.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I guess he never did get you to sign them."'']]

** Gets even worse when you remember [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Cap's HeroicSacrifice. He went down protecting New York City from the devastation of a bunch of massive bombs... and he had his girlfriend's picture on the dashboard on the entire descent to comfort himself in his last moments. Tony has Pepper's picture up on his heads-up display during the entirety of what seems to be his last flight. It's a heartwarming testament to Tony's devotion to Pepper ''and'' a NotSoDifferent moment between him and Steve, all at the same time.]]

* Tony's HeroicSacrifice. He's flying the nuke into the wormhole, calls Pepper, there is a long moment as the phone rings and Pepper doesn't pick up, the line goes dead, the suit goes dead, Tony closes his eyes and lets himself fall, all while tear-jerking music plays. He doesn't die, but ''still''. [[spoiler: [[Film/AvengersEndgame Not yet]].]]

* The deleted scene (which would have been his introduction) where Steve is wandering around present day: seeing old film of him and his men together, looking at the files of his men ("Status: DECEASED") and Peggy (which says "Status: RETIRED") and wondering if he should call her, doodling in a cafe, and then just sitting on a train on his way to the gym. Through this whole montage, he's alone. Aside from Creator/StanLee saying to Cap to ask the number of the waitress in the cafe, it's mostly depressing. And apparently Whedon wrote him reuniting with Peggy as well. Which would be equally depressing. This was written into ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. It ''was'' depressing, but [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments heartwarming]] simultaneously.

* Tony's HeroicSacrifice. He's flying the nuke into the wormhole, calls Pepper, there is a long moment as the phone rings and Pepper doesn't pick up, the line goes dead, the suit goes dead, Tony closes his eyes and lets himself fall, all while tear-jerking music plays. He doesn't die, but ''still''.

[[caption-width-right:350: "I guess he never did get you to sign them."]]

* Tony's snarky dig about Captain America ("That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Maybe they should have kept him on ice.") becomes a tear jerker if you recall what he says about his father in ''[[Film/IronMan Iron Man 2]]'' -- "He never told me he loved me, didn't even tell me that he liked me." Along with their vastly different personalities, it also goes a ''long'' way towards explaining Tony's initial attitude towards Cap.

** It's very easy to miss the first time, but if you look very carefully, Tony's arc reactor is very clearly ''not'' shining its blue-glow through his Black Sabbath shirt throughout that ''entire'' scene. Even though [[MenDontCry Tony Stark may not shed tears even for the death of his friends]], his heart is quite visibly and literally broken. (Once again, the arc reactor is [[Film/IronMan "proof that Tony Stark has a heart."]])

*** He actually ''has'' lost soldiers; in the beginning of ''[[Film/IronMan Iron Man]]'', every single one of the soldiers in the "Fun-Vee" died in front of him.

* The death of Phil Coulson. We just spent four movies getting to know him as the hypercompetent, stoic Man in Black and he even gets fleshed out somewhat in the movie, only to be summarily stabbed by Loki. His final line to his boss is an apology for dying and telling Nick that "[the team] needed something to....*dead*". That being said it's also a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for him, as he delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Loki and then blasts him with a BFG.

** In the same scene, when Bruce [[RageBreakingPoint abruptly screams angrily at Natasha]], her reaction of quick-drawing a hidden gun is initially funny when you realize that Bruce was [[{{troll}} just messing with her]] to [[HiddenTestOfCharacter see how she'd react]]. The camera lingers on her face after this and you can see she's [[NotSoStoic on the verge of bursting into tears]]. She is, without a doubt, ''terrified'' of [[PersonOfMassDestruction The Hulk]].

** According to the DVD commentary, that was a bit of improv by Mark Ruffalo that Joss Whedon decided to [[ThrowItIn throw in]] specifically because he thought it would be one of these. He was right.

** Let's remember that in Iron Man 2, he was dying and didn't get a chance to tell her then, either.

*** Also the way the heroes react to Fury announcing over the comms Phil's death. Natasha is clearly distraught but Tony and Steve look broken. It becomes particularly heartbreaking when you remember that as soon as they got their respective abilities they each failed to prevent the deaths of the people who helped give them their abilities. In Tony's case, Yinsen and in Steve's case, Erskine. It's more than possible that both of them are replaying their failures to save those men in their heads especially given how close they had gotten to Phil.

*** Also the way the heroes react to Fury announcing over the comms Phil's death. Natasha is clearly distraught but Tony and Steve look broken. It becomes particularly heartbreaking when you remember that as soon as they got their respective abilities they each failed to prevent the deaths of the people who helped give them their abilities. In Tony's case Yinsen and in Steve's case Erskine. It's more than possible that both of them are replaying their failures to save those men in their heads especially given how close they had gotten to Phil.

* Steve's first appearance, where he's working the heavy bag at an old, empty gym. He starts having flashbacks about the war, the Howling Commandos, and his last words to Peggy Carter, and his blows grow more vicious and more rapid, until he literally knocks the bag off the chain.... And then we see that Steve has had multiple heavy bags prepared. This has been going on for some time, and Steve has come to expect it.

** Right before he finishes transforming, the helpless look he gives Natasha, a look that says "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry...."

** It's very easy to miss the first time, but if you look very carefully, Tony's Arc reactor is very clearly ''not'' shining its blue-glow through his Black Sabbath shirt throughout that ''entire'' scene. Even though [[MenDontCry Tony Stark may not shed tears even for the death of his friends]], his heart is quite visibly and literally broken. (Once again, the Arc reactor is [[Film/IronMan "proof that Tony Stark has a heart."]])

*** The really heartwrenching part is that when Steve asks Tony if he had ever "lost a soldier." Tony's above reaction is as powerful as it is because while he hadn't lost a "soldier" he did lose someone close to him: Yinsen. And his angry admonition of Coulson that he "should have waited" can apply just as much to Yinsen's death. Tony is blaming himself once again for the death of someone he cared about.
*** He actually ''has'' lost soldiers; in the beginning of [[Film/IronMan Iron Man]], every single one of the soldiers in the "Fun-Vee" died in front of him.

*** Also the way the heroes react to Fury announcing over the comms Phil�s death. Natasha is clearly distraught but Tony and Steve look broken. It becomes particularly heartbreaking when you remember that as soon as they got their respective abilities they each failed to prevent the deaths of the people who helped give them their abilities. In Tony�s case Yinsen and in Steve�s case Erskine. It�s more than possible that both of them are replaying their failures to save those men in their heads especially given how close they had gotten to Phil.

*** Also Tony's reaction. It's clear he's holding back tears as he [[HowDareYouDieOnMe angrily states that Coulson was stupid for trying to take on Loki alone. For all his teasing and snarking at Coulson, it's clear he was fond of him and even [[AndThisIsFor invokes his name when fighting against Loki]].]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_avengers_tearjerker.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: "I guess he never did get you to sign them."]]

* The deleted scene (which would have been his introduction) where Steve is wandering around present day: seeing old film of him and his men together, looking at the files of his men ("Status: DECEASED") and Peggy (which says "Status: RETIRED") and wondering if he should call her, doodling in a cafe, and then just sitting on a train on his way to the gym. Through this whole montage, he's alone. Aside from [[spoiler:Creator/StanLee saying to Cap to ask the number of the waitress in the cafe]], it's mostly depressing. And apparently Whedon wrote him reuniting with Peggy as well. Which would be equally depressing. This was written into ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. It ''was'' depressing, but [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments heartwarming]] simultaneously.

** What makes it worse is that you can see Loki's eyes get unusually wet when he asks Thor whether or not he was mourned. [[spoiler:And when he stabs Thor in the stomach in the climax, even smiling away, a tear escapes his eye.]] Perhaps there is some part of him that regrets what has happened...?
** There ''are'' hints of this. Before [[spoiler:he stabs Thor in the climax and continues]], when Thor tries to persuade him to help him stop it, Loki answers that it is too late now to be stopped, and the desperation in his voice when he says this sounds pretty genuine. And throughout the movie, there are repeatedly small moments where he doesn't look happy about what he's doing.

*** [[spoiler:This is even HarsherInHindsight when [[Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron the sequel]] comes out and we learn what was done to Black Widow in the process of making her an assassin...]]

* Natasha's dismissive retort to Loki that "love is for children" takes on TearJerker elements if you've seen ''Age of Ultron'', and know that [[spoiler:she can't have kids. She's not really poo-pooing the idea of love ''per se''; rather, some part of her may equate love with becoming a mother, and believe that her sterility means she'll never have ''any'' love since she can't have that kind.]]

* Loki tricks Thor into the holding cell and deliberately drops him down thousands of feet to Earth, while telling him that this experiment will test whether or not Asgardians are immortal. Thor doesn't try to reason with Loki. Thor actually doesn't do anything but stare at Loki, who is coldly and casually about to try to kill him -- yet again. He simply blinks back tears. [[spoiler:And once he lands on Earth, he takes a long moment and just clenches his fists.]] Just... ow.
** It's more poignant when you realize he's trying to call to Mjölnir, which isn't responding. Hearken back to the Thor film where Odin casts a spell on the hammer that it can only be lifted (or recognize Thor as its master) by one who is worthy. Thor, clearly conflicted about his brother, has clearly lost his sense of purpose.

** About the above comment, it's not that Mjölnir ''wouldn't'' come to him. It's that he couldn't ''focus'' on calling it to him. He was so distracted by his grief over [[spoiler:Coulson's]] death, and being helpless to stop it that he had shut down for a moment. Also, Thor truly considers himself a hero... but after [[spoiler:Coulson's]] death, he feels like he ''failed'', and thus he isn't ''worthy'' of holding Mjölnir. Alternatively, Thor hesitates because he is ''afraid to try'' summoning the hammer, for fear its lack of response would ''confirm'' the self-doubts he's feeling in the wake of his failure.
* [[spoiler:The death of Phil Coulson. We just spent four movies getting to know him as the hypercompetent, stoic Man in Black and he even gets fleshed out somewhat in the movie, only to be summarily stabbed by Loki. His final line to his boss is an apology for dying and telling Nick that "[the team] needed something to....*dead*". That being said it's also a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for him, as he delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Loki and then blasts him with a BFG.]]
** [[spoiler:Thor's reaction to it as he was inside the cage and helpless to stop it. Especially since he was grateful to Coulson for making sure that Jane Foster was safe.]]
** [[spoiler:The trading cards. Just... the trading cards. Even if that was a ruse by Fury.]]
*** [[spoiler:Especially Captain America's expression when seeing them. You can see that he's thinking that he let a man who believed in him down in the worst way possible.]]

*** [[spoiler:Also Tony's reaction. It's clear he's holding back tears as he [[HowDareYouDieOnMe angrily states that Coulson was stupid for trying to take on Loki alone]]. For all his teasing and snarking at Coulson, it's clear he was fond of him and even [[AndThisIsFor invokes his name when fighting against Loki]].]]
---->'''Tony:''' [[spoiler:And there's one other person you pissed off. '''His name was Phil.''']]
*** [[spoiler:Tony doesn't count himself as one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. That just makes it ''worse.'']]
*** Tony looking at the blood on the wall where [[spoiler:Coulson was leaning after he was stabbed]] and then this angry, desperate line to Steve:

*** The really heartwrenching part is that when Steve asks Tony if he had ever "lost a soldier." Tony's above reaction is as powerful as it is because while he hadn't lost a "soldier" he did lose someone close to him: Yinsen. And his angry admonition of [[spoiler:Coulson]] that he "should have waited" can apply just as much to Yinsen's death. Tony is blaming himself once again for the death of someone he cared about.

*** Also the way the heroes react to Fury announcing over the comms Phil’s death. Natasha is clearly distraught but Tony and Steve look broken. It becomes particularly heartbreaking when you remember that as soon as they got their respective abilities they each failed to prevent the deaths of the people who helped give them their abilities. In Tony’s case Yinsen and in Steve’s case Erskine. It’s more than possible that both of them are replaying their failures to save those men in their heads especially given how close they had gotten to Phil.

* When [[spoiler:Natasha pulls Clint out of his BrainwashedAndCrazy state, his first question is:]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Clint:''' How many agents did I--]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Natasha:''' Don't do that to yourself, Clint.]]

* [[spoiler:Tony's HeroicSacrifice. He's flying the nuke into the wormhole, calls Pepper, there is a long moment as the phone rings and Pepper doesn't pick up, the line goes dead, the suit goes dead, Tony closes his eyes and lets himself fall, all while tear-jerking music plays. He doesn't die, but ''still''.]]
** [[spoiler:Even worse when you find out in ''Film/IronMan3'' a major plot point is that he's having severe anxiety attacks just from the ''mention'' of New York and anything that happened in this movie.]]

** [[spoiler:Oh, and the reason Pepper doesn't answer her phone? She's watching the TV report on the fight in Manhattan, unable to hear the phone, horrified and knowing Tony is somewhere in there.]]
*** [[spoiler:Give you one worse. Can you imagine what she must have been going through when she saw her one missed call?]]
** [[spoiler:Gets even worse when you remember [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Cap's]] HeroicSacrifice. He went down protecting New York City from the devastation of a bunch of massive bombs... and he had his girlfriend's picture on the dashboard on the entire descent to comfort himself in his last moments. Tony has Pepper's picture up on his heads-up display during the entirety of what seems to be his last flight. It's a heartwarming testament to Tony's devotion to Pepper ''and'' a NotSoDifferent moment between him and Steve, all at the same time.]]
*** That [[spoiler:Tony]] is visibly ''scared out of his mind''. He has at least one out -- [[spoiler:he can try to just shove the missile into the wormhole]] and hope for the best -- but he keeps going, into almost certain death, because that's what heroes do. [[MoodWhiplash And then he]] [[spoiler:takes everyone out for schwarma]] [[MoodWhiplash because that's what]] [[spoiler:Tony Stark]] [[MoodWhiplash does]].
*** There's a very brief moment right after [[spoiler:JARVIS asks if Tony would like him to call Pepper, and Tony says, "Might as well." The camera lingers on Tony for just long enough to see the stunned, blank look on his face. JARVIS knows that these are likely Tony's last moments, and Tony himself is realizing the same thing.]]
* [[spoiler:The scene where the nuke is launched at Manhattan. Hawkeye, Iron Man and Hulk are all, for various reasons, out of the fight, with a dramatic soundtrack growing bleaker with each hero's removal. We see the fighter pilot launch the missile right at Manhattan -- "detonation in two minutes, thirty seconds, mark" -- and the city to be destroyed, the portal still looming overhead. As the music reaches its crescendo, we cut to Captain America and Thor (whom we haven't seen for a while now), the last two Avengers still left fighting, desperately fending off Chitauri infantry in the streets. In that moment, the sense that they're all about to be killed by the nuke now contends with the sense that these two been left behind. Fortunately, it's only just that, a moment, as we see that Cap and Thor most certainly have each other.]]