History TearJerker / TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy

--> ''Visions of it swam sickeningly through his nauseated mind. There was no way his imagination could feel the impact of the whole Earth having gone, it was too big. He prodded his feelings by thinking that his parents and sister had gone. No reaction. He thought of all the people he had been close to. No reaction. Then he thought of a complete stranger he had been standing behind in the queue at the supermarket two days before and felt a sudden stab - the super market was gone, everyone in it was gone. Nelson's Column had gone! Nelson's Column had gone and there would be no outcry, because there was no one left to make an outcry. From now on Nelson's Column only existed in his mind. England only existed in his mind - his mind, stuck here in this dank smelly steel-lined spaceship. A wave of claustrophobia closed in on him... He passed out. When he came around a second later he found he was sobbing for his mother.''

* The song "Marvin, I Love You", released by Stephen Moore in-character as Marvin, details a surprisingly touching story about Marvin discovering an old tape in his databank, recorded by some sort of A.I. who is programmed to be in love with him ("Remember, I'm programmed for you/I know we're worlds apart/Still you could break my heart"). Marvin doesn't comprehend these words or know where they came from, but he apparently keeps the tape and can play it whenever he wants.

* Poor, poor [[CosmicPlaything Agrajag.]] His entire existence is built around dying, reincarnating, and dying again, only having enough time to think; "Oh no, not again" before life is taken from him again. Every time he dies, it's at the hands of Arthur Dent, directly or indirectly (Agrajag was the bowl of petunias that Arthur conjured into existence on accident, and a rabbit that Arthur turned into a purse on prehistoric Earth). Agrajag has eventually come to consider Arthur an EldritchAbomination, and has devoted his entire existence to hunting down and killing Arthur so he can finally get his rest.

-->'''Trillian''': What ''are'' you doing?\\
'''Ford''': It's an ancient Betelgeusian death anthem.\\
'''Zaphod''': Singing it makes us feel good in times of stress.\\
[''Ford and Zaphod resume singing.'']\\
'''Arthur''': Well, if you're going to be like that about it, [''sings''] "Land of hope and glory, mother of the free..."\\
'''Trillian''': Oh, well... [''sings''] "[[Franchise/TheBeatles I read the news today, oh boy, about a lucky man-]]"\\
[''Massive explosion. Silence.'']

--->'''Trillian''': What ''are'' you doing?
--->'''Ford''': It's an ancient Betelgeusian death anthem.
--->'''Zaphod''': Singing it makes us feel good in times of stress.\\
[''Ford and Zaphod resume singing.'']
--->'''Arthur''': Well, if you're going to be like that about it, [''sings''] "Land of hope and glory, mother of the free..."
--->'''Trillian''': Oh, well... [''sings''] "[[Franchise/TheBeatles I read the news today, oh boy, about a lucky man-]]"\\

--> ''Visions of it swam sickeningly through his nauseated mind. There was no way his imagination could feel the impact of the whole Earth having gone, it was too big. He prodded his feelings by thinking that his parents and sister had gone. No reaction. He thought of all the people he had been close to. No reaction. Then he thought of a complete stranger he had been standing behind in the queue at the supermarket two days before and felt a sudden stab - the super market was gone, everyone in it was gone. Nelson's Column had gone! Nelson's column had gone and there would be no outcry, because there was no one left to make an outcry. From now on Nelson's Column only existed in his mind. England only existed in his mind - his mind, stuck here in this dank smelly steel-lined spaceship. A wave of claustrophobia closed in on him... He passed out. When he came around a second later he found he was sobbing for his mother.''

* The fate of Grunthos the Flatulent as described in the Guide. Imagine the feeling of your entire race being stereotyped as the second worst poets in the universe. In defiance of this cruel label, you publicly recite a poem of your own design. But then, after you finish reading, you look up from your book and see that the audience is starting an uproar. Four people have died, and the president of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council, the freaking PRESIDENT of the art council, was driven to gnawing off his own leg. That's how bad your poem was.
** It gets worse. In an attempt to make things right, you take your twelve-book epic, the series that probably took you years if not many months to complete. But before you can show the world the beauty of your creation, a part of YOUR OWN BODY goes against your will and kills you, your last thoughts probably being, "I'm sorry!" Dang, that's harsh.

* In the first book, there's Arthur's [[DelayedReaction (admitedly delayed)]] [[HeroicBSOD reaction]] to the Earth being destroyed. Almost crosses into {{Bathos}} territory when the thing that finally breaks him is [[spoiler:the fact that [=McDonalds=] no longer exists.]]

* At the end of the Quandary Phase when [[spoiler: Fenchurch disappears during the hyperspace jump]].
* [[spoiler: Marvin's death. He's finally happy, for the first time in his entire life (which in case you forget, is eight times older than the universe), and now he's dead. Maybe that's why he's happy.]]
** [[spoiler:And then in the radio version of ''Mostly Harmless''... he's been brought back to life because his warranty hadn't run out. And is miserable again.]]

* [[spoiler:The end of ''Mostly Harmless''. Shortly before [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The End of Every Single Earth in Any Dimension as It Has Ever Been Known]], Arthur realises what is going to happen, and has been so thoroughly broken by the events of the series that he can't bring himself to do anything, and reacts in almost exactly the same fashion as Marvin did to his death. This may even have been deliberate, as Arthur previously described Marvin as "the clearest thinker I know".]]
* Poor, poor [[CosmicPlaything Agrajag.]] His entire existence is built around dying, reincarnating, and dying again, only having enough time to think; [[spoiler: "Oh no, not again"]] before life is taken from him again. [[spoiler: Every time he dies, it's at the hands of Arthur Dent, directly or indirectly (Agrajag was the bowl of petunias that Arthur conjured into existence on accident, and a rabbit that Arthur turned into a purse on prehistoric Earth). Agrajag has eventually come to consider Arthur an EldritchAbomination, and has devoted his entire existence to hunting down and killing Arthur so he can finally get his rest.]]

* [[spoiler:The ending to the television version. Arthur and Ford, stranded in prehistoric Earth, just walk off. "What a Wonderful World" by Music/LouisArmstrong plays over the end credits. And the thanks to the series being CutShort, we never find out what happened to Zaphod and Trillian. Quite a BittersweetEnding]].

* In the first book, there's Arthur's [[DelayedReaction (admitedly delayed)]] [[HeroicBSOD reaction]] to the Earth being destroyed. Almost crosses into {{Bathos}} territory when the thing that finally breaks him is [[spoiler:the fact that McDonalds no longer exists.]]

** Just to add an extra layer, it almost seems like she's not just calling Zaphod on his own stupidity, she almost seems to be calling herself out for going along with it.

* In the first book, there's Arthur's [[DelayedReaction (admitedly delayed)]] [[HeroicBSOD reaction]] to the Earth being destroyed.

* Trillian zapping Zaphod with the Point of View Gun in the film. Watch her face during it. Followed by Zaphod's sad, apologetic, "Oh, babydoll..."

* Trillian zapping Zaphod with the Point of View Gun in the film. Watch her face during it.

* Poor, poor [[CosmicPlaything Agrajag.]] His entire existence is built around dying, reincarnating, and dying again, only having enough time to think; [[spoier: "Oh no, not again"]] before life is taken from him again. [[spoiler: Every time he dies, it's at the hands of Arthur Dent, directly or indirectly (Agrajag was the bowl of petunias that Arthur conjured into existence on accident, and a rabbit that Arthur turned into a purse on prehistoric Earth). Agrajag has eventually come to consider Arthur an EldritchAbomination, and has devoted his entire existence to hunting down and killing Arthur so he can finally get his rest.]]

* [[spoiler:And then in the radio version of ''Mostly Harmless''... he's been brought back to life because his warranty hadn't run out. And is miserable again.]]

[''Massive explosion. Silence.'']