History TearJerker / TheSagaOfDarrenShan

* Vancha and Gannen's last fight. They clearly don't want to fight to the death, but must do it because of their respective allegiances.

* Vancha and Gannen's backstory. The two used to be very close, but when Vancha became unhappy with the vampaneze's KillEmAll methods, he's forced to be separated from Gannen. When they meet again, Gannen is now working for the Vampaneze Lord.

* While it's understandable, given most of them are savage killers, the fact that Kurda refers dismissively about the vampaneze. The novels and ''Literature/TheSagaOfLartenCrepsley'' show that Kurda spend years trying to befriend the vampaneze, and the fact he betrayed the vampires was in order to force an alliance between both races so that everyone will live. If he hadn't tried to help the vampaneze, he'd be alive. And to know his suffering has led him to describe his former friends so dismissively... ouch.
* Harkat acting with disgust upon finding Kurda was his past life. For the vampires, Kurda will be remembered not for the good he did, but the monstrous mistake he made.
** Thankfully this doesn't happen in the manga and Harkat sympathizes with him instead, seeing Kurda as a WellIntentionedExtremist.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darrenshan85.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Mr. Crepsley..."]]

** This is HarsherInHindsight, because Darren was forced to kill his revenge-obsessed best friend who pushed to commit attrocities by Mr. Tiny.....just like Larten had to do at the end of ''Literature/TheSagaOfLartenCrepsley''.

* Kurda's death. He accepts his fate bravely, but his fear is palpable as he approaches the place of his impending death. The situation is tragic on several levels; the Vampire Princes don't really want to kill him, Kurda does not want to die and Darren tries to find a compromise, but fails and the guy is executed.

** [[SanitySlippage Something snaps for good inside of Darren]], giving in to rage. Seeing his friends suffering, not having Mr. Crepsley around to talk him out of this, the losses Darren has suffered, the betrayals, the sad realization that Steve can't be redeemed, all this leads to this moment. He decides to kill Darius to get back at Steve, not caring that the boy was an UnwittingPawn in his father's plans. He only snaps out of it after finding out Darius is his nephew.

** As he drowns, Darren sees the faces of all his fallen friends. Before he succumbs to his injuries, he sees Mr. Crepsley sadly waving at him.

[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Cirque du Freak]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Vampire's Assistant]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Trials of Death]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Vampire Prince]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Hunters of the Dusk]]

* It's clear Vancha still loves Gannen and hesitates to kill him. What's more, Mr. Crepsley and Darren express no sympathy for him and start berating him that he preferred his brother over the vampire clan. He almost commits suicide because of it!
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Allies of the Night]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Killers of the Dawn]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Lake of Souls]]

* The reveal that Harkat was in fact Kurda in his previous life and that he was created by Desmond Tiny for the purpose of protecting Darren as part of his plans for the future. Once his soul is removed from the Lake of Souls, Kurda is faced with a choice between himself and Harkat, but nobly lets Harkat live out his life while he stays trapped in the Lake of the Souls once again.

* While it's understandable, given most of them are savage killers, the fact that Kurda refers dismissively about the vampaneze. The novels and ''Literature/TheSagaOfLartenCrepsley'' show that Kurda spend years trying to befriend the vampaneze, and the fact he betrayed the vampires was in order to force an alliance between both races. If he hadn't tried to help the vampaneze, he'd be alive. And to know his suffering has led him to describe his former friends so dismissively... ouch.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Lord of the Shadows]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Sons of Destiny]]

* Yes, Darren was able to change his destiny, but this means his alternate self never gets to meet Mr. Crepsley, the Cirque members or the other vampires. The only upshot is that he's still best friends with a stable Steve.
[[/folder]]

** This become HarsherInHindsight when ''Literature/TheSagaOfLartenCrepsley'' reveals how much of a crappy life Gavner had. Not only he loses his biological parents, his adoptive mother and sister, and his girlfriend dumps him, but he never gets Larten's recognition. The poor guy could never catch a break.

* While it's understandable, given most of them are savage killers, the fact that Kurda refers dismissively about the vampanezes. The novels and ''Literature/TheSagaOfLartenCrepsley'' show that Kurda spend years trying to befriend the vampanezes, and the fact he betrayed the vampires was in order to force an alliance between both races. If he hadn't tried to help the vampanezes, he'd be alive. And to know his suffering has led him to describe his former friends so dismissively... ouch.

* Shancus's death, via Steve breaking his neck. Absolutely horrifying to watch, devastating for everyone else even the vampanezes, and one of those things nobody was expecting to happen.

** The vampanezes look incredibly disgusted and disturbed from the moment they realize what is going to happen to this sweet little boy. Gannen is turning away while R.V vomits in horror.

* Crosses over a little bit into [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Heartwarming]], but the reveal that Harkat is working with Vancha to unite vampires and vampanezes and has chance to succeed. So yeah, Kurda ultimately succeeded in his goal. It's just a shame that he wasn't around to see what he did to see it and know that, in a way, he did make a better world.

* Just the fact that Kurda and Glalda wanted to bring peace to their races and all it got them was death. The vampires lost their only chance to resolve things peacefully. It's sadder in the manga, when those two are friends instead of allies with a common goal.

* After being sent to the past as Little Person, Darren gives his diary entries to Mr.Tall to be given to his human self at a later date and be published as a book. He then dies peacefully on top of the Cirque's roof, hoping to be reunited with Mr. Crepsley in the afterlife.

** The manga makes it sadder. Vancha takes the upper hand and is about to kill Gannen, but has a flashback of his brother back when they used to get along and hesitates.

* Darren returning to Vampire Mountain to accuse Kurda of treason. He can only look at Darren with a sad smile while he's being interrogated.

** The manga makes it sadder. Before he dies, he asks Paris to honor the deaths of his vampaneze allies, but his request is rejected due to the rules of vampires. The broken look on his face says it all and he dies lamenting that his friends have died for nothing.

** The manga makes it sadder. Vancha takes the upper hand and is about to kill Gannen, but has a flashback of the two when they used to live together and hesitates.

--->''Darren'': ''"Mr. Crepsley had warned me not to, but he was wrong. What did it matter if I followed Steve down the road of total evil? Stopping him - getting revenge for all the people he'd killed - was the only thing I cared about now."''

* Kurda's execution in the manga. Before he dies, he asks Paris to honor the deaths of his vampaneze allies, but his request is rejected due to the rules of vampires. The broken look on his face says it all and he dies lamenting that his friends have died for nothing.

* All Darius wanted was to be loved and accepted by Steve, who couldn't care less about him and just sees him as a pawn for the sake of his revenge. Also, even though he was just an UnwittingPawn, Darren has no sympathy for Darius, seeing him as his enemy's son.
* Darren saying goodbye to Debbie and Annie before his final battle against Steve. Especially cause it's the last time he sees them.
* The revelation that Darren and Steve were created and manipulated by Mr. Tiny their whole lives, so that the victor could throw the world into chaos. Darren getting the ticket in the first book and Steve's resentment and increasing sanity slippage? That was all his doing. Why? [[ItAmusedMe For fun]].
* After Steve finds out Mr. Tiny is his father, he asks him to accept him as a son. Mr. Tiny coldly shrugs him, saying that Steve is just a disposable pawn. Darren can't bring himself to look at Steve, who is screaming and crying pitifully as he bleeds to death.
* Darren's realization that both him and Steve need to die so that no one will become the Lord of the Shadows. He has to [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim break Steve further, telling him that he made a deal with Mr. Crepsley to take Steve's "rightful place" as a half-vampire]] to make sure he kills him, knowing it'll be the only chance to save the world from themselves.
** The manga makes this worse. Steve apologizes to Darren, realizing they were unwitting pawns to Mr. Tiny. Darren still goads him into stabbing him anyway.
** In the novel, Darren hates Steve and can't forgive him for the deaths of Mr. Crepsley and Shancus, so he doesn't hesitate to break him. In the manga, Darren still considers Steve a friend and you can see he's trying his hardest to say those harsh words to him. He even apologizes after the deed is done.
* ''"Destiny....rejected."''
* As he drowns, Darren sees the faces of all his fallen friends. Before he succumbs to his injuries, he sees Mr. Crepsley sadly waving at him.
* Their deaths are even sadder in the manga. As they drown, Darren apologizes to Steve for provoking him, lamenting that he said those harsh words in order to save the world. Having calmed down, Steve just smiles sadly at him as he dies. Darren starts reminiscing about their broken friendship, wondering when everything went wrong.

* Yes, Darren was able to change his destiny, but this means his alternate self never gets to meet Mr. Crepsley, the Cirque members or the other vampires. The only upshot is that he's still best friends with a not-mentally-unstable Steve.