History Tearjerker / TheWitcher3WildHunt

* If you allow Ciri to return [[spoiler: Skjall's grave, she finds that he's been thrown in a pit. Ciri promptly reburies him respectfully. When the villagers come to harass her over it, she proceeds to PUNCH ONE IN THE FACE then give a massive TheReasonYouSuck speech about Skjall's heroism. Not only saving her but leading the Wild Hunt away from the village. The villagers then have a collective MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment when they realize that not only did they dishonor one of their clansmen but they led to his death. They agree to leave the grave alone from that point on.]]

* One of the early missions in the game brings you to an abandoned village where you find a young woman had been murdered, hung from a well, and the place put to the torch. The woman had attempted to find a life free from the local lord with her husband. [[spoiler: It gets doubly-painful when you realize the Baron hadn't intended to hurt her or her husband, just take them back to their village. It's just she insulted his son (who was secretly homosexual and killed himself when his father found out and condemned him for it) out of spite and he reacted... poorly.]]

* How bad is Velen? ''Just walking through it is a Tearjerker.'' The entrance road is lined with lynched corpses, there are mad starving dogs fighting over bones, and the region is under the oppressive rule of "The Bloody Baron." The music makes it especially poignant as it is a mournful ditty that just brings home how hopeless the situation is.

** The situation, amazingly, becomes worse. [[spoiler: The Baron's daughter, Tamara, has joined the Church of the Eternal Flame as a witch hunter. So far, so good. But Anna? Anna asked the Crones to remove her baby in exchange for a year of service, which results in them assigning her to ''fatten up children for the slaughter.'' If Geralt destroys the renegade tree ghost, her children die and she goes mad. Ironically, just as the Baron and his daughter come to rescue her both w/ Geralt's possible help. If Geralt releases the tree ghost, the children will live but Anna will be transformed into a water hag and the Baron will hang himself.]]
* While seeking out the witches of Crookback Bog, Geralt stumbles across a makeshift orphanage filled with children who'd lost parents in the war. One of them can be asked what happened to his, only to find out that he'd watched from the bushes as soldiers cut off his father's head and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil then went after his mother]]. Geralt cuts him off apologetically.

* The plan Triss cooks up to get to [[TheSpanishInquisition Caleb Menge]] can become this. [[spoiler:She wants to be put in chains, so Geralt can get inside the Witch Hunters keep Trojan Horse style. As the most wanted person in Novigrad, she can bet all her coin on being brutally tortured as soon as Menge's men put their hands on her, but volunteers anyway, because it's the safest way for Geralt to get key information.]] And unlike other cases of this particular ploy, this one can, under right circumstances, [[GoneHorriblyRight succeed without a hitch]]. While there's way over a dozen chances for you to step in and stop the plan at any moment, the player can indeed see it through to the end. Geralt's [[TranquilFury quiet anger]] during the dialogue with Menge can be hard enough, but if you keep the act all the way, you find out that despite their entrance being staged through and through, the pained screams and begging coming from the room next door were more than genuine. One can't help but share Geralt's sheepish guilt afterwards.

** [[spoiler: This becomes even ''more'' heartbreaking if Ciri insists that they don't have to say goodbye and Geralt responds that they do, and that it's time to go their separate ways. Geralt can only look away as Ciri begins sobbing.]]

* One of the early missions in the game brings you to an abandoned village where you find a young woman had been murdered, hung from a well, and the place put to the torch. The woman had attempted to find a life free from the local lord with her husband. [[spoiler: It gets doubly-painful when you realize the Baron hadn't intended to hurt her or her husband, just take them back to their village. It's just she insulted his son (who was secretly homosexual and killed himself when his father found out and condemned him for it) out of spite and he reacted...poorly.]]

* In Velen, we find out about a man who takes a bunch of the women from a nearby village that was sacked from Nilfgaard to a nearby mine. He's hoping they can find shelter there until they can figure something to do with them and keep them from being abused by the soldiery. [[spoiler: They're all killed by giant spiders.]]
* Remember Kalkstein, the [[BunnyEarsLawyer whimsical alchemist]] who helped you out big time in the first game? Ever wondered what happened to him? Well, wonder no more: [[spoiler: Taken by the Witch Hunters and burned at the stake in Novigrad.]]
* When talking to a Doppler who'd helped Ciri while she was in Novigrad, Zoltan urges him to shift to look like her. If Geralt agrees, the Doppler does so - only for Geralt to get a pained look in his eyes when he realizes [[WhenYouComingHomeDad just how much time had passed since he last saw his daughter]].

* [[spoiler: The Ciri Dies ending, where Geralt has become consumed with grief, and waits in the Crone's Shack for the monsters to kill him.]]

* One of the early missions in the game brings you to an abandoned village where you find a young woman had been murdered, hung from a well, and the place put to the torch. The woman had attempted to find a life free from the local lord with her husband. [[spoiler: It gets doubly-painful when you realize the Baron hadn't intended to hurt her or her husband, just take them back to their village. It's just she insulted his son (who was secretly homosexual and killed himself when his father found out and condemned him for it) in some unknown way and he reacted...poorly.]]
* The alderman who attempted to bargain with the Nilfgaard commander finds that some of the grain bushels he brought them are rotten. Whether this was deliberate or accidental (on either his part or the peasantry's), he's subjected to fifteen lashes as a result. His screams can't help but convince you that this invasion is a nightmare. What's worse? This was a positively ''leniant'' sentence by Nilfgaard.
* Tomira the Herbalist has a pretty depressing story. Which is a shame since she's one of the few genuinely decent people in the story. She was originally a nun in Vizema before she fell in love with a local worker and they had a short affair. Tomira was declared defiled forever and banished from not only the Temple but her family. She, eventually, found a home in White Orchard but her best friend Claire was horribly killed thereafter. The worst part? Geralt can say the village has seen a lot of tragedy. Her answer, "No, it's pretty normal. You just have to look [for the sorrows.]."

** [[spoiler: It gets worse when in Novigrad, she's visiting and calls you a murderer.]]

* [[spoiler: The Ciri Dies ending, where Geralt has become consumed with grief, and waits in the Crones Shack for the monsters to kill him.]]

** [[spoiler: Made all the more poignant by Geralt joking about how he's going to work her hard, planning to complete her witcher training, before he finds out, and Ciri wishing they'd had more time to train together at Kaer Morhen]]

** [[spoiler: Made all the more poignant by Geralt joking about how he's going to work her hard, planning to complete her witcher training, before he finds out, and Ciri wishing they had had more time to train together at Kaer Morhan]]

*
* [[spoiler: The Empress Ciri ending, where Ciri leaves Geralt behind to go to Nilfgaard, taking her place as her father's successor in the hopes that she can change things. You can hear the heartbreak in both their voices, after having spent so much time looking for one another, they now have to separate again possibly for good.]]
** [[spoiler: Made all the more poignant by Geralt joking about how he's going to work her hard before he finds out, and Ciri wishing they had had more time to train together at Kaer Morhan]]

** It gets worse when in Novigrad, she's visiting and calls you a murderer.

** The situation, amazingly, becomes worse. [[spoiler: The Baron's daughter, Tamara, has joined the Church of the Eternal Flame as a witch hunter. So far, so good. But Anna? Anna asked the Crones to remove her baby in exchange for a year of service, which results in them assigning her to ''fatten up children for the slaughter.'' If Geralt destroys the renegade tree ghost, her children die and she goes mad. Ironically, just as the Baron and his daughter come to rescue her both w/ Geralt's possible help. If Geralt releases the tree ghost, the children will live but Anna will die and the Baron will hang himself.]]

* One of the early missions in the game brings you to an abandoned village where you find a young woman had been murdered, hung from a well, and the place put to the torch. The woman had attempted to find a life free from the local lord with her husband. [[spoiler: It gets doubly-painful when you realize the Baron hadn't intended to hurt her or her husband, just take them back to their village. It's just she insulted his son (who was secretly homosexual) in some unknown way and he reacted...poorly.]]

* The alderman who attempted to bargain with the Nilfgaard commander finds that some of the onion bushels he brought them are rotten. Whether this was deliberate or accidental (on either his part or the peasantry's), he's subjected to fifteen lashes as a result. His screams can't help but convince you that this invasion is a nightmare. What's worse? This was a positively ''leniant'' sentence by Nilfgaard.

* How bad is Velen? ''Just walking through it is a Tearjerker.'' The entrance road is lined with lynched corpses, there are mad starving dogs fighting over bones, and the entire place is under the oppressive rule of "The Bloody Baron." The music makes it especially poignant as it is a mournful ditty that just brings home how hopeless the situation is.

** For that matter, the quest associated with the Baron is rather depressing. His wife and daughter have gone missing, and he blackmails Geralt into finding them by withholding information about Ciri's whereabouts until he does. From there it gets a bit convoluted, so point-by-point.
*** Geralt goes to the Pellar (soothsayer) for information, and he learns that [[spoiler: the Baron's wife, Anna, suffered beatings [[DomesticAbuse at the hands of her husband]], and that she'd miscarried their child]].
*** When Geralt confronts the Baron over this, [[spoiler: he finds the horse stable on fire and the Baron himself three sheets to the wind. After beating him back to his senses, he gets the full story - the Baron's daughter, Tamara, was the only one who could calm him down when he went into a rage. The Baron and his wife had gotten into a fight the night they left, as he'd been drunk for three days running - when he came to, Anna and Tamara were gone, and his miscarried daughter was laying in his bed.]] The voice-acting here shines through, as the raging Baron shows genuine remorse for what he'd done, [[spoiler: burying their child in an isolated spot... which unfortunately made it turn into a "botchling". When told of this, however, the Baron absolutely forbids Geralt from killing her, instead wanting to put her to rest as she'd suffered enough]].

*** When Geralt confronts the Baron over this, [[spoiler: he finds the horse stable on fire and the Baron himself three sheets to the wind. After beating him back to his senses, he gets the full story - the Baron's daughter, Tamara, was the only one who could calm him down when he went into a rage. The Baron and his wife had gotten into a fight the night they left, as he'd been drunk for three days running - when he came to, Anna and Tamara were gone, and his miscarried daughter was laying in his bed.]] The voice-acting here shines through, as the raging Baron shows genuine remorse for what he'd done, [[spoiler: burying their child in an isolated spot... which unfortunately made it turn into a "blotchling". When told of this, however, the Baron absolutely forbids Geralt from killing her, instead wanting to put her to rest as she'd suffered enough]].