Heartwarming / Final Fantasy XV

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

• From the E3 2013 trailer: the scene where a young Noctis and his father are sitting at a table eating dinner together is pretty touching, highlighting the innocence of Noctis' childhood and how kind his father is to him and why Noct respects and loves his dad so much.
• It looks like this'll have one of the greatest set of True Companions in the entire series. Childhood friends galore, a bodyguard the protagonist views as a brother, and one friend who's specifically referred to as a confidant.
  • Cid sums it up perfectly in the TGS 2016 trailer:
  "They're not your bodyguards, they're your brothers. Trust in 'em."
• The A.I. will step in if the player/Noctis is getting badly beaten in battle — the TGS 2014 trailer shows Ignis helping Noctis back to his feet whilst Gladiolus puts himself between his friends & the enemy.
• As we see in the Jump Festa 2015 trailer, Noctis getting really pissed off is not heartwarming. Noctis getting really pissed off because of his concern for his subjects and loved ones, and not the fact his life has just collapsed, is heartwarming.
• Fistbumps can occur dynamically between team members as a post-victory thing in the game. It's just as wonderful as it sounds.
• From the official Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Exhibition, we have Regis and the rest of the party congratulating Noctis and Luna’s wedding. Each message is both heartwarming and a dagger to the heart.

Episode Duscae/Episode Duscae 2.0

• Ramuh is surprisingly gentle and even fatherly when handling Noctis. Especially considering he's as tall as a skyscraper and about to Judgement Bolt Deadeye the Behemoth.
• One of Episode Duscae 2.0's Tours involves Prompto and Noctis picking mushrooms. The search culminates near the lake, where they nearly become Catoblepas food. They manage to escape, at the cost of their mushrooms; while Prompto laments their loss, Noctis says, "Better them than you".
  • The Tour itself is heartwarming. Prompto is gathering these fungi just to give Ignis quality ingredients to cook with, and he's clearly keeping his tastes in mind when foraging. Prompto sure is thoughtful.
  • Another Tour involves Ignis asking Noctis to view a meteor shower. That's the entire quest: waiting until nightfall at a specific point to view the skies light up. Noctis is actually grateful to Ignis that he wanted to share the sight with him.

Main Game

• The first five opening minutes perfectly encapsulate the game: A momentary dark omen, a broken down car that you have to push with your bros between some funny as hell banter, showcasing the importance of friendship all to a cover of "Stand by Me" by Florence + the Machine playing in the background.
• Cid's picture of the band Regis formed, Noctis even mentioned before that even during war time he doubts his father and his crew didn't have their own road trip party like them.
• It's small, but Noctis' embarrassed expression before he writes a (potentially) romantic message in the Lovers' Notebook for Umbra to deliver to Lunafreya is adorable.
• Ravus encouraging Lunafreya to see the Ring of the Lucii to Noctis, despite the fact that Kingsglaive showed he coveted the Ring for himself.
• Ignis' speech to the party after he's blind is to heal the rift between the group.
  Ignis: A moment?
  Gladiolus: Is everything okay?
  Ignis: It bloody well isn’t. And I won’t suffer this pointless bickering in silence any longer.
  A brief silence before conversation continues.
  Ignis: Let’s be frank. My vision hasn’t improved, and probably won’t. Yet in spite of this…I would remain with you all. Till the very end.
  Gladiolus: Sorry, but I object. War is a matter of life and death.
  Prompto: But, we’ll be there!
  Gladiolus: It’s not about us looking out for him!
  Prompto: Uh-huh. Well, then he should be free to choose.
  Gladiolus: There’s more to it than just what he wants!
  Ignis: I KNOW FULL WELL!
  A brief silence again.
  Ignis: I won’t ask you to slow down, if I can’t keep up, I will bow out.
  Gladiolus: (turns to Noctis) What says “His Majesty”?
  Ignis: Noct, you are king. One cannot lead by standing still. A king pushes onward always, accepting the consequences and never looking back. (to Gladio) Gladio, Noct will take his rightful place, but only once he’s ready.
  Added with Prompto nodding and Gladio in thought.
  Gladiolus: Have it your way. We’re still taking a big risk. We better all be ready.
  • This is followed by the train station when the group is fully resolve to move forward in continuing their mission.
  Noctis: We’re here for you.
  Prompto: Yeah, let us help you. (The train is ready to go) And we’re off!
  Gladiolus: Are we clear?
  Ignis: Crystal.
  Noctis: Hey, watch your step.
  Gladiolus: You’re not “pushing onward”?
  Noctis: Not at his expense.
  Gladiolus: Fair enough.
• After Ignis is blinded in Altissa he'll sometimes stumble and start to fall while you're walking around. Prompto will generally rush in to try to catch him before he hits the ground.
• One of the blindside attack animations while Iris is in your party can have Noctis botching the hit and reeling in pain as Iris worriedly comes up and gives him a free Potion heal. One headpat later as thanks and Iris just spins around like she's on cloud nine from the praise.
• Ignis cooking for the group again after the timeskip, since after his being blinded the group is reduced to eating canned goods and instant noodles.
  • Crosses into a Tear Jerker, with the knowledge this will be Noctis' last meal but the fact the player, and by extension Ignis, can pick anything to cook for him then is heartwarming in itself.
• Luna telling her daemon-infested murderer that he'll know peace once the prophecy passes. She really does care about everyone.
  • When Ardyn is in the spirit-realm with Noctis Luna is show holding him in a comforting way before Noctis uses the power of the Ring to purify Ardyn's soul.
• A rather touching optional scene between Noctis and Prompto on top of a hotel building. Prompto admits he feels like he's the most useless of the group, since Gladio is big and tough and knows how to survive in the wild, while Ignis is smart and can cook and is their driver, but all Prompto does is crack jokes and take pictures. Noctis assures him he still contributes a lot and he appreciates him.
  • Durring Noctis and Prompto's heart-to-heart, Noctis actually mentions that he wished they had become friends when Prompto first met him and reassures Prompto that he wouldn't have had anything to worry about because he would have enjoyed being friends just the same regardless. It acts as firm confirmation to Prompto that Noct likes him for who he is, not what he looks like or what he can or can't do.
• The fact that Prompto is accepted by his friends even as he reveals he was an intended soldier for Niflheim is very heartwarming in itself. Even if the others would have been suspicious, at least Noct and the others are able to rule out any possibility of Prompto turning on them, showing how important he is to them.
• A small one, but the bond that Aranea gets with the party is sweet to see: she'll often join in with the party on tough daemon battles (jumping down from her airship, implying that she was tailing them) and genuinely tries to do her best to protect the group when she can. If a fight ends up being difficult, dialogue will occur where she tells the group to retreat while she stalls for them, implying that she's willing to sacrifice herself and die for their well being.
  • Performing a certain glitch that allows her to stay in your party from random encounters even shows dialogue you'd never see normally (like Noctis teasing Prompto if she's alone with Gladio in a picture), and with knowledge that the developers intend to allow for more permanent methods of adding in temporary members outside of the plot, it means that Aranea would even hang out as a pretty fast yet firm friend with the gang.
• After gaining the ability to call Umbra, one of the options is "Ask for some paw". And sure enough, you're rewarded with a brief and adorable scene of Umbra presenting his paw to Noctis, who shakes it.
• Getting Talcott all the Cactuar figures is nice; even nicer is getting him the Altissian one even if it is a total time paradox getting it and Talcott sorta calls you out on it. Best part about it? You get nothing out of it, you did it out of the kindness of your heart. But what really drives it all home is after the timeskip and Talcott picks you up if you look in the truck while he's driving you to Hammerhead he has them all on the dashboard. Even after ten years, Talcott didn't forget your kindness and held onto hope of your return.
• The looks of pure joy on Noct and Luna's faces as they finally lay eyes on one other after twelve long years of separation. Which makes what happens next all the more heartbreaking.
• In the final chapter, Noctis and his friends enjoying one more night of camping, which can be made all the more heartwarming by having one last round of Cup Noodles. In The Stinger, we also see that Noctis confided in his friends the fact that he would need to sacrifice himself to restore light to the world, and telling his friends one last time: "You guys are the best.".
• During Brotherhood, it's revealed that Ignis tried and failed for years to recreate a special dessert Noctis received from Luna in Tenebrae. If the player completes Coctura's sidequest "Berried Memories", Ignis will finally succeed in replicating it for Noctis. The dessert's name? Memory Lane Pastry.
• Dave calling all refugees to Lestallum after Luna's death ushers in The Night That Never Ends. The world may be going to hell, but there are still people looking out for their fellow man.
• While just as much a tearjerker, Noctis and Luna are Together in Death, wearing the clothes they would have worn on their wedding day.
  • Adding to this is Noct showing her the photo from before his final confrontation with Ardyn, which also becomes your Certificate of Completion for beating the game.
• In Episode Prompto, the campfire scene where Aranea tells Prompto that despite her and Noctis not being on the most friendliest terms, he still requests her to search for Prompto just to make sure he's okay.
  • If you listen closely to the actual interaction between Aranea and Noctis's party at Tenebrae, you'll notice that Noctis didn't ask her to do this. In other words, Aranea was worried about Prompto and lied to him to cheer him up and motivate him to get back to his friends on his own.
  • If Prompto attempts to burn off his wrist barcode, Aranea will use a potion to heal him.
  • Pryna appears to help guide Prompto during his Heroic BSoD. Considering their history, it's touching that Pryna's returned the favor.
  • The credits scene where Prompto finally reunites with his friends, with Noctis anxiously trying to pry him off the machine that he's restrained to.
• In Episode Ignis, Ignis demonstrates his Undying Loyalty to Noctis when confronting Ardyn and wearing the Ring of the Lucii, dangerous though it was for him to do so.
  Ignis: I swore an oath to stand with Noct and keep him safe...whatever it takes, I will protect him!
  • In the alternative one, he straight up declares that he would willingly doom the entire world if it means that Noctis can live.

• In the Royal Edition, Cindy and Iris instantly call Noct the moment they hear of his return.
• Royal Edition includes a Glaive base in Insomnia, where Cor is leading them in trying to liberate the city. Talking to him allows Noctis to ask him about Regis.
  Cor: You really are the spitting image of your father.
  Noctis: Think so?
  Cor: You're a kind soul, like him. He'd alwats say "a single act of grace can save the human race."
  Noctis: If only it were that easy.
  Cor: But it is. The people you have saved will go on to save others and find ways to make life on this star better for us all.
  Noctis: Sounds like Dad. Ever the optimist.
  Cor: He was right, though. Your father knew his actions would resonate into the future. That's why he chose to save you. Because he knew you would save us all.
  Noctis: Wouldn't want to let my old man down.
• In Comrades, random NPC banter in Lestallum reveals shortly after the empire dissolved, Aranea brought flowers to Regis's memorial to personally pay her respects to the late king. While many Lucians were already grateful to her and the 86th for all the help they're provided in relocating to Lestallum, she effectively won all their hearts with this gesture.

Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV

• The fact that the anime is subtitled Brotherhood is rather sweet once you think about it. It drives home the relationship of this band of True Companions, and reassures fans that they'll be together no matter what.
• From Episode 1:
  Noct: I'm not alone on this journey, so...thanks. For coming this far with me.
  Gladio: Heh. It's about time.
• From Episode 2, which is just full of this:
  • The reason Prompto nearly crashed the car? He saw an injured puppy on the road and swerved to avoid it, heading out to help it while being chewed out by the crew.
  • The story of how Prompto befriended Noctis. A Formerly Fat child, he found one of Luna's puppies and took care of it. Luna found out about it, and knowing that he went to the same school as Noctis, she casually prodded him towards Noctis, knowing that Noctis had few friends. Poor Prompto felt so worthless about himself that he exercised all his weight off and gave himself the confidence that he needed to finally befriend Noctis as teenagers. And Noctis somewhat remembers him from their childhood, too.
  • For that matter, Prompto and Noctis's first real interaction. Prompto tripped over himself as per normal, and Noctis instantly held out his hand to help him up.

• Episode 3:
  • Noct taking the blame for Gladio's kid sister Iris so she wouldn't get yelled at.
  • Gladiolus' interactions with Iris. You can see at a glance he adores his little sister.
  • The contrast between Gladio feeling resentful to and annoyed by a moody and impenetrably reserved Noctis when they were younger to the two of them being nearly Bash Brothers in the present is quite a heartwarming sight.
• Episode 4:
  • Pretty much this entire episode is this for Ignis. He dedicates almost all of his spare time to Noctis as a cook and adviser, constantly doing his best for the prince despite his lazy behavior. He even repeatedly tries to recreate a recipe from Noctis' childhood, which he constantly states to be wrong even at the end and yet he just tastes it himself and resolves to try again another time. You can tell he's frustrated with the boy's antics, but simultaneously his biggest complaint about not being able to understand what's going on in Noctis' head is practically like that of a concerned mother.
  • Noctis is also a consistent high school friend with Prompto and walks him with him every day, showing just how well their friendship developed after the second episode.
  • Although he always bluntly shoots down Ignis' pastries as being incorrect from what he recalls, Noctis still enjoys them enough to take to school for breakfast and even invites others to try them. The way he behaves about the situation almost makes it feel like he considers them trying to find the right recipe to be a bonding activity.

Episode Ardyn

• The flashbacks of Ardyn spending time with Aera Mirus Fleuret, the first Oracle and his beloved. Doubles as Tear Jerker, because of the contrast between how he was (happy, in love, idealistic) to what he is now.
• Upon completing the DLC, the title screen changes from Ardyn sitting on the Lucis throne in the dark...to Ardyn sleeping under a tree with Aera, mirroring the final image of Noctis and Luna sleeping in the afterlife at the end of the main game. This also heavily implies that - like Noctis - Ardyn was finally given peace after fulfilling his dark destiny, and got to be with the woman he loved once again.

The Dawn of the Future

The Beginning of the End (Aranea)

• Aranea's relationship with Sol. She not only rescues Sol during the fall of Niflheim but she also becomes an adoptive mother to her during the World of Ruin.
  • Additionally, despite Iedolas having few-to-no redeeming qualities in the main game, he still has Loqi try to get his secret granddaughter to safety.

The Final Glaive (Noctis)

• The moment when Noctis gives Ardyn the Ring of the Lucii to confront Bahamut in the World Beyond is oddly heartwarming. Ardyn looks at the ring for a moment and admits to Noct that it's been so long since he's been given a gift he doesn't know what to say anymore, but it's clear he's touched Noctis trusts him to follow through with his half of the plan.
• The very ending, especially with the main game in mind. Ardyn redeems himself and is implied to be with Aera again, everyone else lives, and Luna and Noctis finally have their wedding.
  • The fact that the person narrating this ending is Regis, who's pride in Noctis and gratitude to those who helped his son is absolutely clear.

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