Everyone weeps, and no-one plays the World's Smallest Violin.
"Crying is cleansing. There's a reason for tears, happiness or sadness."
— Dionne Warwick
Some viewers are impassive when it comes to what they watch. They've seen it all. No fictional death, sacrifice, emotional display or confession can move them.
Except these.
Since most of these involve death scenes, shocking twists, or something just as major, expect many unmarked spoilers. However, they can also be as simple as the right imagery, tone, and music coming together - for the sole purpose of working those tear-ducts.
This being one of the YMMV items, one person's Tear Jerker may be another's Narm, which is often a failed attempt to induce this. Comments such as "If you didn't cry at _____, you have no soul" are not welcome here; since this is defined by emotional reaction, what causes someone to burst into tears may cause another to shrug or even laugh, and guilt-tripping people just because they don't experience the emotions you want them to is not cool.
Many Downer Endings and Bittersweet Endings include tearjerking moments. Either way, make sure to bring the Kleenex. If you want to avoid them altogether, then you might want to consider heeding the Snicket Warning Label.
Some tear-jerking moments, especially of deaths, can wind up being horrifying or traumatizing as well. Contrast Heartwarming Moments, which can induce tears for more positive reasons.
Tropes that often result in Tear Jerker moments
Main topic:
Categories:
- Abusive Parents: Being horribly mistreated by the very people who gave you life is traumatizing.
- Accidental Murder: Especially if the character ended up killing someone they love and care for!
- Adult Fear: It's sad to know that adults fear unpleasant circumstances that they can't do anything about.
- After the End
- Alas, Poor Scrappy: The character was unlikable, but it's sad that he died.
- Alas, Poor Villain: The character was evil, but it's sad that he died.
- Alas, Poor Yorick: A character laments a fallen loved one while holding the person's skull.
- All of the Other Reindeer: It's sad that this character is mistreated by others.
- Always with You
- Angsty Surviving Twin
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Someone who's harbored their feelings for another person ends up confessing their love when it looks like they and their object of affection are done for.
- Antagonist in Mourning: The villain is sad that the hero has died.
- Anyone Can Die: The thought that anyone and everyone we know and love will eventually pass away is depressing to think about.
- Backstory Horror
- The Bad Guy Wins: The villain has won, meaning that the heroes' efforts to defeat him and put an end to his evil ways were all for nothing.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: It's tragic that this person has now become the opposite of what they once were, especially if they used to be someone good.
- Being Evil Sucks: It's miserable to be evil all of your life.
- Being Good Sucks: It's miserable to be good to others.
- Big Damn Reunion
- Bittersweet Ending: It would be a completely happy ending were it not for one tragic detail of how the story has ended.
- Born Unlucky: It's sad that this person has suffered misfortune their entire life.
- Break the Cutie
- Broken Ace
- Broken Angel
- Broken Bird
- Broken Pedestal: The tragic circumstance of someone becoming disillusioned towards their favorite hero after learning that the person isn't half as good and heroic as they thought they were.
- Broken Tears
- Bully Magnet
- But Now I Must Go
- Butt-Monkey (whenever played for drama instead of laughs).
- Celebrity Elegy: A song mourning a recently dead celebrity.
- Character Death: It's sad to see a character die.
- The Character Died with Him: A character is killed off after the actor who played them has died, which is often done out of respect for the original actor's memory or because the original actor was considered irreplaceable.
- Comfort the Dying: A tragic death-scene, in which one person tries to make the dying person comfortable.
- Cradle of Loneliness
- Crapsack World: It's sad that the work's setting is a horrible place to live.
- Cruel Twist Ending: The protagonist tragically suffers at the last minute just so the story can end on a cruel note.
- Cry for the Devil: The audience feels sorry for the villain's misfortunes.
- Cry into Chest
- Crying After Sex
- Dark Reprise: The sadder version of the previously played happy song often occurs during sad scenes to amplify the tragedy.
- Death Fic: A fan fiction about a character's death.
- Death by Childbirth: It's sad that the mother died giving birth to her child.
- Death by Newbery Medal: A work aimed at children has someone die for the sake of pathos.
- Death by Origin Story: The reason the hero became a hero in the first place was because someone they loved died.
- A Death in the Limelight: When a minor character finally gets the spotlight, their story ends with them dead.
- Death of a Child: When works don't shy away from depicting children dying.
- Death Wail: Someone screams at seeing a loved one die.
- Crossing the Despair Event Horizon.
- Desperately Craves Affection
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life
- Diabolus ex Machina
- Did Not Get the Girl: The main character does not win the affection of the person they loved.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight
- Disappointed in You: It can be depressing to see someone being called a disappointment by a friend, loved one or idol.
- Disney Death: A death later turns out to be a fake-out, but that doesn't make the moment where it was believed the character actually died any less sad.
- Do Not Go Gentle
- Doomed Hometown: This guy's town was destroyed early in his life.
- Downer Beginning
- Downer Ending: The story has a sad ending.
- Driven to Suicide: Someone ends up killing themselves because they see no point to keep living and suffering.
- Dying Alone: It's sad that this person won't have anyone around to mourn their demise.
- Dying as Yourself: Someone dies after being freed of the corruption that took over them.
- Dying Declaration of Love: Someone tragically dies as they confess their love for a person.
- Dying Dream: It turns out the entire story was just a hallucination the protagonist is experiencing as they're dying.
- Dying Moment of Awesome
- Empty Shell: This person's only alive from a base metabolic standpoint. Everything else of him is dead.
- End-of-Series Awareness: It can be depressing to see the characters of a television show actually acknowledge that their series has ended.
- The End of the World as We Know It: It's sad that the apocalypse is imminent.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Betrayal is one of the worst things that can happen to a character, and it can especially hit hard if it's someone the character trusted most in the world.
- Everybody Cries: All the characters present are brought to tears.
- Face Death with Dignity: Someone who finds out that their death is imminent chooses to accept their fate calmly.
- Face–Heel Turn: A hero becoming a bad guy can especially be sad if their misdeeds undo the good they've done and their changing of alliances now means that their former friends will have to fight their corrupted ex-comrade.
- False Friend
- Final First Hug
- Fond Memories That Could Have Been: It's sad to see someone fantasize on how things would've been if the person they loved hadn't died.
- Forced into Evil: It's tragic to see a person do bad things because they've been forced to.
- Foregone Conclusion: The audience already knows how the story will end even if they've seen it for the first time and haven't heard any spoilers prior to viewing.
- Freak Out!
- Freudian Excuse, especially if said excuse is sympathetic and the villains end up feeling bad for their actions.
- Friendless Background
- Go Out with a Smile: A person dying is sad enough without the person smiling in their death.
- Go Through Me
- Grief Song: A song where the singer sings about how the disappearance and/or death of a loved one makes them sad.
- The Grotesque: A hideous person who means well in spite of being ugly.
- Guilt Complex
- Gut Punch
- Happier Home Movie: Goes to show what the person's life used to be like visually before now.
- Happy Ending Override: A sequel undoes the happy ending of a previous installment.
- Heartbroken Badass: The hero is upset because they lost their significant other.
- Heartwarming can sometimes overlap with this.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: A character never got the chance to switch to the side of good.
- Heel Realization: A character is distraught upon realizing that what they've been doing is wrong.
- The Hero Dies
- Heroic BSoD
- Heroic Sacrifice
- Heroic Self-Deprecation
- He Will Not Cry, So I Cry for Him
- Hope Spot: Right when it looks like things will change for the better, those hopes are immediately dashed.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: This guy once had everything. Now he has nothing.
- Hurting Hero
- I Am Not Pretty, bonus points if the person has been constantly picked on for being ugly.
- I Die Free: A slave takes solace in the fact that dying means they no longer have to live in enslavement.
- I Have No Son!: A family member (usually a child) being disowned is heartbreaking.
- I Just Want to Be Beautiful
- I Just Want to Be Loved
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- I Just Want to Be Special
- I Just Want to Be You
- I Just Want to Have Friends: This loner wants to have people with him.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Fighting a corrupted or transformed friend while trying to get the good in them to overcome the evil inside them.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: The hero feels responsible for causing a loved one to die.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: This guy acts all high and mighty to cover his own insecurities.
- It's All My Fault: It's sad that this person blames themselves for other people's problems.
- It's a Wonderful Failure
- I've Come Too Far: A character goes ahead in doing something reprehensible because they've resigned to how futile it has become to just call it quits.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Someone is attracted to a person, but is willing for the other person to be with someone else if it means that the person they love would be happier that way.
- Jerkass Woobie: When audiences feel that the person may have been a jerk, but what they suffered was still undeserved.
- Karma Houdini, if their crimes were especially atrocious, and their victims have been denied justice.
- Karmic Misfire: A tragic circumstance where an innocent person gets undeserved punishment while the one who's truly responsible gets off scot-free.
- Kick the Dog, especially when done particularly cruelly.
- Kids Are Cruel
- Killed Off for Real: A character is permanently killed off, which can especially be sad if the character was sympathetic and well-liked.
- Kill 'Em All: No one survives the events of the story.
- Kill the Cutie: An adorable and likeable character dies.
- Kill the Ones You Love
- Kill Us Both
- Last Kiss
- Last of His Kind: A character who is the last surviving member of their race.
- Let Them Die Happy: Lying to a dying loved one so that they're happy in their final moments.
- Lonely at the Top: Being successful has the downside of not having room for friends.
- Lonely Piano Piece
- Loners Will Stay Alone
- Long Last Look
- The Lost Lenore: The person's significant other's death affects them.
- A character crying Manly Tears.
- Mayfly–December Friendship: Friendship between an immortal and a mortal has the downside that the immortal friend will eventually outlive the mortal friend.
- Mayfly–December Romance: Love between an immortal and a mortal has the downside that the immortal will eventually outlive their mortal lover.
- Meaningful Funeral
- Mercy Kill: Having to kill someone because letting them live would just prolong their suffering.
- Minor Insult Meltdown
- Monster Sob Story
- The Mourning After
- Particularly horrific cases of the Moral Event Horizon
- My God, What Have I Done?: A character is consumed with guilt over what he has done.
- My Greatest Failure
- Never Got to Say Goodbye
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
- Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying over You subverts this for comedy.
- Not So Stoic
- One Last Song
- One-Person Birthday Party: A person who has to celebrate their birthday alone because they have no friends.
- One-Woman Wail
- Outliving One's Offspring: A parent ends up outliving their child.
- Parting Words Regret: A character is upset about the last thing they said to a loved one before they died.
- Personal Horror
- Planning for the Future Before the End: It can be very depressing to see someone promise something that, due to incoming death, can't possibly be kept.
- Player Punch
- Playing the Heart Strings
- Please Don't Leave Me: A character desperately begs their loved ones to not go away and leave them.
- Please Wake Up: Someone assumes that a dead person is just sleeping, which can end in tragedy when they try to get the dead person to wake up.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure (if done well)
- Protagonist Journey to Villain
- Rape as Backstory: It's sad that this person's past involved getting raped.
- Rape as Drama: A character getting raped is played completely seriously.
- Really Dead Montage: After a character dies, a montage of scenes where they were alive is played solely to accentuate that the dead character is never coming back and actually is gone for good.
- Redemption Equals Death: A character dies after reforming.
- Reformed, but Rejected: No one will accept you even if you had a change of heart.
- Rejected Apology: A character rejecting another's apology can be heartbreaking.
- Restricted Rescue Operation: No matter what you do you can't save everyone.
- Reunion Vow
- Running Away to Cry
- Sad Clown: A jokester is revealed to be using their sense of humor to hide their pain and insecurities.
- Say My Name
- Separated by the Wall
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside
- Shoo Out the Clowns
- Shoo the Dog: It can be heartbreaking to see someone trying to force their beloved pet to leave.
- Shoot the Dog: A person is forced to do something not very nice because there's no other option.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: A character dies and their efforts turn out to be pointless to add insult to injury.
- Simple Score of Sadness
- Single Tear
- Skyward Scream
- Sole Survivor
- So Proud of You
- Star-Crossed Lovers
- Starts with Their Funeral
- Stay with Me Until I Die
- Finding out someone is a Stepford Smiler, especially if the reason they're sad inside is extremely heartbreaking
- Stood Up
- Stuffed into the Fridge
- Survivor's Guilt
- Take Care of the Kids
- Taking the Bullet
- Tears of Remorse: When a character cries over a horrible thing he's done.
- Tender Tears
- Then Let Me Be Evil: A person really tried to be good, but so many people insisted on seeing the worst in them that they've submitted to being as bad as those people accused them of being.
- The One That Got Away (if storytelling is done beautifully in a tragic way)
- Together in Death
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth
- Tragic Bigot
- Tragic Dream: It can be very sad to see someone accept that they have a dream that will never come true.
- Tragic Hero
- Tragic Keepsake
- Tragic Monster: Someone is turned into a monster and is miserable because of it.
- Tragic Stillbirth: It's sad that the would-be parents' child died before it was even born.
- Tragic Villain: The villain knows that what they're doing is wrong, but feels that it's too late for them to redeem themselves.
- True Art Is Angsty, for when having enough tragedy will award a work with critical acclaim.
- Undying Loyalty: Nothing gets the tears flowing quite like seeing a servant or companion who will still be with their employer or friend even if they have every reason to abandon them.
- Unrequited Love Lasts Forever
- Unstoppable Rage
- The Unwitting Comedian
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: It's sad that this villain or jerk was a lot nicer as a child.
- Utsuge
- Vengeance Feels Empty: The character doesn't feel any satisfaction in repaying another with revenge.
- Villainous BSoD
- Villainous Breakdown
- War Is Hell
- Was It All a Lie?: Someone finds out that a person had lied to them and ponders whether the fabrication means everything involving their relationship with this person was insincere.
- Was It Really Worth It?: It can be sad to see someone question whether achieving their goal was truly worth what they had to do to make it possible.
- Was Too Hard on Him: A character feels bad when he has to scold another, especially if it's really harsh.
- Watching Troy Burn
- "Well Done, Son!" Guy: It's sad that this person never gets any respect from their father.
- We Used to Be Friends: It's really gut-wrenching to watch former friends become antagonistic towards each other.
- Widowed at the Wedding: It's tragic that this person became a widow or widower because their spouse got killed immediately after they were wed.
- The Woobie is from this trope.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
- Yank the Dog's Chain: A suffering person looks like they'll have fortune smile on them for once, but have their chance at happiness ruined at the last minute.
- You Are Not Alone
- You Are Worth Hell
- You Can't Go Home Again
- You Have Failed Me: Especially to a really lovable character.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: A person gets upset because another person praises them for doing something that they know is wrong.
Examples (No Real Life Examples, Please!):
- Advertising
- Anime & Manga and Light Novels
- Comic Books
- Comic Strips
- Disney
- Documentary
- Fan Works
- Film
- Let's Play
- Literature
- Live-Action TV
- Magazines
- Music
- Music Videos
- Podcast
- Professional Wrestling
- Radio
- Roleplay
- Tabletop Games
- Theatre
- Video Games
- Visual Novels
- Webcomics
- Web Original
- Western Animation
- Other
If you want to feel happy again, this TV Tropes page and this one will do the trick.
