Follow TV Tropes

This is based on opinion. Please don't list it on a work's trope example list.

Following

Tear Jerker / Batman: Arkham Origins

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bklqsdqcyaame3n.png
"Don't add me to the weight you carry..."

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


  • This ad, which just serves to emphasize that Bruce's life has always been one tragedy or fight after another.
    • Compounded is that the only time he expresses an emotion is when fighting Bane. To have kept all that rage bottled up for so long...
  • Loeb's death. Yes, the man was corrupt and a major part of Gotham's problems, but he was so callously killed off. Even Batman's angered when Loeb dies, and he doesn't like the cops in this game.
  • Even Batman feels sorry for Sionis when he realizes that Joker forced him to shoot his girlfriend, Tiffany, rather than let her die in the fire Joker set.
  • Alfred's near-death after Bane has invaded the Batcave. Even though we know he's not going to die, it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. As Batman tries to revive him, the subtitles give his name as Bruce Wayne, rather than Batman.
    • After Alfred is revived, Batman suffers a Heroic BSoD when he takes off his mask briefly, goes to the computer, and reflects on the visions of the dead bank manager, his dead parents (again) and Alfred's Only Mostly Dead body, right before Alfred encourages him. There's even a photo of a young Bruce with his parents while Alfred consoles him, and he starts regaining his composure. After he is called to head back to Blackgate Prison, Alfred tells him, "They need you," and the Dark Knight responds, "No, they need us." So touching. Also doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
  • The end of the Mad Hatter questline. Despite Batman successfully stopping Tetch and saving the kidnapped girl, she is so deeply traumatized by the experience that she's continually sobbingnote  and when Batman tries to comfort her and let her that everything will be fine now, she asserts that it isn't. Especially so when you realise that she's wearing a full Alice costume and not brainwashed, so Tetch likely would have made her undress with her being fully aware of it. Even the thought of that is horrifying to comprehend.
    Mad Hatter: (tearfully) You've ruined everything! My lovely party all in tatters... the tables overturned and the guests all gone! I think you should leave. In fact, I demand it!
  • The final casefile Batman investigates is centered around a double homicide of two wealthy socialites in Crime Alley, mere feet from the site of the murders of Thomas & Martha Wayne. The two were friends of Bruce and had just gotten engaged, only for the man's best friend to kill them out of jealousy. However, when Bruce confronts the killer, he's noticeably angrier than usual and begins projecting his anger at his own parents' deaths onto the killer, not even telling him what the case was, unlike the suspects in other cases. Alfred even has to contact him during the middle of the confrontation because of how erratic Bruce's vitals are. It just serves as another sign that Bruce will never get over that loss.
    • What's also sad, and a little creepy, is that while rewinding the scenario at the crime scene, there's a point where Bruce's parents flicker back into their chalk outlines. This case really touched a raw nerve for him.
    • Even without it reminding him of his parents, it's still tragic. The victims were apparently friends of Bruce Wayne, who had recently gotten engaged. This is before he gains any allies aside from Alfred or Gordon, so he really doesn't have that many friends.
  • In this version of her backstory, Harley was lonely and wanted a friend. She doesn't even gain a friend in the Joker, though she thinks she does. He's just manipulating her. It's so hard to watch because he'll be doing it to her for years and years and it causes her to become Harley Quinn in the first place. Then again, the thing about Joker is that it's constantly ambiguous as to whether Joker actually cares, so it could be a subversion.
  • The fact that (as hinted at in Arkham City, but possibly confirmed here) the Arkham Joker's backstory is from The Killing Joke is incredibly sad and tragic. He's still being pushed to do the job at Ace chemicals... Of course, what we see is how Joker's mind perceives his origins, and the events shown are vague and fractured, hinting that he doesn't fully remember things properly, but otherwise what is shown strongly hints towards the events being at the very least partially true (or as close as we're gonna get to it).
    • In the interview tapes from Arkham City, Hugo Strange states that this version of his origins is one of the many that Joker has told people. They all have absolutely nothing in common except one thing: they all include Batman. Though whether Batman did cause the birth of the Joker or if Joker just became fixated on him after Batman saves him at the hotel is anyone's guess.
  • When Batman's hallucinating under Copperhead's poison, one of the things he sees is Alfred lecturing him about how he's disgraced the Wayne family name and how personally disappointed Alfred is in him. Truly hammers home the relationship between Bruce and Alfred.
  • Discovering and analyzing the crime scene where Victor became Mister Freeze.
    Batman: All this violence... He was just trying to save his dying wife.
    • Although he's quick to recover, Bruce is genuinely shocked when he learns the truth about Boyle; he was really hoping that they could improve Gotham. Combined with Harvey Dent's fate, the DLC hammers home why Bruce has been Batman for so long: except Gordon, he doesn't trust anyone in authority.
    • In the game, Nora is described as having Huntington's Disease. It's a very slow and painful inherited neurological disorder were you lose all control of your body but are aware of everything up until the end. Victor was aware of that. No wonder he was driven to such lengths to save her.
  • Both Amadeus Arkham and Cyrus Pinkney's fates. They were one of the most promising people in Gotham of their time. Unfortunately, both were eventually broken. The first went mad, and was incarcerated in his own asylum; the second, driven by desire for revenge against Henry Cobblepot, became a killer.
  • Unsurprisingly, Mr. Freeze's origin is this in the DLC Cold, Cold Heart. His utter devotion to his wife is sad in that he goes to such extremes just to find a cure for her.
    Mr. Freeze: Nothing matters. Do you understand? Nothing but my Nora!
    Batman: You've endangered lives all over this city. Nora would never have wanted this!
    Mr. Freeze: No. (Stares longingly at his wife) What she wants is to live a long life in the warmth of the sun, her hand in mine. But because of [Boyle], she'll only feel the icy touch of a man whose emotions run as cold as the blood in his veins!

Top