History Main / UnableToCry

* The WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog episode ''The Tower Of Dr. Zalost'' has a very unique example. The villain Dr. Zalost has a rat henchman who appears cold and only snarls or sighs. Towards the end, the rat gets hit with the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Happy Cannonball]] which turns him into a crying baby. Fans have speculated that he was [[EmotionSuppression bottling up his emotions]] which prevented him from letting any tears out.

* In ''VisualNovel/NewDanganronpaV3'', [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Ultimate Robot]] [=K1-B0=] laments that he can't cry in the wake of [[spoiler: Miu Iruma's murder, since they'd grown attached to each other in the past couple of days]].

* In ''Film/BicentennialMan'', after his beloved Little Miss dies of old age, he comments that it isn't fair that he is capable of feeling so much sadness, but incapable of expressing it.

* In an early episode of ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', Fry [[ItMakesSenseInContext drinks an alien emperor whose body is made of liquid and sleeps in a glass bottle]] and is [[IdiotPlot crowned the new emperor]], which seems great until it becomes clear that his new role has a ridiculously high turnover rate, being almost a guaranteed ticket to assassination. When it turns out that the old emperor he drank isn't really dead, but is alive inside his stomach, the options of getting him out are narrowed down to Fry crying, which he can't because he's "too macho"; even a reminder that he [[HumanPopsicle outlived everyone he ever loved]] is [[AngstWhatAngst easily shrugged off]]. Bender finally finds some success by telling him that Leela got killed on her way over to help him out, but Leela, who's not in on the plan, actually shows up before he's shed more than a few tears. [[spoiler:The solution, of course, is for all his friends to kick the crap out of him until he sheds tears of pain. It works. Then the emperor himself says, "Thanks for crying me out!" and goes back to kicking.]]

* In an early episode of ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', Fry [[ItMakesSenseInContext drinks an alien emperor whose body is made of liquid and sleeps in a glass bottle]] and is [[IdiotPlot crowned the new emperor]], which seems great until it becomes clear that his new role has a ridiculously high turnover rate, being almost a guaranteed ticket to assassination. When it turns out that the old emperor he drank isn't really dead, but is alive inside his stomach, the options of getting him out are narrowed down to Fry crying, which he can't because he's "too macho," with even a reminder that he [[HumanPopsicle outlived everyone he ever loved]] being [[AngstWhatAngst easily shrugged off]]. Bender finally finds some success by telling him that Leela got killed on her way over to help him out, but Leela, who's not in on the plan, actually shows up before he's shed more than a few tears. [[spoiler:The solution, of course, is for all his friends to kick the crap out of him until he sheds tears of pain. It works. Then the emperor himself says, "Thanks for crying me out!" and goes back to kicking.]]

* In an early episode of ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', Fry [[ItMakesSenseInContext drinks an alien emperor whose body is made of liquid and sleeps in a glass bottle]] and is [[IdiotPlot crowned the new emperor]]. When it turns out that the old emperor he drank isn't really dead, but is alive inside his stomach, the options of getting him out are narrowed down to Fry crying, but he can't because he's "too manly," with even a reminder that he [[HumanPopsicle outlived everyone he ever loved]] being [[AngstWhatAngst easily shrugged off]]. Bender finally finds some success by telling him that Leela got killed on her way over to help him out, but Leela, who's not in on the plan, actually shows up before he's shed more than a few tears. [[spoiler:The solution, of course, is for all his friends to kick the crap out of him until he sheds tears of pain. It works. Then the emperor himself says, "Thanks for crying me out!" and goes back to kicking.]]

* In an early episode of ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', Fry [[ItMakesSenseInContext drinks an alien emperor whose body is made of liquid and sleeps in a glass bottle]] and is [[IdiotPlot crowned the new emperor]]. When it turns out that the old emperor he drank isn't really dead, but is alive inside his stomach, the options of getting him out are narrowed down to Fry crying, but he can't because he's "too manly." Bender finds some success by telling him that Leela got killed on her way over to help him out, but Leela, who's not in on the plan, actually shows up before he's shed more than a few tears. [[spoiler:The solution, of course, is for all his friends to kick the crap out of him until he sheds tears of pain. It works. Then the emperor himself says, "Thanks for crying me out!" and goes back to kicking.]]

* In an early episode of ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', Fry [[ItMakesSenseInContext drinks an alien emperor whose body is made of liquid and sleeps in a glass bottle]] and is [[IdiotPlot crowned the new emperor]]. When it turns out that the old emperor he drank isn't really dead, but is alive inside his stomach, the options of getting him out are narrowed down to Fry crying, but he can't because he's "too manly." [[spoiler:The solution, of course, is for all his friends to kick the crap out of him until he sheds tears of pain. It works. Then the emperor himself says, "Thanks for crying me out!" and goes back to kicking.]]

Something terrible has happened, but a character finds themself unable to shed tears. (Or at least, says they can't). In the classic scenario, a bereaved hero will angst (or {{Wangst}}) over their inability to cry for a dead loved one, lamenting that they must be a terrible person, dried up and dead inside, a monster! They never are; they're usually just suffering an undiagnosed HeroicBSOD, or are working up to an UnstoppableRage and can't let themselves break down, or [[TryingNotToCry swore]] they wouldn't let their enemies see them cry and now have an emotional block about it. Occasionally they cried so much over one traumatic event (or a series of them) in their life that they seem to have no tears left for anything else.

** Byleth in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' is noted by his/her father Jeralt to never have cried, even as an infant. [[spoiler:Jeralt's death puts an abrupt end to this as they shed tears for the first time]].

* ''Comicbook/{{Concrete}}'': Ron's new alien body just isn't wired to weep, so feelings that he would have cried from in his previous body cause him to vomit instead. Unfortunately his new stomach is filled with extremely caustic acid strong enough to dissolve rocks and wood, meaning he naturally tries to avoid vomiting if possible. His inability to achieve emotional release is probably one of the contributing factors to his [[spoiler: becoming depressed]] as the series goes on.

* In ''Fanfics/NeonMetathesisEvangelion'', [[BrokenAce Asuka]] has opened up to Rei and Shinji, she has admitted to herself and even to them that she loves them, she knows she is loved... but one thing still hasn't changed about her: She hasn't cried in ten years, not even at the funeral of her mother. She won't cry now, no matter what.

* Referenced in ''Film/MysticRiver'' where Sean Penn's character sobs "My own little daughter and I can't even cry for her" "Jimmy, you're crying now!"

* Solid Snake from ''Franchise/MetalGear'', due to sheer jadedness.

* One book in the ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' series involves Claudia dealing with the loss of her beloved grandmother. At the funeral, she finds herself unable to cry, and worries that something is wrong with her because of it. As she eventually realizes, it just takes a little while for her emotions to catch up with her.

* Following the death of [[spoiler:Cosmo]], and the subsequent failure to revive [[spoiler:her]], in the series finale of ''Anime/SonicX'', Franchise/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}} was left not only unable to cry, but unable to react properly. Despite regular complaints stating that he was "soooo mean", he was obviously mourning.

Something terrible has happened, but a character finds him or herself unable to shed tears. (Or at least, says s/he can't). In the classic scenario, a bereaved hero will angst (or {{Wangst}}) over their inability to cry for a dead loved one, lamenting that they must be a terrible person, dried up and dead inside, a monster! They never are; they're usually just suffering an undiagnosed HeroicBSOD, or are working up to an UnstoppableRage and can't let themselves break down, or [[TryingNotToCry swore]] they wouldn't let their enemies see them cry and now have an emotional block about it. Occasionally they cried so much over one traumatic event (or a series of them) in their life that they seem to have no tears left for anything else.

In some relatively rare cases, the character can cry over ordinary things, but has never wept for the one big defining sorrow of their life.

Obviously this is TruthInTelevision to a degree, though fiction tends to be more {{Anvilicious}} about it.

* The Princess in ''Anime/{{Naruto}} TheMovie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow''. To do a scene where her character cries (She's a RebelliousPrincess-turned-Actress), she needs eyedrops.

* In ''Lord of Emperors'', the widowed, hunted and revenge seeking Empress must be convinced to "allow herself to grieve" by a physician who is sheltering her from the new Emperor's guards. "We must bend before we break" is a big philosophy for said physician, and is borne out several times in the ending.

* In Teresa Frohock's ''Literature/MiserereAnAutumnTale'', Lucian freezes after [[spoiler:Catarina]] dies. Rachael holds him a long time, and nearly gives up before he sobs.

* In Creator/JohnHemry's Literature/PaulSinclair novel ''A Just Determination'', the other junior officers grow worried over Carl Meadows after a sailor's death, because he is neither crying nor otherwise reacting after days.

* In Creator/AletheaKontis's ''Literature/{{Enchanted}}'', Rumbold while [[spoiler:saying goodby to his mother's ghost.]]

* In the "First Lay of Gudrun" of the ''Literature/PoeticEdda'', Gudrun does not weep over her murdered husband Sigurd. Several women attempt to console her by relating her own sad stories, but fail to get a reaction. Finally Gudrun's sister Gullrönd uncovers Sigurd's corpse; when Gudrun sees Sigurd's face, she cries.

* Part of the plot in the SoapOpera ''Yo Amo a Paquita Gallego''. The titular character is unable to cry, as she never had done that, not even at her birth. But, as one character points "those who are unable to cry are unable to sincerely laugh neither", so the plot has a real delight in doing all kind of very awful things, even to ludicrous levels, [[BreakTheCutie just to see if she ever breaks]]. When Paquita finally cries, near the end of the soap, is the signal that the universe can stop trowing shit on her ASAP.

* Ana Lucia's inability to cry (at least until Day 48) is mentioned on ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Notable in that we don't see her cry during any of her traumatic flashbacks either, and when she finally ''does'' breakdown, it's likely that she was finally letting out the grief of the past few months of her life.

* In ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel,'' a contestant named Tiffany was eliminated during Cycle 4. She took the elimination in stride, and said that she has had such a hard life and cried so much, getting eliminated from a reality show was pretty small by comparison. This rather famously sent Tyra into a complete rage.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', despite how much he wants to when [[spoiler: Rebecca tearfully announces him her will to win the tournament for the Mera Mera no Mi]], the Thunder Soldier in the Dressrosa arc is ''literally'' unable to cry, due to being a LivingToy.

* ''Film/{{Conspiracy}}'': Offscreen, Dr. Kritzinger tells Reinhard Heydrich a story about an old friend who had an abusive father but a doting mother. The man was unable to cry at his mother's funeral, but was strangely broken down in tears and sobbing uncontrollably at his father's funeral. It was because his father's hatred defined the man's life more than his mother's love ever did, rendering him an empty shell who had lost his purpose when the object of his hatred was gone. This ties into a warning that Kritzinger is trying to give Heydrich about his anti-Semitism.

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''

* Solid Snake from Franchise/MetalGear, due to sheer jadedness.

* The protagonist of Brian Keene's short story "The Garden Where My Rain Grows" suffers from this problem. He can get sad over the deaths of loved ones, but he's never been able to cry. Not before the apocalypse[[labelnote:*]]which, ironically, comes in the form of a never-ending rainstorm[[/labelnote]], not after, not when his oldest friend is decapitated by Satanists. He finally finds himself able to cry at the end, after [[spoiler: a {{Kraken}} kills his LoveInterest.]]