History TearJerker / BaldursGate

--->I... I do not remember your love, Ellesime. I have tried to. I have tried to recreate it, to spark it anew in my memory. But it is gone... a hollow, dead thing. For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory. And then nothing. The Seldarine took that from me, too. I look upon you and I feel nothing. I remember nothing but you turning your back on me, along with all the others. Once my thirst for power was everything. And now I hunger only for revenge. And... I... Will... HAVE IT!!

'''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy]]. [[{{Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned}} You Have Been Warned.]]'''

-->''Imoen:'' I don't feel like I fit in with the people of the city anymore.

-->"''And... there. It be done, a simple thing, it is. The boy's heart is cold, now. As... as cold as his mother's old heart... You... you will hurts my boy, won't you? No... [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone no, what has Nyalee done?!]] My poor boy, the spawn-child will hurts him! Nyalee must stops him/her!! Come, spirits of the glade! Come, woodsies of the forest!! We... [[MamaBear we must protects my boy! My precious Yaga-Shura!!]]''"

* Durlag's Tower... just, the backstory of Durlag's Tower. A dwarven hero builds this home for treasures and family in the late days of his adventures, and then it gets infiltrated by Doppelgangers whom systematically murder his entire clan until only he remains. Then Durlag goes mad after slaughtering them because they ''wore his family's faces as they hunted him''! What's more is that Durlag feared dying alone, as his father had. It was his greatest fear and his clan's murderers saw to it that it happened.

'''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''

* Jaheira finding Khalid's corpse at the beginning of Baldur's gate 2. This is the first time the rather stoic Jaheira breaks down crying. And even if you consider him TheScrappy, it's rather hard to not break down. And to make it even worse, Khalid has his own quest in ''Siege of Dragonspear'' where he's trying his damndest to make an anniversary gift for Jaheira. [[DramaticIrony Playing that quest and realizing Khalid's eventual fate]] can make the gut punch even harder: You now know that both Khalid and Jaheira were HappilyMarried for a reason!
* A short line from Imoen, after the revelation of her Bhaalspawn status.
--> ''Imoen:'' I don't feel like I fit in with the people of the city anymore.

* The whole of Anomen's questline, as well as his backstory. Say what you will about the man, but once the truth of his past begins coming out, one can see why he tells such outlandish tales of extreme heroism to impress you, especially if you're a romanceable female. His mother died, leaving him and his sister with their abusive drunkard of a father, he joins the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart in order to become a knight, but grows impatient as he awaits his trial to determine if he's ready or not...and then his questline kicks in when his beloved sister is murdered. After a meeting with his father about it and discovering that he believes it could have been his business rival, the story can go one of two ways...both seeming intent on breaking the man:

*** This also becomes heartwrenching when the man who boasted of grand feats of heroism...starts to scare the spit out of your own party because of just how far he's fallen. Can't get any worse you say? Anomen will now ''[[MoralEventHorizon attack party members who dare try to warn him of how dark he's getting]]''. While it sorta makes sense that he would come to blows with Keldorn, who is still trying to lecture him like a squire, but when Anomen will outright try to kill ''freakin AERIE'' of all people, ''just because she was telling him how much he was scaring her and how worried she was about him'', then you know the man's hit rock bottom....
** Convince Anomen to simply report your suspicions but otherwise take no immediate action. Anomen's father disowns his son entirely, leaving Anomen with no home to return to, ever. While he does pass his knighthood, it is later revealed that Saerk did indeed murder his beloved sister when he murders his father as well. Anomen then leaves the party and goes to take his vengeance, requiring a romanced Charname to talk him down if they have any hope of saving the romance.
* Though the game doesn't draw attention to it, there's a bittersweet feeling about the final ending in ''Throne of Bhaal'', though more meta for the player, particularly those who may be roleplaying the game more thoroughly - consider how many characters the player has met, how many companions they made over the course of their three game journey, all the helpful NPC's....how many of them lost their lives to one event or another, in great acts of heroism or in pitiful wastes of life...characters you hardly knew, ones you grew to like a little, even those you became friends with, and that's not counting any characters you permanently lose while in the field that don't die during the storyline. By the game's end, the player has seen many people die during their journey, many of whom deserved far better fates....."[[ArcWords Chaos will be sown in their footsteps]]" indeed...

* Durlag's Tower... just the backstory of Durlag's Tower. A dwarven hero builds this home for treasures and family in the late days of his adventures, and then it gets infiltrated by Doppelgangers whom systematically murder his entire clan until only he remains. Then Durlag goes made after slaughtering them because they ''still wore his family's faces''! What's more is that Durlag feared dying alone, as his father had. It was his greatest fear and his clan's murderers saw it happen.

* Durlag's Tower... just the backstory of Durlag's Tower. A dwarven hero builds this home for treasures and family in the late days of his adventures, and then it gets infiltrated by Doppelgangers whom systematically murder his entire clan until only he remains. Then Durlag goes made after slaughtering them because they ''still wore his family's faces''!

* Jaheira finding [Khalid's corpse at the beginning of Baldur's gate 2. This is the first time the rather stoic Jaheira breaks down crying. And even if you consider him TheScrappy, it's rather hard to not break down.

* [[spoiler: Yoshimo's death. Just as bad is the barrage of [[WhatTheHellHero sad]] [[WeUsedToBeFriends and]] [[EtTuBrute betrayed]]-sounding comments from your companions that precede it.]]

* Jon Irenicus's speech to [[spoiler: Ellesime]] at the Tree of Life helped to humanise and add tragedy to a character who up until that point had been an unrepentant, sadistic MagnificentBastard.
--->I... I do not remember your love, [[spoiler: Ellesime]]. I have tried to. I have tried to recreate it, to spark it anew in my memory. But it is gone... a hollow, dead thing. For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory. And then nothing. The Seldarine took that from me, too. I look upon you and I feel nothing. I remember nothing but you turning your back on me, along with all the others. Once my thirst for power was everything. And now I hunger only for revenge. And... I... Will... HAVE IT!!

* The ending WhereAreTheyNow stories for party members are often quite TearJerker-y. At least, Minsc's "they're together still, up among the stars where hamsters are giants and men become legend". Viconia's [[spoiler:romanced ending where her past finally catches up with her and she is denied even the experience of seeing her son grow up by the ever-scheming Lolth and her followers]] is also liable to make your eyes water.

* The Master Wraith in ''Throne of Bhaal'' WILL [[BreakTheCutie tear up]] your romance option, but none came close to utter heartbreaking like Aerie. To wit: [[spoiler:he conjured an image of her mother, who proceeds to blame her for getting the latter killed by more sadistic slavers, all because Aerie ''dared'' to go missing from her]]. Aerie may be a little too whiny for her own good, but on the other hand, hearing her completely break down sobbing and begging it to stop is just too much.
** Even worse, when it's the other original romance options doing these things, the only things voiced are [[spoiler:the illusions of their loved ones]], the victim does not have voice acting. Aerie? Her whole breakdown is ''voiced'', so you get to hear Creator/KathSoucie making her sound completely desperate and in anguish, and ''goddammit it was that effective'' to show the trope BreakTheCutie.
* In the ''Tales of the Sword Coast'' expansion for the original game, the resolution of the Werewolf Island subquest is rather tragic. There is one particular character -- the friendliest one in the village and pretty much the only one who doesn't hold your outsider status against you -- who you can do favors for such as retrieving a cloak and delivering him/her (depending on your player character's gender) flowers. If you pick the nicer dialogue options, the journal entries reveal that you are becoming increasingly fond of him/her. If you offer to take him/her with you to the mainland to start a new life together, he/she will consider it but ultimately refuse out of fear and lingering attachment to the village. That's sad enough. After TheReveal [[spoiler:that the villagers are all dangerous werewolves]], he/she helps you to evade them and shows you an escape route. Your new friend and nascent LoveInterest still refuses to leave and decides to fight the other villagers to buy time for you -- and it's heavily implied he/she doesn't survive. The journal entry covering this ends with the words "...I wish..."

* Many Bhaalspawns in Saradush don't want anything to do with their heritage and just want to go on with their lives. It's also heavily implied that Bhaalspawns will end up in the lower planes when they die, regardless of alignment and by all accounts, [[spoiler: they all die when Saradush is destroyed.]]

* Jaheira finding [[spoiler: Khalid's corpse]] at the beginning of Baldur's gate 2. This is the first time the rather stoic Jaheira breaks down crying. And even if you consider him TheScrappy, it's rather hard to not break down.
* A short line from Imoen, after the revelation of her [[spoiler: Bhaalspawn]] status.

* Viconia's ending if romanced. It's such a downer that the above-mentioned Edwin romance mod comes with a happier ending for a romanced Viconia thrown in, though it only triggers if the player "redeems her" and causes her CharacterAlignment to shift to TrueNeutral.

* At the end of ''ThroneOfBhaal'', if you're in a relationship with Jaheira, her reaction to whichever decision you make is worthy of the name TearJerker.

* ''[[BaldursGate Baldur's Gate II]]''. [[spoiler: Yoshimo's death. The fact that he's the only proper thief in the game is also sad.]]
** Jon Irenicus's speech to [[spoiler: Ellesime]] at the Tree of Life helped to humanise and add tragedy to a character who up until that point had been an unrepentant, sadistic MagnificentBastard.

** At the end of ''ThroneOfBhaal'', if you're in a relationship with Jaheira, her reaction to whichever decision you make is worthy of the name TearJerker.
** The ending WhereAreTheyNow stories for party members are often quite TearJerker-y. At least, Minsc's "they're together still, up among the stars where hamsters are giants and men become legend". Viconia's [[spoiler:romanced ending where her past finally catches up with her and she is denied even the experience of seeing her son grow up by the ever-scheming Lolth and her followers]] is also liable to make your eyes water.
*** Kelsey's romance mod can make players tear up every time. Not helped by the almost sobbing of the voice actor.
**** Kelsey. Tree Of Life. "So let me just say this. I love you. I need you. And I am with you until the end." It's voiced. Cue waterworks!

** The ending WhereAreTheyNow stories for party members quite TearJerker-y. At least, Minsc's "they're together still, up among the stars where hamsters are giants and men become legend". Viconia's [[spoiler: romanced non-ascension ending where her past finally catches up with her and she is denied even the experience of seeing her son grow up by the ever-scheming Lolth and her followers]] is also liable to make your eyes water.

* A short line from Imoen, after the revelation of her [[spoiler: Bhaalspawn]] power

** This troper considers the ending WhereAreTheyNow stories for party members quite TearJerker-y. At least, Minsc's "they're together still, up among the stars where hamsters are giants and men become legend". Viconia's [[spoiler: romanced non-ascension ending where her past finally catches up with her and she is denied even the experience of seeing her son grow up by the ever-scheming Lolth and her followers]] is also liable to make your eyes water.
*** This troper has played quite a few mod romances to that stage, and Kelsey's makes her tear up every time. Not helped by the almost sobbing of the voice actor.

* This troper was horrified when the Master Wraith in ''Throne of Bhaal'' [[BreakTheCutie teared down]] Aerie.

* Many Bhaalspawns in Saradush don't want anything to do with their heritage and just want to go on about their lives while being percecuted wherever they go. It's also heavily implied that Bhaalspawns will end up in the lower planes when they die, regardless of alignment and by all accounts, [[spoiler: they all died when Saradush was razed.]]

** There is, however, a mod in the works which will allow said village to join your party in the second game. So a nice Fan Retcon on what would otherwise have been quite a DownerEnding.