History TearJerker / TheAvengers

* The "Under Siege" storyline had Zemo trying to break Captain America by destroying his mementos and torturing his friends, letting the savage Mr. Hyde loose on Jarvis. What happens is entirely off-panel, but the sound effects, dialogue, and expressions say it all. A [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/avengers_280.shtml story]] shortly afterward consisted of Jarvis recovering from the attack and debating on whether or not to rejoin the group, ultimately deciding that despite the risks, he would.

** After filming was done, Patrick [=MacNee=] went to his dressing room and cried due to the emotion of the scene.

* ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica and the resulting miniseries, especially the funeral. "I miss your battle cry." And then the next page is a full spread of Cap and Comicbook/TheAvengers with the CatchPhrase "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" on it.

** "It wasn't worth it."
** When the above (and "The Confession") are taken into account, the ''Avengers/Invaders'' miniseries (which takes place [[spoiler: between Steve's death and resurrection]] is ''heartbreaking''. Tony's reaction to seeing Cap on his screens... Past!Cap telling Iron Man that he admires him for sticking to his principles despite having to go against his friends... It's kind of like being punched in the heart. A lot.
* ''Thor'' #[[http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/6495598.html 11]]. Using Mjölnir, and bellowing "Avengers Assemble!", Thor summons the soul of Captain America. We then learn that Cap's soul is trapped between the worlds, and it is cold. On top of that, he can now feel the pain of the world and of his friends, and constantly bombarded by the sounds of people attempting to use his death for their own agendas. But when Thor asks him if he wants his death avenged, Cap replies:

* [[Comicbook/CivilWar The Confession]]. 22 solid ''pages'' of tearjerker, ending in a devastating splash panel [[spoiler:of Captain America's corpse, with Tony Stark kneeling beside it whispering, "It wasn't worth it."]]

* ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica and the resulting miniseries.
** Especially the funeral. "I miss your battle cry." And then the next page is a full spread of Cap and Comicbook/TheAvengers with the CatchPhrase "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" on it... *sniff sniff*

*** "It wasn't worth it."
** When the above (and "The Confession") are taken into account, the ''{{Comicbook/The Avengers}}/Invaders'' miniseries (which takes place [[spoiler: between Steve's death and resurrection]] is ''heartbreaking''. Tony's reaction to seeing Cap on his screens... Past!Cap telling Iron Man that he admires him for sticking to his principles despite having to go against his friends... It's kind of like being punched in the heart. A lot.

* The "Under Siege" storyline had Zemo trying to break Captain America by destroying his mementos and torturing his friends, letting the savage Mr. Hyde loose on Jarvis. What happens is entirely off-panel, but the sound effects, dialogue, and expressions say it all. A [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/avengers_280.shtml story ]]shortly afterward consisted of Jarvis recovering from the attack and debating on whether or not to rejoin the group, ultimately deciding that despite the risks, he would.

* The "Under Siege" storyline had Zemo trying to break Captain America by destroying his mementos and torturing his friends, letting the savage Mr. Hyde loose on Jarvis. What happens is entirely off-panel, but the sound effects, dialogue, and expressions say it all. A story shortly afterward consisted of Jarvis recovering from the attack and debating on whether or not to rejoin the group, ultimately deciding that despite the risks, he would.

* The "Under Siege" storyline had Zemo trying to break Captain America by destroying his mementos and torturing his friends, letting the savage Mr. Hyde loose on Jarvis. What happens is entirely off-panel, but the sound effects, dialogue, and expressions say it all.
* The aftermath of the "Under Siege" storyline. Captain America stands amongst his personal effects, consisting of photographs, papers, and even a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth; All he had of his life from before he was frozen, destroyed in front of him by Baron Zemo in an attempt to break him. The most painful loss being the only photo Cap had of his mother, ripped in half. He openly weeps over their destruction, telling Monica Rambeaux that he couldn't allow himself to do so in front of Zemo. Many years later, during ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', Zemo used the moonstones to bring them back for Cap.

* The aftermath of the "Siege" storyline. Captain America stands amongst his personal effects, consisting of photographs, papers, and even a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth; All he had of his life from before he was frozen, destroyed in front of him by Baron Zemo in an attempt to break him. The most painful loss being the only photo Cap had of his mother, ripped in half. He openly weeps over their destruction, telling Monica Rambeaux that he couldn't allow himself to do so in front of Zemo.
** And many years later, during ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', Zemo used the moonstones to bring them back for Cap.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wamD6FwyNQ Emma Peel's goodbye scene]] in "The Forget-Me-Knot". Especially since it's the one and only time Steed calls her by her first name when thanking her for her company.

* The Death of CaptainAmerica and the resulting miniseries.

!![[Film/TheAvengers The Marvel Cinematic Universe film]]

** After filming was done, Patrick MacNee went to his dressing room and cried due to the emotion of the scene.

See [[TearJerker/TheAvengers1 here]].

* The elderly German man who refuses to bow to Loki. It gets even worse when you realize that the man is old enough to have been alive in UsefulNotes/NaziGermany (it's suggested by some fans he might've even been a Holocaust survivor). He's seen this happen before and he will not let it happen again.
-->'''Loki:''' "There are no men like me."
-->'''Old man:''' "There are ''[[ANaziByAnyOtherName always]]'' men like you."
** WordOfGod says he is indeed a Holocaust survivor.
* Banner tells Fury he can't be killed, because he's already tried putting a bullet in his mouth - "the other guy spat it out". The man's been [[DrivenToSuicide driven to actual suicide]], and has had even that release denied him.
** The others' reactions is what really sells this as well. The BrainwashedAndCrazy stops for a moment. They're struck silent and even Nick Fury turns to look at him in horrified disbelief.
** Earlier than that, Banner tells Black Widow that he doesn't always get what he wants... while offhandedly rocking ''a baby cradle.'' Ow.
* Natasha desperately trying to calm Bruce down so he won't hulk out: "We're gonna be okay. All right? I swear, on my life, I will get you out of this! You will walk away and ''never, ever''..." She knows it's her and SHIELD's fault he's here, and that if he transforms not only will she probably be killed, but so will he, through no fault of his own.
** Well, Bruce can't be killed -- not easily, anyway. On the other hand, the only alternative from the standpoint of threat neutralization is his lifelong captivity. Which is ''worse.''
** Right before he finishes transforming, the helpless look he gives Natasha, a look that says "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry...."
* [[spoiler:The death of Phil Coulson. We just spent four movies getting to know him as the hypercompetent, stoic Man in Black and he even gets fleshed out somewhat in the movie, only to be summarily stabbed by Loki. His final line to his boss is an apology for dying and telling Nick that "[the team] needed something to....*dead*". That being said it's also a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for him, as he delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Loki and then blasts him with a BFG.]]
** [[spoiler: Thor's reaction to it as he was inside the cage and helpless to stop it. Especially since he was grateful to Coulson for making sure that Jane Foster was safe.]]
** [[spoiler: The trading cards. Just... the trading cards. Even if that was a ruse by Fury.]]
*** [[spoiler: Especially Captain America's expression when seeing them. You can see that he's thinking that he let a man who believed in him down in the worst way possible.]]
** It's very easy to miss the first time, but if you look very carefully, Tony's Arc reactor is very clearly ''not'' shining its blue-glow through his Black Sabbath shirt throughout that ''entire'' scene. Even though [[MenDontCry Tony Stark may not shed tears even for the death of his friends]], his heart is quite visibly and literally broken. (Once again, the Arc reactor is [[Film/IronMan "proof that Tony Stark has a heart."]])
*** [[spoiler: Also Tony's reaction. It's clear he's holding back tears as he [[HowDareYouDieOnMe angrily states that Coulson was stupid for trying to take on Loki alone]]. For all his teasing and snarking at Coulson, it's clear he was fond of him and even [[AndThisIsFor invokes his name when fighting against Loki]].]]
----> [[spoiler: '''Tony:''' And you pissed off one other person. '''His name was Phil.''']]
**** [[spoiler: Tony doesn't count himself as one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. That just makes it ''worse.'']]
*** Tony looking at the blood on the wall where [[spoiler: Coulson was leaning after he was stabbed]] and then this angry, desperate line to Steve:
----> We are ''not'' soldiers!
*** The really heartwrenching part is that when Steve asks Tony if he had ever "lost a soldier." Tony's above reaction is as powerful as it is because while he hadn't lost a "soldier" he did lose someone close to him: Yinsen. And his angry admonition of [[spoiler: Coulson]] that he "should have waited" can apply just as much to Yinsen's death. Tony is blaming himself once again for the death of someone he cared about.
**** He has lost Soldiers in Iron Man every single one of the soldiers in the 'Fun-Vee' died in front of him.
* Even after all that Loki has done and will do over the course of two movies, Thor still [[BigBrotherInstinct considers him family and tries to protect him]]. Culminating in a scene where Thor embraces his adopted brother and asks him to "come home," it makes Loki's cold rejection of him and the resulting pain in Thor's eyes all the more heartbreaking to watch.
--> You give up the Tesseract, you give up this poisonous dream! ''You come home''...
** What makes it worse is that you can almost see Loki's eyes get unusually wet when he asks Thor whether or not he was mourned. [[spoiler: And when he stabs Thor in the stomach in the climax, even smiling away, a tear escapes his eye.]] Perhaps there is some part of him that regrets what has happened...?
*** Following the quote above, that awful moment when Loki, the God of Lies, can't even pull up a convincing scathing reaction to that line. He stares at his brother. He tries to smile, to laugh it off, but it dies almost seconds afterwards. He's reduced to addressing another issue to try and cover it up.
* This might be minor, but I can't help tearing up when Loki says he has no home. Just the idea that he never felt like he belonged somewhere ...
** Considering that what he went through between ''Thor'' and ''The Avengers'' changed him from a villainous yet sympathetic person to a twisted psychopath with little empathy.
* Loki tricks Thor into the holding cell and deliberately drops him down thousands of feet to Earth, while telling him that this experiment will test whether or not Asgardians are immortal. Thor doesn't try to reason with Loki. Thor actually doesn't do anything but stare at Loki, who is coldly and casually about to try to kill him - yet again. He simply blinks back tears. [[spoiler: And once he lands on Earth, he takes a long moment and just clenches his fists.]] Just... ow.
** It's more poignant when you realize he's trying to call to Mjölnir, which isn't responding. Hearken back to the Thor film where Odin casts a spell on the hammer that it can only be lifted (or recognize Thor as its master) by one who is worthy. Thor, clearly conflicted about his brother, has clearly lost his sense of purpose.
--->'''Thor:''' Loki is a prisoner.
--->'''Nick Fury:''' So why is he the only one on this boat who wants to be here?
** About the above comment, it's not that Mjölnir ''wouldn't'' come to him. It's that he couldn't ''focus'' on calling it to him. He was so distracted by his grief over [[spoiler:Coulson's]] death, and being helpless to stop it that he had shut down for a moment.
** Also that Thor truly considers himself a hero... but after [[spoiler:Coulson's]] death, he feels like he ''failed'', and thus he isn't ''worthy'' of holding Mjölnir.
* [[spoiler:Tony's HeroicSacrifice. He's flying the nuke into the wormhole, calls Pepper, there is a long moment as the phone rings and Pepper doesn't pick up, the line goes dead, the suit goes dead, Tony closes his eyes and lets himself fall, all while tear-jerking music plays. He doesn't die, but ''still''.]]
** [[spoiler:Even worse when you find out in ''Film/IronMan3'' a major plot point is that he's having severe anxiety attacks just from the ''mention'' of New York and anything that happened in this movie.]]
** Let's remember that in Iron Man 2, he was dying and didn't get a chance to tell her then, either.
** [[spoiler:Oh, and the reason Pepper doesn't answer her phone? She's watching the TV report on the fight in Manhattan, unable to hear the phone, horrified and knowing Tony is somewhere in there.]]
*** [[spoiler:Give you one worse. Can you imagine what she must have been going through when she saw her one missed call?]]
** [[spoiler:Gets even worse when you remember [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Cap's]] HeroicSacrifice. He went down protecting New York City from the devastation of a bunch of massive bombs... and he had his girlfriend's picture on the dashboard on the entire descent to comfort himself in his last moments. Tony has Pepper's picture up on his heads-up display during the entirety of what seems to be his last flight. It's a heartwarming testament to Tony's devotion to Pepper ''and'' a NotSoDifferent moment between him and Steve, all at the same time.]]
*** That [[spoiler: Tony]] is visibly ''scared out of his mind''. He has at least one out--[[spoiler: he can try to just shove the missile into the wormhole]] and hope for the best--but he keeps going, into almost certain death, because that's what heroes do. [[MoodWhiplash And then he]] [[spoiler: takes everyone out for schwarma]] [[MoodWhiplash because that's what]] [[spoiler: Tony Stark]] [[MoodWhiplash does]].
*** There's a very brief moment right after [[spoiler: JARVIS asks if Tony would like him to call Pepper, and Tony says, "Might as well." The camera lingers on Tony for just long enough to see the stunned, blank look on his face. JARVIS knows that these are likely Tony's last moments, and Tony himself is realizing the same thing.]]
* [[spoiler:The scene where the nuke is launched at Manhattan. Hawkeye, Iron Man and Hulk are all, for various reasons, out of the fight, with a dramatic soundtrack growing bleaker with each hero's removal. We see the fighter pilot launch the missile right at Manhattan--"detonation in two minutes, thirty seconds, mark"--and the city to be destroyed, the portal still looming overhead. As the music reaches its crescendo, we cut to Captain America and Thor (whom we haven't seen for a while now), the last two Avengers still left fighting, desperately fending off Chitauri infantry in the streets. In that moment, the sense that they're all about to be killed by the nuke now contends with the sense that these two been left behind. Fortunately, it's only just that, a moment, as we see that Cap and Thor most certainly have each other.]]
* The wall of remembrance shown in the aftermath videos, reminding us that even though the Avengers won the day, a ''huge'' number of ordinary people still died in the battle, despite all that the heroes could do.
* Steve's first appearance, where he's working the heavy bag at an old, empty gym. He starts having flashbacks about the war, the Howling Commandos, and his last words to Peggy Carter, and his blows grow more vicious and more rapid, until he literally knocks the bag off the chain.... And then we see that Steve has had multiple heavy bags prepared. This has been going on for some time, and Steve has come to expect it.
** ''Everything'' about Steve, frankly, is a tearjerker, if one stopped to really think about it.
* Tony's snarky dig about Captain America ("That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Maybe they should have kept him on ice.") becomes a tear jerker if you recall what he says about his father in ''[[Film/IronMan Iron Man 2]]'' - "He never told me he loved me, didn't even tell me that he liked me." Along with their vastly different personalities, it also goes a ''long'' way towards explaining Tony's initial attitude towards Cap.
* The deleted scene (which would have been his introduction) where Steve is wandering around present day: seeing old film of him and his men together, looking at the files of his men ("Status: DECEASED") and Peggy (which says "Status: RETIRED") and wondering if he should call her, doodling in a cafe, and then just sitting on a train on his way to the gym. Through this whole montage, he's alone. Aside from [[spoiler:StanLee saying to Cap to ask the number of the waitress in the cafe]], it's mostly depressing.
** And apparently Whedon wrote him reuniting with Peggy as well. Which would be equally depressing.
*** This was written into ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. It ''was'' depressing, but [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments heartwarming]] simultaneously.
* Captain America's vicious verbal putdown of Tony, telling him that he knows nothing about sacrifice and teamwork and thinking of others. Did it need to be said? Yes. Did it make the look on Tony's face and his halfhearted attempt at a comeback any less heartbreaking? No freaking way.
** Equally heartbreaking was Tony's crack about Steve being "a lab experiment at best". Now remember how Steve had started out as an 80 lb weakling that few looked at twice, and how even after the serum he was cast aside and used as a propaganda mascot. Then remember everything he had sacrificed to save New York, only to wake up to a world where the only son of his old friend tells him that "everything special about you came out of a ''bottle''."
* While all the other SHIELD agents are celebrating after Tony takes the nuke through the portal, Fury starts to smile, but ends up looking sad in the midst of all these celebrations. Why? Because they've won, but he knows what it all cost: Coulson (his one good eye) and, as far as he knows at that point, Tony.
* Black Widow revealing that Loki's words from earlier ''did'' indeed affect her more than she'd like to express.
--->'''Clint:''' You're a spy, not a soldier. Now, you want to wade into war. Why? What did Loki do to you?
--->'''Natasha:''' He didn't... I just... (visibly uncomfortable)
--->'''Clint:''' Natasha...
--->'''Natasha:''' ''I've been compromised''. I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out.

* Hank Pym at the end of ''SecretInvasion'' is subjected with many TearJerker moments, especially when he learns that his wife Janet van Dyne has died. Him being told of the recent events, and his eventual angry outburst chewing out [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] is pretty sad on many levels, for both sides.

** The others' reactions is what really sells this as well. Every single last person is struck silent and even Nick Fury turns to look at him in horrified disbelief.

* [[spoiler:The Death of Agent Phil Coulson. We just spent four movies getting to know the guy through supporting roles and cameos and he even gets fleshed out somewhat in the movie, only to be summarily stabbed by Loki. His final line to his boss is an apology for dying and telling Nick that "[the team] needed something to....*dead*". That being said it's also a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for him, as he delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Loki and then blasts him with a BFG.]]

** [[spoiler:Gets even worse when you remember [[CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Cap's]] HeroicSacrifice. He went down protecting New York City from the devastation of a bunch of massive bombs... and he had his girlfriend's picture on the dashboard on the entire descent to comfort himself in his last moments. Tony has Pepper's picture up on his heads-up display during the entirety of what seems to be his last flight. It's a heartwarming testament to Tony's devotion to Pepper ''and'' a NotSoDifferent moment between him and Steve, all at the same time.]]

*** This was written into ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. It was more bittersweet than depressing, though.

* The deleted scene where Steve is wandering around present day: seeing old film of him and his men together, looking at the files of his men ("Status: DECEASED") and Peggy (which says "Status: RETIRED") and wondering if he should call her, doodling in a cafe, and then just sitting on a train on his way to the gym. Through this whole montage, he's alone. Aside from [[spoiler:StanLee saying to Cap to ask the number of the waitress in the cafe]], it's mostly depressing.

** Earlier than that, Banner tells Black Widow "Well, I don't all the time get what I want"... while offhandedly rocking ''a baby cradle.'' Ow.

** Earlier than that, Banner tells Black Widow "Well, I don't always get what I want"... while offhandedly rocking ''a baby cradle.'' Ow.

* Emma Peel's goodbye scene in "The Forget-Me-Knot". Especially since it's the one and only time Steed calls her by her first name when thanking her for her company.

* Emma Peel's goodbye scene. Especially since it's the one and only time Steed calls her by her first name when thanking her for her company.

* ''Thor'' #[[http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/6495598.html 11]]. Using Mjolnir, and bellowing "Avengers Assemble!", Thor summons the soul of Captain America. We then learn that Cap's soul is trapped between the worlds, and it is cold. On top of that, he can now feel the pain of the world and of his friends, and constantly bombarded by the sounds of people attempting to use his death for their own agendas. But when Thor asks him if he wants his death avenged, Cap replies:

** It's more poignant when you realize he's trying to call to Mjolnir, which isn't responding. Hearken back to the Thor film where Odin casts a spell on the hammer that it can only be lifted (or recognize Thor as its master) by one who is worthy. Thor, clearly conflicted about his brother, has clearly lost his sense of purpose.

** About the above comment, it's not that Mjolnir ''wouldn't'' come to him. It's that he couldn't ''focus'' on calling it to him. He was so distracted by his grief over [[spoiler:Coulson's]] death, and being helpless to stop it that he had shut down for a moment.
** Also that Thor truly considers himself a hero... but after [[spoiler:Coulson's]] death, he feels like he ''failed'', and thus he isn't ''worthy'' of holding Mjolnir.

* Banner admits that in his darkest days [[spoiler: he tried to shoot himself in the head... and the Hulk won't let him die.]]