Tear Jerker / Chibi-Robo!

• Several moments have the potential to make you misty-eyed. This music alone is potent without its similarly-tragic backstory.
• Most, if not all of Giga Robo's story qualifies. Just listen to his theme music! Taking the aliens to the deactivated Giga-Robo, especially considering the sad theme music that plays. Friend... is dead? Dead...
• The scene where Mort is just about to confess his love for Princess Pitts and tell her that he's the one leaving dried flowers for her... and Drake Redcrest cuts in with a fresh flower. Not only did it make gamers feel extremely bad for Mort, hence the tears—but it also made them want to scream, "You BASTARD!"
• The early scene where "Sunshine" explains the fight between Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson. The cut to Jenny's saddened, weary face just makes the cute helplessness of "Sunshine" all the worse. Not to mention that this scene is the first time we hear any words from Jenny other than "Ribbit"...
  • Earlier in the game, when you first go to the living room at night, you can see Jenny sitting on the stairs crying. She knows exactly what's been going on between her parents, and it's affecting her just as much as them.
• Watching the Sanderson family slowly falling apart over the course of the main story is pretty sad. Then, after finding one hidden toy receipt too many, Mrs. Sanderson finally reaches her breaking point and locks herself in her room. She then, through Chibi-Robo, gives the rest of her family a letter in which she criticizes not only her husband, but also Jenny and Tao (who are visibly hurt by her comments). What really drives the scene home is the last line of the letter:
  Mrs. Sanderson: The only option I've got left is...divorce.
  Jenny: (looking completely devastated) ...Ribbit?
• After Mrs. Sanderson locks herself in her room, Jenny will go back to the living room and draws, like she usually does. But if you look at what she's drawing, you'll see a picture of her parents: her mom, who is angry, and her dad, who is crying.
• Near the end of the game, Mr. Sanderson reveals that he created the Spydorz to be Chibi-Robo's friends back when he worked for Macroware Robotics Inc., but the company reprogrammed them to be hostile. In response, Mr. Sanderson quit his job, but told his wife he was fired out of shame. His wife is genuinely stunned when he reveals all this.
• Pretty much all of poor Freaky Phil's story. It starts out as one of the most giddily bright and funny subplots in the game, but not only the concert but when Funky's first found "dead" ("This is the worst joke everrr!"), Dinah trying to push through the whole thing and saying she wants to "do something for those kids", the concert, and the funeral after the concert ("Just let him go!") - obviously up until the realization that he wasn't dead all along, rather just shut off.
• "Chibi Robo! DON'T DIE!" Yeah, we find out about 30 seconds later that he's just fine, but there's just something about it... The sad music probably doesn't help.
• Through most of the early portions of the game, the Sergeant of the Free Rangers is a Drill Sergeant Nasty who often berates his troops. Some of his men get so fed up with him, they run off in the middle of the night! But shortly after, when Chibi finally brings him the dog tags of Memphis—their lost member—his tough act comes to a head, and he totally loses it. [L"YOU'RE NOT FIT TO BE FREE RANGERS! ...And I'm not fit to lead you..." But tears of sorrow quickly turn to tears of triumph as his remaining men come to his aid. "YOU'RE HARD BOILED!"
• In Clean Sweep, when Chibi and Telly first arrive at the house, it’s made very clear that the family isn’t exactly well off financially, which shows in multiple ways, including a rat infestation, multiple broken outlets, and ghosts made completely out of the dirt and dust that’s been built up from being left uncleaned.
• In Photo Finder, after Mr. Curator is interviewed by a news program completely different than what he was expecting, Telly asks for you to go visit him in the museum. After talking to him, he seems like he's trying to keep himself happy, but failing. Afterwards, you can see him against the wall, sitting in self-pity and depression.

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