Following the decision to flee to the elven villages, Inuart decides to sit down and sing a song; as he does, we can see Caim genuinely smiling in a non-malicious manner. It makes it clear that even with his bloodlust, he still considered Inuart a friend, and it makes the path Inuart falls down hurt that much more.
The game's Ending A. The very first ending you get in the first Drakengard game is truly a tearjerker. Not only does Angelus show her change in opinion of humans but also Caim finally shows compassion for the first time (we are talking about a guy who killed thousands of people in cold blood and didn't cry when he lost all his soldiers, his sister, and even his best friend). The sequel only pushes it further although it can be actually comforting in that they do not have to suffer anymore. The worst thing is that this is the happiest ending. The others go From Bad to Worse.
And in the sequel? As the two burn to ash (including Caim burning by choice), sharing one last moment together in life as Growing Wings, the series Leitmotif, plays, the following exchange occurs between the two pact partners:
Angelus: Is it over, Caim?...
Caim: It's over. We're together now.
Doubly tearjerking when you realise exactly what Caim does for her before they set aflame; in the first game Angelus says she feels tired and asks Caim to ‘warm her as he did before’ and he does so by petting her snout. What does he do when he sees her again? Pet her snout; Caim warms Angelus one last time before they die together.
How Ending E ends. After defeating the Queen-Beast, Caim and Angelus are suddenly shot down by two missiles and we're silently treated to the sight of their burnt corpses falling to the ground, with the final shot of the ending being Angelus impaled on Tokyo Tower.
Those who've played Nier probably know why they look like this... Caim and Angelus were the first victims of the Queen-Beast/Giant's Maso, which infected them with its White Chlorination Syndrome and turned them into salt. Angelus' body would later be used by the humans of that world to develop magic.
Most of the characters have at least some tragic angle to them, but one who sticks out in particular is Leonard. Jesus Christ on a bicycle, Leonard. His entire life is one bad stroke of luck after another. How so? Well.
He had to raise his younger brothers after his parents died, and lost those brothers to the Empire while he was in the forest doing something very personal.
Following this, he tries to kill himself but fails, gets bullied into a pact by a horrible Faerie, and ends up joining Caim on his quest in hopes he’ll die along the way.
On top of all of that, he’s also a goddamn pedophile that knows those urges are wrong and hates himself for something he didn’t ask to be born with. The Faerie relentlessly torments him over this, even taking the form of a little boy specifically to fuck with him. The fact that he’s the kindest member of the main cast makes this hurt even more.
Drakengard 2
Manah's Battle in the Center of the Mind in the sequel. Nowe finds copies of her younger self from Drakengard in the throne room she stayed in as the Watchers' puppet. When you strike the copies, you get a very good idea of the Trauma Conga Line Manah went through as a child, with gems like this voice clip that plays on landing a hit:
Manah (screaming, terrified): Don't hit me, Mommy!
For people who played the first game, their hearts likely sank into their stomachs the moment Manah started talking in an old man voice again.
All three endings have a tragic final boss. Endings A and C have Nowe fight his father Legna, refusing to let him sacrifice humanity to end the Watchers for good, while Ending B has Nowe and Legna fight against Manah, who sacrificed herself to the Bone Casket to end its menace.
