Tear Jerker / El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera

• In the evil ending of "The Good, the Bad, and the Tigre", Manny does not let Rodolfo and Granpapi fall into the lava. Instead he shackles them, steals the Bronze Boots of Truth and Sombrero of Chaos, and continuously taunts and lies about freeing them while he has his fun as a Evil Overlord. When Manny finally figures that he should free his family, they are all very old, weak, and presumably about to get obliterated by Sartana and Django and their lunar army.
  • Someone on here mentioned that Frida did not care that Manny took over the world in the name of evil, but worse, neither did Rodolfo nor Granpapi (though the latter is to be expected)! At this point, all they were focused on was trying to convince Manny into giving them his power supposedly until he was of age. So, not only are his father and grandfather still treating him like an incapable child (which got him upset with them in the first place!) but are now trying to take away his new-found power for their own gain!
  • "Your SON break the controls!" That quote basically sounded like Puma Loco disowned Manny as his grandson for a second there.
• From the episode proper there is Rodolfo and Granpapi constantly putting Manny down for being young and, when he does well during the tournament, trying to convince Manny that he needs to work with one of them which could be viewed again as them trying to use Manny to gain power for themselves. This becomes prime fodder for Django to get into Manny's ear to betray his family, which for a short time he does.
  • Manny's interactions with Django count too. Manny took an instant liking to Django both because he was impressed by Django's powers and because he believed Sartana was also grossly miscalculating her grandson's potential, and when they meet they quickly become thick as thieves and help each other during the tournament. Then after the above betrayal Django reveals that everything was all part of his masterplan, he was playing Manny like a fiddle the whole dang time, and when Manny didn't sacrifice his family to rule the world (and knocking Sartana and Django off the podiums) Django went in for the kill and nearly succeeded when Manny tried offering a truce.
  • Word of God is that it would have eventually been revealed Django and Manny are cousins, meaning that Manny was being put down or played by three different blood relatives throughout the episode (although it is unknown if Django is aware of the linage). At least things get better with two out of three, but this also means that even if Django is not necessarily a Rivera the possibility for a blood feud is pretty high if not for certain (and, given what everyone is capable of, this crosses with Nightmare Fuel).
• Quick, but worth a mention. Earlier in "The Grave Escape," Manny (along with Frida) was crushed by Sartana's "forgotten dead" mutant and sent plummeting into The Land of The Dead. Although he ended up surviving, it was very obvious by the quick eye-watering to Unstoppable Rage transition that Rodolfo and Granpapi truly believed their young son/grandson had been killed right in front of them.
  • Also kind of worth mentioning that Rodolfo and Granpapi mourned for Manny but made not even the slightest of the same for Frida, who is pretty much family at this point. And then imagine how Emiliano would have reacted...
    • Interesting to mention that certain tidbit, which also brings to mind how in the finale Rodolfo first calls for a group hug, stops to knock Frida out of the way (making it look accidental), then calls for a family hug. It sort of questions just how Rodolfo and Granpapi view Frida, especially given she's going to be their daughter/granddaughter in-law one day.
  • Crosses as Nightmare Fuel. Going back to the episode it becomes a lot more somber given Sartana's monster was not just wicked dead people but innocent/non-evil dead people who were simply forgotten and became vengeful or lost their humanity throughout time. It gets worse in that the Ancient Tiger Spirit cremated them, most likely leaving them Deader than Dead.
  • The stress of being unable to choose between being a hero or a villain ravaged El Tigre I's mind to the point that he became legitimately insane over it. Even after centuries of being dead he's in terrible mental shape and, upon introduction, was shown to be isolating himself from his son and other descendants. On Dia De Los Muertos, no less! And even worse, it seems like a big part of his legacy ended up being the very insanity that he ultimately fell into.
    Golden Leon: He is now naught but a babbling fool.
  • The simple fact that the Rivera villains and heroes were (at first) willing to attack Manny and then declare that he's not worthy of being part of their family because he ate their offerings. There's also the fact that they were perfectly fine with letting Miracle City burn (including the relatives that still honored them) until they were reminded that they would be negatively affected by it.
    • While the rest of the family simply didn't give a crap or made excuses as into why they didn't need to help, El Tigre I responds by snarling "Why should I?". It wouldn't be too far a stretch that he became resentful of how people treated his memory after he died and only changed his mind after being reminded of White Pantera and Puma Loco.
• In "A Fistful of Collars", a lonely bandito finds the lost Chihuahua, Taco, and forms so strong of a friendship that he decides to keep Taco instead of turning him in for the hefty reward. Unfortunately, Manny and Frida find said bandito and take Taco away by force, too greedy for the cash and Luxe-Pods to hear the bandito's pleas. Fortunately, once Manny saw that Taco was neglected/possibly abused by the snobby family and was going to be fed to the pet shark, he uses the money not just to buy Taco back but also buy all the other pets to give to the bandito...the shark included!
• "Adios, Amigos!” has Manny breaking off his and Frida’s friendship after the Titanium Titan attacks him and injures her in the process, proving Emiliano correct that being around Manny could mean disaster for Frida. Throughout the episode, Manny and Frida are obviously depressed and unwilling to get the other off their minds or make any new friends. Luckily, things do get better.
  • What makes the situation worse is that this time around it was not really Manny's fault (as in, he did not directly provoke a fight or anything); The Titan simply blames Manny for "stealing" away Rodolfo because he is his son and Rodolfo rightfully saw raising him as more important than continuing on his and Titan's heroic partnership/friendship.
    • Imagine what Rodolfo must have felt like when he realized Manny was being hunted down because of him! Not to mention that he accidentally played a part in turning his former friend to the other side.
    • The look he casts down into the volcano afterwards is palpable; he laments the (seeming) loss of his ex-friend and how even a noble, mature decision (read: Choosing to start a family over full-time superheroing) can have unfortunate effects on others.
    • Then there's the moment he and Grandpapi show up to save Manny and Frida. He yells "Titan!" and looks like he's winding up for a big heroic one-liner or even a "Reason You Suck" Speech... but instead chooses a short but gut-wrenching line: "I... expected better from you." The Titan's only response is to lamely mutter Rodolfo's name and apologise, seemingly sincerely, with tears in his eyes, before letting go of Manny and allowing him to escape, while allowing himself to plummet into the lava below (he lives, though).
    • Actually, if it wasn't for the Titan being Ax-Crazy and coming off as an obsessive Stalker with a Crush/Yandere his situation would almost certainly inspire some pity. Rodolfo apparently dropped communication with him after he had Maria and Manny, and Rodolfo even admits that before he became a criminal he tried pursuing a solo hero career, but didn't have what it took. The additional fact that Incompatible Orientation is also in play also does not help.
• It gets worse in "Clash of the Titan" when The Titanium Titan appears to have gotten over his irrational hatred towards Manny but in reality was planning on murdering him and making his death look like an accident. Before the reveal Rodolfo had believed his fallen friend saw the light and welcomed him back with open arms and Manny himself was willing to let bygones be bygones, but of course that bridge is now way beyond burnt.
  • A small moment, but when The Titan claimed he's good again Frida was the first person to welcome him with open arms despite him kidnapping her in his debut episode and even comforted him as he cried. The Titan leaves her out of the heroic exploits, calls her lame, and tries to have her best friend murdered.
• White Pantera/Rodolfo reminding Frida of how powerless and useless she is in "La Tigressa". You definitely wanna give her a hug after watching it.
  White Pantera/Rodolfo: It's alright Frida, not everyone can be...useful.
  • Frida tries to help the Riveras fight off the crime spree at the beginning of the episode, but ends up getting defeated by all the villains she attempts to fight, including Sartana, blasted into the zoo, and getting licked by a bear. The video of that humiliating moment goes viral and Frida is mocked by the whole school. Manny does stick up for her and claims that Frida was fighting Sartana, but the other kids double down on their taunting and tell her she couldn't take on Sartana.
• In "Tigre + Cuervo Forever", Manny stands up to Voltura and Lady Gobbler in defense of Cuervo being a great supervillain, even more so than either of them, after which he and Cuervo fly off defiantly. Cuervo is amazed that Tigre stood up for her and makes a heartwarming speech to Tigre, which makes it a big-time Tear Jerker when both the audience and Tigre realize he's gonna have to break her heart by telling her the truth:
  Black Cuervo: "Nobody has ever stood up for me like that...you're not just my crime partner, you're my best friend.
  • Doubly so when you remember that Word of God said that Zoe and Manny were friends in pre-K and this is the first time since then that she's really put her faith in him as a friend and confidant...her reaction when she finds out he's lied to her is downright heart-breaking.
    • And despite this, Zoe STILL shows to have some intact feelings towards Manny by keeping that screw-nut necklace and looking fondly into it. And, if the show had continued...her and Manny were slated to date each other during high school when he and Frida had a falling out (whether this was Zoe's doing is unknown). Seeing that Manny and Frida are to get together permanently and Zoe eventually gave up on Manny, it's safe to say that the final break-up was probably quite nasty.
  • The whole Rivera-Aves love triangle thing could probably count, especially in the case of Lady Gobbler who was cheated on and left at the altar. It could also be speculated that she might have been a better person before meeting Puma Loco.
• Black Cuervo's/Zoe's introductory episode can count too, especially in the Harsher in Hindsight variety given Word of God. While she is indeed evil like her family, endlessly harassed and bullied Frida for years to the point that Frida specifically excluded her from her otherwise free-for-all birthday party, and manipulated Manny into nearly loosing his best friend she's still a lonely kid who could never let go of her first friend and was never able to find someone else to fill the void (until much later in life).
  • Manny choosing to hang out with the supervillain he just met instead of helping his best friend prepare her birthday party counts too. This eventually leads to a fight where he has the gall to claim that Frida's a lousy friend if he couldn't focus on her party to which Frida responds by uninviting him, made worse by her immediately regretting it when Manny storms off.
  • Black Cuervo turning Manny's guilt for hurting Frida into anger that Frida dared to shame him in front of the student body just to get him to help her crash Frida's party. And when seeing Frida wear the belt he made her brings Manny back to his senses Black Cuervo admits that he was only a pawn to her but undergoes a Unrequited Love Switcheroo when Manny defeats her. Once again, the cycle that has plagued the Aves' and the Riveras' for generations restarts.
• Sergio's situation can possibly count here too. Ok, maybe going to school in a kiddie cowboy costume wasn't the greatest idea, but not only did the entire school mock him over it, but THE ENTIRE, FREAKING CITY! That's...pretty harsh.
  • Even more so was probably Manny's unwillingness to defend nor even apologize to Sergio after making said innocent misunderstanding-turned-mocking fuel (thinking Sergio was younger and at the wrong school). He obviously looked guilty and most likely regretted the comment, but he couldn't forego the peer pressure to actually do anything. Nice Job Breaking It, Wild Card.
• This was predictable, but it still had to stink for Puma when Sartana wanted to keep that gem and let Rodolfo and Manny get killed by Monsterzuma as opposed to giving it back and accepting them as her new family. He's not going to have it, yet he still looks sad as she walks from the altar.
  • Manny and Frida successfully messing up their relationship too, since it actually was going well and the two genuinely liked one another. But then again... who's to say that Santana wouldn't have had Rodolfo and Manny killed behind Puma's back and made it look like an accident, especially if she and Puma already have a son together?
  • Speaking of Puma and Sartana, it was revealed that he was the one who turned her evil in the first place, partially because of his influence, but mainly because he broke her heart (twice at that). This caused her to do something so terrible (apparently to her sister) that her parents, La Muerte and Xibalba, had no choice but to strip her of her godhood and banish her indefinitely to the Land of the Living. Dang.
  • And we just found out that Sartana is a Daddy's Girl. Just imagine how painful and heartbreaking it must have been for Xibalba to have his little girl banished and possibly forbidden from having any contact with her parents and siblings.
• Some of the snippets given by Jorge can run into this, such as how Billy/The Cactus Kid is an orphan and how the Golden Eagle Twins' father was one of the heroes eaten by El Mal Verde (possibly explaining why they all turned out to be villainous, though this does remain to be seen).
• The Cactus Kid:
  • It's hard not to feel bad for The Cactus Kid when his first attempts at villainy in Miracle City go up in smoke. Even Grandpapi, who acts as his mentor, only took him under his wing to make Manny jealous. And when the old man callously admits it during his and Manny's angry confrontation, poor Cactus Kid is in tears.
  • At first Manny sees through Grandapapi's ruse and tries to brush it off. But it slowly becomes obvious that it's getting to Manny and he begins to feel guilty for not spending enough time with his grandfather.
  • The start and end of the episode can be quite bittersweet with the above information that Billy is an orphan that was most likely brought up by his hometown (and his cacti parents) and said hometown is nothing but supportive of his dreams of becoming a villain.
• Rodolfo and Maria's divorce in general, from the reasons to why it happened to Rodolfo obviously still being in love and desperately wanting to remarry her. Luckily, they ultimately do so once he fully retires.
  • Related to this, the fact that Maria basically left Manny when he was little (outside of seeing him each week or month) and didn't really have a big hand in raising him like Rodolfo and Granpapi (instead opting for a musical career) can count. Even more so given that she knew Manny was going to become either a hero or a villain if he stayed in Miracle City and may or may not felt she could do anything about it.
• Seeing Giant Robot Sánchez's robo-family being extremely distraught (especially his children) when he came home unresponsive. Even Frida knew that she and Manny couldn't just ditch them.
  • More so on that latter, Manny is the one asking whether it'd be okay to leave despite being fully aware of the psychological harm they'd be causing. A few seconds later, though, he's as on board as Frida.
• When Manny learns that Rodolfo ran away from the fight with El Mal Verde he begins to view his father as nothing more than a coward tarnishing the Rivera name. Luckily, Manny does come to see that Rodolfo ran so that he would be there for his family... though it took the gigantic ogre nearly eating him to do so.
• In one episode Maria was trying to rehabilitate a few of the villains to the path of good because she knew that prison (especially Miracle City's) was not going to do anything and that she believed if anyone was given a chance then they could change their ways. For a while it seems that the villains were actually listening to her, but then it's revealed that they were planning a heist behind her back and were probably going to back-stab her as well. Maria understandably loses faith in whether or not people can really change...at least until one of the villains (El Chucharon) shows he took what she said to heart and plans to live a better life.
• Even if it was all a ploy against Manny as well as herself, Frida tossing Manny to the side so she could do cooler stuff with the "teen supervillain" Silver Wolf while Manny got endlessly put through the wringer and got stood up by Frida at the concert they were waiting months to go to (even choosing to stay outside instead of going without her). Frida (at first) didn't even see anything wrong with how she was treating Manny when they got into a fight over it, and she only apologized after it turned out "Silver Wolf" was actually The Titanium Titan and was nearly made to kill Manny (she quickly refused, though).
• Small but significant one in "No Belt, No Boots, No 'Brero": While overall a heartwarming episode to end the series on, it's implied that apparently the whole hero/villain/undecided thing has for the longest time (possibly even going into the generations before the current three) caused rifts between the Riveras that not only lead to frequent arguments/fights but prevented them from doing basic family activities together.
  • Before they decide to do some family bonding they're no where in the best shape without their Items. Rodolfo and Granpapi both fail miserably in trying to go about business as usual without White Pantera and Puma Loco. And Manny? When word gets out that he lost El Tigre he gets beaten up by a good majority of the school body showing that, even considering that there's a lot of rotten apples in the mix given Miracle City's reputation, Manny in reality is a very unpopular kid and/or he and his family have done things to harbor a lot of grudges.