Tear Jerker / Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

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"Heh... How original. Oh, well."^note Riku Replica before vanishing.

• The death of the Riku Replica, who pitifully asked his assailant where his heart would go when he died when he doesn't even know for sure if he has one. Particularly painful because he is arguably the worst case of Unwitting Pawn in the series — he existed only to help the Organization manipulate Sora, and was probably going to be disposed of no matter what he did.
  • The original GBA version is even worse. Repliku's last words? "Oh, well."
  • His entire story was incredibly powerful and simple in a series that lacks simplicity. He was a replica despaired and empty after discovering the girl he'd sworn to protect had actually just edited his memory to make him think he was an original human. Not a single good thing happens to him in his life, and that's the only reason he's not afraid of death, even though he's plagued with uncertainty about where a fake go.
  • It does bear mentioning, however, that his ending in the manga is far happier. He left Castle Oblivion with two Vexen Replicas, going to make himself his own person.
  • The novel, on the other hand, is much worse. We see a lot of the story from his perspective, and it's shown that he was in a state of confusion throughout most of his first fight with Sora. His barely-formed fake memories tell him that he hates Sora and so does Naminé, but he can't understand why. A part of him wants to receive Sora's hug and be friends, but something keeps telling him that he's not supposed to be doing that, so he acts antagonistic and is left feeling all the more unsatisfied and confused.
• Right before Riku enters the final dungeon so he can face Ansem (Seeker of Darkness) and defeat him, he tells Mickey he has to do it alone and then tries to ask him to destroy him if Ansem wins. Mickey naturally refuses and promises to save him from it, but it's sad that a 15-year-old kid is asking Mickey Mouse to kill him if he's possessed by darkness.
• The ending scene is much more heartbreaking if watched after playing Kingdom Hearts II and realizing the extent of what Naminé was and what she was giving up. To add insult to injury, Jiminy literally wrote a reminder to 'Thank Naminé', but when Sora woke up, he completely forgot who she was, and the "thank you" never happened. Not to mention in the final cutscene of CoM, if you watch closely, a tear runs down her cheek.
• Zexion's death. Just the look of fear on his face when he realizes it's over...
  • Well, Zexion was a Smug Snake who kind of deserved it. But in hindsight, what with Zexion as the innocent kid Ienzo in Birth By Sleep, his whole life and even that death does make one feel sad for the guy...
    • Kind of mitigated by Dream Drop Distance, which reveals that he's more than okay, he's gotten his heart back, and along with Aeleus and Lea, seems to have come out of the experience as well off as a former Nobody can be. Happy ending!
• Vexen's death which is a different tearjerking experience based on which version of the game is played:
  • In the GBA version, the fact that he practically had to be dragged with heels digging into the ground to that battle, and he really, really didn't want to face off against Sora. Before he is killed, Vexen literally begs for mercy, and tells Axel, "I don't want to... go yet..."
  • In the PS2 version, he kind of asks for it... but watch the fully rendered 3D scene of him getting knocked over and trying to get off the ground unsuccessfully. When the scene pans out to Sora and Axel yelling at each other, he's actually on his hands and knees not moving in the background, like it's that painful to get back on his feet. He isn't even able to beg for mercy and opt as his final words are cut off. As quick as this scene was and as much as Vexen deserved it, this is more inherently tragic than Sora's reunion with Riku.
• Larxene's last words when she's fading away, even if she did have it coming. Her line of "No, this isn't the way I..." makes it sound like she, as a Nobody, always knew she'd fade away eventually and had hoped for it to be dignified. For this to be denied her, a being who has practically nothing as it is, is quite sad.
  • What's more heartwrenching is her reaction isn't like other sadist characters like her; she sounds genuinely upset and afraid, not at all like her usual self. She doesn't sound remotely angry or amused anything— just frightened and upset. It almost makes you question Larxene's personality outside this one moment.
  • The Questionably Non-Canon novels give a small inkling to this. She mentions that having a heart was a painful experience, and further questions why the organization would even want to get their hearts back.
• Lexaeus's death and final words. Again, it depends on which version of the game is played. In the original, he takes himself out in order to drag Riku into the darkness. In the remake, he knocks Riku out with his tomahawk and gets sucker-stabbed by Dark Riku. His dying words are an apology to Zexion (who isn't present) for starting the fight in the first place because he's leaving him alone again.
• Namine's entire life is a Tear Jerker, if you think about it: she was born all alone in Castle Oblivion, and almost immediately taken prisoner by the Organization, who treat her as a pawn and a prisoner. Even Sora's affection for her is, at first, only because she's tampered with his memory to make him believe she's his childhood friend. "Lonely" doesn't even begin to cover it.
  Namine: I don't really exist inside your heart. I don't exist...in anyone's heart.
• Castle Oblivion itself. It's a rare combination of nightmare fuel, paranoia fuel, and a tear-jerker. The nightmare fuel part, naturally, comes from the whole "losing your memories" thing and the fact that it's a giant creepy castle in the middle of nowhere that's easy to get lost in (since it's in the middle of nowhere, that means that if you get lost, nobody will come to rescue you) and is infested with heartless. The ominous Background Music doesn't help either. The paranoia fuel part comes in when you realize that Sora and Riku are being CONSTANTLY watched by Organization XIII. They pop up literally everywhere they go...as if they know where they're going to be. That's not all, either: They can teleport everywhere around the castle, which means that escaping them is nigh-impossible and since they can mess with people's memories...Sora can't even trust his own memories, he can't trust anyone and he can't even trust himself. What makes it scary is that since Castle Oblivion literally operates on a Bag of Spilling logic, they lose all of their strength, which means that the organization could wipe the floor with them easily...at first. The tear-jerker part comes in if you played the prequel games or if you know the castle's origins. Castle Oblivion wasn't always like this. It used to be a much happier place where keyblade students trained peacefully under Master Eraqus's tutelage. Master Eraqus was the owner (sort of) of the castle and thanks to him, It used to be a safe place where you could watch the beautiful starry night sky with your friends... but now, when you look up, all you see is an endless void. Also, back in the old days, it was known by another name and it looked much more beautiful. There were no heartless to be worried about and the darkness had no hold over it. If you compare the castle before and after it became what it is today, you can see a major difference. The sad part is that it's also a place of tragedy, where Master Eraqus was killed(?) by one of his oldest friends after fighting one of his own students, which marked the beginning of the castle's transformation into the nightmarish place that it is today. Once you learn of the castle's origins, you may never look at it the same way again.
• Unlike everyone else Sora encounters in Castle Oblivion, Aerith is aware that she does not exist and is merely a figment of Sora's memories.
• Considered both Heartwarming and a Tearjerker in that order. In Re: Chain of Memories, when Sora met the memory version of Pooh, Pooh did not introduce himself. Sora knew who this little bear was by name. In turn, Pooh greeted Sora by his name too, the latter whom also did not introduce himself. Curiously, it's only between the two because Sora forgot who the others are. Then came KH2, when everyone slowly remembers Sora and gang if not immediately, Pooh was the only one who forgot who Sora (and everyone else) was because the Heartless caused damage to the book. In other words, the memory manipulation affected everyone else except for memory Pooh though the physical damage only affected the real Pooh but not everyone else somehow.
• Hearing how upset Jiminy is when it's revealed all of his journal entries from the first game are gone is heartbreaking. The poor guy did his best keeping everything up to date only to have it all taken away.
• In the credits of Sora's story, we briefly return to Destiny Islands and see Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie playing together. The boys are too busy larking around to notice, but Selphie notices that Kairi is standing by the beach looking sad and goes over to see why - Kairi's forgotten Sora and knows she's forgotten someone special to her, though Selphie doesn't know it. Seems this is when Kairi refused to go to the island again.
• In the manga, after Sora with Jiminy leaves both Donald and Goofy to find Naminé, he goes to his memory of Destiny Islands. He was greeted by Riku (or rather his memory of Riku), Sora immediately feels wary about him. Considering Sora already meet Riku (or rather his replica) and is being treated as an enemy by him. This makes Sora hesitant enough to believe Riku won't see him as his best friend. It's really sad knowing that Sora is happy to see Riku only to be treated as an enemy and after meeting him again he acted like nothing happened while Sora is upset about it. Fortunately, Jiminy reassures Sora saying that the Riku he is talking to is his memory of Riku.