The memories re-uploading into Sora's head during the prologue. All the most powerful parts of the first game, clipped together with a slow piano melody.
Naminé's parting words to Roxas - "Roxas! We will meet again. And then we can talk about everything. I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again. Someday soon. I promise!" And at the very end of the game, they do, smiling at each other through Sora and Kairi.
Roxas suddenly learning that he's the Tomato in the Mirror. "Sora... You're lucky. Looks like my summer vacation ...is over."
Now let's look back from here, Roxas spent 358 days before arriving at the fake Twilight Town, starting from when he was "born" to when he actually got there. Then he spent 6 days in the fake Twilight Town with the friends he never had, making it 364 days. 365 days = 1 year. Considering Roxas being sucked back into Sora on day 6, Roxas "died" (except not; it's complicated) the day before his birthday.
The manga adds one more heartbreaking line: "It was real to me..."
The manga is actually more heartbreaking than the game. Roxas was brought to tears over the fact that he had to give his existence to wake Sora up. After DiZ disappears and Roxas meets the sleeping Sora, Roxas began reflecting on his life and how Sora's memories caused him to doubt his existence. He then remembers the days he spent in the virtual Twilight Town before he notices his hand fading away. He then looks back at Sora and, with a sorrowful smile, tells him how lucky he is and that his own summer vacation was over before fading away.
At the end of the prologue, Roxas finds out that he's actually the Nobody of another person — Sora. Depending on your interpretation, either he reluctantly agrees to merge with Sora to restore Sora's memories and self, essentially sacrificing himself, or simply has no choice in the matter.
Roxas: Looks like my summer vacation is... over.
Even before that, the events of Day 6 are heartbreaking. Roxas has had to deal with increasing weirdness and danger over the previous few days, fighting to return to the normality of his daily life. On Day 6, he wakes to find that his friends are effectively ghosts that he can no longer interact with, that his town is deserted, and that his head is flooding with strange and unwelcoming memories. As he speaks to Namine it's clear that it's all too much for him:
Roxas: It's just, I think— I've been running away from the question I really wanna ask: What's gonna happen to me now? Just tell me that. Nothing else really matters anymore.
Before all that Naminé flat-out tells Roxas that he is not supposed to exist. His reaction to her blunt statement says it all:
Roxas: What...? How could you even say such a thing...even if it were true?
Naminé: I'm sorry. I guess some things really are better left unsaid.
Then Roxas hits an all-time Trauma Conga Line when Naminé reveals that he is going to disappear when he rejoins with Sora and that nothing can stop this from inevitably happening, then she proceeds to get captured by DiZ and Roxas is rendered powerless in saving her. He finally gets his missing memories back only to realize that he's been stashed inside of a simulation device and implanted with fake memories of being a normal boy in Twilight Town, and is forced to fight his best friend. It eventually becomes too much for him, as he loses his temper at DiZ in a final attempt to validate his existence before sadly accepting his fate.
Roxas crying, through Sora, over Hayner, Pence, and Olette, the friends he never actually had.
Even more saddening when you remember in some of the previous cutscenes, Roxas states he was the first customer at a women's shop and Hayner implies that he was the one who taught him how to play Struggle. That means that Roxas likely has about 15 YEARS worth of fake memories from the Simulated Twilight Town, it's no wonder he didn't take learning the truth so well.
Not to mention the following scene when Sora, Donald, and Goofy are on the train to the Mysterious Tower. Sora looks out the window of the train. He then looks at the munny pouch and the piece of the trophy that used to belong to Roxas and remarks that he feels sad. Both scenes have the somber and nostalgic "Friends in My Heart" playing in the background.
During a replay, all the comments Hayner, Pence, Olette, or Roxas make about what they should do next year, or about the fact they should enjoy each other's company because they will one day go their separate ways, hit harder, since the player now knows Roxas will never experience them.
When Sora first goes back to the 100 Acre Wood, everything's all fine and dandy at first, then the Heartless come and poor Pooh Bear forgets Piglet.
Also when Sora enters the book for the first time and is forcibly ejected out before saying hello. Then discovering that the book has been torn again.
Some of the reactions that Pooh's friends have towards him forgetting about them, especially with Tigger, who is so heartbroken that he breaks down crying.
When the fourth page is restored, Pooh goes missing inside a cave while in the middle of a Heroic BSoD. He has started to remember Sora, but can't find him, and at one point, fears that Sora was killed by a "jagular".
The last scene on Starry Hill. Pooh turns to Sora and admits he's been "trying to think of a way to make you not leave." That in and of itself is a sad line, but what made the waterworks flow was Pooh's next line:
Pooh: Sora, if I go looking for you, would I find you?
The sad fact is that Sora really can’t give Pooh exactly what he wants even after his desperation to save his memories. Of course, like in Pooh’s source material, Sora assures the little bear that he’ll always be with him in his heart. It’s no surprise that this game’s storyline for Pooh, which draws heavily on easily the darkest, most bittersweet Pooh fiction ever told, really brings out the waterworks.
Every time Pooh addresses Sora as "Somebody-I-Don't-Know" you can visibly see how heartbroken Sora is, but true to form, whenever Pooh remembers one of his other friends, Sora perks up for them and is excited, genuinely excited, that Pooh remembered them instead.
"Part of Your World" can bring a few tears to an eye, especially since anyone who had ever seen The Little Mermaid (1989) would enjoy being able to perform the song again, and especially since it's Ariel's signature song.
Watching Mufasa die AGAIN, complete with Simba's gut-wrenching Big "NO!" taken straight out of the original film, only this time in full 3-D. Thanks, Disney; it's not like that wasn't traumatizing enough the first time around.
In the second visit to the Pride Lands, Simba has fallen into despair believing he will be unable to follow in his father’s footsteps and has inspired a lack of confidence from the lionesses in the pride. Scar’s Ghost preys on this lack of confidence, taunting him for being inferior to Mufasa. Ultimately, although Simba is able to regain his confidence, he admits that he’s fortunate to have so many supportive, loyal friends and family - as opposed to Mufasa, who had Scar trying to undermine him despite being his own brother, all the way to the bitter end. It’s a sobering reflection on how Scar’s pride and jealousy completely destroyed his relationship with his brother long before Simba was ever born.
Even though Simba gets over his doubts in this game, as viewers who have watched the sequel can attest, they still linger, since Simba still battles his feelings of inferiority throughout the film.
Goofy apparently dying in Hollow Bastion. Sure, he gets better like one cutscene laternote Especially since he's not only a cartoon character (especially one from the Golden Age), but he's also Goofy., but the loss comes completely out of nowhere. The way Mickey says "Goofy...?" is what really sells the scene. Also, seeing Donald's legitmate anger not Played for Laughs really hits anyone who dealt with a similar, sudden loss and reacted the same way.
There's a subtle one in Hollow Bastion... Or rather, "Radiant Garden". Right after the awesomeness that is The Battle of1000 Heartless, Sora leans against a wall to catch his breath. Just seeing this generally upbeat kid so exhausted (let's face it, you never even see him winded even after crazy boss battles before).
Sora begging to Saïx on his hands and knees to see Kairi. Even more powerful with Japanese cultural connotation, as he is doing a bow known as Dogeza (土下座), which is reserved for when you've really fucked up, because by doing that act you literally saying you are worth nothing and purposefully and willingly putting shame and humiliation on yourself. Ain't Too Proud to Begindeed.
Beast getting his treasured rose stolen by Xaldin, and the negative impact the theft has. Beast is almost driven across the Despair Event Horizon, and tells Belle to leave the castle since without that rose, he'll always be a beast, since his hopes and dreams are tied to it. At least Sora was able to snap him out of his despair and lead to it being retrieved... with Belle's help, no less.
Sora's speech to Beast on what his life was like before Belle showed up becomes Harsher in Hindsight with the 2017 version, with that film showing Beast had become who he is after the death of his mother and being raised by a cruel father.
The end of the last Halloween Town episode, when it starts to snow and Sora sees himself and Kairi dancing.
There's a sad element to the final boss of that episode, the Experiment. It's a massive Heartless that has been stealing presents, but the group discovers that it's not interested in the contents of the presents—it just wants the packages they come in. At first it seems like a dark take on Kids Prefer Boxes, but the heroes defeat the Experiment, Sally figures out its motivations: a present is a metaphoric way of giving someone your heart (since it's a sign of love and trust), and the poor Heartless genuinely thought that by taking gifts, it could somehow find a heart of its own, too. It's a surprising reminder that the Heartless, Always Chaotic Evil as they might be, are on some level just trying to find hearts and feel love again.
The aftermath of the MCP battle, which is also a Heartwarming moment. After giving everyone a goodbye hug as a promise of meeting again, Tron just jumps into the pit where the MCP once stood, much to the horror of his friends. Sure he turns out okay a few minutes later, the scene is still very heartbreaking. The release of TRON: Legacy five years later, and then Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], over a year after that, made the scene even more unbearable to watch.
Especially when taken to account that both times Sora saw Tron for the last time in both Space Paranoids and The Grid, Tron was falling into a pit. The first time, he willingly jumped to free the computer from Organization XIII's data corruption and restore the town, which confused his friends. The second time? Tron was derezzed by Clu in a fit of rage and jealousy right after Sora freed him.
Axel's death scene. Made even worse in the original unedited Japanese version, where he functionally explodes himself in order to wipe out the Nobodies trying to attack Sora.
Even more saddening when you realize how exhausted he is when helping Sora. Notice the sluggish movements, panting and slouching as he forces himself to fight. Talk about loyalty. He actually gives his life to protect the complete being of his best friend just because he cared that much. Also the fact that the way he's trying to play off his death is pretty much like him saying, "Hey, stuff happens."
In the manga the reason he seems so exhausted is explained. And it just makes the whole scenario even sadder. Axel had gone back to the Castle That Never Was in an attempt to rescue Kairi but was caught by Saïx. The two fight and Axel thinks he's won. He turns to ask Kairi if she's okay when Saïx gets a good swing at his ribs. Axel just manages to bail and while he's in The Realm of Betwixt and Between he's struggling to prevent himself from fading. Then he hears Sora and Co. on their way to the castle and decides to go help him, since he knows he doesn't have the strength to do anything else. Right before he does his final attack he even says, "Watch this... Roxas!"
It gets better, or worse, depending on how you view these things. Watch the original, unedited scene; there are still flames flickering all over him as he fades. And the last little spark, as he fades away completely? It's right where his heart would be.
Since both Roxas and Xion are a part of Sora, they were forced to watch their best friend sacrifice himself, and both of them couldn't do anything about it. The reason you see Roxas breaking off from Sora afterwards is because he was enraged and saddened at Axel's death. The following scene becomes even more sad if you're using Bond of Flame while Roxas attacks...
Sora's internal battle with Roxas really lets the Nobody's resentment of Sora off the chain. When Roxas finally gets Sora on the back foot all of the acrobatics and technique is thrown out the window in favor of just smashing Oathkeeper and Oblivion repeatedly into Sora's keyblade... and it works. Sora's defenses falter, Roxas disarms him, and has him at swordpoint. Sora only gets out of it because he knows how to call his keyblade to his hand.
Roxas: Tell me... Tell me why he picked you!
When Sora finds Riku, and the way he grabs his hand and just breaks down and all he can say is "I FOUND you..." To see Sora, who's normally such an optimistic character, just break down can really get to you.
Gets even worse when you think for a minute and realize why he reacts like that: The last time he saw Riku, over a year ago in-universe, he was being locked in the realm of darkness and trapped there. The players know that Riku's escaped the realm and is all right, from playing through his story in Chain of Memories, but Sora sure didn't. All Sora knows is that Riku is still alive (King Mickey tells them when they first meet in the real Twilight Town). And as Sora travels the Worlds there's a mysterious person who leaves hints to further him along, and speaks to others to smooth his way, and at one point Sora fights a man in a black Organization coat who has Riku's weapon (actually Riku, who is testing Sora to make sure he has enough strength for the next part). Sora meets people who have run into Riku, but Riku never comes to him, so Sora is left to wonder why. Until he meets someone with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness's face and this person brought Kairi to safety and tries to walk away, only to learn that this person is Riku underneath and he's trying to leave AGAIN.
And keep in mind, we know because of BBS that Sora and Riku have been best friends for at least ten years. Sora didn't know whether his best friend of a decade or more was okay. No wonder he broke down crying.
Had Kairi not stopped him, Riku was planning to leave in a corridor of darkness. He thinks so little of himself by this point that he even labels himself a just a "castaway from the darkness".
Even more saddening when you realize that Riku immediately opens up the corridor of darkness the moment he sees Sora and Kairi hugging. The first game implied that Riku might have had feelings for Kairi before letting her go. His death quote also has him muttering Kairi's name, implying that while Riku doesn't express his emotions, he may still have unrequited feelings of some kind towards Kairi.
Sora also cries tears of joy when he learns Riku's okay at the end of the second visit to The Land of Dragons, because seeing Mulan and Shang together makes him think of Riku. (Something which is made even more explicit in the novels).
The Proof of Existence room in the Castle That Never Was. It's pretty much a Graveyard for the Organization, the portals to their personal rooms looking like tombstones and marked with symbols of their weapons. It's a room they need because Nobodies don't leave corpses behind — they need that room to mark to others that they did exist, even if they're no longer in existence.
It goes a little deeper than that. Consider this for a second: How do we, in this world, prove the existence of someone who no longer exists? We raise a grave for them.
The battles with Saix and Luxord are in their personal rooms, which as mentioned you get to via the Proof of Existence. You're essentially challenging and killing them in their own graves.
Not to mention all the cracked and broken markers to show how many members have fallen by that point, and how few are left.
And you realize after 358/2 Days: who's the one member who has no Proof of Existence at all? The one member who was never considered a member and is forgotten barely a day after she died? The series really drives home the idea that in the eyes of the Organization, Xion never really existed in the first place, especially since she was an imperfect replica of Sora.
The prologue in its entirety, on second and subsequent playthroughs, especially after playing 358/2 Days. Knowing the real reason Axel is trying to stop Roxas, and what's going to happen to both of them... pass the Kleenex.
Luxord's death and his last line "How COULD you, Roxas?!" Made more upsetting after playing 358/2 Days, when he seemed to actually somewhat like Roxas, so it's obvious he feels very, very betrayed.
And the sorrowful death scenes kept on coming. Saix dragged his half-dead body to Kingdom Hearts and begged for his heart. The kicker? He had a heart the whole time.
The other reveals in 3D make it even worse: not only did Xemnas conceal the aforementioned fact about Saix's heart, but his true intention the whole time was to supplant Saix's heart with the one belonging to sociopathic monster Master Xehanort. By the time II rolls around, he's pretty muchsucceeded, and the Secret Reports in 358/2 Days indicate Saix never had a clue what was going on.
And Ansem, yes, the real Ansem's death scene was also very heartbreaking, particularly due to his monologue of regret that came before it.
When Sora and Riku are trapped in the Realm of Darkness, Riku states that this world is perfect for someone like him and chooses to be darkness if the rest of the world is made up of light. Keep in mind that the Realm of Darkness is the series equivalent to Hell, meaning this sixteen year old boy is so ashamed of his actions that he believes that being trapped in Hell is the perfect punishment for him.
The ending often works tears, seeing the three friends finally brought home after all those years of separation.
Sora: W-we're back. Kairi: [holding out her hand] You're home.
Especially when one takes into account the original Japanese dialogue of that scene, which is literally translated exactly as above, but is culturally powerful.note In Japanese, the following dialogue is not only a spontaneous interaction between people who have not seen each other for a year, it's a real life stock greeting used between a returning party and a person who stays at home. Think "I'm home", except that the person inside also replies.
Sora: ただいま (Tadaima). Kairi: おかえり (Okaeri).
And because it wasn't enough of a Tear Jerker the first time around in Final Fantasy X, the ending credits has to go and show Auron watching the residents of Olympus Colosseum celebrate and dissipating, unnoticed, back into pyreflies.
When Auron says "Perhaps... It's time I make my own story." Considering his role in FFX in regards to two generations of heroes and Auron's fate both times...
Thanks to Final Mix, the Roxas boss fight. The true kicker is that a remix of Roxas's theme (titled "The Other Promise") is playing in the background, making the fight a really bittersweet one. Watch it here.
In the Final Mix version, go watch the dream meeting of Roxas and Axel. See them say "See you later". Cry when you realize they're just trying to cheer each other up, since Axel is going to disappear into absolute nothingness, and Roxas will be subsumed by Sora's personality.
Not helping matters is when you see the scene in a better quality, you'll notice Axel is crying.
The manga makes it even worse. You just see something spill to the ground and Axel comments, "Geez, looks like the ice cream's melting." Then in the next panel it shows his face and that he's started to cry. "Of course, it's still as salty as ever." In the game he gets one tear just as he says goodbye. Here he's crying buckets.
In Final Mix, there's a scene where Sora, Donald, and Goofy fight against Terra's Lingering Will. The fact that it's still there after all these years, waiting, and the only thing it seems to have left is its rage and hatred towards Xehanort is heartbreaking after playing Birth by Sleep.
One worse. Terra's got nothing left but hate and rage. In game, it's against Xehanort, but after Birth by Sleep, he's angry but all he can think about is how hard he messed up, him slaying his teacher/father figure, and how hard he let down his friends. Imagine having to deal with those thoughts and regrets for over a decade.
The literal first thing he says when he meets Sora, Donald, and Goofy is to mutter Aqua and Ventus' names.
The reveal about hearts in 3D - that any conscious being can develop one over time by bonding and caring for others - makes everything about Organization XIII (except for Xemnas and Xigbar) even sadder. All of their crimes, manipulations, and plotting, just for the chance to feel human again, were completely redundant.
This touched-up version of the Roxas fight makes the already heartbreaking sequence even sadder, especially when you've played/watched through 358/2 Days. Just listen to Roxas at 6:40 when he activates his Desperation Move.
Sora, Donald and Goofy's reactions to the burnt village in the Land of Dragons, but Goofy's heartbroken expression is especially sad.
Demyx's Alas, Poor Villain moment in the manga. He doesn't want to fight Sora in the first place, mainly because he still considers him Roxas one way or another, and only does so when the titular hero pushes him too far. When he is finally defeated, he doesn't stop at letting out his death scream from the game, as he goes on to look at Sora and say "I don't want to fade... Roxas...!" with tears in his eyes. Sora is, understandably, rather upset by this and can't help but wonder whether Nobodies really don't have hearts.
The manga? Forget that! In the game Demyx is sent to his own death by either Xemnas or Saix: he does say that "we do too have Hearts." As revealed in Dream Drop Distance, Xemnas is lying to the Organization about having no hearts — they can regrow one. And Demyx works it out - so he's sent to be killed as he's too much of a risk to Xehanort's ultimate plan to remain alive.
Axel's death is arguably worse in the manga, as it's preceded with him actually going back to try rescue Kairi only to take a giant cut right through his side by Saïx's claymore. Axel escapes the dungeon clutching at his wounds and promising to come back for Kairi. In the end, he never does because he makes his Heroic Sacrifice for Sora instead.
Mickey is genuinely upset that he can't tell Sora what happened to Riku and the look on his face is heartbreaking. Mickey should never look that sad.
in the novels).