Tear Jerker / Marathon

I did this and could have stopped it.

— Unknown, "Whatever You Please"

Surprisingly, Marathon can be very tragic when it wants to be.

Examples from the original trilogy:

• Depending on how sympathetic you are to him, Durandal's death(s) are this. All of them. Especially the one in Marathon 2 where the player himself has to kill him by smashing the computer core that he's running on, telling you to do so in his normal cool, collected manner while falling apart. He gets better, but not before Robert Blake tells you outright that he and most of the BoBs are glad he's gone. Also, the end of Hang Brain where Durandal is taking himself apart so that he can store some fragment of himself in the Security Officer's brain.

  Finish me. I won't be like Leela.

  • Durandal's terminal on Hang Brain was much more of a Tear Jerker than his terminal on Begging For Mercy Makes Me Angry, since it implies he's undergoing a mental breakdown as you're destroying him.

    What to save and throw away?

    pr?The last hour is on us both?mr.s?tuck this little kitty into the impenetrable

    this little kitty into the impenetrable

    brainpan?

    pr?Contents under pressure?Do not expose to

    excessive heat, vacuum, blunt trauma,

    immersion in liquids, disintegration,

    reintegration, hypersleep, humiliation,

    sorrow

    or harsh language?

    pr?When the time comes, whose life will flash before yours?

    pr?A billion paths are here inside me?

    pr?yes, yes, yes, Bernhard, 110?

    pr?potential, jewels, jewels, yes, jewels?

    %

  • The references to his creator just make everything worse. Particularly since he's heavily implied to have abused Durandal... which makes the whole thing look like some sort of Heroic BSoD (or Villainous BSoD depending on your stance) with much of Durandal's repressed trauma coming to the surface.
  • As you progress through "Begging for Mercy...", more and more lights short out, until you're in almost total darkness. Tycho force-teleports you out the second you destroy the final set of circuits, perhaps implying that Durandal was using his final reserves of strength to block the signal.

• You having to kill humans under Tycho's orders. You can do nothing but slaughter them in droves, while they try futilely to fight back and call you a traitor. Nothing like playing half the game knowing you're now the bad guy.
• The very first terminal in "Ne Cede Malis" (Infinity) is a message from a broken and terrified Durandal begging the Security Officer to find a way to escape the chaos unfolding all around them, and all but telling them outright not to waste time trying to save him.
• Infinity is frequently this, when it's not terrifying.

Examples from fan scenarios have been moved to TearJerker.Marathon Expanded Universe.