Can we just call this "Paper Mario: The Misty-Eyed Subpage" and get it over with? No? Okay...
- Chapter 1: Fracktail begging for forgiveness for attacking you just before he dies. Made all the more poignant that it was honestly not his fault, and he had been quite happy to let you pass up until Dimentio came along and cursed him to madness.
- Chapter 3: Even for some of the more creepy and squicky things he did, one can't help but feel sorry for Francis. Sure, he kidnapped Tippi and tried to show her to his online friends. But in the end, he's a lonely chameleon who, deep down, just wants to have friends—and it's implied that he's lost the few friends he has had over the video games he keeps to satisfy this need for friends. Think about that for a second: he's so lonely that he turns to nerd culture to keep himself occupied.
- Chapter 4: After defeating Mr. L and enduring an annoying young alien named Squirps for the entirety of the level, you find out that Squirps is actually a prince who was in hibernation for 1,500 years in order to protect the blue Pure Heart. He shows you a statue of his mother, the Queen, and after explaining things, asks her statue, "Mommy...I did good, right? Are you...proud...of me?" and then lies down in front of it in a manner sort of reminiscent of death. Luckily he was just sleeping, but the rather vague way the game puts it honestly makes it sound like he might actually be dying for a bit.
- It's made even worse when you consider the final boss fight of the game, during which you witness a montage of several different dimensions being utterly destroyed. Thankfully, Chapter 4 wasn't among those shown, and they're all restored to existence in the end, but... to be a young child, having to experience cessation of existence alone, in the center of a monster-infested maze, all out of a refusal to leave all that you have left of your kingdom and your mother. It makes one wonder whether Squirpina considered this as a possibility when she placed her son inside that capsule.
- Squirps may qualify as the most tragic character in the game, seeing how the ending leaves him. The game basically hits the Reset Button once it's over, bringing back every character who died, suffered, or otherwise sacrificed something for the main story. King Croacus and Luvbi are both no worse for wear, and even Timpani and Blumiere are implied to be living together in harmony, in a distant dimension. But poor Squirps is left much the same as he was when you left him at the end of Chapter 4, and the fact that his backstory is overshadowed by events later in the game means most players probably don't think to go back to check on him.
- When you first go into Flopside and encounter the Flopside version of the painter's daughter and she apologizes for how rude her father is. Telling you that he tends to say mean things he doesn't mean, then mentioning that happened to her mother.
- Chapter 5: Everything about the Whacka near Downtown Crag, if you decide to hurt him. He's a lovable, optimistic One-Scene Wonder... and if you hit him repeatedly to get a Whacka Bump, he downright vanishes. The game never downright states whether he simply fled or died, but the latter option is implied because of the Whacka's progressively nonsensical dialogue when you hit him, and a Cragnon girl depressed over the Whacka's departure after he leaves. The same thing happens in the previous two games, but this one especially drives the point home.
- Even though Chapter 5 was the epitome of That One Level, King Croacus' fate ends up becoming this. He was a king driven mad by the Cragons' polluted water, trying desperately to find a way to end his people's suffering. After his defeat, he withers into a shriveled-up head, and his loyal Floro Sapiens hurriedly gather around him and chew you out for your actions, leading the heroes to have a "My God, What Have I Done?" moment. Thankfully, his death is reversed at the end of the game, but still.
- Chapter 6: The entire Sammer Kingdom is destroyed with you in it, with Tippi saying something along the lines of "It can't end here...not like this..." You, of course, survive. And when you try to return to the world, there's almost literally nothing there. Just a white abyss with occasional debris from what used to be the world.
- Chapter 7: Bonechill had told Luvbi that she was actually the final Heart, which Grambi and Jaydes confirm is true. Luvbi angrily yells at them for pretending to be her parents. They eventually admit that, over time, they grew to love Luvbi as though she were their real daughter; Luvbi eventually admits that she loves them too. In the end, Luvbi ceases to exist, allowing the Pure Heart form to take over and be collected by Mario, as Grambi and Jaydes are in tears.
- Thankfully, if you return to the Overthere, you can see Luvbi alive and well, with no idea of how she got there. Since the Pure Hearts are The Power of Love objectified, however, it's not quite a stretch.
- Before you go off to defeat Count Bleck, travel around in Flipside and Flopside. Most of them realize their impending doom. For instance:
- There's an old woman and her granddaughter chatting together. The Flipside girl asks her grandmother what's going to happen, and the grandmother says that they should face it with hope. The Flopside grandmother tells her granddaughter that doom is certain, but to prepare for the worst, and to face the black hole not with sadness, but a cry of defiance.
- There's also the little boy you made the deal with to get the fishbowl earlier in the game. He knows what's going to happen and doesn't seem too scared. But he also wishes to see his goldfish one last time.
- There are also various characters who make comments along the lines of "See you on the other side, man!", "If I die, at least I'll die with you!", "I'm going to die happy!". Saving these fellows' world makes it all worthwhile.
- During the course of Chapter 8, Bowser, Peach, and Luigi split up to fight Count Bleck's cronies. And after their fights, something terrible happens, leaving them presumed dead. The heroes and the loveable minions are picked off one by one, leaving poor Mario alone with Timpani. Of course, during the final battle, everyone turns out to be okay, but it's still pretty depressing.
- Nastasia Taking the Bullet for Count Bleck in the final battle. Like the other minions, she thankfully turns out to be alive later on.
- The ultimate one would have to be the tragic tale of the antagonist Count Bleck. Blumiere as his true name was once in love with a woman named Lady Timpani, but his father banished her to a far dimension, left to die. Heartbroken, the Count began to use the Dark Prognosticus to destroy all the worlds in the universe as well as every living thing, including himself, because he found no trace of his loved one. Those lines sums it all (also the music played
at this scene doesn't help):Count Bleck/Blumiere: Timpani... When you vanished, I searched long for you. I never gave up looking... I searched and searched... (He shakes his head) But I never found you. Without you, the world held no meaning or joy... So I used the forbidden prophecy of the Tribe of Ancients to end all worlds. I wanted to destroy everything that had taken you away from me...- Made worse not long after when Count Bleck/Blumiere insists to have his game ended in order to stop the Void, despite Tippi/Timpani's pleas. He is trying to invoke Suicide by Cop and Kill the Ones You Love on himself because he has gone too far.
- All of the four heroes of light — even Bowser, who had previously declared he would beat the Count as retribution for brainwashing his minions — stay silent during this scene and make no moves towards finishing the Count, further cementing the tragedy.
- Also watch Nastasia during that scene. She looks as if she were about to cry.
- The ultimate fate of Bleck's father could also count as this; in the final memory, we hear him begging and pleading frantically for Blumiere to keep away from the Dark Prognosticus, as even he doesn't know what will happen if he opens it. There's no mistaking that the guy crossed the Moral Event Horizon by what he has done to Timpani, but this scene made it clear that he still loved his son, and never wanted things to be taken that far.
- At the end of everything, Blumiere and Timpani are finally reunited and manage to exchange their vows and confess their love to one another, and the music which has accompanied their love plays over the montage of reality resurrecting... that scene is just too beautiful for words. What happens to them next is rather vague... some fans think the shot of them together at the end is them being shown in the afterlife (particularly since Timpani has her human body again, which is not supposed to be possible). In that case, they are Together in Death. Talk about a Bittersweet Ending.
- However, Mimi, O'Chunks, and Nastasia sense that Count Bleck/Blumiere and Tippi/Timpani are alive in a distant world.
- Nastasia's reaction to Count Bleck's supposed death. He was literally her whole reason for living, and one of Carson's stories heavily implies that she used to be a bat that Count Bleck saved, and she became a human to serve him out of gratitude. And now she'll never get to see him again... Seeing the normally serious secretary break down in tears just makes you feel sorry for the girl.
- In addition to this, Nastasia also has a crush on Count Bleck, as she mused that things might have been different were she in Timpani's place, but she knows that Timpani cannot be replaced. In the post-game, Nastasia is still coming to terms with Blumiere and Timpani being gone and states that she now understands what it was like when Blumiere became Count Bleck.
- On that note, a lot of the music evokes this. Take Proof of Existence, which plays when Nastasia comes to and the group discuss Bleck and Timpani's fate. The feeling of hopefulness after tragedy given off by this song is remarkable.
- Use Tiptron on Francis."He constructed me... Constructed...me... N-no, no! I'm Tippi... I wasn't constructed by anyone."
- Try visiting Merlon with Tiptron in your party, and watch as he initially mistakes her for the real thing. It really hits home how much he cared for Tippi.
- The fact that Mario is forced to fight his own brother is heartbreaking. Sure, Mr. L. is comedy material but one can only wonder what Mario is thinking upon seeing Luigi brainwashed and turned into Count Bleck's minion, what with him being a Player Surrogate and all. In fact, there is a good chance that Mario knows Mr. L's real identity as he is the only one who immediately reacts in what can easily be interpreted as a sorrowful rage over seeing him like this and the idea of being forced to fight his own brother, but due to his status as the Heroic Mime and the fact that he has to switch out between himself and his team for the majority of the game, he's unable to tell Bowser and Peach that his brother is Mr. L. The final battle only makes it worse, considering Mario has to beat his own brother to ensure the safety of the multiverse, and this also carries the risk to accidentally kill Luigi, though he luckily survives. Seriously, Dimentio's defeat and humiliation cannot come soon enough.
- Put yourself in Luigi's shoes: your attempt at stopping the bad guy's plan to destroy the world fails and you are transported to an unknown location. As you attempt to escape with two Goombas, one gets brainwashed into serving the bad guys while the other willingly joins them, and they both restrain you so you get brainwashed as well. Then you are forced to fight your brother, and when you fail to beat him you are then transported to the Underwhere (think the Greek underworld, or Hell itself) under the guise of you dying. Once you break free of the brainwashing, you find yourself alone in a scary place with no idea what even happened, and when your brother breaks the news to you, you are lead to believe that the both of you are dead. Even after you reunite with your brother and later escape the Underwhere, you are presumed dead after your fight against one of the bad guy's minions, who has further As it turns out, you are prophesied to be the ideal host for the Chaos Heart, which means you are the catalyst for the end of all worlds. Said minion proceeds to brainwash you in order to make this happen, and you are forced to fight your brother again to save not only you, but the multiverse as well. You'd be forgiven thinking Luigi had it just as bad as Count Bleck!
- It's a minor thing, but when Luigi loses the fight against the Underchomps in Chapter 7-2, he says "Bro! Forgive me..."
- Put yourself in Luigi's shoes: your attempt at stopping the bad guy's plan to destroy the world fails and you are transported to an unknown location. As you attempt to escape with two Goombas, one gets brainwashed into serving the bad guys while the other willingly joins them, and they both restrain you so you get brainwashed as well. Then you are forced to fight your brother, and when you fail to beat him you are then transported to the Underwhere (think the Greek underworld, or Hell itself) under the guise of you dying. Once you break free of the brainwashing, you find yourself alone in a scary place with no idea what even happened, and when your brother breaks the news to you, you are lead to believe that the both of you are dead. Even after you reunite with your brother and later escape the Underwhere, you are presumed dead after your fight against one of the bad guy's minions, who has further As it turns out, you are prophesied to be the ideal host for the Chaos Heart, which means you are the catalyst for the end of all worlds. Said minion proceeds to brainwash you in order to make this happen, and you are forced to fight your brother again to save not only you, but the multiverse as well. You'd be forgiven thinking Luigi had it just as bad as Count Bleck!
