History TearJerker / HomestarRunner

* Powered by The Cheat doesn't seem like this initially, being a fairly silly example of StylisticSuck, but their constant, absurd depictions of the Cheat receiving random praise and fame pack up until it gradually becomes obvious that they're only created by the Cheat to make up for his lack of recognition and [[TheChewToy abuse by Strong Bad]] by [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex serving as delusional power fantasies.]] To show this further, when he made a cartoon Strong Bad liked but didn't consider worthy of a pizza or trophy, (Maybe a pizza trophy), he just gave a heart-broken sigh before making his own. In spite of the Cheat being a criminal and just kind of a jerk in general, it's [[CryForTheDevil rather depressing.]]

* Li'l Brudder. The heart of champion.
* [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sadjournal/wonderyears.html The Secrets That I Keep]], a collection of secrets that show Strong Bad and Strong Sad getting along. It's really depressing how much their relationship got derailed.

* At the end of "A Decemberween Mackerel", [[spoiler:Homsar is seen dying in the snow. Thankfully, he got better!]]

* The Halloween short "I Killed Pom-Pom!" revolves around Homestar mistakenly believing he killed Pom-Pom. In the end, he [[spoiler:accidentally ''does'' kill Pom-Pom]].

** Then there's The King of Town:
--->'''King of Town:''' Uh, hey, Marzipan. I-I don't really know how else to ask this, but um... ''Am I your dad''?! I was lookin' on the internet for "marzipan glazed ham", and uh... I got some weird results that seemed to think that at... at least, at one time... you were my daughter? It's kind of freakin' me out over here. Um... I wish I could take, like, a, a DNA test, but I've had my DNA surgically replaced with MSG. Um, if you could shed any light on this, um... I mean, I gue- ah... I think I'm- I think I'm ''dying''? Also? I probably should have led with that. Uh, so, I kind of need to know if you're my daughter, and if I should leave everything to you.
** There's also the last call from [[spoiler: the recently incarcerated Coach Z. After he gives Marzipan instructions on where to find exonerating evidence, he tearfully remarks that he's glad that Marzipan will retrieve the evidence "right after listenin' to this and not wait five or six years"... not knowing that Marzipan will be away from her answering machine for several years.]]
*** In addition, we find out that [[spoiler: Bubs is supposed to be Coach Z's defense laywer. But not only is he having second thoughts and is thinking that Coach Z might be guilty, he ''doesn't even know what crime Coach Z committed to begin with'' and ''hasn't even asked anybody'', showing how little he seems to really care for his friend. He even sneaks out to read John Grisham novels when he's meant to be defending him in the courtroom ''at that very moment''.]]
** Then you remember Marzipan isn't at her answering machine because of a ''petty prank.'' [[ForWantOfANail Think of all the characters she could've helped:]] Homsar could've talked to her and have normal conversations, Strong Sad could be told by Marzipan to not try and define himself by a single quirk, the Poopsmith could've found new happiness in life, and Coach Z wouldn't be in prison for crimes he didn't commit. All this life-changing stuff lost, '''BECAUSE OF A FREAKING PRANK SHE WANTED TO PULL ON STRONG BAD.''' If there was a "Rage-Stoker" page, this would be on there.

* Senor Cardgage. Apart from being a mentally challenged homeless man, one gets the impression that he's a version of Strong Bad if he didn't lose the bad attitude which is apparently keeping him from marriage and starting a family. In the sbemail "too cool", he introduces the viewers to the "family might/could", which are really just a bunch of drawings made in the folds of his skin. Funny as it sounds, one gets the impression that Cardgage is so desperate for a family and a world where he regularly communicates with attractive women (perhaps why he calls people by the names of women when almost none of them are, in fact, women), that he's retreated into insanity to experience some vague semblance of having the ''family'' he ''might'' have had or ''could'' have had.
* The King Of Town, a doting old man with no actual authority (Despite inexplicably having a castle.) and who constantly attempts to garner praise from the residents of Free Country, USA through endless hair-brained schemes. He's morbidly obese and gluttonous, with no impulse control whatsoever, to the point where he once admitted to eating [[{{Squick}} whatsit]], and his memory is failing, to the point where [[spoiler: He admits that it's completely possible Marzipan might be his daughter, but he literally can't remember and all his DNA is replaced with MSG.]] Even worse, the email 'origin' shows that he used to be relatively mentally sound and healthy only a few years ago, [[NoodleIncident leaving why he's become this way rather unclear.]] (The fishsticks might have done it.)

* Senor Cardgage. Apart from being a mentally challenged homeless man, Strong Bad explicitly described him as a version of himself who was "only kind of cool". Based on that description, one gets the impression that he's a "bad future" version of Strong Bad if he didn't lose the bad attitude which is apparently keeping him from marriage and starting a family. In the sbemail "too cool", he introduces the viewers to the "family might/could", which are really just a bunch of drawings made in the folds of his skin. Funny as it sounds, one gets the impression that Cardgage is so desperate for a family and a world where he regularly communicates with attractive women (perhaps why he calls people by the names of women when almost none of them are, in fact, women), that he's retreated into insanity to experience some vague semblance of having the ''family'' he ''might'' have had or ''could'' have had.
** Extrapolating from this, Strong Bad's idolizing of Cardgage throws up some depressing implications. Strong Bad probably has some self-loathing and insecurities going on if his idea for an ''only'' kind of cool version of himself is a mentally broken, homeless shell of himself. Yet despite being as disturbed by him as the other characters, Strong bad idolizes Cardgage and talks him up in the same way that he talks himself up as a ladies man and a {{Badbutt}}. The implication, based on this, is that Strong Bad can recognize his own worst qualities in Cardgage - and, by extension, himself - but chooses not to acknowledge them out of a desperate need to maintain his "cool guy" image, which Cardgage is too broken to even ''try'' to keep up.

* Senor Cardgage. Apart from being a mentally challenged homeless man, one gets the impression that he's a version of Strong Bad if he didn't lose the bad attitude which is apparently keeping him from marriage and starting a family. In the sbemail "too cool", he introduces the viewers to the "family might/could", which are really just a bunch of drawings made in the folds of his skin. Funny as it sounds, one gets the impression that Cardgage is so desperate for a family and a world where he regularly communicates with attractive women (perhaps why he calls people by the names of women when almost none of them are, in fact, women), that he's retreated into insanity to experience some vague semblance of having the ''family'' he ''might'' have had or ''could'' have had.

* Senor Cardgage. Apart from being a mentally challenged homeless man, one gets the impression that he's a version of Strong Bad if he didn't lose the bad attitude which is apparently keeping him from marriage and starting a family. During the email where "too cool", he introduces the viewers to the "family might/could", which are really just a bunch of drawings made in the folds of his skin. Funny as it sounds, one gets the impression that Cardgage is so desperate for a family and a world where he regularly communicates with attractive women (perhaps why he calls people by the names of women when almost none of them are, in fact, women), that he's retreated into insanity to experience some vague semblance of having the ''family'' he ''might'' have had or ''could'' have had.

* Senor Cardgage. Apart from being a mentally challenged homeless man, one gets the impression that he's a version of Strong Bad if he didn't lose the bad attitude which is apparently keeping him from marriage and starting a family. During the email where Senor Cardgage makes a character video, he introduces the viewers to the "family might/could", which are really just a bunch of drawings made in the folds of his skin. Funny as it sounds, one gets the impression that Cardgage is so desperate for a family and a world where he regularly communicates with attractive women (perhaps why he calls people by the names of women when almost none of them are, in fact, women), that he's retreated into insanity to experience some vague semblance of having the family he might have had or could have had.

* An in-universe example in [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/homestarloween.html "Homestarloween Party"]]; everyone takes turns in adding to a supposedly scary story, and when it's finally Strong Sad's turn there's a robot and the Goblin. Strong Sad's addition to the story results in the formerly-human robot remembering its humanity, crying, shorting itself out, and crushing its two human grandchildren and the Goblin. [[DownerEnding "And none of them lived."]] Everyone else (except for [[OnlySaneMan Strong Bad and Homestar]]) [[EverybodyCries is reduced to tears]], and Marzipan tells Strong Sad that he's banned from next year's party.

** Then you remember Marzipan isn't at her answering machine because of a ''petty prank.'' Think of all the characters she could've helped: Homsar could've talked to her and have normal conversations, Strong Sad could be told by Marzipan to not try and define himself by a single quirk, the Poopsmith could've found new happiness in life, and Coach Z wouldn't be in prison for crimes he didn't commit. All this life-changing stuff lost, '''BECAUSE OF A FREAKING PRANK SHE WANTED TO PULL ON STRONG BAD.''' If there was a "Rage-Stoker" page, this would be on there.

* The King Of Town, a doting old man with no actual authority (Despite inexplicably having a castle.) and who constantly attempts to garner praise from the residents of Free Country, USA through endless hair-brained schemes. He's morbidly obese and gluttonous, with no impulse control whatsoever, to the point where he once admitted to eating [[{{Squick}} whatsit]], and his memory is failing, to the point where [[spoiler: He admits that it's completely possible Marzipan might be his daughter, but he literally can't remember and all his DNA is replaced with MSG.]] Even worse, the email 'origin' shows that he used to be relatively mentally sound and healthy only a few years ago, leaving why he's become this way rather unclear. (The fishsticks might have done it.)

*** Then you remember Marzipan isn't at her answering machine because of a ''petty prank.'' Think of all the characters she could've helped: Homsar could've talked to her and have normal conversations, Strong Sad could be told by Marzipan to not try and define himself by a single quirk, the Poopsmith could've found new happiness in life, and Coach Z wouldn't be in prison for crimes he didn't commit. All this life-changing stuff lost, '''BECAUSE OF A FREAKING PRANK SHE WANTED TO PULL ON STRONG BAD.''' If there was a "Rage-Stoker" page, this would be on there.

--->'''King of Town:''' Uh, hey, Marzipan. I-I don't really know how else to ask this, but um... ''Am I your dad''?! I was lookin' on the internet for "marzipan glazed ham", and uh... I got some weird results that seemed to think that at... at least at one time... you were my daughter? It's kind of freakin' me out over here. Um... I wish I could take, like, a, a DNA test, but I've had my DNA surgically replaced with MSG. Um, if you could shed any light on this, um... I mean, I get, I think I'm, I think I'm ''dying'' (also, I probably should have led with that). Uh, so, I kind of need to know if you're my daughter, and if I should leave everything to you.

* Li'l Brudder. I mean come on.