Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Tear Jerker

"Ooh, I need a hug." —The grarg, at the end of "Becoming, Part Two".

Season 1

• The Witch always gets this troper, but especially the scene where Amy tells Buffy and Giles what Catherine has done. Poor, poor girl, can I brutally torture Catherine to death now? This quote in particular:

She told me I didn't deserve to have it so easy, that I didn't know what it was like, to be her... I guess she showed me, huh?

• • And two words that could break anyone's heart: "Mom, please."
  • Though it's pretty hard to care after her actions in the last 3 seasons (6, 7 and 8).
    • How sane would 'you' be after all that? And then spending three years stuck in the body of a rat?
• In the first season episode "Nightmares," the conversation between Buffy and her dad. Buffy doesn't even know what's going on yet, that they're just nightmares, and then he dad comes and says that it's her fault he and her mom broke up, and she's so much less than he hoped. And oh, by the way, he doesn't really get much out of these father-daughter weekends, so let's just stop them. First time Buffy made me start to tear up.
  • Also, when they see Buffy's grave which is Giles' nightmare.

Giles: I failed... in my duty to protect you. I should have been more cautious. Taken more time to train you. (choking up) But you were so gifted... and the evil was so great... (whispering) I'm sorry.

• Anything capable of reducing Buffy to tears is a Tear Jerker. For example, the scene in "Prophecy Girl" where she learns of her imminent death:

"Do you think it'll hurt?"

• • In the same episode:

"I don't care! ...I don't care. Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die."

• • • Made even worse by the fact that the second "I don't care..." is said in a way that shows without a doubt that it's a lie. She cares. Of course she cares. But...well, she's sixteen years old, and she doesn't want to die.
• Willow in Prophecy Girl, when Buffy's at her side after the AV club massacre.

Willow: I thought I could take anything. But, Buffy, this... this was different. Buffy: It'll be alright. Willow: I'm trying to think how to say it... to explain it so you understand. Buffy: It doesn't matter as long as you're okay. Willow: I'm not okay. I knew those guys. I go to that room every day. And when I walked in there, it... it wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs. And they had fun.

• • For me, the bigger Tear Jerker was Cordelia in this episode. Right before they stumbled onto the bodies, she was telling Willow about how she was really starting to fall in love with her boyfriend, and how instead of being mad that he was "watching cartoons" instead of helping her, she found it cute. She never felt that way about a guy before, and just as she was starting to, she stumbles onto his dead body.

Season 2

• A minor, overlooked one from the season 2 premiere, where Buffy shows off just how not okay she is by destroying the Master's bones, then completely breaking down in Angel's arms.
• The fate of the real Ampata in "Inca Mummy Girl". he was only supposed to be in Sunnydale for a couple of weeks. Instead, he is killed as he stepped off the bus and stuffed into his own trunk. I'd hate to be the one to tell his parents about his fate.
  • And the brutal fact of the matter, is that his body was probably never found. Buffy explaining that the trunk in her room's owner was an ancient Incan mummy, who, by the way is dead now? They probably just buried it in the cemetery.
  • The titular Mummy Girl's fate is also sad when you consider how she was killed so many years ago, never really getting a chance to live her own life or anything, and when she does it comes at the price of killing people, repeatedly. This troper could never see her as being any worse than an Anti-Villain, because despite her actions by the end I felt really sympathetic towards her.
    • I really sympathized with her too. She never got to have a real life until now, and she was enjoying the world and finally getting to experience it. It wasn't her fault that she would crumble to dust without draining the life-force of others, and she really did love Xander. That episode was heartbreaking, and I've never felt so bad for an antagonist in anything.
• An odd, rare, villainous one: when Drusilla has Angel tied up. It's dreadful because you know just what happened to Drusilla to make her the way she is, and just how penitent Angel is about what he's done:

Drusilla: The lamb is caught in the blackberry patch. [approaches Angel with holy water] My mummy ate lemons. Raw. She said she loved the way they made her mouth... tingle. Little Anne. [pours some on him] Her favorite was custard... brandied pears. Angel: Dru... Drusilla: [sternly] Shhh! And pomegranates. They used to make her face and fingers all red. [more pouring] Remember? Hmm? Little fingers. Little hands. Do you? Angel: [struggling to speak]] If I could... Drusilla: [interrupts angrily] Bite your tongue! They used to eat cake, and eggs, and honey. Until you came and ripped their throats out!

• The ending of "Lie To Me" as well. Buffy asks Giles if life ever gets easy and tells him to lie to her.

Giles: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after. Buffy: Liar.

• A small one. In Ted Buffy is wigged over her mother's new boyfriend. There's something really off about him, and when she fails trying to voice her concerns and makes herself look like a heel she's swinging pensively on a swing, waiting for something to slay.

"Vampires? Heeeere vampires..."

• The scene in "Innocence" where Buffy takes off the claddagh ring, curls up in bed, and cries.
  • Stealth Tear Jerker. Buffy, left devastated and shellshocked is on the couch with her mother, and it dawns on her (and us, the audience) that it's still Buffy's birthday. Joyce asks Buffy about her day; due to The Masquerade, Buffy can only respond "I got older". Joyce lights her cupcake and, instead of making a wish, Buffy opts to just "let it burn." It's only when you watch the series in its entirety that it becomes so clearly obvious just how shattered Buffy is in this moment. Tear Jerker indeed.
  • Willow catching Xander; the boy she's always pined for, kissing Cordelia; the Alpha Bitch who made their life a misery for years. Xander tries to argue that It Doesn't Mean Anything. Willow replies, "No. It just means you'd rather be with someone you hate... then be with me."
• How about Giles discovering Jenny's corpse at the end of what looks like a setup for a romantic encounter? This troper saw it coming, but that didn't lessen the emotional impact.
  • Apparently, the viewers were originally not going to be aware that she was dead at that scene - knowing it and seeing Giles' pleased reaction to the setup makes it so much worse.
  • And then they put the rose scene in the title sequence. Just in case anyone forgot that heartwrenching moment. I hate you, Whedon.
    • They also have a brief clip of the exact moment Angel snaps Jenny's neck' in the title sequence. Because we want to be reminded of that every time we see an episode, apparently.
  • Whedon freely admits that he does it because he hates people. Despite the undeniable awesomeness of some of his writing, the man is a bastard.
  • Seeing the reactions of Buffy and Willow through the window in "Passion" when they find out about Jenny Calendar's death.
  • The same applies for the swelling music when Giles finds Jenny on the bed with her neck snapped. The O Soave Fanciulla aria from Puccini's La Boheme is a Crowning Music of Awesome and already a Tear Jerker in itself, but the use in this scene is heartbreaking.
  • Buffy confronting Giles after his suicidal attack on Angelus, screaming at him that she can't do this alone, while bawling an apology for not having been strong enough emotionally to fight and kill Angel before he could have killed Jenny.
  • This troper made it through all that and then completely broke down at the end, when Willow shows up to do the computer class. Yes, Jenny's really dead, and yes, life has to go on anyway.
• Jenny's death in 'Passion' actually manages to retroactively make any prior scene with her difficult to watch. Especially since she and Giles go through so many problems and hold-ups in their relationship, it's hard not to wish they would just get it together to be happy in what little time they have left.
  • Notably the scene at the end of 'The Dark Age', when Jenny breaks off her budding relationship with Giles after being possessed by a demon from his youth. Actually, even without knowing her eventual fate, that scene is pretty tearjerking. He tells her he wants to help, but when he reaches out to touch her arm, she pulls away, and it's clear that something has irrevocably broken between them.
• When Willow gives Giles the rose quartz necklace that she found in Jenny's desk.
• Any time the tune 'Remembering Jenny' is played, it's a good idea to reach for the tissues.
• Was this troper the only one strongly affected by "I Only Have Eyes For You"? I don't even like Buffy/Angel, but it was so tragic... I'm a huge Buffy fan, but that's the only episode I currently have on my iPod.
  • Oh, you were definitely not. I cried absolute buckets at the end of that episode.
    • The hell with buckets. This troper cried a whole bloody ocean...
• Angel's death in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Becoming, Part Two".
  • Congratulations, Joss Whedon. You hold the honor of having created the only TV show (or book, for that matter) to ever make me cry. And trust me, that's pretty dang awesome for the stuff I watch/read.
  • Oh god, seconded completely. I cry every time I hear "Full of Grace" now.
  • This troper has a best friend who spent the entire series up 'til Surprise completely loathing Angel for reasons unknown. Come Surprise, you decided she kind liked him. Come Innocence, she decided she liked him a lot. Come the beginning of Becoming Part Two, he was without a doubt her favorite character for life. Come that moment, she got a look on her face that was about as Tear Jerking as the scene. No joke.
  • This troper got pretty teary-eyed earlier in the episode; when Drusilla hypnotises Giles and pretends to be Jenny Calendar.

Giles: Jenny! I thought I'd lost you. Dru/Jenny: Shh. I'll never leave you. Giles: We have to get out of here. Dru/Jenny: No-no-no-no-no. Slowly. Giles: It can't be you. Dru/Jenny: Did you tell Angel? About the ritual? Giles: No. We have to get... him away from Acathla. Dru/Jenny: Why? Is he close to figuring it out? Giles: Later. Dru/Jenny: Tell me what to do.

• • "If you walk out that door, don't even think about coming back." Oh God, Buffy...
  • It doesn't seem like much of an exaggeration to say that the last 10 minutes of Becoming pt. 2 are the saddest 10 minutes of the entirety of all of Buffy. Even knowing what comes later doesn't lessen the impact.

Season 3

• "Dead Man's Party" was probably the worst episode of the season, but this exchange hurt me somewhere deep inside.

Joyce: You can't imagine months of not knowing. Not knowing whether you're lying dead in a ditch somewhere or, I don't know, living it up-- Buffy: But you told me! You're the one who said I should go. You said if I leave this house, don't come back. You found out who I really was, and you couldn't deal. Don't you remember?

• In "Homecoming", this speech always gets this troper:

"This is all I do. This is what my life is. You couldn't understand. I just thought ... Homecoming Queen. I could pick up a yearbook someday and say, I was there. I went to high school, I had friends, and, for one moment, I got to live in the world. And there'd be proof, proof that I was chosen for something other than this."

• Buffy has always been a source of pain and tears for this Troper, but when she first began watching it, the first breakdown came during the final scene of "The Wish", with the sad music playing as Buffy stakes Evil!Xander, Oz kills Evil!Willow and then Buffy gets her neck broken. All interspersed with Giles.

Demon!Anya "How do you know that world is better?!" Crying!Giles "Because it has to be!"

• • This episode was less of a Tear Jerker, though I had to stop watching for a while, and more incredibly dark. It undoubtably counts as Nightmare Fuel.
    • Fridge Horror still sets in. Remember where Alternate-Buffy was from? Cleveland still has a hellmouth, confirmed in the series finale, and she was never there to stop anything there. It's entirely possible Giles could have been wrong.
• Despite it being an alternate reality, watching all those much beloved characters die in "The Wish" was heartbreaking...but by far the hardest was seeing Oz stake Willow.
  • I'd say Buffy staking Xander has the edge. It's the pure hatred on Xander's face as he goes for her and the total indifference on Buffy's as she stakes him - this from two people who adore each other in the real world.
• Buffy breaking up with Angel in "Lovers' Walk" got me a little teary eyed, but that might just be me.

Angel: There's gotta be some way we can still see each other. Buffy: There is: tell me you don't love me.

• • This scene was narm for me, much to my brother's chagrin. Whedon's finely-honed heart string tugging took a few seasons (and a fair bit of Meyer-esque dialogue) to perfect.
    • Cordelia's "death scene"
• Heck, it may not make other people cry, and it certainly ends in one of the cheesiest scenes ever, but at the end of 'Amends' when Angel and Buffy finally have it out on top of a hilltop as Angel waits for the sun to rise and burn him. The two of them are acting like they have never acted before, and it is heart-rending, to see just how much they both clearly still love each other.

Angel: The demon told me to kill you, to lose my soul with you and kill you. You were in the dream, you know. Buffy: And why does that matter? Angel: BECAUSE I WANTED TO! I want to lose myself to you, take comfort from you. And I know that doing so will cost me my soul, and a part of me doesn't care.

• Buffy's reaction to Giles' deception in "Helpless" was gut-wrenching.
• Willow sobbing in a bathroom stall after finding out that Xander and Faith had sex in "Consequences", then cutting to a scene of Xander alone after having found out that the guys Faith sleeps with are a joke to her. Especially sad when you realize that that's it for any romantic connection between Xander and Willow, and with the exception of Season Six's finale they never really seem as close again after that.
• Oz had a throwaway line in "Earshot" where he said the school paper had an obituary section. Speaks volumes on the crapiness of the Buffyverse.
• The award Jonathan gives Buffy during "The Prom". That whole scene actually, but this is what starts the tears.

"This is actually a new category. First time ever. I guess there were a lot of write-in ballots, and, um, well, the prom committee asked me to read this... We're not good friends. Most of us never found the time to get to know you, but that doesn't mean we haven't noticed you. We don't talk about it much, but it's no secret that Sunnydale High isn't really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here. But whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you at one time or another. We're proud to say that the Class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history... [applause from the crowd]... And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks, and gives you, uh, this. [produces a glittering, miniature umbrella with a small plaque attached to the shaft] It's from all of us, and it has written here, 'Buffy Summers, Class Protector.'"

• • From earlier in the episode, after Angel breaks up with Buffy:

Buffy: I think horrible is still coming. Right now it's worse. Right now I'm just trying to keep from dying. * collapses into Willow's lap* I can't breathe, Wil. I feel like I can't breathe.

• • "I want my life to be with you!" "...I don't."
• Also from "The Prom", Giles and Buffy's conversation after she gets the Class Protector award.

Giles: "You did good work tonight, Buffy." Buffy: "And I got a little toy surprise." Giles: "I had no idea that children, en masse, could be...gracious." Buffy: "Every now and then people surprise you." Giles: "...Every now and then."

• • At which point he takes the award and nods for her to turn around...and there's Angel in a tux, come to dance with her. * sniffle*

Season 4

• I defy anyone with a soul to watch the ending of "Wild at Heart" (especially Willow's "Don't you love me?") without feeling said soul die a little.
• "The Harsh Light Of Day" where the Scoobies find Harmony weeping after Spike abandoned her as well as the ending where Harm, Buffy and Anya are wandering around campus alone, regretting having sex the night before.
• When Faith and Buffy switch bodies and Faith (in Buffy's body) is beating up Buffy (in Faith's body). It's clear that Faith is screaming and beating up herself and not Buffy. The desperation, despair and hatred for herself is heartbreaking.

"You're nothing! Disgusting! Murderous bitch! You're nothing! You're disgusting!"

• • The episode prior, "This Year's Girl", where Faith watches the video will from former Big Bad and her adopted-father figure, the Mayor. Sure, he was completely evil, but his fatherly love for Faith was completely genuine and watching her expression as she watches it quite heartbreaking. Doubles as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

Mayor: Now Faith. As I record this message, you're...sleeping. And the doctors tell me you might never wake up. I don't believe that. Sooner or later, you'll find the world has gone and changed on you. I wish I could make the world a better place for you to wake up in. But tough as it is to accept, we both have to understand that even my power to protect and watch over you has its limits. The hard pill to swallow here is, once I'm gone, your days are just plain numbered. Now, I know you're a smart and capable young woman in charge of her own life...but the problem, Faith, is that there won't be a place in the world for you anymore. Right now, I bet you're feeling very much alone. But you're never alone. You'll always have me.

• Professor Walsh telling Giles that Buffy lacked a father figure. Made her death by her own "son" next episode so much more satisfying.
• The Yoko Factor has Giles at home, singing and playing Freebird. A most appropriate song, as he was going to quit as Buffy's watcher and leave her, until Spike interrupts.

Season 5

• One word: "Family".
  • I'm noticing a pattern here: any episode with any kind of emotional scene involving Tara qualifies. That said, here's one more: the final scene of "New Moon Rising".
    • Indeed, Joss has stated that Tara was specifically written to replace Willow as the damsel woobie when Willow's magic began to make her too tough to kidnap.
  • A bit of Fridge Tear Jerker; Tara, like Willow in the next season, panicked and used magic to solve a problem (clumsily) instead of addressing it directly. Willow never mentions it, not even to defend herself. It would have been easy--even natural--to point out that she's not the only one who's ever used magic to smooth over a rather serious relationship problem like addiction or, oh, say, being a demon. But she never uses that weapon. She forgave Tara so completely that either she actually forgot, or it was a line that she was not willing to cross, ever, no matter what.
• Dawn's breakdown in "Blood Ties". "Is this blood?" OW.
• Buffy telling Spike he's beneath her in "Fool for Love" and Spike's reaction. It's not that bad the first time around, but knowing where the character is going in the series and even at the end of the episode makes it sting a bit.
• "Listening To Fear" where Buffy breaks down while the sound of Joyce's psychotic ramblings can be heard. She's really talking to the Monster of the Week.
• And if there's anyone who can make it through "The Body" without sobbing, I don't want to know about it.
  • Even on repeat viewings, I still don't make it to the opening credits. All it takes is Buffy saying one word: "Mommy?" and I'm done.
  • Then:

Buffy: She's cold. 911 Dispatcher: ...The body's cold? Buffy: [insistently, not understanding] No... my mom.

• • The paramedics arrive - and manage to revive Joyce. They rush her to the hospital, declaring it 'a beautiful miracle'. Joyce, snuggled on the hospital bed with Dawn in her arms, thanks Buffy for finding her in time ... and we cut back to Buffy in the living room, as the paramedics give up and inform her that her mother is dead.
  • "We're not supposed to move the body!" is the line that gets me, along with Buffy's look of complete horror as she realizes what she just said and collapses shaking into Giles's arms.
  • I can make it with minimal tears until the point where Anya starts questioning it and then I lose it. There's something so heartbreaking about her naiveté:

"But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she's, there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! And, and Xander's crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well Joyce will never have any more fruit punch, ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why."

• • • Proof that Emma Caulfield is more than just an amazing comedic actress.
    • Jeez...all I know about BtVS is from this Wiki, and that quote still made me tear up. Joss Whedon, you need to stop doing that.
  • I ALMOST made it through, mostly because I knew about it before hand and Buffy's shock looked like a gasping fish, killing all the heartbreak and drama! But when Dawn's at school, the girl's demanding to know know what's going on, where's her mom, and breaks down in big noes and tears in front of everyone, then the camera switches to an "empty space" drawing, symbolizing how Joyce is gone. I felt my eyes watering at that point.
    • What makes this truly terrible is that just before this, Dawn's having a breakdown in the bathroom. It sounds like she might be reacting to Joyce's death, she's so beside herself, but she's not. She's upset because another girl embarrassed her in front of a boy she liked, and Dawn thinks her life's over. Five minutes later, her sister tells her outside the classroom, and the audience is still in the classroom, and can't hear what Buffy's saying... but we can hear Dawn's cry of utter despair. Dawn never had much of a childhood, and was The Scrappy for a lot of people, but she loses her innocence here. It's hard to watch.
  • Oh god, this troper was literally sobbing almost the entire episode. Also, I tear up for the android April in "I Was Made To Love You."
    • God, yes, the end of that episode, as she sits on that swing trying to understand what she did wrong, and why everything's going dark...I bawled.
  • The first few times I saw it, I knew it was a tragic episode, but then I watched it while my grandmother was dying and... The tears were practically nonstop because now I had a frame of reference.
  • As tough an act as "The Body" was to follow, I think they managed with the final scene of "Forever", when Buffy finally breaks down and releases all the grief and anxiety she's held inside since finding Joyce.

Buffy: I have to do these things, 'cause, 'cause when I stop... then she's really gone. And I'm trying, Dawn, I am really trying to take care of things. But I don't even know what I'm doing! Mom always knew. Dawn: Nobody's asking you to be Mom! Buffy: Well, who's gonna be if I'm not?!? Huh, Dawn? Have you even thought about that!? Who's gonna make things better? Who's gonna take care of us? I didn't mean to push you away! I didn't. It's just, I didn't want you to see me. Oh god, Dawnie. I don't know what we're gonna do. I'm scared.

• • What chilled this troper the most about The Body was the long, eerie silences strategically placed throughout the episode. Also, Anya's stumbling attempt at human connection:

"I wish Joyce hadn't died! Because, she was nice. And now, we all hurt." I started crying all over again when she said that.

• • • This was emphasised by the fact that the entire episode had no background track. Specifically because a background track might provide a relief to the tension. The man really does just hate people.
  • Watching Enemies first makes the Funny Aneurysm Moment a Tear Jerker in its own right. Paraphrased from my entry on the Fridge Horror page: Tara's body was in a very similar position to Joyce's, after the aneurysm. Not only did Dawn have to deal with the horror of finding Tara dead, it most likely, intensely, brought back memories of her mother beginning to die hardly a year earlier. I had to stop the season 5 DVD for a while. Then you realize how many loved ones, human loved ones, were dying (or in one case was found dead, by her) literally in front of Dawn, once as a direct result of her existence, and you have to wonder exactly how deep her angst over being left alone really went. Weepy BSOD ensued.
• "Forever" where Dawn casts a spell to bring Joyce back. The way Buffy says "Mommy" and rushes to answer when Zombie!Joyce knocks on the door, only to find nobody there because Dawn undid the spell rips my heart out.
  • Also, maybe because the pain was still fresh, it was kind of heartbreaking for everyone to act as if Spike just wanted to earn brownie points, when he actually wanted to bring Joyce flowers, because he actually liked her.
• What happened to Tara in "Tough Love" was hard to watch. This troper finally broke down in the final scene, where Willow has to feed Tara like a baby.
  • Dawn's guilt and self-loathing in season 5 is always heart-wrenching, but it reaches critical mass in that episode. This quote make one want to take her out of the Buffyverse, wrap her in blankets and feed her soup and ice-cream:

"Right now, Glory thinks Tara's the key. But I am, Spike. Anything that happens to Tara, happens because of me. Your bruises, your limp... that's all me too. I'm like a lightning rod for pain, and hurt... and everyone around me suffers, and dies. I must be something truly horrible to cause all this."

• • • That bit of dialog was, for me, one of the few redeeming scenes that Dawn had. By and large, I found the Dawn arc(s) painful to watch due to high levels of emo sue.
    • It wasn't Dawn that made that scene for this troper, but Spike clearly wanting to comfort her and having no real idea what to do.
    • Pretty much everything with Tara after this (until she gets healed, of course) qualifies. She still obviously loves Willow. The way she reacts whenever she's separated from Willow during this time is heart-wrenching.
  • Dawn's barely-suppressed panic as she tries to avoid the realization that Tara might not recover.

Dawn: So, what'd the doctors say? Is Tara...like those guys in the mental ward, or, or is it different somehow? Buffy: They said there's no way of knowing right now. Dawn: 'Cause... none of those guys got better. I mean, none of them. Buffy: Dawn, honey...Tara might not either.

• • At which Dawn breaks down, sobbing that it's all her fault.
  • Willow's reaction to Glory hurting Tara becomes a bit of this when you know how the next season ends; and it's definitely a tear jerker to see that sweet, friendly Willow subscribes hard to "An eye for an eye" when it comes to Tara. Just seeing how much the poor girl means to her, and not knowing if she'll ever be the same again...
  • On that note, Tara before she's healed, slapping Willow and calling her a bitch before stopping and looking so utterly, completely scared and confused. She doesn't understand what she's doing or what's going on. And this is Tara...
• The ending of "The Gift".
  • What got this troper was the fact that if you look at Buffy's face as she dies, it is clear that she died in agony.
  • This speech in particular.

Dawn, listen to me, listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles-- tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it. Be brave. Live-- for me.

• • What got me was the Scoobies' reactions, coming closer to her body. Willow and Spike in particular were heartbreaking.
    • • This troper held it together right up 'til the part where she realized that Spike was openly crying.
  • Not to mention the music playing in that scene, that music would make me cry even without the dialogue and video.
• Spike's speech in "The Gift"

"I know you'll never love me. I know that I'm a monster. But you treat me like a man.."

• • Also, when the demon asks why Spike's protecting Dawn, despite not having a soul, and he says "I made a promise to a lady." This troper came to the sudden realization that Spike loving Buffy was no longer a humorous plot point.
  • Another small moment from that episode springs to mind. Dawn has just put on the dress she must wear and she sets her own clothes down on the chair and you know she has accepted that she is going to die and has given up hope. The music playing and the expression on her face is enough to get someone a little misty eyed.

Season 6

• In "Bargaining, Part 1" when Giles leaves.
• Am i the only one that found what happened to the Buffybot in "Bargaining part 2" sad? Plus her little speech afterwards.
• The reactions they all have when they realize they left Buffy in the ground to dig herself out.
• At the end of "After Life", Buffy telling Spike that she had been pulled out of heaven.
  • Also in "After Life" even though I was never a fan of Spike's Himification I became much more on board with his character after his small speech to Buffy, because of all the heartbreaking dialogue in this series, this one always gets me:

Spike: "I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect [Dawn]. If I'd have done that, even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't have had to jump. But I want you to know I did save you. Not when it counted, of course, but after that. Every night after that. I'd see it all again, and do something different. Faster, or more clever, you know? Dozens of times, lots of different ways. Every night, I save you."

• Buffy revealing she was in heaven in "Once More, With Feeling." I blame the music.

There was no pain. No fear, no doubt, 'Til they pulled me out Of heaven. So that's my refrain: I live in hell, 'Cause I've been expelled From heaven... So give me something to sing about! Give me something!

• • It's that intentionally sour note she hits that gets to me.
    • How bout the fact the last lines of her song seem like shes PLEADING to the demons to "Giver [her] something to sing about". Cue to him basically dismissing her plea and her flipping off the stage and dancing like crazy. This troper believes she HAD TO KNOW THAT WOULD KILL HER. And then Spike giveing her a lesson on living. Now go back to her words "Give me something to sing about" She is pleading to a DEMON to give her a REASON TO LIVE.
  • What really made it a Tear Jerker for me were the reactions of the others (especially Willow.)
  • For this troper, the saddest thing I have ever seen is Giles's "Standing in the Way." Sure, it was pretty much an excuse for Whedon to rob Buffy of that one necessary father figure, but Anthony Stewart Head's delivery . . . God, the sheer emotion in the thing makes me tear up. Every time. Especially when you know how Season 7 and Season 8 end up breaking what little relationship they have left into little tiny pieces.
    • The duet between Giles and Tara when reprising "Standing in the Way" and "I'm Under Your Spell" gets me weeping in a most unmanly fashion every time.
• The closing montage of "Tabula Rasa". Giles and Tara leaving, Willow crying and Michelle Branch breaking my damn heart with the best musical performance of the series.
• Willow's breakdown at the end of Wrecked was heartwrenching. Even if Willow's magic addiction arc wasn't particularly great, this scene was still powerful. Willow's sobbing and is truly horrified at what she's done and what she's become, and she finally recognizes that she has a problem and that she's powerless to stop it and she needs help. The way she pleads with Buffy for help is just too much.
• Speaking of that arc, this exchange from "All The Way" was so incredibly, painfully wrong that if you don't tear up it's because you're in shock.

Tara: What do you want me to do? Just sit back and keep my mouth shut?! Willow: *snapping* That'd be a good start.

• • The look on Tara's face at that is heartbreaking in itself.
    • Try watching this episode right after "Family", with the knowledge of Tara's abusive past fresh on the brain--she spent most of her life being told to sit back and keep her mouth shut or else. Willow, how could you?!
  • The sense of utter betrayal in her response will make you cry.

"If I didn't love you so damn much I would..."

• Buffy at the end of "Dead Things" got there too, as she keeps saying she's bad and wrong and pleading with Tara not to forgive her.

It's wrong. I'm wrong. Please, tell me that I'm wrong! ...Please don't forgive me... God, please don't forgive me...

• Anya walking down the aisle alone in "Hell's Bells".
  • Pretty much that entire episode, particularly if you know what's coming. The most heartbreaking moment for this Troper was when Anya was reciting her final version of her vows - how being with Xander taught her what love really is - while Xander was walking through the rain, leaving her at the altar. Heartbreaking.
    • I knew that the break up was coming (thanks a lot, tvtropes, for all your spoilage), so the saddest part was when Anya is getting ready with Tara and Willow and says with sincere, utter joy: "He's my best friend. I'm so happy that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend". She was so happy at the moment, and knowing that by the next episode, she was going to be utterly devastated and hate Xander, was just really heartbreaking.
• Can we just save space and say that any time Anya cries, the rest of us are crying too?
• The last scene of "Normal Again". Buffy going into permanent catatonia while her parents helplessly watch.
• The climax of "Normal Again".

Buffy: Goodbye.

• Anya's lament in "Entropy". For someone known for her brutal honesty, this is her most honest moment.

"This whole time I've been coming on all hellbent and mad. Wanting his (Xander's) head, you know. When really I can't sleep at night thinking that it's my fault somehow. What if he was just pretending? What if he never wanted me the way I wanted him?"

• • Having been spoiled for the episode User:Micah cry a lot at this speech:

Tara: Things fall apart. They fall so hard. You can't ever put them back the way they were. I'm sorry, it's just... You know it takes time. You can't just have coffee and expect... There's so much to work through. Trust has to build again, on both sides. You have to learn if you're even the same people you were, if you can fit in each other's lives, it's a long and important process and can we just skip it? Can you just be kissing me now?

• "I'm sorry, William."
• So am I the only person in the universe who cried when Tara died? "Your shirt"... cue buckets.
  • This troper didn't, but that's only because he was too angry about her being killed off.
    • Ditto. I was especially peeved at the sheer contrived nature of it to allow it to have any genuinely sad reaction to it.
  • This troper still marks it as one of the absolute saddest Whedon deaths. Which is saying something.
  • Well, her actual death is too sudden for it to really sink in for me. However, in the next episode, as Willow is crying and holding her corpse, asking the Egyptian god of death How is this natural? ...Yeah. Also, Xander's line describing the situation:

"I've had blood on my hands all day. Blood from people I love."

• • Dawn finding her body. And Buffy finding Dawn having found her body.

Dawn: [voice cracking] I didn't want to leave her alone.

• • Xander didn't know. He saw her shirt, and he didn't know. He tells Willow about Buffy, but nobody other than Willow knew until Dawn. Buffy didn't know until she found Dawn hours later. I don't know if Giles knew at all. But every time Xander harped on being useless, after... it twisted the knife of that scene, Willow alone, which made the climactic scene of the finale all the sweeter.
  • Of all the terrible things that happened in Buffy, this is the one that kills me the most. I've only been able to watch the last three episodes of S6 once and I'll be surprised if I can ever bear to see them again. I'll also probably never be able entirely forgive Joss, no matter how much I respect his skill as a storyteller.
• Xander's speech to Willow at the end of "Grave":

"The first day of kindergarten you cried because you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far; ending the world, not a terrific notion, but the thing is, yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow, and I love scary, veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. You wanna kill the world, well then start with me. I've earned that."

• • Seeing Willow's wrathful facade crumble as her powers drain out and she's reduced to ineffectively punching Xander, then breaking down in tears as her grief overwhelms her always got me. During those two episodes, Dark Willow was such a powerful presence that it was hard to reconcile it with her normal, sweet, vulnerable self, so when her hair began to change back to its normal color, I broke down.
  • It's a bit less than everything else that was going on, but Giles "dying", and Anya acting so worried and sad, despite Anya having reverted to being a demon. Tears From a Stone, writ small.
  • Buffy regaining her will to live.

"I wasn't trying to protect you from the world, I want to show it to you!"

Season 7

• The final scene of "Beneath You". Spike's insanity, guilt and self-loathing are absolutely heart-breaking, and James Marsters acts his bloody heart out.

Why does a man do what he mustn't? For her, to be hers. To be the kind of man who would never... To be a kind of man. And she will look upon him with forgiveness, and everybody will forgive, and love... and he will be loved. So everything's okay, right? Can we rest now? Buffy?... Can we rest?

• • It's either a Tear Jerker or Nightmare Fuel. But James Marsters definitely won my love and adoration for the impeccable acting.
  • For this troper, definitely the best-acted scene in all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Marsters' performance kills me every time.
• Willow realizing that she wasn't left all alone and that Xander and Buffy came to rescue her in "Same Time, Same Place" qualifies for this troper. Props to Allison Hannigan for having a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming while mumbling thru paralysis.
• "Help". I blame Azura Skye for being so sweet and vulnerable. The end is heartwrenching, along with:

"You think I want this? You think I don't care? Believe me, I want to be here! Do things! I want to graduate from high school and I want to go to the stupid Winter Formal. I have this friend and it'd be fun to go with him, to dance and hear lame music, to wear a silly dress and laugh and stuff. I'd like to go. There's a lot of stuff I'd like to do. I'd love to ice skate at Rockefeller Center, and I'd love to see my cousins grow up and see how they turn out, because they're really mean and I think they're going to be fat. I'd love to backpack across the country or... I don't know... fall in love? But I won't. I just never will".

• I am i the only one who cried when Willow visits Tara's grave for the first time?

"Hey...It's me."

• "Selfless" tends to kill this troper a little; Buffy's "I killed Angel" speech, Anya telling Xander to stop trying to save her, and wondering if there's a her left to save, Halfrek's murder, and of course, the end: "What if I'm really no-one?" with Xander and Anya walking away from each other, in tears? God. Anya of The Bunny Song should not create an episode this goddamn heartbreaking.
  • When Buffy fights Anya they show "Anya's Lost Song" (I'll Be His Mrs) - This troper always tears up when it cuts off at the end while she's singing and instead shows her lifeless body impaled by Buffy's sword. Luckily, she got better.
  • While Anya does survive, this sequence seems designed to make the viewer gasp and think this really is the end for her. In particular, the Smash Cut to a happy scene and then back to Anya's seemingly lifeless body is reminiscent of the Christmas dinner scene in the season 5 episode "The Body."
  • All the more tearjerking because her song ("Mrs.") is about becoming Xander's wife, and because it's a flashback, we already know that he left her at the altar, prompting her to turn back into a demon.

Anya: "Just stand aside! Here comes the bride! [walks onto the balcony and is suddenly wearing her wedding dress] I'll be Mrs! I will be his Mrs! I...will...be..."

• Conversations With Dead People.

CassieThe First: She (Tara) says even though you can't hear her, she still sings to you.

• • Jonathan's speech right before being killed:

Jonathan: "I really miss it. Time goes by, and everything drops away. All the cruelty, all the pain, all that humiliation. It all washes away. I miss my friends. I miss my enemies. I miss the people I talked to every day. I miss the people who never knew I existed. I miss 'em all. I want to talk to them, you know. I want to find out how they're doing. I want to know what's going on in their lives." Andrew: "You know what? They don't wanna talk to you. All those people you just mentioned. Not one of them is sitting around going, 'I wonder what Jonathan's up to right now.' Not one of them cares about you." Jonathan: "Well, I still care about them. That's why I'm here."

• • Willow's bit in that same episode was hard for me. "... and it's not getting better." Oh god...
• "Sleeper". This troper just refuses to admit anyone with a soul could be unmoved by Spike's final breakdown.

Spike: [holding out his heart for the staking] Just do it quick, okay? [pause] He said you'd do it! Buffy: Who said? Spike: Me. It was me. I saw it. I was here the whole time, talking and singing. [sobs] There was a song. Buffy: What are you talking about? Spike: I don't know. Please, I don't remember. Don't make me remember. [to invisible person] Make it so I forget again! I did what you wanted! Buffy: There's something here. [throws away the stake] Spike: Oh, God, no, please. I need that. I can't cry this soul out of me. It won't come. I killed, and I can feel 'em. I can feel every one of them. Buffy: There's something playing with us. All of us. Spike: What is it? Why is it doing this to me? Buffy: I don't know. Spike: Will you... Help me. Can you help me?

• • Early One Morning. Sure, it contributes heavily to Spike's already terrible Badass Decay, but the realization of why the trigger works is what sets this troper off. It's frequently assumed to be magic, but it's not. It's the First using Spike's soul against him. The titular song is the one Spike's mother sang to him as William, and when William became a vampire, his first thought was that he could save his mother from her gradually worsening painful death. Instead, she became a monster. The song reminded him that his love of his mother is what damned her, and the knowledge of it is what drove him to be Spike instead of William: a merciless killer instead of a momma's boy. The song provoked that memory violently every time he heard it.
• A mild one is "Never Leave Me", where Spike keeps telling Buffy to kill him. Oh you poor, screwed up thing. :(
• The end of "Showtime" when Buffy rescues Spike and he touches her shoulder to make sure she's real. She is and he just can't believe that she'd come for him.
• The climax of "The Killer In Me", when Willow-in-Warren's-body breaks down over Tara's death:

(To Kennedy) It was your fault, slut! You tricked me! It was just for a second, but I kissed you... I let her go. She was here all the time. And I let her be dead. (Now directing her comments at Tara) I'm sorry! Please baby, I'm sorry, come back! Please baby, come back!

• • Despite later developments in the cannon follow-up comics, this troper saw the climax of that scene as Warren and Willow begging for forgiveness (Warren for accidentally killing the girl he loved after she left him again, which was his crossing of the Moral Event Horizon before he got serious about being a villain). Note how Kennedy takes on her appearance during the kiss to break the spell? It sure doesn't redeem him, but it's a touching display of human grief and vulnerability even coming from the guy who puts the "bastard" in Humans Are Bastards.
• "Storyteller" had Anya & Xander's break up.
• This bit from "Storyteller" gets me. The Mood Whiplash only makes it worse:

Buffy: When your blood pours it might save the whole world? What do you think about that? Does that buy it all back? Are you redeemed? Andrew: No. Because... I killed him. Because I pretended I thought it was Warren, but I knew that it wasn't. And now you're gonna kill me, and I'm gonna die, and I'm scared, and... this is how Jonathan felt.

• • Followed by Andrew, who's been Breaking the Fourth Wall as a Running Gag throughout the entire episode to distance himself from everything, sitting down alone with the video camera.

Andrew: Here's the thing. I killed my best friend. There's a big fight coming, and I don't know what's going to happen. I don't even think I'm going to live through it. That's, uh... (Beat) Probably the way it should be. I guess I'm... (Beat) [Turns the camera off].

• The scene in "Empty Places" where Willow and Xander try to act normal and makes jokes about Xander losing his eye and Willow starts crying... This troper's getting dusty eyed just writing about it.
  • Oh gods, yes. Especially how he just looks away, and says flatly. "Willow. Please don't," and you can tell he's this far from falling apart.
• The series finale, when in the middle of Spike's Heroic Sacrifice Buffy finally says that she loves him, and he tells her that no, she doesn't.
  • Confession time: Call it cheesy, but the "Every girl a slayer" speech gets me every single time. I think it's the music there.

Buffy: From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer, will be a Slayer. Every girl who could have the power, will have the power, can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us.

• • Andrew telling Xander about Anya's death

"She was incredible. She died saving my life." "That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing."

• • • Made all the sadder by the fact that he's lying.
  • "Chosen" had me in puddles. At first it was happy tears all the empowerment, all the Potentials gaining so much power then, pure sadness: Spike and Anya dying. It all hit me right at the end, as that smile crept Buffy's face. I was a MESS.
  • Buffy's speech to the Potentials before the final battle. Little narmy but empowering nonetheless
  • Spike's Heroic Sacrifice.

Buffy: "I love you." Spike: "No, you don't. But thanks for saying it."

• • "I want to see how it ends."
    • This troper never cries, but it does feel like stabbing when Spike, obviously in agony, is forcing himself to laugh as he bursts into flame.
• You bastards, you're making me well up just reading those quotes!
• Jonathan's story arc in general. Everything Jonathan does until the end of season six is because he's so desperately lonely that he's willing to put up with torment from his peers, leap blindly at the hope that a woman might like him, and he's genuinely touched when Buffy stops him from killing himself. He's thankful to her for the remainder of the series, giving her an award, wanting desperately for her to think he's a good person to the point where he rewrites reality to do so, and gives THAT up when he realizes the cost, though he knows it ostracizes him further. He joins the Trio out of a sense of companionship more than boredom or a desire for power or money. When he realizes that Warren's not just a goofball friend, but a seriously twisted bastard, Jonathan pushes for the Trio to turn themselves in to the police, and spends the rest of his time trying to save Andrew from following Warren. He does his best to aid Buffy surreptitiously while doing so, and only abandons his plan of going back to prison to pay for his crimes out of raw fear of Willow. His reward for trying to stand up and do the right thing, even at considerable risk to himself? His best friend murders him.
  • And Principal Wood was the only one decent enough to bury him. Far as I know, nobody visited Jonathan's grave.

Season 8

• The death of Renee in the "Wolves at the Gate" arc, especially the beginning of the fourth issue, where we get her POV as she dies and listen to all her regrets as she watches Xander try to get to her before she dies.
• Buffy finding out Giles trusts Faith and sent on a mission without telling Buffy, and when she confronts him about it over the phone, he tells her that he doesn't want her to be any part of it. Buffy is floored by the fact Giles won't tell her something/went to Faith instead of her, and numbly hands the phone to Willow as the split between her and Giles grows even wider. Xander says that he thinks she needs some alone time, and Buffy's response kills me:

Buffy: "What other kind is there?"

• In the penultimate issue, we get a brainwashed Angel killing Giles the same way he had killed Jenny Calendar in Season 2. Naturally, this leads to Buffy completely losing it, and she destroys the Seed of Wonder, removing all the invading demons from the world, along with all magic, which leads to another tearjerker when Willow crashes to the ground, and begins crying and screaming at Kennedy that they lost and it was the end.