What scenes in your favorite games or other entertainment have all the feels?

Over the years, there have been more than a few moments in World of Warcraft that have caused maximum feels. WoW is not exclusive in this regard, mind you! Plenty of media manages to, even if just once, find a moment that is an emotional gut punch.

When it comes to WoW,  though, it’s often moments related to the long aftermath of The Fall of Lordaeron. The quest chain beginning with A Tale of Valor from Wrath of the Lich King is masterfully done. The struggle to free Crusader Bridenbrad from the plague of the undeath ratchets up the emotional involvement of players step by step; it culminates with the Naaru A’dal, unable to cleanse the taint, gathering up the dying Paladin to dwell beyond the pain of the mortal realms. And, goodness, tears flowed the first time I read her closing words: “The Light does not abandon its champions.”

What makes it even more affecting is it’s a memorial to Brad Bridenbecker, brother to Rob Bridenbecker, then-Blizzard VP of Online Technologies, who succumbed to cancer. The developers of WoW stepped up to the moment and created one of the most touching experiences I’ve encountered in the game as a monument to his memory.

From WoW Classic, it’s meeting a little girl lost, the ghost of Pamela Redpath and working to redeem the spirit of father, Joseph, and reunite her fallen family. That whole Darrowshire quest chain resonated with me as a parent and made quite an impact. For several years, in my D&D campaign, Little Pammy, an orphaned ghost, provided her own moments of pathos to the game after adopting a PC as her surrogate dad.

Not a game, but in The Lord of the Rings, the love and friendship between Frodo and Samwise touches and, ultimately, breaks my heart. Their parting when Frodo, wounded in spirit beyond any healing to found in Middle Earth, departs for the Undying Lands is beautiful. It leaves me melancholy for hours to read it.

So, what about you? What particular moments do you treasure for their emotional impact, whether in the sadness of partings or the exaltation of a scene that leaves your heart pumping? Let us know in the comments.