15 of the most tear-jerking moments from science fiction & fantasy

At io9 Charlie Jane Anders came up with fifteen moments from science fiction and fantasy that will make absolutely anyone cry. One entry on the list:

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Pretty much all the Sam/Frodo stuff towards the end, especially in the movie with Sean Astin bringing his full acting power. "I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. 'Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to." And Sam carrying Frodo. And then at the end, "You bow to no-one."

Read about another entry on the list.

The Lord of the Rings also made Elizabeth Wein's top ten list of dynamic duos in fiction, Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders's list of the ten sources that inspired the dark storytelling of Game of Thrones, Rob Bricken's list of 11 preposterously manly fantasy series, Conrad Mason's top ten list of magical objects in fiction, Linus Roache's six best books list, Derek Landy's top ten list of villains in children's books, Charlie Jane Anders and Michael Ann Dobbs' list of ten classic SF books that were originally considered failures, Lev Grossman's list of the six greatest fantasy books of all time, and appears on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best women dressed as men, ten of the best bows and arrows in literature, ten of the best beards in literature, ten of the best towers in literature, ten of the best volcanoes in literature, ten of the best chases in literature, and ten of the best monsters in literature. It is one of Salman Rushdie's five best fantasy novels for all ages. It is a book that made a difference to Pat Conroy.

--Marshal Zeringue