If you trace back members of Generation Z's childhood, you would undoubtedly find countless commonalities. Rainbow Loom, Silly Bandz, Webkinz, Tamagotchi, slap bracelets and, of course, the Disney Channel (back when cable was thriving). We may not know everything in the world, but we sure as hell know every lyric to "Breaking Free" and the timeline of Miley Stewart's crazy love life. We also remember every painful heartbreak that our favorite characters experienced.
To jog your memory, in case you had forgotten, here are the saddest Disney Channel breakups ranked.
8. Miley and Jesse
This breakup only lasted for less than an episode, but it still made us all distraught. Miley's life was finally coming together, as she began to let go of Hannah Montana and the problems that came with it. She had finally told Jesse, the boy that she finally picked in her scandalous love triangle, of her alter ego and he was okay with it. But when drama stirs because of Jesse being caught with both Hannah and Miley, he declares that as long as there are two of Miley, he couldn't be with her. It was so frustrating for us viewers to watch, as everything was almost perfect as the show neared its end.
7. Bailey and Cody
Though the most prominent couple of our favorite pair of twins and their spin-off show, "The Suite Life on Deck," end up together, they gave us a near heart attack when they broke up in season two finale. For their one year anniversary, as the ship was docked in Paris, Cody had the perfect night planned. But after everything goes awry and the couple's special day becomes defined by jealousy, they decide to break it off. This caused a plethora of problems for the future, and it put us through an emotional roller coaster until they finally got back together in season three.
6. Sonny and Chad
Perhaps the most painful part of this breakup is that this killer couple never gets their happy ending. They meet their sad fate after Sonny's show, "So Random!" wins an award over Chad's "MacKenzie Falls." This throws Chad, who has always been used to winning, through a loop and creates an awkward tension between Sonny and Chad, who no longer know how to act around each other since the norm was completely overruled. Chad, thinking he's helping fix the awkwardness, demands a recount in which it's revealed that "MacKenzie Falls" actually did win, Sonny gets fed up with Chad's selfishness and ends things. Though the episode following hints that they still have feelings for each other, the show got canceled before we could know more.
5. Alex and Mason
This breakup hurt all of us, mainly because Alex and Mason was the relationship we were all dying for. They'd broken up multiple times throughout the show, but the one that got us all was the third time, after Alex jokes about dating another boy named Chase in an interview and they cut off the part where she clarifies the joke. When Mason sees this, he storms the ceremony in her honor, picks a fight with Chase, and demands that Alex chooses between them. Alex chooses neither, for the situation proved flaws in their relationship. It was the best choice she could've made in the moment, and none of us blamed her, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
4. Zack and Maya
Even though this couple was relatively short-lived, it was important in its development of lovably obnoxious and immature Zack Martin. After falling completely head-over-heels, uncharacteristically, for Maya, despite his long history of being a player, there is a clear shift in Zack's maturity. It is clear that this is a turning point in the development in his character, which makes it even worse when Maya breaks up with him after getting into the Peace Corps because she doesn't want to do long-distance relationships. Zack could never catch a break, and neither could we.
3. Spencer and Teddy
Ah. The moment that Disney Channel taught us that men aren't sh*t. We loved the excitement of first love for beloved Teddy Duncan and her charming boyfriend, Spencer. But when he begins to act suspicious, we find out that he had been unexpectedly cheating on her the whole time. It was hard to watch, as Teddy choked back her tears during the confrontation with Spencer. Throughout the rest of the show, their relationship develops and matures (but if it were up to me, they would have ended it at that).
2. Justin and Juliet
One word: UGH. Justin and Juliet end up together (thank God), but we'd probably riot if they didn't. They were completely unflawed... equally as nerdy and completely in love. But Juliet, contrasting to Justin's wizarding powers, was a vampire, and after being scratched by her ex-boyfriend Mason (a werewolf aforementioned), she turns back into her real age, not glamorized by her vampire powers. When her 2,193 years show, the pair has to come to terms with the fact that they can't be together. But Disney loves to make us hurt, and made things even worse by showing Justin moving on and going on a date, with the old Juliet watching the love of her life move on in a sad kind of happiness.
1. Gabriella and Troy
If you didn't cry, you weren't human. We were all completely caught off guard when the golden couple of our generation broke up in the second movie in the most painful way possible, through a heart-wrenching song. To be fair, none of us blamed Gabriella. Troy was being a complete jerk, abandoning her and his friends for Sharpay and materialistic basketball opportunities. She finally calls it quits in "I Gotta Go My Own Way," giving back the "T" necklace he gave her and making a quick getaway in her mom's van. They get back together at the end of the movie, but their relationship was sacred to us. Even the thought of them not together was horrifying to us.
If you were anything like myself and my friends, these relationships have been crucial to our childhoods. If anything, they taught us that love is fickle and that nothing is ever perfect. (Except for Troy and Gabriella. They're perfect. No argument.)
