8 Disney Channel Breakups That Honestly Broke My Little Gen Z Heart

If you didn't cry, you aren't human.

If you asked Gen Z'ers about their childhoods, 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).

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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 wild love life. We also remember every painful heartbreak that our favorite characters experienced. To jog your memory, here are the saddest Disney Channel breakups, ranked:

8. Miley and Jesse (Hannah Montana)

Disney Channel

This breakup 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 she finally picked in her scandalous love triangle, about her alter ego and he was okay with it. But when drama stirs because Jesse is caught with both Hannah and Miley, he declares that as long as there are three people in their relationship, he can'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 (The Suite Life on Deck)

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Though the most prominent couple on the The Suite Life on Deck end up together, they gave us a near heart attack when they broke up in the second season finale. Cody had the perfect night in Paris planned for their anniversary, 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 the third season.

6. Sonny and Chad (Sonny With a Chance)

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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 always wins, through a loop and creates an awkward tension between Sonny and Chad, who no longer know how to act around each other since everything is out of whack. Chad, thinking he’s helping fix the awkwardness, demands a recount, and it’s revealed that Mackenzie Falls actually did win. Sonny gets fed up with Chad’s selfishness and ends things. Though the following episode hints that they still have feelings for each other, the show got canceled before we could know more.

5. Alex and Mason (Wizards of Waverly Place)

Disney Channel

This breakup hurt all of us, mainly because Alex and Mason had 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 choose between them. Alex chooses neither because the situation showed the 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 (The Suite Life on Deck)

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Even though this relationship was short-lived, it was important in its development of lovably obnoxious and immature Zack Martin. After falling completely and uncharacteristically head-over-heels for Maya, there is a clear shift in Zack’s maturity. It's obvious 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 (Good Luck Charlie)

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Ahh. 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. However, things take a turn when we find out he's been cheating on her the whole time. It was hard to watch when Teddy choked back her tears to confront 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 (Wizards of Waverly Place)

Disney Channel

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 so 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 begins to show her real age (2,193 years). The pair has to come to terms with the fact that they can’t be together. Disney loves to make us hurt, and they made things even worse by showing Justin moving on and going on a date as the old Juliet watched the love of her life in a sad kind of happiness.

1. Gabriella and Troy (High School Musical 2)

Disney Channel

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.

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Well, there you have it! If anything, these breakups taught us that love is fickle and that nothing is ever perfect. (Except for Troy and Gabriella. They’re perfect. No argument.) Which DC breakup absolutely destroyed you? Feel free to share in the comments below!