History DownerEnding / WebOriginal

* TheOnion's ''WebVideo/SexHouse'' ends with the housemates having created their own tribal society within the house after the producers abandoned them, with each member having an assigned task in the community. By the time an escape route opens up for them, they are too far gone to use it. The series ends with [[{{Tearjerker}} Tara about to eat one of her frogs]].

** A few episodes play this straight, like ''JamesAndTheGiantPeach'' (he doesn't get forgiven and ends up being massacred), ''The Top 11 Dumbest Superman Moments'' (recalling what happened to the actors makes him miserable and he goes off to kill himself) and ''MyPetMonster'' (where his identity crisis stuff comes to a head), to name but a few.
* TheOnion's SexHouse ends with the housemates having created their own tribal society within the house after the producers abandoned them, with each member having an assigned task in the community. By the time an escape route opens up for them, they are too far gone to use it. The series ends with [[{{Tearjerker}} Tara about to eat one of her frogs]].

* ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' has [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18490_the-7-most-soul-crushing-series-finales-in-tv-history.html an article on these endings]], with a few {{Sudden Downer Ending}}s included. A summarization of the list:
[numlist:7]
# Series/{{ALF}} is Sent Off to be Tortured and Dissected
[/numlist][numlist:6]
# ''{{Dinosaurs}}'': Absolutely Everyone Dies
[/numlist][numlist:5]
# ''ThirdRockFromTheSun''[='=]s Dick is... Well... a Dick
[/numlist][numlist:4]
# {{Dallas}} Scores a Victory for {{Satan}}
[/numlist][numlist:3]
# [[TheWorldOfDavidTheGnome David the Gnome]] Hits Mandatory Death Age
[/numlist][numlist:2]
# ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'' Goes Out with a Bang
[/numlist]
# ''StElsewhere'' Kills [[VanityPlate a Kitten]]
* Another example from ''Cracked'': An article about columnist John Cheese [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19030_quitting-smoking-6-things-you-notice-about-stupid-world.html trying to quit smoking]]. It's a very funny but intense recount of his thoughts and feelings during the first day kicking the habit. The sad part is, after a fake editor's note for the final joke of the article, there's a real note beneath it:
** ''Update: John resumed smoking a few months after this article was posted.''

* TheOnion's SexHouse ends with the housemates having created their own tribal society within the house after the producers abandoned them, with each member having an assigned task in the community. By the time an escape route opens up for them, they are too far gone to use it. The series ends with Tara about to eat one of her frogs.

* Another example from ''{{Cracked}}'': An article about columnist John Cheese [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19030_quitting-smoking-6-things-you-notice-about-stupid-world.html trying to quit smoking]]. It's a very funny but intense recount of his thoughts and feelings during the first day kicking the habit. The sad part is, after a fake editor's note for the final joke of the article, there's a real note beneath it:

* {{Website/{{Youtube}} Poop}}s tend to take this path at times. For instance, WalrusGuy's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8Ph0hnRPY The Only Mama Luigi Poop Anyone Has Ever Made]] and Tropers/MadMan400096's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXUcIipAr6k Toonster Prom Time]].

* Frequent in TheSlenderManMythos; particularly notable is JustAnotherFool, which [[TropeCodifier codified]] many of the later examples.

* ''{{Cracked}}'' has [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18490_the-7-most-soul-crushing-series-finales-in-tv-history.html an article on these endings]], with a few {{Sudden Downer Ending}}s included. A summarization of the list:

* In ''DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', Dr. Horrible manages to defeat Captain Hammer and gain entrance into the league. But Penny, the girl of his dreams and the most actually heroic character in the show dies accidentally and is forgotten by everyone except him. And because of this he's [[PyrrhicVillainy left emotionally destroyed]]

* Honorable mention: ''All About My Dog: Marimo'' on YouTube. The whole thing is pretty sad, but if the last 5 minutes don't make you cry you have no soul.

# ''[[StElsewhere St. Elsewhere]]'' Kills [[VanityPlate a Kitten]]

* {{YouTube Poop}}s tend to take this path at times. For instance, WalrusGuy's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8Ph0hnRPY The Only Mama Luigi Poop Anyone Has Ever Made]] and Tropers/{{MadMan400096}}'s [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXUcIipAr6k Toonster Prom Time]].

* Most episodes of SaladFingers end in one of these. They're either MindScrew or HighOctaneNightmareFuel.

* Parodied in ''WebOriginal/TheNostalgiaCritic's'' review of ''MoulinRouge'', where he realizes that because it's a ''MoulinRouge'' review, they need to have a sad ending. So he creates one by shooting {{Brentalfloss}}, and spends the end of the review mourning him. Then Brentalfloss shoots him from Heaven in revenge.

* ''[[WebOriginal/BonusStage Bonus Stage]]'', after first killing off Rya in a cheap and poorly-executed manner, then went on to have Phil go back in time and murder himself in the first episode, resulting in Joel trying to hang himself, being persuaded to keep going and build a machine to resurrect people, then accidentally killing himself ANYWAY, thus erasing the whole series from time. And this was a CHEERIER version of the episode (the original just cut to Joel dangling from the rope after he decided to give up).

* Parodied in ''WebOriginal/TheNostalgiaCritic's'' review of ''MoulinRouge'', where he realizes that because it's a ''MoulinRouge'' review, they need to have a sad ending. So he creates one by shooting {{Brentalfloss}}, and spends the end of the review mourning him. Then Brentalfloss shoots him from Heaven in revenge.

* ''{{Cracked}}'' has [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18490_the-7-most-soul-crushing-series-finales-in-tv-history.html an article on these endings]], with a few {{Cerebus Ending}}s included. A summarization of the list:

* Parodied in ''TheNostalgiaCritic's'' review of ''MoulinRouge'', where he realizes that because it's a ''MoulinRouge'' review, they need to have a sad ending. So he creates one by shooting {{Brentalfloss}}, and spends the end of the review mourning him. Then Brentalfloss shoots him from Heaven in revenge.

* {{YouTube Poop}}s tend to take this path at times. For instance, WalrusGuy's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8Ph0hnRPY The Only Mama Luigi Poop Anyone Has Ever Made]].

# ''[=~3rd Rock from the Sun~=]''[='=]s Dick is... Well... a Dick

* In ''DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', although the main character manages to defeat and humiliate Captain Hammer and become a true villain, the girl of his dreams dies after being impaled by shrapnel from the explosion caused by his faulty death ray and believing that Captain Hammer will save them all, leaving Dr. Horrible a successful but lonely man.
** This becomes an even bigger downer if you take the view that Penny is the only remotely heroic character in the entire piece. While everyone else is caught up in the whole superhero/supervillain standoff, she does the real good--not by trying to save the world or conquer it, but simply working to make her little corner of it just a bit better than it was -- yet her quiet struggle goes largely unnoticed and unappreciated. Then, to top it all off, she gets killed in the crossfire of said superhero/supervillain standoff, and even ''then'' she's denied her dignity as an individual, referred to in the press as "Captain Hammer's Girlfriend." Only Billy seems to mourn Penny for herself, and even he arguably grieves not for her but for the illusory "girl of his dreams" he imagined her to be. Damn. You. Joss.
** The very last shot (literally the very last two seconds) is completely depressing. Penny's dead, Captain Hammer's got his just desserts, and Dr. Horrible has come into his role as a villain and sociopath. Sad, but at least the only person who would really be upset over Penny's death (even for selfish reasons) doesn't really get hurt by it, right? That's something at least, right? WRONG.
** Downer ending for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog? It was more of a BittersweetEnding. Yes, Penny died and that was a shame, but let's look at the bright side of things:
*** Captain Hammer's groupies on the street corner are now fans of Dr. Horrible.
*** The pain that Captain Hammer felt when trying to kill Dr. Horrible left quite an emotional scar and he needed to see a therapist because of it.
*** Our VillainProtagonist, Dr. Horrible, has been accepted into the Evil League Of Evil.
** Yes, it seems like everything worked out for Doctor Horrible, but on the other hand: "And I won't feel...a thing."

* {{YouTube Poop}}s tend to take this path at times. For instance, WalrusGuy's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8Ph0hnRPY The Only Mama Luigi Poop Anyone Has Ever Made]].

* {{YouTube Poop}}s tend to take this path at times. For instance, WalrusGuy's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8Ph0hnRPY The Only Mama Luigi Poop Anyone Has Ever Made]].
* FanFic/FalloutEquestria ends with Steelhooves dead, Velvet Remedy bitterely disillusioned after learning her lifelong idol was directly responsible for the apocalypse, Calamity forced to murder his own father, and [[TheHero Littlepip]] [[SenselessSacrifice senselessly]] plugging herself into the Single Pegasus Project, dooming her to spend the rest of her life in constant agonizing pain with nothing but the half-mad Celestia AI for company. The wasteland has not changed at all. If anything, its ''worse''. Even the defeats of the Goddess, Red Eye and the Enclave ultimately mean little, as new tyrants will inevitably rise to take their places, because even in Equestria, [[CentralTheme war...war never changes]].
** Even worse, Littlepip has been confirmed as the "spark" that is absolutely ''needed'' to not just reunite the Elements of Harmony, but ''enable them to work''. Only four of the six Elements are found by the end of the story, and with Pip sealed in the SPP, Spike now has no way of ''ever'' finding the remaining two Elements and repairing the world. Yes, that's right, Littlepip has ''doomed the world'' in an act of selfishness.

* FanFic/FalloutEquestria ends with Steelhooves dead, Velvet Remedy bitterely disillusioned after learning her lifelong idol was directly responsible for the apocalypse, Calamity forced to murder his own father, and [[TheHero Littlepip]] [[SenselessSacrifice senselessly]] plugging herself into the SPP, dooming her to spend the rest of her life in constant agonizing pain with nothing but the half-mad Celestia AI for company. The wasteland has not changed at all. If anything, its ''worse''.

* {{YouTube Poop}}s tend to take this path at times. For instance, WalrusGuy's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8Ph0hnRPY The Only Mama Luigi Poop Anyone Has Ever Made]].

# {{ALF}} is Sent Off to be Tortured and Dissected

# ''{{Little House on the Prairie}}'' Goes Out with a Bang

* YouTubePoops tend to take this path at times. For instance, WalrusGuy's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8Ph0hnRPY The Only Mama Luigi Poop Anyone Has Ever Made]].

# ''[[StElsewhere St. Elsewhere]]'' Kills [[VanityPlate a Kitten]]

* ''[[Series/BonusStage Bonus Stage]]'', after first killing off Rya in a cheap and poorly-executed manner, then went on to have Phil go back in time and murder himself in the first episode, resulting in Joel trying to hang himself, being persuaded to keep going and build a machine to resurrect people, then accidentally killing himself ANYWAY, thus erasing the whole series from time. And this was a CHEERIER version of the episode (the original just cut to Joel dangling from the rope after he decided to give up).

* ''{{Cracked}}'' has [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18490_the-7-most-soul-crushing-series-finales-in-tv-history.html an article on these endings]], with a few CerebusEndings included. A summarization of the list:

# ''[=~St. Elsewhere~=]'' Kills [[VanityPlate a Kitten]]

## {{ALF}} is Sent Off to be Tortured and Dissected

## ''{{Dinosaurs}}'': Absolutely Everyone Dies

## ''[=~3rd Rock from the Sun~=]''[='=]s Dick is... Well... a Dick

## {{Dallas}} Scores a Victory for {{Satan}}

## [[TheWorldOfDavidTheGnome David the Gnome]] Hits Mandatory Death Age

## ''{{Little House on the Prairie}}'' Goes Out with a Bang

## ''[=~St. Elsewhere~=]'' Kills [[VanityPlate a Kitten]]

* The first season of the NuzlockeComics ends with Steven killing off Ruby's entire team.