History Main / BitterSweetEnding

* The end of the "Legend of a Hero" arc in Season 7 of ''Animation/HappyHeroes''. Sure, they drove out the invaders, but at what cost? [[spoiler:Kalo's life, for he was the one who sacrificed himself to save the planet]]. Needless to say, the heroes are still in tears despite the enemy being driven away.

* ''Animation/GypsyTales'': "The Gypsy Woman and the Devil" ends with the devil cursing Vunida to turn into a cherry tree, never being able to talk to her children again, and the children never realizing what happened to their mother. On the sweet side, she gets to fee her starving children with her fruit, who all grow up to adulthood; and as a bonus the children [[JustDesserts cook and eat the devil in bird form too]].

* ''Animation/GypsyTales'': Near the end of "The Gypsy Woman and the Devil", the devil turns Vunida into a cherry tree so "[her] children will eat of [her] flesh and drink of [her] blood." It's described as [[BodyHorror agonizing to her]].

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* ''WebGame/FreeIcecream'': The girl manages to escape from her abductor-and-would-be-killer's house, but the killer already murdered her friend, and there's no indication or guarantee that the girl knows how to get home.

* The good guys feel unsatisfied and uneasy because they feel that they [[IdiotBall put on a poor showing]] and won by accident or dumb luck.

* The protagonist or protagonists are the [[SoleSurvivor only ones left alive at the end]]. [[KillEmAll Even the likeable guest or supporting characters get mercilessly killed]].

Somewhere between the HappilyEverAfter and the DownerEnding, the Bittersweet Ending happens when victory came at a harsh price, when, for whatever reason, the heroes cannot fully enjoy the reward of their actions, when some irrevocable loss has happened during the course of the events, and nothing will ever be the same again. A Bittersweet Ending is still ending on a high note, but one that is mixed with sadness and nostalgia. Often, such endings are the result of the plot making a completely happy ending impossible. (Looked at objectively, some {{Happy Ending}}s have more things lost or irrevocably broken than some Bittersweet Endings. This trope relies more on the mood than on such objective weighing of matters.)

* EndOfAnAge: When an irrevocable loss happens, which removes the innocence of the hero or of the world forever.

* And occasionally, you ''will'' get a [[PlayedStraight straight up]] HappilyEverAfter, but then the story will ''keep going'', which leads to the [[KillEmAll inevitable conclusion of all the characters dying]].

* [[PyrrhicVictory When the victory is only achieved]] at the [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]] of people dear to the heroes ([[TheHeroDies if not the heroes themselves]]) -- or perhaps was [[SenselessSacrifice attempted to be won at this cost]], and the heroes had to soldier on to victory without any benefit from it.

Bittersweet Endings can fall on either end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism. They come up frequently in HighFantasy, for obvious reasons -- an epic that ends with the hero triumphing over the ultimate BigBad and bringing peace and prosperity to the land, but at the same time defeating the ultimate BigBad does not always come without sacrifices, whether be most or all of the characters dying in the end or the characters are at a loss about [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow what to do now]]. Sometimes these are worlds and stories where you can EarnYourHappyEnding, though it won't be ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

* BittersweetEnding/WebComics

** ''BittersweetEnding/GravityFalls''

* The [[KarmaHoudini bad guys get away now]], but their current plans have fallen through. The heroes will have to face them again, and they know it.

* BittersweetEnding/AnimatedFilms
* BittersweetEnding/LiveActionFilms

* BittersweetEnding/{{Theater}}

* Some endings include the heroes [[IDidWhatIHadToDo lamenting to the effect that they had no choice but to use violence or take life]] in order to get the job done.

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%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1527797350086633300
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[[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Please be careful in adding any real life examples]].

* BittersweetEnding/RealLife

[[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Please be careful in adding any real life examples]].

[[AC:{{Podcasts}}]]

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->''"This was a happy story. But... it could still be a whole lot happier..."''
-->-- '''Kubo''', ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings''

!!Examples:

[[folder:Podcasts]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]

* The good guys feel unsatisfied and uneasy because they feel that they [[IdiotBall put on a poor showing]] and won by dumb luck.

Contrast with RayOfHopeEnding, where the villain prevails but not all is lost. Also with EsotericHappyEnding, where the author clearly ''meant'' it to be joyful, beautiful and uplifting... but the readers don't see it that way.

* BittersweetSeventeen: An ending of childhood, but a developing of selfhood age seventeen.

* A match seven years in the making ([[SevenYearRule pretty much unheard of in wrestling]]) was "wrestled" at ''WWC Aniversario 2011'', The Universal Champion Wrestling/{{Carlito| Colon}} Caribbean Cool taking on the main he'd been teased as too scared to fight, Abyss, in a monster's ball. Carlito won but was left lying prone after Abyss put him through a steel chair with a choke slam.

Victory, at last! The BigBad has been vanquished, the day has been saved, all the [[DamselInDistress damsels in distress]] and {{innocent bystander}}s have been rescued and the heroes are ready to [[StandardHeroReward reap their reward]], kiss their LoveInterests and [[RidingIntoTheSunset walk away toward the setting sun]]...

* BittersweetEnding/{{Anime}}