History Main / DelusionConclusion

* This is the crux of the now-infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkoGBOs5ecM&t=69m17s Apple Tree Yard theory]]: with the fourth and final season of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' being [[DorkAge highly contested at best]], a small group of hardcore fans came to believe that the events within couldn't possibly be real, given that it features such things as [[spoiler: Sherlock having a heretofore-unknown sister who turns out to be the ultimate villain]]. So, using the hallucinatory episode "[[Recap/SherlockSpecialTheAbominableBride The Abominable Bride]]" as a basis, the theory claimed that Watson had been left comatose by a gunshot to the head in the penultimate episode and the events of "[[Recap/SherlockS04E03TheFinalProblem The Final Problem]]" were all just dreams experienced by Watson over the course of his coma. All well and good, up until the theorists began to believe that there was actually [[https://sherlockshome.net/2017/01/22/is-sherlock-over/ a hidden fourth episode]] in which Watson would wake up, the reality of the situation would be revealed, he and Sherlock would end up in love, and the two would live happily ever after... and through a trail of "evidence" too nonsensical to describe in a single paragraph, they came to believe that [[FullyAbsorbedFinale this hidden fourth episode was the first episode of]] the BBC thriller series ''Series/AppleTreeYard.'' Suffice it to say that actually ''watching'' this episode debunked the theory quite soundly.

* One prominent ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' [[https://fantheories.fandom.com/wiki/Ed,_Edd_n_Eddy theory ]] claims that the cul-de-sac the children live on is actually a purgatory, and that every child there died sometime after 1900. It was based mostly on the lack of adults seen (though extremely rare, arms and silhouettes of adults were present). Furthermore, the theory was expanded for the movie and claimed that [[spoiler:the theme park where Eddy's brother worked ]] and their journey there was actually a journey into Hell.

* ''Film/{{Glorious}}'': Although the movie leans towards the CosmicHorrorStory aspects being true on their face, it's possible to interpret it as being ThroughTheEyesOfMadness. [[spoiler:Wes is a deranged SerialKiller suffering a massive hangover after killing his latest victim and may be psychotic. Only he and one other person (Gary) interact with [[EldritchAbomination Ghatanothoa]]. Wes and Ghatanothoa [[MirrorCharacter share many similarities]], both being creatures of pure destruction with complex relationships with their fathers. Ghat is also polite, witty, and kind of a cool dude who just needs to be "satisfied"--presumably this is how Wes views himself. At the end, Wes saves the universe by ripping out his own liver and the bathroom returns to normal. No Gary guts or blood on the walls. As he lays dying, Wes tries to delude himself into thinking he's a hero, before his inner voice reminds him that there truly is no place in the world for him.]]

* ''Film/{{Glorious}}'': Although the movie leans towards the CosmicHorrorStory aspects being true on their face, it's possible to interpret it as being ThroughTheEyesOfMadness. [[spoiler:Wes is a deranged SerialKiller suffering a massive hangover after killing his latest victim and may be psychotic. Only he and one other person (Gary) interact with [[EldritchAbomination Ghatanothoa]]. Wes and Ghatanothoa [[MirrorCharacter share many similarities]], both being creatures of pure destruction with complex relationships with their fathers. Ghat is also polite, witty, and kind of a cool dude who just needs to be "satisfied"--presumably this is how Wes views himself. At the end, Wes saves the universe and the bathroom returns to normal. No Gary guts or anything. Wes tries to delude himself into thinking he's a hero, before his inner voice reminds him that there truly is no place in the world for him.]]

* ''Film/{{Glorious}}'': Although the movie leans towards the CosmicHorrorStory aspects being true on their face, it's possible to interpret it as being ThroughTheEyesOfMadness. [[spoiler:Wes is a deranged SerialKiller suffering a massive hangover after killing his latest victim and may be psychotic. Only he and one other person (Gary) interact with [[EldritchAbomination Ghatanothoa]]. Wes and Ghatanothoa [[MirrorCharacter share many similarities]], both being entities of pure destruction with complex relationship with their fathers. Ghat is also polite, witty, and kind of a cool dude who just needs to be "satisfied"--presumably this is how Wes views himself. At the end, Wes saves the universe and the bathroom returns to normal. No Gary guts or anything. Wes tries to delude himself into thinking he's a hero, before his inner voice reminds him that there truly is no place in the world for him.]]

* Given the film's notoriously trippy ending, it's not surprising that some viewers have interpreted the final act of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' as some kind of delusion experienced by David Bowman; some even claim that it's actually due to Bowman running out of oxygen and [[DyingDream hallucinating as he slowly dies of asphyxiation in space]].

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' ends with Alfred witnessing Bruce in a happy relationship with Selena Kyle [[spoiler: despite having last been seen performing a HeroicSacrifice to save Gotham from a nuclear bomb]]; given that Alfred had previously admitted that he'd always hoped that Bruce could give up on being Batman so he could live a life of his own, some fans interpreted the scene as a hallucination or a wishful dream.

** The sudden introduction of cave-dwelling monsters has resulted in some viewers theorizing that Sarah suffered a psychotic break from the stress of being trapped underground, and is actually killing her friends. The evidence consists of the trauma Sarah suffered in the car crash that killed her husband and daughter, and the fact that she is seen taking pills before leaving the cabin. Admittedly, Sarah ''does'' suffer SanitySlippage, [[spoiler:{{Mercy Kill}}s Beth, and later cripples Juno so she can't escape]], but her friends also encounter the Crawlers long before she rejoins them, so it's a bit of a stretch. The sequel thoroughly {{Josse|d}}s this idea, but it follows on from the ending of the American cut of the film, in which the final twist revealing that [[spoiler:Sarah's escape was AllJustADream, setting up a BolivianArmyEnding,]] is excised. Fans of the film who [[FanonDiscontinuity regard the American ending as non-canon]] usually feel the same about its sequel for following on from such.

* ''Film/KenPark'' features a subplot in which Shawn is revealed to be [[IBangedYourMom having an affair with his girlfriend's mother]]; given that Shawn is the only one of the four protagonists who isn't being abused or ''committing'' abuse in some way, a few viewers wondered if his plot was meant to be imaginary. In his review, [[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh Kyle Kalgren]] was briefly convinced that Shawn's sexual exploits were all just unrealistic teenage fantasies, only to become increasingly depressed as he realized that these scenes were meant to be taken at face value.
* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' is already partly set in a computer-generated dream world, but following the events of ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'', some fans began theorizing that the post-apocalyptic real world was ''also'' a simulation, given that Neo is somehow able to use his powers outside the Matrix. Despite being jossed by [[Film/TheMatrixRevolutions the sequel]] in which it was explained that this was actually due to Neo's connection to the Source, [[FanDislikedExplanation this didn't prove very popular with audiences]], and the theory is still making the rounds.

* The ending of ''Film/MiracleMile'' : [[spoiler: As depicted, the call Harry took was real, and nuclear war does occur. However, it really makes more sense that Harry is just having a nightmare. First, the crazy part starts while he’s oversleeping. After he takes the call, he goes into the diner and the Landa character seems to confirm the call is true because she used to date someone that worked at the RAND Corporation. Right. Later, Harry wheels Julie across Park La Brea in a shopping cart. Harry’s entire ordeal features typical nightmare tropes, particularly when you are really in a hurry to get somewhere, yet can’t even seem to leave. But beyond that, way too much happens within the hour they have. Wilson’s side story could not have occurred in the 15 or so minutes it does, which includes a SWAT team deployment. That Wilson even shows up again in Harry’s story is unlikely, and it makes very little sense that Harry and Julie take the time to go see what’s going on with Wilson’s cop car crashing into the building. Further, no matter how smart and connected Landa is, there’s no way all the stuff on the top of the skyscraper could have been collected in the time shown. ]]

** A more extreme version of this theory holds that Rose not only made up Jack Dawson, she was never even on the ''Titanic''! The entire 1912 sequence which makes up the majority of the film is told by an Old Rose to Brock Lovett and his crew in the FramingDevice, with even Rose's granddaughter initially doubting her claim to be the woman in the picture. Thus, some viewers conclude that Rose Calvert is just a senile 100-year old woman with an overactive imagination and Rose [=DeWitt=]-Bukater is a different person who actually died on the ship.

* ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' has Alex kill himself by jumping out of a window after his Ludovico Technique induced brainwashing causes him to suffer unbearable pain (due to listening to Otto Skadelig's music). The chapter after this has him in a hospital where his parents allow him to live with them again and the lodger is conveniently arrested due to an incident. Then the old men who wanted to use him for political gain end up succeeding in crushing the government's chance at re-election. Then the Minister of the Interior shows up revealed that the government had put them in prison. Alex also reverts back to [[TheSociopath his old ways]] which in the film is the ending but in the book is the second to last chapter. In the final chapter, Alex has a [[PropagandaHero government job]], leads a new gang but [[RetiredMonster gets bored of violence]] and is inspired to find a girlfriend and settle down after meeting an old friend and his wife. If all of that sounded overly implausible to you, then it's far easier to believe that Alex died in his suicide attempt and that the final two chapters are his DyingDream where he's free from his brainwashing, gets everything he wants and eventually gets a chance to led a happy life despite doing nothing to deserve a happy ending.

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'' ends with a flashback to the events of the pilot episode when Lana Winters first visited [[BedlamHouse Briarcliff]], where Sister Jude comments that "you like to dream big" and that the two of them won't meet again. Some viewers took this to mean that everything that happened from that point onward -- Lana's incarceration at Briarcliff, her encounter with [[SerialKiller Bloody Face]], the Nazi MadScientist, the possession of Sister Mary Eunice, the alien abductions and Lana's career as a world-famous journalist - was either her deranged imagination or a work of fiction she wrote about it years after the fact. However, subsequent seasons of ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' joss this theory via tie-in elements, such as Lana being a famous journalist and the villains of the season being confirmed as real.

* At the time of release, some fans floated the theory that the final episode of ''Series/BreakingBad'' [[spoiler:all took place in Walter White's head, possibly a DyingDream as he died of hypothermia in the stolen car at the beginning of the episode.]] While the episode contains no supernatural elements, some parts seem a bit cartoonish and contrived [[spoiler:(a remote-control-operated M60, Badger and Skinny Pete using laser pointers to pose as snipers)]], and the episode has a WishFulfillment feel about it, as Walter [[spoiler:arranges a scheme to financially provide for his family without them knowing he's involved, gets revenge on all those who had wronged him, and heroically rescues Jesse, which makes a jarring contrast with the tragic, bleak tone of the episode "Ozymandias".]] This theory has largely been discarded since the release of ''Film/ElCamino'', a sequel film which picks up exactly where the episode left off.
* Some viewers of ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' have theorized that the entire series takes place in Kimmy's imagination, hence all the breaks from reality and all the cartoonish concepts in the show.

* When ''[[Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy Johnny and the Bomb]]'' ended with Kirsty remembering the adventure, some posters on [[Website/{{Usenet}} alt.fan.pratchett]] were taken aback by this unambiguous statement that the weird things that happen to Johnny actually happen, having seen the books as Johnny retreating into fantasy due to his parents' Trying Times. Creator/TerryPratchett pointed out that there was ''always'' evidence Johnny's adventures had actually happened and added "I can't be having with that pernicious rubbish. 'Window' books, they are called: young Sid has big problems at home, so in his dreams he battles a dragon, and this gives him the strength to deal with the problems -- as if imagination and fantasy were some kind of medicines. ... There ''are'' natural explanations for a lot of the things that happen in the books, if you are desperate to find them (and people will sometimes go through some serious mental gymnastics to avoid changing their preconceived ideas about the universe)."

* ''Film/ReturnToOz'' actually begins with Dorothy being packed off to a mental hospital for primitive electroshock therapy, so it's no surprise that some viewers interpret her adventure across the ruined Land of Oz as being imaginary, as was the case with [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the original movie.]]

* ''Film/TheWitch'', despite featuring some pretty blatant magical elements, is largely focused on the collapse of an isolated Puritan family due to pride, tainted crops, religious dogma and family tensions, with the supernatural threat remaining [[NothingIsScarier largely unseen]] until the end -- and then only following a pretty vicious case of SanitySlippage. As such, one theory suggests that the Witch was just a hallucination brought about by eating the fungus-contaminated crops, especially since ergot poisoning is now a widely-accepted explanation for the paranoia that caused the Salem Witch Trials. The director himself has invoked the DeathOfTheAuthor on the matter, stating that while he personally believes the supernatural elements to be real, a rational explanation is equally valid.

* Since J.G. Quintel created and voiced the main character in both ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' (in which he voices Mordecai) and ''WesternAnimation/CloseEnough'' (in which he voices Josh), a common joke is that ''Regular Show'' was just a long drug trip Josh had in which he imagined himself as a blue jay. Funnily enough, Mordecai actually originated as how a man imagined himself while on acid in WebAnimation/TwoInTheAMPM, though his name was [[TheDanza Quintel.]]

* There's a fan theory which suggests that ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' really happened, but ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' is all in Beast Boy's mind. (It would have to explain [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoVsTeenTitans the crossover]], though.)

* ''Website/TheEditingRoom'' lampshades this trope during their Abridged Script for ''Film/{{Pan}}'', when Levi Miller and Lewis[=MacDougal=] suddenly discovered the Neverland entrance in the middle of an air raid.

* After the finale of ''Series/Killing Eve'', many fans theorized that a surprise ninth episode of Season 4 would air the following Sunday, and that [[spoiler: Villanelle would not really be dead]], given that the following Sunday was Easter, with the false episode even briefly appearing on IMDB before being removed.

* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/65/1/somewhere-only-we-know/chapter-1 Somewhere Only We Know]]'', the reality of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' exists only in the imagination of Dash, an elderly mare abused by her owners. Rarity is a fancy carriage horse forced to wear a painful bearing rein and Applejack is an overworked cart horse. The fates of Pinkie, Fluttershy and Twilight are unknown.

* VideoGame/FlawedCrystals for the most part is an AlternateContinuity where the Crystal Gems succeed in shattering the Diamonds but end up corrupted themselves. All the characters are in character, though changes are made due to it being a DarkFic. The final dungeon is built on the premise that the final story arc in WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse and it's canon ending is a delusional fantasy Steven made up after having a psychotic break due to being unable to cope with his mother shattering Pink Diamond and him deciding he wants everyone to get along even if it means that the Diamond's wrongs and their victim's grievances are sweeped under the carpet.

* ''Series/{{Legion}}'' actually kicks off with the main character in a mental hospital as a result of his psychic powers being misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, so it's no surprise that some viewers interpret the [[MindScrew admittedly rather bizarre]] events of the show as being a result of David's mental illness. [[spoiler:In the first season finale, the [[BigBad Devil with the Yellow Eyes]] traps David and the main characters inside a psychic recreation of the asylum, deliberately muddling things even further.]]

* One popular fan interpretation of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' (which became especially widespread after ''WebVideo/GameTheory'' made a video about it) is that Link ''dies'' during the opening sequence in the Lost Woods, meaning the remainder of the game, and all of Termina, is nothing but a DyingDream. Each of the game's lands, and the actions of the people there, thus represent a different [[FiveStagesOfGrief stage of grief]]: Clock Town is Denial (the citizens refuse to acknowledge that the Moon is going to fall and destroy them), Woodfall is Anger (the Deku Scrubs are furious at their poisoned swamp and take it out on the innocent monkeys), Snowhead is Bargaining (the Gorons try all manner of deals and schemes to stop the freezing winter that is killing them), Great Bay is Depression (Lulu, and the rest of the Zora, have fallen into an apathetic mourning since the ocean was cursed), and Ikana Canyon is Acceptance (the dead there are brought back to life by Majora's curse, but realize that they ''shouldn't'' be alive and make peace with their fates). Link helping each group move on is actually a form of self-reflective therapy, and by saving the world, he comes to terms with his own death and passes on. While this has been {{Jossed}} by WordOfGod, it remains a hotly-debated topic whenever the game is discussed.

* A common reading of Creator/FranzKafka's ''Literature/TheMetamorphosis'' is that Gregor Samsa didn't actually transform into a bug, but suffered some kind of psychological break and is convinced he did. This is one of the more convincing ones, since not only was Samsa under immense stress due to a serious work schedule and being forced to act as breadwinner for his parents, but [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight nobody in the story reacts as if anything supernatural is occurring]]; Gregor's parents never consider, say, selling him to the zoo or letting scientists have a look at him.

See OpeningACanOfClones for when this skeptical outlook becomes so prevvalent among sections of the fanbase that they stop taking ''anything'' which happens in the story seriously, and thereby lose interest in the work altogether.

* Since the narrator of ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' says that going insane would be a mercy now that the Martians are almost certainly going to win and exterminate or enslave humanity, and only after then do the Martians all die from a [[DeusExMachina completely unforeshadowed]] [[WeaksauceWeakness vulnerability to terrestrial bacteria]], a theory has arisen that he actually did go mad and the rest of the book is his hallucination of mankind victorious and safe. This theory is so famous that practically every literary critic who discusses the book brings it up as a possibility, [[TrueArtIsAngsty often claiming that it’s more plausible than what really happens]].

* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/65/1/somewhere-only-we-know/chapter-1 Somewhere Only We Know]]'', the reality of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' exists only in the imagination of Dash, an elderly mare abused by her owners. Rarity is a fancy carriage horse forced to wear a painful bearing rein and Applejack is an overworked work horse. The fates of Pinkie, Fluttershy and Twilight are unknown.