History Main / EndingAversion

Maybe the show was ScrewedByTheNetwork and was [[CutShort canceled]] before [[LeftHanging any of the questions it raised could be answered]]. Maybe [[KudzuPlot as time went on, the story collected so many elements]] that [[TheChrisCarterEffect there was no possible way]] that [[FanDislikedExplanation they could do each justice]]. Maybe it was the first part of a series [[OrphanedSeries left unfinished]] by the now-[[AuthorExistenceFailure deceased]] or [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder bored]] author. Maybe the SeriesGoal was [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised never achieved]]. Maybe the writers just plain [[SeasonalRot ran themselves out of creativity]] by the end of it, and so much FanonDiscontinuity is claimed, you could swear the fandom was composed solely of historical revisionists. Maybe the whole thing devolved into such [[GainaxEnding unspeakable surreality]] that tainted the rest of the experience. Maybe you know that [[DoomedByCanon in-universe material taking place later in continuity]] actually [[HappyEndingOverride makes any happy part of the ending]] a study in FridgeHorror. An exceptionally bad CruelTwistEnding, SuddenDownerEnding and/or EsotericHappyEnding can also be the cause.

!!!AuthorExistenceFailure (Creator didn't live to finish the work)

* While featuring an entirely different continuity, ''Manga/YuGiOhArcV'''s manga adaptation has a particularly infamous ending, considered worse than the anime's. In the anime (and for much of the manga), Yuya and Yuzu are love interests and one of the more popular pairings in the franchise. The manga's final chapter instead makes it so that Yuya is actually Yuzu's KidFromTheFuture, and that she married his father (Yusho, who is also Yuya's father in the anime.) The relationship was seen as very creepy, especially since there was also ShipTease between Yuya and Yuzu in the manga, and their familial relationship was never alluded to beforehand. The twist utterly destroyed the manga's overwise positive reputation, and it has completely overshadowed every other story element.

* ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'': While the final arc is at least not hundreds of chapters long, it is much longer than any other arc in the series, and gives extremely little in the way of any story resolution. The only major change that happens is the Black Market gets taken down, which was never the focus of the series, and had several good characters such as Louis argue that it's more of a necessary evil. Every relationship thread (even the main one!) is left at "Maybe it'll work, maybe not," the issue of food and how carnivores will satisfy their instincts is never resolved (especially since Yafya rejects a possible solution), no side characters get any kind of conclusion to any developments they had, and most importantly, despite the title of the manga being Beastars, and it becoming a plot point that Legosi actually does want to become a Beastar, absolutely nobody becomes a Beastar.

Maybe the show was ScrewedByTheNetwork and was [[CutShort canceled]] before [[LeftHanging any of the questions it raised could be answered]]. Maybe [[KudzuPlot as time went on, the story collected so many elements]] that [[TheChrisCarterEffect there was no possible way]] that [[FanDislikedExplanation they could do each justice]]. Maybe it was the first part of a series [[OrphanedSeries left unfinished]] by the now-[[AuthorExistenceFailure deceased]] or [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder bored]] author. Maybe the SeriesGoal was [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised never achieved]]. Maybe the writers just plain [[SeasonalRot ran themselves out of creativity]] by the end of it, and so much FanonDiscontinuity is claimed, you could swear the fandom was composed solely of historical revisionists. Maybe the whole thing devolved into such [[GainaxEnding unspeakable surreality]] that tainted the rest of the experience. Maybe you know that [[DoomedByCanon in-universe material taking place later in continuity]] actually [[HappyEndingOverride makes any happy part of the ending]] a study in FridgeHorror. An exceptionally bad CruelTwistEnding and/or EsotericHappyEnding can also be the cause.

* ''VideoGame/HavenCallOfTheKing'' is one of the most infamous examples in video game history, as the game ends with [[spoiler:Haven being betrayed by his best friend Chess, who was a mole for Lord Vetch all along, Athelion being killed and Haven being chained on a rock alongside Athelion's lifeless body for all eternity, leaving Vetch free to conquer te rest of the galaxy.]] This was the first game of a planned trilogy, but since the game sold poorly and had a mediocre reception, those plans were axed.

* The final episode of ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'', "[[Recap/ThePrisonerE17FallOut Fall Out]]", was so confusing to audiences that creator Patrick [=McGoohan=] had to ''go into hiding'' from fans who hounded his home looking for answers and clarification.

Maybe the show was ScrewedByTheNetwork and was [[CutShort canceled]] before [[LeftHanging any of the questions it raised could be answered]]. Maybe [[KudzuPlot as time went on, the story collected so many elements]] that [[TheChrisCarterEffect there was no possible way]] that [[FanDislikedExplanation they could do each justice]]. Maybe it was the first part of a series [[OrphanedSeries left unfinished]] by the now-[[AuthorExistenceFailure deceased]] or [[AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder bored]] author, leaving the long epic unfinished. Maybe the SeriesGoal was [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised never achieved]]. Maybe the writers just plain [[SeasonalRot ran themselves out of creativity]] by the end of it, and so much FanonDiscontinuity is claimed, you could swear the fandom was composed solely of historical revisionists. Maybe the whole thing devolved into such [[GainaxEnding unspeakable surreality]] that tainted the rest of the experience. Maybe you know that [[DoomedByCanon in-universe material taking place later in continuity]] actually [[HappyEndingOverride makes any happy part of the ending]] a study in FridgeHorror. An exceptionally bad CruelTwistEnding and/or EsotericHappyEnding can also be the cause.

* In a truly stunning bit of bad luck, ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' narrowly avoided this with its third season, which [[WrapItUp warps up the major plot threads and gives a satisfying conclusion to the story]], only to get {{Uncanceled}}. The creators proceeded to go into season four with the expectation they would have at least five... and instead the show was almost immediately ''[[ScrewedByTheNetwork canceled a second time]]''! As a result, the last episode ends on a massive {{Cliffhanger}} where the BigBad [[TheBadGuyWins takes control of the heroes' headquarters and all hope seems lost]]. There are quite a lot of fans who suggest to newcomers that [[FanonDiscontinuity they simply stop watching at the season three finale]] because of this.

* ''Webcomic/RPGWorld'' was dropped in the final arc, right as the hero was confronting the BigBad. Years later it got a FullyAbsorbedFinale of sorts in ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes''.

* ''Literature/EdgarAndEllen'': The creators seemed to lose all interest in finishing the book series and its more serious MythArc after the TV series was greenlit.

** While ''Anime/DanganRonpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' received mixed reception before the ending, the last two episodes have been accused of this to the point that many who were defending the anime changed tune after they aired. The penultimate episode saw a FanDislikedExplanation for the Final Killing Game that was widely criticized for raising a lot of FridgeLogic and rendering a good portion of the anime pointless, along with making the mastermind [[TheScrappy heavily disliked by the fandom.]] The GrandFinale saw [[spoiler: Class 77-B coming BackFromTheDead]] (which triggered a ''massive'' BrokenBase) and basically [[SpotlightStealingSquad hijacking the plot]] from the rest of the cast. Plot threads the show had built up were left abruptly dropped for rampant PanderingToTheBase, creating a good number of {{Broken Aesop}}s, an {{Anticlimax}} and capped it off with the [[BrokenBase widely divisive]] resurrection of [[spoiler:Kyoko Kirigiri]] in the final two minutes.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' had the one-two punch of SeasonalRot in the form of the [[BrokenBase Base-Breaking]] Act 6 and a borderline GainaxEnding where only the bare-bones conflicts were properly resolved with a number of side characters seemingly [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse vanishing.]] A number of things, including the fate of the BigBad, are left to speculation. That the heroes' victory was mainly brought on by [[spoiler:introducing a new form of time travel that "retcons" away the old timeline]] does not help. Also not helping is that the comic is regarded to invert this trope as well, with the SlowPacedBeginning being seen as the biggest entry barrier for new readers.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' has its last season. While Season 3 was more divisive on whether or not it was a serious step down in terms of storytelling and characterization, Season 4 was nigh-unanimously agreed to be the lowest point of the series. Though there were fans who still enjoyed what comedy there was to be had, complaints were made towards everything else: from the main story arc mostly being sidelined in favor of [[RomanticPlotTumor excessive romantic drama]], to characters being either underutilized, {{flanderized}}, or performing spontaneous {{Face Heel Turn}}s, to the introduction of subplots that were either rushed or straight-up forgotten, to an ArcVillain deemed less intimidating as previous antagonists. The series finale only made things worse by ending with an InferredHolocaust committed by Star that none of the characters seem to acknowledge or care much about, followed by a [[MergedReality forcible merging]] of two vastly different worlds, with the show treating this all as a [[EsotericHappyEnding happy ending]]. This tarnished the series reputation to the point practically the only thing mentioned about the series afterward was complains about the finale.

* ''ComicBook/{{Zot}}'', for quite a while. (The final set of print issues, representing Zot's adventures on our Earth, and often described as some of the best work of the series, had not been collected in trade form until later.)

* While it was received well by critics, the ending of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' was received with mixed reception by fans. Some fans praised the ending for being a satisfying conclusion for the series and [[spoiler:officialy confirming Princess Bubblegum and Marceline's relationship as canon]], but others hated it and considers it an incomplete ending for [[spoiler:not having a battle between PB's army and the Candy Kingdom Haters (which were teased at the end of the previous episode before the finale), GOLB not having any character and just being a GenericDoomsdayVillain who does nothing, the absence of the Lich, Finn being reduced to a secondary character and a DistressedDude alongside Simon and Betty during the final battle, the DownerEnding between Simon and Betty's relationship, many plot points being left unsolved, the lack of closure of Finn's relationship with Huntress Wizard (doesn't help that most of the characters have some sort of romantic moment during the episode) and the lack of any scenes with Finn in the ending montage other than the last scene, with other characters such as PB and Marcy getting more focus]]. With the announcement of the [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeDistantLands Distant Lands]] sequel miniseries, fans are hoping that most of these issues get addressed.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has a particularly disappointing final season, even compared to the previous mixed three seasons. Low points include the anticlimactic battle with the Night King and his forces in Episode 3, a confrontation that had been built up since the start of the story, Rheagal suddenly [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed off]] to artificially inflate Cersei's threat, Jaime declaring he never cared about the innocents and going off to Cersei, Daenerys JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and [[MoralEventHorizon torching King's Landing]], thereby doing what the Mad King would have done if Jaime hadn't killed him, and Bran being king because he had the 'best story'. Said developments sapped many people's interest in the show, and some only continued to see how badly it might turn out.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'''s third and final season suffered from a lot of problems that led to a significant decline in popularity at the time. [[note]]though, as it should be noted, most of these problems stemmed from ExecutiveMeddling.[[/note]] Criticism was aimed at how many of the show's subplots from the previous seasons were rushed or downright ignored, a majority of the characters undergoing some slight CharacterDerailment, and Danny and Sam's romance being present in nearly every episode [[RomanticPlotTumor even when there was no particular reason for it]]. The show's finale, "Phantom Planet," did nothing to alleviate these issues, especially with how it handled the main plot between Danny, Sam, Vlad, and Valerie.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' has its last season. While Season 3 was more divisive on whether or not it was a serious step down in terms of storytelling and characterization, Season 4 was nigh-unanimously agreed to be the lowest point of the series. Though there were fans who still enjoyed what comedy there was to be had, complaints were made towards everything else: from the main story arc mostly being sidelined in favor of [[RomanticPlotTumor excessive romantic drama]], to characters being either underutilized, {{flanderized}}, or performing spontaneous {{Face Heel Turn}}s, to the introduction of subplots that were either rushed or straight-up forgotten, to an ArcVillain deemed less intimidating as previous antagonists. The series finale only made things worse by ending with an InferredHolocaust committed by Star that none of the characters seem to acknowledge or care much about, followed by a [[MergedReality forcible merging]] of two vastly different worlds, with the show treating this all as a [[EsotericHappyEnding happy ending]]. This tarnished the series reputation to the point practically the only thing mentioned about the series afterward was complains about the finale

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' has its last season. While Season 3 was more divisive on whether or not it was a serious step down in terms of storytelling and characterization, Season 4 was nigh-unanimously agreed to be the lowest point of the series. Though there were fans who still enjoyed what comedy there was to be had, complaints were made towards everything else: from the main story arc mostly being sidelined in favor of [[RomanticPlotTumor excessive romantic drama]], to characters being either underutilized, {{flanderized}}, or performing spontaneous {{Face Heel Turn}}s, to the introduction of subplots that were either rushed or straight-up forgotten, to an ArcVillain deemed less intimidating as previous antagonists. The series finale only made things worse by ending with an InferredHolocaust committed by Star that none of the characters seem to acknowledge or care much about, followed by a [[MergedReality forcible merging]] of two vastly different worlds, with the show treating this all as a [[EsotericHappyEnding happy ending]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' got a bit of a negative reputation after word of the ending, which involves [[SadisticChoice either the Lone Wanderer or Sarah Lyons]] [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing themselves]] to start up Project Purity, got out. The backlash was more or less mitigated by later DLC, though due to not altering dialog the game still mocks the player as a coward for sending in a radiation-immune character to complete the task.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' was given a rushed ending when Creator/KenAkamatsu fought with the editors regarding property rights over the series and decided to [[TorchTheFranchiseAndRun End The Franchise Early And Run]] rather than surrender them.

* ''Manga/{{X1999}}'' (the manga) went into a hiatus since 2003 with the last scene showing Kamui, lying on the ground with Fuuma, preparing to stab him with his sword. A decade has passed and CLAMP became too focused on other projects, not even bothering to touch the series which made fans of the manga feel that the story will never continue at this point.

* ''WebComic/KeychainOfCreation'' unfortunately came to an end after the artist ran into severe health issues, compounded by [[OldShame regretting some creative choices]] making them uncomfortable with containing the comic as-is, effectively leaving the story off at the start of a new leg of the adventure.

** While ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' received mixed reception before the ending, the last two episodes have been accused of this to the point that many who were defending the anime changed tune after they aired. The penultimate episode saw a FanDislikedExplanation for the Final Killing Game that was widely criticized for raising a lot of FridgeLogic and rendering a good portion of the anime pointless, along with making the mastermind [[TheScrappy heavily disliked by the fandom.]] The GrandFinale saw [[spoiler: Class 77-B coming BackFromTheDead]] (which triggered a ''massive'' BrokenBase) and basically [[SpotlightStealingSquad hijacking the plot]] from the rest of the cast. Plot threads the show had built up were left abruptly dropped for rampant PanderingToTheBase, creating a good number of {{Broken Aesop}}s, an {{Anticlimax}} and capped it off with the [[BrokenBase widely divisive]] resurrection of [[spoiler:Kyoko Kirigiri]] in the final two minutes.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has a particularly disappointing final season, even compared to the previous three seasons. Low points include the anticlimactic battle with the Night King and his forces in Episode 3, a confrontation that had been built up since the start of the story, Rheagal suddenly [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed off]] to artificially inflate Cersei's threat, Jaime declaring he never cared about the innocents and going off to Cersei, Daenerys JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and [[MoralEventHorizon torching King's Landing]], thereby doing what the Mad King would have done if Jaime hadn't killed him, and Bran being king because he had the 'best story'. Said developments sapped many people's interest in the show, and some only continued to see how badly it might turn out. The ending was so infamously awful that the TV version of ''Game of Thrones'' has basically actively deleted itself from the pop culture hivemind - People don't talk about how bad the ending was, it was so bad people don't talk about the show ''at all'' anymore.

* ''Anime/TheBigO'' ran into a strange version of this. The first season ended on a {{Cliffhanger}} but due to the show's lack of popularity in Japan the staff didn't expect to continue it. However, the show [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff became massively popular in America]], to the point where Creator/CartoonNetwork co-produced a second season. Unfortunately the inverse situation happened, with the second season raising far more questions than it answered with the full expectation that it would get a third season...which didn't happen.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'''s ending has a sufficient reputation for being bizarre and incomprehensible to bring about this trope. There's some stuff about memes, genetic memory, passing the torch, and America's destiny in a narration by Solid Snake. There's also a little kind-of-but-not-really closure with Raiden and Rose, with a last-second MindScrew to set up the next part of the series. The general concensus is that the ending is definitely meant to say something... it's just hard to tell what exactly it said.

* ''Series/TwinPeaks'', which also suffered from seasonal rot in the second series, both of which resulted from ExecutiveMeddling. The writers had no intention of solving the main mystery of the show (Laura's murder), but were forced to come up with a solution by the network anyway. ''Then'' the network proceeded to order another season, even though the writers didn't have any plans beyond that. This caused massive amounts of MindScrew, KudzuPlot, and TheChrisCarterEffect.

* The 1980s hit the Classic series of ''Series/DoctorWho'' very hard. There are lots of wonderful times to be had in the decade, of course, including a couple of mini-golden-ages, but it eventually just peters out in a little speech from the Doctor in a field after the malicious ExecutiveMeddling and [[NoBudget increasingly miniscule budget]] finally choked the show to death. If you're not the kind of person who gets off on watching a hugely popular show get slowly derailed and destroyed over a decade, binge-watching the entirety of '80s ''Who'' is not going to feel good. (Of course, if you're not that kind of person, this may not be the kind of wiki for you either.)

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has a particularly disappointing final season, even compared to the previous three seasons. Low points include the anticlimactic battle with the Night King and his forces in Episode 3, a confrontation that had been built up since the start of the story, Rheagal suddenly [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed off]] to artificially inflate Cersei's threat, Jaime declaring he never cared about the innocents and going off to Cersei, Daenerys JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and [[MoralEventHorizon torching King's Landing]], thereby doing what the Mad King would have done if Jaime hadn't killed him, and Bran being king because he had the 'best story'. Said developments sapped many people's interest in the show, and some only continued to see how badly it might turn out. The ending was so infamously awful that the TV version of Game of Thrones has basically actively deleted itself from the pop culture hivemind - People don't talk about how bad the ending was, it was so bad people don't talk about the show ''at all'' anymore.

* The ''Franchise/StarWars''' sequel trilogy was already contentious... and then ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' begins by revealing that the entire reason the last two movies happened was because the original BigBad, Emperor Palpatine, never died (negating Anakin Skywalker's sacrifice at the end of the original trilogy) and had been manipulating the First Order from behind the scenes, possibly for years. While Palpatine dies again in the end, this time for real, the Skywalker bloodline is also extinct--although new protagonist Rey (who was earlier revealed to be blood-related to Palpatine) takes the Skywalker family name to continue their legacy. Altogether, the movie finishes on a very rushed and ambiguous AndTheAdventureContinues note, and many fans feel that the sequel trilogy ruins the original trilogy's definitive, hard-fought BittersweetEnding in favor of a vaguer and less satisfying resolution that fails to deliver any sort of decisive conclusion to the saga. Lucasfilm and Disney then decided to focus on the ''High Republic'' prequel brand and the Post-Imperial era before ''The Force Awakens'', with no plans to show or explain what happens after ''The Rise of Skywalker'', which didn't exactly help.

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': After a divisive third season, the final one, which opens with [[spoiler:the death of Mary Watson]] is generally agreed to be a major dip in quality (with a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes from both Audience and Critics). In particular, the finale revolves around the convoluted backstory of [[spoiler: Sherlock and Mycroft's even more clever sister and her last minute redemption]].

* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': A particularly frustrating example because although the series repeatedly [[SnicketWarningLabel goes out of its way warn you there won't be a happy resolution]], what it doesn't tell you until the last book is just how little will be resolved at ''all''.

* ''Series/JoanOfArcadia'' suffered a lot of ExecutiveMeddling in the second season, mainly using techniques to try and make it more marketable fot teens, such as Joan getting missions from God to learn about herself rather than making the world a better place, and [[spoiler:Adam cheating on Joan, for the sake of melodrama]]. Fans were not happy about this, and although the season finale did imply that there was a bigger threat coming for Joan to deal with, the show did not manage to get a third season.

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'': The game ended on a massive {{Cliffhanger}} that would have been a great SequelHook... except that (depending on who you ask) [[ScrewedByTheNetwork either Sanzaru Games had no plans to make a sequel and wrap up the game's plot, or Sanzaru did want to make a DLC or sequel, but got shot down by Sony]]. The game itself is a ContestedSequel to the first three games, and with that plus the cliffhanger being a major DownerEnding when taken on its own, [[FanonDiscontinuity fans just don't want the series to end that way]].

* ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' suffers from this due to ''[[TheMovie Prince Of Darkness]]'' [[WhatCouldHaveBeen (Which was supposed to be the first in a trilogy)]] bombing from the number of problems with it including breaking from the spirit of the series. Having a Japanese Saturn only game that explains what happens between the end of the series and the movie only made things worse.

* In a truly stunning bit of bad luck, ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' narrowly avoided this with its third season, which [[WrapItUp warps up the major plot threads and gives a satisfying conclusion to the story]], only to get {{Uncanceled}}. The creators proceeded to go into season four with the expectation they would have at least five... and instead the show was almost immediately ''[[ScrewedByTheNetwork canceled a second time]]''! As a result, the last episode ends on a massive {{Cliffhanger}} where the BigBad [[TheBadGuyWins takes control of the heroes's headquarters and all hope seems lost]]. There are quite a lot of fans who suggest to newcomers that [[FanonDiscontinuity they simply stop watching at the season three finale]] because of this.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Retail}}'' left some people unsatisfied with the ending, with only vague ideas of what all the leads will do once the store closes, and the final strip showing [[spoiler:the Grumbel's sign being taken down so a Dollar Admiral could move into its space.]] This resulted in some fans making up their own endings for characters. (There were some that did enjoy the non ending though, as that's pretty much what would happen in real life when a store goes out of business: it just closes, is replaced by something else if it's lucky, and one may never know what happens to its former employees.)

* Webcomic/{{Hiimdaisy}} left off her Persona 4 comic right after Rise's dungeon, and has stated an active disinterest in finishing it.

* ''ComicBook/TheBalladOfHaloJones'' was planned as a nine issue comic, but got cancelled after just three, due to a dispute between Creator/AlanMoore and his publisher. So, we never got to see Halo's full journey.
* Creator/JossWhedon planned ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' as a five season show. It was cancelled after just two.

* ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'''s final episode is disliked by a majority of the fanbase with some complains being about the fates of certain characters such as the deaths of [[spoiler: Allura and Lotor]], the former being a major [[TheWoobie woobie]] and the latter being a very deep and compelling villain who many thought would have more to do, [[spoiler: Honerva]] being a KarmaHoudini who gets away [[spoiler: with almost destroying the multiverse]] and for Lance's and Shiro's epilogue with the former [[spoiler: becoming an Altean for some reason]] and Shiro [[spoiler: marrying his helmsman who he barely interacted with]] as a hamfisted attempt at a AuthorsSavingThrow regarding the way they handled the character of [[BuryYourGays Adam]].

** The post-finale comics somewhat reduces some of these issues. While ''[[ComicBook/AdventureTimeSeason11 Season 11]]'' ends with [[spoiler:a somewhat decent closure to Finn and the implication that he and Huntress Wizard are still dating]], the ending of ''[[ComicBook/AdventureTimeMarcyAndSimon Marcy and Simon]]'' got a very mixed reception. While some are happy that [[spoiler:Simon and Betty are finally together]], others feel like it negates part of the finale since [[spoiler:her sacrifice to save everyone from GOLB was rendered pointless.]]

** While ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' received mixed reception before the ending, the last two episodes have been accused of this to the point that many who were defending the anime changed tune after they aired. The penultimate episode saw a FanDislikedExplanation for the Final Killing Game that was widely criticized for raising lot of FridgeLogic and rendering a good portion of the anime pointless, along with making the mastermind [[TheScrappy heavily disliked by the fandom.]] The GrandFinale saw [[spoiler: Class 77-B coming BackFromTheDead]] (which triggered a ''massive'' BrokenBase) and basically [[SpotlightStealingSquad hijacking the plot]] from the rest of the cast. Plot threads the show had built up were left abruptly dropped for rampant PanderingToTheBase, creating a good number of {{Broken Aesop}}s, an {{Anticlimax}} and capped it off with the [[BrokenBase widely divisive]] resurrection of [[spoiler:Kyoko Kirigiri]] in the final two minutes.

* ''VideoGame/DyingLight'': Both of the endings in The Following result in [[spoiler:either Crane being turned into a volatile and spreading the infection outside of quarantine, or willingly activating a nuclear warhead to contain the infection by destroy all of Harran and its inhabitants]]. Suffice to say, the endings hurt many potential players' desire to play the DLC, or even the original game, for that matter.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has gotten some serious flak with the revelation that the BigBad, Xehanort, turns out to be a WellIntentionedExtremist after all, and many saw him as too EasilyForgiven by the heroes despite being the man who unleashed darkness across many worlds, the man responsible for ruining countless lives as well as the man who flat-out murdered Kairi in the same game just to [[StuffedIntoTheFridge provide motivation]], leaving his defeat to be utterly unsatisfying. There is also the issue that everyone in the cast got their happy ending... except Sora and Kairi as the former has just sacrificed himself to save the latter using a vaguely explained ability, leaving them separated once again in a ploy that many fans found it to be a cheap SequelHook that could possibly take decades to release. Fortunately, an expansion named ''Re-Mind'' set after the events of the story (but before the final scene and TheStinger) with the surviving characters (alongside [[TheBusCameBack returning Final Fantasy characters who were absent in the main game]]) tying loose ends while giving them a chance to shine one last time. While not perfect, it gave a better finale to the characters than the vanilla game, who many felt rushed and unsatisfactory. Of course, you still have to pay 30 US dollars for something that ([[BrokenBase depending on who you ask]]) should have already been in the base game.

* ''Anime/MacrossDelta'': The finale has the… unenviable position of having to tie up so many loose ends at once, making it clear the production crew was on a deadline. ''Delta'', especially in its second half, suffered from weak pacing, underdeveloped characters and excessive subplots and the finale has to ignore for the sake of the main plot. ExecutiveMeddling is to blame for this one, as it forced Creator/ShojiKawamori to change the plans he had for the show.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' had this thanks to a desire by franchise co-creator; Ed Boon, to create a completely new cast of characters for the next game. For this to happen, [[KillEmAll they killed off nearly the entire cast]] at the [[PyrrhicVictory end of Story Mode]] in a very sloppy fight scene where the Earthrealm warriors are killed off one by one by Sindel and turned [[ReforgedIntoAMinion into evil undead revenants]]. The purpose of this scene was clearly to allow for a roster full of new characters in the next game. However, the ensuing fan backlash over the deaths of iconic characters like [[CoolHat Kung Lao]], [[AnIcePerson Sub-Zero II]], Jax, [[MsFanservice Kitana]] and [[AmbiguouslyBrown Jade]] and promising reimagined characters like Smoke forced them to include non-canonical older versions in the roster of ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' (with the exception of Sub-Zero and Jax, who are fully revived). This was most notable with ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' as its story brings the younger versions of Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Kitana and Jade (alongside a pre-CharacterDevelopment Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and a younger and optimistic Jax) into the present to fight their evil undead versions.

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': Creator Creator/GenndyTartakovsky, originally intended to for a movie to end the series. The film kept getting hit with DevelopmentHell until it was ultimately decided to make it a fifth season instead several years later on Creator/AdultSwim. Season 5 was well-received but became divisive because of its CruelTwistEnding where [[spoiler: Ashi [[RetGone disappears due to Aku (her father) being destroyed before she was conceived]], denying Jack a true Happy Ending]]. While it makes sense as a solution to what would otherwise be a paradox, it only brings up the other paradox of [[spoiler:if Future Jack came back to the past and killed Aku shortly AFTER Past Jack had been flung into the future, how would Future Jack have come back to the past at all? Ashi wouldn't have existed in the future, because Aku was killed, but she was the one who brought Jack back to the past. You end up in a logic loop of "If Ashi exists, Jack erases Ashi's existence, but if Ashi doesn't exist, Jack can't erase Ashi's existence, allowing Ashi to exist.]]

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has a particularly disappointing final season, even compared to the previous three seasons. Low points include the anticlimactic battle with the Night King and his forces in Episode 3, a confrontation that had been built up since the start of the story, and Daenerys JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and [[MoralEventHorizon torching King's Landing]], thereby doing what the Mad King would have done if Jaime hadn't killed him. Said developments sapped many people's interest in the show, and some only continued to see how badly it might turn out. The ending was so infamously awful that the TV version of Game of Thrones has basically actively deleted itself from the pop culture hivemind - People don't talk about how bad the ending was, it was so bad people don't talk about the show ''at all'' anymore.

* The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis version of ''Battle Golfer Yui'' is largely disliked due to these endings: the DownerEnding where the titular protagonist ends up {{Brainwashed}} and [[FaceHeelTurn joins the]] BigBad's side if you fail to defeat him. The other one is a TrueEnding where Yui successfully defeats the BigBad and the latter makes a HeelFaceTurn. [[spoiler:Then, without foreshadowing, an explosion occurs as a result of both Yui and the BigBad holding hands, [[KillThemAll killing 2 million people, including them]]]]. The worst part? [[spoiler:These are the only endings, so no happy endings are available.]]

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': Season 8 ended JD's story (our protagonist and narrator for the entire series) on a high note and was [[SeriesFauxnale intended to be a series finale.]] Season 9, however, revamped much of the cast (Turk and Cox were still regulars, others were relegated to guest stars), changed the setting, and had a different focus (med school). Series Creator Bill Lawrence initially wanted to rename the show [[SpinOff to make it clear that this was a new beginning,]] but this was [[ExecutiveMeddling nixed by the network.]]

* While an unsatisfying winner can taint a season of ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' (examples being ''The Australian Outback'', ''Samoa'', ''Kaoh Romg'' and ''Game Changers''), none hit as hard as the finale of Season 35, ''Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers'', which throws a last-minute twist at ''the very last Tribal Council'' to save a contestant who was already a major EliminationHoudini and went on to win the game instead of several {{EnsembleDarkhorse}}s, turning a previously acclaimed season into SeasonalRot. An even more controversial example is Season 38, ''Edge of Extinction '', in which a castaway who was eliminated third rejoined the game at the final five with an idol (meaning he only had to survive two regular Tribal Councils and was protected for one of them), and also won the game, angering fans of ''even more'' {{EnsembleDarkhorse}}s who believed he shouldn't have won and that the game was rigged for the Edge of Extinction returnee.

* The ''Franchise/StarWars''' sequel trilogy was already contentious... and then ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' begins by revealing that the entire reason the last two movies happened was because the original BigBad, Emperor Palpatine, never died (negating Anakin Skywalker's sacrifice at the end of the original trilogy) and had been manipulating the First Order from behind the scenes, possibly for years. While Palpatine dies again in the end, this time for real, the Skywalker bloodline is also extinct--although new protagonist Rey (who was earlier revealed to be blood-related to Palpatine) takes the Skywalker family name to continue their legacy. Altogether, the movie finishes on a very rushed and ambiguous AndTheAdventureContinues note, and many fans feel that the sequel trilogy ruins the original trilogy's definitive, hard-fought BittersweetEnding in favor of a vaguer and less satisfying resolution that lacks any sort of decisive resolution to the saga. Lucasfilm and Disney then decided to focus on the ''High Republic'' prequel brand and the Post-Imperial era before ''The Force Awakens'', with no plans to show or explain what happens after ''The Rise of Skywalker'', which didn't exactly help.