History Main / ShockAndSwitchEnding

[[folder:Films - Animated]]

[[folder:Films - Live-Action]]

[[folder:Films- Live-Action]]

* ''[[Fanfic/MarioAndSonicHeroesUnite Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!]]'': Chapter 43 seems to [[DownerEnding end on a downer]]: [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] and {{VideoGame/Sonic|TheHedgehog}} are trapped in a force field, Eggman pushes the BigRedButton on his [[DoomsdayDevice Doomsday Machine]], doing his trademark EvilLaugh, the missiles are aiming straight for Mario and Sonic... this looks like the end for our heroes... [[spoiler:[[VillainousRescue when all of a sudden Metal Sonic shows up, completely unharmed from the missile blast that hit him.]] He then releases Mario and Sonic from the force field surrounding them--simply because Mario is necessary for his plan, nothing more.]]
* ''Fanfic/{{Moonshadow}}'': Chapter 26’s ending is quite the [[MoodWhiplash roller-coaster]]. Adrian successfully steals The Collectors tablet, taking off on a griffin over the boiling sea with Eda giving chase. After some back and forth Adrian eventually throws it, casting illusions of the disc so Eda can’t retrieve the real one. [[HopeSpot The narrative builds up that the last one she attempts to catch must be the real one]] [[TheBadGuyWins only for it not to be and for the real disc to sink into the boiling sea, rendering it unobtainable.]] [[HeroicBSOD Eda becomes extremely distraught]] believing she once again failed them and lost someone she loved. Upon returning to the Owl House, she notices Luz, King, [[FailedASpotCheck and Raine holding colorful blankets looking quite happy.]] After a [[DelayedReaction delayed reaction]] to the blankets being The Collector’s physical form the chapter ends happily with Eda comforting a sleeping Collector while asking [[HowWeGotHere how [did they do it?]]].

* ''Killer Ending'' initially seems as though it has concluded with killer and psychopath Caroline having manipulated the investigation into her abduction of Sarah Sayers, daughter of crime writer Agatha Sayers, to make the world believe that Agatha did it all for publicity for her latest book and then killed herself after leaving everything to Caroline in her will. However, it's soon established that Caroline is actually living in a mental asylum, having suffered a complete psychological breakdown so that she just ''thinks'' she's meeting with an agent for her book when she's actually having sessions with the chief psychiatrist.

* The TV movie ''Killer Ending'' seemingly ends at first with the killer, Caroline Villos, who has been manipulating writer Agatha Sayers, attending a meeting with a publisher for her book, with the implication that Caroline killed Agatha after forging a will to take credit for Agatha's work. In reality, the "agent" she is meeting with is actually a therapist; Caroline suffered a mental breakdown when her plan failed and she was arrested, and now she ''thinks'' she's a success when in reality she's just a patient in an asylum.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MarthaSpeaks'', Carolina turns into a dog. The episode seems to end with [[UnreliableNarrator Martha narrating]] that Carolina stayed a dog for the rest of her life, but then Helen tells her off. Turns out that the real ending was that it was AllJustADream.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', the third act {{zigzags}} this. Mei makes it to the 4*Town concert, but is rejected by her friends, but then they accept her again, but then the concert is interrupted by her mother, but the band is able to continue to sing which as a bonus helps save the day.

->'''Four''': Oh no! Looks like ''Zero's'' got the lurgi!\\
'''Five''': Nope; it's just Zero being his usual self!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Numberjacks}}'', "The Dreaded Lurgi"

Going on for the above hypothetical examples, maybe the "vampire" then reveals himself to be another conman, or the "sick" character actually just [[PlotAllergy has allergies]]. This is basically when a work seems to be headed for a HappyEnding... only to apparently take an unpleasant turn... and then, it turns out to ''actually'' be a happy ending. You could see it as a DoubleSubversion of Happy Ending.

Many works, and installments of works, have shocking or unpleasant twist endings. For instance, the MysteryEpisode may reveal that [[ScoobyDooHoax the vampire was actually a con man]], only for an [[RealAfterAll actual vampire]] to show up, or the SickEpisode may end with the character recovering, only for another character to get sick. However, sometimes it ''then'' reveals that everything ''is'' hunky-dory after all, and that's what the Shock-and-Switch Ending is.

->'''Four''': Oh no! Looks like ''Zero's'' got the lurgi!
->'''Five''': Nope; it's just Zero being his usual self!

* At the end of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'' you finally return home to discover that your hometown has been completely destroyed due to the Golden Sun event... but the BigGood evacuated all of the villagers beforehand, and everyone reunites happily.

* ''The Literature/{{Twilight}} Saga: Breaking Dawn'' concludes with an epic battle where quite a few characters die, which might be an absolute shocker to someone who's read the books where no such battle occurs. Once the scene completes, however, we see [[spoiler:it was a vision Alice saw of the future which convinces the BigBad to not actually go through with the battle as his side would have lost]].

* Both ''Film/WaynesWorld'' movies have miserably unhappy endings -- before Wayne and Garth address the audience to say that they're not ''really'' going to end them ''that'' way. From there, they try out a silly alternative ending (a ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' one in the first film, a recreation of the ending of ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise'' in the second) before presenting the actual and accurately named "mega-happy ending".

* For people who read the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' book series, the scene near the end of ''[[Film/{{Twilight}} Breaking Dawn]]'' where quite a few characters die is an absolute shocker. Once the scene completes, we see [[spoiler:it was a vision Alice saw of the future]], invoking this trope.

* ''[[FanFic/MarioAndSonicHeroesUnite Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!]]'': Chapter 43 seems to [[DownerEnding end on a downer]]: [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] and {{VideoGame/Sonic|TheHedgehog}} are trapped in a force field, Eggman pushes the BigRedButton on his [[DoomsdayDevice Doomsday Machine]], doing his trademark EvilLaugh, the missiles are aiming straight for Mario and Sonic... this looks like the end for our heroes... [[spoiler:[[VillainousRescue when all of a sudden Metal Sonic shows up, completely unharmed from the missile blast that hit him.]] He then releases Mario and Sonic from the force field surrounding them--simply because Mario is necessary for his plan, nothing more.]]
* The ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'': At the climax of the [[BadFuture Dark World]], [[spoiler:the Elements of Harmony are used against [[TrueFinalBoss Nightmare Eclipse/Paradox]] and her team of Nightmare PsychoRangers, only for them to counter with their corrupted Elements, which unleash a WorldWreckingWave that ''obliterates Dark World and kills everyone except Twilight'' who crosses the DespairEventHorizon and agrees to [[TheBadGuyWins become Paradox]]]]. Fortunately, WordOfGod has confirmed that this isn't the real ending; the fact that that entire last portion is written in italics and suddenly features a character who's dead by that point, it's implied that this is actually [[spoiler:a scene from a [[GroundhogDayLoop previous iteration]] of Dark World]].

* In ''Film/TrainToBusan'', the last two survivors are spotted by a military barricade that, due to the darkness and unsteady gait of the survivors, are preparing to shoot them. A few minutes of the soldiers preparing to open fire is stopped when one of the survivors tearfully sings a song she dedicated to her late father, preventing an EverybodyDiesEnding.
* ''Killer Ending'' initially seems as though it has concluded with killer and psychopath Caroline having manipulated the investigation into her abduction of Sarah Sayers, daughter of crime writer Agatha Sayers, to make the world believe that Agatha did it all for publicity for her latest book and then killed herself after leaving everything to Caroline in her will. However, it's soon established that Caroline is actually living in a mental asylum, having suffered a complete psychological breakdown so that she just ''thinks'' she's meeting with an agent for her book when she's actually having sessions with the chief psychiatrist.
* ''Film/HaroldAndMaude:'' Following Maude's death, Harold goes tearing off in his car, and the viewer sees it go flying over a cliff and crash in wreckage below. Then the camera pans and shows Harold watching with his banjo. He strolls off, playing as he goes.

* For people who read the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' book series, the scene near the end of ''[[Film/{{Twilight}} Breaking Dawn]]'' where quite a few characters die is an absolute shocker. Once the scene completes, we see [[spoiler:it was a vision Alice saw of the future]], invoking this trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'':

** In "Dying for Pie", Spongebob apparently eats an exploding pie and is MistakenForDying, but at the end it's revealed that he didn't. However, he then drops it and the pie explodes anyway... but then Squidward says, "Ouch!", implying that [[NonFatalExplosions they're not dead]].

* In ''Film/TrainToBusan'', the last two survivors are spotted by a military barricade that, due to the darkness and unsteady gait of the survivors, are preparing to shoot them. A few minutes of the soldiers preparing to open fire is stopped when one of the survivors tearfully sings a song she dedicated to her late father, preventing a KillEmAll ending.

* How ''ComicBook/TheMask'' ends. [[TheJuggernaut Walter's]] beating the tar out of the hero! Wait, he just got attacked by [[ChekhovsArmy a circus lion the hero released earlier. All is well, so the hero takes off the mask, realizing that it's an uncontrollable ArtifactOfDoom that only brings trouble. But wait, Walter ''killed the lion'' and takes the mask from the now-defenseless hero! Things look bad as he puts it on... but it falls off. ''His head is too big for the mask to fit.'' He throws it away in frustration and everyone goes home. It works as the most utterly mundane conclusion to an otherwise over-the-top zany story.
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* ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'': Subverted. The show has a segment where the victim is a man whose home gets broken in and the thief throws him off the balcony. Then we see the usual recap and the screen that numbers and names the death: "Homie Invasion"... then a record scratch happens and the narrator quips "Wait, it cannot end like this!". Turns out the man suffered from Lazarus Syndrome and raised up after a moment. He wandered back into his house and, when the thief sees him alive again, he gets so scared he [[LaserGuidedKarma ends up falling over the same railing]]. The screen is shown again, though now the death is renamed "Homie's Dead".