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** WordOfGod claims that Jane Doe busted him out afterward and married him. Still a shocking swerve, though.
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** WordOfGod claims that Jane Doe busted him out afterward and married him. Still a shocking swerve, ShockingSwerve, though.
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* {{Deathspank}} is a comedic hack and slash rpg that prides itself in its wacky, lighthearted MonkeyIsland-esque humor. [[spoiler:Then, at the end of the sequel, Deathspank's closest ally and possible love interest [[FaceHeelTurn goes batshit insane]] due to the Thongs of Power's corrupting power, and he must either let himself be killed to fuel her delusions of godhood or cut her down himself, which greatly troubles him as he mourns and buries her. Unlike literally the entire rest of the series, this is all treated as somber and tragic as possible.]]
** And the canonical choice? [[spoiler:He kills her.]]
** And the canonical choice? [[spoiler:He kills her.]]
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* {{Deathspank}} Videogame/{{DeathSpank}} is a comedic hack and slash rpg that prides itself in its wacky, lighthearted MonkeyIsland-esque humor. [[spoiler:Then, at the end of the sequel, Deathspank's [=DeathSpank=]'s closest ally and possible love interest [[FaceHeelTurn goes batshit insane]] due to the Thongs of Power's corrupting power, and he must either let himself be killed to fuel her delusions of godhood or cut her down himself, which greatly troubles him as he mourns and buries her. Unlike literally the entire rest of the series, this is all treated as somber and tragic as possible.]]
**]] And the canonical choice? [[spoiler:He kills her.]]
**
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** Solid Snake is the character of the world who is, to quote Scorpius of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', "condemned to live"...just like his father was, for a few decades.
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Not the trope; the entire game has been downer (The very first level has the explicit statement: You can\'t save everyone). Also, the intent of the ending is Bittersweet, not Downer, as the idea is \"Life will go on and repair.\"
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* After the previous two games and ninety-five percent of the game itself, ''MassEffect3'' abruptly and irrevocably ends in a galaxy-wide dark age as the mass relays are destroyed, stranding everyone in whatever star system they happened to be in, whether the system has any worlds that can support their form of life or not. Developers subsequently confirmed that the entire setting as the players know it is destroyed, and countless billions will die, stranded far away from habitable worlds, heavily populated worlds are no longer capable of supporting their population, and colonies and space stations that are not self-sufficient run out of supplies.
** And that's not even getting into the multiple [[InferredHolocaust Inferred Holocausts]] the ending suggests. For one, since the Citadel explodes in two of the three endings, at speeds that must be in excess of a dozen kilometers '''per second''', and since said station weighed about 400 billion metric tons and was above Earth at the time, '''and''' due to that [[{{Understatement}} little]] issue the destruction of the relays may have caused, everyone in the Sol system is doomed. That's assuming the exploding mass relays didn't just kill everyone in the galaxy, as the Arrival DLC suggested they would.
** And that's not even getting into the multiple [[InferredHolocaust Inferred Holocausts]] the ending suggests. For one, since the Citadel explodes in two of the three endings, at speeds that must be in excess of a dozen kilometers '''per second''', and since said station weighed about 400 billion metric tons and was above Earth at the time, '''and''' due to that [[{{Understatement}} little]] issue the destruction of the relays may have caused, everyone in the Sol system is doomed. That's assuming the exploding mass relays didn't just kill everyone in the galaxy, as the Arrival DLC suggested they would.
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* The flash series "[[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony]]: [[{{Portal}} Thinking With Portals]], is a lighthearted comedy crossover between MLP and ''Portal'', and features each of the Mane Cast (and the Princesses) having lighthearted hijinks with portal guns. The final episode, which will involve Twilight getting her revenge for being the ButtMonkey for the entire series, is stated to be ''much'' more serious than the rest of the series, the author admitting some of it may end up veering into GrimDark territory. [[spoiler:However, the author has personally leaked that in the end, [[EverybodyLives everpony lives]].]]
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* The flash series "[[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic "[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony]]: [[{{Portal}} Thinking With Portals]], is a lighthearted comedy crossover between MLP and ''Portal'', and features each of the Mane Cast (and the Princesses) having lighthearted hijinks with portal guns. The final episode, which will involve Twilight getting her revenge for being the ButtMonkey for the entire series, is stated to be ''much'' more serious than the rest of the series, the author admitting some of it may end up veering into GrimDark territory. [[spoiler:However, the author has personally leaked that in the end, [[EverybodyLives everpony lives]].]]
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hmm...did some research, turns out I was only half right
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* The flash series "[[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony]]: [[{{Portal}} Thinking With Portals]], is a lighthearted comedy crossover between MLP and ''Portal'', and features each of the Mane Cast (and the Princesses) having lighthearted hijinks with portal guns. The final episode, which will involve Twilight getting her revenge for being the ButtMonkey for the entire series, isn't even out yet, but the author has outright stated that it will end with ''GrimDark'' levels of horror and tragedy. Be afraid.
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* The flash series "[[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony]]: [[{{Portal}} Thinking With Portals]], is a lighthearted comedy crossover between MLP and ''Portal'', and features each of the Mane Cast (and the Princesses) having lighthearted hijinks with portal guns. The final episode, which will involve Twilight getting her revenge for being the ButtMonkey for the entire series, isn't even out yet, but is stated to be ''much'' more serious than the rest of the series, the author admitting some of it may end up veering into GrimDark territory. [[spoiler:However, the author has outright stated personally leaked that it will end with ''GrimDark'' levels of horror and tragedy. Be afraid.in the end, [[EverybodyLives everpony lives]].]]
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* The flash series "[[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony]]: [[{{Portal}} Thinking With Portals]], is a lighthearted comedy crossover between MLP and ''Portal'', and features each of the Mane Cast (and the Princesses) having lighthearted hijinks with portal guns. The final episode, which will involve Twilight getting her revenge for being the ButtMonkey for the entire series, isn't even out yet, but the author has outright stated that it will end with ''GrimDark'' levels of horror and tragedy. Be afraid.
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[[folder: WebOriginal]]
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* WebOriginal/TalesFromTheTable started off very comedic and ends in a surprising and depressing way.
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* WebOriginal/TalesFromTheTable WebVideo/TalesFromTheTable started off very comedic and ends in a surprising and depressing way.
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* ''MasterOfMartialHearts'': The first 4 out of 5 episodes will make you think that this OVA is just a silly, goofy, mushy comedy with some brutal fights between the main character Aya and her opponents in a tournament. Then the 5th episode comes in. To wit: [[spoiler: Aya ends up killing her opponent in a BeserkerRage. Then she finds out that every one of her friends was a BitchInSheepsClothing who had manipulated her right from the beginning. They mentally broke all the losers of the tournament, making them into "perfect women" to be sold into sexual slavery. Aya's "friends" did this because her parents did the same thing to their parents, and they want to kill her to get back at her mother. Then Aya's mother shows up and kills them off, revealing to her that this is a CycleOfRevenge going back to their grandparents. So KillEmAll ensues, with Aya limping away from the blown up building. Then her so-called best friend's mother gets a visit from someone that she is very scared to see...]]. Yikes!
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* ''MasterOfMartialHearts'': The first 4 out of 5 episodes will make you think that this OVA is just a silly, goofy, mushy comedy with some brutal fights between the main character Aya and her opponents in a tournament. Then the 5th episode comes in. To wit: [[spoiler: Aya ends up killing her opponent in a BeserkerRage.BerserkerRage. Then she finds out that every one of her friends was a BitchInSheepsClothing who had manipulated her right from the beginning. They mentally broke all the losers of the tournament, making them into "perfect women" to be sold into sexual slavery. Aya's "friends" did this because her parents did the same thing to their parents, and they want to kill her to get back at her mother. Then Aya's mother shows up and kills them off, revealing to her that this is a CycleOfRevenge going back to their grandparents. So KillEmAll ensues, with Aya limping away from the blown up building. Then her so-called best friend's mother gets a visit from someone that she is very scared to see...]]. There had been very few hints that something like this was going to happen. Yikes!
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* ''MasterOfMartialHearts'': The first 4 out of 5 episodes will make you think that this OVA is just a silly, goofy, mushy comedy with some brutal fights between the main character Aya and her opponents in a tournament. Then the 5th episode comes in. To wit: [[spoiler: Aya ends up killing her opponent in a BeserkerRage. Then she finds out that every one of her friends was a BitchInSheepsClothing who had manipulated her right from the beginning. They mentally broke all the losers of the tournament, making them into "perfect women" to be sold into sexual slavery. Aya's "friends" did this because her parents did the same thing to their parents, and they want to kill her to get back at her mother. Then Aya's mother shows up and kills them off, revealing to her that this is a CycleOfRevenge going back to their grandparents. So KillEmAll ensues, with Aya limping away from the blown up building. Then her so-called best friend's mother gets a visit from someone that she is very scared to see...]]. Yikes!
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** And that's not even getting into the multiple [[InferredHolocaust Inferred Holocausts]] the ending suggests. For one, since the Citadel explodes in two of the three endings, at speeds that must be in excess of a dozen kilometers '''per second''', and since said station weighed about 400 billion metric tons and was above Earth at the time, '''and''' due to that [[{{Understatement}} little]] issue the destruction of the relays may have caused, everyone in the Sol system is doomed. That's assuming the exploding mass relays didn't just kill everyone in the galaxy, as the Arrival DLC suggested they would.
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* The silent film ''Exit Smiling'' is a zany comedy about a terrible actress in a traveling theater troupe trying to save the man she loves from going to jail. She succeeds. But he never finds out she was the one who saved him, and he's so happy about being able to stay in town with some other girl he likes that she simply doesn't tell him. The movie ends with her crying quietly as he steps off the train.
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* ''MarleyAndMe''. The film actually ends with [[spoiler: the titular dog being put to sleep because of old age.]]
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* ''MarleyAndMe''. The film actually ends with [[spoiler: the [[DeathByNewberyMedal titular dog being put to sleep sleep]] because of old age.]]
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* ''PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' takes it UpToEleven. In the very last minute of the series, [[spoiler:Stocking turns out to be evil, slices Panty into 666 pieces and walks into sunset with the revived BigBad]].
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The tone of the series up until then was doing the impossible and overcoming hopeless odds.
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* After the previous two games and ninety-five percent of the game itself, ''MassEffect3'' abruptly and irrevocably ends in a galaxy-wide dark age as the mass relays are destroyed, stranding everyone in whatever star system they happened to be in, whether the system has any worlds that can support their form of life or not. Developers subsequently confirmed that the entire setting as the players know it is destroyed, and countless billions will die, stranded far away from habitable worlds, heavily populated worlds are no longer capable of supporting their population, and colonies and space stations that are not self-sufficient run out of supplies.
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The games tended to be serious (and, at times, dark), so this doesn\'t qualify
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* After the previous two games and ninety-five percent of the game itself, ''MassEffect3'' abruptly and irrevocably ends in a galaxy-wide dark age as the mass relays are destroyed, stranding everyone in whatever star system they happened to be in, whether the system has any worlds that can support their form of life or not. Developers subsequently confirmed that the entire setting as the players know it is destroyed, and countless billions will die, stranded far away from habitable worlds, heavily populated worlds are no longer capable of supporting their population, and colonies and space stations that are not self-sufficient run out of supplies.
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* After the previous two games and ninety-five percent of the game itself, ''MassEffect3'' abruptly and irrevocably ends in a galaxy-wide dark age as the mass relays are destroyed, stranding everyone in whatever star system they happened to be in, whether the system has any worlds that can support their form of life or not. Developers subsequently confirmed that the entire setting as the players know it is destroyed, and countless billions will die, stranded far away from habitable worlds, heavily populated worlds are no longer capable of supporting their population, and colonies and space stations that are not self-sufficient run out of supplies.
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* [[spoiler:Mass Effect 3, full stop.]]
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* [[spoiler:Mass Effect 3, full stop.]]
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Took out all 3 Mother examples because as the natter shows, they don\'t count - the first two had unequivocally happy endings, the third was an emotional rollercoaster with a Gainax Ending, hence no \"sudden\" shift.
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* ''VideoGame/EarthBound''. 99% of the game is complete SweetDreamsFuel. The final battle is against [[EldritchAbomination a shapeless, timeless dimension of frustration and betrayal]] [[FauxSymbolism full of fetal motifs and giant screaming skulls]] [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel from which not even]] ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel prayer]]'' [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel can escape]].
** ''VideoGame/MOTHER1'', the first game in the series, has this to a lesser extent, with a dead-serious final boss who spends the duration of his screen-time talking about the pesky human insects.
** [[VideoGame/{{Mother3}} The final game]] is still very family-friendly and upbeat, but just a smidge darker. It still manages to qualify in that it ends with an ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath on-screen suicide]]'' followed by TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. [[GainaxEnding Probably]].
*** All three, however, don't ''end'' end this way, it's simply a sudden rollercoaster drop before the heartwarming makes a comeback. Well...for the first two, at least. With the third, there's still a happy ending, but the scars are more lasting...
**** Not sure Mother 3 qualifies despite the goofy humor (that the series is known for). With the mom's rags found at the cliff followed by the "good news and a bad news" sequence followed by Flint going berserk and beating up random people, you expected the game to be a bit this way. If it were like this for Earthbound, I'd say yes. But the only real thing that qualifies this would be in comparison to the few scenes beforehand. It's more CerebusSyndrome than just the ending. Also, ''is'' there a happy ending? Black screen with nothing but sensation, either everyone is alright as they say... or [[FridgeHorror maybe]]...
** ''VideoGame/MOTHER1'', the first game in the series, has this to a lesser extent, with a dead-serious final boss who spends the duration of his screen-time talking about the pesky human insects.
** [[VideoGame/{{Mother3}} The final game]] is still very family-friendly and upbeat, but just a smidge darker. It still manages to qualify in that it ends with an ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath on-screen suicide]]'' followed by TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. [[GainaxEnding Probably]].
*** All three, however, don't ''end'' end this way, it's simply a sudden rollercoaster drop before the heartwarming makes a comeback. Well...for the first two, at least. With the third, there's still a happy ending, but the scars are more lasting...
**** Not sure Mother 3 qualifies despite the goofy humor (that the series is known for). With the mom's rags found at the cliff followed by the "good news and a bad news" sequence followed by Flint going berserk and beating up random people, you expected the game to be a bit this way. If it were like this for Earthbound, I'd say yes. But the only real thing that qualifies this would be in comparison to the few scenes beforehand. It's more CerebusSyndrome than just the ending. Also, ''is'' there a happy ending? Black screen with nothing but sensation, either everyone is alright as they say... or [[FridgeHorror maybe]]...
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I never really got far in Mostly Harmless, but if that entire book was deathly serious, it doesn\'t count.
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* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series ended its Douglas Adams run with everyone but the Vogons being killed... although that book did start out with the disapearance of Fenchurch, so the final book penned by Adams, "Mostly Harmless" might have been a huge DownerEnding.
** Then again, the original book started with ''the entire population of Earth except the main characters'' being killed, and Marvin died at the end of ''So Long And Thanks For All The Fish'' (after seeming to die in ''Restaurant At The End Of The Universe'' - his first death is PlayedForLaughs, the second one decidedly isn't). Having horrible things happening to the characters is [[ComedicSociopathy what the Guide is all about]].
*** But the tone was always comedic before, if often BlackComedy. ''MostlyHarmless'' was, for the most part, dead serious in tone, especially the ending.
** Then again, the original book started with ''the entire population of Earth except the main characters'' being killed, and Marvin died at the end of ''So Long And Thanks For All The Fish'' (after seeming to die in ''Restaurant At The End Of The Universe'' - his first death is PlayedForLaughs, the second one decidedly isn't). Having horrible things happening to the characters is [[ComedicSociopathy what the Guide is all about]].
*** But the tone was always comedic before, if often BlackComedy. ''MostlyHarmless'' was, for the most part, dead serious in tone, especially the ending.
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not only is that a stretch, it doesn\'t have anything to do with this page.
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** Oh yeah, and that ''thing'' Giygas says things like "NESS! NESS! NESS!", "Go back, Ness!", "I'm happy!", "It feels good...." DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything? If it does not, then ask yourself this...what do a man and woman do together in bed? Besides sleeping, that is.
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* [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/tales-from-the-table Tales From The Tabletop]] started off very comedic and ends in a surprising and depressing way.
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* [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/tales-from-the-table Tales From The Tabletop]] WebOriginal/TalesFromTheTable started off very comedic and ends in a surprising and depressing way.
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* [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/tales-from-the-table Tales From The Tabletop]] started off very comedic and ends in a surprising and depressing way.
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* [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/tales-from-the-table Tales From The Tabletop]] started off very comedic and ends in a surprising and depressing way.
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* [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/tales-from-the-table Tales From The Tabletop]] started off very comedic and ends in a surprising and depressing way.
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** WordOfGod claims that Jane Doe busted him out afterward and married him. Still a shocking swerve, though.
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* {{The Last Days of FOXHOUND}} has everyone {{Doomed by Canon}}. As such, the last chapter is just a montage of their bodies. It's emphasized by how sudden it is -- cutting straight from the "preparing for battle" montage to the death montage.
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* {{The Last Days of FOXHOUND}} has everyone {{Doomed by Canon}}. As such, the last chapter is just a montage of their bodies. It's emphasized by how sudden it is -- cutting straight from the "preparing for battle" montage to the death montage. At least the ghosts of the dead characters show up to joke about their ineptitude, providing a relieving comical note.
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* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series ended its Douglas Adams run with everyone but the Vogons being killed... although that book did start out with the disapearance of Fenchurch, so the final book penned by Adams, "Mostly Harmless" might have been a huge Cerebus Ending.
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* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series ended its Douglas Adams run with everyone but the Vogons being killed... although that book did start out with the disapearance of Fenchurch, so the final book penned by Adams, "Mostly Harmless" might have been a huge Cerebus Ending.DownerEnding.
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**** Not sure Mother 3 qualifies despite the goofy humor (that the series is known for). With the mom's rags found at the cliff followed by the "good news and a bad news" sequence followed by Flint going berserk and beating up random people, you expected the game to be a bit this way. If it were like this for Earthbound, I'd say yes. But the only real thing that qualifies this would be in comparison to the few scenes beforehand. It's more [[CerebusSyndrome Cerebus Syndrome]] than just the ending. Also, ''is'' there a happy ending? Black screen with nothing but sensation, either everyone is alright as they say... or [[FridgeHorror maybe]]...
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**** Not sure Mother 3 qualifies despite the goofy humor (that the series is known for). With the mom's rags found at the cliff followed by the "good news and a bad news" sequence followed by Flint going berserk and beating up random people, you expected the game to be a bit this way. If it were like this for Earthbound, I'd say yes. But the only real thing that qualifies this would be in comparison to the few scenes beforehand. It's more [[CerebusSyndrome Cerebus Syndrome]] CerebusSyndrome than just the ending. Also, ''is'' there a happy ending? Black screen with nothing but sensation, either everyone is alright as they say... or [[FridgeHorror maybe]]...
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A '''CerebusEnding''' is a series finale in which an otherwise completely [[SugarBowl upbeat, accessible series]] ends on an [[DownerEnding unimaginably bleak note]]. Can also apply to self-contained movies, books, video games or etcetera with such endings.
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A '''CerebusEnding''' SuddenDownerEnding is a series finale in which an otherwise completely [[SugarBowl upbeat, accessible series]] ends on an [[DownerEnding unimaginably bleak note]]. Can also apply to self-contained movies, books, video games or etcetera with such endings.
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* In terms of individual seasons, ''PowerRangersTurbo'' ends rather sadly. ''Turbo'', being based on [[GekisouSentaiCarranger a parody sentai]], was written as light-hearted (even compared to ''PowerRangers'' in general). However, the ending is downright depressing. It is, so far, the only season to end with the Big Bad actually ''winning''. The ending of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' came close, but the start of ''Zeo'' reversed most of its more serious consequences back to the status quo, whereas the start of ''PowerRangersInSpace'' took the CerebusEnding and ran with it.
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* In terms of individual seasons, ''PowerRangersTurbo'' ends rather sadly. ''Turbo'', being based on [[GekisouSentaiCarranger a parody sentai]], was written as light-hearted (even compared to ''PowerRangers'' in general). However, the ending is downright depressing. It is, so far, the only season to end with the Big Bad actually ''winning''. The ending of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' came close, but the start of ''Zeo'' reversed most of its more serious consequences back to the status quo, whereas the start of ''PowerRangersInSpace'' took the CerebusEnding SuddenDownerEnding and ran with it.
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->''"Imagine that {{Nintendo}} made a game where [[SuperMarioBros Mario]] defeats Bowser, and he finds Princess Peach, poisoned, lying on a bed, [[DyingDeclarationOfLove telling Mario with her last breath that she loves him]]...and then the game ends. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This is sort of devious plot that child psychologists must concoct in order to increase their clientele.]]"''
--> -- '''[[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/rodland/rodland.htm Hardcore Gaming 101]]'''
A '''CerebusEnding''' is a series finale in which an otherwise completely [[SugarBowl upbeat, accessible series]] ends on an [[DownerEnding unimaginably bleak note]]. Can also apply to self-contained movies, books, video games or etcetera with such endings.
Often done because TrueArtIsAngsty and because MoodWhiplash is an effective way of manipulating your audience, or as a way of adding depth to the main characters at the last moment.
The 3-way baby of MoodWhiplash, CerebusSyndrome and DownerEnding. See also TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, TheBadGuyWins, GainaxEnding, CruelTwistEnding, and KillEmAll. Can be a result of CreatorBreakdown. Can result in major EndingAversion and cries of RuinedForever.
As an EndingTrope, expect spoilers.
'''If a work was dark or serious to begin with, it does not qualify for this trope and is simply a DownerEnding.'''
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
* ''ExcelSaga'' parodies this, like everything else, in one late-run episode, which is very dark and humorless compared to the other episodes and ends with Excel being shot and left to die. [[spoiler:It's actually around episode 23 of 25; the ''actual'' final episode (#26) was unaired due to [[CrossesTheLineTwice crossing the line]] ''way'' too many times. In fact, it was ''created'' with the intention to never be aired, and is not considered part of the actual story anyway.]]
* ''{{Mahoromatic}}''. It's a ForegoneConclusion that Mahoro would die; it's the whole premise. The ending is still ridiculously dark. [[GainaxEnding And confusing.]]
* The last few episodes of ''[[Anime/AbenobashiMahouShoutengai Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi]]'' turn what was a series of parodies of video games and anime into a serious fable about dealing with grief.
** Then again, the series was from [[GainaxEnding Gainax]]...
* ''SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie''. Most of the story strikes the same balance that the Genesis games did, with a Saving The World plot that's still light-hearted. However, the "lighthearted" suddenly disappears near the end, with Metal Sonic making a HeelFaceTurn, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath falling into a lava pit]], [[LastSecondChance and brushing off Sonic's attempt to save him]]. Afterwards, Sonic is a bit shaken up over it--then the story switches back to comedy for the final minutes before the credits roll.
* ''Manga/FairyTail''. The S-class/Tenrou Island arc ends with [[spoiler:the main cast and semi-main cast being blasted by Acnologia and presumably dead.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Film]]
* ''MarleyAndMe''. The film actually ends with [[spoiler: the titular dog being put to sleep because of old age.]]
* ''RollerBoogie'', a light-hearted roller-disco film, inexplicably ends on a downbeat note, with the main characters tearfully separating to pursue their futures in different cities.
* Notoriously, the original ending to ''{{Clerks}}'' would have ended with this. A lighthearted comedy about two lazy store clerks wasting a day shift? The original version ended with a robber entering the store and shooting the main character, killing him instantly.
* The original ending to ''{{Dodgeball}}'' had the Globo Gym ''Cobras'', the main antagonists, '''winning''' in the final round. Fortunately, this ending tested so poorly that a much, ''much'' better ending was devised.
* ''ThisIslandEarth'': Sure, the earth is saved, but the [[EverybodysDeadDave entire Metalunan race is wiped out]] by the [[TheBadGuyWins Zagons]]. The Metalunans weren't really bad, just desparate. And the movie ends with [[LastOfHisKind Exeter]]'s ship crashing into the ocean in flames.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Literature]]
* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series ended its Douglas Adams run with everyone but the Vogons being killed... although that book did start out with the disapearance of Fenchurch, so the final book penned by Adams, "Mostly Harmless" might have been a huge Cerebus Ending.
** Then again, the original book started with ''the entire population of Earth except the main characters'' being killed, and Marvin died at the end of ''So Long And Thanks For All The Fish'' (after seeming to die in ''Restaurant At The End Of The Universe'' - his first death is PlayedForLaughs, the second one decidedly isn't). Having horrible things happening to the characters is [[ComedicSociopathy what the Guide is all about]].
*** But the tone was always comedic before, if often BlackComedy. ''MostlyHarmless'' was, for the most part, dead serious in tone, especially the ending.
* In the final chapters of ''Tottie: The Story of a Doll's House'', one of the dolls is [[KilledOffForReal burned to death]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* In the final [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPTUA_wdp78 episode]] of ''{{Dinosaurs}}'', the main character accidentally triggers an ice-age by over-industrializing the world. He then has to explain why they're all going to die to his youngest child. Cut to the outside of the house, where snow is piling over the entire house. In the final shot, a newscaster solemnly states that the snow is getting harsher, the days are getting darker, and there's no end in sight. He issues a formal "Good night". He reconsiders for a moment, then looks straight in to the camera with weary, uncertain eyes, and solidly states, "Good bye". FadeToBlack. [[TearJerker This show was supposed to be FUNNY, goddammit!]]
* In terms of individual seasons, ''PowerRangersTurbo'' ends rather sadly. ''Turbo'', being based on [[GekisouSentaiCarranger a parody sentai]], was written as light-hearted (even compared to ''PowerRangers'' in general). However, the ending is downright depressing. It is, so far, the only season to end with the Big Bad actually ''winning''. The ending of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' came close, but the start of ''Zeo'' reversed most of its more serious consequences back to the status quo, whereas the start of ''PowerRangersInSpace'' took the CerebusEnding and ran with it.
* The finale of ''{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth''. Made all the more sad because the same trope (KillEmAll) was played in two previous series...[[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]].
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that [[PlayedForLaughs playing the events of the finale for laughs]] this time would not have produced [[DudeNotFunny the best reaction]] [[WorldWarI given what they concerned]].
*** Also because for anyone with any emotional investment in WW1 (read: everyone in Britain above a certain age), the ending is actually [[TropesAreNotBad incredibly touching, respectful and appropriate]]. Writer Ben Elton's uncle, an eminent historian specialising in the period, was outraged when he first saw Blackadder Goes Forth and practically disowned him for what he saw as trivialisation of the war. After seeing the final episode, he wrote his nephew a letter apologizing and praising him for the way it was handled.
* The finale of ''{{Roseanne}}'', where it's revealed that the entire last season was fictional, and that Roseanne wrote it to cope with the death of Dan.
* In the last episode of ''Series/{{Alf}}'' our wise-cracking alien protagonist is captured by the Alien Task Force presumably never to be seen again by the Tanners. The producers were told they'd get a TV Movie to WrapItUp, but it wasn't until years later that it actually happened, and the tone of it was distinctly darker than the series.
* This trope began a season early in the BBC's version of ''Series/RobinHood''. At the end of season two, [[spoiler:Maid Marian]] was brutally murdered at Guy of Gisborne's hands, changing an upbeat family show into something unimaginably bleak, and without any hope for a happy ending. Bizarrely, season three tried to regain its reputation as a family show, but the fed-up actors left for greener pastures, ensuring that the show ended with the deaths of [[spoiler:Robin Hood, Allan-a-Dale, Guy of Gisborne, and the Sheriff of Nottingham]]. Despite the gutted cast, there was an attempt to introduce a LegacyCharacter for Robin Hood, but the show was not commissioned for a forth series. The show ended with the remaining outlaws vowing to continue the fight against Prince John, but anyone with [[FridgeHorror a rudimentary knowledge of English history]] knows how well ''that'' [[ForegoneConclusion would have turned out]].
* ''{{Seinfeld}}'''s two-part series finale is arguably an subversion. The show itself was about [[{{Jerkass}} selfish, horrible people]] [[KarmaHoudini coasting through life]], and the finale showed them finally [[LaserGuidedKarma getting their comeuppance]]. Still, it divided fans of the show, who thought that it was a very dark way to send off one of the greatest {{sitcom}}s of all time.
* Although ''{{Medium}}'' dealt with many bad things, it's overall ethos was generally that the bad guys always got caught and everything turned out well in the end. Which made the series finale [[spoiler: in which Alison's husband Joe is killed in a plane crash, most of the episode is taken up with a bizarre soap opera tale of it all being a ghastly mistake and an amnesiastic Joe is living in Mexico which turns out to be a dream and then Alison spending the next 40+ years of her life without the one person who has kept her sane throughout her psychic travails and who she has repeatedly been shown to depend on utterly and all alone because she never finds someone else or remarries]] all the more difficult to take. Even more so when the producers apparently thought it was a happy ending [[spoiler: because, well, those forty years don't matter when you get reunited when you eventually die. Right?]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound''. 99% of the game is complete SweetDreamsFuel. The final battle is against [[EldritchAbomination a shapeless, timeless dimension of frustration and betrayal]] [[FauxSymbolism full of fetal motifs and giant screaming skulls]] [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel from which not even]] ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel prayer]]'' [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel can escape]].
** ''VideoGame/MOTHER1'', the first game in the series, has this to a lesser extent, with a dead-serious final boss who spends the duration of his screen-time talking about the pesky human insects.
** [[VideoGame/{{Mother3}} The final game]] is still very family-friendly and upbeat, but just a smidge darker. It still manages to qualify in that it ends with an ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath on-screen suicide]]'' followed by TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. [[GainaxEnding Probably]].
*** All three, however, don't ''end'' end this way, it's simply a sudden rollercoaster drop before the heartwarming makes a comeback. Well...for the first two, at least. With the third, there's still a happy ending, but the scars are more lasting...
**** Not sure Mother 3 qualifies despite the goofy humor (that the series is known for). With the mom's rags found at the cliff followed by the "good news and a bad news" sequence followed by Flint going berserk and beating up random people, you expected the game to be a bit this way. If it were like this for Earthbound, I'd say yes. But the only real thing that qualifies this would be in comparison to the few scenes beforehand. It's more [[CerebusSyndrome Cerebus Syndrome]] than just the ending. Also, ''is'' there a happy ending? Black screen with nothing but sensation, either everyone is alright as they say... or [[FridgeHorror maybe]]...
** Oh yeah, and that ''thing'' Giygas says things like "NESS! NESS! NESS!", "Go back, Ness!", "I'm happy!", "It feels good...." DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything? If it does not, then ask yourself this...what do a man and woman do together in bed? Besides sleeping, that is.
* The true ending of ''VideoGame/{{Braid}}''. [[GainaxEnding Open to interpretation]], but it would appear that the princess was trying to escape from the protagonist to the antagonist, not the other way around. Or she's an atomic bomb.
* ''HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife''. You die. Admittedly the game is one of the darkest in the franchise (if not the darkest), but it's typically quite happy.
* ''[[BitTrip BIT.TRIP FATE]]'' is a pretty dark game compared to the other games in the series, but the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKOD7kjSDfw#t=8m47s ending]] takes the cake. Upon defeating the FinalBoss, [=CommanderVideo=] TurnsRed, gets into position... [[SuicideAttack and rams himself into the boss, destroying it and killing himself]]. After the final point tally, [=CommandgirlVideo=] arrives at the site of the final battle, realises what just happened, and sheds a SingleTear.
* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice: The Devil's Playhouse'' is a comedy LovecraftLite that, while DarkerAndEdgier than the previous games, is still very lighthearted and playful. The ending involves [[spoiler:Max being KilledOffForReal]].
* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. After a humorous ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' styled adventure, Conker becomes King Of All The Lands....[[spoiler: but at a price: the people in his kingdom are all morons and to make matters worse, his girlfriend, Berri, is dead. As for Conker himself, it's highly implied that he's spiraling towards a booze filled self-destruction.]]
** In the original ending, things were a bit less... subtle. [[spoiler:In the bar scene at the end, Conker was supposed to shoot himself in the head. The only reason this was changed was because the creators were planning on a sequel.]]
* {{Deathspank}} is a comedic hack and slash rpg that prides itself in its wacky, lighthearted MonkeyIsland-esque humor. [[spoiler:Then, at the end of the sequel, Deathspank's closest ally and possible love interest [[FaceHeelTurn goes batshit insane]] due to the Thongs of Power's corrupting power, and he must either let himself be killed to fuel her delusions of godhood or cut her down himself, which greatly troubles him as he mourns and buries her. Unlike literally the entire rest of the series, this is all treated as somber and tragic as possible.]]
** And the canonical choice? [[spoiler:He kills her.]]
* This isn't the ending of ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'' as a whole, but it is the ending of chapter 3, "Life and Debt". Up until that point, the story reads like a fairly typical HeroicFantasy adventure story, with a few hints of a greater, overarching plot and only a few very serious moments. You'll probably think that it'll maintain the fairly carefree, happy-go-lucky vibe the heroes have going on. Well, at least, until [[spoiler:[[SacrificialLamb Metzino]] ''[[MoodWhiplash gets thrown off the Faithall Tower]]'', you fight your first boss fight with a human character (who dies bloodily), and at the end of the day, it's revealing that the characters were {{Unwitting Pawn}}s the whole chapter and their efforts were meaningless]]. It's also immediately followed by interlude 3, which is filled to the brim with TearJerker.
** However, since it only happens in the middle of the story, it's more the game's way of saying that [[WhamEpisode it's done pretending it's lighthearted, and things are going to get serious from now on]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Webcomics]]
* ''[[http://doobl.comicgenesis.com/d/20060623.html Doobl]]''. What appears to be a normal family-friendly webcomic for a fair number of strips, then has the protagonist go crazy and slaughter the cast before killing himself. Meanwhile, in the news posts, the author's mother dies. He spends the remaining posts increasingly lashing out against the world. It ends with a newspaper clipping covering the author's suicide. [[spoiler: It turned out to be a hoax.]]
* ''{{Concerned}}, the Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman'', is mostly a gag strip that ends with... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin oh, guess]]. Of course, it's still ''funny'' while doing so.
* {{The Last Days of FOXHOUND}} has everyone {{Doomed by Canon}}. As such, the last chapter is just a montage of their bodies. It's emphasized by how sudden it is -- cutting straight from the "preparing for battle" montage to the death montage.
** Solid Snake is the character of the world who is, to quote Scorpius of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', "condemned to live"...just like his father was, for a few decades.
* ''It's All Been Done'' ended with the main character and his wacky group of talking toys about to have an adventure when [[spoiler: he realizes the entire thing was an attempt to avoid dealing with his wife's death.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: WebOriginal]]
* The original ''{{Jerry}}'' short.
** The final ''Jerry'' short was also quite dark compared to the others.
* [[WebOriginal/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Doctor Horrible's Sing-along Blog]] seems like a silly musical about super heroes and villains, even if it does have a VillainProtagonist. Then you hit the point where the "evil scheme" starts to unfurl, and things start happening, and suddenly [[InelegantBlubbering you start crying.]]
* The 100th episode of ''WeeblandBob'' actually ends with [[spoiler: the death of Donkey, Chris the Ninja Pirate's wife.]]
** Inverted in the following episode, which revolves around Weebl, Bob, and Chris attending Donkey's funeral. [[TheFunInFuneral Cue Mr. Teeth.]]
-->'''Mr. Teeth''': It's time to put the donkey into the asshole!
[[/folder]]
[[folder: WesternAnimation]]
* The finale of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. Teary goodbyes and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming moments]] abound, yes, but then Numbah One leaves earth, forever, and never sees his friends or his ''parents'' again. The end of the episode consists of live action actors portraying the remaining four members of Sector V as elders. Numbah 2 is nearly blind. What the fuck, CartoonNetwork? [[spoiler: It does, however, end in a five-second HopeSpot with Numbah 5 getting a call from Numbah One]].
** It's not all bad though... They all led fufilling lives and lived out their dreams. [[spoiler: Numbuhs 2+5 and 3+4 even got married!]]
* ''CampLazlo'' - Lumpus was never really the scoutmaster, he was a ''literally insane'' man who had locked the real scoutmaster away, presumably for the duration of the entire show, to steal his life. He is sent to an asylum. This twist is so dark and downright shocking that the entire cast except Lazlo can do nothing but stand in silence for a moment.
* The {{classic Disney short|s}} "Chicken Little" plays like a normal Cat-and-Mouse cartoon... until the end, where despite the Narrator's assurance to the audience that everything turns out alright, Foxy Loxy catches and eats all the chickens, turkeys and ducks, smiling smugly all the while. "Hey, wait a minute!" the Narrator exclaims. "This isn't right! That's not the way it ends in my book!" Foxy, leaning against his "[[Literature/MeinKampf Psychology]]" book, responds, "Oh, yeah? Don't believe everything ya read, brother!" Yeah.
* ''TheSnowman'', which remains upbeat SweetDreamsFuel until the final moments, which reveals first that the Snowman has melted and died, then that it definitely wasn't a dream. The main character breaks down and cries. Cue credits.
** [[AnAesop Appreciate your happier moments while you can]] as [[EasyComeEasyGo they don't last forever.]] Presumably, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped even kids have to learn that at some point.]]
** Actually ended up subverted in a rather off-hand way in a cartoon based loosely on another children's graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, which takes place in the same universe.
-->[[spoiler:'''Father Christmas:''' Glad you could make it again! The party, I mean, not the snowman.]]
* The classic Looney Tune WhatsOperaDoc is mostly a goofy parody of opera tropes combined with BugsBunny's typical slapstick and AttractiveBentGender gags. [[spoiler:Then Elmer kills him; Bugs does revive long enough to deliver the last line:]] "Well what did ya expect in an opera — a happy ending?"
* The infamous (within its fandom, at least) "Holly Jolly Secrets" ChristmasSpecial of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. It is about the heroes Finn and Jake watching a bunch of videotapes made by their arch-enemy and IneffectualSympatheticVillain, the Ice King. The whole time, Finn and Jake continue because they believe the Ice King has hidden "evil secrets" in the tapes. Once the Ice King finds out that they are watching his tapes, he tries to stop them, but fails to prevent them from putting the last tape in their VCR. At that point all he can do is watch in horror as [[spoiler: Finn and Jake discover that ''he used to wear glasses,'' but more importantly that he used to be a normal human being who was driven insane and transformed by a supernatural artifact that he'd bought. They watch the young Ice King lose his mind]]. Before this, the Ice King had almost always been a funny character, and plenty of things that were PlayedForLaughs in the past [[FunnyAneurysmMoment were made tragic by this revelation.]]
** In addition, the other tapes before the last one are usually the Ice King saying or doing hilarious things, but some of them show him sitting around his house, crying, although that still seems to be PlayedForLaughs.
[[/folder]]
----
--> -- '''[[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/rodland/rodland.htm Hardcore Gaming 101]]'''
A '''CerebusEnding''' is a series finale in which an otherwise completely [[SugarBowl upbeat, accessible series]] ends on an [[DownerEnding unimaginably bleak note]]. Can also apply to self-contained movies, books, video games or etcetera with such endings.
Often done because TrueArtIsAngsty and because MoodWhiplash is an effective way of manipulating your audience, or as a way of adding depth to the main characters at the last moment.
The 3-way baby of MoodWhiplash, CerebusSyndrome and DownerEnding. See also TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, TheBadGuyWins, GainaxEnding, CruelTwistEnding, and KillEmAll. Can be a result of CreatorBreakdown. Can result in major EndingAversion and cries of RuinedForever.
As an EndingTrope, expect spoilers.
'''If a work was dark or serious to begin with, it does not qualify for this trope and is simply a DownerEnding.'''
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
* ''ExcelSaga'' parodies this, like everything else, in one late-run episode, which is very dark and humorless compared to the other episodes and ends with Excel being shot and left to die. [[spoiler:It's actually around episode 23 of 25; the ''actual'' final episode (#26) was unaired due to [[CrossesTheLineTwice crossing the line]] ''way'' too many times. In fact, it was ''created'' with the intention to never be aired, and is not considered part of the actual story anyway.]]
* ''{{Mahoromatic}}''. It's a ForegoneConclusion that Mahoro would die; it's the whole premise. The ending is still ridiculously dark. [[GainaxEnding And confusing.]]
* The last few episodes of ''[[Anime/AbenobashiMahouShoutengai Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi]]'' turn what was a series of parodies of video games and anime into a serious fable about dealing with grief.
** Then again, the series was from [[GainaxEnding Gainax]]...
* ''SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie''. Most of the story strikes the same balance that the Genesis games did, with a Saving The World plot that's still light-hearted. However, the "lighthearted" suddenly disappears near the end, with Metal Sonic making a HeelFaceTurn, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath falling into a lava pit]], [[LastSecondChance and brushing off Sonic's attempt to save him]]. Afterwards, Sonic is a bit shaken up over it--then the story switches back to comedy for the final minutes before the credits roll.
* ''Manga/FairyTail''. The S-class/Tenrou Island arc ends with [[spoiler:the main cast and semi-main cast being blasted by Acnologia and presumably dead.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Film]]
* ''MarleyAndMe''. The film actually ends with [[spoiler: the titular dog being put to sleep because of old age.]]
* ''RollerBoogie'', a light-hearted roller-disco film, inexplicably ends on a downbeat note, with the main characters tearfully separating to pursue their futures in different cities.
* Notoriously, the original ending to ''{{Clerks}}'' would have ended with this. A lighthearted comedy about two lazy store clerks wasting a day shift? The original version ended with a robber entering the store and shooting the main character, killing him instantly.
* The original ending to ''{{Dodgeball}}'' had the Globo Gym ''Cobras'', the main antagonists, '''winning''' in the final round. Fortunately, this ending tested so poorly that a much, ''much'' better ending was devised.
* ''ThisIslandEarth'': Sure, the earth is saved, but the [[EverybodysDeadDave entire Metalunan race is wiped out]] by the [[TheBadGuyWins Zagons]]. The Metalunans weren't really bad, just desparate. And the movie ends with [[LastOfHisKind Exeter]]'s ship crashing into the ocean in flames.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Literature]]
* ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series ended its Douglas Adams run with everyone but the Vogons being killed... although that book did start out with the disapearance of Fenchurch, so the final book penned by Adams, "Mostly Harmless" might have been a huge Cerebus Ending.
** Then again, the original book started with ''the entire population of Earth except the main characters'' being killed, and Marvin died at the end of ''So Long And Thanks For All The Fish'' (after seeming to die in ''Restaurant At The End Of The Universe'' - his first death is PlayedForLaughs, the second one decidedly isn't). Having horrible things happening to the characters is [[ComedicSociopathy what the Guide is all about]].
*** But the tone was always comedic before, if often BlackComedy. ''MostlyHarmless'' was, for the most part, dead serious in tone, especially the ending.
* In the final chapters of ''Tottie: The Story of a Doll's House'', one of the dolls is [[KilledOffForReal burned to death]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* In the final [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPTUA_wdp78 episode]] of ''{{Dinosaurs}}'', the main character accidentally triggers an ice-age by over-industrializing the world. He then has to explain why they're all going to die to his youngest child. Cut to the outside of the house, where snow is piling over the entire house. In the final shot, a newscaster solemnly states that the snow is getting harsher, the days are getting darker, and there's no end in sight. He issues a formal "Good night". He reconsiders for a moment, then looks straight in to the camera with weary, uncertain eyes, and solidly states, "Good bye". FadeToBlack. [[TearJerker This show was supposed to be FUNNY, goddammit!]]
* In terms of individual seasons, ''PowerRangersTurbo'' ends rather sadly. ''Turbo'', being based on [[GekisouSentaiCarranger a parody sentai]], was written as light-hearted (even compared to ''PowerRangers'' in general). However, the ending is downright depressing. It is, so far, the only season to end with the Big Bad actually ''winning''. The ending of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' came close, but the start of ''Zeo'' reversed most of its more serious consequences back to the status quo, whereas the start of ''PowerRangersInSpace'' took the CerebusEnding and ran with it.
* The finale of ''{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth''. Made all the more sad because the same trope (KillEmAll) was played in two previous series...[[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]].
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that [[PlayedForLaughs playing the events of the finale for laughs]] this time would not have produced [[DudeNotFunny the best reaction]] [[WorldWarI given what they concerned]].
*** Also because for anyone with any emotional investment in WW1 (read: everyone in Britain above a certain age), the ending is actually [[TropesAreNotBad incredibly touching, respectful and appropriate]]. Writer Ben Elton's uncle, an eminent historian specialising in the period, was outraged when he first saw Blackadder Goes Forth and practically disowned him for what he saw as trivialisation of the war. After seeing the final episode, he wrote his nephew a letter apologizing and praising him for the way it was handled.
* The finale of ''{{Roseanne}}'', where it's revealed that the entire last season was fictional, and that Roseanne wrote it to cope with the death of Dan.
* In the last episode of ''Series/{{Alf}}'' our wise-cracking alien protagonist is captured by the Alien Task Force presumably never to be seen again by the Tanners. The producers were told they'd get a TV Movie to WrapItUp, but it wasn't until years later that it actually happened, and the tone of it was distinctly darker than the series.
* This trope began a season early in the BBC's version of ''Series/RobinHood''. At the end of season two, [[spoiler:Maid Marian]] was brutally murdered at Guy of Gisborne's hands, changing an upbeat family show into something unimaginably bleak, and without any hope for a happy ending. Bizarrely, season three tried to regain its reputation as a family show, but the fed-up actors left for greener pastures, ensuring that the show ended with the deaths of [[spoiler:Robin Hood, Allan-a-Dale, Guy of Gisborne, and the Sheriff of Nottingham]]. Despite the gutted cast, there was an attempt to introduce a LegacyCharacter for Robin Hood, but the show was not commissioned for a forth series. The show ended with the remaining outlaws vowing to continue the fight against Prince John, but anyone with [[FridgeHorror a rudimentary knowledge of English history]] knows how well ''that'' [[ForegoneConclusion would have turned out]].
* ''{{Seinfeld}}'''s two-part series finale is arguably an subversion. The show itself was about [[{{Jerkass}} selfish, horrible people]] [[KarmaHoudini coasting through life]], and the finale showed them finally [[LaserGuidedKarma getting their comeuppance]]. Still, it divided fans of the show, who thought that it was a very dark way to send off one of the greatest {{sitcom}}s of all time.
* Although ''{{Medium}}'' dealt with many bad things, it's overall ethos was generally that the bad guys always got caught and everything turned out well in the end. Which made the series finale [[spoiler: in which Alison's husband Joe is killed in a plane crash, most of the episode is taken up with a bizarre soap opera tale of it all being a ghastly mistake and an amnesiastic Joe is living in Mexico which turns out to be a dream and then Alison spending the next 40+ years of her life without the one person who has kept her sane throughout her psychic travails and who she has repeatedly been shown to depend on utterly and all alone because she never finds someone else or remarries]] all the more difficult to take. Even more so when the producers apparently thought it was a happy ending [[spoiler: because, well, those forty years don't matter when you get reunited when you eventually die. Right?]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound''. 99% of the game is complete SweetDreamsFuel. The final battle is against [[EldritchAbomination a shapeless, timeless dimension of frustration and betrayal]] [[FauxSymbolism full of fetal motifs and giant screaming skulls]] [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel from which not even]] ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel prayer]]'' [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel can escape]].
** ''VideoGame/MOTHER1'', the first game in the series, has this to a lesser extent, with a dead-serious final boss who spends the duration of his screen-time talking about the pesky human insects.
** [[VideoGame/{{Mother3}} The final game]] is still very family-friendly and upbeat, but just a smidge darker. It still manages to qualify in that it ends with an ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath on-screen suicide]]'' followed by TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. [[GainaxEnding Probably]].
*** All three, however, don't ''end'' end this way, it's simply a sudden rollercoaster drop before the heartwarming makes a comeback. Well...for the first two, at least. With the third, there's still a happy ending, but the scars are more lasting...
**** Not sure Mother 3 qualifies despite the goofy humor (that the series is known for). With the mom's rags found at the cliff followed by the "good news and a bad news" sequence followed by Flint going berserk and beating up random people, you expected the game to be a bit this way. If it were like this for Earthbound, I'd say yes. But the only real thing that qualifies this would be in comparison to the few scenes beforehand. It's more [[CerebusSyndrome Cerebus Syndrome]] than just the ending. Also, ''is'' there a happy ending? Black screen with nothing but sensation, either everyone is alright as they say... or [[FridgeHorror maybe]]...
** Oh yeah, and that ''thing'' Giygas says things like "NESS! NESS! NESS!", "Go back, Ness!", "I'm happy!", "It feels good...." DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything? If it does not, then ask yourself this...what do a man and woman do together in bed? Besides sleeping, that is.
* The true ending of ''VideoGame/{{Braid}}''. [[GainaxEnding Open to interpretation]], but it would appear that the princess was trying to escape from the protagonist to the antagonist, not the other way around. Or she's an atomic bomb.
* ''HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife''. You die. Admittedly the game is one of the darkest in the franchise (if not the darkest), but it's typically quite happy.
* ''[[BitTrip BIT.TRIP FATE]]'' is a pretty dark game compared to the other games in the series, but the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKOD7kjSDfw#t=8m47s ending]] takes the cake. Upon defeating the FinalBoss, [=CommanderVideo=] TurnsRed, gets into position... [[SuicideAttack and rams himself into the boss, destroying it and killing himself]]. After the final point tally, [=CommandgirlVideo=] arrives at the site of the final battle, realises what just happened, and sheds a SingleTear.
* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice: The Devil's Playhouse'' is a comedy LovecraftLite that, while DarkerAndEdgier than the previous games, is still very lighthearted and playful. The ending involves [[spoiler:Max being KilledOffForReal]].
* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. After a humorous ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' styled adventure, Conker becomes King Of All The Lands....[[spoiler: but at a price: the people in his kingdom are all morons and to make matters worse, his girlfriend, Berri, is dead. As for Conker himself, it's highly implied that he's spiraling towards a booze filled self-destruction.]]
** In the original ending, things were a bit less... subtle. [[spoiler:In the bar scene at the end, Conker was supposed to shoot himself in the head. The only reason this was changed was because the creators were planning on a sequel.]]
* {{Deathspank}} is a comedic hack and slash rpg that prides itself in its wacky, lighthearted MonkeyIsland-esque humor. [[spoiler:Then, at the end of the sequel, Deathspank's closest ally and possible love interest [[FaceHeelTurn goes batshit insane]] due to the Thongs of Power's corrupting power, and he must either let himself be killed to fuel her delusions of godhood or cut her down himself, which greatly troubles him as he mourns and buries her. Unlike literally the entire rest of the series, this is all treated as somber and tragic as possible.]]
** And the canonical choice? [[spoiler:He kills her.]]
* This isn't the ending of ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'' as a whole, but it is the ending of chapter 3, "Life and Debt". Up until that point, the story reads like a fairly typical HeroicFantasy adventure story, with a few hints of a greater, overarching plot and only a few very serious moments. You'll probably think that it'll maintain the fairly carefree, happy-go-lucky vibe the heroes have going on. Well, at least, until [[spoiler:[[SacrificialLamb Metzino]] ''[[MoodWhiplash gets thrown off the Faithall Tower]]'', you fight your first boss fight with a human character (who dies bloodily), and at the end of the day, it's revealing that the characters were {{Unwitting Pawn}}s the whole chapter and their efforts were meaningless]]. It's also immediately followed by interlude 3, which is filled to the brim with TearJerker.
** However, since it only happens in the middle of the story, it's more the game's way of saying that [[WhamEpisode it's done pretending it's lighthearted, and things are going to get serious from now on]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Webcomics]]
* ''[[http://doobl.comicgenesis.com/d/20060623.html Doobl]]''. What appears to be a normal family-friendly webcomic for a fair number of strips, then has the protagonist go crazy and slaughter the cast before killing himself. Meanwhile, in the news posts, the author's mother dies. He spends the remaining posts increasingly lashing out against the world. It ends with a newspaper clipping covering the author's suicide. [[spoiler: It turned out to be a hoax.]]
* ''{{Concerned}}, the Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman'', is mostly a gag strip that ends with... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin oh, guess]]. Of course, it's still ''funny'' while doing so.
* {{The Last Days of FOXHOUND}} has everyone {{Doomed by Canon}}. As such, the last chapter is just a montage of their bodies. It's emphasized by how sudden it is -- cutting straight from the "preparing for battle" montage to the death montage.
** Solid Snake is the character of the world who is, to quote Scorpius of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', "condemned to live"...just like his father was, for a few decades.
* ''It's All Been Done'' ended with the main character and his wacky group of talking toys about to have an adventure when [[spoiler: he realizes the entire thing was an attempt to avoid dealing with his wife's death.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: WebOriginal]]
* The original ''{{Jerry}}'' short.
** The final ''Jerry'' short was also quite dark compared to the others.
* [[WebOriginal/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Doctor Horrible's Sing-along Blog]] seems like a silly musical about super heroes and villains, even if it does have a VillainProtagonist. Then you hit the point where the "evil scheme" starts to unfurl, and things start happening, and suddenly [[InelegantBlubbering you start crying.]]
* The 100th episode of ''WeeblandBob'' actually ends with [[spoiler: the death of Donkey, Chris the Ninja Pirate's wife.]]
** Inverted in the following episode, which revolves around Weebl, Bob, and Chris attending Donkey's funeral. [[TheFunInFuneral Cue Mr. Teeth.]]
-->'''Mr. Teeth''': It's time to put the donkey into the asshole!
[[/folder]]
[[folder: WesternAnimation]]
* The finale of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. Teary goodbyes and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming moments]] abound, yes, but then Numbah One leaves earth, forever, and never sees his friends or his ''parents'' again. The end of the episode consists of live action actors portraying the remaining four members of Sector V as elders. Numbah 2 is nearly blind. What the fuck, CartoonNetwork? [[spoiler: It does, however, end in a five-second HopeSpot with Numbah 5 getting a call from Numbah One]].
** It's not all bad though... They all led fufilling lives and lived out their dreams. [[spoiler: Numbuhs 2+5 and 3+4 even got married!]]
* ''CampLazlo'' - Lumpus was never really the scoutmaster, he was a ''literally insane'' man who had locked the real scoutmaster away, presumably for the duration of the entire show, to steal his life. He is sent to an asylum. This twist is so dark and downright shocking that the entire cast except Lazlo can do nothing but stand in silence for a moment.
* The {{classic Disney short|s}} "Chicken Little" plays like a normal Cat-and-Mouse cartoon... until the end, where despite the Narrator's assurance to the audience that everything turns out alright, Foxy Loxy catches and eats all the chickens, turkeys and ducks, smiling smugly all the while. "Hey, wait a minute!" the Narrator exclaims. "This isn't right! That's not the way it ends in my book!" Foxy, leaning against his "[[Literature/MeinKampf Psychology]]" book, responds, "Oh, yeah? Don't believe everything ya read, brother!" Yeah.
* ''TheSnowman'', which remains upbeat SweetDreamsFuel until the final moments, which reveals first that the Snowman has melted and died, then that it definitely wasn't a dream. The main character breaks down and cries. Cue credits.
** [[AnAesop Appreciate your happier moments while you can]] as [[EasyComeEasyGo they don't last forever.]] Presumably, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped even kids have to learn that at some point.]]
** Actually ended up subverted in a rather off-hand way in a cartoon based loosely on another children's graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, which takes place in the same universe.
-->[[spoiler:'''Father Christmas:''' Glad you could make it again! The party, I mean, not the snowman.]]
* The classic Looney Tune WhatsOperaDoc is mostly a goofy parody of opera tropes combined with BugsBunny's typical slapstick and AttractiveBentGender gags. [[spoiler:Then Elmer kills him; Bugs does revive long enough to deliver the last line:]] "Well what did ya expect in an opera — a happy ending?"
* The infamous (within its fandom, at least) "Holly Jolly Secrets" ChristmasSpecial of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. It is about the heroes Finn and Jake watching a bunch of videotapes made by their arch-enemy and IneffectualSympatheticVillain, the Ice King. The whole time, Finn and Jake continue because they believe the Ice King has hidden "evil secrets" in the tapes. Once the Ice King finds out that they are watching his tapes, he tries to stop them, but fails to prevent them from putting the last tape in their VCR. At that point all he can do is watch in horror as [[spoiler: Finn and Jake discover that ''he used to wear glasses,'' but more importantly that he used to be a normal human being who was driven insane and transformed by a supernatural artifact that he'd bought. They watch the young Ice King lose his mind]]. Before this, the Ice King had almost always been a funny character, and plenty of things that were PlayedForLaughs in the past [[FunnyAneurysmMoment were made tragic by this revelation.]]
** In addition, the other tapes before the last one are usually the Ice King saying or doing hilarious things, but some of them show him sitting around his house, crying, although that still seems to be PlayedForLaughs.
[[/folder]]
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