History Main / TheEndOrIsIt

* ''Film/JMenForever''. The Lightning Bug get buried in rubble [[NoOneCouldHaveSurvivedThat and then blows up the Moon]] when [[ThePowerOfRock he cranks his stereo up too loud]]. At the end of the credits when TheEnd appears, we then hear the Lightning Bug say, "Or is it, J-Men?" and give an EvilLaugh.

* In the ''Literature/FuManchu'' movies starring Creator/ChristopherLee, after his evil plan was foiled, he would say "The world shall hear from me again."

* The next-gen ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' has two for the price of one. [[spoiler:After the credits roll, a pair of messages show up in morse code. The first one is translated to English, and suggests that Project Vulture might not be as totally shut down as the ending makes it look. The second stays in Morse Code... but players have translated it into a German message regarding "Phase 2" and "Project Albatross."]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanDoomsday'': Superman returns and defeats the clone Superman, who had seemingly killed Lex Luthor slightly beforehand. Then Lex shows up, critically injured but plotting a new scheme agains the Man of Steel.

* The ending of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. [[spoiler:The BigBad is destroyed, all the loose ends are tied up, and the heroes ride off into the proverbial sunset… but before he died, said Big Bad said a prayer to [[CrystalDragonJesus the Axolotl]] invoking it's power "[[BackFromTheDead that I may return]]". And the last shot of the show is a suspiciously ominous and lingering shot of a statue in the Big Bad's likeness, resting in the forest…]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' episode "The Ultimate Enemy" ends on this. The villain indeed was set to return for the GrandFinale, but the [[ExecutiveMeddling original writer was fired and replaced]], [[AbortedArc resulting in an alternate outcome]].

** During the end credits of the 2007 ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' [[Film/TransformersFilmSeries live-action movie]], Starscream (who escaped the F-22 Raptors in pursuit because they had bigger fish to fry) flies out of Earth's atmosphere and shoots straight up, presumably returning to Cybertron for reinforcements.

* A favorite of various 80s cartoon villains, including [[WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985 Mumm-Ra]] and [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Megatron]]. One gets the impression that the writers had a variety of potential "deaths" for the bad guys in mind, and just wanted to get them all out of their system.

* ''[[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham Girls]]'''s third season ends with its BigBad, locked up in a refrigeration unit, suddenly opening her eyes (which are [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]] all of a sudden) and ominously breathing against the glass, cracking it.

* Used for humorous effect in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', when, after Peter Griffin's epic fight with the chicken man, the camera zooms in on its unconscious form to see that it's still alive.

* ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'' seems to suggest, with it's last lines, that the main character may have survived her encounter with Dorthy on some level, or at least may be coming back.

* How could one forget ''Film/EventHorizon'', with the door closing at the end... automatically, because no one's standing near it. Right?

* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'': Beat Mission 6 in ''Shattered Soldier'' and ''Neo'' below an A rank, [[spoiler: the TrueFinalBoss turns out to be NotQuiteDead..]].

* ''Film/TheLostSkeletonOfCadavra'', as an AffectionateParody of black and white B-grade '50s sci-fi flicks, naturally ends with a bold white THE END, after which appears a question mark, in turn followed by the inevitable OR IS IT? and some FauxlosophicNarration in the same intentionally bad dialogue style as the rest of the movie. [[CatchPhrase Oh well]]. And sure enough, they made ''The Lost Skeleton Returns Again''!

* ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'': "A Night In Terror Tower": The two protagonists and the sorcerer escape execution by traveling to the future, but at the last moment it's revealed that [[spoiler:the Lord High Executioner had obtained one of the magic stones]]. (Though this is only in the TV episode, the book has a happy ending.)

* ''Manga/ShamanKing''. At the end of Kang Zeng Bang, we see [[spoiler:Hao still alive and well and doing what he likes. Also followed up in Shaman King: Flowers when Hana, Yoh and Anna's son, is confronted by Hao]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': "Parallels" has Worf begin the episode by attending a surprise birthday party and then slowly discovering that he was jumping between alternate universes. Eventually, he ends up on an ''Enterprise'' that figures out a way to get him and all the other Worfs to their original universes, though Data notes that he may end up a few days in the past or future. He ends up just before the party with everything seeming normal... except there is no party: Troi knew Worf would dislike the idea of a surprise celebration due to Klingons preferring to spend their birthdays alone. Eh, close enough.

** ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': "It's your kids, Marty! Something's got to be done about your kids!" They didn't even originally intend for that to be a real sequel hook or even a real cliffhanger. It was only tongue-in-cheek at first, and the "TO BE CONTINUED" sign wasn't superimposed over the screen until the film was out on video after a sequel was already in the works.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]