History PlayingWith / NoEnding

** YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle

** The story is a video game with multiple "endings", and ''none'' of them resolve anything.

** The story is told through Alice's then-current diary, the rest is found in her subsequent diaries.

** [[ToBeContinuedRightNow The credits start to roll, before Bob protests "I'm not done yet!" The film then continues as normal.]]

** Emperor Evulz has a [[MagicFromTechnology story-ending machine]], and deliberately ends the story so Bob can't save Alice.

* '''Invoked''': Not applicable. (This trope is beyond the control of the characters.)

* '''Defied''': Not applicable. (This trope is beyond the control of the characters.)

** The story ends years later, with Bob and Alice together, but [[NoodleIncident no explanation as to how they
reunited.]]

** The story ends years later, with Bob and Alice together, but [[NoodleIncident no explanation as to how they reunited.]]

** The story is told through the Alice's then-current diary, the rest is found in her subsequent diaries.

* '''Subverted''': It's continued in the sequel, which ''does'' have a satisfying ending.

* '''Double Subverted''': ...then the ''next'' sequel also lacks an ending.
** ..But Bob still never finds Alice.

** Bob himself was somehow cause of the story ending abruptly.

* '''Played for Laughs''': The story cuts off when Bob is in ''mid-sentence''.

** AuthorExistenceFailure kicked in, but the publisher [[MoneyDearBoy publishes]] [[DeadArtistsAreBetter what's been written]] anyway.

** It's continued in the sequel, which ''does'' have a satisfying ending... then the ''next'' sequel also lacks an ending. Or does it? [[ToBeContinuedRightNow Bob protests "I'm not done yet!" and the film continues as normal.]] But Bob still doesn't find Alice, and the credits roll... [[RunningGag "Will you please stop trying to end the film?! For ]]''[[PrecisionFStrike fucks ]]''[[RunningGag sake, ]][[BreakingTheFourthWall not only do I, but the audience also wants to know where Alice is!"]] Then the credits glitch out and the BigBad appears, indulging in an EvilLaugh as he glitches the film out. [[OverlyLongGag That is, until the credits become sentient and fight back. The credits eventually defeat the]] BigBad [[OverlyLongGag , and start to roll... ]][[PunctuatedForEmphasis "WILL. YOU. STOP?!"]] [[MindScrew and then Bob has to literally fight the ending.]]

** It's continued in the sequel, which ''does'' have a satisfying ending... then the ''next'' sequel also lacks an ending. Or does it? [[ToBeContinuedRightNow Bob protests "I'm not done yet!" and the film continues as normal.]] But Bob still doesn't find Alice, and the credits roll... [[RunningGag "Will you please stop trying to end the film?! For ]]''[[PrecisionFStrike fucks ]]''[[RunningGag sake, ]][[BreakingTheFourthWall not only do I, but the audience also wants to know where Alice is!"]] Then the credits glitch out and the BigBad appears, indulging in an EvilLaugh as he glitches the film out. [[OverlyLongGag That is, until the credits become sentient and fight back. The credits eventually defeat the BigBad, and start to roll... ]][[PunctuatedForEmphasis "WILL. YOU. STOP?!"]] [[MindScrew and then Bob has to literally fight the ending.]]

** The story somehow ends ''before'' the start.

** The credits start to roll, before Bob protests "I'm not done yet!" The film then continues as normal.

* '''Zig Zagged''': The plot has neither a beginning nor an ending.

** [[CutShort The writer forgets about]] ''Bob's Quest''.

** The story ends years later, with Bob and Alice together, but no explanation as to how they reunited.

** The plot is abruptly resolved.

* '''Played for Drama''': Bob dies on the way to Emperor Evulz's castle, and Alice's fate is never mentioned.

* '''Inverted''': The story has no ''beginning''. [[note]](i.e., it starts with Bob in the middle of his quest.)[[/note]]

* '''Zig Zagged''': ???

'''Basic Trope''': A story which lacks an ending.

** The story ends ''before'' the start.

** The story ends with Bob defeating [[BigBad Emperor Evulz]], but before we find his fate with Alice.
** AWinnerIsYou for video games.
** "The end...for now."

** The author is a TrollingCreator
** The author wants the viewers to imagine their own desired ending.
** AuthorExistenceFailure kicked in, but the publisher [[MoneyDearBoy publishes]] [[DeadArtistsAreBetter what's been written]] anyway.
** The story dragged on for long enough to where the writer decided to just stop it at that moment.
** The writer decided it was better to set a abrupt ending there than at a later, less opportune moment.

* '''Parodied''': The story cuts off during Bob ''talking''.
* '''Zig Zagged''': A series has many sequels, which all vary between having proper endings and lacking them.
* '''Averted''': ''Bob's Quest'' story actually ends properly.
* '''Enforced''': CutShort
* '''Lampshaded''': "If you start a story, you have to ''finish it''."
* '''Invoked''': Emperor Evulz deliberately ends the story so Bob can't save Alice.
* '''Exploited''': Emperor knows the story is going to end anticlimactically, so he holds Alice captive until the end.
* '''Defied''': When Bob gets to the castle: "TheEnd... But not right now."
* '''Discussed''': "Well, so much for figuring out what happened to Alice."
* '''Conversed''': "[[SarcasmMode What a wonderful way to end this story!]]"
* '''Implied''': Even after all loose ends are tied, the story ends with a narration along the lines of "But is it over? No, nothing is ever over. Such is the true nature of life itself."

* '''Played for Laughs''': Bob himself was somehow cause of the story ending abruptly.
* '''Played for Drama''': Bob questions if he'll ever find Alice. Not even he gets an answer.
* '''IntendedAudienceReaction''': The story was supposed to end on a vague note, or a no-ending actually works better in the setting than tying up loose ends.

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