History ShaggyDogStory / Literature

** Not really. It ends on a subtle hint that implies that at least one of the characters [[spoiler: didn't actually give up the power after all.]]

** "Literature/ShaGuidoG" is about an idealized future floating city, ruled by an emperor-like leader, that in the end is brought down under the weight of a bunch of military spaceships - all in service of setting up the last line of the story, which is a [[{{Feghoot}} fairly bad pun]]. As Asimov himself admitted in commentary, it's all there in the title. (If you don't see it, [[TheProblemWithPenIsland split the title between the "i" and the "d"]]. Now read.) Of course Dr Asimov is [[AvertedTrope misusing the trope]], because the revolutionaries were able to achieve their objectives, and it will hopefully lead to a better, more vibrant society being established. In other words, the struggle of the story is not unexpectedly rendered moot when it ends.

** The existence of the [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves]] in general can be seen as this. As detailed in the above example, their species has led a long, storied history of heroism, villainy, destruction and redemption. They can live forever, outdo Men, Hobbits, Orcs and Dwarves in almost every way but in the end, Eru Illuvatar planned for [[HumansAreSpecial Men]] to have dominion over the world. While the Eldar had around 10,000 or so years to manage themselves (Those that chose to escape Valinor, anyway), humans have the ''rest of time'' to essentially control their own fates and the fate of the Earth. Elves are doomed to fade until the end of the world, while Men only grow stronger and stronger. It makes you wonder why Eru deigned to create them at all.

* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'''s ''Literature/TheLastBattle'' you would think the climax of the book is a huge battle between the Calormenes and the Narnians - but [[spoiler: Aslan basically has a CurbStompBattle with everyone and essentially there is no battle.]] Makes sense since it is an allegory for the Literature/BookOfRevelation from Literature/TheBible where the entire Bible and history of the world is one long battle where God ultimately wins and in context it makes our [[RealLife day-to-day]] struggles seem pointless in context of eternity.

* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'''s ''Literature/TheLastBattle'' you would think the climax of the book is a huge battle between the Calormenes and the Narnians - but [[spoiler: Aslan basically has a CurbStompBattle with everyone and essentially there is no battle.]] Makes sense since it is an allegory for:
* Literature/BookOfRevelation from Literature/TheBible where the entire Bible and history of the world is one long battle where God ultimately wins and in context it makes our [[RealLife day-to-day]] struggles seem pointless in context of eternity.

** Also, a number of plot points and much buildup from the first two books is casually tossed aside in favor of [[DownerEnding a tear-jerker ending]] [[DeusExMachina enforced by destiny,]] despite all that talk about it being Lyra's job to overthrow destiny in the first book. The third Shaggy Dog of the books is then tied to the second, since after all the character buildup and romantic subtext, the two main characters are each put on a separate bus, never to see each other again, and with no sufficient reason why they feel the need to go along with this, so the third book of the series is a shaggy dog to the third power.

* Creator/GuyDeMaupassant's 1884 short story "Literature/TheNecklace". A young, lower middle class couple borrows some nice clothes and jewelry from an upper class friend to wear to a party. During the course of the party, the lady loses a nice necklace. Hiding the truth, the two buy a duplicate of the necklace, are forced to sell their house and all their possessions and basically work as slaves for the next twenty years to pay back all the loans, only to be told at the end [[spoiler:it was only costume jewelry, and worth only a couple of dollars at the most]], resulting in an Aesop that almost borders on ShootTheShaggyDog.\\Readers today can also see the Aesop as "Honesty is the Best Policy". If the borrower had simply told the truth at the beginning, they would have avoided all their problems.\\

* In Antti Tuuri's Literature/TheWinterWar, the Finns and the Russians fight bloodily for the control of a concrete casemate, and in the end it is totally razed by Russian artillery fire.

* A subplot in the Literature/{{Discworld}} book ''Discworld/MovingPictures'' features Klatchian stock dealer Azhural N'choate and his clever 12-year-old assistant M'Bu, who receive Dibbler's order for a thousand elephants. They embark on a 3,000-mile journey (mostly offscreen) which takes them through two jungles and across the Disc's two biggest mountain ranges, gathering elephants along the way, taking their herd from three to 363 to a thousand, leaving a trail of accident scenes and a trillion very happy flies in their wake... [[spoiler:By the time they arrive, the moving-picture industry has completely collapsed and Dibbler has lost all his money. We never learn what happens when they find out.]]

* Just in general a lot of Clone Wars-era books of the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse are this trope, because of Order Sixty-Six and Anakin/Vader and the clone troopers turning against the Jedi, and the corrupt Republic that at least ''tries'' to be fair becoming the far more oppressive Empire. The majority of the Jedi who strive so hard and survive in those books will be betrayed by those they trusted.

* Literature/SeptimusHeap: The titular main character is not the one to defeat the Ring Wizards. [[spoiler:Jenna and Marcia are the ones to seal them away, without any help from Septimus.]] This would also count as a NonProtagonistResolver, but it also makes the reader wonder why the writer spent the last six books giving him so much development.

* In Greg Egan's short story "The Planck Dive", the heroes' objective is to discover more about the structure of black holes, and possibly get some cool applications from them. In order to do so, they create clones of themselves to go into the black hole [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman without actually putting themselves in any danger]], though the hope is that their clones can somehow contact them so they can receive the data. It should come as no surprise, however, that once the clones pass the event horizon, they are unable to make any contact with their originals, rendering the experiment pointless and a waste of human life besides. [[spoiler:Though considering how soul-crushing their discovery actually is, the clones don't really mind being unable to share it with anyone]].

* Literature/BookOfRevelation from TheBible where the entire Bible and history of the world is one long battle where God ultimately wins and in context it makes our [[RealLife day-to-day]] struggles seem pointless in context of eternity.

* SeptimusHeap: The titular main character is not the one to defeat the Ring Wizards. [[spoiler:Jenna and Marcia are the ones to seal them away, without any help from Septimus.]] This would also count as a NonProtagonistResolver, but it also makes the reader wonder why the writer spent the last six books giving him so much development.
* In the Franchise/DollarsTrilogy spinoff ''Literature/TheMillionDollarBloodhunt'', The ManWithNoName is chasing the outlaw Froggy Benson, when he meets Professor Samson Garff and his troupe. Garff is looking for the stolen gold hidden by the convict Pachuco, who escapes from a maximum security prison and is making his way towards his hidden stash. Garff and the Man with No Name eventually catch Pachuco, and force him to lead them to where it's hidden, only to be confronted by Froggy, who is killed by the Man with No Name, but [[spoiler: Froggy's LastBreathBullet [[AccidentalAimingSkills fatally hits Pachuco]], and the gold is never found. The disappointed Man with No Name at least receives bounties on Froggy and Pachuco.]]

* Literature/BookOfRevelation from TheBible where the entire Bible and history of the world is one long battle where God ultimately wins and in contecxt it makes our [[RealLife day-to-day]] struggles seem pointless in context of eternity.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov wrote a short story about an idealized future floating city, ruled by an emperor-like leader, that in the end is brought down under the weight of a bunch of military spaceships - all in service of setting up the last line of the story, which is a [[{{Feghoot}} fairly bad pun]]. The title of the story? "Shah Guido G." As Asimov himself admitted in commentary, it's all there in the title. (If you don't see it, split the title between the "i" and the "d." Now read.)
** Oddly enough, despite the lampshade it isn't actually all that good an example - sure, the entire point of the story was to set up a bad pun, but as the other character in the framing story points out, the narrator ''did'' bring down the floating city (it just happened to be by manipulation), and that led to a better, more vibrant society being established. In other words, the struggle of the story is not unexpectedly rendered moot when it ends.
* In the Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon series by Creator/SpiderRobinson shaggy dog stories and puns are the common thread through the entire series. Most shaggy dog stories in the series are elaborate build-up to a mindnumbingly horrendous pun to the delight of the crowd (once the BSOD wears off).

* ''Literature/MySistersKeeper'' by Creator/JodiPicoult: Anna was conceived to be a donor match for her sister Kate, who has had aggressive [[LittlestCancerPatient leukemia]] since she was 2. When her parents ask Anna to donate a kidney when Kate's kidneys fail, she [[spoiler: sues them for medical emancipation. It is successful and she gains medical emancipation, only to be in a car accident on the way back from court one day with her lawyer. Anna is brain dead, so they pull the plug and give Kate her kidney anyway, thus rendering Anna's court case useless.]] Made even worse in TheFilmOfTheBook in that [[spoiler: Kate asked Anna to take her parents to court so they would let her die]]. Picoult writes this a lot.

** Poor Brienne of Tarth. Not a one of her paths in life has at all gone ''anywhere'' close to expected. First, she becomes a member of Renly's [[PraetorianGuard Rainbow Guard]] all set to protect him on his way to the throne (and to prove herself as a knight, female or not): then [[OutsideContextVillain Shadowbabies]] put a spanner in ''that''. Then she agrees to take up Catlyne Stark's quest to find and bring back her daughters... which gets derailed almost within the first week, and trying to find ''at least'' one of them to keep safe keeps unravelling on her, as "mobile needles" and "haystack on fire in a gale" are in play in the war-torn Kingdom. Her personal attempts to defend Jaime during all this? Also run into issues. No goal she sets herself ever approaches a clear arc to a well-defined pay-off. For all important (and dangerous) things happen to her, around her and indirectly thanks to things she's said and done.