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Sequel Hook

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Otacon: Well, Snake, I tracked down the Patriots' Wisemen Committee, but all I found was a note.
Snake: What does it say?
Otacon: "Buy the sequel! Coming soon!"
Snake: Damn you, Kojima!

A Sequel Hook is something in a work that suggests that there is a clear possibility for another story. The MacGuffins may come in threes, the Big Bad might be Not Quite Dead, or, more blatantly, as the story ends another adventure might be shown beginning.

The original work still has closure but, by leaving minor plot elements unresolved, the writer has made writing a sequel easier. If the audience demand is there, they'll be ready. In fact, this method is so common the audience will identify any unresolved plot element or any ending short of Happily Ever After or "Everybody Dies" Ending as a hook. Sometimes the hook was just that, the writers are not sure which direction they would be going in the later work.

Pretty much every film based on a comic book sets itself up for a sequel, and any movie that goes out of its way to establish a very expansive universe that has room for a sequel. In the case of adaptations their source is usually a medium known for making multiple storylines and, in most cases, have a decades-long Myth Arc to mine for ideas.

If the Sequel Hook revolves about a character other than the main character, it may indicate a possibility of Changing of the Guard.

Make note that a Sequel Hook is not a combination of a Mythology Gag you noticed and wishful thinking. This is where the movie takes a brief side glance to let you know that more is coming. This is recognizable to almost anyone watching/reading, not just the fans that notice a minor gag in an adaptation.

If the story is complex enough, there can be a fine line between this and an outright Cliffhanger. And the two can overlap if the story concludes, everyone's happy and then a new problem shows up to put everyone in turmoil.

If a movie poses a Sequel Hook only for no sequel to ultimately be forthcoming, this can be the source of unintentional humour later on down the track.

Considering that most stories need a conflict because of the Rule of Drama, this trope may often result in Happy Ending Override, Status Quo Is God or All for Nothing if the sequel is made.

Compare The End... Or Is It?, Here We Go Again!, The Stinger, And the Adventure Continues, To Be Continued, Saved for the Sequel, Sequel Snark, and "Will Return" Caption. Can occur as part of Inescapable Horror. Compare and contrast Second Chapter Cliffhanger, when more than just a hook, the second installment ends with a Cliffhanger, with everything still up in the air. Obviously, many unmarked spoilers ahead.


Examples:

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    Anime and Manga 
  • Back in 2008, the slighly random Kamen no Maid Guy actually set up a serious storyline - at the very end of the series.
  • It had been made clear in Tokyo Mew Mew that Ichigo and friends had been de-powered because there was no need for them to fight. Then, we see everyone back at the cafe months later and, depending which version you're following, either their marks have reappeared and they transform, or Ichigo's cat ears reappear and Berii looks in the cafe window.
  • A post-credits sequence in Strike Witches features Yoshika receiving a letter from her supposedly-dead father. But seriously, who saw the first two episodes and thought he was actually dead in the first place?
  • The ending of Petite Princess Yucie has all the lead girls inexplicably attend the Princess Academy once more, even though they all graduated already. Yucie also seems to be no different as a Platinum Princess. But it's especially clear that a sequel was planned when all the girls shout "see you again" in the last shot. This was in 2003 and there still is no sequel in sight.
  • Higurashi: When They Cry: The end of the first season makes it look like everything went back to normal, only for Rika to told by Oishi of mystery happenings in her town. This shows that the "Groundhog Day" Loop is still ongoing. The second season's first episode proves this by telling what really happened after Rena held her classmates hostage.
  • Subverted in Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, when Geese shows up halfway through the film to show us his RAGING STORM...and then is absent for the rest of the movie. Sequel time? Nope, they never made another.
  • Bamboo Blade has Tamaki and a long-haired girl turn their heads to each other in the ending credits. Les Yay aside, this could mean that there is more in store.
  • The six years later epilogue of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, which has everyone talking about being reunited after a long time, the three Aces on their way to a mission, the brief introduction of Reinforce Zwei, and the scene cutting away just before said Aces reveal their new Barrier Jackets. All a hook for the A's to StrikerS manga to follow-up on around half a year later.
  • Giant Robo has possibly one of the most sadistic, but not because of any fault of the writers'. The final OVA episode ends with the Earth decimated but able to recover, the IPO gutted of several of its top men, and Smug Snake Koumei informing the Magnificent Ten that all is according to the plan of Lord Big Fire, with Operation BR about to begin, suggesting that Big Fire is about to launch a true operation to conquer the world after Genya's plot both crippled their major opponent and simultaneously made sure the world would survive to be ruled over, leaving it ambiguous as to whether the entire operation was masterminded by Koumei or Big Fire himself. However, the sequel was unable to be made due to funding problems, so several critical explanations and Koumei's presumed come-uppance were never actually made, much to the frustration of the OVA series' many fans.
  • Slayers:
    • The last light novel ends with Lina and Gourry traveling to Lina's homeland, Zephilia. Cue loads of Will They or Won't They?. There's also the fate of Zelgadis and Amelia, considering that they were left to their own accord after the eighth novel (their replacements were Killed Off for Real in the last two novels), and Zelgadis' side story takes place after that time.
    • The second anime season ends with Sylphiel running off with the heroes, but she's nowhere to be seen in the third (being replaced by Filia), so this is a subversion. Also, the last season has more of this than the third did, with Zelgadis riding on a boat contentedly sticking out among them.
  • Blatantly lampshaded in Baccano!, when the two Meta Guys Carol and Gustav argue over why some plot threads are left untied (such as a scene in the first episode that never gets referred to again. At least in the anime...). Carol's answer? Sequel Hook.
  • The second season of Hayate the Combat Butler ends with a new semester beginning for the cast, as well as a very brief shot of Athena during the final credits.
  • For Heroman, Kogorr is defeated, and everyone is happy as the episode ends, fading to black. But, then it fades back in to show a prison island, with lights blazing and alarms shrieking. The prison's guards get decimated by Veronica, who frees Those Two Guys, and breaks down the wall to a certain cell, filled to the brim with equations, formulas, and drawings. A pencil is spit to the floor as the cell's occupant turns around: Dr. Minami. Cue To Be Continued. We even see a question mark afterwards.
  • Pokémon Adventures would always use this at the end of an arc. It may seem a little silly, as the release of a new Pokémon generation already indicates a coming sequel, but it is often done to show either the new Arc Villain, the direction they'll be heading with the next chapters, or just a way to explain how one arc leads to the next, chronologically:
    • Red/Blue/Green: The Elite Four, ominously watching the tournament match between Red and Green, and take an interest in Red.
    • Yellow: It's revealed that Yellow's journey had been engineered by Green. While her reasons are not revealed, she's shown on her PokéGear calling someone, discussing that she hadn't found what she needed through Yellow's adventure. The next we see is Silver, the rival of Pokémon Gold and Silver, hanging up, and a shot of Johto with a group of Generation II Pokémon as the chapter ends.
    • Gold/Silver/Crystal: Averted, for some reason or other there is no link to the next arc at the end of this one, everyone just gets a Happily Ever After to the point where it seems like the whole series could just end here.
    • Ruby and Sapphire: After the battle, the Red Orb and Blue Orb used to maintain Groudon and Kyogre shatter into pieces. A shadowy figure shows up and picks up the pieces. Holding two red and blue shards, he says, reciting what comes across as a prophecy, "Creation of the new world order lies in thy hands." Next we see Giovanni, standing there with the shards, where his last words at the end of the chapter are "...And it has already begun." Especially shocking as this occurs after a Happily Ever After ending, where almost every loose end is tied up.
    • FireRed and LeafGreen: Arguably larger than Ruby and Sapphire's. After the Big Bad is defeated and the characters all get their just endings, Sird shows up as Mewtwo flies away, using the last amount of energy she could attain for one last attack... Which turns the Pokédex holders to stone. And with that, the arc ends.
    • Emerald: Crystal, looking back at the photographs from the battle, recalls Archie's last words when she confronted him about the origins of his suit of armor. She asks him who gave it to him, but he can only get out the beginning of the word before dying, as his last word is: "Galac..."
    • Diamond and Pearl: So Cyrus has been defeated, Dialga and Palkia are peaceful again, and Platinum has finally achieved her goal of making the Berlitz family crest. Everything should be back to normal now, right? WRONG. She then states her intentions of rescuing her original bodyguards, then a weird scientist suddenly shows up, Byron and the researchers stop him, but they accidentally manage to open up a black hole, where a large claw swoops down and sucks in Dialga, Palkia, and Cyrus. The scientist just grins, tells Platinum his name and about the Distortion World, and escapes. Dia manages to take his notebook from him, which reveals information about the legendaries. Flash forward to Flint and Volkner having a conversation, where Flint reveals that he's in the Battle Zone. Another flash forward two weeks later, where Platinum's mother is on a cruise ship, and she and her daughter have a talk about the Distortion World.
    • Platinum: All is well and everyone has their Happily Ever After conclusion, but we then get a scene with the Daycare Center man begins to have a flashback to another trainer - that trainer being Gold, directly leading into the next arc.
    • HeartGold and SoulSilver: A very unique case, as this arc is actually an Out of Order Interquel the Diamond and Pearl arc, revealing that this arc was a Stealth Prequel to the previous two arcs.
    • Black and White: Ghetsis escapes, but not before knocking Black backward into the magnetic pull that is restoring Reshiram to the Light Stone. Black says a tearful farewell to White as he is being sealed into the stone along with Reshiram, and after he is, the stone teleports away. White is left to cry and scream for Black to come back, while Ghetsis is left to begin plotting his counter-attack with his mysterious masked colleague, who is revealed to be Mad Scientist Colress. In the last scene, a group of Team Plasma grunts defect from the group and go on the road...one of them being just a child, recognizable as the female protagonist of Black 2 and White 2.
  • Pokémon: The Series tends to have these at the end of each era:
    • A trainer from Hoenn appears in the Silver Conference at the end of the Johto era, and this leads to the original series ending with Ash travelling to Hoenn. The last episode ends with Pikachu sick.
    • The Hoenn era ends with Gary re-appearing with an Electivire, a Pokemon discovered in Sinnoh and Ash travelling to Sinnoh.
    • Not much is gleaned at the end of Sinnoh for Unova, except for Giovanni's newly-introduced secretary giving Jessie, James, and Meowth a promotion for a mysterious "new project", since their role in destroying Team Galactic had renewed Giovanni's faith in them.
    • The last arc of the Unova era sees Ash, Iris, and Cilan accompanied back to Kanto by Alexa, a reporter from Kalos, and her Helioptile, a Pokémon native to Kalos, thus causing Ash to travel to Kalos.
    • Again, very little can be gathered from the end of the Kalos era about Alola, save for Team Rocket dropping souvenir trinkets of Solrock and Lunatone at the Lumiose City airport in the last episode.
  • Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt ends with sudden, completely nonsensical plot twists thrown out left and right just after everything has been resolved. Basically, Stocking pulling a Face–Heel Turn and slices Panty into 666 pieces, and Big Bad Corset pops out of Brief's penis (It Makes Sense in Context, I swear) to tell Brief that if he wants to save Panty, he must follow the pieces to the next town and unlock the hellgate there. Your typical Gainax Ending, as it were.
    • Also, the whole thing may actually just be a parody of this trope; the creators have been very coy about a second season, and it's quite possible they have no intention of making one and came up with a twist just to troll the fans.
      • It's also quite likely that, knowing them, they will make a second season but completely ignore the cliffhanger.
      • Most likely a typical Gainax troll, but who's up for Brief and Chuck with Garterbelt?
    • Most of the show's creators left Gainax to form Studio TRIGGER, so even if they actually wanted to do a sequel series, they can't do so for legal reasons. Also, the Twitter account for the Gainax West studio (which closed down in 2017, by the way) once teased the possibility of new PS&G material...that turned out to be just a themed temporary café and exhibition.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Both seasons. Season one: Setsuna's line: "As long as the distortion continues to exist, I will continue to fight...Alongside my Gundam." Also, Tieria's "This is the Gundam that will change the world..." while we see a container saying "GN 00 00 GUNDAM". In season two, Tieria's "The true goal of the Aeolia Plan was to prepare Humanity for the dialogues to come." And after the Credits, we see a 15 second teaser for the movie, which ends with the text: "2314: The Childhood of Humankind Ends." If those don't practically say "There'll be another season" and "We're planning on making a movie", I don't know what does.
  • The last episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, especially The Stinger. The director has stated that he wants to do a second season- though it's unknown whether he wants a genuine sequel or a Spin-Off.
  • The Fullmetal Alchemist manga averts this to the point where it seems like the writer was literally trying as hard as possible to prevent any possible sequel or need for a sequel. The 2003 anime version on the other hand ends with Ed getting ready to do another transmutation to get Al back by sacrificing himself. The Conqueror of Shamballa movie fittingly picks up a short time after the hook, with Ed stuck in the "real" world after his transmutation was successful.
  • The creators of Death Note have themselves admitted that they are undecided whether the Death Note that Aizawa was holding at the warehouse was real, or if Light's bluff about it being fake was true. They claim that if the book was a fake, the real one is still out there somewhere, meaning "Ryuk could return somehow..."
  • In Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage, when Ayumi returns to normal from being Cure Echo, the uniform's bow drops off, turning into a Cure Decor, the MacGuffin for Smile Pretty Cure!, but it is never picked up by either Ayumi nor the Smile team. While she only makes a cameo in New Stage 2, she comes back for good in New Stage 3, wearing the Decor as a pin and being able to use it to transform.
  • In the 13 and a half episode (no, seriously) of Tenchi Muyo!, after Mihoshi and Washu have their talk and we see what Washu's doing to Ryoko, we're cut to a scene where D3 is talking to Tokimi and we see a mysterious figure in the shadows. That figure, Z, would show up in the third season.
    • As well, in episode six, we're introduced to Washu, who's Ryoko's "mother" and is incredibly smart, and Tsunami, who has a major connection to Juraians and Sasami in particular. Both of those are explored more in the first two episodes of the second season.
  • Tiger & Bunny had the Ouroborus symbol appearing on a Stern dollar at the epilogue of episode 25. Also, Kotetsu and Barnaby coming out of their retirement and joining the Second League Heroes.
  • In the final episode of High School D×D, Sirzechs and Grayfia were discussing about how the Red Dragon Emperor (Issei) is now part of the devil society. It seems they were happy about Issei crashing the wedding until Grayfia mentions that the Vanishing Dragon will make his appearance. Cue the second season of the anime.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
    • Double Subverted at the end of Phantom Blood. Dio is defeated, Jonathan and Erina are married, they're boarding a ship to America for their honeymoon, everything points in the direction that the story is now ending. Oh, some guys are carrying a treasure chest onto the ship with a still-alive Dio in it, how cute. Hang on, we're seeing what happens right now? Hold the phone, did Dio just kill Jonathan?! Well, darn, that's a bit of a Downer Ending...wait, Erina is pregnant with Jonathan's child? The Joestar legacy lives on!
    • At the end of Battle Tendency, an older Joseph can be seen at a modern airport mentioning to a Japanese tourist that he's going to Japan to see his daughter and grandson, the latter of which is the protagonist of the next part of JoJo, Stardust Crusaders.
  • Space☆Dandy's hell of a second season finale closes out with a card reading "May be continued?"
  • Tokyo Ghoul infamously concluded the original series with a sudden and shocking ending filled with these, before announcing the sequel roughly a month later. The final chapter of the original series was almost nothing but this trope, setting up the sequel with hints of Kaneki becoming Amnesiac Hero Haise Sasaki, Aogiri and Dr. Kanou beginning new experiments using Yoshimura and captured Ghoul Investigators, Touka declaring her intention to wait for Kaneki to return, The Reveal of the Clown Gang, and Tsukiyama falling into an Angst Coma. The result of these hints is Tokyo Ghoul: re.
  • Brave10 ends with the Five Iga Ninjas defeated and the Braves at last united, but Date Masamune spends his last scene exclaiming about how any setbacks don't matter because a great war is coming, and while calmed down for now, Isanami's Superpowered Evil Side is shown wrapping its arms around her in the last panel.
  • Love Live! had one where Hanayo gets a text, before announcing the spinoff series Love Live! Sunshine!! two years later.
  • Unlike Dragon Ball Z, which had a definite (albeit open-ended) ending, Dragon Ball Super—in particular, the first batch of episodes—ends like this, with Goku telling Jiren that he wants to fight him again and Frieza rebuilding his empire after being brought back to life. The next part of the series begins in Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
  • Space Patrol Luluco has the Blackholian saying he will be back for "the second and the third" (whatever that may mean) before being subdued by Nova and disappearing. Keep in mind that the whole show is basically the origin story for Studio Trigger's mascot, and that the characters can travel through space and dimensions, so it could mean that the characters will make appearances in future Trigger shows rather than a "true" sequel.
  • Agni's Philosophy: Still hunted by her attackers, Agni flees with the crystal astride the dragon. WITCH Episode 0 seems to be the beginnings of a follow-up.

    Asian Animation 
  • BoBoiBoy: The first season's finale has BoBoiBoy's friends see him off at the train station as he boards the train set for home. A Time Skip to 6 months later, his friends are back in school, and their teacher announces that they have a new student. The walking feet and the wall silhouette of a familiar figure are shown to the sound of the ending theme music triumphantly swelling in, and his overjoyed friends see BoBoiBoy at the door and exclaim his name, then cut to credits.
  • The Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf season Mighty Little Defenders is about whether or not the goats can befriend the wolves. At the very end of the final episode, one of the wolves is upset about the newly-formed friendship and wants to stop it. This suggests that the conflict between the goats and wolves isn't really over and that it's possible for more stories to be written about their conflict.

    Comic Books 
  • A comic book example is found in the six-issue Marvel Boy limited series from 2000. At the end, Marvel Boy ominously tells the government agents that in five months, the super prison he is in will become the capital of the new Kree Empire. After that, the caption advertises Marvel Boy 2:001!!!, a title that will likely not see the light of day, since Marvel Boy's next appearance was during the 2006 Summer Event Civil War.
  • P.R.O.J.E.C.T.'s "Superman 2" vault at the end of All-Star Superman.
  • Ultimate Marvel:
    • At the end of Spider-Men, Peter makes it back to his own universe and starts wondering if his dimension has a Miles Morales (the new Ultimate Spidey). We don't see the results of his web search (until Spider-Men II, that is), but Peter is stunned.
    • Ultimate Wolverine: Quicksilver, laying in a hospital bed, is recruited by someone for something. To be continued in...Ultimates: Disassembled!
    • Ultimate X-Men: After everything is said and done, and the Professor is relaxing at home with Jean, he mentions that he hopes that Nightcrawler will return someday, and they can be all under the same roof with Magneto and the others. Magneto? Did he just say Magneto?? Don't fall asleep now, professor!
    • The Ultimates 3 sees Magneto, after everything that happened, swear revenge on the whole world.
  • The Black Knight: At the end of The Black Knight, the nephews find Lusène's calling card in Scrooge's trophy room promising his return. At the end of The Black Knight Glorps Again!, Lusène is last seen observing his suit of armor traveling in orbit around the Earth through a telescope.
  • Kid Colt (2009), which didn't get a sequel, is packed full of hooks:
    • Sheriff McGreeley, who originally framed Kid Colt for murder, is still in office, hasn't directly confronted Colt at any point, and hasn't suffered any consequences other than paying out a bounty in the belief that Colt was dead.
    • When Bounty Hunter Sherman Wilks is first introduced, crooked Sheriff McGreeley mentions that Wilks has been busy clearing land for one of the Sheriff's brothers, suggesting that the late Joshua McGreeley - who was killed by Colt - has at least two more siblings who might want revenge.
    • The fate of Colt's younger brother Jeb is left undefined, as Colt Never Found the Body after Joshua McGreeley's men killed the rest of his family.
    • Outlaw leader Bloodeye comments that he thinks he's destined to cross paths with Kid Colt again.
    • Kid Colt is still looking for the surviving members of Joshua McGreeley's gang, seeking a witness who can clear his name.
  • Shakara: After Shakara's Heroic Sacrifice to destroy Cinnibar Breneka and the universe returning to a state of relative peace, the last pages show a new yellow-colored Shakara crash-landing on a planet in another reality.
  • Stunt Dawgs: Parodied. When the Stunt Scabs flee in the end of a comic book story, the last thing their leader says is "Set up a sequel!"
  • The Dreamwave Mega Man (Classic) comics end on a hook for a Mega Man X series, specifically X traveling back in time to 20XX to enlist Dr. Light's help for (presumably) the Maverick war. Dreamwave's financial collapse meant that no Mega Man X ongoing would ever be made.
  • Justice League/Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers ends with the Wham Shot that Brainiac has survived his apparent destruction by infecting Alpha 5.
  • The first three of the four G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers crossover miniseries by Devil's Due Publishing each end with a plot thread to be resolved in a subsequent installment.
    • G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers ends with the US government planning to develop new technology from the remains of the downed Decepticons, leading to the creation of Serpent O.R. (this continuity's version of Serpentor) in The Art of War.
    • G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II ends with Dr. Mindbender being busted out of prison by the inhabitants of Cobra-La, who plan to summon Unicron, a plot thread eventually given closure in the final miniseries Black Horizon.
    • The Art of War ends with Optimus Prime musing on how Hawk's connection to the Autobot Matrix of Leadership may ensure that one day he'll usher humanity into a new golden age, which also serves as a set-up for Black Horizon.
  • At the end of the first Spook story line Mr. Nobody's buyers have been killed or arrested and Kurylenko has been dealt with but several of the Spook making devices are seen being loaded onto ships and sent to unknown buyers around the world.
  • The four-issue My Little Pony/Transformers: Friendship in Disguise! miniseries, which crosses over Transformers with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, ends with Shockwave revealing to Megatron that he was able to record the original coordinate data from the malfunctioning space bridge that enabled the Autobots and Decepticons to enter Equestria after Optimus Prime had the space bridge on Cybertron destroyed to prevent the Decepticons from still being a threat to the ponies.
    Shockwave: So perhaps, with your permission, I may begin an effort to simply bring their magic to us?
  • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends with Rita Repulsa and the Shredder fleeing to Dimension X to make contact with Shredder's allies there (presumably Krang and the Rock Soldiers), heavily implying that they're not finished battling the Power Rangers and the Ninja Turtles.
  • The end of "With a Vengeance", the final arc of Jeph Loeb's Superman/Batman run saw one with Darkseid talking with Mr. Mxyzptlk about a possible future event involving the two of them — which became an Aborted Arc both the real life event of Loeb leaving DC after his son's death and the in-universe ones of Darkseid's arc in both Countdown to Final Crisis and Final Crisis itself, as well as Mxy going into a self-imposed exile in the former until Superman Reborn.
  • Each of the Batman: Earth One volumes ends with the introduction of a major Batman villain who has a bigger role in the next volume. The first volume ends with an appearance by The Riddler, the second volume with Catwoman, and the third volume with The Joker (as well as cameos by Robin, Batgirl, and Ragman).
  • Though Super Crooks is mostly self-contained to the four issues, it does end with The Bastard taking over the Las Vegas casino by force and swearing revenge. The fact that the trade is marked as Vol. 1 does suggest that Mark Millar may continue the story should he feel the desire to.
  • Wonder Woman: Dead Earth: In the final issue, Diana regains her full power and finds one of her gauntlets to keep her powers under control again. However, she needs to find the other one to activate the limiter, and she also vows to find her mother and make peace with her.
  • Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern ends with the revelation that General Ursus faked his killing of Gorilla Grodd as he did his ordered murder of Dr. Zaius so that he and Zaius can use Grodd's psychic powers for their own ends, in addition to Cornelius turning out to survive his Heroic Sacrifice, coming to in a universe inhabited by humans while still bearing the Universal Ring.
  • Star Trek/Green Lantern:
    • The first miniseries The Spectrum War ends with Sinestro, Atrocitus and Larfleeze escaping.
    • The second miniseries Stranger Worlds concludes with Sinestro getting away once more as well as the Federation choosing to help their universe's counterparts to the Guardians found an equivalent to the Green Lantern Corps.
  • Batman: Two Faces has its Framing Device end with Peregrine White responding to Commissioner James Gordon that he has his own story to tell, setting up The Superman Monster.
  • Justice Riders ends with Felix Faust rising up and walking away after the heroes seemingly shot him dead.
  • The Vertigo run of Astro City concludes with someone claiming to be a former pilot of the N-Forcer armor coming forward, intended to set up the first original graphic novel.
  • The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis:
    • The first miniseries ends with numerous Simpsons characters ending up in New New York.
    • The second miniseries ends with Mom making a clone of Mr. Burns and having to wait a year for the clone to cool.
  • After the Bat-Family make-up and undo Derek Power's criminal enterprise in Batman: Beyond the White Knight, FBI Agents Diana Prince and John Stewart arrive and offers them a job preparing for an alien invasion. Their target? Superman.
  • Jack Kirby's Galactic Bounty Hunters provided two hints at a potential sequel to the miniseries, one implying that Jack Berkley and his son Garrett might come back to Dangerland to rescue Lena and the other having Ma Slugg scheme to get her son's more competent older brothers to bust her out of prison and enable her to get even with the Galactic Bounty Hunters.

    Fan Works 
  • The Dragon and the Bow: The story ends with the surviving Vendal being approached by Alvin the Treacherous to join his Outcasts.
    • Loki's message to Hiccup about finding a spirit wandering the mortal realms, and how he is key to fighting a growing darkness.
  • The ending of the To Love Ru fanfic To-Love-DEATH ends with a zombie invasion though several characters have escaped the school by helicopter. The city is in chaos and the story leaves them still in the chopper. Not to mention the author announces the sequel imminently afterward "See you in To-love-Carnage!"
  • Flutterspy: The conversation between Fluttershy and Fleur de Lis at the end of the story hints that there might be future adventures. And the very last line is a Wham Line: "Fleur returned the smile, and decided not to tell [Fluttershy] about the other Snakes."
  • Most of The Ghost Map's final chapter is a Sequel Hook, with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and Inspector Lestrade fully aware now that Moriarty is out there and will be returning. But it's the final scene with Moriarty himself that really clinches it.
  • At the end of With Strings Attached, the four (especially Ringo) ask to be given another opportunity to use their magical bodies.
  • My Little Avengers: After the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue showing what's happened to all the characters in the year following Loki's defeat, the last scene shows Trixie essentially becoming the MLP version of Doctor Doom and swearing revenge on all who have opposed her.
  • The last chapter of Mortality sets the stage for the next novel, The Road to Reichenbach, by showing Sherlock Holmes receiving an offer from the French government (as mentioned in "The Final Problem"). The epilogue goes on to sum up the characters with the Reichenbach Falls used as a motif.
  • The coda of The Stars Will Aid Their Escape reveals that Nyarlathotep impregnated Fluttershy as a backup plan.
  • Post Nuptials, the first story of The Nuptialverse, deals with the emotional fallout of Twilight's friends not believing her in "A Canterlot Wedding", and while most of it is dealt with, Spike still feels incredibly guilty and won't speak to Twilight. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash senses something is wrong with Scootaloo, and Pinkie is dealing with her own family issues. All of these problems are dealt with in the sequel Families.
    • The side story Metamorphosis ends with Chrysalis swearing revenge on Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadance.
    • Families ends with Discord contacting Chrysalis in a dream and ordering her to meet with an "associate" of his in order to plan his release. Meanwhile, relations with the dragons are now tense due to Garble's actions, and on top of that, several canon Season 3 events are alluded to (Trixie plotting her revenge, the reemergence of the Crystal Empire).
  • At the end of Earth and Sky, Chrysalis is still on the loose, and has embarked on a scheme to replenish her strength by becoming a beloved foal actress.
  • Hard Reset dangles one of these by way of a Cryptic Conversation.
  • In the Total Drama story Courtney and the Violin of Despair, Courtney acquires the similarly cursed Violin of Doom at the end of the story. Subverted in that the story's closing note of uncertainty is actually a nod to the sci-fi classics of the 1950s, which tended to leave room for a sequel despite there being no plans for a sequel. So far as is known, the author has no plans to actually write a sequel (which would obviously be titled Courtney and the Violin of Doom); but he has stated that if he ever does, it might be something like The Perils of Pauline and would probably be openly pro-Courtney as opposed to the revenge fic subversion of the original.
  • Faith and Doubt ends with the words "End of Volume 1" and credits. It then cuts to the five remaining elements of harmony discussing their plans to invade Equestria and take over the bodies of the Bearers.
    • The sequel, The Abundance, does it again: Everything is wrapped up and the characters get a happy ending...except Princess Celestia and Luna's adopted father, Lord Tydal, escapes from the afterlife to warn them that the precursors to the ponies are coming and will be bringing hellfire with them.
  • The Justice League of Equestria series has a setup of each story having two sequel hooks — one for each individual story's potential sequel, and the other being part of the setup for the eventual main crossover between all the storylines:
    • Mare of Steel: First, there's the fact that Silversmith is still free, and has samples of Supermare's DNA to experiment on. Then, the last scene shows Darkseid opening a boomtube to Equestria.
    • The Princess of Themyscria: Ares, defeated by Diana and now trapped in Tartarus, meets Circe, setting up a future Villain Team-Up. And then the last scene has Athena revealing to Hippolyta that Ares opening a portal to Tartarus has created a crack in reality that Apokolips can take advantage of.
  • The New Look Series has a couple of these.
    • Link's New Look 1 ends with Peach calls Toad to pick up some stuff that she plans to use on Link in the near future.
    • Sonic's New Look 1.5 ends with Sonic leaving with his makeover undone, but Rouge has the security footage on the day's events and has plans for them.
  • Examples from The Calvinverse:
  • Shadows Awakening: The epilogue involves Captain Black recruiting the J-Team to head a new subdivision within Section 13 dedicated to magical threats, Tohru becomes a full chi wizard and takes on Jade as an apprentice, and in the last scene, Daolon Wong's apprentice emerging to take control of his resources.
  • MLP Next Generation: Know Fear! ends with three hooks: Starburst dedicates herself to continuing to fight the war, even as a renegade; meanwhile, unknown to her, Nox is raised as a Black Lantern; and in the final scene two more power rings — one Orange, the other Violet — arrive on Equestria.
    • The sequel likewise ends with three hooks: first, there's a self-exiled (and still partially corrupted) Nidra joining up with Starburst, then there's Annie deciding to keep fighting to protect Equestria, and finally, two more rings — one Red, one Indigo — arrive in orbit, but pause there due to complications in finding hosts.
  • Planet of the Cats ends with the possibility of exploring more of the titular world beyond where even the Catians have gone.
  • Aftermath of the Games ends with Sunset and Sci-Twi now working with Princess Twilight to discover how magic works in the human world before it becomes too widespread and noticeable, Princess Twilight is now able to talk to the Human Flash Sentry more with a magic journal just like Sunset has, and and the now-unemployed Cinch is approached by Miss Chrysalis to discuss a common interest in magic.
  • Child of the Storm, intended as the first book in a multi-volume series, ends with a number of dangling plot threads: while HYDRA is defeated, a number of its leaders escape to rebuild, while their threat causes the governments of the world to start their own superhuman programs (including the resurgence of the Red Room). Chthon's temporary rising is causing various evils around the universe to stir. A resurrected Voldemort strikes an alliance with Selene. And all the while, as Doctor Strange foretells, Thanos is waiting in the wings.
    • The sequel Ghosts of the Past ends with several plot thread setups, mostly due to the fact that it grew so long that the author split off the back half as its own story, The Phoenix and the Serpent. These include Umbridge being set to Hogwarts to oversee security for the remaining parts of the Triwizard Tournament, Voldemort preparing the next stages of his plan, Strange sending Harry through a portal for the next part of his training (implied to involve time travel), Malekith being revealed to be working with Surtur, and the Shi'ar receiving a recorded message warning about Doomsday.
  • The epilogue of Entities of Emotion is very much The Stinger, showing the Death Entity resurrecting King Sombra and taking him as a host, setting the stage for the Blackest Night to fall on Equestria.
  • At the end of Extremely Naughty, Adrien's mother returns, And she has a little girl too, signaling the start of Extremely Nice.
  • Empathy ends with the National Super Agency deciding to recruit the Big Hero team to work under the Anti-Villain League and a mysterious villainous figure visiting Callahan in jail and forcibly recruiting his services. This leads into Unity.
  • Convergence ends up with Talia al Ghul bringing Jason Todd Back from the Dead in order to make him escort her son Damian to Batman while she betrays her father.
  • Several of the Expanded Universe one-shots of Pokémon Reset Bloodlines can end this way:
    • Cynthia Gaiden ends with Cynthia looking forward to exploring an uncovered ruin in the Orange Islands after the weather at Shamouti stabilised.
    • Clay Interlude ends with Team Cipher having succeeded in saving Lovrina and being pleased with the power of the Shadow Pokemon demonstrated when Lovrina clashed with Clay and them moving forward with their plans.
    • Argenta Interlude featured the first appearance of Mitsumi, which leads directly into her role as a protagonist in The Wild Boy from Sinnoh.
    • Cipher Interlude ends with The Reveal that Mizutaro was turned into a Shadow Pokemon.
    • Astrid Gaiden ends with Astrid accepting Mabel's offer to train under her.
    • Guzma Interlude ends with Guzma making a phone call to Lusamine.
    • Sanpei Interlude ends with Capriccio promoted to Admin and assigned to plan and oversee a full-scale operation in Alola.
    • Kiawe Interlude ends with Capriccio and Naps preparing for the full-scale Alola operation and Capriccio planning to capture Darkrai for Team Cipher in exchange for help finding and killing all his nieces and nephews.
    • Blaine Interlude ends with Al, Ken & Harry of Team Rocket finding what they were looking for and reporting back to Giovanni.
    • Hala & Hau Interlude ends with Hala and Kukui preparing to establish Alola's Pokemon League.
    • Looker Interlude has two. The first is Blake being on Team Cipher's trail and assigned to Orre. The second is Koya having a lead on Newton's disappearance, that he was talking to a man named Kaisei.
    • Wicke & Nephew Interlude has Hala inform Frax and Velvet that the time has finally come for their Grand Trial.
    • The G-Men Interlude leaves three: Krysta being assigned to recruit a vigilante bloodliner trio for their ranks, Lance getting a call from Clair that his father wants to see him, and Frey calling Lorelei to meet up and spend some time together.
    • Jane Jackrum Interlude ends with Professor Hastings contacting Professor Oak with an idea to bring peace to Trainer and Ranger nations.
    • Steven Interlude ends with Steven contacting Lysandre, requesting for help in searching for the Megalith shards to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
    • The Melemele Grand Trial Interlude ends with two, ranging from the minor bit of Frax possibly about to capture a Hawlucha, to the more serious bit of Lusamine detecting Cosmog and calling for Zilant to find it for her.
  • Queen of All Oni ends with several dangling plot threads meant to set up future sequels:
    • Tohru, now a fully fledged chi wizard, takes a still-Shadowkhan (but no longer corrupted) Jade and Left/Lee with him on his journey to help her find redemption and her new place in the world.
    • Viper, still physically a Shadowkhan, leaves in order to hunt down Blankman in the hopes that the stolen Monkey talisman can restore her humanity.
    • Blankman, using the ten talismans he managed to steal, seizes control of the Magisters to pursue his own agenda.
    • El Toro quits lucha libre, and is recruited by Ramirez and his associates in the Mexican magical community to fight the new evils on the horizon.
    • Two of the Oni essences, whose Generals were killed during the Final Battle, are as a result not sealed with Tarakudo and the others, and are therefore still potentially in play if they find new hosts.
    • The degradation of the Grand Design is implied to have started, causing ancient sealed evils to start being released, like a wolf made out of smoke that possesses a teen Uncle hired, which the story ends with Jackie chasing.
  • Heart of Fire, the first part of The Heart Trilogy, ends with Kathryn dying as she tries to use her magic to save Smaug from death and overexerts herself. However, a mysterious figure takes her body away with unknown intents as the heartbroken and dying dragon sinks in the Long Lake. However, afterwards Andraya and Freyja fish from the lake a comatose man who has the same appearance as Smaug when he has taken a human form in Kathryn's dreams.note 
  • Old West: Though the Big Bad and his henchmen have been dealt with, Henry is still at large and hasn't yet confronted Rattlesnake Jake for killing his brother. Also, Jake's lover Grace Glossy owes Henry a favor (for telling her where the Big Bad imprisoned her son) which he promises to claim someday.
  • It's more or less heavily implied that All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird will get a sequel, since it's the first story in the Twice Upon an Age series. But just to make it absolutely clear, the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue sets it up by having the story's editor - Varric Tethras - tell the author what it's going to cover. (It Makes Sense in Context.)
  • Young Justice: Darkness Falls, At the very end of the fic, while their plans have been halted for now, Lex Luthor is now plotting to create Metallo to fight the League, which finally happens in Young Justice Titans.
  • Hellsister Trilogy: At the very end of the first fic, it's revealed that Darkseid was the one who kidnapped Satan Girl and Mordru's baby with the aim of raising him into his perfect and utterly loyal weapon.
  • In Avatar: The Last Alicorn's last chapter, Twilight begins getting land for the future Republic City, and Tirek escapes his bonds, setting himself up as a future foe and the possible equivalent of Amon and a little bit of Vaatu for the future.
  • Control ends with Yukari running off again after deciding to keep her baby. A few months later, Nyamo finds a letter inviting her to a wedding between Yukari and a guy she's never heard of (and who isn't the baby's father). This was meant to lead into a sequel but the sequel was never written.
  • The Thomas & Friends fanfic A Cracked Ruby ends with a stationmaster looking at a poster for the Great Railway Show and asking the Flying Scotsman if he would like to participate, leading to the author's adaptation of Thomas & Friends: The Great Race.
  • There Was Once an Avenger From Krypton:
    • Close Encounters of a Gem Kind ends with a distress call in a modern Altean dialect, mentioning Etheria.
    • Changing of the Guard ends with Carol talking to Max and Rook about a coup on Akiridion-V, with the royal children fleeing to Earth. In addition, the Forever Knights are aware of Ben having the Omnitrix and the Trolls underneath Arcadia, and are definitely plotting something.
    • Thanatos Scowled ends with Nico and Ellie heading to the UK to recruit a witch for their team.
  • Guardians, Wizards, and Kung-Fu Fighters: The story's version of Season 1 ends with various loose threads: Captain Black beginning a secret investigation into the Dark Hand's infiltration of Section 13, the Dark Hand preparing some kind of magical WMD, Nerissa and Ludmoore both plotting the next steps in their respective plans, the Cavalcade of Horrors and their Master preparing for the culmination of their own plan, and a grieving Jade leaving Earth for Meridian.
  • Avengers of the Multi-verse: The first season ends with the Cabal still active, the Avengers planning to recruit allies from their respective dimensions to counter the Cabal, and the mysterious leader of G3 stating he will reveal himself in the future.
  • All Mixed Up! ends with Oprah receiving an order of ten jars of jellybeans and remarking that "I hope she likes these..." While not intended to be an out-and-out sequel, the fanfic Patterns of the Past follows up on it, as we get to see exactly who she ordered the jellybeans for.
  • Castling Cozy Glow ends with Cozy (more or less) officially going from Villain Protagonist to Reformed, but Not Tamed and (reluctantly) agreeing to become Twilight's friendship student in hopes that she'll eventually be able to earn the power and position she wants legitimately, like Twilight herself did. While her release and reformation is officially announced to Equestria at large. And the epilogue has Twilight getting a letter from her sister-in-law, Princess Candence, asking her to take her daughter, Flurry Heart on as her student as well.

    Film — Animated 
  • The Adventures of Tintin (2011) combines this with And the Adventure Continues, when Tintin shows Captain Haddock the scroll he discovered in the globe where Sir Francis kept his treasure, leading to the rest of the Unicorn's treasure.
    Tintin: How's your thirst for adventure, Captain?
    Haddock: Unquenchable, Tintin!
  • An American Tail ends with Fievel riding on the back of his pigeon friend Henri. When he looks to the west, beyond New York City, and asks if he can explore more of America, Henri replies "Someday, you will!" This scene was replayed at the beginning of the trailer for the sequel, with the voice-over declaring "That day...is now!".
  • The post-credits scene for Batman vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has Shredder escaping the ruins of Ace Chemicals Jokerized.
  • BIONICLE films:
    • Mask of Light ends with the discovery of a strange underground sea and island, Metru Nui. The appropriately titled prequel, Legends of Metru Nui, tells the story of how it was abandoned.
    • Legends of Metru Nui has an attempted hook before the climax. Lhikan drops the revelation the the evil Makuta was originally a protector just like him. This was intended as a setup for more prequel films told in backwards order, one of which would have delved into Makuta's origin and his turn to evil. After LEGO's market research showed that kids were confused by prequel stories, this flashback film was scrapped, and the backstories of Lhikan, Makuta and others were told via books, comics and online stories. Instead, LOMN's credits ended with Makuta's eyes lighting up to set up his return, which didn't surprise anyone, given that the film was a prequel. In place of the unmade origin movie, Web of Shadows was produced, which explained how Makuta escaped from his crystal prison after LOMN.
    • The Legend Reborn ends with Mata Nui and the other heroes discovering that uniting the settlements of Bara Magna (literally, by pulling them together) creates a Humongous Mecha and that the patterns on a stray coin and on the shield of a defeated Skrall soldier depict a map. They set out to find where it leads, with Mata Nui's friends determined to accompany him... and the toy-line got canceled, the sequel scrapped, so the story had to be wrapped up in a comic in which Mata Nui left his friends behind due to the page-limit.
  • Freddie as F.R.O.7 had a huge one at the end with Freddie's evil aunt escaping and him getting called over to Washington D.C. There was in fact, already a sequel in the works, but it got shelved when the movie didn't do well and the American release cut half the hook out.
  • In Frozen II, Olaf asks if the whole "putting us in mortal danger" thing is going to be a regular occurrence, but Elsa just laughs and says "No, we're done." Didn't stop Disney from green lighting a third movie anyway.
  • The Challenge Of The Go Bots movie GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords had Magmar, leader of the malevolent Rock Lords, survive his battle against the Guardians and the benevolent Rock Lords and vowing revenge as well as Marbles, one of the benevolent Rock Lords, state that he's sure they'll meet the Guardians again someday.
  • Hoodwinked! ends with Red, Granny, Wolf, and Twitchy getting invited to join the Happily Ever After Agency by Nicky Flippers. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil would follow up on this plot point.
  • The Incredibles ends with The Underminer arising from the Earth's surface and threatening an all-out war against humanity; the film's sequel, Incredibles 2, picks up from this exact place in the story, while ending on a similarly cliff-hanging note at the end.
  • Kung Fu Panda:
    • Kung Fu Panda: In hindsight, the blatant Unreveal of why Po the panda has a goose for a father could be considered the Sequel Hook for the first film, this question finally being answered in the second.
    • Kung Fu Panda 2, however, ended on a definite Sequel Hook with The Reveal that Po's biological father and several other pandas survived the genocide of their kind, setting off Kung Fu Panda 3.
  • The LEGO Movie ends with the Duplo aliens coming to Bricksburg. The sequel that came out five years later, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, does begin with that scene but then immediately fast-forwards to, well, five years later, where it's shown that the aliens have turned the city into a desolate Mad Max-esque landscape called "Apocalypseburg''.
  • The Lion King (1994) has Simba and Nala giving birth. It works as a Bookends, as it's how the film started and continues the theme of the Circle of Life, but it also sets up a new character for the following film.
  • Puss in Boots: The Last Wish ends with Puss, Kitty, and Perrito visiting the Kingdom of Far Far Away, setting up a possible reunion between Puss and Shrek.
  • The Stinger at the end of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks features Human Twilight Sparkle's investigating the magical happenings at CHS, setting up the third film.
    • Just before the credits roll in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Legend of Everfree, Sunset wonders where the Equestrian magic that hit the rock quarry cave came from. Cue a shot of the portal to Equestria, still cracked from the events of the previous film, leaking several colorful swirls of Equestrian magic, setting up the magic source for the major villains of the upcoming specials and future Equestria Girls movies.
  • Invoked at the end of The Rescuers where the child in distress at the end of the film is actually implied to be from Australia.
  • Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf ends with Shaggy stating that he and Scooby are through with werewolves, vampires, and monsters forever. Dracula and the Hunch Bunch beg to differ.
    Dracula: That's what he thinks!
    Dracula and the Hunch Bunch: We're back!
  • Parodied in The Simpsons Movie, where the family is watching the credits at the end. Maggie's first word is "Sequel."
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ends with Miles in his dorm listening to music when a portal suddenly opens up above him, with Gwen's voice asking Miles if he's got a minute.
  • In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Peach's backstory prior to ending in the Mushroom Kingdom is yet to be resolved, plus though she and Mario end the story as close friends, some of their Ship Tease moments already laid out groundwork for their friendship to eventually blossom into romance. Also in the post-credit scene, a Yoshi egg is shown to be hatching in the sewer. On top of all this, a lot of other major charters from the Mario Franchise (such as Princess Daisy) never made an appearance in the first film, setting them up to be major characters for future Mario Bros films and maybe even spin off games like Luigi's Mansion.
  • Subverted in Superman: Brainiac Attacks; after Superman finishes pummeling Brainiac's body into scrap, the chip that remains of the original Brainiac is seen ominously blinking amidst the wreckage...until Superman's fist comes down on it, smashing it to pieces.
  • Played straight in Superman: Doomsday: Lex Luthor, having been seemingly killed by the Superman clone earlier in the movie, turns up in a body cast at the end, musing over whether or not Superman is really impossible to destroy.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem: The Stinger features the reveal that Dr. Utrom is spying on the Turtles, and is considering hiring "The Shredder" to hunt them down and bring them to her.
  • TMNT ends with Karai suggesting a familiar face from the past will return, suggesting a sequel to the 2007 film would've featured the return of The Shredder.
  • Toy Story has "wow, a puppy!" Toy Story 2 has "worried about Andy?" Toy Story 3 avoids this. Even so, there was a Toy Story 4. Said film also notably averts this, but that didn't stop a fifth movie from being announced.
  • The Winx Club movie The Secret of the Lost Kingdom ends with The Reveal that in the process of Bloom destroying Mandragora and the Obsidian Circle, she unknowingly freed the spirits of the Ancestral Witches, who search for new hosts to possess, and turn to their descendants: the Trix. This issue was later solved in the second movie, Magical Adventure.

    Literature 

By Author:

  • Dale Brown has various hooks in his book-endings. For example, Battle Born ended with the Dreamland staffers offering Rebecca Furness command of a new unit, while Air Battle Force ended on the then Russian president threatening another war with the Americans.
  • Dante Alighieri:
    • In Canto 5 of Dante's Paradiso, Dante asks the identity of a supernaturally glad soul from Mercury, only for the narration to tell us that this soul will only sing in the next canto.
    • The Vita Nuova ends with a reference to an unseen vision which inspires the poet to praise his deceased beloved in ways never achieved before. Nine years later, that inspiration would bear fruit with the first canto of the Inferno.
  • Rick Riordan:
    • Percy Jackson and the Olympians has a not so prominent one at the end of the last book, when the new resident Oracle spouts another prophecy. Though it is almost immediately Hand Waved with a "who knows when it could happen or if it's even about you guys" speech, it's pretty obvious that it will lead to a sequel series, which it has.
    • The Heroes of Olympus has a Sequel Hook in every installment besides the third, which is a straight up cliffhanger.
      • The Lost Hero's ending has Jason deducing that Percy is at Camp Jupiter.
      • The Son of Neptune ending has a holographic scroll made by Leo being found by Percy, as The Argo II flies into Camp Jupiter, signalling that the Seven spoken of in the Prophecy of Seven are about to unite.
      • The House of Hades has the looming threat of Gaea rising on August 1st and Nico, Reyna, and Coach Hedge going on a journey to shadow travel the Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood.
      • The Blood of Olympus ends with Apollo being teleported to Olympus for an unknown punishment by Zeus. Meanwhile, the Oracle's gift of prophecy is still unable to be accessed by Rachel. Both of these lead into The Trials of Apollo.

By Work:

  • The first book of the Ahriman Trilogy has one of the more obvious ones: "And she was going to summon a god."
  • Alternate Routes by Tim Powers ends with an epilogue in which the two protagonists go their separate ways but arrange a way that they can get back in touch with each other if it should be necessary, and it's mentioned in passing that they've each started manifesting a new psychic power as a consequence of the experience they've just been through. Powers's next novel, Forced Perspectives, is the first direct and immediate sequel of his career, bringing the same two characters back together a year later for another adventure, in which their new powers play a significant part.
  • Anno Dracula 1899: One Thousand Monsters ends with an invitation to a millenium party at the location of the novel, setting up the Time Skip of Anno Dracula 1999: Daikaiju. It, in turn, ended with a scene that was tied to the climax of the novel, but mostly involved a completely different group of people facing an entirely seperate villain in another country. The first indicated "Christina Light's story will continue", the second "Now that the Christina Light story is over, here's what we're going to do next".
  • The Death Note novel Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases has a note by the narrator in the final chapter saying that, if he had more time, he would write about two other stories L told him. A pretty blatant set-up for more novels like it.
  • Each book in J.R. Ward's crack-like Black Dagger Brotherhood series features a Sequel Hook embedded as the B- or C-plot of the current book. You'll be fiending for the next book before you've even finished the one you're on.
  • The end of the comic neo-noir City of Devils has Nick's next case coming through the door: the witch Hexene Candlemas, hiring him to find her toad. The sequel does in fact follow up on this hook and sets one up of its own, with the LAPD hauling in the private detective to work for them.
  • The epilogue of Crime and Punishment warns that the redemption of Raskolnikov, now enduring the punishment for his crime, will not be given to him for free, that there is suffering ahead before his eventual renewal and discovery of a life he never new existed...but that's another story for another time.note 
  • Daemon ends with Sebeck and companion setting off on a road trip across America, leading into their part of Freedom.
  • The Dinosaur Lords clearly likes its sequel hooks.
    • In book one:
      • Melodía going towards Providence to hide from Falk.
      • Karyl and Rob getting thrown to jail in their last scene.
      • The Emperor implying that his confessor knew about Falk's plan all along.
      • Most of all, the Cryptic Conversation between Raguel and Uriel.
    • Book two manages to trump all that with the last-scene reveal that Emperor's confessor was a Grey Angel all along.
  • All three of Terry Pratchett's Moist von Lipwig Discworld novels contain sequel hooks, but only the first one of them was picked up on. In Going Postal, the Patrician Lord Vetinari is seen making an offer to one Reacher Gilt to reform the Royal Mint in the same manner as the Post Office had been in the book. This task was eventually undertaken by Lipwig in Making Money, and at the end of that one Vetinari muses how useful an asset Lipwig has proved to be and also how the City's tax system is in dire need of reform. But the third Lipwig novel turned out to be Raising Steam, and is about trains rather than taxes. It ends with a Goblin inventor showing the Patrician his new prototype bicycle. This hook never got used due to Pratchett having Died During Production.
  • Two examples from Distortionverse:
    • The last section of Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo in which it is revealed that doll #4 is still alive.
    • The ending of Chapter 2 - Rosenmaester, which is the connection between this novel and the previous one. In the last chapter, the Big Bad is seen wandering through the city in a semi-unconscious state, while actually still being alive. This actually makes sense, since Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina is set one year later than Rosenmaester.
  • Happens several times in the Dora Wilk Series:
    • Gods Must Be Crazy ends with Raphael declaring open war with Dora.
    • Winner Takes It All has the Trio find out about some unspecified vampire problem and setting out to solve it.
    • Exorcisms of Dora Wilk closes with Dora having a dream of Varg being kidnapped.
  • Dragonlance: The hook involved with the Kang's Regiment books is rather unusual in that it's not only in the second of the existing books (that number itself implies a third volume, because Dragonlance multi-part novels almost always come in groups of 3) but in the ending of the War Of Souls trilogy. In Draconian Measures, the city Kang is trying to reach so he can found a Draconian civilization is named Teyr. The readers know from material set chronologically later that Teyr is a Draconian city, and there's an interesting bit in Dragons of the Vanished Moon where a bunch of Draconians from Teyr show up and fight against Takhisis and her forces (keep in mind, Kang starts out as a faithful servant of Takhisis, so this is a Heel–Face Turn for him). Two unnamed but familiar Draconians appear among the collection of enemies Takhisis magics to her to watch the moment of her triumph, as well.
  • Quite prevalent in The Dresden Files:
    • Changes had Harry getting shot and dying as the last scene in the book.
    • Ghost Story has Harry set to head to the Sidhe Court as the Winter Knight to do as Mab bids, leaving his friends not knowing that he did not die.
  • The epilogue-like last chapter of Ender's Game is titled "Speaker for the Dead", and was written to set up the identically-named sequel to the book.
  • The sudden appearance of the Blatant Beast at the end of Book V of The Faerie Queene sets up his role as antagonist of Book Six.
  • At the end of Ffangs the Vampire Bat and the Kiss of Truth, the newly-human titular character's sister is kidnapped, and he sets off to rescue her, with the last line being "(The adventures of Ffangs will be continued in the next book)". The sequel was never written.
  • On the last page of Foundation and Earth, Isaac Asimov sets up a sequel (in a way that is somewhat difficult to summarize briefly or without massive spoilers). Unfortunately, he didn't actually have any definite ideas for that sequel and he died before he could come up with one.
  • The explicitly referenced buildup of magic at the other end of the Grand Bow River in Patricia C. Wrede's Frontier Magic.
  • The Girl from the Miracles District:
    • The first book ends with Nikita finding a note telling her to find "the truth" in a distant location.
    • The second book's ending has Nikita telling Robin that she knows a guy who can get them to the Archive, where the secret of Robin's identity is hidden.
  • Girls Kingdom's fourth book ends on a note that Misaki had no idea how crazy things were going to get soon. So far, no fifth book has been published.
  • After the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone is destroyed at the end of the first Harry Potter book, Dumbledore says that there are still other ways Voldemort can return. Voldemort spends the rest of the series proving Dumbledore right.
    • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ends with Harry deciding to leave Hogwarts to find and destroy the Horcruxes that will make Voldemort vulnerable, which tells the reader that the series' traditional formula will be thrown by the wayside for the final installment.
    • Some fans really hoped that the controversial epilogue is one of these, despite the author saying that it is not. It's practically an anti- sequel hook, since it seems to only exist to assure us that they all lived Happily Ever After. Ultimately, however, its events would be continued in the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
  • The last chapter of the first book of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is essentially an advertisement for the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. The place was encountered in the radio series immediately after the episodes adapted into the first book; the second book was indeed named The Restaurant at the End of the Universe but did not reach the Restaurant until the middle. It's been claimed that the last chapter was added on by the editors to wrap up the completed pages after Adams missed his deadline.
  • Believe it or not, J. R. R. Tolkien adjusted The Hobbit in a later edition to help it be the prequel of The Lord of the Rings. Which would make it a Retcon Sequel Hook. In the first edition, Gollum was honest in the riddle game and showed Bilbo the way out of the caves in recompense when he realized he could not give him the ring.
  • Imminent Danger and How To Fly Straight into It ends this way, with Eris deciding to leave behind her life on Earth, and return to exploring the stars with Varrin. The villains have been defeated and the heroes look set to live happily ever after...and then Eris learns that the pendant Varrin gave her means they are now technically married. And she's not happy about it.
  • Jurassic Park (1990) ends with one of these wherein Dr. Grant, being kept in Costa Rica by their government, who is still investigating the Isla Nublar incident, is approached by an agent of the U.S. government about a path of destruction being carved through South America by a group of 'strange reptiles' that are swarming farms and devouring plants with lysine, the amino acid Hammond had all the dinosaurs bred to be dependent upon. Unfortunately, this hook was ignored, and the follow-up book The Lost World (1995) was a sequel to the movie.
  • At the end of The Magic Map, after David has spent the past 31 chapters getting to know the Western Hemisphere, Geography tells David that he'll be having another adventure in the Living Map soon, this time in the Eastern Hemisphere. After this is said, David wakes up.
  • In MARZENA during the final dream sequence of Book 1, Lauren must chase after the shadow of a woman with black hair, going through a rain of fire, ice and blood and other weird alien symbolism. The Narrator, who we have never met in the book and who we know almost next to nothing about, admits at the end that the shadow woman was her and that Marian was once like a sister to her. We still know next to nothing about their relationship.
  • The Mister ends with Alessia's father demanding that Maxim and Alessia marry in four days; they're fine with this but Maxim remarks that when they get back to the UK, they'll have to deal with his mother's reaction to their hasty marriage.
  • The Mouse Watch has one in an epilogue. We're introduced to Kryptos, the mysterious leader of R.A.T.S., who says that he anticipated the failure of Dr. Thornpaw's Evil Plan and is ready to launch another scheme.
  • Murderess ends with the introduction of a character named Tyler Killer, who is apparently very evil and probably not too bright, but extremely dangerous nonetheless.
  • Myth Adventures: At the end of Hit or Myth, Skeeve reveals to Aahz that their new residence has a hidden, heavily-padlocked back door to an unknown dimension. Sure enough, they find out what's on the other side in the next novel, Myth-ing Persons.
  • The Night of the Triffids ends with the protagonists, who live in one of the few surviving enclaves after the collapse of civilization, receiving a radio signal from another, previously unknown, group of survivors, and making plans for an expedition to find them.
  • The Notorious Scarlett and Browne, the second of the Scarlett and Browne books, provides two:
    • Scarlett has learned that her brother Thomas, whom she thought dead, may be alive and vows to search for him.
    • Albert intends to return to Stonemoor to help others with powers like him that the Faith Houses are trying to take advantage of.
  • Parellity ends with the main plot hook resolved, but some hanging threads, including Atlantis, what plans Abend has for Harborage and the gang, and everything to do with the Vaccine. Not to mention whatever the fuck was going on in chapter one.
  • The epilogue of The Radiant Dawn sets up for a potential sequel involving the alien race aboard the orbiting ship.
  • In the Rainbow Magic series, the Weather Fairies series ended with the girls receiving the fairy lockets, which promised many adventures ahead.
  • Rendezvous with Rama: After a mysterious alien object passes through the solar system, the book ends with the portentous sentence, 'The Ramans do everything in threes'. (Whether or not a second Rama, let alone a third, is presented in the sequels at all is debatable.) In a subversion, Clarke admitted that it was just a throwaway line; he never actually intended to write a sequel. note 
  • The Tarot Sequence: The first book of the series, The Last Sun, sets up three hooks, one of which would be central to the next book, and two others that set up larger, series spamming plots:
    • The first one: Matthias reveals that he was promised to marry The Hanged Man, who still wants him, to Rune and Brand's displeasure.
    • The second one: Rune reveals he has a secret apartment in town, which he uses as base of operation in a 20 year long investigation to find the 9 men that assaulted him and destroyed his house.
    • The third one: The Hermit appears to Rune, to cryptically warn him he is part of a prophecy.
  • Thursday Next is full of these, but they're so tongue-in-cheek and playful, they don't even seem like marketing gimmicks. One happens at the end of First Among Sequels, when Thursday discovers that since someone has been trying to get rid of literary serials, there's a serial killer loose in the Book World!
  • Trigger Warning: After Jake, a military veteran college student, completes the book's Die Hard in a university plot, he meets a minor character who was killing terrorists at the same time as him, Dog, who suddenly reveals himself to be his long-lost uncle. Dog then regales him for several pages about his backstory, the secret government initiative that allows him to roam the country killing bad guys at his discretion, and the suped-up truck he drives while doing so. Dog then recruits Jake to team up with him, and the book ends. Guess we'll have to wait for a sequel to learn about their thrilling adventures!
  • A True History by Lucian, considered one of the earliest Science Fiction stories, ends with the promise of a sequel.
  • At the end of The Ultra Violets book 2, Power to the Purple, it's revealed that Opal and her mother have samples of the Iris', Scarlet's, and Cheri's hair at BeauTek. Given the company's reputation for reckless genetic engineering, this is very worrying, to say the least.
  • At the end of Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers, we get a glimpse of Ruf Bilan the traitor escaping his cell and fleeing into the underground tunnels. He goes on to kickstart the conflict of Seven Underground Kings.
  • During the course of James Swallow's Warhammer 40,000 novel Red Fury, Fabius Bile obtained some of the "sacred vitae" from the Blood Angels. During the Dénouement, Dante informs Rafen of this, and sends him after it.

    Live-Action TV 

Series:

  • The 100 tends to combine this with Saved for the Sequel, wherein a secondary plotline is given a major twist at the end of each season, and then becomes the main focus of the next season.
    • Season 1: The Mountain Men, frequently mentioned to be an enemy of the Grounders, capture the remaining delinquents using modern technology after the climactic battle.
    • Season 2: Murphy and Jaha search for the City of Light, only to find the AI A.L.I.E., responsible for the nuclear devastation a century ago.
    • Season 3: While shutting down A.L.I.E. for good, Clarke finds out that remaining nuclear reactors are breaking down, and the deadly radiation will cover the entire planet in a matter of months.
    • Season 4: There are several mentions of the Eligus Mining Corporation across the season, which pays off when one of their spaceships shows up in the final scene.
    • Season 5: Everyone enters cryo-sleep to wait for Earth to recover. Clarke and Bellamy are awoken to find that Monty and Harper figured out that Earth wouldn’t recover and died of old age on the ship, leaving behind their son Jordan. However, they also figured out where to find another habitable planet, and the ship has just arrived there.
    • Season 6: The Anomaly goes crazy after Gabriel finally figures out how to interact with it. Diozya’s now-teenage daughter Hope suddenly appears and tells Octavia that her mother has been captured by "him" and stabs her, resulting in Octavia turning into mist and vanishing. Also, Octavia seems to be unsurprised by any of it despite not recalling any of her previous time in the Anomaly.
  • Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.:
    • Season 1 ends with quite a few dangling threads for Season 2 to pick up on: Coulson is now Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and tasked with rebuilding the organization after the HYDRA infiltration; meanwhile, he has started to compulsively draw the same alien symbols that Garrett did after taking the GH325 serum. Fitz, meanwhile, is left in critical condition after his near-Heroic Sacrifice, with his future uncertain. At the same time, both Quinn and Raina escape Garrett's downfall, the former still in possession of the gravitonium, and the latter getting in touch with a mysterious figure who is apparently Skye's father. There's also a nice subversion, where Garret starts to augment himself with cybernetic implants after everyone assumed he was dead. Right as it seems like he's going to be an even bigger threat for the second season, Coulson pops out of nowhere and casually vaporizes him mid-villain speech.
    • Season 2 ends with Coulson tasking Skye with putting together a team together to deal with the rise of the Inhumans, and Simmons being absorbed by the Kree artifact.
    • Season 3 ends with a six month Time Skip, revealing that in the interim, Skye has gone rogue and become a vigilante, and is being chased by Coulson, who is no longer Director of SHIELD.
    • Season 4 ends with Team Coulson being abducted by mysterious government agents and finding themselves in space.
  • The final episode of Akumaizer 3 has the titular Power Trio defeating the Final Boss, but in the process to pull an effective Heroic Sacrifice to do so and the finale ends with the capsules containing their souls slowly floating away. This sets up the plot of the Sequel Series Choujin Bibyun, in which the Akumaizer 3's souls imbue three humans with their power so they can continue defending humanity.
  • Alex Rider: Kyra has run off somewhere, and it's not clear what her plans are. Yassen Gregorovitch is working for Scorpia, who Blunt thought had been defeated long ago. Yassen has seen Alex, and seems to know who he is.
  • Arrested Development ends with Maeby meeting with director Ron Howard and pitching the story of her family as a TV show. In an obvious bit of foreshadowing, the final line of dialogue has Howard saying the story might work better as a movie. Sure enough, the series has been Un-Cancelled for at least one season by Netflix.
    • The new season itself ends with a number of hooks for more episodes, such as George Michael apparently having impregnated a woman in Spain, Buster being accused of murdering Lucille 2, the web vigilante group Anonymous coming after the family, and Lindsay getting into politics.
  • The Doctor Blake Mysteries: The very second episode, "The Greater Good", ends with the murderer caught — but Blake and Lawson realize that he was working on behalf of someone else who let him shoulder all the blame, and wonder who that might be. There would eventually be a Sequel Episode that followed up on this.
  • Doctor Who:
  • At the end of the first season of Emerald City, Jane sends Dorothy back to Kansas against her will, but later Lucas comes to take her back to Oz because Jane has been taken prisoner by the Beast Forever.
  • Season 1 of Happy! ends with a stinger wherein Zombie!Mikey visits Mr. Blue in prison and finally delivers the password to him. This results in him becoming possessed.
  • Heroes
    • Sylar's body disappearing at the end of Season 1. Heroes loved this trope.
    • After Hiro Nakamura defeats Adam Monroe, he's shown trapped in a coffin, still alive; a clear indication that the character would return to menace the heroes at some point later.
  • The first season of Lexx ends with the heroes slaying the Gigashadow and escaping into the Dark Zone ready to find a new home. As Xev embraces Kai, the camera zooms in on his face and a shadow flickers across his eyes...
  • Merlin: Arthur's gone, but there is that legend of how he'll return when Britain needs him most. Plus, Merlin's still alive in the present day...
  • The eleventh episode of Once Upon a Time season 3 seems like the series finale — until a Sequel Hook is brought by - who else - Captain Hook. A Sequel HOOK.
  • Power Rangers Turbo ends on a shock: Divatox defeats the Power Rangers utterly and entirely. Thus, to try and ensure the earth's safety before The United Alliance of Evil returns, they get a space shuttle, and launch into space, setting up Power Rangers in Space.
  • The second season finale of Pretty Little Liars ends with Mona being revealed as A. The scene ends with her sitting alone in a room in The Radley before telling someone in a red coat "I did everything you asked me to."
  • At the end of the Red Dwarf episode "Polymorph", after the crew defeats the eponymous creature, it is revealed that a second one has made it on board. Subverted in the remastered version, in which on-screen text reveals that this one, much less intelligent than the first, took up residence harmlessly in Lister's underwear drawer and eventually died of old age. Doubly subverted by the episode Emohawk: Polymorph II three series later in which they meet another one.
  • Root into Europe: The final episode has Mr. and Mrs. Root consider going on vacation to the United States next, but this hint to a sequel never came about.
  • The School Nurse Files ends with Radi asking Eun-young to see her mother, who sees ghosts.
  • Scream: Season 1 ends with the reveal that Audrey was working with and/or for the defeated and killed Ghostface killer all along.
  • At the end of Slasher season one, the mystery of the Executioner's identity has been solved and Sarah's house is being shown to its new tenants, a couple and their young daughter. In the last scene, the little girl casually breaks a cat's neck.
  • Stargate SG-1 specifically left the door open on the Ori threat in its final episode, for the express purpose of setting up the follow up movie Stargate: The Ark of Truth.
    • Word of God is that they were, for the first time ever, not expecting to be cancelled, so they didn't wrap up the current plotlines. Oops.
  • A television show can do this with its story arcs; alerting you that just because the episode ends, the plotline will continue. Take the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Q Who". The Enterprise has narrowly escaped The Borg by the skin of their teeth. As Captain Picard and Guinan discuss their near-defeat, Guinan points out that humanity was never supposed to encounter them (the Borg) that early. But since they have....
    Guinan: Of course, now...they know of your existence.
    Picard (with understanding dawning): They're... coming...
    • The first season's "Conspiracy", one of the darkest episodes of the series, ends with the alien infiltrators defeated, but not without evidence that they sent some of distress call. The intent was to have a sequel; however, aspects of it were instead incorporated into the Borg stories.
    • The sixth season's "Schisms" also ends with a similar possibility of a sequel, but due to no one being satisfied with how that episode turned out after it took a budget cut, that was dropped.
    • The end of the original series episode "Space Seed" became quite literally a Sequel Hook nearly 20 years later for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
  • Stranger Things
    • The Season 1 finale was originally supposed to make it clear that Eleven made a Heroic Sacrifice, killing the monster at the cost of her own life. However, when the show was renewed for a second season, the creators decided to make her death much more ambiguous, it being a case of Never Found the Body. Hopper is later seen placing Eggos, Eleven's Trademark Favorite Food, in a box in the woods, hinting that she is alive. Also, Will is seen coughing up a slug from the Upside-Down and his surroundings briefly flash into a resemblance of their Upside-Down counterparts, but it's left ambiguous whether or not he just imagined it. Hopper is approached by The Men in Black, but since he is still working as the town's chief of police after that, it seems he's managed to cut some kind of a deal with them. All storylines are addressed in the next season.
    • Season 2 cleans up most of the loose ends from Season 1, but leaves a few loose ends of it's own.
      • It ends with the child characters dancing at the Snow Ball, but the camera then pans to the Upside-Down where a new monster is seen watching over the school, very much alive.
      • Joyce, Nancy, and Jonathan exorcise the Mind Flayer's "virus" mist from Will, but it is not seen to be destroyed and instead flies off into the night.
      • Kali is still out there, abusing her psychic abilities for personal gain and revenge, and may have an issue with Eleven after the latter fled in chapter 7.
      • Finally, Dr. Brenner may still be alive, if the scientist tracked down by Kali and Eleven is to be believed.
    • In Season 3:
      • In The Stinger, the Russian Black Site's occupants include an "American", and a live, full-grown demogorgon.
      • Additionally, very few of the hooks from Season 2 are resolved in Season 3; the Mind Flayer is presumably still perfectly fine in the Upside-Down (and likely more pissed-off than ever), and Kali and potentially Dr. Brenner are still out there. The bit of the Mind Flayer that was exorcised from Will may have been destroyed when the new gate was sealed and its body was killed, but even that isn't confirmed; it persisted without a body and without a connection to the Upside-Down between seasons 2 and 3, after all.
  • The Wrong Mans: The car bomb at the end of series 1.

TV Movies:

  • The obscure UPN TV special Monster Trux 2000 - The New Thrillenium ends with the antagonist, "Big Daddy", in the Bigfoot monster truck saying "We'll be back!" and then letting out a Evil Laugh - possibly meant as a setup for a second event. The event was panned by the monster truck fandom and thus the event never happened.

    Mythology 

    Podcasts 
  • The first arc of the Cool Kids Table game Small Magic ends with the party reaching a windmill and finding a statue holding the spirit of…an oni? A tenshi? The spirit praises the kindness they've demonstrated and enlarges Byrb, allowing them all to fly to the Heavenly City.

    Tabletop Games 
  • One of the possible outcomes for whenever The Stinger comes up in a game of Die Laughing is a sequel hook, determined by the player whose character died first in the session.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: Although the Abyss storyline comes to a conclusive finish with the defeat of the Dogmatika Order, the final cards for the storyline reveal that there are still plot threads unresolved. Namely, Aluber is still alive and plotting his next move, while the 666 spirits of the Dogmatika Saints have fully manifested in the form of Guiding Quem, the Virtuous. Albaz and Ecclesia are also seen embarking on a brand-new adventure at the very end of the story with a new friend in tow.

    Theatre 
  • Henry IV, Part 1 ends with news that Northumberland and Archbishop Scroop are arming for war.
    • You'd think the "Part 1" in the title would kind of give away that a sequel was intended as well...
  • Henry VI Part 3 ends with Richard of Gloucester's (the future King Richard III) monologue where he talks about how he'll do anything to gain control of the crown- setting up for "Richard III".
  • Twelfth Night end with Malvolio pledging "I’ll be reveng’d on the whole pack of you!" which looks like a good setup for a tragedy to follow this comedy. Sadly, Shakespeare never did anything with it.
    • It has been argued that the sequel this set up was the real-life closing of the English theaters by the Malvolio-like Puritans.

    Visual Novels 
  • Arcade Spirits has an unanswered mystery revolving around an allegedly haunted arcade game known as "Polybius", with a mysterious individual eager to get their hands on it. So much so, they're willing to acquire the Big Bad in order to do so. There's also an in-universe advertisment for a sequel to Fist of Destruction, while out-of-universe also putting forth the possibility of a sequel to Arcade Spirits itself.
  • Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc has a particularly plot twisty one where after Junko Enoshima (the Big Bad) is executed, Monokuma (who she was controlling) gets up and asks the viewer if they really thought that was the end.
  • In the “good” Amanda ending of Daughter for Dessert, the protagonist and Amanda start up a new diner in Hawaii. Especially since Cecilia still has a grudge against the protagonist, it’s bound to yield some interesting stories. In fact, Word of God confirmed in late 2019 that a second season was in the cards, but no additional updates have been announced as of May 2021.
  • Two routes in Kissed by the Baddest Bidder provide these.
    • Eisuke's main route mentions his search for his sister, which becomes a major focus of his sequel.
    • As of the end of Soryu's sequel, there's someone out there somewhere willing to pay handsomely to have Soryu killed, but nobody knows who or why. The sequel also mentions that both of Soryu's parents are AWOL, another plot hook that's likely to be addressed in future content.
  • Umineko: When They Cry provides one in the 8th Tea party. It is yet to be seen if it will play into Ciconia: When They Cry
    Lambda and Bern: We'll meet again...when something else cries.

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • From Arenas, right after the Vadrigar is Killed Off for Real:.
    Vadrigar: You may have me pissed now, but our war hasn't even started. You may end me, but they won't kill me.
  • The first season of Hero House ends with Nightwing's murder, which definitely counts.
  • The KateModern special "Precious Blood" ends with "Precious Blood: 10:30PM", which shows that Terrence is still alive and has killed the Watcher.
    • At the end of "The Last Work", Julia swears revenge on the K-Team, and some of them say they still want to fight.
  • The lonelygirl15 Grand Finale "The Ascension" is followed by a short surprise video revealing that Lucy is still at large.
  • Subverted in the Homestar Runner cartoon, DNA Evidence. In the end, it turns out that Strong Sad had the DNA Evidence all along, and then laughs maniacally...and then it turns out that Homsar was there, watching him. Somebody unfamiliar with Homestar Runner would guess he'd tell everybody the news, right?
  • At the end of The Cartoon Man, both Roy and Karen are cartoonified, while Simon and Valerie get sucked into the Second Dimension. Both plot points play a major role in the follow-up, which itself ends on a major Cliffhanger.
  • Dusk's Dawn: We never see what happened to the antagonist, or when the protagonists went to Celestia. However, a new production hasn't been made in years, so it's either been abandoned or stuck in Development Hell.
  • At the end of Ruby Quest, minor character Daisy (who was killed pretty early on) wakes up in the same situation as Ruby did in the beginning of the quest, opening up the possiblity that she'll be the protagonist of the next attempt to escape the Metal Glen.
  • Atop the Fourth Wall: At the end of the Sleepwalker storyline, a page appears on Linkara's chair saying that he's invited to "A Contest of Champions".
  • The Case of the Gilded Lily ends with Vivian bursting into Fig and Ford's office, saying that terrible something has happened.
  • Gaming All-Stars:
    • Originally, after the moon the moon was destroyed, it left behind three items representing the three heroes who stood up to Andross. In Remastered, though, the items suddenly vanish into thin air, leading to a scene in which Mario and several other major protagonists come face-to-face with Zinyak, foreshadowing the events of Gaming All Stars 2.
  • The finale of the eight-episode web miniseries Critters: A New Binge has the surviving Crites prepare for Phase 2 of their plan, which appears to involve clones of Christopher.
  • Heavily zig-zagged by Epic SMP. Epic SMP was largely a failure, and its finale didn't really leave any room for a sequel given the destruction of the entire server and the death of all but one of its characters, but the trailer for Season 2 takes the Downer Ending of Season 1 and gives us the reveal that the world has been completely reset as a result of SwaggerSouls trying to right what he has done wrong in Season 1.

    Western Animation 
  • The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: "Attack of the Twonkies" ends with Jimmy realizing he never sent Sheen's Twonkie back (which never mutated due to Sheen's bad singing), which reproduces and its offspring hop into Retroville. However, nothing comes of it and from that point on Twonkies would be hidden in each episode as a Freeze-Frame Bonus.note 
  • Zuko's question to Ozai at the end of the Avatar: The Last Airbender Grand Finale: "Where is my mother?"
    • Sequel Series The Legend of Korra doesn't follow up on this hook, instead being set 70 years after the original and not picking up any plot threads from it. The first episode does feature a bit of fan trolling however, as a character asks Katara what happened to Zuko's mom, but she's interrupted before she can answer.
    • The scene would get a proper follow up in the sequel comics The Promise and The Search. The former shows the rest of the scene, in which Ozai just brushes of Zuko's question without a straight answer, and the latter finally answers it and has Zuko find his mother.
  • Batman: The Animated Series did this all the time, particularly in any episode introducing a new villain. There would always be a line at the end in which Batman suspects he hasn't seen the last of the new foe. Perhaps most blatant is the ending to the Ra's Al Ghul two-parter, in which Ra's falls into the Lazarus Pit and is presumed dead, but the final shot shows a hand rising up out of the pit while maniacal laughter is heard.
    • In one of its multiple crossovers with Static Shock, Static asks Batman where Robin went and he replies that he left to join the Teen Titans and that Static would meet them himself soon. However, the planned Teen Titans series for the DCAU never came to pass, but Static did end up joining them in the comics shortly before the New 52 reboot as well as appearing in Young Justice.
  • In Central Park, the Season 1 finale "A Fish Called Snakehead", when Bitsy is furious that the Tillermans saved the park again and that she's been made a fool after Paige had her story printed about Dick Flake's fake fish, she's now determined to buy both Central Park and Paige's newspaper "What's New, New York". Helen immediately points out that newspapers are no longer profitable, but Bitsy admits it would be pleasing to fire everyone. And as Birdie sings at the end:
    Thanks to this family
    The park is secure now,
    But thinking it's over
    Is quite premature now...
  • Clone High: As part of the parody of the horror genre, the last shot of the episode "Anxious Times at Clone High" is of the killer rabbit is seen hopping into the empty Heebie Jeebie suit, which promptly comes to life and puts its head back on.
  • Danny Phantom with the episode "The Ultimate Enemy", where the Big Bad is shown to be contained, but not entirely defeated, as he was trying to bust out. The series ended before the writers could actually make good on that story thread, however (though it is gonna be picked up in the graphic novel, however).
  • The Family Guy Chicken Fights all end with the battered, mutilated, frequently shredded chicken opening one of its heavily blackened eyes. Even after it's been sucked through a jet engine, or pounded into submission with a saucepan, or...
  • Gravity Falls
    • "Gideon Rises": The Season Finale has Grunkle Stan revealed to be the owner of Journal 1, and he uses all three journals to activate a mysterious portal in the hidden basement of the Mystery Shack. The original airing punctuates this by having the character say that "Gravity Falls will return" over the end credits, though we don't discover the portal's purpose until "Not What He Seems" half a season later.
    • "Scaryoke": The government agents Dipper called are revealed to have survived the zombie attack, which is enough confirmation for them to investigate Gravity Falls. The next several episodes have them in the background before they make their formal return in "Not What He Seems."
    • "Weirdmageddon": The Grand Finale has Dipper opening the note he got from Wendy, which has the entire town thanking the twins and hoping they'll return next summer. The Stinger shows Bill Cipher as a live-action statue in the middle of the woods, implying that he would someday return too...
    • Also from the finale, as Bill is dying, he shouts out a phrase in backwards speech: A-X-O-L-O-T-L/HEY X-O-L-O-T-L, MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN, I INVOKE THE ANCIENT POWER THAT I MAY RETURN. Interestingly enough, while this is a clear reference to Alex Hirsch frequently responding with a picture of an Axolotl when asked, Xolotl is the name of the Aztec god of death...and twins.
  • In Jackie Chan Adventures, after Jade destroys Shendu with one of his own Talismans, Uncle reveals that when an evil is destroyed, a new evil can fill the void, possibly being even more dangerous. The next season deals with Shendu's siblings forcing his spirit (which survived his body's destruction, likely due to the Sheep Talisman or demons naturally become spirits once they die), to take advantage of this void (via an ancient artifact), by using it to release them from their otherworldy prison so they can reconquer the world.
  • Justice League set up its second season as possibly the last, so they ended it in a truly epic finale with the watchtower base being destroyed. At the end and after Hawkgirl resigns from the League, Superman asks what they are going to do now, which Batman replies with "We rebuild." This leads into Justice League Unlimited, but was enough to be considered And the Adventure Continues.
  • Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: "Beyond the Valley of the Dogs", the Season 1 finale, ends with Kipo's father, who has the answers about her mutations, captured by the villain, and the gang riding out to rescue him.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
    • The story normally takes place in such a way that any episode can happen any day, but Season 3's premiere ends like this, with Princess Celestia nodding at Princess Luna, who magically summons a book with stars and swirls on the cover.
    • The season 3 finale (which incidentally pays off said Star Swirl sequel hook) definitely is trying to draw you in for season 4. Twilight turns into an alicorn and is now a princess of Equestria. According to the writer's twitter, she considers this episode the first in a 3-parter. The 2-part season 4 premiere serves as the final two parts.
    • Considering season 5 was announced, plenty in "Twilight's Kingdom, Part 2". Such as the whereabouts of Scorpan in all of this, what new powers the rainbow elements entail and how Ponyville will now function as a kingdom, not to mention how Discord's completed reform will be displayed.
    • The villain of the Season 5 premiere, Starlight Glimmer, escapes at the end of her story and is seen a couple of times in the background throughout the season.
    • Cozy Glow, the villain of the Season 8 finale, is imprisoned in Tartarus next to Tirek, and asks him if he wants to be friends with her complete with a Slasher Smile and omnious music, suggesting she wants to break out with him.
    • At the end of the final season opener, King Sombra is Killed Off for Real, but the heroes are unaware of the presence of Grogar, who has formed a Legion of Doom with three of their past enemies: Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy.
  • While Wakko and Dot were able to save Yakko from getting killed in the episode "Fear and Laughter in Burbank" from the 2020 reboot of "Animaniacs", they were unaware of Yakko's fear, even though Yakko asks his siblings what they thought of him. Yakko's fear is likely to be brought up again in Season 2 where Yakko, Wakko, and Dot go deeper into their own fears.
  • Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja: The end of "Randy Cunningham: 13th Century Ninja" suggests Catfish Booray will become a regular antagonist in later episodes.
  • Star vs. the Forces of Evil ended with Mina being defeated but she's still alive and claims she'll come back someday and that her ideals will never die anyway. The final scene also has Earth and Mewni being merged (and possibly other dimensions) and it looks like it's going to take awhile for their citizens to get used to it...
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars: "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back" ended with scientist Dr. Boll being given orders from Palpatine to clone the deceased Zillo Beast. Unfortunately, the show's initial Cut Short status ultimately made the series unable to follow up on it.
  • Star Wars Rebels: Series finale "Family Reunion — and Farewell" ends with protagonist Ezra Bridger having been lost in hyperspace with antagonist Grand Admiral Thrawn while liberating Ezra's home planet from the Empire. Sabine's closing narration (covering the period of time of Rogue One, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) informs the audience that she and Ahsoka Tano are setting out on a journey to find him.
  • Taz-Mania: In one episode, Molly brings a kitty home and the kitty torments Taz behind Molly's back. In the end, the kitty held a sign saying "I'll be back". A later episode did feature the cat returning.
  • At the end of Teen Titans season four, Big Bad Trigon has been defeated and the apocalypse averted, but Robin makes a point of reminding Raven that Slade, who'd been acting as The Dragon, is still alive and on the loose. This is never really followed up on, however as Slade only gets a cameo in the next and final season (though Word of God is that he was supposed to successfully become The Starscream to the new Big Bad, but it was scrapped for time constraints).
  • Thomas & Friends:
    • The episode "Tenders and Turntables" ends with Gordon, James and Henry plotting to go on strike, which sets up "Trouble in the Shed".
    • "Toby the Tram Engine" ends with Toby receiving a letter from the "stout gentleman" he met, which continues into "Thomas Breaks the Rules" which sets up why he received such.
    • The Stinger of "Misty Island Rescue" features Diesel 10 spying on the engines at the Search & Rescue Center's grand opening and promises ruin and destruction for them all with an Evil Laugh, setting up the events of "Day of the Diesels".
  • Every season of Total Drama ends this way, with the exception of World Tour, Revenge of the Island, and Pahkitew Island.
  • In the U.S. Acres episode "Orson Goes on Vacation", Orson says he'll be on vacation for a week soon, and he asks Wade to be in charge again, but he refuses, a possible nod to "Temp Trouble", even though he was actually gone for two weeks in that episode, possibly because in a scene we weren't shown, he called them in the middle of his vacation to tell that he was going to have an extra week off. The person "in charge" in that episode is Aloysius Pig.
    • It's not possible both episodes exist at the same time or connected since there was too many different scenes and mixing an old episode to a newer one doesn't fit Roy and Wade's Character Development of their friendship.
      • Or maybe it took place in the future. This isn't the only time it's happened-the episode where they imagine it's summer during the winter took place a year after the episode had aired, because Wade says his family did something brave every 10 years, and the next time he would do this was in 2004. Said episode aired in 1993.
    • Speaking of Aloysius Pig, in "Kiddie Korner", we have this little gem:
      Orson Pig (singing): We'll bring to you, when we're back next time...
      Aloysius Pig (spoken, as he's being hit with pies): HELP! HEEELP!
      Orson Pig (singing): Something more wholesome than a nursery rhyme! note 
  • Wander over Yonder
    • The Stinger during the end credits of "The Rider" replays the final shot of the episode before pulling out to show Lord Dominator laughing maniacally, who would go on to be the main threat of the next season.
    • The Stinger during the end credits of "The End of the Galaxy" has a decrepit space capsule from the planet Earth sitting on a destroyed planetoid, brimming with green energy similar to that of Lord Hater's and accented with the sound of a monkey screeching and evil laughter.

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He Exists Outside Time Now

Even though Danny has won and his future has been altered, it's hinted that the Ultimate Enemy may one day return.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (17 votes)

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