History Main / StockSeriesFinales

* [[BroughtDownToNormal Back to Normal]]: In a supernatural or superhero show, the main character is robbed of their supernatural abilities/technologies/friends and goes back to living a normal life (or, at the very least, tells his or her loved ones about his or her powers and decides to go on the run and try to live a normal life while keeping his or her powers under wraps).

* GainaxEnding: In the end, something happens...and nobody understands what the hell actually happened -- unless the viewer is really good at drawing conclusions and can piece together what happened, and even if a viewer can do that, there would still be loose ends and unanswered questions to plot holes and {{noodle incident}}s.

* ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'' also found a cure in its finale. [[spoiler: However, it's left up in the air if Alex actually takes it or not.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': The finale movie ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow'' has the Eds [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally be accepted by the rest of the neighborhood kids]] after a harrowing cross-country adventure (including a showdown with [[spoiler: Eddy's brother, who's revealed to be a BigBrotherBully who [[FreudianExcuse made Eddy the person he is today]]]].

* ''Series/FraggleRock'' ends with Doc moving to the desert to accompany Ned Shimmelfinney (or, in the UK version, the lighthouse getting automated and B.J. becoming the caretaker of a castle), sad that he has to leave the Fraggles now that he's learned of their existence. [[spoiler: It turns out Fraggle Rock exists there too.]]

When a television series isn't canceled abruptly, writers have time to wrap things up. There seem to be a pretty standard set of types of Series Finales to end on, provided the show's creators have time to plan it out in advance. Most of these can all be mixed together as one wishes. Occasionally, the series may then be UnCancelled, and the writers find themselves in a corner.

* ''Series/{{Preacher}}'' ends with almost the entire cast dying in the finale, either violently onscreen or (presumably) peacefully offscreen in a final {{Flashforward}}. The only members of the cast with ambiguous fates are [[EarnYourHappyEnding Eugene]] and [[KarmaHoudini Herr]] [[SparedByTheAdaptation Starr]].

* [[KillEmAll Death]]: Everyone dies or gets killed ([[TheHeroDies main characters]], main antagonists, even side and one-shot characters). Can be used in conjunction with the trope LastEpisodeNewCharacter if one wants to set up a spin-off series.
** BolivianArmyEnding: Basically, [[KillEmAll Death]] mixed with {{Cliffhanger}}; a character is about to die, but it's left up in the air as to whether the character actually dies.

* The canonical ending to the final episode of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' is a scene that directly mirrors the first scene from the first episode of the series.

* [[KillEmAll Death]]: Everyone dies or gets killed (main characters, main antagonists, even side and one-shot characters). Can be used in conjunction with the trope LastEpisodeNewCharacter if one wants to set up a spin-off series.

* To no one's surprise, Lord Voldemort died at the end of the last ''Literature/{{Harry Potter|and the Deathly Hallows}}'' book.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' has the titular characters [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally be accepted by the rest of the neighborhood kids in the movie]].

* GrandFinale: FailureIsTheOnlyOption stops being in effect, and with failure suddenly ''not'' the only option, the series premise is finally resolved. Since Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, this stock ending can be met with lots of fanfare as the character we root for succeed.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' has had so many {{series fauxnale}}s that several episodes fall into some of these tropes. "Lil Sebastian" (Season 3 finale) falls into the AndTheAdventureContinues trope, with Leslie thinking about running for city council, Tom quitting his job, and Ron's ex-wife Tammy 1 returning. "Leslie and Ben" falls into the wedding trope, with Leslie and Ben's wedding. "Moving Up" is a Distant Finale, with a 3-year TimeSkip. The actual series finale is a WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue.

* [[WeddingDay Wedding]]: The main couple or a pair of supporting characters are married off.

* The entire series is revealed to be AllJustADream (whether it's from the mind of someone dying, someone unconscious/in a coma, or from someone sleeping). Often, this is the bad writers' [[AssPull way out of a series]] or done to retcon anything considered FanonDiscontinuity. If you're a series writer, use caution and sufficient foreshadowing and [[FridegBrilliance FridgeBrilliant]] (and/or [[FridgeHorror fridge horrific]]) call-backs before using this.

* The entire series is revealed to be AllJustADream (whether it's from the mind of someone dying, someone unconscious/in a coma, or from someone sleeping). Often, this is the bad writers' [[AssPull way out of a series]] or done to retcon anything considered FanonDiscontinuity. If you're a series writer, use caution and sufficient foreshadowing and FridgeBrilliant (and/or [[FridgeHorror fridge horrific]]) call-backs before using this.

When a television series isn't cancelled abruptly, writers have time to wrap things up. There seem to be a pretty standard set of types of Series Finales to end on, provided the show's creators have time to plan it out in advance. Most of these can all be mixed together as one wishes. Occasionally, the series may then be UnCancelled, and the writers find themselves in a corner.

* DistantFinale: The show flashes forward into the future to show what happened to the main characters. Can be used in conjunction with the WhereAreTheyNowEnding (whether it's a montage within an episode or just a full episode or chapter)

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The viewers are left hanging on what happened. Similar to the GainaxEnding or the AllJustADream ending, this ending isn't very popular with most fans (unless a more skilled writer knows how to work with it). Most of the time, it's used in series that get canceled rather than end because the creator wants it to end, but there are cases where a cliffhanger is seen on a series that ended due to creator exhaustion rather than being ScrewedByTheNetwork (cf. ''The Amazing World of Gumball'') and usually a finale movie or short-lived post-script season revival (or, at the very least, the creators themselves answering fan questions online or at a convention) is used to tie up any and all loose ends.
* DistantFinale: The show flashes forward into the future to show what happened to the main characters.

* [[GraduateFromTheStory Graduation]]: If the series centers on kids in school, expect this to be the final episode, especially if it's a high school series. If it's a live action show with aging actors who would resemble graduating high school students by the end of production, then it's all the better. A series centered on college students rarely have this as an ending (as most college shows, whether or not they're spin-offs, don't last) but the graduation ending on college shows does exist.

* [[KillEmAll Death]]: The main character(s) die.
** BolivianArmyEnding: Like [[KillEmAll Death]], but with specifics left to the viewer's imagination. May or may not include a post-credits scene that shows the fates of the characters.

* [[RidingIntoTheSunset Walk Into the Sunset]] and AndTheAdventureContinues: The series ends with the characters going off on another adventure. This ending is the one ripe for fans to either write fanfiction about what happens after the series ends or fans to pester the show creators into continuing the series.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Sometimes used in conjunction with other ending tropes (particularly the "Graduation" ending, the "Moving Out" ending, and the DistantFinale ending); what happens to the characters in the future is summarized either in a captioned statement or a voiceover narration, usually on a person-by-person basis.
* The entire series is revealed to be AllJustADream (whether it's from the mind of someone dying, someone unconscious/in a coma, or from someone sleeping). Often, this is the bad writers' [[AssPull way out of a series]] or done to retcon anything considered FanonDiscontinuity. If you're a series writer, use caution and sufficient foreshadowing before using this.

** BolivianArmyEnding: Like [[KillEmAll Death]], but with specifics left to the viewer's imagination. May or may not include a post credits scene that hints at the characters still being alive.

* GrandFinale: FailureIsTheOnlyOption stops being in effect, and with failure suddenly ''not'' the only option, the series premise is finally resolved. Since TropesAreNotBad, this stock ending can be met with lots of fanfare as the character we root for succeed.