History Main / DeadlyDistantFinale

* ''Film/Titanic1997'': [[GainaxEnding Maybe. It could just be a dream.]]

* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation and DS ports of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' feature an anime cutscene showing the fall of the kingdom and corruption of the Masamune, leading up for ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''.

* The DistantFinale to the ''Literature/ModestyBlaise'' novels in ''Cobra Trap''.

* The ''ComicBook/JonahHex Spectacular'' one-shot gives the eponymous character a Deadly Distant Finale [[TwilightOfTheOldWest set in the year 1904]]. His death is based off of that of Wild Bill Hickok, while his eventual fate of being stuffed and mounted in a ridiculous Creator/RoyRogers-style costume is inspired by Elmer [=McCurdy=]. This is a bit of a strange case, in that the ''Jonah Hex Spectacular'' came out in 1978... and the regular ''Jonah Hex'' book lasted until 1985, running for about 75 more issues after the Spectacular.

** ''ComicBook/BlazeOfGlory'' serves as this for [[Characters/MarvelComicsWesternCharacters Marvel's western heroes]]. By the end of the miniseries, no less than 5 heroic [[TheTropeKid Trope Kids]] are dead. The sequel, ''ComicBook/ApacheSkies'', further shows the deaths of the Rawhide Kid and the Apache Kid.
** ''ComicBook/DaredevilEndOfDays'' [[DownerBeginning starts off with the title character's death]], and only kills more people as it goes.
* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' does this, covering five years in the first 59 issues and then jumping ahead sixty years for the final chapter, where a clone of Yorick Brown meets the titular hero, now a bitter old man who outlived every other major character in the series and is now committed following a suicide attempt on his 86th birthday. The meeting sparks several depressing flashbacks, crossing off Yorick's traveling companions one by one, as he shares some poignant wisdom with his carbon copy before unexpectedly departing (the room).

* In the extra chapter 139.5 of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', it's shown that Mikasa went on to get HappilyMarried and had a fulfilling life, and that for the entirety of her life and that of her immediate descendants [[RayOfHopeEnding Armin's attempts at brokering peace]] were apparently successful. At some point in the ''very'' distant future, however, HistoryRepeats and a war fought with modern artillery and aircraft reduces Paradis to rubble. The story ends on an ambiguous tone, however, as what is implied to be decades after said war a boy suggested to be Mikasa's descendant is out exploring the wilderness and comes across the tree where Eren's head is buried, which is still standing after all this time and has grown to [[JustForPun titanic]] heights. The implication being that the power of the titans ''may'' return.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

!!As this is a {{Death Trope|s}} and {{Ending Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].

* In the extra chapter 139.5 of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', it's shown that Mikasa went on to get HappilyMarried and had a fulfilling life, and that for the entirety of her life and that of her immediate descendants [[RayOfHopeEnding Armin's attempts at brokering peace]] were apparently succesful. At some point in the ''very'' distant future, however, HistoryRepeats and a war fought with modern artillery and aircraft reduces Paradis to rubble. The story ends on an ambiguous tone, however, as what is implied to be decades after said war a boy suggested to be Mikasa's descendant is out exploring the wilderness and comes across the tree where Eren's head is buried, which is still standing after all this time and has grown to [[JustForPun titanic]] heights. The implication being that the power of the titans ''may'' return.

* The ending to the first season of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' has a Deadly ''Recent'' Finale. It seems to end on a happy ending but then it cut to the credits and it's shown that the GroundhogDayLoop has begun over again, meaning that everyone died shortly after the end. Just ''how'' they died isn't shown until the first episode of the second season, however.

* ''Film/RomyAndMichelesHighSchoolReunion'' [[SubvertedTrope appears to end]] 70 years in the future, where a dying Romy [[FlippingTheBird flips Michele the finger]] before [[{{Flatline}} flatlining]], [[Fakeoutfadeout but]] it turns out to be AllJustADream.

* ''Film/RomyAndMichelesHighSchoolReunion'' [[SubvertedTrope appears to end]] 70 years in the future, where a dying Romy [[FlippingTheBird flips Michele the finger]] before [[{{Flatline}} flatlining]], but it turns out to be AllJustADream.

** ''Marvel: ComicBook/{{The End|MarvelComics}}'' and ''[[ComicBook/EarthX Earth/Universe/Paradise X]]'' are all basically just comic book/graphic novel embodiments of this for the whole Marvel universe.

* In ''Literature/VampireHunterD: Bloodlust'', we see the funeral of Leila, the mercenary working with D who feared that no one would mourn her death. She died as an old woman several decades after her adventures with D. She had many mourners (and at least one grandchild), much to the relief of D who promised her that he would place flowers on her grave and mourn her, if there were no one else around to do so.
* ''Anime/LeChevalierDEon'' does this for the few main characters who survive.
* In ''Literature/DemonKingDaimao'' Akuto, Keena, and Korone wake up centuries after the Earth was devastated by a meteor impact. The rest of the cast died as a result, along with humanity.

* The last chapter of ''Manga/MaguchanGodOfDestruction'' shows Ruru and Magu's MayflyDecemberFriendship going until she dies of old age with him still by her side. Magu agrees to let himself be [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] again, with [[ImmortalityThroughMemory Ruru's memory]] to keep him company until he once more washes ashore and is released by another young girl named Ruri, [[GenerationXerox possibly Ruru's descendant.]]
* The second season of ''Manga/ToYourEternity'' ends with a WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue for all of Fushi's allies that shows how they all lived out their lives (or second lives in the cases of those who were resurrected during and after the siege of Renril), including how each of them died. To further seal the deal, immediately after that the season ends with yet another timeskip to modern day, entailing that anyone whose death was not accounted for in the montage would have undoubtedly died of old age.

* The last chapter of the Literature/HarryPotter fan fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4080055/1/I-Saw-My-Lady-Weep I Saw My Lady Weep]]'' is a poignant scene about the last minutes of Harry Potter's life, set far in the future of the ''Harry Potter'' franchise, when even Harry's son James Sirius is a grandfather.

* Alan Ruck (Cameron Frye in ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff)'' has been quoted as saying that he'd like to do a ''Bueller'' sequel in this vein.
--> But just for fun, I used to think why don't they wait until Matthew [Broderick] and I are in our seventies and do ''Ferris Bueller Returns'' and have Cameron be in a nursing home. He doesn't really need to be there, but he just decided his life is over, so he committed himself to a nursing home. And Ferris comes and breaks him out. And they go to, like, a titty bar and all this ridiculous stuff happens. And then, at the end of the movie, [[MoodWhiplash Cameron dies]].

* The 2018 film adaptation of ''Literature/{{Aniara}}'' [[DownerEnding ends]] in the year 5,981,407, almost ''six million years'' after the title ship began her voyage, and shows the ship finally reaching a planet orbiting the star GM-54 in the Lyra constellation. Of course, the once thriving ColonyShip is now derelict and frozen, and everyone on board is long dead.

* In the book ''Literature/TheTrueMeaningOfSmekday'' (yes), the book ends with a newspaper clipping reporting the main character's death. It's actually rather heartwarming, seeing as she was over a hundred and outlived by a ''massive'' clan of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and her alien companion.
* The final chapter of ''Literature/TheWorldAccordingToGarp'' by John Irving.
* ''Literature/WatershipDown'' has a final chapter set years after the climax. Hazel-rah, the elderly Chief Rabbit of his now-thriving warren, is visited by a rabbit who is implied to be the mythical rabbit folk hero El-ahrairah, inviting Hazel to join his Owsla. Accepting the offer, Hazel leaves his body behind [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence as he no longer needs it]].
* In ''Literature/TheAccidentalTimeMachine'', but with a twist that gives new meaning to the rest of the story.
* The DistantFinale to the ''Literature/ModestyBlaise'' novels in ''Cobra Trap''.
* The Appendices to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' tell you what happens to all of the main characters. They don't all die, though - several of them sail to Eldamar. The mortal characters who sail west are still going to die. Being in the vicinity of the Undying Lands doesn't make one immortal. In fact the ''Silmarillion'' implies that it may actually make them age and die faster. Elves, of course, can be expected to live on until the end of the world, as can Gandalf, who is one of the Maiar.

* The last chapter of ''Literature/TuckEverlasting'' takes place about 70 years after the previous one. The main character chose not to drink the water of immortality; the immortal Tucks discover this when they see her grave.
* ''Literature/TheVicomteDeBragelonne'', the last of Creator/AlexandreDumas' sequels to ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'', ends with a greatly aged D'Artagnan getting blown up by a cannonball. Note that the historical D'Artagnan was about 62-years-old when killed during the Siege of Maastricht (1673), though he was killed by a musket ball.

* Several of Creator/IainMBanks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' novels end with epilogues that briefly reveal the eventual fates of surviving characters.
* Played with in Creator/VladimirNabokov's ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'', in which you actually find out in the foreword how most of the characters end up, but you don't realize it until you've got to the end.
* The Old Icelandic "[[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Tale of Thorstein Shiver]]", in which Thorstein Shiver tricks a demon with the help of King Olaf Tryggvason, ends with a laconic note that Thorstein died in battle defending King Olaf on his longship a few years later.
* The epilogue of ''Literature/TheComfortableCourtesan'' describes how the hero Clorinda dies in 1872, at an advanced age, on finishing the final chapter of ''Literature/{{Middlemarch}}''.
* The end of Literature/SirNigel mentions that while the heroic main characters are long dead, their spirit still lives on.

* A slight recurring theme in the picture books of Creator/PatriciaPolacco:
** Her first book, ''Meteor!'' ends by stating that the meteor of the title was ultimately used as Gramma Carle's headstone.
** ''Chicken Sunday'' ends by revealing that the grandmother, Miss Eula, died some time ago, and that once a year her now-adult grandchildren follow her request and pour chicken soup on her grave in honor of her Sunday chicken dinners.
** ''Mrs. Katz and Tush'' has an epilogue that shows a grown-up Larnel reciting the Mourner's Kaddish at Mrs. Katz's grave with his wife and children.
** ''An Orange for Frankie'' reveals at the end that Frankie [[DeathOfAChild didn't live past childhood]] and that the Christmas the story recounts was his last.
** ''Betty Doll'' depicts the life of Polacco's mother Mary Ellen from childhood to old age, and her love for the titular doll that she eventually passes on to her daughter. A final paragraph at the end reveals that she died in 1996.
** ''When Lightning Comes in a Jar'' ends by showing that Polacco's family still has family reunions like they did in her childhood, and explains that even though her grandmother, father, aunts and uncles have all died, Polacco still keeps their memory and the traditions they shared alive.

* The last episode of ''Series/SixFeetUnder'' did this, in a FlashForward montage set to [[AwesomeMusic/LiveActionTV Sia's "Breathe Me".]]
* Having resolved the arc of the final season ([[spoiler: defeating God]]) the final episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' flashes forward, first five years and then approximately fifty more, to the last deaths of the brothers, who are afterwards reunited in heaven.
* ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' ends with Winters describing the lives of a few of the men after WWII. Since the series was made over fifty years after the war had ended, this meant explaining how a lot of them had died.
** Some of the Easy Company veterans who were alive at the time of the series broadcast have since died, including Dick Winters and Carwood Lipton.
** The book on which the series is based provided one of these for every member of Easy Company, including members who ended up being secondary characters in the adaptation. Most of them got as close to HappilyEverAfter as anyone does in RealLife, with the most prominent exception being [[TheNeidermeyer Captain Sobel]], who went through a decades-long HumiliationConga that culminated in a LonelyFuneral.

* Slightly varied in the finale of ''Series/{{Lost}}'': we don't see how everyone dies, but we find out what happened to them ''after that.''
* The final episode of ''Series/{{Poirot}}'', "Literature/{{Curtain}}", takes place in October 1949-February 1950, over a decade after the penultimate episode "The Labours of Hercules", set at the start of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. And since "Curtain" takes place in 1949, it is also in that episode that the main character, Literature/HerculePoirot, dies of a heart attack after many years of solving his cases.

* ''VideoGame/MafiaTheCityOfLostHeaven'' ends with protagonist Tommy Angelo, now older getting a visit from two hitmen (later revealed [[spoiler:to be [[VideoGame/MafiaII Vito Scaletta and Joe Barbaro]]]]) and getting shot while watering his front lawn.
* The epilogue of ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}} Infinity'' is set at the last quantum moment before the heat death of the universe. In this final moment, at the NaturalEndOfTime, the still alive [[BigBad Durandal]] ponders his existence and in his last moment of life he finds himself thinking about the [[BigGood Security Officer]] and how he affected the universe...
* The endings of each of the Black Isle/Obsidian ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' games (Namely [[VideoGame/{{Fallout1}} 1]], [[VideoGame/{{Fallout2}} 2]], and [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]) is a slide show of this for the major factions and a few main characters. While not every major character is covered, endings like that of Broken Hills (in where even the good ending has the town's uranium mine running out, causing the town to be abandoned) fit this trope to a T. Oddly enough, the player character is excluded from the montage.

** Unless you have managed to achieve his S-Support, Alfred will receive one in the epilogue of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' from [[SecretlyDying the illness he has tried to keep secret for so long]], [[TearJerker not too long after he becomes king]]. If recruited via the DLC, Rafal's ending says he went on to [[HeroOfAnotherStory sacrifice himself to save the world from a new threat many years later.]]

* One strip of ''Webcomic/{{Achewood}}'' had a row of panels for each of the main characters, showing them growing older and ending with their final resting place. Interestingly, [[TheWoobie Roast Beef's]] final panel is just a black square, and Philippe...well, [[TheAgeless Philippe is five.]]
* Teased repeatedly throughout the run of ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge,'' and finally shown in a somber death-by-death monologue that ends with the characters having faked all the previous events and retiring to Acapulco.

* [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E21FlandersLadder "Flanders' Ladder"]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ends with Bart waking up from his nightmare and telling Lisa he saw a vision of everyone's deaths. This is followed by a montage of many characters (and Skinner's wheelchair) dying in the future, in tribute to ''Series/SixFeetUnder''.
* The last episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' takes place 1000 years in the future. Most of the cast is dead and/or reincarnated (the biggest examples being Shermy and Beth, as both are reincarnations of Finn and Jake respectively. This also applies to both the new Slime and Fire Elementals, being reincarnations of both Slime Princess and Flame Princess), with only a few being around, like BMO, Sweet P, Patience and possibly Marceline and Bubblegum.
** The ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeDistantLands'' special "Together Again" takes place decades after the main series and "Obsidian", showing Finn, who recently died of unknown causes as an old man, arriving at the 37th Dead World. And just like the finale, most of the characters are dead, with Jake being dead sometime between the finale and "Obsidian".