History Main / YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle

* At around the two-hour mark of ''Film/Vertigo'', Judy's makeover into Madeleine is complete, Scottie is happy (the same can't be said for Judy), and they have an OrbitalKiss, then we fade to black. So, movie's over, right? But wait a minute: Scottie never [[spoiler:found out that Judy was Madeleine]]. Hitchcock even holds it in black a couple of seconds longer than a typical transition, to turn it into a FakeOutFadeOut. But we fade back up to Judy and Scottie, then [[spoiler:Scottie recognizes her necklace]] and the ''real'' climax begins.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': In the series finale Ross and Phoebe [[RaceForYourLove rush to JFK airport]] to try and stop Rachel from going to Paris. They hurriedly buy tickets to get through security but Ross can't find Rachel's flight on the departure board. He phones Monica to check the flight number, which he has correct, only for Monica to reveal that Rachel's at ''Newark'' airport...and a cut reveals she's already boarding her plane.

* Near the end of the Kalos saga of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, during the climax of Team Flare's plot, Ash, Alain, and Malva manage to defeat [[BigBad Lysandre]] (who seems to jump off Prism Tower) while Clemont shuts off the device controlling both Zygarde and Serena and Marian rescue Marian's Chespin, Chespie, meaning Team Flare has been stopped. '''WRONG!''' Chespie is then sucked into the Megalith at Lysandre Labs, which takes on the form of Zygarde and heads for the Anistar Sundial with the intent of consuming it and creating an energy wave that will end all life. However, Ash and Alain enter the Megalith and rescue Chespie, with the thing shutting down. All over, right? '''WRONG AGAIN!''' Lysandre is revealed to still be alive and is now controlling the Megalith, keeping it on its destination.

* Rob Cantor's Satirical "Shia [=LaBeouf=]" tells the story of survival against the eponymous actors attempts to eat you. Half way through the song the narrator describes killing Shia with a stab to the kidneys. But the song isn't even half over...

* The ''StarWars'' saga became this as of [[Film/TheForceAwakens December 18th 2015]]....That big Ewok dance party/Pan-Galactic celebration montage and the triumphant defeat of TheEmpire in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' now feels like Tangina in ''Film/{{Poltergeist|1982}}'' saying "The house is clean".[[note]]It may have taken 30 or so years but, still....[[/note]]

* The video for Tupac Shakur's "Changes", the first song released after his death, does this very impactfully. For two verses Tupac raps about social issues and the problems of the black underclass over clips from his previous videos and from rare home videos. At the end of the second verse, we see a collage of video and audio clips from Tupac's life, while in the background Tupac speaks over a fading chorus. It ends with the collage resolving into a mosaic depicting Tupac's face, a fitting memorial to his life and work... and then the third verse starts up with the words, "[[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped And still I see no changes; Can't a brother get a little peace?]]"

* Happens in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. Everything seems to be all neatly wrapped up and set for a [[BittersweetEnding moderately happy ending]]... [[CruelTwistEnding when suddenly]] Homura decides that she's had enough of Madoka sacrificing her own life for everyone else's sake and uses ThePowerOfLove to [[FaceHeelTurn become the Satan to Madoka's God]], forcibly seal her powers and creating a LotusEaterMachine world for her to live in. This is the "rebellion" the title was referring to, and it happens within the last 10-15 minutes or so of the movie. There ''were'' hints that this would happen, but they were [[RewatchBonus so vague and subtle]] that the ending [[ShockingSwerve took almost everyone off guard]].

** ''Film/FinalDestination4'': Nick and Lori successfully save Janet and George from being killed. Lori and Janet celebrate by watching a movie. However, Nick remembers that there is a survivor unaccounted for from the stadium collapse and tries to save him, but fails. George is then killed, leaving Nick racing to save Lori and Janet, but he fails again. [[HistoryRepeats Oh wait,]] [[DaydreamSurprise that was his premonition]]. He is unable to save George, but manages to save Lori and Janet. They celebrate several months later in a restaurant. Nick suddenly comes to a realization that since having a premonition is what putting people to Death's List, this means Death is really the one behind the premonitions. [[ShootTheShaggyDog A vehicle crashes through the restaurant and kills all three of them]]. The end.

** When Aang goes to the Royal Palace to fight the Fire Lord, he isn't there. When they go to the underground bunker, the Fire Lord's chamber, surprise! He still isn't there. Zuko finds and confronts him, though.

** In Case 2 of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney: Trials and Tribulations'', after you prove your client innocent of theft by proving that he was in another place at the time. Right after the verdict, it is found that at the same time as the theft, there was a murder exactly where you proved he was. At which point you then have to prove that the guy that you've ''proven'' as the real thief is actually the real ''murderer'', despite the fact that he did indeed pull off ''both'' crimes, which happened ''at the same time''. Phoenix understandably freaks out several times. A very memorable case.

** The joke is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by the same guy in this strip: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0894.html. Although THAT is later revealed to be a subversion: the cube in the strip is actually a lead-lined container for the actual gate, and Girard was GenreSavvy enough to realize that the Genre Savvy adventurers looking for the gate would be successfully turned away by a lame joke and some magic-blocking lead.

* In ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'', Tangina Barrons successfully tells the malevolent ghosts to cross over, sends Diane in after Carol Anne, declares "This house is clean", and departs. The next scene feels like you should be reaching for your coat and gathering up your empty popcorn buckets; the family is happily reunited and getting ready to leave the house forever. But then all hell breaks loose, the "Beast" attacks again, the sinister clown you've been waiting all movie to go berserk finally does, coffins erupt out of a swimming pool, and the entire house ''implodes''. THEN the movie is over.

* The ''StarWars'' saga became this as of [[Film/TheForceAwakens December 18th 2015]]....That big Ewok dance party/Pan-Galactic celebration montage and the triumphant defeat of TheEmpire in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' now feels like Tangina in ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'' saying "The house is clean".[[note]]It may have taken 30 or so years but, still....[[/note]]

** There was the time there was a rash of serial killings of young teenaged black boys that looked like copycat killings of a white supremacist [=McCoy=] successfully prosecuted years ago. The detectives discover the killer is a black religious fanatic who confesses to everything...and reveals he was no copycat. He was the original serial killer all along. The white supremacist was innocent. The rest of the episode focuses on the mounting legal troubles [=McCoy=] faces for this blunder. It turns out his female assistant (and lover) at the time deliberately withheld evidence that would not only have cleared the white supremacist, but also pointed to the real killer.

* The central plot of ''Anime/MaiHiME'' seemingly gets resolved with the defeat of the Searrs AncientConspiracy. Even the end credits change... except that can't possibly be it, as it's only Episode 15 of 26. In the next episode, a rather cruel twist is promptly thrown in.
** The [[Manga/MaiHime manga version]] also throws this in halfway through, when the [=HiME=] unite to defeat Nagi and the Orphans. Right after their celebration, Searrs arrives on the scene and shoots everything to hell by deposing Mashiro as headmaster and effectively holding the entire school hostage, stating that she and the [=HiME=] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness have outgrown their purpose]] now that the Orphans are "no longer a threat".

* The final line of dialogue of ''FanFic/QuarterLifeHalfwayToDestruction''.

* ''FanFic/TheEquestrianWindMage'': Season 2 does this twice with its FinalBattle. First, when Vaati and the Mane Six show up at the Crystal Empire to finally face down Ganondorf, his armies have been broken and he's been greatly weakened by fighting the Princesses. But he realizes that in this state he'd lose, so he grabs the unconscious Princesses and flees back to occupied Canterlot, in order to regain his strength, with the heroes following in the hopes of defeating him while he's still weakened. And then, even when they do so, it just results in [[TrueFinalBoss Demise being reborn out of his body]], leading to an entirely different fight against ''him''.

* ''FanFic/RubyAndNora'': In the technically final story, ''Cold'', Jacques Schnee's tyrannical rule over Atlas has fallen by the titular characters and the resistance, but then [[BigBad Salem]] acquires the Sword of Destruction from Vacuo and comes to Atlas with all four Relics to finally awaken [[GreaterScopeVillain Void]], setting the stage for the final battle.

* In one [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] story, Billy Batson is forced to storm a tower in his normal form to rescue his sister. (The tower was indestructible, and the openings and passages are really small because the villains were tiny aliens). After going through hell, when he finally reaches the top... Mary was in the next tower over all along.
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': You would think that, once the Hulk has been defeated and the team had its baptizm of fire, and some view over the consequences of said battle, the series would be done. Not Quite. Remember those aliens that Cap fought in WWII? They are back... and it's still the same miniseries, not a sequel one.

* Thank you [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]], [[Franchise/GreenLantern Kyle Rayner]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Jason Todd]], and Bob the Monitor! [[Comicbook/CountdownToFinalCrisis But Ray Palmer Is In Another Universe.]]

* ''Film/MortalKombat'' (which set up a [[Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation sordid sequel]]). [[BigBad Shang Tsung]] is dead and [[TheHero Liu Kang]] won the tournament, preventing the [[TheLegionsOfHell forces of Outworld from invading the Earth Realm.]] Everyone is about to leave the island and head home when [[TheManBehindTheMan the Emperor, Shao Khan]], appears and announces his plans to invade anyway. Raiden says "I don't think so," and everyone enters an AssKickingPose as the [[SequelHook credits roll.]]

* Rob Cantor's Satirical "Shia LaBeouf" tells the story of survival against the eponymous actors attempts to eat you. Half way through the song the narrator describes killing Shia with a stab to the kidneys. But the song isn't even half over...

* Often, a wrestler will win a hard-fought match, only to be assaulted from behind by another wrestler whom they weren't feuding with (yet). For example, in 2011 Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/VelvetSky had just handily defeated [[Wrestling/KatarinaWaters Winter]], Wrestling/AngelinaLove, Wrestling/JeffJarrett, and Karen Jarrett. She had declared that she will put these rivalries behind her and get into the Knockouts Title hunt. She starts saluting the crowd and walking to the back... only to be assaulted by ODB, who hasn't been seen in about a year. A few weeks later, Velvet beats ODB in a street fight... only to be assaulted by Wrestling/{{Jac|queline}}kie Moore, who hadn't been seen for about ''two'' years.

* In February and March 2019, Wrestling/KofiKingston was in a roll after replacing an injured Mustafa Ali in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship and lasting an hour in a Gauntlet match for the final entrance in that match. He was the final man eliminated in the Chamber match (won by defending champion Daniel Bryan), and then Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon names him #1 contender to the title at Fastlane. Only to be removed from the match by Wrestling/VinceMcMahon and replaced by Mustafa Ali,while he gets promised a triple threat match, but instead gets a 2-on-1 match against Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} and [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Cesaro]]. And then Vince tells him on [[Wrestling/WWESmackDown SmackDown]] that he'll get the match if he can win ANOTHER gauntlet match, this time against Sheamus, Cesaro, Wrestling/RandyOrton, Wrestling/SamoaJoe and Wrestling/ErickRowan. Sure enough, Kofi wins the gauntlet, only to be told 30 seconds later by Vince that he must beat Bryan as well to earn his Wrestlemania match. Of course, Bryan defeats him easily.

-->'''Homer:''' And that my children, is the story of Bart's first day of school.\\

'''Homer:''' Yeah.
-->'''Lisa:''' Yeah. Except you were supposed to be telling the story of how I got my saxophone!
-->'''Homer:''' (''{{beat}}'') D'oh!

%% Image upgraded per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1367347513012460100
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

** This is practically Dragon Ball's hat. You defeated the evil green demon lord with a headbutt through the stomach! Hey, what was that coming out of his mouth? Oh well. You defeated your evil brother from space! ...His much more powerful friends will be along shortly. You defeated the alien warlords! ...But the {{Plot Coupon}}s that can revive your fallen comrades are on another planet, being hunted by their boss. You defeated their boss and have an EverybodyLaughsEnding! ...He rises up and kills your best friend. Okay, you DEFINITELY killed him this time! [[WeCanRebuildHim ...He comes back as a cyborg.]] This cool new guy killed the cyborg! ...Andro-what-now? Wait, these androids don't seem like much of a problem... turns out, these aren't the real androids, and the real ones are ''far'' more powerful. Okay, so the new androids have turned out to be pretty chill- now who's that mysterious green dude drinking people with his tail?

* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' has 'invasions to end the war' happening near constantly. Given that the show is 110 episodes long, no one is really expecting invasions in episodes 20 or 40 to really succeed.

* The central plot of ''Anime/MaiHiME'' seemingly gets resolved with the defeat of the Searrs AncientConspiracy. Even the end credits change... except that can't possibly be it, as it's only episode 15 of 26. In the next episode, a rather cruel twist is promptly thrown in.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Well, Luffy, it seems you finally got to the Sixth Level of [[TheAlcatraz Impel Down]] to [[RescueArc rescue your imprisoned older brother]]. Sure it literally [[EquivalentExchange took ten years off your life]] and you had to suffer eighteen hours of excruciating agony to be healed after being [[CurbStompBattle wiped off the floor]] by the [[AuthorityEqualsAssKicking head warden]], but at least you got there in ti- OhCrap, it looks like you just missed your brother being transferred to his execution site! Tough break, buddy.

** ''Film/FinalDestination3'': With Wendy, Kevin, and Julie saving each other from their neardeaths in the Fourth of July fair, it seems that Death's plan is derailed. The movie cuts to three months later, where they reunite while boarding a subway. Wendy suddenly remembers something crucial which puts everyone in danger. The subway crashes, killing everyone on board. [[DaydreamSurprise Oh wait, that was just Wendy's premonition]]. The trio try to stop the subway before it SmashToBlack and the sound of the crash is heard, [[BolivianArmyEnding leaving their fate unknown]].

* There's a fairly nasty use of this in Creator/TadWilliams' epic fantasy series ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn''. Near the end, as the heroes are fighting their way into Green Angel Tower for the final confrontation with the [[BigBad Storm King]], they encounter EvilSorcerer Pryrates finishing off the last of the heroic army's decoy soldiers. [[RebelliousPrincess Miriamele]] catches him by surprise and apparently kills him with a Norn arrow. Of course, it's not that easy, as he proceeds to get up a moment later, complete with EvilGloating.
* In the first Literature/KateDaniels novel, Kate finds the bad guy right where they were supposed to be, foils the evil plot and the evil back up plot, and even manages to go on a semi-successful date. Only something keeps nagging her -- catching the bad guy was too easy and there are too many loose ends. None of the other characters believe her, but the reader does because [[SpoiledByTheFormat we're only 75% through the book]]. And sure enough, the next chapter has another body turn up.
* At the start of the ''Literature/HIVESeries'', we're under the impression that the first major villain, [[spoiler:Overlord]], is dead. In book three, we find out he was never actually dead, but [[spoiler: Otto and [=H.I.V.E.mind=] kill him,]] only for him to return two books later. He apparently is defeated again in book five by [[spoiler:Laura,]] but then he returns in book six, when he is finally killed. We think.

* ''Literature/AgentAngel'' does this in the second book, "Losing The Plot". Mel and her friends think the Elizabethan mission is over, but they get back to Heaven, and they can tell something is wrong. They realize they weren't finished after all, go back down in the middle of the night and have another try at their mission.
* Literature/{{Discworld}}:
** Done three times in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'' ("You think it's over?"), as a ShoutOut to an incident at the end of a RealLife UK football match.
** In ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'', where the words "THE END" are followed ''immediately'' by another four pages of story, fooling nobody.

* Creator/JimButcher does this on the ''last page'' of ''[[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Changes]]''. And it's a doozy.
* In John Fowles's ''Literature/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'' there are not two but three endings, the first of which comes about halfway through the book.
* [[Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes The Armageddon Inheritance]] makes good use of this. You've destroyed the enemy vanguard with a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill supernova]], you've successfully lured the main body of their fleet into a trap and what's left is running away with their tails between their legs. Wait, what do you mean they've still got [[WeHaveReserves another quarter of a million ships]], which just happen to be their largest and most powerful designs? But we've not even got two dozen ships left! And our [[CoolShip flagship]] has engine damage!
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'', Harry and friends capture Peter Pettigrew, the traitor who caused the death of Harry's parents, and seem set to hand him over to the authorities and clear Sirius' name. Then Pettigrew escapes, Sirius is forced to go on the run and Harry realises a prophecy he heard means [[SequelHook Pettigrew is going to bring back Voldemort]]...
** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'', Harry and Dumbledore risk life and limb, and give Draco the opportunity to invade the school, to get their hands on one of Voldemort's horcruxes. Dumbledore dies, Snape betrays them all, Neville is seriously hurt, and Bill is permanently scarred. And then the Horcrux turns out to be a fake; the real one was stolen years ago. Sorry Harry, but your Horcrux is in another castle.
** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', when they go to Godric's Hollow because they think Gryffindor's sword is there, they end up being ambushed by Nagini disguised as Bathilda Bagshot, and as it eventually turns out, the sword was never there after all - Snape had it all along.
* In the third ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'' book it turns out that one of the artifacts has been moved. When Kendra and her allies attempt to retrieve the artifact hidden in the Lost Mesa, it turns out that Patton Burgess, a previous Fablehaven caretaker, had long ago moved the artifact to a new location in Fablehave for safekeeping... shame that three people had already died getting in before they found that out.
* Used in ''Literature/{{Binary}}'' by "John Lange" (a then pen-name of Creator/MichaelCrichton, not to be confused with "John Norman", a pen name used by Dr. John Frederick Lange, Jr. to write his ''Literature/{{Gor}}'' novels). The BigBad, John Wright, [[spoiler:plans to release nerve gas in San Diego, killing the President and a few hundred thousand bystanders. When Wright finds out that federal agent John Graves is investigating him, and that Graves is likely to stop at the obvious solution, he devises two release mechanisms for the nerve gas, one obvious, one invisible]].
* Every ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' book that stars Kimball Kinnison (''Galactic Patrol, Grey Lensman, Second Stage Lensmen'', and '''''possibly''''' ''Children of the Lens'') end with him and the rest of Civilization thinking that they've finally for real this time finished off the Boskonian empire.
* In the ''Literature/HollowKingdomTrilogy'', Kate sacrifices herself to the goblin King, Marak, and becomes his wife in order to save her sister, Emily. Sad ending, right? Nope. The story then skips ahead more than a year for the last few chapters and introduces a new sorcerer villain who is out to enslave the goblins.

* Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' has a very bad case of this. We're repeatedly told that the fight between Garion and Torak is going to be the end of all the fighting, the war between dark and light, all of it. And then suddenly the ''Malloreon'' comes along and tells us that no, the fight was a big event, but actually there's another thing that has to happen, and ''then'' it's going to be over.
** Or, to be more accurate, then it will begin as the world will finally be released from the recursive loop it's been in since 'the Prophecy' split two for one.
* In ''Literature/DoraWilkSeries'', a large chunk of the final novel is devoted to dismantling the organization of a man who's said to be holding Varg prisoner for Bruno. When Dora finally raids his compound, it turns out Varg was never among the trapped shifters and the search has to start anew.
* By the end of Part 3 of ''Literature/TheWildOnes'', Kit has successfully retrieved the Bone of Contention. Ankle Snap City can now be saved, Titus and the Flealess will back off, and then--NOPE. Turns out Basil betrayed the Wild Ones, and he immediately devours the bone and slithers away.
* Near the end of ''[[Literature/MrMen Mr. Wrong]]'', Mr. Wrong feels happy that Mr. Right made him smart. He lived happily, and right, ever after, right? WRONG. Mr. Right and Mr. Wrong both became the opposite of each other.

** Midway through season four, Jack and Paul Raines hole up in a sporting goods store and defeat a group of military commandoes. This is accomplished with twenty minutes left in the episode, leading people to suspect something's up. Then, the guy who hired the commandoes (who [[NotQuiteDead wasn't quite dead]]) shoots a supporting character, and the focus turns to saving one of two critically-injured people in CTU's medical wing.
** Season seven did it again in episode ten... the master list of every government official on Dubaku's payroll has been found and safely delivered to the FBI. Of course, TheMole tries to crash the system and erase the file...only for Chloe to get it back. Since we hadn't yet hit the halfway point of the season, there has to be more...and there is, as the previews have a very confusing montage of people running, another terrorist attack and President Taylor almost(?) getting killed. Sorry, Jack, but it's only six p.m... what did you expect?

*** In the final episode of season one, Jack kills Andre and Victor Drazen before the episode is half over, leading people to think that he's solved the main plotline. He gets to talk to his daughter, and promises that everything's alright...then, when he's driving back to his office, he gets the surveillance footage for Jamey Farrell's holding cell when she died earlier in the day, and realizes that Nina is the mole.
*** Jack kills Peter Kingsley at the end of season two (and the main plot regarding falsified audio recordings is solved)… but there's still twenty minutes left in the show, which means several cliffhangers are set up.
*** The first ten minutes of the season four finale are spent with Jack successfully stopping the terrorists and destroying the nuclear missile headed towards Los Angeles. Except there's still half-an-hour left in the show, which is spent detailing Jack faking his own death and going on the run.
** President Logan is arrested in the season-five finale! And Jack even gets to make a phone call to Kim, who he hasn't talked to in...wait, why are there fifteen minutes left in this episode?

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' ends the major conflict that drove the show (the Shadow war) just six episodes into season four. The remainder of season four was mostly about resolving the secondary conflict of the show (President Clark's regime on Earth), and the entirety of season five consisted mainly of tying up loose ends.
** The story had originally been planned with a five-season arc (though the Shadow war would have, even in the original plan, been wrapped up during season 4). Then, at the beginning of writing season 4, the creators were told that they were not going to get a fifth season, so they set about compressing the original plotline so they could wrap almost everything up by the end of season four (with the exception of the Centauri Prime arc, which would've been resolved in the canon novels). Then they discovered they were getting a fifth season after all on a different network, but by that time it was too late to rewrite. As a result, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen what would've been]] most of the first half of season 5 is compressed into 3 episodes at the end of season 4, and the arc with Byron's telepaths was stretched out over the broadcast fifth season's first half in order to fill the gaps.

* "Lay Down Your Burdens", the second season finale of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. At the 55-minute mark everything seems returned to the status quo, even if Roslin had a rig an election for it. Then Gaeta uncovers the fraud, and the extended-length episode runs for another 30 minutes setting up the first story arc of season 3.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks "The Daleks"]]: At the end of episode 4, the Doctor and his friends have escaped from the Dalek city and saved the Thals from the Daleks' ambush. They're all set to get back in the TARDIS and continue their travels... until Ian remembers the Daleks took a vital TARDIS component from him, meaning they're stuck on the planet. Cue perilous trek ''back into'' the Dalek City... (Note that this was only ''Doctor Who'''s second story and the first was four episodes long.)
** A similar example at the end of episode 5 of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E4MarcoPolo "Marco Polo"]]: The travellers have outwitted their hosts/captors and regained control of the repaired TARDIS. Then, as Susan is about to join the others inside, Tegana grabs her from behind.
** At the end of episode 6 of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan "The Daleks' Master Plan"]], the Doctor and company escape from the Daleks, having rendered their doomsday weapon useless, and go off for a fun Christmas episode involving Hollywood producers and Liverpool policemen and...hang on, the Daleks are back. Is this still the same story?

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E6TheInvasionOfTime "The Invasion of Time"]]: The Doctor's XanatosSpeedChess against the Vardans has paid off, and everyone's ready to celebrate, but wait... what's this? ''Sontarans?!'' OhCrap Partially spoiled by the BBC announcer who called it a six-part serial from the start, confirming that things wouldn't be resolved by the end of episode 4.

* Every season of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' ends on one of these, with the cliffhanger usually resolved in the first episode of the next season. Season Four's finale was especially flagrant, as it teased the viewer with the prospect of an actual happy ending in the ''Farscape'' universe before shattering that pipe dream.

** The season 5 finale seems to resolve both major plotlines (the hydrogen bomb and pilgrimage to Jacob) by the end of the episode, but cuts back to 1977 for one final, short scene in which a still-living Juliet whacks the bomb until it explodes.
** There are three episodes that involve a sudden final flashback to a character uninvolved with the main centricity, usually revealing a plot twist. The first is season 2's "Dave", where a Libby flashback shows she was in the same mental ward as Hurley. The second is season 6's "Ab Aeterno", where a flashback shows the Man in Black conversing with Jacob in 1867 about the former's attempt to kill the latter. And the third is season 6's "Everybody Loves Hugo", where a Desmond flashsideways shows him intentionally hitting Locke with his car, then speeding off.

* In the penultimate episode of ''Series/OnceUponATime'' Season One, "An Apple Red as Blood", Snow White and friends successfully launched a daring rescue for Charming... only to find that her prince was in another castle.

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': In "[[Recap/SherlockS01E03TheGreatGame The Great Game]]", Sherlock's [[BigBad infamous arch-nemesis]] Moriarty, having seemingly left Sherlock and John unharmed following a tense showdown involving explosives and a sniper, returns at the last minute, declaring "I'm so changeable!" as additional snipers reveal themselves. At this, Sherlock aims a handgun at the previously mentioned explosives, before the shot cuts to a BlackScreenOfDeath... Cue a year-long wait for season 2.

* In ''Series/TeenWolf'', The DrivingQuestion of season 2 was "Who is the Kanima?" Midseason, it was revealed to be Jackson's SuperpoweredEvilSide, and the question became "Who is the Kanima's master?"

* Subverted in one version of the children's song "Be Kind To Your Fine Feathered Friends," which cuts off--much earlier than you'd expect it to--with the words "You may think that this is the end...and it is." The other version ends "You may think that this is the end...and it is, [[DoubleSubversion but there is another ending]]. This is it."

* ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice''. Shylock has been defeated! The eponymous Merchant is saved! Mercy's quality avoids straining! Everything the audience cares about is over! Meanwhile, in Act Five...

* In ''Theatre/TheFantasticks'', the cast also appears to get their HappilyEverAfter at the end of Act 1. It doesn't work out the way everyone hoped.

%%* [[http://collar6.com/2010/collar-6-148 This]] ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'' strip.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' teaches us that people should not trust instructions given by a {{jerkass}} to a member of their group that they didn't get along with in the first place. It turned out that the coordinates Girard gave Soon for the location of his gate turned out to be a random spot in the middle of the world's largest desert. Because he didn't trust him. For a while, the Order of the Stick was stuck back at square ZERO because not only did they not have any idea where to go, this time they couldn't fall back on the Sapphire Guard for information.
** The joke is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by the same guy in this strip: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0894.html. Although THAT is later revealed to be a subversion: the cube in the strip is actually a lead-lined container for the actual gate, and Girard was GenreSavvy enough to realize that the Genre Savvy adventurers looking for the gate would be successfully turned away by a lame joke and some magic-blocking lead.
* In the ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' strip [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=1469 NESField 3]], Garfield goes to a castle find frozen pudding pops only to find Jon has gotten there first.
* The debut strip of ''Webcomic/ItSucksToBeWeegie'' opens with Luigi having reached the end of a castle only to be told by a Toad, who identifies him as "skinny gay Mario", that the princess, well you know the rest. Luigi decides he doesn't really care to save a princess and just wants someone to talk to, but the Toad cruelly sends him away. Just another day in the unfair life of Luigi, the tall guy perpetually stuck in his shorter brother's shadow.

* In ''[[WebVideo/DoctorWhoTheMovie Doctor Who: The Movie]]'', the Doctor and Lucy spend most of the movie arriving just too late, defeating the monster left behind in this or that timezone by the Master only to realize that he has already moved on to the next one. Since two or three of the locations are in fact castles, the Doctor even gets to say "According to my time readings, he's in another castle", thus not only playing this trope straight, but even almost verbatim!

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', "Phoebe's Little Problem": The bit with Phoebe's teacher talking to her seems to have been written with this trope in mind. For a moment it seems that he's just talked her back into returning to school... until he accidentally makes a FreudianSlip and says "fart" when he meant to say "Let's make a brand new start".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** There's a classic LampshadeHanging on this in the "Homer and Apu" episode as, almost exactly halfway through the episode, Homer comments that everything has wrapped up "much quicker than usual." Cut to Apu (who's been fired from the Kwik-e-Mart) lamenting that he wants his job back.
** In the episode "Brawl in the Family," the plot (a social worker being assigned to teach the family how to cooperate) appears to be resolved halfway through the episode, prompting Lisa to almost [[BreakingTheFourthWall break the fourth wall]] by suggesting that now the family's getting along so well, this may be the "end of our series...of events". Then Homer's and Ned's Vegas wives from a previous episode turn up...
** In "Lisa's Sax", Homer's story of how Lisa got her saxophone turned into a story about Bart starting kindergarten, which ends early in the episode.
-->'''Homer:''' And that my children, is the story of Bart's first day of school.\\
'''Bart:''' Very nice.\\
'''Homer:''' Yeah.
-->'''Lisa:''' Yeah. Except you were supposed to be telling the story of how I got my saxophone!
-->'''Homer:''' (''{{beat}}'') D'oh!
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', "The Doomsday Project", has a season-ending CliffHanger version. You see that the main characters have defeated Robotnik, and are celebrating... and then you see that Robotnik's nephew Snively has a new mystery villain. It ended up being the final episode, so the new mystery villain remained that way. [[WordOfGod The writers]] said it was intended to be Naugus, however.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', "A Spy Is Born", has a similar CliffHanger. You see that the girls have captured a rogue filmmaker, and that he's been put on a plane... and then you see in the final scene that he's escaped and captured Alex. Cue part two of the season finale...[[OutOfOrder Which comes after a truckload of episodes before that (which confused a lot a fans)]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jumanji}}'' did this a lot. Anytime Judy and Pete got out of the board game with more than a few minutes left it meant one of a few things 1) Pete/Judy did something stupid/unethical and will spend the rest of the episode having to fix it 2) Something bad is going to happen.

* The second season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' seemed like it was going this way. Decepticons defeated, day saved, Sumdac rescued, status quo restored...and then Sari is revealed to be cybernetic. Roll credits (and [[TheStinger bickering]]).
* The episode "Over the Moon" of ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'' had Flapjack and Captain K'Nuckles see and nearly touch Candied Island...but since it wasn't the GrandFinale, the moon's gravitational pull grabbed them back and they were forced to watch the sugar-coated island float off into the distance. At least Flap was able to taste it...

* The season two finale of ''WesternAnimation/HotWheelsBattleForce5'' has all the {{Big Bad}}s defeated, the Red and Blue Sentients making peace, and the eons old interdimensional war has come to an end...then [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Rawkus]] reveals that [[EldritchAbomination the Ancient Ones]] have awakened and the battle is far from over.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' it is King Neptune's Birthday, except he's depressed because his son Triton is not there to celebrate with him. He was locked in a cage on the Island in the Sky thousands of years ago. So [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick, feeling sorry for Triton, go off to free him and reunite him with his father, even after learning that he was [[SealedEvilInACan he was locked away for a reason...]] [[SubvertedTrope although not as good a reason as Neptune thought at the time]]. It turned out, Neptune was actually depressed because of traumatic memories of having to seal away his son for showing interest in the affairs of mortals, which he himself saw as un-godlike behavior, and the 1,000 years Triton spent in that cage had left him bitter, which [=SpongeBob=] did not know until it was too late. Cue Triton causing destruction throughout Bikini Bottom as revenge against his father.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ClassOfTheTitans,'' the heroes actually defeat Chronos at least twice, but he always escapes before he can get thrown back into Tartarus.

* A ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' cartoon does this with a ToBeContinuedRightNow slant. The cartoon is coming to the climax when it starts irising out and the narrator telling patrons to watch for the conclusion next week. It suddenly freezes frame as the narrator suddenly says we can't wait till next week and pleads the cartoon's conclusion go on.
* An Al Brodax ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon has Popeye and Brutus as competing farmers at a county fair. The final event is eating spinach and testing its strength. Brutus offers to shake hands with Popeye to make it fair, but he double crosses him and flings him across the field.
-->'''Brutus:''' ''([[BreakingTheFourthWall to us]])'' You didn't think I was gonna play fair with that runt and take a chance against ''his'' spinach!

* Creator/ScottMcCloud's ''ComicBook/{{Zot}}'' featured a story dealing with a high school girl who is experiencing attraction to another girl. The second girl is known to her classmates to be a lesbian, and is tormented because of it. The first girl is trying to suppress her feelings. The story ends with the second girl passing the first in the hallway, and trying to be friendly. The first girl ignores her, looks very sad, and then the letters page appears, which traditionally is printed at the end of a comic. But after the letters page, the first girl calls back to the second girl, and a later issue shows them to have started a happy relationship. (In the collected edition, the letters page was replaced with commentary by [=McCloud=], so it still works.)

* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'': In Volume 7 "Le Couvent des soeurs de sang", Requiem has sneak in to the eponymous convent to rescue his love interest Rebecca, who was taken there to join {{Dracula}}'s [[RoyalHarem harem of brides]]. He ends up finding out from the women inside that she was taken somewhere else by another vampire.
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': You would think that, once the Hulk has been defeated and the team had its baptizm of fire, and some view over the consequences of said battle, the series would be done. Not Quite. Remember those aliens that Cap fought in WWII? They are back... and it's still the same miniseries, not a sequel one.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', Aladdin, in his prince guise, has won Jasmine's heart, freed the Sultan from Jafar's mind control and exposes his true nature, forcing him to run. Unfortunately, Aladdin realizes that he can't continue his charade without Genie and therefore cannot [[FreeingTheGenie grant his freedom]], harming their friendship. Even worse, Jafar learns Aladdin's secret and has Iago steal the lamp and take over the kingdom.

* ''Film/TakingLives'', in which a police chief says, "Ah, it's over", after about 70 minutes. Naturally, it isn't.
* Happens in ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}''. Twice.

* The ''Film/{{Halloween 2007}}'' remake features the famous exchange in which Michael Myers is compared to the boogeyman. For those who watched the original, movie's over, right? Not exactly ...
* ''Film/{{Dragonslayer}}''. The villagers celebrate when Galen causes an avalanche to block the dragon Vermithrax's cave entrance, despite [[NeverFoundTheBody never seeing the dragon actually die]] or taking into consideration that there might be ''more'' caves leading out of its lair. All Galen did was ''piss it off''.

* In ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'', Tangina Barrons successfully tells the malevolent ghosts to cross over, sends Diane in after Carol Anne, declares "This house is clean", and departs. The next scene feels like you should be reaching for your coat and gathering up your empty popcorn buckets; the family is happily reunited and getting ready to leave the house forever. But then all hell breaks loose, the "Beast" attacks again, the sinister clown you've been waiting all movie to go berserk finally does, coffins erupt out of a swimming pool, and the entire house ''implodes''. THEN the movie is over.
* ''Film/TheRing'' movies lead to a (seemingly) climactic scene in which the heroine goes inside the well to find the earthly remains of the Cursed Video's creator. These scenes are filled with dread and anticipation, as the heroine is minutes away from the 7-day deadline (and so, it's a race against her own death.) When they do find the body, the movies release the tension as though the whole plot had been a "give the ghost a proper burial and give her peace." The American remake is particularly blatant about this angle. Cue the heroine returning home, having defeated the curse... only to find out her ''ex-husband'' didn't, finding the body did ''nothing'', and the terror comes back full-force. "You weren't supposed to help her." Gee, thanks, [[CreepyChild Aiden]], you could have told us that half an hour ago.
* Toward the end of ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' the main characters have escaped the raptors, they're on the helicopter, and all seems right with the world. [[SpoiledByTheFormat Oh wait, we have a half hour left?]] Time for the T-rex to romp through the city.
* Happens in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' - it looks like Dent is being set up for a SequelHook, then the other third of the movie happens. Or, arguably, even earlier. Joker's in the MCU and Batman can rest easy... then MCU blows sky-high, as does Rachel Dawes.

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'', Frodo and Sam initially think their journey is over after they get the Ring to Rivendell for safekeeping at around halfway through the movie. Unfortunately, Elrond realizes that they cannot keep it there, and Frodo accepts the task of destroying it.
** There is another moment around this time, after the council of Elrond, when the Fellowship is formed. The nine stand in a pretty line, Elrond pronounces "you shall be the Fellowship... of the Ring!", the theme swells and half the audience start to retrieve coats, finish off drinks and generally make ready to leave. Then find out there's another hour and a half to go. And, in some cases, hadn't realised that even then there were ''two more films'' before ring meets lava.
** Also, Sam thinks his journey is over when the fellowship reaches Redhorn Mountain, which he confuses with Mount Doom. Not that it isn't a mountain of doom by itself.
** In the book you would think everything is done once the Ring is destroyed, but then we have the Scouring of the Shire, which was left out of the movie for both this reason and lack of time.
* Happened in ''Film/SpyGame''. Robert Redford thinks he's successfully plotted to rescue Brad Pitt, starts walking out of the building, hands his tag to the security guard, jubilant music plays... and we're only an hour into the movie.
* ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. You think the movie is about catching the serial killer, do you? Well, he gives himself up when there's half an hour of movie left.
* In ''The Haunting in Connecticut'', after Reverend Popescu finds Jonah's remains and removes them from the house, he assures the Campbells that the house should now be safe, and drives away. As it turns out, this only makes things worse-- Jonah wasn't a malevolent spirit, but was trying to protect the family from the real evil force in the house, the angry ghosts of the people Aickman desecrated with his necromancy.
* ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' featured a lovely ending: Le Chiffre has lost and died and James Bond gets TheChick he's been eyeing for the entire movie. They kiss and begin a romance, with Bond deciding to quit [=MI6=]. Everything is hunky-dory ... then Vesper betrays Bond, running away with the cash to pay her fiancee's ransom.

* ''Film/{{Australia}}''. The film could easily have been split in two, [[EndingFatigue which might have been for the better]].
* ''Film/LettersToJuliet'': Sophie's boss wonders this about her article.
* ''Film/AirForceOne'' has been secured, the (surviving) hostages freed, the hijackers killed, and the evil general has been stopped from getting out of prison. Of course, they are still in the middle of hostile airspace, with enemy [=MiGs=] now closing in with the failure of the hijacking plot, and [[ChekhovsGun Halo Flight's]] [[CoolPlane F-15s]] still haven't had the chance to do anything really cool. Oh, and the traitor still hasn't been caught.
* Occurs in ''Film/DarkStar'', where the self-destruct has seemingly been aborted.
* ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' does this multiple times. Scott defeats the BigBad who turns out to be NotQuiteDead and then kills Scott. Scott has an extra life, though, so he comes back and defeats the BigBad again, who turns out to be NotQuiteDead again, but this time Scott is prepared and defeats him once and for all. Then it turns out Scott has to defeat his evil alter ego, Nega-Scott, but this "battle" takes place off-screen rather than becoming EndingFatigue.
* In ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'', James Cole finally figures out who the Army of the Twelve Monkeys are: Relatively harmless pranksters. Convinced that the BadFuture was just a figment of his imagination, he books a flight to the tropics with Kathryn. But before he can board the plane he receives another message from the future: TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is at hand and he can still stop it.
* ''Film/{{Speed}}'' did this multiple times. First it appears that the BigBad will be caught when they figured out who he is. It turns out it was a trap. Then later they managed to get all the passengers out of the bus safely without the villain knowing and sets a trap to capture him. But he caught on and the movie still goes on. Then the villain is finally killed. [[RuleOfThree Yet there's still a couple more minutes of movie time left]].
* In ''Film/{{Zardoz}}'', the scene where Zed reveals how he learned Zardoz was actually ''The Wi'''Zard''' of '''Oz''''' makes you think the movie's wrapping up when, in fact, there's still almost an hour to go.
* ''Film/MortalKombat'' (which set up a [[Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation sordid sequel]]). [[BigBad Shang Tsung]] is dead and [[TheHero Liu Kang]] won the tournament, preventing the [[TheLegionsOfHell forces of Outworld from invading the Earth Realm.]] Everyone is about to leave the island and head home when [[TheManBehindTheMan the Emperor, Shao Khan]], appears and announces his plans to invade anyway. Raiden says "I don't think so," and everyone enters an AssKickingPose as the [[SequelHook credits roll.]]
* ''Film/AmericanDreamer'' has a fake out ending, where it turns out Cathy's antics under EasyAmnesia got her into trouble with drug lords.
* ''Film/{{Aliens}}''. Ripley rescues Newt from the Hive, they escape the planet along with Hicks and Bishop just before the fusion reactor explodes, and all seems well. Then it turns out that the Queen Alien hitched a ride.
* ''Film/JackTheGiantSlayer'': Roderick is dead, the princess is saved, the beanstalk has been chopped down, stranding the giants in their land... Shame on you if you expected the movie to end at this point.
* In ''Film/JackReacher'', the titular hero takes out the bad guys guarding a building where he assumes a hostage is being kept, only to find out the building is empty and the hostage is in another building close by.

* Like [[Theatre/IntoTheWoods the musical]], the halfway point of ''Film/IntoTheWoods'' serves as a sort of fake out "happy ending"; Cinderella and her Prince get married (as do Rapunzel and her Prince), Jack and his Mother become wealthy, the Witch regains her youth and beauty, and the Baker and his Wife finally get the child they've always wanted. Right in the middle of the royal wedding, everyone (including the narrating Baker) is interrupted by the quaking stomps of the Giantess, and it is ''then'' that the darker second half begins.
* ''Film/LAConfidential'', Lt. Det. Edmund Exley has killed the runaway culprits of the Nite Owl massacre, he is condecorated by the Chief of Police and considered a hero... But there's something off. Bud White feels something in the resolving of the Nite Owl that is really wrong.
* ''Film/JohnWick''. Did you really think John would be able to bag Iosef at the nightclub? Or that it would be over once John gets his man, [[spoiler:with an irate and not quite rationally-thinking papa wolf of a mob boss]]?
* In ''Film/DestroyAllMonsters'', after Godzilla and his friends barely manage to defeat King Ghidorah, they don't even have time to rest before the Kilaaks unveil their second trump card, the Fire Dragon.
* In ''Film/Godzilla1998'', the military blows up Madison Square Garden just after Nick and the others manage to escape, destroying Godzilla's offspring and ending his species, Nick and Audrey have reconciled, triumphant music is playing and it looks like the movie is over...but then Godzilla bursts out of the ground, having survived his DisneyDeath from earlier and, [[PapaWolf enraged over the death of his children]], pursues the group in a final ChaseScene.
* In ''Film/{{Species}}'', the protagonists prematurely celebrate when the creature apparently dies in a car crash, but in fact she [[FakingTheDead faked the whole thing]].
* The ''StarWars'' saga became this as of [[Film/TheForceAwakens December 18th 2015]]....That big Ewok dance party/Pan-Galactic celebration montage and the triumphant defeat of TheEmpire in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' now feels like Tangina in ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'' saying "The house is clean".[[note]]It may have taken 30 or so years but, still....[[/note]]

* Happens in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. Simon leads an army of rebels to destroy the evil king that's forcing humanity to live underground. The mission is a success, the empire is destroyed, and everyone lives happily ever after... until it's revealed years later that the king was keeping them underground to hold off a larger enemy in space. Guess what happens next?
* Used in ''Anime/VoltesV'', in regards to the whereabouts of Professor Kentarou Go. One of his sons' and disciples' main goals is to find him. And they do. But DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou guys...

* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'':
** Just when Seto Kaiba is about to save his little brother, Pegasus traps Mokuba's soul in a trading card. Parodied in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', when Pegasus actually says: "I'm afraid your Princess is in another castle, Kaiba-boy."
** Also a common structure for individual episodes: if the hero's just played a game-winning combo, the victory music is swelling, and [[SpoiledByTheFormat there's more than three minutes left in the episode]], something's about to go wrong.
* The central plot of ''Anime/MaiHiME'' seemingly gets resolved with the defeat of the Searrs AncientConspiracy. Even the end credits change... except that can't possibly be it, as it's only episode 15 of 26. In the next episode, a rather cruel twist is promptly thrown in.
** The [[Manga/MaiHime manga version]] also throws this in halfway through, when the [=HiME=] unite to defeat Nagi and the Orphans. Right after their celebration, Searrs arrives on the scene and shoots everything to hell by deposing Mashiro as headmaster and effectively holding the entire school hostage, stating that she and the [=HiME=] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness have outgrown their purpose]] now that the Orphans are "no longer a threat".
* Episode 11 of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' has most of the cast in a position (suffering from an unknown poison and days away from coming into human contact) where we're left to assume they all died, [[MindScrew apparently]]. Episode 12 begins with Spike waking up scared from [[AllJustADream a really bad nightmare]].

* Subverted in ''Manga/MagicalCircleGuruGuru.'' After our heroes have defeated their first boss, Kasegi Gold, the stage he appeared on lights up and the heroes freak because they think something worse is about to show up. The good news is, it's just the Old Kita Kita Man. The bad news is that, given Kita Kita Man is an old guy in a hula skirt who dances non-stop, he ''is'' arguably worse than Kasegi Gold.
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass R2'' Episode 15, Charles pulls this on Lelouch. After Lelouch geasses Charles to die, which he does, he realizes that he didn't get any answers out of him and starts regretting killing him right off the bat. Wait, Charles is immortal?! OhCrap.
** Episode 22 of the first season: Wait, [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Euphemia's]] peace proposal is genuine, viable ''and'' she knows about Lelouch? My, this could not only solve the episode's issues, but the whole season's main conflict. All they need to do is to walk to the stage and announce it. But the episode is only halfway through..
* Episode 23 of ''Manga/SoltyRei'' ends with Ashley and Eunomia defeated, and the city rebuilding, complete with HardWorkMontage. Unfortunately, Solty discovers that Eirene is about to pull a ColonyDrop on the city. Not good.
* A couple of good examples from ''Anime/RODTheTV'': In the first episode, a nameless villain tries to take out Nenene with a bomb. He gives a little speech and gets beaten up by the Paper Sisters. Nenene waves goodbye and boards her plane back to Japan. Cue credits? Nope, turns out the bomber's brother is waiting for her on the plane. Later in the series, the sisters are sent back home to Hong Kong and what follows is a sweet episode about Anita saying goodbye to her friends at school, and Hisa trying to work up the nerve to express her feelings to Anita. The girls have their positive moment, and just when you think it's over, Lee strolls in, reveals that he actually works for Dokusensha, and kidnaps Nenene with a group of armed guards.
* Happens in many MagicalGirl series, but notably in ''Anime/SailorMoon S''. TheDragon is cornered, Sailor Moon is powering up her attack, it's even playing the Moon Spiral Heart Attack stock footage -- but it's way too early in the episode for it, the stock footage is intercut with the Dragon's reaction, and the background music hasn't segued into Sailor Moon's theme ... you're not even ''supposed'' to think this is going to work.
* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', the main characters are all dead, there's a nice ending monologue, and everything looks wrapped up... in the fourth episode. Turns out it ''is'' over... [[StoryArc Onikakushi-hen]], anyway...
* At the end of ''{{Anime/Rebuild of|Evangelion}} [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]] 2.0'', Shinji apparently starts Third Impact, which those who have watched the original know marks the end of things. This early? Even those who haven't would guess that it's not over given that four films are intended. Well, nope. A lance impales Unit 01 and Kaworu descends in Unit 06. Time to wait for 3.0!
** The trope actually pulled double-duty; way to stop Third Impact there, Kaworu, you saved the human race! [[spoiler:Wrong, Third Impact happened in those ten or so seconds. More than 90% of the already barely surviving human race is dead and gone. Almost the entirety of 3.0 is one side or the other of the civil war between the remnants of NERV (Gendo, Fuyutsuki, Rei and Kaworu) and ''everyone else'' seemingly about to win only for enough plot twists to arise to make Creator/MNightShyamalan get dizzy!]]
** 3.0 pulls this trope again: according to Kaworu, he and Shinji can use the two spears buried deep beneath NERV to undo the damage from (Near) Third Impact. But when they get there, there are two identical spears, instead of the two different ones Kaworu expected to find. Shinji tries to use them anyway, and ends up causing yet another Impact. [[ShootTheShaggyDog Kaworu kills himself to stop it, thoroughly traumatizing Shinji and putting everyone else back to square one.]]
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': About two thirds of the way through the full story line, Light Yagami uses Misa and Rem to defeat L and then assumes his identity, becoming the 2nd L. L-Kira exalts in finally becoming the God of the New World... Five years later, Light [[VictoryIsBoring is delighted to discover that]] 1st L had made provisions for his defeat; he has successors eager to avenge him and show their worth by defeating the one who killed their hero.

* Well, Ed, after only a couple of volumes of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' spanning a few years of misadventures and a recent attack by a serial alchemist-killer, you've finally found a guy who has the thing that will solve all your problems: the Philosopher's Stone. Wait, he won't give it to you? It's got [[PoweredByAForsakenChild a terrible secret?]] Well, crap.
* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' has 'invasions to end the war' happening near constantly. Given that the show is 110 episodes long, no one is really expecting invasions in episodes 20 or 40 to really succeed.
* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'' is all about a [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits group of friends]] [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether reuniting]] to stop a masked cult leader known only as [[BigBad ''Friend'']] from taking over the world, based on a pretend evil plot that they dreamt up in their youth out of boredom. The first part of the series is all about them trying to uncover the cult's plot, which they learn involves destroying Tokyo with a giant mech on the final day of the Twentieth Century. Eventually the attack happens and they set out to stop it. Seeing as how everything so far's been building up to this moment, we must be at the climax of the series, right? Nope, you're only 5 volumes into a 24 volume series, buddy. Turns out that Friend was using the robot (which is actually a fake) so he could destroy it himself and make him and his cult look the hero, whilst framing the actual heroes. Suddenly, the story jumps forward 15 years and Friend is now the leader of an oppressive Japan, with most of the main characters scattered, in prison, or presumed dead. Oh crap.
* ''Manga/BlackCat'' leaves you in disbelief when it pulls this off in episode (if you are watching it on DVD and so realise that it has to end somehow at episode 24). So at episode 20, Creed Diskenth is finally defeated, and carried off by Echidna Parass after Eve disables the nano-machines in his body, making him mortal, and then Mason suddenly turns up, accompanied by Doctor, Shiki and several Chrono numbers, announcing that they plan to shape a new world order, resulting in an arc that is even more extravagant than the Apostles of the Stars arc, but that lasts just 4 episodes.

* Occurs in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi.'' Miaka's quest to summon the god Suzaku looks like it's on track to succeed, but when they finally get all the warriors together for the critical ceremony, it's sabotaged. This requires the good guys to go searching for the {{Cosmic Keystone}}s that will allow them to try again, which takes up the second half of the series. And ironically, as a direct result of [[HoistByHisOwnPetard their efforts to sabotage the Suzaku ceremony]], the Seiryuu warriors ''also'' are prevented from summoning their god, and have to go looking for the same magical items.
* The ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' TV series has a literal example of this trope as Kenshiro enters the hideout of his [[TheRival rival]] Shin to [[SaveThePrincess rescue his kidnapped fiance]] Yuria, only to be told by Shin's informant and FillerVillain Joker that Shin has moved his army to a new hideout. This also happens in TheMovie, when Kenshiro arrives too late to Southern Cross after Raoh has beaten Shin and taken Yuria.
%%* Lou Collins in ''Manga/{{Gunnm}}'': Last Order. ''Repeatedly''. (ZCE.)
* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Happens a lot to Team Inuyasha whenever they battle Naraku; by the time he goes down for good, they've been to as many castles and killed as many fake {{Big Bad}}s as Mario himself.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': After everybody combines their strength to prevent the lacrima from crashing into Extalia, Erza Knightwalker shoots Pantherlily InTheBack, and her army arrives to attack the heroes.
** The end of the Tenrou Island arc. The group manage to fend off the dark guild Grimoire Heart and protect the island. All seems well and the only matter now is to have the heroes heal up... And then an evil dragon unintentionally summoned appears.
* ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'': The main characters consistently come really close to accomplishing their dreams, only to have to restart from the beginning due to some unforeseen reason.
* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Goku teleports himself and Cell, who is about to self destruct and [[TakingYouWithMe take Earth with him]], to King Kai's planet. Cell explodes, destroying the planetoid and killing [[HeroicSacrifice Goku]], King Kai, Bubbles and Gregory and Cell himself. It looks like the nightmare's finally over. Then Cell ''comes back'', having managed to [[FromASingleCell regenerate from nearly nothing]] and having received a massive power-up thanks to his Saiyan DNA (Saiyans receive a power-up after recovering from near-death), and gaining the ability to return to Earth via Goku's Instant Transmission because Cell can learn any technique he's exposed to.
** Later, during the battle against Majin Buu, Vegeta, after a lengthy ride through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, sacrifices himself in a final attempt to vaporize the Majin. It looks like he actually pulled it off... [[SenselessSacrifice Then Buu regenerates]].
*** This happens a lot with Buu. Vegeta thinks he's vaporized Buu with his suicide attack? Buu's regeneration can overpower ''that''. Mr. Satan manages to befriend and talk down Buu? Cue a couple of moronic gunmen shooting him and unleashing Buu's SuperpoweredEvilSide. Super Buu is blown to bits and then burned in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber? His regen's got that covered. Trapped in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber? He can tear holes between dimensions ''by screaming''. Gohan is now powerful enough to overpower Super Buu? Buu absorbs him. All the Z warriors plus Fat Buu are torn out of Super Buu, reducing him to a childlike form? This one's the worst of them all, because what he lacks in power he more than makes up for in ''sheer insanity''.
** This is practically Dragon Ball's hat. You defeated the evil green demon lord with a headbutt through the stomach! Hey, what was that coming out of his mouth? Oh well. You defeated your evil brother from space! ...His much more powerful friends will be along shortly. You defeated the alien warlords! ...But the {{Plot Coupon}}s that can revive your fallen comrades are on another planet, being hunted by their boss. You defeated their boss and have an EverybodyLaughsEnding! ...He rises up and kills your best friend. Okay, you DEFINITELY killed him this time! [[WeCanRebuildHim ...He comes back as a cyborg.]] This cool new guy killed the cyborg! ...Andro-what-now? Wait, these androids don't seem like much of a problem... turns out, these aren't the real androids, and the real ones are ''far'' more powerful. Okay, so the new androids have turned out to be pretty chill- now who's that mysterious green dude drinking people with his tail?
** Zamasu in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' continues the trend, having to be killed ''three times'' to finally put him down. Beerus atomizes him in the past? Because of time travel shenanigans, his future selves continue to be a problem. Being bisected from the groin up after enduring a brutal beatdown from [[spoiler: Vegito]]? Hi there, [[EldritchAbomination Infinite Zamasu]]. In the end, after either [[spoiler: merging his soul with the Future Trunks multiverse or cloning himself indefinitely with each clone having all the power of Fused Zamasu]], it takes [[spoiler: Future Zen'o causing a ApocalypseHowClassX5 to the timeline]] to finally put him down for good.
* Happens in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. Everything seems to be all neatly wrapped up and set for a [[BittersweetEnding moderately happy ending]]... [[CruelTwistEnding when suddenly]] Homura decides that she's had enough of Madoka sacrificing her own life for everyone else's sake and uses ThePowerOfLove to [[FaceHeelTurn become the Satan to Madoka's God]], forcibly seal her powers and creating a LotusEaterMachine world for her to live in. This is the "rebellion" the title was referring to, and it happens within the last 10-15 minutes or so of the movie. There ''were'' hints that this would happen, but they were [[RewatchBonus so vague and subtle]] that the ending [[ShockingSwerve took almost everyone off guard]].
* Near the end of the Kalos saga of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, during the climax of Team Flare's plot, Ash, Alain, and Malva manage to defeat [[BigBad Lysandre]] (who seems to jump off Prism Tower) while Clemont shuts off the device controlling both Zygarde and Serena and Marian rescue Marian's Chespin, Chespie, meaning Team Flare has been stopped. '''WRONG!''' Chespie is then sucked into the Megalith at Lysandre Labs, which takes on the form of Zygarde and heads for the Anistar Sundial with the intent of consuming it and creating an energy wave that will end all life. However, Ash and Alain enter the Megalith and rescue Chespie, with the thing shutting down. All over, right? '''WRONG AGAIN!''' Lysandre is revealed to still be alive and is now controlling the Megalith, keeping it on its destination.
* Towards the end of ''Anime/IdolmasterXenoglossia'', [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Turiavita]] is destroyed, their island vaporized, and their attack on the city over. However, since all five [[MacGuffin idol cores]] were in the same area, [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Auryn]] appears where the moon once was and threatens the world, requiring the heroines to stop it in the next (and final) episode.
* In ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'', after a long and fierce battle, the Legendary Warriors finally defeat Cherubimon, who has been seen as the BigBad of the series. Then it's revealed that Cherubimon was actually an UnwittingPawn, having been corrupted by the ManBehindTheMan - Lucemon.

GO AHEAD DAUNTLESSLY! MAKE RAPID PROGRES [sic]!"''\\

(Player is then forced to replay the whole game)
-->-- ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins''

GO AHEAD DAUNTLESSLY! MAKE RAPID PROGRES!"''\\
(Player is then forced to replay the whole game)[[note]]Yes, it really ''is'' spelled [[YouMakeMeSic like that]].[[/note]]