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"Monty Python. Where are they now? Well, they're here in this cupboard."
[Opens cupboard; they are in fact inside]
[Closes cupboard]
"...Sad, isn't it?"
Steve Martin, Parrot Sketch Not Included

A kind of epilogue where we're shown what happens to the characters, places, and/or the setting after the series. It usually gets about a minute or two during the last extended credits of a Grand Finale, or a less intrusive version of the closing credits may roll over it.

A staple of the Very Loosely Based on a True Story films, it differs from a Distant Finale in that we get little flashes (such as photographs, still frames, little captions, narration/voiceover, or a Montage of individual clips) that tell us what happened to the characters, instead of a full scene with dialogue or character interaction. If it shows how each character meets his maker, a Deadly Distant Finale. Can be used to create a Fast-Forward to Reunion. If it happens while the credits are rolling, it might overlap with Creative Closing Credits. In video games, this may be done in the form of a dynamic Modular Epilogue. For works Based on a True Story, this often overlaps with Real-Person Epilogue where the real inspiration for the fictional character is shown. Might overlap with Right Now Montage, when it shows Slice of Life scenes. How We Got Here is the exact opposite of this trope.

As this is an Ending Trope, unmarked spoilers abound. Beware.


Example subpages discovered the key to saving the world and now bask in international gratitude.

Other examples hung up their sword, some of them settled down, and others disappeared from the public eye.

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    Comic Books dedicated his life to justice. The police force offered him a job, but he declined, stating that he "had other plans." 
  • Avengers: The Initiative: The final issue ended with one of these. Hardball and Komodo reconcile with each other and Cloud 9. Batwing and Butterball replace the U-Foes as North Carolina's state superteam and are in the market for additional members. Bengal retired, moved to Sunset Park, and opened a martial arts school. Trauma starts Walking the Earth, his exact activities Shrouded in Myth. And... well, there were numerous characters in this series, you really don't need to hear about them all.
    • Oddly, despite writer Christos Gage's obvious intention of this as a sendoff to these characters, whom he expected would never appear again except as C-List Fodder, there was a Post-Script Season in Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt.
  • The Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic, which served as a continuation of the TV series, gives many of its characters happy endings:
    • Buffy and Faith join the police force.
    • Willow runs a centre for empowering women.
    • Xander and Dawn settle down and start a family.
    • Giles rebuilds the Watcher's Council.
    • Angel and Spike both make peace with Buffy.
    • Oz moves to Tibet where he settles down with a family and helps others with their lycanthropy.
    • Riley continues to advance in the military.
  • The back page of the final issue of the British comic Buster gave final endings to all the strips, mostly involving the central concept of the strip being reversed or deconstructed.
  • The Golden Age: The last few pages have Johnny Chambers (formerly Johnny Quick) now retired from the superhero business and considering retying the knot with his ex-wife Libby Lawrence (Liberty Belle) and also mentioning the fates of the other Golden Age Heroes who survived the Dynaman identity revelation incident: Theodore Knight (Starman) retired and got married, Alan Scott (Green Lantern) retired and set up a scholarship fund in the memory of a GBS staff writer who died during the Red Scare, Paul Kirk (Manhunter) liquidated all his assets and disappeared into the jungle, Rex Tyler (Hourman) still fights crime and is still fighting his drug addiction demons, Al Pratt (Atom) learned something about himself, Johnny Thunder became a total Jerkass, Paula Brooks (Tigress) returned to being a criminal after the loss of Lance Gallant (Captain Triumph), and the hero that stood up against Dynaman near the end, Captain Comet, became one of the heroes that would usher in the Silver Age.
  • Green Lantern: Wrath of the First Lantern has a theoretical Distant Finale (in a meta way, this is a Grand Finale for Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern) featuring the various Lanterns moving on with their lives and showing what they've all been up to in their old age.
  • Hard Time: The last issue was centered around Ethan's parole review, and all the principal characters, mostly Ethan's fellow prisoners, had their "endings" revealed. For instance, Curly was released after his granddaughter tirelessly petitioned for an appeal, Cindy had her sex change and lived happily ever after, and Cole died during a robbery attempt less than a year after he got out.
  • The Vertigo Comics series House of Mystery has one of these in its second-to-last issue for all the major and minor characters.
  • Justice League of America: Justice League Annual #4 stars infamous Injustice League (and the Scarlet Skiier and G'nort) recast as Justice League Antarctica under the mistaken impression that they couldn't cause any trouble down there. The last page reveals what the team members are up to after finally splitting once and for all. Among other things: Big Sir (somehow) won $160,000 on the quiz show "Concentration". Major Disaster enrolled in dental school in Anaheim, CA. Cluemaster is writing questions for the TV quiz show "Concentration" (ah). And Clock King is taking some time off.
  • Super Buddies: The first issue of the mini-series showed what happened to the members of the Justice League International after their book was cancelled in the '90s. Most of the heroes were in dire straits, such as Fire, who was now running a softcore porn website.

    Comic Strips decided to make doodles to spread laughter across the universe. He never messes up a single punchline! 
  • For Better or for Worse ended its 29-year run on August 31, 2008 with a strip showing what happened to the members of the Patterson family. Detractors of the strip nicknamed it the 'Strip of Destiny', since it was...a tad Anvilicious in hammering in traditional female roles, what with Deanna quitting her pharmacy work to start a sewing school, and that Elizabeth would be a wife, mother, and teacher for life, and only The Un-Favourite April fulfilling her dream job. This coming on the heels of Elizabeth marrying the Creator's Pet via Strangled by the Red String, and...well, it's no wonder it's also nicknamed the 'Settlpocalypse.'

    Film — Animated started drawing millions of epic stories with visuals. He has never before been as happy as he is now. 
  • The ending credit sequence of Bolt show scenes of Bolt, Penny, Mittens, Rhino and her mother living their new life together in their country neighborhood.
  • The credits of Cars roll with incidents from the next years about the future of the characters and the revival of the town.
  • The credits of Cinderella III: A Twist in Time reveal that Anastasia met a sweet baker, Drizella and Lady Tremaine reverted from their transformation only to find themselves in maid clothes, and Cinderella and the Prince, of course, lived Happily Ever After.
  • Daffy Duck's Quackbusters ends with one of these. It states that Bugs is enjoying a vacation in Palm Springs and reading about Daffy's downfall, Porky and Sylvester are stranded in the Superstition Mountains, with the latter being more cowardly than before, Cubish is still dead, and Daffy is back to where he started, as a street corner salesman selling supernatural trinkets. He finds a dollar bill but it instantly vanishes (thanks to Cubish's ghost), leaving him sorely pissed.
  • The closing credits of Finding Nemo show that the fish that were living in the dentist's fish tank are all now living happily in the ocean with Nemo, Marlin, Dory, and their friends.
    • However, this was contradicted at the end of Finding Dory, where the Tank Gang are still trapped in their bags, and get washed ashore at the Marine Life Institute and are brought inside as a result.
  • Ice Age ends with Scrat being frozen inside an ice cube and being washed up onto a tropical island and thawing out after being frozen inside the cube for 20,000 years, only to have his acorn washed away by the tide causing the poor squirrel to substitute his lost acorn with a coconut, causing him to accidentally trigger a volcanic eruption after driving the coconut into the sand.
  • Kung Fu Panda runs this as the artwork behind the end credits, showing what the Five and Po get up to after the story.
  • The directors and the animators on Lilo & Stitch fought with the Disney Company, and won, to create additional animation and "photo" paintings of what happened to the characters after the events of the film, establishing the new family that they indeed formed after Stitch arrived.
  • Monsters University shows that a lot of the characters in the film became excellent Scarers, at the end credits showing their scare cards. Most of the members of Oozma Kappa made it, along with Johnny Worthington and Carrie from PNK, and Mike and Sulley became Rookies of the Year.
  • Uniquely for the 2006 rerelease of The Nightmare Before Christmas, the new soundtrack includes (among a few other new additions) a new spoken word epilogue with Sir Patrick Stewart playing Santa Claus, which manages to conclude Jack and Santa's relationship on a far happier note than the movie did. In the epilogue, Jack and Sally are Happily Married with children, the Holidays have all become aware of each other, and Santa and Jack have put aside their differences and become dear friends. It concludes on a heartwarming note, making it clear that Santa has forgiven Jack, and that Jack doesn't regret a single moment of his one and only Christmas.
    "Would you do the whole thing all over again?
    Knowing what you know now, knowing what you knew then?"
    And he smiled like the old Pumpkin King that I knew,
    Then turned and asked softly of me... "Wouldn't you?"
  • Tangled combines this trope with Lemony Narrator:
    Flynn/Eugene: But I know what the big question is? Did Rapunzel and I ever get married? Well I am happy to say after years and years of asking, I finally said yes.
    Rapunzel: Eugene!
    Flynn/Eugene: Okay, okay. I asked her.
    Rapunzel: And we're living happily ever after!
    Flynn/Eugene: Yes we are.
  • At the end of Titanic: The Legend Goes On, a mouse describes the marriages of some of the major characters. He leaves out the thousand or so people who died.
  • Toy Story 3 does this via Creative Closing Credits.
  • The first section of the UglyDolls credits shows the Uglydolls, along with Mandy and the SpyGirls, with their new owners, who share similar traits with them. Meanwhile, a disheveled Lou is seen cleaning up the institute with the robot dog angrily watching over him.
  • WALL•E's closing credits begin with this, before Art Shifting to an 8-bit graphical recap of the movie's main plot.
  • The War to End All Wars – The Movie: Private Henry Johnson from the Hellfighters, the "Lady of the Dark" Milunka Savić, and Generals Milne and Vazov from "Valley of Death" get splashes right before the end credits explaining what became of them after the war: Johnson died in poverty in 1929, posthumously receiving a Medal of Honor in 2015; Savić spent time in a concentration camp during World War II and died in 1973; while Milne and Vazov became good friends.
  • In Watership Down, the narrator relates how Woundwort's body was never found and his memory lived on as a sort of lapine boogeyman.
  • Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph describes what happened after the climax in the end.

    Music followed her dreams and formed a variety band called "Music and the Notes." Their first album sold over a million copies. 
  • The "Big Enough" music video ended with the following text epilogue after the credits:
    Butch Callinan & Alex the Kid, having reconciled their past, would become partners ride west together where they would settle & see out their days operating an Apple Orchard on the outskirts of Bakersfield, California.
    Forging a modest whistling career on the stages of San Francisco, Molly Lewis would later join them, managing the burgeoning apple business' finances and, ultimately, outliving both of the former rivals.
    Never again did they speak of their fabled visitation from the ghost of old Jim Barnes.
  • blink-182's video for "First Date" does this at the end.
  • Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe"; they all lived sadly ever after.
    A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
    Brother married Becky Thompson and they bought a store in Tupelo
    There was a virus goin' 'round; Papa caught it and he died last spring
    And now Mama doesn't seem to want to do much of anything
    And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge
    And droppin' 'em into the muddy water off the Tallahatchee Bridge.
  • Bowling for Soup's Punk Rock 101.
  • The original Swedish edition of The Cardigans' album Life ends with "Closing Time", which tells us what happened to some of the characters from the album's other songs. (Basically, they all lived Happily Ever After).
  • Five Iron Frenzy's "That's How the Story Ends" serves as a followup to most of their prior comedic songs. Some of the characters come back from the dead, and others get bridges dropped on them.
  • The Fugees vid for "Killing Me Softly", appropriate since the entire video (like the title of the album from which this single came) is an homage to Cooley High.
  • "Love at the Five and Dime," a 1986 top 5 country hit for Kathy Mattea, had one such postlogue as the third verse of a love story involving a dime store clerk and an aspiring steel guitar player in a country band.
  • And Korn's Twisted Transistor.
  • The Statler Brothers' "Class of '57," which was a look at a high school class and what had happened in the years since graduation. A nostalgic but oft-bittersweet song, some of the members go on to blue-collar careers (such as the deliveryman for Sears, the housewives who sell Tupperware or play organ at the local church, the factory worker and the mill worker), while others become leaders in their community (a teacher, an insurance salesman and grocery store owner). One becomes extremely rich (the Cattle Baron), another marries a multi-millionaire. There are tragic tales, such as a classmate who ends up in a mental institution and the young man named Freddie who, after his wife leaves him for another man, commits suicide. And then there are classmates they lost track of, such as Mavis. The chorus' underlying theme is one of high hopes and dreams being complicated when they realize they're in the real world and not with the protection of high school.
  • Van Halen's music video for "Hot for Teacher" ended this way, with Alex going on to become a gynecologist, Michael Anthony becoming a champion sumo in Tokyo, Eddie ending up in a mental ward, David Lee Roth becoming a game show host, and special guest Waldo going on to an uncertain fate after graduation (he became successful with wealth and women, implied to have become a pimp).
  • "Marta, Sebas, Guille y los demás", by Spanish singer Amaral, could be considered a "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue for the singer's own friends from her childhood and teenage years.

    Podcasts began recording himself talking about how to paint, cook, and do other things. 
  • In the ending of The Adventure Zone: Balance, Griffin asks how Magnus dies. Travis describes how Magnus lives to be an old man, and dies peacefully in bed, surrounded by his loved ones. Afterward, Kravitz leads him to a special spot in the Astral Sea reserved for him and Julia.
  • After the main story of Season 1 of Live From Mount Olympus is complete, Hermes and Athena narrate the rest of Perseus's life up to his death and enshrinement in the stars.
  • In the final episode of In Strange Woods, Brett tells us where the other characters, as well as himself, end up after the main story concludes.

    Radio — well, he's an unknown, having disappeared into the wild, blue yonder. 
  • American Top 40: During the Casey Kasem era, this was a frequent feature, where he would update listeners on a popular act or one-hit wonder of past years, usually prior to 1970, and tell what had happened since their last major hit. The feature was parlayed into two AT40 specials, called "Disappearing Acts," which was exclusively one-hit wonders and stories about what had happened to these artists since their one brush with fame.

    Theatre continued to live his over-the-top lifestyle. How this hasn't gotten him fired from his bartending job yet is beyond us. Maybe he owns the bar? 
  • Parodied in the final Avenue Q presentation for the annual BC/EFA Easter Bonnet Celebration, which informs the audience what the characters will do after the show closes.
  • Cosi by Louis Nowra ends with the main character giving a monologue on the subject of where the majority of the characters had ended up a year after the play's events.
  • The Crucible by Arthur Miller includes a "Where Are They Now?" as a prose addendum after the end of the script. It is often included in the programme notes.
  • At the end of the musical version of Legally Blonde, Paulette gives a brief "where are they now" over Elle's valedictorian speech (and at the same time preventing the audience from hearing the year of the graduating class).
  • Che gives a two sentence epilogue at the end of Evita.
  • Lindy Hume's English-language adaptation of Die Fledermaus, first produced by Opera Australia in 1997, ends with subtitles revealing the fates of each of the characters.
  • Fools, by Neil Simon, ends with such a humorous summation by Tolchensky, the main male lead.
  • Hamilton's final song "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" lists out what happened to the major characters that live on after Alexander dies in his duel with Aaron Burr.
  • The History Boys has one of the most depressing ones. Poor old Posner. 'Mrs Lintott describes him as living a lonely life, keeping "a scrapbook of the achievements of his one-time classmates" and having "a host of friends... though only on the Internet, and none in his right name or even gender." She concludes by saying "He has long since stopped asking himself where it went wrong."' He gets a (somewhat) happier ending in the film.
  • Oslo tells the story of the secretive back channel conferences that laid the groundwork for the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accord between Israel and Palestine. The actors portray real people involved in the peace talks — as such, when the show ends and the actors deliver a rapid-pace summary of declining Israeli-Palestinian relations from 1993 through 2016 (the year of the show's premiere), the political recap is interspersed with updates on the status of the key players. The death dates of several of the involved politicians and negotiators are declared, with each deceased character leaving the stage when they have recounted their cause of death (be it from assassination, age, or illness).
  • The printed copy of Pygmalion comes with a very extensive epilogue chapter detailing the future of Eliza Doolittle, in which she lives out one of the most mundane lower middle class lives ever put to paper, and absolutely positively does not get together with Higgins.
  • The stage musical adaptation of Ragtime ends with a number that mirrors the opening, except that instead introducing themselves, each of the important characters note  explains what happened to them after the events of the play.
  • At the close of Stupid Fucking Bird, each of the characters narrates their fate from the end of the story to their death.
  • At the end of the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee each of the characters steps forward and tells the audience what happened to them afterward, and how their life was (or wasn't) changed by their experiences at the Bee.
  • The first production of the musical of Vanities did this; in subsequent productions it was rewritten into a Distant Finale.

    Visual Novels lives on the same shelf as Video Games above. They get along really well, and have even begun to share each other's interests. 
  • At the end of every single main series Ace Attorney game (the full game—not just one case), during the credits, there's an epilogue that shows all the characters with unique models (except the killers, and those who have been arrested for other crimes, such as Sal Manella or Machi Tobaye), and what's happening to them after the game ends. Most of them have bugger all information though. Some actually talk about them getting involved with whatever it is they're doing next time you meet them.
    • There are a few exceptions. The Judge appears in the epilogue of the first game he appears, but no other. Likewise Winston Payne and his brother, Gaspen Payne. The only killers who appear are Ashley Graydon, the final culprit of The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures, Courtney Sithe, the third culprit of The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve, and Beh'leeb Inmee, the third culprit of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice.
    • Due to the first game's fifth case being a bonus case added to the DS remake, both the fourth and fifth cases have one of these. It's the only game in the series with multiple epilogues.
    • The DLC cases in recent entries of the series contain short scenes as their epilogues; their characters are not shown in the credits after the main cases. In the DLC case of the fifth game, Marlon Rimes, the villain (though he actually hasn't killed anyone), isn't seen on-screen, but it is shown that he still works at Shipshape Aquarium. In the DLC case of the sixth game, Pierce Nichody, the villain, is still a killer, so he isn't present at the ending, which shows the Sprockets' wedding.
    • Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney also has one of these, depending on how you view it. Luke wonders what Phoenix and Maya are doing once they returned home, cut to them in a courthouse with Edgeworth making a cameo.
  • The Crea route in Duel Savior Destiny ends with us following the heroines as they return from a patrol/cleanup of sorts, showing they're still active in the military. Crea herself is running the country and has a son. When the seven of them all meet up again, Taiga returns home.
  • Fleuret Blanc combines this with Modular Epilogue: you're only guaranteed to see the fate of the judges, Florentine, and Roland. The other members' stories (and that of the Chateau itself) are only revealed if you've completed their subplots; otherwise, the ending slides just have a question mark with the caption "X's future remained a mystery..."
  • Higurashi: When They Cry's final arc, Matsuribayashi-hen, concludes with this style of epilogue detailing what happened to all the main cast members after their victory over Takano.
  • Kindred Spirits on the Roof has a variation. On the final day of the main story, as Yuna and Hina are going to help Sachi and Megumi have Their First Time that evening, Yuna briefly crosses paths with each of the other couples and thinks about how they're doing.
  • Last Chance in Xollywood: A downplayed example in the second-to-last chapter, where the production of Love Dies Screaming wraps and the narration details what the crew does immediately after. Then the final chapter where several years have passed comes, and the narration talks about all the characters' whereabouts, and whether you still are (or were, in the case any of them have passed away) in good terms with them. There are different lines of dialogue, and different achievements, in the event your relationship stats with any of them were particularly good... or particularly poor.
  • In each ending in Lake of Voices where you manage to get to the shore safely, you get a short description of everyone's fate depending on the choices you made.
  • Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! has this for the six main endings, though the contents don't really vary from one to another.
  • The Perfect Ending of Melody manages to tie in all the major characters.
  • Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair has scenes showing what the surviving cast members are up to in the credits. One such scene can change depending on whether Kotoba lived or died.
  • Starting from the second game, the Tokimeki Memorial series make use of such epilogues in the flagship games of both the Standard and the Girl's Side branches of the series.

    Webcomics joined his behind-the-times brother in his quest for comedy, posting some of the funny doodles online. 
  • 8-Bit Theater finally ends on one of these. To note, White Mage is tracking down the Light Warriors to give them some credit for fulfilling the prophecy, the Dark Warriors are now world-renowned heroes having received the credit for everything the Light Warriors did, Red Mage has set up a group for sole survivors of mysterious sects with Dragoon, Thief is now living peacefully in Elfland as the King, and Black Mage and Fighter have disappeared with none of the others being sure of where they are (turns out they're exactly where they started when the comic began).
  • The epilogue of Adventurers! tells how every single character ended up.
    • Eternion is still dead.
  • Bite Me!. The main comic involves vampires during the French Revolution, so the epilogue goes all the way to the present.
  • Bob and George had one of these.
  • Casey and Andy ended its final strip with this for the main characters and Running Gag Bob.
  • The "Recap" page of the sequel serves as the epilogue to College Catastrophe. The cast got jobs that sent them in different directions, but brought together a year later.
  • Concession shows how the cast get back on with their lives after Joel's plans implode. Concluding with Thonnen's daughter becoming President of the United States decades later.
  • Dominic Deegan has more of a "Where They Will Be", as Dominic was granted a last vision showing him where many of his friends and family would end up in the future.
  • Errant Story ends this way, starting with a stunning portrait of Sarine and continuing with her report about what happened to key characters (Meji, Sara, Jon, herself, their daughter Mari) and places (Emerylon, Praenubilus Astu, Tsuiraku, others not named).
  • Book five of Fans! has Shanna writing a book of her experience during the God Machine incident as a framing narrative, closing with Shanna recounting the current activities of her old friends, notably Rikk and Ally inviting Rumy to join them as a polyamorous union. T. Campbell had planned on this being the final chapter, but a couple of years later he brought the comic back, set shortly after Shanna's book was published.
    • The final arc of the Fans! revival ends with a series of wordless single-panel pages showing the future of the strip's cast. Rumy resumes her art career, the Oberfs have their first child while also bonding with Soulson (Rumy's child with an alien from an early arc), Di hooks up with Dexter and Rico starts noticing Helga. The last strip shows the entire cast as crewmembers of an Enterprise Expy seeking new adventures.
  • Get Medieval (though a few named characters got left out, most notably Oneder, Iroth's bodyguard. Worse, The Big Bad gets a Karma Houdini.)
  • After completing Inverloch, Ellerton drew bonus pages for each character with a short written summary of what they did after the story ended.
  • A Magical Roommate ended with twenty of these. There were still an number of characters whose ultimate fate wasn't mentioned, however.
  • Material Girl has photo-like epilogues leaving a rather open ending.
  • Miss Abbott and the Doctor: The final strip sees Cati Abbott, 10 years in the future, writing to Rebeca and telling her about all things that have changed since we last saw them.
  • MS Paint Adventures features this as well in Problem Sleuth and Homestuck.
  • The last strip of Narbonic has a series of images showing us the characters' future, one a Shout-Out to Animal House.
  • Newshounds featured this sort of epilogue when Newshounds II ended in September 2014, showing the lives that the characters had built for themselves.
  • Rain has this in Chapter 44 as it skips forward 6 years. Beyond showing us how the Flaherty siblings finally reconcile as well as how the rest of the gang's futures turned out.
  • Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic has a Where Are They Now recap, giving us a look at where the comic's numerous characters are doing at this point in time.

    Web Original opened up a video store. There, he has obtained plenty of customers. 
  • Belkinus Necrohunt: At the end of the Grand Finale, although certain details are said to remain a mystery, JoCat states a few lines about how each character was rewarded for their duty, followed by their respective players narrating how they spent the rest of their lives:
    • Luna repairs the monument of her father, has a proper wedding with Scorpio, and then sets up an adventurer's guild with the broken hilt of Absolution as its symbol.
    • Enoch settles down in Ruggawood, may have started a relationship (and family) with Juliana, went on a trip with her and Mirth to enjoy the world like he never had before, and then retired with the hope of never using a weapon again (unless called upon by his friends).
    • Renee inherits leadership of the Witchtakers and decides to reform them into a less-covert group, particularly after Nathaniel's past was revealed to the masses and public opinion started questioning their ways. She also inherits the "banana wizard" outfit, but hates the color and uses magic to make it purple.
    • Nathaniel passes leadership of the Witchtakers to Renee. He briefly wonders if he should campaign to take over Chandrelle's position, but ultimately decides to advocate for Lancel getting it instead. He then leaves to find a way back to Verteheim, with no knowledge of Luc's fate, and was never seen again.
  • 5 Second Films parodies the slow-motion voiceover epilogue in "Coming of Age":
    "Eric married that lifeguard. Brian never came back from Vietnam. And Gorlac enslaved us all."'
  • actionFigures Final Video, a parody of Marvel Comics characters with, duh, action figures, ended with normal credits, that were interrupted by Deadpool, who asked for changing it for that ending.
    Uatu married Death. They had the ugliest kid ever.
  • In the original Grand Finale of reviewer Benthelooney featured this in his Yellow Submarine review.
    • Neb T. Yenool started paying attention in school and became more sensitive towards others. However, he's still pwning some n00bs in his video games.
    • Looney T. Ben became a sane man and now works at the St. Louis Zoo.
    • Sir Lord Charles Humperdink IV learned how to appreciate art and spends his free time strolling around in art museums.
    • Negative Nick became more positive and changed his name to Positive Pete.
    • Ben T. Looney auditioned multiple times to get parts in cartoons but never made the cut once. He fell in love with Jenny E. Wacky and ended up marrying her.
  • Brentalfloss explains what happened to the cast of Donkey Kong 64:
    • Donkey Kong himself now hunts endangered species for fun and sport.
    • Tiny has been exterminating all of the world's bees and nobody knows why.
    • Lanky earned his college degree and became a sexual education-teaching clown who uses puppets.
    • Diddy became bitter after turning out to have dwarfism and no women will date him because of it, and he runs a right-wing misogynist blog.
    • Chunky is dead, presumably a reference to his own Chuck Cunningham Syndrome. The fade-out reveals that Cranky is also dead. And in the fridge.
  • Parodied by CollegeHumor in "Every Teen Movie Ending". All the classmates and their teacher meet very unfortunate ends, and the narrator died when he was still a kid and never actually saw these people graduate.
  • The Dark Id's let's play of Drakengard 2 ends with one, which describes the chaos and death caused by the "heroes'" destroying both the Knights of the Seal and those seals that hold the world together. Caim becomes the next Grim Reaper on account of killing the previous one, Hierarch Seere uses an army of golems to rule the land as an undying emperor, Eris becomes his right-hand enforcer, and Nowe and Manah get off scot-free and live happily ever after.
  • Checking up on your old friends and acquaintances on Friending Networks like Facebook can have this effect.
  • The end of this episode of Fact Hunt ends with a Double Subverted example of this trope when talking about the members of Gamelife, a show that was on the verge of being YouTube's first breakout hit, until host Andrew Rosenblum destroyed their chances with a school shooting threat the day after the V-Tech Massacre:
    • Andrew spent two years under house arrest.
    • Dave & Melissa tried to create a spin-off show called Dave's Life that ended after two episodes.
    • Alex "sadly passed away after succumbing to third-degree bowl cuts."
    • Geoff Mendicino wound up finding the most success as a pro Street Fighter/Killer Instinct fighter named Darksydegeoff.
  • Homestar Runner: Parodied in the Strong Bad Email "montage", where a series of captions during the "end credits photo montage" reveal the fates of various characters (like The Cheat's failure as a toner salesman, Strong Bad hosting "some show on Animal Planet" that was cancelled before the first commercial break, and the Wagon Fulla Pancakes moving to Long Beach with its spouse and two kids). It also foretold the retirement of The Paper in Strong Bad Email #173.
  • Matt Willson has a (unfinished) teaser for a project called 8 Hours, which, from the looks of it, has this sort of effect for Bonus Stage and his earlier project High Score. Phil's become a school teacher, and Joel has a daughter named Kate. Other various characters from Bonus Stage show up for short clips, and some of the scenes from High Score's intro are referenced.
  • The eighth and final episode of The Most Amazing Story Ever Told has a credits sequence shows what happens to the various characters that appeared in the series, set to "Funky Cowboy" by Goober & the Peas.
  • The end of The Mysterious Mr. Enter and PieGuyRulz's review of the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Truth or Square" ends with one of these. "Life in Bikini Bottom" becomes a hit with three seasons and counting, Patrick is arrested for farting in people's faces, Squidward quits his job and finds spiritual enlightenment in Tibet, Mr. Krabs gets a new fashion sense (his “Krabby the Clown” disguise), SpongeBob learns he's actually married to Sandy and now pays her $20,000 a year in alimony, Plankton creates a hair-growth serum and becomes a millionaire, the demonic puppet from the start of the episode is turned into firewood, Pie Guy Rulz creates a five times platinum rap album, and Mr. Enter orders a pizza and gets a refund because it's cold when it arrives.
  • Naruto: The Abridged Comedy Fandub Spoof Series Show, another web series created by LittleKuriboh, did the same thing with its movie:
  • When The Nostalgia Critic reviewed Mr. Nanny, he used a caption over the last shot (Sean Armstrong flying through the air because the kids tethered his motorcycle) to explain what happened as a result. Also spoofed during the football game scene in the Warriors of Virtue review.
  • Phantom Savage ends his Dead Rising 2: Off The Record playthrough with one of these. In his story, Rebecca Chang's "Chang Weekly" replaces People Magazine; TK is zombified and used for the finale of Terror is Reality, hosted by Phantom Savage; his father is still missing; Fortune City is remade into Zombie World and surpasses Disney World as the most successful theme park; Chuck Greene was pronounced dead but may have become a hitch hiker murderer; Savage himself (under the Frank West alias) reported the story behind the outbreak in the book "Fortune's End"; he secretly continued to investigate the outbreak and destroyed Phenotrans.
  • One of the alternate endings to Red vs. Blue: Season 5 includes a sideshow of what happened to the characters after the end.
  • SiIvaGunner's DJ Professor K takeover serves as one for a few of the King for Another Day contestants.
    • Weird Al never got into contact with BEAT IT again, but he's back to his normal work of parody and polka.
    • Eminem's still selling his D-12 salsa, though he took a vacation from it at the time of interview. He's currently hanging out with Weird Al.
    • Monokuma partnered up with Rokkaku in an attempt to bring Professor K down, though stubbornly gives up when K once again refuses to give into despair.
    • According to one of the commercials, Metal Ajit Pai is still trying to end net neutrality.
    • Mariya Takeuchi's present self managed to get into contact with Professor K again, and the two of them head out for ramen shortly after the takeover ends.
  • Skawo parodies this at the end of his playthrough of WarioWare: Get It Together! with an explanation of what (he imagines) became of the cast:
  • Sleuth Noir, the online detective game, has an example of this trope in Heimlich VonVictor's The Executor's End. At the conclusion of the mystery, we find out in great detail what happened to every member of the ensemble cast of the mystery.
  • In Sonic for Hire, the (original) Grand Finale had this:
    • Sonic becomes the new Creator (with Tails apparently serving as his secretary).
    • Thunderhead and his new zombie wife are living a happy life terrorizing local villages and making their own asswine.
    • Kirby remains at large for murdering over 600,000 video game characters and is considered the "LeBron James of Hitlers".
    • Mother Brain and her daughter Soniqua star in a show titled, "Grossy and The Freak," which is the #1 show on TV. Mother Brain married Alan Paterson, a pharmacutical [sic] rep at Phizer and now lives on Mars.
    • Knuckles never figured out how to make himself a full character again. He works 39 hours a week at BurgerTime, misses his boxing gloves, and wishes he was dead.
    • Link becomes the biggest gay rights activist in Hyrule, and is currently the spokesman for Super Gay Margarita Mixers.
    • Princess Potato has been unconscious for three days, and the text box asks for someone to check on her.
    • Eggman and Earthworm Jim opened a beachfront cafe in Dead or Alive. Their biggest selling item is the "Coke On Tits Breakfast Bonanza".
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Special Edition ends with the epilogue footage from Animal House, just with all the text rewritten to be Sonic-relevant and nonsensical. Knuckles becomes a professional beekeeper, Sonic and Tails marry and have five daughters, Amy invents the world's first solar-powered buffalo, and so on.
  • Parodied in Sorry's first video of the channel, "We Went To Court" ends with this explaining what happened to everyone in court, with a lot of Black Comedy thrown in:
    Tom was found guilty of theft, perjury, and 7 counts of aggravated assult. He is currently serving 23 years in prison.
    Phil was later found to be in woeful neglect of his sausage roll and was sentenced to death. He will be killed via guillotine on Thursday the 2nd of April 2026.
    Charlie, better known in criminal circles as "Das Wolpertinger" was found guilty of impersonating a judge, six counts of boy boiling, one count of baby pushing and eighteen counts of drying frogs. He is currently serving six consecutive life sentences.
    Ranboo was mistakenly admitted to a veterinary hospital specializing in worms. He has since been cured of his worms.
    Wilbur was found guilty of arson and sentence to 15 years of prison. He was found dead three months later in his apartment awaiting transportation. One week later he found alive again after coroners confirmed the body actually belonged to an elderly Scottish woman. Wilbur is now behind bars.
    Mr Handy went on to have an illustrious career in an acapella group knowns as "Bops Charming". He has been living in Los Angeles, California, since July 2024.
  • Parodied in Steam Train's playthrough of Civilization V: Brave New World. Ross was murdered by Danny (because he destroyed the recording by kicking the computer), who then slept for 44 years, Arin went to Disneyland and then he fell asleep, and Mochi and Mimi (Arin's cats) continue to rule as the Unmet Player.
  • Ultra Fast Pony uses text inserts in "The Longest Episode" to reveal the futures of mane six. According to this, none of the girls change or progress in any significant fashion.
  • An example from the YouTube Poop "101 Poopmatians":
    "Things went back to normal in Hyrule, apart from Zelda wanting a spotty fur coat. Mario and Luigi ate Spagehetti [sic] and magically flew home. The Traitor got off with a pardon, for now. On returning to their Universe, the Dalmatians went back to normal and forgot about the whole affair. Squadala became President of the United States of America. Cruella didn't take Mario's warning and died of Lung Cancer. Horace and Jasper got jobs as the Live-Action Mario Brothers. No one seemed to care about Link's death."
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series did this with stills and captions at the end of the Pyramid of Light parody:
  • Solid jj: "Fred's Last Mystery" ends with texts explaining what happens to each member of Mystery Gang after Fred breaks up the group, although not all the explanations are clear or detailed.
    "Shaggy and Scooby did something with weed or whatever"

    Only the powers that be know for certain where Real Life wound up. But it has been confirmed that he wanders for adventure frequently, and will continue to do so no matter how severely the circumstances change. 
  • Social networking means that, if you remember someone from your past (such as an old friend from high school) and become curious about how they're currently doing, you can likely see what they're up to.

Alternative Title(s): Where Are They Now

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Super Mario RPG epilogue

With the Smithy gang gone, everyone can go back to their lives in peace, with some accomplishments.

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