Basic Trope: A work ends with someone smiling.
- Straight: The end of the movie Alice and Bob shows Alice smiling after reuniting with Bob.
- Exaggerated: Alice and Bob ends with the whole cast smiling.
- Downplayed: There's a brief moment in the ending of Alice and Bob where Alice smiles.
- Justified:
- It's a Happy Ending.
- The ending involves a photo being taken, group photo or otherwise.
- In cases of a Bittersweet Ending or Downer Ending, it might be a Wistful Smile or Broken Smile.
- The work ends in a case of Surprisingly Happy Ending and/or Earn Your Happy Ending, and Alice is happy that things have finally worked out well.
- Inverted: Alice and Bob ends with Alice frowning.
- Subverted: Alice smiles during the apparent ending where she reunites with Bob... but it turns out to be a Fake-Out Fade-Out. Or the smile fades from Alice's face at the very last second.
- Double Subverted: When the actual ending happens, both Alice and Bob smile.
- Parodied: Alice tries to smile at the end, but it looks hilariously awkward. She asks "Did I do it right?"
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Nobody smiles at the end.
- Enforced:
- "We should show how nice of a Happy Ending this is, let's have Alice smile at the viewers at the end."
- If it's Played for Horror, it may be a way of showing The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: Someone insists that the story has ended because Alice is smiling at the end.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Played for Laughs: Alice smiles and/or laughs because someone told a joke at the end.
- Played for Drama:
- It's a Bittersweet Ending (or even a Downer Ending) in which Charlie dies towards the end of the movie. Alice gives a Wistful Smile or Broken Smile.
- The work ends with someone being a Stepford Smiler.
- Played for Horror: Emperor Evulz gives a Slasher Smile or Psychotic Smirk at the end.
Back to Ends with a Smile
