Basic Trope: It seems as though the protagonists have lost, but there's evidence at the end that they might win after all.
- Straight: At the end of the movie Alice and Bob Take on Dr. Evil, Everybody Lives but things still look dark: the Enchanted Forest has burned down and Dr. Evil is still on the loose. However, as Alice and Bob walk away, a single tree can be seen popping from the ashes. Moreover, Charlie, a supporting hero who's a secret agent, tells them that he and the other agents are still looking for a way to defeat Dr. Evil.
- Exaggerated:
- It appears as though Dr. Evil has ended civilisation, but then an alarm clock beep can be heard, suggesting it was All Just a Dream.
- Dr. Evil has unleashes a Zombie Plague and Alice and Bob have dramatically failed to protect the antidote prompting a Despair Event Horizon, but they have met several groups capable of containing the threat along their journeys, and the creator of the antidote isn't even out of action.
- Downplayed:
- Alice and Bob Take on Dr. Evil has a full-blown Happy Ending, except for the fact that Alice can't bake a cake as she's out of flour. However, it was indicated earlier that Bob has some flour.
- Alice and Bob Take on Dr. Evil has a full-blown Downer Ending, as Bob and Alice are imprisoned by Dr. Evil, who has taken over the government and defeated the entire resistance. However, way back in the opening scene, Alice mentioned having dated one of Evil's prison guards once about 7 years ago, opening the narrowest of possibilities they'll escape.
- Justified: Those secret agents don't give up easily and the tree popped up because it belongs to a magical species that grows quickly and its seed was under the soil.
- Inverted: It seems as though Dr. Evil is defeated and that the Lost Woods are now safe, however, we then cut to his prison cell, which is empty, and a twig in the woods catches fire.
- Subverted:
- Dr. Evil then chops down the tree and turns Charlie to stone.
- Dr. Evil reveals that he planted the Tree for his own selfish purposes, and that it'll be the catalyst of the Resistance's downfall.
- Hope Spot
- Double Subverted:
- The tree just grows back and thankfully, the group Charlie works for knows how to deal with agents who have been turned to stone.
- ...But Dr. Evil vaguely indicates that he was the Lesser of Two Evils and that the Enchanted Forest was Evil All Along, and it's furthermore hinted that the Tree lands on him after he chops it down.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: There is a tree visible and Charlie says that he and the other secret agents are keeping a close watch on Dr. Evil, but then Dr. Evil cuts the tree and turns Charlie to stone. The tree pops up again and the other secret agents restore Charlie and put Dr. Evil in prison, but then it's implied he escaped...
- Averted: The ending is either completely happy or completely sad, with no ambiguities.
- Enforced:
- One writer wants a happy ending, another wants a sad ending, so they compromise.
- It's a prequel. Alice and Bob are Doomed by Canon, but there will be someone else.
- The executives or the writers really wanted to go all in on the scorched-Earth, relentlessly hopeless Downer Ending, but the other side insisted on adding a Sequel Hook or at least something to prevent the work from becoming a Box Office Bomb from the word of mouth warning everybody to stay away.
- Lampshaded: "Well, I guess there's still hope."
- Invoked: Earlier on in the movie, Alice makes a potion that causes one tree to produce indestructible offspring and Bob tells Charlie and the other secret agents never to give up.
- Exploited: Alice, Bob, Charlie, and the other secret agents use the tree as proof that there's hope.
- Defied: The ending is overridden by the sequel.
- Discussed: "Let's just wait for some miracle."
- Conversed: "That ending made me cry a bit, but at least there's still hope."
- Implied: Charlie is seen with a Determined Expression, and we see what might be a tree but it's too far away to tell.
- Played for Laughs: Dr. Evil gloats to his henchmen about imprisoning Alice and Bob. Suddenly we hear a wall breaking behind Evil and a hilariously shocked expression on his face as he performs a Spit Take.
- Played for Drama: Everything hinges on the last hope.
- Played for Horror: Charlie is the Final Guy in the third film of the Dr. Evil series. The ray of hope that he was not going to be slain by Dr. Evil was put there for the fourth film to begin about thirty seconds later and demonstrate it was a Hope Spot.
The server might be working again if this working link back to "Ray of Hope" Ending is anything to go by...
