Tropescilloscope: Bittersweet Ending

An ending that's more or less happy, but still has significant sad notes. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Handicapped Badass All There in the Script An Axe to Grind Fainting The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Revenge The Place Word of God Pimped-Out Dress Gratuitous English Every Car Is a Pinto Establishing Character Moment Improvised Weapon Gainax Ending Action Survivor Adaptation Dye-Job Cat Fight Tempting Fate Faux Affably Evil Bunny-Ears Lawyer Famous Last Words Conspicuous CG Destination Defenestration Batman Gambit Spell My Name with an "S" 20 Minutes into the Future Costume Porn Unwitting Instigator of Doom Riddle for the Ages Even Evil Has Loved Ones Four-Temperament Ensemble Almost Kiss This Is Gonna Suck Rewatch Bonus Silent Movie The Alcoholic Accidental Misnaming Silence Is Golden The '90s Names to Run Away from Really Fast Defrosting Ice Queen It's Personal The Load Artistic License – Physics Improbable Aiming Skills Enemy Mine Narrator Pyrrhic Victory Small Name, Big Ego Call-Back The Bully Cool Old Lady Drugs Are Bad Mundane Made Awesome Femme Fatale Very Loosely Based on a True Story The Remake Dogged Nice Guy Smoking Is Cool Disguised in Drag A Father to His Men Crazy-Prepared Insistent Terminology Central Theme Those Two Bad Guys Idiot Ball Improbable Weapon User Slasher Smile Obviously Evil Artistic License – Military Spiritual Successor Interrupted Suicide A Minor Kidroduction Bond One-Liner The Brute Not So Stoic A God Am I Big Eater Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Be Careful What You Wish For Shoot the Shaggy Dog The Quiet One Video Credits Actually Pretty Funny Mad Scientist Adorkable The Faceless Coming-of-Age Story Mexican Standoff Sadistic Choice Henpecked Husband Documentary Nice Guy Evil vs. Evil Mooks Index of Film Westerns Anti-Villain Naïve Newcomer Rule of Funny Depraved Bisexual Determinator Adapted Out Children Are Innocent Broken Bird Noodle Incident Dull Surprise Bad "Bad Acting" Casting Gag Arc Words Historical Hero Upgrade Action Girl The Smurfette Principle Crucified Hero Shot Kubrick Stare Married to the Job Artistic License – Geography Jerk with a Heart of Gold Love Triangle Comically Missing the Point Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Parental Abandonment Sealed Evil in a Can Badass Grandpa Car Fu The Vamp Non-Indicative Name Beware the Nice Ones Leave the Camera Running Diabolus ex Machina The Cameo Decoy Protagonist Suspiciously Similar Substitute Meet Cute Deus ex Machina Death by Irony Running Gag Dark Reprise Have a Gay Old Time Covers Always Lie The Starscream Love at First Sight Dark and Troubled Past Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Dissonant Serenity Neck Snap Made of Explodium Offscreen Teleportation Toplessness from the Back Taking You with Me Insult Backfire Not Using the "Z" Word Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Soundtrack Dissonance Determinator aka: The Determinator Death by Adaptation Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Instant Death Bullet The Cavalry Mystery and Detective Films The Alleged Car The Stoic Kids Are Cruel Better to Die than Be Killed No OSHA Compliance Deliberate Values Dissonance Double Entendre Cowboy Cop Sequel Hook Peek-a-Boo Corpse Left the Background Music On Happily Married Truth in Television Mugging the Monster Creator Cameo No Antagonist The End... Or Is It? Canadian Movies Vampire Fiction You Have Failed Me Not What It Looks Like Not Quite Dead Knight Templar Market-Based Title Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Continuity Nod Police are Useless Deconstruction One Steve Limit Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Parental Incest Made of Iron Villain Opening Scene '80s Hair Make It Look Like an Accident Male Frontal Nudity Mercy Kill Dirty Cop Brutal Honesty Kill It with Fire Curse Cut Short Hate Sink Epic Movie Bloody Hilarious It's All About Me The '60s Laughing Mad Badass Boast Breaking the Fourth Wall Meaningful Name Sassy Black Woman Cool Car Canon Foreigner Let's Get Dangerous! Same Language Dub The Un-Reveal Real Life "Awesome McCool" Name A.I. Is a Crapshoot Overly Long Gag Rule of Three Room Full of Crazy Does Not Like Shoes Wretched Hive Department of Redundancy Department Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Big Bad Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" The Stinger Crapsack World Flipping the Bird Only in It for the Money Yandere Cold-Blooded Torture Berserk Button Never Trust a Trailer Meaningful Background Event Authority Equals Asskicking The Sociopath The Lost Lenore Too Dumb to Live The Mafia Novelization Affectionate Parody Alas, Poor Villain Chekhov's Skill What the Hell, Hero? Reality Ensues Evil Sounds Deep Science Fiction Films Villain with Good Publicity Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Historical In-Joke Bolivian Army Ending Humiliation Conga Film Noir Plucky Comic Relief Wrong Genre Savvy Break the Haughty Redemption Equals Death Creative Closing Credits British Films Star-Crossed Lovers Taking the Bullet Properly Paranoid Maybe Ever After Sacrificial Lion Slasher Movie And the Adventure Continues The Great Depression Pragmatic Villainy Extremely Short Timespan Frame-Up Tranquil Fury Hope Spot Bury Your Gays Fanservice For the Evulz Random Events Plot Horror Films Body Horror Straight Gay Kill 'em All Creepy Child Australian Movies Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Double-Meaning Title Homage The Chick Totally Radical Romantic Comedy Bavarian Fire Drill Bloodier and Gorier Red Right Hand N-Word Privileges Fanservice Extra Up to Eleven One-Man Army Stock Footage Spiteful Spit Corpsing Take a Third Option I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Not So Different Anguished Declaration of Love Black and Gray Morality Pretty in Mink Advertised Extra Facial Horror Sanity Slippage Wham Line The Mole Implacable Man Slashed Throat Shout-Out Evil Laugh Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Well-Intentioned Extremist Hooker with a Heart of Gold Animated Credits Opening Loads and Loads of Characters All Men Are Perverts Psychopathic Manchild "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Bland-Name Product Shipper on Deck Big Applesauce "Well Done, Son!" Guy Catapult Nightmare Bilingual Bonus Adaptational Badass Early Installment Weirdness Unusually Uninteresting Sight My Beloved Smother Accidental Murder Hypocritical Humor Obfuscating Stupidity Back from the Dead Lock and Load Montage Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Parental Neglect Italian Films Karmic Death Adult Fear Blood from the Mouth One-Word Title Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold The Oner Mind Screw No Celebrities Were Harmed Deadpan Snarker Hero Antagonist Military and Warfare Films World of Ham Zombie Stories It Can Think Framing Device Card-Carrying Villain You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Manly Tears What Happened to the Mouse? There Is No Kill Like Overkill Evil Plan The Smart Guy Aluminum Christmas Trees Vacation Films Hell Is That Noise Pet the Dog Major Injury Underreaction Sir Swears-a-Lot Award-Bait Song Fingore Chase Scene Jerkass Has a Point Air-Vent Passageway Mr. Fanservice Amusing Injuries Genre Savvy Domestic Abuse Last-Name Basis NO INDOOR VOICE Imagine Spot Ominous Latin Chanting Dwindling Party Character Development La Résistance Obstructive Bureaucrat Whole Plot Reference Anachronic Order Stylistic Suck From Nobody to Nightmare Stealth Hi/Bye Offscreen Moment of Awesome No Name Given Antagonist Title Author Avatar And Starring Soft Glass The Dog Bites Back Big Bad Duumvirate Paper-Thin Disguise Does This Remind You of Anything? Everyone Has Standards Blatant Lies Kick the Dog Deal with the Devil Genre Shift Outrun the Fireball Precision F-Strike Martial Arts Movie Combat Pragmatist My God, What Have I Done? Killed Mid-Sentence Scenery Porn Fatal Family Photo Adaptation Name Change Unresolved Sexual Tension No Ending It Will Never Catch On Man on Fire Intergenerational Friendship Deliberately Monochrome Historical-Domain Character B-Movie Eureka Moment Reality Has No Subtitles Victoria's Secret Compartment Shut Up, Hannibal! She's Got Legs Broken Pedestal Rule of Cool Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Chiaroscuro Exact Words Groin Attack Badass Longcoat Unusual Euphemism In Medias Res Demonic Possession Tagline Unspoken Plan Guarantee Fire-Forged Friends Needs Wiki Magic Love Twist Ending Annoying Younger Sibling Easily Forgiven Belligerent Sexual Tension Police Brutality Immune to Bullets Downer Ending BFG More Dakka Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Aside Glance Friend to All Children Self-Deprecation Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Curb-Stomp Battle Dramatic Irony You Have Outlived Your Usefulness As the Good Book Says... Jitter Cam Title Drop Japanese Films Darkest Hour The Voiceless Recycled IN SPACE! The Ace Foreshadowing Dying Moment of Awesome Mistaken for Gay Pre-Mortem One-Liner How We Got Here Men Are the Expendable Gender I Need a Freaking Drink Nothing Is Scarier Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Translation Convention Daylight Horror Get Out! Due to the Dead The Bad Guy Wins The Big Guy Music Stories Auto Erotica Captain Obvious Works Set in World War II Guile Hero Vitriolic Best Buds The Hero Dies Smug Snake Grievous Bottley Harm "Shaggy Dog" Story Pretty Little Headshots Disney Death Re-Cut Big "NO!" Artistic License – Biology Fake Shemp Malevolent Masked Men Drowning My Sorrows From Bad to Worse Scenery Gorn timeperiod Defiant to the End Red Eyes, Take Warning I Did What I Had to Do Adaptation Distillation Parental Substitute Hair-Trigger Temper Screw the Money, I Have Rules! As Long as It Sounds Foreign Abhorrent Admirer Sports Stories The X of Y Punch-Clock Villain Fourth Date Marriage Bullying a Dragon Bloodless Carnage Skewed Priorities Despair Event Horizon Badass in a Nice Suit Large Ham Dressing as the Enemy An Aesop Your Cheating Heart Bar Brawl Contrived Coincidence The Hero The '80s Bowdlerise Once More, with Clarity! Beta Couple No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Really Gets Around Dirty Old Man Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Line-of-Sight Name Serial Killer Visual Pun Motor Mouth The Stoner Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Christmas Movies Index Based on a True Story Unreliable Narrator Woman Scorned Ax-Crazy Time Skip Brainless Beauty Arch-Enemy Evil Brit Foregone Conclusion Match Cut I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Hypocrite Anyone Can Die Film Noir Index Rule of Symbolism Spared by the Adaptation Never Found the Body Ambiguously Gay Token Minority Black Comedy Rape A Date with Rosie Palms Worthy Opponent Stepford Smiler Cassandra Truth Cool Shades Together in Death Cloudcuckoolander Early-Bird Cameo The Casanova Super Strength Psychological Thriller Death of a Child Chekhov's Gun Betty and Veronica Asshole Victim Catch-Phrase Fun with Acronyms Adaptational Attractiveness Psycho for Hire Here We Go Again! Dropped a Bridge on Him Important Haircut Mythology Gag Jerkass Sci-Fi Horror Hollywood Law Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Beard of Evil Suspiciously Specific Denial Gold Digger Off with His Head! Gory Discretion Shot Dramedy Butt-Monkey Developing Doomed Characters "The Reason You Suck" Speech Death by Sex War Is Hell Wham Shot Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Lighter and Softer Took a Level in Jerkass Agony of the Feet Red Oni, Blue Oni Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie The Ditz Pragmatic Adaptation Brother–Sister Incest All There in the Manual Face–Heel Turn Trailers Always Spoil The Dreaded Expository Hairstyle Change Artistic License – Law Posthumous Character Irony Corrupt Corporate Executive Monumental Damage Stalker with a Crush Mood Whiplash Fan Disservice All Just a Dream Arranged Marriage Becoming the Mask Grey and Gray Morality Rousing Speech Cruel and Unusual Death Rated M for Manly Heel Realization Cain and Abel Apocalypse How Armor-Piercing Question Papa Wolf The '70s Throwing Your Sword Always Works Only One Name Bare Your Midriff Dark Action Girl Mr. Exposition The Power of Love Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Closed Circle For Want of a Nail Ungrateful Bastard Rich Bitch After the End He Knows Too Much Ship Tease In Name Only Captain Ersatz Even Evil Has Standards Take That! Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique All Girls Want Bad Boys Empathic Environment Morality Pet Stuff Blowing Up I Have Your Wife Chekhov's Gunman Ambiguous Ending Undying Loyalty Drill Sergeant Nasty Meaningful Echo True Companions Biopic Heroes Want Redheads Cluster F-Bomb Greater-Scope Villain The Film of the Book Sexy Discretion Shot Broken Aesop Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Television Movie Index Face Death with Dignity Roaring Rampage of Revenge Credits Gag Storming the Castle Reasonable Authority Figure Expy Logo Joke Bring My Brown Pants Evil Counterpart Not So Above It All Dies Wide Open Attempted Rape No-Sell Gender Flip Alliterative Name Manipulative Bastard Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Hidden Depths Bound and Gagged Blood Knight Exactly What It Says on the Tin Fatal Flaw Pay Evil unto Evil Naked People Are Funny Boom, Headshot! Guns Akimbo Affably Evil Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Sole Survivor Brick Joke Babies Ever After Only a Flesh Wound Woman in White Heel–Face Turn folderlabel Insane Troll Logic Male Gaze Final Girl Stealth Pun Vomit Discretion Shot Would Hurt a Child The Ghost Our Zombies Are Different Adaptational Villainy Anti-Hero Punny Name Only Sane Man Cool Guns Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane The '50s Demoted to Extra Mighty Whitey Disappeared Dad Eyepatch of Power Black Dude Dies First Adaptational Heroism Danny Peary Cult Movies List Karma Houdini Dirty Coward Epic Fail Big Brother Instinct Only Known by Their Nickname Ass Shove Villainous Breakdown Eldritch Abomination Driven to Suicide Sinister Minister Slap-Slap-Kiss Retcon Suddenly SHOUTING! Book-Ends Tap on the Head Leitmotif Freudian Excuse Action Genre Light Is Not Good Red Shirt Getting Crap Past the Radar Big-Bad Ensemble Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Blackmail Retired Badass Earn Your Happy Ending Age Lift Alpha Bitch Camp Gay Evil-Detecting Dog Reality Is Unrealistic Loophole Abuse Gorn What You Are in the Dark The Atoner Rape as Drama Shown Their Work Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Ambiguous Disorder Hong Kong Films I'm a Humanitarian Leaning on the Fourth Wall MacGuffin Wicked Cultured Sequel Escalation Disproportionate Retribution Did Not Get the Girl German Films Composite Character Failed a Spot Check Fish out of Water Fiery Redhead Older Than They Look Hero of Another Story Camera Abuse Your Head A-Splode Ms. Fanservice Nice Hat Training Montage Drives Like Crazy Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Manchild She Cleans Up Nicely No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Moment Killer Superhero Off-into-the-Distance Ending Black Comedy Lampshade Hanging May–December Romance Ascended Extra As Himself The Reveal Didn't Think This Through Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Historical Villain Upgrade Darker and Edgier Politically Incorrect Villain Call-Forward Dramatic Gun Cock Took a Level in Badass Show Within a Show Jerk Jock Intrepid Reporter Big Fancy House Adults Are Useless Dutch Angle Horror Comedy Five-Man Band Big Damn Heroes You Killed My Father The Chessmaster Race Lift Wounded Gazelle Gambit Those Wacky Nazis Funny Foreigner Laser-Guided Karma Dual Wielding Author Appeal Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Chewing the Scenery Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Faking the Dead Artistic License – Gun Safety Manic Pixie Dream Girl Awesome, but Impractical Fantasy Films Foil The Dragon Setting Update Disney Villain Death Mama Bear Retirony Missing Mom Product Placement And I Must Scream Daddy's Girl Ironic Echo Those Two Guys Race Against the Clock Ghost Fiction Bond Villain Stupidity Extreme Doormat My Greatest Failure The Musical Villain Protagonist Humans Are Bastards Russian Films Fate Worse than Death Crazy Jealous Guy Good Is Not Nice Hollywood Darkness Informed Ability Bi the Way Death Glare As You Know Jump Scare Not Even Bothering with the Accent French Films Heroic BSoD Heroic Sacrifice Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Rasputinian Death Animal Motifs Beauty Is Never Tarnished Break the Cutie Fantastic Racism Public Domain Feature Films Celebrity Paradox Animal Title Index Shell-Shocked Veteran Black Best Friend Kick the Son of a Bitch Bad Boss Would Hit a Girl Neck Lift Actor Allusion Death Seeker Funny Background Event Plot Hole The Lancer Gone Horribly Right Thriller Vomit Indiscretion Shot Cool Old Guy Heterosexual Life-Partners Eagleland Green-Eyed Monster Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Abusive Parents Reckless Gun Usage Never My Fault Redshirt Army Our Vampires Are Different Action Prologue Adaptation Expansion Country Matters Scare Chord Poor Communication Kills Badass Bookworm Eiffel Tower Effect Film Series Serious Business Damsel in Distress Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Knife Nut Spanner in the Works Villain Song Ripped from the Headlines Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Refuge in Audacity Anachronism Stew In the Back Eye Scream Bottomless Magazines O.O.C. Is Serious Business All for Nothing Freeze-Frame Bonus Bittersweet Ending Evil Is Petty Shower Scene Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Bald of Evil Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Genre Throwback Protagonist Title Villain Ball An Arm and a Leg Dumb Blonde Flashback Playing Gertrude Red Herring Half the Man He Used to Be Badass Normal He Who Fights Monsters Romantic False Lead Madness Mantra Dark Is Not Evil Scary Black Man Overprotective Dad Calling the Old Man Out Amoral Attorney Distracted by the Sexy Shirtless Scene Honor Before Reason Gilligan Cut Say My Name Fat Bastard Artistic License – History Hoist by His Own Petard Bait-and-Switch Oh, Crap! Real Life Writes the Plot Put on a Bus Cat Scare Evil Is Hammy