Tropescilloscope: Bittersweet Ending

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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