Tropescilloscope: Downer Ending

Ending a story on a sad or depressing note. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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