Tropescilloscope: Downer Ending

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

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