Tropescilloscope: Downer Ending

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

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