Ending Tropes

"Am I supposed to change? Are you supposed to change?

Who should be hurt? Who should be blamed?

You need a resolution, I need a resolution,

We need a resolution, We have so much confusion."

- Aaliyah, We Need A Resolution

""C'mon troops! Let's watch the ending together! Bwa ha ha!""

- Bowser, Super Mario 64

Methods of giving closure to an episode of a show, or an entire series.

Ending tropes have major unmarked and unconcealed spoilers in the examples sections. There is really no way to avoid this because of the very nature of an ending trope; the mere knowledge that the trope applies to a given work is usually a spoiler in itself. Read at your own risk.

Tropes:
Categories:
 * Twist Ending
 * Movie Twist List


 * Above the Ruins
 * All Just a Dream
 * Ambiguous Ending
 * And the Adventure Continues
 * Anticlimax
 * And Your Reward Is Infancy
 * Apocalypse Wow
 * Army of the Dead
 * Awesome Moment of Crowning
 * Babies Ever After
 * Back for The Finale
 * Becoming the Genie
 * Bittersweet Ending
 * Bluffing the Murderer
 * Bolivian Army Cliffhanger
 * Bolivian Army Ending
 * Bonus Material
 * Book Ends
 * Boring Return Journey
 * Brick Joke
 * But Now I Must Go
 * Call to Agriculture
 * Can't Stop the Signal
 * Cataclysm Climax
 * Champions On the Inside
 * Cliff Hanger
 * Cliffhanger Copout
 * What Cliffhanger
 * Climbing Climax
 * Clock Tower
 * Cosmic Deadline
 * Cut Short
 * Darkened Building Shootout
 * Dance Party Ending
 * Dancing Mook Credits
 * The Day of Reckoning
 * Deadly Distant Finale
 * Denouement
 * Denouement Episode
 * Destroy the Evidence
 * Deus Ex Machina
 * Diabolus Ex Machina
 * Distant Finale
 * The Dog Bites Back
 * Don't Celebrate Just Yet
 * Do Not Spoil This Ending
 * Doomed Moral Victor
 * Doomed Protagonist
 * Downer Ending
 * Kill'Em All
 * Shoot the Shaggy Dog
 * The Bad Guy Wins
 * Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies
 * Everybody's Dead, Dave
 * Drama Bomb Finale
 * Dump Them All
 * Earn Your Happy Ending
 * The End
 * End-of-Episode Silliness
 * The End of the Beginning
 * End of the World Special
 * Ending Fatigue
 * Ending Memorial Service
 * The End - Or Is It?
 * Epilogue Letter
 * Esoteric Happy Ending
 * Everybody Did It
 * "Everybody Laughs" Ending
 * Everybody Lives
 * Every Episode Ending
 * Everyone Comes Back Fantasy Party Ending
 * Everyone Join the Party
 * Everything Explodes Ending
 * Exit, Pursued By a Bear
 * Fake-Out Fade-Out
 * Fascism Is Everywhere Ending
 * First Time in The Sun
 * Fly At the Camera Ending
 * Focus Group Ending
 * Food End
 * Foregone Conclusion
 * Fully-Absorbed Finale
 * Gainax Ending
 * Gecko Ending
 * Golden Ending
 * The Good Guys Always Win
 * Graduate From the Story
 * Graduation for Everyone
 * Happily Ever After
 * Happily Ever Before
 * Happy Ending
 * Belated Happy Ending
 * Esoteric Happy Ending
 * Here We Go Again
 * The Hero Dies
 * Home Sweet Home
 * Hope Springs Eternal
 * Hope Sprouts Eternal
 * How Did We Get Back Home
 * Hundred-Percent Completion
 * I Choose to Stay
 * I Never Said It Was Poison
 * I Should Write a Book About This
 * Inferred Holocaust
 * Interrupted By the End
 * Just Ignore It
 * Last-Episode New Character
 * Last Stand
 * Last Villain Stand
 * Leaving You to Find Myself
 * Let Off By the Detective
 * The Magic Comes Back
 * The Magic Goes Away
 * Maybe Ever After
 * Medals for Everyone
 * Multiple Endings
 * Must Let Them Get Away
 * Nested Story Reveal
 * No Ending
 * Nonstandard Game Over
 * No Romantic Resolution
 * Not Quite Back to Normal
 * Now Do It Again Backwards
 * Now What?
 * Official Kiss
 * Offscreen Inertia
 * Oh, Cisco
 * "On the Next..."
 * Only the Leads Get A Happy Ending
 * Or Was It a Dream?
 * Pan-Up-To-The-Sky Ending
 * Passing the Torch
 * Playable Epilogue
 * Post Climax Confrontation
 * Post Final Boss
 * Pyrrhic Victory
 * Pyrrhic Villainy
 * Race Against the Clock
 * Railroad to Horizon
 * Refusing Paradise
 * Reset Button Ending
 * The Resolution Will Not Be Identified
 * The Resolution Will Not Be Televised
 * Revised Ending
 * Riding Into the Sunset
 * Save the Day Turn Away
 * Scary Surprise Party
 * Sealed With a Kiss
 * Season Finale
 * Grand Finale
 * Finale Season
 * Second Chapter Cliffhanger
 * Sequel Hook
 * Shut UP, Hannibal
 * Snicket Warning Label
 * So Once Again the Day Is Saved
 * So What Do We Do Now?
 * Someone to Remember Him By
 * Standard Hero Reward
 * The Stinger
 * Stock Series Finales
 * Stock Sitcom Grand Finale
 * Storming the Castle
 * Stranger in A Familiar Land
 * Sudden Downer Ending
 * Sudden Musical Ending
 * Surprisingly Happy Ending
 * Take Care of the Kids
 * Take My Hand
 * That's All Folks
 * To Be Continued Right Now
 * Trash the Set
 * Trippy Finale Syndrome
 * Tropical Epilogue
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension
 * Velvet Revolution
 * Was It Really Worth It?
 * Wealthy Ever After
 * We Are Not Going Through That Again
 * Weddings for Everyone
 * What Now? Ending
 * Where Are They Now? Epilogue
 * Where It All Began
 * Where They Were
 * A Winner Is You
 * Win Win Ending
 * Woody's Finest Hour
 * World-Healing Wave
 * World of Symbolism
 * Wrap It Up
 * Yeah! Shot