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{{
* In ''[[The Simpsons (
** Pick ''any'' Treehouse of Horror segment. Nine times out of ten, it'll have this kind of ending. [[Played for Laughs]], of course.
** [[Subverted]] in the episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish", when it appears Homer has died in an armchair in the living room. In the end, Marge discovers Homer is still alive and he promises to live life to the fullest. The episode ends on a [[Title Drop|downer ending]] as it shows Homer wasting his life eating pork rinds and watching TV, as usual.
** The episode with Herb. Homer designs a car which nobody likes, yet it cost a fortune to make, and ends up putting Herb out of business.
*** This is why they made an originally-unplanned sequel episode, where Herb gets rich again and forgives his brother in the end (and Homer gets a nice new chair).
* ''[[WITCH (
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' ends its second season with [[The Hero]] being struck down during his [[Transformation Sequence]], leaving him horribly wounded and believed dead; the heroes barely escape as the Earth Kingdom falls to [[The Empire|the Fire Nation]], which now rules the world almost uncontested; [[Anti
** Several other Avatar episodes end in Downer Endings; the most important of these is "The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse", where most of the invasion force is captured, and Aang must retreat with only a few allies. The only thing that came out of it was Zuko's [[Heel Face Turn]], but to them it seemed like a full [[Shaggy Dog Story]].
** Before that there was "The Puppet Master", which ended with Hama succeeds in forcing Katara to use the technique she swore she'd never use.
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** "Zuko Alone". Zuko offers to help out a small farm family by rebuilding their barn and protecting them from corrupt, dishonorable soldiers. He teaches the little boy to wield a sword and never give up without a fight. Meanwhile, [[Flash Back|Zuko remembers]] how back at home the only person who cared for him was [[Missing Mom|Ursa]]. It seems almost as if Zuko will find some acceptance in his new life as a refugee. But when his fight with the soldiers reveals who he is, he gets run out of town by everyone for being the Fire Nation prince. Poor Zuko.
** "City of Walls and Secrets" also qualifies as this with Jet being arrested and brainwashed, Joo-Dee being replace and the revelation of Ba Sing Se really being a dystopic and corrupt city where the Earth King is merely a puppet.
* ''[[Batman:
** In the sequel to that episode, the new Robin meets and becomes smitten with a cute girl who turns out to be an "extension" of the newly re-formed Clayface that accidentally developed a mind of her own. At the end of the episode she's forced to re-merge with her "father", and after Robin goes berserk on him demanding that he bring her back, Clayface can only inform him that "she" is simply ''gone''. Later when the police are trying to figure out just what to charge Clayface with, Robin bitterly says "Murder."
*** Batman even solemnly tells Robin at the end, "Sometimes, there are no happy endings."
** [[The Movie]] ''[[
** Come to think of it, pretty much EVERY episode of ''[[Batman:
** The episode "His Silicon Soul", which was a follow-up to a previous episode "Heart of Steel". A sentient computer called H.A.R.D.A.C. created robots to act as replicants to better help his creator's lab (by money i.e. robbery, etc.) before eventually taking over the city and then the world. When Batman shows up, a replicant of Batman is made in secret, but was hidden before it could be activated. Months later, it is activated by chance and unlike its predecessors was sentient in that it thought it was Bruce/Batman, but couldn't deal when he found out he was a robot. During the fight, the real Batman looks like he died (for a while) and the robot is so utterly horrified by this (remember it is based on '''[[Thou Shalt Not Kill|Batman]]'''), it then goes and ''kills itself''.
** Let's not forget "Heart of Ice", which is considered to be the series' best episode. It won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program AND made people feel sorry for Mr. Freeze!
{{quote|
* ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' in general could be considered depressing when looking at Bruce Wayne's character. ''Rebirth'' was the first blow, where it appears that he ultimately loses in his personal battle against crime. Alfred's dead. Most of his sidekicks had left him on bad terms. Not even his [[Rogues Gallery]] is around. He just lives alone with a dog and a bunch of old memories.
** Pretty much any ''[[Batman:
{{quote|
'''Freeze:''' Believe me... you're the only one who cares. }}
** Other ignominious ends: Bane is permanently hooked up to the Venom drug just to keep his body functioning; original Batman and Batgirl had an affair that ended badly; the Movie with the aforementioned new Robin, the Joker, and the Kill Sat; the karate teacher's apprentice from BTAS is killed by snake-worshipping cultists.
** The ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' episode "Heroes" also ended on a low note. The [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|Terrific]] [[Fantastic Four|Trio]] are betrayed by the law enforcement forces, discover that there is no cure for their powers (and their conditions are actually getting worse), and that their co-worker (who more than likely may be Doctor Doom's analogue) knew all along what would happen and that he set the whole thing up to get the Ben Grimm/Johnny Storm analogue out of the way in order to have the Sue Storm analogue all to himself. All 3 of the trio members are implied to die horrible deaths and only the co-worker is confirmed to be left alive, with great remorse on his part. This is shown in the exchange between Terry and the co-worker:
{{quote|
'''Co-worker:''' No, you don't understand, I was their friend...
'''Terry:''' ''Right...'' }}
** It's made even worse when you realized [[What the Hell, Hero?|Terry's the one who killed them]].
** This was averted in the ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' episode "Eggbaby." A series that was originally dark to begin with, they specifically wrote a more lighthearted episode around the common theme of the parenthood high school project so that they could submit it for an Emmy. They knew this was the only way they had a chance since [[Animation Age Ghetto|animation is for kids]].
* [[Batman: Under the Red Hood]] ends on an almost nihilistic note. Batman has been betrayed by Jason Todd, the Robin he believed dead, and had it rubbed in his face that his war on crime is unwinnable, that the Joker will keep escaping his cardboard prison to kill and maim until the day he dies, and that untouchable crime lords will continually hold Gotham in their grip. Any promise of a brighter tomorrow will be destroyed by the scourge of time.
* ''[[
** This one was lampshaded by Fifi herself.
{{quote|
*** There is, however, a popular fan theory that "Out of Odor" might be a prequel to the episode "Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow", which also shows Fifi as one of Elmyra's pets and she is rescued by Buster.
**** "Out of Odor" is referenced in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation
** "One Beer" ends with Buster, Plucky, and Hamton driving off a cliff and getting killed as their car crashes into a graveyard. This is lampshaded by Buster at the end of the episode.
{{quote|
*** The episode actually got pulled from syndication because of it!
* The ''[[Teen Titans (
* At the end of the "[[
** It's not clear if that really happened, is it?
* In ''[[Superman:
* ''[[Beast Wars
** The opening to ''[[
** ''[[
** The episode Transmutate had the eponymous character die trying to stop its friends from killing each other, with both [[Knight in Shining Armor|Silverbolt]] and [[Ax Crazy|Rampage]] mourning its death.
** The episode "The Probe", a Maximal probe travels to Earth. The Maximals try to get a signal to it, but Megatron destroys their tower, denying them their chance to get home.
** In the [[Transformers Generation 1|classic]] ''[[Transformers Generation 1|Transformers]]'' episode, ''"The Golden Lagoon"'', Beachcomber discovers a quiet, peaceful, Bambi-esque clearing filled with wildlife. A closer look reveals a lake of liquid "electrum," a gold and silver compound with the [[Applied Phlebotinum|oddly useful effect]] of making Transformers apparantly invulnerable. He attempts to keep it to himself but the Decepticons find it anyway and proceed to let all hell break loose. Eventually the Autobots win out but it doesn't happen without the place being gutted by the ensuing chaos. At the end, all Beachcomber can do is look dejected at the ruined landscape and utter "Yeah... we won."
* ''[[Hey Arnold
** "Arnold Betrays Iggy": ends with Arnold mad at Iggy for forcing him to wear bunny pajamas.
** "Helga and the Nanny": ends with Helga's homelife back to its regular dysfunctional state.
** "The Pigeon Man": That whole episode's a Downer, but at the end, Pigeon Man loses his home thanks to the bullies who don't understand him, after he's lived as a hermit for years to avoid people like them. But the clincher is that all of his pigeons each grab a string attached to Pigeon Man and fly him away into the sunset. Make what you want of the metaphor. There is a small bit of hope since Arnold's kindness convinces the Pigeon Man that not all people are jerks who will treat him like an outcast, but it's still a pretty depressing episode from start to finish.
* ''[[
** "Time Keeps on Slipping": Fry forced to blow up the star pattern he had meticulously created for Leela, which would apparently have been enough of a romantic gesture for Leela to finally return his affections if she had seen it. She coincidentally ''didn't'' see it because she was trying to cheer up Fry.
*** Also in that episode, Bender's dream is to become a Harlem Globetrotter. He fails to achieve this goal even though the rest of the crew are declared honorary Globetrotters just because they were in the right place at the right time. During the end credits, we hear Bender sadly whistling the Harlem Globetrotters' theme song.
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** In "Bender's Big Score" Fry goes back in time, meaning that his dog did manage to be with him. And what's more, on 2012 (the year when he was supposed to die) Bender tracks down Fry, who is living in his old Pizzeria. He fires a laser at the building and it collapses and Fry's dog looks at it just in time for the fire and dust to instantly fossilize him. This was a bit of a [[Retcon]], due to most fans finding the original ending ''soul crushingly'' depressing.
** There was also the episode where Fry was influenced by worms to be much more intelligent and much stronger, when he blew into a hologram-creating instrument that apparently takes massive amounts of effort to play correctly and performs an elaborate and romantic image for Leela. After he decides that he'll get rid of the worms to see if it's really him or the worms that Leela had started taking to during the episode, he tries to play it again, only being able to create the image of the Frankenstein monster roaring. After Leela leaves, he sits alone, realizing that he's come up short in his romantic pursuit again.
* ''[[
** "The Big Air Dare" ends with Otto breaking his leg during a snowboarding match with Reggie on a forbidden slope, the kids sans Otto being forced to shovel snow as punishment (which Reggie herself says it's cruel), and their faces plastered on the "Wall of Shame". [[Earn Your Happy Ending|Luckily, "Otto's Big Break" is part 2 of the episodes shown, and it ends with a happy ending despite Otto's leg still being broken.]]
** Also, the ending of the kayaking episode where the kids were forced to clean up the Shore Shack for a month as punishment.
** Two episodes that air together regularly, "Shark Bait" and "A Shot in the Park".
* ''[[The Fairly
* ''[[As Told
** And in "No Hope for Courtney", Ms. Gordon dies and Carl starts to cry at the news of this. Originally, Ms. Gordon was going to come out of retirement, but the voice actor [[Author Existence Failure|died during production]] so it was rewritten that her character died as well. Since Ms. Gordon died and also her actor, you might say it's a [[The Character Died
* In the end of the opera-themed ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon "What's Opera, Doc," Elmer Fudd has "killed the wabbit," and the dead [[Bugs Bunny]] gets up so he can do a bit of [[Lampshade Hanging]]: "What did you expect in an opera, a happy ending?" It's true: most famous operas have [[Downer Ending|Downer Endings]].
* Averted In the Walter Lantz cartoon ''Flying Turtle'' herman the turtle wants to learn how to fly, so he gets an eagle to take him up almost to the edge of outer space, when he finally tries to fly he falls all the way to Earth, and dies in the process, {{spoiler|however he ends up in turtle heaven, able to fly and happy as a clam.}}
* ''[[
** Some odd parallels between ''[[
** And of course, that's the episode that finally won the show a [[Oscar Bait|damn Emmy.]]
** [[Mind Screwdriver|Of course, they neither had]] [[Fridge Brilliance|sugar nor spice in the process.]]
* The end of the ''[[
* The last episode of ''[[
* Those of us who didn't think it was protected by the [[Rule of Funny]] thought the ending to ''[[
* Thanks to it being unexpectedly cancelled, the ''[[Silver Surfer]]'' series ends with the Silver Surfer apparently dead and the universe destroyed.
* In later seasons, ''[[
** The episode where Stan is forced to coach a Pee Wee Hockey team is considered one of the most miserable. One of the kids on the team has Leukemia and promised that he would live if they won a game. Eventually, they are asked to play a game at Pepsi Stadium against another Pee-Wee hockey team, but when the opposing team doesn't show up, the Colorado Avalanche volunteers them to play against the ''Detroit Red Wings''. In probably the most cruel subversion of feel-good sports movies, if not anything ''ever,'' the Detroit Red Wings crush the poor kindergarten team by 31 to 1, all while brutally hurting many children who are less than ''6 years old''. When the Wings win, they have their own cliche "victory scene" while Stan's poor team is left writhing on the floor and quite a few people feeling resentment towards Stan for failing them so badly. The last shot in the episode? The child with Leukemia utters "...no hope..." and friggin ''dies''. Okay, so winning a hockey game won't save a kid's life, but MAN was that the saddest death EVER. Made even worse by the [[Mood Whiplash]] of ''South Park'''s closing credits song.
** How about the one where [[
** "Kenny Dies": The kids spend the whole episode trying to get stem cell research allowed so they can save Kenny's life. In the end though, Kenny dies anyway, just too late. To make matters worse, Stan avoided Kenny the entire episode because he couldn't handle the idea of his friend dying. In the end he finally decides to tell Kenny he cares, and there's even a dramatic scene with him running to the hospital with balloons and a present - only for him to find out that Kenny had already passed on. Of course, this being, well, ''[[They Killed Kenny|Kenny]],'' he got better, but that doesn't make this episode any less depressing, especially when [[Word of God]] states that they'd originally intended for Kenny to be [[Killed Off for Real]].
** Parodied in "Woodland Critter Christmas" as a happy ending:
{{quote|
'''Kyle:''' Goddamnit, Cartman! }}
*** Their version of ''[[Great Expectations]]'' had a very similar parody, predating the Woodland Critter Christmas episode:
{{quote|
** "Toilet Paper" had a really brutal downer ending: Kyle, riddled with guilt over the fact that he and his friends T.P.'d their art teacher's house out of resentment, was going to apologize, but unfortunately, Cartman beat him, Stan, and Kenny to the punch. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny are sentenced to 2 weeks detention, while Cartman only gets 1 for being 'honest'.
** "Raisins". Oh God, "Raisins". Wendy breaks up with Stan, sending him into a [[Heroic BSOD]] that leads to him becoming a goth. Kyle showed a [[Lack of Empathy]] towards his own best friend over the break-up, and Stan sees Wendy with Token, the rich black kid, breaking Stan even more inside. In the end, after a pep talk from a similarly heartbroken Butters, Stan rejects Wendy. [[Earn Your Happy Ending|It took 4 grueling years for Stan and Wendy to be a couple again.]]
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*** The louse hero does manage to save his baby and find refuge in a new home {{spoiler|in Angelina Jolie's pubic hair}} where, it's implied, they can live happily without fear, so this one might be upgraded to [[Bittersweet Ending]] on that front.
** "You're Getting Old" {{spoiler|Stan has a falling out with his friends and his parents get a divorce. Stan sees the entire world as shit.}} All of this happens while sad music plays.
* ''[[My Life
* The ''[[Lilo
* ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy
** The episode "Take This Ed and Shove It" also qualifies in a way -- Eddy had just woken up from the [[Rip Van Winkle]] and declares, "[[Growing Up Sucks|I don't ever wanna grow up!]]" Cue Eddy waking up again, back as an old man. He soon realises that he fell asleep reminiscing about his childhood with his friends. The episode ends with him wishing he was still a kid. ''And this was [[Faux Series Finale|the original series finale]].''
* The British animated film ''[[
** The book's ending is quite nice, though. Read it, it'll cheer you up.
** It's been suggested that the "island" in question actually is death. Because really, life's been [[Fate Worse Than Death|so painfully cruel]] to Rowf and Snitter that death could only be a blessing.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* In the ''[[
** Even sadder is the fact that Cleveland Jr. has been negatively affected by the split.
** And even more sadder episode is "Movin Out", in which Brian breaks up with his girlfriend Jillian, being probably the [[Tear Jerker|saddest]] moment in the show's history. They tried to soften this during the credits, to little effect.
** "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows" has Brian saves a woman from committing suicide, and convinces her to go outside for the first time in years. She immediately gets hit by a car, and dies (and lives long enough for Brian to take her around the world in a virtual reality).
* The final two parter of the short lived series ''[[
* The ending of ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqD90wP-wf0 Foofle's Train Ride (1959)]'' could be seen as a downer.
* The series ''[[Delta State]]'' ends on a definitive low note. After the heroes manage to recover their lost memories, vanquish the [[Big Bad]] once and for all and avert the apocalypse, Luna, who has the power of precognition, sees an alternate ending to a vision of the future she had repeatedly over the course of the series: in the original ending, the world is destroyed; in her new vision, she foresees that her and her friends will eventually be possessed by rifters, the bad guys.
* ''[[
** Another episode "Good Neighbors" ends with {{spoiler|Squidward's house going on a rampage due to a security accident, and Squiward is forced to work to pay off the damages done to the town every weekend for the rest of his life}}.
*** The saddest downer ending in the series is "One Coarse Meal". {{spoiler|Mr. Krabs gets away with driving Plankton to suicuide. Worse than it sounds}}.
* ''[[Young Justice (
** "Failsafe" ends with Miss Martian sobbing uncontrollably and the team left shaken after a training exercise goes horribly wrong. We're also left with the unsettling implication that Miss Martian may not be able to control her immense mental abilites.
** The final sequence of "Misplaced" juxtaposes a shot of Zatanna sobbing over the loss of her father with another of Klarion laughing maniacally as he and his fellow villains move one step closer to completing their master plan.
** The ending of "Insecurity" sees Artemis berated by her teammates for being immature and selfish, only to then be offered a chance to betray the team by her father.
* ''[[Western Animation/Ace Lightning|Ace Lightning]]'' had a fair few downer ending episodes. One where [[Wham! Episode|Sparx was killed by a couple of crazy puppets ''shooting her with her own sword'']] (which came [[Mood Dissonance|completely out of the blue in what had previously been a fairly light hearted episode]]), another in which the protagonist's ex-girlfriend all but ended up hating him through no fault of his own (actually there are a few of those), and then of course there's the final episode where at least one major bad guy gets away, Lady Illusion is shot dead and the ''other'' bad guy is shown to be well and truly alive in the Sixth Dimension -and holding the Master Programmer hostage. We never found out what happened due to the cancellation.
* The second half of the first Season of ''[[
** Episode 8 has Darcy successfully seducing Riven and walking away without any punishment. Stella outright says "We lost this one."
** Also, a Season 3 episode ends with Tecna apparently [[Heroic Sacrifice|sacrificing herself]] to save Layla's homeworld. However, [[Disney Death|she wasn't really dead.]]
** In episode 24 of season 4, Nabu dies after using up all of his energy to close the shadow abyss, and the power that could've revived him is stolen by Ogron, who wastes it on a flower. Layla ends up leaving the Winx to join the fairy Nebula's army in order to avenge Nabu's death, despite her friends trying to tell her that that is not what Nabu would've wanted.
* The ''[[
** The episode "Metamorphosis" has Elisa's brother Derek infected with a drug that turns him into a mutant Gargoyle as part of a Dr. Sevarius experiment that supposedly not even Xanatos approved. Then Sevarius, the only one who could reverse the process, gets killed, and Derek blames Elisa and the Manhattan Clan for everything. It's then revealed that Xanatos set up everything to turn Derek into the mutant, including faking Sevarius' death. Of all the corrupt and morally questionable things Xanatos did over the series, this may be the only one that was truly EVIL. The episode ends with Elisa sobbing amongst the Manhattan Clan.
* Season one of ''[[
* Would you believe there was an episode of ''[[
** There is another Mouseketeer episode where the final scene is Jerry and Nibbles walking down the street. There is a drum roll and the silhouette of a guillotine dropping--on Tom's head. Nibbles replies "C'est la vie."
** Naturally current showings of these episodes always cut to the credits.
*** Not true. Everytime I see the Mouseketeer episode on [[Cartoon Network]] it has the [[Downer Ending]] intact.
* ''[[Spider
** Well, it was somewhat foreshadowed in that MJ's sudden return was totally out of the blue, she didn't seem traumatized by several months in interdimensional void and therefore something wasn't right. And the end of the series strongly implied that Spider-Man will find her, with Madame Web's help and all. The plan was to shoot five more episodes which would involve him doing just that, but [[Screwed
* Similarly, ''[[Spider
* ''[[
** Gets even worse when realizing that the show was canceled without even resolving the ending. Double damn.
** And you forgot about Harry; his dad is dead, he overheard his girlfriend say that she loved his best friend since the 7th grade (implying she never loved Harry) and his best friend said he loved her too (so his best friend pretty much stole his girlfriend, which is worse as [["Well Done, Son" Guy|Harry]] [[Green
* How the hell has ''Spider-Man: The New Animated Series'' not been mentioned? The Gaines Twins tricked Spider-Man into believing his long-time love Mary Jane has been murdered by Kraven the Hunter, sending him on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], that nearly ends with Spidey murdering Kraven in cold blood. After he figures out their ploy, Spidey goes after them to rescue MJ. In the ensuing battle, the twins pull another [[Mind Rape]] on him which leads to him accidentally harming an innocent. Said innocent? Indira "Indy" Daimonji - Peter Parker's intrepid new reporter girlfriend, and one of Spidey's few consistent supporters in the series. Thinking it's Roxanne Gaines, Spidey mistakenly drops her off a roof, which the lands her in a (seemingly permanent) coma. Dozens of New Yorkers (including MJ) witness this, making Spidey Public Enemy #1, and giving J. Jonah Jameson all the ammo he needs to start a grassroots movement to run Spidey out of town. Peter is so wracked with guilt that he agrees. He goes after the Gaines Twins a final time, resulting in their deaths (and nearly his) via explosion. The next day, Mary Jane tries once more to rekindle things with Peter, relating her sympathy over him losing Indy and being let down by Spider-Man. Peter manages to reject her in an even more heartbreaking manner than the first movie, barely being able to look her in the eye. Harry has his hatred of Spider-Man "justified" after seemingly turning a corner when Spidey helped save Sally from Electro. To top it all off, Peter locks the suit in a brick-laden case and tosses it into the river. Given that the series was cancelled after this, it seems that Spider-Man's quest to honor his Uncle Ben has ended in an even worse failure than "The Night Gwen Stacy Died." So, to recap - Spidey "loses" MJ (TWICE!!), nearly MURDERS Kraven, puts his new girlfriend in a coma, has the entire city turn against him, basically kills the Gaines Twins, and is abandoned by the one person that needed him the most - PETER PARKER. This HAS to be the most depressing depiction of Spider-Man ever committed to the screen.
* ''[[Western Animation]]/Wolverine and the X-Men}}'' ended with [[MacGuffin Girl|Jean]] back, and the the [[Bad Future]] averted. However, {{spoiler|[[Defrosting Ice Queen|Emma Frost]] [[Redemption Equals Death|is dead,]] [[Ugly Cute|Squidboy]] and his mom are implied to be dead, due to a [[Gory Discretion Shot]], a probable thousand or so of mutants have been slaughtered, Angel is still under [[Manipulative Bastard|Sinister's]] control, and [[Crystal Spires and Togas|Genosha]], the only completely safe haven for mutants, has been leveled. Oh and that whole, [[Bad Future]] averted thing I said earlier? Yeah, well there's a new one where Apocalypse is now dictator of the world.}} But hey, the producers set that up so it could all be resolved for season 2. I mean, [[Tempting Fate|there's no way]] [[Executive Meddling|the show]] [[Screwed
*** ''[[Sonic
** What is it with superhero shows [[Overly Long Gag|getting cancelled]]??
* ''[[
* ''[[
* The ''[[
* The ''[[Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
* The ''[[
* In ''[[Iron Man: Armored Adventures
* The ''[[
* The first episode of season 2 of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Nowhere near as harsh, but still relevant is the first episode of the ''first'' season. [[Big Bad|Nightmare Moon]] has returned; Twilight Sparkle [[All Myths Are True|saw this coming]], but failed to prepare; [[Big Good|Princess Celestia]] is nowhere to be seen.
** Of course, both examples [[Cliff Hanger|only tell the first half of their stories]], giving them more in common with [[Darkest Hour]] ([[The Night That Never Ends|literally]], in Nightmare Moon's case).
* ''[[When the Wind Blows]]'', the main characters survive a nuclear bombing, but are obviously dying of radiation poisoning. They remain in denial with complete faith that help will arrive and save them. Even in the end they have a semi-optimistic tone, but have clearly given up as they crawl into their paper bags and into their shelter to die.
* Episode 26 of ''[[Scooby
** {{spoiler|The season 2 premiere is as much a downer as the season 1 finale. The gang--save for Daphne--has reunited at Crystal Cove's beckoning because of a creature called Crybaby Clown. Fred's trap to capture him fails because Daphne, who now has a new boyfriend, was not at the position he called for. Fred's confidence is shattered as Crystal Cove is left in Crybaby Clown's destructive wake, and Velma assesses that the city will hate them even more.}}
{{reflist}}
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