Downer Ending/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

*** 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 (Animation)|WITCH]]'' is more or less composed of nothing ''but'' downer endings, except for the season finales. The villain always tends to be one step ahead of the heroes and with each step closer to achieving their plans, all the heroes tend to get is motivation to do better next time... and they're luck to even achieve ''that!'' The heroes are on the losing side of the war for just about every episode.

** 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.

'''Co-worker:''' No, you don't understand, I was their friend...<br />

'''Terry:''' ''Right...'' }}

** 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.

* At the end of the "[[Total Drama Island (Animation)|Total Drama Island]]" season 3 finale, Heather throws a pineapple into the volcano, causing it to erupt and kill almost everyone in a huge meteor shower. At the end, Heather is impaled by a giant rock.

** It's not clear if that really happened, is it?

* ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Transformers Beast Wars]]'' ended in a bittersweet finale. Though the Maximals had defeated and captured Megatron, they suffered heavy casualties as well. The first Dinobot sacrificed himself earlier on to prevent Megatron from destroying the proto-humans. Depth Charge killed himself and Rampage in a final attempt to stop Megatron from raising the Nemesis (he didn't succeed, though he did get closure with his long-time nemesis Rampage). Tigatron and Airazor came back as one being, Tigerhawk, only to be gunned down by Megatron aboard the Nemesis in a last-ditch effort to stall Megatron. The Transmetal II Dinobot [[Heel Face Turn|finally turned good]] only to die just a few seconds later after refusing to save himself from the exploding warship. Heroes aside, fans have also expressed sadness with the deaths of the Predacons as well, including Rampage, Inferno, and Tarantulas. If we're counting Transmutate, both Dinobots as separate characters, and Tigatron, Airazor, and Tigerhawk as separate as well, then Beast Wars ended with a death toll of 14 characters out of 22. That's more than half the entire cast.

** The opening to ''[[Beast Machines (Animation)|Beast Machines]]'' makes this an even bigger downer ending. Not only did it turn out that they lost the beast wars, they inadvertently gave Megatron the power to conquer all of cybertron, and enacting a genocide that would make the holocaust look like a drive-by murder. Of the surviving few Maximals left, two of them were kidnapped and transformed into Megatron's new generals, while the rest were robbed of their transformations and memories.

*** 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.

* The ''[[Lilo and Stitch The Series (Animation)|Lilo and Stitch The Series]]'' episode, ''Angel''. Stitch falls in love with an experiment (who basically looks like a pink female version of Stitch), but Lilo has suspiscion towards her because her siren-like song reverts any of the experiments that have been converted for good back to their destructive states. Luckily, Stitch and 625 were immune because they were made ''after'' Angel. In the end, [[Love Redeems|Stitch makes Angel see the error of her ways]], but sadly, she was captured by Gantu. However, this was due to [[Executive Meddling|the executives disliking the idea of Angel, much to the dismay and anger of the fans]]. [[Earn Your Happy Ending|It gets fixed in the series finale, ''Snafu'']].

** 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 Plague Dogs (Literature)|The Plague Dogs]]'' is depressing throughout, with the story being based around two dogs who escape from an animal testing lab and try to survive in the Lake District. However, even by the standards of the rest of the film, the ending can still be considered a downer. The film ends with the two dogs being hunted by the Army, who believe that they are carrying the bubonic plague. The dogs are cornered at the beach, and try to swim to an island that doesn't really exist. It is implied that they drown.

* ''[[Western Animation/The Spectacular Spider-Man|The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' ends with our hero triumphing over evil. All is well, right? Well, Norman Osborn is believed dead by most of the cast and longtime childhood friend-turned-villain Eddie Brock is locked up, most likely in Ravencroft, along with John Jameson. Curt Connors has been blackmailed into leaving ESU by Miles Warren, leaving Warren to help nurture Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker's scientific skills. Mark Allen, the Molten Man, is still not in control of his power-switch, and will likely continue to be blackmailed in to doing other people's bidding. Tombstone is walking free (albeit being monitored now). The Venom symbiote is still loose somewhere in the New York sewer system. Mysterio is still running free after the one sent to prison was revealed to be another 'bot, Chameleon is still out there and Kraven is also still free to continue hunting after Spider-Man. In Peter's personal life, you have a heartbroken Liz Allen, who is too proud to show it as well as her brother, the aforementioned Molten Man, being in prison, which is no doubt affecting Mary Jane too. Possibly the biggest gut-punch though, is Peter and Gwen, who have finally told the other how they feel. It looks like they'll finally get together, until Harry takes after dear ol' dad and manipulates her into staying with him, leaving Pete alone. Damn.

** Gets even worse when realizing that the show was canceled without even resolving the ending. Double damn.

* 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 By the Network|will be cancelled]] [[Cut Short|on a cliffhanger]] [[Too Good to Last|this enormous]].

* The ''[[Phineas and Ferb (Animation)|Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "Candace Gets Busted" ends with... [[Spoiler Title|Do I really need to say it]]?

* The ''[[Ben 10 Ultimate Alien (Animation)|Ben 10 Ultimate Alien]]'' episode "Revenge of the Swarm" ends with Elena killing herself to stop the Hive Queen... only to reveal that they are still active. What a [[Senseless Sacrifice]].

* The ''[[Two Stupid Dogs (Animation)|Two Stupid Dogs]]'' episode "Red Strikes Back" - the duo once again encounter Red Riding Hood, she blissfully ignores her grandma's cries for help as she's yet again devoured by the wolf, and encounters the witch from Hansel and Gretel who notices her and the dogs munching on her house; she takes Red inside and forces her to eat a ton of food. Once she grows wise to the witch's plan to eat her, she kicks her and attempts to escape, but the witch uses her powers to trap her in a cage; she then imprisons her and the dogs and summons food for the dogs to feed Red. Two years pass and Red is very obese; the witch turns into a frog and eats her, after which she then informs the dogs that she's still hungry. The dogs try to persuade her not to eat them and they tell her that they just want some cheese; she summons some easy cheese and sprays it on them and she shadow engulfs them and we hear chomping and gulping sounds. In the ending title card, it shows them and Red inside her stomach surrounded by the digestive acids.

** 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).