Downer Ending/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

** 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!

* ''[[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: The Animated Series]]'' episode involving Mr. Freeze is going to be tragic, but his apparent ending in ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' involves him finally gaining a human body and a girlfriend, both of which betray him in the end. He takes out a high-tech exosuit, is foiled by Batman, joins forces with Batman when ''[[Big Bad]]'' Derek Powers/Blight goes berserk, and sacrifices himself to save the new Batman. His last words are uttered in a completely heart wrenching, fatalistic manner, to boot:

'''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:

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

** It's made even worse when you realized [[What the Hell, Hero?|Terry's the one who killed them]].

* ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' has probably one of the most infamous examples, especially towards Fifi LaFume fans. In the short "Out of Odor", Elmyra has her mind set on having Fifi as her pet, but first has to get rid of her stink. After a mean use of trickery and a brief chase, Elmyra finally captures poor Fifi.

** This one was lampshaded by Fifi herself.

*** 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|How I Spent My Vacation]]'' when Fifi kicks Johnny out of the theater and he lands in Elmyra's arms, where she then mistakes him for a cat, calling him "stinky kitty" like she did with Fifi in Out of Odor and skips into background while slamming Johnny into the ground like she did with Fifi in the ending of Out of Odor.

** "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.

*** The episode actually got pulled from syndication because of it!

* The ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' animated series ended with "Things Change", an episode that saw long-lost ex-Titan Terra, who had previously become a stone statue at the end of her story arc, alive and living a life of mundanity. The stage seems set for a joyful reunion, but after repeated claims that she doesn't know him, "The Schoolgirl" admits that "Things were never the way you remember," and rejects Beast Boy's pleas to get her to return to the team.

** "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:

'''Kyle:''' Goddamnit, Cartman! }}

*** Their version of ''[[Great Expectations]]'' had a very similar parody, predating the Woodland Critter Christmas episode:

** "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.]]