Everyone Comes Back Fantasy Party Ending

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—Level 85 Elite Tauren Chieftain, Warcraft III

A fantasy sequence at the end of a film, where everyone who'd appeared previously in the film comes back for a party (especially if they were imaginary or are now dead). Everyone has a good time, old recriminations are forgotten, and everyone gets a Happy Ending. Often this is a Tear Jerker or Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

Related to Battle Royale With Cheese. Compare Dance Party Ending, in which just the survivors get to have fun. For more metaphorical fantasy party sequences, see Loved Ones Montage.

As an Ending Trope, Spoilers ahead may be unmarked. Beware.

Examples of Everyone Comes Back Fantasy Party Ending include:

Anime and Manga

  • The end of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series with all the cast applauding Shinji. Of course this is all undone by End Of Evangelion. Possibly.
  • Less somber than so many others, Fullmetal Alchemist, the first Anime at least, had a chibi-party OVA to advertise the movie set in that continuity.
  • The First Tea Party in Umineko no Naku Koro ni probably could be considered one of these. And then Beatrice shows up...
  • The special epilogue for the manga Outlanders had heroine and hero Kahm, Tetsuya, and their brood throwing a holiday party for their friends... all of who died during the actual series. There's no explanation until the end -- on the planet they're on, once a year the dead return to visit their loved ones.
  • The finale of Fushigi Yuugi has both their families and the Suzaku Seven attending Miaka and Tamahome's wedding in the real world as a supernatural Imagine Spot aided by the souls of the dead, among whom can at that point be counted Tamahome's entire family and most of the Suzaku Seven, to save Miaka from the despair Suzaku is using to consume her as a sacrifice.
  • The end of the Hot Springs OVA for Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny had all the female Fighters, living and dead, posing relaxing around a hot spring.
  • Darker than Black has a sequence highly reminiscent of Evangelion's in the final episode with all the cast applauding Hei. It wasn't the last scene in the series, however.
  • The cover of the final chapter of Elfen Lied has nearly all the named characters (Living and dead) standing together, as if waiting to have their photo taken, even The Unknown man, who is carrying the... capusle, that housed Number 28, who herself is cheerfully sticking her head out and smiling!

Film

  • Big Fish: During the last story as Albert Finney is being carried to the river. And then subverted with the "real" funeral
  • Longtime Companion: Everyone who died of AIDS in the movie appears to the three surviving friends on the beach.
  • Labyrinth: Sarah has visions of her friends in the mirror, then it turns out they're actually in her room.
  • Scrooged: The spirits are seen at the final party.
  • Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry: Characters from Harry's books and real people from his life all mingle, with music provided by the Star Wars Barmitzvah band from one of his stories, playing "I Could Write a Book.
  • Fellini's 8½:Characters has everyone dancing in a circle after the Author Avatar protagonist is Driven to Suicide by his own angst.
  • The original ending for Heathers, which was changed for being a bit too macabre.
  • The final scene of Titanic, where Rose passes away and is reunited on a restored Titanic with all those who died in the sinking.
  • Return of the Jedi: Anakin's shade is standing, smiling—albeit reticently—with Obi-Wan and Yoda.
  • Mocked at the end of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, when Harry the Genre Savvy narrator points out how corny it is that Perry, who got shot in the chest, is now "magically alive, on crutches; I mean fuck, why not bring 'em all back?" -- while in the background, all the dead characters walk into the room, followed by Lincoln and Elvis, until a nurse shoves them back out.
  • Naturally, Places In The Heart ends with the group meeting in a church. Rather bluntly metaphorical, since some characters are clearly alive and one has been dead since near the beginning of the movie.
  • Happens in a particularly confusing way in the film of V for Vendetta. A crowd of people all costumed as V remove their masks. Some of the people who reveal themselves died during the story, including not only the girl, but also: "Valerie" and her lover (appearing as they did before getting sent to Larkhill); the other homosexual couple blackbagged by Creevey's men; and Dietrich, whom V says is dead.
  • At the end of Wolves of Kromer all the characters who died dance together over the credits to "Spirit in the Sky."
  • The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension features all the good characters dance-marching off to their next adventure during the end credits, despite some of them being extremely living disabled.
  • And, in a Shout-Out to the above, as the credits roll for The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, our heroes jog back to the Belafonte. Among them is Ned, holding the boom mic, despite dying in the chopper crash.
  • The end of Shrek has everyone in the film come back to the swamp for Shrek and Fiona's wedding. Cue karaoke and a great party.

Literature

  • Anyone in Bridge of Birds who wasn't a villain shows up under the titular bridge of birds. The ghosts of everyone appear including Miser Shen, his family, Henpecked Ho, his concubine, her lover and the three handmaidens. In a bizarrely heartwarming moment the living Doctor Death is suddenly killed by a giant bird, only to be reunited with his late wife.

Live Action TV

  • The final scene of Lost is all of the major characters, having realized they are dead, reuniting in a church to "move on" together. The last few minutes is everybody hugging each other.
  • Parodied in Scrubs. JD imagines how his last day at Sacred Heart should end, envisioning nearly every character who appeared in more than one episode, even those who have died, lined up down the hallway to the door to say goodbye. As JD reaches the door, he realizes how childish it is to expect everyone to make a big deal of it and walks out the door alone.
  • Some... example from Deep Space Nine as well. Dead characters don't come back, but the actors who played recurring characters are there without makeup, creating a fourth wall straddling version.

Theatre

  • At least one version of Mack and Mabel ends this way to counteract the Downer Ending; since the show is Based on a True Story, actually changing the ending wouldn't work.

Video Games

  • The parades in Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario are much like this.
  • The "Confused" ending of The white chamber.
  • The very end of Mario Kart DS if you beat all tracks and unlock all karts on all circuit classes.
  • The end of the .hack series, where everyone from the four-part PlayStation 2 series is having a party. Sora, realizing how much of a jerk he's been, is sitting off to the side and crying, because he knows full well that no one would want him around, and rightfully so. But someone invites him in anyway, and good times are had by all.
  • The end of the awful Limbo of the Lost features this, as well as a huge song moment.
  • Every story in the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Visual Novels ended with a Tea Party, with the various characters sitting around discussing the plot and their horrible deaths, and speculating on what was really going on.
    • Umineko no Naku Koro ni's first Tea Party was basically a parody of this, as it's NOT a 'meta thing', it's part of the main plot.
  • Sacrifice's credit sequence.
  • The rather glorious ending of The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past shows all the different non-villain characters restored to their proper places. The King returns, Link's uncle is brought back to life, the flute-playing boy is reunited with his father, etc., etc. And it is awesome.

Western Animation

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