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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"There are no [[Happily Ever After|Happy Endings]] because nothing ever ends."''|'''Schmendrick the Magician''', ''The Last Unicorn''.}}
So the series ended with the [[Masquerade]] being lifted, or the [[Last
Solution: They don't. Everyone either lives [[Happily Ever After]] or has a [[Downer Ending]]; but it's not the writer's problem anymore.
Woe to any writer who suddenly has to answer
May overlap with [[Lonely
{{examples|Examples}}▼
{{endingtrope}}
== Anime & Manga ==▼
* In ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'', Sakura and Syaoran are left with a rather large obstacle in their relationship. Syaoran is from a magical family from Hong Kong, and Sakura lives in Japan and quite [[I Just Want to Be Normal|content with her idea of a normal life, magical pets notwithstanding.]] [[CLAMP]] isn't the slightest bit interested in explaining how they manage this.▼
▲* In ''[[
** The manga averts the trope. In the [[Distant Finale]], it's revealed that after several years of maintaining their relationship long-distance, Syaoran completes the paperwork to move to Japan on a permanent basis, making it more of a [[Happily Ever After|happily ever after ending.]]
* Another [[CLAMP]] example, ''[[
* ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]''. The end of the series simply dropped multiple plot threads all over the genre board, from sci-fi to political to romantic, and ended with the main couple suddenly coming to terms with their undying love for each other in the last ten minutes. Ruri even [[Lampshade Hanging|lists the abandoned threads]] and then assure the viewer, "but we're not going to deal with them right now." The hanging ends, unfortunately, were ideal material for the [[Darker and Edgier]] [[The Movie|Movie]], which it abandoned for [[
** A video game, ''Blank of Three Years'' for the [[Sega Saturn]] and other material explained what happened in the years since, but naturally [[No Export for You|none of it ever left Japan]].
* ''[[
** It was probably less "Wasn't interested in" as much as "couldn't possibly think of how without [[Gainax Ending|drastically changing the tone of the series]]".
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Watchmen]]'' arguably ends this way: although [[The Reveal]] (actually a series of revelations) resolved a whole lot of plot points, Dr. Manhattan, who's in a position to know this kind of thing, claims that nothing ever ''really'' ends. The [[Denouement]] apparently bears out his claim: the world is now just barely politically stabilized under a fragile peace accord that may or may not last, the costumed vigilantes Dan Dreiberg and Laurie Juspeczyk are still at large and plying their trade under new identities for how much longer no one can be sure, and a certain journal that a very minor character may or may not be about to discover may or may not ultimately blow the lid off the huge secret these costumed vigilantes are keeping from the rest of the world. It's deliberately left up to the reader to speculate what's going to happen next.
* [[Sandman| Death of the Endless]] knows her job will not be done until she is the last being still alive in the universe. But what will she do then? She has an answer, one that's somewhat cryptic: "I'll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights and lock the universe behind me when I leave."
== Film ==
* While the first ''[[Hellboy (
* ''[[The Matrix]]'' more or less ended with the implication that Neo was about to blow the whole secret wide open, until the sequels threw it all away in favor of more [[Bullet Time]] kung-fu fights.
* At the end of the movie ''[[The Graduate]]'', after {{spoiler|Benjamin rescues Elaine from her wedding and they flee on a bus, the camera holds on them for an uncomfortably long time, emphasizing the "now what?" nature of the ending.}}
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** This might be more a case of [[Reed Richards Is Useless]]. The idea that either the A.I. or the portable clean energy source might have greater applications than to power a suit used for beating up bad guys never seems to occur to anyone at any point in the film.
*** Tony wants to put more research into the larger arc reactors which could be used as power plants, but the miniturized reactor is so easily appliable to ''weapons'' technology that it Tony won't risk selling it. {{spoiler|The sequel shows that this is completely justified.}} Also, the [[Iron Man]] movies do indeed avert [[Reed Richards Is Useless]]. Technology is general in the Marvel Movie Universe is quite a bit more advanced thanks to the nigh superhuman genius of Tony and his father {{spoiler|and, to give credit where credit is due, Vanko}}.
* The ending of ''[[THX
* ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067418/ Melody (1971)]'' ends with Daniel Latimer and Melody Perkins escaping from the adults' raid on their wedding and cranking themselves down the railroad track on a trolley. However, this "man" and his "wife" are only ten years old! No government is going to recognize their marriage legally. They barely even know anything about kissing, let alone sex. So what kind of honeymoon are they going to have? [[Figure It Out Yourself|Good question.]]
== Live
* The ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' finale played this one perfectly straight. In the last scene, Xander lays it all out for Buffy: {{spoiler|the Hellmouth is closed forever and Buffy isn't special any more, doesn't have any destiny}}... so now what? The last shot of the series is Buffy starting to grin as she realizes that for maybe the first time since she picked up a stake, the answer to that is totally up to her.
** And of course, the question was answered in the Season Eight comics.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'': Hoorah, we've defeated the Martian invasion! That's the last we'll see of them! Well, until they invent disinfectant, anyway.
** Actually, the final chapter of the book claims that a second invasion would fail even if they did develop a vaccine, seeing as they lost the element of surprise, and their canister-like spacecrafts could be demolished by the military long before they could emerge. The last chapter also suggests they abandoned Earth and were attempting to colonize Venus.
== Tabletop Games ==
* One of the biggest examples of [[The Starscream]] in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' cosmology is Mephistopheles, ruler of the Eighth Layer of Hell. While all the Archdevils plot to usurp Asmodeus and assume his throne, Mephistopheles is the most blatant case, having told his intentions to Asmodeus' face. What would happen if he ever succeeded? Given how power-hungry he is, Mephistopheles' own minions have said (behind his back) that it would take him less than an hour to start wondering why he also didn't rule Mount Celestia.
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic|KOTOR]] II'' was supposed to end with the main cast flying away from Malachor V in the ''Ebon Hawk''. Atton would then ask the Exile "So...where're we going now?"
* At the end of ''[[
* Yuriko's campaign in ''[[Command
* In Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, it's strongly hinted that Klonoa has divine blood and that his forced wanderings are serving some greater purpose. The game ends just as he's being drawn out of Lunatea. Namco never released another Klonoa game.
* ''[[Ultima IV]]'' is ''entirely made'' of this trope. See, in all previous Ultima games, you defeated supreme evil...and now there are no more bad guys to fight aside from random monsters in dungeons. What's your goal? To become a Messiah!
* ''[[Batman
== Western Animation ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Ending Tropes]]
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