Sequel Hook: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:wellbeback 4719.jpg|link=Mac and Me|frame|[[Hilarious in Hindsight|Their box office returns disagreed.]]]]

 

{{quote|'''Otacon:''' Well, Snake, I tracked down the Patriots' Wisemen Committee, but all I found was a note.

'''Snake:''' What does it say?

'''Otacon:''' ''"Buy the sequel! Coming soon!"''

 

A '''Sequel Hook''' is something in a work that suggests that there is a clear possibility for another story. The [[MacGuffin]]s may come in threes, the [[Big Bad]] might be [[Not Quite Dead]], or, more blatantly, as the story ends another adventure might be shown beginning.

 

Compare [[The End - or Is It?]], [[Here We Go Again]], [[The Stinger]], [[And the Adventure Continues...]], [[To Be Continued]], [[Saved for the Sequel]]. Can occur as part of [[Inescapable Horror]].

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* Back in 2008, the [[Aborted Arc|slighly random]] ''[[Kamen no Maid Guy]]'' actually set up a serious storyline - at the very end of the series.

* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' ends the series with a delegation led to a convention of most of, if not all, of the Spiral races in the galaxy. Considering the fight of the last episode, it's unlikely, but if anything can top Gurren Lagann, it will be Gurren Lagann. {{spoiler|Not to mention the fact that the fate of practically all the secondary characters other than Rossiu, Leeron, Gimmy, and Darry is left unknown. Controversy rages about a sequel; if it would ruin the series or not.}} However, the series has gone on to produce many parallel works in manga, and in fact has a manga serialization ongoing, as well as a parody manga that features the main cast [[High School AU|in a modern high school]].

* ''[[Giant Robo]]'' has possibly one of the most sadistic, but not because of any fault of the writers'. The final OVA episode ends with {{spoiler|the Earth decimated but able to recover, the IPO gutted of several of its top men, and [[Smug Snake]] Koumei informing the Magnificent Ten that all is according to the plan of Lord Big Fire, with Operation BR about to begin, suggesting that Big Fire is about to launch a true operation to conquer the world after Genya's plot both crippled their major opponent and simultaneously made sure the world would survive to be ruled over}}, leaving it ambiguous as to whether the entire operation was masterminded by {{spoiler|Koumei or Big Fire himself}}. However, the sequel was unable to be made due to funding problems, so several critical explanations and {{spoiler|Koumei's presumed come-uppance}} were never actually made, much to the frustration of the OVA series' many fans.

* The last ''[[Slayers]]'' light novel ends with {{spoiler|Lina and Gourry traveling to Lina's homeland, Zephilia.}} Cue loads of [[Will They or Won't They?]]. There's also the fate of Zelgadis and Amelia, considering that they were left to their own accord after the eighth novel (their replacements were [[Killed Off for Real]] in the last two novels), and Zelgadis' [[A Day in the Limelight|side story]] takes place after that time.

** The second anime season ends with [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Sylphiel]] running off with the heroes, but she's nowhere to be seen in the third (being replaced by [[Holier Than Thou|Filia]]), so this is a subversion. Also, the last season has more of this than the third did, {{spoiler|with Zelgadis riding on a boat contentedly sticking out among them.}}

**** Most likely a typical Gainax troll, but who's up for [http://safebooru.org//images/541/b3772740146d2ea32ffb448b3f591d6cbb054254.png?543833 Brief and Chuck with Garterbelt?]

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]''. Both seasons. Season one: Setsuna's line: "As long as the distortion continues to exist, I will continue to fight... Alongside my Gundam." Also, Tieria's "This is the Gundam that will change the world..." while we see a container saying "GN 00 00 GUNDAM". In season two, Tieria's "The true goal of the Aeolia Plan was to prepare Humanity for the dialogues to come." And after the Credits, we see a 15 second teaser for the movie, which ends with the text: "2314: The Childhood of Humankind Ends." If those don't practically say "There'll be another season" and "We're planning on making a movie", I don't know what does.

* The ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' manga and ''Brotherhood'' anime both avert this to the point where it seems like the writer was literally trying as hard as possible to prevent any possible sequel or need for a sequel. The first anime on the other hand ends with Ed getting ready to do another transmutation to get Al back by sacrificing himself. The ''Conquerers of Shamballa'' movie fittingly picks up a short time after the hook, with Ed stuck in the "real" world after his transmutation was successful.

* The creators of ''[[Death Note]]'' have themselves admitted that they are undecided whether {{spoiler|The Death Note that Aizawa was holding at the warehouse was real, or if Light's bluff about it being fake was true. They claim that if the book was a fake, the real one is still out there somewhere, meaning "Ryuk could return somehow..."}}

 

* A comic book example is found in the six issue Marvel Boy limited series from 2000. At the end, Marvel Boy ominously tells the government agents that in five months, the super prison he is in will become the capital for the new Kree Empire. After that, the caption advertises Marvel Boy 2:001!!!, a title that will likely not see the light of day, since Marvel Boy's next appearance was during the 2006 Summer Event Civil War.

* P.R.O.J.E.C.T.'s "Superman 2" vault at the end of [[All-Star Superman]].

 

* At the end of ''[[With Strings Attached]]'', the four (especially Ringo) ''ask'' to be given another opportunity to use their magical bodies.

* Most of ''[[The Ghost Map]]'''s final chapter is a Sequel Hook, with [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[The Watson|Dr. Watson]], and [[Inspector Lestrade]] fully aware now that {{spoiler|[[Bigger Bad|Moriarty]] is out there and will be returning. But it's the final scene with Moriarty himself that really clinches it.}}

 

== [[Film]] ==

*** Also, the "To Be Continued" at the end of the first film was not added until the video release, after the studio had already greenlit a sequel. The original theatrical cut did not contain it.

** The second movie uses the 1955 'end' of the first as a hook; as soon as Marty's gone back to the future and Doc Brown's celebrated his good work, the Marty from slightly ''later'' in the future appears and tells Doc that he's "back FROM the future!"

'''Marty''': Doc? Doc?! DOC!! }}

* ''[[Mortal Kombat (film)|Mortal Kombat]]'' concluded with victory and ended on a cliffhanger, as Shao Kahn, the [[Man Behind the Man]] of the movie's [[Big Bad]], shows up and announces he's come to take their souls. Raiden's response: [[Catch Phrase|"I don't think so."]]

* Particularly blatant (and incontinent) one in ''[[The Last Starfighter]]''. [[The Dragon]], having been deposed and arrested on orders from his [[Man Behind the Man]] [[Big Bad|overlord]], kills his two guards with his flicknife sceptre (which he has already ''shown off to everybody'') and escapes.

* The dire and dismal ''[[Hawk the Slayer]]'' has this one on its list of crimes. Hawk's evil brother, Voltan, appears to Hawk and Co. to be acting alone, but the audience can see that he is just a subservient [[The Dragon|Dragon]] to the shadowy, hidden [[Big Bad]]. He gets killed, but the final scene sees his corpse being borne away from its burial chamber by said [[Big Bad]] for resurrection. Fortunately, it didn't happen.

* Spoofed in ''[[Kung Pow]]'' (as most things were in that movie), both when Wo claims to meet the Chosen One again... "many times... in the sequel". There is also a clip of a "sequel" at the end of the movie, but this is comprised almost entirely of scenes that got left on the cutting room floor.

* The trope image is from ''[[Mac and Me]]'', which ended with the eponymous alien and his family becoming U.S. citizens and driving off in a car with a sign on the back with a big pink bubble showing up at the end saying "[[Hilarious in Hindsight|We'll be back!]]". Thankfully, this was ''not'' followed through with due to the movie's box office failure. Mind you, this is the same movie that shamelessly featured [[Product Placement|product placements]] up the wazoo.

* ''[[The Neverending Story (film)|The Neverending Story]]'':

** ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|Resident Evil Apocalypse]]'' ends on the prospect of Dr. Isaacs having control over her similar to the Nemesis.

** ''[[Resident Evil: Extinction|Resident Evil Extinction]]'' shows her {{spoiler|waking up an army of clones and vowing revenge on Umbrella}}.

** In the same canon of the original games, ''[[Resident Evil: Degeneration]]'' shows that WilPharma's assets have been acquired by TriCell. The ending for the ride ''Biohazard 4D Executer'' has Dr. Cameron escaping the city, having become a practically immortal creature capable of [[Grand Theft Me]].

* ''[[G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra|G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra]]'': {{spoiler|Cobra Commander (actually using that moniker, to be exact) and the masked Destro appear only almost at the end}}, the US President {{spoiler|whistling a certain tune}} and the Joes going off on another mission.

* The [[Live Action Adaptation]] for ''[[Alvin and the Chipmunks|Alvinandthe Chipmunks]]'' ended with the movie's [[Big Bad]], [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] Ian Hawke, trying to get squirrels to sing. Like the ''[[Back to The Future]]'' example above, this is a Sequel Hook only in retrospect.

* ''Merlin and the War of the Dragons'' ends with Merlin killing the evil wizard, Uther is proclaimed King of the Britons, general rejoicing and then Nimue resurrects the evil Wizard. The moie was made in 2008, I haven't heard of a sequel yet.

* ''[[Fu Manchu]]'' Hammer horror movies always end with him saying "The World shall hear from me again."

* ''[[Predators]]'' has the survivors watching a new bunch of people being brought into the deathworld to be hunted.

* ''[[The Three Musketeers (2011 film)|The Three Musketeers 2011]]''; {{spoiler|Buckingham manages to rescue Milady de Winter from falling to her death, and announces that he's going back to France. [[Oh Crap|Cut away to a shot of a fleet of British warships, with a fleet of air-ships overhead]].}}

* [[Innerspace]] ends with Jack Putter jumping into and spinning off in a convertible with the intention of stopping the now-miniature Victor Scrimshaw and Dr. Margaret Canker from harming the newly-married Tuck and Lydia.

* [[James Bond]] will return...

 

== [[Literature]] ==

** It's been claimed that the last chapter was added on by the editors to wrap up the completed pages after Adams missed his deadline.

* The ''[[Death Note]]'' novel ''Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases'' has a note by the narrator in the final chapter saying that, if he had more time, he would write about two other stories L told him. A pretty blatant set-up for more novels like it.

* [[Dale Brown]] has various hooks in his book-endings. For example, ''Battle Born'' ended with the Dreamland staffers offering Rebecca Furness command of a new unit, while ''Air Battle Force'' ended on the then Russian president threatening another war with the Americans.

* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: In ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]'', the prophet Tiresias tells Odysseus that he must make another journey after returning home, but this was not followed up on by [[Homer]]. That journey only appears in the lost ''Telegony'', the last epic of the [[The Trojan Cycle|Trojan Cycle]].

* [[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]] has a not so prominent one at the end of the last book, when the new resident Oracle spouts another prophecy. Though it is almost immediately [[Handwaved]] with a "who knows when it could happen or if it's even about you guys" speech, it's pretty obvious that it will lead to a sequel series, which it has.

 

{{quote|'''Guinan''': Of course, now...they know of your existence.

'''Picard (with understanding dawning)''': They're...''coming''... }}

* At the end of the ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' episode ''Polymorph'', after the crew defeats the eponymous creature, it is revealed that a second one has made it on board. Subverted in the remastered version, in which on-screen text reveals that this one, much less intelligent than the first, took up residence harmlessly in Lister's underwear drawer and eventually died of old age. Doubly subverted by the episode ''Emohawk: Polymorph II'' three series later in which they meet another one.

 

* ''[[Henry IV]], Part 1'' ends with news that Northumberland and Archbishop Scroop are arming for war.

** You'd think the "Part 1" in the title would kind of give away that a sequel was intended as well...

* ''Henry VI Part 3'' ends with Richard of Gloucester's (the future King Richard III) monologue where he talks about how he'll do anything to gain control of the crown- setting up for "Richard III".

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'' ends with a sequel hook in the form of Silhouette informing Crypto that there are branches of Majestic all over the world... however, the sequel subverts this, as it takes the plot off in an entirely different direction, and the possible sequel plot left open by the hook is resolved in the space of a single mission.

** ''[[Destroy All Humans!]] 3 Path of the Furon'' ends with a large sequel hook. Before beginning the final boss fight, Crypto enthusiastically states "Destroy All Bosses and set up for the next sequel!" Also, after defeating the boss, Pox states "There will '''always''' be a reason to Destroy All Humans!" And after Pox takes the throne and Crypto prepares to leave for Earth, Crypto tells Pox "See ya in ten years! You'll like the future, I got a feelin' big hair's gonna be in style again!"

* ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'' ended with some plot elements unresolved, namely the identity of the Black Knight, the behavior of the Rider Bertram, and identity of the person Sothe was looking for. This, combined with the enigmatic final words of Begnion's prime minister Sephiran, left fans hoping that the next game in the series would continue the story. The sequel, ''Radiant Dawn'', does resolve the unresolved questions.

** ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword]]'' provides an interesting inversion - the closing scenes of the epilogue, fifteen years later, introduce Roy and Lilina and demonstrate a now-adult King Zephiel's first encounter with Jahn. Of course, these are all things to do with the events of ''Sword of Seals'', an already-released game to which ''Blazing Sword'' is a prequel.

* Pretty much every single ''[[Resident Evil]]'' game ends this way.

* All the ''[[Halo]]'' games have ended with sequel hooks: the first had 343 Guilty Spark scooting away from the destroyed Halo, the second ended on a [[Cliff Hanger]], and the third showed {{spoiler|the presumed-dead Master Chief and Cortana drifting through space toward an inhabited planet.}} Halo Wars even has an achievement called "Ready for the Sequel." Also ironic, due to Company Existence Failure.

** Subverted in ''[[Mother 3]]''. You get the "The End...?" message, but [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|try walking]] [[Tear Jerker|around...]]

* ''[[Banjo-Kazooie|Banjo-Tooie]]'' ended with Gruntilda swearing that she'll get her revenge in ''Banjo-Threeie''.

** That's nothing. The ending of ''Banjo-Kazooie'' revealed that its sequel was named and several special features (such as Stop 'N' Swop) were being developed on it, which were revealed in the end. ("Mumbo's jaw dropped in awe," remember?) [[Urban Legend of Zelda|Not that any of them amounted to much in the end until the Xbox Live Arcade was invented]], but ''Banjo Tooie'' was a good game.

* The victory cutscene at the end of the main story of ''[[Guild Wars]]: Eye of the North'' ends with a brief glimpse of a gigantic dragon-like creature awakening in the chamber where {{spoiler|the player characters have just defeated the Great Destroyer.}} Sure enough, Arena Net have confirmed that ''Guild Wars 2'' will be set in a world dominated by ancient, reawakened dragons.

* ''[[Metal Gear]]:''

** ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' ends with a phone call between Ocelot and his true employer, {{spoiler|Solidus Snake, the President of the United States and the third clone of Big Boss}}.

** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' ends with a certain fact about The Patriots identities coming to light. Confusingly.

** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' ends with a call between Ocelot and his true employer {{spoiler|the CIA Director.}}

** ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'' ends with Naked Snake finally accepting the title of Big Boss and forming Outer Heaven, bringing the series to full circle (assuming there won't be any more prequels or remakes of the MSX2 titles).

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' has one near the end, with Shepard saying there's still Reapers in Dark Space, and that they still need to be defeated. Shepard runs off, and... game ends.

** Though of course, it was revealed that it was planned as a trilogy before the game came out.

* In the ending of ''[[Blackthorne]]'', after the credits have finished, there is a cutscene showing the same place on Earth where Blackthorne got teleported to Tuul from in the opening cutscene, and {{spoiler|an orc teleports in, and laughs}}. The game was released in 1994, and there is no sequel yet, so there will probably never be a sequel. Meanwhile the company that made Blackthorne got busy making a little game called ''[[Warcraft]]''...

* Rather than ''[[Overlord]]'''s cryptic [[The End - or Is It?]], the [[Expansion Pack]] ''Raising Hell'' ends with a fairly straight sequel hook. {{spoiler|The Overlord you were just playing is trapped in the Infernal Abyss, possibly forever, but his Mistress is pregnant. Unsurprisingly, the sequel involves you playing as the Overlord's son, trying to undo the [[Happily Ever After]] that ensued in the absence of a legitimate force for evil.}}

* A secret ending in ''[[Mega Man ZX]] Advent'' shows {{spoiler|Master ''Thomas''}} preparing to continue what [[Big Bad|Master Albert]] originally set out to do. The former {{spoiler|even recruited the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|enemy MegaMen]] to do his bidding}}.

* ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' ends with Shadow and Omega looking over the corpse of Metal Sonic and Shadow contemplating his revival. Although the hook for ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' was obvious, the fact that Sega set up the ending to keep Metal Sonic alive for a later game and not utilize him since then outside of the ''Sonic Rivals'' games is a bit baffling.

* ''[[Dirge of Cerberus]]: [[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has one in the form of a secret ending obtainable by collecting three [[MacGuffin]]. {{spoiler|Genesis picks up Weiss, who is apparently [[Not Quite Dead]], and explicitly says, "It is not yet time for slumber. There is much work to do, my brother."}}

* ''[[Command & Conquer]]: Tiberium Wars'' has three words for ya: '''Earth Will Fall!'''

** Similarly, at the end of ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'', once you defeat Bowser at the end of the game's final level with all 121 Power Stars, we actually get to see Rosalina thanking Mario for saving the Mushroom Galaxy and bidding him farewell, but after we see her fly away in her spaceship, it's revealed that she accidentally left one of her Lumas behind on Earth. Also, considering the fact that the entire timeline had to be rewritten as a result of the universe being destroyed and reborn, everyone's all now back at square one, and as a result Bowser now wants to take over outer space again, [[Super Mario Galaxy 2|which leads to...]]

** "Accidentally"?

** The [[Spiritual Successor]] to that series ''[[Marvel Ultimate Alliance]]'' ends with a shot of [[Galactus]] plotting his revenge on Earth's heroes for stealing his planet-eating devices, and [[The Stinger]] revealing that {{spoiler|[[Black Widow (comics)|Black Widow]] was [[The Mole]] after all}}. These all end up being subverted in the sequel: the Galactus incident is said by Thor to have occurred offscreen between the two games, and the second hook appears to have been completely forgotten when you meet the character in question.

* Valve have had and continue to have an illicit affair with this trope. The first ''[[Half-Life]]'' ends with Gordon being saved by the mysterious GMan he sees at several points in the game, put into storage for "future assignments", as does ''[[Half-Life]] 2'' (the latter of which resulted in much fandom rage). ''Episode One'' ends with Gordon and Alyx caught in a gargantuan explosion, ''Episode Two'' ends just before an expedition to the arctic (and just after [[Tear Jerker|a devastating]] [[Player Punch]]) and it is all but certain ''Episode Three'' will end similarly. Coupled with the ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'' example above, it could be they do it [[Teasing Creator|just to troll everyone]].

* [[The Legend of Zelda Oracle Games]] have a sequel hook to a ''previous'' game: Link leaves {{spoiler|on a small sailboat}}, setting the pieces for the plot of {{spoiler|''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening]]''}}.

 

 

* ''[[Kate Modern]]'' special "Precious Blood" ends with "Precious Blood: 10:30PM", which shows that {{spoiler|Terrence}} is still alive and has {{spoiler|killed the Watcher}}.

** At the end of "The Last Work", {{spoiler|Julia swears revenge on the K-Team, and some of them say they still want to fight}}.

* The ''[[Lonelygirl15]]'' [[Grand Finale]] "The Ascension" is followed by a short surprise video revealing that {{spoiler|Lucy is still at large}}.

'''Homsar''': [[Cloudcuckoolander|DaAaAaA! These Easter pay-unts are getting waAaAy too tight!]] }}

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* (Hopefully) Zuko's question at the end of the ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' [[Grand Finale]]: {{spoiler|"Where is my mother?"}}

** It did technically lead to [[Sequel Series]] ''[[The Legend of Korra]]''... but it takes place over 70 years in the future and all (or at least most) of the former cast is dead. The first episode even [[Trolling Creator|trolls the audience]] about the hook, with a character asking about it and the explanation being cut off.

* ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' seems mostly free of these, despite there being one sequel in the works already (and supposedly four more), with the end credits mostly being just shots of village life and Po interacting with Shifu and the Five—even the last image of the new peach tree growing is more a call-back to Oogway and Po's future as a kung fu warrior. But with the movie and characters structured the way they are, sequel hooks almost aren't needed; the kung fu genre in general lends itself well to episodic campaigns—i.e., Po and the Five fight [[Big Bad]] or [[Monster of the Week]] to rescue this or that artifact. The only possible Sequel Hook (which is debatable) is if in the climactic battle, {{spoiler|Tai Lung was actually killed/vaporized by the Wuxi Finger Hold, or just KO'd.}} Only time will tell whether this scene was meant to imply a sequel or not.

** However, since Tai Lung was neither seen, heard, nor mentioned again, [[Sublime Rhyme|it's actually implied that he died.]]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Script Speak]]

[[Category:Ending Tropes]]

[[Category:Sequel]]