Multiple Endings: Difference between revisions

 

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* Possibly the oldest example is ''[[Bubble Bobble]]'', which had three different endings—the [[Nonstandard Game Over|BAD END]] obtained by beating the final boss Super Drunk with only one player alive (this boots you back 25 levels on Normal and [[Continuing Is Painful|50 levels (HALFWAY!) on Super Mode]]), the Good End obtained by beating the boss with two players alive, and the [[Happy Ending]] obtained by beating the boss with two players alive in Super Mode—which has to be [[New Game+|enabled before starting the game with a code you get from the Good End]]. This was taken literally in a sequel, ''Bubble Symphony'', where the players can go to multiple worlds and see a bad ending exclusive to that world if they don't get [[Plot Coupon|the stuff they need]]. With successive games though, the idea of requiring two players sticking together to the end '''''has been dropped''''', but in two sequels, there is a Super Mode to play.

* In pretty much any ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' game where collecting the [[Mineral MacGuffin|Chaos]] [[Chaos Emeralds|Emeralds]] is optional, if you beat the game without [[Gotta Catch Em All|collecting all the Emeralds]], then you're treated to a post-credits scene with Robotnik in possession of the Emeralds, laughing to himself. Beating the game with all the Emeralds gives a more cheerful scene.

** Depending on what happened to Rush, Eddie, and Beat at the end of the game, they will appear either in color or grey in the "Presented by Capcom" screen.

 

* ''[[Cave Story]]'' has an obvious, early bad ending, triggered if you accept a character's offer to run away rather than stay to fight the [[Big Bad]]. Defeating the [[Big Bad]] gives a rather bittersweet standard ending {{spoiler|where the threat to the world is averted, but the floating island crashes, killing everyone who was still in it}}. But if you complete the sidequest to save Curly (whose requirements are [[Guide Dang It|hard to figure out without a guide]] and very easily [[Lost Forever]]), enter the [[Bonus Level of Hell]] and defeat the [[True Final Boss]], then you get the good ending {{spoiler|in which you save the island from crashing, and the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] finds redemption}}. Also, for both the standard and good endings, the credits (and the art that's displayed during them) vary depending on your in-game accomplishments. The bad ending gets no credits.

* Though the basic 'ending' remains the same ({{spoiler|[[Apocalypse How|most of human civilisation is destroyed, though some humans survive]]}}), [[Iji]] allows the player's actions to influence whether any Tasen survive, whether {{spoiler|Dan dies}}, as well as defining aspects of the {{spoiler|village shown in the ending credits}}.

 

 

* All the ''[[Princess Maker]]'' games, depending on what your daughter grows up to be, and who she marries.

* Another very old ending comes from the ''[[Myst]]'' games. The first game offers the choice between freeing either Sirrus or Achenar from their books {{spoiler|resulting in them trapping you instead}}, or touching the Green Book, which both claim is another trap, which gives you two more possible endings: either you have the white page and can let Atrus back into Myst, or you don't and you're stuck with him in D'ni. ''Riven'' and ''Exile'' carry this furthest; in ''Riven'', you can trap yourself, release the villain in a variety of locations, be shot by the villain, destroy the universe without capturing the villain, destroy the universe without saving the [[Damsel in Distress]]... or capture the villain, evacuate the Damsel and her tribespeople, and destroy the universe. (And that's the good ending.) One of the bad endings of Riven is only accessible by beating most of the game, writing down the combination to a lock (randomly generated each game), and then going back to an earlier saved game. In ''Exile'', there are at least five different ways for the villain to smash you with his hammer; the best ending cures the villain's psychosis and saves the [[MacGuffin]] without getting squashed. ''Revelation'''s finale confronts the player with Achenar and the abducted Yeesha, with only seconds to decide who to trust though even a casually-attentive player will have learned by this point [[Grand Theft Me|that Sirrus was planning to possess Yeesha]] and that Achenar has undergone a thorough and complete [[Heel Face Turn]]; choosing incorrectly results in the player's immediate death, while choosing correctly sets off one final puzzle {{spoiler|where the player must put Yeesha's memories in their proper order to exorcise Sirrus from her}}. Taking too long to choose also results in death. Finally, throughout the course of ''End of Ages'', the player encounters the adult Yeesha and an old man named Esher, each of whom seek a [[Cosmic Keystone|mysterious tablet]] that only the player can obtain. Once the player does so, he can choose who to give it to; however, {{spoiler|Yeesha has already tried and failed to obtain the tablet, meaning she can never touch it again, and Esher is actually a deranged maniac who will leave the player stranded on Myst Island while he goes off to conquer the universe. The right thing to do is to [[Take a Third Option]] by dropping the tablet, returning it to its rightful owners}}.

 

 

* ''[[Splatterhouse]] 3'' had four endings. Which you got were decided by if you beat the first three levels quickly enough to save your wife and son. (Note: The endings do not actually have names.)

** Good [http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rsqeb-GI68k&feature=related Ending]: Beat the first three levels under the time limit. [[Everybody Lives]], and it's the only ending where the {{spoiler|Terror Mask}} doesn't go into a [[As Long as There Is Evil]] rant.

 

 

* In ''[[Street Fighter Alpha]] 3'', the ending differs depending on whether the player defeats the final boss (M. Bison for every character besides himself and Evil Ryu, Ryu if the player is M. Bison, or Shin Akuma if the player is Evil Ryu): while defeating the final boss will show the player character's ending, losing to M. Bison or Shin Akuma as the final boss will show Bison's ending, in which he uses the defeated character's body (Ryu in Bison's standard ending) to power-up the Psycho Drive and rule the world; losing to Ryu with Bison plays Ryu's ending instead.

** ''Super [[Street Fighter II]]'' (and by proxy, ''Super Turbo'') allowed players to decide whether Chun-Li would continue her career as a detective or live her life as a civilian: choosing the former shows Chun-Li in a police uniform (based on an early design of her character) beating up a group of drug dealing thugs; while choosing the latter shows Chun-Li in a night club beating up a group of thugs trying to harass her. Regardless of which career path she chooses, she still ends up getting into fights.

 

 

* ''[[Call of Duty]]'': Sort of in ''World At War''.

** In the final mission of World at War's the American Campaign: {{spoiler|Roebuck and Polonsky get themselves into hand-to-hand combat with two Japanese soldiers that pull an I Surrender, Suckers. The player is given the option to save Roebuck or Polonsky. After the final battle, the character you picked to survive will go up to the body of the other, remove his dogtags, and hand them to you, as Roebuck gives a final narration. }}

 

 

* The [[Infocom]] [[Interactive Fiction]] romance game ''Plundered Hearts'' had several endings, depending on what you did in the final scene.

* Typing "click heels" at any point during Windham Classics's ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' gives a [[Nonstandard Game Over]] where you are back in Kansas, safe with your dog... but forever wonder "what would have been" if you stayed in Oz. There are also [[Nonstandard Game Over]] scenarios where you stay with the Munchkins, or go with the wizard back to Omaha.

* The [[yuri]]-centric [[H-game]] ''[[Yukkuri Panic Escalation]]'' has four possible endings.

 

* The Doomwood saga from ''[[Adventure Quest Worlds]]'' has multiple ways that it can end, depending on who you sent for before the final battle with Vordred and whether or not you chose to help Artix or betray him.

** If you sent for Empress Gravelyn, {{spoiler|she finishes Vordred off with the weapon he had made from Noxus' skull. Upon learning that Artix is the Champion of Darkness, Gravelyn offers to make Artix the champion of her undead army, with her slaying Artix to become the Champion herself if he should refuse. Artix refuses, as he is a Paladin of Swordhaven and servant of Good King Alteon. Gravelyn renews her vow to finish what her father started when Drakath falls before handing the Noxus Head Staff off to you}}.

 

 

* ''[[Meteos]]'' has a whopping twelve endings, though they're just text with a graphic on the bottom of the screen. The Star Trip mode has three variations, and each has its own unique endings (2, 7, and 3 respectively). One of the endings involves the antagonistic planet {{spoiler|being cut up by a gigantic fork}}.

* The Death Mode in ''[[Tetris the Grand Master]] 2 PLUS'' normally terminates your game at level 500. However, if you reach level 500 in 3 minutes and 25 seconds or less, the game continues, you get the rank of M, and can go all the way to level 999. Surviving all the way to that level yields the true ending and the rank of Grand Master.

 

 

* Several ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' games feature multiple endings:

** In ''[[Dragon Quest I]]'', when the player finally faces the Dragonlord, he offers the choice to [[We Can Rule Together|join him and rule half the world]]. If "no" is selected, then the player engages in battle and gets a good ending after defeating him, but if the player chooses "yes", the player gets a [[Nonstandard Game Over|bad ending]]. Defeat the Dragonlord and you get one of the three good endings based on where the princess is when you return to the castle (you brought her to the castle before killing the Dragonlord, you arrive carrying her after killing the Dragonlord, she's still imprisoned in the cave). The (minimalist) end game cut scene varies a bit for each ending. In the last one, [[Cutting Off the Branches|the hero travels off to faroff lands alone.]]

 

 

* ''[[Star Fox Command]]'' features no less than 9 endings.

* In ''[[Giga Wing]]'', completing the first 6 stages normally nets a [[Downer Ending]] in which {{spoiler|your character(s) sacrifice themselves to destroy the Medallion}}. If, on the other hand, you complete the first 6 stages on a single credit, you proceed to a 7th stage, which consists entirely of the final battle between you and the [[Perfect Run Final Boss]]; defeating him will net you a better ending, regardless of how many continues you use on this stage.

* In ''[[Thwaite]]'', the culprit is never discovered if [[No Damage Run|no buildings ever get blown up]].

 

* The ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' series usually has 2 or more sides to play as with different endings. When a sequel comes out, the series developers usually choose the good side as victor and use that for the story.

** Tiberium Wars may have very well broken the mold, as the story and timeline of each side is [[Big Words|intricately interwoven to form something that's relatively coherent.]]

 

 

* Every ''[[House of the Dead]]'' game has multiple endings. Usually one or two non-canon ones, a canon good/acceptable ending, and an apparently canon ending that alludes to plot points that, as of now, are still yet to be revealed.

** 1: Sophie is either dead, alive or zombified. Obviously only one is possible, but since she's never mentioned again, we have no way of knowing (which probably was Sega's intention, though Sophie is implied to be alive by Lisa's presence in 3). 2: The normal ending is a plain 'ol group shot with the grateful citizens and your unhelpful allies. The "twist" ending has Goldman turned into a zombie (which we later learn really did happen). The "good" ending is just a little easter egg cameo from Thomas. No conflicts here. 3: One plot point, one "joke" ending (the only one in the series), and li'l Danny may or may not have joined the ranks of the undead. As this is the last game chronologically, it's hard to say what, if anything, is canon. 4: A plot point building off of the one in 3, an emotional eulogy from G, and two versions of Goldman's cryptic final message, one of which confirms the twist in 2; again, nothing contradicts any of the other endings or anything else we've seen.

 

 

* Almost every [[Dating Sim]] ever, usually regarding whom your character ends up with. Some of the dodgier games even have a "Harem Ending", which allows your character [[Tenchi Solution|to end up with them all]].

* Prevalent in the [[Visual Novel|main works]] of the [[Nasuverse]]; ''all'' of them are [[Canon]], considering the [[The Multiverse|nature of]] [[The Verse]]. Various scenarios in the game are generally heroine-focused and [[Alternate Continuity|mutually exclusive]], and there are Good (happy), True (medium-happy to [[Tear Jerker]]), and Normal (outright depressing) Ends, depending on whether characters act in-personality or not, and what decisions they choose. There are also Bad Ends in the dozens, premature endings to the plot which may or may not result in death. Each Bad End will be followed by a comical, [[No Fourth Wall]] sequence where advice is given (and stupid choices are admonished) by various characters, including villains. Oddly enough, Bad Ends have a tendency to expand considerably on the [[Canon]], to the point where the whole plot can only be figured out by seeing all of them.

 

 

* Another early example is ''[[Out Run]]''; there are five goals one can make for, each with its own ending animation.

* ''[[Star Wars]]''-based games often allow you to choose the Light Side or the Dark Side of [[The Force]], and give a different ending for each, though [[Word of God]] is that only the light-side endings are canon:

 

 

* Several TV anime adaptations of the ''NeoRomance'' [[Dating Sim]] series achieved this by deliberately leaving the heroine's choice at the end ambiguous, and then packing the DVD release (usually only Limited Edition) with [[Omake]] segments showing the possible outcomes, allowing the viewer to choose one of the [[Cast Full of Pretty Boys|pretty guys]] themselves instead of [[Cutting Off the Branches|forcing a particular ending on them]]:

** ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka de|Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou]]'': eight endings;

 

 

* Right before the end of the Two-Face themed issue of ''[[Batman|Joker's Asylum]]'', Joker breaks the fourth wall, demands the reader get a coin and flip it to determine a character's fate: Heads: The character happily reunites with his wife. Tails: He ends up killing himself. Panels are presented for both endings, though, as the Joker explains, only the coin flip determines what "really" happened.

 

 

* The ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.edtropolis.com/fanfic/pg/pg2/eddfix-119.htm What The Ed?]'' by Dyl Man has 3 endings. The [[Downer Ending|Sad Ending]], the [[Happy Ending]], and [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|Silly Ending]]. The Sad Ending has {{spoiler|Tuluta Bottoms a.k.a. [[Cow and Chicken|The Red Guy]] calling the dog pound and having Ed and Nazz end up working in a glue factory.}} The Happy Ending has {{spoiler|1=Eddy realizing that he loves Nazz, not Tuluta, and sics SuperCow on Tuluta.}} The Silly Ending has {{spoiler|Tuluta butt-walk on Nazz, Nazz retaliating, Ed butt-walking on both girls, and Edd and Eddy butt-walking on Ed.}}

* In [[Relationships Series]], there is an [[Alternate Universe]] story called "Pain", which details what happens if Yuuno had been sent into combat. He gets injured and overtaxes his linker core, sending him into critical condition. In Ending A, {{spoiler|he dies, leaving Nanoha and Fate devastated, and the fic ends with his funeral}}. In Ending B, {{spoiler|he lives, but the main characters still have to protect him from some unethical scientists who want to get their hands on his damaged linker core}}. The authors indicated that this was already a hypothetical situation, so they should explore both outcomes.

 

 

* The movie ''[[Clue (film)|Clue]]'' had three different endings; during its theatrical run, different endings would be shown in different theaters. On the home videotape release, all three endings were shown, with title cards between explaining that any of them ''could'' have happened, but only the third actually ''did happen''. In the DVD version, the viewer may choose to see one particular ending, see all three (as in the VHS release), or even have the DVD player choose an ending at random.

** There was also a fourth ending that was ditched from the film because [[Darker and Edgier|it didn't fit with the comedic tone of the rest of the movie.]] Unfortunately, the fourth ending has never been released to the general public.

 

 

* This trope was pretty much the entire point of the ''[[Choose Your Own Adventure]]'' book series. There were other books of this ilk published at the time, but this was by far the best known and longest-running.

** Most of the "endings" to the books resulted [[Nonstandard Game Over|in your death]], but there were typically a few endings where you won.

 

 

* ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'' has the ending to the TV series, the film EPISODE FINAL and 13 Riders, a televised special which was an alternate retelling of the whole series which had viewers vote on the ending. {{spoiler|Subverted, since all the endings save for the TV series presumably ends with a timeloop back to square one}}.

* One episode of ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' ended with the customer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iDiMXTx5wU choosing between several endings].

 

 

* "Empty Cans", the final song off The Streets' [[Concept Album]] "A Grand Don't Come For Free", has this. {{spoiler|In the first ending, our protagonist blames everyone else for his problems, tells his friend Scott to fuck off, ends up fighting the TV repairman who comes to fix his set, and decides humanity is generally against his existence. A tape rewinds, and we are brought to the second ending. Mike decides to let Scott come over anyway, who finds the aforementioned "grand" when repairing Mike's TV. Mike realizes everyone's got their own problems and responsibilities to take care of, and looks at life with a new perspective.}} The beat and chorus even change accordingly.

* ''Almost Here'', a duet between Delta Goodrem and Brian McFadden, featured a video showing Brian going to meet Delta at an airport. The two of them have difficulty finding each other, until Delta leaves in a taxi. In the 'sad' ending, shown on music TV shows, she is driven away alone. The CD single had the video on it as CD-ROM content, and this version has the 'happy' ending where he catches up with the taxi and they're reunited.

 

 

* The [[Ravenloft]] boxed set adventure "Bleak House" provided for four different possible endings, as determined by players' choices throughout the last portion of the campaign arc. While many RPG adventures provide two or more concluding text-blocks to read, depending on whether the heroes win or lose, "Bleak House" went much farther, arranging for a prolonged buildup to whichever climax was selected to occur.

* The original ''[[Dragonlance]]'' adventures had six different possible win conditions; the [[Dungeon Master]] chooses one in secret before running the final module. One of them was used as the canon ending in the [[Novelization]] (the ''Dragonlance Chronicles'' trilogy), but woe could come to [[Metagame]]rs who play the adventures after reading the books, as in one of the other endings, performing the action that seals the gate in the novels actually makes the game [[Unwinnable]].

 

 

* [[Ayn Rand]]'s play ''Night of January 16th'' featured an unusual form of [[Audience Participation]]: a jury is selected from the audience, and at the end of the play, they determine whether the defendant is guilty or not.

* The musical ''[[Drood (theatre)|Drood]]'' based on the uncompleted Charles Dickens story ''[[The Mystery of Edwin Drood]]'' has an audience vote decide who the murderer is.

 

 

* The 100th episode of ''[[Red vs. Blue]]''. The link to the video is actually three different links to video whose only difference were the endings. The first was probably the "bad ending" with everyone killing each other, the second would be a "[[Gainax Ending|weird ending]]" with the entire canyon destroyed and the series is shown to be a ''[[Halo]]'' multiplayer match, and the [[Bittersweet Ending|relatively good ending]] with the two teams returning to their endless stalemate.

** The [[DVD Commentary]] and future series confirms the good ending was official (which you would already figure if you had any sense) and also has ''four more'' endings.

 

 

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'': The episode "Shanghaied" allowed the viewing audience to pick the ending. In the episode, SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward get captured and enslaved by the Flying Dutchman. Eventually, the Dutchman promises them [[Three Wishes]]. After wasting the first two, they begin fighting over who gets to make the third one. The viewers were then asked to call in and vote on who they wanted to get the third wish. The winner was SpongeBob. Before the winning ending was played, the audience was shown what the two alternate endings would have been. Subsequent airings played like a normal episode, with only the winning ending shown.

* ''[[Total Drama Island]]'': Once everything came down to the final two contestants, the viewers in each country were allowed to vote for which one they wanted to win.

 

 

* There are five ways for the universe to end: The Big Crunch, where gravity ultimately stops the universe's expansion, causing it to collapse back on itself and implode; the Big Bounce, where a new universe is created from a Big Crunch; the Big Rip, where dark energy literally tears the entire universe apart, the Big Chill, where dark energy accelerates the expansion of the universe until everything fades away, and finally the Big Halt, where gravity slows down the universe's expansion, but cannot stop it.