Tropical Epilogue
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I want to lie, shipwrecked and comatose —Red Dwarf's Ending Theme
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The final shot of a story is a character relaxing on a sun lounger with a fruity Umbrella Drink, looking pleased with himself on a sun lounger. Most likely wearing a colourful Hawaiian shirt amid a sea of Hula and Luaus. Neither of which is to say this is actually supposed to be Hawaii (which would be a really stupid place for an American to flee to...) - it's more likely to be somewhere in the Caribbean or South America.
As far as music goes, either "Aloha Oe" or something generically calypso will be playing in the background.
This can serve as a Where Are They Now? Epilogue for a Karma Houdini villain, in which case a triumphant Evil Laugh is rather likely. It's also commonly Invoked Trope, or Discussed Trope by characters who never ultimately manage to fulfil it (having obviously never heard of Retirony, One Last Job or the Unspoken Plan Guarantee).
This is the natural result of a successful Run for the Border.
As an Ending Trope, Spoilers ahead may be unmarked. Beware.
Examples of Tropical Epilogue include:
Comic Books
- In one Spider-Man story, Mysterio's ultimate goal when he takes over the Maggia is to grab as much money as he can, and "buy an island in the tropics where I can sit under palm trees and drink things out of coconuts".
- In another, the epilogue is in the form of a letter sent by Black Cat from the safety of such a refuge.
- The Batman storyline Heart of Hush ends on this note. Catwoman is relaxing at a resort while recovering from getting her heart ripped out, recording a message for Hush explaining how she got her revenge.
Fan Works
- In an explicit echo and inversion of the final scene of End of Evangelion, Neon Exodus Evangelion's final installment, Apotheosis Now, ends with DJ and Asuka in chaises longues on a tropical beach, Umbrella Drinks in hand, as Asuka assures DJ that she feels great.
Film
- Milton in Office Space — subverted because he's still getting ignored, and starts plotting his revenge all over again.
- The protagonists of Trading Places have one of these.
- Johnny English has a scene like this, with a twist: earlier in the film, the title character bungles up preventing a robbery, and invents a highly improbable "villain" to cover up his ineptness. The "villain" is shown to be a real person at the end in this scene, but that's pure coincidence - English was purposely trying to make up a person who didn't exist (perhaps to prove how good he was by fighting with him when no one else would be able to find him).
- The Silence of the Lambs ends with Hannibal Lecter phoning Clarice from Bimini, where he's having an old friend for dinner.
- The Producers plan on doing this in Rio de Janeiro once their scheme comes to fruition, but it doesn't work out as planned.
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You'll find your happiness in Rio |
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- The two final conspirators in Wild Things are on a boat, and are assumed to be off to some sort of island paradise with their ill-gotten money.
- The ending of Bullseye! (1990) with Michael Caine talking with someone on the phone, telling her that she can't have her money back; she has already spent it.
- Also the ending of Buddy Buddy (1981). In that one it is stated earlier that hitman Trabucco has already picked a tropical island to retire to that he intends to buy if he finishes his last job.
- The Man Who Knew Too Little has this—only interrupted by the American agents trying to recruit Wallace.
- At the end of The Chase (1994), we see that fugitive lovers Jack Hammond and Natalie Voss have fallen into this lifestyle after fleeing to Mexico.
- In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne does this after breaking out of prison.
- XXX ends with Vin Diesel finally travelling to Bora Bora.
- In Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, the criminal group that main characters run in will often say, "Boat drinks," to remind each other of their ultimate dream: retiring to some tropical paradise to sip cocktails on a yacht. In the end, we see all of the main characters doing exactly that, except they're all dead.
- Referenced in Out of Sight. Karen (Jennifer Lopez) mockingly asks bank robber Jack (George Clooney) if he imagines he'll retire to some tropical paradise. He counters that he always preferred mountains.
- Kathleen Turner's character in Body Heat ends this way, whatever her name may be.
- Burn Notice: the Fall of Sam Axe ends like this for Sam in sunny Miami (with an ice-cold beer in hand, no less), putting him in position to be Mike's go-to guy in the series.
- Dark Passage ends with Bogart and Bacall reuniting in Peru.
- Amusingly subverted with Alec Guinness' character in The Lavender Hill Mob.
Literature
- The ending of Ben Elton's novel High Society.
- Played with in Matthew Reilly's Ice Station. The fate of a minor character from the backstory is revealed when the epilogue zips to a South American beach, where a scavenger finds debris in the ocean from the character's crashed plane.
Live-Action TV
- Hillary Briss in The League of Gentlemen
- In Stargate SG-1, Harry Maybourne spends some time like this after being convicted of treason, though he eventually ends up opting for an off-planet exile instead.
- In the Sherlock episode "The Great Game", one of the crimes that Moriarty arranges and subsequently has Sherlock expose is a character's plan to do this.
Music
- Jimmy Buffett's song "Banana Republic" is about precisely this sort of person -- "expatriated Americans, hoping to find some fun."
- Jimmy Buffett in general likes to present himself as such - the fact that he's extremely wealthy means it is some degree of Truth in Television for him.
- Subverted in the Zac Brown Band song "Toes", where everything is great for the tourist... until he runs out of money.
Tabletop Games
- The "Quest for Fruit" adventure in GURPS Discworld Also states that, in accordance with the Theory of Narrative Causality, the Hwondaland trading post must contain at least one white-suited Ankh-Morporkian expat, who can never return for some unspecified reason.
Video Games
- Banjo-Kazooie features an ending sequence with our heroes relaxing on a tropical island somewhere.
- Illbleed's good ending shows all the heroes (who have just won a ton of money at the titular Amusement Park of Doom) lounging on a beach together.
- Possibly that easter egg Fan Service picture in Gauntlet (1985 video game).
- If the player amasses a tidy sum as an independent commander in Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, they will get this as an ending after the Battle of Tukayyid cutscene.
- Suggested by Dr Neo Cortex at the bad ending of Crash Bandicoot Warped as an idea or what to do now that he's been beaten yet again, shortly before his boss, UkaUka reminds him they could still triumph by getting all the gems.
- Is actually the bad ending for Crash 2, Crash and Coco sit on a beach with one of the crabs from the first game, and discuss what happened to the Cortex Vortex.
- More of a Tropical Prologue, unless you count it for the previous game, but the PC title 7.62: High Calibre begins with your mercenary crew lounging on a beach before getting the call to action.
- Rock Band 3 plays this straight after you complete the tour modus. Your band presumably dies in a plane crash while they really just faked their deaths to escape stardom and enjoy their wealth in some tropical paradise.
- If you lose the game Mario's Time Machine, then Bowser will do this.
Web Comics
- The cast of Bob and George pulled their own variation of a Time Travel Escape by faking their deaths and retiring to Acapulco. See it here.
- Irregular Webcomic example: here.
- In Sinfest, Satan assures Slick that Hell's like a tropical getaway.
Western Animation
- At least two Looney Tunes shorts — "Ali Baba Bunny" and "The Abominable Snow Rabbit" — end with Bugs Bunny lounging on the beach at wherever he was going before missing that fateful "left turn at Albuquerque".
- An episode of Batman: The Animated Series titled "The Worry Men" features the Mad Hatter admitting that he's been thinking of retiring from crime, purchasing an island out in the middle of nowhere, and opening up a sun-bonnet shop.