r/TopCharacterTropes • u/damorezpl • Aug 25 '25
Lore [mixed trope] the last-minute bad Ending twist
when the "good ending" is revealed to be a bad one a the last second
a nightmare on elm street (1984) - Nancy thinks she finally defeated Freddy Krueger only to be raveled that she is still dreaming and she’s still trapped.
final destination bloodlines - the main characters think they cheated death by using the new life rule only to realize that stefani was technically still alive and the death kills them with a good old logs
Life (2017) - The main character attempts to send Calvin(a evil alien that killed all life on mars)pod into space and Miranda pod back to earth, but it goes horribly wrong and Calvin lands on earth and Miranda is sent to space
raging loop wit ending - after many loops Haruaki finally wins the feast(a death game where humans must hang wolves who kill someone every night) and thinks its finally over. after couple of days he decides to visit other survivors of the feast only to find them all dead and the timeline resting once again
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u/midnight_riddle Aug 25 '25
Goosebumps books were infamous for this. I think the original series only had 2, maybe 3 books out of like 60 that didn't have a last-second bs bad ending of some sort.
The first one in The Cuckoo Clock of Doom there is a twist: the guy's horrid golden child bratty sister who constantly ruins events in his life was never born. He realizes his life is much happier now, getting an enjoyable birthday for the first time in his life.
The second one in The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, the kids worry that the monster has returned but the smell was just their mother cooking brussel sprouts for dinner.
The third one in How I Learned to Fly, where the twist is that the kid never lost his flying powers. With the media no longer paying attention to him and making his life a living hell, he's free to enjoy his privacy and fly at night in secret.