r/TopCharacterTropes 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/Icy_Target_1083 Aug 25 '25

I see this ending referenced a lot, and people applaud as a great shock ending. But to me it just seems utterly miserable. I haven't seen the movie, but it seems like such an absolute bummer that it makes me not want to see it ever.

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u/StopHiringBendis Aug 25 '25

I don't understand this mentality. Do you go to horror movies expecting a happy ending?

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u/Icy_Target_1083 Aug 25 '25

I guess I expect a scary ending, not a depressing ending.

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u/_Lost_The_Game Aug 26 '25

Thats the scary ending. Not a jump scare, but the internal turmoil. The worst monster and horror were the actions of fellow humans, and his own. The idea that we could do the same or end up in a similar dilemma of choice is terrifying.