# Best endings



## RangerWickett (Jan 14, 2008)

What are some of the best endings to movies, books, video games, even your own games? There are way too many stories released these days that I think could be so much better if they just changed the ending a little. I first started being really critical of endings after beating Final Fantasy VII, to the point that I actually wrote my own ending for it so I wouldn't be so dissatisfied with the game.

This thread will probably have tons of spoilers. Beware, though I'll put all of mine in sblock tags.

I've been sort of stuck on the ending of a novel I'm writing, and I'm looking for some help getting into the right mindset.

For me, in recent memory:

TV - Angel. The final season led up to such a perfect ending.
[sblock]The gang, led by a good vampire, has been going up against an evil law firm which is supposed run by a trio of ancient demons - referred to as Wolfram & Hart, attorneys at law - and the heroes have spent the whole season 'working for' the lawfirm. Wolfram & Hart have tried to corrupt them, but Angel has just been using it as a path to find out who the most powerful forces of evil in L.A. are. Over the course of the season you meet each of these prominent villains, and all of them manage to get away with horrible things.

In the final episode, each member of the group is assigned one of these villains to take out. Everyone seems to realize that they are horribly outgunned, and they're probably going to die, but that doing this is the right thing, and it's a worthy sacrifice. The episode follows them planning and then taking out the villains one by one, though some of the heroes are wounded and one dies, his sacrifice evoking a stirring change in another of the group. Angel himself is assigned to take out the liaison to Wolfram & Hart (played by none other than Adam Freakin' Baldwin!).

The liaison kicks Angel's butt, and then taunts him, saying that he is invincible because the blood of the Wolf, Ram, and Hart flow through his veins. Angel smiles and says, "Want to guess what _one_ word you shouldn't have just said to this vampire?" And then he leaps upon the guy, sucks out his blood, and defeats him.

At the end, the heroes all meet up in an alley in a rainstorm, realizing that Wolfram & Hart has called upon all their evil minions to swarm the heroes and destroy them. In the distance, coming down the street they see, vaguely hidden by the rain, dozens of monsters, including a towering behemoth and a dragon swooping through the sky, and overwhelming force they have no chance against. One of the heroes asks Angel, "What are we going to do?"

Angel replies, "Me, I kinda wanna slay the dragon. Let's get to work."

And the group walks into battle as the screen cuts to black.[/sblock]


Movies - the first Pirates of the Caribbean. I assume we've all seen this, but really, the "three part battle where the actions of two key PC groups turn the tide for the third group of NPCs and eventually defeat the villain" is classic. It worked excellently in Return of the Jedi, and in PotC it was even better.


Games - Portal. The writing is what is so perfect here. Plus after the climax, the ending credits are a perfect capstone.


Books? - I honestly can't think of one lately. At least from action or adventure novels, it's been a while since I read one with a good ending. A lot of great beginnings. Not so many great endings.


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## WayneLigon (Jan 14, 2008)

The alternate ending to Butterfly Effect.

[sblock]
In case you haven't seen the movie, our hero has the ability to travel back in time by inhabiting his own body at a younger age, the approximate time controlled through concentration on notebook entries. He tries to change things to make life better for the girl he loves, but every time his effect on the timestream means that something worse happens to someone else so he keeps trying to go back and fix things further and further back. For instance he keeps her father from abusing her but that means that he heaps all his abuse on her brother, who goes to prison; he gets out and attacks our hero, who kills him by accident and so winds up in prison for life. And that's the least of the bad things that happen.

In the original ending, he gives up and fixes it so they never fell in love in the first place. They pass each other on the street in the present and hesitate, then go about their lives. Both of them have a good life, but their love is gone.

The alternate ending is vastly more powerful. Using his dad's film of his own birth, he goes back to just before he is born and kinks his umbilical cord, killing himself. His mother is devestated, but she recovers when she adopts the girl he would have fallen in love with and her brother. They grow up to have happy, normal well-adjusted lives, as does the kid who would have been his best friend (who usually ends up in a mental hospital in the other versions of the present). Basically, it's a reverse 'It's a Wonderful Life': the only way for everyone to have a happy ending is if he is never born in the first place.

Very powerful ending and one that has stayed with me for a long time.

[/sblock]


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## horacethegrey (Jan 14, 2008)

I shall contribute to this here thread (*WARNING! SPOILERS BE AHEAD*):

*Books*
_The Lord of the Rings_ - Sure the good guys won in the end, but the world has changed, and not for the better. And some wounds can't be mended by time, leading to farewells.
Still the most bittersweet ending to a book that I've read.   

*Games*
_Jade Empire_ - The good ending. At the end of it all, the Spirit Monk (your PC) defeats his/her former master, Sun Li, in order the free the Water Dragon from it's living death in order to be reborn. Powerful conclusion that is well built up by the great narrative.

_Starcraft_ - Come on, who didn't tear up when the heroic Protoss Templar Tassadar sacrificed himself in order to destroy the Zerg Overmind?  

_Baldur's Gate: Throne of Bhaal_ - The final fate of the Children of Bhaal is decided, as your PC has the choice of either godhood or to remain mortal. Either way, it was a great ride.  

*Movies*
_Bridge on the River Kwai_ - "Madness!"  Sums it up perfectly.

_Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ - What better way to piss off an audience than to have the heroes arrested by the police?  

_Monty Python's Life of Brian_ - "Always look on the brighter side of life."  

_Raiders of the Lost Ark_ - How about that? An anticlimatic ending that works?

I'm sure I have more. Will post again if I can think of some.


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## Kahuna Burger (Jan 14, 2008)

One of my favorite movie endings is to The American President. "As it turns out, I have a rose garden." It was just the perfect wrap up.

I love the ending of Watership Down, tying back into the opening. Also The Outsiders, which ends with the PoV character starting to write the book worked for me.


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## Darth Shoju (Jan 14, 2008)

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> I first started being really critical of endings after beating Final Fantasy VII, to the point that I actually wrote my own ending for it so I wouldn't be so dissatisfied with the game.




Yeah, that one wasn't great. I enjoyed the ending to FF VIII much much more (although YMMV).



			
				RangerWickett said:
			
		

> Movies - the first Pirates of the Caribbean. I assume we've all seen this, but really, the "three part battle where the actions of two key PC groups turn the tide for the third group of NPCs and eventually defeat the villain" is classic. It worked excellently in Return of the Jedi, and in PotC it was even better.




I also enjoyed that ending, although I thought the rest of the movie was a bit of a plodding mess compared to the elegance of the first flick.


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## Darth Shoju (Jan 14, 2008)

horacethegrey said:
			
		

> _The Lord of the Rings_ - Sure the good guys won in the end, but the world has changed, and not for the better. And some wounds can't be mended by time, leading to farewells.
> Still the most bittersweet ending to a book that I've read.




It's one of my favourites too. I also like the fact that, for all his strength in resisting the ring on the trip to Orodruin, Frodo still fails in the end. 

Even thought it didn't feel like a finished book, _The Children of Hurin_ had a pretty strong ending too (don't worry about spoilers, I'm too lazy to type it up).

The ending to Clerks II was great: [sblock] Particularly the ending shot, where Dante and Randall go from being proud of buying and rebuilding the Quick Stop and RST, to stunned at the realization of what they've done to themselves.[/sblock]

_The Empire Strikes Back_ has a great ending, even if it is a cliff-hanger.

While some people aren't fans of these movies, I really like the ending to _Kill Bill, Vol. 2_.

_Pan's Labyrinth_ was awesome, if a bit of a downer. [sblock] We still debate if the all the fantasy elements were just in the girl's head or not.[/sblock]

I'll add more as they come to me.


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## Steel_Wind (Jan 14, 2008)

*Books*

The ending of _The White Rose_, the third book and end of the principle series in _The Black Company._

Yes, the whole series is resumed later and never comes close to recapturing the magic of the first three novels. But that was a helluva ending.

While a non-genre book, _Presumed Innocent_ still has probably the best ending in any book I've read.  If you have not read it and have not seen the film - this is a great read. If you saw the film - read the spoiler below.



Spoiler



It doesn't translate to film well because the visual presence of Rusty's wife in various scenes is ever-present and her character is front and centre to the viewer in a way she never is within the novel to a reader. In the novel she is described as present but rarely ever speaks, so she fades into the background of the narration.  This makes the plot twist far more effective in the novel than it is on film. 

The plot twist in the novel is written so that it is revealed in the *middle* of a paragraph which is written in a way that you are expecting that Rusty is about to confess to having committed the murder. The twist comes out of nowhere. It's brilliantly revealed.



Still the best written ending in any novel I've read.

_The Power That Preserves:_ The third book in the first Thomas Covenant series ended very strongly and tied things up nicely. It was a strong finish.

*Film *

_Saving Private Ryan_.  The movie is powerful and still leaves me with a wow feel, despite having seen it a dozen times.

_Blade Runner: _Rutger Hauer's death scene is one of the finest and most poignant pieces in SF, ever. 

_Aliens: _ "Get away from her _you bitch!"_ Not much to dislike about this movie, from start to finish.

*Computer Games
*

_The Witcher._  Best end game of any CRPG I've ever played.


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## Thanee (Jan 14, 2008)

Not best, but definitely worth a chuckle: 300

Some more that come to mind (totally random nominations):

Dave
Shattered
The Player

Bye
Thanee


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## DonTadow (Jan 14, 2008)

Final Fantasy game's have always had the best endings for me.  At least the earlier ones. 

Final Fantasy IV: The wedding between cecil and rose and having all the main characters there, even the twins who risked their lives for you.  But back before every character had a set name and a movie like feel to them, you could rename the main characters anyway you liked and that personal feeling of knowing them felt more real.  This was an awesome ending and at the time was longer than most of the ending's I'd seen in a video game.  There was all types of dialogue going on and all the characters that you grew to love over the course of the adventure were there. 

Final Fantasy X: I loved the bitter ending of Tidus dying.  I really would have preferred to not have a sequel especially one that was the equivalent of mario party. 

Final Fantasy VI: The reason i feel old everyday.  They will never make another final fantasy like this, and that's a bitter pill to swallow considering it is by far the most commonly voted best one among fans who have played the entire series.  The ending came after the most amazing 3 tier fight that envolved all 12 of the people in your party against the best villian ever Kefka.  After he is defeated we are treated to an exceptional ending as the heroes lead the repair of the world, and sadly a small cut scene of interceptor and shadow who die if you do not figure out how to save them.


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## Klaus (Jan 14, 2008)

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

[sblock] Arthas becoming the Lich King was awesome, and very heavy metal! [/sblock]


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## Dioltach (Jan 14, 2008)

In honour of the late George Macdonald Fraser, I'd like to mention _Flashman in the Great Game_.

A movie with great ending is _The Sting_.


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## Thanee (Jan 14, 2008)

Dioltach said:
			
		

> A movie with great ending is _The Sting_.




That's also a good one, yep. 

Bye
Thanee


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## Arnwyn (Jan 14, 2008)

But yeah, many of those posted here I agree with. Here is a list of some of my favorites, off the top of my head:

Books:
- Lord of the Rings
- the Foundation series

Movies/TV:
- A Scanner Darkly
- Empire Strikes Back
- Blade Runner
- Kill Bill V2
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Cowboy Bebop
- End of Evangelion

Games:
- Final Fantasy IV
- Final Fantasy VI
- Chrono Trigger

There's more, especially in movies and games, but it's getting busy at the office now...


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## cignus_pfaccari (Jan 14, 2008)

The one that I really like the best is David Gemmell's _Hero in the Shadows_:



Spoiler



A dying Waylander is sent back in time to prevent the rape and murder of his wife and child.



Brad


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## Gorok (Jan 14, 2008)

For this thread, you can't forget "The Planet of the Apes", both the original movie and for an even better "twist", the book by Pierre Boule.


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## sckeener (Jan 14, 2008)

adding off the top of my head

Movies:
Run Lola Run 



Spoiler



Who doesn't like everything working out plus an extra $100K


Ghost Dog 



Spoiler



the circle is complete or the more things change the more they stay the same



TV
Dexter 1st season 



Spoiler



morals vs morals or nature vs nurture


 I haven't watched the 2nd season (yet)
Doctor who "The Family of Blood" 



Spoiler



An ending where eternal justice is served


"I, Claudius"



Spoiler



ignore everything after Claudis becomes emperor and you'll have the ending of the first book.  The second book is 'Claudius the God and his Wife Messalina'


Deep Space 9 the entire run.
The final episode of Buffy tVS had a good ending.  Too bad the season didn't


Books
Mistborn: book 1 of the Final Empire
"I, Claudius" 



Spoiler



ignore the 2nd book called _Claudius the God and his Wife Messalina_ if you want a good ending


The Scar  by China Mieville
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville


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## Thanee (Jan 14, 2008)

Another good ending... The Departed (same as the original movie, I suppose).

Also... Life of Brian. 

Bye
Thanee


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## Klaus (Jan 14, 2008)

I'll add in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. She takes her sister's place, sacrifices herself and gets a snappy tombstone. What more can you want?


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## The Grumpy Celt (Jan 14, 2008)

Books: Dark Tower, namely what happens to Roland when he goes through the door...

TV: Since you nabbed Angel, Blake's Seven, with the best ending ever...

Comics: Preacher, actually riding off into the sunset....

Computer Games: None come to mind...


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## TwinBahamut (Jan 15, 2008)

Videogames:

I really liked Final Fantasy X's ending, especially after watching some of the hidden dialogs you see when going back to the temples and meeting the various Fayth. It is a sad ending, but at the same time it wonderfully continues the theme of the game that death is not the end, and that there is a better world waiting for those who do not run away from it.

I also rather liked the bittersweet ending of Wild Arms 4.

Also, Vagrant Story and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter both had very good endings, but I guess in these cases it might be simply because they are resolutions to extremely good stories.

Anime:

I need to give mention to G Gundam, simply because they managed to top a wonderfully over-the-top series with an _even more_ over-the-top and wildly fun final sequence, even to the point of resolving the serious and dramatic elements of the story early in order to pull out a shamelessly fun ending.

I also really like the ending to Eureka 7, simply because it ends the series in the same spirit that series had followed from the start, and ends with the final recognition that the hero has grown up and become a better person because of everything that has happened. I think it is a great series as a whole.


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## cignus_pfaccari (Jan 15, 2008)

Klaus said:
			
		

> I'll add in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. She takes her sister's place, sacrifices herself and gets a snappy tombstone. What more can you want?




See, my thought with that was "Oh, Spike's gonna take a sip of Dawn or Buffy and jump through, because, it's the blood of the Slayer, right?"

Brad


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## RangerWickett (Jan 15, 2008)

Klaus said:
			
		

> I'll add in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. She takes her sister's place, sacrifices herself and gets a snappy tombstone. What more can you want?




Hehehe.


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## Darkwolf71 (Jan 15, 2008)

Diablo.

Best kick-to-the-nuts ending ever. I'm _still_ bitter about that one.


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## Klaus (Jan 15, 2008)

cignus_pfaccari said:
			
		

> See, my thought with that was "Oh, Spike's gonna take a sip of Dawn or Buffy and jump through, because, it's the blood of the Slayer, right?"
> 
> Brad



 Yeah, but then Spike would have to be good, and we all know a monster like Spike would never be good. That'd require a soul, and the only vampire with a soul is Angel, right?

RIGHT?!


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## Klaus (Jan 15, 2008)

Darkwolf71 said:
			
		

> Diablo.
> 
> Best kick-to-the-nuts ending ever. I'm _still_ bitter about that one.



 Ooh, good one.

It seems Blizzard is very good at these endings.


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## shilsen (Jan 15, 2008)

Darkwolf71 said:
			
		

> Diablo.
> 
> Best kick-to-the-nuts ending ever. I'm _still_ bitter about that one.



 That was a damn good one.

Another one I'd put up there with it is the ending to Planescape: Torment. That rocked, as did the game.


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## BryonD (Jan 15, 2008)

Movies: Primal Fear with Richard Gere and Edward Norton


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## Klaus (Jan 15, 2008)

BryonD said:
			
		

> Movies: Primal Fear with Richard Gere and Edward Norton



 Ooh, nice one!


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## Wormwood (Jan 15, 2008)

Off-the-top-of-my-head-I-should-be-working-instead-of-doing-this-list:

1. Open Water - fun little movie, and it ended the only way possible
2. Usual Suspects - Yeah, they got me. 
3. Blair Witch Project - Scoff if you will, but that final ten seconds remains the _creepiest _ moment I've ever experienced in the theater. 
4. Blade Runner (director's cut) - I love endings which force you to draw your own conclusions
5. The Abominable Doctor Phibes - You can't get more gothic than that.
6. Carrie - Cheesy. Unnecessary. Terrifying.
7. the Matrix - Neo flying past the camera and into legend. I'm so happy they never decided to make any sequels. 
8. Conan the Barbarian - I spent 20 years waiting for Conan to place the jewelled crown of Aquilonia upon his troubled brow. Alas. 
9. The Godfather - There's nothing I can really add. Still takes my breath away. 
10. Brazil - Best. Ending. Ever.


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## Klaus (Jan 15, 2008)

Wormwood said:
			
		

> Off-the-top-of-my-head-I-should-be-working-instead-of-doing-this-list:
> 
> 1. Open Water - fun little movie, and it ended the only way possible
> 2. Usual Suspects - Yeah, they got me.
> ...



 I agree with you on 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8. Very good stuff.


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## Kahuna Burger (Jan 15, 2008)

Forgot my favorite TV ending - Little House on the Prairie. Who would have picked that show to end with explosions?


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## Alzrius (Jan 15, 2008)

I personally liked the ending to FF7, though I agree that it felt too short to be truly satisfying. It was somewhat gratifying when I learned later that there was a lot more of the story left to be told (and, in fact, that's still true).

*Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones* - The ending to this was a perfect way to end the trilogy. The Prince has learned that he can't manipulate time to undo his mistakes, and faced his own worst inner nature, and finally found peace. Together with Fara, he begins to tell her his long tale, again, for the very first time.

*The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening* - This ending still makes me cry when I watch it. As the Wind Fish explains that the nature of all dreams is to end, Link plays the Song of Awakening that he learned from Marin. As the sad Melody plays, you watch as Koholint Island, and all of its peoples, fade away into nothing. Marin, whose fondest wish was to see distance lands and sing to the people there, continues to sing her song even as she disappears. If you got the best ending, you then see Marin with seagull's wings at the end, still singing her song...

*Earthbound* (aka *Mother 2*) - The nature of the ending here caught me completely by surprise. That only your prayers could defeat the ultimate evil, Gygas, was unexpected. But the part that blew me away was how, as all the people prayed, it had you, the player, also praying for the safety of Ness and his friends. That was so well done that it really moved me. Plus, at the end, you could go back through anywhere in the world, seeing what all the people had to say. And of course, at the very end, you got a nice little note from your other enemy, Pokey (who got what he deserved in *Mother 3*; a gruesome fate, for a gruesome man).

*Final Fantasy IV* - The original ending where everyone prayed for you, and which still (with that music, which FF12 stole) moves me deeply today. This was my first RPG, so I was quite heavily invested in all of the characters as I watched them resolve their issues (though it was often bittersweet) and finally move on towards a better world, as the moon left and began to search for its own light. Man alive I can't wait for the DS remake of this game to come out in America!!!

*Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes* - Seriously, everything about this game was incredible. The themes were evocative without being heavy-handed, and the ending worked perfectly. Listening to Naomi start crying as Snake lied to her about Gray Fox's last words was incredibly moving, and hearing her talk about choosing to live for the future instead of the past as Snake and Meryl left the island was also well done. The capstone, of that beautiful Gaelic song to imagery of real Alaskan wildlife, couldn't have been more perfect.

I could go on for a while, but those are some of the best endings that jump to mind for me.


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## DonTadow (Jan 15, 2008)

cignus_pfaccari said:
			
		

> See, my thought with that was "Oh, Spike's gonna take a sip of Dawn or Buffy and jump through, because, it's the blood of the Slayer, right?"
> 
> Brad



Since we're talking buffyverse, the season finale of Angel, season 4 (home) was great.  In a decade of everything has to be a cliffhanger and everything has to end in death and everything has to finalize in big bad explosions, angel's was simple. We find out that he essentially sells his soul just so his son can have a normal life.  That's a father.  

I also liked buffy season 6 ending.  Finally Xander saves the day.  Not since the Zeppo had I been so proud of him.


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## F5 (Jan 15, 2008)

I liked the ending to The Shawshank Redemption.  The entire movie is abuse after abuse after abuse piled on the poor, hapless protagonist, but everyone gets exactly what they deserve, in the end, good and bad.


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