What is the best "bad" ending you've seen/read? [Spoilers abound]

[nimisgod]

It's been mentioned, but I'll second the ending of Cowboy Bebop. For me, that's the best. ending. evar.

 

[Sugarmouse]

There are actually three endings to the Butterfly effect. Each session at a cinema would screen a different ending. The Director's Cut lets you look at all three screened endings - the feel-good ending, the ehhh ending, and the 'cripes it all makes sense' ending.

 

[Arnwyn]

I would like to see more games that could potentially end badly, but I think most players would throw their controller/keyboard through their TV/moniter.

Halo 2 had that effect.

 

[ssampier]

I forgot to mention

Arlington Road

I know lots of people hate this movie, but I enjoyed it--

Spoiler

the fact the terrorism professor was wrongly accused of terrorism is just icing on the cake

 

[mhacdebhandia]

L.A. Confidential. Not the film, but the novel. The film ends with a shootout that leaves Bud White (Russell Crowe) partially paralysed and Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) grudgingly promoted as a hero by the police department after shooting the crooked cop, Dudley Smith.

The novel ends with

Spoiler

Bud paralysed, okay. Ed a hero, okay. But Dudley Smith is still alive and untouchable. Ed's strict moral and ethical code is almost completely compromised - he's driven by a thirst for revenge against Smith, not by his sense of justice. His father, Preston Exley, and Ed's lover - the rape victim, Inez Soto - commit suicide. Jack Vincennes dies senselessly, attempting to prevent a breakout from a prison transport train, and is a ruined, broken alcoholic. Et cetera.

It may disturb some to know that Ellroy is my favourite modern author, exactly because his books are so unrelenting.

 

[Falkus]

I liked the ending of Ground Control 2

Spoiler

Where the last shuttle off the planet was destroyed, and Captain Angelus forced his girlfriend to take a dropship up to the battleship to activate the singularity drive and evacuate the population of the North Star Alliance out of galaxy, while staying behind with rest of the NSA military to fight a hopeless battle against the Terran Empire.

 

[Ferret]

Just wanted to add: Sphere, that ending sucked.