What is the best "bad" ending you've seen/read? [Spoilers abound]
- Thread starter Starman
- Start date
Blakes 7 - Complete and utter disaster. Their leader is dead, their ship is destroyed all the characters are killed. Not to mention that it was the only series where not only did the good guys win all the time, but in fact they lost most of the time.
The end of the original Hawkmoon books - It's the big fight scene at the end of the series and what you get is "This is how ________ Died" and he goes on to explain over about a page how all of his friends and comrades die.
The Elric Series - His world has literally been destroyed. He's had pretty much all of his friends die, usually at the point of his evil soul sucking sword. It's just him and his one friend, his longest companion and once again the sword kills his friend and he has to experience Moonglum's death. Leaving him alone and he completes his last task to end the war between Law and Chaos. No sooner than he has done so, then the sword finally kills him.
Resident Evil - After managing to survive the T-Virus created horrors of the Hive and a murderous sentient computer, she and the one other survivor are captured by Umbrella and dragged away for medical experiments. She awakes in an abandoned hospital and drags her self out of the building to discover the T-Virus has been unleashed on the city and she's standing in the middle of an apocalyps as the camera pulls out to reveal a devestated city burning and littered with wrecked vehicles.
The end of the original Hawkmoon books - It's the big fight scene at the end of the series and what you get is "This is how ________ Died" and he goes on to explain over about a page how all of his friends and comrades die.
The Elric Series - His world has literally been destroyed. He's had pretty much all of his friends die, usually at the point of his evil soul sucking sword. It's just him and his one friend, his longest companion and once again the sword kills his friend and he has to experience Moonglum's death. Leaving him alone and he completes his last task to end the war between Law and Chaos. No sooner than he has done so, then the sword finally kills him.
Resident Evil - After managing to survive the T-Virus created horrors of the Hive and a murderous sentient computer, she and the one other survivor are captured by Umbrella and dragged away for medical experiments. She awakes in an abandoned hospital and drags her self out of the building to discover the T-Virus has been unleashed on the city and she's standing in the middle of an apocalyps as the camera pulls out to reveal a devestated city burning and littered with wrecked vehicles.
The Forsaken One
Explorer
Yup Warcraft and Starcraft have like the greatest endings ever imho 
Allthough the Warcraft plot is kinda a mirror from the SCBW one....
In the games line I'd like to mension the First Person Shooter of First Person Shooters:
Half Life
Which ends badly anyway, or you die from being thrown into dozens of ultra 1337 demons or you forsake all your principals and morals and agree to work with the person who doomed the world to alien invasion with no regard to the consequences.
As for movies, the usual suspects has the best good bad ending imho, that movie is the best movie I've ever seen, hands down.
Allthough the Warcraft plot is kinda a mirror from the SCBW one....In the games line I'd like to mension the First Person Shooter of First Person Shooters:
Half Life
Which ends badly anyway, or you die from being thrown into dozens of ultra 1337 demons or you forsake all your principals and morals and agree to work with the person who doomed the world to alien invasion with no regard to the consequences.
As for movies, the usual suspects has the best good bad ending imho, that movie is the best movie I've ever seen, hands down.
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Krieg
First Post
Since CRPG have entered the fray I'm going to have to mention Diablo. You battle your way to the depths of hell, finally defeat the demon....only to watch the ending movie show your character tear the horn from Diablo's head & shove it onto his own, transforming into the demon & heading off to renew his evil reign.
I was just a tad peeved after watching that to say the least.
I was just a tad peeved after watching that to say the least.
Kesh
First Post
See, the problem is, most of these "twist-endings" to movies are ones that I figured out half an hour before the twist. 
Still...
12 Monkeys - Oh yeah. This one fits the bill nicely.
Se7en - This one had be wondering until the last minute. I figured it out about a minute before Brad Pitt's character did... but I was shocked and satisfied with his response. It just made sense, and went against the grain for a normal protagonist in most movies.
Event Horizon - Yeah, the movie itself was mediocre. However, having the captain willingly sacrifice himself so the others could escape was the saving grace for the film. And the actual closing scenes were creepy as hell, emphasizing the trauma that a event like that can cause a person.
Blair Witch Project - ... okay, I saw this as a rental. And couldn't sleep for hours afterwards. I didn't see that ending coming at all, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was the perfect way to end that film.
Night of the Living Dead - The ending was just a kick in the gut. After all that struggling to survive, only to die by a mistake... excellent "bad" ending.
Finally, one I've not seen listed yet:
An American Werewolf in London - We all knew what had to happen. He knew what had to happen. That didn't make it any less tragic.
Still...12 Monkeys - Oh yeah. This one fits the bill nicely.
Se7en - This one had be wondering until the last minute. I figured it out about a minute before Brad Pitt's character did... but I was shocked and satisfied with his response. It just made sense, and went against the grain for a normal protagonist in most movies.
Event Horizon - Yeah, the movie itself was mediocre. However, having the captain willingly sacrifice himself so the others could escape was the saving grace for the film. And the actual closing scenes were creepy as hell, emphasizing the trauma that a event like that can cause a person.
Blair Witch Project - ... okay, I saw this as a rental. And couldn't sleep for hours afterwards. I didn't see that ending coming at all, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was the perfect way to end that film.
Night of the Living Dead - The ending was just a kick in the gut. After all that struggling to survive, only to die by a mistake... excellent "bad" ending.
Finally, one I've not seen listed yet:
An American Werewolf in London - We all knew what had to happen. He knew what had to happen. That didn't make it any less tragic.
Particle_Man
Explorer
The hero dies betrayed in "They Live", but he does expose the bad guys. Does that count?
Oh, and Deadlands games and Call of Cthulhu games don't seem destined for happy endings. But the games are sooooo gooooood.
Oh, and Deadlands games and Call of Cthulhu games don't seem destined for happy endings. But the games are sooooo gooooood.
Particle_Man
Explorer
Oh, and for classics: Amazing Stories and Twillight Zone (old and new) TV shows frequently had ironic "Bad endings" for the protagonists (sometimes nice guys, sometimes not), and sometimes were very, very good.
Wolf72
Explorer
it took me a page and a half of posts to realize you meant 'bad' endings ... as those that the good guys got b-slapped!
I was reading and reading and just thinking ... are they crazy? those were awesome endings!
I'm with ya guys!
MOO2 had some good 'bad' endings ... I was the cat race, kicking but all over the galaxy ... refuted some galactic vote 2 or 3 times ... then the brainy guys (psilons) arrived at my homeworld with 99 of those big 'ol deathstars. I was threatened with submit or die ... I submitted.
I was reading and reading and just thinking ... are they crazy? those were awesome endings!
I'm with ya guys!
MOO2 had some good 'bad' endings ... I was the cat race, kicking but all over the galaxy ... refuted some galactic vote 2 or 3 times ... then the brainy guys (psilons) arrived at my homeworld with 99 of those big 'ol deathstars. I was threatened with submit or die ... I submitted.
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