what makes a "bad" ending?

[agentorange98]

Sequel bait for a sequel that will not happen, Lord of the Rings and Pirates sequel bait is fine cause they knew they were making more but league of extraordinary gentlemen's sequel bait ending was annoying cause there wasn't gonna be a sequel even though it woulda been awesome

 

[StarCecil]

As a writer, I always look at the impact of an ending.

Is there finality to it where there should be? Or is ambiguity more appropriate? Is there a payoff? Does the viewer feel as though something solid and memorable has been accomplished?

A bad ending - a very, very bad ending - would be Dragon Age's Witch Hunt. A DLC that was supposed to answer open questions and bring conclusion to my favorite plot line in the game. It ended with a level of ambiguity that prevented any finality, and it left me feeling cheated out of the time I spent to get there. It raised more questions that it clearly did not intend to answer, and worse yet it also managed to plug Dragon Age 2.

A good ending would be Metal Gear Solid 4. Very final, with a sense of peace. You feel like everything you did throughout the entire series was worth it just to see Snake finally be able to stop warring. And the idea that he has only a year to live is suddenly not so bad, because you know everything he's done was worth it and his life is complete.

Good guys lose, bad guys win. Worst ending. Bam.

Untrue, if the twist ending is enough of a suprise, or if the sequence of events leading to that ending is fulfilling enough it can be a very valid end, its how watchmen the comic ends, you hear many people complaining about that.

And depending on your definition of good guys its also how requiem for a dream ends

One of the great things about the end to Watchmen was that you were left wondering if the "Bad guys" were all that bad. Sure millions die, but they've prevented a war that threatened to destroy planet Earth. The ending was great because there was that question there.

 

[Shadowstar38]

1) When they leave a cliffhanger and dont explain what happened in the game you just played. Resistance one tied up the story but left room open for more games. In Assassin's Creed I didnt know what my goals were in the present day stuff until 2 came along.

2) Having an anti-climactic ending. Lack of Boss fights were there should totally be a boss fight.

 

[Yopaz]

As others have stated, not resolving the story and let there be loose ends all over the place.

Alan Wake had a great ending, but it is made for a sequel that most likely wont happen.

 

[SoulSalmon]

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a nice example of an ending done extremely well.
Double points for creating tension in a game where death isn't a problem.

In my opinion one type of good ending (which requires a good story overall) is one where the resolution finally becomes clear, and you can only think "Oh my god it was SO OBVIOUS! how did I not see that?". Yet was never obvious enough for you to put 2 and 2 together until that point.
Most of the Proffesor Layton games pull off great endings as well.

Heck, for me a bad ending is when it ends exactly like you expected it to. A bad ending is when you finish a game and instead of sitting there looking at the credits/end screen going "wow..." you go "Oh, it's over :/"
A bad ending for me is also when things are scaled up to ridiculous proportions just so it seems like theres tension, "Oh no the world is now in danger" is the worst culprit.


I suppose Minecraft has a sucky ending but I still feel that it isn't the type of game that was supposed to have an ending...

 

[Shadowfiend]

The Darren Shan Saga.
Undoes the entire series. How disappointing.

 

[Vault101]

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a nice example of an ending done extremely well.
Double points for creating tension in a game where death isn't a problem.

In my opinion one type of good ending (which requires a good story overall) is one where the resolution finally becomes clear, and you can only think "Oh my god it was SO OBVIOUS!

agreed, those are the best twists...and can make the movie/game interesting to watch second time around

 

[Canadamus Prime]

what exact "things" or elements make an ending dissapointing..or just plain "bad" and mabye use an example AND maybe an example of a good ending[/B]

Pretty much the same as you.
1. Lack of resolution. I'm not just talking about cliffhangers, although I HATE those, but even they can be good if used properly. No, what I'm talking about is endings that leave behind loose dangling plot threads that never do get resolved, presumably because the writer conveniently forgot about them half way through.

2. Poorly done and/or predictable plot twists. Plot twists can be really awesome when you don't see them coming. but are just stupid when you can see them coming a half way through the story. And considering some genres use them so often, it be more shocking if the DIDN'T have one. Horror/Slasher films I'm looking at you.

3. Anticlimactic endings. Everyone knows the basic structure of a story, right? Beginning->rising action->climax->falling action etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but you get the idea. Anyway, this formula exists for a reason, because it works. Fail to deliver on any one of those aspects and your story falls apart regardless of what medium you're using.

3. Out of nowhere endings. Yeah see #1 & 3.

I can't really think of any examples. Mostly because it's 1:15 in the morning and I've got to go to bed.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I'll just go through some of my favourite bad endings, since everyone's already gone through the basic premise of a bad ending.

1. When the writer sets up a perfect downer ending and then decides to pull a happy ending out of his arse at the last second.

Future Diary, i'm looking at you...

2. Deus/Diabolous Ex Machina's in general. Unless it's Gainex of course, the finest ending trolls of this generation!

3. When the writer contadicts the laws of his own universe in order to set up tension in the ending.

Bleach, end of the Aizen arc and as far as i'm concerned the end of the entire manga (except y'know it didn't end)

This is the only example of this i have ever seen in anime, what with people doing awesome shit every two seconds most animeverse's have "loose" rules at best and "Holy shit there's a robot standing on a galaxy" at worst...

[sub]I fucking love anime[/sub]

Sorry my examples are all anime related. If anyone cares about that sort of thing (this is the Escapist after all)

 

[enzilewulf]

When the protagonist ends up dead for the better of his people. Im about to sound like a hipster but the "happily ever after endings" are wayyyyyyyy over done. Hence why Gundam seed (the first one) is one of my favorite animes of all time. One of the protagonist meet their end for the better of their people.

 

[urahara75]

*snipped*

On top that, the film confused me, I thought all the murders were in his head. Because Jared Lento was in London, then he wasn't, then he was, then I dunno, well it only took me 30 seconds to figure out that hes Batman, so hes not a murderer?

That's kinda the point of the book and the film -- neither the reader, nor Patrick Bateman, knows exactly how much of his narcissistic psychopathy is real or delusion(s) of grandeur. /Paraphrasing Marter

OT: I consider implausible, overly-contrived, and authors/writers/editors writing arbitrary character actions &/or character development (presumably out of character) for the sake of twisting endings bad endings.

(Personal) Case and point -- the anime series Kemonozume (ケモノヅ&#12513: this may be because I'm just butthurt over her arc, but Kakinoki Rie (the main character, Momota Toshihiko's, childhood friend and secondary love interest) got served a truly raw, and almost unbelievably implausible, deal. To avoid spoiling, all I'll say is that the main love interest (Kamitsuki Yuka, not important now) is a moody, "too dumb to live", confrontational civilian... and Rie is a bonafied reserved-yet-equally compassionate, disciplined, dutiful, tough-as-nails swordswoman/kunoichi... yet Rie LOSES in a final physical confrontation between the two. Just... aaarrrggghhh!!!

 

[Wintermoot]

just ending IE the Halo 3 ending you jump onto that space craft and it just ends.

 

[brunt32]

I do not like endings where one moment you're in the middle of a fight scene then all of a sudden its the end, it just doesn't feel like it ended properly and that the ending was rushed. I also don't like games that don't actually 'end' for example, I just got Homefront and completed it, I hated the ending, I feel it did not finish the game, sure the British reporter pretty much cut all loose ends, however I would of much preferred to see it from my characters POV. Another example of a film that puts my earlier point, about films ending to fast, is The Departed, I feel the point from the first 'main' characters death to the final is like 5 minutes, its like some sort of slasher killing spree.

 

[walrusaurus]

I would add to your list endings that aren't. Both of the thematic, 'and the war rages on' type endings; and the structural (heres looking at you Return of the King) in which the movie fakes out ending over and over again.

Battlestar Galactica i think is a particularly good case study on terrible endings:
its trite (seriously there gonna give up everything, just like that because Apollo thinks its a cool idea?)
insultingly convenient. (they just happen to pop out at a viable planet with conveniently compatible natives)
Pulls random plot elements never before addressed seriously from thin air. (apparently God did it)
And totally ignores massive plot elements that are unresolved (Hera, how is she possible).
Fails to provide resolution to the story (they live happily ever after *gag*, but its all going to happen again!)

 

[deus-ex-machina]

Recently - of the games I've played - I thought Dragon Age 2 had a pretty poor ending. I had grand ideas that the champion of Kirkwall and his cohorts would stick around and make things great for the place, but noooooooooo...

 

[leonhax]

not wrapping up a games/movies story properly by just cutting of
see
-white noise
-sopranos
-halo 2
-inception (BAAAHHH KIDDING)

or by trying to ensure they have a job the next week by having we are sooo gunna make a sequel
see
-transformers movie
-godzilla (funny how they never actually did though LOL)

 

[JesterRaiin]

- cliffhangers
- loose ends
- cliche
- "naaaah, we're not going to make it on time, just write -something-, anything will do"
- "...or is it ?"

 

[MetaKnight19]

...and it was all a dream. Possibly the worst cop-out ending imaginable.