What ending do you find is the most powerful ending?

[Plagues of Exodus]

Ok which ending do you find is the most powerful? The protagonist making the ultimate sacrifice? The antagonist turns his back on evil and saves the world? Or the classic happy ending, when everyone lives happily ever after?

(If I missed anything, feel free to mention it.) Thanks for the input, I'm working on a story but I can't decide how to end it.

[Endymion]

I would go with the ultimate sacrifice, although it is extremely cliched.
I like the dark ending where almost every character dies because of someones betrayal.

[Queshire]

I prefer having to earn your happy ending. There's nothing more inspirational then someone in a bad situation who, through hard work and pure pig headed stubborness, manages to achieve their goal.

[Ophiucha]

I love a good heroic sacrifice.

[Endymion]

Yeah, it gives the reader a certain satisfaction when his hero has achieved his goals but in the real world, you can do everything right, be stubborn and all that good stuff and still fail. I like reading books where the hero saves the day, but its the stories that end on a dramatic note that I will never forget.

[Androxine Vortex]

Unless it is written very very well, I typically don't like the endings were the bad guy becomes good. IMO those endings are usually corny. I would say that when the antagonist makes a profound sacrifice it adds great depth as to the severity of achieving his endgoal

EDIT: I don't like it when villains can be swayed. I prefer the ones that stand by what they believe they are doing no matter what

[Steerpike]

I feel strongly that, no matter the subject matter of the novel, at the end Cthulhu should arise from his watery prison and destroy everything.

[Chilari]

The most powerful ending, I'd say, is the one that makes the reader/viewer/player think. It doesn't have to be happy or tragic, it just has to leave the audience with big questions whizzing around in their head. Fight Club did that. Skyrim's civil war storyline certainly did that for me.

I also think tragic endings can be very powerful indeed if done right - and I mean proper ancient Greek tragedy whereby the protagonist is the architect of his own destruction.

But if what you really want is satisfying endings, I'd say the heroic sacrifice is better than the antagonist doing an about turn. I guess it all depends on how it's written as far as the classical happy ending goes - if it's hard won yet believable, with hope for the future, I'd call that satisfying. I don't like the "look, we've won and now we have a picket fenced-cottage and the romantic interest is pregnant and everything is golden" endings, because they don't feel believable. Much better is the "look we've won, but let's not forget those who fell and let's get started rebuilding what was lost" ending.

[Fluffypoodel]

For me the most powerful ending is the one that you do not see coming. If an author can get me to believe something, lets say that the MC is going to make that ultimate sacrifice, and instead has the MC do something completely out of character. For an example, if you had a religious character who has backed the church for his entire life, has never spoken out about it but may have secretly had doubts and in the end is faced between his beliefs (His duty) and his feelings then which will he choose? providing just enough evidence for both keeps the reader in limbo. It is that kind of ambiguity that keeps readers hooked on your story. I think that too many stories have become predictable these days. My advice is to do what the reader does not expect. more people will appreciate it

[deilaitha]

Or the classic happy ending, when everyone lives happily ever after?

Personally, I really do not enjoy the "happy ending." Even in fairy tales, the "happily ever after" isn't necessarily so. I just re-read Grimms' original "The Frog King" where they all live happily ever after--supposedly. But it's a forced marriage and you never see the woman's perspective after the frog turns into a prince.

Furthermore, the "happily ever after" idea leaves nothing to the imagination. In my opinion (and my opinion and one dollar will get you a McDouble from McDs) a great book ends but the story doesn't. A good ending needs enough resolution to satisfy the reader, but should be open ended enough that you know the story doesn't stop when you close the book.
LOTR's "Well, I'm back" ending is great--just enough happy but with a touch of reality, playing off of Frodo's earlier comments that the great tales never end.

I disliked Rowling's end in Harry Potter, because it was too cliche.

I enjoyed Collins' ending to Hunger Games--we know that Katniss is living a happy life but there is a nod to PTSD, and we know from this that she will never truly be free from her past. There is more to her story, but the book just happens to end.

Those are a few examples from some popular books.

As to which ending is the most powerful? I think that it is important to follow the classic story structure with a good denoument after the climax--make sure that everything is resolved. To me, the ultimate sacrifice or antagonist saving the world is the climax, not the ending.

If the antagonist defects and saves everyone, I like the idea that he still must pay for his crimes...and having the story conclude with protagonist reluctantly carrying out justice.

But like I said, if you take my opinion and a dollar...you have exactly one dollar. Good luck with your writing!