# What ending do you find is the most powerful ending?



## Plagues of Exodus (Jun 8, 2012)

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.


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## Endymion (Jun 8, 2012)

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.


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## Queshire (Jun 8, 2012)

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.


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## Ophiucha (Jun 8, 2012)

I love a good heroic sacrifice.


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## Endymion (Jun 8, 2012)

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.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jun 8, 2012)

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


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## Steerpike (Jun 8, 2012)

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.


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## Chilari (Jun 8, 2012)

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.


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## Fluffypoodel (Jun 8, 2012)

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


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## deilaitha (Jun 8, 2012)

Plagues of Exodus said:


> 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!


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## deilaitha (Jun 8, 2012)

LOL Yes!!!  I just bought a collection of Lovecraft and I cannot wait to set my teeth into it!  Hooray Cthulhu!

By the way I love the new cat avatar, Steerpike.


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## Tasha (Jun 8, 2012)

If done right I love "ultimate sacrifice" endings. Not read a good one in ages though. Well not one that pulled it off extremely well. I'm a sucker for a happy ending too though. All depends how the story has gone so far.


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## Penpilot (Jun 8, 2012)

The most powerful ending can be all of those. It all depends on what's truly right for your story, and how all the elements pull together. I'd suggest looking all the ground work you've laid and think up a bunch of endings, all variations on the ones you mentioned, and search really hard to find the one that speaks most true to you. As someone much smarter than me said, the ending should be inevitable but surprising.


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## Caged Maiden (Jun 8, 2012)

Of the books I've finished writing, all have happy endings.  After reading this thread I'm left wondering whether the books I don't have happy endings for just don't fit the "happy ending" profile.  Maybe that's what's wrong with them... they need a more tragic ending.

Thanks for giving me some things to think about.


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## soulless (Jun 8, 2012)

What about an unintentional sacrifice? ie. the gallant hero strikes down the big bad, then is himself maybe killed with the villain's last act


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## Erica (Jun 8, 2012)

There is no doubt that an ending where the protagonist sacrificed him or herself can be quite powerful. And of course "Fairytale" happy endings are not realistic, because every life has obstacles to overcome, and achieving one goal or resolving one conflict simply means that you are now free to move on to new ones. That's why sequels are so popular, after all. 

But which ending works best it really depends on the story. In general, if I have grown attached to a character, I want him or her to live and for there to be a sense of people in the tale getting what they deserve ... which might be a happy ending (though, again, that doesn't mean that his or her life will be perfect from here on out). There is so much sadness, bitterness and people not getting what they deserve in real life, that I'll admit that when I read, I like to see people who do the right thing making their world a better place in some way and being rewarded for that ... at least some of the time.

I tend to like endings that find that middle ground between my expectations and surprise. Total twist or trick endings usually feel contrived, and I'll admit that I like the clever feeling I get when I guessed something correctly. But if it's too predictable, then that's not much fun either.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jun 8, 2012)

The protagonists emerge victorious, but at a serious cost. Doesn't have to be the death of the main protagonist; they just need to lose something important.


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## ThinkerX (Jun 9, 2012)

> LOL Yes!!! I just bought a collection of Lovecraft and I cannot wait to set my teeth into it! Hooray Cthulhu!



Keep the light on while reading that stuff.


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## Helen (Jun 9, 2012)

I quite liked the ending of "Prometheus" where the heroine engineers two antagonists to fight it out and then leaves to solve a deeper mystery.


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## ElliotWyndwryght (Jun 9, 2012)

Personally I really don't like the books with the 'ultimate sacrifice' at the end (unless they end up living like in Harry Potter). You typically want your reader to like your protagonist. So killing them at the end is like giving someone a pet, waiting until they fall in love with it, and then killing it. Cruel, really cruel. 

We don't write fantasy books to make them as life like as possible. This is just my opinion, but when I'm looking for a book I'm looking for a way to escape 'real life' to somewhere happy endings exist and where things work out. From where I stand I don't see the point of a book which follows the protagonist's every step in their quest or struggle against the antagonist just to have the protagonist fail. 

That said I'm always the first to boo corny or sappy endings. Endings where the hero tragically and heroically dies can be just as corny as an ending where everyone apologizes and goes home happy.  

There's my take on it.


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## Varamyrr (Jun 20, 2012)

I'm not really fond of happy endigs or where the bad guy "redeems" himself. Either you are better off with total annihilation, or with an ending you need to think about(cfr Inception).

I'm thinking about the idea of concluding with a last battle, which in fact is just a lost cause BUT it gives the inhabitants a chance to sail away to an unknown destination.. . That way you can give some people a heroic death, evil conquers and yet a small chance of survival.


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## kennyc (Jun 20, 2012)

Plagues of Exodus said:


> 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.



It depends. 

The main thing is that the ending fit the story. It can't be deus ex machina and must fit the characters/story/plot.


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## SeverinR (Jun 20, 2012)

There is no magic ending that works for every story.

Each story should have the ending it needs, not a fairy tale ending, not a ride off into the sunset, 
The story builds up to the ending.

Traditional endings, happy endings should not be a given. Failure must be an option, death might happen, life is unpredictable, stories should be too.


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## Lorna (Jun 20, 2012)

To me the best endings are those with such a  deep emotional impact you're trying to work out your repsonse for days. 
As already mentioned above, they should raise questions- about the nature of the world and humanity etc. 
A good ending should shift perception and inspire, make readers see the world anew. 

The ending that has stood out most recently for me is the book ending to 'I am Legend.' All the protagonist's struggles for survival to find other humans and in finding out about the truth about a virus do not save him. You vouch for him all the way, hope and then he is captured and commits suicide, the last human in a world of zombies becoming legend. It isn't even a sacrifice because it is had no meaning. It struck me cold and I thought about it for days. 

Also, endings should bring about a revelation. For example David Lindsay's 'Voyage to Arcturus.' 'The truth forced itself on him in all it's cold, brutal reality... Muspel was fighting for its life... The moral combat was no mock one, no Valhalla, where warriors are cut to pieces by day and feast by night; but a grim death-struggle in which what is worth than death - namely spiritual death - inevitably awaited the vanquished of Muspel.'


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## ProfessorBrainfever (Jun 20, 2012)

My favorite ending is the 'mixed' ending, where the heroes have a victory but at great cost.


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## Bear (Jun 20, 2012)

I like an unhappy ending most of the time. If I stray to a goodish ending then the character must go through a bit of sacrifice. The more you have to think about the ending the better IMHO.


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