text:
The BigBad to end all Big Bads has been brought to a crushing end at the hands of TheHero, his RagtagBunchOfMisfits and his trademark {{BFS}}. The NegativeSpaceWedgie that was threatening all of creation has been un-wedgied, the SealedEvilInACan has been safely disposed of, all the plot threads that were left hanging have been wrapped up nice and neat and everybody lives HappilyEverAfter.
'''And then the sequel happens.'''
It's inevitable: you can't have a story without conflict and chaos, and therefore you can't have a sequel set in a world that we last saw happy and peaceful without dropping a [[Anime/{{Voltron}} new horrible menace]] in the thick of things and letting him/her/it run amok. This, however, is taking things far beyond simple StatusQuoIsGod. We leave an idyllic paradise and come back to a CrapsackWorld: [[CataclysmBackstory the Golden Age has rusted over,]] [[BlackAndGrayMorality chivalry has been stabbed in the back,]] [[TheGoodKingdom the peaceful kingdom]] has transformed into [[TheEmpire an evil empire]] and everything that our protagonists fought so hard to save has been pillaged and murdered by time and writers. [[ShootTheShaggyDog The shaggy dog was shot]] while we weren't looking. The world is not only substantially worse off than it was when we last saw it, much of the time it's worse off than it was ''when the story began.'' Particularly egregious ones feel forced and like a cop-out and have dramatic things that make no sense and at times were already supposedly addressed in the past, have a negative impact just for the sake of being dramatic. Better examples will have new problems that feel at least somewhat natural appear in the horizon. The best and most well-done cases have minor plot-points that people once ignored suddenly turn out to be much more important, that often also leave viewers wondering how much of it did the writers plan in advance.
This is the part where our heroes (assuming they're not [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome dead]], incapacitated or [[FaceHeelTurn turned evil]]) fall to their knees and deliver their best [[VideoGame/MegaManX4 Zero]] impression: "What were we fighting for?"
FullCircleRevolution and CartwrightCurse are typical means to this effect. Likely to result in FanonDiscontinuity, if not CanonDiscontinuity. The worst-case scenario is [[FranchiseKiller the death of the franchise]].
For inversions, see BelatedHappyEnding. Contrast WasItReallyWorthIt, where the characters are made to feel the cost (usually personal) of their victory before the story ends, but the good which results is usually lasting. Compare DoomedByCanon, where the "sequel" story undoing the happy ending was written first.
Not to be confused with YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle, where not only is the ending unhappy, but it isn't actually an ending at all. Or TastesLikeDiabetes, which is more like Happy Ending Over''load''.
[[noreallife]] %% No real-life examples, please.
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Defied in ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam The Steel Seven''. Kincade (aka Seabook) retired from war after the original manga, and he and Cecily settled down in peace. When another threat to Earth is revealed, Tobia initially considers going to him to get his help as a pilot... but decides against it seeing how happy Seabook is, and Tobia can't bring himself to interrupt that.
* ''Anime/EurekaSevenAO'', shows that Eureka and Renton's child is abandoned in another dimension. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that [[HalfHumanHybrid Corralian/Human babies]] can't survive in their home dimension because of high levels of Trapar.]]
* ''Anime/GallForce'' Earth Chapter ends with the heroes stopping [[RobotWar GORN]], the world saved and mankind, while in for a long time to rebuild, has a bright future ahead. Gall Force New Era revealed GORN survived in data form, managed to infect the entire network of All of Mankind's territory, and proceeded kill off the entire human race, save for six women who managed to get lead to safety and launched into space.
* A very...odd example in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. [[spoiler:Kyubey has turned Homura into a witch and trapped the others in her labyrinth, so that he can try to undo Madoka's wish. He fails, only for someone else to undo Madoka's wish: [[FaceHeelTurn HOMURA,]] who absorbs/suppresses Madoka's goddess powers and becomes [[SatanicArchetype Lucifer]], [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erases the other girls' memories,]] and proceeds to remake reality in her own image. To be fair, the ending she puts in place has all five girls [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg (and newcomer Nagisa)]] [[EveryoneLives alive,]] with only her and Kyubey really getting the short end of the stick: Homura because she feels unworthy of Madoka's friendship after betraying her, and [[LaserGuidedKarma Kyubey due to being stuffed with all of the curses he had laid on Magical Girls throughout history.]] So basically, she overrode a happy ending to put a HAPPIER ending in place:]] it's very contentious among fans, as [[BrokenBase some see the new ending as happier, others less so.]]
** The Concept Movie's promise of a sequel to the film's events promise another one of these is in store.
* ''Anime/QueensBlade'' sees this happen in the Rebellion series, where [[spoiler: the victorious Leina hands the mantle of Queen to her sister, Claudette, who goes on to make many reforms as Leina happily retires. The key sticking point is that [[BigBad the Swamp Witch]] is still free at the end of the first series, and she continues to expand her poisoned domain, starts cursing all of the old heroines to put them out of commission entirely or limit their fighting ability, and corrupts Claudette into a WellIntentionedExtremist KnightTemplar who rules with an iron fist, making the "Rebellion" necessary.]]
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Part of the reason the titular hero became TheAtoner was that he could no longer ignore the fact that he was killing people regardless of how good the motives were. [[spoiler: Being indirectly responsible for the death of the woman he loved was the metaphorical last straw.]] Each major fight afterward, Kenshin speechifies about what he was fighting for, and it takes a HeroicBSOD for him to realize that he can only fight for his own personal peace of mind. The ''Seisouhen'' OVA goes on to erase all of that CharacterDevelopment and have Kenshin still so wracked by guilt that he [[spoiler: ''abandons his family'' to go WalkingTheEarth again]]; it's not until the very end that he [[spoiler: returns, only to die in Kaoru's arms, and she dies moments later because he's infected her too]]. Mind you, [[spoiler: Yahiko has taken up Kenshin's mantle, and his son Kenji eventually comes around to the same point of view]], but there's a reason most fans and Creator/NobuhiroWatsuki himself, who didn't write it, [[DisownedAdaptation deny Seisouhen's existence]].
* ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' ends up being this, despite its anti-war message being one of the best-executed in all of ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}''. [[spoiler:Because the Black History consists of all previous Gundam series up to that point, almost every single Gundam work is doomed to end in conflict and destruction of the world over the course of millennia. For one Gundam work to exist, the previous must have ended in failure for the protagonists. Ironically, one could argue that ''Turn A'' (and the works made between this and ''Recomquista in G'') itself succumbs to this as it must end in setting up the Reguild Century.]]
* ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'': At the end of the second movie, Shinji succeeds in rescuing Rei from an Angel that had devoured her, inadvertently starting [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Third Impact]] in the process, not that he's concerned. [[spoiler:TheStinger, however, has Kaworu stop Third Impact, and by the time the third movie begins, nearly all of humanity is shown to have perished when Shinji nearly started Third Impact, and everyone Shinji knew and loved (except Kaworu) is either dead or flat-out hate him, some (like Asuka and Misato) rather irrationally. The Rei that he meets in this movie, to make things worse, is a clone: the Rei he thought he rescued is gone.]]
* Both the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga and [[Anime/YuGiOh anime]] ended with a conclusively happy ending, but six months later in ''Anime/YuGiOhTheDarkSideOfDimensions'', trouble is afoot again (in the manga continuity). Seto Kaiba refuses to let go of the Pharaoh and causes most of the movie's plot by his obsessive desire to duel him again, while he, Yugi, and his friends are menaced by Aigami, who's determined to kill Kaiba and Yugi if needed to stop the Puzzle from being completed.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' had a definite ending in which the eponymous hero, [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer after living many years as a lonely outcast]], [[EarnYourHappyEnding gained acceptance and recognition from his village]], [[ToBeAMaster achieved his lifelong dream]], [[MessianicArchetype managed to bring peace to the ninja world]], [[ThePowerOfFriendship redeemed his best friend]], [[HappilyMarried found love]] [[BabiesEverAfter and fathered two children]]. The sequel manga, ''[[Manga/{{Boruto}} Boruto: Naruto Next Generation]]'' kicks off by showing [[spoiler:[[DoomedHometown the Village of Konoha destroyed]] and a now more grown-up Naruto's son, Boruto Uzumaki, fighting a powerful enemy who is implied to have ''[[HeroKiller killed his father]]'']].
* While ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' doesn't do this as a whole to ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' (what with it being a {{midquel}} that takes place before the last three episodes of that series), it does do this to Future Trunks' story. The last time he was seen in the original series, thanks to training in the Z Warriors' timeline he'd managed to become strong enough to take down the Artificial Humans of his world (as well as Imperfect Cell), as well as rebuild all the damage they caused. In ''Super'', new villain Goku Black [[spoiler:(a.k.a. Zamasu)]] decimates his world ''even more so'' than the Artificial Humans did, murders his mother right in front of his eyes, and forces Future Trunks to flee back to the main timeline. Even worse, [[spoiler:after Zamasu's defeat, he attempts to become reality itself, prompting the Omni-King to completely destroy Future Trunks' timeline (though Trunks and his family manage to escape), [[ShootTheShaggyDog rendering the struggles of its inhabitants between both apocalypses null and void]]]].
** By extension, this also happened to the Future Trunks from Cell's timeline. After saving Goku's life and helping them deactivate the androids, he traveled back to his time to do the same. With the world saved, he decided to make one last trip to the past to celebrate with his friends. However, [[DownerEnding Cell got to him first]].
* In ''Anime/FinalFantasyLegendOfTheCrystals'', though Exdeath is defeated, Mid dies shortly after. Due to taking place centuries later, the heroes have all died by now. And there is a new Big Bad, Deathgyunos.
* ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'': the Ooarai High School is shutting down, but it will remain open if its tankery team manages to win the national tournament. After many trials and hardships, the tournament is won. ''Girls Und Panzer Der Film'' opens with an announcement that the school's closing down anyway, as apparently the administration's promise to keep the school open was hollow. [[spoiler:Anzu manages to negotiate a promise to have the school remain open if the tankery team wins a match against a University-level team... and this time she gets the agreement in writing so they can't back out of it.]]
* The ending to ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'' shows Naegi and friends [[spoiler:deleting AI Enoshima and reverting the surviving Remnants of Despair back to their old selves]]. The worst Naegi thinks will happen is filing a bunch of paperwork, right? '''''WRONG'''''. ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' begins one day later, when he's court-martialed by the leaders of the [[LaResistance Future Foundation]] for harboring war criminals. Then [[BackFromTheDead Monokuma returns]] and forces everyone into another DeadlyGame, [[TenLittleMurderVictims revealing a traitor amongst them will be doing the killing]]. [[spoiler:And ''Side:Future'' Episode 6 reveals that the former Remnants are about to be attacked by Future Foundation peacekeeping forces.]]
* Perhaps better called a BittersweetEnding Override, but ''Anime/CodeGeass'' will be approaching this with its unexpected third season.
* Season 2 of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' slowly falls for the protagonists. Season 1 ended in a positive tone where no one in Tekkadan and their allies, the Turbines (except Biscuit) were killed off. Initially, Season 1 was supposed to have darker storylines such as higher casualties and the public distrusting Tekkadan but the director wanted a lighter and happier tone. As a result, Season 2 picks up these remaining storylines where Tekkadan started losing their friends and were vilified in public by Gjallarhorn's black propaganda. In the end, Tekkadan lost their leader and their Gundam pilots including Mikazuki and Rustal successfully reforms Gjallarhorn without receiving any punishment for his atrocities.
* LightNovel/SukaSuka has a very bittersweet ending [[spoiler:that takes place after a ten year time skip, with it being implied that everyone lived happily ever after during those ten years. Then the sequel, which takes place five years into the time skip, came out and revealed just how horrible things really were. Two days after the main conflict of SukaSuka was seemingly resolved, Regul Aire was once again attacked by the 17 Beasts. Although the Warehouse inevitably managed to survive this, its not clear if all of its members could say the same.]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' graphic novels quickly establish that saving the world involves more than just beating the Fire Lord, with a lot of messes and problems to deal with in the aftermath of a large-scale global war. This includes everything from how to deal with the various colonies, handling any groups within the Fire Nation that are still loyal to the previous Fire Lord, and preventing new wars from breaking out. Not even the character's personal relationships are safe, with [[spoiler: Mai and Zuko breaking up]] almost immediately, despite their heartwarming reunion in the show's finale.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' graphic novels continue this trend, though it's somewhat downplayed by show's finale making it clear that Korra and [[spoiler:Asami]] going on a date in the Spirit World is simply a short vacation before devoting themselves to rebuilding Republic City. When they return, they immediately have to deal with a refugee crisis and [[spoiler: a new BigBad swiftly going from a BadassNormal gangster to HumanoidAbomination that can command spirits like [[EvilUncle Unalaq]] all over again]].
* ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse''. Inverted then played straight. The original event ended with most of the characters dead or about to be destroyed by a nuclear strike against the US, having sacrificed their own reality in the hope of restoring the main Marvel universe. Then a sequel came out in which people pick up the rubble and try to rebuild the world and their lives. Later in 2012, ''[[ComicBook/XForce Uncanny X-Force]]'' had an arc in which they went to visit that same world and it was more horrifying than ever, with Apocalypse being replaced by something far worse and most of the dimension's X-Men being killed.
* The final issue of Creator/WarrenEllis' run on ''[[ComicBook/Marvel2099 Doom 2099]]'' saw Doom about to realize his goal of creating a utopia by releasing thought-controlled {{Nanomachines}} that would give people whatever they wanted for free. The first three words in the next issue are "it didn't work".
* Creator/{{Christopher Priest}}'s ''Comicbook/BlackPanther'' run ended with Kasper Cole becoming the new Comicbook/WhiteTiger and choosing to stay with Gwen so they could raise their baby together. When Kasper appeared in ''World of Wakanda'' years later, it was revealed that Gwen had dumped him and taken the baby with her. Worse still, work commitments and financial difficulties had basically killed his career as White Tiger before it ever really took off.
* ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' ended with a BittersweetEnding for Superboy Prime, who after his Earth was destroyed was sent with other beings to an interdimensional heaven where he could spend the rest of his days. Come ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', he came back, made a FaceHeelTurn, and has since become one of the DC Universe's most infamous {{Villain Sue}}s.
* The ''Toxin'' mini-series ended with Patrick Mulligan finally coming to terms with being a symbiote-wearing superhero, coming back to his wife after [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies leaving her behind to protect her for the entire series]] and telling her the truth about him. Then the writers had Patrick killed offscreen by Blackheart so they could give his symbiote to [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Eddie Brock]] and make a new opponent for Flash Thompson as Agent Venom.
* The original ''ComicBook/HackSlash'' series ended with protagonist Cassie Hack moving on with her life, putting an end to her SerialKillerKiller activities and getting together with her LoveInterest Georgia to build a new life as a "normal" person. Comes the sequel ''Son of Samhain'', she ends up breaking up with Georgia because "normal" life just wasn't interesting enough for her, and gets back to hunting monsters.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Grendel}}'' "War Child" arc ended with Jupiter Assante becoming Khan and seemingly likely to rule relatively justly, even if authoritarianly and in a world with a MightMakesRight attitude. The next work in the sequence, the prose novel ''Past Prime'', reveals that Jupiter was murdered by his own wife on his wedding night and that his empire has collapsed into a feudal quasi-anarchy plagued by self-servingly violent Grendel clans and wandering psychos.
* ''ComicBook/{{Fray}}'' overrides the ending of the seventh season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', which saw the [[TheChosenMany mass empowerment of Slayers]] across the world; by Mel's time, it's back to one per generation.
* ''The Fly: Outbreak'': While ''Film/TheFlyII'' ended on a relatively upbeat tone with Martin restoring his human body and inflicting a karmic punishment upon the CorruptCorporateExecutive who has controlled him all his life, the comicbook sequel throws a wrench into this with the reveal that Martin's genes are still not stable and more people get infected and turned into Fly-hybrids because of him.
* At the end of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', Adrian "Ozymandias" Veidt successfully saves the world from the brink of WorldWarIII via an elaborate alien invasion hoax, and the protagonists agree that no one must never know the truth. But Rorschach is a pre-emptive SpannerInTheWorks, as he had already sent evidence of Veidt's plan to a newspaper he trusts, and it was only a matter of time before the truth became public knowledge. Sure enough, by the time ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' begins, Veidt had been exposed, and everything is back to square one.
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* "Fanfic/FlaihhsamSSpahkh" has a throwaway mention that Ael t'Rllaillieu from the ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}'' novels was assassinated at some point after becoming [[spoiler:Empress of the Romulan Star Empire]] in the last book, which probably explains why her friendship with Kirk and the ''Enterprise'' crew hadn't led to a long-term thaw in relations with the Federation by ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.
* The end of ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'' had [[spoiler: Harry obliviating Voldemort of all his memories, hoping to raise him again in love and warmth one day.]] Yet in its [[RecursiveFanfiction fan sequel]] ''Significant Digits'', [[spoiler: Voldemort got all his memories back]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11847576/1/Teen-Titans-Beware-the-Grey-Ghost Beware the Grey Ghost]]'' does this to the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE18BewareTheGrayGhost episode of the same name]]. At the conclusion of the episode, the actor who played the titular Grey Ghost found his acting career revitalized thanks to helping Batman thwart the MadBomber recreating an episode of his show. In the opening chapter, however, Robin tells the rest of the Titans that said MadBomber escaped during a mass breakout of Arkham, then planted a bomb in the actor's car, killing him.
* ''Blog/AskTheNewHopesPeak'' does this for ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'', showing plenty of AscendedFridgeHorror about the world after an apocalypse.
* ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'': [[spoiler:Jim, Selena and Hannah]] all survive the zombie apocalypse and move to a safe area while the Infected from Britain starve to death and it becomes safe again. They are eventually spotted by a plane and rescued. Then, ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater'' causes ''another'' infection outbreak due to an IdiotPlot, this time [[FromBadToWorse possibly worldwide]]. Meanwhile, a comic series starring one of the survivors from the first movie reveals another survivor has been sentenced to death.
* ''Film/ChildsPlay''. The first three movies play the trope straight, as both the first and second movies end with protagonist Andy successfully killing Chucky and moving on, only for the Killer Doll to come back from the dead by the next opus, where it's always revealed Andy's life only got worse in the mid-time. Andy is PutOnABus for the next two movies, but brought back in the sixth one, where the trope gets spectacularly subverted: [[spoiler: Andy's situation [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally got better (he reunited with his mother and lives a normal life)]], and when Chucky does find him again, Andy [[CrazyPrepared welcomes him with a shotgun]]]]. Ultimately played straight again in the following movie, Cult of Chucky: [[spoiler: Andy is miserable and obsessed with Chucky at the onset, and by the end of the movie, Chucky has a human form and his latest murders will probably be attributed to Andy]].
* ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise:
** Ripley had destroyed the monster and escaped in a pod in ''Film/{{Alien}}'', but in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' she discovered that her ship wandered without a destination and she stayed in hypersleep for several decades. Doesn't seem such a downer until Ripley learns that she outlived her own daughter while she was in stasis.
** The transition from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' to ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'', in which [[spoiler: Hicks, Bishop, and Newt, the three that Ripley fought tooth and nail to save in the previous movie, are [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed off-screen]] [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome before the opening credits]]. Bishop ''technically'' survives, but he's damaged beyond repair and permanently turned off by Ripley.]] Creator/JamesCameron was horrified that [[spoiler:the survivors from his film died horribly instead of being able to start a family (with the exception of Ripley)]], and [[Creator/AlanDeanFoster the author hired to write novelizations for the series]] went so far as to call this twist "obscene". Notably, the Dark Horse comic series ignores the twist, [[spoiler:keeping Newt and Hicks alive]]. ''Only for things to get worse.''
** ''Film/AlienResurrection'' completely negates [[spoiler:Ripley's HeroicSacrifice]] at the end of ''Alien 3'' by [[spoiler:putting alien DNA into the hands of another Corrupt Corporation.]]
** While ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' certainly didn't end ''happily'', [[KillEmAll by any means]], it did end hopefully with the lone survivors--Elizabeth and David--headed towards the Engineers' homeworld for answers. In ''Film/AlienCovenant'', it turns out [[spoiler:David took a flying leap off the slippery slope, murdered Elizabeth, and horrifically mutilated her remains to help create the ultimate lifeform: the Xenomorphs. Shaw is long dead and David is now the BigBad of the series.]]
* Happens to James Cameron again in the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series. After our heroes ScrewDestiny and avert Judgment Day in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' insists that YouCantFightFate and Judgment Day has to happen after all to fix those {{Stable Time Loop}}s and {{Temporal Paradox}}es.
* ''Film/{{Tron}}'': Yay! [[AIIsACrapshoot Master Control]] was destroyed, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Dillinger]] was busted, [[InformationWantsToBeFree the Programs are free again]], and [[ExposeTheVillainGetHisJob Flynn's not only got his job back, he's the guy in charge!]] He wraps his arms around [[PowerTrio Lora and Alan]] and off they go into the sunset... ''Film/TronLegacy'' opens, and Encom's back to being [[CorruptCorporateExecutive run by crooks]], with [[HonestCorporateExecutive Alan]] as the OnlySaneMan in the room. Lora's [[SequelNonEntity nowhere to be seen]] (ExpandedUniverse material says she was PutOnABus, which is actually ''nicer'' than her fate in the [[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh other sequel]]; [[http://yori-lives.blogspot.com/ the actress is trying to fix this]]). Meanwhile, Flynn's trapped by his own creation, has been fighting a HopelessWar for the equivalent of ''centuries,'' and has had to watch the genocide of an entire species. And just to frost the cake? [[spoiler: The title character]] made an attempt at HeroicSacrifice that turned into a FateWorseThanDeath. Suddenly, the first film doesn't seem like such cheery Creator/{{Disney}} fare. Worse, ''Film/TronLegacy'' veers incredibly close to a full-blown DownerEnding since over 2/3 of the characters are dead and most of the other 1/3 have dim survival odds at best. [[spoiler: The only bright spot at the end of ''Legacy'' is that [[SpinOffspring Sam]] and [[LastOfHisKind Quorra]] manage to escape ''alive.'']]
** The [[CanonDiscontinuity video game sequel]] ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' is LighterAndSofter, but not by much; the comic establishes that Flynn apparently went nuts and vanished, Lora was killed by an accident in the laser lab [[spoiler: with the part of her remaining in the system compiled into [=Ma3a=]]], Alan has been exiled to a lab in the basement instead of a token position in the boardroom, Encom is on such shaky ground that a shady fly-by-night like F-Con can swoop in and buy them out, and Tron's fate is explicitly stated to be "unknown."
* ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'' ended with the heroes each getting the girl, becoming rich and both getting respected jobs as sheriffs. By the second film, the girls were gone, the money had been lost in a poor investment and while Roy had already left his job and become a writer, Chon had to leave it in order to follow the plot of the next film.
* ''Film/MenInBlack'': Agent K passes the torch to Agent J and moves on to a well-earned retirement with the wife he hasn't seen in decades, J forms a new partnership with L, and everybody wins! Then ''Film/MenInBlackII'' comes along and decides to completely rehash the original, so L breaks up with J and gets a transfer to the morgue, leading J to a series of unsuitable partners, before being forced to reactivate K, which is only made slightly better because K's miserable and can't remember that it's because he used to be a galactic sheriff for all of Earth, and has become so uncertain and wistful about the things he can't remember that the woman he longed for his whole life and finally got to marry left him. Yay?
* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' ends on a high (if bittersweet) note, with our heroes, including Captain Kirk, heading towards retirement after saving the Federation and the galaxy yet again. Then ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'' happens, and Kirk first gets chucked out of the ''Enterprise''-B's hull into the Nexus, ''and then'' proceeds to be the trope namer for DroppedABridgeOnHim when he comes out to stop the MadScientist Soran from blowing up a sun in order to get into the Nexus.
** On a similar note, ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' ends on the hope that the Romulan Empire and the Federation will be able to put the past behind them and band together for the common good, even after the time they spent fighting. [[spoiler: It never happens because Romulus of this universe was canonically destroyed by a supernova in the ContinuityReboot ''Film/StarTrek'', giving Nero the impetus to screw around with the AlternateContinuity of the Abrams films.]]
* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' ends with the titular team defeating an ancient Sumerian deity, sending it back where it came from, and being hailed as heroes by a grateful city. ''Film/GhostbustersII'' opens up five years later with their reputation inexplicably in shambles, the partnership dissolved, a court order preventing them from offering their services, and some of them even being so desperate that they have taken to performing at birthday parties. Peter and Dana broke up too. Fortunately, the happy ending of ''that'' movie seems to stick, as the video game (which is considered canon) shows them still active a few years later, and the current mayoral administration having very Ghostbuster-friendly policies. Now, one of the problems is (partially) a ''logical extension'' of the ending, however. The team eliminated all of the ghosts by defeating Gozer. No ghosts, no job. The court order preventing them from offering their services and being sued to oblivion? Not so much.
* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' ended with Elwood and Jake barely managing to save the orphanage before being arrested. At the beginning of ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'', Elwood discovers that the orphanage has been demolished [[spoiler: and Jake died offscreen before the movie begins, in a case of TheCharacterDiedWithHim]].
* At the end of the first ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' film, Megatron is killed; gets resurrected in the next one. Part of Sam's character arc in the second film is his refusal to tell Mikaela he loves her, but he finally does at the end. She dumps him between films. ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' has the Autobots emerge triumphant as seemingly all the Decepticons (including [[BigBad Megatron]], [[TheStarscream Starscream]] and even [[BackForTheDead the long-absent Barricade]]) are [[KilledOffForReal killed]]. ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' begins four years later, during which time humanity has turned on the Autobots and are now hunting them down to kill them. [[spoiler:And their remains are used to create new Transformers controlled by humans. Including Megatron, who, as it turns out, [[NotQuiteDead is still alive]].]]
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': The cautious optimism that Professor X carried at the end of ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' turned out to be short-lived. After just one semester, conscription for the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar forces Charles Xavier to close his school, which serves as the [[DespairEventHorizon last straw that broke the camel's back]]. Losing his sense of purpose exacerbates the traumas he has experienced during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and he soon becomes a drug-addled recluse.
** ''Film/{{Logan}}'' itself overrides the ending Wolverine fought for in ''Days of Future Past'', as it adapts elements of ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'', including mutants dying out, Logan as a tired old man, and [[spoiler:the X-Men being killed by an unknowing member of their own ranks (in the film's case, Professor Xavier during a seizure)]].
* ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'' not only completely invalidates our heroes' victory at the end of the first movie by having Shao Kahn invade Earth anyway despite the tournament being won (a result of Shinnok, the true BigBad, manipulating things from behind the scenes), it also robs Raiden of his godly powers and brutally murders Johnny Cage in the first three minutes of the film.
* In ''Film/MuppetsMostWanted'', all those millions of Muppet fans that appeared at the end of ''Film/TheMuppets'' to lend their support to the gang in their time of need?
--> '''Rowlf:''' Actually, those were extras.\\
'''Fozzie:''' I saw a few tapping their toes.\\
'''Scooter:''' Yeah, those were paid dancers.\\
'''Fozzie:''' ...Oh.
* ''Franchise/StarWars:''
** ''Film/ANewHope'' ends on a triumphant note with the Rebels destroying the Death Star and receiving medals for it. Come ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and we learn that the celebrations were short-lived as the Empire's counterattack was swift and drove them out from their base, starting the [[DarkestHour darkest episode]] of the original trilogy.
** Happens also in the ''Film/StarWarsEwokAdventures'' of all movies. ''Caravan of Courage'' had a teenage boy and his younger sister team up with some teddy bears to rescue their parents from a giant. Within the first few ''minutes'' of ''Battle for Endor'' all the humans except the little girl are killed by SpacePirates, who go on to slaughter or enslave all but one of the Ewoks.
** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'':
*** TheEmpire has fallen, dealt a final blow shortly after ''Return of the Jedi'', but [[TheRemnant sympathizers]] have worked behind the scenes to create a replacement for decades. The new Republic leadership doesn't take them seriously, so Princess Leia forms LaResistance with surreptitious support from old political allies to fight them as best they can. [[spoiler:Until the new Republic is at best utterly devastated and at worst annihilated during the events of the film.]]
*** Luke's attempt at resurrecting the Jedi Order ended in total disaster [[spoiler: when his nephew turned to the Dark Side and killed all the other apprentices]]. After several decades he is ''still'' [[LastOfHisKind the last Jedi]], and has [[AchillesInHisTent retreated into unknown space]].
*** Han and Leia's ending. Not only do [[spoiler: they lose their son to the Dark Side]], devastating their relationship and sending them back to what is comfortable: Leia leading the resistance against the Empire-influenced First Order and Han back to smuggling, but it is overridden further when [[spoiler: their son completes his fall by killing Han.]]
** ''Film/TheLastJedi'' continues this, having [[spoiler:the First Order reigning despite their losses as the military action in ''The Force Awakens'' barely slowed them down, the remaining Resistance members being picked off, Leia's call for help from other rebels failing, Finn and Rose's subplot making things worse, and Luke Skywalker himself dying to help the last remnants of the Resistance escape]].
* The ending of the original ''Film/KickBoxer'' has the hero avenge his brother's death by beating the bully Tong Po and the film ends on a happy note. The beginning of ''Kick Boxer 2'' has Tong Po murder the hero in cold blood, setting up the revenge story for the next younger brother. This wasn't the original script, but they changed it because the first film's star, Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme, refused to return for the sequel.
* ''Film/PaulBlartMallCop''. The first movie ended with Paul a hero and getting married to his LoveInterest, Amy. The sequel opens with the reveal that Amy filed for a divorce less than a week later for unexplained reasons, and to make matters worse, a short time after that his mother [[DroppedABridgeOnHim gets hit by milk truck one morning]] while getting the paper. [[spoiler: At least Paul finds someone else (who's also a security guard) and Maya gets to go to her dream college at the end.]]
* This happened (albeit with more subtlety than usual) in the course of Creator/TimBurton's two ''Film/{{Batman}}'' films. True, the 1989 original didn't exactly end with the cast singing [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile"]]...but things wrapped up about as well as they possibly could in such a dark franchise: Gotham City was saved and Batman got his revenge. But ''Film/BatmanReturns'' shows us early on that Bruce Wayne was still unhappy, his revenge didn't satisfy him, and if anything the experience had left him even ''more'' brutal and bloodthirsty. And ''then'' he's framed for the murder of an innocent, [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer causing everyone to hate him again]] [[FridgeHorror (and we never do see Batman being officially exonerated, despite the actual killer being punished by Batman himself)]]. ''Film/BatmanForever'' (with which Burton was only peripherally involved) managed to [[AuthorsSavingThrow un-undo everything]], having Batman finally overcome his anger at seeing his parents murdered ''and'' being respected by the people of Gotham once again. Of course, almost everyone agreed that the follow-up to ''that'', ''BatmanAndRobin'', was [[TastesLikeDiabetes a little]] ''[[TastesLikeDiabetes too]]'' [[TastesLikeDiabetes happy]].
* ''Film/FinalDestination'': It's a splatter film series where every movie ends with a DownerEnding in which Death gruesomely murders the protagonists, usually after a fake-out happy ending. The two leads of ''Film/FinalDestination2'' are the only ones to get an unambiguous happy ending, as being killed and then revived in time seems to get them off of Death's list. And yet deleted scenes from [[Film/FinalDestination3 the third movie]] show newspaper clippings revealing that they died in a freak accident sometime in between movies.
* Well, more like a BittersweetEnding Override for ''Film/IndependenceDay'', given the death toll and the destruction, despite the defeat of the alien armada. But humanity survives and even gets tons of alien tech to study. Twenty years later, ''Film/IndependenceDayResurgence'' comes and reveals that an even larger alien fleet is on the way, and humanity's advances and efforts to integrate alien tech with Earth tech may not be enough to stop them. Also, Creator/WillSmith's character [[DroppedABridgeOnHim was killed in-between the films]], while testing a hybrid fighter jet.
* ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' might as well be called "Happy Ending Override: The Movie'':
** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' ended with Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}} leaving the Avengers to spend more time with his wife and kids. Here, he comes out of retirement to help Cap, [[spoiler: and ends up getting arrested and imprisoned. At the end of the movie, he goes on the run and becomes a wanted fugitive, likely meaning contact with his family will be limited.]]
** Likewise, ''Film/AntMan'' ended with Scott Lang having his name fully cleared, regaining respect from his ex-wife and her new husbandwho also becomes his FriendOnTheForceand finally living up to be the hero his daughter worships him as. [[spoiler: Here, he's likely also now a fugitive so trying to contact Maggie or Cassie would be the worst thing that he could do at this point, and assuming Paxton doesn't simply revert to going InspectorJavert on him, there's probably no strings that he could pull or favors he could call in to clear Scott's name this time around.]]
** At the end of ''Age of Ultron'', Comicbook/ScarletWitch lost [[ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} her brother]], but found a new family in the Avengers. At the beginning of ''Civil War'' [[spoiler: she becomes hated across the globe after a mistake during a mission causes civilian casualties, and the Avengers subsequently end up splitting up.]]
** ''Film/IronMan2'' had Tony and Pepper becoming an OfficialCouple, and ''Film/IronMan3'' ended with Tony destroying his suits and promising to spend more time with her. [[spoiler: In ''Civil War'', the two are separated, and it turns out that Tony's inability to stay retired after ''Iron Man 3'' was one of the major reasons why they split up. This has been reversed as of ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' where Tony and Pepper have reconciled and hinting that Tony will propose.]]
** ''Age of Ultron'' had a final battle that was dependent on trying to rescue as many civilians as they could before Ultron could [[ApocalypseHow cause an extinction-level event and rebuild the world in his image,]] which was prevented until this film not only showed that the final battle resulted in many casualties and millions in property damage anyway [[spoiler: but the main villain's motivation is that he lost his family in the battle of Sokovia; and holds the Avengers responsible and wants to tear apart their team from the inside]].
* ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' ended with Mugatu in jail, Derek and Matilda getting married and having a son, and the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good finally being opened. [[Film/Zoolander2 The sequel]] reveals that Mugatu orchestrated the collapse of the center while imprisoned, which scarred Hansel's face and killed Matilda. Derek subsequently lost custody of his son, and retreated from the public eye to live as a recluse.
* The ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}'' movies love their Overrides.
** ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' ends with the title hero [[VictoriousLoser going the distance]] against the champion Apollo Creed, which is all he really wanted; they agree there won't be a rematch, and Rocky quits the boxing biz. ''Film/RockyII'' sees Balboa's endorsements and money from the fight run dry. Creed, his pride now wounded by skeptical fans, demands a rematch. Rocky, desperate to feed his family, has no choice but to take it.
** After beating Ivan Drago at the end of ''Film/RockyIV'', Rocky returns to the states in ''Film/RockyV'', only to learn that he has lost all of his money and that he also has serious brain damage which could lead to his death if he ever fights again.
* The film ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' ends in the best possible and most uplifting scenario with the villains dead, Will and Elisabeth getting officially together and Norrington generously giving Jack a head start all of which is done with the approval of the Governor, who is the highest authority figure in Port Royal leaving nothing in doubt about the whole matter. Until ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'' that is, where a higher authority figure named Cutler Beckett (Lord actually) does appear, who shares a history with both Governor Swann and Jack and proceeds to use this seemingly innocuous development to his advantage by taking over and sentencing all those involved to death by hanging for aiding a branded pirate. All this in order to blackmail Turner into fetching him Jack's magic compass. Oh and and old debt of Jack's comes back to haunt him. This leads to a far less happy ending and a lot of things that need to be fixed by the next film.
* In the old pre-Disney-takeover ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Star Wars]]'' expanded universe, following the defeat of the Emperor, over the course of several decades we get repeated Imperial counterattacks, [[ComicBook/DarkEmpire Palpatine returning]] and ''converting Luke to the Dark Side'', a race of [[Literature/NewJediOrder freaky humanoids invading and ravaging the Galaxy]] ([[spoiler:and killing Chewbacca]]), and most of Han and Leia's children dying or [[InTheBlood going to the Dark Side.]] This all comes to a head with the ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'' comics, which have (a somewhat more [[TheFederation Federation-like]]) Empire back on top 130 years after the films. Even the Sith are still a lurking threat.
** On a smaller scale, the Del Rey novels can be considered this for the previous books published by Bantam. The Bantam novels [[Literature/HandOfThrawn ended]] with peace actually being made between the Republic and Empire, and the sane Admiral Pellaeon taking control of the latter after a long succession of evil kooks. When Del Rey got the rights, however, they promptly revealed the Yuuzhan Vong, an OutsideContextProblem arguably even worse than the Empire, and had a number of Bantam-era characters (and even some movie characters) [[CListFodder reduced to cannon fodder]] or [[FaceHeelTurn turned evil]]. Timothy Zahn, the best-regarded Bantam writer, has criticized Del Rey for doing this.
* Happens in the second ''Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' series, though at least it is made fairly clear in the first one the BigBad cannot be technically killed. Even so it was a kick in the gut, though not a surprise given the nature of the series.
* The first ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' book has the Seeker fight to defeat the evil tyrant Darken Rahl. When he finally succeeds, a new crisis even worse than Rahl's tyranny takes place in the second book. Eventually, Richard discovers that TheEmpire he fought against in the first book is nothing compared to the Imperial Order, a massive empire that has somehow remained unknown to everyone within the New World, despite it being ''right next door''.
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', the first arc ends on a pure happy ending. The [[Literature/WarriorCatsTheNewProphecy sequel]] has humans tear down the forest which the story is set in and reveals that the villain is still hanging around from beyond the grave.
* Though the first book of the ''Never Again'' series has only a BittersweetEnding, it still qualifies for this trope, because it ends with the heroes succeeding in democratizing the world, albeit [[TheHeroDies at the cost of their lives]]. The DistantFinale clearly implies that they succeeded. However, all of that is ignored in the second book, in which it is revealed that [[spoiler: somehow one dictatorship still survived John and Joy's changes to history, and was able to [[AppealToForce start a nuclear war]], TakeOverTheWorld, and [[ShootTheShaggyDog cause more deaths than all the wars, democides, and dictatorships of the Real-Life twentieth century combined]].]] And all this just to set up a ContinuityReboot.
* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', the heroes leave Narnia restored and happy in the first book, and come back in the second to a later Narnia where everything's even worse than it was before; the winter may be gone, but many Talking Animals have ceased to talk and much of the magic has begun to go away under the reign of the Telmarines. Of course, that's because [[NarniaTime time in Narnia flows as quickly relative to time on Earth as it needs to]], and [[CrystalDragonJesus Aslan]] calls the children from England only at a point when Narnia needs them, not to mention when [[AnAesop it would be most beneficial to their personal development]].
* In ''Starchild'' trilogy by Creator/FrederikPohl and Creator/JackWilliamson the humanity controlled by a totalitarian Plan of Man which is ruled by a supercomputer called [[MasterComputer the Machine]]. It's implied however that this is the only way to survive for an enormous population whose expansion is restricted by limitations of ion engines. At the end of the first book the protagonist invents "reactionless drives" and the Machine declares that harsh control is no longer required. However in the second book this decision of the Machine is completely forgotten... May be justified because the events of the first book showed that high-ranking officials of the Plan can influence on the decisions of the Machine and may not be interested in the change.
* ''Troubling A Star'' by Creator/MadeleineLEngle brings back the fictional country of Vespugia from ''Literature/ASwiftlyTiltingPlanet'' and reveals that the events of the latter book only delayed the country's dictatorial government from coming to power by about 10 or 15 years, rather than averting it entirely.
* The book ''{{Literature/Holes}}'' ends with the juvenile detention facility Camp Green Lake being closed, and turned into a Girl Scout camp. In the companion book ''Stanley Yelnats's Guide To Surviving Camp Green Lake'', the detention has been reopened, because several state officials read ''Holes'' and thought "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint What a]] [[MisaimedFandom great idea]]!" Even the original staff gets put back in charge, despite being under investigation, and one even arrested.
* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'': ''Literature/TheLastWish's'' section "A Question of Price" ends on a high note, with Queen Calanthe of Cintra marrying Eist Tuiseach, king of Skellige, and her daughter Princess Pavetta marrying her true love Duny, while already pregnant with Duny's child. In the several-year interval between ''Literature/TheLastWish'' and ''Literature/BloodOfElves'', Pavetta and Duny are lost at sea, and Cintra is [[RapePillageAndBurn brutally conquered]] by the invading Nilfgaardians and Calanthe and Eist Tuiseach are killed. However, Pavetta and Duny's daughter Cirella survives and escapes, and is eventually picked up by [[TheHero Geralt]].
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' ends with Harry feeling well after defeating evil, and being hopeful his powers will lead to fear and less bullying at home. [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The next book]] opens by showing his guardians are still as unpleasant to him as ever, if not more. Harry Potter is actually one of the most justifiable examples of this. Not only is the Dark Lord not destroyed and therefore the war not over, but also new problems arise, which are often impossible to foresee. Take the above mentioned example about the Dursleys: they learn that he is not allowed to perform magic outside of school thanks to Dobby and by the next book he has to rely on his godfather's reputation to keep them in check.
** The [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows final book]] shows, after a TimeSkip, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco sending their kids to Hogwarts on a hopeful note. The follow-up play ''Theatre/HarryPotterAndTheCursedChild'' reveals that Albus Potter's time at Hogwarts is hardly pleasant. He's an IneptMage, who can't fly on a broom and has only one friend, Scorpius Malfoy. And even that friendship is threatened by Harry, who distrusts Scorpius.
* ''The Paw Thing'' by Creator/PaulJennings ends with Singenpoo the cat chasing over a hundred mice out of her owner's chicken shop. The owner is so grateful he vows to stop treating her so badly. In the sequel ''Singenpoo Strikes Again'', we find out that this change stuck for about a week or two and the owner is just as cruel as he was before, to the point of denying that Singenpoo had anything to do with saving his business.
* ''Literature/TheMoonMaid'' by Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs ends with the astronauts repairing their ship and returning triumphantly to Earth, taking with them the moon princess their leader, Julian, has fallen in love with and leaving behind the saboteur who stranded them on the Moon to begin with. In the sequel, the saboteur returns to Earth at the head of a lunarian invasion fleet, takes over the world and kills Julian -- all in the first chapter, after which the story skips ahead a century to show life under the invader's yoke. (Burroughs had actually written the atypically grim tale of Earth under alien overlords first, but couldn't find a buyer for it, so wrote ''The Moon Maid'' as a more usual Burroughs adventure tale to create demand for the sequel.) If you take into account all the CanonWelding Burroughs did in later years, the lunarian invasion also counts as a happy ending override for the characters of the ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'' and ''Literature/{{Pellucidar}}'' series, along with several other lesser-known works, or at least for their descendants.
* The original version of Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheStand'', published in 1978, had a BittersweetEnding. Flagg's plans to destroy the Boulder Free Zone have been thwarted, Flagg himself has seemingly been eliminated in the annihilation of Las Vegas, and the remaining residents of the Free Zone are left to reconstruct the world and society as best they can....all at a great cost. Then in 1990 came the "Complete and Uncut Edition," which added a brief coda: Flagg's body may have been destroyed, but his essence survived, and he reappears to a tribe of natives to "teach them to be civilized." And HereWeGoAgain.
* ''Enna Burning,'' the second of the ''Literature/BooksOfBayern'', does this to the happy ending of ''Literature/TheGooseGirl.'' Just two years later the kingdom is plunged into war, the king is killed in battle, and Isi (the princess) has trouble controlling her wind-communication powers, resulting in the wind's nonstop "voice" nearly driving her insane. And this is just backdrop for the trauma that protagonist Enna goes through over the course of the book. Fortunately, they all eventually reach a new, [[EarnYourHappyEnding hard-earned]] happy ending.
* In Creator/OscarWilde's short story, "The Star-Child", the titular WonderChild finally passed his SecretTestOfCharacter, regains his beauty and discovers his roots as an heir to the kingdom. All would have been well if the story ended with him reigning as a good and merciful king. Instead, the very last line of the text mentions that the new king would die young, and would be replaced by a despot.
* One of the earliest example: ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' ends with Odysseus happily reunited with his wife Penelope and their son Telemachus after a long and perilous journey. In ''The Telegony'', the lost sequel and last installment of the ''Literature/TheTrojanCycle'', Odysseus is forced to leave for the killing of Penelope's suitors, [[YourCheatingHeart forgets about Penelope and marries the Queen of Thesprotia Callidice]]. After the later dies during a battle, Odysseus returns to Ithaca only to be killed by Telegonus the son he had with Circe ([[RememberTheNewGuy absent in the Odyssey]]) contradicting Tiresias' prophecy that he would die a gentle death in sleek old age.
* While it was more of a BittersweetEnding due to many characters, including some of Bilbo's allies, dying in the Battle of Five Armies, ''Literature/TheHobbit'' ends with Bilbo having [[TookALevelInBadAss taken a level in badass]], with a newfound love of adventure and a magic ring as a keepsake of his long and eventful journey with Gandalf and the Dwarves. Then it's revealed early on in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' that Bilbo's magic ring is really an ArtifactOfDoom forged by Sauron himself, and that it's corrupting Bilbo in a manner not unlike it's corruption of it's previous owner: Gollum. This, and the revelation that Bilbo is only the latest in a string of victims seduced by it's power, and that it's unnaturally stretched out his left span since ''The Hobbit'', casts the events of the previous book in a new and darker light.
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Between the first and second season of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Matt Parkman's forgiveness of his wife and the happy reunion of Niki with DL were both undone. So was Sylar's death, but this had been heavily implied to begin with.
* ''Series/TwentyFour'':
** The series did this for Tony Almeida. During the third season, Tony was forced into some tough choices that saw him lose everything: he was stripped of his job, his wife Michelle left him, and even wound up briefly being jailed. Season four went about giving him personal redemption, helping Jack Bauer stop a terrorist threat that ultimately saw a nuclear missile nearly hit L.A., and by the time it was over he'd managed to get his life back in order and get back together with Michelle. So what does season 5 proceed to do? Within the first 15 minutes of the premiere she's killed by a car bomb as part of the antagonists of that Day's plot, leading him to lose it for the rest of the series [[spoiler: and eventually sink so low that in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to avenge her death winds up working with terrorists]]. Yeah. Definitely made the fourth season's happy ending a moot point there.
** The show revealed more than once that Jack had been living happily in the time between seasons and then ripped that apart. Between seasons 3 and 4 he's been working for the Department of Defense and dating his boss's daughter Audrey, but at the end he's forced to fake his death because of a bungled invasion of the Chinese Embassy. Redemption disrupts his quiet life as an aid worker in the African nation of Sangala. Season 8 reveals that he fully recovered from his near death at the end of the previous season, has reconciled with Kim and plans to move from New York to LA to be close to her and her daughter and husband, but he ends up a fugitive wanted by both the American and Russian Governments.
* In Season 4 of ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'', Cort was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease that was slowly causing him to go blind. The Season 5 episode "Baja Run" ended with Cort realizing the inevitability of his condition and seemingly coming to terms with it. This was completely abandoned for his final episode, "Deep Trouble," which revealed that Cort had become a drunken, homeless wreck, and that the knowledge of what was going to happen to him had given him severe depression.
* Mixed together with SequelReboot with the season five premiere of ''Series/{{Community}}'': the fourth season ended optimistically with Jeff and Pierce graduating in the Fall semester, Shirley's business getting off the ground, Annie picking a major in criminology, and Chang [[BecomingTheMask deciding to stay friends with the group as "Kevin".]] Fast-forward to the next Fall, where Jeff's newly found scruples [[BeingGoodSucks lead his career as an attorney to ruins]], Shirley's entire family left her because she lost their savings on her failed business, Annie has gotten as job as a sales rep [[YouAreWhatYouHate for the same prescription drugs that lead to her breakdown,]] none of the rest of the group are having any more success, and Chang is on work release for ''arson''. The group decides they still need to learn more, but Greendale is the only place they can go to, while Jeff takes a job as a teacher to get by while he tries to get it in some form of working order.
* Defied when it comes to ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga''. ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'' was originally supposed to be a sequel series, but Kuuga's writers vetoed it on the grounds it'd have made Kuuga's battles meaningless. As a result, while there's some suggestion it's a sequel, it's primarily intended as an alternate universe.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' ended with [[BigBad XANA]] defeated and the Lyoko-Warriors shutting down the Supercomputer before moving on with their life. The very first episode of the live-action sequel ''Series/CodeLyokoEvolution'' reveals XANA [[NotQuiteDead survived]] by turning the Lyoko-Warriors into his [[SoulJar Soul Jars]], forcing them to reactivate Lyoko and get back to fighting him.
* Zordon's sacrifice in the finale of ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' goes from destroying all evil in the universe to merely Dark Specter and his forces (Rita, Lord Zedd, the Machine Empire, Divatox, and Astronema). Otherwise ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' (and all subsequent series) couldn't happen.
* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', which is an AlternateTimeline to ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', similarly revealed that Sarah's hopes that ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' had averted Skynet were false. The overall tone of the series, however, was more positive than the third film, with the revelation that [[spoiler:there is a second Machine faction opposing Skynet who might ally with humanity]] and the overall implication that it might be possible to somehow alter the future to avert war between humans and AIs without preventing the creation of the latter.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** Between Series 6 and Series 7 of ''Series/DoctorWho'', Amy and Rory go from HappilyMarried with Amy completely in awe of Rory's strength and nobility, to divorced and antagonistic. The reason given is that Amy was made infertile as a result of her abuse in the finale of Series 6 and she knew Rory wanted kids so she "gave him up." By the end of the season 7 premiere, they're back together since Rory (predictably) wants Amy more than biological kids.
** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E6TheKeeperOfTraken The Keeper of Traken]]'', the Doctor foils the Master's plan to gain a new body for himself in a way that could have destroyed the titular planet, although the Master gets away with a stolen Trakenite body. In the next story, ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Logopolis]]'', the Master's plan accidentally unleashes an entropy field that destroys a large number of planets. One of the planets destroyed is Traken.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': In the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Original Series]]'' episode "Mirror, Mirror", Kirk convinces the Spock of an alternate universe (in which the Federation is TheEmpire) to work for peace. In ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', that world is revisited, and it turns out that Spock took Kirk's advice, and succeeded... leading to the destruction of the Empire by its enemies. Humans, and presumably Vulcans, are now slaves. WordOfGod is that the episode was specifically intended to mock Kirk by changing Kirk's triumph in " [[{{Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror}} Mirror, Mirror]]" into a bitter failure, thereby vilifying Kirk as the man singularly responsible for ruining the lives of all humanity in another universe. Later episodes in the mirror universe de-emphasized (or ignored altogether) this motive, making it more of a standard rebellion-against-alien-oppressors situation. And the ExpandedUniverse ''Literature/StarTrekMirrorUniverse'' novels [[spoiler: subverted it, revealing Mirror!Spock was playing a ''really'' long game which finally succeeded over a century later, so Kirk's advice ''did'' work after all]].
* Played with in the season 3 finale of ''Series/{{MASH}}''. The episode starts with Radar coming into the OR with news that Henry is going home. Everyone is thrilled; parties, gifts, the whole 9 yards. Of course, Henry's last day in camp is sad because of all the goodbye's, but it's still happy since he is GOING HOME. But later, back in the OR, Radar comes in with a new report: Henry's plane was shot down...[[McLeaned there were no survivors.]]
* PlayedForLaughs regarding [[ButtMonkey Rebecca Howe]] in the ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' episode "The One Where Sam Shows Up." Sam describes how everyone at Cheers has been getting along since Frasier moved to Seattle. Rebecca, who was last seen happily married to a plumber at the end of Cheers, had been divorced when her husband struck rich.
--> '''Sam:''' She's back at the bar.\\
'''Frasier:''' Working at Cheers again?\\
'''Sam:''' No... Just back at the bar.
* Season 6 of ''Series/OnceUponATime'' ended with the characters ''finally'' [[EarnYourHappyEnding earning their happy endings]], especially the reformed villains. Season 7 [[spoiler: is a soft reboot set in another town with Dark Curse versions of characters from a ''different'' fairy tale universe ... except Henry, Regina, Killian and Rumplestiltskin have got caught up in it too. And it looks like Rumple's taken yet another spin through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor.]]
** Turns out to be averted in the case of [[spoiler:Killian Jones- the one in Hyperion Heights is not the one from previous seasons, but his doppelganger from the alternate Enchanted Forest created by Regina's wish. The 'real' Hook, as far as we know, is still living happily with Emma]]
* In ''Series/WitchesOfEastEnd'', the Season 2 finale is bittersweet, due to one of the characters sacrificing themselves for someone they love, but otherwise the protagonists defeat almost all obstacles and come out on top. Then, the last 5 minutes of the last episode set out the complications for Season 3, which never happened - thus defeating or negating almost everything the protagonists have just achieved.
* In ''Music/{{aha}}'s music video to "The Sun Always Shines on TV," the video starts with the character from their "Take On Me" video turning back into a drawing and disappearing while the girl watches helplessly.
* Greg Champion's "I Made a Hundred in the Backyard at Mum's" ends on a triumphant note with the narrator making a hundred. The POVSequel, "I Hit that Wicket" by Ian Macnamara immediately reveals that he was bowled out by his brother, who seemingly got all the glory for breaking his streak.
[[folder:Video Games]]
* Zero of ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' fame gets his [[VideoGame/MegaManZero own series]] where, despite all the sacrifices, things get worse.
** To put this into perspective, the best thing that happens to Zero here is that he ''[[WorldOfCardboardSpeech finally]]'' [[VideoGame/MegaManX4 knows what he's fighting for]], and it takes the entirety of four literally earth-shattering games [[spoiler:and [[HeroicSacrifice Zero's own death]]]] for him to receive closure. Even then, the (comparatively) LighterAndSofter [[VideoGame/MegaManZX sequel series]] essentially overrides ''Zero''[='s=] own BittersweetEnding once the heroes start delving into the intrigue, [[TheGreatFlood to say nothing of]] ''[[VideoGame/MegaManLegends Legends]]''.
* ''[[VideoGame/DotHackGU .hack//G.U.]]'' seems to have been engineered for the sole purpose of trolling fans of the original series, either as a PlayerPunch or a colossal ThisLoserIsYou to anyone who accepted its message of "AI are people too" at face value. The World that we left happy, peaceful and safe in the first series has been completely destroyed by a madman (who personally killed a plot-important A.I. character from the original series ''[[DroppedABridgeOnHim in backstory]]''), Player Killers rule the landscape of the DarkerAndEdgier The World R:2, all of our previous heroes are too busy with real life to do anything about the situation, protagonist Haseo turns out to have been [[spoiler:that child[[strike:ish]] jackass Sora from R:1 all along]]... and in the end, the bastard responsible [[KarmaHoudini gets neither mention nor punishment]].
* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' is the tale of a time-traveling RagtagBunchOfMisfits who adventure across history and prevent a world-eating parasite called Lavos from destroying the world in 1999 AD. ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' is the tale of a boy muddling through [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the fallout from those changes to history]], which includes but is not limited to: a timeline split in two, Porre growing from a minor town into an imperial power that sacked TheGoodKingdom the original heroes lived in, the Reptite Future from a [[MultipleEndings joke ending]] showing up for revenge, the [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome heavily implied deaths]] of the previous protagonists, ''and'' on top of all this [[spoiler:Lavos, or a piece of him anyway, is still alive -- and now it's going to end existence, instead of just Earth]]. This makes ''Cross'' a ContestedSequel by some fans, who wished the happy ending from ''Trigger'' wasn't so harshly undone.
* In ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar 2'', [[spoiler:we first discover that not only has the Lightmass Bomb (which was dropped in the heart of the Locust's underground hive network at the close of the last game) failed to destroy the Locust, but that they have since redoubled their efforts (later revealed to be in desperation), and mankind has been forced back to their last bastion of defense, Jacinto. Not only that, but the Locust now have a method of sinking entire cities. At the end of the game, the heroes are forced to sink Jacinto in order to flood the underground networks and hopefully take out the Locust once and for all.]]
** In ''Gears of War 3'', [[spoiler:it turns out that the Locust managed to survive the sinking of Jacinto and have migrated above ground. Also another faction, the Lambent (creatures created by being infected with [[AppliedPhlebotinum Imulsion]]), has appeared and is fighting [[MeleeATrois both the humans and the Locust]].]]
** In ''Gears of War 4'', The Anti-[[spoiler:Imulsion]] radioactive pulsar commits genocide among the Locust throughout the planet, but it works by critically overloading ''Imulsion'', an energy resource nested in almost every single Locust on the planet, which also causes the Imulsion throughout the world to go critical and [[spoiler:die screaming]], causing a brand new energy crisis in a post-apocalyptic world that's now teeming with the unearthed creatures of the underworld. This game shifts the franchise from modern war to extreme environment survival warfare, as your party struggles to fight a horde of sentient beasts that make the Locust horde look like ''children''.
* The ''Franchise/JakAndDaxter'' series does this with the second and third games. We leave [[VideoGame/JakAndDaxterThePrecursorLegacy the first game]] with our heroes triumphant over the [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying Villains]] and about to embark on a new journey into the unknown. Then in the first few minutes of [[VideoGame/JakIIRenegade the second game]] we discover that their journey into the unknown takes them TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, where the idyllic natural paradise has become a {{Cyberpunk}} CrapsackWorld ruled by an iron-fisted dictator and under siege from a seemingly endless swarm of monsters called "Metalheads." The villains from the first game seem rather pleasant by comparison (hell, the {{mooks}} from the first game have been turned into ''pets'' by Haven's ApatheticCitizens). After completing the game and bringing peace to Haven City, we open ''[[VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander Jak 3]]'' to find that the city has been nearly destroyed and Jak and Daxter exiled to the wastelands.
* ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' ends with Sly and Carmelita becoming a couple, as well as Bentley and Penelope. ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'' brings the gang back together, and confirms that Sly was faking his amensia - but ends with Penelope betraying Bentley and breaking out of jail while Sly is lost in time, leaving Carmelita heartbroken. Murray is about the only person that doesn't come off any worse, except for the fact that his friend is now missing. What makes this worse is that {{Word Of God}} has confirmed there are no plans for a sequel.
* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'':
** At the end of the first game, the hero has defeated the titular demon, saving the ''one town'' that was in danger before, and taken it upon him (or her) self [[SealedEvilInAPerson to become a living prison for the Lord of Terror]]. At the start of ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', said hero's will has completely broken, [[DemonicPossession his body has been taken over by Diablo]], and he wanders the Earth releasing ''other'' demon lords so they can plunge the entire world into a living Hell. And that one town? Completely ravaged, and all residents but one are soon dead.
** ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' ends with the new hero seemingly defeating Diablo and his two brothers by slaying them, collecting their [[SoulJar Soulstones]] and breaking them, seemingly killing them for good. Comes ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', it turns out some EvilSorcerer created [[ArtifactOfDoom the Black Soulstone]], a corrupted version of the Soulstones, where the Demon Lord's souls ended up after their apparent demise. In the game's climax, Diablo has the Black Soulstone implanted inside [[ApocalypseMaiden his daughter Leah]] by [[SixthRangerTraitor Adria]], the witch from the first game who it turns out was in league with him all along, allowing him to not only come back, but also [[FusionDance merge with both his two brothers and the four other Demon Lords]], resulting in [[CameBackStrong an even more powerful version of him called the Prime Evil]] who [[HellInvadesHeaven assaults the Heavens themselves]].
** ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' ended with Diablo allegedly defeated for good. He is accidentally freed right at the end of the ''Reaper of Souls'' expansion, with a good portion of humanity having been destroyed by [[KnightTemplar Malthael]] during the expansion.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestII'', most of the towns of Alefgard have been destroyed, stronger monsters roam the land, and a new BigBad makes the Dragon Lord seem tame in comparison. Even rediscovering Erdrick's sword is a letdown, as it's not that powerful compared to other equipment.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'':
** Almost fell into this trope by having the first campaign lead to the second one, as the helicopter pilot would have been revealed to be infected. However, the developers found out it was not a satisfactory ending, and made the four campaigns completely separate instead... before changing their minds ''again'' and releasing a mini-campaign that links the original first and second with ''exactly'' that justification. And they use it ''again'' in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', to set up the third (now the fourth) campaign.
** The ending to the first game managed to do this to ''both games'' after trying to tie the narratives together. At the end of the last campaign of the first game, your team is finally rescued by the military. Not some random pilot or civilian with a gun, but the ones who knows what they're doing and are backed by armored vehicles and real weapons. In the tie-in comic everything goes to hell as it turns out the military ''doesn't'' know what they're doing, and on top of that all of the protagonists are carriers -- asymptomatic carriers of the virus that are unintentionally spreading the infection to everyone they've come across. And the military do not like carriers. The comic managed to conclude that the original game's protagonists do manage to earn a new happy ending (although not without [[HeroicSacrifice some costs]]) by moving to a remote island where they can't infect anyone, but the second game ends with the four new guys happily rescued by the military...
* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'', the best ending has you [[spoiler:destroying the [[ArtifactOfDoom Geneforge]] and saving the world from its menace.]] In the sequel, we find that Zakary and Barzahl, two characters sent to clean up after the fact, thought that [[spoiler:it would be a shame to let such a marvel of science vanish from existence, and decided to rebuild it in another isolated area.]] The third game ramps it up that no matter what you did (except for one TakeAThirdOption faction ending of the second), your actions did nothing to stop the Drakons' rise. The fourth game averts this by stating that [[CuttingOffTheBranches the Rebel Ending of the third game is canon]]. The fifth game also qualifies--the [[spoiler:Unbound, released in the fourth game to destroy the Shapers, have succeeded only in causing massive collateral damage, and it's up to a new main character to resolve the conflict. Which may fit with one of the hidden factions' endings of the fourth game.]]
** Each ''Geneforge'' tends to assume a particular outcome from the previous game, but it's usually not any of the (many) actually available endings. It's often a blend of a few with some more things that aren't from any of the endings added in. This is all made even stranger by the fact that the role and fate of the player character from previous games is alluded to but never clarified; by the fifth game, this leads to some impressive WildMassGuessing about the protagonist's identity.
** The ending to the first Geneforge hints at the fact that [[spoiler:destroying the Geneforge and dealing with the rebellion on the island isn't going to permanently fix everything, since it ends with the quote that "you cannot unring a bell."]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2''. At the end of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII the first game]], Lightning and friends managed to TakeAThirdOption and defeat the JerkassGods without totally destroying the world, Serah returns to normal and Lightning approves of her marriage to Snow. The sequel reveals that Lightning disappeared due to Time Paradox shortly afterwards, and Snow left to look for her, leaving Serah alone. A time traveler from the future arrives and reveals that he's the last of humanity living AfterTheEnd. Furthermore, [[spoiler:that crystal pillar holding up Cocoon won't hold out forever, and then, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt well...]]]] Thankfully, [[VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII the third installment of the trilogy]] [[BelatedHappyEnding goes the opposite route]], with [[spoiler:the creation of a new world and all of the heroes, Lightning included, free to live out their lives in peace]].
* After the BelatedHappyEnding of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', this came in full force with the ''Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eien no Daishou'' novella and ''Final Fantasy X -Will-'' [[AudioAdaptation audio drama]] written by Kazuhige Nojima. [[spoiler:Tidus dies (again) while he and Yuna are shipwrecked on a unknown island, and though Yuna is able to bring him back from the Farplane, it's implied Tidus may have [[CameBackWrong not returned fully intact]]. And the Farplane has become unstable, causing the dead to return to life. That means ''Sin'' is along for the ride, too, possibly willed back to Spira because of an unknown party's desires. Sin, the aforementioned EldritchAbomination whose thousand-year cycle of suffering and {{Senseless Sacrifice}}s only ended because of Tidus' HeroicSacrifice. And Yuna calls off her relationship with Tidus because of petty jealousy over one of his friends, in spite of their romance being a pivotal part of the last two games.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', while it's implied all of humanity is extinct in the far future, Cloud resolved all of his personal issues and rebuilt his mind, become honest with himself about his flaws and insecurities, and gained a strong and intentionally funny personality. Come ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'', and Cloud is severely depressed, having strange episodes again and [[NoSocialSkills alienating the friends he'd long since learned how to rely on]].
* This is the main theme of ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicII''. The [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic first game]] ended on a high note, with your PlayerCharacter being victorious (either as Republic hero or a Sith lord, depending on alignment). The writer of the sequel read ''all'' of the Expanded Universe and concluded that most of EU canon is this trope with characters fighting the same war between a Sith-backed Empire and Jedi-backed Republic over thousands of years. The second game starts with a [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]] that's still devastated by war, hates Jedi and Sith equally, and the PlayerCharacter is one of the only Jedi left alive. The BigBad critiques both sides as short-sighted extremists who rely on the Force too much, and her goal is to destroy the Force itself to stop the cycle. Unsurprisingly, this is a ContestedSequel by those who see it as a spiteful TakeThat against the franchiseparticularly since no dialog choices permit a competent rebuttal of said Big Bad's arguments. It is possible only to respond as a Jedi or Sith might, and never to offer an alternative to all three philosophies.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' goes further. Not that the second game had ''happiness'' to override (it got a GainaxEnding instead thanks to [[ChristmasRushed a rushed deadline]]), but it nullifies every accomplishment from both games. The Exile walks into an obvious trap and gets killed, and the first game's PlayerCharacter has been tortured for 300 years in an effort to ''stall'' the new Sith Empire and has gone insane as a result. A bunch of sidequests are revealed to have ultimately ended in despair. The Republic does get some victories within the game storyline, but let's face it, they can't win until they stop updating the game... the best thing they've got is that Republic survival is a ForegoneConclusion. And in a later storyline, some OutsideContextProblem (the BigBad's "side project") just wiped out both governments, and completely tossed all the PlayerCharacter's accomplishments out an airlock.
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' was made up of a series of standalone campaigns. That is, until the ''Nightfall'' campaign revealed that there had been a GreaterScopeVillain all along, [[spoiler: the dark god Abaddon]], who had orchestrated [[spoiler: all of the evils you had faced]]. However, according to the official ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' lore, neither Tyria nor Elona has fared too well during the 200 years between games, and while ''native'' Canthan ''humans'' might be okay, it has grown xenophobic and isolationist in that time. Some of these things were foreshadowed earlier on, however.
** After the developers decided to make a sequel, they decided to create the ''Eye of the North'' expansion to serve as a bit of a thematic bridge. While this ends with you having defeated the villain as well, it's only a servant of the Elder Dragon that would be among the villains to devastate Tyria and become the new {{Big Bad}}s of ''Guild Wars 2''.
** The Winds of Change event in the latter days of ''Guild Wars'' introduced the Ministry of Purity, a ministry of Cantha formed to cleanse the afflicted from the ''Factions'' campaign, but whose stated ideology of security over freedom would obviously lead to the isolationist and xenophobic Cantha of ''Guild Wars 2''.
** Perhaps most notably of all, however, since it was foreshadowed before the decision to make a sequel, was Elona's fate. The only person who had the means to cross the DeathWorld to reach the BigBad was [[spoiler:an unstoppable evil who had been [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]]]]. Thus, in order to save the world, you have no choice but [[spoiler:to release that evil]]. While it saved the world in the long term, and Elona in the short term, it's not a big surprise to find out that it eventually doomed Elona.
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman'' ends with King Graham throwing his hat to Alexander. ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIVThePerilsOfRosella'' shows while the hat is travelling mid-air, King Graham suffers a heart attack.
* Happens in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'', where Shepherd, Soap, and [[spoiler:Price]] all ask why they fought the last war against the Ultranationalists, if things just became worse afterwards.
** The older ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games that take place during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII all end with the Allies victorious and the fascists defeated, and the endings of the very first game and ''World at War'' are pretty highly optimistic about the future. But anyone who knows anything about the Cold War or who played ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' will know that the future is anything but sunshine and rainbows.
* Similar to ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'', ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' ends with Gordon Freeman successfully killing the alien being that prevented the scientists on earth from sealing the portal that spewed forth endless hordes of alien invaders. He gets captured by the [=G-Man=] and put into a freezer, but at least Earth is safe. More than a decade later Gordon is brought back to Earth, only to learn that the alien being he killed was just desperate to allow its own people to escape from an even scarier and more powerful alien invasion of its home dimension. With Freeman taking care of their leader, the Combine quickly had the alien world conquered and continued its campaign by invading Earth as well.
* In the ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' series:
** At the end of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', Gharnef and Medeus have been wasted and peace has returned to the continent of Archanea. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', [[spoiler:Hardin]] pulls a FaceHeelTurn and begins menacing the continent, and Marth has to go through the same thing all over again.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' ends with Eliwood and Hector victorious over Nergal and his mad plan to summon dragons in ruins. However, anyone who has played the previous game, ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', knows that Zephiel has become a ticking time bomb who will eventually become the greatest threat Elibe has seen since the Scouring.
** When ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' ends, the EvilEmpire has been defeated, Crimea is entering a new golden age and reestablishing ties with the laguz, and the world is by and large peaceful -- even the massive Begnion theocracy seems well at ease with the world. By the time of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', Crimea is being undermined by greedy nobles (including one who starts an open revolution), Daein (the aforementioned EvilEmpire) is completely oppressed by the occupational Begnion forces, and Begnion itself is in the midst of a power struggle between its senate and its empress -- and to top it all off, the laguz wind up going to war with Begnion partway through the game. The fact just about the entire world is now at war with ''someone'' becomes a plot point. Granted, the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' blatantly foreshadowed that things were about to get worse. Thankfully, ''Radiant Dawn'''s happy ending [[spoiler: sticks for 1200 years]].
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' and its continuation ended with the world being saved by the party, everyone from the DoomedHometown happily surviving, and the BigBad sinking beneath the earth as a volcano erupted beneath him. 30 years later in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', the world is made up of several powerful warring nations, most people are unhappy with the protagonists of the previous games saving the world, half the original party just straight up vanished, and to top it all off, magic-eating vortexes have started popping up. OH. And the previous BigBad is back.
* ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'' has a relatively mild example. At the end of the first game, the King announces that the sky is complete, but ''We ♥ Katamari'' reveals that actually only the stars immediately around Earth were restored, and there's still a lot of work to do.
* ''VideoGame/{{Kingdom Hearts|I}}'' ends with Sora still looking for a way to find his best friends, but the worlds, at least, seem saved. Then it turns out TheHeartless are still plentiful if no longer endangering reality, ''new'' enemies are showing up, and the first universe-threatening BigBad was only [[LiteralSplitPersonality one]] [[MesACrowd aspect]] of [[GreaterScopeVillain a greater villain]] with [[KudzuPlot a very confusing history]].
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' ended pretty unambiguously happy, with the villain defeated and everyone reuniting with laughter and smiles. It wasn't until [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep later]] [[KingdomHeartsCoded games]] came out that the cast realized that there were still people to save, and then in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]'' they learned that they hadn't even stopped the BigBad at all; if anything, they had helped him.
* ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}'': The galaxy is saved! Shepard is hailed as a hero! Humanity becomes an influential member of the council! Until the first minutes of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', where [[spoiler:the Normandy is destroyed, Shepard is killed, his/her crew disbands and the council denies the events of the first game.]]
* In ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', humans are fighting the evil alien Giygas, although only the protagonists, a couple of kids, know that it's him that they're fighting, and in the first game, you don't even find that out until ''very'' late in the story, but it's AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame anyway, especially outside of Japan. Giygas, in the first game, is attempting to enslave the entire human race, and his army does some pretty bad stuff. But, the heroes sing a song to him and he goes mad from the nostalgia and gives up on trying to conquer Earth. But, later, although it is only revealed in the second game, Giygas comes back with a vengeance and conquers the entire universe, turning it into a living hell. The End. (Don't worry, someone comes back from that future and stops it from happening in the second game.)
** [[spoiler:The idealistic setting of {{Eagleland}} is destroyed by the [[HumansAreBastards bastard humans]] in the late-game-revealed backstory of the DarkerAndEdgier ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}'', and TheDragon from the last game perverts the hearts of the few humans left AfterTheEnd. But hey, at least it's better than the entire ''universe'' getting destroyed, right?]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Starlancer}}'' involves the player thrust into a desperate war between TheAlliance and the [[TheEmpire Coalition]] on the side of the Alliance. While the Coalition's sneak attack deals a heavy blow to the Alliance, the multiple successes by the player's squadron (including destroying countless enemy ships and the Coalition flagship) seem to indicate that the Alliance may yet prevail. Then ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'' happens, a game almost completely unrelated to ''Starlancer'' except for the intro, which reveals that the Alliance-Coalition war lasted for another century, with the Coalition being the inevitable victor (unless you count the original E3 trailer). There was absolutely no reason to make ''Freelancer'' a sequel of ''Starlancer'', as it has completely different gameplay and takes place 900 years later. Not one character or news report in ''Freelancer'' mentions either side or the war, despite the intro's emphatic "We will never forget". Thanks for ruining the game, Chris Roberts!
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekArmada'' ends with TheFederation, the Klingons, and the Romulans allying to stop a massive Borg invasion, which is barely stopped and ends on a typical upbeat Trek note. Guess what? The Borg are back in the sequel, stronger than before. The Cardassians also decide to attack the Federation for no reason, even though they should still be devastated from the Dominion War. And Species 8472 randomly decide to wipe out everyone else, despite Janeway earlier convincing them that the Federation means them no harm.
* There's a certain degree of this in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' as well.
** The Klingon/Federation Alliance, which Kirk's crew fought so hard to establish, is broken (though that was foreshadowed, every live action ''StarTrek'' that went that far into the future had the Federation and Klingons on bad terms); the hope of reconciliation with the Romulans that ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' ends on is destroyed along with Romulus (although admittedly, that's more due to the ''[[Film/StarTrek Star Trek XI]]'' movie); The Mirror Universe is back in the hands of an evil Terran empire; Voyager's defeat of the Borg in the finale (though ''much'' later the game revealed that it really did do significant and lasting damage to the Collective) and the tentative peace with [[StarfishAliens Species 8472]] are shattered... even one-note villains like the Breen and Devidians are up in arms. The only thing that hasn't been completely destroyed from the series is the establishment of Democracy on Cardassia, but there are a lot of left over villains from ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]]'' who are set on destroying that one, too. ([[TropesAreTools This isn't necessarily a bad thing]] for an [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] setting, however, and the fall seems to make logical sense if you [[AllThereInTheManual read the backstory of the intervening 30 years]].)
** ''The Legacy of Romulus'' free expansion/season/thingy partly overrode ''Star Trek XI'' and the related overriding of the ''Nemesis'' Romulan reconciliation hope -- there is no real chance of a reconciliation with the Romulan Star Empire after the events of the game... but the rising Romulan ''Republic'' (which by the end of their storyline is well on their way to being the single strongest faction in what used to be Romulan space) is quite conciliated and is in fact even allies with the Federation (and the Klingons. They are neutral on the Federation-Klingon War until later plot developments that make it a moot point).
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' is chock-full of this, since the centuries-spanning plot rests on three people constantly being reborn to continue their ancient, destructive conflict.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' reveals in the opening credits that after Hyrule is saved in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', eventually Ganondorf is freed and Link does not arrive to save the day, causing the world to become lost, and the land flooded by the gods. And in its climax; it's revealed that the King sacrificed the Triforce and Hyrule to prevent Link and Zelda from being eternally reborn and forced to fight the same battle over and over again, and let them have their own existence. It couldn't last. In the subsequent installments, Ganon may not be back, but Link and Zelda are back in the same roles.
** The prequel to the series as a whole, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', makes the ''Wind Waker'' timeline's situation even more dire, since [[spoiler:Ganon is merely the symptom, not the disease; killing him and destroying Hyrule forever didn't lift Demise's curse from Link's bloodline, and so incarnations of the demon king's hate will continue to haunt Link's descendants unless the curse is somehow broken. All killing Ganon accomplished was severing the curse's connection to the Triforce and losing the Master Sword, the most powerful weapon of good in the world, forever.]]
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'':
*** The game overrides many of the hopeful overtures of Zelda's decision to return Link to his original time. She had obviously intended for him to regain his lost years and live his life in peace. If ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' hadn't already obliterated any delusions of that happening, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' went a step further to confirm his lifelong ChronicHeroSyndrome, having him appear as the Hero's Shade and a mentor to the new Hero. The fact that he contributed to a thriving bloodline meant that he eventually settled down enough to have a family, but he still lingered for more than a century in the afterlife out of regret for his lost title.
*** There is also the fate of Ganondorf, arrested and sentenced to execution for attempting to usurp the throne. Seems foolproof, given that Zelda sent Link back to a point before Ganondorf got his hands on the Triforce, and thusly before gaining its powers. Except, as it turns out, he ''does'' have the Triforce of Power for an unexplained reason (even the game references how there is no explainable reason for how he has it), and with its power, survives the execution attempt, killing one of the sages before the others, in a last-ditch effort, manage to banish him to the Twilight Realm, which only delays and alters his eventual plot to conquer Hyrule.
* ''Franchise/MetalGear'':
** After [[spoiler:settling down with Rosemary and his son John]] in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', Raiden is now working as a PMC in ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' due to the fact that his cyborg body looked too unnatural for him to find civilian work. By the end of the game he's once again on a quest of revenge to end his personal war, pretty much forgetting everything Snake had taught him. It is worth noticing though, that unlike many other examples on this page, Jack didn't leave Rose and John. He still cares very much for them and provides for them with all the money he gains.
** Also, in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', the PlotTwist ending you get after the ending credits and dramatic logo show, with [[spoiler:Paz manning the giant Metal Gear you fought so hard to disable]]. It's likely that many players wholeheartedly believed this was an easter egg at first, soon to discover that it actually showed a great deal of [[spoiler:Paz's]] character the player wasn't aware of before.
* The ending of ''VideoGame/TalesOfItzkeria'' is pretty happy -- Itzka and his friends defeat the evil [[spoiler:(or is he?)]] Darius, ending his guild and his ambitions of world domination. Conveniently, the Emperor gets a heart attack, and Itzka is appointed as his successor, finally bringing peace to the land! Aside from the unfortunate implication that [[spoiler:Laura will die soon due to her accelerated aging, as revealed in the true ending]] there is nothing to indicate the finale is anything but happy. Jump forward to the sequel, where it's revealed that, within 20 years, [[spoiler:Itzka has become a ruthless dictator who's not above burning cities (ironic, considering the burning of his hometown jump-started the plot of the first game) and slaughtering all inside just because they dared to oppose him.]]
* All those Alien Wars you've been fighting for the majority of the ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' series and winning? As of ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', [[spoiler:it turns out that the war was actually part of a GovernmentConspiracy known as the Triumvirate, and that Lance Bean had accidentally uncovered the truth about it. Hence the fact that Lance became a notorious terrorist leader trying to overthrow the Triumvirate after Bill Rizer was thought to have killed Lance and destroyed 80% of the world's population.]]
* The ending of ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' gives hope in a [[spoiler: bittersweet ending, where Isaac and Carver disappear, but the source of the Marker signals, the [[EldritchAbomination Brother Moon]], is slain.]] Its expansion, ''Dead Space 3: Awakened'', [[spoiler:reveals that while Isaac and Carver survived, the Moon they killed still awoke the rest of its kind, and managed to successfully delay them from warning Earth in time, and [[DownerEnding have already arrived ahead of them and begun to feed on humanity.]] [[BolivianArmyEnding And when Isaac and Carver arrive, a Brother Moon looms over their ship, attacking their minds, before the credits roll.]]]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'':
** The first game was an early example of this; the Orc and Human campaigns seemed to be treated as alternate universes; on the one hand, the Humans prevailed and defeated the Orcish Horde. On the other, the Orcs razed Stormwind Keep and killed the human king. ''Tides of Darkness'', the sequel, revealed the Orc campaign was made canon. ''Tides Of Darkness'' was itself treated similarly; this time the expansion, ''Beyond the Dark Portal'', revealed the Alliance victory to be the canonical one. (Blizzard would switch tactics with ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' and abandon this technique entirely for ''Warcraft III'', wherein they actually subvert their earlier use of the trope by clarifying that elements from both Horde and Alliance campaigns from the previous games happened--for example, the death of Medivh (Human in ''I'') and Gul'dan's betrayal (Horde in ''II'')--but the Orc ending mission for ''I'' and the Alliance ending mission for ''II'' canceled out the opposing side.)
** ''Warcraft III'' ended with TheAlliance, the [[TheAtoner reformed Horde]] and the Night Elves finally [[EnemyMine putting their different aside and joining forces]] against [[TheLegionsOfHell the Burning Legion]], defeating their leader [[OmnicidalManiac Archimonde]] allegedly for good and saving Azeroth. Come the extension ''Frozen Throne'', it turns out [[TheUndead the Scourge]] took advantage of the Legion's defeat to become their own faction and a new threat on Azeroth, while a human KnightTemplar attempted an unprovoked offensive on the Horde, reigniting the hostilities between Orcs and Humans. Things get even worse in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', where not only do the Alliance and Horde get more and more aggressive toward each other, to the point of regularly grabbing the ConflictBall, but the Legion is back again.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** While the ''main'' ending in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' doesn't get cancelled (the [[BigBad Archdemon]] stays dead and Ferelden still survives), a lot of the improvements you can potentially bring to other problems in the story will inevitably be made meaningless to not get in the way of the story. Most notably, if a Mage [[PlayerCharacter Warden]] managed to get more freedom for the Circle of Magi, this will inevitably turn out to be a failure, since one of the main plot-points in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' is a Mage-Templar war.
** This can happen to the better endings for Anders and Justice in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'', as they are inevitably driven from the Wardens in order to appear in the next game.
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has [[PlayerCharacter the Inquisitor]] defeating the BigBad, sealing the breach for good and theres a new Divine of the Chantry. Come the ''Trespasser'' DLC, [[spoiler:the anchor is hurting the Inquisitor like hell, the two nations that you helped in the game want to disband the Inquisition, your party member Solas wants to destroy Thedas in order to pay for his mistake (giving the orb to the BigBad which started the whole mess) and to save the elves and he had his agents infiltrated the Inquisition. It gets worse that youre unable to convince Solas who later cut off your anchor arm, leaving you crippled (though it was to save your life and there was no other option) and youre left with the decision to disband the now corrupted Inquisition or to go after Solas with secrecy]].
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' was rather brutal to the ending of [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI its predecessor]], revealing that the peace its hero brought lasted only ten years before it was overthrown, and he himself assassinated, by the forces of the LawfulEvil Archangels. ''II'''s ending appears to stick for its own timeline, except possibly for the main character, as a person resembling him showed up in [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne another timeline]], claiming to have been hit with a seriously nasty curse.
* Inverted by ''VideoGame/{{Freespace}} Silent Threat'', though for more-or-less the same reasons as this trope usually comes into play (conflict and chaos requires there being people around who can get involved into conflicts) -- at the end of the original game, the narrator makes clear the expectation is that the Shivans will destroy what's left of the Terran-Vasudan colonial empires, and that's what been won is a reprieve for the now isolated Solar system. Come the expansion, and it turns out that the Lucifer's destruction had a far greater impact on Shivan coherence than expected, and that the remaining Terran-Vasudan forces in the colonies are actually ''winning'' the war.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'', Hiryu has defeated the [[AGodAmI god-complex]] Grandmaster Meio and put a stop to his plan to [[DepopulationBomb erradicate all life on Earth]] to repopulate it with his own created humanity. In the sequel Meio has not only survived the encounter, but in the 2000-year interval between games he was able to complete his plan, and the world is now populated by a new humanity that worships him as their creator and have turned Earth into a [[CrapsackWorld polluted, disease and war-ridden wreck on the verge of self-destruction]]
* ''[[Franchise/XCom X-COM]]'':
** The first game ends with humanity defeating the aliens, taking all their stuff, and blasting into space. The second game steps on that last part and sets us against a different bunch of aliens that was lurking on Earth the whole time. The third game is set in an extremely advanced and self-sufficient megalopolis - built that way because the defeat of those other aliens blew the Earth's environment into tatters. At the same time, though, both ''Interceptor'' and background material reveals that, while Earth is still the center of human activity, it is no longer the only bastion of humanity. Mars has been settled, and there are a number of colonies in a far-off region of space called the Frontier. This means that humanity's contact with the aliens allowed us to, eventually, spread through space.
** The SpiritualSequel series ''[[VideoGame/UFOAfterBlank UFO: Afterblank]]'' is just weird: the second game is based on the first game's BadEnding, but it went horribly wrong for the bad guys, so it's cool.
** Defied in [[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown the successor series]] because the developers felt it would have cheapened the victory of ''Enemy Unknown'', so instead it follows the Bad Ending: The Aliens discovered and rushed the XCOM base before XCOM even discovered laser weapons, capturing the Commander. To add insult to injury, they hooked him up to simulations for twenty years, playing ''Long War''.
* The GDI campaign in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun]]'' [[spoiler:ends with a new medical treatment for the female lead and the CoolShip flying into the sunset. The expansion campaign has the ship crashed and wrecked and the treatment backfiring badly.]]
** Speaking of which, ''Firestorm'' also got the receiving end of this trope. Early on in the GDI campaign, it was stated that Earth had less than a year before it became uninhabitable due to atmospheric Tiberium contamination; at the end of the campaign, taking place in 2032, GDI managed to gleam a countermeasure to this and developed sonic resonators as an anti-Tiberium countermeasure. By 2047, GDI is slowly but steadily cleansing and reclaiming Tiberium-infested areas of the planet... then in 2062, humanity is on the brink of extinction due to Tiberium suddenly having mutated into a hyper-aggressive strain that {{No Sell}}s all forms of containment and reclamation. It's only at the very end of ''Tiberian Twilight'' that Tiberium is finally brought under control for good.
* The best ending of ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'' ends with Harry and Cybil defeating the cult's God and escaping the town with a reincarnation of Cheryl in hopes of living a better life, an easter egg from the game's intro also implies that Cybil and Harry formed a family together. Jump to ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'', Cybil is missing ever since the first game, Harry dies shortly after the prologue, the reincarnation of Cheryl/Alessa is being stalked by the cult and she ''still'' has the God feeding on her hatred within her.
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal|1}}'' actually had a new ending ''patched in'' to justify Chell being the star of [[VideoGame/{{Portal 2}} the sequel]]. Instead of successfully escaping, [[YankTheDogsChain she is literally dragged back in by a robot]] and locked away in one of the hypersleep chambers.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' ends with {{deuteragonist}} Aigis a bit saddened but accepting the protagonist's HeroicSacrifice, finding a purpose in life and smiling at the rest of her friends as the hero dies in her arms. In the epilogue ''The Answer'', added as part of the UpdatedRerelease, the protagonist's demise was apparently completely unexpected, and Aigis seems to have lost herself since. The rest of the group is depressed and irritable, torn asunder after the hero's passing.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''
** At the end of ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', the player character managed to defeat Team Plasma, foil [[TheManBehindTheMan Ghetsis's]] true plans, and make [[WellIntentionedExtremist N]] realize that humans and Pokémon can coexist together. Come ''Pokémon Black 2 and White 2'' and Team Plasma has returned, now divided into two factions. While the old Team Plasma is [[TheAtoner making amends]] for what they did in the previous games, the new Team Plasma throws out the [[AnimalWrongsGroup liberating Pokémon]] aspect and embodies world domination/destruction. [[spoiler: Also, Ghetsis has returned, leading the new Team Plasma, has captured [[OlympusMons Kyurem]], and plans on using it to freeze the world and take every Pokémon for himself.]]
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' (and their remakes), after being defeated as the [[spoiler: final Gym Leader]], Giovanni decides to disband Team Rocket and make amends. In ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' (and their remakes), Team Rocket resurfaces, once again causing havoc while trying to contact Giovanni to lead them again. In the case of the remakes, a special event reveals that Giovanni isn't even done with Team Rocket and was actually working on getting stronger in the meantime.
** At the end of ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', Cipher is stopped and their creation of Shadow Pokémon brought to an end. Five years later, in ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'', Cipher returns, hijacks a cargo ship containing a number of Pokémon, and use them to create more powerful Shadow Pokémon, including the ultimate one, XD-001 Shadow Lugia.
* Every ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' sequel negates the ending of the previous game in some manner, such as the FinalGirl jilting or backstabbing Larry, or his [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory being erased]], as is the case between ''3'' and ''5''.
** ''LSL 6'' has it even worse, since the plot of ''LSL 5'' was about Larry and Passionate Patti (who the series made out to be his OneTrueLove) being separated and losing their memories as a result of ''Leisure Suit Larry 4'' being deleted. They're reunited at the end of the game, but despite the fact that the game repeatedly portrayed Patti as feeling lonely and like a piece of her soul was missing, Patti suddenly doesn't seem interested in Larry anymore and by the next game she's completely gone without any explanation.
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/ScarfaceTheWorldIsYours''. At the end of [[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} the original film]], Tony had lost everyone close to him, his drug empire was in ruins, and he himself was killed in a last stand against Alejandro Sosa's minions. In ''The World Is Yours'', he survives the attack on his mansion, spends three months recovering from his cocaine addiction, and returns to take back his empire and get revenge on all of the people who crossed him in the past.
* The ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' Saga escalates in a conflict where you must prevent the [[GodOfEvil dark god]] [[GreaterScopeVillain Bhaal's]] resurrection. After you slay the BigBad you get the option to either [[AGodAmI take Bhaal's place and become a god]] or [[BadassNormal ditch it an stay mortal]]. Either way the game very much states that Bhaal is gone for good. He suddenly returned in 2015 with the 5th Edition, meaning that all your [[NintendoHard hard work]] simply delayed his resurrection with a few hundred years.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'' ended with the Baby Mario Bros. finally reunited and brought to their parents, and it was a rather touching ending... which ''VideoGame/YoshisNewIsland'' proceeds to ruin by claiming that the "silly stork" brought the babies to the wrong house. Cue SequelReset.
* In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', Welkin and Squad 7 managed to defeat [[BigBad Maximilian]], destroy the Marmota, and drive TheEmpire out of Gallia. In addition, Princess Cordelia was revealed to be a Darscen rather than a Valkyrur, which would suggest that better treatment for Darscens would begin. Two years later, in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesII'', it turns out that Cordelia's decision to make her Darscen heritage public had caused a rift between the people of Gallia, with the faction that opposes her forming the Gallia Revolutionary Army, throwing the country into another war while also [[FantasticRacism hunting Darscens]] and [[spoiler: creating Artificial Valkyria]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Flashback}}'' initially ends on a [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet note]], with the Morphs' home planet blown up but Conrad Hart adrift in space with little hope of rescue. The sequel, ''Fade to Black'', reveals that [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs the Morphs took over Earth]] [[ColdSleepColdFuture during Conrad's 50-year cryosleep]].
* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' ends with the Prince [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong successfully undoing the events of the game]] by using the hourglass to rewind time. ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'' takes place seven years after and we learn that doing so he disturbed the flow of time and has been hunted by a creature called the Dahaka. Also the Prince [[TookALevelInJerkass has become a much more self-centered and violent person]]. The {{interquel}}s ''VideoGame/BattlesOfPrinceOfPersia'' and ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheForgottenSands'' provide some context of how all of this happen.
* ''VideoGame/DyingLight'': ''[[ExpansionPack The Following]]'' DLC's endings are this. [[spoiler:At the end of the game, You have the choice of whether to help Mother or not. Choosing to not help her will result in making Crane drink a vial that turns him into a sentient Volatile that escapes the quarantine zone to spread the infection, And helping her results in the entire region being destroyed by nuclear warheads.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Lufia}}'':
** The first game, ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom'', retroactively becomes one for its prequel, ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals''. The prequel ended with the defeat of the Sinistrals and peace returning to the world, but this victory is rather tainted by the knowledge that the original game concerns the Sinistrals reappearing 100 years later and having to be defeated again. It doesn't help that said prequel's ending is really a BittersweetEnding (although at least the world got a hundred Sinistral-free years out of the deal).
** ''VideoGame/LufiaTheLegendReturns'' overrides the original game's ending (once again a BittersweetEnding) by revealing that the Sinistrals weren't really defeated that time either, and 100 years later they're trying to destroy the world ''again''. ''The Legend Returns'' is chronologically the last game in the series, so the Sinistrals haven't come back from that one...''yet''.
** To a lesser extent, ''VideoGame/LufiaTheRuinsOfLore'' is another one for ''Rise of the Sinistrals'', specifically the Gratze subplot. The subplot originally ended with Gratze Kingdom's military might defeated and their dreams of conquest ruined (and, in the remake ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'' at least, a promise from the ruler of Gratze to work towards peace). Come ''The Ruins of Lore'', Gratze is out to take over the world again, and they're even much more effective at it than they were before, earning them an upgrade to main antagonists in the absence of the Sinistrals.
* ''VideoGame/MechWarrior 4'' and its MissionPackSequel ''Black Knight'' were ''bad'' about this. You play as Ian Dresari in the first game, liberating the planet from the oppressive whims of House Steiner military forces and your toady of a cousin, where you're hailed as a hero for saving your homeworld. Then ''Black Knight'' turns Ian into a tyrant so that you can undo all your hard work from the first game, putting the planet back into House Steiner's hands while also killing off almost all of the cast from the first game in the process. [[note]]Canonically speaking, Ian's presentation as a tyrant turned out to be Steiner propaganda to justify attacking him to retake the world.[[/note]] The only thing that even remotely makes the second game palatable to fans of the story from the first is that the corrupt representatives of House Steiner get their comeuppance too for having just a little bit too much ChronicBackstabbingDisorder for their own good.
* In ''VideoGame/UltimaVI'', the Avatar prevents the complete fulfillment of the False Prophet prophecy, as the Gargoyle world is not destroyed, and peace is established between Britannia and the Gargoyles. In ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'', the Avatar destroys the Gargoyle colony Ambrosia, fulfilling the prophecy anyway.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', being the [[{{Deconstruction}} game that it is]], implies that the ''player'' can do this. If you re-open the game after getting the GoldenEnding, [[spoiler:Flowey]] begs the player not to reset the game, stating that doing so would wipe out everyone's memories and [[ResetButton take them right back to where they started]], negating their happy ending.
** Of course, [[{{Deconstruction}} being Undertale]], it plays with this trope. The player can fully {{Subvert|edTrope}} it if they go for the GoldenEnding again, {{Downplay|edTrope}} it if they go for a low-violence Neutral run, or play it straight if they go for a high-kill Neutral or the KillEmAll route.
** If the player goes for the Golden Ending after ending a [[KillEmAll Genocide Route]], the ending plays normally, until the very last shot of the game, which implies [[spoiler:The Fallen Child has taken over Frisk's body and is going to murder all your friends]].
* ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'' ends with the killer animatronics and the corrupt Fazbear Entertainment long dead, the murdered children finally [[KarmicDeath getting payback on their killer]] and passing on after so many years, and Fazbear's Fright burning to the ground, seemingly taking Springtrap (haunted by the murderer) down with it. ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation'', however, dampens this severely since [[spoiler:not only is Springtrap shown to have survived, but it's implied that he's ([[AmbiguousSituation probably]]) really haunted by the killer's ''son'', [[ShaggyDogStory meaning the children never got their revenge, killed the wrong guy]] ''[[ShaggyDogStory yet again]]'', [[ShaggyDogStory and their killer is still alive somewhere]]]].
** It gets worse as what's described in ''VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator'', [[spoiler: Molten Freddy/Ennard somehow absorbed the same souls that thought were at peace into itself!]]
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, no matter how happy the ending (and the endings of some of the games are already [[DownerEnding Downers]] or [[BittersweetEnding Bittersweet]] at best), future games in the series almost always override it by showing the consequences of the events of the game on the world. To note:
** Following ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'', the coup is stopped and the true emperor returned to the throne, but later games show that irreparable damage has been done to the empire, sending it on a downhill path to its eventual dissolution following ''Oblivion''.
** Each of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'''s mutually exclusive endings are shown to have happened simultaneously due to a [[TimeCrash Dragon Break]]. While peace is temporarily brought to the region, the PlayerCharacter is dead, High Rock's various factions (including Orsinium) eventually fall back into strife, and the King of Worms ascends to godhood only to return and cause problems during the Oblivion Crisis.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' may get the worst of it. As a result of the player's actions, the [[PhysicalGod Tribunal]] are cut off from their source of divinity and two of the three are killed. When Vivec disappears early in the 4th era, the rogue moon over Vivec City [[ColonyDrop resumes its descent]] with its original momentum, causing [[ChekhovsVolcano Red Mountain]] to erupt and destroy Vvardenfell along with a good portion of Morrowind. The Argonians then invade prior to the events of ''Skyrim'', putting an end to the entire Dunmer way of life.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'':
*** ''Oblivion'' ends with the seals between Oblivion and the mortal plane closed forever, but no Septim on the throne. Wars break out, provinces secede, and by the time of ''Skyrim'', only three remain (with the third, Skyrim itself, in the midst of a civil war.)
*** The expanded universe novel "The Infernal City" chronicles that giving [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Umbra to Clavicus Vile]] caused a chain of events that eventually created an evil floating city, that turns everyone under its shadow into a zombie army.
** Only time will tell what future games have in store for Tamriel after ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', but we do know that Alduin will eventually fulfill [[BeastOfTheApocalypse his role of ending the world]] one day, as evidenced by his soul not being absorbed after the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] defeats him. This defeat is only temporary. Additionally, regardless of which side (if any) you choose to lead to victory in the {{Civil War}}, the [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri Dominion]] is still out there growing in power as the GreaterScopeVillain who will need to be dealt with.
** The main quest of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'' ends with [[BigBad Molag Bal]]'s Planemeld being thwarted, but given that the game is a prequel, all of the above events are still going to happen to Tamriel. Worse still, both Bal and [[BigGood Meridia]] confirm that stopping Molag Bal has opened the door for something worse to come about, but given that neither explains further, we don't know if the event they've described has even happened in any game thus far.
* Through flavor text in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'', we learn the story of Alva the Wayfarer, a knight who sought the cure for his love's terminal illness, opposed at every turn by the wicked witch Zullie. When Alva failed to find the cure in time, he renounced his knighthood in grief, only for Zullie to take pity on him and pull a HeelFaceTurn, deciding to help him in all his future endeavours. The two [[DatingCatwoman eventually hooked up]] and lived happily ever after. Come ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', Alva becomes a hostile invader under the new name "Alva, Seeker of the Spurned", having now lost Zullie as well. He invades a second time in the DLC, [[spoiler:and once you get past him you find Zullie's corpse which he was guarding]].
* Similar to ''Zelda'', many ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games have this happen as Dracula always finds a way to come back in time for the next game.
** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaI'' ended with Simon defeating Dracula and all seemed well. ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' revealed that Dracula laid a curse on Simon that would slowly kill him and make his body a host for Dracula if he wasn't revived and killed again in time.
** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' ended with Richter defeating Dracula and saving Maria, Annette, and other maidens in the best ending, only for ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' to have Shaft brainwash Richter into resurrecting Dracula, forcing Alucard to save the world.
[[folder:Visual Novel]]
* ''VisualNovel/KajiriKamuiKagura'' is this to the ending of the Marie route of Dies Irae. Several thousand years after in the ending Marie aka Tasogare took the Throne and became the fifth Heaven, watching over reality with Ren aka Yato until she and the other Gods were killed by Hajun usurping the Throne. Hajun starts to destroy all of reality until Yato, the only one to survive due to having the series strongest defense power and Hajun almost not noticing him barely managed to stop the complete manifestation of Hajuns Law with his time stop. This continues for eight thousand years until the arrival of the Eastern Expedition, who start their journey to oppose Yato and Hajun.
* ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' ended with [[spoiler:Ryota Mitarai's plan to brainwash what's left of the world stopped thanks to the Future Foundation and the former Remnants of Despair, and Makoto Naegi founds a new Hope's Peak Academy as the world starts to rebuild]]. ''VisualNovel/NewDanganRonpaV3'' initially seems to have no relation to that timeline, leaving its happy ending intact while its own universe deals with the extinction of humanity by a disease-carrying meteor shower. However, it then proceeds to subvert and then [[DoubleSubverted double subvert]] it: [[spoiler:it's initially "revealed" that the extinction of humanity occurred during the time of Naegi's rebuilt Hope's Peak Academy, wiping away his and his friends' efforts for good...only for it to be established that both the universe of the earlier games and the universe of V3 are [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe fictional stories]], and that they originally ''were'' going to be separate universes before the mastermind had to quickly {{retcon}} them to be related]]. In the end, whether you believe the ending to be overriden depends entirely on your own personal interpretation of [[spoiler:whether Tsumugi Shirogane's hasty modifications to the in-universe Hope's Peak canon count as canon to the Hope's Peak media released in real life]].
* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney: Trials and Tribulations'' might have ended on a bittersweet note (what with [[spoiler:Maya's long lost mother dying and Godot going to jail for it, all because of Morgan and Dahlia's actions]]), but it ultimately wraps up the original trilogy quite nicely, with all main characters being given a proper closure... that is until ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' came, revealing that Phoenix had been disbarred shortly after the events of ''Trials and Tribulations'' (not to mention having a rather strong case of SameCharacterButDifferent). To make matters worse, the only other returning character from the original trilogy is Ema Skye, which was originally not in Phoenix's arc until the DS remake and the English localization (there's also the Judge, if you want to count THAT), while the whereabouts every other main character remained unknown until ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' and ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]''.
* Winged Cloud's ''Sakura Beach'' ends with Seiji realizing how Ayumi and Momoko feel about him and he shares a kiss with both of them, implying he begins a relationship with them both. ''Sakura Beach 2'', however, reverts Seiji back to his old self with him as dense as ever, with him even saying he never kissed them before.
[[folder:Web Originals]]
* ''VideoGame/ImprobableIsland''. Defeated the Improbability Drive, did you? Great! Now [[spoiler: you get to do it again six times, after having discovered that the [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu drive permanently mutated your body]]]].
* ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall''. After Linkara defeats his evil robot counterpart (actually [[spoiler:Pollo from another universe]]), it's revealed that Mechakara wasn't the only one who [[spoiler:escaped into Linkara's universe]]. And the other person who did? Lord Vyce, an all-powerful MultiversalConqueror who makes Mechakara look weak by comparison. But at least Linkara is able to defeat Vyce. Except he learns that the reason Vyce was out conquering universes was to protect them from The Entity, an EldritchAbomination bent on consuming entire universes and make everyone in them disappear forever. Lewis stated in an interview that he wanted to keep invoking this trope with bigger and bigger threats, but couldn't come up with anything stronger than a god, so he switched to character-driven story arcs instead.
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' ended with the Maximals successfully capturing [[BigBad Megatron]] and taking him back to Cybertron, with him tied to the roof of their spaceship. However, in ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'', it's revealed that Megatron has been able to successfully take over Cybertron, in large part ''because'' he was left outside the spaceship. [[note]]it let him jump off and out of the timestream and return to Cybertron much earlier than the Maximals[[/note]] Originally, had there been a fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', their version of Megatron would have escaped from prison (he is arrested at the end of the show's final episode), possibly with help from Team Chaar, and been reformatted into a Triple Changer. Some fanfics take it a bit further and see Megatron being reformatted into ''[[Main/AxCrazy Galvatron]]''.
* The ending of ''Film/OsmosisJones'' has Frank turn his life around and adopt a healthier lifestyle, and we see him spending time outdoors with his daughter. In ''WesternAnimation/OzzyAndDrix'', on the other hand, Frank is once again an obese slob, suggesting that either he has relapsed back into unhealthy habits, or ''Ozzy and Drix'' is an AlternateContinuity, and if the latter, then Frank will be killed by Thrax.
* Combined with ChronicVillainy when it comes to the Vreedle Brothers in [[Franchise/{{Ben10}} the Ben 10 franchise]]. At the end of their final appearance in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', they had reformed and become students at the Plumber Academy. Come ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'', we learn that since then, they blew up the Plumber Academy and went back to being thugs.
* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' regarding the original Team Avatar. They defeated the Fire Nation, are revered as heroes well into the new age, and went on to have very eventful lives. However, their kids still have issues from having parents with such huge legacies and responsibilities. Tenzin's siblings feel he got the bulk of Aang's attention due to being an airbender, and Lin has more than a few choice words for Toph when they finally meet again. In this case, it's not so much "the characters didn't get to live happy lives" as much as " the characters went on to live realistic lives with ups and downs", coming off the heels of ''The Last Airbender'' 's HappilyEverAfter finale.
* In the lead-up to Creator/{{Toonami}}'s ''WesternAnimation/TheIntruderII'' event, a comic was released that depicted WesternAnimation/TheIntruder [[spoiler: being fended off by TOM 4. Week 5 of the event proper has the Intruder gloating about killing TOM 4.]]
* PlayedForLaughs in the course of ''TheSimpsons'' with Homer's half-brother Herb Powell, an auto manufacturer who was ruined and reduced to abject poverty in one of the earliest seasons after he allowed Homer to design the new car for that year...but made his fortune back by inventing a "baby translator" to help mothers understand their babies. Many years later, the Simpsons pay him another call...and get a message on his answering machine announcing that he's broke again.
* At the end of the ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' TV Movie ''WesternAnimation/ChannelChasers'', Timmy learns that he will have to one day grow up and part ways with Cosmo and Wanda, but that he can still cherish the time he has with them. We're treated to a DistantFinale that shows an adult Timmy and his two children Tommy and Tammy, who are shown to have Cosmo and Wanda as fairy godparents. In 2011's ''LiveActionTV/AFairlyOddMovieGrowUpTimmyTurner'', however, it turns out that this CharacterDevelopment for Timmy was thrown out the window in favor of having him live his life [[StatusQuoIsGod exactly the same way he did as a kid]], including still having Cosmo and Wanda, even though he should've parted ways with them upon becoming an adult. In a more meta sense of the trope, the events of the live-action movies also overrode the ending to ''Channel Chasers'', [[{{Retcon}} retconning]] the entire ending out of existence in favor of this future. Even then, though, the canonicity of the live-action films is frequently questioned.
* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'''s third season ended with a pretty happy ending (including ''restoring dead people back to life''). [[spoiler: Then came season four with "Daemon Rising" and "My Two Bobs" which ended on a giant cliffhanger which left [[BigBad Megabyte]] in control of the principal office, and this was ''never'' resolved.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' was originally intended to run for two seasons and two seasons only, the finale having Earth sign a peace treaty with Mars and the Martian Queen Tyr'ahnee preparing to get married to Commander X-2 after learning that he loved her. When the show was renewed for a third season because of good ratings, the premiere had Tyr'ahnee leave X-2 because she decided she still had feelings for Duck Dodgers and she also revoked Mars' truce with Earth when Dodgers continued refusing to reciprocate her feelings towards him.
* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E12MargeVsTheMonorail Marge vs. the Monorail]]" from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ended with the runaway monorail successfully stopped before anything serious can happen. Years later, "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E06TheOldBlueMayorSheAintWhatSheUsedToBe The Old Blue Mayor She Ain't What She Used To Be]]" opens with the abandoned monorail reactivating and causing devastation in Springfield.