The greatest endings ever !

[Sean]

Whether it is a movie, show, book, or video game, the ending usually leaves the biggest impression on the audience. It's obviously the last thing we see (or in some cases, the first, if you're one of those who flips to the back of the book before reading the first chapter), and it gives us the opportunity to process the work as a whole in our minds and determine the overall worth of the ride. And it's no secret that an ending can even affect or outright change our opinion of the experience - the best written television show can have the most contrived, depressingly disappointing ending, yet a fantastic conclusion can pick up the slack from the beginning and middle acts of an otherwise average story.

Sometimes we have endings that are not only awesome in their own respect, but also make the entire experience infinitely more rewarding. There have been a few times when I'm watching a pretty good show or playing a rather sweet video game, and all of a sudden the build-up, climax and resolution all completely floor me. Whether I liked or loved the story beforehand, I never would have expected it to be wrapped up so damn near-perfectly, and it's endings like these that have the most impact on me. They're so good they can very well change my perception of much other media I consume, and when I look back to them, I can recall with fondness my racing heart and utterly stupid grin on my face for every second that passed as I experienced them. Without a doubt, I would call these endings perfect.

Which brings me to the point of this topic. Which endings would you folks consider to be absolutely perfect in nearly every way, ones that just blew your minds out of the water and left you in shock and awe upon witnessing every event unfold before your eyes... and once it was all said and done, you had to force yourself to stop smiling because of how impressed you were by the ending and how gratified you felt that the writers had done their work justice and rewarded the audience with the best sendoff imaginable?

It should go without saying that this is all really subjective and very personal. There's obviously no standard criteria on what makes for a fantastic ending, so the most important thing to consider is how you took in this ending and how important it was to you. I consider the emotional impact of a work the most important factor to me when it comes to determining which movies, games, or whatever are my favorites, so even if a particular ending does not have a sad death, a world-changing revelation, or even answers every single lingering plot thread, it doesn't mean you can't give it a mention. Hell, one of my (and I'm sure many others') favorite endings in a video game is Super Mario 64's, and not much really happens in it! In fact, sometimes it's not the very ending itself that you may remember, but rather the climax or the build-up, or even just the credits itself. Sometimes it was your own immersion in the work that makes you love the ending. You're free to cite any ending for any reason, as long as you mean it.

Oh and please do use spoiler tags if you're going to end up giving away major plot details. Should go without saying.

Without further ado, I'll give my personal favorite endings a shout-out, with some brief summaries and explanations of my feelings. These are only a few off the top of my head (I might go back and mention some others later, since typing walls of text always wears me out too much to provide a plethora of examples) and in no particular order, especially since they all affect me in different ways.

--

Viewtiful Joe

...Dear god, do I have to explain why again? I'm not even going to go deep into this, you should just read the posts that and in the 30 days of vidya topic. Read them, I'll wait!

But really, I don't think there's much else I can say about this that hasn't been said already. If I even had any doubts that Viewtiful Joe wasn't one of my favorite games ever, then they all wash away every single time I replay this ending and its credits.

Heroman

I recently finished bro-oping this anime with Dashy recently, so part of it may have to do with a bit of hype and still trying to take the whole thing in - but when you just get done watching something and the ending itself is what sticks with you for the next couple of days, you probably have something in your hands awesome enough to mention here.

Distraught by Heroman's apparent defeat by Kogorr, Joey awakens a hidden power and proceeds to tear through the enemy's defenses with the intent of sacrificing himself for all of humanity. However, at the very last moment, Heroman uses his last ounce of energy to stop Joey and bring him back down to earth, in a scene that specifically mirrors episode 9's climax. Eventually, both are recuperated and decimate Kogorr, all while an incredible orchestral version of the anime's

plays during the anime's last moments. Upon Kogorr's defeat, the series logo flashes in the depths of space, and the earth is saved once more !!...

Heroman is not particularly deep or brimming with original concepts. Its inherent nature and premise is lifted wholesale from American comic books. And the underlying drive behind the whole thing is exceedingly simple: a boy who wants to be a hero.

Unlike Viewtiful Joe above, Joey doesn't eagerly jump gung-ho at the prospect of the responsibility head-on, much like many other characters in fiction would be in his position. Toward the end of the story, he makes it a goal to learn what it means to be a true hero, which sometimes encompasses not only saving others' lives, but also your own, and to accept the help of others when you simply can't do everything by yourself.

Sometimes, something as simple as learning what it means to be a hero is enough to pull me into a character's development. Considering throughout all of history, we've had an endless supply of stories that explore a character's desire to learn the meaning of strength, it's not too surprising or ground-breaking, but it doesn't mean we can't adore the execution. And I think Heroman did it brilliantly.

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Note: I'm talking about the canonical good ending here.

I'm really fickle when it comes to JRPGs, and I'm honestly not as big of a fan of their more prevalent stories as more acute fans of the genre are, despite being the very selling point of these games. Though one game that really broke the mold, at least in my experience, was the original Disgaea, which pokes immense fun at typical RPG conventions and runs them into the ground using logic that only a randomly-generated mook could possibly think of. Instead of a generic hero who descends from a generic humble village family and sets out to defeat the generically evil reign of terror that plagues the land (haha thinly-veiled jabs at later entries in a series are so incredibly witty!), you assume control of an up-and-coming demonic overlord who doesn't give a flying shit about your heroic ideals or beliefs in love and the goodness of mankind.

So would you believe me when I say that not only does it completely turn Laharl's beliefs over by the end, but it does an excellent job at remaining true to the game's spirit and messages as opposed to simply resorting to the same tired-out conventions that it spent the rest of the game parodying? Laharl undergoes massive character development and does learn to accept the importance of kindness and friendship which he initially rejected, but he experiences it in an incredibly painful manner.

Flonne's apparent sacrifice at the hands of the Seraph drive him to madness in a way that he simply would not have in the beginning of the story - but before he can deal the finishing blow, he uncharacteristically holds back. Laharl admits that he finally understands why his mother sacrificed her life for his, and he proceeds to do the same for his friend... at least until Vyers shows up and puts a stop to that ritual. Lo and behold, Flonne wasn't actually killed but instead was demoted into a Fallen Angel. Vyers explains that additional sacrifice only leads to further sadness, and with a subtle hint toward his true nature, he bodes his blessings to Laharl and his wishes for him to become a great overlord, like his father was.

I find this ending to be superb simply because of how wonderfully it handled the serious themes that cropped up throughout the story. Compared to most other Nippon Ichi games, I always felt that the original Disgaea had the perfect balance of comedy and emotional depth, and it never veered too much to either side. It did not abandon its intimacy for some cheap, meaningless comic relief, nor did it glurge itself with annoyingly dark twists and angst. Moreover, this ending made me adore Laharl as a protagonist, and his development certainly makes up one of my favorite character arcs of all of gaming. At least until it was forgotten about in later games.

Ratatouille

Ratatoille's without a doubt my favorite of Pixar's library, despite the obvious greats such as the untouchable Toy Story trilogy, which I wouldn't argue against being objectively superior to this movie. But hey, a favorite's a favorite, no matter how small. A big reason why I love it happens to be for its ending, and much of its importance comes not from the main heroes but rather the movie's antagonist. so you can just mosey on over there if you feel like reading more and more words.

Man I'm seriously getting tired writing all this. It was all on a whim too, and I only thought about making a thread immediately after rewatching Heroman's ending for perhaps the fourth time today. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of this post just devolved into mindless rambling, since I wrote all this in an exhausted state. Hopefully you guys have a lot to contribute to this discussion, because I'm genuinely interested in seeing which endings in all of media you guys regard as the undisputed greatest. Get to it!

[Solkia]

Guess I'll expand on my post in the 30 days of gaming thread.

Okami

DO NOT READ IF YOU'VE NEVER FINISHED THE GAME, IT'S TOO GOOD TO SPOIL YOURSELF WITH.

Oh my god, when Issun parted ways with Ammy, I cried my ass off. Ammy looked so goddamn sad, and Issun had to fight her off just to get her to stop following him :'<

Then it comes to the final battle on the Ark of Yamato. After you defeat Yami's first 4 forms, Ammy goes to do her victory howl, and then Yami grabs her and just pummels the crap out of her. Exausted, and almost at certain doom, Issun appears in the form of prayer to lend support to Ammy. People from all over Nippon start to pray while this music plays

All of those prayer reach Ammy and restore her full strength, then she lets out a battle growl, and this beautiful piece of music plays in the final fight:

If you didn't lose your shit when this music started playing, you're everything wrong with this world.

Lol, but anyways, you beat the hell out of Yami, and the world is saved, and Ammy and Waka return to the Celestial Plain to restore peace there.

[TheOcelot]

The film ending that blew my mind: Planet of the Apes. The original 1968 movie starring Charlton Heston, Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall. The ending left me in total shock. So iconic, still even today:

The film tells the story of an astronaut crew (Taylor, Brent and Landon) who crash-land on a strange planet in the distant future. Although the planet appears desolate at first, the surviving crew members stumble upon a society in which apes have evolved into creatures with human-like intelligence and speech. The apes have assumed the role of the dominant species and humans are mute creatures wearing animal skins.

At the end of the film, Taylor and Nova (a mute human) follow the shoreline and eventually discover the charred remnants of the Statue of Liberty, thus revealing that this "alien" planet, that previously had a human civilization long before apes ruled, is actually post-apocalyptic Earth.

One of the most shocking endings ever. It could still happen in real life which is very sad. The whole film is great to watch.

The last piece of dialogue in the film from Charlton Heston when he sees the Statue of Liberty is this:

"MY GOD I'M BACK, I'M HOME, ALL THE TIME, THEY FINALLY REALLY DID IT. YOU MANIAC'S, YOU BLEW IT UP, ARR DAM YOU, GOD DAM YOU ALL TO HELL!"

Edited August 22, 2012 by MilesKnightwing

[batson]

First of all, i just want to say that i really love topics like these. Topics where we discuss an aspect of not just one series, genre or medium, but rather of fiction in its entirety. We need more of these!

At the moment however, i really cant think of anything to contribute to the topic. But i'll be back, dont you dare think i wont be back!

[MegaMan_EXE]

My endings would be:

Ocarina of Time: After being sent back to his time period, Link goes to start a new journey, when the new Hyrule in the future is being rebuilt, and happiness is everywhere.

Mega Man Battle Network 3: While escaping the remains of a monster named Alpha, MegaMan.EXE sacrifices himself to save his operator, Lan Hikari. Lan is heartbroken, but accepts that MegaMan is in his heart. Before 6th Grade starts, Lan's dad has a surprise for Lan, that will continue the BN series until BN6.

The Dark Knight Rises: I think I don't need to go into detail about this. I think everyone saw it.

MLP:FiM Season 2 episode 2: After regaining every ponies spirit and personalities back, they use the Elements of Harmony to destroy Discord. Along with an obvious reference.

[Yoko/葉子]

Cardcaptor Sakura (manga), Sakura-dono and Syaoran-san meet on the way to school, to be together forever ending with a hug.

Getsu Fuma Den (Famicom Game) Getsu kills Ryukotsuki with the swords that belonged to his brothers and they move on to the next world in peace.

Paper Mario: Bowser gets mugged despite "invincibility" and there's a big party at Peach's Castle.

Castlevania Aria of Sorrow: Soma-sama defeats his former self's power supply, proving that we all have a choice even if its whether to be someone horrid's new self of not.

[Abominal SnowTaz]

Since I watched it last night, I'll just talk about it.

Spirited Away. This movie is powerful from beginning to end. The emotion does does get to you sometimes, it made me re-think about a lot of things from my past, and the ending of the movie, you're glad that everyone is fine, your glad that all is well. Also if you haven't really seen it yet, I really recommend it.

Another would be DBZ: Broly the legendary SS. Now, I really don't like this movie. It is terrible, but the ending is such a silly twist I have to mention it. And if you haven't seen it, just sit through it til the end.

[Vertekins]

Chrono Trigger ending; The Oath.

Out of the optional multiple endings in New Game+, this one is the most badass and memorable.

Frog/Glenn decides to enter Magus' keep all by himself and make a one-man stand to avenge Cyrus. He proceeds to thoroughly pwn every single one of Magus' trash-talking generals. Ozzie doesn't even get to form a full sentence before Frog presumably cleaves him in two. Then he makes it through the entire keep in one piece and comes face to face with Magus himself.

After a pretentious monologue by the Fiendlord, Frog disregards everything he's just said and engages him in a fight and the credits begin to roll. The sounds of clashing is heard over the credits roll and when it's finished, the camera pans up to the top of the keep, the victor standing atop it with the moon behind them.

As far as I'm concerned, the guy atop the keep and therefore the victor of the fight is Frog. You don't see Magus' billowing long hair, Frog's cape is noticeably shorter and Frog is also broader.

Sonic and the Secret Rings ending.

SatSR's story pulled me in throughout it's entirety and I honestly cannot see how that ending could have been more perfect to top it all off. It's so satisfyingly well done.

You have Sonic acting with true ruthlessness, exacting what could be construed as revenge at the same time as dishing Erazor his just desserts. The Hedgehog had witnessed the sacrifice of a girl he considered to be a good friend all for his sake practically moments earlier. He saw her getting relentlessly emotionally manipulated by this monster. Hell, even he himself was being run ragged on pain of death if he did not comply with Erazor's blackmail. He's seen the state poor King Solomon was reduced to courtesy of Erazor, he's seen how far Erazor's hatred of the stories stretched when he summoned the Ifrit to expand upon his dirty work by burning whatever pages remain in the book and he's seen how far Erazor's ambitions stretch when he's told that he wants to break out into the real world beyond the book for the purpose of world domination.

And now Sonic wants his revenge.

Out comes the reformed lamp much to Erazor's satisfying displeasure. Note how he goes from laughing in triumph because of his immortality and the self-assurance that Sonic can't do a damn thing to him to looking stunned and suddenly worried when Sonic reveals his lamp in the space of a split second. Talk about being taken down a peg or two XD.

But before we get to the Genie-Pwnage, before anything else, Sonic's very first priority is demanding that Shahra be returned to life. There's absolutely no indication of reluctance on Sonic's part considering she basically betrayed him, there's no hesitance, there's no putting the Arabian Nights first. His first priority is to make use of Erazor's abilities to bring back Shahra before everything else. Speaks a lot about Sonic's ability to forgive in relation to his priorities.

Secondly, he inflicts the ultimate humiliation on Erazor by forcing him to grant his wishes totally against his will for the "Dirty rat". He's literally forced to undo his own hard word-mutilating work. That's quite the setback for the world domination bid isn't it when the road to world domination beyond the book is mutilating those words and now they've been restored?

Thirdly, he gets condemned to his lamp for eternity. In a vain effort to evade this fate, Erazor starts emotionally manipulating Shahra to stick up for him but she's now firmly on Sonic's side. Even whilst he is being condemned to his prison, Erazor has the audacity and arrogance to claim that the world belongs to him and that he's basically so powerful that he shouldn't be denied this by that filthy rat. The amusing running gag pops up again when Sonic takes visible offense to his species being misidentified, maintaining with style "I'M A HEDGEHOG!" once Erazor is within the lamp, blowing the flame off the lamp spout with a puff of breath.

And to make sure this sticks, Sonic even throws the lamp into the Evil Foundry's molten metal either preventing the lamp from ever being found or actually destroying Erazor for good. Man that's ruthless.

And then there's that ever so sweet if a tad Narmy ending where Sonic subtly comforts Shahra and reassures her that she can grieve openly, suddenly reverting to a much gentler, much more compassionate manner in extreme contrast with the hard as nails demeanor he showed just seconds earlier. It's also a cool little nod to the opening in which he was the one who desperately required handkerchiefs for his cold. Sonic doesn't immediately disrespect Shahra and whore-out her capabilities for his own benefit, just like he didn't whore-out Erazor's capabilities of granting him any 3 wishes, instead using them for the benefit of Shahra and the Storybook world.

I just love the funny funny expression from Sonic here;

"Bitch please! I've got better things to do than watch you grovel like wish for mountains of hankies"

And I got a light sense of amusement from the fact that authoritive Sonic is so little that his feet don't even reach the ground when he is seated upon the throne. He's a tiny badass!

It's just such a satisfying ending and very well done cutscene. The music was enchanting and the visuals quite stunning.

[Wraith]

Batman Arkham City. Goddamn, that was great. I don't even wanna spoil it for anyone. Just go play the damn game and see it for yourself.

[Brad]

Not an "ending ending". But it was the end of my favourite companion to this day. And it made me cry. Almost. T__T

Edited August 22, 2012 by Zero-Boom

[buba]

Rayman Origins, it takes 18 minutes to end.

Just kidding.

Ratchet & Clank: Ratchet acts like a total dick to Clank during most of the game but the ending makes for all that.

Sorry, I'm really bad at explaining this things so just have the ending (08:02).

Edited August 22, 2012 by Tmsp

[Jin.]

Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebellion

One of the best and most heartbreaking endings I've ever seen.

After taking over the world, betraying the Black Knights, and even enslaving his brother, the crown prince, he has all the hatred from around to world turned at him, as a dictator of the whole world.

He asks his best friend Suzaku to take his Zero disguise... to finish his grand plan... The Zero Requiem.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Jin Hakumen Kisaragi

[Kuzu]

The ending to "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_WmeIwUooE

So after Simon and his crew effectively kill God, and save the universe and Nia they all return home to a happy ending right? Nope, because Nia was part Anti-Spiral she dies too, but not before she marries her love Simon this would be heartbreaking if it wasn't for their mutual acceptance of it. So if you kept an eye on this series, Simon has gone through some pretty hard shit; he lost his best friend, and most of his team, was thrown in jail for doing what he thought was right and even after saving the universe he winds up as a hobo.

This would be a pretty depressing ending, but it's more bittersweet because of his content. He's satisfied with being recognized as no one as long as he made a tomorrow for his friends and everyone else. He never wanted fame, fortune, or any glory he just wanted to live life his way. It shows that being a hero isn't always a happy ending, and that there are consequences but you can't let that stop you from moving forward with your life. His last line "The light's in the sky are stars, stars where our spiral cousins are waiting for us" is just one last tribute to his fallen friends. For such an over the top, and adventurous series it's such a down to earth ending that it just stuck with me.

[Jack / Joker]

Have to echo about Batman: Arkham City.

The way that the Joker has an air of uncertainty about him the whole game is superb. They wouldn't kill off Joker right? Or would they? Joker's constant voicemails and strange way of speaking to his beloved Bats is a great buildup to the ending too. The sad thing is how the Joker unwillingly shows you that even though Batman is his archnemesis, he's his only friend. When Batman is looking at the one thing that will save the Joker's life, he actually plans to use it. Joker however has a rare moment of weakness and tries to kill Batman, destroying the cure. After this, he collapses, says one more funny thing, and dies, smiling as ever. Talia died too but who cares? The villain's death leaves such a big, tragic effect and that's so strange yet effective. Poor Joker. I actually wanted him to survive, hate him though I did...

Rest in peace you fucking monster.

[---]

One of the best endings of the franchise.

[Chili Dawg]

My favorite ending from anything ever is Toy Story 3. Perfect way to close up the series.

After going through everything together, the toys just narrowly escape death (and thanks to the goddamn claw of all things, THAT is fucking awesome fanservice), and their unbreakable bond is even further strengthened. Woody ultimately decides to stay with his friends rather than go to college with Andy, and arranges for them to go to Bonnie, the little girl down the street. Andy then gets to play with his toys one last time, one final hurrah for his childhood, just as the movie is for ours. Then credits sequence with awesome Randy Newman music followed You've Got A Friend In Me in Spanish.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Chili Dawg

[Psychic Hedgehog]

Batman: Arkham city is not only an amazing game, but also hosts one of the most shocking and amazing endings I have ever seen.

If you haven't played the game, DO NOT READ THIS. Finish the game and experience it yourself.

Joker dies.

Of course, this is a logical choice for Activision as Mark Hamil will not be reprising the role of the Joker aftet Batman: Arkham City, but it's still unbelievable.

Joker has been the arch nemesis of Batman for decades. Killing him off, however, not only takes a toll on the audience, but in game, Batman himself is disturbed. He said he would have SAVED him, and walks out of Arkham City with Joker's body in his arms, speechless. I've never seen Batman like this.

Oh, and if you've sat through the credits, Joker sings a song which infers that Batman is the closest thing to a friend that he has ever had. He DIDN'T want Batman to die.

It's very emotional and perplexing that even the two sides have appreciation for each other to this extent.

[Gregzilla]

When it comes to endings, I have very specific tastes. As much as the word is overused, my favorite endings are the ones that seem the most epic. Of course, not all endings have to be action-packed or even completely explain everything, but my personal faves are the ones that give me goosebumps. There aren't many movies, books, games, or other pieces of entertainment nowadays that make me go "Aw HELL YEAH" when the climax hits, so when they do, it's truly special. I can't think of many non-game endings that come to mind, so I'll stick to games for now.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

This is not my favorite game. It is not my favorite Nintendo game. It's not even my favorite Zelda game. However, it is still a classic, and its ending is almost PERFECT. The atmosphere during the final boss fight is pretty much unmatched by any other battle I've played through. The darkness, the lightning, the fire, Zelda's screams, the brilliant music, it's just amazing. The battle itself isn't that interesting, but the atmosphere and sense of finality make up for it in spades. I absolutely love it when good games fool you into thinking it's over, only to surprise you with something huge to face (something we'll see in the next game I talk about). Plus, it all wraps up after that quite nicely, with a lovely montage of scenes of the citizens of Hyrule celebrating the defeat of evil. It's the true definition of classic, and it makes for a legendary ending.

[Eternal EX]

Batman Arkham City. Goddamn, that was great. I don't even wanna spoil it for anyone. Just go play the damn game and see it for yourself.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Eternal X

[Old dead account]

Since Toy Story 3 has been said, I'll post one I liked a lot.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Warning: wall of text

Everthing you do in this game leads up to the ending where you bring about the salvation of the Luminoth, so here's the scoop from the beginning and some history of the Luminoth in case you didn't read the lore.

Samus is sent to planet Aether with the simple task of investigating the disappearance of a Galactic Federation vessel, but her ship is damaged in a lightning storm upon entering the atmosphere. She (crash) lands near the site of the federation vessel and immediately see a bunch of federation troopers all dead and their base in shambles. Progressing through she notices weird black fog entering the troopers' cadavers and making them move though very slowly and in a zombie-like way, they attack Samus so she strikes back and re-kills them. Along the way Samus sees a weird creature that appears to be a black version of herself entering a portal, she follows and suddenly find herself in a new horrible environment with evil looking creatures. The Dark Samus attacks her and forces her back through the portal, after being jumped by those creatures. Eventually you find the wrecked federation ship and upon investigation find more dead bodies and video explaining how they got there by fighting and downing a space pirate frigate, they give chase and are suddenly ambushed by those dark creatures you saw earlier. With them dead, Samus continues deciding to find the space pirate presence and destroy them all, but then arrives at what appears to be a temple. She is ambushed by a big dark creature there and upon defeating it, picks up an unknown item it left behind. Progressing to the top of the temple, she encounters an alien native of the planet, U-Mos the last sentinel of the Luminoth, who begs for her help in their world's peril.

He counts the tale of the history of the Luminoth. Long ago the once peaceful Aether was struck by a massive meteor (which is revieled to have been a Leviathan Seed in the next game) causing widespread ruin and destruction. Grassy plains were reduced to deserts, forests were drowned and became swamps, and the planetary energy was cut in half. The destruction was the least of their worries though because the impact of the Leviathan had instead of implanting itself in and spreading phazon instead created and entire new dimension of the planet that they called Dark Aether which was where the other half of the planet's energy went. Along with the new dimension came a new race of creatures they called the Ing which cared only for hate and destruction, the same creatires that attacked Samus and killed the federation troops. The Ing for about 50 years had waged war on the Luminoth for the energy they had, they had the ability to possess Luminoth and other creature of Light Aether so they literaly had death fights that were brother against brother, father against son, etc. and overall dominated the luminoth for most of the war stealing their energy from their main temples in 3 other lands. The Luminoth are now few in number, they have only one energy controller left on their planet which is only about 1/8 of the planet's energy, realizing the remaining Luminoth lose all hope and concede, deciding to place themselves into pods in suspended animation and only have U-Mos there to look after them as they await their final hour. Until today. The creature Samus had killed earlier and collected the item from was an energy siphon module, it was likely on its way to steal the last remaining bit of energy from Light Aether, but Samus' arrival was a beacon of hope for the Luminoth, with the energy siphone module now implanted in her U-Mos begs for her help in getting the energy back and saving them all, to which of course she accepts and goes off on her quest. This time there are three enemies, the Ing, the space pirates(though their presense in this game is rather feeble) and your dark counterpart.

Through the entire game you are implanted with this great desire to destroy the Ing and save the Luminoth from their near extinction. As you read the lore and scan the Luminoth cadavers you really do feel sorry for them and their suffering and despise the Ing more and more along the way(the fact that most of them are a bitch to kill makes them even more hateable). Every temple that you go to and decimate their strongest forces in the afterwards stealing back the energy they stole give you great feeling of satisfaction. You continue getting that satisfaction throughout the entire game, and seeing U-Mos noticeably happier every time makes it all the better. Afyer the main temples are conquered, you're faced with the task of the final energy controller in Dark Aether guarded by the Ing's leader itself, Emperor Ing (after a rather tedious key search). You go in and have an incredible battle against the Emperor, possibly the most epic in the series, and after a hardass time, the Emperor dies and leaves the final energy ball there yours for the taking, and you feel GOOD about it! Fuck you Ing, I'm out! With the last energy ball collected the Dark Planet quickly becomes unstable and it's time for you to make your escape before it disappears from existence in a short 8 minutes. Just before you can leave, phazon covers your exit and you are greeted by none other than Dark Samus who wants revenge for her 2 former defeats. You are left fighting yourself in a planet on the verge of collapse in a winner takes all deal, after narrowly overpowering and defeating her, she desintergrates into phazon particles leaving you free to escape. The Ing though having realized they lost the war, have nothing to lose so they do everything in their power to keep you from escaping in hopes that you will share the same fate along with their planet and them. However just when it all seemed impossible to escape, the phazon barrier alexplodes behind you revieling a previously unknown portal to Light Aether! Taking her last shot to escape she makes a dash toward the unguarded portal, ignoring the Ing that try to prevent her escape, but to no avail for them. Samus jumps through the portal just in time to make it back safely, looking back only to see several Ing attempting to cross the portal all at once despite knowing that they can't survive in the light world without a possessed host, but ultimately fail and stay behind on their doomed planet, the purple clouds surrounding Aether disappear, indication that its Dark Counterpart has been destroyed along with any traces of the Ing. Samus returns to the Luminoth Temple to return the remaining energy, where she finds that the Luminoth that had been sealed into pods had been released by U-Mos to hear the most unexpected news that their decades old war had been won and their salvation achieved. The Luminoth all take a bow showing their eternal gratitude to Samus, as she just casualy leaves, giving only a goodbye wave as she walk away. She makes her way to her now repaired ship and flies away, looking for the next adventure.

TL;DR You come to a planet to investigate the disappearance of a federation squad and end up tangled in a total war among the native poulation and achieving the salvation of a near extinct alien race that may have died if you arrived just minutes later, along with fighting a mysterious dark counterpart of yourself, with some pirate hunting along the way.

Never have I seen a more satisfying ending

[Phos]

Oh, sorry that I didn't put anything else. I just really like the ending to Star Wars, and no one really talks right at that moment. I imagine pretty much everyone has seen it and knows what happened there.

[NoahTH]

Gonna have to agree that Secret Ring's ending is the best Sonic ending.

[Old dead account]

"Now you have a mountain of tissues"

Really now?

[The Weeb with No Name]

Starfox 64.

[NGw00d]

On the movie front, I'm gonna say Dark Knight Rises and Toy Story 3. Both of them were extremely fitting ends to two fantastic trilogies.

Video game wise, I'll echo Arkham City, but it would've been a lot more satisfying to me if a friend didn't spoil it for me. Not to say it still wasn't amazing, but God damn my friends a douche for ruining that for me. But still the best, in my opinion, is definitely Sonic Adventure 2, if not only for nostalgia. When Sonic walks back on to the ARK after Final Hazard with that somber music playing, love it. "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog." is still one of my favorite Sonic lines to this day. And then after the credits "A new day brings new adventure, but for now... Rest easy heroes." Followed by this:

Awesome.

If only Heroes didn't tarnish it with the whole, "It'll be a date to die for!" return.