History Main / EndingByAscending

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'''As this is an EndingTrope, all spoilers will be unmarked.'''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsBigWishMovie'' ends with the Care Bears taking off to the sky in their cloudmobiles for a road trip.

* One of the final shots in ''Film/DoctorStrange'' is the titular hero ascending the grand staircase within the Sanctum Sanctorum after saving the world.

* ''Manga/DeathNote'': [[spoiler:Naomi Misora]]'s death scene is shown as her walking away from Light and up a glowing staircase, at the top of which is a noose.

* ''Series/TheGoesWrongShow'' features a notable example of a StoryWithinAStory including this trope entirely accidentally, thanks to the ineptitude of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society. One of the plays they put on, "90 Degrees", features a deathbed scene where the children of an iced tea tycoon bid farewell to their dying father. It's ''supposed'' to be naturalistic, but thanks to an unfortunate misunderstanding on the part of the set-designers the set in question has been built at a 180 degree angle from the ground, meaning that everything on the ground is now on the ceiling -- including the bed the actor playing the father is lying in. It's filmed as if it were at a normal angle, however, with the end result being that when the father finally "dies", his actor is forced to let go of the bed and gravity does its work... but the way it's shot makes it look like the father is [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence very suddenly yanked up into Heaven upon dying]].

* ''VideoGame/TheCave'' ends with the player character arriving back where they first entered the titular Cave, [[AlienGeometries even though they were descending the whole game]], and take the exit that is the ladder. They keep climbing, with the implication that if they didn't leave behind the object they came in the first place it'll lead to a tragic outcome for them and everyone around them that's been hinted at throughout the game. If they did choose moral development over material gain, however, it follows the symbolism of leaving the epiphanic prison that is their worst impulses.

* One of the final scenes in ''Film/DoctorStrange'' is the titular character ascending the grand staircase in the foyer of the Sanctum Sanctorum. Having defeated Dormammu, saved the world, and become a true master of the mystic arts.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/GirlInterrupted https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stairway_ending.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Don't think we'll be seeing her again any time soon.]]

As everybody knows, [[HeavenAbove Heaven is above us]]. At the end of every individual's personal story, their soul (if they're lucky and [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believe in that sort of thing]]) will [[WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath head on up into the sky]] to join the {{afterlife|Tropes}} or what-have-you. So it's no surprise that many creators subtly invoke this idea by ending their stories with a character doing [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything the same thing, but symbolically]].

Ending by Ascending is when a character's story culminates with them going up a staircase, ladder, elevator, etc, often as the last or near-last shot in the work.

* The second-to-last shot in the final ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' movie is of [[spoiler:an adult Shinji and [[LastGirlWins Mari]] holding hands as they run up the stairs at the exit of the train station, symbolizing that the cast can now move forward with their lives in this new, Angel-free timeline]].

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CuriousGeorge2006'' ends with George and the Man in the Yellow Hat accidentally [[ExaggeratedTrope blasting off in a rocket]], symbolizing all the new adventures they're bound for.

As everybody knows, [[HeavenAbove Heaven is above us]]. At the end of every individual's personal story, their soul (if they're lucky and [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believe in that sort of thing]]) will [[WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath head on up into the sky]] to join the {{afterlife}} or what-have-you. So it's no surprise that many creators subtly invoke this idea by ending their stories with a character doing [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything the same thing, but symbolically]].

Like ClimbingClimax and ClimacticElevatorRide, it cites the feeling that Ultimate = Up, but unlike those tropes, where the ascent is mere prelude to a {{climax}} occurring in a high place, this trope is when the ascension is part of the {{Denouement}}. If the ascension itself is difficult or fraught, and/or another scene occurs after it, it is likely '''not this trope'''. See StairwellChase and ItsAllUpstairsFromHere.

* In Tim Burton's 2001 version of ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'' the human astronaut, Leo, successfully escapes the future-Earth controlled by the Apes and crash-lands on the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. His apparent success turns to a nightmare, however, as the movie ends with him climbing the remaining steps, staring at the face of the statue, which is not Honest Abe, but is instead the very Ape General he had fled from the future: General Thade. Unlike other examples, the ascension does not lead to a "happy afterlife" in this case.

* Some of the final shots of the music video to Music/TaylorSwift's [[Music/{{reputation}} "...Ready For It?"]] show her climbing a broken escalator into the light as her enemies burn behind her.