History Main / GoldenEnding

* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' has three endings; The bad ending, where the player does nothing during the final battle and results in [[BigBad Alexander]] fleeing to his home world and leaving Daniel (the player character) to die, the good ending, where Daniel destroys Alexander's portal, which kills him and breaks Daniel's curse, or the golden ending, where Daniel [[ItMakesSenseInContext throws Agrippa's severed head into the portal, killing both Alexander and Daniel]], but with Agrippa's help, Daniel [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence is brought to the Afterlife.]]
* The elusive S Ending in ''VideoGame/ClockTowerTheFirstFear'' (not initially present on the ending list) which involves taking a more specific, careful path through the game, since to get it, one of your friends (Ann or Laura, Lotte is unsavable) must survive, you must free the crow in the cage room, '''not''' get caught by Mary and thrown in the shed cell, and pay a visit to the secret room (especially since said room would be empty under different circumstances). However, this ending is considered non-canon, since the sequel establishes that Jennifer was the only survivor.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' is notable in that [[spoiler:it has ''[[AvertedTrope no golden endings]]''. Regardless of which path the player chooses, at least two of the major powers in Fodlan will collapse, AnyoneCanDie (including PlotlineDeath), and the best the player can hope for is that Fodlan will recover and thrive under its new unifier]]. [[spoiler:The closest thing to this is the ending of the Azure Moon route, where the most characters can survive and all major threats are neutralized but even then it's more of a BittersweetEnding than a proper Golden Ending]].
** Likewise its spin-off, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'', [[spoiler:has no Golden Ending either. Rather, the endings are even bleaker as the war is still going when the game ends, in all three paths]]. [[spoiler:Once again, the Azure Gleam path offers the closest thing to a Golden Ending for more or less the same reasons as above but it's even more bittersweet than the Azure Moon one]].

* While ''VideoGame/NightsOfAzure'' has multiple normal endings based on the RelationshipValues between [[GirlsLove Arnice and Lily]], getting the True Ending requires completing the game normally, loading the completed game file, completing all the side-quests that appear (which includes beating two {{Optional Boss}}es), before beating the FinalBoss again. Only then will you get the ending where [[spoiler:the world is saved and Arnice and Lily remain together]].

Has nothing to do with GoldenMoment, even though a GoldenMoment comes at the ending of a story. However, due to both being about heartwarming endings, they can easily overlap.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach'': The three-star ending shows [[spoiler:Gregory leaving the [=PizzaPlex=] with Glamrock Freddy's disembodied head. Vanessa, apparently free from Glitchtrap's influence, is waiting for him at the door]].

* The 'Morning' ending from ''VideoGame/MyFriendlyNeighborhood'', achieved through both helping the 5 primary mascots of each major location and deciding to help the Neighborhood at the very end of the game. This results in Gordon helping the Puppets bring back their show properly and while he loses his job as a repairman, the reflections and lessons he learned from that fateful night at the MFN Studio change his and eventually the city's views on life for the better.

* ''VideoGame/FaithTheUnholyTrinity'' Chapter III has 'A New Journey' in which John must investigate each of the 3 main locations by of the chapter further and defeat the secret bosses he discovers in them. This allows him to properly confront Gary Miller, the leader of the Eternal Order of the Second Death cult and defeat both him and his mother Miriam Bell (to whom John has a past connection to). Gary ends up getting DraggedOffToHell by the [[GreaterScopeVillain UNSPEAKABLE]]. After this, the one that the UNSPEAKABLE was possessing, Amy Martin, simply requests that John finish what he started (exorcising her), allowing John to find proper closure/begin healing from his trauma. After leaving the cult's base, John can choose to either settle down with his childhood friend, Lisa Pearson or travel the country with Father Garcia, tracking down demons.

* The ''Franchise/CodeGeass'' RPG for UsefulNotes/NintendoDS (which covers only the first season) has quite a few branching paths. You can get the standard ending, which is technically kind of bad, you can get a number of terrible {{Non Standard Game Over}}s (including [[spoiler:accidentally driving Nunnally to suicide by saying C.C. is her new mother, or turning Shirley into a vegetable by Geassing her to "forget everything"]]), an "I Guess This Is A Happy Ending" ([[spoiler:choose not to go to Euphemia's ceremony, everything goes off without a hitch]]), and the Golden Ending ([[spoiler:Euphemia lives, Suzaku joins you of his own free will, and your forces go on to defeat the evil twins Castor and Pollux, who are out to kill people ForTheEvulz]]).

* ''VisualNovel/CorpseParty'' has many, many dead ends, with one true ending per chapter, with the final one having [[spoiler:the original 5 from the UsefulNotes/PC98 game survive]]. As it turns out, though, the next game in the series, ''Book of Shadows'', is spun out of the final wrong ending where the characters are stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop.

* ''VideoGame/VandalHearts 2'': Want the golden ending? Find the InfinityPlusOneSword, and save all three of your childhood friends. Fail at any of that, and it's some form of bad ending, which depends on a question you were asked when you were a child, and then asked again just to make sure. If you do not get the IPOS, you can save ''at most'' one childhood friend, and that means you will live alone.

** VideoGame/SilentHill1 has two events that determine the ending ([[spoiler:whether you found Kaufmann's stash and whether you saved Cybil]]), meaning there are four in total (not counting the UFO joke ending). The best outcome, known as "Good +", has [[spoiler:Harry escaping Silent Hill with both Cybil and the reincarnation of Alessa]]. While possible to achieve in a first playthrough, it requires knowledge that you only get in the good endings, namely that [[spoiler:the red liquid you find can exorcise Cybil and save her]]. As such, many believe that the standard "Good" ending is canon, but nothing has been confirmed (WordOfGod has since said that [[spoiler:Cybil survived]], but this ultimately has no bearing on the plot of [[VideoGame/SilentHill3 the game's direct sequel]]).

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' is notable in that [[spoiler:it has ''[[AvertedTrope no golden endings]]''. Regardless of which path the player chooses, at least two of the major powers in Fodlan will collapse, AnyoneCanDie (including PlotlineDeath), and the best the player can hope for is that Fodlan will recover and thrive under its new unifier]].

* In ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'', if you've [[GuileHero earned the trust of most of the people you've met]], including the BigBad, [[PlayerCharacter Agent Thorton]] can pull an ICanRuleAlone on him and [[DaChief assume command]] of the titular NoSuchAgency after having rid it of his [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupting influence]]. You then go RidingIntoTheSunset with your LoveInterest.

* ''VideoGame/FaithTheUnholyTrinity'' Chapter III has 'A New Journey' in which John must investigate each of the 3 main locations by of the chapter further and defeat the secret bosses he discovers in them. This allows him to properly confront Gary Miller, the leader of the Eternal Order off the Second Death cult and defeat both him and his mother Miriam Bell (to whom John has a past connection to). Gary ends up getting DraggedOffToHell by the [[GreaterScopeVillain UNSPEAKABLE]]. After this, the one that the UNSPEAKABLE was posessing, Amy Martin, simply requests that John finish what he started (exorcising her), allowing John to find proper closure/begin healing from his trauma. After leaving the cult's base, John can choose to either settle down with his childhood friend, Lisa Pearson or travel the country with Father Garcia, tracking down demons.

* The Golden Ending in the ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'' book ''Inside UFO 54-40'' is UnintentionallyUnwinnable -- it can't actually be reached from any option in the book.

* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' has one that can only be achieved by never using the Soul Cannon (ensuring that EverybodyLives), [[spoiler:and to befriend Britz to a certain degree so he wouldn't be KilledOffForReal towards the end. Doing this successfully will net you a different ending cutscene in which everyone celebrates their victory, before cutting to 700 years later to tie the game into ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'']]. Failing to do so will instead have a more BittersweetEnding, with the game giving you hints on how to achieve the true ending following the credits.

** ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'' mixes things up a bit by [[HardModePerks locking the good ending behind Hard mode]] instead of acquiring all the Chaos Emeralds (which you're required to do as part of the story) or by finishing multiple storylines. Beating the game on Hard adds [[spoiler:an extra boss fight, a different credits theme and a [[TheStinger Stinger]] that clarifies Sage's fate]].

* The 'Morning' ending from ''VideoGame/MyFriendlyNeighborhood'', achieved through both helping the 5 primary mascots of each major location and deciding to help the Neighborhood at the very end of the game. This results in Gordon helping the Puppets bring back their show properly and while he loses his job as a repairman, the reflections and lessons he learnt from thatt fateful night at the MFN Studio change his and eventually the city's views on life for the better.

* ''VideoGame/FaithTheUnholyTrinity'' Chapter III has 'A New Journey' in which John must investigate each of the 3 main locations by of the chapter further and defeat the secret bosses he discovers in them. This allows him to properly confront Gary Miller, the leader of tthe Eternal Order off the Second Death cult and defeat both him and his mother Miriam Bell (to whom John has a past connection to). Gary ends up getting DraggedOffToHell by the {{GreaterScopeVillain UNSPEAKABLE}}. After this, the one that the UNSPEAKABLE was posessing, Amy Martin, simply requests that John finish what he started (exorcising her), allowing John to find proper closure/begin healing from his trauma. After leaving the cult's base, John can choose to either settle down with his childhood friend, Lisa Pearson or travel the country with Father Garcia, tracking down demons.

* The 'Morning' ending from ''VideoGame/MyFriendlyNeighborhood'', achieved through both helping the 5 primary mascots of each major location and deciding to help the Neighborhood at the very end of the game. This results in Gordon helping the Puppets bring back their show properly and while he loses his job as a repairman, the refections and lessons he learnt from thatt fateful night at the MFN Studio change his and eventually the city's views on life for the better.

* ''VideoGame/FaithTheUnholyTrinity'' Chapter III has 'A New Journey' in which John must investigate each of the 3 main locations by of the chapter further and defeat the secret bosses he discovers in them. This allows him to properly confront Gary Miller, the leader of tthe Eternal Order off the Second Death cult and defeat both him and his mother Miriam Bell (to whom John has a past connection to). Gary ends up getting DraggedOffToHell by the {{GreaterScopeVillian UNSPEAKABLE}}. After this, the one that the UNSPEAKABLE was posessing, Amy Martin, simply requests that John finish what he started (exorcing her), allowing John to find proper closure/begin healing from his trauma. After leaving the cult's base, John can choose to either settle down with his childhood friend, Lisa Pearson or travel the country with Father Garcia, tracking down demons.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'s'' best ending is only achieved by completing a True PacifistRun [[spoiler:without having ''ever'' allowed the First Child to destroy the universe at the end of the Genocide route. Doing a Pacifist Run after a Genocide Run is called a Souless Pacifist Run, and is the same during gameplay but with a [[EverybodyDiesEnding much darker]][[TheStinger stinger]]]]. It reveals [[spoiler:the nature of "determination," the cause of the depression Alphys suffers from, and Flowey's true identity]], and it's the only ending that features the full credits sequence. [[spoiler:You still get to see all of this if you finished the Genocide route first, but the First Child steals Frisk's body at the last moment, and it's implied that they kill everyone. Again.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'s'' best ending is only achieved by completing a True PacifistRun [[spoiler:without having ''ever'' allowed the First Child to destroy the universe at the end of the Genocide route. Doing a Pacifist Run after a Genocide Run is called a Souless Pacifist Run, and is the same during gameplay but with a [[EverybodyDiesEndingmuch darker]][[TheStinger stinger]]]]. It reveals [[spoiler:the nature of "determination," the cause of the depression Alphys suffers from, and Flowey's true identity]], and it's the only ending that features the full credits sequence. [[spoiler:You still get to see all of this if you finished the Genocide route first, but the First Child steals Frisk's body at the last moment, and it's implied that they kill everyone. Again.]]