History Main / RidingIntoTheSunset

* Every ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' game ends with the protagonists riding into the sunset, usually by helicopter. Except for the fifth, where the protagonists instead swim into the ''[[InvertedTrope sunrise]]''.

* ''ComicBook/DisneyKingdoms'': At the end of the final issue of ''Figment 2'', Figment and Dreamfinder fly their zeppelin off into the sunrise to start their next adventure.

* Every ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' game ends with the protagonists riding into the sunset, usually by helicopter.

* Fittingly, the final episode of the ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon had Mega Man flying into the sunset on Rush.

'''[[TheStinger Waldorf]]:''' I don't know? But I hope [[LiteralMinded riding into the sun doesn't burn them all.]]\\

A subtrope of OffIntoTheDistanceEnding.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' has an episode with a Western in the holodeck, and at the end, the starship flies off towards a star whose lower half is obscured by the planet.

* Fittingly, the final episode of the ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon had Mega Man flying into the sunset on Rush.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', after Hank and Bobby came in second at a shooting competition, they walk to the sunset, until they realize they parked the car elsewhere. The final episode has them ''grilling'' into the sunset with their brand new grills as father and son, holding a cookout for the whole neighborhood.
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE43CrunchTheRockdog1 Crunch the Rockdog, Part 1]]", a story that Paradise is reading ends this way. Then [[TheSpock Wind Whistler]] questions [[FridgeLogic why anyone would start off on a journey at the end of the day]].
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E12PinkiePride Pinkie Pride]]", [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic Cheese Sandwich]] leaves Ponyville this way. Since he's a pony, like nearly everypony else in the show, he just walks.
--->'''Pinkie Pie:''' I never did get that pony's name.\\
'''Everyone else:''' ''Cheese Sandwich!''
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Slightly different in The GrandFinale: Kim and her [[SidekickGraduationsStick partner]]/boyfriend Ron jump into her [[CoolCar supercar]], kiss, and fly off into the full moon.
* Similar to the Kim Possible example, at the end of the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', after the long-awaited RelationshipUpgrade between [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend Danny and Sam]], the two fly away to see what the future holds for them.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' when Bart helped a retired TV cowboy become a real hero. He rides back into his house then comes out and discards a sack of garbage.
* Parodied at the end of one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': Gus, after [[MundaneMadeAwesome winning a game of dodgeball in the most awesome manner possible]], ends the episode walking into a sunset that wasn't there before. Hector then yells, "Safety Man, where're you going? School isn't over yet!"

* The end of ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' boxtop story arc shows the title duo ride off the sunset being heroes.
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'' episode "Battle for the Train of Gold". Gung-Ho tries to ride off into the sunset on a horse only for said horse to buck him off. Gung-Ho then decides to ride off into the sunset behind the wheel of a jeep.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', at the end of one episode featuring [[TimeTravel Professor Paradox]], when the heroes leave the are, they ride off into the sun''rise''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' episode "That's My Baby", Daffy did this as Tina stared after him. (He had just announced that [[spoiler:he wanted to start a family with her]], but [[TalkativeLoon suddenly derailed what he was saying into a speech about frozen yogurt]], and continued to talk as he walked off...[[MomentKiller kind of spoiled the moment a bit]].)
* That the Lone Ranger keeps doing this annoys the citizens in ''Thank You Masked Man'', as he takes off before they can properly thank and reward him for his heroics around town.

* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' ends "[[Recap/SWATKatsS1E1ThePastmasterAlwaysRingsTwice The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice]]" with the titular heroes flying their custom fighter jet, the Turbokat, into the sunset with afterburners blazing, after saving Megakat City from the undead sorcerer, The Pastmaster.
* At the end of the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/BountyHamster'', Cassie ends up with her feet bound and tied to her inept BountyHunter Marion, so the two of them have to hop off into the sunset instead.
* ''WesternAnimation/HiawathasRabbitHunt'': Played with. The short appears to be ending with Hiawatha paddling away downriver into the setting sun, as Bugs quotes again from ''The Song of Hiawatha''. Then suddenly Hiawatha zooms back to the riverbank, gives Bugs a big wet TakeThatKiss, and then rapidly zips away.
* Usually, [[WesternAnimation/RicochetRabbitAndDroopALongCoyote Ricochet Rabbit]] will ricochet like a bullet into the sunset. His deputy Droopalong Coyote would try to do the same, only to crash into the sunset, shattering it to pieces.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Appears in the episode "I Had An Accident", with [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a gorilla riding off on a pantomime horse]] while the main characters watch. Cut to a very confused live-action family watching on TV.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': "I Was a Teenage Stimpy" ends with the fully-adult Stimpy inexplicably becoming a FlyingBrick superhero and flying off into the sunset... except that he really does fly into the sun and is burned up during the IrisOut.

** Stan and [[spoiler:Ford]] finally live out their childhood dream of sailing all over the world, hunting paranormal oddities in the north on the "Stan O’ War II." They’ve also now fully repaired their relationship.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "I Take Thee Quagmire", a parody of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' has Lois ranting until Hal kills her by hitting her with the freezer door, followed by him declaring that he and the boys are free as they walk off into the sunset.

* In the first season finale of ''Series/Sense8'' Riley and Will narrowly escape the EvilInc that's hunting sensates. The final shot of the episode is them sitting on the deck of Riley's friend's boat, which is carrying them out of Iceland, as it sails towards the setting sun.

* The series premiere of ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' ends with Monica and Tess driving off in a red convertible. The series finale ends with Monica driving off in the same way.

* Subverted in ''{{Manga/Golgo 13}}''. Duke Togo is hired to kill a DistaffCounterpart, who it's revealed he met three years ago and had a relationship with. Knowing that Togo has the contract on her, she expects to be killed on meeting him again, but he just sleeps with her and leaves the next day. Realising she's been given a break, she decides to retire from the assassination business, but as she pilots a speedboat into the sunset [[ConsummateProfessional Duke puts a bullet through her head with a single long-distance shot]].

* It happens in ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' story ''ComicBook/TheJungleLine''. After saving Superman, Swamp Thing walks back into the jungle as the morning Sun rises in front of him.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* Gary Larson's ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'':
** Someone gets dragged back into a saloon all burnt up because "the damn fool tried to ride off into the sunset."
** Another has a cowboy is riding off into a cardboard-stand/cutout of a sunset, whilst various people wave. The caption reads 'The embarrassment of riding into a fake sunset'.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'' ends with Chel, Miguel, and Tulio riding off into the sunset... [[PlayedForLaughs well, at least Chell is riding off, as Miguel and Tulio fell off Altivo just before he started running.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Road To El Dorado}}'', it ends with Chell, Miguel, and Tulio riding off into the sunset... [[PlayedForLaughs well, at least Chell is riding off, as Miguel and Tulio fell off Altivo just before it started riding off.]]

Sometimes, heroes are known to ride into the ''sunrise'' instead — possibly as a symbol of a new beginning or fresh start on life after their adventure is over, or possibly to [[ShownTheirWork show that the scriptwriters realize]] that setting off into the wilderness at sunset is not the brightest idea. (What's he gonna do? Go two miles out of town and then make camp for the night?) Of course, the sunset ''is'' [[RuleOfCool somewhat cooler]], so a little ArtisticLicense is allowed. In fact, the sunset is so expected that using the more pragmatic sunrise in a Western [[CoconutEffect might be jarring]]. Besides, riding into the sunset means you're riding [[TheWildWest West.]] A common theme in Westerns was the "taming of the West", so there was often an implication that once one town had been "civilized" the hero would then ride farther West to where he was still needed. In stories where the hero has somewhere specific and not too distant to go and rest up, though, leaving at the end of the day makes perfect sense.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'' episode "Battle for the Train of Gold". Gung-Ho tries to ride off into the sunset on horse only for said horse to buck him off. Gung-Ho then decides to ride off into the sunset behind the wheel of a jeep.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': "I Was a Teenage Stmipy" ends with the fully-adult Stimpy inexplicably becoming a FlyingBrick superhero and flying off into the sunset... except that he really does fly into the sun and is burned up during the IrisOut.

** Old Man McGucket, now [[spoiler: having recovered from his instability and having become rich thanks to patenting his inventions, moves into the former Northwest Mansion.]] A photo during the credits shows that he’s also rebuilding his relationship with his son.

** Old Man {{McGucket,}} now [[spoiler: having recovered from his instability and having become rich thanks to patenting his inventions, moves into the former Northwest Mansion.]] A photo during the credits shows that he’s also rebuilding his relationship with his son.

** Old Man McGucket, now [[spoiler: having recovered from his instability and having struck rich thanks to patenting his inventions, moves into the former Northwest Mansion.]] A photo during the credits shows that he’s also rebuilding his relationship with his soon.

** Stan and [[spoiler:Ford]] finally live out their childhood dream of sailing all over the world, hunting paranormal oddities in the north on the "Stan O’ War II."

* ''[[Literature/{{Deathlands}} Deathlands: Homeward Bound]]''. Ryan Cawdor turns down the chance to rule the barony from which he was outlawed years before, and his TrueCompanions drive off into the sunset ForbiddenZone in their [[WeaponizedCar Sec Wag]].