History Main / TorchTheFranchiseAndRun

* The series finale of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' ends with Frylock and Shake dead, Carl moving away, and Meatwad starting a family in a DistantFinale. Given how it was cancelled on the creators and wasn't their decision, they probably aimed for this trope to make sure there wasn't a revival. This is immediately subverted when it was revealed that not only was that episode not the final one to be released (the next one aired online three days later) but also it wasn't even the last one ''chronologically'' (Shake watches the events on TV and claims that they happened last week). Then again, the series ''does'' run on NegativeContinuity. The series then was revived with a series of web shorts in 2022, followed by a movie later that same year. A twelfth season consisting of five episodes was then announced and subsequently premiered in 2023.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d. Long after the show had been cancelled, TrollingCreator Creator/JhonenVasquez announced on his website that, as the maker of IZ canon, he officially declares that [[VillainProtagonist Zim]] [[KilledOffscreen crashed his spaceship and died off-screen]], in response to constant fan inquires about reviving the show. Vasquez and Nickelodeon would do so years later with [[ComicBook/InvaderZimOni a comic continuation]] and [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus a TV movie]].
* This is ultimately how ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' ended in its DirectToVideo Movie. After everything was said and done, Spanky accidentally steps on an Eraser Bomb; killing the entire cast and destroying the Drawn Together house. This is in addition to the other housemates being KilledOffForReal.

* ''WesternAnimation/KidCosmic:'' The third season wrapped up with the heroes' Cosmic Stones that enabled their powers becoming permanently inert in the process of defeating Erodius and Fantos, Papa G left wheelchair-bound and on borrowed time as a result of giving up the healing stone in his possession and no hostile alien enemies remaining now that Fantos is dead, the Cosmic Stones no longer work and Erodius is no longer destroying planets. This is clearly to prevent Creator/{{Netflix}} from renewing the series for more episodes without any involvement from Creator/CraigMcCracken. Though given Netflix’s massive [[https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/netflix-animation-erased-executives-fired-220251819.html cancellations]] to its Kids and Family shows that happened soon after ''Kid Cosmic'' ended, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork it’s not like they were going to follow it up anyways]].

* ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'' does this in the finale episode, with a little bit of EndOfSeriesAwareness. In the last episode of the show, some characters criticize the reboot and [[SelfDeprecation the franchise as a whole]] for being repetitive and formulaic. To top it all off, the final scene has a meteor crashing down on Earth, killing the Warner Siblings, the show's cast and everyone else. The end.
* Season 1 of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' infamously ended with all of the Decepticons being pushed into a river of lava just in case if the show was cancelled early. After, ''Transformers G1'' was proven successful enough to turn the toyline into a franchise, the ending was changed so that the Decepticons are all revealed to have survived the lava after all.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies'' reached a fairly definitive conclusion with ''Revelations'', the final map of the ''Black Ops III'' season which resolved the main MythArc and provided an EarnYourHappyEnding for the heroes. However, Treyarch brought the series back for ''Black Ops IV'', with a storyline that undoes the happy ending, and seemed to be building to the ''true'' finale with a great, epic final battle in the works. Ultimately, the story ends on a shockingly dark, bleak note as all the heroes die as they literally destroy the series's universe in hopes of finally ending all the chaos and zombie mayhem. Few of the ongoing plot threads were resolved, the main antagonist ended up not being faced, and literally everyone died except for Samantha and Eddie. Many fans suspect that this was Treyarch's tough-love way of ending the franchise and refusing to do anything further with the series, and asking players to move on.

* [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} Jim Davis]] supposedly ended his first comic strip, ''ComicStrip/GnormGnat'', by having a giant foot stomp on Gnorm. This later turned out to be [[PopCultureUrbanLegends an urban legend]] (that [[LyingCreator Davis himself helped spread]]). The actual final strip was a simple 1975 Christmas strip of Gnorm saying "Thanks, Pendleton" to the fourth wall.

** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' does this for ''The Infinity Saga'', as Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow) dies from sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone, Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) dying after using the Infinity Stones that were gathered from the time heist to snap 2014 Thanos and his goons out of existence. Also, the original time stones were destroyed by OG Thanos five years earlier, and Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) ends up traveling back to the 1940s to stay with Peggy Carter after returning the time-heist Infinity Stones to their original points in time and his elderly self passes the shield to Sam Wilson (aka Falcon), believing him to be a worthy successor for the Captain America mantle.

* This is parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "[[Recap/RockosModernLifeS3E10WackyDelly Wacky Delly]]": Ralph (later known as Rachel) Bighead wants to get out of his contract with a TV network, who want him to create another hit show for them, so he hires Rocko, Filburt, and Heffer to come up with ''Wacky Delly'', the worst possible show imaginable. Despite the production being a complete wreck due to their inexperience, on top of his earnest efforts to sabotage it, [[SpringtimeForHitler the show becomes a huge hit]]. When convinced to accept his lot and actually put actual time and effort into the episodes himself, ''Wacky Delly'' is immediately cancelled.

* InUniverse example: This is how Richard Castle of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' ended his Derrick Storm novels so he could begin the new Nikki Heat series. He gets quite a bit of flack for it until the Heat books take off. He later [[FirstLawOfResurrection brings Storm back to life anyway]], so the point is rendered moot.

* This is parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "[[Recap/RockosModernLifeS3E10WackyDelly Wacky Delly]]": Ralph (later known as Rachel) Bighead wants to get out of his contract with a TV network, who want him to create another hit show for them, so he hires Rocko, Filburt, and Heffer to come up with ''Wacky Delly'', the worst possible show imaginable. Despite the production being a complete wreck due to their inexperience, on top of her earnest efforts to sabotage it, [[SpringtimeForHitler the show becomes a huge hit]]. When convinced to accept his lot and actually put actual time and effort into the episodes hemself, ''Wacky Delly'' is immediately cancelled.

* Attempted in Film/PiratesOfTheCarribeanAtWorldsEnd. Director Gore Verbinski was getting so fatigued by the ever-expanding scope of the trilogy's subplots that he eventually [[https://collider.com/gore-verbinski-interview-pirates-of-the-caribbean-2-pirates-3-production/ intended for this movie to resolve all the characters' stories so conclusively that there would not be another movie.]] Two more movies happened anyway, but Verbinski refused to do the fifth one because he believed it existed solely to make money.

* This is parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "[[Recap/RockosModernLifeS3E10WackyDelly Wacky Delly]]": Rachel (then known as Ralph) Bighead wants to get out of her contract with a TV network, who want her to create another hit show for them, so she hires Rocko, Filburt, and Heffer to come up with ''Wacky Delly'', the worst possible show imaginable. Despite the production being a complete wreck due to their inexperience, on top of her earnest efforts to sabotage it, [[SpringtimeForHitler the show becomes a huge hit]]. When convinced to accept her lot and actually put actual time and effort into the episodes herself, ''Wacky Delly'' is immediately cancelled.

!!As this is an {{Ending Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].

* Kieron Gillen came out and [[http://gillen.cream.org/wordpress_html/4848/one-for-sorrow-why-did-kieron-do-it/ said]] (mucho spoilers, by the way) this was the reason behind the ending of his run on ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMysteryGillen''. In the fullness of history, the probability of Kid Loki being written back into villainy approaches one, so Gillen tied up all his outstanding plotlines and literally wrote Kid Loki out of existence. Oh, and had Old Loki take over his body.

* Creator/TerryNation ''tried'' this with the end of Season 3 of ''Series/BlakesSeven''. He torched the [[CoolShip Liberator]], revealed the "Blake" they found to be a hallucination, stranded the crew at the far end of the galaxy, etc. That didn't work.[[note]]Apparently, the Head of the BBC's Television Department was watching the last episode of Season 3 at home and was so impressed that he told the presentation department to announce a new season during the final credits.[[/note]] Undeterred, script editor Chris Boucher made damn sure to try harder, [[EverybodyDiesEnding torching the replacement ship, and all the cast]] at the end of the following season. [[BolivianArmyEnding This time, it worked.]] (Though even then, only [[spoiler:Blake himself]] is absolutely definitely killed; the production left the rest just vague enough that if there ''had'' been another season, any of the actors who wanted to continue could have.)

** Creator/NathanFillion also tweeted that he wanted Castle to die at the end of the series [[https://twitter.com/NathanFillion/status/476488346957402112 so no one else can play him.]] Apparently even JustForFun/OneOfUs can forget about the FirstLawOfResurrection. [[spoiler:He eventually didn't die.]]

* Three of the four series of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' ended by killing off some or all of their main characters either as a real or parody version of this, as they’d all be alive and reincarnated in a different time period the following series. The third one was the only one where this didn't happen. Sure, [[spoiler: the Prince Regent]] died, but [[spoiler:Blackadder]] took his place.

** ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' certainly went in this direction, what with [[spoiler:Zordon dying and his energies being used to purify all evil and apparently take away the Rangers' powers]]. Obviously [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy it didn't stick.]]

* Perhaps a lighter example than most others that fall under this trope: after two seasons of excess stress and pressure, Bret [=McKenzie=] and Jemaine Clement chose to end the Music/FlightOfTheConchords series with [[spoiler: Bret and Jemaine getting deported back to New Zealand, losing their only fan, no longer pursuing their music career and going back to being shepherds]]. Nobody dies and one could argue that the duo could've still bounced back from that, but coupling [[spoiler: the characters' deportation]] with how [=McKenzie=] told their agents not to tell them how much they were going to be offered for a third season, it's pretty clear that won't be happening.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies'' reached a fairly definitive conclusion with ''Revelations'', the final map of the ''Black Ops III'' season which resolved the main MythArc and provided an EarnYourHappyEnding for the heroes. However, Treyarch brought the series back for ''Black Ops IV'', with a storyline that undoes the happy ending, and seemed to be building to the ''true'' finale with a great, epic final battle in the works. [[spoiler:Ultimately, the story ends on a shockingly dark, bleak note as all the heroes die as they literally destroy the series's universe in hopes of finally ending all the chaos and zombie mayhem. Few of the ongoing plot threads were resolved, the main antagonist ended up not being faced, and literally everyone died except for Samantha and Eddie]]. Many fans suspect that this was Treyarch's tough-love way of ending the franchise and refusing to do anything further with the series, and asking players to move on.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'' ends with an apocalypse, all the Greek gods dead, and Kratos performing a HeroicSacrifice to save what's left of humanity. [[spoiler:TheStinger however hints at Kratos' survival]]. The next installments ''VideoGame/GodOfWarGhostOfSparta'' and ''VideoGame/GodOfWarAscension'' were prequels designed to answer the few mysteries left. It wasn't until 2018 that the timeline continued with the SoftReboot ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'', focusing on Myth/NorseMythology instead.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this trope. The decision to [[spoiler:nuke Black Mesa]] in ''[[VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce Opposing Force]]'' was done to halt pressure to set a sequel to ''Half-Life'' in Black Mesa, which Valve felt would be creative death. While [[VideoGame/HalfLifeBlueShift two]] [[VideoGame/HalfLifeDecay further]] expansions to Half-Life would also be set in Black Mesa, ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' is set in a completely different setting.
* ''VideoGame/TheHex'' has an InUniverse example with ''Secrets of Legendaria'', the game that Chandrelle Stormblaze hails from. [[spoiler:After getting tired of going through the same thing over and over again, she, during a livestream by a popular streamer, teamed up with the game's villain, Dark Lord Vallamir, and helped him invade the game world, riddling it with glitches that made it unplayable and got the planned series cancelled. As punishment, she was forced to harbor Vallamir in her body for eternity while Lazarus Bleeze, her accomplice, was turned into a SpaceMarine and booted into the ''Vicious Galaxy'' series.]]
* This may ([[LyingCreator or]] [[MindScrew may]] [[SequelHook not]]) be the reason ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'', which the creators have said will be the last game in the series, ends [[spoiler:in a full-scale nuclear war, killing everyone who hadn't been killed by that point. [[UncertainDoom Although, we're never shown if Biker was killed or not...]]]]

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has series protagonist Solid Snake turned into an old man as a result of the cloning process used to create him and is given less than a year to live by the end of the game, leaving little room for Snake to appear in future sequels. The only ''Metal Gear'' games since then had been prequels (''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Peace Walker]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes Ground Zeroes]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain The Phantom Pain]]'') and a spin-off (''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'') set after ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' that doesn't even reveal Snake's fate. In the first draft of ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', the whole "torch and run" was a lot more blatant: the game was originally going to end with Snake and Otacon [[DownerEnding getting arrested and executed for terrorism]]. A WriterRevolt forced Kojima to abandon this idea. The actual ending is still pretty conclusive and final, though, [[spoiler:albeit [[EarnYourHappyEnding far more satisfying]], with the Patriots being defeated, Meryl and Johnny getting married, Rose and Raiden reconciling, Otacon adopting Sunny, the FOXDIE virus infecting Snake's body being cured, and Snake reconciling with Big Boss [[DiedInYourArmsTonight in the latter's final moments]], after which he resolves to spend these last few months he has left with Otacon and Sunny before he dies of his accelerated old age.]]

* Done with the ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series. Creator/ShigesatoItoi wanted the series to end with ''VideoGame/Mother3'', so he [[spoiler:destroyed what little else remained of the entire world, and failed to answer the question of [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse how the characters survived that]] - but they all personally insist to the player that they survived and they're happy. [[GainaxEnding Somehow]]]]. Itoi said that the original script for the game was even darker, so the original ending was probably meant to be an EverybodyDiesEnding. That being said, Itoi has said that while he is done with the franchise, [[ApprovalOfGod he is excited to see what fans can come up with]].

** Subverted in the long run with ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': at the end of the story mode, [[BigBad Kronika]] is defeated, however, [[MultipleEndings how the final battle ends determines the outcome]], with the post-story DLC ''Aftermath'' adding two new endings to the list and leaving the whole thing as an AmbiguousSituation. Come [[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 the next game]], and it turns out it's a ContinuityReboot taking place after one of the endings... [[spoiler:only for the game to eventually reveal that ''all'' endings from ''11'' (including the alternate endings as well as ''all'' of the ''Towers of Time'' endings) are ''canonical'' {{Alternate Timeline}}s, with every winner becoming a Titan and Keeper of Time in their respective timeline. After [[TheWarSequence the Battle at the Pyramid of Argus]], there's a new clean slate for the franchise to continue]].

* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' was written in a way to ensure that no sequels or follow-ups could be made to its story. This is why the story ends with [[spoiler:almost everyone dying and the main protagonist, Walker, either dying or ending up a psychological wreck]]. There was an idea for DLC for Adams since his [[spoiler:death was off-screen]], but even then, the script for the game made [[spoiler:his death]] unambiguous.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Stationfall}}'', the sequel to the popular ''VideoGame/{{Planetfall}}'', Steve Meretzky [[spoiler:had the RobotBuddy Floyd killed off]] because he didn't want to do a third game. After Infocom's demise, Activision was planning on doing a graphical sequel anyway (tentatively titled The Search For Floyd), but the project was soon cancelled. There were also two novels loosely based on the games and set after the events of the games, by Arthur Byron Cover, but these novels were generally poorly received.
* This appears to have done this to the ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' series with ''Logan's Shadow'', as the ending involves the possible deaths of three of the four main characters. Sony has no plans for further sequels. [[spoiler:The series made a comeback with ''VideoGame/DaysGone'', with an EasterEgg not only [[https://www.gamesradar.com/days-gone-easter-eggs-suggest-its-really-a-syphon-filter-sequel-where-gabe-and-lian-failed-to-save-the-world/ revealing]] that the games take place in the same universe but also implying that the [[TheVirus zombie virus]] is in fact a strain of the titular Syphon Filter bioweapon, meaning that the franchise ended with [[TheBadGuyWins the protagonists failing]] and a ZombieApocalypse destroying most of humanity as a result.]]

* ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' was the last game in the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' franchise that was led by Creator/ShuTakumi, and Takumi knew it. To ensure that no more ''Ace Attorney'' games would be made, he had Phoenix Wright lose his attorney's badge and ''gave the legal system a jury''. This did not work: In the next game, ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'', Phoenix gets his badge back, and [[AbortedArc all plans to rewrite the legal system were forgotten and never brought up]]. Then, in [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice the game after that]], [[spoiler:Apollo leaves the Wright agency]], returning almost everything to how it was before ''Apollo Justice'', except that Takumi is still contractually forbidden to work on any mainstream ''Ace Attorney'' game. However, he still worked on ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'', as well as [[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsPhoenixWrightAceAttorney the crossover with]] ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'', so the split must have at least been somewhat amicable.
* The final chapter of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' takes this up to eleven. [[spoiler:Tsumugi Shirogane]], after being outed as the mastermind, reveals that [[spoiler:everything that has happened in the game is "Ultimate Real Fiction" based on... ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}''. In the ''Danganronpa V3'' universe, [[MetaSequel the previous games and anime are exactly that]], games and anime. The franchise became so popular that it eventually got adapted into a reality show where teenagers willingly and eagerly sign up to have their minds wiped and replaced with the fabricated identities of ''Danganronpa'' characters so they can kill each other for real on live TV. And the "V3" in the title? Stands for 53, meaning this show has potentially been going on for 50 seasons (since the earliest it could have started would be ''Danganronpa 4'')]]. Following this reveal, the protagonist swears to [[spoiler:destroy ''Danganronpa'']], which culminates in a boss battle against [[spoiler:[[TakeThatAudience the]] ''[[TakeThatAudience Danganronpa]]'' [[TakeThatAudience fanbase]]. The fight ends with the fanbase losing interest in ''Danganronpa'' and moving on]]. Following this, [[spoiler:K1-B0 destroys the Ultimate Academy, seemingly killing everyone before self-destructing. Given that K1-B0 was the AudienceSurrogate for the in-universe fanbase, this could be seen as a final goodbye to the ''Danganronpa'' franchise]]. However, in a post-credits scene, [[spoiler:Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko are revealed to have survived K1-B0's rampage and decide to move on to see if what they were told is true or not, hinting that ''Danganronpa'' may not be over after all]]. Needless to say, this ending led to an enormous BrokenBase in the fandom.

* ''WebAnimation/LlamasWithHats'': By the end of the series, [[spoiler: every single living being on earth is dead and the main character, who was the sole survivor, decides to commit suicide after finding the corpse of his best friend.]] In [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150217081041/http://www.filmcow.com/2015/02/12/llamas-with-hats-an-explanation/ a blog entry]], Jason Steele comments about how the series could have "gone forever" like ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' or ''WebAnimation/TheAnnoyingOrange'', but instead of that, he preferred to end it.

* The series finale of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' ends with [[spoiler: Frylock and Shake dead, Carl moving away, and Meatwad starting a family in a DistantFinale.]] Given how it was cancelled on the creators and wasn't their decision, they probably aimed for this trope to make sure there wasn't a revival. This is immediately subverted when it was revealed that [[spoiler:not only was that episode not the final one to be released (the next one aired online three days later) but also it wasn't even the last one ''chronologically'' (Shake watches the events on TV and claims that they happened last week)]]. Then again, the series ''does'' run on NegativeContinuity. The series then was revived with a series of web shorts in 2022, followed by a movie later that same year. A twelfth season consisting of five episodes was then announced and subsequently premiered in 2023.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' was originally intended to end with the three-episode "Mutant Apocalypse" arc. It entailed the Turtles failing to stop a Mutagen bomb from exploding while they were still teenagers, and then, with the exception of Raphael and Donatello, spending the next 50 years separated, until Michelangelo is found and [[spoiler:Leonardo's cured of his mutagen-induced insanity]], and they find their way to their final destination. The showrunner, Ciro Nieli, [[WordOfGod admitted]] this was done so that nobody could come in and continue the series after he was done with it. This didn't exactly work and ended up being unnecessary: Nickelodeon advertised "Mutant Apocalypse" as an alternate universe WhatIf storyline, aired it [[OutOfOrder in the middle of the final season]] with the "[[IntraFranchiseCrossover Wanted: Bebop and Rocksteady]]" arc taking its place as the GrandFinale instead, before moving on to creating [[WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles the next franchise installment in a new continuity]].

* This is ultimately how ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' ended in its DirectToVideo Movie. [[spoiler: After everything was said and done, Spanky accidentally steps on an Eraser Bomb; killing the entire cast and destroying the Drawn Together house. This is in addition to the other housemates being KilledOffForReal.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'' does this in the finale episode, with a little bit of EndOfSeriesAwareness. In the last episode of the show, some characters criticize the reboot and [[SelfDeprecation the franchise as a whole]] for being repetitive and formulaic. To top it all off, [[spoiler:the final scene has a meteor crashing down on Earth, killing the Warner Siblings, the show's cast and everyone else.]] The end.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' seems to have done this again by having [[spoiler:BigBad Kronika successfully erase the entire ''MK'' timeline before being defeated by Liu Kang, with the latter promising to rebuild it]]. The ''Aftermath'' DLC makes it much more ambiguous as to what happens as [[spoiler:the game can either end with Liu Kang creating a new timeline and helping train a more humble Kung Lao or Shang Tsung creating a new timeline with him as ruler of almost everything]]. The next installment, ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'', would indicate that it was the former, leading to the series' second ContinuityReboot.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': Series creator, Creator/HideoKojima, has been very open about how he has seen every game after ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' as the very last in series, and as a result, he has deliberately tried to make every installment work as an airtight finale for the series, only for more sequels to be commissioned.

** ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV The Phantom Pain]]'' does this more subtly by ending at [[BookEnds the beginning of the original]] ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'', thereby ending the prequel saga. With Kojima falling out with Creator/{{Konami}}, it certainly feels like Kojima tried this. This hasn't stopped Konami from trying to put out more games (such as a ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' ''pachinko'' game -- [[http://kotaku.com/dammit-konami-a-metal-gear-pachinko-game-is-really-hap-1780047257#_ga=1.110308613.162179056.1468566137 no joke]] -- and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSurvive''), but given the backlash Konami's received over their treatment of Kojima, the fans might finish the torching for Kojima. It didn't quite take since Konami eventually re-gathered enough manpower for announcing ''Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater'' (A HD Remake of [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater the third game]]), but at least no new storylines are made.

* Done with the ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series. Creator/ShigesatoItoi wanted the series to end with ''VideoGame/Mother3'', so he [[spoiler:destroyed what little else remained of the entire world, and failed to answer the question of [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse how the characters survived that]] - but they all personally insist to the player that they survived and they're happy. [[GainaxEnding Somehow]]]]. Itoi said that the original script for the game was even darker, so the original ending was probably meant to be an EverybodyDiesEnding. That being said, Itoi has said that while he is done with the franchise, [[ApprovalOfGod he is excited to see what fans can come up with.]]

* The series finale of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' ends with [[spoiler: Frylock and Shake dead, Carl moving away, and Meatwad starting a family in a DistantFinale.]] Given how it was cancelled on the creators and wasn't their decision, they probably aimed for this trope to make sure there wasn't a revival. This is immediately subverted when it was revealed that [[spoiler:not only was that episode not the final one to be released (the next one aired online three days later) but also it wasn't even the last one ''chronologically'' (Shake watches the events on TV and claims that they happened last week)]]. Then again, the series ''does'' run on NegativeContinuity. The series then was revived with a series of web shorts in 2022, followed by a movie later that same year. A twelfth season consisting of five episodes was then announced in 2023.

* The series finale of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' ends with [[spoiler: Frylock and Shake dead, Carl moving away, and Meatwad starting a family in a DistantFinale.]] Given how it was cancelled on the creators and wasn't their decision, they probably aimed for this trope to make sure there wasn't a revival. This is immediately subverted when it was revealed that [[spoiler:not only was that episode not the final one to be released (the next one aired online three days later) but also it wasn't even the last one ''chronologically'' (Shake watches the events on TV and claims that they happened last week)]]. Then again, the series ''does'' run on NegativeContinuity. The series then was revived with a series of web shorts in 2022, but had gone silent since.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' received an extremely abrupt DistantFinale ending that had many fans puzzled as to the remaining unresolved plot threads. A short time later it surfaced that Creator/KenAkamatsu had decided to end the series as a protest against his publisher Kodansha for their attempts to take away all the rights to the work, including the copyright itself and their intention to sue any and all {{doujinshi}} artists using the Negima characters and/or setting. Akamatsu, who himself began his career as a doujin artist, [[BerserkButton didn't take kindly to this]], promptly ending the CashCowFranchise immediately. Nobody is killed off, however, as the story goes out of its way to make any sort of continuation completely impossible. The BigBad is dealt with off-screen, and the romance is left ambiguous apart from ShipSinking for the four most popular pairings for the main character. Akamatsu returned to Kodansha once he worked it out with Kodansha that they would never, ever, try the stuff they had talked about before, such as dual-copyright ownership of the manga, suing doujin artists, etc., lest he decide to totally close up shop with them and [[Magazine/ShonenJump go to one of their competitors]]. He later wrote ''Manga/UQHolder'' as at first a StealthSequel to ''Negima'', with a few returning characters, graduallly picking up more and more of ''Negima's'' old cast and started honing in on the biggest unresolved plot thread from the previous story (dealing with the BigBad), to the point of being subtitled ''UQ Holder: Mahou Sensei Negima 2'' after its jump into a monthly magazine. It is worth pointing out the above-mentioned sequence of events is the most [[UrbanLegendOfZelda generally accepted interpretation of events among fans]], pieced together from allusions, comments and vague statements here and there, but no official complete confirmation on the whole affair and Akamatsu's actual reasons has ever been stated, especially since Akamatsu and Kodansha still keep a professional relationship and would presumably share an interest on keeping the details under wraps.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' received an extremely abrupt DistantFinale ending that had many fans puzzled as to the remaining unresolved plot threads. A short time later it surfaced that Creator/KenAkamatsu had decided to end the series as a protest against his publisher Kodansha for their attempts to take away all the rights to the work, including the copyright itself and their intention to sue any and all {{doujinshi}} artists using the Negima characters and/or setting. Akamatsu, [[JustForFun/OneOfUs who himself began his career as a doujin artist]], [[BerserkButton didn't take kindly to this]], promptly gave Kodansha the one-finger salute and told them he would be ending the CashCowFranchise immediately. Nobody is killed off, however, as the story goes out of its way to make any sort of continuation completely impossible. The BigBad is dealt with off-screen somehow and the romance is left ambiguous apart from ShipSinking for the four most popular pairings for the main character. Akamatsu returned to Kodansha once he worked it out with Kodansha that they would never, ever, try the stuff they had talked about before, such as dual-copyright ownership of the manga, suing doujin artists, etc., lest he decide to totally close up shop with them and [[Magazine/ShonenJump go to one of their competitors]]. He later wrote ''Manga/UQHolder'' as at first a StealthSequel to ''Negima'', with a few returning characters. It eventually picked up more and more of ''Negima's'' old cast and started honing in on the biggest unresolved plot thread from the previous story (dealing with the BigBad), to the point where the manga is now officially subtitled ''UQ Holder: Mahou Sensei Negima 2''. It is worth pointing out the above-mentioned sequence of events is the most generally accepted interpretation of events among fans, pieced together from allusions, comments and vague statements here and there, but no official complete confirmation on the whole affair and Akamatsu's actual reasons has ever been stated, especially since Akamatsu and Kodansha still keep a professional relationship and would presumably share an interest on keeping the details under wraps.

* Attempted in-universe by Dante in ''[[Fanfic/DantesNightAtFreddys Dante's Night at Freddy's 2: Animatronic Boogaloo]].'' After learning [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3 Fazbear's Fright]] is going to be a thing, Dante has a brief mental, fourth-wall-breaking meltdown before destroying the establishment and appearing to kill Spring Trap.]] Judging by the SequelHook, this unfortunately doesn't work.

* The ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' GrandFinale episode "Goodbye Riverdale" ends with ends with everyone dead in 2023 (having been changed via TimeTravel to have been born in the 1930s), though they're shown enjoying milkshakes at Pop's in what's implied to be a "perpetual high school" afterlife.

** ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'' has a character-specific example of this. After Creator/ChadwickBoseman's passing in 2020, the movie opens with T'Challa being dead from an illness and the character's funeral subsequently proceeding it. And with T'Challa's absence being felt throughout the movie, coupled with Creator/KevinFeige being completley adament on not recasting T'Challa (something he was willing to do with Thunderbolt Ross with Creator/HarrisonFord taking over the role from the late Creator/WilliamHurt), it's very likely he will never be revived in any shape or form.

As an ending trope, all spoilers are unmarked. You have been warned!

** ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV The Phantom Pain]]'' does this more subtly by ending at [[BookEnds the beginning of the original]] ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'', thereby ending the prequel saga. With Kojima falling out with Creator/{{Konami}}, it certainly feels like Kojima tried this. This hasn't stopped Konami from trying to put out more games (such as a ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' ''pachinko'' game -- [[http://kotaku.com/dammit-konami-a-metal-gear-pachinko-game-is-really-hap-1780047257#_ga=1.110308613.162179056.1468566137 no joke]] -- and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSurvive''), but given the backlash Konami's received over their treatment of Kojima, the fans might finish the torching for Kojima.

* ''Series/TheFlightOfTheConchords'': Brett Mckenzie and Jemaine Clement used up most of their existing material in the first season and had a hard time writing the second; rather than struggling to continue, they end the second season with all three leads being deported back to New Zealand and stuck working as shepherds (which they're apparently okay with).

* This is actually common practice with ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''. When the original series was cancelled, the entire team was killed off, but the cover encouraged readers to write in to save them, and since then it's happened multiple times that most of the team is killed off at the end of a run. Rather than an attempt to end ''Doom Patrol'', this is used as a way to "clear the board" so that the next writer can essentially do whatever they want; Grant Morrison talked with their predecessor Paul Kupperberg to specifically plan how the latter's run would end with only the characters Morrison wanted to use surviving.
* ''ComicBook/JLA1997'': When Morrison's run ended with the "World War III" arc, they only wrote out most of the characters they'd introduced during their run, leaving the same core 'Big Seven' team they started with (plus Plastic Man), and essentially handing the next writer a blank slate. The only character who ''died'' was ComicBook/{{Aztek}}, one Morrison themself had created, since the character's own comic was cancelled before it had a chance to end properly and Morrison rectified that by having Aztek appear in their run as a member of the League and had their final arc serve as a FullyAbsorbedFinale for Aztek by having him [[HeroicSacrifice give up his own life to beat the threat]].

* ''ComicBook/JLA1997'': When Morrison's run ended, they only wrote out most of the characters they'd introduced during their run, leaving the same core 'Big Seven' team they started with (plus Plastic Man), and essentially handing the next writer a blank slate. The only character who ''died'' was, Aztek, one Morrison themself had created since the character's own comic was cancelled before it had a chance to end properly.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventureLastEvolutionKizuna'' was intended as this to the original ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' continuity as explained by [[https://digi-lab.blog/digimon-adventure-last-evolution-interview-director-tomohisa-taguchi-talks-about-the-challenge-of-destroying-the-series-and-his-gratitude/ this interview]]. Ironically enough, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/digimon/comments/exof4l/comment/fggwhzv the director of the original anime series]] was going to work on ''Kizuna'' [[CreativeDifferences but stepped out]] because the movie was [[GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld contradicting the rules of the original setting]]. The next version of [[Anime/DigimonAdventure2020 this series]] ended up being a ContinuityReboot that disregards the film entirely.

* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' ends about as definitively as it can: Over 95% of the cast dies in the final battle, the Demonic threat is permanently ended through the death of Muzan, and just to erase any lingering possibilities of a continuation, the story's final chapter flash fowards 100 years into the future, showing the lives of the surviving cast's descendants.

* After sales for ''ComicBook/Druid1995'' were so low, that it'd been turned into a four-issue miniseries, Creator/WarrenEllis ended the series by having every major character who ''wasn't'' Hellstrom and Nekra killed -- including [[TheHeroDies Dr. Druid himself]]. In a case of in-universe, literal torching, Hellstrom sets fire to Druid's body and dumped the charred corpse into a dumpster.