Audio Play
"Peggy": It's a pity they will only be here for a few hours. I would like for them to suffer as we've suffered.
"Albert": As would I. But our penance here is done!
Moloch: Then come, my children! Let us leave the Doctor's companions to their torment...
"Peggy": After a hundred years...
"Albert": After ten thousand deaths...
"Peggy": We are free!
Both: FREE AT LAST!
[Laughing, they vanish, leaving Ace and Hex trapped in the prison dimension]
Comic Books
That was it for China, Russia, most of Europe, really. More than a billion dead, all kinds of muck and shit in the atmosphere, environment utterly buggered... and then, finally, things got as worse as they could. I told you. Mushrooms grow on dead things. And we let Morrigan Lugus sporulate unfettered. A supermassive mycelial network. A mushroom mesh. A mycocomputer growing on a continent of corpses. We gave Morrigan Lugus the world.
— Reddin, Supergod
All in all, I am afraid the Elders proved to be a pretty ineffective and stupid lot. But the glorious ends more than make up for the tedious meas it took to gain them. Mind! Soul! Reality! Time! Space! Power! So much more than even the Cosmic Cube gave me! ALL MINE! I CONTROL IT ALL! THE UNIVERSE BELONGS TO ME!
— Thanos, The Thanos Quest
Brian Newman: No. This wasn't supposed to happen. They said they'd be able to control you.
Big Winner: I can't be controlled, Brian. You should know that by now. Not by you. Not by them. Not by anybody. Like everyone else in your life, they're just trying to take advantage of you. And now I have to come along and set things right.
Brian Newman: No, no, no, they were trying to help me. Dr Manahorta promised no more bad dreams.
Fanfiction
"In my youth, many years before I took the name 'Yukari Yakumo', I had a severe fever and was forced to rest for the better part of several weeks. [...] As I slept and recovered, alternating between sane and delirious, in my mind's eye I saw a flaming blue titan that both destroyed and was dealt destruction in return. The thing that struck me most, the thing that became permanently engraved on my mind, was what would happen if that titan were to fall in battle and not get back up: The destruction of paradise, with Gensokyo vanishing into reality forever. Humanity's last hope extinguished. All of the fantastic races still in existence gone once and for all. A person I had yet to meet fading away in a flurry of sakura petals. Earth crushed within the Glorft's iron grip. Overall, a Bad Ending."
— Fantasy of Utter Ridiculousness: Extra Stage
Megatron: Rejoice, my Decepticons! Charles Zi Britannia is dead! The fruits of his labor, now ours! Pendragon is in ruins… BRITANNIA HAS FALLEN!
Carine ne Britannia: It's… it's not over… Britannia has… other areas across the world… Marrybell… Schneizel… and even the Knights of the Round…
Skywarp: Don't matter anymore.
Thundercracker: With your emperor dead, Britannia has no real leader. It'll fall apart in no time.
Starscream: You hear that, my dear Britannians? United we stand… divided you fall.
Decepticon Troops: ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON!
Carine ne Britannia: It's… it's not over… Britannia has… other areas across the world… Marrybell… Schneizel… and even the Knights of the Round…
Skywarp: Don't matter anymore.
Thundercracker: With your emperor dead, Britannia has no real leader. It'll fall apart in no time.
Starscream: You hear that, my dear Britannians? United we stand… divided you fall.
Decepticon Troops: ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON! ALL HAIL MEGATRON!
— Code Prime, Chapter 34, Fall of Britannia.
Film — Animation
Victor: You can't let Frollo win!
Quasimodo: He already has...
Quasimodo: He already has...
"I love it when I win."
— Commander Rourke, Atlantis: The Lost Empire
"The Steamworks is ours now!"
— Diesel 10, Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels
Film — Live-Action
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."
— Lawrence Walsh, Chinatown
"The Joker won. All of Harvey's prosecutions, everything he fought for...undone. Whatever chance you gave us of fixing our city dies with Harvey's reputation. We bet it all on him. The Joker took the best of us and tore him down."
—Commissioner Gordon, The Dark Knight
Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty five minutes ago.
—Ozymandias, Watchmen
"Gentlemen, since you are about to die anyway, I may as well tell you the entire plot! Think of villains, Jack. You want Dracula? Dra-cool-la? Hang on, (takes out the ticket) I'll fetch him. Dracula? Huh. I can get King Kong! We'll have a nightmare with Freddy Krueger, have a surprise party for Adolf Hitler! Hannibal Lecter can do the catering, and then we'll have a christening for Rosemary's Baby! All I have to do is snap my fingers and they'll be here. They're lining up to get here, and do you know why, Jack? Should I tell you why, hmm? Because here, in this world, the bad guys can win! I shall miss you, Jack."
— Benedict, Last Action Hero
Emperor Palpatine: In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire! For a safe and secure society!
Padmé Amidala: So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.
Patrick: How does it end?
Burger-Beard: Well, let me see. It looks like, um, Burger Beard becomes the richest food truck proprietor in all of the land.
Everett Ross: So how does it feel, to spend all that time and all that effort, and to see it fail so spectacularly?
Helmut Zemo: Did it?
World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did...he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures.
— Natasha Romanoff, Avengers: Endgame
I used the Stones to destroy the Stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done; it always will be. I am... inevitable.
— Thanos, Avengers: Endgame
Jack Sparrow, our debt is settled.
— Davy Jones, as the Kraken devours the Black Pearl with Captain Jack Sparrow still on it, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Literature
“Oh, on most days we lose. But once in a while, just once, it works. And those moments of perfect clarity where all the world is in the palm of your hand, a hundred thousand middling minds made into flawless assembly by your will? Those are worth all the rest.”
— Dread Empress Regalia II, A Practical Guide to Evil
The alien soldiers known as Honored Guests had killed and been killed, but the alien leaders had won their war against humanity years ago. They had won from the moment that Alexei Alexandrovich, with the Face already a part of him, had ascended to power in the Ministry. The aliens had won from the day of Karenin's ascendance, and nothing could stop that now, because that day had long passed.
Karenin-that-was-not-Karenin cackled from inside his gleaming silver caul with terrible laughter; while somewhere in the deep recesses of what once had been a human heart, there floated and glittered the memory of a woman, a woman he had loved.
Live-Action TV
Let's see what gifts we have for our guest. A traitor... dead. Two sorcerers...dead. A queen... dead. A daughter... dead. A bodyguard... dead. A thief... dead. A champion... dead. You... will... BOW... to... me.
—Shao Kahn, Mortal Kombat: Conquest
For sheer impact, killing off your entire cast of characters and letting the bad guys win has to rank pretty high....The special effects team ensure that the audience is aware that there is no way back for Blake, half of his digestive system is shot clean away by Avon. Gob smacked doesn't begin to cover it. And it doesn't stop there. Arlen is revealed to be a Federation agent working deep cover and the base is surrounded. Cue the systematic massacre of the regulars, captured in glorious slow motion. With each one you're left going "but...but..." as they unbelievably they are all slaughtered...Wow, that's downbeat. And yet curiously appropriate for the most cynical of shows.
John Crichton: You win.
Scorpius: As if there was ever any doubt.
It's time you learn something. The system ain't perfect. Sometimes, the bad guy wins.
—Martin Crane to Frasier Crane, Frasier
So it came to pass that the human race fell, and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion, as Master of All. And I thought it...good.
—The Master, Doctor Who, "The Sound Of Drums"
Today victory is mine. Long live the Empire.
—Grand Admiral Thrawn, Ahsoka, "The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord"
Music
I'd like to see the bad guys get away, they're always gettin' shot or hung
Wouldn't it be thrillin' to see a happy ending ending unhappily?
I'd like to tell the good guys it's no sin to let the bad guys win
Sometime, I'd like to see the bad guys win!
Wouldn't it be thrillin' to see a happy ending ending unhappily?
I'd like to tell the good guys it's no sin to let the bad guys win
Sometime, I'd like to see the bad guys win!
—Margo Guryan, "I'd Like To See The Bad Guys Win"
Tabletop Games
It's over, little maggots! You have lost! This is the end of my game, but just the beginning of your nightmare.
— The Gatekeeper, if no-one wins before the end of Nightmare's tape
The Descent of Creation is come, and the Unnamed stands triumphant, the architect of mankind's history — from its promising beginnings to its terrible end in fire and torment. The Nameless Lords bestride the Earth like titans, and the ruination of reality reaches its crescendo. Now that the Gauntlet is no more, the Traditions and the Technocratic Union have fallen and the other willworkers of the Earth are scattered in fear and fractiousness, the Unnamed raises high his ultimate weapon, ready to end the war forever and break humanity to his yoke.
In a ritual held at the new site of his rule, in the blasted wasteland that was once Eden, the Unnamed summons his masters to Earth, giving them leave to incarnate physically within Creation. As they do so, pockets of the Tapestry dissolve forever, unable to support the weight of the cthonic titans. Here and there, around the world, pregnant women miscarry children, finding horribly misshapen things that crawl away of their own accord; animals bleat and howl, with some of them going mad and rabid and others just dying; and bodies of water turn to blood and venom. The order of Creation is broken, and Those Who Came Before are given dominion over all that is. Finally, their jealousy finds its satisfaction and they learn what it is to have substance and existence, to the lamentation of reality itself.
—, "Hell On Earth," Mage: The Ascension — Ascension
After showing Earth what they were capable of, the Anunnaki, largely through their Reptilian servants, rounded up the surviving humans as slaves. Human civilization is no more. Now, there is only Anunnaki civilization. The similarities to ancient human cultures, however, are painfully clear.
Perhaps humans never had a civilization of their own at all. Maybe they were just borrowing it from the Anunnaki.
—"The Brotherhood Of Babylon — Post-Apocalypse," The End of the World: Alien Invasion
With Cthulhu’s passing, a new order overtakes the planet. Civilization is in ruins, and the governments of the world are left impotent. Communication is difficult or impossible, and most surviving human communities have little concept of what is happening beyond their doors. Yet, everywhere it is much the same. The Deep Ones continue to press their relentless attack, enslaving and exterminating humans as it pleases them, with the aid of the Star Spawn.
Humanity’s numbers are drastically reduced. Although any sort of accurate estimate is impossible, it is clear that the better part of the population died or was driven irrevocably mad during Cthulhu’s brief reign of terror. Now, a new and unending nightmare begins, as the Deep Ones continue to round up survivors for unspeakable ends.
—"That Is Not Dead — Post-Apocalypse," The End of the World: Wrath of the Gods
Theatre
Thus the plants worked their terrible will
Finding jerks who would feed them their fill
And the plants proceeded to grow and grow
And begin what they came here to do
Which was essentially to
Eat Cleveland and Des Moines
And Peoria and New York
and where you live!
Finding jerks who would feed them their fill
And the plants proceeded to grow and grow
And begin what they came here to do
Which was essentially to
Eat Cleveland and Des Moines
And Peoria and New York
and where you live!
"It's man versus monster. And the monster always wins."
Video Game
A great day, Lord Vader. Today marks the death of the Rebellion, and the birth of a new era of peace... for the Empire.
Indeed. But you must always remember that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
— Alucard, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
"The Scorpion King himself, warrior-prince of the Netherworld, has fallen at the hands of the evil sorcerer Imhotep, the mightiest of mummies! Now virtually immortal, he sets himself forth as Neo-Pharaoh, ruler of the entire globe, commanding the Army of Anubis... Anck-Su-Namun at his side. He marches forward across the desert sands, laying waste to everything in front of him, enslaving all life that he finds, and crushing all who will not bow before him. Truly, evil has won the battle, and evil has won the war. Not even my order of Medjai protectors can unseat him now. Imhotep rules the world in eternal darkness!"
— Ardeth Bay, narrating the evil ending, The Mummy Returns video game
History is no more for this happy race: their hobbit-holes are now tombs, their party trees kindling, and those who survive are now enslaved by the Dark Lord Sauron. Treebeard was, in the end, no match for the fury of the orcs. He now serves as a bonfire into which halfling bodies are thrown. Even the great wizard Gandalf could not stand before the Dark Lord: he is fallen, and cannot be restored; his purpose here has ended. Those who did not fight in this war shall now become the final victims. Their homes shall be burnt and the future of their children shall be sacrificed on Sauron's cruel altar. Death and ruin are all that will remain, for the Dark Lord's cruelty will know no limits, and in the end, all shall be destroyed. For now, the darkness has covered all living things, and it has claimed us all...
—Elrond, narrating the evil ending, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
Welcome back. Nothing has changed. There's been a little progress, of course.
Progress?
Is progress possible without change?
Now, progress is possible without change.
The Great Light is worshipped in the Churches. Certain measures have been set in place at the Bazaar. The Ministry of Public Decency runs much more smoothly now. Most of us are smiling. The gold-and-amber flags of the Sequence snap in the wind. Yes, we have wind now. At least, we will. For now, you may assume it.
The Machine is grateful. You will be remembered.
—The New Sequence, Sunless Sea
In the years that followed, the legend of the Sierra Madre faded, and there were no... new visitors to the city. Years later, when a mysterious blood-red cloud began to roll across the Mojave, then West toward the Republic. No one knew where it had come from. Only that it brought death in its wake. Attempts to find the source of the toxic cloud failed. The Mojave was cut off. Through the Cloud, lights were seen from HELIOS One. There were stories of ghosts immune to gunfire, who struck down anyone they saw with rays of light. The last chapter of the Mojave came when a modified REPCONN rocket struck Hoover Dam, releasing a blood-red cloud, killing all stationed there. All attempts to penetrate the Cloud and re-take the Dam failed, and both the NCR and Legion finally turned away from it, citing the place as cursed. In the years that followed, communities across the West began to die as traces of the Cloud began to drift over lands held by the NCR. Only two remained alive in the depths of the Cloud, at the Sierra Madre, waiting for their new world to begin again...
—The consequences of siding with Father Elijah, Fallout: New Vegas: Dead Money
By the end of the Dark Crusade, Kronus was a tomb world once more. Just as the marching Necron armies cut down all their opponents, so did other fiendish devices work on the planet's very ecosystem: scarab swarms scoured the lush jungles of the south and the fertile plains of the north, while pulses of loathsome energy killed even microscopic bacteria. The seas died and the air itself became rarefied and poisoned. Soon, sterile sand and dust swept across the Kronusian landscape, broken only by black monuments to the Nightbringer. Kronus became the black heart of the Necron purge in the eastern edge of the galaxy: warriors emerging from the monoliths of Kronus would bring death to worlds across the Tau Empire, the domains of Ultramar, and many more sectors. Imperial strike fleets, Tau battle formations and Eldar raiding teams would all try to retake Kronus — only to fall before the huge crypt vessels protecting the tomb world from orbit. Each heroic effort only added more deaths to the Nightbringer's tally...
—The Necron Ending, Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
"Villainy is but a perspective. In this case, the winning perspective."
—Zhin win quote, Paladins
"Haha... Anyone has the power to achieve their dreams, eh? Your namesake, deluded to the end, has been sacrificed. The dream is fulfilled! And out of respect for that, I'll grant you the dream of destruction that you humans always wanted!"
— Nyarlathotep, Persona 2: Innocent Sin
The Sith bow before you: you have reclaimed your rightful throne! The Jedi Order is in tatters. It is only a matter of time before your Sith minions wipe them from the face of the galaxy. The Republic fleet is decimated; the Core Worlds are defenceless against us...
— Bastilla, Evil Ending, Knights of the Old Republic
Attention humans: I am Cryptosporidium of the Planet Furon. This planet is now a territory of the Furon Empire.
[eyes Silhouette's body]
Here's a spoiler for you: that timer isn't a catalyst to keep the action moving along. It's just seconds ticking away to your death. You're only still playing instead of watching a cutscene because I want to watch you for every moment that you're powerless, to see you made humble. This is not a challenge. It's a tragedy. You wanted to control this world? That's fine. But I'm going to destroy it first, so you can't.
Take a look at the clock, Stanley. That's thirty seconds you have left to struggle. Thirty seconds until a big boom, and then nothing. No ending here, just you being blown to pieces. Will you cling desperately to your frail life, or will you let it go peacefully? Another choice! Make it count. Or don't. It's all the same to me. All a part of the joke. And believe me, I will be laughing at every second of your inevitable life, from the moment we fade in until the moment I say: Happily Ever-
—The Narrator, The Countdown Ending, The Stanley Parable
Past mistakes. Past obligations. Past fears. They are a prison. They handcuffed me to Tokyo. Now... now I'm free. There is a whole world out there of joys and dandies and how-do-you-do's. I'm free to get out there now. Thanks to you.
Thanks for everything.
See you, Chuck...
Thanks for everything.
See you, Chuck...
—The Black Signal, The Secret World — Issue 11: Reaping the Whirlwind
[Evil Laugh] Because of me, Empire City is a wasteland! I’ve taken this place down notch by notch, and it's never getting up again. Kessler thought he was preparing me to face some Beast, that I’d be using my powers for the greater good. What an idiot. These powers are only good for one thing: letting me take what I want, when I want. In a place with no law, the strong take what they want and the weak are their slaves, their playthings. And no one... is stronger... than me!
—Cole McGrath, Evil Ending, inFAMOUS
Chinese Supercomputer: The Totem of Entropy is now under our control. We are no longer vulnerable.
Russian Supercomputer: Kill the human. He Knows Too Much.
AM: No, no, no... Death would be a reward. No! No, no, no, the human must live to regret his treachery throughout an eternity — AN ETERNITY — an endless, burning eternity of suffering!
[cut to game-over screen]
Ted: [narrating] I thought that I could once again play the gallant knight and defeat the evil monster. But the others were right. My character was too flawed, and all my secrets unraveled. I thought AM had hated me before. I was wrong. It was not even a shadow of the hate he now slavered from every printed circuit. He made certain I would suffer eternally. The other four are dead, finally free from their tortures. It makes me happier. And yet, AM has won, simply. He has taken his revenge. I have no mouth And I Must Scream.
BUT... THE FUTURE REFUSED TO CHANGE...note
"Now, Rean. Let us begin. Together, we shall write the end to this wretched fairy tale. In ink, black as despair."
— Giliath Osborne, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
"This was my dream vacation! I saw mayhem, mutilation! It was all a gas... for a while. But these nincompoops? They didn't really GET me. Especially not, that Pretty Boy, Ninja Mime. Good night, sweet prince! (Boom, Headshot!) I'd finished just about everyone worth finishing in Earthrealm and Outworld! Even lovable old Netherrealm. I was a lonely heart in search of new friends. But as luck would have it, I had just the gizmo to find them! And oh, how the Hourglass spoiled me! Havik and I are going to be bosom buddies! And what's that? My new pal knows an entire realm dedicated to law and order? And he exists ONLY to disrupt it? Well, I say he and I need to get busy! Meet the League of Misunderstood Maniacs! We're giving Orderrealm an enema. And when we're done, who knows where we'll crash next? Maybe we'll come to your house and slip live grenades under your pillow. Maybe we'll gut your favorite pet. Or maybe we'll just... BREAK YOUR TV RIGHT NOW! (shoots the TV, breaking it, and tuning out to an Evil Laugh)"
"(scoffs) Case closed; this is how your "justice" ends."
— Goro Akechi, Persona 5, sell out ending, before killing the Protagonist
Web Animation
"And that's checkmate."
— Cinder Fall to Ironwood, RWBY "Volume 8, Episode 14: The Final Word"
Web Original
"He's the villain... in the history books... but sometimes the villains win."
— TommyInnit, Dream SMP
Western Animation
At last! At long, long last! The gate between worlds has opened! The event one billion years prophesied has come to pass! The day has come; the world is finally mine!
—Bill Cipher, Gravity Falls, "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future"
Game's over, my little ponies. You didn't find your precious Elements! Looks like we might be due for a big storm of chaos. (cue Evil Laugh)
— Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Season 2, Episode 1, The Return of Harmony, Part 1
The Earth Kingdom... has fallen.
— The Earth King, Avatar: The Last Airbender, "The Crossroads of Destiny"
"W-We did it. We won! Heh! This day belongs to E.V.I.L.! (Evil Laugh) You've lost, Mermaid Man! And the Superhero-Supervillain Rules say that you have to give in to my demands!"
— Barnacle Man, SpongeBob SquarePants, "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V"
K.O.: What is this!?
Enid: It's called losing...
Enid: It's called losing...
"This isn't workin' out like a fairy tale is supposed to at all! For one thing, this whole episode has a smarmy tone... For another, the bad guy is winning!"
— Penelope Pitstop, Wacky Races (2017)
"Say goodbye to the universe, Maximals! The future has changed, yeessss! The Autobots lose! Evil triumphs! And you... YOU NO LONGER EXIST!!!"
— Megatron, Beast Wars, "The Agenda (Part III)"
Cricket: What the heck is goin' on!!?? Chip can't win! It can't end like this!
Tilly: And yet, it just... did.
Tilly: And yet, it just... did.
— Big City Greens, "Chipwrecked"
