So What Do We Do Now?: Difference between revisions

 

As a pseudo-endings trope, some Tropers forget their spoilers. Consider this your only warning.

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{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* Kurau's human half in ''[[Kurau Phantom Memory]]'' has fond memories of the time she was taken over by her Rynax entity, but comes to terms with the fact that it is all over now.

* ''[[Saber Marionette J]]'' does this rather egregiously. After the three Japoness Saber Dolls sacrifice themselves to revive the one female (who was stuck in [[Human Popsicle|cryogenic suspension]] for centuries), the main character wistfully remembers all the good times he had with them and wishes they'd return. Lo and behold, [[A Wizard Did It|without any explanation]], they do.

* Happens to {{spoiler|Simon}} from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'': after finally destroying the Anti-Spirals and bringing peace to the Universe, he puts on his cape, says goodbye, and spends the rest of his days [[Walking the Earth]]. {{spoiler|We then see him as a 40-something traveller helping a kid open a coconut with his drill key; the kid is all surprised with Simon's drilling skills, he calmly says "Of course, kid, who the hell do you think... (kid ignore him) Forget it, I'm just a nobody". Then we see the kid and Simon looking at the horizon as the Gurren Lagann is launched to outer space}}.

* Twisted in Saikoroshi-hen (Dice Killing Chapter), a bonus chapter for the ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' game that was released after the main storyline. After depressed musing over the hard work that almost came to nothing, Rika wakes up in a perfect world without any of the [[Dysfunction Junction|tragic backstories]] or danger from the [[Groundhog Day Loop|previous worlds]]. {{spoiler|It turns out that it was [[All Just a Dream]], and rightly so -- there might be no gore or crazies around, but there's also no [[Nakama]] and [[The Power of Friendship]] is replaced by bullying and apathy. See, even if you had a terrible past, don't change it!}}

* This is how the story ended for Link in the ''[[The Legend of Zelda (comics)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' comic that ran in Nintendo Power. Zelda thanks him for his trouble, he puts the Master Sword back and that's it!

* In the [[Marvel Universe]], Richard Rider aka Nova went through this situation when he choose to give up his powers to leave the planet Xandar to return home. As it happens, his life was completely ruined with a disrupted education, dead end jobs and no future. At best, Rider tried to live as best he can while wishing with all his heart that he could get the powers back and become a superhero again. Unfortunately, the planet Xandar was destroyed later, which seemed to mean that any chance of Rider [[Re-Power|getting repowered]] was gone forever. However, Night Thrasher, wanting a [[Flying Brick]] for his planned superhero team, deduced that there might be a way through a [[Die or Fly|high stress situation]]. To do so, Night Thrasher abducts Rider, drops him off a roof and sure enough, Rider's powers reignite before he hits the ground. Naturally, Rider overjoyed at this and even though he didn't care for the fact that Night Thrasher didn't know if his plan would work, Rider still owes him big time.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[The Proposition]]''. Charlie didn't enjoy his adventure, but the ending just screams of indeterminacy. It doesn't help that {{spoiler|both his brothers, including the one he'd set out to save, are dead}}.

* The gangster spoof ''[[Johnny Dangerously]]'' has a [[Framing Device]] of the title character as a pet store owner, seemingly retired from his life of crime, and telling the story of his life to a kid—complete with [[The Aesop]] of "crime doesn't pay." Then a limo pulls up, and he remarks "Well, it paid a little..."

* Almost happened to Inigo in ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]''. {{spoiler|Fortunately, Westley is on hand to suggest a new career option: "Have you considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts."}}

* In ''[[L: Change the World]]'', Watari is dead, the Kira case is solved, and L only has 20 days left to live. He tries to pass the days alone solving as many cases as possible but is clearly frustrated and despondent. In the end, once the Blue Ship case is over he realizes he really did want to keep on living.

* Subverted in Disney/Pixar's ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]''; Carl makes it to Paradise Falls, then seems at a loss for what to do next ... until he takes [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsG2S_1PRnk another look] at Ellie's "Adventure Book".

* At the end of book three of ''Secret of the Unicorn Queen'', Sheila gets to go home. By page two of book four, she's decided she can't focus on algebra and baseball, or her "normal life", so she goes back.

* The soldiers in ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' worry about this, because being so young, they have left no roots behind in the world to return to. Lucky for most them, this problem is solved when {{spoiler|[[Kill'Em All|they die.]]}}

* The last of Bernard Cornwell's ''Sharpe'' books has this as a central theme; after a quarter of a century of bloody warfare, Europe is finally at peace - and the world is full of old soldiers who have done nothing but fight their entire adult lives. Many of them have come to enjoy it. So what next? Two solutions are presented; you can either head for South America and join the first rebellion you come across, or you can do what Sharpe does and walk away.

** The TV series solves the problem by sending him to India.

** There's a very minor one in the [[Musical Episode]] "Once More With Feeling", which ends with a song with these lyrics: "The battle's done / And we kind of won / So we sound our victory cheer / Where do we go from here?"

* The new series of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has explored this with respect to his companions. The episode "School Reunion" has Sarah Jane explaining to him that her life was a bit of a wreck after he dropped her off; after what she'd seen, going back to a normal life proved undoable. It's implied this is universal among his "voluntary" companions.

*** Well, sort of. Before she met the Doctor, she was a medical student, and after she leaves him she joins UNIT and becomes an alien-fighting [[Badass]]. Though she does find time to qualify as a doctor. It's implied that even though she chose to leave, she couldn't just pick up where she'd left off, particularly after her year-long [[Walk the Earth]] nightmare situation.

**** They made sure to wrap up some loose ends in the last episode of the Tenth Doctor. Martha's engagement, apparently, didn't work out and she left UNIT; she does, however, end up with Mickey, and the pair spend their time fighting aliens. Donna finds her true love and gets married, with a little gift from the Doctor. Even Captain Jack, who is shown sulking in an alien bar after {{spoiler|killing his own grandson and losing Ianto}} is a little cheered up by the Doctor, who introduces him to Alonso (the midshipman from the ''Titanic'' starship). He also saves Sarah Jane's adopted son from being hit by a car.

* ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' 2 starts by showing that the heroes haven't actually done very much since the last game ended.

* In the ''[[Warcraft]]'' series, Maiev Shadowsong, a night elf warden personally responsible for the imprisonment of [[Villain Protagonist|Illidan Stormrage]], devotes her entire life to chasing him when he escapes prison. Eventually she ends up killing him, only to realise her life has no meaning anymore.

* ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' [[Fanon]] embraces this trope for [[continuation]]s, usually featuring [[Anti-Hero|Squall]] trying to come to terms with life after the war and a job that, now [[Big Bad|Ultimecia]] is no more, [[Deconstruction|is mostly paperwork.]]

* Lance Boyle brings this up in the intro to ''[[Megarace]] 2'': "[The winner] is crowned King Megaracer 2, he experiences a sense of achievement, and returns in regal triumph to reality, where he will probably never readapt."

* One of the earliest versions of this in videogames is ''[[Ultima IV]]'', and it's ''entirely based around it.'' Basically, in the past three games, ''all'' of the big evils have been destroyed (there are still dungeons full of monsters to fight, but nothing controlling them or threatening the world). So what do you do? Go on a quest to become the most shining example of pure good in the world as an example to everyone else!

** Said example then immediately departs the world, [[Ultima V|giving rise to a new great evil that kidnaps the king and corrupts the Avatar's philosophy, turning moral fortitude into utter totalitarianism]]. So, back to form. Of course, the kidnapping was partly a result of this trope, too (albeit offscreen) as Lord British decided that, having nothing better to do, he needed to wander down into the underworld and see what was up with that freaky place, only to have his party eaten alive by [[Demonic Spiders]]. This is why kings have champions in the first place.