Happy Ending

Heh.

When the story ends on a high note, which is traditionally the point where the protagonists win and the antagonists lose. Happy Ending is the single most common Story Ending in fiction history. The Hero embarks on their journey, fights the enemies in their way, works up to the Villain, and engages in the Big Fight. No matter how unfavorable the fight may look to the audience, they can count on the Good Guys to come out on top of the Bad Guys. Eventually, the Hero gains the upper hand and uses their momentum to make the final push that overthrows the Villain and their underlings. This victory Saves The Day and deems the Good Guys the heroes.

There are many ways the Happy Ending can play out. Starting with the most revisited by creators, the Big Fight can be an uphill battle that nearly ends with the Hero losing in their final confrontation with their archenemy. The Villain, having the high ground, may take time to gloat about their eventual win and how the Hero wasted their time with their entire adventure. This down-talking lends the Hero the time to do what's needed to win. They may look around the arena for an exploitable feature, maybe something they discovered in a For-Later Lesson relating to the Villain's Greatest Weakness. The For-Later Lesson can also come in handy when the Hero must perform a certain action to bring the Villain to their knees. To ensure the Villain never commits their crimes again, the Good Guys often kill or banish them. This adds to the Good Guys' sense of accomplishment as there is now no chance of their actions being undone by the Villain rising again. Alternatively, more merciful protagonists may decide to convert the Villain. This is a risky option, however, and requires careful handling and convincing skills. Even if the Villain is banged up before talks begin, they can still pull a Dirty Trick to lure the Good Guys into a false sense of friendliness. They act as if they're ready to give up their old ways just before the Good Guys let their guard down. The Villain then suddenly takes a Cheap Shot at their foes, which, if executed correctly, may cost a protagonist their life. This is more fitting to an Alt Happy Ending, so we won't say any more about this outcome here.

Since Good Always Prevails, protagonists of either adventurous or familiar franchises are well acquainted with Happy Endings of any size. It's because of this the UnTrash has become one of the most predictable in the history of fiction. Saying "the Hero and their buddies win" isn't as much of a spoiler as it is confirmation of the audience's expectations. Taking a look at familiar franchises, the Main Cast can be subjected to heart-retching disappointment or failure and still come out okay on the count of unfair play. The plot could set them up to be at a total loss just to screw itself and hand over the win in spite of the drama build-up. Happy Ending can go as far as to introduce an out-of-nowhere solution purely for the sake of the Main Cast not having to go home empty-handed. A story conclusion that relinquishes such a hollow victory doesn't just kill all drama and emotion. It teaches the Anti-Lesson that the Main Cast can get whatever they want in the end regardless of how much they messed around and didn't deserve it. Familiar franchises may ruin themselves hard with forced Happy Endings, but it can be argued that adventurous ones can do worse. The Hero is meant to grow more than the Main, and if they fail to do that in the right way, the creator's job is to punish them for it. If the Hero fails but does so after giving their all, they can be comforted with an Alt Happy Ending. When the Hero Smokes Weed And Jacks Off and still gets rewarded with a Happy Ending, they gain negative experience that encourages them to be a worse character. Happy Ending is exceptionally insulting to the audience if the Hero endured a considerable amount of suffering, setbacks, heartbreak, sacrificing, or other challenges that got in the way of their joy or comfort. In these stories, Happy Ending is as inappropriate as it can get. It spits in the face of every ounce of agony the Hero and other Good Guys dealt with and bites into the audience connecting with them. Another factor that turns Happy Ending into a disagreeable UnTrash is writing an unlikable character to star in it. A Jerk, SOB, or Bully who gets their way in the end goes against the audience's hopes of them getting their comeuppance by the story's end.

UnRec
Even if they aren't actively anticipating it, the audience will be subconsciously prepared for a Happy Ending to your story. They've been conditioned by hundreds of stories before yours that all follow the same pattern: good guy needs to do something, good guy goes to do that thing, good guy does that thing, good guy wins. Despite all the hardships the Hero must endure to reach their objective, they triumph every single time. And nothing is learned. No new storytelling methods are introduced, no exciting events take place, no intriguing character development is seen. That's where you come in. When your audience reaches the last act of your story, the events that preceded it having built excitement for the Grand Finale that is your Story Ending, they hunger for a conclusion with payoff that delivers. Happy Ending is an UnTrash that doesn't function well in this area. You're going to have to aim higher than a Big Fight with Fake Danger the audience knows will be worked through by the Good Guys. If your Hero has a few friends enter the Big Fight's arena, put them to good writing use. Have somebody get killed in the high-paced confusion. Get the Villain to warp a neglected teammate and fight against their friends. Sacrifice the Loyal in trade of their friends' success. You can also allow the Villain to make a last-second escape with Teleportation for Sequel Bait if this isn't a stand-alone story or the last in a series. Anything that adds drama or tension to the story as it closes will serve you better than the Good Guys knocking the Villain over a cliff and celebrating their win. Happy Ending is even more disgusting if the Good Guys didn't deserve to win. A group of bumbling idiots should learn the true meaning of Fuck Around And Find Out. Handing them the win after they did nothing but Smoke Weed And Jack Off is an excellent way to throw any potential meaning to your work out the window. You should slap them on the wrist when they waste time so that they can shape up into heroes worthy of beating the Villain when it matters most.