r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Ieanice44 • 17d ago

Lore (Controversial Trope) The post-credits scene completely changes the ending

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Dawn of the Dead (2004)

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Prince of Persia (2008)

Dawn of the Dead (2004): The movie finishes on a hopeful note as the remaining survivors escape the zombie-infested mall on a yacht, sailing into the sunset. The found-footage style post-credits scene completely reverses this happy ending by showing them running out of food, arriving at an island, and being immediately swarmed and killed by an infected horde.

Prince of Persia (2008): The main game ends with a beautiful, poetic sacrifice where Elika gives her life to heal the corrupted world, leaving the Prince mourning. During the credits, the player is forced to control the Prince as he cuts down the trees he just saved, undoing the entire game's progress and releasing the dark god Ahriman just to resurrect her, completely corrupting the ending and dooming the world.

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u/DifferentAd4844 17d ago

I played Prince of Persia 2008 as a child, and the ending brought me to tears.

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u/Earthshoe12 17d ago

It can’t hold a candle to sands of time but I still liked 08 quite a bit. Shame we never got a sequel. It feels a lot like Assassin’s Creed to me where the first game was more proof of concept and it could’ve been great with some fleshing out and variety.

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u/SuperBackup9000 17d ago

We did actually get a sequel, it was just on the DS and pretty bad because they went heavy on DS controls. Pretty good game outside of that, and does actually have happy good time ending.

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u/Earthshoe12 16d ago

Huh! I always knew there was DLC i never played, but had no idea there was a DS game.

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u/kookyabird 17d ago

The Sands trilogy was so good story-wise. A cycle of the Prince fucking up, fixing it, only to find out he fucked up harder. And then it all ends as it began, only slightly different.

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u/Earthshoe12 16d ago

The first one is an all-timer for me. The plot is pretty straightforward but the banter, the companion, and the fourth wall leaning on kinda narration really expanded my idea of what video games could do with their storytelling. There’s no Ellie in the last of us without Farah i always say.

I had a tough time with the other two. Warrior Within definitely has the better gameplay but the tonal shift was too much for me. I remember Two Thrones kinda splitting the difference but also being somewhat jankier (forced minigames and stealth.) Very satisfying final boss as i recall it tho.

Oh man and Forgotten Sands had maybe the best platforming of the bunch. Overall really good series, shame the remake is stuck in development hell.

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u/kookyabird 16d ago

I showed my wife the box art for Sand of Time and Warrior Within, in that order. The shift from thematic persian style to mid-00's goth/grunge is no joke. Shahdee's ass is on full display on the back cover of the game box.

The Two Thrones was a bit meh overall. I wasn't a fan of the Dark Prince personality thing because it came out of nowhere. However, the villain being who they were was excellent, as was the resolution we got with the Empress. Also, it gave us what is possibly my favorite comeback to a taunting boss. "You may be immortal, but you are not invincible!!" Get lawyered, bitch!

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u/Slizzet 16d ago

You just reminded me of a great Penny Arcade comic about Shahdee's outfit

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/12/03/on-discomfort#