The fact that we are currently on the fifth incarnation of the Plot Bunny Thread tells me that coming up with potential starting points for a story is relatively easy. In fact I believe every one of us have many more stored somewhere. But equally as important as a good starting point is a good ending, and if I had to guess, a huge number of all the unfinished stories out there are that way because the author couldn't come up with a good ending. To help with that, here's "the Ending thread"

So the questions are:

What kind of ending you think is the best?
What kind of ending is bad (see: A "bad" ending thread)?
Which stories have particularly good endings? Why?
What kind of endings you think we don’t have enough of, and what kind of endings there are more than enough?


To start with I tried to identify a couple of typical endings in Harry Potter fanfiction:

The Final Battle Ending

This is probably the most typical and clichéd ending imaginable. The story goes on and then there’s an epic showdown between the forces of good and evil, and good prevails. Also the canon ending. The problem with this is that it’s, as said, cliché, and way too predictable. Usually it also demands that both sides of the conflict hold the idiot ball at least to some degree. A smart leader doesn't engage in a decisive battle unless there’s no other choice or the victory is certain. And in a world of instantaneous travel it’s pretty damned hard to force a confrontation.

Of course it can be all kinds of cool and cathartic to see the hated characters killed in most brutal ways imaginable.

Also after you have written one Final Battle ending, writing another doesn't seem all that interesting.


The Sequel Hook Ending

The story ends after an important turning point in the character’s journey, hinting of the coming but never showing it. This is the ending of the canon books 1-6, and also happens in many great fanfictions out there. This was used to great effect in TLIL, with an epic Final Battle ending hinted, but never showed. And really, as everyone knows what a Final Battle ending looks like, all we really missed was more humor from the Sorting Hat.

Obviously this type of ending has the potential for a sequel, but shouldn't really require one.


The Downer Ending

Rocks fall, everyone dies. Can be combined with a Sequel Hook to be a bit more optimistic. Not really a fan, but it’s an option. Also not very typical, in fact I can’t come up with any example at the moment. Can also include some kind of epiphany by the main characters to make up for the suckiness of the situation: maybe dying isn't all that bad, as death is only the next big adventure?



What other types of endings are there?

 

I myself prefer the Unsteered Plot.

That is:

1. The author creates a Premise. Also called the Point of Departure.

2. The author follows the Premise through its logical consequences and plausible reactions of the characters.

3. Eventually, the ending reveals itself on its own. Whether it's a good ending or a downer ending, is unimportant. What's important is if the ending makes sense given everything that happened before it.

If the POD eventually leads Harry to fail and die, then that should be the ending. If the POD leads to him being better prepared for the fight against Voldemort, then he better give some better results.

 

One of the best endings in HP fanfiction is in ABC. This now eight year old story is not without its own problems, but it just goes to show how good it is.

We're never shown the last duel between Voldemort and Horcrux!Riddle (uh, spoilers). The POV is kept with Harry. Very Reservoir Dogs of nonjon. But Harry and Sirius still get their epic showdown (the horcrux auction) and there is a satisfying resolution.

Stranger in Unholy Land has a great sequel hook ending. You think that Harry is finally going home (even though who knows what the hell happened there while he was gone), but then he lands somewhere else entirely.

I desperately want POTDK to be finished at some point, because it has the potential to have the most epic VoldemortWins!ending ever.

 

Obviously it's pretty much a definition of a good story that it gives at least the illusion of Unsteered Plot. That is, you steer the plot by crafting your characters to act in ways that lead to the ending you wish, or you can change the circumstances so that the characters react in the manner of your choosing.

 

This thread reminds me that most of my favorite fanfics (On the Way to Greatness, The Phoenix and the Serpent, Ectomancer, Song of the Trees, PotDK) are unfinished. Shame that.

Of those which are finished, most of them are type 1 or type 2, or a combination of the two.

Backward with Purpose seems like classic type 1 at first, with its emotional, climatic final battle, but then the author takes one unresolved plot point and reveals a total of seven hidden timelines, which forms the basis of its sequel. The Book of Albus is classic type 2.

(And now that you've reminded me, I have to bother Ella again for an ending to Yellow Submarine. That one was abandoned right at the climax.)

Hogwarts Houses Divided has an excellent extended battle scene. Classic type 1.

The Denarian Trilogy is a mixture of types 1 and 2. It doesn't need a sequel, but there are enough unresolved plot points to make one viable.

After the End is another excellent example of type 1, and the climatic battle against the Dementors of Azkaban remains one of the best even after thirteen years.

The Lie I've Lived half arsed its ending. Everything just seemed half hearted, especially the way Dumbledore was killed.

Wastelands was alright. I thought some of the previous fights were much better, though that may be because I read it all at once, and Joe's writing style gets tiresome after some time.

I could never get to the ending of A Black Comedy despite three attempts. Nonjon's humor just doesn't work for me.

Most of the Harry Potter books have amazing endings. The blood chilling resurrection scene of GoF, the Sirius/Pettigrew swerve of PoA followed by the adventure with the Time Turner, the beautiful Voldemort-Dumbledore duel, Dumbledore's murder and its aftermath. The Final Battle of DH too, though I wasn't fond of the Elder Wand shenanigans.

 

After years and a lot of rereads I am still super salty that jbern hasn't written a sequel.

 

Quoting this just because it needs to be.

 

The last book of the Wise One Trilogy has what is probably my favorite sequel hook ending in all of HP. I am kind of glad in a way that the author made it clear s/he was not going to pursue it, since it would be almost entirely a cast of OCs, but at the same time it's an interesting idea introduced at the end. Sorry to be so vague, but it's really an excellent fic and I don't want to spoil it.

Where would the oversimplified, unrealistic "all loose ends are tied up perfectly and everything is forever more sunshine and unicorn farts" type ending fit in? Maybe the fairy tale ending should have its own category. I think JKR's epilogue could be considered the shittiest possible example of this, as by that point it did not fit the tone of the series at all (I don't want to risk derailing the thread too much by rehashing that discussion, but it sucked). DH had a pretty decent bittersweet ending following the final battle, discounting the epilogue.

I do see your point in saying that final battle endings get boring after a while, but I don't mind them. It's one of the oldest, most classic tropes in literature and acts as a logical end point to a story. Personally I'd rather see things wrapped up there than have a story overstay its welcome going into the details of healing and reconstruction. That can be an interesting foundation to a story in its own right (see The Golden Age by Arsinoe de Blassenville) but delving too deeply into the aftermath of the final battle easily screws up the pacing and feels tacked on.

 

One ending that wasn't mentioned:

Reformation

The enemy sees the light. Whether after careful manipulation or brute force logic or Doctor Who level shenanigans, the expected final battle fizzles out. The good walk away heroes, the reformed walk away no longer villains, but still with consequences of their actions.
Can be seen as a social solution to a Final Battle problem.