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Anarrative typically ends in one set way, but certain kinds of narrative allow for multiple endings.

• The Death-Ray byDaniel Clowes
• Cliff Hanger byJack Edward Oliver

• TheChoose Your Own Adventure series
• Fighting Fantasy
• Life's Lottery
• The French Lieutenant's Woman
• Telephone

• Ayn Rand's 1934 playNight of January 16th allowed the audience to affect the ending by acting as the "jury" and voting the defendant "innocent" or "guilty".^[1]
• The 1985 musicalThe Mystery of Edwin Drood
• Dario Fo's 1970 play,Accidental Death of an Anarchist
• The long-running playShear Madness has multiple, audience-selected endings.

DVDs and Blu-ray discs may include analternate ending as a special feature. These are usually not consideredcanon.

Films which include multiple endings within the main cut of the film:^{[clarification needed]}

• Clue
• Wayne's World and its sequel,Wayne's World 2
• Scarface
• Sliding Doors
• Run Lola Run
• Harikrishnans
• The Messiah, which includes one account of Jesus' crucifixion according to Christian teaching and one according to Muslim teaching.
• 28 Days Later
• Unfriended: Dark Web
• Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
• 1408

• Crown Court
• Do the Right Thing (BBC TV series, 1994-1995)

• Dragon's Lair andSpace Ace
• Thefifth season finale of theRooster Teeth web-series,Red vs. Blue

Video games, as aninteractive medium, allow for a wide variety of outcomes. Especiallynonlinear video games such asvisual novels,role-playing games andinteractive dramas often feature multiple endings. Multiple endings may increase a game's replay value, encourage customization or deviate from the story in the form ofeaster eggs. As such, these video games often, but not always, feature one or multiple "true" or "good endings" which are canonized either by the developer or player base as well as "false" or "bad endings".

Multiple endings can be an integral part of many visual novels and role-playing games as these genres often emphasize customization and individuality.

Examples of role-playing games that feature multiple endings:

• Chrono Trigger, which was cited as revolutionary for including multiple endings when it released in 1995.^[2]
• Baldur's Gate 3, which features four distinct major endings.Larian Studios announced that there were 17,000 possible endings ahead of the game's release.^[3]
• Cyberpunk 2077, which features four canon endings with one additional one being introduced with thedownloadable contentPhantom Liberty. There is one more "false ending" in which the protagonist commits suicide ahead of the finale, and another secret ending which only becomes available after waiting five minutes before choosing adialogue option.
• Mass Effect 3's endings were cause forcontroversy. Players felt their character choices felt inconsequential and criticized the game's endings for its lack of closure and inconsistencies.
• TheDragon Age series includes a variety of impactful choices the player can make throughout the games with typically one major one at the end. InDragon Age II andDragon Age: Inquisition, players are able to import theirsave files from previous games to alter the games'world building,flavor text for multiple characters and events, and appearances from recurring characters, allowing for a player-specific canon.^[4] For the fourth installment in the series,Dragon Age: The Veilguard, developerBioWare changed this system so that players could now reflect the previous games' different endings directly in the game's character creator.^[5]
• Papers Please includes 20 endings in the game. The players choices throughout the game such as if he lets EZIC agents get through or if he accepts bribes influences which ending he will get, without giving the player too much of an idea about what decisions cause which endings which results in the players getting immersed in the game.

Multiple endings are a common feature in "choice-driven" games in which decisions made by the player serve as the maingameplay loop. These games are usuallyadventure orstorytelling games whose ending or sometimes even entire story changes depending on the player's active, in the form ofdialogue options, or passive choices, such as games withmoral systems.

Examples of choice-driven games that feature multiple endings:

• Life Is Strange, which includes twocanon endings. Players can choose either to save the protagonist's home town from a tornado while sacrificing her impliedlove interest or vice versa.
• Life Is Strange 2, which, unlike its predecessor, also takes previous choices the player has made into consideration in the form of a "moral system" for its seven endings.^[6]
• Detroit: Become Human,Heavy Rain,Beyond: Two Souls and many more games created byQuantic Dream feature multiple endings depending on the player's choices.
• Until Dawn,The Quarry andThe Casting of Frank Stone all feature multiple endings for each of their large cast of protagonists, a common trope inSupermassive Games.
• Telltale Games are known for featuring a variety of different endings in their story-based games such as theirThe Walking Dead orGame of Thrones video game adaptations.

Some video games revolve their entire story around the concept of multiple endings and utilize them as a gameplay mechanic. This is done either chronologically, whereby the player experiences a game's ending multiple times but through differentpoint-of-views, or through "knowledge-gating" in which all endings are achievable from the start but have to be deduced throughtrial and error or through experiencing the game's other endings.

Examples of video games that feature endings as a gameplay mechanic:

• The Stanley Parable, which features eighteen different endings.^[7]
• The Talos Principle and itssequel.
• Nier andNier Automata, which require the player to finish the game multiple times before reaching their "true endings". Each subsequent playthrough unlocks new content in the form ofcutscenes orplayable characters.

• Alternate ending
• Interactive fiction
• Visual novel

• Plot (narrative)
• Video game design
• Fiction with multiple endings
• Endings

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