Good Ending / Bad Ending

About

Good Ending / Bad Ending, also known as All Endings, refers to a series of memes that present various scenarios as a good, bad or another type of ending for a certain event or cultural phenomenon. The format gained popularity in the form of ironic Demotivational Poster videos in May 2020. In the memes, good and bad ending music themes from Fight Nights at Freddy's 3 are often used. Typical variations of the meme include Neutral Ending, True Ending and Secret Ending.

Origin

On May 16, 2020, iFunny^[1] user Lillard posted a Demotivational Poster video of Chinese actor Zhang Ai Qin from Xue Hua Piao Piao meme with a woman and two kids, with the post being captioned "The Good Ending," referencing the Multiple Endings video game trope.^[2] The post (shown below) received over 6,300 smiles in seven months.

Spread

In late May 2020, the video received viral spread online. For example, a May 21st repost by Instagram^[3] user lilmotherfigure received over 126,400 views in seven months (shown below, left). On May 22nd, Instagram^[4] account beanosoffical reposted the meme, gaining over 32,400 views in the same period.

On May 23rd, 2020, iFunny^[5] user PledgeToTheEdge posted the earliest found derivative meme within the format, a HOW Demotivational Conversation meme that gained 13 smiles.

On May 25th Instagram^[6] user lwb_._ posted a version of the meme based on a recent video by Zhang Ai-Qin looking sad captioned "The bad ending" (authorship unconfirmed). The post received over 290 likes and 1,300 likes in seven months. In the following days, multiple users reposted the video; for example, on May 26th, Instagram^[7] user sora.gif.v2 posted the meme, gaining over 14,400 views and 2,300 likes. On May 29th, 2020, Twitter^[8] user @Dead1234Kevin posted the meme with the audio replaced with the "Bad Ending Theme" from Five Nights at Freddy's 3. The tweet received over 90 retweets and 720 likes in seven months (shown below).

pic.twitter.com/uxYZhl6YgX

— dead1234 (@Dead1234Kevin) May 29, 2020

The version combined with FNaF 3's "Bad Ending Theme" received viral spread online; for example, on June 1st, 2020, Instagram^[9] user tony.trombone reposted the video, with the post garnering over 220,000 views and 25,000 likes in seven months.

On June 14th, 2020, Redditor^[10] That-holy-guy posted a video "Xue Hua Piao Piao All Endings" to /r/MemeVideos, gaining over 110 upvotes in six months. On June 19th, 2020, iFunny^{[11][12][13][14][15]} user Centaur_chestuts reuploaded the content of the video in five separate posts, each gaining between 3,900 and 4,700 smiles (shown below).

Prior to late July 2020, the format saw moderate spread online on iFunny, Instagram and Reddit. For example, on July 16th, Instagram^[16] user for_me_it_is_the_mcchicken posted a meme that received over 116,300 views and 16,200 likes in five months.

On July 23rd, 2020, Redditor^[17] /u/martinolix posted a Bad Ending meme referencing the 2020 Team Fortress 2 Bot Crisis, with the post gaining over 7,600 upvotes in /r/tf2 in five months. In the following days, multiple /r/tf2 users posted^[18][19][20] Good Ending / Bad Ending memes about Team Fortress 2. On August 22nd, YouTube^[21] user Attalkiseer posted a compilation video that received over 349,000 views in four months (shown below).

In the following months, Good Ending / Bad Ending memes maintained notable popularity online, with "good ending" and "bad ending" also gaining popularity as slang expressions.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References