An alternate ending (or alternative ending) is an ending of a story that was considered, or even written or produced, but ultimately discarded in favour of another resolution. Generally, alternative endings are considered to have no bearing on the canonical narrative.

Examples in literature

Examples in movies

Alternative endings are often filmed before being scrapped as a deleted scene, and may be included as a special feature in the film's home media releases. Some movies also present the alternative ending on international releases as well as their international home media release. In other cases, ideas that were presented but discarded early on are alluded to by the production team in commentary or interviews. The following are examples of alternative endings to movies:

Examples in television

In TV shows, producers may want to keep the ending of an episode a secret, even if it means keeping it from the stars themselves. In such a case, they will usually film more than one ending and not tell the cast which one will be used.

Examples in music

Examples in video games

Many video games also have alternative endings. Since video games are an interactive medium, these endings are generally posed as a result of player action, such as completing the game in a harder difficulty, taking a different route through the game's storyline and succeeding or failing at given tasks. It is generally possible to play a game a second time, make different decisions or achieve a different degree of success, and arrive at a different ending than the first time, complicating the canonicity of the ending(s).