Random Shockingly Dark Finales Of Kids' Shows (12 items)

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  (#6) The World of David the Gnome

  • Matilde Conesa, Jane Woods, José María Cordero

  This Spanish cartoon first made its way onto American TV in 1986, and ran on several different networks in the '90s and '00s. Though its gentle, gnome-based content seemed harmless to parents, several generations of children were scarred by the series's surprisingly bleak ending. 

  The show follows a married couple, David and Lisa, who look after the inhabitants of the forest in which they reside. They've been dutiful caretakers for centuries, as gnomes can live up to 400 years, but not a year longer. David and Lisa are both aware of their own mortality, and upon reaching 399, they decide to make one final trip to the Moutains of Beyond to cross over peacefully to the other side. 
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  (#11) The Villain Ends Up Trapped Inside A Dream In 'W.I.T.C.H.'

  Adapted from the Italian comics series of the same name, W.I.T.C.H. is a '00s series that follows five teen girls, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin (whose names form the acrostic that is the show's title). The ladies are known as the Guardians of the Veil, and use elemental powers to preserve different fantasy realms.

  The series ran for two seasons before concluding with the horrifically nightmarish episode "Z Is for Zenith." In the finale, the girls finally defeat the evil Nerissa by trapping her in a dream world. Nerissa has no idea that this occurs, and is fated to relive the same events over and over, ad infinitum.

  While the heroes are victorious, they are given little time to celebrate their success; it's soon revealed that one of their teachers is a double agent, who seeks to expose their secret lives. However, since season three has yet to be confirmed, the cliffhanger is never resolved. 
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  (#5) The Hero Is Killed And Buried In An Unmarked Grave In 'M.A.N.T.I.S.'

  Before horror director Sam Raimi took on Spider-Man, he championed the world's first live-action, African-American superhero in 1994. The delightfully weird M.A.N.T.I.S. follows the adventures of the titular hero, who fights crime in an exoskeleton after a stray bullet paralyzes him from the waist down. 

  The show's ending, however, is not so delightful. In the episode "Ghost of the Ice," M.A.N.T.I.S. tussles with an invisible dinosaur that threatens to wreak havoc on humanity. While the premise sounds pretty ridiculous, all comedy is cast aside when M.A.N.T.I.S. is forced to blow himself and his love interest up to eliminate the creature. After he sacrifices himself, the only thing his grieving sidekick can do is bury him in an unmarked grave.
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  (#7) Superman: The Animated Series

  • Tim Daly, Joseph Bologna, Dana Delany

  Following in the footsteps of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: TAS was filled with the maturity and depth, but usually managed to wrap plot lines up in a light, optimistic manner. 

  "Legacy," the series's two-part conclusion, features Darkseid being characteristically cruel. After brainwashing Superman into believing that he's a villain, Darkseid sends the Kryptonian to destroy Earth. Though an intervention staged by Lex Luthor snaps him out of it, Superman ends up as a fugitive, and is forced to run from the military. To make matters worse, Darkseid's enslaved people choose to save their leader, even after Superman liberates them. The whole thing presents a moral that children probably shouldn't internalize. 
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  (#1) Dinosaurs

  • Stuart Pankin, Jessica Walter, Jason Willinger

  Dinosaurs was Jim Henson's final gift to the world before he tragically passed away in the early '90s. The show focuses on a family of animatronic dinosaurs, and flaunts a goofy, playful attitude, right up until its infamously horrible series finale in 1994.

  Earl — the Sinclair family's Megalosaurus patriarch — works for the Wesayso Corporation. While the company is well-intentioned, its work inadvertently messes with the laws of nature, and brings about an ice age that none of the dinosaurs can survive.

  The show's harrowing final shots show the family sitting nervously in front of their TV — their house covered in snow — hoping desperately that the news will provide them with some reassurance. Instead, anchor Howard Handupme solemnly bids them, "Goodbye," at which point the screen fades to black. 
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  (#4) Teen Titans

  • Hynden Walch, Scott Menville, Greg Cipes

  Teen Titans (2003-2006) achieved a near-perfect balance of grit and levity during its five season run. Though the feature-length Trouble In Tokyo was later created to tie up loose ends, the show's original series finale was the half-hour special, "Things Change." At the start of the episode, the Titans return to their hometown, only to discover that all their favorite shops have closed down. 

  The plot thickens when Terra — Beast Boy's sometimes girlfriend who turned into a statue in Season 2 — abruptly reappears. However, she has no memory of her past life with the Titans, or of her relationship with Beast Boy. Her apparent amnesia bothers Beast Boy to no end, and he goes to great lengths to try and jog her memory. Unfortunately, none of his efforts prove fruitful, and the new Terra actually begins avoiding him. 

  Beast Boy loses his grip, and begins frequenting the places he and Terra used to visit on dates, hoping desperately that he'll run into her. Instead, he comes face to face with the robotic doppelgänger of the Titans' arch enemy, Slade. As Beast Boy and Slade duke it out in a hall of mirrors, the villain explains that he has nothing to do with Terra's reappearance, and that it's really Beast Boy who's hurting her by refusing to move on with his life. 

  After taking down the robot, Beast Boy tries one final time to remind Terra of who she used to be. His ploy fails, and she tells him that "things change" and that the Terra he remembers is "just a memory." The two are then separated by a crowd of people, at which point the series ends. 

  It's never too early to expose children to the harsh reality that everything they care about will one day melt away into nothing. 

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