LogFAQs > #925710547

Today's trope is Torch the Franchise and Run. Here is the link: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TorchTheFranchiseAndRun

A writer has created a franchise, but they don't own the legal rights to what will happen to the franchise; the publisher, network, studio, or whatever does. Or maybe they share the rights with someone else and just don't have as much control as they would like. They want to stop writing it and move on to something else.

But they don't want anyone else being able to handle their property, even though they don't legally own it. And even if they did own the franchise, what happens when their kids get their hands on the franchise after their inevitable death? The solution? Torch the franchise and run. Write one last story that totally wrecks everything. They kill off everyone they possibly can. They make the lives of all of the characters a living hell before executing them. They make 100% sure that everyone is dead, and those that aren't have no way of returning to the status quo or main premise of the show. However, the author can also achieve this in the form of an unambiguous happy ending where the villains are defeated for good and the conflict is resolved in such a way that everyone lives Happily Ever After.

Essentially the authorial version of breaking your own toys so that nobody else can play with them.

TL,DR: The creators try to end the series in such a way that it's very difficult, if not impossible, for anyone else to continue it.

Nominations:
The cast goes over the top (Blackadder Goes Forth)
Pepe's creator kills him off (Pepe)
The Brethren Moons awaken (Dead Space 3)

Honorable Mention:
Aliens (Crash Team Racing) - I'm not sure why Naughty Dog thought adding an alien was going too far in a series that already had time travel, genetically evolved animals and sentient enchanted voodoo masks.