Your Head-Canon DEFINITIVE Ending For Your Fave Characters?

[Ascended]

I posted a similar thread in the Batman forums a while ago and we got some really cool ideas thrown around, so I thought I'd do the same here.

Title basically says it all. Forget origin stories. We have a billion of those. What we dont have a lot of are the "final days" type of stories; the ones where the hero has their last battle and their story ends. You know, tales like "Whatever Happened To....."

So if you were going to tell the definitive finale for your favorite DC character/s, what would that story be? No continuity restrictions; use, ignore, and/or change what you like; it's just you and the version of the character as you see it in your own mind, and his/her ultimate last story.

[Lee Stone]

Swamp Thing - the Parliament of Trees recognizes Tefe as the natural successor to their ancient order, being the offspring of an Earth Elemental and a human. Swamp Thing and Abigail are given royalty status and move the Amazon. Tefe and Maxine (of Animal-Man) go to live on Paradise Island where, under the guidance of the Olympian Gods, Queen Diana (see below) guides them to become human deities and rebuild the New Guardians. It's revealed that the original New Guardians failed because they weren't the true heirs. Also joining them are Fire, Ice, Windfall, Terra, Halo and Raven.

Aquaman - retires from superheroics and becomes a fulltime ruler of Atlantis with Mera by his side. Garth becomes the new Aquaman.

Wonder Woman - also retires from superheroics and takes her place as queen of the Amazons. Donna Troy finally discovers her true heritage as a magical clone of Diana that was planned to take her place in the world as Wonder Woman so Diana could replace Hippolyta. She had been given various conflicting origins because she had to experience different aspects of humanity in preparation for her role.

Zatanna - dons her father's hat and becomes headmistress of the Zatara School of Wizardry. Gives birth to Constantine's child.

Constantine - becomes trapped in the astral plane due to a failed ritual that is sabotaged by Felix Faust. Frequently haunts the school run by Zatanna. His daughter, Sindella (named after Zatanna's mother) is the only one who can communicate with him freely. Zatanna must travel to the astral realm to visit him.

Superman - he and Lois, with the help of the Lantern Corps, rebuild Krypton on the moon.

Batman - retires from superheroics and becomes mayor of Gotham. He marries Helena Bertinelli and they adopt several orphans.

[bat39]

I wouldn't use the word 'definitive' here. These are just possibilities after all that will likely never be actualized in mainstream continuity. That said, here goes-


With Green Arrow, I like the idea of Oliver Queen at some point having retired to the island permanently. But then someone (Dinah? Connor? Roy? Mia?) drags him out of retirement for one last mission, back to the world he'd fled. The world (or at any rate, Star City) is now practically a fascist police state, albeit a 'gilded cage' with no crime and loads of prosperity. Green Arrow, sensing something insidious about this society had long ago tried to sound the alarm but his suspicions were rejected by the populace who now seemingly had what they always wanted, which was what led a disillusioned Oliver to exile. Now, Team Arrow (what's left of it) has uncovered a conspiracy at the heart of this police state and Oliver has one last chance to save his city. And I kinda imagine that the mastermind behind the new Star City is a Merlyn. Anyway, the story ends with the conspiracy defeated and the police state unraveled. People have their 'freedom' again but the city has descended into chaos again. And Oliver is mortally wounded in the final battle but with his dying words, he tells his allies that while he's unsure if they did the right thing or not, its now their responsibility to keep the city safe and guide it to its new destiny. And the story ends with the Green Arrow going down as a martyr and being revered by the city. Dinah or Roy or someone trains an army of Green Arrows to serve the city. And Oliver's body is laid to rest on the island.

[j9ac9k]

Hal Jordan: Marries Carol Ferris (Star Sapphire) and retires to Coast City, each holding on to their rings, but having put them away. Eventually some calamity calls Hal back to action in the stars and they go on one last great adventure where Carol dies and Hal is severely injured so spends his last couple of years on Oa (or Mogo, whatever) becoming a bit of a mentor to the GLC before hurling himself out to the stars with his last waning bits of willpower to fearlessly confront the next life...

[Lamashtar]

Hal Jordan: Similar to above, but his final day is a big, galactic space battle, with planets crashing into each other. Hal helps save the day with the aid of his friends, but is utterly destroyed. He becomes an energy being in Emerald Space, but this time, its too late for White Lanterns to save him, energy is his natural state now. However, all the stories about him have made Emerald Space become a Heaven for Green Lanterns, with the belief of the living Lanterns turning Emerald Space from the stark green waste into the beautiful shining city seen in the future The End story. The dead energy Lanterns rule themselves now, without the restrictions of the Guardians forcing them to be uniform. They dress like individuals instead of in uniforms, and eventually have families, living with them in the shining city instead of not being allowed to have families with them, like the Guardians rule in life. They still fight evil, but they fight other energy types in the manner of ascended beings, like monsters in the Bleed and mental Multiversity invasions.

Lantern books have separate story types: the ascended Lanterns have weird wacky mind-boggling adventures like you'd see in magical hero books, while the living Lanterns are the newer, younger ones and have more prosaic adventures before going up into the stars. The rings and energy are no longer completely uniform and under the Guardians control. Sometimes they get messages from the ascended Lanterns and strange abilities that never showed up before. The living Lanterns have to deal with being part of the pseudo-religion and its oddness. Perhaps some split off and there are competing Green Lanterns, once the Guardians are shown to no longer be able to control the Corps. Like Jedi and Sith and force-adepts, but not every variant is called Lantern anymore. Old technology like converters and power staves instead of power batteries and rings are brought back.

Hal, Guy, John, and Kyle all might make occasional appearances due to weird events, like possession, adult reincarnation, DNA restructuring a la Justice League 3000 either as physical bodied heroes, or as the personalities of power batteries and/or rings.

EDIT: Batman will never admit it, but this is my fanwank for what happened in Dark Knight Returns. Energy Being Hal didn't stop to socialize or do more than that one thing that Batman wanted, because Batman had to use a Willpower Prayer device to get Hal to be capable of interacting with the physical world.

[Outside_85]

Mine tend to be a bit connected to each other:

Batman: Killed in the line of duty fighting the Joker who kills himself shortly afterwards as his life is meaningless without Batman.

Dick Grayson: Suffers fatal injuries in a last fight with Deathstroke the Terminator, who plummets to his own death from the top of the building they were fighting on. Dick lives for several days after the fight, but passes away surrounded by his friends and loved ones.

Wonder Woman: Retires from superheroics and the world in general with the death of Batman that causes her heart to shatter and her to loose sight of hope. (She was very much in love with him)

Starfire/Beastboy: Eventually Starfire assumes the mantle of rulership over Tamaran, she marries Beastboy. However Beastboy later contracts cancer and dies in his wife's arms, she dies not long after due to Tamaranian physiology.

Cyborg: Eventually retires from superheroics thinking he could be of more use in other ways. Founds his own company that specializes in the design in high-tech low-cost prostetics. He gets married along the way with one of his employees. He lives to be quite old, but because of his condition he eventually outlives his wife. He is one day found on the Watchtower having simply turned off his own life support systems.

Superman: Disappears not long after the passing of Lois Lane, suspected to have returned to the ruins of Krypton.

Martian Manhunter: Being the last of the original founders of the Justice League causes J'onn to one day say his farewells and return to Mars where he constructs a great monument to his people where he interred the few remains he can find before waiting out his time.

Raven: In a bid to rob her father of a great deal of power, she assumes rulership of his domains in his absence. She continues to live on in the depths, waging an unholy war against any demon or devil that would threaten the mortal world. Occasionally returns to the mortal plane in times of great need.

[Sam]

While I don't really like thinking about the ending for most characters, I did have an idea I liked for the Conner Kent Superboy.

In my opinion, rather than follow in the footsteps of either Superman or Lex Luthor, he finds himself increasingly attached to life in Smallville, choosing to stay there permanently, eventually taking over the Kent farm when he gets older and protecting Smallville from outside threats. Basically, it seemed like the natural continuation of where his character was after Lemire's series.

[greatmetropolitan]

Clark Kent and Lois Lane raise a large family of children, the future generation of Supermen and Superwomen. However much the family and superhero community at large offered Lois life-extending treatments, that she might live as long as her Kryptonian family, she said no. Dying was part of life, and maybe the most important lesson Clark ever learned was that he couldn't save everyone. This was a lesson she'd pass on to her children. In her final moments, Clark left the room. No-one knew why. When the room was entered 10 minutes later, it was empty. Clark and his children cried with one another, but it was how they all wanted it.

It's the 900th century, and the multiverse's natural life is coming to an end, ready to birth a new multiverse full of possibilities and wonder. Standing before the proto-consciousness of a new multiverse, his friends and family and every form of life in the universe now all safely passed over to a new, peaceful realm, Clark Kent is old and tired, and even his life is about to reach its end. Asked what he'd like, a final boon from the consciousness of everything and everyone that ever was or will be, to say thank you for protecting them, for protecting us, for all of his life. There was only one way Clark's life could end, and he knew it back in the 2100s. Reality blinked and the Man of Tomorrow went on a final flight to the past, to a room in a Smallville farm where an old, happy woman was about to draw her final breath.

"My wife," he said. "My love. My Lois. I'm here."

"My husband," she said. "My love. My Clark. Can you read my mind?"

In a flash of light they took to the sky. Up. Up. And away.

[greatmetropolitan]

BREAKING NEWS

Reclusive billionaire Bruce Wanye, 102, dead in Park Row street attack.

Mary and Warren McGinnis were taking a short cut through Park Row with their son, Terry, when they were attacked by an armed gang seeking to rob them. Mrs McGinnis (36) said she feared for her life until the family were rescued by Gotham's favourite son turned greatest benefactor, Bruce Wayne.

In astonishing scenes, the McGinnis family say that Mr Wayne fought off all four gang members singled handedly, before collapsing to the ground of a suspected heart attack.

"He was amazing," said Terry, (8). "Mom says we all have a guardian angel. I think he was ours."

"I'm glad someone could be with him when he died", said Mary McGinnis. "He just smiled up at me and reached out for my necklace. Peals. I...I think he liked them. I don't know. I sound silly."

Mr Wayne is survived by his son, Damien, his foster children, Timothy Drake and Jason Todd, and his former ward and closest friend, Richard Grayson. Turn to pages 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 for our full obituary for Gotham's beloved protector.

[Maxi]

I wouldn't use the word 'definitive' here. These are just possibilities after all that will likely never be actualized in mainstream continuity. That said, here goes-


With Green Arrow, I like the idea of Oliver Queen at some point having retired to the island permanently. But then someone (Dinah? Connor? Roy? Mia?) drags him out of retirement for one last mission, back to the world he'd fled. The world (or at any rate, Star City) is now practically a fascist police state, albeit a 'gilded cage' with no crime and loads of prosperity. Green Arrow, sensing something insidious about this society had long ago tried to sound the alarm but his suspicions were rejected by the populace who now seemingly had what they always wanted, which was what led a disillusioned Oliver to exile. Now, Team Arrow (what's left of it) has uncovered a conspiracy at the heart of this police state and Oliver has one last chance to save his city. And I kinda imagine that the mastermind behind the new Star City is a Merlyn. Anyway, the story ends with the conspiracy defeated and the police state unraveled. People have their 'freedom' again but the city has descended into chaos again. And Oliver is mortally wounded in the final battle but with his dying words, he tells his allies that while he's unsure if they did the right thing or not, its now their responsibility to keep the city safe and guide it to its new destiny. And the story ends with the Green Arrow going down as a martyr and being revered by the city. Dinah or Roy or someone trains an army of Green Arrows to serve the city. And Oliver's body is laid to rest on the island.

I so want this as a real Dark Knight-esque Green Arrow story now!

[dietrich]

BREAKING NEWS

Reclusive billionaire Bruce Wanye, 102, dead in Park Row street attack.

Mary and Warren McGinnis were taking a short cut through Park Row with their son, Terry, when they were attacked by an armed gang seeking to rob them. Mrs McGinnis (36) said she feared for her life until the family were rescued by Gotham's favourite son turned greatest benefactor, Bruce Wayne.

In astonishing scenes, the McGinnis family say that Mr Wayne fought off all four gang members singled handedly, before collapsing to the ground of a suspected heart attack.

"He was amazing," said Terry, (8). "Mom says we all have a guardian angel. I think he was ours."

"I'm glad someone could be with him when he died", said Mary McGinnis. "He just smiled up at me and reached out for my necklace. Peals. I...I think he liked them. I don't know. I sound silly."

Mr Wayne is survived by his son, Damien, his foster children, Timothy Drake and Jason Todd, and his former ward and closest friend, Richard Grayson. Turn to pages 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 for our full obituary for Gotham's beloved protector.

That was quite a beautiful and fitting end for the Bruce Wayne. Liked that a lot.
Beautiful and Poignant.

[NeathBlue]

Barry Allen goes back in time to change history, unfortunately he goes back too far to a time before man existed... Slightly bewildered, he takes a step forward only to hear a crunching sound, he looks down and sees he has trodden on and killed some sort of lizard... Thinking nothing of it he decides he's best travelling back to his own time, which he successfully does.
However when he gets back he finds no trace of existence of the human race and the land is covered by vegetation and crawling with animal life... He then realises he'd inadvertently set off a change of events that meant the human race never existed...
Barry Allen then slowly fades out of existence...

[stephens2177]

While I don't really like thinking about the ending for most characters, I did have an idea I liked for the Conner Kent Superboy.

In my opinion, rather than follow in the footsteps of either Superman or Lex Luthor, he finds himself increasingly attached to life in Smallville, choosing to stay there permanently, eventually taking over the Kent farm when he gets older and protecting Smallville from outside threats. Basically, it seemed like the natural continuation of where his character was after Lemire's series.

I can definitely see lemire's "Superboy" doing that.

Course I wouldn't go that route with my version of Kon.i would probably have the world get taken over by a evil alien race,and the first thing they did was kill superman leaving the world without a Superman.so Kon puts on the cape and rallies the Earth's heroes,villians,and normal folks to take back the earth,but he dies taking out the last extinction level device the aliens had left.

[j9ac9k]

Bruce Wayne: I say "Bruce Wayne" instead of "Batman" because Batman, the symbol, the man in the costume never dies. Similar to other ideas that have been presented, Bruce cultivates an intricate Society of the Bat, with a "Batman Prime" (which starts out as Bruce) and other operatives, Robins, what have you. After decades of this, "Bruce Wayne" essentially disappears, and he dies quietly somewhere (or in a blaze of glory), but nobody ever really knows, nobody is ever really sure, nobody is even sure who was the original, or who wasn't. Bruce Wayne disappears in mystery, like the myth he invented - an urban legend.

[Ascended]

Some really cool ideas here.

I like the idea of Bruce Wayne stopping a reflection of his own origin with Terry. That puts a interesting spin on that Batman Beyond dynamic.

I wouldn't use the word 'definitive' here. These are just possibilities after all that will likely never be actualized in mainstream continuity. That said, here goes-

With Green Arrow, I like the idea of Oliver Queen at some point having retired to the island permanently. But then someone (Dinah? Connor? Roy? Mia?) drags him out of retirement for one last mission, back to the world he'd fled. The world (or at any rate, Star City) is now practically a fascist police state, albeit a 'gilded cage' with no crime and loads of prosperity. Green Arrow, sensing something insidious about this society had long ago tried to sound the alarm but his suspicions were rejected by the populace who now seemingly had what they always wanted, which was what led a disillusioned Oliver to exile. Now, Team Arrow (what's left of it) has uncovered a conspiracy at the heart of this police state and Oliver has one last chance to save his city. And I kinda imagine that the mastermind behind the new Star City is a Merlyn. Anyway, the story ends with the conspiracy defeated and the police state unraveled. People have their 'freedom' again but the city has descended into chaos again. And Oliver is mortally wounded in the final battle but with his dying words, he tells his allies that while he's unsure if they did the right thing or not, its now their responsibility to keep the city safe and guide it to its new destiny. And the story ends with the Green Arrow going down as a martyr and being revered by the city. Dinah or Roy or someone trains an army of Green Arrows to serve the city. And Oliver's body is laid to rest on the island.

I dunno man, that sounds about as pitch perfect and "definitive" as it can get. I like this idea a lot.