User blog comment:Vinnnn/Character Critiques, Tips, and Hints/@comment-26382369-20150720065941/@comment-33209858-20150720075314

Don't worry, I'm always happy to help ^^

From what I've gathered, it seems like most of the villainous roles of stories have Sadly Ever Afters. For example, the Wicked Witch of the West dies from getting water poured on her, the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk falls to his death, and the witch (Dame Gothel) from Rapunzel gets trapped in Rapunzel's tower forever after. And the evil stepmother and sister from Diamonds and Toads get a bad ending as well, not to mention the evil stepmother and step-sisters from Cinderella.

Plenty of Hans Christian Andersen's tales end on a sad note, such as the Little Match Girl, The Little Mermaid, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Marsh King's Daughter, The Wicked Prince, and The Red Shoes. There's also the folktale of Bluebeard, which is a very morbid tale about a man who beheads all of his previous wives and is eventually killed by his current wife's brothers. And I know that the Gingerbread Man gets eaten by a fox in the end, so that can be considered a Sadly Ever After as well.

Some of the Grimm tales have pretty morbid endings as well. For example, The Three Snake Leaves was pretty messed up from start to finish. Brother and Sister has one daughter being torn to shreds by animals and the stepmother being burned at the stake. The Singing Bone has a brother killing another brother and ends with the first brother's death for murder so like nobody wins in that story. And there's also The Robber Bridegroom which features murder and cannibalism. I mean, Andersen's tales were pretty sad, but some Grimm tales were just plain messed up and dark.

I know that there are some tragic endings in Arthurian legends, such as Elaine of Ascolat who dies of heartbreak, and the story of Tristan and Iseult which ends similar to Romeo and Juliet. I would suggest Greek tragedies such as Electra and the Twelve Labours of Hercules, but I'm still not entirely sure if Greek mythology is allowed here. Still, it might be something to consider.

I'm sure that there are plenty of lesser known fairy tales with sad endings, but unfortunately I don't know that many ^^ Hopefully I helped in some way and mentioned a fairy tale that piques your interest, but if not just let me know and I'll try again~