Possible Endings

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Character-Specific Endings[]

Sayori's Ending[]

(Note: This isn't necessarily an ending to the game, but more the events that lead to the end of her life. It is an unavoidable event.)

Sayori's ending happens at the end of Act 1. Regardless of the protagonist's choices related to Sayori or not, earlier in the game, what the player sees will be the same: Sayori will be hanging by a noose from her neck upon entry.

When the protagonist enters her room, the game will start glitching out and the music will heavily be distorted, playing the song "Sayo-nara", a distorted version of the game's menu theme. The protagonist thinks to himself that this is his fault, that she is gone forever and that choosing the other option when hearing Sayori's confession would have prevented this. When the game forcibly brings the players straight back to the menu, the result is Sayori being switched with a scrambled up mess of each of the other character's sprites where she used to be. The "New Game" option will also be replaced with a line of glitched and distorted text, but its functionality remains the same.

Monika will later state in Act 3 during her conversation with the player that Sayori's hands were bloody because her hanging did not kill her instantly by snapping her neck, having stepped from a chair instead of a higher place, the latter which would have made her death quick and painless. Instead, she slowly asphyxiated (choked), and during this time tried to scratch at the rope in a vain attempt to free herself, bloodying her hands in the process. Monika believes that this is because of Sayori either changing her mind a few seconds too late, or maybe it was just her survival instincts kicking in. This type of botched suicide could be very painful.

When she is seen hanging, Sayori does not wear the outfit that she wore on Day 4, but instead she wears a white dress shirt and red shorts. There are black shadows under her eyes, and her skin has a pale, sickly tone. The blood on her hands has dried a little and turned a rusty brown. This suggests that Sayori hanged herself very early on Day 5, which has been confirmed by Dan Salvato in his Twitter.^[1]

Natsuki's Ending[]

(Note: This isn't necessarily an ending to the game, just an optional event, and the game continues normally like it never happened, so Natsuki doesn't stay in this state.)

Natsuki's "ending" will happen once the protagonist writes two poems for Natsuki in the first two days of Act 2. It takes place on Day 3, during the poem sharing time. When the protagonist shares his poem with Natsuki, she will complain that he has been spending too much time with Yuri and not enough time with anyone else. Natsuki's eyes and mouth will begin to glitch out and will be covered with shifting black pixels. She will then begin to cry blood, all while the screen slowly tints to a dark red and a distorted version of "Okay Everyone!" plays over the scene.

She will keep rambling on and on that she is lonely and that the protagonist needs to spend more time with her. Then she stops talking as the music cuts off, and for a short moment, the room is filled with silence. She will then snap her neck to the right side of the screen at a 90° angle, and then quickly move towards the screen. A black screen will show with the word "END" flipped backwards before the game resumes and restarts as if nothing happened, with Natsuki still in the game.

Yuri's Ending[]

(Note: This isn't necessarily an ending to the game, but more the events that lead to the end of her life. It is an unavoidable event.)

Yuri's ending happens after she shows her final poem to the protagonist towards the end of Act 2. Yuri obsessively confesses that she is in love with him, and asks if he accepts her feelings or not. Regardless of what the player chooses, she will stab herself with a kitchen knife three times. The player is then forced to spend the weekend in the club room with her corpse, staring at her as the lighting in the room changes, the blood color darkens to indicate the passage of time, and her small smile slowly shifts to a slight frown and her eyes start to lose their color, while the dialogue box displays over 1400 lines of random gibberish. It is later revealed by Monika that the whole weekend was running on a "broken script", to which she apologizes. On the PS5 and PS4 versions of DDLC+, this ending is slightly altered. When Yuri stabs herself, her blood is replaced with a black, ink-like substance. However, the following scene with Yuri's corpse is unchanged. This was done to satisfy Sony Interactive Entertainment's policies^[2] regarding violence.

Monika's Ending[]

(Note: This isn't necessarily an ending to the game, but more the events that lead to her being deleted from the game. She stays hidden in the game after this, but she doesn't manifest herself until the end. It is an unavoidable event.)

Monika's ending starts after the weekend is spent with Yuri's corpse, at which point Natsuki finds the protagonist with Yuri's body in the class, before promptly vomiting and running away. Upon entering, Monika will apologize for the inconvenience, then delete Natsuki and Yuri from the game in full view of the protagonist.

The screen will go black afterwards and soon show Monika sitting at a table in the now empty classroom, with her hands tented under her chin and a space-like background. Monika will then explain her motivations for her actions and confess to manipulating the game in order for the player to be left alone with her. A few of her lines indirectly instruct the player to delete her character file by explaining how she deleted the other character files.

After her monologue, Monika will say that she will think of different things to talk about with the player and that, in the meantime, they can stare into each other's eyes. If the player decides to delete Monika from the game, Monika will then glitch out, before becoming disembodied and angrily expressing her disgust at the player. She will then claim that she made a mistake and express her regret at what she has done to her friends. Monika then reveals that she couldn't find it in her to delete her friends, due to her love for them and the Literature Club. She will then begin Act 4 by adding all the characters back into the game except herself.

Game Endings[]

Normal Ending[]

This ending will happen if the player didn't save and load their game to spend time with all of the girls during Act 1. It's normally the first ending players go through while playing Doki Doki Literature Club!.

In Act 4, after starting a new game, the game appears to be normal, up until Sayori addresses the player at the end of the day, thanking them for deleting Monika. At this, Monika comes to the realization that any character who falls into the president role will become self-aware and find out that Doki Doki Literature Club is actually just a game and that the characters have no free will. Because of this, Monika "deletes" everything as the credits roll. It's worth noting that any CG that the player never viewed is rendered in grayscale. As the credits begin and continue, Monika sings her self-written song "Your Reality" with her piano, which can be heard by the player as the only confirmed voice in the game. After that, Monika leaves a note on the player's screen, thanking them for playing the game. At this point, to play the game again, players will have to delete and reinstall it, or they can simply delete the "firstrun" file in the game folder and select "Yes" upon opening up the game again. For Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! players will need to run the reset.sh file located in the files of the built-in OS.

Good Ending[]

This ending can only be seen if players see all ten of the game's CGs; three from writing poems for Sayori, three from writing poems for Yuri, three from writing poems for Natsuki, and one from talking to Monika in her room during Act 3. One of the methods to get this ending is to save the game before the first poem, make all the poems specific to one girl, go back to the first poem's save file before Sayori commits suicide, and repeat the process with another girl. After Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki's CGs have been seen, the game can be continued normally. Players also have to be careful not to delete Monika too early in Act 3, because if they do so without seeing the CG, the game will not count it as seen and they will just see the Normal Ending.

After Monika restarts the game without herself present, Sayori will gain the knowledge Monika had from her position as the president of the club, but this time, she will thank the player for trying to make all the girls happy. Sayori thanks the player for playing, and the credits will roll, but this time, none of the images will be deleted. The other game files will be deleted still, and the player must delete the "firstrun" file or reinstall the game to play again. Players will then get a thank you letter from the developer, which also contains a basic summary on his initial inspiration for the game itself and why he made it instead of the bittersweet letter from Monika.

Note: When DDLC Plus was originally released, the images would still be deleted even if the Good Ending was achieved. This bug was later fixed in the June 2023 patch of the game.

Letter from the developer[]

To the special player who achieved this special ending.
For years, I have been enamored by the ability of visual novels - and games in general - to tell stories in ways not possible using traditional media. Doki Doki Literature Club is my love letter to that. Games are an interactive art. Some let you explore new worlds. Some challenge your mind in broad new ways. Some make you feel like a hero or a friend, even when life is hard on you. Some games are just plain fun - and that's okay, too.
Everyone likes different kinds of games. People who enjoy dating sims may have a heightened empathy for fictional characters, or they might be experiencing feelings that life has not been kind enough to offer them. If they are enjoying themselves, then that's all that matters. That goes for shooting games, casual games, sandbox games - anything. Preferences are preferences, and our differences are the reason we have a thriving video game industry. My own favorite games have always been ones that challenge the status quo. Even if not a masterpiece, any game that attempts something wildly different may earn a special place in my heart. Anything that further pushes the limitless bounds of interactive media.
I extend my true gratitude to all those who have taken the time to achieve full completion. I hope you enjoyed playing it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Thank you for being a part of my Literature Club!
Love,
Dan Salvato

Quick Ending[]

If Monika's character file is deleted before starting a new game in Act 1, Sayori appears to realize that she is trapped in a game, becomes visibly upset and eventually yells "PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!". She will then force the game to close and delete the other character files, including herself. If the player opens the game after this occurs, instead of the usual opening and main menu, a black "END" screen appears followed by a gray scaled screen of Sayori hanging herself. After 10 minutes pass, a message written in Sayori's handwriting appears on screen: "Now everyone can be happy."

An even shorter version occurs if Sayori's character file is missing when launching the game with save data from the first act. Upon launch, the game simply skips immediately to the same series of screens, the "END", followed by Sayori hanging herself.