Obviously, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Mainly movies for me because I haven't read them. Extended editions, obviously.
But also, I adore the mass effect trilogy. Yeah, the rpg elements get gradually watered down, and the third ones ending isn't the best, but it's still an absolutely amazing Trilogy that I replay yearly. And it all came out in 5 years! Nowadays, single games have 5 years of dev time, at least. In my eyes, it's as perfect as it can be....Once it's been modded a bit.
How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy.
I watched the first one on a ferry, and just hearing the title made me think it was going to be some nonsense. And then it was amazing.
Then they announced a second, and I was thinking what do they expect to do with this and then they gave something intensely heartwarming and heart wrenching. I found it better and deeper than the first.
And then the third. I don't think it was as clean as the other two, but it closed it off so beautifully I was bawling at the end. Absolutely perfect.
Avatar the last Airbender had 3 perfect seasons.
Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood and Revelations aka the Ezio trilogy. I remember playing it when I was quite young and the parkour elements blew my mind. Ezio was a very charismatic character and these games were imo the best Assassin's Creed games, before Ubisoft went to shit and started churning them out every other year.
Half Life, Half Life 2
The mass effect trilogy. Yeah, shut up, the ending is great. NEVER had a problem with it. It's a videogame, really expecting that the ending will take into account all the decisions over 100 hours of gameplay and dialogue and give you a very personal ending for you is lunacy. Even real life doesn't work like that. The 3 endings with slight variations depending of your war assets was more than enough for me.
The Next Generation Deep Space Nine Voyager
I know that technically doesn't count but whatever.
The Riftwar Saga, by R.E. Feist, starting with Magician. Not LotR levels, but still very pleasing.
Spyro 1-3. First game set the mood. Second game refined the formula, last game had fun with it. Still play it to this day.
Now hold on here...
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men
X2It fully explains Wolverine's power set, explains why he has no memory in X-Men, and puts a pin in the storyline with Stryker by X2.
Folks HATE Origins, and I get it, nobody likes that version of Deadpool. That being said, it's NOT the shit show that Last Stand turned out to be, and with this trilogy, you can safely pretend Last Stand never existed.
The love story with Silverfox was sweet and touching.
The battle by battle history sequence with Wolverine and Sabertooth was great.
Even before the transformation, Ryan Reynolds nailed Wade's basic trait as "the Merc with the mouth" before it all goes horribly, horribly wrong.
The only thing it doesn't really explain is how Sabertooth apparently got brain damage between the two.
Whenever I think of the answer to this question, I always lament at how many film trilogies or games could have been absolutely immaculate duologies but were, for various reasons, sort of forced into a third installment through fan expectations, studio pressure, or just plain Hollywood/corporate greed.
It usually begins with a film or a video game that is an unexpected success, something that was written off by the execs that turned out to be not just a work of art, but a pop culture sensation. Star Wars, The Matrix, The Terminator, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, etc were probably never intended to have a sequel. Their original plotlines all tied up the loose ends nicely and made for a perfectly adequate self-contained story. Then the second film/game in the series comes out and it's another well received installment. Maybe it's because the second rides a bit on the coattails of the first, or maybe because the first walked so the second could run, it's hard to say, but in every case the second always sets the bar too high. The third installment is typically the one that sours the soup, so to speak. I'd wager that even a really well written story can't really live up to the expectations that fans have for the third installment of a well-beloved series. Having the perfect three-peat is a feat rarely seen accomplished, but nobody ever seems satisfied with just two good pieces of media with no plans for a third.
Star Trek II, III, IV
Order the 6 piece mozzerella sticks. You get 2 mozzerella sticks as a trilogy!
Mmmmmmmm, the perfect trilogy!
His Dark Materials trilogy for me. Both the books and the BBC TV adaptation.
Books:
Wool/Shift/Dust by Hugh Howey. A well written, immersive post apocalyptic fiction that has a satisfying conclusion.
The Passage/The Twelve/The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin. Pretty much the same as above.
The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. A huge read that spans almost a century (from just prior WW1 to the late 20th century), accompanying the same families from several different countries and embedding them into significant world events of the 20th century. Really well written and enjoyable.
Explorations into Microtonal Tuning is a trilogy of albums by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard that follow on nicely from eachother, all very good albums in their own right, and a third thing I can't think of but would sound rhetorically complete.
Mass Effect and Dark Souls are my favorites when it comes to gaming.
Everyone's giving you answers you already know about because it's all pop media, so here's one you might not know. The Psychomech trilogy by Brian Lumley!
It's kind of a power fantasy type of read, but very entertaining.
Bonus Lensman series. It's not a trilogy though.
vinegared rice, fish, soy sauce
compliment sandwich, dislike/criticism, compliment sandwich
homecoming, far from home, no way home: ymmv, nanotech spidey is just a fresh take imo
dragon quest: "castle in the sky" trilogy
beef slices, onions, rice bowl
Dark souls
American pie 1,2 and 3
Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. If you haven't read them, you're missing something important.
I have no complaints about the Deptford trilogy
Donkey Kong Country for the SNES
Stephen King's Bill Hodges trilogy: Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, & End of Watch.
Martha Wells Murderbot series is on book 8 (of the full length novels) and I love it more each time. I've read it through three times and still enjoy it each time.
I know it's not 3 but if anything I find it more impressive.
Doom, Doom 2, Doom 64
Far Cry 3, 4, & 5
SOAD albums Mezmerize and Hypnotize.
Not all their best songs on those two albums, and some of them kind of sucked tbh.
However. How the fuck ever.
Listen to the entire pair, all the way through, in order, longhand. I don't care, just do it.
When you get to the last track, Soldier side, it pulls together all the themes that have been foreshadowed and hinted at across two entire albums, and oh holy fucking shit. When it breaks, your jaw will drop.
Minecraft alpha, Minecraft beta, Minecraft
