History Main / HappilyEverAfter

* Although [[RomanceNovel Romance Novels]] rarely include these exact words, a Happily Ever After ending, or HEA, is considered foundational to the genre: if there's no HEA, it may be a good story but it isn't a romance novel. Part of the experience of reading them is that you know everything will turn out okay for the sympathetic main characters. (They don't necessarily get married--in same-sex historical romances, for example--but the point is they're in love and together and whatever challenge they faced in the book is dealt with.) The [[DarkerAndEdgier Darkest And Edgiest]] it gets is a somewhat less certain and more realistic but still positive version called a Happy For Now ending (HFN), which is usually a SequelHook.

* Although [[RomanceNovel Romance Novels]] rarely include these exact words, a Happily Ever After ending, or HEA, is considered foundational to the genre: if there's no HEA, it may be a good story but it isn't a romance novel. Part of the experience of reading them is that you know everything will turn out okay for the sympathetic maim characters. The [[DarkerAndEdgier Darkest And Edgiest]] it gets is a somewhat less certain and more realistic but still positive version called a Happy For Now ending (HFN), which is usually a SequelHook.

->'''Willy Wonka:''' But, Charlie, don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he ever wanted.\\

* ''Art/CupidAndPsycheBouguereau'': "The Rapture of Psyche" is set at the end of the myth where Psyche is brought to the Heavens to marry Cupid. Despite the {{painting|s}}'s alternate title, "The Abduction of Psyche", the look on her face shows that she is into it.

A happy maiirage ending is among TheOldestOnesInTheBook and still going strong. Many audiences simply ''want'' a HappyEnding because it makes them feel good. [[TrueArtIsAngsty True art may be angsty]], but AngstAversion is also a fact of life. Everyone has their own favorite spot on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, and the Happily Ever After ending is meant to appeal to those who prefer the more idealistic side of things.

* The eventual end of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' had everyone (including the main villain) survive. Shame it took a thousand years to accomplish.

* In ''Literature/{{Maoyu}}'' The Hero, the Demon Queen and Lady Knight decide to retire at the end of the Light Novel series. Seeing that the many people they came in contact with has absorbed and taken after their ideals, the trio leave together to travel to some faraway and quiet place.

* One of the most surreal versions of this trope happens in an episode of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries''. James trades his [[ManEatingPlant overly-affectionate]] Victreebell to the Magikarp Salesman for a supposedly more-obedient Weepinbell, and gives it to Jessie. It spontaneously evolves into another Victreebell, and becomes just as affectionate. [[ShooTheDog They ditch the new one entirely]]. At the same time, the Magikarp Salesman abandons James's Victreebell. The two Victreebell run into each other, and [[LoveAtFirstSight fall madly in love]], bouncing off into the sunset together.

* Pretty much everything Creator/{{Disney}} does, except for ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'' where the endings are more [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]]. And the ending of the [[Literature/TheFoxAndTheHound original novel of the latter]] was [[DownerEnding even worse]]!
* Every Creator/DonBluth movie too. In fact, Bluth has gone on record to say that as long as the story ends Happily Ever After, then kids can handle whatever dark and depressing stuff happens beforehand (and in Bluth's earlier movies, happen it does).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'', as per tradition of most of the known western animated films.

* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' ends with this implication. Myth/KingArthur has Excalibur once again, the evil Ruber has been defeated, and both Kayley and Garrett have been formally invested to the Round Table. Kayley's dress heavily resembles a wedding gown, and the final shot shows the lovebirds riding off together on a horse... with a sign that reads "JUST KNIGHTED."

Despite being one of TheOldestOnesInTheBook, this trope is still used more frequently than you'd think. Many audiences simply ''want'' a HappyEnding because it makes them feel good. [[TrueArtIsAngsty True art may be angsty]], but AngstAversion is also a fact of life. Everyone has their own favorite spot on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, and the Happily Ever After ending is meant to appeal to those who prefer the more idealistic side of things.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino end up together in an ideal afterlife in "The Gift."

Normally, that's the end.[[note]]Note that this is an English trope. German fairy tales usually end with [[CaptainObvious "Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute" - "and if they haven't died yet, they're still living today"]]. French end with "ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants" -- "They married [[BabiesEverAfter and had many children]]", which is seen as an invitation for parodists. Hungarian stories involving romance actually account for death, apparently ending with, "Boldogan éltek, amíg meg nem haltak" - "They lived happily until they died". Russian tales takes it even further with "And they lived their lives happily and died in one day," meaning that when they ''did'' [[DiedHappilyEverAfter eventually die]], [[TogetherInDeath they died together]], and didn't have to live without each other.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/WarioWare: Move it!'' subverts this trope.

--> '''Wario''': Waah! Not ME! [[WorstWhateverEver Worst vacation ever!]]

-->'''Narrator:'''And so the young lovers were wed and lived happily... well, for eleven days.

-->'''Narrator:''' And so the young lovers were wed and lived happily... well, for eleven days.

* Parody artist Jon Cozart, aka WebVideo/{{Paint}}, deconstructs the happy endings of Creator/{{Disney}} films in his "After Ever After" series by imagining what might happen if they were set in [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the real world]].

See also TrueLovesKiss, DiedHappilyEverAfter, BabiesEverAfter, DancePartyEnding, TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin, WeddingFinale. Contrast DownerEnding and BittersweetEnding, the cruellest examples of which make us ''think'' they're going to be a case of this trope before [[CruelTwistEnding yanking the rug out from under the audience]]. Compare MaybeEverAfter, which leaves open the possibility of a happily ever after ending, but doesn't make it a certain conclusion, and EarnYourHappyEnding, in which the characters only live Happily Ever After if they're prepared to put some effort into it. In more modern works, even a straight Happily Ever After can have the rug pulled out from under it in the sequel, in which we catch up with PrinceCharming and his princess and find that they're [[DowntimeDowngrade getting on each other's nerves]] and [[HereWeGoAgain have to fall in love all over again]].