History Main / HopeSproutsEternal

* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' takes this concept and turns it into a MacGuffin that drives the entire plot. The eponymous trash-compacting robot finds a plant growing in the wasteland of a long-abandoned, heavily-polluted Earth. When he develops a crush on EVE, a robot probe sent to look for plant-life, WALL-E follows her to space and ends up helping a group of human survivors return to their home so they can rebuild civilization. [[spoiler: After the humans, WALL-E and EVE have successfully returned to Earth and replanted the sprout, the final shot of the movie pans over the outskirts of the city to show hundreds of sprouts just like the one WALL-E found, ending on a wide shot of the Earth's surface showing the entire coastline is tinged with green; the Earth had already started repairing herself]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax'' ends with the dark and desolate remains of Truffula Tree forest valley regaining light when the last seed was planted and grown.

* This happens at the end of ''Anime/{{Tekkonkinkreet}}'', when the apple seed which White plants nearly a year earlier finally sprouts and blossoms in the end, reflecting the hope that Black's reunification with White will lead to a brighter future.

->"''If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously. [...] life finds a way''"

* Subverted in the ''ComicBook/FirestormDCComics'' series by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake. Firestorm finds a single sprout growing in a war-torn wasteland, and even calls it little hope. Then [[EvilKnockoff Shadowstorm]] comes along and deliberately destroys it.
* Towards the beginning of ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'', the slaves cleaning up after the Hulk's gladiatorial debut discover a plant growing from his spilled blood, on land previously thought totally infertile. By the time Hulk becomes emperor, the barren lands are lush with vegetation, all owing to that single plant.

-->And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Hyrule Castle]] is portrayed as a BleakLevel where Ganon's [[MadeOfEvil Malice]] and [[MechaMooks Guardians]] have left it and the surrounding area completely barren of any living thing that isn't one of his monsters. What few plants present are the grey or brown husks of the vegetation present before the Great Calamity a century ago. The sole exception is a Silent Princess located in Princess Zelda's study. This is especially notable because [=NPCs=], the [[StoryBreadcrumbs retrievable memories]], and the item description for the Silent Princess indicate that this species of flower is not just endangered, but pretty much impossible to cultivate in ''any'' controlled setting, let alone a wrecked study in the ruins of a castle ruled over by an EnemyToAllLivingThings.

* The entire point of ''Mandragoria'' is crossbreeding exotic plants in order to bring the magic back into a dying world.

* A surprising number of trees survived the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki. They are known as ''hibakujumoku'' (literally, "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin A-bombed trees]]") and are [[http://antnews.hiroshima-nagasaki.net/?tag=hibakujumoku used in peace education]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': At the end of "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS19ETreeOfLife Tree of Life]]", Kwame laments that the tree is gone, even though the forest at large is safe. However, Captain Planet waters the tree stump, producing a sprout.

* The [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic world]] of the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series is a blasted wasteland. But in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', there's an oasis filled with leafy trees and self-appointed druids. The only reason it can exist is a [[TalkingTree bizarre interaction]] between the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Forced Evolutionary Virus]], a tree, and a man named Harold. One option for completing the associated quest fits the trope in a broad sense: [[spoiler:the Oasis will continue to expand until the Wasteland is green again.]]

* The famed ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_rhoeas#Symbol Papaver rhoeas]]'' is [[UsefulNotes/ThePoppy a symbol of remembrance for all veterans in various wars, particularly WWI]]. Specifically, it became a symbol because of its red color and because it can grow in disturbed soil, so in battlefields on the western front where nearly all plant life had been destroyed, poppies really did keep growing.

* The famed [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_rhoeas#Symbol Papaver rhoeas]] is [[UsefulNotes/ThePoppy a symbol of remembrance for all veterans in various wars, particularly WWI]]. Specifically, it became a symbol because of its red color and because it can grow in disturbed soil, so in battlefields on the western front where nearly all plant life had been destroyed, poppies really did keep growing.

** The {{finale}} of ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' ended with the scene of the cast going over the top [[TearJerker fading to a field of poppies]].

* Appears in the sequels to ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' DarkFic ''FanFic/ImmortalitySyndrome'': in fact, the early plot of ''Solitary Vigil'' revolves around [[spoiler: SoleSurvivor Bubbles]] caring for the sprout.

* Brutally [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in ''Literature/TheOverstory''. When The Hoel chestnut is cut down, sprouts grow on top of it ready to become new trees, but these are destined to be destroyed by the blight anyway. Later played straight in a fashion near the ending, where Adam discovers a bur clinging to him while [[spoiler:in prison, and thus isolated from all other plant life.]]

** In fact, a single hopeful plant shows up in ''every'' time period (except in 1000 AD, when the planet's ecosystem is most healthy, it's a whole forest), and each has a caretaker who are clearly from the same family line. That plant and its descendants have been carefully tended since 65 million BC, in order to be around for the benefit of humankind in the dismal 24th century. "HopeSproutsEternal", indeed.

* Not technically something ''growing'', per se, but in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', the pre-Toph Gaang visits a forest burned-down by a Fire Nation attach. Katara points out many, many acorns everywhere, and they all realize that the forest will grow back eventually. [[spoiler: Aang later uses this to soothe the Hei Bai spirit, who turned vengeful after the loss of its forests and lashed out against the nearby villagers, unaware that it was the Fire Nation's fault.]]

* Not technically something ''growing'', per se, but in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', the pre-Toph Gaang visits a burned-down forest. Katara points out many, many acorns everywhere, and they all realize that the forest will grow back eventually.

-->-- '''Ian Malcolm. Film/JurassicPark'''

* As mentioned in Real Life below, The final season of ''Series/BlackAdder'' ends with the deaths of most of the main cast, cut down mere feet into their (pointless) over-the-top advance on the German lines. In near silence, the scene cross-fades into a shot of a [[UsefulNotes/ThePoppy field of poppies]]. [[TearJerker Very moving.]]

** The {{Finale}} of ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' ended with the scene of the cast going over the top [[TearJerker fading to a field of poppies]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Disney also uses this trope in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}} 2''. The film starts just after the death of Bambi's mother. The "There is Life" number shows winter slowly but surely melting into spring ending with a small sprout emerging from the melting snow. At the end of the film, the sprout is shown again, larger and with a new sprout growing entwined with it.

* In Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows, Harry visits [[spoiler: Dobby's grave]] and finds green shoots already sprouting.

* Amazingly, Chernobyl's wildlife has not only recovered [[UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} from the disaster]] [[https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-chernobyl-has-become-unexpected-haven-wildlife but there is ''more'' biodiversity and wildlife than ever]]. By creating an exclusion zone where people could not go, human beings unintentionally created a wildlife preserve.

* Amazingly, Chernobyl's wildlife has not only recovered [[UsefulNotes/Chernobyl from the disaster]] [[https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-chernobyl-has-become-unexpected-haven-wildlife but there is ''more'' biodiversity and wildlife than ever]]. By creating an exclusion zone where people could not go, human beings unintentionally created a wildlife preserve.

* Subverted in the ''ComicBook/{{Firestorm}}'' series by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake. Firestorm finds a single sprout growing in a war-torn wasteland, and even calls it little hope. Then [[EvilKnockoff Shadowstorm]] comes along and deliberately destroys it.

* At the end of ''Series/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', experiments with typhoid bacteria have shown that Earth diseases can kill off the [[AlienKudzu red weed]]. In an act of despair Amy smashes the cloches they have set up to protect the experiment, only to find a green Earth plant growing among the dead Martian weed. CueTheSun.