History Main / ItsaWonderfulPlot

* ''{{Housepets}}'' has the arc "It's a Wonderful Dog's Life" where the human Joel (a PETA member who helped kidnap a dog) was turned into a [[LaserGuidedKarma Welsh corgi named King]]. The arc is more a deconstruction, as the supernatural force who transforms him, "Pete", has no intention to change him back. And with subsequent events, it's unlikely he'll ''ever'' be changed back.

* DonRosa did a story about DonaldDuck, "The Duck Who Never Was", based on this trope to celebrate his 60th birthday. Donald applies for a job at a museum but is immediately laid off for exceeding the retirement age due to a nearsighted curator misreading his application. He meets a "birthday genie" and wishes he was never born, only to be transported to a hellish version of Duckburg where almost everyone is worse off. However the one person Donald wanted to be miserable, Gladstone Gander, is just as successful as he is in real life. Of course it turns out to be AllJustADream. OrIsIt?

* ''Mr. Destiny'', an '80s comedy starring Jim Belushi, Linda Hamilton and Michael Caine in the Clarence role, subverted this trope a little; Jim Belushi's character always bemoaned the fact that he blew a game-saving play in high-school baseball, and Caine changed history so that he made the game-saver instead. Belushi then sees his life changing; he's now the Vice-President of the sporting goods company he's working for, and married to the boss's daughter, but it turns out he's having an affair with a psychotic temptress, and his real wife from his old life (Hamilton), the one woman he truly loved, is married to someone else.

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->''[[StringTheory Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?]]''

After the [[{{Film}} movie]] ''[=~It's a Wonderful Life~=]'', a device whereby an external force (usually supernatural) intervenes in time of crisis to show the character facing said crisis how things would have been [[RetGone had he or she never been born/entered that line of work/come to town/what have you]]. May occur as part of a NearDeathExperience, or [[MakeAWish following]] SmiteMeOhMightySmiter. Episodes with this plot usually take place around Christmas time, because "It's a Wonderful Life" takes place around Christmas. If a show hasn't done a YetAnotherChristmasCarol episode yet, they'll be doing this one.

It is usual that people would be worse off without the character facing this plot. The most common subversion is that everybody's life is ''better''. The world is usually governed by the ButterflyOfDoom; regardless of how minor the change, there is rarely a middle ground or a world which is only slightly different, to the extent that the character's absence, no matter how seemingly insignificant or small, will result in a complete CrapsackWorld in which there is little hope whatsoever.

This may be a DiscreditedTrope already. Nearly half the examples below are subversions of some sort.

A SubTrope of WholePlotReference (so anything less than the plot is merely a ShoutOut).

Compare YetAnotherChristmasCarol and HowTheCharacterStoleChristmas.
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!!Examples

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
* The final episode of ''SerialExperimentsLain'' shows a world in which Lain does not exist (in contrast to scenes from the first episode, before all the weirdness)... and then the viewer realizes that [[spoiler:this is not a mere possibility, but a reality Lain created by erasing everyone's memories of herself. Although she did leave her BFF Alice with a tiny figment of memory of her, only large enough to make her wonder for a second if she has seen Lain before]].
* The Fourth SuzumiyaHaruhi novella and the upcoming movie, ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'' is basically one long WonderfulLife story for Kyon, except he didn't actually ask for it, he's not the one being retgonned, and the "angel" responsible is affected by the changes as well...it does happen around Christmas, though.
* Played straight for a sequence in the final episode of ''KimagureOrangeRoad''.
* Rika in ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'''s "Saikoroshi-hen" wakes up in a new world after a NearDeathExperience, in which none of the tragedies involving Oyashiro's curse happened. Her parents are alive, Satoko's parents are alive, Satoshi is still around, and Rena's parents never divorced. [[spoiler:However, as a result, Keiichi never came to Hinamizawa, Satoko and her other classmates bully Rika, Hanyuu is absent, and the town will soon be flooded due to the dam project never being stopped.]]
* The BigBad of ''JojosBizarreAdventure'' part 6 uses this as the basis for his plan; he plans to create a world where the Joestar family never existed and Dio reigns supreme.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* J. Michael Straczynski's entire new run of Wonder Woman, "Wonder Woman: Odyssey", is basically "It's a Wonderful Plot". It's surprisingly still fresh ground for comic books. In it, Wonder Woman finds herself in a parallel timeline where Paradise Island was destroyed when she was a child and she was smuggled to Man's World as a baby and raised in the streets and alleys by the few surviving Amazons. Slightly subverted, as instead of just witnessing "the world without Wonder Woman", she'll be living it, and fighting to regain her old status (thereby repairing the timeline).
* DonRosa did a story about DonaldDuck, "The Duck Who Never Was", based on this trope to celebrate his 60th birthday. Donald applies for a job at a museum but is immediately laid off for exceeding the retirement age due to a nearsighted curator misreading his application. He meets a "birthday genie" and wishes he was never born, only to be transported to a hellish version of Duckburg where almost everyone is worse off. Partially subverted in that the one person Donald wanted to be miserable, Gladstone Gander, is just as successful as he is in real life. Of course it turns out to be AllJustADream. OrIsIt?
** Some elaberation on what made Duckburg so hellish and how effective this was: Without Donald, Gyro was caught in a ray that Donald was that lowered him to normal intelligence and a unhappy life as a farmer. Grandma Duck was forced to work for Daisy, who became an incredibly successful romance novelist, but was left a lonely, bitter shell without anyone to love (ie, Donald). Gus, as Scrooge's only nephew left, was hired by Scrooge, but was easily tricked by Magica into handing over the NumberOneDime, Breaking his spirit and allowing Gloomgold to take everything from Scrooge, resulting in Duckburg's economy collapsing and Scrooge a bitter old duck living in a barrel. Without Donald around, Gladstone got Huey, Duey and Louie who have all both adopted his lazy philosophy of relying on luck and grown ginormously fat, and as mentioned above, Gladstones still a success who also has the Beagle Boys, who without Scrooge to steal from had no choice but to go straight and become the police, in his pocket. Luckily, Donald returns to the museum and the Genie returns things, leading to one giant CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, with everyone wishing him a happy birthday.
** This troper has read another Donald story with a similar premise, but only in the loosest of terms. For one thing, the story takes the GoodAngelBadAngel trope and turns it UpToEleven, with the two actually being depicted as (magical?) creatures living in Donald's brain. The bad angel, fed up with how the good angel seems to always influence Donald, beats him up and ties him into a closet, then disguises himself as the good angel. What does this have to do with this trope? Well, the angels' recent conflicts inside Donald's brain have resulted in Donald demonstrating bipolar disorder-like behavior, so all his friends and family (plus Gladstone) hold a meeting which Donald eavesdrops on and thinks is about how much he sucks as a person. Furious, he wishes that he was never born, and the bad angel (disguised as the good angel) shows him what life would be like without him... and everybody's happier (i.e. Daisy is HappilyMarried to Gladstone, Huey, Dewey and Louie are in Scrooge's custody). Just as this little tour ends, the good angel breaks free, beats up the bad angel in return, and shows Donald what would ''really'' result (Daisy leads an empty life married to Gladstone; Gladstone thinks that Daisy is way too controlling; Scrooge is contemplating putting Huey, Dewey, and Louie in juvenile hall, etc.). And before you ask, no, this was not a fanfiction.
** And This Troper has read yet ''another'' Donald story where this happens. Huey, Dewey and Louie are preparing dinner for New Year's eve in a geriatric care home using money provided by the Junior Woodchucks. They send Donald with the money to buy food, but he loses the purse. Donald decides Duckburg would be better off without him and seems to prepare to commit suicide, but is interrupted by his guardian angel (not the angel from the previous story, by the way). The guardian angel shows him how a new year's eve in Duckburg would be without him: Huey, Dewey and Louie live in an orphanage, are constantly bullied by their peers and are unable to celebrate new year's eve in peace. Daisy is dating Gladstone (again), but is unhappy with how Gladstone takes her to a horse racetrack rather than a restaurant and feels Gladstone doesn't really care about her. Scrooge has no friends or family and when he decides to invite his staff to a dinner party, he finds that none of them is willing to spend more time than necessary with him.
** And another time (''Donald Duck'' comics will ruminate any trope to infinity) there was an {{inversion}} where Donald made the wish that he were alone without all his friends who were annoying him. No points for guessing he didn't like it when the wish came true, though there was more to the plot than that.
* Mad Magazine is fond of this trope. They tend to favor people with political power, especially the current president of the time.
* Hilariously [[DoubleSubversion double-subverted]] in the post-Zero Hour ''{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}'': Brainiac 5 gets a view of what the Legion would be like without him, and it turns out to be an idealized SilverAge-style world in which the other Legionnaires are just kids in a "hero club." After confirming that, yes, their lives are in fact better without him, Brainy chooses to go back anyhow in order to go on making their lives as miserable as they make his.
* A ''[[TheFlintstones Flintstones]]'' comic had Fred find that he hadn't received a Christmas bonus. Fred gets depressed about this, somehow gets even more depressed and starts going on a walk without knowing where he's headed - toward a tar pit. The Great Gazoo then yanks Fred out of time at the last minute and takes him to a world to show Fred what things would be like if he never existed (Fred protests along the way that he didn't wish that he was never born, Gazoo retorts saying Fred posed an interesting "what if" and didn't want to pass it up). They arrive in a world where Bedrock is a lot larger and is now known as Slaterock, Barney has an administrative position at Mr. Slate's business and Wilma is married to Mr. Slate. Gazoo then shows that all is not as it appears to be. Slaterock grew up "too big, too fast" and crime is now way up. Betty is single and homeless because she never met Barney (because Fred introduced her to him) and Barney is quite lonely and spends his nights in the office depressed. Pebbles is a spoilt brat and Wilma is unhappy with her marriage. Gazoo then takes Fred back to his own time, where he declares that he's alive...and in pain having fallen into the tar pit. He returns home now more appreciative of his family and Mr. Slate arrives with Fred's bonus, saying his secretary forgot to put it in his pigeonhole.
* In GrantMorrisonsBatman story "Last Rites", set between ''BatmanRIP'' and ''FinalCrisis'', Bruce is given false memories of a life in which his parents weren't killed. Jim Gordon and Dick Grayson are dead. Bruce is a dilettante doctor, coddled by Martha and a disapointment to Thomas, especially when he falls for a patient who turns out to be Selina Kyle, distracting him while she robs the surgery.
* Issue #16 of ''CartoonNetwork Presents'' featured a ''TopCat'' story, "It's a Wonderful Strife", in which both T.C. and Officer Dibble, tired of putting up with each other, wish they'd never come to the city. The both of them are then shown alternate realities by their guardian angels, played respectively by Huckleberry Hound and Snagglepuss. Huck shows T.C. that, without guidance from a crafty leader, his gang has to resort to crime for sustenance, and Snagglepuss shows Dibble that if he never became a police officer, T.C. would be an anarchist bossing around the entire police force.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* [[RichieRich Richie Rich's Christmas Wish]] has the entire plot of the film based on this, as Richie wishes (with a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin wishing machine]]) that he never existed.
* ''Bedazzled'' is maybe an unconscious parody - a poor shlub is tired of his nowhere life, tries to end it all, the Devil (an angel of sorts) intervenes and offers the chance to wish up an alternate existence (not once, but seven times) which gets him to see his old life is better than the alternative - this Troper likes it way more than 'Wonderful Life'.
** The Devil was a JackassGenie, that's why the alternatives were so bad.
* ''Mr. Destiny'', an '80s comedy starring Jim Belushi, Linda Hamilton and Michael Caine in the Clarence role, subverted this trope a little; Jim Belushi's character always bemoaned the fact that he blew a game-saving play in high-school baseball, and Caine changed history so that he made the game-saver instead. Belushi then sees his life changing; he's now the Vice-President of the sporting goods company he's working for, and married to the boss's daughter, but it turns out he's having an affair with a psychotic temptress, and his real wife from his old life(Hamilton), the one woman he truly loved, is married to someone else.
* This is the plot of the fourth ''{{Shrek}}'' movie, ''Shrek Forever After''. Shrek is tricked by Rumplestilskin into signing a contract that gives him a day as a real ogre in exchange for a day from his past. Unfortunately, the day taken away is the day he was ''born''.
* The NicolasCage film ''The Family Man'' has the subverted/inverted version. His character is shown how much fuller and happier his life would be had he stayed with his girlfriend after college rather than moving to London and starting his [[LonelyAtTheTop rich-but-lonely]] life and career as a high-powered stockbroker.
* The plot of ''TheButterflyEffect'' is one of the [[MostTriumphantExample most famous]] (and ''cruelest'') subversions of this trope.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* The ''[[SweetValleyHigh Sweet Valley Twins]]'' series played the trope entirely straight in a Christmas special book, in which Elizabeth wishes she'd never been born and promptly receives a visitation from a quirky guardian angel who shows her a vision of what life would be like. It's heavy on ForWantOfANail scenarios based on Elizabeth's actions in previous books, but also contains a couple of more nonsensical changes: the club of shallow, popular rich girls is transformed into a vicious girl gang, and Elizabeth's sister Jessica goes from bubbly, stylish, and popular to shy, geeky, and pathetic.
** Subverted in a ''SweetValleyHigh'' Super Edition, "Winter Carnival" where Elizabeth becomes annoyed with Jessica's forgetfulness/selfishness when it causes a rift in her budding romance with Jeffrey French during a winter festival at a ski resort. Elizabeth is upset and leaves, angrily wishing that Jessica wasn't around to mess things up. When she arrives home, she finds out that Jessica is dead. With Jessica gone, everyone in Sweet Valley is depressed and spends a lot of time remembering Jessica's bubbly personality and forgetting about Elizabeth. She wakes up and realizes that it was AllJustADream and makes up with Jessica and Jeffrey.
* ''{{Animorphs}}'' did this in one book, with Jake making a DealWithTheDevil with Crayak to CosmicRetcon the timeline so that the Animorphs never received their powers in the first place. Subverted slightly in the fact that [[spoiler: the kids end up winning the war with the Yeerks FASTER without their powers, although most of them die in the process.]]
** [[spoiler: [[BolivianArmyEnding Which may have happened anyway]].]]
** And then Crayak complains that the Ellimist cheated. [[JediTruth Though he didn't]].
* Parodied in ''MoreInformationThanYouRequire'', and given as Prince Albert's motivation for introducing Germanic pagan influences onto the English Christmas and becoming a FunnyForeigner.
* A variant in the ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', when Vimes accidentally picks up his Dis-Organiser from the [[AlternateUniverse wrong timeline]] immediately after making a difficult decision. The Dis-Organiser gives a running comentary on what's happening in the universe where Vimes stays in Ankh-Morpork and tries to work within Rust's regime. The Klatchians invade and [[AllTheMyriadWays the entire Watch gets killed, ending with Vimes himself]]. (Presumably, made even worse by the Dis-Organiser in ''that'' universe telling Vimes how much better things would be going if he'd gone to Klatch.)

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* It happened on ''{{The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air}}''. Without Carlton driving the family to greed and materialism, as well as countering Will's laid-back attitude, they sink into laziness and poverty.
** Oh, and Carlton's Clarence/guardian angel is Tom Jones.
* In the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode ''Tapestry'', Q shows Captain Picard what he would've become had he not gotten into the bar fight as a cadet that gave him his artificial heart. Needless to say, he wasn't the same lovable stoic BadAss we remember. Can you say, Lieutenant j.g. Picard?
* ''MarriedWithChildren'' had a subversive WonderfulLife episode centered around Al, with Sam Kinison as his "Clarence". The world turns out much better without him (Peg is a model housewife who's married to a rich man named Norman Jablonski who wants to move the family into a mansion, Bud has respect for women and isn't driven by greed or lust, and Kelly is in college and still a virgin), and he chooses to return out of spite.
* An episode of ''{{Providence}}'', aptly titled "It's a Wonderful Providence" involves Sidney's mother's ghost showing her what her life would've been like had she not moved back to Providence after her mother's death.
* With some mild parody, ''NightCourt'' had Judge Harry Stone led through a WonderfulLife vision by his guardian angel, Herb. Subverted somewhat when Herb (assuming the image of Mel Torme) admits that the fact that the vision was in black and white was nothing more than an artistic device meant to cater to Harry's love of FilmNoir and that Harry needed to get over himself when he asked if his absence took color out of the world.
** In addition to the requisite ForWantOfANail changes (sleazeball lawyer Dan Fielding becomes a truly diabolic villain without Harry's friendship) there were a few totally random changes. For instance, in the FilmNoir AlternateUniverse, Jack the Speakeasy Owner has no sense of taste whereas in the main universe Jack the Shopkeep is blind.
* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'''s third-season episode "The Wish" did a WonderfulLife variant, in that Cordelia wishes that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. In this hellish reality, Cordelia doesn't manage to come to an {{Aesop}}-style revelation, because she is killed half-way through the episode before Giles manages to reverse Cordelia's wish, turning the rest of the episode in a ForWantOfANail situation.
* ''{{Angel}}'' features an alternate reality in the third-season episode "Birthday." A demon gives Cordelia the chance to enter a world in which she does not have the prophetic visions, which after three years are near the point of killing her. In this parallel world, Cordy has become the rich and successful actress she always wanted to be - but the sight of a one-armed Wesley, and an Angel driven insane from getting the visions in Cordy's stead, quickly convince her to go back to the real world (though changed to become part demonic so she can survive the visions).
* The final episode of ''{{Dallas}}'' did this for [[spoiler:J.R., with two catches. First, a lot of people's lives actually changed for the better. Second, the "angel" was a demon trying to encourage him to kill himself.]]
* In ''TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'', when Alex wishes herself to never have been born, her mother instead got the GC-161 powers, was easily found, and was captured and became a lab specimen. Alex then finds her mother, rescues her, teaches her to use her powers, and wishes herself back into existence. Of course, it turned out to [[spoiler:be AllJustADream...]]
* In ''{{Moonlighting}}'', Maddie wished she'd never kept the office open. A "guardian angel" by the name of Albert, showed her what would have happened if she hadn't. A twist is that others' lives might be the same or better, but her own life is headed for destruction.
* Also done in ''HighlanderTheSeries'', where Duncan [=McLeod=] sees his friends' unpleasant deaths that he averted.
* Subverted in ''ABitOfFryAndLaurie''. An important media mogul (a clear AnonymousRinger for Rupert Murdoch) is about to throw himself off a bridge when the angel appears to show him how life would be. It turns out that without him, everyone would live together in peace and harmony, since he wasn't able introduce his violent media. When they return to the bridge, he wants to be brought back to life because he can exploit ''this'' universe for his own profit. The angel then pushes him off the bridge.
* In ''ChapellesShow'', Chapelle (as a janitor) shows a big-breasted woman how the world would be if her breasts were smaller, because she complained over the problems with having big breasts. In that world, she was never hired to her current job, she was never invited to a wedding, and the world was -destroyed-. The woman then decides to get her breasts -enlarged-. Subverted, in that the vision was caused by the janitor being on PCP.
* ''SaturdayNightLive'' had the ghost of RichardNixon as the "Clarence" for Newt Gingrich. In a world without Newt, he's horrified to learn, abortions are safe and legal (Ted Kennedy never having gotten the case of scotch Newt sent him to keep him from showing up for the vote) and Hillary Clinton is President.
* The TV show ''TheWayansBros'' both played it straight and subverted it at the same time. Without Marlon around, Pops owned a gourmet restaurant, Dee was married to the soap hunk of her dreams, and Shawn was rich and owned everything. However, everyone was unhappy: Pops only kept getting the same gift from Shawn and was ignored, Dee's husband was cheating on her, and Shawn was going to destroy Grandma Williams' nursing home to build a Yogurt World.
* ''CharlesInCharge'' has an episode like this: without Charles, the Powell family (and Charles's mother) end up with a lot more money, but they've all turned into [[RichBitch spoiled jerks]].
* A first season ''MorkAndMindy'' episode had Mork embarrassing Mindy's dad in front of his new girlfriend. Mork tells Orson he wishes he'd never met Mindy because he screws up everything, so Orson shows Mork what Mindy's life would be like if they hadn't met (and on top of that, says he actually CAN erase the year they had together). In the alternate year, Mindy is married to a deadbeat gambler and her father has sold the music store and traveled the world (the latter of which turned out to be a lie). Mork decides he doesn't want to undo the year he's had with Mindy and decides if anyone's going to screw up her life, it should be him. And then they kiss and make up. Awwww.
** This trope is humorously [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when, immediately after returning from the vision of a world without him, Mork exclaims, "Hey, it's a wonderful life!"
* ''MyFamily'' did one where Ben wondered how his family would be without him. He then realized they would be exactly the same and was naturally pleased since it meant their problems weren't his fault after all. This occurs after an older man, who just happens to be named Clarence, "saves" him from committing suicide.
* Done well in an episode of ''[=~That '70s Show~=]''. Eric and Donna broke up and Eric is so miserable that he wishes he and Donna had never been together in the first place. An angel (Wayne Knight) shows up and offers to grant his wish. He shows Eric an alternate reality where Donna and Hyde got married, Hyde goes to prison and Eric is still a spineless wimp who only ever dated Big Rhonda and never moved out of his parents' house. At the end, Eric says that he's OK with all that, but when the angel shows him the good memories he would also lose, Eric changes his mind.
* Done with a twist (similar to ''[=~That '70s Show~=]'') on MadAboutYou. After finding out that the newspaper stand where they met had burned down, Jamie freaks out because if it weren't for that stand, they wouldn't have met and would never have fallen in love. Paul insists they would have found each other anyway. A magic wind shifts the world to what it'd be like, only both of them quickly lose all memory of what was lost, and start remembering their new lives. Both are unhappy with their current romantic situations and after wandering around lost, find each other at the burned out remains of the newspaper stand and go home, the world now fixed.
* Done in the "Apocalypse" episode of ''{{Smallville}}''. Clark starts wondering if his friends would be better off if he had never made it off of Krypton, and he suddenly finds himself in a world where just that happened. As usual, at first he's justified to find out that all of his friends are better off, but ultimately realizes that his absence would leave the world in great danger. There some problems with this episode, since without Clark, all of his friends should have died anyway, most of them having been saved from mundane situations by him at one point. Most notably, Lex's brush with death in the first episode, not having known Clark at all prior to that moment should have still happened, with a more fatal outcome.
** Of course, considering it's LEX FREAKIN LUTHOR, you have to wonder at whether this was a bad thing.
** Another ''Smallville'' episode around Christmastime had Lex shown a possible future by the ghost of his mother (or maybe it was a dream, I don't know). In this one, he gave information to the Daily Planet exposing his father's crimes. This caused his father to disown him, but Lex ended up married to Lana with kids, and Lex is working a low-paying job. Then Lana gets sick and, because Lex doesn't have money to pay her hospital bills, she dies. Lex says that he can't live in this world where he literally has nothing left, and it's better to have power so that he can have what he wants. It's supposed to show Lex's descent into evil, but the intended Aesop was really {{Broken|Aesop}}.
* The ''DoctorWho'' episode "Turn Left" did this, with an alternate history where [[spoiler: Donna never met the Doctor, so he was killed beyond regeneration by the flooding of the Racnoss tunnels when the Thames broke through. In the following couple of years, every single alien menace that the Doctor had thwarted hit home with full force, reducing the Earth to a CrapsackWorld.]] Things got downright awful.
** Notably, however, the Master didn't show up. Which is FridgeBrilliance ([[spoiler:The Doctor never went to the end of the Universe, and thus the Master remained there, presumably still as "Professor Yana"]])
* If you take this theory of ''{{Supernatural}}'''s ''What Is And What Should Never Be'' episode, then things tend to get a bit vicious. ItMakesSenseInContext but the message to Dean is basically "Be thankful for all your abuse and parentification because without it, you would be worthless with no good qualities." Ouch. And also subverted in the fact that it's pretty clear at the end of the episode that Dean would have rather stayed and, in the next episode, things go even more to hell and his mental state gets worse.
* ''The Facts of Life'' had an episode in which Beverly Ann wished that she had never come to town to become the girls' den mother (or whatever she was). In a dream, Santa appeared to show her what would have happened without her. Jo was killed in some kind of accident, and bad things happened to all the other girls as well.
* ''[=~iCarly~=]'' has an example where it's not a complete CrapsackWorld. Carly, after becoming upset with her brother Spencer when his metal tree accidentally burns down her Christmas gifts, wishes he were more normal. Her angel appears and grants the wish. Spencer is turned into a straightlaced lawyer. Sam goes to jail because Spencer refused to let Carly be her friend and become her MoralityChain, Carly ends up as Nevel's girlfriend, Freddie loses his hope that he will get together with Carly and winds up being bossed about by a girl who is completely unsuitable for him and finally Spencer marries Ms Benson. And there is no iCarly webshow anymore.
** It's a crapsack world by this show's standards: Carly's dating a borderline socipath(okay granted she's usually friends with one, but as mentioned before she's her MoralityChain), Freddies STILL getting abused, it's just now by his girlfriend. Spencer's turned from reckless, yet still loving, to preppy, boring and alof, and dating a completly smothering psychopath, who's going to become Carly's stepmother. And Sam, DESPITE the stuff she does on a regular basis, is still in prison and a completely worse person. The web show is just AuthorExistenceFailure.
* In a ''{{Popular}}'' episode at the end of the arc centered on Harrison's battle with leukemia, he is prevented from committing suicide by being taken on a Wonderful Life by the spirit of his deceased hospital roommate who returned as his guardian angel. Keeping with the somewhat parodic nature of the show, said roommate is even named "Clarence". Making it even funnier is the fact that [[ActorAllusion his actor]] was previously the star of ''TeenAngel''.
* A ''LaverneAndShirley'' episode has Laverne feeling sorry for herself while nursing a broken leg, then falling asleep while watching ''It's a Wonderful Life'' on TV and dreaming that she'd never been born.
* A ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' episode has Lois imagining what her life would be if she had all girl children. She goes to the mall and alternates between reality and daydreams about her 'perfect' life with her daughters. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a mess. Mallory (Malcolm) is in love with a lazy guy and manipulates Hal to get what she wants, Daisy (Dewey) is a know it all, (Frances) Francis works at Hooters and is married to a much older man, and Renee (Reese) is pregnant. By the end however, Lois ''still'' wants her next kid to be a girl.
** And Hal has become grossly overweight due to the anxiety of having 4 daughters.
* ''Series/WeirdScience'' has an episode called "It's a Wonderful Life... Without You", so you can guess how well it goes when they try to do this. Not only is everyone better off without Wyatt, he and Lisa get stuck in the world where they don't exist and have to find a way back.
* In the HannahMontana episode "When You Wish You Were a Star", Miley wishes upon a star that she could be all Hannah, all the time. In this life, Jackson is a hermit, Robbie Ray is married to a gold-digger, Lilly has become TheLibby (with Ashley and Amber as her GirlPosse), and Oliver and Rico have gone into business together as sleazy paparazzi-wannabes.
* ''{{Lost}}'', Season 6, is doing a fairly subtle extended version of this trope, with an alternate reality playing out in which the Island was destroyed in 1977. Most of the main characters lives aren't merely better, but are also generally ''better people''.
* An episode of 80s BritCom ''{{Sorry}}!'' had this plot. Notably, the library was a less welcoming place without Timothy's influence, and his mother was a lonely old woman who kept talking to her lapdog, Timothy.
* Lampshaded in the series finale of ''QuantumLeap''. When Sam expresses a desire to stop leaping to the Bartender (a character who is strongly implied to be {{God}}), explaining that he did not intend to make the world a better place by improving only one life at a time, the Bartender replies that the lives Sam has touched in his journey have [[OneDegreeOfSeparation touched others]], and those lives in turn have touched others; by traveling through time, Sam has done a large amount of good simply by helping individuals in need.

[[AC:{{Music}}]]
* The storyline of the Billy Joel music video for his song ''Second Wind'' plays this trope straight.
* Beethoven himself gets this in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concept album ''Beethoven's Last Night''. There's also a tenth symphony and Mephistopheles.
* The GwenStefani song "Wonderful Life" plays with a less fantastical version of this trope, referencing the impact a now-missing lover had on the narrator's life.
-->''If you only knew what you gave to me / Now you can't be found''


[[AC:PuppetShows]]
* In ''ItsAVeryMerryMuppetChristmasMovie'', an angel shows Kermit what would happen to the Muppets in a world where he never existed. Unfortunately, he's not too sure how to bring them back.
* An episode of ''TheBasilBrushShow'' has this happen. After Basil spends all of the money on cosmetics (namely, for looking after his "brush") he and his friends risk having to stay in the flat without electricity or heating. Whilst the others go off carolling he starts feeling sorry with himself on a bridge. An old man (later shown to be Santa Claus) shows up and shows Basil that he makes lots of people happy, but Basil doesn't get it and wishes he was never born, so the old man sends him to a reality where his theiving cousin now does his show and where the people he helped and now in worse situations. Basil learns his lesson and after begging to exist again ends up in his own reality again. He goes home and finds everyone celebrating Christmas as one of his flatmates found a note with a large sum of money, conveniently.

[[AC:{{Radio}}]]
* ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' two-parter "It's A Polkenberry Christmas" did this to George Barclay (fittingly enough, as the Barclay family were based on the characters from ''ItsAWonderfulLife''). The first part has George's life in tatters - the church can't pay its bills because Ellis (the clerk) has mislaid the cheque, the landowner refuses to sympathize, Stuart (his youngest son) falls off his bike and has an injury, prompting George to chew out the mother of the boy who was teaching him to ride the bike, which in turn leads to him being chewed out by the husband afterward. George eventually ends up on a bridge wallowing in his thoughts of pity. Meanwhile Mr. Whittaker and Eugene who are visiting the family find that George has gone out and fearing the state of mind he's in decide to look for him. They go their separate ways and Eugene finds George on a bridge, thinking he's about to throw himself into the river. Ironically, Eugene slips on the ice, falls into the river and George has to go in and save him. After doing so Eugene takes George back to the motel where he's staying with Mr. Whittaker, only to find their clothes are now dry as if they'd never been in the water at all, the receptionist doesn't remember Mr. Whittaker ever checking in with Eugene (and isn't on the computer record either) and the receptionist, a classmate of Jimmy's (George's eldest son), doesn't remember working with him on a class project. Things go downhill from there: no one recognizes George, Ellis is a thieving street bum and the church has been turned into a golf course. Eugene postulates that George's attitude and the incident with the river is what sent them into this version of reality. They then phone up Mr. Whittaker, who tells George that he lost faith in God, is estranged from his wife, is himself missing and Stuart was never born. Unable to accept what is happening George chews out Eugene, who refuses to take any responsibility. Enraged, George attempts to find his family using phone books in a library, only to attract the attention of the police. Evading capture George wishes he was alive again, and ends up back in the river with Euguene, realising the experience was AllJustADream. They return to the household where the church congregation has gathered the money required to pay off the debt and George celebrates Chirstmas with his family. And the "Everytime a bell rings, and angel gets its wings" line get parodied as well.
** A previous episode features Donna wishing Jimmy was never born, and ends up having a day where Jimmy was never born at all. Donna finds that being an only child isn't all it's cracked up to be.
* ''[[OldHarrysGame Old Harry's Game]]'' subverts this in the second episode of series two, in which Satan, an ex-angel, asks Thomas if he has seen the film before taking him to see "all the crap things that did happen because he was born".

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
* ''Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge'', Christopher Durang's AffectionateParody of classic Christmas stories, features the typical subversion, with the title character learning that everyone's much better off without her.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''ChronoCross'' screws around with this, and other ''AlternateUniverse'' tropes, there are two mirror alternate history universes and in one the protagonist is dead, so among other things you can see how things play out with his absence.
** Or would that be you get see how things play out with him NOT absent, since the reality where he died is the "real" one?

[[AC:WebComics]]
* Subverted in the webcomic ''{{Megatokyo}}'', because the guardian angel Seraphim did not have enough funds.
* In ''{{Nodwick}}'', an angel tries to convince the titular henchman that his employers will do fine if he dies for real [[DeathIsCheap this time]]. But it turns out that with him dead, they head straight into a BadFuture.
* Predictably enough, used in ''SluggyFreelance'' around Christmas 2009, with a short shown on a dystopian alternative Earth, called "It's a Wonderful Life, Citizen". It's about someone who is miserable and wishes he was never born. Because happiness is mandatory in that place, his desire in the sense of no longer existing [[spoiler:(in that universe, anyway)]] is granted, and everyone agrees they're happier without him. The story has {{an aesop}}: Turn in to the authorities anyone who's unhappy.
* ''SexyLosers'' hilariously skewers it with the aptly titled [[http://sexylosers.com/168.html "It's a Wonderfully Shitty Life"]]. ''I was supposed to help somebody?''
* One of the {{Webcomic/Bug}}'s irrational fears is that [[http://www.bugcomic.com/comics/irrational-fears/ this trope will be subverted for him.]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* The short video [[http://loadingreadyrun.com/videos/view/184/its_a_wonderful_game It's a Wonderful Game]] by LoadingReadyRun is a silly take on this trope. The protagonist, in a rage about not being able to defeat the original SuperMarioBros. for NES once he ran out of new games to play, wishes that Mario had never been made. The result? "Bring him back! Bring Mario back!"
* [[http://www.viruscomix.com/estar.html ''Captain Estar Goes to Heaven'']] -- A young woman who leads a hellish life finds a world that may actually be Heaven. She is offered a "Wonderful Life" that she never had ... can she deal with it?

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* The name of the show escapes this troper, but it featured a group of kids who find out that Martin Luther King's destiny was to be assassinated go back in time, kidnap him as a child, bring him back to the future, and find Segregation and Racism to be the overwhelming force of society, and many of the main character's best friends affected. King, who muses that the changes were likely due to something that he did not do, bravely decides to return to his own time. The end of the show featured the animated King time lapse aging as he walked through the portal, while in the background a montage of his achievements plays. Very touching. Great show. Can't remember the name for the life of me.
** I know that one! It's called ''My Friend Martin'' and I saw it back in 1999 when I was in the 4th grade (Not at home, but in Social Studies). IIRC, it was a one-shot after-school special, though it may have been part of a series.
* A subversion of the trope can be found in an episode of the cartoon ''Little Shop'' (an AnimatedAdaptation of ''{{Little Shop of Horrors}}'' from 1991); capping it off is the following exchange of dialogue:
-->'''Seymour:''' Hey, this isn't right! You're supposed to show me how miserable everybody is without me!\\
'''Junior:''' Hey, if ''everyone'' made the world a better place, it'd be perfect!
* ''{{Rugrats}}'' did this for Chuckie, where Angelica took over the town.
** This was actually a surprisingly dark, almost disturbing episode (yes, of a show involving talking babies). Even if you just included what happened to Chuckie's father, it's rather bleak. He ends up unemployed, sitting alone in his house, surrounded by ''tons'' of empty pizza boxes he's been hoarding, a sock-puppet his only friend.
* ''ScoobyDoo'' did this in the "Thirteen Ghosts" series. The impact of Scooby's refusal to answer the CallToAdventure was shown to him by Vincent Van Ghoul.
* A rather subversive treatment of this story was ''{{The Fairly OddParents}}'', "It's A Wishful Life", where everyone's shown as being better off without Timmy Turner, even though he's a decent kid (and this drew flak from many viewers).
** It should be pointed out that the whole thing turned out to be a test being given to Timmy by Von Strangle, even if he was pretty sadistic about it.
* The same thing happened to Dagget from ''AngryBeavers'', but the clueless Dagget wound up messing up the "improved" lives of his friends in the alternate reality.
* An episode of ''JohnnyBravo'' did the obvious subversion, in an episode where an angel shows Johnny what life would be like with out him, and everyone was better off; for example, Pop's Diner was replaced with an extremely chic restaurant.
** Not exactly everyone- the little girl next door was apparently a [[EvilGirlScout terrorist]]...
** And the only reason he came back was because he had put his face in cement that morning.
* ''BeavisAndButthead'' did a somewhat predictable reversal of the plot of ''It's a Wonderful Life'', with an angel coming to Earth on Christmas to show Butt-head how much better the world would be if he had never been born. Neighbors, classmates, teachers, and even Beavis are shown to be happier and more successful without him. Naturally, Butt-head fails to grasp the lesson.
** {{Daria}} was one of the neighbors who was happier. This provides that without Butt-head's intervention, her show would not have been as interesting as it was.
* ''TheSimpsons'' has Homer visited by his guardian angel, who initially appears to him as Sir Isaac Newton. When Homer fails to recognize him, he instead shows himself as Colonel Klink of ''[[HogansHeroes Hogan's Heroes]]'', and shows Homer what the world would be like if he had never married Marge; Homer is a millionaire and is married to Mindy from the plant, and Marge is president of the United States. Oddly enough, the angel seems to consider this state of events ''worse'' than the "real world" -- probably because the angel's remit is to make sure that Homer doesn't cheat on Marge now, and this example doesn't really help his case.
** Of course, Homer doesn't get the message and instead spends his time asking "Klink" if he knew about the tunnels under the camp and the radio in the coffee pot. But of course, he manages to stay faithful to Marge on his own.
** And another recent episode used a variation, where Homer looked into magic sauce (seriously) to see what life would've been like if he had won class president. Everything's extremely similar...except he lives in a mansion and doesn't have kids.
** They also parodied the use of this trope in ''A Case of Spring Fever'' (below) with an educational film about a world without zinc. At one point, the protagonist attempts to shoot himself because the world is so terrible.
-->'''Jimmy's Dad''' Think again, Jimmy. You see, the firing pin in your gun was made out of... yep, zinc.
-->'''Jimmy:''' Come back, zinc! COME BAAAACK!
** Also, in "Grift of the Magi," Moe sees what the world would have been like had he never been born ([[HeroOfAnotherStory offscreen]]) and stops his suicide attempt.
* Parodied on ''RobotChicken'', where Wimpy (from ''{{Popeye}}'') is shown how much better the world is without his existence. Incidentally, hamburgers are free in that world. [[spoiler: Seeing this, his guardian angel then kicks him off the bridge himself.]]
* One episode of the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon series follows this trope: the Turtles wonder if the world would be like without them, and then they wake up in a world in which they never existed and Shredder succeeded in his plans to taking over the world. It's a mess, and not even Shredder is happy. In the end, it turns out to be AllJustADream.
** The newer version has an episode where Donatello goes into an [[BadFuture alternate future]] where Shredder has taken over the world because he never returned from the future.
* The [[AnimatedAdaptation cartoon]] [[RecycledTheSeries spinoff]] of ''{{Beetlejuice}}'' played with this in an episode wherein the depressed trickster Beetlejuice accidentally wished himself out of existence, and he's shown what the Neitherworld would be like without him. His friends in the Neitherworld are relatively better off without him, except they've let their success go to their heads and become jerks, but what really gets to BJ is how in the mortal world, Lydia is miserable without him as a friend.
* Here's a odd one: ''CaptainPlanet'' -- "Two Futures" two-part episode, which takes place on "New Years Eve", Wheeler ends up trapped in a cave with Dr. Blight and her time machine. Upset with Gaia, Wheeler makes a DealWithTheDevil with eco-villains' female mad sciencist Dr. Blight to go back in time to prevent himself from getting his Fire Ring. Gaia, shows him the future of each area, including Hope Island in bad shape--he goes back in time and changes things to allow things to return to normal. The eco-villains escape in the time line, but end up in a better future thanks to the Planeteers.
** What, polluting streams wasn't enough, now the villains have to pollute time streams too?
*** That's those wacky Planeteer villains and their [[{{Anvilicious}} utter obsession with the evil that is polluting for you]].
* At first, Wade Duck's take on this plot in a ''U.S. Acres'' episode of ''GarfieldAndFriends'' looks like a standard parody, as he learns that if he hadn't existed, everyone else's life would be ''exactly'' the same. But in the end, this becomes even more subverted: he comes back in time to prevent a robbery, using knowledge that he only gained ''because'' he had been a bodiless observer at the time!
* The ''DonkeyKongCountry'' cartoon had an episode with the same name in which DK gets everybody upset with him and decides to run away, but falls unconscious during his trek. He has a dream where Eddie the Yeti, as his guardian angel, shows him a Kongo Bongo Island where he doesn't exist, in which Diddy is an evil dictator, Candy's married to Bluster, and K. Rool is protecting a papier-mache lilypad.
* Played straight with the christmas special of KappaMikey, where Mikey never visited Japan and everyone's life is worse. This coincides with a YetAnotherChristmasCarol subplot.
* Parodied in an episode of ''SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'', where after a tribute episode to Zorak gone horribly wrong, Zorak wishes he was never born, prompting his nephew Raymond from the episode "Hungry" to appear as a wingless angel to show what life would be like without Zorak: ''[[DiffrentStrokes Diff'rent Strokes]]'' would still be on the air, Lokar would be the bandleader of ''SGC2C'', and Space Ghost himself would find huge success on his show, going on to become governor of California, then president of the universe. Upon this revelation, Zorak wants to live to make Space Ghost miserable, and Raymond gets his wings.
* ''TinyToonAdventures'' did this for their Christmas special, with Buster wishing he didn't exist after a loss of confidence. He's shown an alternate Acme Acres, where Plucky is the star of the show and using his position to make life miserable for Babs. Meanwhile, Monty has taken over the school and uses it for his own purposes.
* Subverted in the ''{{Superjail}}'' season finale: the Warden is [[spoiler: sentenced to spend eternity locked up, because his existence would culminate in his world domination.]] It's only when he escapes and gets a chance to see what happens ''without'' him there to horribly enslave the world that he's able to show the alternative (which isn't remotely as bad as world domination, but quite a bit ''freakier''). The force responsible for his fate doesn't buy it, leading to two very unsettling minutes of ContinuityNod as the two realities combine.
* The basic plotline of the Leapfrog educational release ''A Tad of Christmas Cheer'' in which Tad thinks that his family doesn't care about him anymore, so a "fairy godbug" transports him to an alternate reality in which he never existed.
* Used in the 13th season story of ''{{Arthur}}'', "Silent Treatment." George feels that his friends are ignoring him and decides to stop speaking. His dummy, Wally, then shows him a world without him in a fantasy sequence. George even LampShades it, noting that there's a movie like it.
* ''HeyArnold'' uses the subversion in which Helga dreams the world after she disappears, everybody celebrates that she is gone, Arnold, who caused her to disappear with a magic trick, is famous for it and her parents' life is much better. Eventually she wakes up and tries to fix all the bad things she did in that episode before falling asleep.
* In an episode of ''TheEmperorsNewSchool'', Kuzco realizes he makes everyone miserable as he is and wishes [[IJustWantToBeNormal he were never emperor in order to fit in]]. Without him, Yzma has taken over the empire, and everyone is even more miserable.
* A particularly awesome example in the ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode ''Over The Edge'': [[spoiler:because of a Scarecrow-induced nightmare, Batgirl actually dreams she gets killed during costumed adventuring. Commissioner Gordon discovers then that Batgirl was his daughter Barbara, and actually orders a manhunt on Batman.Things go downhill from there. Gordon goes as far as to enlist BANE to help him hunt Batman.]] A surprisingly dark episode, and probably one of the best of an already excellent series.
* There was a pretty good episode of SuperFriends called ''The Krypton Syndrome'' where Superman falls through a portal, winds up on Krypton, and manages to save it. He returns to the present, but finds Earth a burning ruin, with Robin one of the only survivors. After realizing what happened, he [[TearJerker goes back and ensures Krypton's destruction]].
-->'''Superman''': When Krypton was saved, my father never sent me to Earth. So, to this world, there never ''was'' a Superman.
* The upcoming ''{{VeggieTales}}'' DVD ''It's a Meaningful Life'' has this as a plot, as is it obviously based off of ItsAWonderfulLife.
* A variation occurs in the ''MaryokuYummy'' episode "A Day Without Maryoku," with Shika so frustrated at Maryoku not following the rules that he takes it up with [[MentorArchetype Tapo Tapo]], insisting that their world would be better off without her. Tapo Tapo uses magic bubbles to show him how the day went down and then how it would have gone down without Maryoku. Apparently, a lack of Maryoku not only left him watching all the wishes, but kept Bob's van from starting.
** Played straighter in the episode "It's a Yumderful Life," when Maryoku, feeling the pressure of being "the greatest wishsitter," wishes she had an easier job, and then suddenly finds herself as not a wishsitter, but Bob's official clipboard holder. There's even a direct {{shout out}} to the movie with "Yuzu's pedals," a pair of lucky bike pedals Yuzu gave her earlier in the episode, disappearing, and then reappearing when she's back to her regular life.

[[AC:Other]]
* The educational short ''A Case of Spring Fever'' (Seen on the ''MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode 1012-''Squirm'') features a WonderfulLife plot where the missing element is springs. Yes, it's exactly as dumb as it sounds.
** [[MemeticMutation NOOOOOO SPRIINNGS!]] * beep-boop!*
** What's interesting is that MST parodied this particular short in two different episodes. In the first one, it's just a skit during a host segment--Tom Servo eats so many waffles that he never wants to see another one again, and Crow shows up as the Waffle Sprite to spell out just how terrible a world without waffles would be. ''Squirm'', the episode featuring the "Spring Fever" film itself, aired ''several seasons'' later, so the reference was simply a GeniusBonus.
** Of course, the ''Squirm'' episode featured another host segment, where Crow and Tom Servo wonder if every object in the universe has its own sprite, just waiting for the chance to pull a Wonderful Life plot. They test this by having Crow announce that he never wants to see Mike again for as long as he lives; sure enough, a Mike Sprite appears to show the 'bots the horror of a world without Mike. The 'bots don't miss Mike at all, but they wish for him back anyway just to humor the sprite.

----

* Hilariously [[DoubleSubversion double-subverted]] in the post-Zero Hour ''LegionOfSuperHeroes'': Brainiac 5 gets a view of what the Legion would be like without him, and it turns out to be an idealized SilverAge-style world in which the other Legionnaires are just kids in a "hero club." After confirming that, yes, their lives are in fact better without him, Brainy chooses to go back anyhow in order to go on making their lives as miserable as they make his.

* A variation occurs in the ''MaryokuYummy'' episode "A Day Without Maryoku," with Shika so frustrated at Maryoku not following the rules that he takes it up with [[MentorArchetype Tapo Tapo]], insisting that their world would be better off without her. Tapo Tapo shows him how the day went down and then how it would have gone down without Maryoku.

* Subverted in ''{{Nodwick}}'', where an angel tries to convince the titular henchman that his employers will do fine if he dies for real [[DeathIsCheap this time]]. But it turns out that with him dead, they head straight into a BadFuture.
* Predictably enough, subverted in ''SluggyFreelance'' around Christmas 2009, with a short shown on a dystopian alternative Earth, called "It's a Wonderful Life, Citizen". It's about someone who is miserable and wishes he was never born. Because happiness is mandatory in that place, his desire in the sense of no longer existing [[spoiler:(in that universe, anyway)]] is granted, and everyone agrees they're happier without him. The story has {{an aesop}}: Turn in to the authorities anyone who's unhappy.

* One rare (and ''cruel'') inversion: ''TheButterflyEffect''.

** Some elaberation on what made duck berg so hellish and how effective this was:Without Donald, Gyro was caught in a ray that Donald was that lowered him to normal intlegnce and a unhappy life as a farmer. Grandma Duck was forced to work for Daisy, who became and incredibly succesful romance novelist, but was left a lonely, bitter shell without anyone to love(I.E. Donald). Gus, as Scrooges only nephew left, was hired by scrooge, but was easily tricked by Magica into handing over the NumberOneDime, Breaking his spirit and allowing Gloomgold to take everything from Scrooge, resulting in duckburgs economy collapsing and Scrooge a bitter old duck living in a barrel. Without Donald around, Gladstone got Huey, Duey and Louie who have all both adopted his lazy philosophy of relying on luck and grown ginormously fat, and as mentioned above, Gladstones still a success who also has the Beagle Boys, who without Scrooge to steal from had no choice but to go straight and become the police, in his pocket. Luckily, Donald returns to the musem and the Genie returns thing, leading to one giant crowning moment of hearwarming, with everyone wishing him a happy birthday.

** Some elaberation on what made duck berg so hellish and how effective this was:Without Donald, Gyro was caught in a ray that Donald was that lowered him to normal intlegnce and a unhappy life as a farmer. Grandma Duck was forced to work for Daisy, who became and incredibly succesful romance novelist, but was left a lonely, bitter shell without anyone to love(I.E. Donald). Gus, as Scrooges only nephew left, was hired by scrooge, but was easily tricked by Magica into handing over the NumberOneDime, Breaking his spirit and allowing Gloomgold to take everything from Scrooge, resulting in duckburgs economy collapsing and Scrooge a bitter old duck living in a barrel. Without Donald around, Gladstone got Huey, Duey and Louie who have all both adopted his lazy philosphy of reling on luck and grown ginormsly fat, and as mentioned above, Gladstones still a success who also has the Beagle Boys, who without Scrooge to steal from had no choice but to go streight and become the police, in his pocket. Luckily, Donald returns to the musem and the Genie returns thing, leading to one giant crowning moment of hearwarming, with everyone wishing him a happy birthday.

* A variant in the ''{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', when Vimes accidentally picks up his Dis-Organiser from the [[AlternateUniverse wrong timeline]] immediately after making a difficult decision. The Dis-Organiser gives a running comentary on what's happening in the universe where Vimes stays in Ankh-Morpork and tries to work within Rust's regime. The Klatchians invade and [[AllTheMyriadWays the entire Watch gets killed, ending with Vimes himself]]. (Presumably, made even worse by the Dis-Organiser in ''that'' universe telling Vimes how much better things would be going if he'd gone to Klatch.)

* In ''ItsAVeryMerryMuppetChristmasMovie'', an angel shows Kermit what would happen to the Muppets in a world where he never existed. Unfortunately, he's not too sure how to bring them back.

** It's a crapsack world by this show's standards: Carly's dating a borderline socipath(okay granted she's usually friends with one, but as mentioned before she's her MoralityChain), Freddies STILL getting abused, it's just now by his girlfreind. Spencers turned from reckless, yet still loving, to preppy, boring and alof, and dating a completly smothering psycopath, who's going to become Carly's stepmother. And Sam, DESPITE, the stuff she does on a regular basis, is still in prison and a completely worse person. The web show is just AuthorExistenceFailure.

* An episode of ''TheBasilBrushShow'' has this happen. After Basil spends all of the money on cosmetics (namely, for looking after his "brush") he and his friends risk having to stay in the flat without electricity or heating. Whilst the others go off carolling he starts feeling sorry with himself on a bridge. An old man (later shown to be Santa Claus) shows up and shows Basil that he makes lots of people happy, but Basil doesn't get it and wishes he was never born, so the old man sends him to a reality where his theiving cousin now does his show and where the people he helped and now in worse situations. Basil learns his lesson and after begging to exist again ends up in his own reality again. He goes home and finds everyone celebrating Christmas as one of his flatmates found a note with a large sum of money, conveniently.

* In the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode ''Tapestry'', Q shows Captain Picard what he would've become had he not gotten into the bar fight as a cadet that gave him his artificial heart. Needless to say, he wasn't the same lovable StoicBadAss we remember. Can you say, Lieutenant j.g. Picard?

** It's a crapsack world by this shows standards:Carlys dating a borderline socipath(okay granted she's usually friends with one, but as mentioned before she's her MoralityChain), Freddies STILL getting abused, it's just now by his girlfreind. Spencers turned from reckless, yet still loving, to preppy, boring and alof, and dating a completly smothering psycopath, who's going to become carlys stepmother. And sam, DESPITE, the stuff she does on a regular basis, is still in prison and a completly worse person. The web show is just AuthorExcsitenceFailure.

* There was a pretty good episode of SuperFriends called ''The Krypton Syndrome'' where Superman falls through a portal and winds up on Krypton, and manages to save it. He returns to the present, but finds Earth a burning ruin, with Robin one of the only surivivors. After realizing what happened, he [[TearJerker goes back and ensures Krypton's destruction]].

** Subverted in a ''SweetValleyHigh'' Super Edition, "Winter Carnival" where Elizabeth becomes annoyed with Jessica's forgetfulness/selfishness when it causes a rift in her budding romance with Jeffrey French during a winter festival at a ski resort. Elizabeth is upset and leaves, angrily wishing that Jessica wasn't around to mess things up. When she arrives home, she finds out that Jessica is dead. With Jessica gone, everyone in Sweet Valley is depressed and spends a lot of time remembering Jessica's bubbly personality and forgetting about Elizabeth. She wakes up and realizes that it was JustADream and makes up with Jessica and Jeffrey.

** Subverted in a ''SweetValleyHigh'' Super Edition, "Winter Carnival" where Elizabeth becomes annoyed with Jessica's forgetfulness/selfishness when it causes a rift in her budding romance with Jeffrey French during a winter festival at a ski resort. Elizabeth is upset and leaves, angrily wishing that Jessica wasn't around to mess things up. When she arrives home, she finds out that Jessica is dead. With Jessica gone, everyone in Sweet Valley is depressed and spends a lot of time remembering Jessica's bubbly personality and forgetting about Elizabeth. She wakes up and realizes that ItWasAllADream and makes up with Jessica and Jeffrey.

* The final episode of ''SerialExperimentsLain'' shows a world in which Lain does not exist (in contrast to scenes from the first episode, before all the weirdness)... and then the viewer realizes that [[spoiler:this is not a mere possibility, but a reality Lain created by erasing everyone's memories of herself. Although she did left her BFF Alice with a tiny figment of memory of her, only large enough to make her wonder for a second if she has seen Lain before]].

* The educational short ''A Case of Spring Fever'' (Seen on the MST3K episode 1012-Squirm) features a WonderfulLife plot where the missing element is springs. Yes, it's exactly as dumb as it sounds.
** And a world without waffles. Or Mike. Or his socks.