History Main / ItsaWonderfulPlot

* The Twitter WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss FanWebcomics ''[[https://twitter.com/wholetthemonst1/status/1660706624518889486 Without Blitzo]]'' centers around an unknown entity showing Blitzo what the world and his loved ones' lives would've been like if he had never been born. The results aren't pretty. Without his best friend to help him in his act, young Fizzarolli ends up on a horrible accident during a performance, costing him his limbs, with Cash Buckzo using him as a freak show attraction, for profit. Verosika never managed to reach the heights of her popularity, selling herself to Valentino in a desperate attempt for fame, which did little to boost her standing leaving her to perform until the overlord tired of her. Stolas would've had no friend in his life and little to hope for in his abusive marriage to Stella, and in a desperate and misguided attempt to help his daughter, he decided to send her on the same path Paimon gave him. The pain of which was too much for the prince causing him to isolate himself from the world, neglecting his duties, giving them to much cruler Ars Goetia, leading to a bloody aftermath. Loona would've gone completely feral by the end of her month, her mind snapping from being unwanted, forcing the Foundation to put her down. Moxxie, would've become a coldhearted mafioso, much like his own father, taking revenge on all those who wronged him. This included Chaz who was at the time happily pursuing Millie. In retribution, Millie went to confront Moxxie resulting both imps killings each other.

* The ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' fic "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4926714/1/The-Turtle-Who-Never-Was The Turtle Who Never Was]]" set in ''WesternAnimation/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles2003'' puts Michelangelo through the Wonderful Life plot, courtesy of two spirits ([[AFormYouAreComfortableWith taking on the forms of Splinter and Shredder]]) who argue whether Mike's made a positive difference on the lives of everyone around him or not, and consequently take him on a trip to an alternate reality where he'd never been born in order to find out. Although Michaelangelo initially feels like he really just made his brothers' lives harder, as the new reality deplicts Donatello being even more brilliant and Raphael more focused now that Splinter could spend more time helping them deal with their respective issues without having to also train Mikey, Mikey learns that a hero he saved during his time as 'Turtle Titan' now retired after the brainwashing was broken because he was ashamed of the innocent people he killed, and also witnesses the death of his pet cat Klunk as Mikey wasn't there to adopt him. When Michaelangelo returns to his reality and tells the real Splinter about the experience, Splinter also notes that, while his brothers were more successful without Mikey in this other reality, they were more successful ''as individuals'', the rat encouraging his son to consider whether the turtles would be happier as individual successes or as one family.

* The ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' fic "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4926714/1/The-Turtle-Who-Never-Was The Turtle Who Never Was]]" (set in {{WesternAnimation/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles2003 | the 2003 series}}) puts Michelangelo through the Wonderful Life plot, courtesy of two spirits ([[AFormYouAreComfortableWith taking on the forms of Splinter and Shredder]]) who argue whether Mike's made a positive difference on the lives of everyone around him or not, and consequently take him on a trip to an alternate reality where he'd never been born in order to find out. Although Michaelangelo initially feels like he really just made his brothers' lives harder, as the new reality deplicts Donatello being even more brilliant and Raphael more focused now that Splinter could spend more time helping them deal with their respective issues without having to also train Mikey, Mikey learns that a hero he saved during his time as 'Turtle Titan' now retired after the brainwashing was broken because he was ashamed of the innocent people he killed, and also witnesses the death of his pet cat Klunk as Mikey wasn't there to adopt him. When Michaelangelo returns to his reality and tells the real Splinter about the experience, Splinter also notes that, while his brothers were more successful without Mikey in this other reality, they were more successful ''as individuals'', the rat encouraging his son to consider whether the turtles would be happier as individual successes or as one family.

* The ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' fic "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4926714/1/The-Turtle-Who-Never-Was The Turtle Who Never Was]]" (set in {{WesternAnimation/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles2003 the 2003 series}}) puts Michelangelo through the Wonderful Life plot, courtesy of two spirits ([[AFormYouAreComfortableWith taking on the forms of Splinter and Shredder]]) who argue whether Mike's made a positive difference on the lives of everyone around him or not, and consequently take him on a trip to an alternate reality where he'd never been born in order to find out. Although Michaelangelo initially feels like he really just made his brothers' lives harder, as the new reality deplicts Donatello being even more brilliant and Raphael more focused now that Splinter could spend more time helping them deal with their respective issues without having to also train Mikey, Mikey learns that a hero he saved during his time as 'Turtle Titan' now retired after the brainwashing was broken because he was ashamed of the innocent people he killed, and also witnesses the death of his pet cat Klunk as Mikey wasn't there to adopt him. When Michaelangelo returns to his reality and tells the real Splinter about the experience, Splinter also notes that, while his brothers were more successful without Mikey in this other reality, they were more successful ''as individuals'', the rat encouraging his son to consider whether the turtles would be happier as individual successes or as one family.

* The ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' fic "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4926714/1/The-Turtle-Who-Never-Was The Turtle Who Never Was]]" (set in [[WesternAnimation/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(2003) the 2003 series]]) puts Michelangelo through the Wonderful Life plot, courtesy of two spirits ([[AFormYouAreComfortableWith taking on the forms of Splinter and Shredder]]) who argue whether Mike's made a positive difference on the lives of everyone around him or not, and consequently take him on a trip to an alternate reality where he'd never been born in order to find out. Although Michaelangelo initially feels like he really just made his brothers' lives harder, as the new reality deplicts Donatello being even more brilliant and Raphael more focused now that Splinter could spend more time helping them deal with their respective issues without having to also train Mikey, Mikey learns that a hero he saved during his time as 'Turtle Titan' now retired after the brainwashing was broken because he was ashamed of the innocent people he killed, and also witnesses the death of his pet cat Klunk as Mikey wasn't there to adopt him. When Michaelangelo returns to his reality and tells the real Splinter about the experience, Splinter also notes that, while his brothers were more successful without Mikey in this other reality, they were more successful ''as individuals'', the rat encouraging his son to consider whether the turtles would be happier as individual successes or as one family.

* The ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' fic "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4926714/1/The-Turtle-Who-Never-Was The Turtle Who Never Was]]" (set in [[WesternAnimation/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles2003 the 2003 series]]) puts Michelangelo through the Wonderful Life plot, courtesy of two spirits ([[AFormYouAreComfortableWith taking on the forms of Splinter and Shredder]]) who argue whether Mike's made a positive difference on the lives of everyone around him or not, and consequently take him on a trip to an alternate reality where he'd never been born in order to find out. Although Michaelangelo initially feels like he really just made his brothers' lives harder, as the new reality deplicts Donatello being even more brilliant and Raphael more focused now that Splinter could spend more time helping them deal with their respective issues without having to also train Mikey, Mikey learns that a hero he saved during his time as 'Turtle Titan' now retired after the brainwashing was broken because he was ashamed of the innocent people he killed, and also witnesses the death of his pet cat Klunk as Mikey wasn't there to adopt him. When Michaelangelo returns to his reality and tells the real Splinter about the experience, Splinter also notes that, while his brothers were more successful without Mikey in this other reality, they were more successful ''as individuals'', the rat encouraging his son to consider whether the turtles would be happier as individual successes or as one family.

* The Twitter WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss FanComic ''[[https://twitter.com/wholetthemonst1/status/1660706624518889486 Without Blitzo]]'' centers around an unknown entity showing Blitzo what the world and his loved ones' lives would've been like if he had never been born. The results aren't pretty. Without his best friend to help him in his act, young Fizzarolli ends up on a horrible accident during a performance, costing him his limbs, with Cash Buckzo using him as a freak show attraction, for profit. Verosika never managed to reach the heights of her popularity, selling herself to Valentino in a desperate attempt for fame, which did little to boost her standing leaving her to perform until the overlord tired of her. Stolas would've had no friend in his life and little to hope for in his abusive marriage to Stella, and in a desperate and misguided attempt to help his daughter, he decided to send her on the same path Paimon gave him. The pain of which was too much for the prince causing him to isolate himself from the world, neglecting his duties, giving them to much cruler Ars Goetia, leading to a bloody aftermath. Loona would've gone completely feral by the end of her month, her mind snapping from being unwanted, forcing the Foundation to put her down. Moxxie, would've become a coldhearted mafioso, much like his own father, taking revenge on all those who wronged him. This included Chaz who was at the time happily pursuing Millie. In retribution, Millie went to confront Moxxie resulting both imps killings each other.

After the novella ''The Greatest Gift'', later eclipsed by it's more famous [[{{Film}} movie]] adaptation ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', a device whereby an external force (usually supernatural) intervenes in a time of crisis to show the character facing said crisis a FlashSideways of how things would have been had one key part of the past gone down differently. Most often, the change is that [[RetGone the character in question had never been born]]. 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 (or if they have already done so), they'll be doing this one.

* The ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtls'' fic "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4926714/1/The-Turtle-Who-Never-Was The Turtle Who Never Was]]" (set in [[WesternAnimation/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles2003 the 2003 series]]) puts Michelangelo through the Wonderful Life plot, courtesy of two spirits ([[AFormYouAreComfortableWith taking on the forms of Splinter and Shredder]]) who argue whether Mike's made a positive difference on the lives of everyone around him or not, and consequently take him on a trip to an alternate reality where he'd never been born in order to find out. Although Michaelangelo initially feels like he really just made his brothers' lives harder, as the new reality deplicts Donatello being even more brilliant and Raphael more focused now that Splinter could spend more time helping them deal with their respective issues without having to also train Mikey, Mikey learns that a hero he saved during his time as 'Turtle Titan' now retired after the brainwashing was broken because he was ashamed of the innocent people he killed, and also witnesses the death of his pet cat Klunk as Mikey wasn't there to adopt him. When Michaelangelo returns to his reality and tells the real Splinter about the experience, Splinter also notes that, while his brothers were more successful without Mikey in this other reality, they were more successful ''as individuals'', the rat encouraging his son to consider whether the turtles would be happier as individual successes or as one family.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|2003}}'' fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4926714/1/The-Turtle-Who-Never-Was "The Turtle Who Never Was"]] puts Michelangelo through the Wonderful Life plot, courtesy of two spirits (taking on the forms of Splinter and Shredder) who argue whether Mike's made a positive difference on the lives of everyone around him or not, and consequently take him on a trip to an alternate reality where he'd never been born, in order to find out. Although Michaelangelo initially feels like he really just made his brothers' lives harder, such as Donatello being even more brilliant and Raphael more focused now that Splinter could spend more time helping them deal with their respective issues without having to also train Mikey, Mikey learns that a hero he saved during his time as 'Turtle Titan' now retired after the brainwashing was broken because he was ashamed of the innocent people he killed, and also witnesses the death of his pet cat Klunk as Mikey wasn't there to adopt him. When Michaelangelo returns to 'reality', Splinter also notes that, while his brothers were more successful without him in this other reality, they were more successful ''as individuals'', the rat encouraging his son to consider whether the turtles would be happier as individual successes or as one family.

** "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5538382/1/It-s-a-Wonderful-Christmas-Carol It's a Wonderful Christmas Carol]]" starts after Kim and Ron have had an argument on Christmas, Kim feeling frustrated with Ron and Ron wishing he was never born. While Kim [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol witnesses her past, present and future]], Ron is guided through the world without him by an angel resembling Mr Barkin. In Ron's absence, while Kim still became her heroic self, Drakken and Shego ultimately won during the Diablos plot as Kim's spirit was effectively broken by the lie of Eric, culminating in her being one of the mass casualties when Drakken and Shego forced the human race to defend them against the Lorwardians despite suffering mass casualties.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6133694/1/Without-You Without You]]'', Helga feels that everyone would be better off without her and wishes she was never born, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor which unfortunately comes true]]. Here she not only learns what has become of her family and friends without her presence, she also must find a way to return to her universe and fix what's gone wrong because of her wish as well.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10024916/1/Superior-Spider-Man-Take-2 Superior Spider-Man: Take Two]]'' is a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' fanfic that essentially answers the question, "ComicBook/WhatIf Peter Parker was able to get his body back from Doctor Octopus at the end of 'Dying Wish'?" Before dying, Otto begs Peter, "Don't throw your life away the way I did mine," prompting Peter to start making changes in his life. The following story follows the plot beats of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', only with Peter as Spider-Man instead of Otto. At one point, after accidentally causing the death of the criminal Massacre and later being goaded into brutally attacking Jester and Screwball, Peter chose to take a leave of absence from being Spider-Man in order to get his head on straight. At one point, a small portion of Otto that was still inside Peter's mind visited him in a dream, giving him a vision of what would have happened if Peter was never bitten by the radioactive spider; he wound up working for Oscorp, until being callously fired by [[BadBoss Norman Osborn]]. In his quest for retaliation against Osborn, he would end up becoming an alternate version of the Green Goblin. After this dream, Peter resumed his life as Spider-Man, his sense of purpose restored.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5566684/1/Your-Life-is-Wonderful-Charlie-Brown Your Life is Wonderful, Charlie Brown]]'' is a ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' fanfic where resident ButtMonkey Charlie Brown, feeling more distraught than ever during the holidays, is shown what great impact he has made on his friends' lives. [[spoiler:Some of the things shown without his intervention are Linus being a ShrinkingViolet, Pigpen being an overdressed JerkAss, among many other alterations]].

* The ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3571753/1/The-World-As-We-Knew-It The World As We Knew It]]" starts after Dumbledore's funeral when Harry, Lupin [[spoiler:and Snape]] trigger an ancient magic known as an 'Aperio', where three people separately make the same wish at the same time and are transferred into a world where that wish happened. In this case, the three find themselves in a world where the prophecy was never made and James and Lily Potter are still alive, but Dumbledore was killed by Voldemort years ago and Lucius Malfoy is now the Minister of Magic. As a result, the Hogwarts curriculum is now basically rigged to make sure pure-bloods achieve the best scores while muggle-borns are so prejudiced against that Lily is only able to remain in England because James altered official records to give the impression that she has pure-blood heritage. On a more personal level, Peter Pettigrew's true allegiance is still unknown to the remaining Order members, Ron is Harry's school rival due to various past pranks, and Ginny has spent the last four years in Azkaban for opening the Chamber of Secrets.
* The ''Series/{{Castle}}'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11600833/1/Beauty-of-Our-Reality Beauty of Our Reality]]'' has a take on this where an alternate visits the canon universe; in a world where she never started digging into Senator Bracken, Joanna Beckett wonders what would have changed if she’d taken the case while holding the same Mayan artefact that showed Castle another universe in the past, which leads to her appearing in the office of Castle’s private investigator business. Her time in this world is brief, mainly consisting of Castle explaining how things turned out here as he drives Joanna back to his apartment, but it leads to a genuinely moving moment when Joanna meets her alternate daughter, and the usually tough Kate Beckett is reduced to just saying ‘Mommy?’ before the two exchange a tearful hug.

* The ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9858897/1/Thanks-For-the-Wings Thanks for the Wings]]'' uses this; Maura Isles, feeling unappreciated by her friends and family after donating a kidney to her half-sister, is treated with a view of the world where she was never born. On a wider scale, several of the charities she supported have raised far less support now that Maura didn't help attract attention to their cause, and her adopted parents' lives are fundamentally emptier without her presence. On a more personal level, Frost and Korsak are simply colleagues as Frost never got over his issues with dead bodies without Maura's help while Korsak has health problems now that Maura was never there to subtly inspire him to make better dietary choices, and Susie Chang's confidence in her abilities is constantly undermined by Maura's 'replacement,' the competent but ruthless Doctor Potter. As for the Rizzoli family, Angela Rizzoli is a bitter woman living in a poor apartment without Maura able to offer Angela use of her guesthouse, Tommy Rizzoli is in jail as Jane was never inspired by Maura to find the evidence that would clear him of the bank robbery (as depicted in "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"), and the Rizzolis have a poor reputation in the department after the Boston Marathon shootings led to a riot with Frankie being made the scapegoat for subsequent events (whereas Jane ran with Maura and caught the killer in "Born to Run"). On top of that, Frankie was killed during a raid on the police station without Maura there to save him (as shown in "When the Gun Goes Bang, Bang, Bang"), and Jane is unhappily married to Casey Jones, her confidence shattered when Hoyt took her hostage and she had to be saved by Casey (as opposed to "Remember Me", where Maura was taken hostage with Jane and thus gave her friend someone to save), Jane feeling that she will never grow beyond her current limits even if she leaves Casey.
* Another ''Rizzoli & Isles'' fic in this vein is "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27931336/ It's a Wonderful Life]]", where Jane's guardian angel is George Bailey from the original ''Wonderful Life'', now a second-class angel himself after he died in 1997. With Jane and Maura distant after Jane shot Paddy Doyle, George shows Jane what life would be like if she was never born; her parents are in an unhappy marriage because they have nobody else after Frankie moved away with a woman who ''claimed'' he was the father of her child and Tommy was sent to prison without Jane and Maura to help him, Frost died in the siege of the station without Jane to help end the stand-off, and Korsak has no real friends at the precinct (to be clear, he's ''liked'', but nobody spends time with him socially). As for Maura's fate, she is on the verge of resigning after her relationship with Paddy Doyle was exposed and compromised everyone's faith in her- while she had nothing to do with his criminal activities, nobody knows her well enough to say that for a fact- and George mentions that when she leaves Boston Maura will be forced to relocate to Africa and do her best to offer medical care in third world countries even after being stripped of her medical license.

* The ''Series/{{Bones}}'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6568121/1/Every-Time-A-Bell-Rings Every Time a Bell Rings]]'' gives Doctor Temperance Brennan a chance to witness a world like this. While Camille Saroyan and Lance Sweets are still alive, they are fundamentally depressed and alone as Cam never moved away from New York and Sweets never bonded with anyone in Washington, while Cam's would-be adopted daughter Michelle is now stuck in an abusive foster home as she drove Cam away during the investigation of her father's murder without Brennan's encouragement to convince Cam to try again. As for the rest of the team, Jack Hodgins was killed by the Gravedigger, Angela is a penniless artist forced to prostitute herself to pay her rent, and Brennan's father and brother are still on the run, with her brother unaware that his youngest would-be step-daughter died of cystic fibrosis years ago because he doesn't dare get back in touch and Brennan was never there to give the little girl better medical care (no reference is made to what happened to any of Brennan's interns without her role in their lives). Worst of all for Brennan, the would-be love of her life, Seeley Booth, is trapped in a thankless relationship with his old partner Tessa, the two only staying together because of their daughter Joy, while Booth's life falls apart due to him succumbing to his old gambling addiction, and Brennan's glimpse of this other world ends with Booth being killed when he tries to go after a wanted criminal on Christmas and gets shot.

After the [[{{Film}} movie]] ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', a device whereby an external force (usually supernatural) intervenes in a time of crisis to show the character facing said crisis a FlashSideways of how things would have been had one key part of the past gone down differently. Most often, the change is that [[RetGone the character in question had never been born]]. 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 (or if they have already done so), they'll be doing this one.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': The fourth novel and TheMovie, ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'', is one long ''Wonderful Life'' 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.

* In chapter 14 of the ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' fic ''Fanfic/TwistOfFate'', Kuroko (who hates Touma) and Awaki accidentally wind up in a world where Touma had never been born (they were both in the middle of teleporting, causing them to be unaffected when Touma got {{Ret Gone}}d). They are guided by a mysterious man named Moses who is unaffected by changes in the timeline. Without Touma, this is a CrapsackWorld to the extreme. Academy City is a military state, WorldWarIII raged, and practically everybody Touma helped is dead, insane, etc. When they manage to restore the timeline, Kuroko finally lets go of her grudge, noting how important he is and how much she and her friends owe him.

* The ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2703105/1/It-s-a-Ronderful-Life It's a Ronderful Life]]'' sees Ron wish he'd never been born because he feels that he's screwed up Kim's life after a company sued him and Kim for the destruction of a space shuttle during a recent mission, forcing Kim to take on more talk show appearances and accept demeaning jobs like modelling for Smarty Mart to pay the fees. However, Ron's 'guardian angel' reveals that, despite Ron's concerns, he has made Kim's life better; without Ron to keep her grounded, Kim became particularly arrogant about her abilities, provoking her enemies even further until Drakken and Shego defeated her during the events of "Bueno Nacho", with Drakken subsequently lobotomising her father & uncle and stripping her mother of her medical licence, leaving Kim emotionally and psychologically shattered and having to work at Smarty Mart just to pay the bills. On a wider note, Ron's parents are divorced, Rufus is owned by Ron's would-be cousin Shawn, Bueno Nacho collapsed without the income generated by the creation of the Naco, Timothy North (the Fearless Ferret) is living on the streets as he suffered a mental collapse without Ron's help, Bonnie has become fat after she developed an eating disorder after Brick Flagg became one of Drakken's mind-controlled soldiers, Wade designs equipment for Drakken while under a mind-control chip, Felix's chair was taken to reverse-engineer the systems and he struggles to get by even with Monique's help, Joss was taken for reeducation under Shego, and the Yamanuchi School has been turned into monkeys under the control of Monkey Fist.

** In a fanfic called ''Fanfic/SunsetsWonderfulLife'', Sunset wishes she was never born after a disastrous Christmas party. A guardian angel named Rebecca shows what would happen without Sunset. Here in the human world, Rainbow Dash is stuck as Lightning Dust's water girl and a coward loyal to herself, Rarity is a homeless and poor CrazyCatLady failing to sell poorly made dresses and refuses to give them to those who can't make her large prices, Fluttershy is a criminal gang leader, Pinkie Pie is gloomy and sad, Applejack and Big Mac are forced to work for Flim and Flam and adapt to their dishonest ways in selling their products after they buy out their farm (due to debt) and use paying Granny Smith's hospital bills as leverage, Apple Bloom was transferred to Applesoona just to have some form of education, Derpy is a bully, Trixie is a timid ShirkingViolet, morale at Canterlot High School worsened to the point where after the latest Friendship Games Cinch persuaded Principal Celestia into partnership to improve the school which soon led to her persuading her and Luna to retire early so that she can take full control of the school and transform it into another Crystal Prep division with the same toxic environment, Dean Cadance was fired after Cinch manipulated the school board into firing her, Camp Everfree was shut down due to debt and turned into a spa by Filthy Rich, the Dazzlings have taken over the world, Spike was euthanized after biting a student bullying Sci-Twi, and Sci-Twi is suicidal after dealing with everyone treating her like an outcast for the Friendship Games (as well as Dean Cadance's firing and Spike being put to sleep). It's even worse in Equestria where Princess Twilight turned evil instead of Sunset due to Princess Celestia repeating the same mistakes which causes her to turn into Midnight Sparkle and kill everybody and everything there and is currently at war with the Dazzlings to take over the human world.

** In a fanfic called ''Fanfic/SunsetsWonderfulLife'', Sunset wishes she was never born after a disastrous Christmas party. A guardian angel named Rebecca shows what would happen without Sunset. Here in the human world, Rainbow Dash is stuck as Lightning Dust's water girl and a coward loyal to herself, Rarity is a homeless and poor CrazyCatLady failing to sell poorly made dresses and refuses to give them to those who can't make her large prices, Fluttershy is a criminal gang leader, Pinkie Pie is gloomy and sad, Applejack and Big Mac are forced to work for Flim and Flam
and adapt to their dishonest ways in selling their products after they buy out their farm (due to debt) and use paying Granny Smith's hospital bills as leverage, Apple Bloom was transferred to Applesoona just to have some form of education, Derpy is a bully, Trixie is a timid ShrikingViolet, morale at Canterlot High School worsened to the point where after the latest Friendship Games Cinch persuaded Principal Celestia into partnership to improve the school which soon led to her persuading her and Luna to retire early so that she can take full control of the school and transform it into another Crystal Prep division with the same toxic environment, Dean Cadance was fired after Cinch manipulated the school board into firing her, Camp Everfree was shut down due to debt and turned into a spa by Filthy Rich, the Dazzlings have taken over the world, Spike was euthanized after biting a student bullying Sci-Twi, and Sci-Twi is suicidal after dealing with everyone treating her like an outcast for the Friendship Games (as well as Dean Cadance's firing and Spike being put to sleep). It's even worse in Equestria where Princess Twilight turned evil instead of Sunset due to Princess Celestia repeating the same mistakes which causes her to turn into Midnight Sparkle and kill everybody and everything there and is currently at war with the Dazzlings to take over the human world.

* In the ''Fanfic/AWorldWithoutRainbows'', Twilight finds herself sent to another world where the Rainboom never happened. Because Mane 6 never become friends, they weren’t there to stop Nightmare Moon.

* The ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' one-shot ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12022935/1/Without-the-Dragon-Dork Without the Dragon Dork]]'' sees all of the other Dragon Riders wonder what their lives would have been like if Hiccup hadn’t been born (an interesting variation on this trope where normally the missing person sees the impact of his absence directly, as Hiccup is never told what they were thinking about). Without Hiccup, Fishlegs is a complete social outcast as nobody could put up with his nerdy knowledge of dragons or give Heather a chance to stay; Snotlout is under considerable stress trying to deal with his father’s ambitions for him to be Berk’s next chief; Tuffnut is treated as a prankster and nothing else as nobody will take him seriously even when he genuinely wants to help; Ruffnut is unable to express her deeper feelings and feels that she is regarded as only Tuffnut's sister; and Astrid has nothing but her training and reputation as a warrior (and even that’s tainted when she froze while facing the Flightmare and nobody helped her work out how the dragon made her do that).

* The short video "[[http://loadingreadyrun.com/videos/view/184/its_a_wonderful_game It's a Wonderful Game]]" by WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun is a silly take on this trope. The protagonist, in a rage about not being able to defeat the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' for the 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!"

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic "[[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wmPVTzeT5CIUz_u-CNkMN7CcbFBXGG877UGY8lJmb40/edit A Hearth's Warming Carol]]", Rainbow Dash wishes that she was never born after she gets all of her friends upset with her. Princess Celestia then appears and uses her magic to show Rainbow Dash what Equestria would be like without her. In this alternate universe, Rainbow Dash sees that her friends' lives are different due to her not being there to perform her first sonic rainboom from the episode "The Cutie Mark Chronicles," that helped her friends discover their hidden talents. Rarity is a jewel thief, Applejack is a cold-hearted business-pony, Pinkie Pie is a depressed rock seller, Twilight lives all by herself in a cottage in the mountains where she studies magic day and night, and Fluttershy is dead.
** In another fanfic called “It’s a Twilightful Life”, Twilight Sparkle wishes she was never born after she and her friends fail to save the School of Friendship on Christmas Eve from its debt. Princess Luna plays the role of the guardian angel who shows her what Equestria would be like if she was never born. In this alternate universe, Granny Smith and Big Macintosh are over-the-top hillbillies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders never got their cutie marks and are selling fried chicken for a living, Starlight Glimmer is rampaging throughout Equestria making more ponies equal, Rainbow Dash is a lesbian artist, Pinkie Pie is a homicidal cannibal, Rarity is obsessed with sweets (especially marshmallows), Fluttershy is a hippy, Applejack is working with the Flim Flam Brothers at Las Pegasus, Spike is a pick-pocket, and Princess Celestia is...well, let’s just say she’s a total mess! This fanfic was divided into seven chapters:
*** [[https://www.deviantart.com/powerpup97/art/Its-a-Twilightful-Life-Part-1-816701409 Chapter 1]]
*** [[https://www.deviantart.com/powerpup97/art/Its-a-Twilightful-Life-Part-2-816782259 Chapter 2]]
*** [[https://www.deviantart.com/powerpup97/art/Its-a-Twilightful-Life-Part-3-817067772 Chapter 3]]
*** [[https://www.deviantart.com/powerpup97/art/Its-a-Twilightful-Life-Part-4-817071187 Chapter 4]]
*** [[https://www.deviantart.com/powerpup97/art/Its-a-Twilightful-Life-Part-5-817240127 Chapter 5]]
*** [[https://www.deviantart.com/powerpup97/art/Its-a-Twilightful-Life-Part-6-817265540 Chapter 6]]
*** [[https://www.deviantart.com/powerpup97/art/Its-a-Twilightful-Life-Epilogue-817345183 Chapter 7]]

* Another ''Rizzoli & Isles'' fic in this vein is "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27931336/ It's a Wonderful Life]]", where Jane's guardian angel is George Bailey from the original ''Wonderful Life'', now a second-class angel himself after he died in 1997. With Jane and Maura distant after Jane shot Paddy Doyle, George shows her what life would be like if she was never born; her parents are in an unhappy marriage because they have nobody else after Frankie moved away with a woman who ''claimed'' he was the father of her child and Tommy was sent to prison without Jane and Maura to help him, Frost died in the siege of the station, and Korsak has no real friends at the station. As for Maura, she is on the verge of resigning after her relationship with Paddy Doyle was exposed and compromised everyone's faith in her- while she had nothing to do with his criminal activities, nobody knows her well enough to say that for a fact- and George mentions that when she leaves Maura will be forced to relocate to Africa and do her best to offer medical care in third world countries without a medical license.

Usually the character learns that everyone they know would be worse off without them. The most common subversion, the BetterIfNotBornPlot, 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 either a complete CrapsackWorld in which there is little hope whatsoever, or an {{Utopia}} where nothing bad ever happens. Also closely related to NecessaryFail.

* ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'' has an odd variation: during the climax of the first half, [[spoiler:Yue shows Sakura a BadPresent where she'd still exist, but it'd be as though she had never existed, not even to her closest family, just to show her what's at stake for the final judgment.Sakura sees everyone close to her (family, classmates, etc), never having felt anything for the person they cared for most. And everyone is just so casual, oblivious to having no connection with their dearest one. While vision Sakura has no conscious memory of what's going on, everything feels unnervingly wrong.]]
* ''{{Manga/Doraemon}}'': In the episode The Life Do-Over Machine is about Nobita getting sent back in time threw a MentalTimeTravel machine so he can life his past as a ChildProdigy. Later one night after astounding his parents Nobita is greeted by Doraemon who shows him that even though he may exceed in the second grade but by the time he reaches his more carent grade he fails both physically and mentally. This puts his parents in the DespairEventHorizon from ruining a perfect child.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': ''The End of Evangelion'' has a characteristically disturbing variant of such a scene filmed in live-action, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen but it was ultimately cut]] (it can still be found floating around the Internet). In it, Shinji witnesses a world in which Misato, Rei and Asuka (who is inexplicably sleeping with ''Toji'') go about their lives without ever having known Shinji. Here they all lead bleak, aimless existences, are almost suicidally depressed and take some time to share their incredibly cynical philosophies on life and love. Shinji eventually recognizes that this is not reality (just like the unrealistically happy high-school romance anime alternate universe of episode 26). It's not entirely clear whether the audience was meant to infer a ''Wonderful Life''-esque lesson about how their mere existence can impact the lives of those around them, Shinji seeing how the world actually would be if it was as miserable as he thinks it is just be depressed and disturbed.

* This was done in the french comic book "Si seulement" written by Rodolphe. A writer whose name is Joe Horton finds himself in different realities after he discovered a mysterious room in his basement with five doors (one for each reality) . In the first part of the scenario, he never saved his sister from an enraged dog, thus killing her and becoming a singer. As a result, his wife does not recognize him and his son does not exist. In the second part, his cowardice was worse as he never stood up for his girlfriend and failed to protect her from being bullied and raped by a group of thugs. He ended up as a cafe owner, married to an unfaithful woman who abused him with her lover. In the third part, he was incarcerated due to a fire he created at a neighbor's farm, thus killing a horse. He became a corrupt politician. It was better that the fourth part, when he died while trying to save his sister, which allowed her to become a famous painter. In the final part, he was also put in jail and became a sadistic person, murdering children . He finally finds his old life back, coming to the conclusion that he has a wonderful existence.

** Creator/DonRosa did a story about Donald Duck, "The Duck Who Never Was", based on this trope to celebrate his 60th birthday. Donald, who's been feeling down on his luck [[TheChewToy even for him]], spends his birthday trying to get a job at a museum; he's immediately laid off for exceeding the retirement age due to a nearsighted curator misreading his application. As he leaves, he bumps into an urn and releases the "birthday genie," a powerful spirit that [[CripplingOverspecialization grant one wish to a person if that person releases him on their birthday]]. Donald gets upset and wishes that he'd never been born, and the birthday genie grants his request--and Duckburg instantly transforms into [[CrapsackWorld a miserable, graffiti-riddled hellhole.]] Nearly everyone Donald knows is worse off. Because Donald didn't get [[ItMakesSenseInContext kidnapped by a talking wolf]], Gyro Gearloose accidentally blasted himself with his own intelligence-reducing ray, robbing him of his inventing skills and forcing him to become a miserable farmer. He bought said farm from Grandma Duck, who had to give up the property because Gus never came to work for her. Instead, Grandma works as Daisy's secretary; Daisy herself has become a successful romance novelist, but she only writes her books to make up for her horrible loveless life, and spends all of her time shut away in Scrooge's (former) Money Bin, which she's turned into her printing plant, hating the world and drinking heavily (the latter is implied through some empty bottles she throws at Donald). Gus, meanwhile, is a skinny, broke loser living on the streets--without Donald to become Scrooge's heir, the billionaire was forced to hire Gus, who lost the legendary Number One Dime to Magica [=DeSpell=] ''on his first day on the job.'' This broke Scrooge's spirit and led him to lose everything to Flintheart Glomgold, who's slowly draining Duckburg of its resources through a combination of naturally large taxes (which the Duck family once paid) and outsourcing to Africa. The only person who's still rich and successful (much to Donald's chagrin) is the [[BornLucky impossibly lucky]] Gladstone Gander, who continues to win sweepstakes and prizes on an hourly basis--the trouble is that Huey, Dewey, and Louie had to go to live with him without Donald to care for them. As a result of Gladstone's lazy attitudes, overindulgence, and philosophy of HardWorkHardlyWorks, the boys have become massively obese couch potatoes who think that any sort of movement besides eating takes too much effort. Finally, the Beagle Boys, who lost their motivation for robbery when Scrooge went broke, have become [[DirtyCop dirty cops]] in the extreme, and one brother is even the ''mayor.'' Donald rushes back to the museum and begs for the birthday genie to reverse the spell; he does so, and the now-enlightened duck returns home to find a surprise party waiting for him.
** There was [[https://inducks.org/story.php?c=D+2002-001 another Donald story]] with a similar premise, but only in the loosest of terms. For one thing, the story takes the GoodAngelBadAngel trope and exaggerates it, 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 ([[HappyMarriageCharade 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.
** 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.

* The ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'' has ''"It's a Wonderful Christmas Story"'', which surprisingly only spends one page (of fourteen) on this trope as presented by Santa Claus. In short, Chief O'Hara had to resign after failing to capture the Blot and now directs traffic while Casey took over as the chief. Goofy has homeless because he never had a best friend to look after him. Horace went to jail after becoming involved in a pyramid scheme. Clarabelle faithfully visits him as often as she can. Minnie is in an one-off relation with Mortimer, while Morty and Ferdie spend their time at daycare when Felicity and Frank get overwhelmed. Pluto's fate is explicitly left open and a boy Mickey saved earlier in the story is now in a wheelchair. Mickey's ArchEnemy Pete is mayor of Mouseton and owns most of its business. Notwithstanding that some characters ''are'' worse off, the comic's narrative presents things bleaker than they are. Morty and Ferdie seem to have fun at the daycare, the boy's still bright in his wheelchair, and things certainly worked out for Casey. There's not even a reason given to believe Pete's still a crook.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': One comic has 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.

** Several years prior, Creator/EdBrubaker did a similar story for ''[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures Batman: Gotham Adventures]]'', down to the Phantom Stranger playing Clarence. Despite being geared toward a younger age-bracket, this world-without-Batman is arguably even ''bleaker''. Dick Grayson ends up working for Tony Zucco, Tim Drake works for the Joker, Harvey Dent takes payoffs from Zucco while remaining unaware of his SplitPersonality, and it all ends in Gordon's death at the hands of ComicBook/TheJoker (who strangely still exists [[InSpiteOfANail even though]] there's no Batman to punch him into that vat of chemicals).

** Another story has Veronica being given the more traditional treatment. In this alternate reality where she wasn’t born, her parents never had kids of their own, so they never saw the need to move to nice suburb-town Riverdale. Without Lodge Enterprises creating jobs with its vast variety of businesses and factories, Riverdale’s economy is awful, with everything closing down, from the movies to the mall (and it doesn’t help that compulsive shopper fashionista Veronica isn't there to spend all her hefty allowance on their merch). Without Veronica, Cheryl becomes the princess that Archie drools over, and she constantly chases Betty away from him, while Veronica often shares Archie with Betty because they’re best friend. Betty’s BFF in this universe, Midge, has to move and leave behind her friends and boyfriend because her dad got a job out of town, because of Riverdale’s poor economy, and Dilton transferred to a different school with a bigger science budget (Mr. Lodge also funded Riverdale High science lab). But the biggest change is Jughead—without Veronica around to turn him off girls, woman-hating Jug is actually a womanizer!

* ''ComicStrip/{{Alex}}'' had "It's a Wonderful Crisis", where Alex's boss commits suicide and Alex takes over his job as head of [=MegaBank=]. Cyrus then returns as an angel to show Alex how much better everyone else would have been if he had never been born. Ultimately, Cyrus is revealed as demon and the whole thing is a plot to send Alex and Clive to hell.

* The ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8235065/1/The_Greatest_Gift_of_the_Heart The Greatest Gift of the Heart]]'' picks up from the Bad End of Hanako's route, and shows what would've happened if Hisao had never had his heart attack and ended up at Yamaku. In this fic, he befriended the other girls and Kenji, and without him, they end up lonely, miserable and plagued by their personal problems, while Hanako [[spoiler:committed suicide]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' unfinished fanfic called “Life Without A Sponge”, Spongebob accidentally ruins a party for the Krusty Krab and blames himself even though his friends tell him it’s OK. But Spongebob thinks that his friends would be better off if he haven’t been there at all. Soon, God show is up and show Spongebob what life would be like if he wasn’t born. Patrick has no friends, Mr. Krabs is homeless, Gary is a cannibal, Sandy’s trapped, Plankton finally got his hands on the krabby patty secret formula, and Squidward is dead.

* In the ''Fanfic/AWorldWithoutRainbows'', Twilight find herself sent to another world where the Rainboom never happened. Because Mane 6 never become friends, they weren’t there to stop Nightmare Moon.

* In the ''Literature/LesMiserables'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9018525/1/It-s-a-Wonderfu-Life-Javert It's a Wonderful Life, Javert]]'', Clarence appears to Javert at Pont Au Change and shows him how different the story would have been without him: Had Javert not been a guard in Toulon during Valjean's incarceration, he would have succeeded in one of his escape attempts and thus would have never met the Bishop of Digne and turned his life around - instead, he turns to crime, is summarily arrested and sentenced for life. Because of this, Valjean never becomes Monsieur Madeleine, and M-sur-M declines into a decrepit cesspit with corruption and misery and prostitutes marking every alley. Among them is Fantine, who gets arrested and released after her brawl, but now with a bad reputation to go with her name - she dies of consumption soon after and her corpse is robbed and left forgotten. Without Fantine to provide for Cosette and Valjean to save her, the Thenardiers throw her out and she freezes to death. And lastly, without Javert volunteering to spy the students, the barricade falls earlier and the students are exiled instead of executed, which only leads to another, bloodier attempt some years later. However, this does nothing to dissuade Javert from jumping into the Seine, since it does not solve his moral dilemma - he is only convinced to live when Clarence shows him the future where Valjean dies, and Javert chooses to live to prevent Valjean's unjust death.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10024916/1/Superior-Spider-Man-Take-2 Superior Spider-Man: Take Two]]'' is a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' fanfic that essentially answers the question, "ComicBook/WhatIf Peter Parker was able to get his body back from Doctor Octopus at the end of 'Dying Wish'?" Before dying, Otto begs Peter, "Don't throw your life away the way I did mine," prompting Peter to start making changes in his life. The following story follows the plot beats of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', only with Peter as Spider-Man instead of Otto. At one point, after accidentally causing the death of the criminal Massacre and later being goaded into brutally attacking Jester and Screwball, Peter chose to take a leave of absence from being Spider-Man in order to get his head on straight. At one point, a small portion of Otto that was still inside Peter's mind visited him in a dream, giving him a vision of what would have happened if Peter was never bitten by the radioactive spider; he wound up working for Oscorp, until being callously fired by [[BadBoss Norman Osborn]]. In his quest for retaliation against Osborn he would end up becoming an alternate version of the Green Goblin. After this dream, Peter resumed his life as Spider-Man, his sense of purpose restored.

* The ''Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}'' fic "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/43656942 The Little Bird that Kept so Many Warm]]" sees Oliver and Laurel (mid-Season Two) be sent to a world where Laurel was never born by the Phantom Stranger. As a result of Laurel's non-existence, Oliver committed suicide during his years away as he had nothing to hold on for, Sara is in a coma in the ICU because she was given so much freedom that she had a drug-induced accident, Tommy was so wild without Laurel's calming influence that Malcolm sent him to military school and he died in war, Helena provoked a mob war (and died in the subsequent crossfire), and Malcolm's plan to destroy the Glades was a success after Moira committed suicide, driving Quentin on to the street and leaving Thea in jail on drug charges.

* The ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6585093/1/Zuzu-s-Petals Zuzu's Petals]]'' features Number 362 feeling frustrated about TheChainsOfCommanding, and that because of her feelings of being unable to do normal kid stuff, she wishes she was never Supreme Leader. In a neat twist on the concept though, the story is more about Rachel deciding what she values most: being a kid or growing in her own life choices. For example, the KND never collapsed without her, her brother never became [[HatesBeingTouched touch sensitive]], Tommy never had to quit the KND and Rachel herself gets to stay with her original squad. However, Tommy is still selfish and entitled without learning selflessness to sacrifice himself for the organization. Also, Number 1 took over after Chad, and thus couldn't go looking for Number 0 during the grandfather crisis. This meant Nigel died killing Grandfather by [[HurlItIntoTheSun tricking him onto the moonbase and then detaching it to the sun]], and following this, Sector V broke up.

* The ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9858897/1/Thanks-For-the-Wings Thanks for the Wings]]'' uses this; Maura Isles, feeling unappreciated by her friends and family after donating a kidney to her half-sister, is treated with a view of the world where she was never born. On a wider scale, several of the charities she supported have raised far less support now that Maura didn't help attract attention to their cause, and her adopted parents' lives are fundamentally emptier without her presence. On a more personal level, Frost and Korsak are simply colleagues as Frost never got over his issues with dead bodies without Maura's help while Korsak has health problems now that Maura was never there to subtly inspire him to make better dietary choices, and Susie Chang's confidence in her abilities is constantly undermined by Maura's 'replacement,' the competent but ruthless Doctor Potter. As for the Rizzoli family, Angela Rizzoli is a bitter woman living in a poor apartment without Maura able to offer Angela use of her guesthouse, Tommy Rizzoli is in jail as Jane was never inspired by Maura to find the evidence that would clear him of the bank robbery (as depicted in "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"), and the Rizzolis have a poor reputation in the department after the Boston Marathon shootings led to a riot with Frankie being made the scapegoat for subsequent events (whereas Jane ran with Maura and caught the killer in "Born to Run"). On top of that, Frankie was killed during a raid on the police station without Maura there to save him (as shown in "When the Gun Goes Bang, Bang, Bang") and Jane is unhappily married to Casey Jones, her confidence shattered when Hoyt took her hostage and she had to be saved by Casey (as opposed to "Remember Me", where Maura was taken hostage with Jane and thus gave her friend someone to save), Jane feeling that she will never grow beyond her current limits even if she leaves Casey.

* This storyline plays a part in Chapter 14 of the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/TaarokosBuffyTheVampireSlayer Season 9]]'', set in a world where Buffy and Angel got back together after Angel regained his humanity following the final battle of "Not Fade Away". At Christmas that year, Xander Harris is left feeling depressed about the current state of his life, pondering if he is really needed any more as he witnesses the rest of the gang bonding so well without really registering his presence, prompting the spirit of his long-dead friend Jesse to appear to him and show him a world where he was never born. While Sunnydale still exists as the First Evil never had the opportunity to mount the large-scale attack against the Slayer line, this is because Buffy died for good when confronting the Master (although he was staked by Angel shortly afterwards), and since then, every subsequent Slayer has only lasted for a year before being killed in the line of duty, with current Slayer Renee- who is Xander's girlfriend in the 'real' world at this time- noting that Sunnydale is now regarded as the Slayers' graveyard. As well as these dead Slayers, Willow has been turned into a vampire by Spike, Cordelia died when she attended the demonic frat party, Drusilla was killed by Kendra before Spike killed Kendra in revenge, Jenny Calendar died in a car accident during the cursed candy incident, several students were poisoned by the bitter cafeteria worker, and Slayers are still only one at a time, as well as Angel remaining in Sunnydale with Giles and Oz rather than relocating to Los Angeles.

** And that's just the main cast. [[spoiler: Nimja's ''other,'' RealLife fans are affected as well. Many of them have committed suicide or have become extremely worried about everything. Oh, and not to mention: everyone's human. Except for Nimja and the Spoken. Nimja is naturally so devastated about this that he immediately begs for Aegis to send him back to his regular universe.]] The entire episode was made to thank Nimja for everything he has done for the [[FanCommunityNickname Gamers]], and the last words we see in the episode, as opposed to the usual "''RECORDING END: WAKE,''" are the following:

* A variation in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/WhatYouWishFor''. Lori wishes that she only had nine sisters, and no brothers. This results in her finding out that Lincoln isn't around, but then it turns out that he is Carol's brother instead of hers. Because Lori met Bobby at the mall while shopping for Lincoln, this means that Lori and Bobby would never have dated (although they'd have still met, since they go to the same school) and Bobby would have been dating Carol instead. [[spoiler:The whole ordeal turns out to be a coma dream.]]

* One chapter in the ''Manga/FairyTail'' fanfiction ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10264509/521/Tales-of-Fairies Tales of Fairies]]'' has Lucy (who herself is happy with her life as a mage) being tricked by a gypsy to alter history so that she never went to Hargeon and meet Natsu and Happy. The results are devastating, to say the least, as Lucy ends up captured by Phantom Lord and ends up in her father's hand, who hands her to a duke in a marriage that soon turns abusive. Meanwhile, Natsu is kept from returning from the guild by Bora and his sex slave, meaning when he and Happy return Macao was killed by the Vulcans and Romeo left since no one went to help his father. Without Lucy and thus Virgo, Erza, Gray, and Natsu couldn't stop Erigor from using Lullaby on the Guild Master meeting, killing Makarov and putting Fairy Tail in a civil war for who the next guild master would be, ending with Laxus destroying Magnolia with the Thunder Palace and leading the Magic Council to arrest him and disband Fairy Tail. And throughout the process, Erza, Loke, Wendy, Cana, and all of Edolas die without the heroes to intervene. [[HopeSpot Seven years later, Natsu and Happy run into Lucy, who managed to escape her husband]]. However, the duke had tricked the royal family of Fiore into thinking that Natsu kidnapped Lucy, and by the time that Lucy had persuaded the Royal Family of the truth she had agreed to open the Eclipse Gate to kill Zeref, which leads to the dragons being unleashed. The Magic Council, in desperation, uses Face to destroy all magic to stop them, which breaks the seal on the Book of E.N.D. and turn Natsu into his Etherious Form. The last moments of this timeline show E.N.D. and his Etherious ruling over what's left of the world.

* Taking place in the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' fanfic chapter "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13376298/6/Steven-Universe-Adventures-of-the-Gems-3 It's a Wonderful Universe]]", Connie becomes bitter towards Steven after an argument with him about leaving his twin sister behind, even saying that she wished she'd never met him. At first she's still becomes angry, but slowly, she regrets calling yelling at him after a rough week at school. After hurting a mean girl at school, she completely loses it and runs away with her childhood friend chasing her with worry. Eventually, Connie wished thought that everyone would be better without her, but after becoming unconscious, she meets her Guardian Angel, Raya, who shows her what the world would have been like without her there to help Steven.
** She sees that her parents being a mess, her childhood friend being homeless, much more destruction to Beach City and beyond, Beach City being ruined and worst of all...Steven left alone to face the diamonds, alone without his father or the other gems or anyone else there to help him.
** Furthermore, two chapters later, Connie apologises to him, even going on to say that her temper, taken out on Steven, was what drove the two of them apart and that he had every right to get angry at her. Only then are they together again after a well deserved hug.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/36957265/chapters/92206114 Be Careful What You Wish For]]'', while in Khura'in, [[Franchise/AceAttorney Apollo Justice]] unknowingly makes contact with a powerful artifact while wishing that his father Jove Justice never died. He ends up in another world where not only is his father never killed, but his mother is also with them [[spoiler:and never lost her memories]], he has two full-sisters, and even his best friend Clay Terran is alive as well. However, he already realizes that things aren't as perfect as it seems when he finds out he is still working for [[AmoralAttorney Kristoph Gavin]]. Moreso when he finds out that [[spoiler:Phoenix Wright has died nearly a decade ago]].
* [[https://mylordshesacactus.tumblr.com/post/639304507405352960/so-i-woke-up-this-morning-with-the-inexplicable This]] ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' concept, later [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/28595397 made into a fic]], is about Joanna Greenleaf, the most OutOfFocus Happy Huntress, experiencing a world without her thanks to some magic tricks from Ozpin. Without Joanna to support and protect her, Robyn Hill dies young, preventing everything she ever did to help Mantle from ever happening. Without Joanna and Robyn as her support network, Fiona Thyme is forced to take the best work she can get, becoming a specialist for Atlas and holding up a system that oppresses people like her. And when May Marigold ran away from home, the Happy Huntresses were not there to embrace and lift her up. Instead, the noble daughter with so much righteous fury and loneliness was picked up by [[TheCorruptor Salem]], and became the fall maiden that destroys Beacon.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19191460 Blessing in Disguise]]'', Red and Purple, sick and tired of Zim's constant screw-ups, decide to use a time machine to go back in time and kill Zim as a smeet before he could do any damage. When they return to the present, they find themselve no longer the Tallest. They quickly realise that without Zim to invent the blob monster that ate Miyuki and Spork, they never got promoted to fill in the gap. This resulted in a political incident that resulted in a war between the Meekrob and the Irkens. And without Zim's antics constantly forcing them to upgrade their tech, the Irkens are losing.
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' had one, in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14140729/1/I-m-Not-Listening I'm Not Listening]]'', in which Frasier is disgusted after his bad day, and wishes he never came to Seattle, leaving Bulldog as his angel show him how his relatives and friends's lives turned : It turned out that without him, Martin was in a nursing home, Cam bought his apartment to make a duplex, both Eddie and Niles died, Daphne and Roz are unhappy with their marital lives, Gil works at Nervosa and Bebe is jobless because Kate still is KACL's boss. Notice that in this world, neither Frasier or Bulldog have it, due to the latter being a child DJ and the former still teaches psychiatry to Boston where he and Lilly became a libertinate couple, while Freddie's mental health declined. Oh, and don't forget all lives Frasier did not improve without his show.

* ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', of course, is the TropeNamer and TropeCodifier. The main character, George Bailey, finds out that his absence from the world has kicked of many ForWantOfANail situations. Without him, no one was around to save his younger brother, Harry, from drowning in his childhood, and because Harry wasn't there to perform a heroic act on the battlefield in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, several soldiers he would have saved are now also dead. Furthermore, as George was not there to oppose Mr. Potter's predatory loan schemes and development plans, the quiet and idyllic Bedford Falls has turned into a ViceCity named [[{{Egopolis}} Pottersville]], and as he was never there to meet his wife, Mary, she has ended up alone and unhappy.

* ''Film/MrDestiny'', 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.

* ''Film/SixteenWishes'' subverts this: Abby gets a wish that transforms her into an adult, causing her to see what her friends' and family's lives are like without her in them. [[spoiler: She realizes that she was a major brat and that everybody was actually better off without her.]] She promptly changes her ways after undoing the wish.
* In ''Film/{{Reconstruction}}'', a Danish arthouse film , the protagonist sleeps with another man's wife and wakes up in a world where he never existed.

* ''Film/JourneyBackToChristmas'': Played with; the film basically inverts the trope by giving the protagonist a chance to understand her role in the lives of her friends by witnessing the world that will result ''because'' of her presence rather than looking at the world if she wasn't there. Hanna, a nurse in 1945, is feeling useless and depressed in her life, as her husband has been declared dead and she feels as though she has no real impact on the world. When a mysterious comet passes over her town, Hanna is sent forward in time to 2016, where she spends some time meeting the residents of her home town before an old man who was her orphaned patient as a child tells her about his life since she 'vanished'; he was adopted by a rich couple after Hanna returned their dog to them the night she went missing, the dog owners went on to open a shelter for other dogs, and the family that have been hosting her in the present are actually the descendants of a couple she introduced when the man was in hospital and the woman was a fellow nurse. He explicitly concludes that the reason she was brought to the future was to witness the impact she would have on the lives of those around her. At the conclusion, Hanna learns that she will return to her time when she discovers a letter she will write to her now-senile best friend/colleague dated August 1946, travelling back to the past when the same comet that sent her forward in the first place passes over again as part of its seventy-one year cycle.

* ''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 ''Film/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 and 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 he 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 is at Whit's End in Odyssey, as in this reality he had no reason to come to Polkenberry Falls), 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 Christmas with his family. And the "Every time a bell rings, an 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.

* One of frequent "Good GameMaster Pro Tips" in RPGT is playing out a "zero" variant(s) for adventures -- what would happen if {{Player Character}}s don't appear at all? What would happen if PC start their quest and then only blunder aimlessly? This forces GM to check and "pre-cache" at least some of necessary sources, creates a frame of reference for NPC reactions and helps to see the world as working on its own, i.e. find and draw the fine line between a "hero" and an "unintentional KnightTemplar."

* ''VideoGame/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, rather, in the other, you get to see how things play out ''without'' his absence, since the history where he died is the "real" one.
* ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'' gives an interesting exploration into this trope with Dr. W.D Gaster. Gaster was a character who was DummiedOut of the game's script. In the world of ''Undertale'' though, everything to make up the game has an in-universe discussion of gaming tropes, thus Gaster's fate as a cut character was turned into a hidden horror of a brilliant scientist who, after an accident, was {{Retgone}} from the world along with people connected to him. Occasionally they flit about between the void of nonexistance and the game world and can only lament their fate and give you cryptic clues about the Doctor. And worse, while Gaster's impact in the world still exists, his accomplishments were simply passed on and credited to other characters (he made the CORE, but in the game it's implied the monsters believe it was Asgore or Alphys' doing) and the world simply kept moving on.

* An inverted theme in ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'', where both protagonists lives are better in the altered reality than they were in the original. Ash has a relationship with her mother where as before he never even met her, and Emily [[spoiler: may have died if reality hadn't changed]]. This, of course, just leads to more angst for Ash and ties into the comic's transgender themes. Ash's life would be much better if he could just accept her GenderBender... but that doesn't mean he should have to.

* ''Webcomic/OriginalLife'' subverts it. An angel appears to Fisk, and shows him how horrible things would be without him. But it's a FelonyMisdemeanor at best. The angel can't earn his wings unless Fisk learns a lesson, but the problem is, Fisk is already happy with his life. There's no lesson to learn, because he already knows it. He agrees the world would suck without him, however, stroking his own ego, but it's enough for the angel to say mission accomplished and get his wings.

* ''Webcomic/DorkTower'' has an arc where Clearance, the guardian angel of small stores, shows Bill of Pegasaurus Games a world where gaming shops like his don't exist. At first it seems to be better, the dorks have more money and nerds at a high school they visit aren't getting picked on, but then it turns out Igor was able to munchkin his way into the presidency of the United States without gaming to distract him, and he's bent on world domination.

* In ''WebAnimation/TheAnnoyingOrange'' episode called Wishful Thinking, when Orange feels like everyone is not paying attention to him and after see Passion kiss Pear, Orange wishes he wasn’t born. Then, a magic mistletoe comes and shows Orange what the kitchen would be like without him. Everything looked normal but however some of the fruits are having a bad time. Pear struggles at making friends, Little Apple is dating Passion, and worse yet, without Orange to warn everyone, Marshmallow gets put into a cup of hot chocolate and gets killed. This is when Orange begins to realize he’s important, but the mistletoe was actually Liam the Leprechaun, who was upset that he didn’t get invited to Orange’s Christmas party. In the end, Orange returns to his own world, and it turns out that Passion didn’t kiss Pear. It was actually her sister.

* ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'' has an odd variation: during the climax of the first half, [[spoiler:Yue shows Sakura a future where she'd still exist, but it'd be as though she had never existed, not even to her closest family, just to show her what's at stake for the final judgment.]]

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': ''The End of Evangelion'' has a characteristically disturbing variant of such a scene filmed in live-action, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen but it was ultimately cut]] (it can still be found floating around the Internet). In it, Shinji witnesses a world in which Misato, Rei and Asuka (who is inexplicably sleeping with ''Toji'') go about their lives without ever having known Shinji. Here they all lead bleak, aimless existences, are almost suicidally depressed and take some time to share their incredibly cynical philosophies on life and love. Shinji eventually recognizes that this is not reality (just like the unrealistically happy high-school romance anime alternate universe of episode 26). It's not entirely clear whether the audience was meant to infer a ''Wonderful Life''-esque lesson about how their mere existence can impact the lives of those around them, or just be depressed and disturbed.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19191460 Blassing in Disguise]]'', Red and Purple, sick and tired of Zim's constant screw-ups, decide to use a time machine to go back in time and kill Zim as a smeet before he could do any damage. When they return to the present, they find themselve no longer the Tallest. They quickly realise that without Zim to invent the blob monster that ate Miyuki and Spork, they never got promoted to fill in the gap. This resulted in a political incident that resulted in a war between the Meekrob and the Irkens. And without Zim's antics constantly forcing them to upgrade their tech, the Irkens are losing.