Line #43 ThePollyanna/VideoGames


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7	->''"You can call me Pollyanna,\
8	Say I'm crazy as a loon.\
9	I believe in silver linings,\
10	And that's why, I believe in you!"''
11	-->-- '''[[VideoGame/{{MOTHER}} The main theme of the Mother series.]]'''
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13	Characters who [[ThePollyanna never seem to lose their optimism regardless of whatever hardships they face]] in VideoGames.
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16	* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'':
17	** Imoen from the first two games, especially the second one. Though at times very much vulnerable to BreakTheCutie, a few minutes later she would be right back to her old cheerful self. "It's just like old times... well, except for the torture and all."
18	** Originally it was planned that she would [[spoiler:really be broken and transform into the slayer forcing the protagonist to kill her. If you have Throne of Bhaal, you can download (and install) Ascension to see how she was supposed to suffer the same fate AGAIN, which was only stopped by time issues.]]
19	** BarbarianHero Karlach in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' was a ShellShockedVeteran of the demonic [[ForeverWar Blood War]] after being betrayed and DraggedOffToHell, but in spite of this she's an endlessly optimistic TeamMom. [[spoiler:Even after being told YourDaysAreNumbered her response is to [[StepfordSmiler ignore it]] and carry on as usual. After killing her ArchEnemy Gortash and experiencing VengeanceFeelsEmpty she has a BreakTheCutie moment in which she has an emotional breakdown.]]
20	* The Little Sisters in ''VideoGame/BioShock'' are surprisingly cheerful and carefree for being slaves that are forced to extract a magical substance from corpses lying around in a destroyed city, using huge syringes. In the last level of ''VideoGame/BioShock2'', you gain temporary control of a Little Sister and see Rapture through her eyes, which looks like [[CrapsaccharineWorld a bright and happy fairy tale castle]]. And then reality breaks in reminding you that you are in fact still in a submerged dystopia where almost everyone is [[EverythingTryingToKillYou completely insane]] and security systems [[EverythingTryingToKillYou specifically hate you]].
21	* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'': Claudia is an orphan, [[LastOfHisKind the last Agarthian alive]], a mere child despite being Really700YearsOld and a lonely, [[CuteMute mute young girl]] scraping her life along with [[ABoyAndHisX her Guardian Golem]]. Also, [[spoiler: she's [[DoomedByCanon fated to die at your hands]] to save humanity from evil]]. Despite this barrage of sadness she's cheery, lively, and literally prances towards her fate with a sunny disposition, well knowing her hardships were worth the prize.
22	* The conscript of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Red Alert 3'', basically they are the cannon fodder of the Soviet forces, and they are not even good at that since is ridiculously easy to kill them, still they will always salute you with phrases as "I make Premier proud!" and "Haven't we won yet?", now that's to have spirit.
23	** Oh, and yeah, they are also {{Keet}}s and [[TheDitz Ditzes]], I mean, you won't expect someone to say "We march to victory" when facing an entire batallion of far better enemy soldiers or "They have television in there?" when garrisoning a building in the middle of a warzone.
24	* ''VideoGame/CorpseParty'' has Seiko Shinohara. [[MissingMom Her mother disappeared a few years earlier]], leaving her to [[PromotionToParent take care of her siblings]] while her father worked, but she's still pretty cheery (though it's implied that it's [[StepfordSmiler something of a coping mechanism]]), even when she's pulled into the hellish dimension of Tenjin Elementary School. [[spoiler:This bites her in the ass when her friend [[{{Tsundere}} Naomi]], after a close brush with a ghost, calls her creepy for being so cheerful in the midst of their terrible situation. They argue and separate. Seiko calms down pretty quickly and gets ready to send Naomi a text apologizing for their fight, only to be confronted by something. When Naomi next finds her, it's in a stall in the girl's bathroom. Hanging from a support beam. Oh, and Naomi later finds out that the person who hung Seiko in the bathroom was ''her'' being controlled, meaning the last thing Seiko saw was her best friend kick a bucket out from under her. Naomi damn near crosses the DespairEventHorizon and succumbs to TheCorruption when [[HauntedTechnology receives a text from Seiko]], the same text that Seiko had been preparing to send her before she died. The text's title? [[TearJerker Re: No hard feelings]].]]
25	* ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'': This is Clovette's defining trait. When you first meet her, she is "happy in a way that brooks no counter-argument to happiness", and as she progresses in the cult, she only gets happier. Even betrayed, imprisoned, and likely on the {{Villain Protagonist}}'s to-sacrifice list, she "is waiting for things to turn around". [[AffablyEvil She's still quite comfortable with her cult's ruthless work]], though her personal talents lean towards [[VillainWithGoodPublicity cleaning up your reputation after all the robbery, abduction, and murder]].
26	* ''VideoGame/DeadInVinland'': Cisse is so much this that his innate positive character trait is "Extreme Optimist." Despite a traumatic backstory in which he was the victim of [[DeadlyDecadentCourt nefarious intrigue]], ending with him being MadeASlave, [[TheExile exiled]] from his homeland, and freed only to end up shipwrecked on a DesertedIsland ruled by bandits, he sees the best in everyone and every situation. He's convinced that the PlayerParty is TheChosenMany, brought together by fate or the gods for some great purpose. He's also so idealistic, verging on StupidGood, that he attempts to convince the BigBad (a dude who literally collects human skulls) to leave the party alone by going on a hunger strike.
27	* [[LoveFreak Flonne]] from ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea\|HourOfDarkness}}'', even after ending up as a servant to [[CardCarryingVillain Laharl]] and getting involved in a whole load of Netherworldly and Celestial conspiracies never gives up her ideals of love and justice.
28	** Her underling Artina in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4\| A Promise Unforgotten}}'' was like this as a human. Deconstructed as she was like this in a CrapSackWorld and was killed for her selfless actions.
29	** Valvatorez is also delusionally optimistic. He even doesn't mind [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen falling out of power]] and winding up in a crap job because he would have never otherwise discovered [[TrademarkFavoriteFood how incredibly delicious sardines were]].
30	* Lohse in ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'' is by far the most cheerful and optimistic member of the cast. In spite of the [[DemonicPossession demon living in her head]] she can often be found giggling at her own jokes or playfully teasing the other party members.
31	* Merrill in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' is quite cheerful, to the point of gushing about how exciting it is that someone got mugged right outside her front door after leaving her Dalish clan on very bad terms and relocating to the Kirkwall Alienage.
32	** A Hawke with the Sarcastic personality can come across as this, but you don't have to look hard to see they're a SadClown just trying not to fall apart.
33	** Leliana in the first ''VideoGame/{{Dragon Age\|Origins}}'' game is a {{Deconstruction}}, [[spoiler:her cheerfulness is a coping mechanism that she uses to cover up her DarkAndTroubledPast]].
34	* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Bianca tries to stay positive no matter what, even after [[spoiler:spending eight years turned into a statue]].
35	* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'' has a few: of the first years, the best example is Mitsuru, a single-minded KiddieKid who loves bread and running and rarely cares about anything beyond that - Tomoya notes once that he's surprisingly level-headed because he always looks on the bright side. Then there's Subaru, an upbeat GenkiBoy who only ever wants to have fun and was previously shunned by his class because his perpetually bright mood was off-putting while such terrible events were going on. Among the third years, this kind of personality is definitely a rarity, as the War which happened the year before thoroughly demolished the spirits of the vast majority - all except Chiaki, a pollyanna ''so strong'' that not only does he remain a PerpetualSmiler who can't take a hint despite everything that's happened (still considering Eichi a friend despite how he treated another close friend of his, Kanata), he manages to annoy even ''Subaru'', who finds him too intense and difficult to deal with.
36	* Sunny from ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}''. She cheerfully interacts with every other hunter, regardless of how much they return the sentiment. She actually manages a degree of success, getting several of the more anti-social individuals to start trusting the team or at least come out of their shell. Even while in the middle of a hunt, she takes the time to talk about how cute some of the wildlife is.
37	* Leon from ''VideoGame/FZero'' (he made his debut in ''X''). He is a certified IronWoobie (see that trope for the full scoop). Considering that his [[DarkAndTroubledPast backstory]] [[WarIsHell is the]] [[ParentalAbandonment most tragically]] [[EyeScream horrific one]] by '''light-years''', his ability to remain so [[{{Keet}} infectiously happy-go-lucky]] (perhaps only rivaled/outdone by [[GenkiGirl Princia]] in this regard) is simply ''astonishing''.
38	* Moira Brown in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' is a perfect example of this. Even if you set off the nuclear bomb in her town, causing the radiation to turn her into a Ghoul, she will still retain her cheerful personality, realizing that her being a Ghoul means that she now has a willing test subject for the research that she had been wanting to do on Ghouls. Of course, it ''is'' possible to destroy her optimistic outlook by convincing her that her idea for a "wasteland survival guide" is misguided. (This will earn you the "Dream Crusher" perk, and make Moira better at fixing your weapons and armor, as she now focuses all her energy on running her shop.)
39	** That said, crushing her hopes is [[VideogameCrueltyPunishment punished]] by the game; the "Dream Crusher" perk is nowhere near as useful as the perks you get for actually finishing the guide. It's also incredibly hard-hitting on your Karma.
40	** Speaking of ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', Brailee Ewers in Arefu is what happens when this trope [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] CloudCuckooLander.
41	* An argument could be made for Aerith from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', who was orphaned by violence, raised in a dirty, dangerous slum, ekes out a living for herself and her mother through [[InnocentFlowerGirl selling flowers on the street]], lost her first love in tragic circumstances (that are only ''probably'' unknown to her) and is being relentlessly watched and sometimes chased by the Yakuza-esque enforcers of a tyrannical [[TheSyndicate Evil Corporation]]. Despite all this, she has a cheery, upbeat personality and only occasionally shows glimpses of sadness and/or oddness that are more connected to her unusual powers than her past. She's ThePollyanna, and that's probably why [[PlotlineDeath she had to die]].
42	** Tifa is like this too: Eternally optimistic, despite having a backstory involving getting sliced with a sword, watching her father die, having her hometown burned down, and not only having her childhood friend skip town on her a few years previously, but not even helping her after the aforementioned slicing, due to HeroicBSOD. Not to mention almost having a ''city'' dropped on her when she's an adult.
43	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': Laguna Loire finally hits it off with his longtime crush and the very next day he's forced to jump off a cliff in order to escape a group of enemy soldiers. He's later seen in a quaint village and finds out that said crush thinks him dead, and has moved on and gotten married. Then he falls in love again and gets married, only to have his adoptive daughter get kidnapped, forcing him to search for her and leave his pregnant wife behind. He finally finds his daughter and has to send her, alone, back to his wife. Unfortunately, his wife dies in childbirth and since no one can find Laguna (who didn't even know she was pregnant), both of his children are sent to live in an orphanage and he doesn't see either of them again until they're adults. Despite this, he's as cheerful as ever years later and rambles about needing love and friendship to complete one's mission when he isn't being totally psyched about being on a spaceship.
44	** Selphie from the same game. Relentlessly cheerful, to the point of announcing that breaking a friend out of a government facility will be "like a picnic! We're going to have fun!" Some lines seem to show that she's scared of not being happy.
45	*** Selphie is more like the original Literature/{{Pollyanna}} in that she's more of TheWoobie. Once she's in battle, that sunny attitude goes away and she does have her sad moments like when Trabia Garden is destroyed.
46	* Tidus from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is perhaps the best-known male example. Despite everything he's gone through with an abusive father, then losing everything he has ever known, he remains positive and upbeat. A refreshing change from the [[{{wangst}} usual]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' hero (although he does have his moments every now and then).
47	** And then there's ''Shelinda'', who is the single most upbeat priestess in the entire Church of Yevon.
48	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' gives us Vanille; it becomes increasingly apparent as the plot unravels that it's a coping mechanism, although she's most certainly an ''honest'' bubbly person to some extent, as she retains the trait when her issues are settled. She breaks down twice: [[spoiler: once when it comes out into the open that she indirectly ruined Sazh and his son's lives by keeping Fang uninformed of their Focus, and again when Fang tricks her into admitting she's faking amnesia.]] The second time almost gets her killed.
49	* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'', in the VCPR radio station, Jenny Louise Crab is a merciless {{deconstruction}} of this trope: not only she's a sickeningly cheerful GenkiGirl, to the point of not even feeling bad about having her foster family brutally murdered, but the setup also strongly implies that Jenny is addicted to hard stimulants in an effort to ignore these memories.
50	* Ellis, from ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', is unusually cheerful and chatty for someone in the midst of a ZombieApocalypse, to the chagrin (and even concern) of his fellow survivors. That is, until one of the other survivors dies. Then [[HeroicBSOD he becomes silent for the rest of the campaign]].
51	* Sora from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' maintains this personality for the majority of the series. Even with brief [[HeroicBSOD Heroic BSODs]] he normally returns to this personality, mainly thanks to help from his friends.
52	-->'''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Riku]]:''' Sora can find the brightest part of anything, and pull off miracles like there's nothing to it. It's pretty hard not to smile around him.
53	** Kairi tries to be this through most of her screentime in the first ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' game, but she sometimes lets her inner worries slip.
54	* There's reason to regard Link in the various ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games as a male Pollyanna. In each game, he's more or less pushed out of his peaceful lifestyle and into massive amounts of fighting, with little to show for it at the end in the way of reward. He gets turned into different animals, stranded in foreign countries, never gets the girl (except when he does), and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild once]] even lost his life. He's basically a plaything of the Hyrulean gods. But he's still friendly, good-natured, and never turns down a request for help.
55	* In ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'', Amelia keeps her chin up as she works to maintain her mother's café, and despite the looming mystery behind the arson and the debts she inherited from her mother, she doesn't give up.
56	* Kelly Chambers, Shepard's Yeoman in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is surprisingly upbeat and friendly. Rather than reacting to some of your most vicious party members with a lot of fear, she instead sees them with a certain degree of curiosity. In fact, when you rescue and recruit Garrus, she notes that she's compelled to hug him and tell him it'll be all right for everything he's been through.
57	** Kelly Chamber remains upbeat and friendly even despite the likelihood of [[BreakTheCutie post-traumatic stress]] [[spoiler:following her [[BodyHorror life-changing experience]] in the collector base]] but [[spoiler: reveals that she's actually become a StepfordSmiler. In the third game, she refuses to return to the Normandy if you ask her because of the nightmares she still has.]]
58	** [[LoveableRogue Kasumi Goto]]. She is eternally optimistic, always reflecting that things could always be worse... even when trapped inside a derelict Reaper
59	** If you go 100% Paragon and take Charm options whenever available, Shepard him/herself '''drips''' with this, especially in the first ''Mass Effect''. Getting him/her angry is extremely difficult, diplomacy trumps violence every time, and all species are equal and valuable in his/her eyes.
60	* One of the major songs from the ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series is called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBbRJoHTJAM ''Pollyanna'']], and the lyrics are from the perspective of, well, a Pollyanna. This isn't obvious in the games (Especially the first two, which have minimal character dialogue), but there is a small theme about keeping happy no matter what happens to you, and no matter who calls you naive.
61	* Elanee in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' isn't exactly upbeat, but does take an insane amount of her world being shattered and rearranged before her composure finally cracks in the slightest.
62	* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4'', this is how the supporting characters see the main characters. In the latter, [[TheLancer Yosuke]] wonders out loud just how [[PlayerCharacter Yu]] can stay so calm in situations that push the rest of the team to intense distress... then remarks that it's the reason the protagonist is their leader in the first place.
63	** Before them was the protagonist of ''VideoGame/Persona2: Eternal Punishment'', Maya Amano, who is an ''extreme'' Pollyanna. She has a toy rabbit named Mr Bunbun which she brings out whenever she gets sad in order to force herself to be happy, and she's constantly encouraging other characters to be positive, not give up, and face their fears. She's best described as being the TeamMom for the entirety of Sumaru City.
64	* Marona in the [=PS2=]/[=Wii=] game ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave''. Feared for her ability to summon ghosts, her neighbors all send her hate mail and bilking her pay when they hire her to save them from monsters, and yet she's still unwaveringly kind to them, even though they [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer treat her like crap]]. [[TheWoobie She cries when she's alone, though]].
65	* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': Captain Olimar manages to see the majesty in a planet that is essentially a DeathWorld to his species. It helps that every time he goes there he is accompanied by adorable little carrot people and loots enough treasure to accumulate more wealth than some countries.
66	* Bidoof from ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'' is almost perpetually positive.
67	* In ''VideoGame/PotionPermit'', Rue is a bright young lady who tries thinking positive despite her illness.
68	* Flora Reinhold, of the ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' games, is like this -- particularly in the third game, ''VideoGame/UnwoundFuture''. She has some pretty good reasons to be TheWoobie; both her parents have died, leaving her as a LonelyRichKid, and while she has a home with the Professor and he very evidently loves her dearly, he has an unfortunate habit (from her point of view) of trying to leave her at home for her own safety. Still, she comes across as SpoiledSweet; she doesn't have a cruel bone in her body, she likes most everyone, and even Layton's archnemesis has an obvious soft spot for her.
69	* Smiley in ''VideoGame/RiddleSchool''. Despite being kidnapped twice, she still lives up to her name.
70	* Vyse from ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' never seems to let the overwhelming odds of what he's getting himself into bother him. He consistently [[ShutUpHannibal shuts down anyone who tries to bring him down]], follows his own heroic code, and is very thoroughly a MagneticHero. [[spoiler:When his base gets destroyed, he tells his crew that it's a new opportunity to build it up even better. Nothing gets Vyse down for long.]]
71	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
72	%% ** Tails, especially when taking his back story ([[MultipleChoicePast or at least one of them]]) into account.
73	** Sonic. Even when things get really bad, he ([[VideoGame/SonicLostWorld almost]]) never lets up his carefree nature.
74	--->[[VideoGame/SonicAdventure "It doesn't matter now what happens, I will never give up the fight..."]]
75	* The eponymous ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' Mario and Luigi are both optimistic, determined, happy-go-lucky, cheerful and friendly characters, though Luigi in particular can vary in this regard depending on the game. He's much more brash and self-assured in his ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' incarnation, and more silly, goofy, naive, timid and cowardly in both the ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series. Mario, on the other hand, is generally more consistently fearless, level-headed and serious across franchises.
76	* Of all people, Excellen Browning from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact2'' and [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration OG series]]. You think that the resident [[TheTease teasing]] {{Manic Pixie\|DreamGirl}} HardDrinkingPartyGirl CoolBigSis can't even be serious during the most downer of moments ([[spoiler:losing [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAdvance Lamia Loveless]] was, in effect, a ''massive'' PlayerPunch to her]]). That's not the case for Excellen; in fact, it's her sunny disposition that's what really cheers her teammates up, no matter how bad the situation is.
77	* Farah Oersted from ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia''. She is typically very upbeat and energetic (in contrast to her childhood friends -- sardonic, laid-back Reid, and uptight, pessimistic Keele). She's ''very'' fond of the phrase "No problem!".
78	** Colette Brunel from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' also presents herself this way. She smiles and constantly assures everyone that she's fine and nothing's wrong even though she knows she's going to have to [[spoiler:die to save the world, and stays positive even after learning that her sacrifice would have screwed over the world even more]].
79	* Yuyuko Saigyouji from ''Franchise/TouhouProject''. She lost her parents when she was young, then later found out that she has the power to invoke death on anyone, [[DrivenToSuicide terrifying her enough to kill herself in retaliation]], reincarnated as a Ghost and eventually hatching a plan to resurrect a body that was sealing an evil tree... only to find out that the seal was her very own body, and thus had to spend her life as a ghost forever. Her reaction? Be a CloudCuckooLander, act like TheDitz, [[ObfuscatingStupidity obfuscate gluttony]], and all around be a cheery ghost that enjoys her existence while hiding her intellect.
80	* The ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' has Estelle Bright. No matter how many hardships she faces, she never lost her cheerfulness and optimism.
81	* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': In a Genocide playthrough, when you meet [[WakeUpCallBoss Papyrus]], [[spoiler:he'll approach you with friendship and mercy and try to redeem you in the hope that you can still be a good person if you only tried. Even when mortally wounded and about to die, with his last breath he will ''still'' encourage you to try and do the right thing.]] Popular consensus is that this is far more of a TearJerker than any amount of [[BreakTheCutie breaking him]], and many players report resetting the game at this point, [[spoiler:which is probably exactly the "right thing" he was talking about]].
82	* ''VideoGame/TheUrinalGame'': Even when you ''try to share his urinal'', the guy in the green shirt still smiles.
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86	-> ''"Cause I still believe in miracles,\
87	I swear I've seen a few.\
88	And the time will surely come,\
89	When you can see my point of view.\
90	I believe in second chances,\
91	And that's why, I believe in you!"''

Context ThePollyanna / VideoGames