->''There is no need to be worried by facetious people who try to make the Christian hope of 'Heaven' ridiculous by saying they do not want to 'spend eternity playing harps'. The answer to such people is that if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups, they should not talk about them.''
->-- [[CSLewis C.S. Lewis]], ''Mere Christianity''

Fluffy Cloud Heaven is taking millennia of belief and art, and [[TheThemeParkVersion boiling it down to a Hallmark card]]. Don't expect to find this description in any religious text.

{{Heaven}} takes place in the clouds, which are solid enough to walk on. Humans become angels after they die. They are [[WingedHumanoid given wings]], a long white robe, a lyre/harp and a HolyHalo that is literally a golden glowing ring that floats over their heads. Smaller SuperDeformed cherubs ā la Cupid may float around too. Other than that, it's not exactly clear what people do. If {{God}} exists in Fluffy Cloud Heaven at all, he's a [[GrandpaGod giant white-haired, bearded man wandering around or sitting on a huge white marble throne]]. There is often a line in front of the "Pearly Gates" of [[WannabeLine people wanting to get in]], with an angel based on St. Peter who acts as a bouncer. He'll read his book about all the naughty and nice things someone has done, and then either let them in or send them to Hell via a [[{{Trapdoor}} trapdoor]]. Often he has a desk right in front of the gates. Sometimes there's even a computer on it.

This is TheThemeParkVersion of Heaven. Nowadays, as Mr. Lewis points out in the opening quote, the utilization of this depiction is usually meant as satire. The exceptions almost invariably treat the depiction as a simple visual short-hand.

In a RageAgainstTheHeavens setting, Fluffy Cloud Heaven will have its tackiness emphasized: Halos are tacky and hung up via a metal strip at the back of the neck, like in a child's school play. Elements of Fluffy Cloud Heaven may be used as [[CrapsaccharineWorld a disguise for "the truth."]]

Fluffy Cloud Heaven may be the home of Hollywood angels, who are less like something out of ''any'' established religion and more like fairy godmothers and godfathers. Some only offer banal homilies to their clients; others provide supernatural aid, but none of them smite the unrighteous, old testament style.

Speaking of angels, the cherubim in [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_%28World_English%29/Ezekiel#Chapter_1 Ezekiel 1]] were originally depicted as [[OurAngelsAreDifferent four-winged, four-armed beings with the faces of man, eagle, lion and ox, and eyes all over the place]]. Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Dominia and Thrones aren't exactly [[EldritchAbomination easy on the sanity]], for that matter.

See also FireAndBrimstoneHell. Not to be mistaken for BubblyClouds, which may be fluffy but is still very terrestrial. Characters who die in a story often DiedHappilyEverAfter before coming here.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* ''MagicalPokaan'' sends Yuuma to the Fluffy Cloud Heaven, to the extent that she even says "Ahhhh, it's so fluffy and comfy!". She ends up getting bored, though, so she's simply sent back to Earth.
* In ''DragonBall Z'', there is a variation on this. Fluffy clouds abound, and when a character dies they get a halo over their head. Heaven itself is [[CelestialBureaucracy run in a modern fashion]]. Everyone who works there wears white collar clothing typical of an office setting, and everyone seems extremely stressed. From the check-in point (where one awaits judgment) good beings are flown on a plane to a paradise, while bad beings are dropped through the clouds and into Hell. The true warriors are allowed to visit Gods for training and an eternity of exercise.
* A standard Fluffy Cloud Heaven appears as the home of Nanael in ''[=~Queen's Blade~=]'', complete with Greco-Roman architecture lying about.
* Averted in ''WolfsRain.'' The brief glimpse we get of Paradise is [[spoiler: endless fields, meadows, pastures, full of white flowers.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Book ]]

* DCComics have sometimes featured FluffyCloudHeaven, often with the [[JustifiedTrope justification]] that Heaven doesn't ''really'' look like this, but it's something [[WeirdnessCensor mortals can comprehend]]. In the CrisisCrossover ''Day of Judgement'' a side-door in FluffyCloudHeaven leads to Grey Cloud Purgatory.
** It's also established in the DC Universe that the afterlife tends to be what the deceased ''wants'', so if a good person expects FluffyCloudHeaven and desires it, that is what he will get.
* ''TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' features this version, complete with pastel colors and a fluffy cloud golf course.
* Subverted in ''{{Johnny the Homicidal Maniac}}'', where the Fluffy Cloud Heaven is covered in [[CrapsackWorld filth and grime]].
* {{Jack Chick}} uses FluffyCloudHeaven in some of his [[AuthorTract infamous tracts]], such as "This Was Your Life".
** This being ''the'' Jack Chick, however, he's far more interested in {{Fire and Brimstone Hell}}
* ''Chronicles of Wormwood'' by GarthEnnis. The AntiChrist visits FluffyCloudHeaven with the permission of Jesus (who is a brain damaged black man, no really). It's the typical sort, with a few inversions. It acts as the DeFacto hell for terrorists, who are the nannies for babies' souls in Heaven. Each terrorist gets seventy babies to take care of. Think about it.
* R. Crumb's ''Mr. Natural'' has him getting hit by a car and waking up in Fluffy Cloud Heaven. He's amazed at the angels singing hymns, "the whole shtick!" God greets him and asks how he likes it, and Mr. Natural chuckles that it's a little corny and outdated. God is insulted and has him booted back to earth.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Commercials ]]

* And let's not forget those ridiculous ads for Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
** Oh please, I beg you, ''let's''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Heaven in ''TheFrighteners'' is half this, half bright-white-light. Hell, on the other hand, is half fire 'n' brimstone, half gigantic Lovecraftian worms that gobble souls up and then dive back into the abyss.
* In ''BillAndTed's Bogus Journey'' Bill and Ted go to Fluffy Cloud Heaven to talk God into helping them find someone smart enough to defeat their [[EvilTwin Evil Robot doubles]].
* The ending to the 1967 ''CasinoRoyale'' sums up the tone of the movie - a huge explosion sends all the principal characters to Fluffy Cloud Heaven as harp-playing angels.
* In ''StardustMemories'', Woody Allen's filmmaker character is incensed when behind-his-back ExecutiveMeddling slaps a happy ending in Fluffy Cloud "Jazz Heaven" to his deliberately somber movie.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Subverted in RobertAHeinlein's ''JobAComedyOfJustice.'' Protagonist Alex dies and goes to FluffyCloudHeaven, only to learn that it's deadly dull and overrun with bureaucracy.
**The scene is taken directly from Heinlein's favorite book, ''Jurgen: A comedy of Justice'' by James Cabell. Except that it's [[spoiler: run by the hero's grandmother, who lambasted the god-above-God into making it this way.]]
* In ''[[IncarnationsOfImmortality For Love Of Evil]]'', Satan is trying to take over partly because he's seen that heaven is a fluffy totalitarian police state and wants to free the souls there.
** Mock-Heaven in Hell is also a FluffyCloudHeaven in the same book
* In MarkTwain's ''Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven'', Heaven at first is like this -- but it is later revealed that this is because that's what most people expect, and Heaven tries to make people happy by giving them anything they want. Most people eventually wise up and develop more interesting lives in Heaven later.
** MarkTwain also lampoons FluffyCloudHeaven in ''LettersFromTheEarth'', written from Satan's perspective while visiting Earth.
* {{The Onion}}'s book ''Our Dumb Century'' features a spoof headline from the week after the airplane was invented, about the government planning airplane expeditions to Heaven. The story reveals that within ten years, it will be possible for the average American to vacation there.
* ''The Wish List'' by Eoin Colfer (of Artemis Fowl fame) features a heaven much like this, including St. Peter examining case files by computer (it's played for laughs to an extent). The FireAndBrimstoneHell, needless to say, is even sillier.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The concept is mentioned in ''BlackAdder'';
-->'''Edmund:''' You see, the thing about heaven is that heaven is for people who like the sort of things that go on in heaven. Like, well, singing, talking to God, watering pot(ted) plants.
* StephenColbert, as a right-wing satire created by a devout Catholic, naturally has a very stereotypical (and more than slightly mangled) view of religion, and of Heaven:
-->'''Colbert:''' I'll get a harp, I'll have a mint julep and I'll ask Ronald Reagan questions.
-->'''Bishop N.T. Wright:''' And you'll be sitting there like that guy in the Far Side cartoon, saying "Gee, I wish I'd brought a magazine".
* Lenny Henry imagined the 'House Band in Heaven' on his show - Elvis, Otis Redding, Karen Carpenter, Hendrix, Kurt Cobain... and George Formby on ukelele; "'[[OopNorth Ey up]] Mr Hendrix can I 'ave a go? (sings) 'Ey Joe... where you goin' with that gun in yer 'and?'
* In ''[[SuperSentai Mahou Sentai Magiranger]]'', the Heavenly Saints live in Magitopia, a Fluffy Cloud Heaven-like AlternateUniverse. There are buildings here, actually: expect the inside to be endless with no signs of walls or doors, and stark white all around (including the pillars and any furniture.) However, this being {{sentai}}, the Saints themselves are PeopleInRubberSuits instead of [[WingedHumanoid Winged Humanoids]]. Some of them command HumongousMecha.
** How the hell was this placed under anime and manga when it's obstensibly a live action series? Maybe we need another DidNotDoTheResearch trope for EverythingFromJapanIsAnimeOrManga. Sheesh. /being way to bitchy.
* Notably averted in the HBO adaptation of ''AngelsInAmerica''; whether or not it is played this way on-stage can vary by production.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

* Invoked and rejected by Rammstein's song "Engel".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

* Parodied to... well, death, in ''TheFarSide'':
** "Welcome to Heaven. Here's your harp." "Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion."
** Two dead people standing on a cloud. One has a shotgun and is bringing down live birds. "Are you sure you're supposed to be doin' that?"
** Someone gets sent to "hog heaven". It's FluffyCloudHeaven [[{{ptitlekt6mtovm4vne}} WITH PIGS!]]
** "... wish I'd brought a magazine..."
** Life on Cloud Eight.
** Etc. (Add at your leisure.)
* Cartoonist Gahan Wilson is also fond of this trope. One of his cartoons shows some angels standing around in a small grubby room labeled "Heaven", with one of them commenting "I expected the place to be a lot more classy!"
* Played straight in ''TheFamilyCircus''. Also, dead relatives return to Earth to [[SpiritAdvisor talk to the living]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In the video game ''CaveStory'', the final enemies are demons who disguise themselves as Cupid-esque cherubs; the truth is revealed after they are killed.
* At the end of Blue's Story in ''[[SagaFrontier SaGa Frontier]]'' for the original [=PlayStation=], Hell resembles FluffyCloudHeaven, until the hero approaches one of the cherubs....
* Celestia in ''{{Disgaea}}'' resembles this.
** As does the heaven visible in ''SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters''.
* ''[[PaperMario Super Paper Mario]]'' has the "Overthere", a land of clouds and [[strike:angels]] Nimbis for Good Players who [[strike:died]] [[NeverSayDie got their Game Over]]. Not to be confused with ''other'' more mortal cloud lands in the SuperMarioBros universe, of which [[BubblyClouds there are quite a few]].
* In ''{{Afterlife}}'', you build a Fluffy Cloud Heaven, though the angels are the working force instead of the residents (and some souls can become angels through training).
** The angels can also be residents as well (if you don't want them commuting from some other universe's Heaven), though they're segregated away from regular souls into their own special residential complexes. Got to be a trope in that somewhere...
* TheSimpsons 2007 plays this concept fairly straight. Cloud hopping and angelic versions of enemies from previous levels run rampant.
* The DiscOneFinalDungeon of ''{{Persona 4}}'' is a variation of this with a somewhat melancholy ballad as the theme music. [[spoiler:This is because it was made from Nanako's desire to see her dead mother again.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* Used in ''TheOrderOfTheStick'', when [[spoiler:Roy Greenhilt]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0485.html dies]].
** Subverted in the fact that this is just a sort of proto-heaven adventurers go to so that they can get sorted out in the great bureaucracy of the Afterlife; if you're approved, you get to go hang out in the first level of real Heaven until being raised or the desire for more spiritual fare sends you elsewhere. If not, you have to stay in FluffyCloudHeaven until that assessment changes.
*** It's implied that the Lawful Good heaven ascends to spiritual heights that mortals would only achieve after a long period there, but at least the entry has all the trappings of this trope. There's fluffy clouds, pearly gates, spirits peering down on the lives of the living. No St. Peter, but there's a morality-auditing angel with desk and computer.
** And when Gary Gyrax died, there was a special homage cartoon where he showed up and had a chat with [[spoiler:Roy]]. Also, an archon warned him not to go near the [[TombOfHorrors Hall of Characters Who Died without a Saving Throw]]...
* ''DresdenCodak'' employs a variation of this, known as ''Secular Heaven'', an afterlife specifically reserved for people who don't believe in an afterlife. [[CrystalDragonJesus With dragons]].
* Subverted partially in ''{{Narbonic}}'', when a bunch of monstrous creatures turn out to be cherubim: they, unlike the traditional babies with wings, more closely resemble the Ezekiel description. (Imagine a ball of eyes with six wings and insectoid jaws, and you'll have a pretty good idea.)
** [[{{YYZ}} This troper]] is pretty sure that this depiction of cherubim owes a lot to the character Progo from Madeleine L'Engle's ''A Wind In The Door'', who is similarly depicted -- and who identifies himself as a "cherubim" rather than a "cherub" , insisting that on some level he is in fact a plural entity.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Nearly any North American cartoon, especially ''TheGaryColemanShow''.
* Spoofed in ''TheSimpsons''. One chapter of the former shows the difference between the "Protestant Heaven", a great gala of classy British and American gentlemen, and the "Catholic Heaven", with Latinos breaking piņatas and Irish dancing like Michael Flatley.
** Spoofed further in another episode where Marge forces the family to watch a Christian sitcom "about the everyday lives of angels" called ''Good Heavens''. It depicts a middle-aged angel couple sitting on clouds reading, their dull routine only broken up by the wife telling the husband that Jesus called that afternoon ("He DID?!!?")
** "Cloud goes up; cloud goes down; cloud goes up; cloud goes down ..."
* Subversion: In the aptly named ''SouthPark'' episode "A Ladder to Heaven", the boys try to build a physical ladder to FluffyCloudHeaven to contact the deceased Kenny so he can tell them where he hid a raffle ticket. They do succeed in reaching the clouds, but find no one there. The actual Heaven turns out to really be a FluffyCloudHeaven.
** Also shown in the episode "Best Friends Forever", where Kenny controls Heaven's army by PSP.
** "Probably" confirmed that not only is this a Fluffy Cloud Heaven, it's only for Mormons. Thus, in a further subversion, it's dull, especially compared to the FireAndBrimstoneHell where everybody else, good and evil, winds up.
***In a CrowningMomentOfFunny, [[spoiler: Saddam Hussein]], [[BetterThanItSounds who has been stalking his ex-lover Satan and simply ends up back in Hell every time Satan kills him]] is given the ultimate punishment of sent to this to Mormon Fluffy Cloud Heaven, and is borne away [[BigNo screaming]] by cheerful Mormons who want him to "join our play about why it's wrong to lie."
** In the movie, Kenny is [[HopeSpot about to be welcomed]] into FluffyCloudHeaven complete with topless angels before he falls into Hell. [[spoiler:He gains re-entry with his HeroicSacrifice.]]
* In ''{{Futurama}}: The Beast with a Billion Backs'', it is revealed that this version of Heaven takes place on a [[spoiler:planet-sized, tentacled alien from another universe]].
** The idea is partially subverted when Leela says [[GoodIsBoring it's boring]] because everything is so wholesome, and we then see that people indeed have regular orgies.
* The racist Uncle Ruckus dreams in ''TheBoondocks'' episode "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus" of briefly visiting "White Heaven". He is met by Ronald Reagan, who explains that there are many "separate but equal" heavens for the various races, but strongly hinting that White Heaven is better.
* ''RobotChicken'' mocked this heavily as one skit featured a FluffyCloudHeaven that had people being regularly sucked into airplane jet engines.
** Damn you FAA!
* In ''BeavisAndButthead'', Beavis is (temporarily) dead after running head-on into a wall. He rises through the clouds hearing angelic choirs ("This music sucks!") and encounters St. Peter, who reads all Beavis's bad deeds recorded in his life journal...this ends up going on a long time with no sign of ending. Beavis: "Uhh, this is beginning to suck. Do I get into Heaven or not?" - St. Peter: "...umm, no."
* AllDogsGoToHeaven has this in spades. The sequel makes no attempt to hide how boring it could be to spend an eternity in a heaven like this.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* There are a million jokes which begin with people standing in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.
* This editor has noticed that whenever a famous person (naturally, only people who were famous for doing good things) dies, there will be an [[PoliticalCartoons editorial cartoon]] showing that person in FluffyCloudHeaven, either making some wisecrack to the angels/other dead people about what they're famous for or discovering that the angels/other dead people are fans of theirs.
** This editor has a picture on his hard drive of SteveIrwin in heaven cheerfully poking one of the aforementioned chibi-Cherubim with a stick.
*** [[http://i23.tinypic.com/2s6rb04.jpg This]] was what I found matching that description.
*** This troper recalls a similar pic, only it wasn't a cherub-rather, it was a vaguely succubus-looking demon, with Steve having pink wings growing from his back.
*** Cherubim? Succubus? Bah. How about ''lassoing a tyrannosaurus'', with the caption "In memory of Steve Irwin: wrestling dinosaurs in the sky 4-evah". [[http://rakuraikami.deviantart.com/art/Wrestling-dinosaurs-in-the-sky-39473215 Link here]].
** A recent one that turned up in ''USA Today'' has late comedian George Carlin arriving here with the implication he was in trouble for having [[Main/{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] religion so often in his act, which seems like a cruel TakeThat.
** Also, when Richard Nixon died, he went here but apparently had to listen to the Watergate tapes for all eternity.
** Another shows Rosa Parks being invited to sit in the front of a heaven-bound bus.
** James Doohan had a great one in the British ''Daily Mirror'', where St. Peter phones God to tell him "I've just beamed up Scotty".
**One cartoon after Johnny Carson's death showed him standing at the Pearly Gates where St. Peter assures him that "Every cartoonist who draws me saying 'Heeeere's Johnny!' will be going straight to Hell."
**When radio cricket commentator Brian Johnston died, a Private Eye cartoon paid homage to his usual nicknaming habit by showing him entering the Pearly Gates and cheerily saying "Morning, Godders!" to the Almighty.

----
<<|DidNotDoTheResearch|>>
<<|IndexOverdosed|>>
<<|MetaphysicalPlace|>>[[sf]]
<<|ReligionTropes|>>
<<|{{Settings}}|>>