History Main / HappyFlashback

* In ''FireEmblem: Path of Radiance'', Ike remembers [[spoiler: sparring with his dad]].

* In ''{{The X-Files}}'' episode "Piper Maru", Scully is grieving for her murdered sister Melissa. Coincidentally, she goes to visit her old father's colleague at the naval station where the Scullys used to live. At one moment as she's driving, she sees kids playing outside, especially two girls playing hopscotch. She flashes back and she sees herself and her sister playing the same game.
* In ''{{Elementary}}'' episode "Déja Vu All Over Again" we see Watson's life before she met Holmes. She is happy, laughing and hanging out with her friends. When the scene moves to current time, we see her breaking into cars with Alfredo.

* In Creator/StephenKing's ''{{Firestarter}}'' this happens when the protagonist suddenly discovers the dead body of his wife. The feel of emotional pain is in contrast with the memories of their happy life together which start popping up in his mind at that moment.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': "Simon and Marcy" is basically an episode-long version of this for [[spoiler: Marceline and Ice King, though of course he doesn't know it.]]

* In ''{{The X-Files}}'' episode ''Piper Maru'', Scully is grieving for her murdered sister Melissa. Coincidentally, she goes to visit her old father's colleague at the naval station where the Scullys used to live. At one moment as she's driving, she sees kids playing outside, especially two girls playing hopscotch. She flashes back and she sees herself and her sister playing the same game.

* In ''{{Smallville}}'', ''Abyss'', Chloe starts to forget everything due to Brainiac's interference. She is rushed to a hospital in which the doctor tells her to focus on her happiest memories while they scan her brain. [[spoiler:It is ''all'' intimate moments with Clark. Including their FirstKiss. ''Aww''.]]

The Happy Flashback is often used as a mood counterpoint in a scene that is decidedly dark. It especially helps when the entire story is very sad or even [[{{Tragedy}} tragic]] because it provides a "breather" for the audience and helps avoid DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. It's similar to ComicRelief, with the benefit of adding BackStory and helping to breathe some [[HopeSpot hope]] back into a character or plot. The emotional counterpoint is especially useful for storytellers since it serves to show that the character(s) aren't walking bags of {{Angst}}, they ''can'' feel other emotions and the pain they feel now is all the more keen because they once were happy.

* In ''{{Bleach}}'' Soi Fon has one of these, during her fight with her sempai/possible love interest, Yoruichi. During their time together, we see a younger, happier Soi Fon. At least, she was until Yoruichi betrayed her trust and devotion when she ran off with [[spoiler: Urahara Kisuke]]. Soi Fon swore vengence for this, leading to the person that earned her the FanNickname "Captain Bitch-Ninja".

* ''{{Jericho}},'' in a decidedly dark episode about a [[spoiler:war with nearby town New Bern]], has multiple flashbacks from Jake to the day of his brother's wedding.
* In ''{{Monk}},'' all of his flashbacks with his wife Trudy. Averted with his childhood memories, which are awful.
* In ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer,'' used extremely effectively in season 7 by going back to a scene we didn't see from the beloved MusicalEpisode from the previous season.

* In the Red Robin/Batgirl Collision crossover, Red Robin gets a couple of himself and Batgirl. Just as an assassin named Prudence, who's life he saved, and who he neglected to immediately incapacitate, is pointing a gun at Batgirl's head and saying she was ordered to kill her. The flashbacks include a nice one with a pink background of him and Stephanie kissing, and Tim blaming himself for getting someone else killed.

* This happens twice in ''BatmanBegins,'' with Bruce Wayne reflecting on times with his father in at least two separate scenes from the movie. [[spoiler:The first is long before Bruce takes on the Batman identity, when he is planning to take revenge against the murderer of his parents. The second is after the climax of the movie, in the second-last scene of it. This is done to contrast the attitude Bruce had at the former time with that he had at the latter time.]] The first leads into a TroubledBackstoryFlashback.

A Happy Flashback is pretty much ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, a {{Flashback}} to a happy time in a character's past. Frequently they have a drastically different color palette from the rest of the film/tv show in keeping with most {{Flashback}}s. It'll be very bright, warm and colorful (possibly even supersaturated with color) or almost completely white from the brightness, or in simple [[DeliberatelyMonochrome sepia tones]] with blurriness added. Then again, it might be drawn in crayon to ''really'' invoke the "good old days" feel.

Compare HappyPlace and HappierHomeMovie.
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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

* This happens ''twice'' in ''ChronoCrusade'', both times leading into a TroubledBackstoryFlashback. Early in the series there's a flashback that shows Rosette's childhood with her brother, Joshua, as well-taken care of orphans who spend their days picnicking and playing before Joshua is kidnapped by the BigBad. The second time it happens is when Chrono flashes back to when he met [[spoiler:Mary Magdalene, whom he fell in love with but accidentally killed when he made a contract with her after he betrayed Aion.]] In the manga version, Rosette even wonders to herself if Chrono attempts to go back to those happy memories in his dreams.

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* This happens twice in ''BatmanBegins,'' with Bruce Wayne reflecting on times with his father in at least two separate scenes from the movie. [[spoiler:The first is long before Bruce takes on the Batman identity, when he is planning to take revenge against the murderer of his parents. The second is after the climax of the movie, in the second-last scene of it. This is done to contrast the attitude Bruce had at the former time with that he had at the latter time.]] The first leads into a TroubledBackstoryFlashback.

* [[color:red:(Please confirm)]] Happens in ''ShutterIsland.'' Some of the flashbacks have a more surreal, symbolic value and far from all of them are happy (but some are).

* ''{{Shallow Grave}}'' ends with [[spoiler:one flatmate dead, another stabbed and uncertain about his fate and a third discovering they've been cheated out of the loot]]. Cue ''Happy Heart'' rolling over a repeated sequence of the three flatmates earlier in the movie, laughing and hugging. [[TearJerker Wham]].

[[AC:Literature]]
* In StephenKing's ''{{Firestarter}}'' this happens when the protagonist suddenly discovers the dead body of his wife. The feel of emotional pain is in contrast with the memories of their happy life together which start popping up in his mind at that moment.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* ''{{Jericho}},'' in a decidedly dark episode about a [[spoiler:war with nearby town New Bern]], has multiple flashbacks from Jake to the day of his brother's wedding.
* In ''{{Monk}},'' all of his flashbacks with his wife Trudy. Averted with his childhood memories, which are awful.
* In ''{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}},'' used extremely effectively in season 7 by going back to a scene we didn't see from the beloved MusicalEpisode from the previous season.

* In the Red Robin/Batgirl Collision crossover, Red Robin gets a couple of himself and Batgirl. Just as an assassin, who's life he saved, and who he neglected to immediately incapacitate, is pointing a gun at Batgirl's head and saying she was ordered to kill her. The flashbacks include a nice one with a pink background of him and Stephanie kissing, and Tim blaming himself for getting someone else killed.

* At the end of ''[[{{TheGodfather}} Godfather 2]]'', there is a somewhat happy scene showing the Corleone family sitting around the dinner table, as Michael tells them he is joining the Marine Corps and going off to fight in World War II. This represents the end of the happier, together times in the Corleone family's life, and Michael's transition to the lonely, ruthless man we see him as at the end. This is counterpointed by the final shot of Michael sitting alone in the Lake Tahoe compound.

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* In ''{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}},'' used extremely effectively in season 7 by going back to a scene we didn't see from the beloved musical episode from the previous season.

A Happy Flashback is pretty much ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, a {{Flashback}} to a happy time in a character's past. Frequently they have a drastically different color palette from the rest of the film/tv show in keeping with most {{Flashback}}s. It'll be very bright, warm and colorful (possibly even supersaturated with color) or almost completely white from the brightness, or in simple [[DeliberatelyMonochrome sepia tones]] with blurrines added. Then again, it might be drawn in crayon to ''really'' invoke the "good old days" feel.

* In ''{{Bleach}}'' Soi Fon has one of these, during her fight with her sempai/possible love interest, Yoruichi. During their time together, we see a younger, happier Soi Fon. At least, she was until Yoruichi betrayed her trust and devotion when she ran off with [[spoiler: Urahara Kisuke]]. Soi Fon swore vengence for this, and out came the [[FanNickname BitchNinja]] we know and love.