History Main / TooHappyToLive

That's right, in order to get TheHero [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive to pick up the phone]], everyone they love will get killed, or at the least [[DamselInDistress kidnapped]] and held hostage. This doubles as a potent force for [[TrueArtIsAngsty drama (clichéd though it may be)]] as the audience is shown how the hero's DarkAndTroubledPast was born. In fact, if a movie features a CrusadingWidow AntiHero, you can bet {{flashback}}s [[TroubledBackstoryFlashback will be of their happy days before their family was killed]].

The pursuit of happiness is one of the fundamental activities of mankind, be it from accomplishment, family, or gainfully performing a duty or calling. This is why characters who are shown to have attained a certain amount of happiness are very sympathetic to an audience, something indispensable for an author to tell a good story. However, people who are happy [[RefusalofTheCall don't usually go out of their way]] to answer the CallToAdventure, making their involvement in a story very difficult. The solution writers [[EnforcedTrope most often employ]] is to [[DoomedHometown kill the happy characters]].

** Also in ''End of Evangelion''. [[spoiler:When Lilith begins the Instrumentality of mankind, various Rei doppelgangers take the appearance of people that each human loves (such as Misato for Makoto Hyuuga, Yui for Fuyutsuki, and [[LesYay Ritsuko for Maya]]), giving them such pleasure and happiness before destroying their AT field and reducing them to a puddle of orange goo.]]

* VideoGame/MaxPayne pretty much says it all in the prologue to the first game. It's not to come off as a surprise, considering the opening cutscene is [[HowWeGotHere just after Max has completed]] his RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mother3}}'' opens with Hinawa, Claus, and Lucas visiting their grandfather, happily playing with friendly dinosaurs, eating lunch, and preparing to depart for Tazmily in the afternoon. [[TearJerker It's all downhill]] [[MoodWhiplash from there]].

[[folder: WesternAnimation]]

* ''Manga/MedakaBox'': Time will tell if it sticks but as of chapter 154, [[spoiler: Zenkichi has been killed right after having his marriage proposal accepted by Medaka.]]

** A classic example of this with the tragic death of [[spoiler: Hughes]] who spent about 80% of his face time in the series happily babbling on about [[spoiler: his beautiful wife and lively young daughter.]]

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler: Mami Tomoe]] is killed almost immediately after she finally finds contentment in her life -- directly on the heels of a monologue about how wonderful she feels, in fact. It's implied that being happy indirectly ''caused'' her death -- it made her [[LeeroyJenkins reckless.]]

* [[spoiler:Euphie]] from ''Anime/CodeGeass''. She's just about ready to make peace with ''[[MagnificentBastard Zero]]'', and he's ''[[MoralityPet willing to accept it]]''. Cue in some... [[DiabolusExMachina unfortunate incidents]] and she's dead ''and'' forever hated by an entire country (or more). She even ''dies happy'' thinking she did her best for the world.

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has a classic example of this with the tragic death of [[spoiler: Hughes]] who spent about 80% of his face time in the series happily babbling on about [[spoiler: his beautiful wife and lively young daughter.]]

That's right, in order to get TheHero [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive to pick up the phone]], everyone they love will get killed, or at the least [[DamselInDistress kidnapped]] and held hostage. This doubles as a potent force for [[TrueArtIsAngsty drama (clichéd though it may be)]] as the audience is shown how the hero's DarkAndTroubledPast was born. In fact, if a movie features a CrusadingWidower AntiHero, you can bet {{flashback}}s [[TroubledBackstoryFlashback will be of their happy days before their family was killed]].

* ''VideoGame/HeavyRain''. At the start of the game, Ethan Mars has a blissful suburban life with his wife Grace and their two sons, Jason and Shaun. Then Jason is killed in a car accident and Ethan is put in a coma for six months. There's a TimeSkip to two years later when Ethan is depressed, traumatized over the accident, separated from his wife, and has a strained relationship with Shaun who barely even speaks to him.

** At the beginning of every arc (from his perspective), Keiichi notes that he much prefers his new life in Hinamizawa, and is surrounded by people who all know and love him. Then someone mentions the Watanagashi festival or the murders, and it all goes [[AnyoneCanDie downhill]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath from]] [[KillEmAll there]]...

* ''Comicbook/ThePunisher'': You're a Vietnam vet with a good life with your lovely wife and adorable children. Then they all get murdered by a botched Mafia hit. So what do you do? Start wearing a black shirt with a white skull printed on it, [[MoreDakka get as many guns as you can carry]], go [[AxCrazy completely nuts]] and [[KillEmAll kill everyone]] [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner you believe might]] be even [[DisproportionateRetribution vaguely criminal]]. Subverted in ''[[Comicbook/ThePunisherMAX Punisher Max]]''. Frank ''wasn't'' happy with his life since he discovered his inner BloodKnight in 'Nam and was dissatisfied with peace. Frank is haunted by the fact that he had asked his wife for a divorce right before she and their children were killed in the aforementioned failed hit.

** Everything seems to go well for Myrcella: she falls in love with the boy she's arranged to marry, she reveals to Jaime that she knew he's her real father and they have a sweet father-daughter bonding moment. She dies instantly after that.

* The Pre-Crisis Franchise/{{Superman}} was leading a pretty cozy life. He was the world's mightiest and most beloved hero, he had a family, friends, and a good job. Then [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} his cousin Kara]] [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths gets killed off]]. Then [[Franchise/{{Batman}} his best buddy]] breaks their partnership off. Then [[ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow all of his Rogues come together to kill him]]. When it's all over, his life is in shambles: he's depowered, with no secret identity and no job, most of his friends have been killed and the world believes him dead. [[spoiler: Ultimately Subverted as it turns out Supes [[ FakingTheDead faked his death]] and marries the love of his life Lois under a new identity.]]

* The Pre-Crisis Franchise/{{Superman}} was leading a pretty cozy life. He was the world's mightiest and most beloved hero, he had a family, friends, and a good job. Then [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} his cousin Kara]] [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths gets killed off]]. Then [[Franchise/{{Batman}} his best buddy]] breaks their partnership off. Then [[ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow all of his Rogues come together to kill him]]. When it's all over, his life is in shambles: he's depowered, with no secret identity and no job, most of his friends have been killed and the world believes him dead.

* ''Comicbook/ThePunisher'': You're a Vietnam vet with a good life with your lovely wife and adorable children. Then they all get murdered by a botched Mafia hit. So what do you do? Start wearing a black shirt with a white skull printed on it, [[MoreDakka get as many guns as you can carry]], go [[AxCrazy completely nuts]] and [[KillEmAll kill everyone]] [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner you believe might]] be even [[DisproportionateRetribution vaguely criminal]]. Subverted in ''[[Comicbook/ThePunisherMAX Punisher Max]]''. Frank ''wasn't'' happy with his life since he discovered his inner BloodKnight in 'Nam and was dissatisfied with peace. Frank is haunted by the fact that he had asked his wife for a divorce right before she and their children were killed in the botched Mafia hit.

* The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk is not the Hulk unless he's upset. Therefore it's kind of a ForegoneConclusion that any happy relationship he is currently in will end poorly at some point in the near future.

* Invoked in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E8IMudd I, Mudd]]". Kirk and his crew are held captive by androids, so they all generally [[LogicBomb act like illogical fools in order to get the androids to short circuit]]. Scotty grabs his heart and "dies". Kirk says he died from too much happiness.
-->'''Scotty''': "I cannot go on! I'm tired of happiness. I'm tired of comfort and pleasure. I'm ready! Kill me! Kill me!"\\
[Kirk and others mime shooting hand phasers, complete with vocalized sound-effects]\\
"Goodbye, cruel universe."\\
'''[=McCoy=]''': "He's dead."\\
'''Android''': "You...cannot have killed him. You have no weapons."\\
'''Kirk''': "Scotty! Scotty's dead. He had too much happiness. Now he's happier; he's dead. We'll miss him. Let us hear it for our poor, dead friend."\\
[human characters all laugh]

* It hasn't happened yet, but in ''Literature/{{Thud}}'', it's revealed that the greatest fear of Sam Vimes, who over the course of the Literature/{{Discworld}} series has gone from a drunken wreck of a night watchman to a public VIP and happily-married father, is that this is going to happen someday, if not to him then to [[AdultFear his infant son]].

That's right, in order to get TheHero [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive to pick up the phone]], [[StuffedIntoTheFridge everyone they love will get killed]], or at the least [[DamselInDistress kidnapped]] and held hostage. This doubles as a potent force for [[TrueArtIsAngsty drama (clichéd though it may be)]] as the audience is shown how the hero's DarkAndTroubledPast was born. In fact, if a movie features a CrusadingWidower AntiHero, you can bet {{flashback}}s [[TroubledBackstoryFlashback will be of their happy days before their family was killed]].

** ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'': After all they went through, Bond and Countess Tracy Draco di Vicenzo get HappilyMarried... and just like that, Tracy gets murdered in a drive-by by Irma Bunt with [[BigBad Blofeld]] at the wheel (which was also intended for Bond).
** ''Film/LicenceToKill'': Felix Leiter gets HappilyMarried with Della Churchill at the beginning of the film... only for drug lord Franz Sanchez to escape and immediately seek revenge. Sanchez has Leiter kidnapped and feeds his leg to a shark, and Sanchez's henchmen killed and probably raped Della. It triggers Bond's RoaringRampageOfRevenge for the rest of the film.

** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'': Bond and Madeleine Sawnn's blissful life in Italy is soon destroyed by a murder attempt by Spectre. The exchange they have just before he puts her on the train--"This is it." "This is it."-- suggests that deep down, they both knew things were too good to last and that they would have inevitably broken up anyway. [[spoiler: Turns out Blofeld gleefully ordered it to either kill Bond or hurt him via separation from Madeleine. It gets worse in the the final third of the movie, where Bond and Madeleine reconcile, he learns that he's a father, and they only get a few hours of domestic idyll before Safin's gunmen interrupt them again, kicking off the final chain of events that lead to Bond's death]].

Closely related to the RuleOfDrama. Compare with SoHappyTogether, TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, DysfunctionJunction (where several characters have had this happen to them), and {{Retirony}} (which happens to characters ''about'' to become happy). Stories with a SnicketWarningLabel outright warn readers this will happen. See also TooCoolToLive.

* [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers]]: Orion Pax is pretty happy with his lot in life as a dock worker. He works with his girlfriend Ariel and best friend Dion, the warehouse he works at is so busy it's almost always filled with precious Energon, and is also eager to learn about some sort of new flying robots who've shown up recently. He's honoured when one of said flying robots, [[BigBad Megatron]], visits his warehouse looking for a place to store his wares. When he apologetically tells Megatron that the warehouse is full of energy, Megatron smiles and orders his Decepticons to attack before shooting both Ariel and Orion. Friendly strangers only just manage to get him to the workshop of Alpha Trion, who rebuilds him into a new form with a new name: [[BigGood Optimus Prime]].

* [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers]]: Orion Pax is pretty happy with his lot in life as a dock worker. He works with his girlfriend Ariel and best friend Dion, the warehouse he works at is so busy it's almost always filled with precious Energon, and is also eager to learn about some sort of new flying robots who've shown up recently. He's honoured when one of said flying robots, [[BigBad Megatron]], visits his warehouse looking for a place to store his wares. When he apologetically tells Megatron that the warehouse is full of energy, Megatron smiles and orders his Decepticons to attack before shooting both Ariel and Orion. Friendly strangers only just manage to get him to the workshop of Alpha Trion, who rebuilds him into a new form with a new name: Optimus Prime.
** What makes this an example is that Optimus does acknowledge his former name of Orion, but other episodes show he's completely forgotten most aspects of his life prior to his reconstruction (such as that Ariel was rebuilt into Elita-One).

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2''. Valka and Stoick reunite after 20 years, where it could be argued that Valka abandoned her husband and newborn son to help dragons. However, not only does neither Stoick and her now-adult son Hiccup have any hard feelings, but Stoick sings her a love song and their partnership is rekindled as brightly as it ever has - in the ''middle'' of the film. There's no way this reunion will end happily. [[spoiler: Sure enough, Stoick is killed by Toothless.]]

** Series/{{Angel}} milks this for all it's worth with Cordelia and Angel at the end of Season 3. They've just independently realized they love each other! They're running (separately) to a romantic location where they can tell each other how they feel! So, naturally, one's going to ascend to the heavens, never to be seen again (sort of), and the other's going to be put in a box and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. And no, they never do express their love to each other.

* Marian from ''Series/RobinHood'' joyfully, fiercely, blissfully shouts: "I love Robin Hood! I'm going to marry Robin Hood!” (This after years of not being able to admit her love for mostly political reasons.) A second later, [[spoiler:the hypotenuse of their love triangle runs her through with his sword and she dies.]]

* Ianto in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}''. Okay, ''happy'' might not be the exact word, but he's just managed to accept his relationship with Jack, tell his sister about it, and generally ''not'' be a blob of angst in a sharp suit... And then boom, incurable alien virus.

Closely related to the RuleOfDrama. Compare with SoHappyTogether, TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, DysfunctionJunction (where several characters have had this happen to them) and {{Retirony}} (which happens to characters ''about'' to become happy). Stories with a SnicketWarningLabel outright warn readers this will happen. See also TooCoolToLive.

* ''Anime/GaReiZero'': So you've moved up the ladder in life. You have a loving foster father, and an adorable foster little sister. You steadily rise in your occupation, what's with being [[TheParagon a phenomenally talented person]]. Your fiancee is the son of one of your higher-ups. The aforementioned little sister is going your path, and is an even more talented person than you. Things will be getting even better in the future, right? The answer is, unfortunately, a profoundly resounding NO, because your name is Yomi Isayama.

* Happens in the first episode of ''Manga/DGrayMan'', a couple is literally split up in their day of their wedding, just when the women was thanking God for their happiness (and perhaps KilledMidSentence). It's pretty much someone giving them the finger, and the now turned AntiHero blames {{God|IsEvil}}. The show is absolutely in love with this trope. You can pretty much expect that any character who is both a) happy with his life and b) not a main character is going to either die or have someone he loves die.

** Also in ''End of Evangelion''. [[spoiler:When Lilith begins the Instrumentality of mankind, various Rei dopplegangers take the appearance of people that each human loves (such as Misato for Makoto Hyuuga, Yui for Fuyutsuki, and [[LesYay Ritsuko for Maya]]), giving them such pleasure and happiness before destroying their AT field and reducing them to a puddle of orange goo.]]

** [[spoiler: Nina Tucker]] is also a well known example. She's a happy toddler who loves her dad and likes to play with her dog. [[spoiler: Her father completely fuses her to said dog, and they're mercy killed soon after.]]

* Though nobody dies, this is just one of many reasons why ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' fans hate ''Comicbook/OneMoreDay''. Peter and Mary Jane have been HappilyMarried for about twenty years ([[ComicBookTime real-time]]). But we can't have ''that''; how are we going to get Peter caught up in {{Love Triangle}}s? (And this isn't the first time; they previously tried to kill MJ off in order to make Peter a swinging single again.) Peter and MJ reached the 25 year mark in the newspaper strips, so that's some small comfort, and they're HappilyMarried in ''Comicbook/SpiderGirl''.

* The Pre-Crisis Franchise/{{Superman}} was leading a pretty cozy life. He was the world's mightiest and most beloved hero, he had a family, friends and a good job. Then [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} his cousin Kara]] [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths gets killed off]]. Then [[Franchise/{{Batman}} his best buddy]] breaks their partnership off. Then [[ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow all of his Rogues come together to kill him]]. When it's all over, his life is in shambles: he's depowered, with no secret identity and no job, most of his friends have been killed and the world believes him dead.

** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': You live in an idyllic little town where everything is green lawns, simple folks, and blue skies. You spend your days in the woods, the hills, little rivers... When all of a sudden, your uncle disappears, his best friend tells you you have to leave your home immediately, and big scary horsemen with big scary swords stab you with a soul-stealing dagger, leaving a wound which will never heal.

* This happens a lot in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' fiction. If you ever see ANY peaceful farmers or other common people, living pleasant lives and thanking the God-Emperor daily for the blessings He has seen fit to bestow upon them, you can expect a war which will kill most or all of them to break out within the chapter.

* The infamous Literature/BookOfJob in ''Literature/TheBible'' starts out with a happy, faithful man who has everything he could ever want; a prosperous farm, perfect health, and a loving family. Then Satan decides to test his faith and demands God lets him destroy his life piece by piece. His livestock die, his home is destroyed, his family is killed, and he himself breaks out in boils. At the end, though, he did pass the test of faith and ends up getting back more than he even had before.

* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'': Fan favorite [[HitmanWithAHeart Richard Harrow]] has decided to leave his past behind. He's married to a woman he loves, has adopted his late best friend's so as his own, and is set to move away from the gangster life into a comfortable life with his sister. He just needs to perform OneLastJob, though...

* After the crews split up in the third season of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', the Crichton who went with Aeryn aboard Talyn got Harvey removed from his head, unlocked the wormhole knowledge in his brain and could now utilize it to get home, and hooked up with his {{Love Interest|s}}, basically accomplishing all of Crichton's goals on the show. We can't have that now, can we?

* ''Series/JoanOfArcadia'' featured the spunky new friend added into the second season who was quirky and happy and full of life and is then stabbed to death in an alley way for drama.

* On ''Series/{{Sisters}}'', second-oldest sister Teddy was finally happy after years of trauma and preparing to buy a house with her new husband (who himself had been through years of hell), when he was killed via a CarBomb by a crime lord he was preparing to testify against.

** Joel Mynor has this as part of DeathByOriginStory. After years of being supported by his wife he finally managed to make something that was a hit, giving him a huge paycheck. He decided to surprise his wife with it by secretly buying her a house and calling her to meet him at the address. She died in a car crash on the way. I mean... ''jeez.''

** [[Series/{{Angel}} Wesley and Fred too]]. Just to drive it home, we learns something's gone horribly wrong occurs right when Fred's singing "You are my sunshine".

Closely related to the RuleOfDrama. Compare with TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, DysfunctionJunction (where several characters have had this happen to them) and {{Retirony}} (which happens to characters ''about'' to become happy). Stories with a SnicketWarningLabel outright warn readers this will happen. See also TooCoolToLive.

If several characters had this happen to them, it may result in DysfunctionJunction. Stories with a SnicketWarningLabel outright warn readers this will happen. {{Retirony}} happens to characters ''about'' to become happy.

Closely related to the RuleOfDrama. Compare with TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth. See also TooCoolToLive.

* It hasn't happened yet, but in ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'', it's revealed that the greatest fear of Sam Vimes, who over the course of the Literature/{{Discworld}} series has gone from a drunken wreck of a night watchman to a public VIP and happily-married father, is that this is going to happen someday, if not to him then to [[AdultFear his infant son]].