Happy Place: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"I'm in my tree talking to the Dixie Chicks... and they're making me feel better!"''|'''Dawn''', ''[[I Heart♥ Huckabees]]''}}

Sometimes the outside world can be a cold, cruel place, full of mean hurtful people and scads of [[Chew Toy|author-induced pain]]. That's why the best solution to a world bent on making you suffer can be to just curl up into a fetal position, suck your thumb, and go to a '''Happy Place''' inside your head. The '''Happy Place''' is rarely uninhabited though; it may be populated by [[Fan Service|scantily clad harem girls/boys]], [[Spirit Advisor]]s, an [[Ghost in the Machine|inner child or three]], or if one is particularly unlucky they'll be roommates (headmates?) with a [[Split Personality]], [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] or [[Enemy Within]], the troublesome roomies usually want to [[Battle in the Center of the Mind|pick a fight.]]

A character interacting with others (or himself) in their '''Happy Place''' is a good way of giving them depth and explaining their motivation without having them act out of character in the show. [[The Stoic]] or [[The Quiet One]] who will never talk about the trauma that left them so may well relive it inside their mind, confronting a [[Enemy Within|spectre of their guilt]] in the form of a dead loved one or other inner conflicts. In its extreme the dreamer may make a [[Journey to the Center of the Mind]], sometimes accompanied by another.

Some characters are lucky and have their trip to the '''Happy Place''' happen outside of a show's real time, making their time and exposition there happen "instantly". A [[Cloudcuckoolander]] is seldom so lucky. They may enter a fugue state or literally go [[Convenient Coma|catatonic]] while visiting their '''Happy Place''', though this may sometimes be for the best if it's induced by emotional or physical trauma. Usually this depends on the nature of the '''Happy Place'''. Then again, the reason the [[Cloudcuckoolander]] is so strange might be because they live ''there'' and visit real life.

There is one significant danger to the '''Happy Place''', that being that if the resident has been sufficiently abused in the real world they might choose not to go back despite [[SchrodingerSchrödinger's Butterfly|realizing it's fake]].

Kinds of '''Happy Place'''Places:

* [[The Madness Place]]: The hyper-productive creative fugue state of the [[Mad Scientist]].

Compare with [[Cuckoo Nest]], [[The Final Temptation]], [[Happy Flashback]] and [[Lotus Eater Machine]]. This is often how [[Heaven]] is represented. Contrast [[Black Bug Room]], which is just the opposite of a '''Happy Place'''.

* ''[[Xenogears]]''' lead Fei not only has several [[Split Personality|Split Personalities]], but several hang out in their own Happy Place apart from each other and Fei. Poor guy's head must feel like a condo.

* In ''[[Rayman]] 2: The Great Escape'', there is an odd alternate ending in the middle of the game. After beating a level called The Cave of Bad Dreams (actually the [[Black Bug Room]] of the god of that world), Rayman can choose whether or not to accept a huge pile of gold he does not need. If he does take it, the game ends on a shot of Rayman, very fat and happy, relaxing on a tiny tropical island, with the entire world around him in ruins. However, The Cave of Bad Dreams is a large [[SchrodingerSchrödinger's Butterfly]], so it can't be known if the island is real or not.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131019102007/http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp02232009.shtml This] ''[[Something *Positive]]'' strip recommends the use of a Happy Place to avoid giving unwanted raises.

* In one episode of ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and& Mandy]]'', Billy goes to his "happy place" to get away from Grim and Mandy, who are trying to force him to face his fear of clowns. There, he has a conversation with his "inner frat boy", who convinces him to face his fears... by beating the crap out of any clown he sees.

* ''[[Freakazoid!]]'' has the Freak-a-Zone, where the titular [[Superhero]] goes when Dexter Douglas is in control.

[[Category:Happiness Tropes{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:HappyWish PlaceFulfillment]]