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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"There are two ways of getting home; and one of them is to stay there."''
|'''[[G. K. Chesterton]]'''}}
At the end of a story about a character being immersed in a new world which they absolutely ''hate'', whether they're [[Freaky Friday Flip|trapped in the wrong body]], [[Fish Out of Temporal Water|warped to another time]] [[Trapped in Another World|or dimension]], or [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|forced to move in with their in-laws]], there is often a scene at the very end where it's all over and now [[But Now I Must Go|they get to go back]] to their old, beloved lifestyle.
But... ''wait''! What's this? The new environment has apparently grown on the character so much, that they don't ''want'' to go back? They choose to stay in their new environment and live happily ever after? [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Awwwwwwww.]] How touching.
The opposite of [[But Now I Must Go]]. See also [[Going Native]], [[Home, Sweet Home]], and [[Send Me Back]]. Compare [[Stay
{{Unmarked Spoilers}}
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
{{endingtrope}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
* Rock, from ''[[Black Lagoon]]''. He chose to stay with the Lagoon Company, the same pirates who kidnapped him after he learned that he was going to be terminated by his company.
* ''[[The Twelve Kingdoms]]'' has Youko decide to stay in the Twelve Kingdoms after finding out how much chaos would be created by her leaving. The fact that she would die within a few years if she left was also a minor consideration.
** [[All of the Other Reindeer|The way she was treated by most people back home (including her parents)]] probably had something to do with it, too.
* ''[[Now and Then, Here
** Shu subverts it by going home even though no-one will believe what he did, and he didn't even improve his kendo skills at all.
* The heroine of ''[[From Far Away]]'' stays in the fantasy world she was sucked into, for love of course. That seemed rather cold, because her family was happy and caring and far from the usual abusive [[Dysfunction Junction]].
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* A similar ending in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'', where Haruhi, who has been trying since episode one to get the heck out of the Host Club realizes that she actually likes it. There are many mini-plotlines (Zuka comes to mind) that are similar.
* ''Tsukihime'' has this in spades with Shiki, who is flat-out told by Arcueid multiple times that he doesn't have to help her hunt Dead Apostles anymore. Regardless, [[Hurricane of Excuses|Shiki just keeps finding new reasons to stay.]]
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'': Misawa apparently stayed behind in the other dimension at the end of Season 3, apparently to live with his "[[Rape Is Love|wife]]", Taniya.
** Well, while Taniya was doubtless a huge part of his reasoning, he also stayed because he felt he could be of more use there than back on Earth, where he would always be outshone in dueling by Juudai, Manjoume, Edo, and Hell Kaiser. Also, Taniya fairly won their duel in season one, and Misawa had no objections to staying with her then. She kicked him out because, really, he was too self-centered and immature at the time. Character growth fixed that.
** A common [[Epileptic Trees| fan theory]] is that he found out he sired a child during the first brief affair, but that has not been confirmed nor denied.
* At the end of the first arc of ''[[
* [[Maze Megaburst Space|Maze]] decides not to return to her home world after defeating the [[Big Bad]] of her series.
* ''[[Red River]]'''s Yuri gives up her last chance to go home in order to save Kail.
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* [[Rumiko Takahashi]] seems to love this trope.
** her first published work: [[Fire Tripper]], a story about a time traveling girl, who finds love in the feudal age, and decides to stay in the past with her new found boyfriend (really a boy from her original time she used to babysit).
** her longest work so far, [[Inuyasha]]: a story about a time traveling girl, who finds love in the feudal age, and decides eventually to stay in the past with her new found boyfriend (really a [[Half
*** So much for a career. And shaving cream.
* Holo from [[Wolf and Spice]] choose to stay with Lawrence at the end of episode 6, even though she can just downright ditch him. Her excuse is "being indebted to Lawrence".
* In ''The Disappearance of [[
{{quote|
Kyon: Of course I do! Of course it was fun! Don't ask me something so obvious! }}
* In [[Eureka Seven]] episode 47, Eureka said this to Renton when they hugged each other. In the final episode, what she said came true as half of the Coralians left except her. Making her the known [[Last of Her Kind]]. In the movie version, she also made the same choice despite knowing life would be harsh because she can get to be with her lover Renton. [[But Now I Must Go|Can't say the same for the manga and novel ending though.]]
** Same can be said for Renton when he can just leave Gekko after episode 26 but he choose to stay for Eureka's sake. Holland even gave everyone on board the Gekko the chance to leave while they still can in episode 33, but no one did anyway.
* In the epilogue of ''[[Angel Beats
* Brock pulls this at the beginning of the Orange Islands arc of ''[[Pokémon (
* ''[[How Not to Summon a Demon Lord]]'' starts with Takuma (a nerd with [[No Social Skills]]) trapped in a fantasy world resembling the MMORPG he plays, summoned by two ditzy, sexy sorceresses, and now transformed into the character he uses in the game, with powers to match. While he has never confirmed it, it seems he has no desire to leave, having no family or friends to go back to and almost everything he ever dreamed of here.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Subverted in ''[[
▲* Subverted in ''[[Amulet (Comic Book)|Amulet]]'' in that when the heroine announces that she must stay in the fantasy world, her mother declares that in that case, the whole family will too.
== Fan Fic ==▼
* Quite common in the [[Harry Potter]] fandom:
** A particularly common variant has two characters get accidentally "bonded" (in [[Fanon]], a magical marriage in which the two parties are connected in body and mind, usually having to live together and spend a considerable amount of time together). The characters in question usually [[Foe Yay|hate each other]] initially, but as they are forced to be together they become friends and gradually fall in love with each other. When someone finally figures out how to end the bond, one of the following things usually happens: Either they have already figured out that they are in love and they choose to stay bonded, or they are in denial, end the bond, realise that they miss each other and re-bond.
** In ''Harry Potter and the Mists of Avalon'', Harry is [[Gender Bender|turned into a girl]] by a potion gone wrong. Much later, an antidote to the potion is developed, but by then she has spent so much time as a girl that [[First Law of Gender Bending|she chooses not to change back.]]
* Similarly in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' fandom. Whoops, [[Author Avatar]] accidentally bonded with Spock! Can't go find a Vulcan Mind Healer now, we're in the middle of a mission! By the time they do get to one, [[The Spock|Spock]] has fallen in love and they all live happily ever after. [[Sarcasm Mode|Awww]].
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
== Film ==▼
▲== [[Film]] ==
* A strange version of this in the newest{{when}} ''[[Star Trek (
* The movie version of ''[[
* Disney likes this trope a lot. It's played painfully straight in ''[[Brother Bear]]''. When Kenai chooses to become a bear again, it is the least he can do for Koda after all he has done to him. It's repeated in the sequel!
** Also in ''[[Enchanted]]''.
** And ''[[Cars]]''.
** And ''[[Atlantis:
** And ''[[Hercules (
*** Also, if we have the myth as reference, then it means he will become a god once he die.
** And in ''[[Tarzan]]''. Not only does Tarzan turn down a chance return to human civilization, Jane and her father make a last-minute decision to stay in the jungle with Tarzan.
* ''[[Stargate (
** [[Stargate SG
* The 2007 ''[[Transformers (
* ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' ends with Nicolas staying in Sanford.
* Happens at the end of the 2002 film adaptation of ''[[The Time Machine]]''. This is partly because he's lost everything he values in his original time, and partly because he had to blow up the Time Machine to destroy the Moorlocks.
* Ben Affleck's character in Kevin Smith's ''Jersey Girl''. For that matter, Dante in ''[[Clerks]]'' II.
* Chico decides to stay in the village at the end of ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]''.
* In the ''[[Masters of the Universe (
* In ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'', Tugg Speedman decides to stay behind the village, believing he can become an adoptive father to a local child. Turns out the child happens to be utterly bloodthirsty, and he changes his mind.
* ''[[The Road to El Dorado]],'' except not quite. Conquistadores are a bitch, aren't they?
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* Reese Witherspoon's character in ''[[Pleasantville]]''.
** Which is a bit stupid, as her brother goes back. Leaving him to explain to his parents that they'll never see their daughter again.
*** [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|Time moves more quickly inside the TV world]]: the events in Pleasantville take a couple weeks at least, but when Tobey Maguire's character returns to the real world, a TV announcer is heard saying, "And that concludes the first hour of the ''Pleasantville'' marathon". ([[Word of God]] on the [[DVD Commentary]] has it that because the original ''Pleasantville'' [[Show Within a Show]] was on for half an hour every week, two weeks inside the TV world go by for every hour outside.)
**** Which presumably means she'll be back in four days, but she'll be four years older and have a degree from a fictional college.
* Subverted in ''Lost Treasures of the Grand Canyon''. Doctor Thain offers to stay with the natives in exchange for his team being spared and set free, even though it means he'll die once they realize he isn't a god. As the group leaves the secret city, weeping at the loss of their friend, Thain comes careening down the hill and quickly explains that he decided not to stay after all, distracted his captors by setting a suit of armor on fire and making it seem like it was himself, and that they'd all better hurry up and get out of there before they figure it out. All in the span of about two minutes.
* [[
* ''[[
* ''[[Avatar (
** The characters who stay behind really do not have much of a choice. If they leave they will most likely be arrested and tried for crimes against mankind. Once they committed to helping the Na'vi they really had nowhere else to go.
* Will stays in the ''[[Land of the Lost (
* In [[Timeline]], archeologist Andre Marek choose to stay in 1357 with Lady Clare, a girl he fell in love with, and saved from her [[Screw Destiny|historic fate]] of being murdered. It is later discovered that the last archeological find he was working on before he went to the past ''was his own tomb''.
* In ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' the character played by Terence Stamp chooses to stay in the outback with a new love interest instead of going back to Sydney.
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* ''[[Flushed Away]]'' has a slightly altered example. The hero actually ''does'' leave but decides to go back in order to defeat the [[Big Bad]] and make amends with his [[Love Interest]], and makes it clear that he intends to stay with her as he departs his old home.
* Casey Brown in ''[[Candleshoe]]''.
* Subverted in [[Barbie in
* This what Gonzo in ''[[Muppets
* Maybe not the happiest version, but in ''[[Doomsday]]'', {{spoiler|Eden, a native Scot whose mother managed to get her out just ahead of the border being sealed, decides to stay after her mission is complete, and apparently becomes the ruler of the tribe of wild cannibal people by [[Klingon Promotion|killing her predecessor]].}}
* Subverted and played straight in ''[[Midnight in Paris]]''. {{spoiler|Adrianna travels back in time from Paris in the 1920s to the 1890s, which she views as the city's [[Golden Age]], and decides to stay. Gil, having travelled from his present of 2010 to meet Adrianna in the 1920s (''his'' idea of Paris' [[Golden Age]]) and then gone further back with her to the 1890s, realises the danger of nostalgia and returns to his present.}}
* ''[[Hot Tub Time Machine]]'': Lou chose to stay his younger self in 1986 [[The Slow Path|and relive his life]], instead of going back to 2010 with his friends. [[Time Travel for Fun
== Literature ==▼
▲== [[Literature]] ==
* Played painfully straight in ''The War of the Flowers'' by Tad Williams. Theo is a [[Changeling Fantasy|literal changeling]] who gets dragged to Faerie. At the end of the book everybody suffers a brief [[Idiot Plot]] moment, forgetting that it's impossible for him to return to Earth, so that he can decide he really doesn't want to return to Earth after all.
* Aly in [[Tamora Pierce]]'s ''[[Tortall Universe|Daughter of the Lioness]]'' duology pulls a twofer: literally, by remaining in the Copper Isles instead of returning to Tortall, and figuratively, by becoming a Spymaster instead of a field agent as she originally desired.
* [[
* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''Freedom's Landing'', Zainal, a Catteni military officer mistakenly sent to the slave colony world, Botany (named by the humans placed there.) rebuffs several attempts by the slavemasters to take him back home. The first out of spite: he knows the dockmaster responsible for his being there will be punished for it, if he stays long enough for the right people to notice his absence. Later on, it's because he's come to respect the humans who've managed to carve out a place for themselves (one female in particular) and wanted to stay and help them. We find out in a later book that {{spoiler|Zainal is also a high-ranking member of his homeworld's [[La Résistance]] AND due to be the next vessel for one of the body-snatching [[Evil Overlord
** This also applies to most of the humans placed on Botany. "I dropped, I stay!" becomes something of a slogan/rallying cry.
* In the [[
** Except for the fact she's a child and wouldn't think of it at first, why in the world didn't she do that from the getgo? "Hey, guys, let me just pick up my folks and then I'll be back to rule with y'all."
*** Because Auntie Em and Uncle Henry were proud farmers. It wasn't until the farm completely and utterly went under that she even considered it; and even then she was one of those "modest" heroines who didn't even consider that the Ozians wanted her and her family to stay.
*** To be frank, as early as the third book (''Ozma of Oz'', which is the second book where she is the protagonist) she’s not as anxious to leave as she is in the first, only leaving for the sake of her family. And after Ozma confiscates the Nome King's magic belt, she can call for Dorothy whenever she is needed and return her to Kansas at any time. In the sixth book, their farm is being foreclosed, and they have nothing to look forward to except World War I and the Great Depression, while in Oz, Dorthy is a national hero with [[100% Adoration Rating]], is honorary royalty, and is - possibly - dating Ozma, so there’s very little reason for them not to stay at that point.
* In Michael Crichton's novel ''Timeline'', historian André Marek decides at the last minute to remain in Medieval France. In the film adaptation, this leads to his companions realizing that a grave they discovered at the beginning of the film, in the present, was his.
** In the book they sought it out after they got back and knew to look for it, just to get some idea how he fared.
* Subverted in Beth Hilgartner's ''Colors in the Dreamweaver's Loom''; the heroine [[Trapped in Another World|stranded in a fantasy world]] has grown to prefer it to her own...but a malicious trickster goddess grants her the "favor" of sending her home anyway. (For an extra dose of irony, she ends up at the airport [[Exact Words|she had earlier claimed was the only home she'd ever known]].)
* At the end of ''The People That Time Forgot'' by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]], Tom Billings, having rescued the people that he came there to save, elects to stay in the [[Lost World]] of Caspak with his newfound love Ajor.
* In the first book of [[Gordon R. Dickson]]'s [[The Dragon Knight|Dragon Knight]] series, ''The Dragon and the George'', the main character Jim decides to stay in the magical medieval world in which he and his girlfriend have landed. Their modern life really wasn't all that great.
** And if you're thinking about the technological, medical, and social drawbacks that the medieval world would present to a modern couple? [[Shown Their Work|Don't worry, so was the author.]] It helps that Jim becomes both a magician and a baron as a result of his adventures in the first book, and that he and his wife were already medieval scholars.
* Paul in ''[[The Fionavar Tapestry]]'' chooses to stay in Fionavar at the end of ''The Darkest Road''.
* Kinda sorta happens, though not explicitly, in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia|The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]'', where the Pevensies spend 15 years ruling Narnia and grow to adulthood, and their return to our world is not really intentional. (Because of [[Year Inside, Hour Outside]], not only do the Pevensies return barely after they left, they're de-aged back to children.)
** But then, {{spoiler|''The Last Battle'' has everyone (except Susan) return to live forever in New Narnia, thanks to them all dying in a railroad accident in their own world. Jill and Eustace also request to stay in ''The Silver Chair'', though Aslan denies it at that point in time.}}
* In ''Wizard's Bane'', the first part of [[Rick Cook]]'s ''[[Wiz Biz]]'', the titular character is abducted to a fantasy world by a summoning spell, [[Saving the World|saves the world]], is then given the opportunity to return home and turns it down. (Unsurprisingly, since he would have to give up both his love interest and awesome magical powers.)
* Practically the same story in ''[[
* In ''[[Chrestomanci|Charmed Life]]'' by [[Diana Wynne Jones]], alternate worlds come in sets of nine and there's usually a version of the same person in each world of the set. Gwendolyn moves to a different world and thereby forces all her alternate selves to shift worlds too. They all find that their new circumstances suit them better than the old ones, and turn down a chance to go back.
* In [[Neverwhere]] by Neil Gaiman, the hero spends the book going to considerable lengths to get the key to go home, and once back home, decides he was better in London Below. Go figure.
* In ''[[Stardust (
* This is a consistent plot point in Robin D. Owens' ''The Summoning'' series, where any native of Earth summoned to Amee must eventually face the
* ''[[Here There Be Tygers]]'' by R. Bradbury involves a [[Genius Loci|benevolent sentient planet]] and a team of prospectors encharmed by it. They all consider staying and one of them does.
* At the end of the young adult novel "The Ballad of Lucy Whipple" (set in Gold Rush-era California), the titular heroine, having spent the entire book whining about how much she hates California, decides to stay there, even after being given a chance to return to her New England home.
* Raymond Rambert in ''[[The Plague (
* In the [[Tear Jerker|Bittersweet]] story "Laura and the Silver Wolf", the [[Ill Girl]] Laura fullfills her Quest in Iceland, after which she is pulled into the real world and even feels better than before. The she Decides to go back to Iceland and stay there. This counts as [[Too Dumb to Live]] [[Fridge Brilliance|until You understand]] that {{spoiler|She doesn't actually have much choice. The fact that she is [[Hollywood Healing|suddenly 100% healthy]] and not stopped by a nurse can only mean that she is not actually in the real world. This is likely a way for her to choose her Afterlife and she chooses [[Died Happily Ever After|the happier variant]] Assuming of course this isn't just a [[Dying Dream]].}}
* Eileen/Merope in [[Blackout|Blackout/AllClear]] by [[Connie Willis]] stays behind in 1941 while the rest of the team return to the future. She had previously promised to ''never leave'' the children for whom she became a [[Parental Substitute]], and she keeps her word. It's implied she becomes an ancestor of Colin Templar, despite being born less than ten years before him.
* In one ''[[
* In [[Rick Cook]]'s ''[[
* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''[[
* In ''[[Summer Celebration]]'', the Doctor, after having given birth to Mr. Katan’s wife, chose to stay in the settlement where he and Tsiva live.
* [[Lost in Austen]]{{context}}▼
▲== Live Action TV ==
* The most prominent example probably comes from the ''[[
▲* [[Lost in Austen]]
** <s>Until ''[[
▲* The most prominent example probably comes from the ''[[Mash (TV)|M*A*S*H]]'' series finale, where Max Klinger, after spending the entire series trying to get discharged from the Army to return home from Korea, elects to stay with his new bride.
*** In said finale, Klinger wasn't staying to stay in Korea forever. He was staying so that he and his war bride Soon-Lee ([[Retroactive Recognition|''Star Trek'' alum]] [[Rosalind Chao]]) could find her family, if they were even still alive. They found them living in, no surprise, deplorable conditions, helped them out a bit, and when they came to the US, sent money back and tried to arrange for immigration status. The shock came not from Klinger moving to Korea for good. It came from him not bolting back to Toledo the instant the war ended.▼
▲** <s>Until ''[[After MASH (TV)|After MASH]]''.</s> [[Canon Dis Continuity|Thankfully, no spinoff came along and ruined that.]]
▲*** In said finale, Klinger wasn't staying to stay in Korea forever. He was staying so that he and his war bride Soon-Lee (Star Trek alum Rosalind Chao) could find her family, if they were even still alive. They found them living in, no surprise, deplorable conditions, helped them out a bit, and when they came to the US, sent money back and tried to arrange for immigration status. The shock came not from Klinger moving to Korea for good. It came from him not bolting back to Toledo the instant the war ended.
** In "The Late Captain Pierce", Hawkeye gets an opportunity to leave when the Army declares him officially dead...and nearly does so, but at the last minute changes his mind. (Although, to be fair, this is depicted as owing to Hawkeye's sense of duty as a physician rather than any newly-discovered affection for his surroundings.)
*** And the fact that the army would have charged him with desertion, once they got their paperwork straightened out, had nothing to do with it.
* In a rather excellent episode of ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' named "Carbon Creek", a group of Vulcans get trapped on Earth in the 1950's, specifically in a Pennsylvania mining town. While the other two Vulcans cannot wait to get off this primitive and backward rock, the third Vulcan becomes enamored of the planet, developing a fondness for baseball, ''[[I Love Lucy]]'', and even getting something of a human girlfriend. Of course, by the time the Vulcans send a ship to retrieve them, he claims this trope.
* Another example being played very straight: ''[[Neverwhere]]'', where after getting his life back in London Above, Richard decides to go back to London Below. To be fair, there's a certain amount of ambiguity as to whether Richard really went back or just totally lost it.
* [[Jonas Quinn]] from ''[[Stargate SG
* In ''[[
** Mickey Smith in "The Age of Steel". [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that in the alternate reality Mickey he replaced wasn't an aimless loser, and his beloved Gran was still alive. He had a lot more to live for there than in normal reality.
** Vicki (ancient Troy in ''The Myth Makers'')
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** Leela (Gallifrey in ''The Invasion of Time'')
** Romana (E-Space in ''Warriors' Gate'' Though this is her official departure on-screen, it is well-chronicled in the [[Expanded Universe]] that she eventually comes back and becomes Lady President of Gallifrey.)
** Nyssa (Terminus in ''Terminus'', although
** Mel (Iceworld in ''Dragonfire'')
* Lots of characters on ''[[
** In the [[Grand Finale]], {{spoiler|Jack, Hurley, and Ben choose to stay behind to save the Island from the Man in Black's [[Evil Plan]]. Jack [[Heroic Sacrifice|dies heroically]] and Hurley and Ben choose to stay behind and take up his charge as the caretakers of the Island. And then in the "flash-sideways" afterlife, everyone decides to [[Ascend to
* In the final episode of ''[[Life On Mars]]'', {{spoiler|Sam finally gets back to 2006 - but finds himself bored and unsatisfied there, so returns to rescue his friends in 1973. By jumping off a building and killing himself.}}
* In ''[[The Invisible Man (TV series)|The Invisible Man]]'', after Darien has the Quicksilver gland implanted in his brain, he's forced to work for the Agency because the gland has the inconvenient side effect of causing insanity and eventual death, and they have the only antidote, which needs to be administered regularly. He spends two seasons trying to find a way to either have the gland removed (which they can't do without killing him) or fix the (deliberate) design flaw. Then, in the series finale, {{spoiler|the gland is fixed and he doesn't need the antidote anymore, so he leaves to work for the FBI. Then he realizes the FBI are woefully inadequate at dealing with the unbelievable threats he's accustomed to, so he agrees to come back to the Agency and [[Ho Yay|his partner]] at the end, albeit with some demands.}}
* Subverted in one episode of ''[[Honey I Shrunk the Kids (TV series)|Honey I Shrunk the Kids]]'': The TV Series. Amy develops a boyfriend after she time travels into the '60s. However her time watch has a fail safe that'll activate and transport her home after a given time. After a bit of this, Amy decides to stay in the past permanently, sending her watch back in the process. However we find out that the fail-safe was due to the fact that anyone who stayed in the past for too long would be frozen and combust (sorta the timeline's own failsafe). Wanye is force to go back into the past and retrieve her before that happens.
== Machinima ==▼
* Dutchmiller makes this choice at the end of ''The Strangerhood'' to stay with Catherine and raise their child.
{{quote|
Catherine: Oh Dutch, do you really mean that?
Dutchmiller: Are we still in danger of being burned alive?
Catherine: No.
Dutchmiller: Then absolutely. }}
==
* [[Dr. Steel]], "Land of the Lost":
{{quote|
In the Land of the Lost I rock
And I’m never going back, never going back
Cause now I rock in the Land of the Lost }}
==
* In ''[[Brigadoon]]'', it is explained that people from the outside world are ''not'' trapped in Brigadoon, unlike its inhabitants. But if they really desire to live there forever, [[The Power of Love]] will let them stay. And so Tommy ultimately decides to go back to Scotland rather than settling down with his [[Disposable Fiance|Disposable Fiancée]].
==
* Fatal Frame 1 in an ending her brother realizing that the only thing keeping hell on earth from being reality is a ghost woman whose bound to use her body as a lock for all eternity chooses to stay with her for both her sake and to keep her bipolar evil side from threatening the mansion anymore.
* Happens to the main character at the end of ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|Pokemon Mystery Dungeon]]''. {{spoiler|S/he is literally able to keep from returning to the human world just by ''wishing'' hard enough.}}
* In ''[[
* After the events of ''[[The Longest Journey]]'', April Ryan has developed the ability to shift between Stark (her home) and Arcadia at will. But she becomes so embroiled in a war in Arcadia that she never returns to Stark and eventually loses the ability to. She is still there, with no regrets, in the sequel ''Dreamfall''.
* The suboptimal good ending of [[Neverwinter Nights 2]] Mask of the Betrayer has the player forced to stay in the city of the dead to stop the spirit eater curse from passing on. Your [[Love Interest]] will stay too ([[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|which leads to a really very heartwarming moment if the character is female and completed the romance with Gann]]).
* Ninian in ''[[
* ''[[
* Happens in ''spades'' in ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Advance''. Both protagonists Axel Almer or Lamia Loveless infiltrated the enemy group, one that supports peace instead of [[War for Fun
* The narrator of the Saladin campaign in [[
* Thomas of ''[[Suikoden III]]'' was kind of forced to become the master of a castle. But when he finds out he can no longer stay at the castle, he decides to stay despite the consequences.
* {{spoiler|Saber in UBW Good End and Rider in HF True End}} in [[Fate/stay
** ''[[Tsukihime]]'' does this as well with Ciel. Despite the implication or perhaps statement that she was going to leave/already ''had'' left in the closest-to-canon ending, she's still around in Kagetsu Tohya. Apparently, she has to go stamp out the evil Dead roaming around. You know, the ones that are completely mindless mooks and barely a threat to muggles when the Church doesn't care about them anyway. Apparently it just wouldn't be safe unless she stayed for at least a full year after Roa is gone. *Cough*
* Inverted in ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', in that {{spoiler|Tidus}} would choose to stay but (depending on how you take the sequel) must leave {{spoiler|along with the rest of the aeons}}.
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* {{spoiler|Kyouko and Kouin}} in ''[[Eien no Aselia]]'' choose to stay at the end, though Kaori decides to go home {{spoiler|without her brother, who is neither staying or returning, exactly.}}
* In chapter 1 of ''[[Dragon Age 2]]'', Ferelden is being rebuilt after the end of the Blight, and Aveline and Fenris both wonder whether Hawke might return home instead of staying on in Kirkwall.
* {{spoiler|Tezkhra}} in ''[[
* [[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]: in the end, the Hero of [[Fan Nickname|the Goddess/Hylia/Legend/Rebirth/the Master Sword]] and the Zelda [[Eternal Recurrence|of that era]] decide to stay on the surface rather than returning to [[Floating Continent|Skyloft]]. It's a [[Foregone Conclusion]], considering [[Prequel|this game's place on the timeline]].
* {{spoiler|Rika}} in ''[[Phantasy Star IV]]'' chooses to stay with {{spoiler|Chaz}} at the end of the game, and is warned that life will be painful and difficult but that {{spoiler|she}} is their hope. Ultimately, that is because {{spoiler|she was created to give humanity a chance to survive through her genetically-enhanced bloodline, in anticipation of the remaining climate control systems from the Mother Brain-era failing. In effect, Rika and Chaz are part of an [[Adam and Eve Plot]], sort of.}}
==
* [[Word of God]] says that the ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' [[Story Arc]] "Aylee" was originally supposed to end with Aylee choosing to remain behind in the [[Another Dimension|alternate dimension]]. But when the time actually came to do it, the author realized that the decision just wouldn't have fit Aylee's character, so he had her return home with Torg instead.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* "[[How It Should Have Ended
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
▲* "[[How It Should Have Ended (Web Animation)|How Thor Should Have Ended]]" has Thor decide to stay on Midgard with [[Hot Scientist|Jane Foster]] instead of go back to Asgard and fight Loki.
* In ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force
▲== Western Animation ==
▲* The pilot of ''[[Captain N the Game Master]]''
▲* In ''[[Ben 10 Alien Force (Animation)|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'', {{spoiler|Grandpa Max}} chooses to stay in the Null Void and help the inhabitants recover from the depredations of D'Void {{spoiler|aka Dr. Animo}}.
** In ''Ultimate Alien'', {{spoiler|Charmcaster}} stays behind in her home dimension, sealed off from the outside world forever, in hopes of finally freeing it from it's evil ruler.
* In the "Den" story in ''[[Heavy Metal (
* In an episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow are abducted into the future to team up with the [[Legion of Super-Heroes]]. Supergirl elects to stay in the future afterward, thus pulling a [[Prophecy Twist]], since the Legion's records said she disappeared from the present, which they had previously interpreted to mean she'd die.
* At the end of ''[[Lilo
* In the last episode of ''[[Blackstar]],'' a rescue ship from Earth (piloted by Blackstar's beautiful girlfriend, no less) navigates the black hole, finds John Blackstar on Sagar, and offers to take him home. He very nearly takes her up on it, but he finally decides that he's too important to the natives' rebellion against the Overlord, and he chooses to stay. The last scene is her returning to Earth, and sending a message ahead that she wants to come back with proper military forces to help John defeat the Overlord.
* In the 2-part series premiere of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is
== Real Life ==▼
▲== [[Real Life]] ==
* As described in ''An Anthropologist On Mars'', a painter received a concussion from a car accident. Afterwards, he was unable to see in colors, and couldn't read written words. Though he recovered his ability to read, he remained completely colorblind. Not only that, but he was unable to remember color; he knew what colors things originally were, but he could not see them in his mind. The whole world resembled a "dirty" ashen world to him, and he fell into a depression for a while. After a year or two, though, he saw his vision as being "more refined" than "normal" vision. When a suggestion was made at this time about a surgery that could possibly restore his color vision, he turned it down, preferring to stay in the world he had grown used to rather than to readjust to the old world.
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[[Category:Ending Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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