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The Anti-Nihilist (view source)

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{{examples}}
 
== Anime &and Manga ==
 
* The main conflicts in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' have shades of this, with the [[Hot-Blooded]] protagonists representing this trope while their opponents appear to be [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]s {{spoiler|[[Well-Intentioned Extremist|there's more to them than that]], but they're still ''very'' depressed people}}.
* [[Crazy Awesome|Jack Rakan]] from ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''.
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* In ''[[Madlax]]'', the eponymous heroine is a gun-for-hire in a civil war-torn country, yet this only makes her more appreciative of life and its small everyday joys; e.g. she visits her client and target ([[Suicide by Cop|same person]]) on the night before his assassination to comfort him. In the end, it is she (or {{spoiler|the part of Margaret corresponding to her}}) who defeats the [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] of a [[Big Bad]].
* Elmer C. Albatross of ''[[Baccano!]]'' has pretty much this exact outlook. The guy had a horrible childhood and as a result adopted this sort of unsettling [[Stepford Smiler]] personality and obsession with happiness. Basically, he feels the world sucks so much that it's important to be happy.
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''s Shinji Ikari grows into this trope at the end of [[The Movie|''End Ofof Evangelion'']]. With all the hell he's put through, and with the [[Mind Rape|horrifying]] [[EndoftheThe End of the World Asas We Know It|End of the World as We Know It]], it would make sense that he would jump into the [[Despair Event Horizon]] and become an [[Omnicidal Maniac|omni]] [[SuicidalNietzsche Cosmic Temper Tantrum|cidalWannabe]] with a [[NietzscheSuicidal WannabeCosmic Temper Tantrum]], especially when {{spoiler|Rei gives him control over the fate of humanity}}. Nevertheless, he {{spoiler|lets the [[Assimilation Plot]] fail, and}} chooses to live life as an individual. Based on how you interpret it, ''Evangelion'' itself is loaded with Existentialist themes, like Jean-Paul Sartre's "[[Hell Is Other People]]" (in ''Eva'', the so-called Absolute Terror Field surrounding all souls), but at the same time affirms that being alive and suffering are parts of life and that happiness can be achieved.
** Kaji also has very strong traits of it. He knows more about what's going on than almost anyone else, yet he's the only character who appears genuinely happy. During one very close battle against an angel that appears to be the final moments before the end of the world, he is watering the melon patch he is growing, with the battle being visible in the distance. If the world does not end on that day, then the melons need to be watered. If it does, then it won't matter what he is doing in the final moments anyway. Either way, he can't do anything to change what's going to happen in the next ten minutes.
* The character Panaru in episode three of ''[[Boogiepop Phantom]]'' is respected for having this philosophy and teaching it to others.
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== Comic Books ==
 
* He's slightly different from the example, but [[Watchmen (comics)|Rorschach]] has a similar philosophy. Instead of abandoning rules and discipline due to a nihilistic outlook he decides his rules and principles are all the more important in a world that has no more meaning than the one we impose on it.
** Rorschach is arguably more of an [[Ubermensch]], considering his largely misanthropic view of life. It's shown that he does care about what few friends he has in the world, though.
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