View source for The Good Guys Always Win

{{Useful Notes}}
[[File:Uten navn6 8895.jpg|link=Brawl in the Family|frame]]

''If a story has [[Heroes|a hero]] who fights [[Villains|a villain]], then the hero will win in the end. Always.''

Sure, there might be stumbles along the way. It may take a [[Hero's Journey]] or two to [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]. Evil might [[Evil Always Triumphs in The Middle|score a few victories first]], and maybe even [[Eucatastrophe|almost win]] in the [[Darkest Hour]] before Good can [[Big Damn Heroes|save the day at the last minute]]. In the end, however, there's never any doubt that the forces of good will prevail. Even in video games that allow you to play as the bad guys, the minute the sequel comes out, [[Cutting Off the Branches|expect it to make the "good" ending the only canon one.]]

It doesn't matter how big the [[Big Bad]] is or how puny [[The Hero]] is — not only ''can'' the [[Kid Hero]] foil the [[Galactic Conqueror]], despite how improbable it logically ought to be, but the audience ''expects'' it, and will be sincerely shocked if he doesn't.

This trope is so [[Omnipresent Tropes|omnipresent]], especially in works with [[Black and White Morality]], that attempts to [[Subverted Trope|subvert it]] can easily lead to [[Like You Would Really Do It]], and any work with a [[Downer Ending]] where [[The Bad Guy Wins]] automatically catapults itself to the cynical end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism]].

Side effects of this trope may include [[Plot Armor]], [[Invincible Incompetent]], and [[Underdogs Never Lose]]. Compare [[Happy Ending]] and [[Happily Ever After]], which are closely related, and [[Invincible Hero]], where not only does the good guy win in the end, but he also wins in every intermediate step. Contrast [[The Bad Guy Wins]]. The villainous counterpart to this trope is [[You Can't Thwart Stage One]]—the good guy's victories always come at the end, and the bad guy's victories always come in the middle.

{{noexamples|After all, [[Omnipresent Tropes|there is a reason for the "Always" in the trope name]]. ([[Seen It a Million Times|Plus, we'd be here forever]].)}}

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[[Category:Idealism Tropes]]
[[Category:Goodness Tropes]]
[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
[[Category:Ending Tropes]]
[[Category:Omnipresent Tropes]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Happy Ending]]
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