Too Happy to Live: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Hey, you know what else I love? Living! I love living! I hope to do a lot of living while I'm still alive. I'm just so lively. Wouldn't it be a great tragic irony if I was to ''not'' be living? God, I love being alive. ''Alive!''"''|'''[[That Guy With The Glasses|Nostalgia Critic]]''' on Hiller's ([[Will Smith]]) best friend in ''[[Independence Day]]''}}

 

 

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 [[Refusal of the Call|don't usually go out of their way]] to answer the [[Call to Adventure]], making their involvement in a story very difficult. The solution writers [[Enforced Trope|most often employ]] is to [[Doomed Hometown|kill the happy characters]].

Closely related to the [[Rule of Drama]]. See also [[Too Good for This Sinful Earth]].

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

** In ''[[End of Evangelion]]'', {{spoiler|Asuka}} spends [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|a good 10 minutes fighting off the MP-Evas, after finding a reason to live]] (her mother is with her and she loves her) only to have them {{spoiler|get back up and kill her}}.

* In ''[[Saikano]]'', you know that whenever a secondary character is having a happy moment, joking and/or laughing as a break of the horrors of war, they are about to be killed in a short moment by an enemy bombing or attack.

 

== Comic Books ==

* In ''[[The Ultimates]]'', Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are [[Brother-Sister Incest|a couple]], but how happy they are about it is the portent of tragedy.

* Though nobody dies, this is just one of many reasons why ''[[Spider-Man]]'' fans hate ''[[One More Day]]''. Peter and Mary Jane have been [[Happily Married]] for about twenty years ([[Comic Book Time|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.)

* 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? Starting wearing a [[The Punisher|black shirt with a white skull]] printed on it, [[More Dakka|get as many guns as you can carry]], go [[Axe Crazy|completely nuts]] and [[Kill'Em All|kill everyone]] [[Judge, Jury, and Executioner|you believe might]] be even [[Disproportionate Retribution|vaguely criminal]].

* The [[Incredible Hulk]] is not the Hulk unless he's upset. Therefore it's kind of a [[Foregone Conclusion]] that any happy relationship he is currently in will end poorly at some point in the near future.

* Most [[Death by Origin Story|Deaths by Origin Story]] are this way. From [[Spider-Man|Ben Parker]] and [[Batman|Thomas & Martha Wayne]] to [[The Boys|Wee Hughie's girlfriend-turned-fiance]], it seems the greatest tragedies come from the greatest happiness.

 

== Film ==

 

== Literature ==

* [[Ernest Hemingway]] has the main couple of ''A Farewell To Arms'' quite happy, having escaped the Italian manhunt to Switzerland. While there's a level of self-destruction going on - they're living entirely on credit - the characters don't seem particularly bothered. Cue [[Death by Childbirth]].

* [[Roger Ebert]] referenced this trope in his book ''The Little Book Of Hollywood Cliches.'' In his list of the "top movie characters likely to die," he says:

{{quote|''The person who says "I've never been happier than I am now" is not going to live to see the end credits.}}

* [[Danielle Steel]] often starts her book with an ad nauseam description of how perfect the protagonist's life is. Which is often a good sign that it's all going to fall apart very soon.

 

* Marian from ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' joyfully, fiercely, blissfully shouts: "I love Robin Hood! I'm going to marry Robin Hood!" A second later {{spoiler|she's impaled on a giant sword and dies}}.

{{quote|'''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."

'''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] }}

** Equally, [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Giles and Jenny Calendar]].

** [[Angel|Wesley and Fred, too]]. While singing "You are my sunshine", no less.

** [[Running Gag|Xander and Anya]].

** [[Running Gag|Buffy and Angel.]] Relatively speaking, Buffy / Riley and Willow / Oz got off pretty easy.

{{quote|'''Jack''': Too many of them... I knew I'd get hit on this job. I was too happy... too happy with you.}}

* ''[[Mother 3]]'' 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. [[Tear Jerker|It's all downhill from there]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Happiness Tropes]]

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Rule of Drama]]

[[Category:Depressing Tropes]]