History Main / EarnYourHappyEnding

* Canadian [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_O%27Dea Brian O'Dea]] was a cannabis smuggler who imported over $300 million worth of dope into the United States. Unfortunately, he also developed a cocaine habit so bad it gave him a heart attack and was finally busted and jailed by U.S. authorities in 1990. When he was paroled in 1993, he looked for a job by running a series of newspaper ads offering his services as a business manager and [[RefugeInAudacity citing the success he had in building his canabis empire as proof of his skills.]] O'Dea received hundreds of legitimate job offers from his ad, and later became a venture capitalist, TV and film producer and public speaker warning people about the dangers of drug use. Starting in 2012, he even went back to dealing cannabis, albeit legally in Canada and various U.S. states that legalized it.

Going by the memes, if a CrapsackWorld is Grimdark and a world where RousseauWasRight is Noblebright, then a story where this happens might be called [[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Noblebright#8chan_Explanation_of_the_Grim.2FNoble_and_Dark.2FBright_Spectrum_.28by_anons.29 "Nobledark"]] - it's a world where there is a lot of ugliness and pain, but victory is absolutely possible and things can change for the better if you only put the effort in.

** "Literature/TheSnowQueen", another Andersen fairy-tale, features a mroe conventional example of this trope, with its young protagonist having to travel till the end of the world to rescue her best friend. After a lot of difficulties and many false turns, she succeeds, and they both return safely to home.

* A rare double example in "Literature/TheGoldMountain", where the nameless hero must first win a princess and a kingdom by enduring multiple beatings and death without once trying to flee, beg, or defend himself; then, after losing his family and kingdom, he must quest to get them ''back.''

* In Creator/FranzXaverVonSchonwerth's "Literature/KingGoldenlocks", the titular character is condemned to death by his own father, flees his country after faking his demise, and becomes a gardener. By the end, his father is dead, his deeds have been acknowledged, and he rules over two countries.

* Odysseus ''embodies'' this trope so much you could rename it ''Literature/TheOdyssey''. After surviving the bloody Trojan War, Poseidon develops a grudge against him, he suffers numerous misfortunes, near-death experiences, and a trip to the Underworld, eventually loses all of his friends and crew and is left to drift on the sea for months, is made a sex-slave for a few years, has been gone for two decades by the time he finally comes home, and finds that his wife is being forced to pick a suitor, so he and his son have to slaughter them all. ''And'' his dog died the minute he caught sight of him.

** Hero versions include "Literature/TheBlueMountains", "[[http://mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/106.htm The Three Princesses of Whiteland]]", "[[https://archive.org/details/herotaleslegends00petr/page/n339/mode/2up?view=theater The Golden Apple Tree and the Nine Peahens]]", Creator/HermanHofberg's "[[https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/s-z/swan-maidens/stories/sweden.html The Swan Maiden]]", and "Literature/SoriaMoriaCastle".

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9 The Jakarta Incident,]] AKA the flight of British Airways Flight 9. Imagine, if you will, being the pilot of a 747 when, about an hour into the flight, ghostly lights begin flickering on your windshield that look like the hyperspace effect from ''Franchise/StarWars''. Before you realize what's happening, smoke fills the cabin and the engines on your aircraft begin flaming violently, before cutting out, one... by... one. Now you're piloting a giant glider over the open ocean, in the dead of night, without power, instruments, a barely functioning radio, and a rapidly depressurizing cabin. The only thing you can do is try again and again to restart the engines- to no success, time and time again. As you turn around to make an emergency landing, you realize that, oh yeah, there's a bunch of mountains between you and the runway. All hope is lost, right? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpuxqBp-CXw Well... Let's just say the crew's medals of honor were well-deserved.]]

** Heroine versions include "[[http://mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/290.htm The Black Bull of Norroway]]", "[[http://mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/112.htm Pig]]", "[[http://mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/175.htm The Brown Bear of Norway]]", "[[http://mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/206.htm The White Wolf]]", [[Creator/TheBrothersGrimm Grimms']] "[[https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm088.html The Singing, Springing Lark]]", and "Literature/EastOfTheSunAndWestOfTheMoon".

* A rare double example in "Literature/TheGoldMountain" where the nameless hero must first win a princess and a kingdom by enduring multiple beatings and death without once trying to flee, beg, or defend himself; then, after losing his family and kingdom, he must quest to get them ''back.''

There may be some overlap with BittersweetEnding or SurprisinglyHappyEnding. Compare EarnYourBadEnding (the game-exclusive polar opposite), HappilyEverAfter (a SuperTrope to this) and ThrowTheDogABone.

[[folder:Folklore and Fairy Tales]]
* A rare double example in ''Literature/TheGoldMountain'' where the nameless hero must first win a princess and a kingdom by enduring multiple beatings and death without once trying to flee, beg, or defend himself; then, after losing his family and kingdom, he must quest to get them ''back.''
* ''Literature/TheGooseGirl'' involves a fair bit of struggle to get to HappilyEverAfter, when the princess is robbed and impersonated by her maid, and employed as a servant.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

[[folder:Pinball]]
* Take almost any pinball table that requires you to complete several "missions" to unlock a final, very difficult WizardMode - you'll probably have to go through this trope to win it all. This is especially so when you only have three balls to work with, losing a ball would also force you to start a mission over, and it can be pretty darn easy to accidentally drop the ball into those [[SymbolSwearing @#$%-ing]] ''outlanes'' if you don't know how to tilt the ball back into the field from there. Some missions [[ThatOneLevel might be really tough]] just because you can't easily pull off a tricky shot or hit a particular target.
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The basic idea of this trope is that a cast of characters in a story go through a lot more hardship, anguish and grief than is really necessary. ''(Especially'' {{war|Is Hell}}.) In the end, however, you see them get their happily-ever-after. Though humans may act [[HumansAreBastards bad]] and the world may seem like it's a {{crapsack|World}}, that doesn't mean that people can't have a good ending, or that things can't be improved with hard work or even ThePowerOfLove.

There may be some overlap with BittersweetEnding or SurprisinglyHappyEnding. Compare EarnYourBadEnding, the game-exclusive polar opposite, and HappilyEverAfter, a SuperTrope to this.

The basic idea of this trope is that a cast of characters in a story go through a lot more hardship, anguish and grief than is really necessary. ''(Especially'' {{war|Is Hell}}.) In the end, however, you see them get their happily-ever-after. Though humans may act [[HumansAreBastards bad]] and the world may seem like it's a {{crapsack|World}}, that doesn't mean that the worst villain is beyond [[HeelFaceTurn redemption]], or that things can't be improved with hard work or even ThePowerOfLove.

* EarnYourHappyEnding/FanFic

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* The Book of Job is possibly the TropeCodifier: a kind and righteous man [[TheWoobie has his entire life ruined, including his family killed off]]. Luckily, it turns out to be a SecretTestOfCharacter (which he passes) and gets everything back (including his family being brought BackFromTheDead.)

* Odysseus ''embodies'' this trope so much you could rename it ''Literature/TheOdyssey''. After surviving the bloody Trojan War, Poseidon develops a grudge on him, he suffers numerous misfortunes, near-death experiences, and a trip to the Underworld, eventually loses all of his friends and crew and is left to drift on the sea for months, is made a sex-slave for a few years, has been gone for two decades by the time he finally comes home, and finds that his wife is being forced to pick a suitor, so he and his son have to slaughter them all. ''And'' his dog died the minute he caught sight of him.

** Cooper gets a job at a shipping company thanks to his connection to Darryl, no longer has to deal with customers, and makes twice as much as he ever did at Grumbel's...

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* After twenty years of rivalling ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'s'' Charlie Brown as newspaper's biggest ButtMonkey, ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty's'' Opus finds paradise [[spoiler:falling into the pages of his copy of ''Literature/GoodnightMoon.'']] Even [[{{Jerkass}} Steve Dallas]] is touched. Too bad it was [[HappyEndingOverride overrided]] by ''Bloom County 2015'' revealing it was AllJustADream.

** Cooper gets a job at a shipping company thanks to his connection to Darryl, no longer has to deal with customers, and it makes twice as much as his job at Grumbel's ever did...
** ... which allows his wife Val to finally quit working and devote herself to her writing career full time.

* A rare double example in ''Literature/TheGoldMountain'' where the nameless hero must first win a princess and a kingdom by enduring multiple beatings and death without once trying to flee, beg or defend himself, then after losing his family and kingdom, must quest to get them ''back.''

* The tale of [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Cupid and Psyche]]. [[ForbiddenFruit Her own temptation isolated her from the one she loved.]] [[ToHellAndBack She went through hell for him]]--quite literally--and had to stand up to [[EvilMatriarch her mother-in-law]], all while pregnant with his child, but in the end Cupid forgives her and rescues her, and marries her. [[BabiesEverAfter And their daughter's name?]] Delight.

* Actors can end up with a version of this if they take a role they come to hate (due to working with someone they can't stand, having to wear a really uncomfortable costume or do something else really unpleasant every day for months.) Considering they usually get paid millions once their work is done, most of them probably consider it worth it.
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The basic idea of this trope is that a cast of characters in a story go through a lot more hardship, anguish and grief than is really necessary. In the end, however, you see them get their happily-ever-after. Though humans may act [[HumansAreBastards bad]] and the world may seem like it's a {{crapsack|World}}, that doesn't mean that the worst villain is beyond [[HeelFaceTurn redemption]], or that things can't be improved with hard work or even ThePowerOfLove.

Not to be confused with the GoldenEnding in video games, where players actually have to [[VideoGameRewards earn]] their happy ending. It is possible for both tropes to be in play at the same time, however. This trope is a specific example of positive LaserGuidedKarma.

There may be some overlap with BittersweetEnding or SurprisinglyHappyEnding. Compare EarnYourBadEnding, the game-exclusive polar opposite, and HappilyEverAfter, a SuperTrope to this.