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* A truly heartbreaking example occurs in ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire''. Blanche [=DuBois=] has constructed an elaborate fantasy world for herself, in which she's a young, pretty, wealthy Southern belle. It's all to deny the harsh realities of her life--her first husband killed himself [[spoiler: after Blanche saw him having an affair with another man and essentially [[DrivenToSuicide unthinkingly revealed she knew the secret in the middle of a crowded dance hall, terrifying him]]]] when they were both extremely young, and as a result, she spends all of her days at home having sex with every young man who comes her way in a desperate bid to replace him. She flees to her sister Stella's home after losing the family estate and being driven out of town as a social pariah...only to encounter [[ManChild Stanley]] [[TheBrute Kowalski]], Stella's husband and a crude, simple man. Much of the show's conflict centers on Blanche's increasingly-panicked attempts to maintain her fantasy and Stanley, who represents the "real world," attacking her illusions. [[spoiler: After Stanley [[RapeAsDrama rapes her]], Blanche completely loses her mind and permanently retreats into her fantasy world, and Stella is forced to institutionalize her.]]
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* A truly heartbreaking example occurs in ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire''. Blanche [=DuBois=] has constructed an elaborate fantasy world for herself, in which she's a young, pretty, wealthy Southern belle. It's all to deny the harsh realities of her life--her first husband killed himself [[spoiler: after Blanche saw him having an affair with another man and essentially [[DrivenToSuicide unthinkingly revealed she knew the secret in the middle of a crowded dance hall, terrifying him]]]] when they were both extremely young, and as a result, she spends all of her days at home having sex with every young man who comes her way in a desperate bid to replace him. She flees to her sister Stella's home after losing the family estate and being driven out of town as a social pariah...only to encounter [[ManChild Stanley]] [[TheBrute Kowalski]], Stella's husband and a crude, simple man. Much of the show's conflict centers on Blanche's increasingly-panicked attempts to maintain her fantasy and Stanley, who represents the "real world," attacking her illusions. [[spoiler: After Stanley [[RapeAsDrama rapes her]], Blanche completely loses her mind and permanently retreats into her fantasy world, and Stella is forced to institutionalize her.]]
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** The episode "Symbiosis" has a variant with additional moral implications. The peoples of the neighboring planets Ornara and Brekka are in a [[TitleDrop symbiotic]] relationship with each other: Ornara is suffering from a deadly plague, and Brekka grows the only plants that can be used to make medicine called Felicium to cure it. As a result, Brekka has all of the power, and Ornara is willing to do and pay anything to avoid the crippling pain and suffering that comes from not taking the medicine. A suspicious Dr. Crusher notices that Felicium's effects look a lot more like drug-induced euphoria than actual healing, and her tests confirm that the supposed plague hasn't existed in ''decades''--the first batch of Felicium wiped it out, but the stuff is a powerful narcotic which hooked all of the Ornarans, leaving them desperate for more (the apparent continued symptoms of the plague are actually withdrawal from not taking continued dosages). The Brekkans eventually confess that they know the truth, but can't give up the sale of Felicium without destroying their economy. Crusher wants to reveal the whole story to the Ornarans, but Picard reminds her that the [[PrimeDirective]] won't allow them to interfere with interplanetary affairs. In the end, Picard [[TakeAThirdOption finds another option]] by [[ExactWords exploiting the Directive for himself]]--he explains that while they can't stop the Brekkans from selling the Felicium, they ''can'' refuse to give the Ornarans the parts they need to repair the freighters that transport the drugs as part of the same non-interference clause. Crusher remarks that both groups would have likely much preferred to stay in their illusory relationship with each other, and Picard adds that hopefully, once the withdrawal passes, both groups will be able to begin a new, healthier relationship.
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** The episode "Symbiosis" has a variant with additional moral implications. The peoples of the neighboring planets Ornara and Brekka are in a [[TitleDrop symbiotic]] relationship with each other: Ornara is suffering from a deadly plague, and Brekka grows the only plants that can be used to make medicine called Felicium to cure it. As a result, Brekka has all of the power, and Ornara is willing to do and pay anything to avoid the crippling pain and suffering that comes from not taking the medicine. A suspicious Dr. Crusher notices that Felicium's effects look a lot more like drug-induced euphoria than actual healing, and her tests confirm that the supposed plague hasn't existed in ''decades''--the first batch of Felicium wiped it out, but the stuff is a powerful narcotic which hooked all of the Ornarans, leaving them desperate for more (the apparent continued symptoms of the plague are actually withdrawal from not taking continued dosages). The Brekkans eventually confess that they know the truth, but can't give up the sale of Felicium without destroying their economy. Crusher wants to reveal the whole story to the Ornarans, Ornarans and synthesize a new medicine that will ease the withdrawal pains, but Picard reminds her that the [[PrimeDirective]] PrimeDirective won't allow them to interfere with interplanetary affairs. trade. In the end, Picard Jean-Luc [[TakeAThirdOption finds another option]] by [[ExactWords exploiting the Directive for himself]]--he explains that while they can't stop the Brekkans from selling the Felicium, they ''can'' refuse to give the Ornarans the parts they need to repair the freighters that transport the drugs as part of the same non-interference clause. Crusher remarks that both groups would have likely much preferred to stay in their illusory relationship with each other, and Picard adds that hopefully, once the withdrawal passes, both groups will be able to begin a new, healthier relationship.
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* Subverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, "Homeward." A group of relatively primitive people are tricked into thinking that they are still on their home planet-simply traveling to a new region-when in fact they are inside a holodeck, and are the only survivors of a cataclysm that destroyed their world, in transit to a new one. When one discovers the truth, he's offered a chance to remain on board the Enterprise. Instead, he commits suicide.
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* Subverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, "Homeward." A group of relatively primitive people are tricked into thinking that they are still on their home planet-simply planet--simply traveling to a new region-when region--when in fact they are inside a holodeck, and are the only survivors of a cataclysm that destroyed their world, in transit to a new one. When one discovers the truth, he's offered a chance to remain on board the Enterprise. Instead, he commits suicide.suicide.
** The episode "Symbiosis" has a variant with additional moral implications. The peoples of the neighboring planets Ornara and Brekka are in a [[TitleDrop symbiotic]] relationship with each other: Ornara is suffering from a deadly plague, and Brekka grows the only plants that can be used to make medicine called Felicium to cure it. As a result, Brekka has all of the power, and Ornara is willing to do and pay anything to avoid the crippling pain and suffering that comes from not taking the medicine. A suspicious Dr. Crusher notices that Felicium's effects look a lot more like drug-induced euphoria than actual healing, and her tests confirm that the supposed plague hasn't existed in ''decades''--the first batch of Felicium wiped it out, but the stuff is a powerful narcotic which hooked all of the Ornarans, leaving them desperate for more (the apparent continued symptoms of the plague are actually withdrawal from not taking continued dosages). The Brekkans eventually confess that they know the truth, but can't give up the sale of Felicium without destroying their economy. Crusher wants to reveal the whole story to the Ornarans, but Picard reminds her that the [[PrimeDirective]] won't allow them to interfere with interplanetary affairs. In the end, Picard [[TakeAThirdOption finds another option]] by [[ExactWords exploiting the Directive for himself]]--he explains that while they can't stop the Brekkans from selling the Felicium, they ''can'' refuse to give the Ornarans the parts they need to repair the freighters that transport the drugs as part of the same non-interference clause. Crusher remarks that both groups would have likely much preferred to stay in their illusory relationship with each other, and Picard adds that hopefully, once the withdrawal passes, both groups will be able to begin a new, healthier relationship.
** The episode "Symbiosis" has a variant with additional moral implications. The peoples of the neighboring planets Ornara and Brekka are in a [[TitleDrop symbiotic]] relationship with each other: Ornara is suffering from a deadly plague, and Brekka grows the only plants that can be used to make medicine called Felicium to cure it. As a result, Brekka has all of the power, and Ornara is willing to do and pay anything to avoid the crippling pain and suffering that comes from not taking the medicine. A suspicious Dr. Crusher notices that Felicium's effects look a lot more like drug-induced euphoria than actual healing, and her tests confirm that the supposed plague hasn't existed in ''decades''--the first batch of Felicium wiped it out, but the stuff is a powerful narcotic which hooked all of the Ornarans, leaving them desperate for more (the apparent continued symptoms of the plague are actually withdrawal from not taking continued dosages). The Brekkans eventually confess that they know the truth, but can't give up the sale of Felicium without destroying their economy. Crusher wants to reveal the whole story to the Ornarans, but Picard reminds her that the [[PrimeDirective]] won't allow them to interfere with interplanetary affairs. In the end, Picard [[TakeAThirdOption finds another option]] by [[ExactWords exploiting the Directive for himself]]--he explains that while they can't stop the Brekkans from selling the Felicium, they ''can'' refuse to give the Ornarans the parts they need to repair the freighters that transport the drugs as part of the same non-interference clause. Crusher remarks that both groups would have likely much preferred to stay in their illusory relationship with each other, and Picard adds that hopefully, once the withdrawal passes, both groups will be able to begin a new, healthier relationship.
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* A truly heartbreaking example occurs in ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire''. Blanche [=DuBois=] has constructed an elaborate fantasy world for herself, in which she's a young, pretty, wealthy Southern belle. It's all to deny the harsh realities of her life--her first husband killed himself [[spoiler: after Blanche saw him having an affair with another man and essentially [[DrivenToSuicide unthinkingly revealed she knew the secret in the middle of a crowded dance hall, terrifying him]] when they were both extremely young, and as a result, she spends all of her days at home having sex with every young man who comes her way in a desperate bid to replace him. She flees to her sister Stella's home after losing the family estate and being driven out of town as a social pariah...only to encounter [[ManChild Stanley]] [[TheBrute Kowalski]], Stella's husband and a crude, simple man. Much of the show's conflict centers on Blanche's increasingly-panicked attempts to maintain her fantasy and Stanley, who represents the "real world," attacking her illusions. [[spoiler: After Stanley [[RapeAsDrama rapes her]], Blanche completely loses her mind and permanently retreats into her fantasy world, and Stella is forced to institutionalize her.]]
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* A truly heartbreaking example occurs in ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire''. Blanche [=DuBois=] has constructed an elaborate fantasy world for herself, in which she's a young, pretty, wealthy Southern belle. It's all to deny the harsh realities of her life--her first husband killed himself [[spoiler: after Blanche saw him having an affair with another man and essentially [[DrivenToSuicide unthinkingly revealed she knew the secret in the middle of a crowded dance hall, terrifying him]] him]]]] when they were both extremely young, and as a result, she spends all of her days at home having sex with every young man who comes her way in a desperate bid to replace him. She flees to her sister Stella's home after losing the family estate and being driven out of town as a social pariah...only to encounter [[ManChild Stanley]] [[TheBrute Kowalski]], Stella's husband and a crude, simple man. Much of the show's conflict centers on Blanche's increasingly-panicked attempts to maintain her fantasy and Stanley, who represents the "real world," attacking her illusions. [[spoiler: After Stanley [[RapeAsDrama rapes her]], Blanche completely loses her mind and permanently retreats into her fantasy world, and Stella is forced to institutionalize her.]]
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* A truly heartbreaking example occurs in ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire''. Blanche [=DuBois=] has constructed an elaborate fantasy world for herself, in which she's a young, pretty, wealthy Southern belle. It's all to deny the harsh realities of her life--her first husband killed himself [[spoiler: after Blanche saw him having an affair with another man and essentially [[DrivenToSuicide unthinkingly revealed she knew the secret in the middle of a crowded dance hall, terrifying him]] when they were both extremely young, and as a result, she spends all of her days at home having sex with every young man who comes her way in a desperate bid to replace him. She flees to her sister Stella's home after losing the family estate and being driven out of town as a social pariah...only to encounter [[ManChild Stanley]] [[TheBrute Kowalski]], Stella's husband and a crude, simple man. Much of the show's conflict centers on Blanche's increasingly-panicked attempts to maintain her fantasy and Stanley, who represents the "real world," attacking her illusions. [[spoiler: After Stanley [[RapeAsDrama rapes her]], Blanche completely loses her mind and permanently retreats into her fantasy world, and Stella is forced to institutionalize her.]]
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* ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred'': In "Gone, Part II", after Maia is kidnapped and transported back in time to 1832, Alana creates a fantasy world for Diana so that she can come to terms with her loss. However, Diana decides to remain in this illusion because she can't bear the idea of living the rest of her life without Maia. As a result, her health is severely affected. She develops an intercranial hemorrhage and there is a significant rise in her metabolic rate. Her life expectancy is about two months. When Tom and Alana enter her mind and explain the situation to her, Diana still refuses to leave as, [[YearInsideHourOutside given that time passes differently in these fantasy worlds]], she and Maia will still have a lifetime together.
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* ''Batman'' in ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal''. [[spoiler:He's {{Mind Rape}}d by the demon Barbatos, who tells him that not only is the nightmarish army marching into the universe entirely his fault (he opened the door for them against all advice and reason, thinking he could handle them, and said monsters are literally based on his own fears and regrets), the entire Batman mythos is a fabrication of the demon's to raise spirits and hopes so when the time came, it could drag them all into the darkness by tearing down the very idea of Batman. A terrified Bruce begs to return to the LotusEaterMachine he barely escaped from the first time.]]
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* In ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "The Refuge", Raymond Dalton, a journalist with wanderlust, falls in love with a kind, lovely nurse named Gina Beaumont in what turns out to be a virtual reality environment which he experienced while cryonically frozen. He is revived once a cure for his brain tumour is found. One of the other people in the environment, Sanford Vallé, has the ability to alter the others' personalities at will. As such, Raymond is relieved to discover that the "real" Gina has the same personality as the first version of her that he met, the only difference being that she is a doctor in the real world as opposed to a nurse. Gina cannot be taken out of stasis as she is suffering from the Osaka virus (which she caught as a result of her work as a doctor) so Raymond elects to re-enter stasis to be with her. He helps Gina and the others defeat Vallé, who dies in the real world as a result. Gina attempts to convince Raymond that he is missing out on his life by staying in the virtual reality environment with her. He replies, "Out there is the dream. In here with you is the reality."
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In works where reality is treated as painful and complex, this may become a DownerEnding, especially if there is an AntiEscapismAesop. Characters may or may not be successful in their choice to stay. Other characters may try to "save" them from the false reality, or the truth of their fantasy may become too much to bear. In contrast to this trope, IChooseToStay has a positive connotation for helping others or resolving ongoing conflicts in an equally real setting. However, the "fantasy" is usually AnotherWorld rather than a false, constructed reality.
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In works where reality is treated as painful and complex, this may become a DownerEnding, especially if there is an AntiEscapismAesop. Characters may or may not be successful in their choice to stay. Other characters may try to "save" them from the false reality, or the truth of their fantasy may become too much to bear. In contrast to this trope, IChooseToStay has a positive connotation for helping others or resolving ongoing conflicts in an equally real setting. However, the "fantasy" is usually AnotherWorld another world rather than a false, constructed reality.
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* This is a big part of ''VideoGame/{{Lunarosse}}''. [[spoiler:Corlia knew from the start that Lunarosse was her own creation and not her home, but wanted to stay because of how much fun it was. Channing briefly grapples with this at one point in the game when she sticks him in a quickly-made trap of her own, but he breaks out with some help. However, one ending has the entire party willingly agree to this in a DreamWithinADream scenario.]]
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* One of the theories for ''Film/ShutterIsland''. While it appears that the doctor's efforts at curing [[spoiler: the main character]] of his massive defensive delusions have ultimately failed, the final line may imply that it didn't fail. Instead, he deliberately maintained the act [[spoiler: in order to be lobotomized, and forget everything ''anyway.'']]
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Compare LongingForFictionland when characters prefer to live by the rules and expectations of fictional stories rather than RealLife, without actually going to a false reality. Not to be confused with IRejectYourReality, which is stubbornness rather than a deliberate choice. Please refrain from adding [[NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Real Life examples]].
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Compare LongingForFictionland when characters prefer to live by the rules and expectations of fictional stories rather than RealLife, without actually going to a false reality. Not to be confused with IRejectYourReality, which is stubbornness rather than a deliberate choice. Please refrain from adding [[NoRealLifeExamplesPlease [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Real Life examples]].
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* In the ''Series/PhilipKDicksElectricDreams'' episode "[[Recap/PhilipKDicksElectricDreamsS1E5RealLife Real Life]]", we are presented with alternating versions of reality: a slightly more advanced 21st century and a stereotypical "flying cars and holograms" distant future. George (living in the former) and Sarah (living in the latter) are suffering from a trauma and are using experimental VR tech to dream about each other's lives. Eventually, both start thinking that their VR simulation is the real world, and they're just sleeping. [[spoiler:Sarah turns out to be the real person, but she opts to stay as George due to her SurvivorGuilt subconsciously forcing her to desire punishment.]]
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* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the ending involves protagonist Shinji Ikari having to choose between [[spoiler: staying with all of humanity in the sea of LCL or returning to Earth as a singular being]]. He chooses the latter, but since [[spoiler: no one appears alongside him at the beach except Asuka]], we can infer the [[spoiler: rest of humanity preferred to stay in the "perfect", unthinking, unfeeling LCL sea]].
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* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the ending involves protagonist Shinji Ikari having to choose between [[spoiler: staying with all of humanity in the sea of LCL or returning to Earth as a singular being]]. He chooses the latter, but since [[spoiler: no one appears alongside him at the beach except Asuka]], we can infer one interpretation is that the [[spoiler: rest of humanity preferred to stay in the "perfect", unthinking, unfeeling LCL sea]].
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->You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? ''[Takes a bite of steak]'' Ignorance is bliss.
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this is the trope list, not the Tear Jerker page
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* In the second ''Franchise/DragonAge'' novel, ''The Calling'', all of the Wardens and Maric are trapped in the Fade, within separate [[LotusEaterMachine dreams designed to keep them from wanting to leave]]. One by one, they break free of their prison. [[spoiler: Except for Nicolas, who chooses to stay in his little cabin in the woods, reunited with his recently killed lover, Julien.]] {{Tearjerker}} for sure.
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* In the second ''Franchise/DragonAge'' novel, ''The Calling'', all of the Wardens and Maric are trapped in the Fade, within separate [[LotusEaterMachine dreams designed to keep them from wanting to leave]]. One by one, they break free of their prison. [[spoiler: Except for Nicolas, who chooses to stay in his little cabin in the woods, reunited with his recently killed lover, Julien.]] {{Tearjerker}} for sure. ]]
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* In a ''Literature/WitchWorld'' short story by AndreNorton, the protagonist, severely disfigured and disabled by a magical accident, chooses to live in a permanent dream and forget his harsh reality.
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* In a ''Literature/WitchWorld'' short story by AndreNorton, Creator/AndreNorton, the protagonist, severely disfigured and disabled by a magical accident, chooses to live in a permanent dream and forget his harsh reality.
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Potholes are not allowed in page quotes.
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-> You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, [[Franchise/TheMatrix the Matrix]] is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? [Takes a bite of steak] Ignorance is bliss.
-->-- '''Cypher''', ''Film/TheMatrix''
-->-- '''Cypher''', ''Film/TheMatrix''
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-->-- '''Cypher''', ''Film/TheMatrix''
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* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the ending involves protagonist Shinji Ikari having to choose between [[spoiler: staying with all of humanity in the sea of LCL or returning to Earth as a singular being]]. He chooses the later, but since [[spoiler: no one appears alongside him at the beach except Asuka]], we can infer the [[spoiler: rest of humanity preferred to stay in the "perfect", unthinking, unfeeling LCL sea]].
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* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the ending involves protagonist Shinji Ikari having to choose between [[spoiler: staying with all of humanity in the sea of LCL or returning to Earth as a singular being]]. He chooses the later, latter, but since [[spoiler: no one appears alongside him at the beach except Asuka]], we can infer the [[spoiler: rest of humanity preferred to stay in the "perfect", unthinking, unfeeling LCL sea]].
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* In ''Film/TheMatrix''. Cypher [[FaceHeelTurn sides with the machines]] because he prefers the Matrix to the AfterTheEnd reality of Earth.
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* In ''Film/TheMatrix''. ''Film/TheMatrix'', Cypher [[FaceHeelTurn sides with the machines]] because he prefers the Matrix to the AfterTheEnd reality of Earth.
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** This is the one danger of falling into [[FateWorseThanDeath Limbo]]. Because the time dilution causes a dream to last for ''decades'', the mind will live out an entire lifetime that becomes the dreamer's new reality. By the time the dream ends and they wake up, they'll have either lost touch with reality or have lost their mental faculties to begin with.
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** This is the one danger of falling into [[FateWorseThanDeath Limbo]]. Because the time dilution dilation causes a dream to last for ''decades'', the mind will live out an entire lifetime that becomes the dreamer's new reality. By the time the dream ends and they wake up, they'll have either lost touch with reality or have lost their mental faculties to begin with.
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* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', this is the ending of both the original unbroadcast pilot "The Cage", and the two-part episode of the main series it was re-edited and expanded into, "The Menagerie". In "The Cage", Captain Pike's love-interest Vina turns out to have been left severely disfigured and disabled by a spaceship crash and the well-intentioned but ignorant medical treatment she was given by a species of aliens with no prior experience of humans. She prefers to stay in the virtual reality created by the aliens where she is beautiful and able-bodied. In the ending of "The Menagerie", Pike, who has been left almost completely paralysed by an accident since the past events, decides to join her for the same reason.
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* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' is set in the DyingDream of Frédéric Chopin -- or, [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane perhaps]], a DreamLand that he's lucky enough to enter. Whether or not it's real, in the BittersweetEnding, he comes to believe in it and chooses to stay while his physical body dies; otherwise, he wakes up... on his deathbed, with tuberculosis.
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There are many reasons for this. It may be because [[LotusEaterMachine life is good]] in the Matrix, and the character realizes they are truly happy there. Maybe they prefer the safety of delusions to bleak reality. Or it could be that to them the false reality seems more real than the alternative; If it's impossible to tell the difference between what is real and what isn't. Who's to say that something isn't true, if they choose to believe it is?
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There are many reasons for this. It may be because [[LotusEaterMachine life is good]] in the Matrix, and the character realizes they are truly happy there. Maybe they prefer the safety of delusions to bleak reality. Or it could be that to them the false reality seems more real than the alternative; If alternative, if it's impossible to tell the difference between what is real and what isn't. Who's to say that something isn't true, if they choose to believe it is?
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** Early in the movie, we're introduced to a group of people who, dissatisfied with the real world, have chose to live the remainder of their lives in a dream.
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** Early in the movie, we're introduced to a group of people who, dissatisfied with the real world, have chose chosen to live the remainder of their lives in a dream.
* In ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', when faced with the Lady of the Green Kirtle's claim that Aslan and Narnia are simply things they dreamed up, Puddleglum answers that if that's true he prefers them to reality.
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* Subverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, "Homeward." A group of relatively primitive people are tricked into thinking that they are still on their home planet --simply traveling to a new region-- when in fact they are inside a holodeck, and are the only survivors of a cataclysm that destroyed their world, in transit to a new one. When one discovers the truth, he's offered a chance to remain on board the Enterprise. Instead, he commits suicide.
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* Subverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, "Homeward." A group of relatively primitive people are tricked into thinking that they are still on their home planet --simply planet-simply traveling to a new region-- when region-when in fact they are inside a holodeck, and are the only survivors of a cataclysm that destroyed their world, in transit to a new one. When one discovers the truth, he's offered a chance to remain on board the Enterprise. Instead, he commits suicide.
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* In the ending to ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife 2'', [[spoiler:the villain, Wilfre, had discovered that the whole world was AllJustADream created by a boy in a coma. Rather than allowing the boy to wake up, thus [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ending the world as they knew it]], he conspired to keep him in his coma so as to continue their existence. He also briefly convinced Mari to help him, but she later decided it'd be more noble to sacrifice their entire world so one boy could wake up back in his.]]
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* In the ending to ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife 2'', [[spoiler:the villain, Wilfre, had discovered that the whole world was AllJustADream created by a boy in a coma. Rather than allowing the boy to wake up, thus [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt [[DreamApocalypse ending the world as they knew it]], he conspired to keep him in his coma so as to continue their existence. He also briefly convinced Mari to help him, but she later decided it'd be more noble to sacrifice their entire world so one boy could wake up back in his.]]
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* Subverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, "Homeward." A group of relatively primitive people are tricked into thinking that they are still on their home planet when in fact they are inside a holodeck, and are the only survivors of a cataclysm that destroyed their world. When one discovers the truth, he's offered a chance to remain on board the Enterprise. Instead, he commits suicide.
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* Subverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, "Homeward." A group of relatively primitive people are tricked into thinking that they are still on their home planet --simply traveling to a new region-- when in fact they are inside a holodeck, and are the only survivors of a cataclysm that destroyed their world.world, in transit to a new one. When one discovers the truth, he's offered a chance to remain on board the Enterprise. Instead, he commits suicide.
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* The finale for ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' sees Mabel choosing to stay in Bill's The only reason Mabel hasn't freed herself from Bill's [[LotusEaterMachine bubble prison]] by the time Dipper, Wendy, and Soos break in to rescue her in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' finale is because she's aware of the nature of the bubble and has decided she'd rather stay. Leaving the bubble would result in facing the next year without Dipper, she believed he intended to stay in Gravity Falls when she returned home for school. The bubble lets her live in a world filled with glitter and rainbows, populated with talking stuffed animals and a cooler, more supportive version of Dipper (a.k.a. Dippy-Fresh). It takes a lot of convincing on Dipper's part to get her to leave the bubble, which she eventually does.
to:
* The finale for ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' sees Mabel choosing to stay in Bill's The shows the only reason Mabel hasn't freed herself from Bill's [[LotusEaterMachine bubble prison]] by the time Dipper, Wendy, and Soos break in to rescue her in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' finale is because she's aware of the nature of the bubble and has decided she'd rather stay. Leaving the bubble would result in facing the next year without Dipper, she believed he intended to stay in Gravity Falls when she returned home for school. The bubble lets her live in a world filled with glitter and rainbows, populated with talking stuffed animals and a cooler, more supportive version of Dipper (a.k.a. Dippy-Fresh). It takes a lot of convincing on Dipper's part to get her to leave the bubble, which she eventually does.
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None
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* In ''Series/AllyMcBeal'', one of the clients at Allu's firm is a sad, lonely, but very wealthy spinster. She has sequential dreams of a life where she met a man, got married & raised a happy family. She is petitioning the court to put her in a chemically induced coma so she can sleep forever and live the life where she's actually happy.
to:
* In ''Series/AllyMcBeal'', one of the clients at Allu's Ally's firm is a sad, lonely, but very wealthy spinster. She has sequential dreams of a life where she met a man, got married & married, and raised a happy family. She is petitioning the court to put her in a chemically induced coma so she can sleep forever and live the life where she's actually happy.
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None
[[folder: Comic Books]]
* The ending of ''ComicBook/LaQueteDeLOiseauDuTemps''. [[spoiler: It turns out the ActionGirl was a kind of holographic projection created by the SmallAnnoyingCreature. The hero, who had been led to believe she was his daughter, prefers to keep the creature (and therefore his daughter) alive rather than face the fact that her mother manipulated and betrayed him.]]
[[/folder]]
* The ending of ''ComicBook/LaQueteDeLOiseauDuTemps''. [[spoiler: It turns out the ActionGirl was a kind of holographic projection created by the SmallAnnoyingCreature. The hero, who had been led to believe she was his daughter, prefers to keep the creature (and therefore his daughter) alive rather than face the fact that her mother manipulated and betrayed him.]]
[[/folder]]
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* The ending of ''ComicBook/LaQueteDeLOiseauDuTemps''. [[spoiler: It turns out the ActionGirl was a kind of holographic projection created by the SmallAnnoyingCreature. The hero, who had been led to believe she was his daughter, prefers to keep the creature (and therefore his daughter) alive rather than face the fact that her mother manipulated and betrayed him.]]
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None
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* In the second ''Literature/DragonAge'' novel, ''The Calling'', all of the Wardens and Maric are trapped in the Fade, within separate [[LotusEaterMachine dreams designed to keep them from wanting to leave]]. One by one, they break free of their prison. [[spoiler: Except for Nicolas, who chooses to stay in his little cabin in the woods, reunited with his recently killed lover, Julien.]] {{Tearjerker}} for sure.
to:
* In the second ''Literature/DragonAge'' ''Franchise/DragonAge'' novel, ''The Calling'', all of the Wardens and Maric are trapped in the Fade, within separate [[LotusEaterMachine dreams designed to keep them from wanting to leave]]. One by one, they break free of their prison. [[spoiler: Except for Nicolas, who chooses to stay in his little cabin in the woods, reunited with his recently killed lover, Julien.]] {{Tearjerker}} for sure.
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None
[[foldercontrol]]
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* In '' Series/AllyMcBeal", one of the clients at Allu's firm is a sad, lonely, but very wealthy spinster. She has sequential dreams of a life where she met a man, got married & raised a happy family. She is petitioning the court to put her in a chemically induced coma so she can sleep forever and live the life where she's actually happy.
to:
* In '' Series/AllyMcBeal", ''Series/AllyMcBeal'', one of the clients at Allu's firm is a sad, lonely, but very wealthy spinster. She has sequential dreams of a life where she met a man, got married & raised a happy family. She is petitioning the court to put her in a chemically induced coma so she can sleep forever and live the life where she's actually happy.
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Launched and folderized. Moved ZCE's leftover from the draft to discussion page.
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[[AC: Anime and Manga]]
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[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
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[[folder: Literature]]
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[[folder: Live Action TV]]
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[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
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[[folder: Video Games]]
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[[AC: Western Animation]]
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[[folder: Western Animation]]
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[[AC: Zero Context Examples]] If you can add context to an example, please do and add it to the right category. [[note]] I know this isn't the way we normally do this, but I wanted to try something new to see if it worked.[[/note]]
* The ending of the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Normal Again" is kind of a variation on this theme.
* One of the three endings of [[spoiler: TheWay]]
* Ritz and (to a somewhat more insane extent) Mewt in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance''.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'''s [[spoiler:Battler]] and Beatrice would probably count. What reality is and/or isn't reality is the center of the plot.
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Created from YKTTW
Added DiffLines:
-> You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, [[Franchise/TheMatrix the Matrix]] is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? [Takes a bite of steak] Ignorance is bliss.
-->-- '''Cypher''', ''Film/TheMatrix''
A character knows that they are in a false, constructed reality and that nothing around them is real. Once discovered, leaving is a matter of determination and willpower. The illusion is broken, they're free.
Yet they choose to stay.
There are many reasons for this. It may be because [[LotusEaterMachine life is good]] in the Matrix, and the character realizes they are truly happy there. Maybe they prefer the safety of delusions to bleak reality. Or it could be that to them the false reality seems more real than the alternative; If it's impossible to tell the difference between what is real and what isn't. Who's to say that something isn't true, if they choose to believe it is?
In works where reality is treated as painful and complex, this may become a DownerEnding, especially if there is an AntiEscapismAesop. Characters may or may not be successful in their choice to stay. Other characters may try to "save" them from the false reality, or the truth of their fantasy may become too much to bear. In contrast to this trope, IChooseToStay has a positive connotation for helping others or resolving ongoing conflicts in an equally real setting. However, the "fantasy" is usually AnotherWorld rather than a false, constructed reality.
Compare LongingForFictionland when characters prefer to live by the rules and expectations of fictional stories rather than RealLife, without actually going to a false reality. Not to be confused with IRejectYourReality, which is stubbornness rather than a deliberate choice. Please refrain from adding [[NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Real Life examples]].
----
!!Examples
[[AC: Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'': in the episode "Tachikoma Runs Away; The Movie Director's Dream--ESCAPE FROM", Section 9 acquires an computer programmed with a simulation created by a MadArtist. The simulation is just a movie theater playing the artist's final film on a constant loop. Everyone who enters the simulation becomes so engrossed with the film that they don't want to leave--[[TakeOurWordForIt the audience never sees any of the film]], but it's apparently just that good. Even the normally-stoic Major Kusanagi is moved to tears by the film, [[spoiler: but she ultimately has enough willpower to stop watching and shut the simulation down.]]
* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the ending involves protagonist Shinji Ikari having to choose between [[spoiler: staying with all of humanity in the sea of LCL or returning to Earth as a singular being]]. He chooses the later, but since [[spoiler: no one appears alongside him at the beach except Asuka]], we can infer the [[spoiler: rest of humanity preferred to stay in the "perfect", unthinking, unfeeling LCL sea]].
[[AC: Film]]
* One of the possible endings of ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' has the protagonist retreat permanently into his HappyPlace as a means to escape his torture. Oddly, this isn't as heartbreaking as you'd think considering the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
* In ''Film/TheMatrix''. Cypher [[FaceHeelTurn sides with the machines]] because he prefers the Matrix to the AfterTheEnd reality of Earth.
* One of the theories for ''Film/ShutterIsland''. While it appears that the doctor's efforts at curing [[spoiler: the main character]] of his massive defensive delusions have ultimately failed, the final line may imply that it didn't fail. Instead, he deliberately maintained the act [[spoiler: in order to be lobotomized, and forget everything ''anyway.'']]
* ''Film/{{Inception}}'':
** This is the one danger of falling into [[FateWorseThanDeath Limbo]]. Because the time dilution causes a dream to last for ''decades'', the mind will live out an entire lifetime that becomes the dreamer's new reality. By the time the dream ends and they wake up, they'll have either lost touch with reality or have lost their mental faculties to begin with.
** Early in the movie, we're introduced to a group of people who, dissatisfied with the real world, have chose to live the remainder of their lives in a dream.
[[AC: Literature]]
* In the second ''Literature/DragonAge'' novel, ''The Calling'', all of the Wardens and Maric are trapped in the Fade, within separate [[LotusEaterMachine dreams designed to keep them from wanting to leave]]. One by one, they break free of their prison. [[spoiler: Except for Nicolas, who chooses to stay in his little cabin in the woods, reunited with his recently killed lover, Julien.]] {{Tearjerker}} for sure.
* The ending of ''ComicBook/LaQueteDeLOiseauDuTemps''. [[spoiler: It turns out the ActionGirl was a kind of holographic projection created by the SmallAnnoyingCreature. The hero, who had been led to believe she was his daughter, prefers to keep the creature (and therefore his daughter) alive rather than face the fact that her mother manipulated and betrayed him.]]
* In the novel ''Literature/HardBoiledWonderlandAndTheEndOfTheWorld'' the protagonist [[spoiler: almost escapes from his EpiphanicPrison, but turns back at the last minute, choosing to stay in the town, committing mental suicide]].
* Lucien Mulholland of Mary Hoffman's ''City of Masks'' chooses the reality in his head to the one where [[spoiler: he's dying from cancer]].
* In ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'', this is the reason that [[BigBad Saint Dane]] wins his first territory. [[spoiler:The people of Veelox refuse to abandon the [[LotusEaterMachine virtual reality world Lifelight]], which gives users a chance to simulate living a perfect life. Eventually, so many people give up their real lives that society collapses and millions die when workers stop maintaining the Lifelight pyramids.]]
* In a ''Literature/WitchWorld'' short story by AndreNorton, the protagonist, severely disfigured and disabled by a magical accident, chooses to live in a permanent dream and forget his harsh reality.
* In the second ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' series, some of the Auron refugees created an illusory copy of their idyllic, sophisticated homeland on the underground island they fled to. To preserve the (emotional aspect of) this illusion, they forced all dissenters off the island and magically sealed its borders. [[spoiler:A millennium or so later, only one person still lives on Auron- he killed everyone else to keep the illusion 'pure', as they couldn't deny reality or their traumatic memories of it.]] The exiles, in comparison, adapted to the ocean's "strange, wild beauty" and thrived.
* In Creator/ArthurCClarke's novella "The Lion of Comarre", the protagonist discovers an automated city of [[LotusEaterMachine people living in virtual reality]]. When he tries to "liberate" two of the inhabitants, one is utterly confused by the return to reality and another understands what happened and [[UnwantedRescue tells him to go away and let him resume the fantasy]]. He leaves them to their dreams.
[[AC: Live Action TV]]
* Subverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, "Homeward." A group of relatively primitive people are tricked into thinking that they are still on their home planet when in fact they are inside a holodeck, and are the only survivors of a cataclysm that destroyed their world. When one discovers the truth, he's offered a chance to remain on board the Enterprise. Instead, he commits suicide.
* In '' Series/AllyMcBeal", one of the clients at Allu's firm is a sad, lonely, but very wealthy spinster. She has sequential dreams of a life where she met a man, got married & raised a happy family. She is petitioning the court to put her in a chemically induced coma so she can sleep forever and live the life where she's actually happy.
[[AC: Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', [=SimSense=] (or just Sims) are virtual reality devices which allow the viewer to experience all of the 5 senses (actors appearing in Sims tend to be very good at controlling their emotions). This has lead to this trope on a massive scale, with Sim addiction being more common than chemical addictions. Made even worse by "Better Than Life" (or BTL) chips, which have the limiters illegally removed, making them [[SenseFreak even more vivid and "real"]] than the original recordings.
[[AC: Video Games]]
* In the ending to ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife 2'', [[spoiler:the villain, Wilfre, had discovered that the whole world was AllJustADream created by a boy in a coma. Rather than allowing the boy to wake up, thus [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ending the world as they knew it]], he conspired to keep him in his coma so as to continue their existence. He also briefly convinced Mari to help him, but she later decided it'd be more noble to sacrifice their entire world so one boy could wake up back in his.]]
* In the second ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' expansion, at one point the illithid Elder Brain may force you into a LotusEaterMachine illusion. You can break out, or you can choose to stay for a NonStandardGameOver of your body tolling away as a mindless slave.
* Within ''Videogame/TheMatrixOnline'', there's a group of people called "Cypherites" who argue that Cypher was right and that Neo and the people of Zion had no right to decide for the rest of humanity. After all, who would want to live in a dead, post-apocalyptic world that humans themselves were largely responsible for?
[[AC: Western Animation]]
* In a WhatIf episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Homer is shown what his life would have been like had he won Student Council President in high school. He's shown this in a pot of [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext magic spaghetti sauce]]. At one point he shouts "I want to live in the sauce!" and tries to jump in. He is restrained by the chef who prepared the alternate-universe-showing sauce, who says "If you could live in the sauce, don't you think ''I'd'' live in the sauce?"
* The finale for ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' sees Mabel choosing to stay in Bill's The only reason Mabel hasn't freed herself from Bill's [[LotusEaterMachine bubble prison]] by the time Dipper, Wendy, and Soos break in to rescue her in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' finale is because she's aware of the nature of the bubble and has decided she'd rather stay. Leaving the bubble would result in facing the next year without Dipper, she believed he intended to stay in Gravity Falls when she returned home for school. The bubble lets her live in a world filled with glitter and rainbows, populated with talking stuffed animals and a cooler, more supportive version of Dipper (a.k.a. Dippy-Fresh). It takes a lot of convincing on Dipper's part to get her to leave the bubble, which she eventually does.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' "Islands" mini-series, Finn and Jake discover an island whose inhabitants have spent their whole lives hooked up to virtual reality devices. When Jake "frees" them by disconnecting the mainframe, the people find themselves unable to cope in the real world. Seeing this, Finn decides that they're better off living in their virtual realities.
[[AC: Zero Context Examples]] If you can add context to an example, please do and add it to the right category. [[note]] I know this isn't the way we normally do this, but I wanted to try something new to see if it worked.[[/note]]
* The ending of the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Normal Again" is kind of a variation on this theme.
* One of the three endings of [[spoiler: TheWay]]
* Ritz and (to a somewhat more insane extent) Mewt in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance''.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'''s [[spoiler:Battler]] and Beatrice would probably count. What reality is and/or isn't reality is the center of the plot.
-->-- '''Cypher''', ''Film/TheMatrix''
A character knows that they are in a false, constructed reality and that nothing around them is real. Once discovered, leaving is a matter of determination and willpower. The illusion is broken, they're free.
Yet they choose to stay.
There are many reasons for this. It may be because [[LotusEaterMachine life is good]] in the Matrix, and the character realizes they are truly happy there. Maybe they prefer the safety of delusions to bleak reality. Or it could be that to them the false reality seems more real than the alternative; If it's impossible to tell the difference between what is real and what isn't. Who's to say that something isn't true, if they choose to believe it is?
In works where reality is treated as painful and complex, this may become a DownerEnding, especially if there is an AntiEscapismAesop. Characters may or may not be successful in their choice to stay. Other characters may try to "save" them from the false reality, or the truth of their fantasy may become too much to bear. In contrast to this trope, IChooseToStay has a positive connotation for helping others or resolving ongoing conflicts in an equally real setting. However, the "fantasy" is usually AnotherWorld rather than a false, constructed reality.
Compare LongingForFictionland when characters prefer to live by the rules and expectations of fictional stories rather than RealLife, without actually going to a false reality. Not to be confused with IRejectYourReality, which is stubbornness rather than a deliberate choice. Please refrain from adding [[NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Real Life examples]].
----
!!Examples
[[AC: Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'': in the episode "Tachikoma Runs Away; The Movie Director's Dream--ESCAPE FROM", Section 9 acquires an computer programmed with a simulation created by a MadArtist. The simulation is just a movie theater playing the artist's final film on a constant loop. Everyone who enters the simulation becomes so engrossed with the film that they don't want to leave--[[TakeOurWordForIt the audience never sees any of the film]], but it's apparently just that good. Even the normally-stoic Major Kusanagi is moved to tears by the film, [[spoiler: but she ultimately has enough willpower to stop watching and shut the simulation down.]]
* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the ending involves protagonist Shinji Ikari having to choose between [[spoiler: staying with all of humanity in the sea of LCL or returning to Earth as a singular being]]. He chooses the later, but since [[spoiler: no one appears alongside him at the beach except Asuka]], we can infer the [[spoiler: rest of humanity preferred to stay in the "perfect", unthinking, unfeeling LCL sea]].
[[AC: Film]]
* One of the possible endings of ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' has the protagonist retreat permanently into his HappyPlace as a means to escape his torture. Oddly, this isn't as heartbreaking as you'd think considering the CrapsackWorld he lives in.
* In ''Film/TheMatrix''. Cypher [[FaceHeelTurn sides with the machines]] because he prefers the Matrix to the AfterTheEnd reality of Earth.
* One of the theories for ''Film/ShutterIsland''. While it appears that the doctor's efforts at curing [[spoiler: the main character]] of his massive defensive delusions have ultimately failed, the final line may imply that it didn't fail. Instead, he deliberately maintained the act [[spoiler: in order to be lobotomized, and forget everything ''anyway.'']]
* ''Film/{{Inception}}'':
** This is the one danger of falling into [[FateWorseThanDeath Limbo]]. Because the time dilution causes a dream to last for ''decades'', the mind will live out an entire lifetime that becomes the dreamer's new reality. By the time the dream ends and they wake up, they'll have either lost touch with reality or have lost their mental faculties to begin with.
** Early in the movie, we're introduced to a group of people who, dissatisfied with the real world, have chose to live the remainder of their lives in a dream.
[[AC: Literature]]
* In the second ''Literature/DragonAge'' novel, ''The Calling'', all of the Wardens and Maric are trapped in the Fade, within separate [[LotusEaterMachine dreams designed to keep them from wanting to leave]]. One by one, they break free of their prison. [[spoiler: Except for Nicolas, who chooses to stay in his little cabin in the woods, reunited with his recently killed lover, Julien.]] {{Tearjerker}} for sure.
* The ending of ''ComicBook/LaQueteDeLOiseauDuTemps''. [[spoiler: It turns out the ActionGirl was a kind of holographic projection created by the SmallAnnoyingCreature. The hero, who had been led to believe she was his daughter, prefers to keep the creature (and therefore his daughter) alive rather than face the fact that her mother manipulated and betrayed him.]]
* In the novel ''Literature/HardBoiledWonderlandAndTheEndOfTheWorld'' the protagonist [[spoiler: almost escapes from his EpiphanicPrison, but turns back at the last minute, choosing to stay in the town, committing mental suicide]].
* Lucien Mulholland of Mary Hoffman's ''City of Masks'' chooses the reality in his head to the one where [[spoiler: he's dying from cancer]].
* In ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'', this is the reason that [[BigBad Saint Dane]] wins his first territory. [[spoiler:The people of Veelox refuse to abandon the [[LotusEaterMachine virtual reality world Lifelight]], which gives users a chance to simulate living a perfect life. Eventually, so many people give up their real lives that society collapses and millions die when workers stop maintaining the Lifelight pyramids.]]
* In a ''Literature/WitchWorld'' short story by AndreNorton, the protagonist, severely disfigured and disabled by a magical accident, chooses to live in a permanent dream and forget his harsh reality.
* In the second ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' series, some of the Auron refugees created an illusory copy of their idyllic, sophisticated homeland on the underground island they fled to. To preserve the (emotional aspect of) this illusion, they forced all dissenters off the island and magically sealed its borders. [[spoiler:A millennium or so later, only one person still lives on Auron- he killed everyone else to keep the illusion 'pure', as they couldn't deny reality or their traumatic memories of it.]] The exiles, in comparison, adapted to the ocean's "strange, wild beauty" and thrived.
* In Creator/ArthurCClarke's novella "The Lion of Comarre", the protagonist discovers an automated city of [[LotusEaterMachine people living in virtual reality]]. When he tries to "liberate" two of the inhabitants, one is utterly confused by the return to reality and another understands what happened and [[UnwantedRescue tells him to go away and let him resume the fantasy]]. He leaves them to their dreams.
[[AC: Live Action TV]]
* Subverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, "Homeward." A group of relatively primitive people are tricked into thinking that they are still on their home planet when in fact they are inside a holodeck, and are the only survivors of a cataclysm that destroyed their world. When one discovers the truth, he's offered a chance to remain on board the Enterprise. Instead, he commits suicide.
* In '' Series/AllyMcBeal", one of the clients at Allu's firm is a sad, lonely, but very wealthy spinster. She has sequential dreams of a life where she met a man, got married & raised a happy family. She is petitioning the court to put her in a chemically induced coma so she can sleep forever and live the life where she's actually happy.
[[AC: Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', [=SimSense=] (or just Sims) are virtual reality devices which allow the viewer to experience all of the 5 senses (actors appearing in Sims tend to be very good at controlling their emotions). This has lead to this trope on a massive scale, with Sim addiction being more common than chemical addictions. Made even worse by "Better Than Life" (or BTL) chips, which have the limiters illegally removed, making them [[SenseFreak even more vivid and "real"]] than the original recordings.
[[AC: Video Games]]
* In the ending to ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife 2'', [[spoiler:the villain, Wilfre, had discovered that the whole world was AllJustADream created by a boy in a coma. Rather than allowing the boy to wake up, thus [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ending the world as they knew it]], he conspired to keep him in his coma so as to continue their existence. He also briefly convinced Mari to help him, but she later decided it'd be more noble to sacrifice their entire world so one boy could wake up back in his.]]
* In the second ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' expansion, at one point the illithid Elder Brain may force you into a LotusEaterMachine illusion. You can break out, or you can choose to stay for a NonStandardGameOver of your body tolling away as a mindless slave.
* Within ''Videogame/TheMatrixOnline'', there's a group of people called "Cypherites" who argue that Cypher was right and that Neo and the people of Zion had no right to decide for the rest of humanity. After all, who would want to live in a dead, post-apocalyptic world that humans themselves were largely responsible for?
[[AC: Western Animation]]
* In a WhatIf episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Homer is shown what his life would have been like had he won Student Council President in high school. He's shown this in a pot of [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext magic spaghetti sauce]]. At one point he shouts "I want to live in the sauce!" and tries to jump in. He is restrained by the chef who prepared the alternate-universe-showing sauce, who says "If you could live in the sauce, don't you think ''I'd'' live in the sauce?"
* The finale for ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' sees Mabel choosing to stay in Bill's The only reason Mabel hasn't freed herself from Bill's [[LotusEaterMachine bubble prison]] by the time Dipper, Wendy, and Soos break in to rescue her in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' finale is because she's aware of the nature of the bubble and has decided she'd rather stay. Leaving the bubble would result in facing the next year without Dipper, she believed he intended to stay in Gravity Falls when she returned home for school. The bubble lets her live in a world filled with glitter and rainbows, populated with talking stuffed animals and a cooler, more supportive version of Dipper (a.k.a. Dippy-Fresh). It takes a lot of convincing on Dipper's part to get her to leave the bubble, which she eventually does.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' "Islands" mini-series, Finn and Jake discover an island whose inhabitants have spent their whole lives hooked up to virtual reality devices. When Jake "frees" them by disconnecting the mainframe, the people find themselves unable to cope in the real world. Seeing this, Finn decides that they're better off living in their virtual realities.
[[AC: Zero Context Examples]] If you can add context to an example, please do and add it to the right category. [[note]] I know this isn't the way we normally do this, but I wanted to try something new to see if it worked.[[/note]]
* The ending of the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Normal Again" is kind of a variation on this theme.
* One of the three endings of [[spoiler: TheWay]]
* Ritz and (to a somewhat more insane extent) Mewt in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance''.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'''s [[spoiler:Battler]] and Beatrice would probably count. What reality is and/or isn't reality is the center of the plot.
