History Main / SurprisinglyHappyEnding

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' seems like it's about to have a BittersweetEnding in the form of Sulley having to part ways with Boo, but it turns out that Mike recreated the door that leads to her room, so Sulley can at least still visit her.

* The Spanish classic poem "Romance de Gerineldo" ("Gerineldo's Romance"), featuring the SecretRelationship [[UptownGirl between]] the Spanish ''Infanta'' (Princess of Spain) and the titular Gerineldo (the King's favorite page) has several different versions... and surprisingly, several of them finish with either the King willingly forgiving Gerineldo for sleeping with the ''Infanta'', or the ''Infanta'' revealing their romance but managing to convince her dad to let them marry.

* Season 2 of the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'' was just one long TraumaCongaLine for Tommy, to the point where, when [[GreaterScopeVillain Dream]] sent him and Tubbo an ultimatum to meet him somewhere far away to fight for the discs one last time, the most optimistic predictions still involved Tommy and Tubbo losing the fight and ending up in prison. However, a few days before the fight, Tommy quietly sent [[TheDragon Punz]] a ''massive'' bribe, leading to [[OnlyInItForTheMoney Punz]] secretly rallying about half the server to come in and [[BigDamnHeroes save Tommy and Tubbo]] from Dream. Dream was subsequently stripped of his power, locked in prison, and the season ended with Tommy and Tubbo sitting on their bench, listening to the discs, as [[BigBrotherMentor Wilbur]] [[GhostReunionEnding briefly returns as a ghost]] to tell Tommy [[SoProudOfYou just how proud he is]] of what they've pulled off. However, this gets somewhat undercut by Dream and Punz later confirming that this "victory" had been staged all along, to [[AssPull much contention]] from some parts of the fandom. That being said, it's fair to say that the results of this "staged victory" were [[BreakTheHaughty much]], [[ColdBloodedTorture much]] [[SanitySlippage worse]] than Dream anticipated.

** In ''Webcomic/TrueBelievers'', Joe [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Quesadilla]]'s attempts to break up the HappilyMarried [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Spider-Man]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsMaryJaneWatson Mary Jane Watson]] climax with MJ undergoing a DisneyVillainDeath. When he goes down to collect MJ's body, though, she springs back to life, pulls out a {{Retcon}} stamp that she stole from Quesadilla earlier, and uses it to {{Retgone}} Quesadilla. Once she reunites with Spidey, she explains that she managed to return because DeathIsCheap in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. Additionally, the disappearance of Joe Quesadilla and his ExecutiveMeddling cause the comic industry to flourish.

* ''WesternAnimation/AThousandAndOneAmericas'': In nearly all episodes, Chris' dreams with pre-Columbian civilizations end badly, either because he's unable to escape the criminal, wild animal or natural danger he's facing, or because he's witnessing a horrific event and he feels unable to do something about it; and when it seems like doom will befall him, Chris wakes up from the dream. But the story that develops in the two-part story about the Mayans (episodes 6 and 7) actually concludes with a happy ending, as all the conflicts he faces along the way (a kid being trapped by a snake, Chris falling onto a deep well, and the theft of the Pakal mask) are resolved successfully, and in the end Chris celebrates by showing the local Mayans how basketball (a sport they're unfamiliar with) is played. The thing that makes him wake up is a ball thrown at him by his brother.

* The ''Nonary Games'' series has this in every episode, although it becomes a bit more ambiguous in later episodes. VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors? By playing the game you saved Akane's life in the past, and the only people in any real danger were the people who kidnapped and threatened her at that time. VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward? You discover the timeline in which everyone survives, and this equips you to travel back in time to prevent the DeadlyGame being necessary at all. VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma? The whole thing is a plot to ensure Zero and the other players are equipped to prevent the world's destruction at the hands of nuclear terrorism.

** Isaac spent all of season 3 growing a deep hatred for humanity, though gaining some appreciation for it as well. In season 4, he admits that [[SmitingEvilFeelsGood killing the evil magician]] felt good, like he was ridding the world of some evil. After killing [[BigBadWannabe Carmilla]], he decides to take the Captain's advice and build something better in Styria.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': After the DownerEnding of Volume 3 which saw the deaths of Pyrrha and Penny, the destruction of Beacon Academy, Ozpin going missing, and all of the heroines sans Ruby all varying degrees of battered and demoralised, Volume 4 ends with Weiss escaping from Atlas and her controlling abusive father to join CoolBigSis Winter, Blake undergoing much-needed CharacterDevelopment and vowing to take back control of the White Fang, and perhaps most optimistically, Yang regaining her fighting spirit (as well as a replacement for her right arm) and travelling to Mistral to join Ruby. The only thing that's sad about the ending is that Weiss had to leave Atlas with her claim to the Schnee Dust Company ripped away from her and that Haven's already infiltrated with Salem's minions, with the headmaster being TheMole.

* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': The two parter "Augments" episode ends on an unusually positive note. Although the Augments are defeated, Arik Soong (grandfather of Dr. Noonian Soong) is simply incarcerated. But while in prison, he changes his research interests to artificial intelligence. He also remarks that the fruits of his research may take a generation or two. That research, whatever it is, is implied to lead to the 24th century's Soong creating the android Data. This is significant as the episode made no indication that he had fathered any children previously. So it is possible that sometime before his death, he will be released from prison.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadTelltale The Walking Dead]]'': The first three seasons all ended in various shades of BitterSweetEnding and the Final Season seemed to be heading the same way, with hints that Clementine would ultimately die to save AJ, just as Lee did for her. But despite losing her leg to a walker bite, Clementine survives. She and AJ finally find a safe place to call home and a majority of their friends (and Clementine's potential {{Love Interest|s}}) are still alive after the final battle with a group of raiders. Its as close to a HappyEnding as you can get in a ZombieApocalypse.

* ''Film/AIArtificialIntelligence'' is an extremely dark film for the most part, but it has a controversial happy ending, involving David spending a day with a clone of his mom made by highly-advanced robots whose existence was not foreshadowed previously in the film.

** ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion The Rebellion Story]]'' has Homura, unsatisfied with the show's BittersweetEnding, altering the entire system by overthrowing Madoka and taking her place as a SatanicArchetype, putting Madoka's happiness over everyone else's. In doing so, Madoka and Sayaka are restored to life, as is newcomer Nagisa, and Homura reduces [[BigBad Kyubey]] to a quivering, raggedy mess. The only problem with the scenario is the "Homura becomes [[SatanicArchetype the devil]]" thing. Concept art for a followup movie suggested this would end up as a HappyEndingOverride, but nothing has come of it yet.

* ''Film/{{Crush}}'' has a wonderfully surprising one for the side-plot: [[ClingyJealousGirl Bess]] being revealed as simply a sweet, romantic teenage girl with an obsessive streak that she can and will keep in check. She realizes that what she did came close to stalking, that Scott's girlfriend is a GoodBadGirl deserving of his love, and he might be a JerkJock, so she gets better. She unfriends him on Facebook, throws away all her memorandums of him, and has her first kiss with another boy, who already liked her and was a little bit stalky too. Too bad the real stalker is out there [[DramaticIrony and she was the only one able to help him]]...

* ''Sugar Dark'' is a horror story about a young man who was imprisoned for the murder of an AssholeVictim that he [[MiscarriageOfJustice didn't commit]]. He meets a girl BlessedWithSuck and is faced with {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. Even so, the story ends with the heroine having her FirstTimeInTheSun and living with the main character to be WealthyEverAfter.

* ''ComicBook/FlashpointBeyond'': In spite of being a sequel to ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint|DCComics}}'' (which consisted of an AlternateTimeline to the DC Universe taking place in a CrapsackWorld where the characters we know either met horrible deaths before going down their destined paths or became very dark villains or antiheroes) and the main plot being about Flashpoint Batman having to stop his wife Flashpoint Joker's killing spree targeting metahumans who have the potential to change the past, the miniseries ends with the world united against a Kryptonian invasion with Flashpoint Superman on their side and hope to change for the better, in addition to Flashpoint Joker being on the road of recieving the professional help she needs as well as her and Flashpoint Batman getting another chance at parenthood after the loss of their son Bruce by adopting Harvey Dent's son Dexter (who becomes the Flashpoint timeline's equivalent to Robin).

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', Flynn cuts Rapunzel's hair, freeing her from Mother Gothel, but [[HeroicSacrifice also making it impossible for her to heal him.]] He dies as a result. But as she cries over his body, it turns out her tears contain the last of her healing powers.

* A classic last-minute example in ''Film/DefendingYourLife'': Just when it's Daniel's DarkestHour having learned the CelestialBureaucracy will have him {{reincarnat|ion}}ed on Earth to overcome fear over a lifetime, he sees his LoveInterest Julia, who's been advanced, on a nearby tram and decides to escape his tram to get to her thinking he has nothing to lose at this point. Barely hanging on to the tram doors, it's then revealed it was all a SecretTestOfCharacter with that same bureaucracy monitoring his actions. Having decided Daniel ultimately overcame fear, they allow him onto the tram with Julia where they both AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.

* ''Literature/WutheringHeights'': Toward the end of the book (and at the beginning, given its HowWeGotHere structure), everything seems bleak for all the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. [[VillainProtagonist Heathcliff]] owns both the Heights and Thrushcross Grange, his widowed daughter-in-law Cathy lives effectively as his prisoner while rightful Earnshaw heir Hareton is reduced to servitude, and the rest of the Earnshaws and Lintons have all died, yet not even Heathcliff can enjoy his successful revenge because of his endless grief for his LostLenore Catherine Earnshaw. Yet the ending turns out not to be so bleak after all. Cathy and Hareton overcome their BelligerentSexualTension and fall happily in love, Heathcliff loses the will to harm them any more because they remind him too much of Catherine and himself, and a few days later he mysteriously dies, leaving Cathy and Hareton to inherit his property and fortune, and (it's implied) finally [[TogetherInDeath reuniting with Catherine]].

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E7TheZygonInvasion The Zygon Invasion]]"-"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E8TheZygonInversion The Zygon Inversion]]" involves a war brewing between the AlienAmongUs Zygons and humanity, whom the Doctor helped broker peace between. A radical Zygon faction desires to drop TheMasquerade even if they will end up dead at the hands of humans. The human side has an itchy trigger finger ready to go; both sides seek the hidden means of achieving their goals. In the end, said means don't actually exist, but the leaders of the two sides are brought to the same place in the process of searching for them. The Doctor then convinces both sides that war is not the answer and that peace, however imperfect, is worth maintaining via a heartbreaking monologue. Even happier? He convinces the villain to have a HeelFaceTurn, who stands down her forces and becomes a new second Osgood, giving the bereaved one a "sister" once more!

-->[[ToiletHumor Jimmy's former classmates all suffered from hemorrhoids. Luckily for them, Jimmy went on to become a successful proctologist]].

* ''VideoGame/DeadToRightsRetribution has a considerably more optimistic ending compared to the previous games in the franchise as Jack's love-interest actually survives and Grant City is less of a CrapsackWorld compared to the previous games(I.E. having an actually competent Mayor in Gloria Exner instead of Pinnacle)and Jack's name isn't tarnished so he overall comes out pretty good despite the death of his father.

* Every canon ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' installment is this, with the best ending (if MultipleEndings exist, otherwise it's almost always a surprisingly happy ending by default) generally involve the good guys escaping and living for another day.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadTelltale The Walking Dead]]'': The first three seasons all ended in various shades of BitterSweetEnding and the Final Season seemed to be heading the same way, with hints that Clementine would ultimately die to save AJ, just as Lee did for her. But despite losing her leg to a walker bite, Clementine survives. She and AJ finally find a safe place to call home and a majority of their friends (and Clementine's potential LoveInterest) are still alive after the final battle with a group of raiders. Its as close to a HappyEnding as you can get in a ZombieApocalypse.

** In ''Webcomic/TrueBelievers'', Joe [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Quesadilla]]'s attempts to break up the HappilyMarried Franchise/SpiderMan and ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson climax with MJ undergoing a DisneyVillainDeath. When he goes down to collect MJ's body, though, she springs back to life, pulls out a {{Retcon}} stamp that she stole from Quesadilla earlier, and uses it to {{Retgone}} Quesadilla. Once she reunites with Spidey, she explains that she managed to return because DeathIsCheap in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. Additionally, the disappearance of Joe Quesadilla and his ExecutiveMeddling cause the comic industry to flourish.

* Although not a work, the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar qualifies. Even as late as 1986, everyone believed the only way the ideological struggle between the [=USSR=]/Warsaw Pact and United States/[=NATO=] was going to end was with a nuclear war, as both blocs finally threw all their nuclear missiles at their opponent as WorldWarIII erupted. Nobody suspected that 1987 would see the beginnings of a renewed detente between the two nations, rapprochment between UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan and UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev and a major arms-limitation agreement. Much less did anyone forsee the UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag revolutions that swept through the Warsaw Pact nations in 1989, including the dismantling of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall and the peaceful reunification of East and West Germany. And the events of 1991, culminating in the Christmas Day dissolution of the Soviet Union, and Gorbachev peacefully handing over his power to UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin of the Russian Federation, would have been a complete surprise to people in 1986.