We all have hopes and dreams. Wishes. And sometimes, those wishes come true. Maybe they were granted by a Literal Genie, or, more hopefully, a Benevolent Genie. Sometimes, however, it turns out that the things you wanted, you achieved on a Wish Quest.
Whatever the means, the wishes of everyone in the group have been granted, one way or another.
To qualify, it can't simply be an Esoteric Happy Ending. Characters at some point in the story must state what it is that they hope to have, and then have that wish granted, either by an outside force or by their own efforts.
If the characters struggled to get these wishes achieved, then it becomes an example of Earn Your Happy Ending.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- Durarara!!: In the final arc, Masaomi, Anri, and Mikado are reunited with each other as friends, the Van Gang avenges Kadota, Celty finds her head, Shinra doesn't lose Celty, Shizuo finally rids Ikebukuro of Izaya, Kujiragi gets her freedom, Mika and Seiji get to be together, and the Dollars are finally destroyed. On a much darker note, Haruna gets to express her love to Nasujima.
- In the anime adaptation of Fate/stay night, we're told that the victor of the Grail War can have their fondest wish come true. Shiro's wish is to become a hero who can protect people. Rin's is to be reunited with her sister, Sakura. Saber's wish is to undo the past where she was made King. By the story's end, Shiro has become a hero without the use of the Grail. Rin was able to save and reunite with her sister, Sakura. And Saber learns, in the end, to make peace with her time as the King. Also very much a case of Earn Your Happy Ending.
- In the last episode the Fate/Grand Order spin off Fujimaru Ritsuka Doesn't Get It, a couple of Servants hear that Ritsuka has a spare Holy Grail and want to make a wish on it. Blackbeard wants a lot of girls, Caster Altria wants body height, a Nemo sailor wants lots of wheat flour, and Assassin Li Shuwen wants his youthful body back. The grail gets overwhelmed by their desires and mixes their wishes, creating a mutliple of Lancer Li Shuwen that are taller and wheat flour colored.
Comic Books
- Serves as the entire premise of Eight Billion Genies, when a race of beings that only ever refer to themselves as "genies" come down to Earth, one for every person of the planet's 8-billion global population, and offer to grant whatever wish is asked of them without limitations, save for one wish per genie since granting the wish causes the genie to disappear, perhaps to whatever they consider an afterlife. Some wishes are benevolent, like a young boy who wishes to become a superhero to protect his family or a father that wishes for the resurrection of his wife so that his child can have their mother back. Others are very selfish, like one wish that covered much of the U.S. in a tarp labeled 'Dougland', a woman who wished for a lightsaber and ended up setting Detroit on fire, etc. The "genies" play out Literal Genie to its fullest extent, though they also show respect for people who don't impulsively waste their wish and actually take the time to think over what they want.
Film — Animated
- Wakko's Wish. We learn of the desires of every character towards the beginning of the story:
- Dr. Scratchansniff: Having his elixirs (later changed to Scratchy Cola) taste good
- Hello Nurse: Finally being appreciated for her brain and not her looks
- Slappy Squirrel: Her tree back to life and all the acorns she can have
- Skippy Squirrel: Kids his own age to play with
- Buttons: Being rewarded for his loyalty
- Mindy's Mom: Having Mindy call her "mom" instead of "lady"
- Rita and Runt: Finally founding a place called home with Scratchy
- Baron von Plotz: Being King (Burger Meister King)
- Ralph: To direct traffic
- The Goodfeathers: Finally being respected (although they didn't know that all of the respect they got was actually for a statue of the Warners)
- Pinky: To be with Pharfignewton
- The Brain: Although he didn't take over the world, he still got great political power as the prime minister and most trusted advisor of the Warners
Film — Live-Action
- Bruce Almighty: Bruce Nolan is made God for a Day but also gets the responsibilities too. Bruce at first thinks he can do a better job than God but has trouble even dealing with prayers from his own neighborhood, let alone the entire world. His attempt to make everyone happy (and deal with his workload) by just giving a blanket "yes" to every request results in everyone winning the lottery, which causes rioting since everyone winning means the pot is split so many ways everyone gets about $17.
- Sneakers: Partway through, the team talk about what they're planning to do with their money from the big score. Crease wants to take his wife on a foreign vacation, Mother wants a motorhome, Carl wants a relationship with a beautiful woman, and Whistler jokes that he'll settle for peace on earth and goodwill toward men. In the event, they get in over their heads and lose the macguffin and the money, but gain leverage over their knowledge of the NSA's shady activities; Crease gets his vacation, Mother gets his motorhome, and Carl manages to score a date with Abbott's beautiful assistant. Whistler takes great pleasure in asking Abbott, an NSA bigwig, for peace on earth and goodwill toward men, and gets a very grudging "I'll see what I can do."
- Suicide Squad (2016)
- The Enchantress uses her mental abilities to find out what several of the Squad's members want most of all (Harley wants to be married to the Joker, Deadshot wants to kill Batman, Rick Flag wants his girlfriend June Moon to no longer be possessed by the Enchantress and Diablo wants his family to be alive again) and offers to fulfill the wishes. She doesn't offer anything to Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang or Katana. Subverted when the Squad refuses the Enchantress's offer.
- At the end, Amanda Waller, the person in charge of the Squad, realizes that she needs to give the criminal members more than just a reduction in sentence to keep them docile. When Deadshot demands to be allowed to see his daughter, Waller agrees and asks the others what they want. Harley asks for an espresso machine and Killer Croc asks to be allowed to watch BET (Black Entertainment Television), both of which are granted. When Captain Boomerang demands to be allowed to leave the Squad entirely, Waller refuses and he gets nothing.
- The Wizard of Oz. At the end of the movie, all of the characters have been granted their wish. Scarecrow finds out that he has a brain. The Tin Man has a heart. And the Cowardly Lion has Courage. Of course, it turns out that they had these things all along, but it took the quest for them to realize this.
Literature
- Zigzagged in the original Aladdin story, there are very few limitations to the genies' wishes: The genie of the ring can't cancel wishes granted by the genie of the lamp, and when Aladdin is tricked into asking for the egg of a Roc Bird, the genie makes it very clear that not only will it not happen, the only reason Aladdin is still alive after asking is that the genie knows Aladdin was tricked into it.
- Neverwhere. Neil Gaiman freely admits to cribbing from The Wizard of Oz. Everyone gets their wish. Door learns who killed her family and avenges them. Richard gets a way home. The Marquis is owed a significant favor by Lady Door. Even Hunter got her wish, which was the chance to hunt the Beast of London Below.
Live Action TV
- Babylon 5: Everyone who answers Morden's question "What do you want?" gets to see what they asked for.
- Delenn simply asks him to leave.
- Londo asks for a return of the old Centauri empire, but in time realizes he's made a Deal with the Devil.
- G'Kar wants to see the destruction of Centauri Prime, with the slight catch that he's had a change of heart since answering and is on Centauri Prime as Londo's bodyguard when it happens.
- Vir gets to see Morden's head on a pike.
- The Librarians 2014: "And Santa's Midnight Run." Ezekiel got to experience what it was like to be the "Good Guy" for a change. Stone got to have a barroom brawl on Christmas Eve. Cassandra got to find out that Santa Claus was real. And Baird got a chance to celebrate her birthday without Christmas overshadowing it.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: In "Hide and Q", Riker gains omnipotence and gives his blind friend Geordi the ability to see, turns his teenage friend Wesley into a grown man, and gives Worf a girlfriend. These wishes, however, get reversed.
Video Games
- Dangerous Adventure: "Dreams" are an expensive upgrade that provides party-wide benefits once bought: the Barbarian leading an army grants a big health boost, the Thief becoming a pirate captain gives more gold, the Wizard's library gives extra experience, the Ranger getting an island gives an extra move, and the Fighter getting a castle gives extra damage to all heroes. However, the sequel shows that most of them have gone bad after being corrupted by evil magical gems: the thief gets involved with Cthulthu Mythos-esque cultists, the barbarian's army pillages a town, the wizard creates hideous mutants, and the fighter rules over his land with an iron fist and worships demons.
- Persona 5: In Royal, there is a third-semester arc in which everyone's greatest wishes come true, so much so that people stop visiting shrines. Some of these wishes are downright impossible, such as Futaba's mother coming back from the dead and Morgana becoming human. It turns out to be the result of Maruki using his newfound Reality Warper powers to give everyone perfect, happy lives. This is Deconstructed though, as everyone getting what they want means humanity ceases to progress, and not every wish is healthy. However, it's possible to have Joker accept this world and have it become the true reality.
Western Animation
- Justice League, "Comfort And Joy". Shayera gets to have her barroom brawl, while Jon gets to spend some time getting to know her. Superman gets to have a good old-fashioned Christmas at home with his folks, and J'onn gets to experience, briefly, being a part of a family when he joins Clark. Flash manages to get a rare toy for some children at an orphanage, while Ultra Humanite gets to see young people with uncorrupted minds instilled with a bit of culture to go along with their goodwill and cheer.
