The Pollyanna - TV Tropes

"Although I've been mishandled by a demon, I'm determined to remain optimistic, no matter what!"

• The Authority: Apollo is always kinder, happier and more optimistic than most other folks in his universe.
• Stephanie Brown, Spoiler, who is also known as the fourth Robin and later on the third Batgirl. She has had an emotionally-abusive, villainous father; a drug-addict mother who left her alone during her childhood; a rocky relationship with Tim Drake, the 3rd Robin; not getting approval from Batman and the Birds of Prey; getting tortured by Black Mask and her controversial 'death' (retconned later to her just fleeing the country with Leslie Thompkins); then coming back to Gotham only to be rejected again by Tim Drake — it's a wonder how she managed to keep her sunny disposition and not get boggled down with angst. She is the most hopeful and lighthearted of all the Batfamily members.
• Although he isn't exactly who comes to mind when you think of this trope, the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards is notable for being sunnily confident that a good idea and a dash of science is all that's needed to defeat the most untouchably powerful universe-destroying villains one can face and whisk the heroes out of the most hopeless and unsolvable of dire circumstances. The fact that he actually demonstrates this on a regular basis makes his attitude completely understandable.
• The Flash: The second Flash, Barry Allen, is an eternal optimist who always sees the best in every situation. He is an easy-going and laid-back person who has huge amounts of patience, understanding, and kindness for most everybody. His life motto is literally "Every second is a gift". Can't get more optimistic than that.
• Green Lantern: The Blue Lantern Corps, representing the blue light of hope, always hope for the best in even the worst situations.
• Harley Quinn is a rare (anti) villain example. Namely at one point she died and went to Hell, only to get kicked out as her endless cheerfulness threatened to ruin the gloom and despair of the place. This is also probably why she keeps coming back to the Joker and hoping things will work out, showing why this isn't necessarily a good quality to have.
• In volume one of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, we get the girl that provides our page quote (and who is Alan Moore's reinterpretation of the Trope Namer). It should be noted that this scene can also be read as her simply liking the sex, and not wanting to admit as much, and using optimism as an excuse for her behaviour. In an interview, Alan Moore states that she was in state of shock.
• During Terry Moore's run on Runaways, this was the scrap of personality allotted to Klara. Despite coming from a hellish, abusive background and having to adjust to living with strangers, she was usually sweet and cheerful.
• Shazam!:
  • Mary Marvel was described as this during her pre-Countdown and Final Crisis portrayals. This was her most obvious comedic trait in the Superbuddies stories. She is also explicitly called "Pollyanna", causing her to talk about how that's her favorite movie.
  • By the time Billy Batson is an orphan, has endured abusive foster parents and lives on the street, but he somehow manages to be one of the most Cheerful Children in the DC Universe. Admittedly a lot of his problems were able to be solved once he got super powers.
  • In Post-2011 continuity, the Pollyanna status seems to have been taken by Billy's foster sister Darla. At first energetic about having another older brother, Billy later coldly tells her that he is not her brother and her other siblings are not an actual family because they aren't related, which drove Darla away in tears. Mary coldly tried to put Billy in his place for what he did, saying Darla was with them simply because her Jerkass biological parents didn't want her and told her exactly that to her face. The next morning, however, Darla acts as if the previous day didn't happen. Mary mentions it's because Darla doesn't waste time on anger.
• Spider-Man: No matter what life throws his way, Peter Parker will always do the right thing, and won't stop trying to make the world a better place. He also always seems to have a joke at the ready for any situation.
• Superman:
  • Although the amount of crap in his life (and therefore the strangeness of his constant kindness and optimism) varies from writer to writer, and era to era, Superman unfailingly believes in the goodness of the human race, and frequently bucks up other superheroes by promising that no matter how bleak a crisis looks, they can always do something to help.
  • Pre-Crisis Supergirl stands apart from her replacements and successors because she always strived to see the good side of things, no matter what. In The Supergirl From Krypton (1959), Kara saw her entire civilization dying, lost her parents, was stranded in an alien planet and then she was dumped into an orphanage by her only living relative... and she still tried to think positively. In The Unknown Supergirl, Superman is about to reveal her existence to the world after forcing her to train hard and operate in secret during one year, when her powers suddenly and mysteriously vanish. Kara is initially upset that her hard work was all for nothing, but then she says herself crying is useless and she must simply adapt to her new life.
  • In Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Mxyzptlk thought he could use Kara's grief and sadness to fuel his emotion machine, so he took her away from her family and got her stranded on Earth. Then he disguised himself as her middle school principal in order to see that she was properly bullied, and got annoyed because her bloody-minded determination to remain optimistic and see the bright side overcame the amount of crap he heaped on her.
• Teen Titans:
  • Gar Logan. Content with playing the Plucky Comic Relief character despite a lifetime of hardship and self-loathing until it gets worse.
  • M'gann M'orzz aka Miss Martian, despite her White Martian heritage (White Martians tend to be vicious warmongers), is an absolutely adorable Pollyanna. Almost nothing gets her down — her response to tragedies such as murdered parents, an evil future version of herself stuck in her head, the deaths of teammates, and nearly being killed herself on several occasions, is to think positive and work for a better tomorrow.
• Transformers: Shattered Glass takes place in a Mirror Universe version of Transformers: Generation 1. There, the infamous bellyacher Huffer and the grim fatalist Dirge are both sunshine and puppies all the way.

• There's a delightful sequence in Dykes to Watch Out For, in which, to Clarice and Toni's horror, a social worker, Gwynne, arrives to assess their household for Clarice's adoption of Raffi, right when Toni's homophobic parents are visiting. Gwynne remains relentlessly upbeat, staying steadfastly oblivious to Sr. and Sra. Ortiz being homophobic and misinterpreting all of their comments as supportive. As a result, the assessment goes swimmingly and the adoption is approved.

  Gwynne: What delightful people! Have they always been such strong allies?
  Toni: Uh... well, actually, not until quite recently.

• One strip of The Far Side shows a pair of devils lamenting their inability to properly torment one damned soul as he cheerfully toils for his infernal overseers.

  You know, we're just not reaching that guy.

• Jon Arbuckle of Garfield is unflappable, despite being a Butt-Monkey of the highest order. For most of the strip's history, he got virtually no real respect from anyone; his cat would sass & mistreat him constantly, the women he tried to date would cruelly shoot him down, and aside from his rarely mentioned career as a cartoonist seems to be doing nothing with his life at all. Even so, he only occasionally feels down enough to let the audience know that he's unsure of his place in the universe; the rest of the time he'll gladly collect lint for its own sake, tapdance on the front lawn in his underwear with a pineapple in each hand and a ridiculous hat on his head, or continue to court women, nearly all of whom say the nastiest things to him even if they have only just met him and he used a mere pickup line. Things have gotten marginally better since he finally landed one of those very women, Liz the veterinarian, as his girlfriend.
• Krazy Kat, aided by Selective Obliviousness.
• Pig of Pearls Before Swine always keeps a positive attitude even though he is one of many Butt Monkeys of Rat's abuse.

Crossovers

• Child of the Storm has Clark, as usual, even if he is a little more paranoid and wary than canon, being a generally cheerful soul who believes in the innate goodness of humanity.
• The Night Unfurls has Hugh. He was orphaned and malnourished. He lost his voice from a Slashed Throat, and is Left for Dead without an eye during his debut chapter in the story. He remains bright, cheerful and eager to please, persisting even as he blurs in war-torn battlefields and Eldritch Locations as a Kid Hero, nary a Heroic BSoD or a Break the Cutie situation whatsoever. He did miraculously survive at least two Near-Death Experiences after all, meaning that despite the cruelty he receives, fortune is on his side.

Dragon Ball

• In Dragon Ball Z Abridged, Yamcha once claims defensively that he still has hope after he momentarily cheers at Cell being knocked out of the Cell Games arena, only to have forgotten that Cell can fly to avoid a ring-out. Tien remarks that the fact he has any hope left at all is his most admirable trait. Yamcha thanks him for the compliment, not realizing he'd been insulted. Even Cell has to speak up at that point.

  "Yamcha, for the love of God, don't thank him."

Hetalia: Axis Powers

• In Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità, Italy remains all smiles even after being beaten and nearly raped. Italy remained all smiles even after being bullied shortly afterwards. Nothing is as it seems though...

The Hunger Games

• Lavinia Gilden/Tansy Leefinch from Some Semblance of Meaning always tries to exhibit pure optimism... even though she's working as a mentor for District Twelve, sending two kids a year into the arena to face near-certain death. Over the course of the story, she does lose a bit of her Genki Girl attitude, but she still tries to look on the bright side.

Love Hina

• For His Own Sake:
  • Keitaro used to act like nothing that happened at the Hinata Inn really bothered him. But years of constant abuse took their toll, despite his efforts to hide how badly he was hurting, and he eventually decided enough was enough.
  • Mutsumi also deconstructs this, as she plunges deep into denial and continues to insist that Keitaro and Naru are just having a rough patch and will get back together, as she can't accept that her decision to step aside for their sake was All for Nothing.
  • Kaolla Su is a downplayed version; compared to Mutsumi, she's more cognizant of how things are 'going wrong', yet retains a very childish outlook on the whole matter and similarly believes that they can 'fix everything' and make it all go back to normal.

Luca

• The Story of Apollo, Daphne and Luca: An Italian Tragedy: Caterina (Giulia's mother) often has a sweet and optimistic disposition and always makes an effort to see the bright side of a situation.

Miraculous Ladybug

• In the dystopian, Crapsack World of Miraculous: The Phoenix Rises, there's still Haley, Max's cheerful, idealistic younger sister. Unlike older characters, who are clearly fed up with those rotten adults, Haley always manages to keep her chipper mood and brighten up the other characters' day.
• What Goes Around Comes Around deconstructs this with Adrien, whose relentless positivity stems from denial and selfishness. Not only does he deny his own problems, but those of others, and all his ideas of the way the world should work ultimately benefit him in some fashion. Such as expecting Marinette to swoon into his arms after she's revealed as Ladybug, and for her to be a perfectly supportive girlfriend who puts all of his desires ahead of her own. Ultimately reconstructed to some degree by the end, as he drops his selfish streak and resolves to make the best of his new life with Amelie and Felix, whom he warmly addresses as his mother and brother.

My Hero Academia

• Flashback: In the Bad Future, Inasa never lost faith that humanity would beat back the alien menace, even after the war waged on for years. The Resistance forces were decimated, entire countries classes, and an interstellar trafficking ring was thriving, yet he continued to believe that they would eventually prevail.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

• A Kingdom Divided: Dinky Hooves retains a positive attitude despite the civil war that explodes across Equestria. Even being paralyzed doesn't destroy her smile.
• Derpy Hooves in Shadow Snark.

  Shadow Snark: You're pretty euphoric for someone who just learned they have no friends.

Omen IV: The Awakening

• Always Visible: Delia Yonce

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

• Memetic Bystander "Poor-chan" is typically portrayed by fandom as the comically extreme, oblivious version, who lives in a cardboard box and can't afford a computer for her classes, yet is always writing cheerful letters to her "Mother in Heaven".

• Mater in Cars 2 is subjected to Break the Cutie when he realizes that everyone else sees him as a laughingstock and a buffoon. Yet after an apologetic reassurance from his best friend Lightning McQueen, he soon returns to his regularly cheerful and optimistic disposition.
• The titular character from Disney's Cinderella. She puts up with the demanding work her stepmother and stepsisters bullies her to do constantly, all with a cheerful smile and a pleasant attitude. It was only when they tore her dress and destroyed any hopes of her going to the ball that Cinderella broke down.
• Anna from Frozen keeps a cheerful attitude throughout the movie. It's only when she is on the brink of death and betrayed by the man she loved that she loses her sunny disposition.
• Joy, the mental personification of … well, joy, in the Pixar film Inside Out. All the more appropriate, since she's voiced by Amy Poehler, of Parks and Recreation fame. It's deconstructed in that her outlook tends to be shortsighted rather than beneficial in the long term.
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: Puss's new companion Perrito is a relentlessly-optimistic Kindhearted Simpleton who almost always tries to see the bright side of things, even cheerfully relating his backstory of his old owners trying to ditch him and eventually trying to drown him as a "funny story".
• Sing has Buster, who is unflappably optimistic, even in light of the looming repossession of his failed theatre. Somewhat Deconstructed here, as he comes across more as intentionally disconnected from harsh reality than looking on the bright side of things. It takes the theatre's literal collapse to finally break him, leaving him in a Heroic BSoD until the other characters re-inspire him.
• The titular character of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been forced into slavery, almost killed by a mercenary and sent out alone into a dark and unfamiliar forest. Yet she doesn't complain or cry much and always picks herself up again.
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Luigi despite his timidity, he still remains optimistic even if his family makes fun of him and his brother and not believing in them (expect their mother, who supports them all the time).
• Trolls: Poppy is very close to the actual Trope Namer in that she admits to Branch she knows life isn't all cupcakes and rainbows but she likes to believe most of it is and focus on the good things.
• Vanellope of Wreck-It Ralph suffers a great deal of discrimination and out-right bullying for being a glitch. Despite being looked down on by the other racers and being forced to live in a hovel in a hidden area, she remains cheerily optimistic. The only times she falters are when somebody threatens her car, and thus her dream of racing.

• Annie, the 1982 film, when she's in the orphanage ... she just keeps thinking about tomorrow! And her sunny attitude is contagious and transformative.
• In Ant-Man Scott Lang's best friend, former cellmate and sidekick Luis comes across this way thanks to his opening scene, where the two are reconnecting after the year between Luis being released from jail and Scott's release:

  Scott: Hey, how's your girl, man?
  Luis: Ah, she left me.
  Scott: Oh.
  Luis: Yeah, my ... mom died, too.
  [Beat; Scott gapes in awkward silence]
  Luis: And my dad got deported.
  [More silence]
  Luis: But I got the van!
  Scott: [quickly] ... It's nice!
  Luis: Yeah, right?!

• Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves combines this with two fairly horrific hours of Break the Cutie, eventually leading to a messiah ending.
• In Cannibal! The Musical, this is Played for Laughs with Swan. When his companions are complaining about having no food and being weary and lost, he suggests building a snowman via cheerful song and demonstration. Even after one of his annoyed companions shoots him in the head, he still has a smile on his face.
• An odd subversion in Cecil B. Demented: Raven is a Satanist, yet remains upbeat and perky, even as her fellow Sprocket Holes are being picked off left and right. If one didn't know better, one might question her grip on reality.
• Eva Braun in Downfall, to a pathological and creepy degree. Seemingly living in total delusion, she's carefree as the Third Reich crumbles around her. Like Hitler ordering counterattacks to units which have long since been wiped out, Eva asks people to visit shops which have already been bombed out and abandoned, and throws parties while artillery shells land into buildings around them. In a private moment with Traudl (the viewpoint character), she admits that she knows the Nazis have no hope, but she doesn't care, she's still happy.
• The titular heroine from the Swedish film Du Är Inte Klok, Madicken ("You're out of your mind, Maggie!"), is this, much more then in Astrid Lindgren's books the film is based on.
• The title character of Ed Wood is constantly upbeat and optimistic about his movies, declaring that every film take is "perfect" even when glaring errors pointed out to him. He constantly believes that his next film will be a smash hit despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary and rarely lets his spirits dim. Tim Burton claimed he wanted to make the movie through Wood's eyes, showing his sincere love for movies despite his utter lack of talent. The darker parts of his life are glossed over due to this.
• Hairspray and 2007 remake: Tracy Turnblad is infectiously optimistic, happily championing the desegregation of the Corny Collins Show. Even though there are times that she has doubts that she can succeed, she never gives up, and in the end, most of the cast is with her. "You Can't Stop The Beat!"
• Meghna from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na turns out to be a deconstruction.
• The Leopard Man: Clo-Clo is constantly smiling and making pleasant conversation with people. The only exceptions are when she's worried for her life, reflective about the dead Teresa, or feuding with Kiki.
• Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome: Pig Killer is kind and cheerful most of the time, and doesn't seem fazed about having been sentenced to life at hard labor under conditions that will kill him in a few years.
• Played for comedy in Monty Python's Life of Brian, in which a crucified man tells Brian to keep his spirits up and closes out the film with a jaunty musical number, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
• Delmar from O Brother Where Art Thou is a male example. As Pete raves that now he won't get out of prison until he's 84 years old, Delmar blithely says, "Well, shoot. I'll only be 82."
• Lady Sue from Akira Kurosawa's Ran. And it frightens Hidetora. His armies killed her entire family after she was sent to him as a political hostage. Her response: becoming a nun and forgiving him. It would be so much easier for Hidetora if she just hated him.
• Nomi Malone in Showgirls is a more believable and seemingly more cynical version of this trope. Nomi carries a knife, appears street savvy and effectively confronts a truck driver for hitting on her. However, she is shown to be ultimately trusting, to her detriment, leaving her luggage in his car to be stolen. Throughout the film she is betrayed for her trust. The callous Las Vegas show director Tony Moss mysteriously refers to her more than once as looking like a "Pollyanna", the first time for no apparent reason, the second time possibly due to her dress (though this still gives us no clue as to why he would name her as such).

• Person A: "Ugh, it’s scorching! Worst thing ever!!!"
  Person B: "But that’s perfect! Summer’s here!"
  Person A: "Now it’s freezing, ugh!!!"
  Person B: "Amazing! No more sweating!"
  Person A: "Blehh, Monday… Back to work again!!!"
  Person B: "Fantastic! Cash to be made!"
  Person A: "SOMEONE DROWN THIS ANNOYINGLY CHEERFUL CREATURE!!!"
  Person B: "Yesss! Yesss!!! Let’s go for a dip!!!!"
  

• "Jumpin' Jack Flash".

  "I was raaaised by a toothless bearded hag

  "I was schooooled with a strap right 'cross my back!

  "But it's aaaaall riiiiight now, in fact it's a gas!

  "Yes it's aaaaall riiiiight...

  "I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash, it's a gas gas gas!"

• Basically the point of Amanda Palmer's "Oasis", which is about a teenage girl who chooses to look on the bright side in spite of being raped and being harassed for getting an abortion and rumors being told about her by her former friend. (warning: NSFW).

  "Oh, I've seen better days, but I don't care."

• "Float On" by Modest Mouse seems to be narrated by someone like this:

  A fake Jamaican took every last dime with that scam

  It was worth it just to learn some sleight of hand

  Bad news comes don't you worry even when it lands

  Good news will work its way to all them plans

• Rain drops keep falling on my head, but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red...
• A certain song from Monty Python's Life of Brian, later reused for Spamalot:

  Some things in life are bad

  They can really make you mad

  Other things just make you swear and curse.

  When you're chewing on life's gristle

  Don't grumble, give a whistle

  And this'll help things turn out for the best...

• Doris Day claims she feels like one of these in the song "Everybody Loves A Lover." The perky arrangement really drives it home.
  • The Shirelles cover even adds a Greek Chorus that's just as cheerful as the lead singer.
• The narrator of "Sweet Float Flats" seems to be this, given how cheerfully she sings about the horrible lives of the tenants in the titular apartment building. Of course, it's hard to tell if she actually is or not, because she's on a Mushroom Samba the entire song.
• "Paradise" by Coldplay seems to talk about one in a more lighter tone:

  And so lying underneath those stormy skies

  She'd say, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

  I know the sun must set to rise

  This could be para-para-paradise"

• " Клёво" (Great) by Igor Kornelyuk has the protagonist losing everything and then getting poisoned to death with some bad alcohol. Despite that, he keeps singing "I live great, never seen anything so great".
• The Wikipedia article on Yatta! used to include this:

  "The sketch appears to be at least partly ironic commentary on attempts by the Japanese government and others to maintain optimism in the face of Japan's severe economic troubles, depicting men impoverished to the degree of having no clothing but the figurative fig leaf (though in this case the leaves are attached to the men's briefs) yet maintaining an irrational, irrepressible belief in their own potential for success."

• While it's virtually impossible to have a Pollyanna-type character in a medium where people beat each other up all the time, this can surface when it comes to faces. There have been several instances of a face losing their title or getting beaten up only to be all smiles if they're in action the next week. A notable one was Eve Torres who lost her Divas Championship (her first reign) at the Fatal 4 Way pay-per-view in 2010. The next night on Raw, she was all smiles during her entrance and danced with the Great Khali despite facing the woman who took the title from her. (That attitude could have been because Eve knew that she lost her title in a four-Diva sudden death match.) Though Eve averted this when she lost the Divas title for a second time (this time to Brie Bella) back in 2011 due to the Bella Twins' "Twin Magic" - they had a backstage segment after the match and she was definitely a little upset.
• Natalya's face persona slipped into this territory more than a few times. During her feud with LayCool in mid-to-late 2010, they started mocking her and claimed she'd inherited her dad's facial hair gene, complete with a photoshopped picture of Natalya with an Anvil beard. Nattie just laughed it off and also shook off all the jibes they got at her family. And when she lost her Divas title to Eve in 2011, she teamed with her the very next night on Raw and there was no tension between them whatsoever. Then after she lost her rematch to Eve, she saved her from a backstage attack.
• Jillian Hall counts. Despite virtually everyone on the roster complaining about her Hollywood Tone-Deaf gimmick, every week or so Jillian would be out all smiles ready to sing for the audience again. This is especially glaring when you consider everything her character has gone through - losing her Divas' title two minutes after winning it, being dissed by every single celebrity guest host on Raw (including the Osbournes, Jewel, Wayne Brady), being one-upped by a conniving pair of twins for weeks and being on a losing streak for three years of her career.

• Arthur in Cabin Pressure, who, after years as an air steward, is still absurdly excited about taking off, and even more excited by take-off delays, since it means you get more of a build-up to the actual take-off, and describes absolutely everything as "brilliant". Except his father, and the possibility of MJN Air closing. Although even there, he manages to find something to be cheerful about, namely his new career as an ice-cream man.

• The battle dragons in Dungeons & Dragons really like fighting and are said to have a "contagious sense of optimism" that give morale bonuses to their allies.
• The main signature character for Pugmire is Princess Yosha Pug, who believes wholeheartedly in her country's values and traditions and thinks the best of everyone. She is balanced out by Knight in Sour Armor Pan Dachshound, who considers her well-intentioned but naive.

• The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya: In the beginning, Fevroniya feels one should find joy in everything, and is always happy and cheerful despite being terribly poor. The Tatar invasion and the death of her betrothed put a stop to it (although the All-Loving Heroine aspect of her personality is retained firmly).
• The Most Happy Fella: Herman is a continual victim of bullying, yet he's all smiles—until someone pushes him too far, and he makes a frown and a fist.

• Ace Attorney:
  • Maya Fey rules this trope. Her mother disappeared when she was very young because the murder case she was called in for to channel the victim didn't go in the way of public opinion, and it disgraced their clan so badly that she left in an effort to keep the negative attention off of her daughters. As a teenager, she's framed for her sister's murder. She's kidnapped, starved, and held for ransom, her life being used as a bargaining chip so Phoenix will be compelled to get a guilty man off the hook in court. Her aunt tries to frame her for murder on two seperate occasions so she'll be executed and leave a power vacuum in the clan for her younger sister Pearl to take. Her cousin Dahlia Hawthorne both possesses her and tries to kill her in the second murder plot by her aunt, and to top it all off, her mother is killed while trying to protect her from the murder plot — and if that's not bad enough, Maya didn't even recognize her during the few hours in which they spoke, because she hadn't seen her so long and her mother was using a pseudonym. And yet, despite everything, she does her damnedest to keep a smile on her face and crack a joke when she can. After all's said and done in the final case of the third game, after Maya has been through absolute physical and emotional hell, Franziska just marvels at her optimism and wonders aloud how she manages to stay so strong.
  • Kay Faraday, seeing as her childhood friends Edgeworth and Gumshoe at first don't remember her, her dad was murdered when she was young, leaving her an orphan, and Calisto Yew turned her father's proud secret legacy into nothing more than a murderer and thief. Sure, she gets upset, but she always bounces back.
  • As for Pearl Fey, let's see... Her dad left her when she was tiny, and in a span of less than ten years one of her cousins dies, the other is framed for murder twice and kidnapped once, her mother is sent to prison for framing said other cousin, she meets her favourite author who turns out to be her long-lost aunt, who then dies, she finds out she has two older sisters, one who's an evil, murdering spirit with no love for her and one who is suspected of killing her aunt and is later sent to prison for her part for covering up a murder. Despite all that, Pearl still remains an optimist with a belief in fairy tale endings, though she is quite emotional and open about her distress.
  • Regina Berry leads an incredibly sheltered life in a traveling circus, innocently sets up a prank that goes horribly wrong, causing her friend Bat to fall into a coma which he'll most likely never wake up from and rendering his brother Acro wheelchair-bound for life, which leads directly to the death of her father. And yet she still doesn't fully understand her situation until Moe takes her to watch Max's trial and forces her to realize the consequences of her actions.
  • Maggey Byrde has, in her own words, suffered every kind of accident, caught all sorts of illnesses, failed nearly every exam she's ever taken, and been framed for murder thrice, each time losing her job. Still cheery, though.
  • Trucy Wright has, by age 15, lost both parents, had to share with her adoptive father the responsibilities of running a talent agency, and found out her biological father died and was partially responsible for ruining Phoenix's career. Of course, she's a Genki Girl. Although Trucy might be closer to a far less drastic version of a Stepford Smiler since Phoenix reveals that her Pollyanna persona is, in some ways, just a front.

    Phoenix: Because I'm the only one who knows how she really feels... on the inside.

  • Ambassador Colias Palaeno is somewhere between the drama and comedic versions. While his near-constant grin may be fake, he is a genuinely good Nice Guy who happens to have an amazing tolerance for stress (of which he goes through a lot during the case he appears in).
  • Athena Cykes continues the tradition, having repressed the awful memory of her mother's death and her own possible involvement, using the tragedy to motivate her to exonerate the person who took the fall in her place. She puts up a strong front of an outgoing girl with a lot of energy and enthusiasm to mask her internal problems. Even at her darkest hour, being led into custody, she insists on sending her congratulations to the person she was replacing (whom she had helped defend in court), even though he says her eyes were still puffy and red from crying on the bus ride over.
• AIR's Kamio Misuzu. The girl knows that if she ever makes any friends they're both going to get sick and possibly die, and yet all she wants to do with her summer is play with a stranger at the beach. It's not that she knows such bad things will happen, it's more like she just can't seem to connect with others because her optimism and personality are just so...odd.
• CLANNAD:
  • Nagisa. She finds a very small and old apartment with almost no furniture "a very nice place".
  • Yukine also fits, seeing the good in disreputable gang members and becoming something of a Morality Pet for a good percentage of the town's criminal population.
  • Despite her circumstances, Ushio (the daughter of Tomoya and Nagisa) mostly remains upbeat, optimistic, and affectionate, although she does naturally cave in when things become dead serious. Even in near-death, she is still determined to have some fun one more time.
• Danganronpa:
  • Makoto Naegi sees his exceptional optimism as his one redeeming trait. And with all the crap he goes through, the fact that he still has it is amazing enough. He's been trapped in a situation specifically meant to break his spirit, had a potential love interest betray him, been framed for murder twice, nearly murdered multiple times, nearly executed, dropped in a garbage dump, nearly trapped in a Lotus-Eater Machine, been tried for treason, and stuck in yet another killing game. And throughout it all, he maintains a steadfast faith in people and a belief that things can be made better. This makes him the perfect counter to Junko Enoshima; no matter how much she tells him his situation is hopeless or what Awful Truth she dumps on him, she can't break him. Even when all his classmates are about to cross the Despair Event Horizon after learning about the apocalypse that happened while they were trapped in school, Makoto remains firm and convinces them that they can handle whatever's out there.
  • Aoi Asahina is a sweet and bubbly girl who's second only to Naegi in terms of optimism, and bounds ahead of him in terms of enthusiasm. She takes any chance to do what she loves (sports, mostly), and trusts deeply in her friends, to the point where she and Makoto are the only ones to stand by Sakura after she's revealed as The Mole. Her optimism does have limits, as seen when she thinks Sakura killed herself out of despair and when the Awful Truth of the outside world is revealed, but she only needs a little encouragement to steady her resolve and return to her kindhearted self.
• Fate/stay night: Emiya Shirou has had a rough life: He lost everything he held dear in a giant fire caused by the destruction of the Grail and was only barely saved by Emiya Kiritsugu who adopts him... and then dies 5 years later due the curse of the Holy Grail, having to live alone as a 13-year old with no friends or family, with only a guardian in the form of Fujimura Taiga, who doesn´t even live in his house. Despite that, he´s always friendly to anyone he meets.
• Ceren from The House in Fata Morgana's fandisk is a case of this but the cause of it is revealed to be a form of mental illness.
• Hershey in Illusionary Trauma is full of this. An attempt at deconstructing this was made by his inverted self showing him the corpses of his friends, though Hershey managed to hold it together because Kei was still barely alive when they escaped.
• Komari and Kud from Little Busters!. Komari's route was something of a Deconstruction, revealing the darker side to her idealism and involving a happy conclusion that she was now able to accept that sometimes bad things happen, but Kud was able to go through her entire route holding on to the belief that there are no bad people in the world, even while she was being chained up as a human sacrifice.
• Paper Perjury: Hana remains confident and quippy even when she's arrested, and in pretty much any situation that doesn't involve her best friend suffering the same. In the epilogue, she manages to turn even being convicted for theft to her advantage, arguing that her familiarity with the Fifth Precinct makes her well equipped to work there. Some people are just unsinkable.
• Sayaka in Suika, who is hated by virtually everyone in town for being too perceptive. Mie is horrified at how people normally treat her when they become friends because Sayaka is way nicer than everyone thinks.
• Tanomura from Swan Song (2005) is a male example. He acknowledges when a situation goes south and reacts accordingly, but expect him to be cheerful in every other situation you encounter him in.
• Shiki Tohno from Tsukihime had his family slaughtered (although he doesn't remember this) and survived a fatal accident. He then started seeing lines everywhere and if touches them, he will destroy whatever object that line is on. He was about to go insane until he met Aoko who helped him cope with his problem. Because of that, he appreciates life more. Enough that the one thing he will not tolerate are monsters that take lives from others.
• Maria from Umineko: When They Cry. She's constantly abused by her mother who essentially wishes she was never born and thinks having a child stands in the way of her finding romance and living a happy life, and feels that her 'creepy' hobbies are an embarrassment and reflect on her poorly as a parent. Couple this with being constantly bullied by her classmates and looked down on by teachers and it's no wonder why she retreats into a magical world where she's surrounded by friends and happiness. Even when she watches her various relatives, in some cases including her mother, get brutally murdered right in front of her, she remains (albeit creepily) optimistic because she's friends with the Golden Witch supposedly committing these murders, and has been promised that even in death she'll be brought to the prosperous Golden Land, and even find a version of her mother who loves her unconditionally and always has time for her waiting there. Once you realize this and go back to the older story arcs, Maria's status as the resident Creepy Child lessens as it becomes apparent that this occult interest is the only thing keeping her from breaking down entirely from how horrible her life is.

• Dreamscape: Alice always finds the bright side to a situation, and believes anyone can change for the better.
• hololive:
  • Amelia Watson is a very upbeat girl who, in her own words, "turned out pretty good" in spite of her harrowing childhood experiences, including (but not limited to): nearly biting her tongue off while eating ice cream, nearly splitting her head open when she fell while jumping on the bed (for which she has a scar on top of her head), slicing off the tip of her thumb while trying to peel an apple, and having crayons melt and scald her lap while sitting in a hot car.
  • Despite the fact that Subaru Oozora is one of the most outgoing members, her childhood was rough, to put it mildly. She has a congenital heart defect that, if left untreated, would have been fatal (it was stated that she would only last until puberty if it wasn't operated on), was hit by a car hard enough to be sent flying about 5 meters, and had her house burn down (that last one was the catalyst for her applying to join hololive). She has explained all of these incidents very casually and is able to laugh at them to some extent.
• Homestar Runner: The Strong Bad Email "crying" introduces Li'l Brudder, Strong Bad's attempt to make the most sad and pathetic character possible in order to make Homestar cry. Li'l Brudder is a one-legged puppy dog with a startling amount of optimism, insisting he's gonna grow up to be a quarterback and trying to reassure others with his catchphrase "I can make it on my own!"
• If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device: Vulkan. The mere fact that he's optimistic in the Crapsack World of the Warhammer 40,000 universe makes him this. However, both his cheerfullness and the bad situations he finds himself him are kicked up to eleven - he's very kind around dangerous animals and has died multiple times.
• The Most Popular Girls in School: Deandra, although you wouldn't guess it at first. Despite being quite the snarker, she consistently displays a rather impressive ability to pick herself back up, dust herself off, and find the bright side of whatever scrape she just got into. Losing her popularity and having to transfer schools? Eh, she gets a fresh start, and at least this way she's the hell away from Tanya Berkowitz. Getting dragged into a war between the cheerleaders and the Van Burens? Well, if they buy her lunch and get her into the nice bathroom, that's fine. Getting her arms torn off? Hey, she just won the hundred meter dash in the Special Olympics, lost twenty-seven pounds, and later gets an extremely powerful prosthetic robot arm!

• Whistler and Carribean Splash◊ from Ask King Sombra.
• Lissy from The Bowlingotter Show has a loud, bubbly, cheerful personality. During setbacks in games, she's always quick to offer a silver lining to the situation.
• What Pollyanna calls "the glad game" and others call "counting their blessings" is a coping mechanism that Felix Clay calls "trivializing adversity" in Cracked's 4 Ways We Don't Realize We Suck at Coping With Adversity.
• Amy from Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues. Even after she's turned into data, uprooting her regular life and making her unable to return home, she remains persistently cheerful and friendly.
• Bobby of Diva Dirt is probably one of the most positive wrestling columnists in history. He has something good to say about nearly everything he reviews and if it's a bad show, he'll always try to find something positive in it. Though he did momentarily snap when he found out NXT Redemption was being cancelled. Cryssi seems to have embraced this attitude since around mid-2011.
• Resident do-gooder Penny from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: works with the homeless, doesn't eat meat, and it's a beacon of pure-heartedness. But according to some of her lines on "So they say", she's had it rough in the past, but she's an Anne of the Green Gables-level optimist and always keeps "her chin up". It doesn't end well for her.
• Lu Su in Farce of the Three Kingdoms, despite being a Butt-Monkey. It helps that he's half of the only healthy relationship in the book.
• In Human Centipede: The Musical, Steve retains his cheerful demeanor even when he wakes up tied to a bed and finds out that he’ll be part of a human centipede.