| abstract | - They're the characters the audience is predisposed to root for, suffering as they do from Parental Abandonment and a tragic childhood. They're the little orphan girls and boys who come into the story and proceed to melt the hearts of cranky old people and improve the lives of everyone around them just by being their cheerful, innocent orphan selves. The girls may turn out to be little princesses, and the boys might end up as Lords. This, of course, is their Happy Ending after a terrible childhood of drudgery most likely spent in an orphanage or on the streets, or (shudder) under the care of their dear uncle or fond stepmother. If they have foster parents, or sometimes relatives, they can Earn Your Happy Ending by melting their cold and cantankerous hearts. Heartwarming orphans don't have to do anything to be heartwarming. It seems inherent to their orphaned state. They don't even have to appear on stage. Announce that an orphanage has been destroyed, and A Million Is a Statistic does not come into play; obviously only a Complete Monster would do such a thing. Of course, if they do certain things, they can lose the "heartwarming" part and end up with a somewhat less appealing role. The exact opposite of the Evil Orphan. Contrast Conveniently an Orphan. If they look and act like characters from a Dickens novel, that's a Street Urchin. See Orphan's Ordeal, Baker Street Regular. Examples of Heartwarming Orphan include:
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