What Happen's after the Hero's or You saved the world now what?

Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series explored the 'what now?' scenario.

 

My current WIP is actually kind of an "after story". At the very beginning the MC is shown killing the leader of the invading army and the mountain sized monster god he revives. When she comes back from the dead after 3 years, she reunites with her lover and son and tries to fix the problems between the allied "good guy" countries in her absence, only to learn her continent which floats in the sky is at risk of falling soon and go searching for a way to prevent that. Meanwhile an anti-magic user faction seeks to free the continent from her and her family's grasp (she's the princess of the nation that leads the alliance).

 

I have a long-running set of RPs that basically runs on the rule "the world will always need saving". Every time the protagonists defeats the current Big Bad, something else inevitably pops up to make their lives miserable again. Actual peace is a rare and coveted thing.

 

My stories never have villains, and the characters never 'save' the world. They just do what they can when they can.

 

In the first book, the main conflict involves the fact that the main character is dead, and has amnesia for awhile before she remembers how she died, and then reincarnates onto a newly formed planet [many other things happen]. In the second book, a dark force known as the Korion Maiden is supposedly breaking free from an enchanted sleep, and many believe that she will destroy everything if awakened.

 

^No, she is no more of a villain than the other characters. The 'heroes' don't stop her; they fail, and learn that she is an integral part of their lives.

 

^Well...okay, then.

 

The heroine fights a mecha in it too.

 

The title of the book has not been decided yet although some of my earlier books have magical mechas too (Hammer Out A Future where the heroines beats some up with her melee weapon and its sequel Hammer Out A Path where her friend pilots one to aid in the defense of their city). XD

 

I guess I'm late to this party, so I'm not sure if this has been entirely addressed. I'm also not sure if the original post was looking for examples of the "post-victory" story or reasons as to why they don't exist.

I think for the former they're a little thin, but some good examples have been noted. I haven't read the thread in its entirety, but one that springs to mind for me is a video game series called "Overlord" where you play as a villain resurrected by his minions to go confront the heroes that brought you down. While you do that, you discover that many of them succumbed to their own version of corruption. That being said, beyond epilogues there isn't a whole lot of "post-victory" story telling, which I think is explained by my next point.

The latter issue, if it's what the OP was asking, is explained by the simple storytelling maxim that stories are centered on conflict. No reader really wants to sit around and listen to how everything is going well. There needs to be some element of conflict and so to the extent that stories exist after the hero has triumphed they usually just use that setting the "post-victory" setting to tell a new conflict. Star Wars, as was previously mentioned, is a good example of that. Luke blows up the Death Star but the Empire still exists, so it was the first of what turned out to be kind of three journeys for Luke. There's also the credible argument that episodes 1-6 all serve as the story/journey of Anakin Skywalker fulfilling his destiny to bring balance to the Force. Again though, once we reach a lack of conflict in Episode 6 where the Empire is ostensibly toppled there really isn't a reason to tell another story unless a new conflict happens. Any wrapping up and "what happens now" questions would be best handled in an epilogue. This article details the purposes of epilogue and a few potential uses.

I guess that's the only commentary I have. No one tells the tale of what happens after the victory parade because it simply isn't interesting beyond a recitation of facts that shouldn't be much longer than a paragraph.

 

I don’t think there is a format for what your looking for. Could it be the stages your character is in is more applicable? For instance, Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages says that middle adulthood is about generativity versus stagnation. This means giving to the next generation or, failing that, a feeling of an absence of meaningful accomplishment. Old age is integrity versus despair. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is Physiological needs (survival), safety and security, social needs, esteem, and lastly self-actualisation.

I also have a list that starts with Parents and Children, and ends with The Final Journey. Some that might be pertinent are; The Quest for Meaning - compromise of ideals; Passion and Rejection – temptation; The Eternal Triangle – commitment versus freedom; Responsibility – power and integrity, after the goal, wisdom; and the Spiritual Quest.

 

Late to the party and possibly therefore giving an example that's been made, but the Tamuli by David Eddings is a pretty spot on example of a hero going on a second adventure that leads to enlightenment of a sort (trying to be vague because spoilers).