Never Say Goodbye
is a Zootopia fan comic by Brazilian artist William Borba, serving as a sequel and conclusion to I Will Survive and Born To Be Alive. It was published from January to April of 2021, plus an epilogue during October and November of the same year.
Nick Wilde is accompanying a group of children on a field trip, when his ex-girlfriend Judy Hopps, who's now been elected mayor of Zootopia, passes through the area, surrounded by security and drawing a lot of attention. Despite their harsh breakup and one failed attempt at reconciling from Nick, the two are now on good terms again, and talk about how their lives have changed since the last time they've seen each other: Nick is now a scout master, Judy is trying to pass more pro-mammal equality legislation despite threats from radical political groups, and both of them have gotten married and are raising their children: Nick now has a son named Nicholas Wilde Jr, while Judy and Shay have adopted Rafiki, a zebra boy, and Mulan, a red panda girl. Nick also apologizes to Shay for having hurt her in their previous confrontation, and she forgives him for his behavior. In the end, Judy and Nick have to head their separate ways again, but not before hugging each other and calling each other "friend".
Not to be confused with the trope of the same name.
Never Say Goodbye contains examples of:
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Nick Wilde Jr. can't help but whine "DAAD!!" while blushing in embarrassment when his father nuzzles and hugs him in public while describing him as "the little piece of me that I gave to this world."
- Amicable Exes: Despite having broken up on very bad terms and Nick's past attempt at reconciliation only making things worse, Judy and Nick forgive each other and have gone back to being friends.
- Ancestral Name: Nick is revealed to have a son named after himself.
- Big Damn Hug: When it's time for them to part ways, Nick gives Judy a hug while dramatically delivering a Title Drop, which Judy returns, showing that the two have reconciled after their past breakup and failed attempt at reconnecting.
- A Bloody Mess: In the epilogue, it appears that Judy has been shot in the head by those who oppose her politics. However, the bullet turns out to just be full of jam, leaving Judy unharmed (though Shay is still seriously rattled by this).
- Continuity Cameo: Former mayor Dawn Bellwether, the Big Bad of the first film who previously tried to turn the city's prey species against predators, is shown as one of the fascist anti-equality protesters in the panel discussing them, implying she joined the movement after leaving prison.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: While both Nick and Judy have been through a lot of pain and heartache in the previous comics, both have managed to improve their lives greatly, attaining their dreams and raising happy families, and have reconciled with each other. This is Double Subverted by the epilogue, which shows Judy being assassinated, only for the bullet to be a harmless paintball filled with jam.
- Happily Married: Judy is now married to Shay, and the two have adopted children of their own. She also notices a ring on Nick's finger when he introduces one of the members of his scout squad as Nicholas Piberius Wilde Jr.
- Happy Ending Override: Inverted, as it's a Lighter and Softer sequel to Born To Be Alive, which had a bleak ending. The previous story ended with Nick injuring Shay, making Judy kick him out of her life forever and leaving the fox without any hope of being reunited with the one he loves. This story starts with them somehow having reconciled off-screen and interacting as Amicable Exes.
- Interspecies Adoption: Judy and Shay, a rabbit and vixen, adopt a zebra boy named Rafiki and a red panda girl named Mulan.
- Lighter and Softer: The previous two comics basically consisted of Judy and Nick being put through a whole bunch of emotional torture with the first a Downer Ending and the second a Bittersweet Ending. In this one, they're now loving friends once again and have managed to make their dreams come true. The epilogue makes this a Double Subversion, as it appears to show Judy being assassinated, only for it to be nothing more than A Bloody Mess that leaves her unharmed.
- Love Bubbles: There are numerous panels where Nick and Judy's attempt at reconnecting is represented by having sparkly bubbles floating in the background.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: In the epilogue, there's an elephant wearing a bear mask, and a bear wearing a donkey mask who shoot Judy. Both their masks are of the cheap "plastic with cut-out eyes" variety, and neither even remotely conceals their species.
- Pink Mist: There's a spectacular spray of blood and brain matter when Judy gets shot in the head by the radicalists in the epilogue, referencing the JFK assassination... though it's actually a subversion, as it's really just jam.
- Red and Black Totalitarianism: Pages that deal with the anti-equality radical factions, who are portrayed as the Zootopia equivalent of the alt-right, are Deliberately Monochrome with a red Splash of Color, and their iconography also makes heavy use of red, white, and black, colors associated with Nazi Germany.
- Ship Sinking: Although its predecessor comics had already sunk the ship to some extent, this comic completely confirms its sinking when it is revealed that Judy and Nick are Happily Married to different partners with whom they're raising a family.
- Shout-Out: Judy and Shay's children are named after characters from other Disney movies: Rafiki and Mulan.
- Snicket Warning Label: Before the epilogue, there's a page warning readers of the following pages' potentially controversial and offensive content, and suggests that those who liked Judy and Nick's happy ending should stop here. This is a Bait-and-Switch, as while the epilogue appears to show Judy being assassinated, the bullet turns out to be filled with jam, and she ends up mostly unharmed.
- Stutter Stop: Shay normally stutters, but she suddenly stops doing that when Judy seemingly gets shot in the head by the radical à la John F. Kennedy. Shay then rambles that Judy shouldn't have been mayor so she could be safe from this, even after Judy herself wakes up unharmed because she was shot with raspberry jam.
- Sudden Downer Ending: Subverted. It looks like, after Judy and Nick have managed to mend their friendship, the epilogue will have Judy be assassinated, but it turns out that the bullet just covered Judy in raspberry jam.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: While I Will Survive and Born To Be Alive respectively had a Downer Ending and Bittersweet Ending and both appeared to spell doom for any chance at reconciliation between Judy and Nick, Never Say Goodbye has them becoming friends again. Both have managed to accomplish their dreams and are now raising families of their own. Even the Sudden Downer Ending turns out to be a subversion.
- Title Drop: As with the last two comics, the title is said in a dramatic way near the end.Nick: Um... er... well, I think it's time to say...
Judy: Goodbye? Y-yes, it seems so. Goodbye, Nick... my friend!
Nick: [giving a Big Damn Hug] Please... never, never say goodbye to me again... Judy my friend.