At the Crossroads: Difference between revisions

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Just like [[Take It to Thethe Bridge|bridges]], crossroads often feature as the setting for portentous happenings - there's something [[Rule of Symbolism|symbolic]] about the (often ancient) [[Place of Power|intersection of two paths]] that gets people's imaginations going. Often they are used to represent the intersection between two worlds.

Crossroads also tend to represent places where a character can make a life changing decision, especially if there is [[Two Roads Before You|conflict over which path to take]].

This is very popular with [[Fairy Tale|FairyTales]] - especially associated with [[The Devil]] or [[The Fair Folk]]. This is a common place for a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]].

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{{examples|Examples: }}

* ''[[The Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' was banished to "The Crossroads" by [[Doctor Strange]] when he was "mindless" to (A) get him away from Earth and (B) let him choose where he wanted to live. But he never found a place he liked and eventually he was brought back to Earth.

* ''[[Hellboy (Comic Bookcomics)|Hellboy]]'': In ''Wake the Devil'', Hellboy is tied up and left at the crossroads as an offering for the vampire Guirescu; he meets Hecate there immediately afterwards. In "The Body", Hellboy waits at a crossroads to meet a trio of [[The Fair Folk]].

* This is where the brothers meet [[Eyepatch of Power|Big Dan Teague]] in ''[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]?'' as well as well as Tommy after he made a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]].

* Near the end of ''[[Cast Away]]'', the intersection is symbolic.

* The 1986 Ralph Macchio movie ''Crossroads'' mirrors the Robert Johnson legend, and hinges on this trope.

* It is in a crossroad that not only Buster and Fred meet in ''[[The Fearless Four (Animation)|The Fearless Four]]'', but also where the arrows indicating the direction to Paris and Bremen are switched, driving thus the plot of the story.

* The Angel of Death in ''[[Hellboy (Filmfilm)|Hellboy]] II'' takes this a step further: "I am his death, and I will meet him at every crossroads."

* In ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', deals with "crossroads demons", the ones that actually make deals that both parties are bound to, have to be made [[Shaped Like Itself|at crossroads.]] Those demons can be summoned with some personal affects and a bag of crossroads dirt, though. There's not much else to say here that isn't covered by [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] and [[Be Careful What You Wish For]].

* There was a long-running British [[Soap Opera]] called ''Crossroads''. Given that significant events are ''always'' happening to soap characters, the title may not have been coincidental.

* In [[Burn Notice]] Michael is often told that he's [[At the Crossroads]] or at a fork in the road by people who want him to make a choice.

* The [[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]] episode "Turn Left" features Donna making a literal [[At the Crossroads]] decision near the beginning of the episode, and again near the end. The choice she makes affects the entire universe.

* Charles de Lint has a character based on the legend of the guitarist at the crossroads.

* Tamora Pierce's series of books set in the Tortall universe has the big gods, like Mithros (war and justice), and the Goddess (fertility, women, agriculture), but it also has minor gods like Weiryn (god of the hunt for a small mountainous area), and rather hilariously a god of [[At the Crossroads|crossroads]], NOT a god of travelers, just a god of ACTUAL crossroads.

* Technically, in ''[[Harry Potter (Literaturenovel)|Harry Potter]],'' King's Cross Station takes on this significance -- yousignificance—you can't deny it's where many ways meet, and it's the go-to exchange point between the magical and Muggle worlds (in this respect, The Leaky Cauldron fulfills a similar purpose for Diagon Alley.) But King's Cross' symbolism really comes into play in book seven, when {{spoiler|it's where Harry has his brief sojourn at the crossroads with the afterlife.}}

* Happens rather a lot in [[Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms]], naturally enough as there's a force in this world that tries to make things happen the way they do in fairy tales, we see several [[Secret Test of Character|secret tests of character]] at a crossroads from the POV of both the testee and the tester.

* Many folk songs, eg. The Devil Went Down To Georgia, and Widdecomb Fair.

* [[Robert Johnson]]'s "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD2jXjV9Z8A Cross Road Blues]," while ostensibly about a failed attempt to hitch a ride, is often linked to the legend that Johnson made a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] for the ability to play music (a legend more supported by his "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MCHI23FTP8 Me and the Devil Blues]"). This confusion of the legend with Johnson's best song informs the brothers' meeting with Tommy (a clear [[Expy]] of Johnson) in ''[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]''. Also, the song itself is best known from the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdwVVI4B3oY cover] by [[Cream]].

* ''The Well of the Saints'', a play by Irish writer J M Synge about a blind man who is cured, partially takes place at a crossroads to represent the boundary between reality and the supernatural and between blindness and sight.

* [[Oedipus Rex]] has an encounter at a crossroads that ends violently and then a bunch of other stuff happens.

* "The Crossroads of Destiny" is the name of the season 2 finale of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Although it's not a literal example of this trope as there are no actual crossroads, both Zuko and Aang are forced to make very tough decisions in this episodes {{spoiler|and they don't make the decisions you'd necessarily expect.}} It's also one of very few episodes in the series not named after something literal (like ''The Swamp'' and ''The Southern Air Temple''), but rather something figurative. The name is even quoted by [[The Obi -Wan]] at one point. On a side note, it was one of the greatest episodes in the series.

* In ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]]'', pirates go to the Crossroads when they die. There's also some nice symbolism at the end when {{spoiler|Guybrush uses a spell to get back to the land of the living}}.

* There is a crossroads in front of Castle Oblivion in ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]''. Inside, Sora {{spoiler|choses to forget everything from Castle Oblivion, including his new friend Namine, in order to regain his older memories}}.

** At the end of {{spoiler|[[Another Side, Another Story|Reverse/Revith]], Riku's decision on the crossroads is different. He chooses to follow [[Take a Third Option|neither the road to light nor the road to darkness]], but rather [[Yin -Yang Bomb|the road to dawn]]}}.

* [[Dominic Deegan]]'s sight (not his second-sight, his mundane sight) goes all grey when someone close to him is about to encounter a metaphorical crossroad.

* [[SCP Foundation (Wiki)|SCP Foundation]]-[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-023 023], based on the mythological [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_shuckBlack shuck|black shuck]], can only be contained in crossroads and other intersections, such as the intersection of two corridors.

* The [[Older Than Feudalism]] Ur-example and [[Trope Maker]] is probably the goddess Hecate of [[Greek Mythology]] who was goddess of the crossroads as well as her prominent realms of the dead, ghosts, magic, night and moonlight (if you didn't live in a region big on Artemis or Selene). Like other deities of paths such as Hermes or the Roman Janus, her offerings would be placed at the crossroads so she would control the evil spirits that walked along them. The Romans had a comparable deity Trivia (though one a bit [[Darker and Edgier]]) so this aspect continued strongest. This rite survived for quite a while into the Christianisation of Europe which leads to religious figures specifically demonising the practice which leads to the strong [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] associations throughout Western Civilisation.

* Voodoo in particular has a fascination with the crossroads as symbolism. Papa Legba is the lwa of the crossroads that serve as the boundary between the living and the dead. Kalfou, his evil side is also associated with them.

* There are old legends that vampires and other supernatural creatures must be buried at a crossroads.

* According to legend, [[Robert Johnson]] [[Deal Withwith the Devil|sold his soul to the devil for the ability to play guitar]] at a Crossroads. Many other uses of crossroads (like on ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'') are based on this legend.

* Criminals were sometimes executed at crossroads, then buried there. Likewise, people who committed suicide and were therefore unqualified to enter Heaven were buried at a crossroads when available. Certainly those suspected of being vampires (also unqualified) were. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|And until the 1800s, so were actors]].

[[Category:At Thethe Crossroads]]