For Want of a Nail: Difference between revisions

** The Mage PC is one of two characters with a chance of surviving the events of his or her origin without Duncan's assictance (by collaborating with First Enchanter Irving)--only to most likely fall prey to the event that troubles the Circle after Ostagar.

** The Human Noble ''can'' survive without Duncan's assistance—the youngest Cousland was already at the escape route, with no enemies nearby, when Duncan catched up, but one overheard conversation pegs all the Couslands as dead (on the other hand, so is your older brother if you are a Cousland, and ''he'' shows up perfectly fine at the epilogue). Regardless, without Duncan's presence the Human Noble wouldn't have been recruited as a Grey Warden and become the Hero of Ferelden.

** The player-controlled Grey Warden serves as the nail in the DLC quest Darkspawn Chronicles, where, besides having the player control the darkspawn forces at the battle of Denerim, it shows to some extent [http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Darkspawn_Chronicles what would have happened if the Grey Warden candidate from any of the origins never survived the joining ritual].

* Nails eventually decide which of the three routes you take in the opening of ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]''. The best example is probably the choice leading to "Unlimited Blade Works": If Shirou recalls Saber before she slashes Archer, Archer is left unwounded and capable of participating in the Grail War at full strength. This in turn boosts Rin's position in the war, making her a competitor to Shirou instead of someone forced to rely on him as an ally (and also makes Ilya not notice Shirou). Thus, "Fate" and "Heaven's Feel" get locked out because everything begins snowballing from that decision {{spoiler|and Archer now being in an ideal position to put his true agenda in motion}}. The difference between "Fate" and "Heaven's Feel", meanwhile, is decided by several nails during the opening that {{spoiler|decide if Sakura's mental barriers are maintained or fall because Shirou is paying attention to her, making her open to manipulation from Zouken.}}

* Metaphorically speaking, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Radiant Historia]]'' spends much of his time pulling out nails—there's only one possible timeline that doesn't contain [[The End of the World as We Know It]], and surprisingly small changes can prevent that timeline from coming to be. The main character, in turn, has the obligation to find the nails and hammer them back in.

* {{spoiler|The rope}} in ''[[Cave Story]]''. It's the single most important key to stop {{spoiler|the destruction of everything in the island, including a large percentage of the cast}} and get the happy ending. [[Guide Dang It|And it's incredibly easy to miss]]. If you don't get it, expect some rough times in the plot.

== Web Comics ==