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Foregone Conclusion: Difference between revisions
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[[Doomed By Canon]] is a subtrope of this, and deals with prequel characters and their attempts to either take out the main cast of the original story or survive to the end, attempts which we know are doomed because of the original story. [[Framing Device]] entails this to a certain extent, as any character alive to tell or hear the tale must have survived, and the setting may also hint.
[[Oh, and X Dies]] is also a subtrope.
This is [[Older Than Feudalism]]. Everyone who heard [[Homer]] sing already knew that Troy falls and Achilles and Hector both die; nobody walked out of [[Sophocles]]'s play saying, "Dude, he married his ''mom?''" There's a long, long tradition of retelling the story everyone knows.
[[Historical
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
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* ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano]]'' does this by showing the ''very'' spoileriffic aftermath of the two main plots (i.e. {{spoiler|Firo and Luck becoming immortal, Ladd losing an arm and being thrown off the train, most of the focus characters surviving the Flying Pussyfoot massacre, Chane accepting Claire's proposal}}) in the very first episode. The trick is that it's [[Jigsaw Puzzle Plot|entirely out of context and makes no sense]] until you get through the series at least once, and that the ''real'' wham moments (such as {{spoiler|the Rail Tracer being Claire}}) are left for the rest of the show.
** {{spoiler|Unless you read the first episode credits, of course.}}
* The ''[[Ga Rei Zero]]'' anime does this as part of its three starting [[Wham Episode|Wham Episodes]]. In the first episode {{spoiler|that entire squad is revealed to be made entirely of [[Dead Star Walking|Dead Stars Walking]], which sets the tone but doesn't actually invoke this trope}}. In the ''second'' {{spoiler|we meet the ''real'' cast, including familiar faces from the ''[[Ga Rei]]'' manga... [[Kill
* [[Akagi]] having never lost was clearly established in the author's earlier manga [[Ten (Anime)|Ten]]. So in the Akagi it was obvious that he would have to win every single game making him an [[Invincible Hero]]
* ''[[Shaman King]]'' practically revolves around one of these, given that Hiroyuki Takei practically tells the audience {{spoiler|Hao will become the Shaman King. There is no one in the series capable of standing up to him.}} He still does an amazing job of revealing backstories and setting up the ending on the way there.
* ''[[Uzumaki]]'' is set up in its opening pages as being a retelling of the events after the fact by lead character Kirie. {{spoiler|Subverted, in that the obvious conclusion that this means she makes it through intact ''isn't'' true in the end.}}
* ''[[Romeo X Juliet]]''. [[It Was His Sled|Well,]] ''[[Romeo and Juliet|duh!]]''
** {{spoiler|But did the original end with an epic showdown against the [[One
* Lampshaded in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'': after the dramatic tale of Nagi {{spoiler|and Arika}}, it's pointed out that if they hadn't survived [[The Hero|Negi]] would have never been born.
* In ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', for anyone who knows [[World War Two|their history]], the Axis will lose.
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* The Council Era is a [[Mass Effect]] fanfic centered on the Rachni Wars (in the first half, the 83 CE arc) and the Krogan Rebellion for both that and the 783 CE arc. In the first half, three species that don't exist in the video games are introduced. All three are, naturally, extinct by the end of the story. Other [[Foregone Conclusions]] include: the krogan will be used to reduce the threat of the rachni by the end of the first half (as stated in canon); the first half covers the build-up to the Krogan Rebellion, said rebellion will end with the genophage (a fertility plague that is killing off the krogan in the games) being released (again, as stated in canon). These [[Foregone Conclusion|Foregone Conclusions]] are bound to happen when you're writing a fic set in the past and intend to stick to canon. It doesn't lessen the drama of the storyline, though.
* [[Naruto]]'s ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5645686/1/The_Girl_From_Whirlpool The Girl From Whirlpool]'' is about how Minato and Kushina, {{spoiler|who are Naruto's parents}} meet and eventually fall in love.
* Interestingly for a fanfic, [[Past Sins (Fanfic)|Past Sins]] derives its foregone conclusion not from [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]] canon, but from its ''cover art.'' Every last scene depicted happens....
* From [[Fallout Equestria Pink Eyes (Fanfic)|Fallout Equestria Pink Eyes]], the little filly Puppysmiles just wants to find her mom. The only problem is [[Apocalypse How|the world ended]] and due to her [[Undead Child|ghouli]][[Our Zombies Are Different|fication]], it's been centuries since her mother could have plausably been alive.
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* ''[[Fight Club]]'' starts with Brad Pitt holding a gun in Edward Norton's mouth. Then we back up and find out why, how they met, etc.
* ''[[Pans Labyrinth]]'' starts with Ofelia, lying on the ground, bleeding from her nose. From the fact that the blood is moving backwards, we can tell right away that the plot is about to rewind, which it does.
* ''[[The
{{quote| This is his story. Well, actually my story. I'm that llama.}}
** And when the film actually comes to that, [[Narrator]] Kuzco and On-screen Kuzco start arguing -- and from that point on, the film has no voiceover.
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** In ''Wolverine'', we know that Logan, Sabretooth, and Stryker will all survive the film. We know that Logan will receive his adamantium skeleton from the Weapon X program. Finally, we know that Logan's memories of everything in his life up to, and including, the events of the film will somehow be erased by the end of the film.
** In ''First Class'', we know that despite Xavier and Magneto starting out as best friends, Magneto's inevitable [[Face Heel Turn]] will result in them becoming the leaders of two opposing mutant factions. We also know that Mystique will make a [[Face Heel Turn]] of her own and become Magneto's [[Dragon]]. We also know that Beast's attempts to "cure" the physical appearance aspect of his mutation will not only fail, but will actually backfire, making his condition much worse.
* Everything in ''[[Captain America:
* The plot of ''[[The Thing 2011]]'' is a prequel about the Norwegian camp story, and we all know through MacReady and his team's investigation in [[The Thing (Film)|the 1982 film]] the overall fate of the Norwegian camp and its occupants, including how some of them are going to die. It also foreshadows the ending that "The Thing" will imitate a dog and 2 survivors from the Norwegian camp will chase and hunt it down, which they will fail to accomplish.
* ''[[Sherlock Holmes a Game of Shadows]]'' gives us a really good view of a waterfall during the establishing shot of the castle in which the climax of the film takes place. Those familiar with Holmes mythology could tell where the movie was headed from there.
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* Nabokov's ''[[Lolita]]'' has a [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|foreword]], which tells us that Humbert died from coronary thrombosis {{spoiler|and Lolita died in childbirth. However, it refers Lolita as "Mrs. Richard F. Schiller", her married name, which we don't learn until the end of the book.}}
* Stephen R Donaldson's ''The Real Story'' spends the first chapter describing how a [[Distressed Damsel|damsel in distress]] got rescued from an evil villain by a dashing hero. Then we spend the rest of the novel finding out that both the situation and the characters were in fact rather more complex than they seemed to a casual observer. Following books compound the process.
* Daniel Defoe's ''[[Long Title|The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the]] [[Miss Yo Yo Knickers|Famous]] [[Moll Flanders (Literature)|Moll Flanders]], Etc. Who Was Born In [[Cardboard Prison|Newgate]], and During a Life of Continu'd Variety For Threescore Years, Besides Her Childhood, Was Twelve Year [[My Girl Is a Slut|a Whore]], Five Times [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife|a Wife]] (Whereof Once To [[Brother
* In [[Mercedes Lackey]]'s first ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' novel, she details the dramatic death scene of Vanyel, the last Herald-Mage of Valdemar. When Vanyel gets his own trilogy, everyone knows where this is ultimately going.
** The same thing happens with Lavan Firestorm, whose death is described in the first ''Heralds of Valdemar'' trilogy long before his story is told firsthand in ''Brightly Burning.''
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** It's done even more in the sequel, ''Dune Messiah'': the conclusion is hinted at in the second chapter, and by halfway through the novel, the protagonist has a prescient dream in which he foresees the entire rest of the story. The vision guides him even after {{spoiler|his eyes get burned out by nuclear radiation}}. By twenty pages before the climax (a substantial portion of the just 200-page book) it's a definite [[Foregone Conclusion]], {{spoiler|except for the [[Plot Twist]] in which Paul foresees only the birth of his daughter, and not her far more significant twin brother.}}
* ''The Night Watch'' by Sarah Waters is written backwards chronologically. It is particularly bittersweet as you view the beginnings of a pair who you know will eventually turn into an embittered, nigh abusive couple.
* The original story ''[[Breakfast At
* ''[[Anne Frank the Diary of A Young Girl (Literature)|Anne Frank the Diary of A Young Girl]]'' is typically presented as a cautionary tale about fascism, and the book gives away Anne's fate on the cover and introduction. Similar is Nina Lugovskaya's ''I Want To Live'', essentially the Stalinist version of Anne Frank, although {{spoiler|Nina survives her imprisonment}}. But why else would you be reading these books?
* Alfred Doeblin's ''Berlin Alexanderplatz'' begins with a one-page summary of the book's plot, describing the character's frequent falls from grace, but it refers rather elliptically to his final redemption, leaving some mystery. Likewise, each chapter is preceded by a summary, and throughout the book there are references to events yet to occur. All this is to show how the central character has no control over his life.
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* ''[[Max Payne (Video Game)|Max Payne]]'':
{{quote| '''Max:''' They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger, and then it was over.}}
* In ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', you already know how the game is going to end in the introduction (the main character, Ramza, being branded a heretic and erased from history, while his childhood best friend, Delita, is revered as a hero and became king) due to the fact that it's narrated by a historian looking back into the past. Although in this case, it's not a matter of [[Oh, and X Dies|how things end]], but rather {{spoiler|an attempt to uncover the massive church conspiracy that damned Ramza to evil heretic instead of the hero he is.}}
* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' begins with the main party sitting at a campfire outside of a [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon|ruined Zanarkand]], with the protagonist, Tidus, asking the player to "listen to [his] story" because "it may be the last chance [they] have left." [[Prolonged Prologue|Cue extended flashback]]. {{spoiler|Seymour}} never really stood a chance. Funnily enough, the only thing ''not'' absolutely certain is whether or you and Wakka manage to win a [[Fictional Sport|Blitzball]] tournament or not.
* ''[[Crisis Core]]'', the prequel to ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', expands upon the character Zack, who was seen in two flashbacks in the original game. Since one of the flashbacks shows Zack being killed by members of Shinra, you already knew the ending. [[Square Enix]] ups the ante by having ''Crisis Core'' end with Cloud Strife jumping on the train from the start of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''.
* The same can be said bout the ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358 Days Over 2 (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts 358 Days Over 2]]'', a game that chronicles Roxas' time with Organization XIII. Since we know the conclusion of his story in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts II]]'', we know that that game won't end happily.
** Another KH example is ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep]]'', a prequel to the first game, does not [[Downer Ending|end happily]]. Given that all three protagonists are MIA as of the aforementioned first game just ten years later in-universe, it was only a matter of ''how'' they all met their untimely ends.
*** Of course {{spoiler|it's played with since technically none of them are actually dead.}}
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* The ''[[Halo]]'' [[Prequel]] ''[[Halo Reach]]''. Anyone who's been paying even a little attention to the backstory knows that Reach is Master Chief's [[Doomed Hometown]] and is gonna [[Apocalypse How|burn]]. Bungie have acknowledged this, as the game's tagline seems to be "From the beginning, you know the end."
** This goes for the player character as well. The first cinematic upon starting a new game is a scorched wasteland - and a helmet with a bullethole through the visor. The game then cuts to your character placing the same helmet, now intact, on his/her head...
* Several "dungeons" in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' involve the players going back in time to foil the Infinite Dragonflight's attempts to break the [[Timey
** Additionally, one such flashback (the Battle of Mount Hyjal) has no Infinite Dragons interfering and even [[Word of God|the developers admit]] that it only exists because [[Rule of Cool|it's a cool moment for the players to be a part of]], so Archimonde and friends are 100% doomed.
** To make things worse, the 4.3 patch added the "End Times" dungeon where you go to the [[Bad Future]] to defeat the leader of the infinite dragonflight... the corrupted Nozdormu himself who ''knows that he's screwed'' but must ''defeat his insane self anyway'' to preserve the future from his upcoming madness. Anyone taking bets that the other members of the bronze flight are equally aware of their eventual corruption?
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* Surprisingly subverted in most ''[[Star Wars]]'' games. The conclusion is forgone, since they're all sidequels, interquels, and prequels... but you can always play towards the non-canonical Dark Side ending anyway, where the [[Foregone Conclusion]] doesn't happen.
* In most [[Licensed Game|games that are based on movies]], it can be safely assumed that the game's canonical ending will be the same (or at least, very similar to) the ending of the movie it is based on. Some games partially subvert this by giving the player the option to play as the movie's villain(s), usually creating a non-canonical ending in which the villains win.
* Anyone even remotely familiar with ''Zelda''-series history knows a little bit about the Master Sword and its role as "The Sword of Evil's Bane." So when they play ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'' and start to see the eponymous sword beginning to look more and more like that legendary blue-hilted blade, they can likely fill in the blanks before they reach the end.
** An outdated but more obvious one - anyone who played the older games would have realized things weren't going to well for Link and Princess Zelda in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]''.
* [[Agarest Senki]] Zero star Seighart and his son Leonis. Both of them are Leonhardt's ancestors so, of course, Leonis cannot die {{spoiler|so it's obvious the normal ending is non-canon.}}
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* ''[[Spacetrawler]]'': Nogg tells Mr. Zorilla that his daughter, Martina, has died. The rest of the comic is Nogg telling "the long and very detailed version" of how this came to pass.
* ''[http://revfitz.com/chuckcomics.html Kick The Football, Chuck]'' uses Charlie Brown attempting to kick Lucy's ball as a metaphor for his fight with cancer after chemotherapy. We all know he never kicks it.
* ''[[
* The "Sam" arc of ''[[General Protection Fault]]'' goes into Ki's past with Sam, her former fiancee, who had been alluded to in the past. While it is implied that they had a bad breakup, the arc reveals that {{spoiler|he tried to ''[[Attempted Rape|rape]]'' her}}.
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[[Category:Ending Tropes]]
[[Category:Foregone Conclusion]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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