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Can also be used to crank [[Dramatic Irony]] [[Up to Eleven]].
 
[[Historical Fiction]] is tied to this trope, since history ain't changing (unless the author pulls a [[Written Byby the Winners]] and claim that the events as portrayed in his work is what "really" happened).
 
Compare [[External Retcon]], where the audience is expected to be familiar with an entire ''existing'' story.
 
[[Doomed Byby 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.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[WolfsWolf's Rain]]'' begins as Kiba lies dying in the snow. The scene is repeated near the end (Episode 30), but it's not quite the end of the scene {{spoiler|as Kiba then falls through the ice and drowns}}, and it's followed by a [[Distant Finale]].
* [[Grave of the Fireflies|"September 21st, 1945. That was the day I died."]]
* ''[[Rose of Versailles]]'': Shoujo drama surrounding the court of Versailles on the eve of the Revolution. While the fates of the fictional characters are uncertain, everyone and his dog knows what happens to [[Marie Antoinette]] and Louis XVI.
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** Also, the prequel ''Saiyuki Ibun'' which details how Houmei became Koumyou Sanzo. Two of his fellow sanzo-candidates are Toudai (future Goudai Sanzo) and Tenkai (future Maten sutra sanzo). We know Goudai's eventual fate from the Burial plot arc and we know that Koumyou will be Tenkai's successor for the Maten sutra. The story is in how they get there.
* From ''[[Bleach]]'', we have the entire "Turn Back The Pendulum" story arc. If you read the story, you know how it ends. Kubo did this very well, because we didn't know ''how'' the characters ended up the way they did. In fact, it's probably his ''best'' writing of the entire series.
* ''[[Pluto (Manga)|Pluto]]'' is based on an arc of ''[[Astro Boy (Mangamanga)|Astro Boy]]'', so naturally there are quite a few events that are expected to come to pass for anyone familiar with the original. {{spoiler|Gesicht, for example? ''Dead.''}}
* ''[[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'Em All|whom Yomi proceeds to kill]]}}. Finally, with the third {{spoiler|we flashback to the first time Yomi and Kagura meet, at the latter's mother's funeral, and the anime continues from there, leading up to Yomi's [[Start of Darkness]]}}. The viewer knows it's going to happen, knows it's going to be ''very'' painful ([[Tear Jerker|and it is]]), and the tension is derived in three ways: firstly, {{spoiler|seeing how Yomi went insane}}, secondly, {{spoiler|a desire to see which of the many sympathetic characters we see [[Anyone Can Die|manage to live to the end of it]]}} and thirdly, {{spoiler|whether or not Yomi can overcome the [[More Than Mind Control]] once the series catches up to the second episode}}. It's one hell of a ride.
* [[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.}}
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* After viewing the first episode of the anime adaptation of ''[[Berserk]]'' which shows Guts as a [[Badass]], [[BFS]]-wielding, [[Handicapped Badass]] [[Jerkass]], who seems to have a beef with a dude named Griffith, and seeing that a big portion of the series is in fact a flashback, we all know how Guts is going to end up by episode 25: the rest shows us [[How We Got Here|how]].
* ''[[One Piece]]'' has the Skypiea arc, where a giant island got blown up into the [[Floating Continent|clouds]], during the arc, you learn about how some four hundred years in the past, an explorer was best friends with a warrior from the aforementioned island, the explorer leaves and promises to return, considering that the Straw Hat's learn about the explorer from a fairytale/propaganda piece where he gets executed and the main characters are on the island in the clouds, it's not exactly a surprise that the story doesn't end well.
* A ''[[Naruto]] Shippuden'' filler takes a character from the manga who we only knew from sourcebooks and from a manga spread and spread it out. The character is Utakata, a rogue ninja from the hidden mist village and host of the six-tailed beast. Unfortunately, anyone who read the manga knew that he did not show up and was implied to have been captured off-screen. So this obviously was ''not'' [[Doomed Byby Canon|going to end on a happy note...]]
** Likewise, the manga's flashback story showing Minato's life prior to the Nine-Tails' attack. {{spoiler|We've already been told beforehand that he and his wife will die immediately after their son Naruto is born, with Minato's final act being to seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto's body.}}
* Subverted in the ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'' episode "Holy Matrimony!", where James tells Jessie, Meowth, and the twerps the sad story of his childhood as an orphan, living alone with only his Growlithe for companionship. James dies at the end of his (obviously fictional) story, and promptly confuses himself when Misty reminds everyone that he's still alive.
* [[Windaria (Anime)|Windaria]] The story is narrated by Alan after he's gone old and grey and so a number of things are clear from the start: 1. Alan survives the story. 2. Marie does not. 3. The world has recovered from the damage about to unfold. 4. Alan has done something so terrible that not even being lauded as the hero who rebuilt the world can ease his guilt. The ''how'' of the story is not even alluded to and no other character is mentioned so there are still plenty of surprises.
* This trope is rather apparent in both of the ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' TV specials:
** In ''Bardock: The Father of Goku'', it's pretty clear that {{spoiler|Freeza destroys Planet Vegeta and all its inhabitants}} at the end.
** In ''The History of Trunks'', {{spoiler|Gohan dies, Trunks becomes a Super Saiyan and Bulma builds a time machine so that Trunks can return to the past.}}
* ''[[Senko no Night Raid]]'': [[Imperial Japan|Japan]] would eventually plunge into imperialistic militarism and [[Second Sino -Japanese War|ravage China]], and the rest of the world would also descend to [[Second World War|war]] eventually, despite whatever efforts the protagonists might attempt to do.
* ''[[Fate /Zero]]'', as a prequel to ''[[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight]]'', is subject to this. Anyone who is familiar with the latter will know that {{spoiler|the Grail is corrupted, and Kiritsugu will be forced to order Saber to destroy it, resulting in the fire. Kiritsugu saves Shirou by implanting Avalon in him and adopts him, and he will die from the the Grail's curse a few years later, without ever seeing his daughter again. Kotomine will give in to his inclinations and [[Start of Darkness|become a villain]]. Kariya will fail to rescue Sakura, and Rider will be unable to convince Saber that her ideals are flawed. Tokiomi, Aoi, and Irisviel are all [[Doomed Byby Canon]] as well.}}
 
 
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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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** Similarly, the beginning of ''[[Michael Clayton]]'' shows him survive an assassination attempt. Who wanted him dead? Watch the rest of the film to find out.
* The [[Expository Theme Tune]] of ''[[The Guns of Navarone]]'' tells that the Good Guys will manage to blow the guns up. The movie tells how.
* At the end of the movie ''[[Penn and Teller Get Killed (Film)|Penn and Teller Get Killed]]'', they do. There's a closing narration along the lines of, "Well, what did you expect to happen?"
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' prequels, unless you were living under a pop culture rock since the '70s.
** Even the ''posters'' admitted this one was a given -- the most famous poster for ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' shows young Anakin walking by a building... [[The Shadow Knows|casting Darth Vader's shadow]].
* ''[[Citizen Kane (Film)|Citizen Kane]]'' starts with the main character dying, and the rest is told in flashback. So we know he's going to die.
** ''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]'', too. Better yet if you know the true story.
* ''[[Breach]]'' begins with a news report on the arrest of Robert Hanssen. Since the movie is based on real events, which did indeed end with his arrest, this is understandable.
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** And the 1955 version is based on the actual life of Toulouse-Lautrec (and the novel).
* ''[[Boys Don't Cry]]'' is based on the last days of a famous murder victim, so the climax of the film is {{spoiler|a very carefully choreographed [[Mexican Standoff]]}}, [[Subverted Trope]] when the inevitable happens.
* ''[[Valkyrie (Film)|Valkyrie]]'': Even if you are not familiar with the historical details, everyone knows that [[Adolf Hitler]] will survive the bombing.
** And if you don't like that, well, just watch ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'' instead.
* ''[[Downfall (Filmfilm)|Downfall]]'': considering it's a movie advertised as "Hitler's last days", you'd have a hard time finding someone who doesn't know how it ends.
* ''[[Memento (Film)|Memento]]'' starts with Leonard shooting a man dead. The rest of the movie is spent finding out why {{spoiler|he thinks}} he did it. An interesting variation on the trope, as the chronology of the movie mostly runs ''backwards'' and so it's natural to have the conclusion at the start.
** The chronology alternates between going forward and backwards, and {{spoiler|meets in the middle in the climax}}.
* ''[[Heavenly Creatures]]'' begins with Pauline and Juliet running through a park covered in gore, screaming that Mummy's 'terribly hurt'. The rest of the film reveals how they came to this sorry pass.
* For ''[[Ip Man]]'', everyone watching it already knows that he would survive the Japanese invasion of China and become Bruce Lee's martial arts master.
* ''[[DOA (Film)D.O.A.|DOA]]'': "I want to report a murder -- mine!"
* The film ''[[Barry Lyndon]]'' makes excessive use of this trope. Everything that is going to happen is stated outright by the title cards and the narrator well in advance of the outcome. [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19750920/REVIEWS/60510001 In his review], [[Roger Ebert]] even suggested this is the entire point of the film.
* You might notice this trope at play in [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[Ghosts of Mars]]'' as soon as we find out how the alien spirits operate. There is NO discernable way to kill them, and they will just continue [[Body Surf|jumping from body to body]] if their current host is killed. This means that in order to even temporarily defeat them, our heroes would have to kill every human being on the entire planet of Mars, ''including themselves''. Guess which side wins?
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* In almost any story that has a [[Narrator]] you can safely assume the narrator will live. There are some deliberate subversions of course, [[Posthumous Narration|including ones where a ghost is narrating.]]
** This is subverted in ''[[Casino]]'', where {{spoiler|Joe Pesci's character, Nicky Santoro}}, has his narration cut off in mid sentence by the vicious beating that leads to his death.
** Referenced in ''[[Kick-Ass (Filmfilm)|Kick-Ass]]''; since Dave has been narrating all the way through, when we see him tied to a chair and being tortured by [[Mooks]], it seems reasonable to think he will survive. He promptly calls the audience on it; "if you're reassuring yourself that I'm going to make it through this since I'm talking to you now, quit being such a smart-ass! Hell dude, you never seen ''[[Sin City]]''? ''[[Sunset Boulevard]]''? ''[[American Beauty]]''?" {{spoiler|He survives despite pointing out that he might not.}}
** ''The Opposite Of Sex'': Narrator Dede and her ex-boyfriend struggle over a pistol, which goes off. The both lie there for a moment until Dede pushes his body off her. Her narration says "What, you thought I'd be the one who died? I'm the ''narrator'' here, guys! Keep up!"
* ''Romeo is Bleeding'' starts with a bartender telling a story about one of his regulars ([[Gary Oldman]]), and why that man is such a mess. There's a bit of a twist, though, when it's revealed at the end that {{spoiler|both of them are the same man.}}
* ''[[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.
* ''[[PansPan's 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 Emperor's New Groove (Disney)|The Emperors New Groove]]'' starts with a wet llama shivering in the jungle, and a voiceover telling you that he used to be a human emperor.
{{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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* ''Veronica Guerin'' is not only based on the life and death of the aforenamed Irish journalist, the movie begins with a depiction of her murder. The film then flashes back to two years prior, when she began her investigations into the Irish drug trade, which is what lead to her gruesome fate.
* ''The Eagle Has Landed'': A team of Nazis land in [[World War II|wartime]] Britain to assassinate [[Winston Churchill]]. {{spoiler|And they succeed! [[Double Subversion|Except he's not really Churchill, but a double]].}}
* Most of ''[[Tora Tora Tora|Tora! Tora! Tora!]]'' is about the Japanese planning to attack Pearl Harbor and the Americans fretting over their attempts to discover what Japan is up to. {{spoiler|The Japanese achieve complete surprise.}}
* The [[Terminator]] series. Kyle Reese will live through ''Salvation''. The humans will win the [[Robot War]] in the end.
* ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]'' shows that Godzilla is slowly dying of a nuclear overload at the beginning of the film.
** Which actually starts even before the film, as the trailers for the film actually flat out state "'''''Godzilla Dies!'''''" as part of the advertising campaign to draw in viewers!
* Both Averted and Played Straight in ''[[Tangled (Disney)|Tangled]]''. The movie opens with the narration 'This is the story of how I died.' And {{spoiler|he technically does die at the end. It just doesn't take.}}
* ''[[X Men Origins: Wolverine (Film)|X Men Origins Wolverine]]'' and ''[[X -Men: First Class (Film)|X Men First Class]]'' are both prequels to the first three ''[[X-Men (Filmfilm)|X-Men]]'' films (though the prequels [[Continuity Snarl|contradict each other in some regards]]) and therefore contain numerous examples of this trope (assuming that the viewer has seen the first three films and/or is familiar with the comic book source material).
** 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 First Avenger (Film)|Captain America the First Avenger]]'' led up to him being frozen for decades before waking up in the present time.
* 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 (Filmfilm)|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.
* The 1997 made-for-TV movie ''Two Came Back'' depicted five young people left adrift in an emergency raft after their yacht sinks. Guess how many of the characters survived the ordeal and returned to land safely? {{spoiler|If you need to, take another look at the title.}}
* The segment of the anthology film ''[[Creepshow (Film)|Creepshow]]'' starring [[Stephen King]] is entitled "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill".
 
 
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* Uprising, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, starts with a ten years later, with a young woman coming to one of the main characters and asking about the strike, and fire( the book is based on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory ...) due to inner monologue, we learn that 2 of the 3 narrators of the book end up dead. But it still backs a wallop when we read the death scenes- from their own point of view!
* Adam Cadre's ''Ready, Okay!'' exemplifies this trope by stating on page 1 that by the end of the school year, every person that the main character loves and cares about will be dead.
* In both the novel ''[[I, Claudius]]'' and the [[BBC]] TV series based on it, we are told at the start that Claudius is going to become Emperor. Nonetheless, the description of 60 years of Roman politics and intrigue leading up to this event manages to remain amazing and entertaining.
* [[Gabriel Garcia Marquez]]'s short novel, ''[[Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Literature)|Chronicle of a Death Foretold]]''. Heck, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|it's even in the title]].
** Also his first novel ''The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor: Who Drifted on a Liferaft for Ten Days Without Food or Water, Was Proclaimed a National Hero, Kissed by Beauty Queens, Made Rich Through Publicity, and Then Spurned by the Government and Forgotten for All Time.''
* Since the ''[[Redwall]]'' novel ''Mossflower'' opens with Martin the Warrior in exile, that the prequel ''Martin the Warrior'' should end with him going into exile is [[Doomed Byby Canon|pretty much a given]]. This doesn't make the latter novel's [[Tear Jerker|monumental]] [[Downer Ending]] any less powerful, of course.
* [[Philip Pullman]]'s ''The White Mercedes'' / ''The Butterfly Tattoo'' begins with the following sentence, also on the back cover: "''Chris Marshall met the girl he was going to kill on a warm night in early June...''" {{spoiler|Yeah, right. That's quite a definition of "kill" you've got there, Philip Pullman.}}
* Annoyingly, one of the ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Septimus Heap]]'' books talks about the future daughter of the protagonist doing something. Therefore, every example of danger that she's in is entirely unneeded, and therefore she's technically never in any danger.
** Used similarly in the ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' books. One of the books says that Percy is writing this six years after the book takes place. Extremely, extremely egregious as {{spoiler|The whole premise of the series is based on a prophecy that says that he'll die when he's sixteen years old.}}
*** The prophecy was ambiguous as to who would die everyone assumed it would be the child of the big three {{spoiler|and Percy isn't the only child of the three: there are three others besides himself.}}
* ''Tamburlaine Must Die'' is exempt from the historical fiction version of this trope because there are more than enough conspiracy theories about the main character, [[Christopher Marlowe (Creator)|Christopher Marlowe]], that say he didn't die. It still starts by saying he's going to die in three days. However, fans of the writer will be strongly suspecting {{spoiler|a subversion... which doesn't happen.}}
* ''[[John Dies Atat the End]]'', for obvious reasons. {{spoiler|Subverted in that John is the only main character who doesn't die at the end, He instead opts to die at the start. They get better.}}
* Technically, this trope could be used to describe ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'', because the endings of the books are unfortunate, as the author clearly states.
** A particularly strong example occurs in ''The Reptile Room'', in which {{spoiler|Uncle Monty}}'s death is announced in the narration long before it happens.
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{{quote| He gets away. He ''got'' away. See, that's the story. Now you don't have to read it. Except for the details. They follow.}}
* Anyone with a smidgeon of knowledge about European history already knows Napoleon fails to conquer Russia in ''[[War and Peace]]''. The [[Doorstopper|whole book]] is more about why he failed. In case you didn't know Napoleon tried to invade Russia before reading the book, [[Author Filibuster|the philosophical asides]] mention it often enough.
* A variation occurs in ''[[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy]]''. The [[Narrator]], noting that stress is a growing problem in the world, chooses not to unduly stress the readers by giving away the ending of a suspenseful sequence: The planet they are above ''is'' Magrathea, and the nuclear missiles approaching the ship will cause no damage, save for a nasty bruise to the forearm. To order to preserve ''some'' sense of suspense, though, he does not say whose forearm -- until the closing credits of the episode.
** It was {{spoiler|Arthur}}.
* In ''[[The Time Travelers Wife]]'', because of the [[Anachronic Order]] of the story, we learn that {{spoiler|something bad will happen to Henry when he's 43 years old}}.
* ''[[Fate Zero (Literature)|Fate /Zero]]'' is (almost certainly) written under the assumption that readers are already familiar with ''[[Fate Stay Night (Visual Novel)|Fate/stay night]]'', which it's a prequel to. The knowledge of how it all turns out (hint: not happy) adds to the sense of tragedy. Not to mention that if you read it first you'll get most of ''Fate/stay night's'' plot twists spoiled in the prologue.
** Discussed by the author in the end of Volume 1. 'Don't get too attached to these guys, no matter how [[Badass|cool]] they may be. You know they're just going to die.'
* Stephen Brust's ''[[To Reign in Hell]]'' explains exactly what caused the falling out between [[God]] and [[Satan]].
* ''My Brother Sam is Dead'' [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|does indeed end with the main character's brother, whose name is Sam, dying]].
* In Peter David's ''[[Sir Apropos of Nothing]]'' trilogy, the titular narrator mentions multiple times that he survived the events of the story, though he's not always sure how.
* Similarly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in [[Brandon Sanderson]]'s ''Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones'', sequel to ''Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians'', both of which take the [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]] [[Up to Eleven]].
{{quote| I want you to think of a regular ship. No, not a flying dragon ship like the one that was falling apart beneath me as I fell to my death. Focus. I obviously survived the crash, since this book is written in the first person.}}
* Anyone even the slightest bit familiar with [[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]] or Christian theology in general will know how ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' is going to turn out before it even begins. Anyone else will be told how it's going to turn out in the first five lines or so.
** Also in the [[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]; the Gospel authors (especially John) had a tendency to introduce Judas Iscariot as "the man who would betray Jesus".
* [[Vladimir Nabokov]]'s ''[[Pale Fire]]'' starts out with the [[Unreliable Narrator]] Charles Kinbote writing about the death of his good friend John Shade. Is John Shade actually dead? [[Mind Screw|Hell if I knows.]]
* 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-Sister Incest|Her Own Brother]]), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a [[Put Onon a Bus|Transported Felon]] In Virginia, At Last [[Rags to Riches|Grew Rich]], [[Heel Face Turn|Liv'd Honest]], and [[Hijacked Byby Jesus|Died a Penitent]]. [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|Written from her own Memorandums]].''
* 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 not hard to see how the author would expect you to know the ending of ''The Death of Ivan Ilyich''.
** In ''[[Ikiru]]'', the narrator tells us when and how Watanabe will die. We get to see what he does before then, and then watch his funeral.
* There's a [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] novel, ''[[Death Star]]'', which takes place [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|on the first Death Star]]. It gets used on Alderaan and is later destroyed. The characters, of course, don't know that. We have a cantina owner whose bar got burned down getting an offer to work in a bar up there, and deciding that there probably isn't a safer place to work than an invincible battle station. The head gunner, uneasy about being in a station which theoretically could destroy a planet, consoles himself by thinking that it will be used purely on large ships, enemy space stations, maybe some moons, since no one would be evil enough to order him to fire on a populated world. A few other characters vaguely wish they could leave, maybe join the Rebellion, but with something like the Death Star cruising around, the Rebellion would come to naught, since people who would gladly die for their cause would hesitate to risk their planet. War as they knew it would end. A lot of the tension comes from wondering who, if anyone, survives, and how, since most of them don't have [[Resignations Not Accepted|permission to leave]].
** Another EU example is ''[[Outbound Flight]]''. Anyone who's been paying attention to [[Timothy Zahn]]'s other ''[[Star Wars]]'' books would know that it doesn't end well for the titular project.
* Second book in the Coruscant Nights Trilogy -- Captain Typho, Padme's [[Bodyguard Crush]], seeks to avenge her death, eventually deciding that he has to kill Darth Vader. Even ''he'' thought it would be a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] unless he was really prepared. {{spoiler|Didn't really work.}}
** It introduces a [[Continuity Snarl]], though, as {{spoiler|Typho is cut down by Vader, even though existing canon confirmed that he was still alive 18 years later}}.
* Julie Buxbaum's ''The Opposite of Love'' is mostly centred around the main character's difficulties forming relationships following the death of her mother -- problem is, any tension that might arise over whether she'll ever work things out is sapped by the flash-forward prologue, where she's married with a baby on the way.
* In ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather]]'' Mario Puzo frequently mentions something that will happen, and then "rewinds" to show us ''how'' it happened. For example, the deaths of {{spoiler|Sonny -- the scene with Vito calling in the favor from the undertaker appears before the tollbooth sequence}} and {{spoiler|Vito}}.
* The "Emperor" series (as well as any other story depicting the life of Caesar). We know what will happen between Julius and Brutus in the end, yet the story is very compelling all the way through.
* The ''[[Horus Heresy]]'' series. The major (and many of the minor) facts of the Horus Heresy have been part of the ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' [[Canon]] for over twenty years.
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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 Atat Tiffany's]]'' by Truman Capote starts out with Holly Golightly having already left and the narrator going backwards to recount their time together. The [[The Movie|movie]] however, had an entirely different [[Happily Ever After|ending]]
* ''[[Anne Frank theThe Diary of Aa 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.
* The original book of ''[[Wicked (Literaturenovel)|Wicked]]'' had loads of this for anyone even remotely familiar with either [[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Literature)|the book]] or [[The Wizard of Oz (Filmfilm)|movie]] of ''The Wizard of Oz''. We know that somehow the green-skinned Elphaba will get a pointy black hat, a broomstick, some winged monkeys and set up shop in the West as the Wicked Witch, while her friend Glinda will become the Good Witch of either the North or South (it ends up following the movie version, from the North), her sister will become the Wicked Witch of the East before being squished by a Kansas farmhouse dropped by a tornado and carrying a young girl who will ultimately {{spoiler|[[It Was His Sled|kill Elphaba by splashing her with water]]}}. Note that the ending is {{spoiler|not quite so foregone}} in the musical version.
** The book also has more obscure Foregone Conclusions for those who have read [[Land of Oz (Literature)|the other Oz books]]. For example, a peasant boy being dragged along by an old woman is Tip, who will become {{spoiler|the princess Ozma}}.
* The ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'' books including ''Chronicles'' in the title all do this to some degree
** ''Andalite'' tells the backstory of Elfangor, who dies in the beginning of the first book (the [[Framing Story]] is that it's his last testament, transmitted telepathically just minutes before his death). It also has Alloran, whom we know as the host body of Visser Three, as Elfangor's commanding officer.
** ''Hork-Bajir'' involves the conquering of the titular race, who are almost entirely enslaved by the time of the main series.
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* In the Stephen Hunter ''Swagger'' series, it's well established that sniper Bob Lee Swagger's best friend and spotter Donnie Fenn was killed at Swagger's side in Vietnam even before Fenn's story is told in ''Time To Hunt''.
* Because Bobby's segments of ''[[The Pendragon Adventure]]'' are presented in journal formats, it is obvious that he has survived all of the events in the books. The point of the journals is to see exactly what events he survived, and how.
* ''[[Warrior Cats (Literature)|Warrior Cats]]'': ''Bluestar's Prophecy''. As if the fact that how and when Bluestar dies is [[Late Arrival Spoiler|already known by the entire fanbase]] isn't enough, the book opens with her death scene rewritten from her point of view. A good part of the book works like this, too, such as her relationship with Oakheart, Mosskit's death, and the fact that all of the characters who aren't in the first books will end up dead.
** ''Crookedstar's Promise'' as well, especially seeing as {{spoiler|we never heard of Willowbreeze or Crookedstar's other kits.}} And also Stormkit breaking his jaw and being held back from being an apprentice. And that he dies at the end.
* Anyone who's read ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Eclipse]]'' already knows that the main character of ''The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner'' {{spoiler|is murdered by the Volturi}}. Heck, just reading the title gives most people a good idea of how it'll end. On a lesser note, anyone at all the least bit familiar with the ''Twilight'' series will know that sunlight makes the vampires sparkle and not burn into ash, long before the actual characters do.
* ''[[Gordon Korman|Losing Joe's Place]]''. As if the title isn't enough, the book starts with Joe furious with Jason over the titular blunder and forcing him to recount how it happened.
* Invoked in The Doomsday Brunette, when a genetically modified gorilla is reenacting [[King Kong]] ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]) and the detective says, "King Kong only ends one way."
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== Live Action TV ==
* Game shows provide many examples of the winner being virtually assured before the episode's natural conclusion -- that is, the contestant in the lead will have such a great lead that it is impossible for the other players to catch up. For instance:
** ''[[Jeopardy!]]!'': When a first-place contestant has more than double the cash amount (score) of the second-place contestant at the end of the "Double Jeopardy" round, the situation is known as a "lock." That is, unless the leader does something very stupid (such as bet everything in "Final Jeopardy!" and then give a wrong answer) he is assured of winning.
** ''[[Sale of the Century]]'': For the first year of the 1980s NBC revival, the front game ended with three questions, worth $5 each (for a maximum $15 payout). Oftentimes, the leading contestant had a lead of at least $16 lead, rendering the final set of questions a mere formality. To avert this, a "[[Speed Round]]" was added, with host Jim Perry asking as many questions as time allowed at $5 each -- although by the end of these rounds, a dominant contestant will have such a big lead that not enough time exists for the second- and third-place contestants to catch up.
** ''[[Wheel of Fortune]]'': Starting in 1999, $1,000 is added to whatever dollar space the wheel landed on the [[Speed Round|Final Spin]], to reduce the amount of foregone conclusions at the start of the Speed-Up part of the final round. Even if Pat Sajak did not land on $5,000, adding $1,000 to the sub-$1,000 amounts -- in most instances -- gave trailing players a fighting chance.
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** Similarly, on ''[[Match Game]]'', the front game's second round ended immediately after an incorrect match made it impossible for the losing contestant to at least tie the score.
** ''[[The Newlywed Game]]'': Although extremely rare, husband-wife teams whose scores were 30 or more points behind the other teams did not play the final "25-point bonus question," since they were out of the running for the show's prize (the 25-point question, even if answered correctly, would not give them the lead and a shot at winning).
* The last episode of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' begins with the crew on Earth, celebrating the 10th anniversary of their return home. The producers of the episode then throw in some [[How We Got Here]] and some good old fashioned [[Reset Button]] to both subvert and lampshade this trope.
* ''[[Smallville (TV)|Smallville]]'' is able to maintain sufficient drama, suspense, and [[Shipping]] even though we already know that Clark becomes [[Superman]] and ends up with Lois Lane.
** Clark's friendship with [[Lex Luthor]] is actually more compelling given that we know they become mortal enemies later in life.
* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' does this for nearly every plot line. In the first episode, we learn how G'Kar and Londo Mollari die (but the context is [[Prophecy Twist|nothing like what we expect]]). The end of {{spoiler|The Shadow War}} is given a season before it actually happens. Half way through the first season we see {{spoiler|the eventual destruction of Babylon 5 (the space station)}}. And of course there's {{spoiler|"[[Arc Words|If you go to Z'ha'dum you will die]]"}}.
* ''[[Columbo (TV)|Columbo]]'', the TV mystery series starring the iconic Peter Falk character, is a beautiful example of how this trope can generate narrative tension. Famously described as not a whodunnit but a '[[Reverse Whodunnit|howcatchem]]', the show devoted the opening fifteen minutes or so of each episode to showing the murderer set up and execute their version of the perfect crime. From there we follow Columbo's slow, methodical attempts to unravel it, picking up subtle physical clues and using them to play mind games with the suspect.
** Similarly, [[Murder, She Wrote]] often shows the killer at the beginning of the episode, leaving the rest of the episode to show how Jessica goes about catching the killer.
* Most episodes of the last several seasons of ''[[Monk (TV)|Monk]]'' are better classified as "whydunits," as we see the crime, but it doesn't seem to make any sense, such as the time when a millionaire tries to mug a middle class man at gunpoint. The police want to clear the crime from the books, because all the facts seem in order, and there are no loose ends, but Monk senses that someone must be getting away with something.
** Many episodes of ''[[Law Order Criminal Intent]]'' are whydunits, although while there is usually a bit of black humor, or wackiness in the ''[[Monk (TV)|Monk]]'' crimes, the ''CI'' crimes are always played straight. The "whydunit" is just from the audience's point of view. The detectives still have the whole case to solve. It's like the ''Columbo'' model, with the extra tension of wondering why the crime was committed in the first place. The crimes on ''Columbo'' usually had obvious motives, like monetary gain, when expensive jewels were stolen.
* At the beginning of the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Doomsday", Rose Tyler's voiceover says, "This is the story of how I died." Of course it turns out that {{spoiler|she's only considered dead in our world because she's trapped, and quite alive, in an alternative dimension with no apparent way back to this one...except that she appears in the first episode of}} series 4, {{spoiler|before disappearing in a flash of light, and comes back later in the season.}}
** Also any time they go back to famous events, Pompeii, the Reign of Terror, Madame du Pompadour, World War I, World War II, etc., the world doesn't end -- big shock.
*** Doctor Who's series 3 episode "Utopia" reveals that another Time Lord survived the Time War {{spoiler|by becoming human}}. The Doctor's too busy trying to save the last of humanity to go see him, however, so he grills Martha for details. On initial viewings, the Doctor comes off as alternately hurried and impatient with Martha's slow dribbling of details. On subsequent viewings, Tennant's performance comes off like he knows ''exactly'' who it is, based on the intelligence and resourcefulness involved (implied greater than the Doctor's), and the Doctor's simply panicking and desperate that he hasn't unwittingly left an innocent woman and a time machine alone with {{spoiler|the Master,}} just as he already knows that it's too late. He's not even surprised to see what's waiting for him in the lab.
** In the first part of the series 5 finale, {{spoiler|van Gogh's expression of the TARDIS exploding is passed through the centuries}}. (Early on, {{spoiler|A chunk of an exploded TARDIS is extracted by The Doctor from a time crack}}.) However, {{spoiler|The entire reality in which the event happened is wiped out and replaced by a similar one.}}
* Gee, how do you think ''[[How I Met Your Mother (TV)|How I Met Your Mother]]'' will end?
** Even though Ted spends the first season trying to get Robin, we know from the first episode that their relationship is ultimately doomed ({{spoiler|Ted does get her by the final episode of the first season and they break up just before Lily and Marshall's wedding at the end of the second}}).
** We learn that Marshall's greatest mistake was buying his first apartment with Lily, then later that episode we see them buying an expensive apartment downwind of the sewage treatment plant with a bad mortgage.
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* ''[[Caprica]]'', a story about how intelligent machines were created by [[Battlestar Galactica|the twelve colonies]]. Guess how ''that'' ended up.
** Subverted hard with {{spoiler|young William Adama}}. [[Contractual Immortality]], my ass.
* In ''[[Mad Men (TV)|Mad Men]]'', the main characters work on an ad campaign for Richard Nixon's campaign for the presidency (against John Kennedy.) We know it won't work, but it's still very interesting. However, the trope is played with a bit as the audience is initially led to believe that their client, described as a "young, handsome navy hero", is Kennedy.
* ''[[Dollhouse]]'' does this at the end of the season one with the episode "Epitaph One," a [[Flash Forward]] ten years when imprinting technology has caused what basically amounts to a [[Zombie Apocalypse]] with [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] killers instead of corpses. [[Played With]] because [[Word of God]] said the [[How We Got Here|the imprinted memories of how this happened]] [[Unreliable Narrator|may not be accurate]]. This plotline was picked up and completed with the last episode of the second season/series.
* ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' features this, due to the [[Power Rangers]] metaseries' [[Anachronic Order]]. While we don't know when it takes place besides that its sometime in the first half of the 21st century, we've seen the year [[Power Rangers Time Force|3000]], where humanity is neither extinct nor enslaved by killer robots.
** Attempted aversion by the creators asserting that it's a separate continuity (so the year 3000 of ''Time Force'' is not necessarily the year 3000 of ''RPM'') but the fans are determined to ignore this, since 1) they like continuity and 2) every time a series has been presented as a separate continuity, it's eventually been tied into the main continuity anyway, and there's no reason to believe this one will be different.
* ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' only starts hinting at an Arthur/Gwen romance in season two. And, of course, eventually Prince Arthur is going to be king, with a magic sword, a Table Round, and Merlin as his trusted advisor.
** Also, Morgana eventually {{spoiler|turns Evil}}
* An episode of ''[[NCIS (TV)|NCIS]]'' starts with one character racing to find two others, just in time to see them start to drown. Most of the rest of the episode shows how that scene came to be.
** The fact that every segment begins with a one-second "repeat" of the final second of that very segment should also apply here.
* [[Xena: Warrior Princess (TV)|Xena: Warrior Princess]] spends Season 4 with recurring visions of herself and Gabrielle crucified at the hands of the Romans, while all the while Caesar is getting rid of his competitors and consolidating power in Rome. When an episode entitled "The Ides of March" pops up at the end of the season, you know what's coming. {{spoiler|Caesar dies with the requisite Shakespeare quotes, Xena and Gabrielle die on crosses. Somewhat of a surprise at the time, many people expected the writers to find a way for the heroes to ''technically'' fulfill destiny and still escape...}}
* ''[[Rome]]'', quite obviously. {{spoiler|Caesar dies. Marc Antony and Cleopatra die. Octavian wins and changes his name to Augustus.}} ''Rome'' has the disctinction of being spoilable by a '''calendar''' -- a simple glance at the months between June and September are all one needs to see just whose clan comes out on top.
* ''[[You Rang, M 'Lord (TV)?|You Rang M Lord]]'' plays this up in the final episode, as Lord Meldrum talks about how things are finally looking up--just a year before the beginning of the Great Depression.
* ''[[CSI]]'' has it several times, notably on the Taylor Swift episode (we know what happens to her character but not how and why) and the 9th season opener (the audience knows who did it and why, so the question is whether the team will find out and how).
* The first ''[[Black AdderBlackadder]]'' series is built on the premise that Henry Tudor (aka Henry VII) eventually became king and (according to the programme) re-wrote history to depict Richard III as a hunchback monster who'd killed his nephews. So, the resolution's already known from the start, the only question is how.
* [[Disney]]'s ''[[Davy Crockett]]'' mini-series. Davy going to the Alamo? [[Heroic Sacrifice|What happened in real life]]?
* ''[[Deadliest Catch]]'': Capt. Phil Harris dies of a stroke during the second half of filming. When the season premiered there was a lot of intentional/unintentional [[Foreshadowing]], and even worse [[Hope Spot|Hope Spots]] -- he was doing so well they had already started thinking about physical therapy...
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** [[Warren Harding]] will become President and die in office
** Al Capone and Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano will survive and become organized crime bosses running Chicago and New York. "Big Jim" Colosimo and Arnold Rothstein will be murdered.
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' has an interesting case of this in the episode In The Pale Moonlight. The episode is told through flashbacks and begins with Sisko wondering where it went wrong so that the audience knows from the beginning that something bad happens. And during the episode we see Sisko trying to get the Romulans to their side in the Dominion War and so the audience begins to think that the plan fails and makes things worse. But ultimately the reason he is saddened is that {{spoiler|he succeeded but that to reach this far he had to cheat, bribe, lie and 2 people were killed in the process and for him the most damning thing is that he finds himself able to live with it.}}
* ''[[Spartacus: Blood and Sand]]'': The slaves of Batiatus will rebel against their master and succeed.
* As lighthearted as ''[[Dinosaurs]]'' was, eventually it came to a [[Sudden Downer Ending]] where... they become extinct.
* An episode midway through [[Human Target]] goes back several years, to tell the story of exactly how the main character turned from his previous life of crime. Anyone who watched basically any previous episode knows that this story involves him [[Love Redeems|falling in love]] with a girl... who doesn't survive.
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* Sometimes happens in the [[History Channel]] series ''America: The Story of US''. For example, one episode plays suspensful music and asks if Andrew Carnegie will be able to get the Bessemer steel-making process to work, so he can revolutionize America, pave the way for such things as the space program, and become the richest man on earth.
* The BBC produced a reality series called ''Dancing On Wheels'', a wheelchair dance competition in which the winner would go forward to represent the UK at European Wheelchair Dance Championships in September 2009. The show didn't air until March 2010.
* Every episode of ''[[Cold Case (TV)|Cold Case]]'' starts off with an introduction to the Victim Of The Week, followed soon by a depiction of their death. No matter how likable the subsequent flashbacks might make them out to be, it's only a matter of time before the final flashback reaffirms what we learned in the first few minutes of the show--this person is going to ''die''.
** This is subverted in a few episodes when we find out in the end that the presumed victim actually survived. The dead body was misidentified or the police never found a body and assumed a murder was committed while the supposed victim simply moved away under a different identity.
 
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== Religion ==
* Basically the whole [[Book of Revelation (Literature)|Book of Revelation]] in [[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]] says how it's all going down according to the Christian faith. {{spoiler|[[The Antichrist|Satan]] [[Failure Is the Only Option|loses]]. [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|Big]] [[And I Must Scream|Time]].}}
 
 
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* Including fictional history, as is the case with Steven Brust's ''Khaavren'' saga, a prequel series presented as a written [[Docu Drama]] of a major [[Backstory]] event in the world of [[Dragaera]].
* ''[[Death of a Salesman]]''. The main character's a salesman. Three guesses what happens to him.
* In addition to being a [[Perspective Flip]] [[External Retcon]] of ''[[The Wizard of Oz (Filmfilm)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', the play version of ''[[Wicked (Theatretheatre)|Wicked]]'' opens with everyone celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the story takes place in a flashback. {{spoiler|However, [[Faking the Dead|Elphaba lives]], subverting the trope.}}
* The musical ''[[Miss Saigon]]'' reveals {{spoiler|Chris will get out of Vietnam while Kim (and the Engineer) will not}} towards the end of the first act. The second act shows how this happened.
* All Greek tragedies, being based on well-known myths, were like that. It was considered normal to the point that, when New Comedy authors started imitating some aspects of tragedy while still telling stories they made up themselves, they created the Prologue, which was already pretty much what it is in the Shakespeare example: one of the actors would address the public at the beginning and explain how everything was going to play out -- they feared the spectators would get confused otherwise.
** This is exemplified by ''The Infernal Machine'', based on the story of [[Oedipus the King (Theatre)|OedipusRex]].
* ''[[Evita]]'' begins with a song about Eva's funeral.
* A small note of this is in the opening scene of the play ''[[An Inspector Calls]]''. The rich family sat at dinner are discussing the amazing modern world they live in, including the new utterly unsinkable ship that's due to sail soon - The Titanic. It's a not-exactly subtle bit of symbolism - the family's own personal iceberg is, as the title says, about to call on them - and some productions have actually gone so far as to omit the line entirely, since the usual audience reaction is to laugh.
* ''[[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead]]'': Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die.
* ''[[Les Misérables (Theatretheatre)|Les Misérables]]'': The June Rebellion will fail and the barricade will fall.
 
 
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Max Payne (Video Gameseries)|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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** Furthermore, some cases (usually the first one in each game) show the killer at the very beginning. It's a matter of proving it to the court.
* ''[[Heavenly Sword]]'''s first mission ends with main character Nariko succumbing to the deadly curse of the titular sword. The rest of the game is a [[Flash Back]] on the events leading up to this point. {{spoiler|She eventually does succumb to the curse, but not before taking King Bohan and [[The War Sequence|hundreds of his soldiers]] with her in a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]}}.
* In ''[[Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge]]'', the story of the game is being told, ipso facto, by the protagonist, Guybrush Threepwood. As such, it is logically impossible for him to die in course of the game. However, in a certain puzzle in which Guybrush is suspended over a cauldron filled with acid taking too long to solve the escape will cause him to fall into the acid and subsequently die. [[Fission Mailed|The game then cuts back to the present, where Elaine points out to Guybrush that he obiviously can't be dead, since he is telling her the story]]. The player then gets another try.
** Since the title of ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]] [[Four Is Death|Chapter 4]]'' reads "[[Spoiler Title|The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood]]", we are curious at to what happens to Guybrush at the end. {{spoiler|1=Although it is subverted when he is saved from execution by LeChuck, who clears out the last of the five charges for him, it becomes double subverted when the same guy who saved Guybrush later kills him by the Cutlass of Kaflu after the latter cures everyone of the Pox of LeChuck.}} That Spoiler Title is definitely [[Incredibly Lame Pun|a Four-Gone Conclusion]]!
* Pick any number of historical first-person shooters or RTS games that don't deviate into [[Alternate History]]. These spoilers run anywhere from {{spoiler|the Allied victory in WWII}} to {{spoiler|the Union victory in the [[American Civil War]]}}
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* Done in ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' in which the opening narration is by a novelist who wrote about the war described in the game and talks about how Gallia would come to withstand the invasion and would challenge one of the continent's great powers. The fun in the game, is of course in finding out exactly how, and the price of victory.
** And soon you realize that it will be very high. The question is not who will win, but what will be left once the war is over.
* ''[[Street Fighter Alpha (Video Game)|Street Fighter Alpha]]'' is a prequel to ''[[Street Fighter II (Video Game)|Street Fighter II]]'', intending to flesh out most of the series' plot. One of the fighters in the ''Alpha'' series is Charlie. In ''[[Street Fighter II (Video Game)|Street Fighter II]]'', Guile's motivation for entering the tournament is to avenge the death of his supposedly dead friend, Charlie. Yeah..
* The story in the video game adaptation of ''The Darkness'' is being told by the protagonist, Jackie Estacado, so the assumption is that he's around after the fact to tell you his story. In an unusual subversion, there ''are'' totally unexpected twists in the story which present further [[Foregone Conclusion|Foregone Conclusions]]: {{spoiler|"That... well, that was the ''first'' time I died."}}
* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', you can ask your {{spoiler|uncle}} Duncan to tell you about some of his adventures. Although he has a lot of stories to tell, he refuses to tell them to you because there wouldn't be any tension since you know that he lives.
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** However, it's only at the end of ''Rekka no Ken'' that it's implied that {{spoiler|Lucius was the priest who started the orphanage that Chad and the twins lived in, who was killed by Bern forces.}}
* In the prologue at the beginning of the first ''[[Lufia]]'' game, {{spoiler|Maxim and Selan die.}}. The next game is a prequel, following the story of Maxim.
* ''[[Fate/stay Stay Night (Visual Novel)night|Fate Stay Night]]'': Saber [[Downer Ending|is going to die of her wounds after battling Mordred, atop a hill next to a battlefield littered with the corpses of her countrymen surrounding her.]] It's already been recorded in history, and anything that happens now cannot prevent that from happening on her own personal timeline. Semi subverted in that the point was never to keep her from dying, but to let her live before that has to happen.
* Adventure game ''Diamonds In The Rough'' starts off like this. "However I'll tell you the ending. I have just consumed 200g of yellow phosphorus dissolved in olive oil. Now I feel fine, if a bit queasy from the olive oil. Soon extreme thirst will happen. Followed by nausea and headache. That's when the real fun begins." I'll stop it there but he describes exactly how his body will shut down include severe organ failure. It also serves as hint on how to progress. You need to read a report on its effects and grab a beaker of it late in the game.
* The ''Day Of Sigma'', an unlockable [[OVA]] on the ''[[Mega Man X]]'' remake, ''Maverick Hunter X'', acts as a prequel to the events of the series. This shows an inevitable [[Start of Darkness]] (of sorts) for [[Big Bad|Sigma]]. What fans didn't see coming in the video was {{spoiler|[[City of Adventure|Abel City]] being destroyed by a [[Macross Missile Massacre]]}}. And that's not the ''only'' [[Retcon]] the video had made.
* ''[[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]]'' plays with this, mixing it with [[Prophecy Twist]] here and there. The prologue of the game as well as the cutscenes of Alex recounting the events so far occurs at the 18th Day of the infection. From the looks of New York and the background images of desperate fighting the player gets the impression that [[The Virus]] has all but taken over Manhattan. So, as the game progresses, it is of no surprise as hives and infected are popping out left and right. It is not until about midway through the game that the player learns that {{spoiler|Alex killed Elizabeth Greene and the Blacklight lost its momentum}} and another couple more missions before {{spoiler|she actually dies}}. Likewise, Alex mentions very early on that he {{spoiler|1=killed McMullen}}. What he doesn't say is that when he finally got to {{spoiler|1=McMullen, he shot himself in the head, depriving Alex and the player a treasure trove of information, most importantly, about the Pariah}}.
** On a similar vein, the Web of Intrigue videos clue the player on {{spoiler|Alex's role in the creation and spread of the Blacklight virus before the actual reveal occurs.}}
* "The Last Stand" poster in ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' saying "It won't end well." This is for Survival mode where you have to hold out for as long as you can because everyone will eventually die. But that it is not Canon,at least not yet.
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*** The comic for "The Sacrifice" indirectly made the ending of ''[[Left 4 Dead 2]]'' to be a foregone conclusion, in that we know exactly what the military are going to do to the new survivors (and it ain't pretty).
** Initially the fact that the campaigns were connected made the ending of each one a [[Foregone Conclusion]] (Since no matter how hard you fought, you were right back to where you started in the next one). The creators thought this would leave a sour taste in the player's mouths since it meant each ending bar the last one was a [[Downer Ending]]. The "Crash Course" campaign and later comic then confirmed that all of them tie into each other since the fans wanted continuity.
* ''[[God of War (Video Gameseries)|God of War]]'': "The gods of Olympus have abandoned me. Now there is no hope left." The game begins three weeks before Kratos crosses the [[Despair Event Horizon]].
* 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-Wimey Ball]]. While this could be a subversion if it were possible to fail, canon states that if the players screw it up the time guardians of the Bronze Dragonflight will hit the [[Reset Button]]. So not only are the original enemies [[Doomed Byby Canon]], so are the Infinite agents.
** 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?
* In ''[[Eternal Sonata]]'', it was a given that Chopin was going to die. Players were told on the game's cover that he's on his deathbed. The drama was not in whether he would die but how he would die, peacefully or in turmoil, and what the dream represented for him.
* The ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' series is [[Historical Fiction]] with a healthy dose of [[Written Byby the Winners]], so it is inevitable that the memories that are being relived of various 13th and 16th century historical figures will have outcomes that don't differ too much from history.
** The premise of the game -- that these stories are being viewed through the [[Genetic Memory]] of Altaïr and Ezio's descendants -- mandates that the main characters will survive past the events depicted ''and'' will have children whose bloodlines converge in Desmond Miles. <ref>Interestingly, Altaïr marries and has children after the events of the first game, and the second game makes it clear that Desmond is descended from his firstborn son, but ''Revelations'' requires that later memories of him be explored. This is done by means of having Altaïr use the Apple of Eden to store his own memories in keys which Ezio later recovers and views.</ref>
** In the modern-day setting, 2012, Abstergo is the [[Mega Corp]] that evolved from the [[The Knights Templar|Templars]] that Altaïr and Ezio battle. We also know that the Templars reign virtually unopposed throughout much of modern history. So while these two Assassins may do great things in their time, their achievements are doomed to be remembered only in secret among their descendants.
** In ''[[Assassin's Creed II (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed II]]'', the [[Big Bad]], Rodrigo Borgia, must survive to become Pope, therefore Ezio finds an excuse not to kill him. This is [[Fore Shadowed]] in the game by having Shaun tell Desmond about his historical research on the subject prior to Desmond viewing the final memory sequence.
** In ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'', Ezio destroys a number of mechanical inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci, such as a tank, a machine gun, and a bomb-equipped glider. We all know that he merely delays their coming, not prevents it. Also, the [[Big Bad]]'s manner of death is a matter of historical record, so Ezio foregoes his normal assassination method in favor of {{spoiler|throwing him off a wall}}.
* ''[[Resident Evil Outbreak]]'' takes place during the period of time visited in ''[[Resident Evil 2 (Video Game)]]'' and ''[[Resident Evil 3 Nemesis|3]]''. Raccoon City got nuked at the end of ''3''. So the odds are ''greatly'' stacked against the playable survivors, with [[Canon]] [[Gaiden Game|doing nothing]] to establish anybody's survival.
* 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.}}
* ''Dreamfall: [[The Longest Journey]]'' opens with Zoe in a coma, so you know you're getting set up for a [[Downer Ending]].
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== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Concerned]]: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman''. Emphasis on '''death'''. Most fans [[He's Just Hiding|apparently never noticed that though]].
* ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]'': If you've played [[Metal Gear Solid (Video Game)|the game]], you know how the main characters end up. At the beginning when it's all [[Flanderization|Flanderizing]] the characters for humor, this doesn't register. At the end after a long bout of [[Cerebus Syndrome]], it's damn bleak. The panel with Sniper Wolf and Bertholt is exceptionally heartbreaking.
* The book "The Sharp End of the Stick" of ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'' starts with several characters dressed in loincloths and wielding sharp sticks, rather than their usual military uniforms and plasma weapons, not to mention that {{spoiler|Kevyn and Elf}} have become a couple. The rest of the story switches back and forth between telling the story in chronological order from that point and showing how the characters got there.
* ''[[Chess Piece (Fanfic)|Chess Piece]]'' takes place during [[The Roaring Twenties]] -- 1927 currently, to be exact. Although times are good, the Great Depression is just around the corner.
* ''[[Homestuck]]'', all the time. Not only does the story run on [[Anachronic Order]], but time travel and having visions of the future are regular occurrences, and twelve of the sixteen major characters with dialogue already know everything that's going to happen for a large portion of the story and regularly tell the four protagonists about it.
* The current "Tower of Babel" arc of ''[[SSDD]]'' is essentially the backstory of one of the characters, and previous arcs make it clear that {{spoiler|Tessa's squad destroys Arthur, but during the battle Julian is killed and Tessa is captured. Then she escapes with help from Tin-head, and sometime later wins Sticks from Julie Waterman in a card game.}}
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== Web Original / Web Animation ==
* ''[[Bambi Meets Godzilla]]'': you can pretty much imagine by yourself how [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|something titled as such]] could [[Curb Stomp Battle|possibly end]]... {{spoiler|[[Mood Whiplash|SPLAT]]}}
* In ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', when a character gets rolled and isn't saved by any of the other handlers within the time limit, you can be sure that their death is only just around the corner. The same fate falls upon inactive characters who don't get adopted.
 
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== Western Animation ==
* Any Christmas special that's set in the ancient Middle East should be a dead give away to its [[Star of Bethlehem|subject matter.]] Even more obvious if the main character is a [[The Small One|donkey]].
* In ''[[Tangled (Disney)|Tangled]]'', who took {{spoiler|Flynn's "This is the story of how I died"}} seriously?
** {{spoiler|Subverted.}}
* Spoofed on ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' when Homer fears the worst when reading a wilderness survival story.
{{quote| '''Homer''': [reading] Then I heard the sound that all Arctic explorers dread... the pitiless bark of the sea lion! [gasp] He'll be killed!<br />
'''Marge''': Homer, he obviously got out alive if he wrote the article.<br />
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** In "Homer's Paternity Coot" Abe unsurprisingly turns out to be Homer's real father after all.
* A recent ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode is entitled "Candace Gets Busted". Two guesses as to what happens at the end.
* ''[[Young Justice (Animationanimation)|Young Justice]]'': [[Aquaman (Comic Book)|Aquaman]]'s younger brother Orm makes an appearance and seems to be a devoted servant to the king and an all-around nice guy. [[wikipedia:Ocean Master|This won't end well]].
* For ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', everyone is waiting for [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_many_deaths_of_Optimus_Prime Optimus Prime to die] and [[Death Is Cheap|come back to life]], just to get it over with.
** {{spoiler|There's a twist this time. Since a dead character can't come back in this series, they killed Prime metaphorically. Unleashing the Matrix on Unicron took away all of his memories of being Optimus Prime. He is now Orion Pax, and has joined the Decepticons via Megatron taking advantage of his current state. Now we're waiting to see how they "ressurect" him this time.}}
* Before ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch (Animation)|Celebrity Deathmatch]]'' showed a classic match between OJ Simpson and Joe Namath, Nick started making OJ jokes. Johnny explained the fight took place before the ugliness in a simpler time.
* Any time they come close to capturing or killing an important figure in the Separatist Alliance in [[Star Wars: theThe Clone Wars]], or if any of the Jedi are in peril. You already knew Nute Gunray was going to get away and that Obi Wan somehow escapes the supposedly inescapable trap. The series does avert this to a degree whenever they feature clones, since you never know which among them will get offed the next minute.
 
 
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