Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''When Herod realized he had been deceived by the Magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained by the Magi.''|''[[The Bible]]'', Matthew 2:16}}

 

 

The [[Big Bad]] has just learned that a child that can defeat him has or will soon be born. The obvious solution to this problem is to [[Screw Destiny]]. Nip this danger in the bud and kill the Infant Hero before he can become any kind of threat. This is the stage where the problems crop up. Either the [[Big Bad]] has no idea who this child actually ''is'', or other characters also aware of this destiny have taken the initiative to [[Moses in the Bulrushes|hide and protect the child]] before the [[Big Bad]] can actually reach him. Or the would-be killer ''thinks'' they've done the deed, but unbeknownst to them, some force or benevolent person intervenes and child is actually [[Not Quite Dead]]. Whatever the mechanism, the upshot is that [[You Can't Fight Fate]].

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[One Piece]]'' revealed that the government went on a newborn hunt trying to find the unborn baby of {{spoiler|Gold Roger.}} The baby's [[Mama Bear]] protected her child ''[[Longest Pregnancy Ever|by staying pregnant for twenty months]]'' so the child could not be associated with his father.

* An interesting variant in ''[[Elfen Lied]]''—the antagonists actively seek out and imprison [[Person of Mass Destruction|diclonii]] as they're born. Their primary approach is to visit hospitals daily and inspect the nurseries, looking for horns. If one is found, they then make every effort to persuade the unlucky parents into giving up the infant, and if that fails, they take it by force [[Paranoia Fuel|with the assistance of hospital security]]. {{spoiler|Then they go on to enslave and torture the children and, down the line, are surprised when they turn out twisted and angry.}}

* ''[[Scrapped Princess]]''. Legends speak of a royal princess who will destroy the world. When she is born, the [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|Church of Mauser]] throws her off a cliff. {{spoiler|The queen arranges for someone to catch her.}}

* ''[[Saint Seiya]]'' also has an example of this, though the infant is well identified. Renegade Gemini Saint Saga murdered the rightful ruler of Sanctuary, and tried to assassinate Athena's reincarnation which was still an infant. She was saved in the nick of time thanks to the sacrifice of Sagittarius Aiolos, Saga somewhat convinced himself that he had succeeded in getting rid of her, and had his comeuppance and a lot of cold sweating when he found out she was well alive, and had founded her own guard of Saints.

* ''[[The Storm Riders]]'' has a bit of a variation of this. Lord Conquer was given a prophecy for the first half of his life, which led to him slaughtering the families of the two heroes and adopting them to secure his reign, but isn't given the second part, in which they will bring him down, until they're grown. However, his attempt to stop this from happening cause it anyway.

 

== Comic Books ==

* The Queen in "[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (novel)|Snow White]]" may be the most memorable example of this trope. She had little trouble finding the infant Snow White in the first place, but the kindly huntsman who spares Snow White's life and the Queen's ultimate downfall fully adhere to the trope.

 

* The villainous Shen does this in ''[[Kung Fu Panda]] 2''. It goes as well as you'd expect.

** It actually works twice. The {{spoiler|massacre of the pandas}} lets Po end up in the right place and the right time to become the Dragon Warrior and receive the training he will need for his eventual fight with Shen (well, he was training to fight Tai Lung, but still). Also, Po remembering {{spoiler|his mother's sacrifice during the massacre and coming to terms with it}} allows him to master the [[Chekhov's Skill]] that allows him to overcome Shen's weapons.

* ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]'' shows this scenario through an Egyptian-heiroglyphic animation dream sequence, followed by a final confrontation between the Prince Moses and Seti I, his adoptive father: "Sometimes," Seti says, with a look of utter horror on his face at the memory (or is it fear of divine judgment?), "sacrifices must be made...."

* In Disney's ''[[Hercules (1997 film)||Hercules]]'', Hades sends his mooks to turn Hercules mortal and then murder him, so that the kid can't derail his takeover plot in eighteen years. But the mooks are interrupted before the task is complete, so Hercules is still alive and has superhuman powers, even though he is indeed mortal. Guess what happens.

* Queen Bavmorda did something like this in ''[[Willow]]'', rounding up all the pregnant women in her domain and checking each of their children for the mark of the one prophesied to bring about her downfall. The fact that she's defeated not by the the prophesied baby, but by the people trying to keep her safe from her constant attacks makes this a particularly overt [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy]].

* ''[[The Omen|Omen III The Final Conflict]]''. Damien Thorn (the son of Satan A.K.A. [[The Antichrist]]) tries to kill all babies born during a certain time period in an attempt to prevent the Second Coming of Jesus.

* The Prequel Trilogy of ''[[Star Wars]]'' subverts this. There is a prophecy about the Chosen One bringing balance to [[The Force]]; while some interpret this to mean that they'll decimate the Jedi who are more numerous than the Sith, the Jedi view, and the one espoused by [[Word of God]], is that they will root out and destroy the Sith Lord lurking in the shadows. Palpatine knows about this prophecy, and when the Chosen One is discovered he doesn't kill him. He spends quite some time befriending and grooming the boy until he could cause a [[Face Heel Turn]] and use him against the Jedi. However, the Original Trilogy then has the son of the Chosen One [[Love Redeems|redeem him]] and cause a [[Heel Face Turn]]. Palpatine tries to kill the son, and the Chosen One kills him, finally fulfilling the prophecy.

** The Sith have their own prophecy, of the Sith'ari, who will both destroy their order and bring it its greatest height of power (the order in which this will happen not being explicitly specified). While [[Word of God]] holds that prophecy had already been fulfilled 1000 years earlier, many fans find it more appealing for Anakin/Vader to be the fulfillment of ''both'' prophecies, by destroying the Jedi ''and'' the Sith.

 

== Folklore ==

** In short, Greek Mythology is full of this kind of stuff, although few times do the would-be destiny-screwers explicitly try to ''kill'' the child (or its mother) with a weapon or anything, preferring to leave them to die in the wilderness. This was because in Ancient Greek times, killing a blood member of your family was the largest sin imaginable, and doomed you to living the rest of your life hounded by the Furies.

* In [[Hindu Mythology]], the [[Avatar]] Krishna's uncle, [[Big Bad]] Kamsa, hears a prophecy that his nephew will kill him. So he imprisons his sister and kills her nine children one after another as soon as they were born, descending into becoming a [[Complete Monster]]. Of course, Krishna, the tenth child, escapes at birth. Needless to say, it does not end well for him.

 

== Literature ==

* In the ''[[Babylon 5]]'' ''Lost Tales'', James Sheridan is warned by a Techno-Mage that the grandson of the insane Centauri Emperor will become a villain and he must be killed. However, the troper is subverted when Sheridan decides to spare him and raise personally him to be of better character. Furthermore, Sherdian gets the Mage to all but confess that was his true plan all along.

 

* Variation in ''[[Dragon Quest IV]]'': Aware that [[The Chosen One]] is currently growing up ''somewhere'' in the world, the monsters attempt various plans to track down and destroy that child. One of these plans gets the attention of Ragnar, who learns of the prophecy while thwarting said plot and leads him to set out in search of said hero. Later, it's revealed that Ragnar is one of [[The Hero]]'s Chosen Companions...

** Later, the monsters find the hidden village where the Hero is being raised. They attempt [[Doomed Hometown|the obvious solution]], which naturally doesn't work.

** Also, there's the Fire Nation's campaign of capturing and exterminating waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe. (The exact reasons for this are not explained, though [[Wild Mass Guessing|theories]] abound that they were trying to stop another Avatar and/or wipe out resistence.) They missed Katara, who went on to train Aang and play a part in their downfall.

* ''[[Sonic Underground]]'' featured Sonic the Hedgehog and two siblings being hidden from Dr. Robotnik by their mother the queen.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Villain Ball]]

[[Category:Index Backfire]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Esoteric Trope Names]]