Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: Difference between revisions

 

{{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.

* 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.

 

* In ''[[Yoshi's Island]]'', the [[Evil Sorcerer|Magikoopa Kamek]] foresees the conflict between his ward - Bowser - and thinks getting rid of Mario and Luigi will avert the threat. He louses up royally, and if anything, only ''starts'' the conflict.

** Having learned nothing, in the sequel ''[[Yoshi's Island|Yoshi's Island DS]]'', he and Bowser kidnap all of the Mushroom Kingdom's babies in hopes of finding the seven Star Children.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Villain Ball]]

[[Category:Index Backfire]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Esoteric Trope Names]]