Seers

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
(Redirected from Precognition)
Like many oracles, she sees events through her eyes...the eyes on her tail.

"Many paths, many seasons I have seen.
 Time has washed them away just like the sea.
 So many fates, and dreams...
 Will become...tragedies..."

—Yeul's Theme,[1] Final Fantasy XIII-2

People who can see into the future, past and to faraway places. People can be born with this or gain it through freak accidents. If the latter, expect a Reset Button.

When a seer is really powerful, she is The Omniscient or a Omniscient Hero. However, it might turn out that she is Not So Omniscient After All.

This can also lead into a Fantastic Aesop about not using this power for selfish gains. It can also lead to Fridge Logic about being able to see the future but not being able to to avoid and/or fix many problems. But then stories that do are often accused of having God Mode Sues. Although the latter can justify a Gambit Roulette because they the chance involved in such plans is negated by their powers. These types will likely invoke All According to Plan

A Sub-Trope of Psychic Powers.

A Sister Trope to My Significance Sense Is Tingling (a more vague feeling instead of visions).

Not to be confused with a certain department store chain famous for its catalog...

Sub-Tropes:

Examples of Seers include:


Anime and Manga

Comic Books

  • The most notable clairvoyant in Marvel Comics is Destiny, an old woman who was a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. After her death she left behind some hidden books with information about the future that led the X-Men to various adventures.
    • Similarly, Spider-Man enemy/sometimes ally Madam Webb was an old, blind woman who could see the future.
  • The most famed precog in DC Comics is Dream Girl, of the Legion of Super-Heroes, who could see the future in her dreams. Unlike the Marvel examples she is a young platinum blonde whose powers are rarely useful. But then again she was introduced more for her looks than anything else.
  • The Sandman (Sanderson Hawkins), also of DC fame, suffers from the same precognitive nightmares as his predecessor, Wesley Dodds.

Film

  • The Oracle of The Matrix films is a subversion, as she can't actually see the future. She can, however, predict what choices people will make with near-perfect accuracy and from that extrapolate events that will come, through an innate understanding of the human psyche. She also admits that this ability has limits: if she doesn't understand a choice someone will make, she can't predict what they will do, and she doesn't know what will happen after that.
  • The Precogs of Minority Report.

Literature

  • Many seers appear in the Trojan Cycle: The Trojans Cassandra and Helenus, the Achaean Calchas, and even the ghostly Tiresias.
  • In the Elemental Logic series, this is one of the abilities that can go with having fire blood. The seer Medric has dreams and visions that generally have to be interpreted, but accurately reflect the future. (Notably, he and his companions are fairly good at interpreting and acting on the things he sees.) Zanja, a fire blood but not an actual "seer", has limited prescience- she occaisionally sees short-term future events, and her glyph card readings are always accurate, but her visions don't have the range or complexity of Medric's.
  • Niklaren "Niko" Goldeye from the Circle of Magic series, who mainly devotes his talent to spotting magical influence where it was otherwise missed, such as the protagonists. Occassionally he uses it for crime-solving.
  • Many novels and short stories by Philip K. Dick feature precognitive powers.
  • In Robert E. Howard's The Hour of the Dragon, Conan the Barbarian meets one. Somewhat cryptic.

I am but an oracle, through whose lips the gods speak. My lips are sealed by them lest I speak too much. You must find the heart of your kingdom. I can say no more. My lips are opened and sealed by the gods.

  • Time Scout's Ianira Cassondra receives visions voluntarily and involuntarily. Sometimes leads to Fainting Seer.
  • Coryn from Guardians of Ga'hoole, who can see the future in the flames of a fire.
  • Any medicine cat in Warrior Cats, and the clan leaders, too for that matter. They all get visions and prophecies from Star Clan.

Live Action TV

  • Drusilla, Doyle and later Cordelia all get visions. Where Drusilla's came from isn't explained but it's revealed she had them prior to becoming a vampire and that they had driven her quite mad; it was the reason she was turned since Angelus wanted her to suffer eternal torment. Doyle got them from the Powers That Be and passed them onto Cordelia via a kiss.
  • Screech in Saved by the Bell gets this for an episode.
  • Lexx's Time Prophet, who could only see the past -- which luckily was identical to the future.
  • Merlin's Morgana, who gets future visions in her dreams.
  • Phoebe of Charmed can get premonitions just by touching them. She can see the past and the future.

Mythology

  • The oracles and sybils of ancient Greece and Rome.
  • Modern Groundhog Day events presume that a rodent can be a seer, at least regarding the weather.

Tabletop Games

  • In Dungeons & Dragons, divination is the school of magic that specializes in gaining information, including clairvoyance.
    • In the optional psionics for 3rd Edition, seers are psions who specialize in the same.

Video Games

  • Hannah from Fire Emblem Elibe. when she gets Put on a Bus, Nils takes over her "oracle" duty.
  • Bloomseer Poplar from Fallout 3 is a prophetic old lady living in the settlement of Oasis. Her precognition factors into the gameplay: you can ask about your future, and she will tell you something related to quests that you have not yet discovered.
    • The same goes for the Forecaster from Fallout: New Vegas. He can pretty much sum up the whole game for 300 caps.
  • Fateweavers from Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Contrary to the what the name implies, the Fateweavers can only see the Weave of Fate, they can't actually change it -- no one can. They were honored in the past, but nowadays have a poor reputation since people don't like to receive bad news and tend to blame the messenger. Their reactions to meeting The Fateless One are mixed—part fear and shock that someone is able to alter the Weave, and part hope since the Fateless One can give them a new unwritten future.

Web Comics

  • Dominic Deegan is a seer for hire.
  • In Drowtales, the drowussu Chiri'nide and Shimi'lande Val'Kyorlsolenurn are seers, as is the leader of the light elves of Vanaheimr, Vala Hudr. Since it was revealed that drowussu are descended from light elves it may mean that prescience is a racial trait.

Web Original

Western Animation

  1. ↑ Listen here.
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