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Prophecies Are Always Right: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.PropheciesAreAlwaysRight 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.PropheciesAreAlwaysRight, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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In fantastic stories with prophecies in them, writers are so wedded to this trope that even a fake prophecy, or anything that even vaguely sounds like a prophecy, will turn out to be true.
See also [[Self
[[Sub Trope]] of [[All Myths Are True]]; [[Super Trope]] of [[Because Destiny Says So]].
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
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*** Another one occurred in "Empire" when Vader tells Luke that he had foreseen the two of them ruling the galaxy as father and son but it might have been a lie to try to get Luke to join him.
** In ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'', Qui-Gon tells Obi-Wan that he has foreseen him becoming a great Jedi knight which is pretty much the only prophecy in the films to actually be 100% true.
* This is actually somewhat averted in ''[[The Beastmaster (Film)|The Beastmaster]]'', although it might not have been the writer's intent for it to be so. Basically, at the beginning of the film it is prophesied that the [[Big Bad]] will "die at the hands of Zed's unborn son", which of course results in the [[Big Bad]] trying to kill Zed's unborn son, failing, and unwittingly [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|giving the young man a motive to kill the guy when he grows up]]. About 3/4ths of the way through the film, the hero does end up shanking the [[Big Bad]] in the stomach, but this doesn't actually kill him. Instead he gets back up and tries to stab the hero in the back, but suddenly gets tackled by a ferret and falls into a pit of fire without the hero lifting a finger or even realizing the guy is still alive.
* Seems to be the case so far in the [[Kung Fu Panda]] series. In the first film, it was said that the Dragon Warrior would save the Valley of Peace. And it happens by the end of the film. In [[Kung Fu Panda 2|the sequel]], Lord Shen is told that he will be defeated by "a warrior of black and white". Lord Shen tries to keep this from happening by killing all the pandas, but Po survives and ends up defeating him by the end of the film.
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* ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'': Played perfectly straight. You cannot fight fate, in part because prophecies always take into account the future--meaning that if you trigger them by trying to avert them, it's because you learned of them, and guess what? [[You Can't Fight Fate|That was taken into account.]] On the other hand, the prophecies are worded in a fashion that leaves them open to multiple interpretations, with few parts being obvious and unambiguous. Of course, this is based on Greek mythology, so this is only natural.
* ''[[Dune]]'', by Frank Herbert, makes some interesting uses of prophets and prophecies. The Bene Gesserit, the supreme [[Chessmaster|Chessmasters]] of the galaxy, set up religions to suit their needs and seed them with messianic prophecies that they can later manipulate to their advantage. At the same time, they are seeking to breed a human with oracular powers. Unfortunately, an error causes the breeding program to produce this "Kwisatz Haderach" one generation too soon. Paul Atreides takes their prophecies and runs with them, setting himself up as [[The Messiah]] and Emperor of the galaxy, and his son, Leto II, is even stronger, locking humanity into a singular course for close to ten thousand years. What makes this an interesting example, however, is the question the books ask: does the oracle ''predict'' the future, or ''create'' it?
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'': Both of Trelawney's prophecies in the series come true, although Divination is otherwise treated as a very imprecise art. Also, Dumbledore is quick to point out in the sixth book that not all of the prophecies studied by the Department of Mysteries have or will come true, saying by way of example that had the prophecy regarding Harry and Voldemort not been overheard and relayed to Voldemort, [[Self
** Interestingly, Trelawney made several smaller predictions aside from her big two that were actually right. They were simply dismissed or misinterpreted by Trelawney herself. Only in hindsight can their true meaning be seen.
*** Hers wasn't the only one, either. While outright lying about seeing a vision, he claimed to see Buckbeak flying free and alive, which he did.
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** Played straighter with all the other prophecies-- whether via Centauri death-dream, Vorlon vagueness, [[Stable Time Loop]], or whatever Lorien's deal was, they all get taken utterly seriously, met with trepidation and some degree of fatalism by all parties involved.
* In ''[[Star Trek]]:[[Deep Space Nine]],'' the "prophets" of Bajor turn out to be the aliens who created the Wormhole, who exist outside of linear time, and who can therefore forsee prophecies by simply reading the future. Even when people use the prophecies to try to avoid them, the attempt only ends up ''fulfilling'' them.
* Abed from ''[[Community]]'' makes several predictions weeks to hours in advance about [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|actions, conversations, and menstruation cycles]] of the rest of the study group. Every last one is shown on screen or implied to be correct.
* In ''[[Lexx]]'' the time prophets could see into the distant past and because [[Eternal Recurrence|time is cyclic]] in the two universes it meant they could effectively predict the future. One of them predicted that His Divine Shadow would wipe out the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Brunnen-G]] and [[Genocide Backfire|then one of them]] would end his reign. Sure enough, the Shadow destroyed the Brunnen-G and reanimated one warrior as an undead assassin, only for said warrior to regain his free will and fulfill his destiny 2,008 years later.
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* ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]]'' includes two ''mutually contradictory'' prophecies. The heroes attempt to fulfill the one they like. The villain attempts to fulfill the one he likes. {{spoiler|The [[Man Behind the Man]] tries to get the heroes to fulfill the good one and then fulfill the bad one anyway.}} Only the good one comes true, through.
* Subverted in ''[[Might and Magic|Might and Magic IX]]'', via the False Prophet version. The overall plot of the game involves your party receiving a Writ of Fate from the Oracle prophesying that your destiny is to stop the warlord Temur Lang from conquering the world. However, when you finally run into Temur Lang, you learn that he's trying to conquer the world because ''he'' received a Writ of Fate from the Oracle prophesying that it's his destiny to do so. After comparing notes, you join up to go against the Oracle, who's the real [[Big Bad]], basically making up false prophecies for shit and giggles.
* ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'': This is a major plot point. The heroes and the [[Big Bad]] are both trying to eliminate the Score, a [[Self
* ''[[Persona 4]]'': Igor tells you that you are going to be involved in a 'great mystery'. Guess what happens only a day after you arrive? Yup {{spoiler|Mayumi Yamano dies, lighting the spark that leads to the whole world almost being destroyed}}.
* There is a legend in ''[[Pokémon Black and White (Video Game)|Pokémon Black and White]]'' that a hero will rise and be acknowledged by one of the mythical dragons of truth and ideals that helped create Unova. {{spoiler|The antagonist, N, is apparently [[The Chosen One]]. The player character summons the ''other'' dragon [[The Unchosen One|just to take him down a peg]], resulting in ''two'' heroes who both fulfill the prophecy. [[The Man Behind the Man]] [[Didn't See That Coming]].}}
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* ''[[American Dragon Jake Long]]'': [[Executive Meddling]] actually ''prevented'' the fulfillment of at least one aspect of a prophecy in the finale. See [[Executive Meddling]] for details.
* Double Subverted in ''[[Kim Possible]]'', when foreign exchange student/heir to his country's throne, Prince Wally, is almost killed in an assassination attempt to fulfill an ancient prophecy that the country's monarchy will end with Prince Wally. The characters pat themselves on the back for a good job averting the prophecy, when Wally, impressed with Democracy, claims he will [[Abdicate the Throne]]. Thus fulfilling the prophecy.
* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', Twilight Sparkle reads about The Mare in the Moon, and how the legends state that "on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about [[The Night That Never Ends|nighttime eternal]]." Since that's only two days away, she warns the princess, who tells her to get her nose out of the books and make some friends. However, as the next day dawns, or rather, fails to, guess who shows up gloating about a never-ending night? It later turns out that {{spoiler|Celestia did know the prophecy was real, and having Twilight make some friends was part of her [[Plan]] for Twilight to save Equestria}}.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fate and Prophecy Tropes]]
[[Category:Prophecies Are Always Right]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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