Screw Destiny: Difference between revisions

* In [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''The Avatar'', {{spoiler|[[Blithe Spirit|Caitlín's]] refusal of [[Transhuman Aliens|the Others]]' offer of [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|ascendance]]}}.

* ''[[The Saga of Darren Shan]]''. After learning that {{spoiler|either he or Steve will become Lord Of The Shadows, i.e. evil, depending on who survives, Darren goads the dying Steve into attacking and killing him.}}

* ''[[Lois Duncan|I've Been Waiting for You]]'' looks at this by way of [[Reincarnation]], as the events of the Salem witch trials play out again in the present, but one of the girls whose accusations started the trial refuses to play her part. {{spoiler|This time around, she manages to redeem herself and [[Everybody Lives|keep everyone alive]].}}

* Someone—it may have been [[Fred Saberhagen]]—wrote a short story based on [[Norse Mythology]] in which Odin's ravens Huginn and Muninn reopen a cold case, the murder of Baldur. They come to the conclusion that Loki was framed, and the killing was actually by the giants ... as part of hiding the fact that ''the prophecy of Ragnarok is false'', made up by the gods' enemies to demoralize them. The giants still plan to invade, and are building up their strength, but it is ''NOT'' truly certain that the gods will be wiped out in the "prophesied" manner. As the story's last line states, they're very, very heartened to learn that "now they need not die!"

* Attempted in ''[[Power Rangers]]'', only to fail ''hard''. Back in season 5, ''[[Power Rangers Turbo]]'', a robot policeman came back in time to prevent a war that was to happen two years later. All he did was cause it to happen [[Power Rangers in Space|the next year]], instead.

** Played straight in ''[[Power Rangers Time Force]]'' and its source, [[Mirai Sentai Timeranger]], where the main theme is choosing one's own path regardless of what the history books in the future say.

* The whole point of the fight [[The X-Files|Mulder, Scully, and allies are putting up against the Syndicate]]. Summed up in [[The X-Files (film)|the movie]] and "Three Little words"—Fight the Future.

* Subverted in ''[[Red Dwarf]]''. Having heard from a computer capable of predicting the future with 100% accuracy that he would destroy it, Lister states that there is no such thing as destiny, "otherwise we're just actors in somebody else's script." As he turns to leaves, he places a piece of chewing gum on the wall, which sets of a chain reaction of events that does, in fact, destroy the computer. His reaction? "Smeg."

** Made much more terrifying when you realize that, by screwing destiny in ''Dissidia'', the heroes are quite possibly instigating the 2000 year Time Loop in ''[[Final Fantasy I]]'', since {{spoiler|Garland's on his way to becoming Chaos in the end.}}

* The ''entire point'' of {{spoiler|Kreia's}} game of [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]] 2''. {{spoiler|Because the Force has a destiny and a plan for everyone and everything in the universe, she despises it. She wanted to use Exile as a means of breaking and destroying what is, in effect, the GFFA's equivilent of God! (Maybe because she's jealous the Force is a better manipulator than she is...)}}

* The party in ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' were [[Blessed with Suck]] and became [[The Chosen One|l'Cie]], and in doing so were left with only two options, fulfill their focus/mission and be crystallized for all eternality or become mindless Cie Corpses for all eternality. The party naturally opted to take a [[Taking a Third Option|third option]] in an attempt to change their destinies. This act inspired {{spoiler|Cid Raines}}, who {{spoiler|was also a l'Cie, thus [[Blessed with Suck]] as well}} to try and change his destiny as well. Unfortunately, this involved him {{spoiler|regrettably doing a [[Face Heel Turn]] and fights against the party}}.

* The Reapers of ''[[Mass Effect]]'' like to think of themselves as agents of Destiny and that there is no point in trying to resist being annihilated by them. However from what is known, every galactic civilization they destroyed still chose to try their luck.

** How bad is everything altered? How about the fact that the Nadesico crew get the Aestivalis Customs, Super Aestivalis, Black Salena and Nadesico C three years before they should! And when you return to the present you find either Char isn't a humongous dick or that Akito and Yurika are still normal (especially Akito!)

* This is the primary motivation of the ''[[Warcraft]]'' character Medivh. Forced into becoming the Guardian of Tirisfal by the machinations of his mother, his resentment and desire to break free of his fate was used to turn him evil and bring the Horde into Azeroth. Later, freed of evil taint, he would assume the role of a prophet and maneuver the humans, orcs, and night elves into a position to combat the Burning Legion and prevent their conquering of Azeroth. Medivh further screwed with Destiny by giving his own son, Med'an, what he never had: the ''choice'' to become Guardian of Tirisfal.

* [[Spyro the Dragon]] in the ''Legend of Spyro'' games has an interesting version. Malefor believes he, and all Purple Dragons, are destined to bring about the end of the world; Spyro believes his destiny is to fight for good and ultimately save the world. {{spoiler|Spyro turns out to be right and saved the world}}. So Spyro managed to [[Because Destiny Says So|fulfill one destiny]] while screwing the other, at the same time.

* [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni|Ange]] tries to do this, but [[You Can't Fight Fate]]

* ''[[Xenoblade]]'' allows you to Screw Destiny on a regular basis. The [[Sword of Plot Advancement|Monado]] frequently offers Shulk glimpses of the future, and in addition to the myriad plot examples, this is [[Story And Gameplay Integration|used as a game mechanic]]. During battle, Shulk will sometimes receive visions of would-be fatal attacks several seconds in advance, and from there, the player can either manipulate the prediction to make it less dangerous (heal or protect the victim so the hit isn't fatal, draw aggro to someone else who can take the hit, use [[Standard Status Effects]] to make it use a different attack) or kill the initiating monster and shatter the destiny tag outright.

** {{spoiler|Screw Destiny actually becomes the ''main conflict'' of the game, after a certain [[Wham! Episode]]. The [[Big Bad]] [[God Is Evil|Zanza]], the god who created the world of [[Xenoblade]] controls the passage of fate itself. Every couple of thousand years or so, Zanza and another god, Meyneth, destroy the world and remake it anew in a neverending cycle, in order to prevent their creations (humans) from leaving the world and going into space, which would result in Zanza and Meyneth dying. Everyone cites this as an inevitability, but [[The Hero|Shulk]] cries Screw Destiny and kills Zanza anyway, using a [[Sword of Plot Advancement|Monado]] created from the ''sheer will'' to Screw Destiny. And finally, after Zanza's demise, Shulk is asked to become the god of the new world, but he refuses and goes down his own path, where there are no gods and humans make their own choices.}}

* ''[[Dragon Quest VII]]'' plays with this through [[Hot Gypsy Woman|Aira]]. According to the Deja Tribe's legends, a dancer of her line will someday perform the rite that will restore God to His former glory. While she's perfectly willing to fulfill this duty, she protests the thought that this is '''ALL''' she can hope to accomplish with her life—that this grand destiny is the sole reason for her existence. To this end, she latches onto the hero's party when they first meet, putting her [[Hot Chick with a Sword|other]] [[Action Girl|skills]] to good use.

* During the extraordinarily long "The Sign" quest in ''[[Ragnarok Online]]'' you're given a choice of how you would spend your last day alive if you knew the world would end tomorrow. The correct answer is 'What else? Save the world!'.

** {{spoiler|The [[Big Bad]] ''created'' the Fateless One in her own attempt to Screw Destiny since she was otherwise fated to never escape her prison. This backfires immensely since the Fateless One is also the only being capable of killing her since she was also otherwise fated to never die. She also has the same power to weaponize the threads of Fate which she uses in the final battle.}}