Sliding Scale of Free Will vs. Fate: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

Nobody can decide that for you, son." |[[Smallville|Jonathan Kent]] }}

 

{{quote|"[[Because Destiny Says So|Fulfill your destiny]], '''[[Superman|Kal-el]]'''." |[[Smallville|Jor-el]] }}

 

 

The relationship between free will and fate is not necessarily constant. It can vary between stories and even inside those stories, although how much this is actual change and how much it is simply the revelation of the true nature of Fate also differs.

 

* '''Neither Fate Nor Free Will Exist'''

 

* '''[[Because Destiny Says So]]'''

 

* '''Fighting Fate Is Hard'''

 

 

* '''Prophecies Are Predictions'''

 

* '''[[Screw Destiny]]'''

 

== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ==

* [[Cardcaptor Sakura]] is high in the Fate scale.

* In ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' the Future Diaries can be changed almost immediately as they predict.

* ''[[Mawaru Penguindrum]]'' is all about working the scale: On one hand, we have a crazed stalker character (Ringo) who firmly believes in fate and sets out to fulfil the fate that's written down on her diary, and on the other, we have the Takakura siblings (Kanba/Shoma) who hate "fate" and wish to take destiny into their own hands. Then we have their sister Himari, who bestows fate ''according'' to her own rules.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* This crops up a lot in the ''[[Alex Verus]]'' series, as you'd expect when the main character's power is to see the future. Alex's magic works on the "Prophecies are Predictions" model - he can see the probable consequences of any action, but it's explicitly stated that people do have free will and he can't see past a choice that hasn't been made. However, a character encountered late in the first book can apparently control fate, and the draconic prophecy seems closer to [[Because Destiny Says So]].

* ''[[The Belgariad]]''—Both the ''Belgariad'' and its sequel, the ''Malloreon'' focus on two sides working towards two mutually exclusive prophecies. However, as absolute as these prophecies appear to be, at the same time there is a lot of scrambling by folks such as Belgarath to make certain events go as outlined.

** It's later stated that they purposefully make sure to follow either of those prophecies, because it limits the world to two predictable outcomes, one of which is desirable. Failure to keep up will cause the emergence of a ''third'' prophecy with [[Unpredictable Results]]. {{spoiler|Oddly, they ''don't'' [[Take a Third Option|take the third option]] here, and stick to accomplishing the good prophecy to the end.}}

* ''[[Deverry]]'' uses the term "Wyrd" and states that the future is shaped as much by chance as wyrd. You may inherit certain traits and tendancies from past lives as your wyrd (such as a talent for magic, a crush on a certain person or a tendency to get in a certain kind of trouble) but this can be influenced at changed by conscious choices or random chance. Occasionally a sorceror can create a true prophecy but these are susceptible to [[Prophecy Twist]] (E.g. "He shall not die in battle except by a sword, but no man can kill him with a sword" - was killed by a girl, but he could also have been killed by his chief rival who turned out to be a half-elf.)

* The ''[[Wheel of Time]]'' weaves [[Because Destiny Says So|how people live and what they do]], and although there are people, ta'veren, around whom the wheel weaves, even they don't have anything to say in their own lives, because [[You Can't Fight Fate]].

* In ''[[The Foundation]]'' series, psychohistory makes quite good predictions but it can go off-course - the predictions are not 100% sure {{spoiler|as clearly demonstrated by Mule}}.

* In Robin Hobb's ''[[Realm of the Elderlings]]'' the Fool describes fate as like a wagon wheel in a rut, getting deeper entrenched as it continues going back and forth over the same kinds of events until it finally breaks, taking the world with it into unending misery. But a specific person known as a Catalyst, guided by a true prophet, can act as a wedge that jars the wheel of fate out of its rut and on to better things (at least until it begins wearing a new rut). The Catalyst gets treated exactly as harshly as the metaphor implies, even if he succeeds.

* ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'': everything the Dragon advices Merlin to do is [[Because Destiny Says So]]. The Dragon gives advices to save Arthur. But when it comes to Mordred or Morgana, he advices Merlin to make them die to prevent destiny from happening. But Merlin never follow ''these'' advices.

* ''[[Power Rangers]]'': Sometimes, through tremendous effort, fate can be changed... and sometimes it can't, and trying to change things changes only the details. Prophesies tend to be fairly spot-on, and time-travelers usually need several attempts to come even close to changing things, although with [[Power Rangers Turbo|one notable]] [[Power Rangers in Space|exception]], they're usually successful if they're Rangers.

** Specifically, Flash Forward's verse is based on the concept 'what would happen if quantum mechanics worked on a macrosopic scale?' - so you can screw destiny on the small scale but not on the large.

* As indicated by the page quotes, ''[[Smallville]]'' experiments with this trope quite a bit. While Jor-El pushes Clark to fulfill his destiny (completing tasks that seem to push him towards becoming Superman), Clark manages to defy Jor-El and his own destiny on occasion in character-establishing moments that push him towards... becoming Superman.

** Interestingly, 'fate' only applies to Creation itself. [[Primordial Chaos|The Wyld]], [[The Underworld]], and [[Hell|Malfeas]] are all outside Fate, and people from those places don't have a destiny.

* In ''[[Scion]]'', Fate can be overcome but is very powerful and some individuals and pantheons have been totally ensnared by it (the Norse for one).

* ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'' includes time travel and thus is complicated. The past used to be immutable and you could not change it. However, after the elimination of the Terminals you can change the past but it takes a lot of resources. The setting overall depends on who you ask and what wonder is being used to make the prophecy. It isn't that they disagree, it is that the laws of metaphysics differ depending on what they think they should be. The timeline currently exists in a causality trench, but if it breaks out (which the Guardians of Forever work overtime to prevent) the universe would probably become chaos.

* In the ''[[Eberron]]'' Campaign Setting, the Draconic Prophecy tends to give "if A then B" scenarios, with various groups trying to cause or prevent A. It's more of a suggestion than a prophecy, really.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Whole point and theme of the aptly named ''[[Exit Fate]]''. "Fate" merely refers to a non-universal way of pre-determining someone's life. The game is (among other things) about the main character's discovery that his life is fated and his struggle to break the control over him.

* ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' is an absolutely free universe that's presented as a deterministic one thanks to an absurdly powerful supercomputer from the future.

* ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' shifts back and forth. Several times [[You Already Changed the Past]] is demonstrated, such as in ''Soul Reaver 2'' when {{spoiler|Raziel kills his human self in the past}}. However, history can be changed by creating a temporal paradox powerful enough to distort the timestream, at which point it will restructure itself according to the outcome of the situation that created the paradox, adjusting to the new chain of events in a butterfly effect-like ripple. Raziel {{spoiler|has a future version of his own soul bonded to his arm as a sword}}, so by nature of simply existing Raziel {{spoiler|is a walking paradox}} and has the power to change history with every action he takes. However, even he isn't completely immune to destiny, as ''Soul Reaver 2'' ends with {{spoiler|Kain warning Raziel about the Hylden}}, which means Kain remembers the results of something Raziel hasn't done yet. ''Defiance'' clarifies this with Moebius saying that Raziel's free will means his path can't be foreseen, but the results of his actions based on his current path ''can'' be seen, though he can still change his mind.

* The ''[[House of the Dead]]'' has James Taylor - and about every hero - with a [[Screw Destiny]] attitude, especially toward any villains he faces, who are always with [[You Can't Fight Fate]].

{{quote|'''James Taylor:''' Only man can change the fate himself! You (the Magician) are nothing!!}}

[[Category:Fate and Prophecy Tropes]]

[[Category:Sliding Scale Of Free Will Vs Fate]]