Prophecies Are Always Right: Difference between revisions

* Parodied in one ''[[Project A-ko]]'' OAV. A prophecy is discovered at the beginning, and seems to be progressing towards fulfillment as the story goes on. At the end, the professor who discovered the prophecy gravely pronounces it to be... a complete coincidence.

* ''[[Mai-Otome]]'': The legend of the Tragic Meister had almost nothing to do with the actual events that led to Mai Tokiha's disappearance; the real story was considerably less tragic, to say the least. However, the same series includes a straight example of this trope (although if the characters knew the circumstances under which the legend of the Guiding Star was fulfilled, it would definitely have quite a few eyebrows raised).

* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'': Carim's annual prophecies are always correct. Now, if only they were written in a less flowery form and in a language that isn't dead [[Cryptic Conversation|so people could interpret what its saying a lot easier]].

* ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'': Played straight -- all of the prophecies of the Oracle of Grendel are true, until a minor character does some research and finds out that 3 of the 5110 prophecies so far have been wrong. Then subverted when we find out that the 5111th prophecy that drives the plot of the show was partially made up to push a specific political agenda. {{spoiler|It is revealed the prophecies were made by the evil angels who imprison humanity. They were wrong three times. Of course, they have the power to control humans, so they could have ''made'' all the others correct.}}

* ''[[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'': The prophecy is an interesting case -- right from the start, it's clear in the prophecy that it could [[Either/Or Prophecy|go in two different directions]] -- he could "save or destroy" the Land, and he definitely will do one or the other. Knowing Thomas, it initially seems like a bit of a free kick that the Land is stuffed.

* ''Gregor the Overlander'': Subverted hard. The series revolved around the prophecies of Sandwich (no, really), who wrote numbers of them in his tenure in the Underland some time before. At first, these prophecies seem to be always turning true (the first two books for example), but the third and fourth books become increasingly stretched to fit the prophecy. It all comes to a head when it is revealed that in the last prophecy, {{spoiler|Gregor is supposed to die}}. After going into the final battle, Gregor {{spoiler|does not die}}, and not all of the prophecy comes true, as is noted by several characters throughout the book such as {{spoiler|Ares, Gregor, Ripred, and Luxa}}. However, they still manage to con the people and creatures of the Underland that the prophecy is true {{spoiler|with a little help from Luxa's "prophetic" sister, who believes the prophecies are true in order to bring peace amongst the humans and rats.}}

** Moreover, the primary people whose destiny it is to fulfill the prophecies are aware of what they are doing and are actively collaborating with them. This is said to be necessary because of the way the prophecies were divided in the first place; great care must be taken to avoid another accident which, if it were to happen, could potentially unmake the universe.

** Alternatively, it could lead to new potentials and prophecies, meaning that the original two would less less likely than they currently were (50%) of winning. Although a real and immutably accurate prophecy does exist, Belgarath in his seven thousand years has had plenty of time to encounter many self-deluded "prophets" who are simply mad, and knows how to tell the difference.

* ''[[Justice League]]'': The Legion of Superheroes transport three Leaguers into the future, knowing that "incomplete records" indicate that one of the three won't make it back alive. The subversion comes in when all three heroes ''do" survive the mission, but one of them chooses to stay in the future of her own volition.

* ''[[Winx Club]]'': Subversion: {{spoiler|When giving the Winx the Black Gift, the ethereal fairies specifically say "More than one human being could be beyond life's threshold, but you may rescue one person. This is the prophecy, Winx." The next scene seems to suggest that there would be a dilemma between using it on Duman or someone else (many were expecting Bloom, from the trailer that followed the episode). As it turns out, Duman has long been destroyed before the Black Gift comes into play, leaving only Nabu in danger. And then when Layla decides to summon the Black Gift to use on Nabu, Ogron takes it away and uses it on a flower, meaning that it is neither used by the Winx, nor on a person.}}

* 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|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}}.