History Repeats: Difference between revisions

 

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* ''[[Naruto]]'' has this due to the [[Cycle of Revenge]], primarily between the Uchiha and Senju/Uzumaki clans.

* ''[[Love Hina]]'' has [[Book Ends|parallel scenes at the beginning of the series and the beginning of the epilogue]].

 

 

* Geo-Force tries this gambit against Deathstroke in ''[[Final Crisis]]: Last Will and Testament'' by luring him to the location where Deathstroke's son had his throat slit. {{spoiler|Deathstroke claims that Brion isn't the first one to try this, but Brion is the first to slit his own throat for full effect.}}

* In ''[[Lady Death|Lady Death's]]'' first appearance, she visits Evil-Ernie to convince him to commit "Mega Death", the extinction of all life on Earth. In 2023's ''Cybernetic Desecration'' storyline she travels to an alternate universe where her alter-ego, Empress Death, has almost accomplished her own "Mega Death".

 

 

* ''[[I Am Legend]]'': Like ''[[Little Shop of Horrors]]'', another Warner Bros. film, a [[Focus Group Ending]] causes all meaning in the story to be lost, and the editors of both films are so damn lazy they forget to take out the foreshadowing.

* ''[[Back to The Future]]'', anyone? Just one example - the skateboard chase in 1955 in ''Part I'', the [[Hover Board]] chase in 2015 in ''Part II'', and the horseback chase in 1885 in ''Part III''. All involving Marty McFly being chased by a Tannen.

 

 

* [[Dichter Und Denker|German philosopher]] Oswald Spengler claimed in his non-fiction book ''[[The Decline of the West]]'' that this happens in every major culture: A culture emerges among until then barbarian people, fuses them together to nations. The great myths, art styles and religions develop. At the beginning, [[The Kingdom|strong kings rule]], but their power soon is weakened by their noble vassals. A great movement reforms the religion. Meanwhile, in the cities a somewhat-privileged middle class has risen, replacing feudalism economy slowly but steadily by capitalism. By cooperating with them, the crown can weaken nobility and the church, forming an absolutist state. Science and capitalism develop further, and an enlightened philosophy spreads, weakening the hold of religion. Then, the middle class will decide to get rid of the old system, usually in the form of a revolution - which starts civilization. This marks the fall of the culture - wars will get worse and worse ([[Napoleonic Wars]] -> [[American Civil War]] -> [[World War I]] -> [[World War II]]), art will become more and more offensive, and capitalism runs rampant (not without provoking [[Dirty Commies|counter movements]]). At the end, one state will conquer/control all other states, and one man will rise to the top of this state - voila, [[The Empire]].

* ''[[Rudyard Kipling]]'' in '[https://web.archive.org/web/20131031191134/http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_copybook.htm The Gods of the Copybook Headings]' pointed out how political ploys of the time are less than fresh by mockingly attributing them to prehistoric times -- "When the Cambrian measures were forming..."

* Famously done in ''[[Animal Farm]]'', where Napoleon ultimately becomes even worse than Jones.

 

* In ''[[Third Watch]]'', Ty's father is murdered years before the series starts. His partner Sully finds out the truth behind the murder (that the murderer was paid by a corrupt cop, CT Finney) but says nothing in order to protect Ty's family's police pension. Fast forward to 2004, where CT Finney is exposed and commits suicide. Ty ends up helping Finney's son to make it look like an accident - so that Mrs Finney can still get her police pension.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' "All of this has happened before. [[Arc Words|And all of it will happen again.]]" The series ends uncertain whether or not humanity is destined to fight yet another [[Robot War]].

 

 

* ''History Never Repeats'' by [[Split Enz]] sounds like it will be an aversion. It's actually the singer trying to convince himself of the aversion.

 

 

* The ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]'' and ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' time line has this going on. Periodically, mankind invents magitechnology, culminating in a Mana Cannon, the use of which kills large numbers of people and depletes so much mana as to threaten the life of the Mana Tree. Things progress too far, the Mana Cannon causes too much destruction, and civilization is cast back into the Dark Ages for a while. Then somebody starts exploring ruins, and finding out about this thing called "magitechnology"...

* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' being its [[Darker and Edgier|darkly]] [[Black Comedy|humorous]] self, its [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]] is very, very high and usually combined with [[Good Bad Bugs|exploits]]. So [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=91093.msg2532485#msg2532485 here]'s probably the best [[Epileptic Trees|fan theory]] on the origin of the... stuff usually mentioned in spoilers or by [[Fan Nickname]]. {{spoiler|If you start by raising children in cages with animals driven crazy just to make them tougher, then proceed to make [[Super Soldier]] squads by non-lethal fat scorching... ''[[Physical Hell|where]]'' exactly do you think this line eventually ends up?}}

 

 

* ''[[Amazing Super Powers]]'' [http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2008/08/olympics/ demonstrated] how frequently those who ignore the past are [[Fleeting Demographic Rule|doomed to repeat it]].

* Used so often in ''[[Homestuck]]'' that the concept is almost weaponized by the various textual and visual callbacks. Many of these instances, such as stairs, are subject to [[Memetic Mutation|memery]] both in-story and out.