The Legend of Chekhov: Difference between revisions

 

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== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Saiunkoku Monogatari]]'' begins with Shuurei telling her students the story of their country's founding, ending it by saying that according to legend, the eight immortal sages who helped the first emperor found Saiunkoku are still alive in secret among the people. This is absolutely true, and Shuurei goes on to become personally acquainted with several of them. A little later in the first arc, Shuurei begins to tell Ryuuki the story of the Rose Princess and how she married a mortal man. This story is not only true, it's {{spoiler|the story of her parents' marriage}}.

* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', the ancient Xingese legend of the Western Sage is {{spoiler|about Ed and Al's father}}, while the Amestrian legend of the Eastern Sage is {{spoiler|about "Father," the [[Big Bad]] of the series}}.

 

* ''[[Bionicle]]'':

** In most cases, the Matoran consider most of the Turaga's stories as mere fairy tales. But most of them wind up becoming painfully true. From [[Giant Enemy Crab|giant Manas]] to the hellish [[Place Worse Than Death|Karzahni]].

** In the backstory of the Matoran, which claimed that the Great Spirit brought the Matoran out of darkness to the island of Mata Nui. We later find out that it was actually the Turaga who rescued them (as Toa Metru) from their ruined city; they just credited the Spirit with giving them the strength and abilities to do so.

 

* ''[[The Mummy Trilogy]]'' spends plenty of time giving us the whole legend of the Mummy before revealing that it's all true. (Which comes as a surprise to nobody in the audience, since that's the title of the movie.)

* In ''[[The Secret of Roan Inish]]'' the grandfather tells the legend of the selkie, which is important to the climax of the film.

 

== Literature ==

* The [[Stephen King]] novel ''[[Desperation]]'' tells the legend of why an old mine was abandoned (a trapped [[Chinese Laborer]] summoned a bad spirit). There really ''is'' a monster, though actually they just [[Dug Too Deep]] and set loose an [[Eldritch Abomination]].

* In ''[[Earthsea Trilogy|Earthsea]]'' the myth of human-dragon hybrids trapped in human form, mentioned at the beginning of ''Tehanu'', is proven true at the book's end and forms the basis for the plot of the next novel, ''The Other Wind''.

* In ''[[The Eyes of Kid Midas]]'', the teacher explains that the mountain they're camped out underneath is called the Eye of God, and some ways away down in the valley there's a tall, thin spire that's known as the Devil's Chair. According to legend, the peak of the Eye of God was the place where the world was created, and once a year, the very tip of the mountain's shadow falls exactly at the peak of the Devil's Chair. Though the teacher admits it's merely a legend (and the mountain's shadow actually never goes near Devil's Chair), Kevin climbs the mountain, and at the top he discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to [[Reality Warper|harness the forces of creation]]. And lo and behold, when he puts them on, he sees the shadow move fall exactly where his teacher said it would.<ref>[[Fridge Brilliance]] - The shadow moved because he's wearing the glasses and believes the legend!</ref>

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'' [[Played for Laughs|plays this for laughs]] in an episode about Stonehenge. Apparently, it has some sort of great magical powers, but nobody really knows what it ''does''. Jackie Chan, upon being told this, sarcastically remarks "Yeah, and some people think it's used to contact aliens." The bad guys figure it must be some kind of weapon, and Jackie Chan goes into action to stop them from activating it. Amazingly, the bad guys actually succeed at pulling off their [[Evil Plan]] to activate Stonehenge, revealing to everyone present that Stonehenge does... ''absolutely nothing''. Everyone goes home, and then, in the last scene of the episode, a UFO lands at the now-deserted Stonehenge.

* ''[[Kim Possible]]''. [[Everything's Better with Monkeys|Mystical Monkey Power]] is all about this trope.

* ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' and its [[Sequel Series]] ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' follow this trope pretty faithfully:

** It's subverted in one episode of ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'', where the Ghostbusters must deal with a creature from Irish folklore. According to legend, the creature can only be stopped by a four-leaf clover. All the characters go out searching for one, except Egon, who, playing the role of [[Agent Scully]], insists that the creature can be captured using the same "scientific" methods they always use. In the end, the four-leaf clover fails (it was a fake taken from a parade float), and Egon saves the day by capturing the creature "scientifically", exactly as he said he would.

* ''[[Ben 10]]'' devoted an episode to the Navajo legend of [[Our Werewolves Are Different|the Yenaldooshi]], as told by one of Max's former teammates. The monster in question is indeed real, although it turns out the legend got a lot of things wrong and it was actually an alien.

* ''[[Futurama]]'': the in-universe legends of mutants living under the city and El Chupinebra turn out to be completely true - as does the more common myth of crocodiles in the sewers.

 

* ''[[Digger]]'' spends more than a few strips explaining the hyena mythology surrounding their progenitor-gods "He-Is" and "She-Is", and the "badness" that came from their [[Deal with the Devil|interactions]] with the demonic [[The Corrupter|Sweetgrass Voice]]. Naturally, it's eventually up to Digger to [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]].

 

* In pretty much all the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games, if you talk to any random NPC who tells you about some legend, the legend is bound to be true. Hidden magical weapons? Yup. Super-powered monsters? Yup. Maze-like hidden cities? Yup.

* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'', there are [[The Seven Mysteries]] of Twilight Town, urban legends which invariably turn out to be for real when Roxas investigates (and serve as clues to the nature of the world he's been living in). But when Roxas's friend comes along to do the write-up, he assumes each was just a misunderstanding of something mundane.

* A set of daily quests in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has you investigate myths about three maidens who will grant powerful swords if you do each a favor. Naturally, all three of them turn out to be true.

* In ''[[Borderlands]]'', the person who sends you to kill Crawmerax the Invincible says that most people think he is a myth and doesn't really exist. Naturally, when you get to the designated spot, he shows up. Subverted in that the quest-giver is quite surprised that you actually managed to find and kill Crawmerax since {{spoiler|he made the whole thing up off the top of his head [[Troll|just to mess with people]].}}

* In ''Star Wars: [[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'', you can learn about the creations myths of the Selkath and the Tusken Raiders. It turns out that both are true and are references to the Rakata, the creators of the Star Maps.

* Some of the local legends recounted to the protagonists of ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' are correct but... slightly skewed.

 

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[[Category:Chekhov's Gun]]