History Main / DrivingQuestion

** ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'' has multiple mysteries. Why did Gira lose his memories of [[spoiler:being a prince]]? Why did Racules become so evil? What caused the Fury of the Gods event 15 years ago? Who killed Hymeno's parents? How are all these events connected to each other?

** In the final episode of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesAimToBeAPokemonMaster'' (and by proxy, the final episode of [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Ash's journey]], with the next Pokemon anime episode being the first episode of [[Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries the reboot.]]), Ash ponders on the question "What exactly does it ''mean'' to be a Pokémon Master?" [[spoiler: By the end of the episode, he comes to what he feels is the answer: Seeing the entire world and befriending every Pokémon in it.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Revolutionaries}}'': What exactly is the Talisman?
* ''ComicBook/{{Nailbiter}}'': Why does the town of Buckaroo produce so many {{Serial Killer}}s?

* ''Fanfic/TheGoodHunter'': What happened after Cyril's battle with Gehrman, the First Hunter? Which "ending" out of the three did Cyril get? [[spoiler:Why is Cyril disconnected from the Hunter's Dream? And what does him "leaving behind the Dream" mean?]]

* ''Fanfic/TheSuperheroGame'': Why are heroes from the future being sent back in time?
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Where is Chloe, what do we truly know about her and what can we do to make sure she stays?
* ''Fanfic/FeynitesAftermath'': Why would Shen Qingqiu decide to love Luo Binghe instead of abusing him? Of course, Shen Qingqiu -- and the readers -- know the answer, but neither the BigBad nor the protagonist are aware of it and they ''really'' want it.
* ''Webcomic/KillingGameDeluxe'': How ''exactly'' are the dead students alive again?
* ''Fanfic/ImperiumOfVader'': What was it that drove Vader to finally act on the Rule of Two and kill Palpatine?

* Each ''Literature/HarryPotter'' book has its main one but some of them have secondary ones as well.[[note]]As a bonus, some of these are trick questions.[[/note]]
** ''Philosopher's Stone'': What is Snape after?
** ''Chamber of Secrets'': Who opened the Chamber?
** ''Prisoner of Azkaban'': What did Black do, precisely?
** ''Goblet of Fire'': Who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire? is its main one. The secondary one is where is Bertha Jorkins?
** ''Order of the Phoenix'': What is the weapon?
** ''Half Blood Prince'': What is Malfoy planning? The secondary one is what are Horcruxes?
** ''Deathly Hallows'': Where are the Horcruxes? Secondary ones include: What are the Deathly Hallows? Who has the Elder Wand? And what happened to Ariana Dumbledore?

* The ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' series: What ''is'' Haruhi Suzumiya? Where do her powers come from? What exactly happened during the mysterious event three years ago that drew most of the SOS Brigade members to her?
* ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'': Who was the culprit of the murders in the year 1995? Was it Shiki? And what happened that put her in a two year coma?
* ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal'': When is the Day of the Jackal?

* ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'': Who is John Galt?
* The first ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' book uses several of these at once. What is happening to Renie's brother? What is the purpose of this Grail organization, and who is their leader? What is Mr. Sellars up to? Since this book is widely considered an [[DoorStopper oversized]] prologue to the later ones, the answers are pretty well known. After the first book it's "What is the true nature of the Other?" and "Why was Paul trapped in the network?"
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' (Series One): Who is Really Behind It All (where what "It All" is varies over the course of the series; a few are "Corwin winding up in the hospital", "what happened to Oberon", "the death of [insert name here]" (multiple times), "the attacks on Amber"). Some of these actually get answered, others turn out to be red herrings, irrelevant, or to have had multiple causes.
* ''Literature/UnderTheDome'' by Creator/StephenKing: where did the dome come from, and why is it there?
* Creator/StephenFry's ''The Hippopotamus'': What does Jane want Ted to look for?
* ''Literature/{{Parzival}}'': What is the Question? [[note]] (To ask the Grail King.) [[/note]]
* ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' starts with, "What is sinking ships?" and gets narrowed down to, "Where did Nemo come from and why is he attacking ships?"
* ''Literature/TheMysteriousIsland'': Who or what keeps helping the survivors?
* ''Literature/AVoid'': Is Anton missing or did he kill himself?
** The novel also asks whether or not it was a suicidal act and [[BlackComedy then repeatedly asks if he killed himself in various ways]].

* The "Three" arc of ''Literature/WarriorCats'' (''Power of Three'' and ''Omen of the Stars'') has many questions. "Where did the three come from?" "What is their purpose?" "Who is [[spoiler: the fourth?]]"
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin:
** In the first book: "Who killed Jon Arryn and why?"
** Who is the Prince that was Promised?
** Where do whores go?
* ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'': [[ItWasHisSled Who is Edward Hyde, how is he evading police detection, and why is a respectable citizen like Doctor Jekyll covering up for him?]]
* The main DrivingQuestion of the Literature/MediochreQSethSeries seems to be "Who are The Organisation Which I Represent?" or, more specifically, "What does The Organisation Which I Represent ''want''?"
* In ''Literature/RachelGriffin'': Where did the [[GoodWingsEvilWings winged statue]] in the forest come from and what does it mean? Who -- or what -- is the Raven?
* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' one reason the Golden Ticket contest is such Serious Business is because the finders will learn the answer to the question "How does Mr. Willy Wonka, who has been a recluse for ten years, manage to keep his factory producing the best candies in the world when no workforce is ever seen entering or exiting it?"
* Beautifully summed up by the Old One in ''Literature/KeysToTheKingdom'': "If you are the [[TheChosenOne Rightful Heir]], I would suggest the question you need to ask is this: what exactly are you to inherit, and from whom?"
* ''Literature/MasterOfTheWorld'': What the heck's going on at the Great Eyrie?

* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** ''Literature/BlackWidowers'': Each of these mysteries is framed around a puzzle that drives the questioner to seeking answers.
*** "Literature/TheAcquisitiveChuckle": What did Jackson steal from Anderson?
*** "Literature/TheCuriousOmission": What is the curious omission in ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''?
*** "Literature/EarlySundayMorning": Can the club solve a murder mystery?
*** "Literature/GoLittleBook": How can matchbooks be used to send secret messages?
*** "Literature/TheIronGem": What makes the guest's [[TheNamesake iron gem]] so important that they would be offered five hundred dollars for it? [[spoiler:Nothing; it was a distraction so the person could steal the package that the gem came in.]]
*** "Literature/MissWhat": Which [[BeautyContest Miss Earth contestant]] is Rahab? This story is actually titled after the driving question, as they're trying to deduce what country (Miss What?) the woman called Rahab is from.
*** "Literature/TheObviousFactor": What evidence is needed to prove the supernatural?
*** "Literature/ThePointingFinger": Where are the bonds?
*** "Literature/PhAsInPhony": How did Faron cheat on his test?
*** "Literature/TruthToTell": The club members are trying to figure out who stole the money and bond receipts from the firm's safe.
*** "Literature/YankeeDoodleWentToTown": Why does Private Klotz hum "Music/YankeeDoodle"?
** "Literature/GimmicksThree": With the power to move in any dimension, how do you escape from a perfect cube? [[spoiler:[[MoreThanThreeDimensions Time is a dimension]], so travel to before the cube was constructed.]]
** "Literature/IJustMakeThemUpSee": An [[NoNameGiven unnamed fan]] is asking Dr Asimov "[[HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs What sort of drugs do you use]] to [[InspirationForTheWork inspire your storytelling]] (and where can I get some)?"
** "Literature/TheLastQuestion": Can entropy be reversed?
** "Literature/WhatIf1952": The text tells us that Liwy's favourite question is "What if Liwy and Norman hadn't met on the streetcar?" Mr [[TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday What If]] helps them to explore that exact AlternateUniverse, showing that [[InSpiteOfANail no change could prevent them from deciding to marry]].
* ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'': Mary has several driving questions when she arrives at Mistlethwaite Manor. Why is she not allowed to wander the house? Why can she sometimes hear a child crying? What is in the garden surrounded by an ivy-covered high wall, which seems to have no door?
* ''Literature/TheSevenHusbandsOfEvelynHugo'':
** Who was the OneTrueLove of Evelyn Hugo?
** Why did Evelyn choose Monique to write her life story?
* ''Literature/TalesFromNetheredge''
** ''Depravity'': Is Myr human?
** ''His Tribute'': What was the Horror, and how did Varak defeat it?
** ''Jewel of the Harem'': What are Jewel and Adar?
* ''Literature/IfIFallIfIDie'': "Where is Marcus?" Marcus is the first person Will meets when he ventures outside for the first time in seven years. Will reads about his disappearance in the paper some time later and spends the rest of the book trying to find him.
* ''Literature/TheLostFleet'':
** In the first story arc, the question is: "How and why did this ForeverWar start, and how do we end it?" Notable for the fact that without [[FishOutOfTemporalWater Captain Geary]]'s outside perspective, few other people had ever bothered to think about it because the war was all they'd ever known.
** Having resolved that question, the "Beyond the Frontier" series poses another: [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow "What do we do now that the war is over?"]]
* ''Literature/{{Starsnatcher}}'': Precisely what do [[AntagonistTitle the Starsnatchers]] want?
* ''Santa Calls'': Why did Santa ask the Aimesworth kids to visit him in the North Pole?

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai''

* ''{{TabletopGame/Cluedo}}'': Who killed Mr. Boddy?

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[[quoteright:350:[[Series/TheKilling https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_killing.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Spoiler: It wasn't [[TheButlerDidIt the butler]].]]

%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900

** ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'' has multiple mysteries. Why did Gira lose his memories of being a prince? What caused the Fury of the Gods event 15 years ago? Who killed Hymeno's parents?

** ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'' has multiple mysteries. Why did Gita lose his memories of being a prince? What caused the Fury of the Gods event 15 years ago? Who killed Hymeno's parents?

** ''Series/ReshaSentaiToQger'': Why did the [=ToQgers=] lose their memories and where is their missing hometown?

* ''Series/BronBroen'': Who is the serial killer? How does he manage what he does? What's the full meaning of his motive(s)?

* ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}: Who killed [[90sAntiHero the]] [[CaptainPatriotic Comedian]]?

** In the final episode of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesAimToBeAPokemonMaster'' (and by proxy, the final episode of [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Ash's journey]], with the next Pokemon anime episode being the first episode of [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries the reboot.]]), Ash ponders on the question "What exactly does it ''mean'' to be a Pokémon Master?" [[spoiler: By the end of the episode, he comes to what he feels is the answer: Seeing the entire world and befriending every Pokémon in it.]]

** In the final episode of ''Anime/AimToBeAPokemonMaster'' (and by proxy, the GrandFinale of Ash's journey), Ash ponders on the question "What exactly does it ''mean'' to be a Pokémon Master?" [[spoiler: By the end of the episode, he comes to what he feels is the answer: Seeing the entire world and befriending every Pokémon in it.]]

* ''Anime/{{Odd Taxi}}'': Where is the missing girl? Who is the missing girl? (And after those are answered [[spoiler:Who killed her?]]) What does Odokawa know about the case? Who, or what, is in Odokawa's closet? Is there something wrong with Odokawa's brain?
* In ''Anime/PokemonRangerAndTheTempleOfTheSea'', featured a Manaphy and the question, "Why is Manaphy called Prince of the Sea in the first place?!"
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Due to the series' KudzuPlot, we have a few, but only a few get answered thanks to the GainaxEnding. What are the Evangelions, really? What happened to Yui Ikari? Who is SEELE? What REALLY caused Second Impact? [[spoiler: Turns out they have the same answer.]]
* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'': Who is [[BigBad Friend]]?

* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': What does Johan want?
* ''Manga/{{Spiral}}'': What are the Blade Children?
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': Where is Nagi Springfield, and why has he been MIA for the past decade?

* ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'': Who is Shonen Bat/Li'l Slugger?
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': In the first season, who killed Lelouch's mother and why? In [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo R2]], it's what exactly ''is'' C.C.'s wish and, ultimately, where does Geass itself come from?
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': InUniverse, the driving question is "who is Kira and how does he kill people?" Since the audience [[VillainProtagonist already knows who Kira is]], the ''real'' driving question is [[ReverseWhodunnit "how will Light be caught?"]]
* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': While ''Dragon Ball'' has never been known for this kind of arguments, ''Dragon Ball Super'' has been playing around with these ideas. The Future Trunks saga: Who or what is Goku Black, and what is his relationship with Zamasu?
* ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'': Where is the Sunflower Samurai?
* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' had a few: What is Culumon's purpose? [[spoiler: He's the embodiment of Digivolution]] and why are Digimon appearing in the real world? [[spoiler: The result of a research team's development gone awry and fleeing from the D-Reaper, an archaic simplistic deleting program that becomes an EldritchAbomination.]]
** ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'': What happened to Daimon Suguru in the expedition 10 years ago?
* ''VisualNovel/{{CLANNAD}}'': What is this girl we keep on seeing, and what is her purpose? What are these Light Orbs we also see? And how are they connected?
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Why is Hinamizawa stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop? Why do the main characters keep on going batshit crazy and murderous? Who or what is [[BigBad Oyashiro-sama]], the one who everyone claims is behind the town's annual deaths? [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Is it really the work of a deity or a human conspiracy?]]
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'': For Ep 1-4 the question is about [[HiddenVillain who the killer is]]. Is it one of the 18 family members or servants, is it a 19th person or is it the Golden Witch Beatrice? For Ep 5-8 the question changes into [[spoiler: Who is Beatrice]]?

* ''Manga/{{Arisa}}'': Who is the [[BigBad King]]?

* ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms'': For what purpose does the Secret Society need the Prototype? In the second half, it's who is manipulating Chirico and why?
* ''Anime/TheBigO'': What happened 40 years ago that caused everyone to lose their memory?

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** Although [[ItWasHisSled it's fairly common knowledge nowadays]], the power behind [[BigBad DIO]]'s [[FightingSpirit Stand]] in ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' was a major mystery at the time that heavily drives the latter half of the Part, and wasn't revealed until partway through the final battle [[spoiler:and required a HeroicSacrifice to discover]].
** In ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'', who is Reimi Sugimoto's killer? [[spoiler:And after that's found out, who is he hiding as?]] This is actually an interesting example, because the viewer ''already knows'' the answer to these questions, but the ''characters'' [[DramaticIrony are the ones who have to figure it out]].
** In ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'', who is [[TheDon the boss of Passione]]?
** In ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion JoJolion]]'', who is Josuke, and what is his relation to Kira? [[spoiler:After that's answered, the question then becomes just who or what are the Rock Humans]]?

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Exactly who/what are the Titans, where do they come from, and how do we stop them? What's the deal with Eren's father? What's in the basement of their old home?
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Who killed Ryuko's father? [[spoiler:Nui Harime, on behalf of Ragyo Kiryuin, who it turns out is the mother of both Ryuko '''and''' Satsuki]].
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'': Why does Fate have such sad and lonely eyes? This evolved into "Will you be my friend?"
* ''Anime/{{K}}'': Did Shiro really kill Totsuka? If he didn't, then who did?
* ''Literature/AccelWorld'' has a few, but its biggest two were "Who made Brain Burst?" and "What happens when you reach level 10?"
* Played for laughs in ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' as it treats "What does FLCL mean?" as a driving question (explicitly bringing it up in both the first and last episodes and periodically [[TitleDrop dropping it throughout the series]],) even though it has nothing to do with the main plot and by the end of the anime nobody's any closer to the answer. A more relevant question is "Who ''is'' Haruko really, and what does she want?"
* ''Anime/DigimonUniverseAppMonsters'': Will artificial intelligence surpass humanity in TheSingularity by 2045, and if so, what will happen then?
* ''Manga/DrStone'': What is the cause of the light that turned all of humanity (along with swallows) to stone?

* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'': How did Rapture fall apart, and what is the hero's connection to it?

* ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'' has a very simple one: ''what is going on''?

** ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'': Averted for the most part. The protagonist Heather wants nothing to do with anyone -- at least until [[spoiler: Claudia kills her dad]].

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Why are the French Immortals amnesic? Who summoned the flame summon and why? The last question drives the New And Old Flames storylines. Other big questions exist but have been resolved, their solutions are not being actively pursued in-universe or are not pondered by the characters themselves.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Inverloch}}'', the plot starts with the simple question "What happened to the elven boy who disappeared 12 years ago?". But even before Archeron can start his journey to find out, the even bigger question is "Why does everyone in his village seem to know exactly what happened, but nobody is willing to tell him before he finds out himself?".
* In ''Webcomic/{{morphE}}'' the seedlings have two gigantic ones that fuel their efforts. "Why does Amical want to train new mages?" and "What happened that caused everyone to wake up in crates with no memory of how they got there?". As they are captives in Amical's manor, the first question is the one which drives them through their mage training. The second question is what will drive them beyond there.
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' progressed pretty quickly to "What the ''hell'' is going on?" and while there are elements of that persisting throughout, more recent driving questions are "who/what are the trolls", "who/what is Doc Scratch", "who/what is Lord English", and "can Lord English be defeated." There's also the lesser questions of "can Jack Noir/the Condesce be defeated", though at least we know who/what they (the Condesce is [[spoiler:Betty Crocker]], who is actually [[spoiler:Alternia-Meenah]]).
* ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'': Who killed Atlas May?
* ''Webcomic/{{Helvetica}}'': The entire comic is essentially this, although in a more lighthearted manner. Who were the skeletons in their past lives, and why do they all wake up there? What has Good Heavens done to make Lucy hate him so much? And who is Niles?
* ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'': What are the Nightmare Knight's motives? What is perpetuating the cycle?
* ''Webcomic/TheLettersOfTheDevil'' is a FairPlayWhodunnit, so there are many Driving Questions. The principal one is, "Who is L, and how do they know all of these secrets?"

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': For season one: "Who is the Dragon Reborn?" Moiraine's information points to one of the five Emond's Fielders: Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, or Nynaeve, with hints appearing throughout the season to indicate it might be any one of them.

** Although [[ItWasHisSled it's fairly common knowledge nowadays]], the power behind [[BigBad DIO]]'s [[FightingSpirit Stand]] in ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'' was a major mystery at the time that heavily drives the latter half of the Part, and wasn't revealed until partway through the final battle [[spoiler:and required a HeroicSacrifice to discover]].
** In ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'', who is Reimi Sugimoto's killer? [[spoiler:And after that's found out, who is he hiding as]]? This is actually an interesting example, because the viewer ''already knows'' the answer to these questions, but the ''characters'' [[DramaticIrony are the ones who have to figure it out]].
** In ''Manga/GoldenWind'', who is [[TheDon the boss of Passione]]?
** In ''Manga/{{JoJolion}}'', who is Josuke, and what is his relation to Kira? [[spoiler:After that's answered, the question then becomes just who or what are the Rock Humans]]?

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': What exactly is the [[AntiMagic Imagine Breaker]]?

* ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'': Who was the culprit of the murders in the year 1995? Was it Shiki? And what happened that put her in a two year coma?

* ''Series/DarkMatter'': Season 1: Which member of the crew is responsible for their [[LaserGuidedAmnesia mass amnesia]] and why?

* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': What is the Pharaoh's true name?

** Armored Core 3: What's going on in Layered? Is the Controller really malfunctioning?
** Armored Core Silent Line: What's beyond the Silent Line?

** ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'': Who is the Puppet Master, and what does he/she/it want?