History Main / EitherOrProphecy

** [[spoiler:When Belkar complains that the prophecy didn't come true, the Oracle tries to convince him that he [[HalfTruth caused all of their deaths already]]. Belkar doesn't buy the ProphecyTwist so well and [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0567.html goes]] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy for the last one]]. Except that it turns out that the Oracle was CrazyPrepared, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0568.html engineered circumstances]] that resulted in the murder backfiring on Belkar through his [[RestrainingBolt Mark of Justice curse]], and arranged for clerics to resurrect him after Belkar left]].

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has the head frog sage of Myobokuzan foretell that one of [[spoiler:Jiraiya's pupils]] will either change the world for the better... or bring the world to ruin. The possible candidates for this are Naruto and [[spoiler:Pain/Nagato]]. Eventually, [[spoiler:Nagato endores Naruto when he performs his DeathEqualsRedemption self-sacrifice to resurrect all of the victims of his attack upon Konoha]].

''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': It's eventually revealed that Anne, Sasha, and Marcy's arrival in Amphibia is part of a prophecy, and that they must "fight or embrace the fall" in order to determine whether the world is saved or destroyed. The Mother of Olms even says that the prophecy should be viewed as more of a request than a guaranteed victory, and it's also stated that the three temples were built for the girls to give up the powers they recieved from the Music Box's gems, but King Andrias deliberately withheld that from them as well as the fact they even had powers at all.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has the head frog sage of Myobokuzan foretell [[spoiler:that one of Jiraiya's pupils will either change the world for the better or bring the world to ruin. The possible candidates are Naruto and Pain/Nagato. Nagato ends up endorsing Naruto as he performs his DeathEqualsRedemption in order to resurrect all the victims of his attack on the Leaf Village]].

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel:'' As he delivers the exposition on Primus and Unicron, the Guardian of Primus says it's predicted (by ''who'' exactly is unclear) that either one or both must die when they finally fight. [[spoiler:Turns out it's the later. Unicron kills Primus, then gets destroyed by Optimus a few minutes later.]]

* Mirabel's prophecy in ''{{WesternAnimation/Encanto}}'' shows her either destroying Casita or saving it. [[spoiler:She ends up destroying it then rebuilding it with her family.]]

* In ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'', the prophecy says that either Darren or [[spoiler:Steve Leopard]] will become the [[TheAntiChrist Lord of the Shadows]]. Darren says ScrewDestiny and [[spoiler:makes it so that they both die]].

--> On the seventh dawn of the seventh day;
--> A twice-blessed man will roam the fields.
--> Doomed to shadows with his brethren;
--> Or savior to all who walk the ground.

* ''{{Series/Lexx}}'' has the Time Prophet basically state that a Brunene-G will destroy His Divine Shadow. So, of course, HDS kills all of the Brunen-G... Only to turn the last one into a BrainwashedAndCrazy undead assassin. It was a specific case of His Shadow trying to ScrewDestiny, since He never thought that Kai would recover from being brainwashed (not so much the undead bit), nor that Kai would just so happen to have a brain-eating Cluster Lizard handy when His Shadow transferred back into the body of a [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere planet-sized Insect]]. Although the prophecy ''itself'' is cut and dry, it falls into this trope because the Time Prophet specifically makes her predictions by looking "more or less into the [[HistoryRepeats cycles of Future-Past]]", which basically means "Since all this happened this way before under different names, it will happen again, probably, unless it doesn't".

--> "Do I get to cause the death of any of the following: Miko, Miko's stupid horse, Roy, Vaarsuvius or you?"

** [[spoiler:When Belkar complains that the prophecy didn't come true, the Oracle tries to convince him that he [[HalfTruth caused all of their deaths already]]. Belkar doesn't buy the ProphecyTwist so well and [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0567.html goes]] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy for the last one]]. Except that it turns out that the Oracle was CrazyPrepared, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0568.html engineered circumstances]] that resulted in the murder backfiring on Belkar through his [[RestrainingBolt Mark of Justice curse]], and arranged for clerics to resurrect him after Belkar left.]]

* Mirabel's prophecy in ''{{WesternAnimation/Encanto}}'' shows her either destroying Casita or saving it. [[spoiler: She ends up destroying it then rebuilding it with her family.]]

--->''There will be born one to the Royal House one who is dead yet will live, who will die again and live again. And when he returns, he will hold in his hand the destruction of the world... [[spoiler:...Or its salvation.]]''
* In ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'', the prophecy says that either Darren or [[spoiler: Steve Leopard]] will become the [[TheAntiChrist Lord of the Shadows]]. Darren says ScrewDestiny and [[spoiler: makes it so that they both die]].

* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', there is a prophecy that a half-blood child of one of the big three will either save the Olympian gods or damn them... [[spoiler: or so we believe for the whole freaking series. What it actually says is that ''when'' the next child of the big three turns 16, ''a'' hero will make a choice to save or damn the Olympian gods... this hero and the halfblood aren't the same person.]]

** The very same prophecy also mentions his beloved will betray him. She ''has to'' betray him (and it is foretold that she will do so) in order for him to [[spoiler: enter the Temple of the Winds through [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Path of the Betrayed]]]]. And she does. Once [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she realizes]], she begs the only witness not to tell Richard. The witness's response: [[spoiler: "I think 'Richard' already knows."]]
** It's also worth noting that [[spoiler: the final equation prophecies for both good and evil prove true by the end of the series. Magic is saved and destroyed when Richard spits the world in two and creates a new "no magic" world for the communists to live in.]]

** Gawain will either kneel to his unofficial girlfriend Egwene, or kill her. [[spoiler: He kneels, though he is also largely responsible for her death.]]
** Min's viewing of Siuan Sanche and Gareth Bryne said that "You must stay close to each other or you will both die." [[spoiler: They end up saving each other's lives after an assassin carrying a poisoned needle attacks them (Gareth kills the assassin and Siuan heals him from the poison). Later, during Tarmon Gai'don, they are separated, and just after Min reveals that the viewing is still in effect, Siuan is killed in an attack. The effect of the warder bond makes Gareth go berserk and get killed.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Vindictus}}'', the main plot is that the goddess will appear when all the fomors are dead. It turns out that the fomors have their own prophesy with a similar outcome. [[spoiler: By the end of Chapter 10, they both start coming true.]]

''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': It's eventually revealed that Anne, Sasha, and Marcy's arrival in Amphibia is part of a prophecy, and that they must "fight or embrace the fall" in order to determine whether the world is saved or destroyed. The Mother of Olms even says that the prophecy should be viewed as more of a request than a guaranteed victory.

''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}: It's eventually revealed that Anne, Sasha, and Marcy's arrival in Amphibia is part of a prophecy, and that they must "fight or embrace the fall" in order to determine whether the world is saved or destroyed. The Mother of Olms even says that the prophecy should be viewed as more of a request than a guaranteed victory.

* Literature/TheBible ''kinda'' has one of these in [[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+19:17&version=NIV 1 Kings 19:17]], with God giving Elijah a kind of "flow chart" prophecy: any of the apostate Israelites that the king-to-be Hazael of neighboring Aram doesn't slaughter with his armies, the king-to-be Jehu of Israel will finish off. Anyone who escapes Jehu, Elijah's own successor Elisha will put to death. Each prophecy was then fulfilled in following chapters except for the part about Elisha because it proved unnecessary; so far as the book indicates, Elisha never had to execute anyone himself because ''nobody'' escaped King Jehu's zealous purges.

* Mirabel's prophecy in ''{{WesternAnimation/Encanto}}'' shows her either destroying Casita or saving it. [[spoiler: She ends up destroying it.]]

* ''Fanfic/BelieveInTheWeirdAndWild'': The king and queen discover an old scroll detailing a prophecy that one day, their children will come together and bring either everlasting peace and light, or unleash never ending chaos and darkness. They've apparently told said children about it, but either Star wasn't listening or just misinterpreted it, as she thinks the prophecy is about her eventually falling into darkness that Quartz will have to save her from.

* The Draconic Prophecy in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} can be said to follow this trope; it describes the inevitable results of certain events, while remaining silent as to whether these events will ever happen. This works out perfectly for adventures: If event X happens, event Y will happen. If you want to prevent or cause event Y, you've got to worry about event X.
* The Usurpation of the Solar Deliberative in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' was triggered when the Sidereals read the Loom of Fate and noticed a gigantic celestial clusterfuck would ensue if the Solars kept doing things as they were. They could either tell the Solars about this and hope that they'd yield to the advice, or overthrow the Solars and ensure that the crisis did not come to pass. They chose the latter, which had its own string of nasty side effects. The best part? Due to the manifestation of the Great Curse upon the Sidereals, the choice to kill them all did ''not'' avert the dark and miserable future that would come if they failed to persuade the Solars -- it only delayed it, and if not for the careless arrogance of the forces of Evil, there wouldn't have been any Solars to stand in the way.
* SJ Games' ''TabletopGame/InNomine'' {{RPG}} features the Archangel of Destiny, who knows with divine certainty that ultimately everything will turn out all right... and the Prince of Fate, who has an equal certainty that Hell and the forces of evil will triumph. Fate and Destiny hang in a sort of metaphysical eigenstate over any sort of prophecy in this setting, and as angels and demons, the player characters themselves are often the 'spooky action at a distance' that resolves them.

* In ''Theatre/TheWomenOfTrachis'' Deianira reveals the prophecy that after finishing his current task Herakles would either die or live a happy life. She is appropriately [[DownerEnding concerned]] about this.

* In ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'', the prophecy foretelling Eddie's arrival from the Modern World to the Age of Metal says that he will either destroy the world or deliver the humanity from the demons' evil. [[spoiler:It is an early foreshadowing of the fact that he is half-human, half-demon.]]
** Actually, the dialogue between the characters when they are discussing the prophecy shows that there is disagreement about the translation, making this an EitherWorldDominationOrSomethingAboutBananas kind of thing.

* A ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' annual, "Night of the Bend-Sinister", begins with a prophecy from the Book of the Vishanti, stating that once every 60,000 years a mystical conjunction called the Bend-Sinister is possible, and at that time demons will succeed in invading the Earth unless "a mighty sorcerer'' joins forces with "one who both spider and man". Fortunately, Spider-Man and Comicbook/DoctorStrange are old friends...

* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', there is a prophecy that a half-blood child of one of the big three will either save the Olympian gods or damn them... [[spoiler: or so we believe for the whole freaking series. what it actually says is that ''when'' the next child of the big three turns 16, ''a'' hero will make a choice to save or damn the Olympian gods...this hero and the halfblood aren't the same person.]]

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' by Creator/DavidEddings has this trope as the underlying premise of the whole series. There are two competing prophecies which, combined, amount to one big Either-Or Prophecy (one of them says Belgarion will defeat Torak; the other one says Torak will rule the universe, though it turns out that Torak actually has a "we can rule the galaxy together as father and son" scenario in mind). In the sequel series, the same continues in a slightly tweaked form, so that the winning future is determined by one person who is supposed to be totally impartial.

* Almost all important prophecies in Creator/TerryGoodkind's ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series of novels are of this type. The fourth book puts a twist on this, as both possible fates seem to require the hero's death...
** The very same prophecy also mentions his beloved will betray him. She ''has to'' betray him (and it is foretold that she will do so) in order for him to [[spoiler: enter the Temple of the Winds through [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Path of the Betrayed]]]]. And she does. Once [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she realizes]], she begs the only witness not to tell Richard. The witness's response: [[spoiler: "I think 'Richard' already knows."]]
** It's also worth noting that [[spoiler: the final equation prophecies for both good and evil prove true by the end of the series. Magic is saved and destroyed when Richard spits the world in two and creates a new "no magic" world for the communists to live in.]]

* Depending on what happens to the Lightstone in the ''Literature/EaCycle'', either an Age of Darkness would start and a monster would destroy most of the universe or TheChosenOne would bring about an Age of Light and lift everyone to a higher state of existence.

** Gawain will either kneel to his unofficial girlfriend Egwene, or kill her. [[spoiler: He kneels, though he is also largely responsible for her death]]

* This is seen somewhat in ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', where Paul and later Leto II can see possible futures and must choose the best one to carry out.
* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', there is a prophecy that a half-blood child of one of the big three will either save the Olympian gods or damn them... [[spoiler: or so we believe for the whole freaking series. what it actually says is that ''when'' the next child of the big three turns 16, ''a'' hero will make a choice to save or damn the Olympian gods...this hero and the halfblood aren't the same person.]]
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', a prophecy says, "Fire alone can save our clan". It doesn't specify whether it ''will'' or not, just that it's the only thing that ''can''.

* The ''Literature/TheDarkswordTrilogy'' revolves around one, though initially no one is aware of this information, as the prophet who delivered it died before he could finish.
--->''There will be born one to the Royal House one who is dead yet will live, who will die again and live again. And when he returns, he will hold in his hand the destruction of the world... [[spoiler:...Or its salvation.]]''
* Subverted in the ancient Terris prophesies in ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'', which says that the Hero of Ages will have the power to save the world, but also the power to destroy it. It doesn't mean that the hero will either save or destroy the world, [[spoiler:it means that the hero will bear the two powers of Preservation and Ruin, both of which are required to save the world]].

* The Shanshu prophecy in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' says that the vampire with a soul will either save the world or destroy it during the Apocalypse.

* The Usurpation of the Solar Deliberative in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' was triggered when the Sidereals read the Loom of Fate and noticed a gigantic celestial clusterfuck would ensue if the Solars kept doing things as they were. They could either tell the Solars about this and hope that they'd yield to the advice, or overthrow the Solars and ensure that the crisis did not come to pass. They chose the latter, which had its own string of nasty side effects. The best part? Due to the manifestation of the Great Curse upon the Sidereals, the choice to kill them all did ''not'' avert the dark and miserable future that would come if they failed to persuade the Solars -- it only delayed it, and if not for the careless arrogance of the forces of Evil, there wouldn't have been any Solars to stand in the way.
* The Draconic Prophecy in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} can be said to follow this trope; it describes the inevitable results of certain events, while remaining silent as to whether these events will ever happen. This works out perfectly for adventures: If event X happens, event Y will happen. If you want to prevent or cause event Y, you've got to worry about event X.

* The game ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' revolves around a prophecy of multiversal destruction written in a book called the Dark Prognosticus; this is rivaled by a prophecy that the multiverse will be saved by a band of heroes, as written in the book's GoodCounterpart, the Light Prognosticus.
** This one gets a bit [[MindScrew confusing]]: both books predict almost exactly the same set of events coming to pass; the Dark Prognosticus mentions a band of heroes fighting for the multiverse's survival as well. Eventually it is revealed that [[spoiler:the Light Prognosticus isn't prophetic at all, but was written "to counter the Dark Prognosticus", suggesting that it simply contains the same prophecy but with a rewritten outcome. Or instructions on how to make the favorable outcome of the Dark Prognosticus's either or prophecy (which is never mentioned that it has) come to pass. Since the Light outcome happens in the end anyway, the suggestion is that even if the Dark was truly prophetic, ThePowerOfLove can ScrewDestiny. One prominent EpilepticTree is that the Dark Prognosticus was written by the DragonWithAnAgenda as part of an elaborate {{plan}}, rather than actually predicting the future. The writers have not commented on this.]]
* One of the plot points in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' revolves around a pair ([[JekyllAndHyde well...]]) of twin psychics, one of whom sees the main character destroying [[HumongousMecha Metal Gear]], the other of whom sees the main character starting a terrible war. Of course, the ProphecyTwist is that the girls later realise that they were both right. (Since the game is a prequel this surprises no-one - we've already seen the main character try to start a war, twice, in the latter timeline.)

* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'': Raziel sees murals depicting two champions that will battle each other to decide the fate of Nosgoth, but the victory is undetermined as the murals show both champions slaying the other. Then in a serious ProphecyTwist, we find out [[spoiler:Raziel is ''both'' champions at once. He ultimately allows himself to die because this is the only way he can "win," effectively meaning ''both'' outcomes of the prophecy are fulfilled - because the two champions are the same person, they both win, and they both lose.]]

* At the start of ''VideoGame/{{Toonstruck}}'''s disk 2, Drew is locked up in Count Nefarious's castle. Ms. Fortune foretells that Drew will never escape unless a lifeless knight walks ([[spoiler:Drew uses a magnet to move a suit of armor onto some switches that open the way to the armory]]), a bird rises in flames ([[spoiler:Drew uses a dumbwaiter to serve some gator guards a turkey stuffed with dynamite]]), and she herself obeys his command ([[spoiler:Drew uses mirrored glasses to reflect Ms. Fortune's HypnoticEyes back at her]]).

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' by Ceator/DavidEddings has this trope as the underlying premise of the whole series. There are two competing prophecies which, combined, amount to one big Either-Or Prophecy (one of them says Belgarion will defeat Torak; the other one says Torak will rule the universe, though it turns out that Torak actually has a "we can rule the galaxy together as father and son" scenario in mind). In the sequel series, the same continues in a slightly tweaked form, so that the winning future is determined by one person who is supposed to be totally impartial.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has the head frog sage of Myobokuzan foretell [[spoiler:that one of Jiraiya's pupils will either change the world for the better or bring the world to ruin. The possible candidates are Naruto and Pain/Nagato. Nagato ends up endorsing Naruto as he performs his DeathEqualsRedemption in order to resurrect all the victims of his attack on the Leaf Village]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', you find a series of tablets in Waterfall that describe a prophecy in which an angel will either free monsterkind from its underground prison or destroy them all. Given the lines you hear during a GameOver, it might refer to the PlayerCharacter. [[spoiler:It actually refers to Asriel, the son of Asgore and Toriel, who turned evil as a result of losing his soul and goes OneWingedAngel in the true ending... he's all set to be the destroyer, but Frisk convinces him to do the other thing.]]

-> '''Dax''': During the reckoning, the Bajorans will either suffer horribly, or... eat fruit.\\
'''Sisko''': [[LampshadeHanging Eat fruit?]]\\
'''Dax''': Given the tone of the rest of the inscriptions, I would bet on horrible suffering.
-->-- ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E21TheReckoning "The Reckoning"]]

* In Disney's ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'', the Fates foretell that Hades will overthrow Zeus at a time when the planets align perfectly unless Hercules fights to stop him. Hades spends most of the rest of the movie doing his darnedest to kill Hercules before the deadline.

%%* In the film ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'':
%%-->When single shines the triple sun
%%-->What once was sundered and undone
%%-->Shall be made whole; the two made one
%%-->By Gelfling hand, or else by none.
%%** The Skeksis massacred the Gelflings to prevent the healing of the Crystal, following the logic that so long as no Gelfling was alive at the conjunction, nobody could repair it. They missed two.

[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
* One Norwegian folktale has a village idiot make his way to fame and fortune via well-timed ambiguous statements. The last test set before him by the king is to predict the sex of the queen's unborn child; he has her walk towards and away from him before declaring, "When she walks towards me it looks like a boy, but when she walks away it looks like a girl." She gives birth to twins.