History Main / TheCallKnowsWhereYoulive

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Peter Parker originally didn't want to use his powers to help others, instead trying to use them as a ticket to fame and fortune. Then a crook kills his beloved uncle, and when he tracks the guy down, he realizes that it's someone he ''could'' have stopped earlier, but didn't bother because he was on an ego trip.

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisherBorn'', set during Castle's time in Vietnam. Castle is seen having an internal monologue with himself, pushing him towards violence and guaranteeing that he could keep Castle's war going on forever. [[spoiler: Towards the end of the book, Castle is in the middle of a truly hopeless battle, alone versus a massive amount of VC. The voice says that it will let Castle live and continue to fight... if he pays a price. Castle agrees, goes on to murder the entire enemy force alone, but promptly leaves the service, planning to live in peace with his wife and children. The voice then reminds him, there's a price to be paid.]]
* In Creator/JossWhedon's comic ''ComicBook/{{Fray}}'', new slayer Melaka Fray drags her heels over her destiny until [[spoiler: her young friend Loo - TheCutie - is murdered]]. The really awful twist is that [[spoiler: she wasn't killed by vampires, but by MrExposition Urkonn, specifically in order to motivate her]].
* Variant used in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Origin'' comic. Buffy's family does not come under attack, but her school does - The Call Knows Where You Go To School, perhaps? Later, a character tells Buffy that she is a creature of destiny - in other words, her school wasn't attacked by Lothos because she went there, she went there because it was under attack by Lothos.

* ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica''. ComicBook/VandalSavage gets pissed off about legacy heroes and decides to bump off entire blood lines. Works in some cases, creates new heroes in others. Try not to send the guy powered by steel to kill the relatives of Commander Steel.
* ''ComicBook/TheFilth'' revolves around this trope -- although Greg Feely, the main character, was always an Agent. Maybe. Or maybe not. Maybe it's all a lie. Maybe Greg's gone crazy.
* Happens in ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk2011''. Whereas Hulk, after separating himself from Banner, has finally found peace and acceptance among a community of Moloids, Banner has become a MadScientist obsessed with recreating the Hulk. When a MadScientist-hunting agency tries to recruit Hulk to go after Banner, he initially declines, but then some of Banner's gamma-mutated monsters, viewing Hulk as a rival for their creator's attention, attack the Moloids.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Pity poor James Proudstar, AKA "Warpath". When ComicBook/{{Cable}} tried to recruit him into ''ComicBook/XForce'', James turns him down to go home and live a normal life. A few pages later, he discovers his entire reservation has been massacred.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is determined to quit her hero identity. Cue Bizarrogirl crash-landing on Metropolis, starting to tear up the place, and Kara being the only available hero around.
* In ''ComicBook/Batgirl2011'', Barbara Gordon gives up on her ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} identity after being forced to -''apparently''- kill her mass murderer of a brother. Then her archenemy Knightfall sends out assassins after her father.
* After escaping the Facility, ComicBook/{{X 23}} went to ground with her aunt Debbie and cousin Megan. Unfortunately, unknown to Laura the Facility had set up a plant to watch the family, and they knew ''exactly'' where to find her. [[AxCrazy Kimura]] came calling, and though Laura managed to save her family, the only option was to send them into hiding and go on the run again. It would be some seven years in-universe (and over ''ten'' in publishing time) before she could reunite with them again.

* ''Literature/StarterVillain'': Charlie agrees to officiate at his estranged uncle's funeral. Then he learns that literally everyone else there is only there to make sure Uncle Jake really is dead, because Uncle Jake was a supervillain. Charlie doesn't want anything else to do with the family business and goes home. But just as he approaches his house, it explodes in a fireball.

* In ''Literature/TheTrojanCycle'', before the events of the ''Literature/TheIliad'', Odysseus initially tried to avoid going to fight the Trojans by [[ObfuscatingInsanity feigning madness]]. He gives up and goes to war when Palamedes comes to his home and threatens to kill his family.

* In ''Literature/TheIliad'', Odysseus initially tries to avoid going to fight the Trojans by [[ObfuscatingInsanity feigning madness]]. He gives up and goes to war when Palamedes comes to his home and threatens to kill his family.

* UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}: The Buddha was destined to be either a great ruler or a great teacher. His father was a king and, wanting his son to follow in his footsteps, strove to keep the child from learning anything about suffering and death, as they would tempt the greatness in the child's nature toward compassion and thus the teaching path. But a god is more powerful than a king, and the gods themselves took the forms of beggars, sick men, and corpses in order to drive the Buddha onto the path to enlightenment.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', every Origins story ends with you having to conscript to the Grey Wardens to escape jail or death giving you little choice in the matter. In many of these events people close to you get hurt or killed. Then at Ostagar [[spoiler:every Grey Warden in Ferelden gets killed except for you and Alistair when Loghain leaves them, King Cailan and his forces to die at the hands of a whole lot of Darkspawn.]]

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'': Kratos, now OlderAndWiser than his days as the Olympian [[VillainProtagonist God Of War]], would genuinely like nothing better than to live in peace with his new family, raise his son to not repeat his mistakes, and [[BuryMeNotOnTheLonePrairie spread his wife's ashes like she asked]]. So now, of course, gods literally walk up to his door and start fights.

* ''Series/{{Haven}}:'' Duke is a VenturousSmuggler who keeps trying to refuse the call but getting sucked in anyway because he cares about Audrey (and, [[VitriolicBestBuds reluctantly]], Nathan). When getting involved with the Troubles leads him to have to [[spoiler: kill his brother]], he decides he's done and leaving town. Then he's pulled into the plot by virtue of ''walking down the street'' and being face with the prospect of letting a little girl die or saving her. Being a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, he saves her, but not before hanging a [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] on it.

-->'''Duke:''' ''(in a You'veGotToBeKiddingMe tone)'' Can't I just leave?!

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'': Kratos, now OlderAndWiser than his days as the Olympian [[VillainProtagonist God Of War]], would genuinely like nothing better than to live in peace with his new family, raise his son to not repeat his mistakes, and [[BuryMeNotOnTheLonePrairie spread his wife's ashes like she asked]]. Unfortunately, [[JerkassGods Odin and the Aesir]] have [[ScrewDestiny other plans]], and don't really take "no" for an answer.

** The USSR. Just the USSR. They knew that the Axis Powers were up to no good regarding them (Fascists and Communists generally don't get along, even without Hitler's genocidal agenda regarding communists), but tried to postpone their involvement in the war as much as possible (and, well, to grab some land in the process). Then Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded them. Also a great historical case of NiceJobFixingItVillain.

* ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'': Boy howdy does the call know where Kiryu lives. After the events of the first game all Kiryu wants is to settle down with his adopted daughter and live a peaceful life away from the Yakuza. Unfortunately, the call knows to assassinate the then sixth chairman of the Tojo Clan to spur him to become embroiled in the [[VideoGame/Yakuza2 Tojo/Omi war]], it knows to come knocking at [[VideoGame/Yakuza3 his home in Okinawa]], [[VideoGame/Yakuza4 twice]], it knows which [[VideoGame/Yakuza5 taxi he drives]], and it knows [[VideoGame/Yakuza6 his grandchildren too.]] [[spoiler:Ultimately, this is what drives him to fake his death so the call never comes knocking ever again.]]

* The beginning of Mel Gibson's ''Film/ThePatriot'' fits this to a tee. Benjamin Martin is a dedicated pacifist, arguing against going to war in the State Assembly and refusing to let his sons join the Continental Army. It's not until the British Col. Tavington [[spoiler:burns down his farm, kills his second son, and drags his oldest son off to be hung as a spy]] that Martin joins the fight.

Overlaps with DoomedHometown, only this trope is often viciously more [[WatchingTroyBurn personal]]; sometimes overlaps with DeathByOriginStory. Compare with TheVillainKnowsWhereYouLive, a possible reason why the call keeps coming. Compare to WarComesHome in which the call to action is an actual attack on your homeland by the enemy. Contrast with PlotDetour; KidnappedByTheCall, for a heroic variant. See also NiceJobBreakingItHero, for when this is the result of a SelfFulfillingProphecy.

** The clever Fire Nation tries to exploit this trope by killing off potential Avatars before they can be a problem.

* In ''Lightnovel/BeingAbleToEditSkillsInAnotherWorldIGainedOpWaifus'', the call is quite schizophrenic with the main character, Nagi. But it reminds him that it knows where he is as the {{aristocrats|AreEvil}} of the world setting keep sending problems his way, basically for shits and giggles.

* ''LightNovel/OthersidePicnic'' makes it clear that getting involved with the mysterious world known as Otherside will have The Call show up at your home with no forewarning. Toriko's apartment gains a portal. Kozakura's house has a permanent gate to Otherside at her doorstep, much to her dismay and irritation, and the denizens of Otherside take up the room right next door to Sorawo.

* ''Literature/Moon1985'': Psychic Jonathan Childes, involuntary observes several murders. The killer, having sensed his involuntary observation, targets, by phone book, Childes's seven-year-old daughter Gabby - [[spoiler: and mistakenly murders young neighbour Annabel]].

* ''Literature/Moon1985'': Psychic Jonathan Childes, involuntary witness to a similarly able SerialKiller, fears any refinement of his ability may aid the killer. The killer, having senses his involuntary observation, finds, by phone book, targets Childes's seven-year-old daughter Gabby - [[spoiler: and mistakenly murders young neighbour Annabel]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Jotaro's mother develops a Stand that's slowly killing her; the only way to save her is to destroy [[BigBad DIO]].
** Done twice in Part 4, ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable''. The first time, Josuke's beloved grandfather is murdered by a Stand-using criminal, inspiring Josuke to vow to defend Morioh in his honor, starting with tracking down the murderer, the arrow that gave him his powers, and the various other crooks that gained powers from said arrow. The second time, Josuke's friends learn about a serial killer that's still at large, but aren't exactly eager to jump into investigating since 1)they're not sure that they have a Stand and 2)they don't even have a lead to go on. They soon get their first lead...[[spoiler: from a schoolmate who manages to get a vital piece of evidence to them before the Stand-wielding serial killer kills him for stumbling onto his secret.]]

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', Vanille attempts to avoid her Focus, which inadvertently causes the horrible things that happen to the cast throughout the game.
** Hope also isn't very keen about the whole fighting the Sanctum thing, but changes his mind after his father's home gets demolished by a strike team.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': Poor Link. No matter [[LegacyCharacter which incarnation]] it is, the poor guy just can't seem to catch a break and be allowed to live his life in peace. Either he [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaNES is walking along minding his own business when he comes across an old lady being mugged]] (It's AllThereInTheManual), [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast he is woken up in the middle of the night by a telepathic distress call]], [[Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime he is dragged off by the local tree-deity first thing in the morning]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker he has his sister kidnapped on his birthday]], or [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess he has his idyllic life as a rancher interrupted when his village is raided and he gets shape-shifted and dragged off]]. Of course, there's a [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword reason for that]] as a [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil curse]] was placed on that Link's descendants and on the fledgling Hyrule.

* Fei from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''. His [[spoiler:mother (who was taken over by one of the {{Big Bad}}s) is inadvertently killed by his own hand when a previous incarnation of him shows up and causes his powers as the Contact to go out of control. Then, his adopted hometown is burned to the ground by a battle from the ongoing war.]]
** [[spoiler:Of course, a great deal of the damage to the town was done by [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Fei himself]]]]!

* Terry [=McGinnis=] from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' had his father murdered, which made him steal the batsuit and set him on the path of a new Batman. [[spoiler:In ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'', it's revealed that Project: Cadmus was planning to have his parents murdered in a manner similar to Bruce's to inspire him, but scrapped it due to moral restraint... Only to have some villain do their job for them eight years later. Didn't they get lucky?]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}'', during a RiteOfPassage to test if he's ready for kingship, young Prince Lion-O receives a brief, [[VaguenessIsComing vague]], frightening MirrorMonster [[{{seers}} vision]] in the Sword of Omens, but [[CannotSpitItOut avoids telling anyone]] for fear his longstanding reputation as a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} will be further cemented. He sees his Kingdom destroyed and his father assassinated by ancient OutsideContextProblem and series BigBad Mumm-Ra, the very enemy whose face he saw in the sword.

** ''Literature/TheHobbit'': Gandalf invited the dwarf party, which provided the Call, right into Bilbo's house (without Bilbo's permission). It would've been tough for Bilbo to refuse the Call without injuring his pride or insulting his (unexpected) houseguests.

** The USSR. Just the USSR. They knew that the Axis Powers were up to no good regarding them (Fascists and Communists generally don't get along, even without Hitler's genocidal agenda regarding communists), but tried to postpone their involvement in the war as much as possible, even if that meant signing non-aggression pacts with Hitler. Then Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded them. Also a great historical case of NiceJobFixingItVillain.

* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] In TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning. The Imbued are the ones who JumpedAtTheCall, and receive powers to fight the supernatural forces. But there are those who RefusedTheCall, referred to as Bystanders - they don't get powers, but the ability to see the supernatural ''doesn't go away,'' and TheMasquerade remains [[BrokenMasquerade broken]] for them, so they ''still'' can't ignore it. TheCall is thorough indeed.
* TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening [[PlayingWithATrope plays with]] this with the character Metathron. The angelic messenger Metathron is the personification of this trope, being charged with delivering tragic Calls To Adventure by a being responsible for creating heroes. Unfortunately, it never understood that the would-be heroes are supposed to overcome their tragedy, not be destroyed by it, so Metathron ended up going rogue and now delivers destructive Calls to people it thinks ''can't'' rise to the challenge of becoming heroes.