History Main / TheCallKnowsWhereYoulive

* In ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'', Richard displays a significant amount of sense in being completely weirded out by Kahlan and Zedd trying to name him Seeker. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: his dad is being killed, his house burned, and his brother set up against him.]] Contrast it to the less cinematic example in [[SwordOfTruth source material]].

* ''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's [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda walking along minding his own business when he comes across an old lady being mugged]] (ItsAllThereInTheManual), [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast woken up in the middle of the night by a telepathic distress call]], [[Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime dragged off by the local tree-deity first thing in the morning]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker has his sister kidnapped on his birthday]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess or his idyllic life as a rancher is 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.

* As mentioned above, ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' -- several times, in fact. The crew and River are reasonably content in their lives flying under the radar until the Operative remotely triggers River's Psycho WaifFu mode with a subliminal broadcast. ''Then'', the crew is fine with going to ground until the whole thing blows over, except that the Operative's men destroy nearly all of their safehouses, including killing dozens of innocents and their personal friend Shepherd Book. Hell, Mal was ready to turn them out (he ''did'', in fact, for a very brief period) until the severity of the situation pushed all his [[PapaWolf loyalty-to-the-crew buttons]]. In short, ''Serenity'' is a tale of eight friends (and a [[BlackDudeDiesFirst dead black guy]]) who the government just plain won't leave alone, to its own (eventual) peril.

** Mel Gibson is good at roles like these. In ''MadMax'', his very first action movie, the killing of his partner ''drove him out'' of the force. The killing of his family drove him to vigilantism. In the sequel, he wasn't about to help the refinery people, but unfortunately for him The Call Knew He Lived In His Car.

* Anti-hero Josey Wales is content to be a poor dirt farmer in Clint Eastwood's ''TheOutlawJoseyWales''; until the Union's brutal "Red Legs" militia burned his farm and murdered his family, which he barely survives. After he's had time to recover, he's met by and joins up with a Confederate guerrilla band; achieving notoriety as a skillful and unrelenting fighter, and a substantial bounty is placed on his head by the Union. After the war, he ends up defending several First Nations individuals from brutal exploiters, and an innocent homestead from former Union Red Legs turned bounty hunters and bandits.

* In ''Wildcard'' Ace's initial reaction to discovering that the magic rock he and his sister Kris found is one of the rune stones that are supposed to be [[SealedEvilInACan keeping the demon Rasha'yad imprisoned]] is to leave it with the town wise man so he can get some actual adventurers to deal with the mess. Then they get back to the family farm only to find it destroyed by the local thieves' guild, whose leader wants to collect the stones for his own purposes.

* Often occurs in ''AceLightning''. Fortunately for Mark, it's not a very ''competent'' call.

* A less tragic version of this trope occurs in the pilot of ''Series/{{Merlin}}''. The eponymous character is scornful of his destiny to protect Arthur, wanting nothing to do with him. The next night, an enchantress makes an attempt on Arthur's life and Merlin pulls him out of the way without thinking. As a reward, Uther makes him Arthur's manservant, so he's going to have to deal with him full time now.

* This happens to poor old Banjo in both ''BanjoKazooie'' and ''Banjo-Tooie'' with the kidnapping of his sister and the death of a dear friend, respectively.

** The Temple of the Winds does this. It's possible to refuse that call, but the Temple wont help balance out the situation if you do.

* In the first book of the ''Literature/YoungWizards'', a simple spell to find a pen just ''[[SarcasmMode Happened]]'' to malfunction in such a way that they have to defeat the BigBad. Given the phrase in the wizarding world that "There are no Coincidences", this was clearly an example of this trope.

** God had done the same thing to JohnDenver in ''Film/OhGod'', but with a carefully typed invitation that he kept getting rid of, only to have it find him again.

* "The Call", a song by CelticWoman. ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

* ''{{Summoner}}'' is funny because it unites JumpedAtTheCall, RefusedTheCall, and TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Joseph is identified as a summoner by a passing monk, who offers him a summoner's ring and to help him study his power. Joseph gladly takes the offer. Raiders attack the village, and Joseph calls forth the demon of darkness that resides inside the ring. The demon slays everyone in town, raider & villager alike, except for Joseph and the monk and one other guy. Joseph decides he wants nothing to do with the summoner's legacy and tosses the ring down a well, fleeing to live as a farmer in another village. Then TheEmpire attacks the village, looking for the one with the mark of the summoner, who is prophesied to kill the emperor. Joseph has no choice but to take on the legacy he threw away earlier if he wants to live and save TheKingdom.

* In ''{{Smallville}}'', Jor-El knows more than where Clark lives. He is perfectly fine in (usually indirectly) harming his loved ones if it drives him to fulfill his destiny. Like [[spoiler:freezing Chloe half to death]] in ''Arrival'' and [[spoiler:intending to trap Clark in the Fortress until ''everyone he loves is dead'']] in ''Gemini''.

Related to and sometimes overlaps with DeathByOriginStory. The ForgottenFallenFriend is the name of the trope where, after the hero starts the adventure, he or she gets over the deaths with [[AngstWhatAngst remarkable aplomb]]. May be referenced in a TroubledBackstoryFlashback. Contrast with PlotDetour. See also NiceJobBreakingItHerod for when this is the result of a SelfFulfillingProphecy.

* A good chunk of the first episode of the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' OVA has the title character being pursued by Ryoko, the being that was sealed away 700 years prior. After vanquishing her, Tenchi returns to his home in the city, only to find, to his horror, that Ryoko had managed to find his house.

* ''Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}}'': Peter Parker was taught that power comes with [[ComesGreatResponsibility responsibility]] through the [[DeathByOriginStory death of his Uncle Ben]].

Embittered and hardened by the experience, TheHero thus takes up the call, either to avenge those that were hurt or slain, rescue those who were kidnapped, to make the villains ''stop'' making his life a living hell, or to make sure that whatever happened does not happen again to anyone else. Many an AntiHero has been shaped by this. HeWhoFightsMonsters almost certainly has.

Embittered and hardened by the experience, TheHero thus takes up the call, either to avenge those that were hurt or slain, rescue those who were kidnapped, or to make sure whatever happened does not happen again to anyone else. Many an AntiHero has been shaped by this. HeWhoFightsMonsters almost certainly has.

Even if a hero wishes to [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse]] the CallToAdventure, destiny has ways of making sure that it can't be ignored, and one of the biggest ways is by making it personal, hitting the hero right where he lives. If the villain or villains were not introduced earlier, it is usually at this point where they will make their presence, and their evil, felt for the first time. Friends or loved ones may be hurt, kidnapped or outright slain. Homes or even hometowns may get razed to the ground. The hero may well find himself actively hunted or worse. Whatever the form it takes, bad and often tragic things happen to the hero and his world, and the point is driven home that [[YouCantFightFate he can't run away]] from his life mission.

Embittered and hardened by the experience, TheHero thus takes up the call, either to avenge those that were hurt or slain, rescue those who were kidnapped, or to make sure that whatever happened does not happen again to anyone else. Many an AntiHero has been shaped by this. HeWhoFightsMonsters almost certainly has.

Even if a hero wishes to [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse]] the CallToAdventure, destiny has ways of making sure that it can't be ignored, and one of the biggest ways is by making it personal, hitting the hero right where he lives. If the villain or villains were not introduced earlier, it is usually at this point where they will make their presence, and their evil, felt for the first time. Friends or loved ones may be hurt or slain. Homes or even hometowns may get razed to the ground. The hero may well find himself actively hunted or worse. Whatever the form it takes, bad and often tragic things happen to the hero, and the point is driven home that [[YouCantFightFate he can't run away]] from his life mission.

Embittered and hardened by the experience, TheHero thus takes up the call, either to avenge those that were hurt or slain, or to make sure that whatever happened does not happen again to anyone else. Many an AntiHero has been shaped by this. HeWhoFightsMonsters almost certainly has.

Even if a hero wishes to [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse]] the CallToAdventure, destiny has ways of making sure that it can't be ignored, and one of the biggest ways is by making it personal, hitting the hero right where he lives. If the villain or villains were not introduced earlier, it is usually at this point where they will make their presence, and their evil, felt for the first time. Friends or loved ones may be hurt or slain. Homes or even hometowns may get razed to the ground. The hero may well find himself actively hunted or worse. Whatever the form it takes, bad and often tragic things happen to the hero and his world, and the point is driven home that [[YouCantFightFate he can't run away]] from his life mission.

Even if a hero wishes to [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse]] the CallToAdventure, destiny has ways of making sure that it can't be ignored, and one of the biggest ways is by making it personal, hitting the hero right where he lives. If the villain or villains were not introduced earlier, it is usually at this point where they will make their presence, and their evil, felt for the first time. Friends or loved ones may be hurt or slain. Homes or even hometowns may get razed to the ground. The hero may well find himself actively hunted or worse. Whatever the form it takes, bad things happen to the hero and his world, and the point is driven home that [[YouCantFightFate he can't run away]] from his life mission.

TheHero thus takes up the avenging banner, embittered and hardened for the experience. Many an AntiHero has been shaped by this. HeWhoFightsMonsters almost certainly has.

Even if a hero wishes to [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse]] the CallToAdventure, destiny has ways of making sure that it can't be ignored, and one of the biggest ways is by making it personal, hitting the hero right where he lives and tearing his world apart. Friends or loved ones may be hurt or slain, homes or even hometowns may get destroyed, and the hero may well find himself actively hunted or worse by the villains. Whatever the form it takes, bad things happen to the hero, sometimes as a direct consequence of Refusing the Call, and the point is driven home that [[YouCantFightFate he can't run away]] from his life mission.

Even if a hero wishes to [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse]] the CallToAdventure, destiny has ways of making sure that it can't be ignored, and one of the biggest ways is by making it personal, hitting the hero right where he lives and tearing his world apart. Friends or loved ones may be hurt or slain, homes or even hometowns may get destroyed, and the hero may well find himself actively hunted or worse by the villains. Whatever the case, bad things happen to the hero, sometimes as a direct consequence of Refusing the Call, and the point is driven home that [[YouCantFightFate he can't run away]] from his life mission.