History Main / TheCallKnowsWhereYoulive

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. Contrast with PlotDetour; KidnappedByTheCall, for a heroic variant. See also NiceJobBreakingItHero, for when this is the result of a SelfFulfillingProphecy.

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. Contrast with PlotDetour; KidnappedByTheCall, for a heroic variant; and StuffedIntoTheFridge, where the similarly [[ItsPersonal personal]] tragedy is exceptionally cruel but there was no RefusalOfTheCall and the event seems largely unnecessary for the story. See also NiceJobBreakingItHero, for when this is the result of a SelfFulfillingProphecy.

** In the first film ''Film/TheHungerGames'', the [[BadassBystander average teenage girl]] Katniss' [[FriendToAllLivingThings little sister Prim]] gets reaped into [[GladiatorGames gladiatorial Hunger Games]], which means [[KillTheCutie certain death]] for Prim and drives Katniss to [[HeroicSacrifice volunteer in her sister's place]].
** In the second film ''Film/TheHungerGamesCatchingFire'', a [[BrokenBird severly traumatized Katniss]] tries to stay below the radar after she [[ShellShockedVeteran survived the Hunger Games]]. But [[PresidentEvil the government]] is not done tormenting her and [[spoiler:sends its ultra violent mooks to her home district and flogs her friend Gale]], which changes Katniss mind and convinces her that she has to help her fellow men [[spoiler:overthrow the government]]. Later the government decides that Katniss has [[DeadlyEuphemism to be dealt with]] and [[spoiler:reaps her again as tribute in an attempt to get her killed]].

** In Mockingjay part 2, Katniss wants to [[GenocideBackfire take revenge]] against the government. Briefly before the end, Katniss decides she needs to kill the evil president [[spoiler:Coin]] to save many additional children from being slaughtered.

* Villainous example with Music/{{Mothy}}'s character [[HangingJudge Gallerian Marlon]] in the ''Franchise/EvilliousChronicles'' when [[MagnificentBastard MA]] asked him to help her find the remaining [[ArtifactOfDoom vessels of sin]], he asked if it would cost him any money. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment When she said it would, he declined her offer.]] Then MA noticed the picture of his family on his desk...

* In the Stardust Crusaders part of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Jotaro's mother develops a Stand that's slowly killing her; the only way to save her is to destroy [[BigBad Dio]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The clever Fire Nation tries to exploit this trope by killing of potential Avatars before they can be a problem.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars Episode IV: Film/ANewHope,'' Luke is obliged to become a Jedi when his home is burned down with his aunt and uncle left as charred remains outside. However, he wanted to help fight the Empire in the first place but his Uncle and Aunt wouldn't allow it. So it was more their refusal than his. (Note that the scene where he says [[ExplainExplainOhCrap "That would lead them back...Home!"]], and the scene after it (see the page image) are based on a sequence from ''The Searchers'', above.)

Not to be confused with TheCallsAreComingFromInsideTheHouse.

* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' pilot is built around this trope.
* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Destiny seems to follow Hiro and Ando around like a puppy dog. At one point, Ando says "I wish destiny would lose our number".
* 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 [[Literature/SwordOfTruth source material]].
* On ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', Nate was wanting to get out of his life of crime, [[WeHelpTheHelpless of his variety]]. This changes when the Irish mob attempts to kill a man in front of him while he is going about his normal life.
* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}''.
** A less tragic version of this trope occurs in the pilot. 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.
** Another episode has this trope played as tragically as possible. Merlin falls in love with a fugitive Druid named Freya. After a few days with her, he knows he needs to get her out of Camelot, and decides to leave with her. The night they're supposed to leave, the men hunting her catch up and stab her, causing her to bleed to death in Merlin's arms. It's sad enough, but the man who stabs her is [[TheChosenOne Arthur]] (albeit in self defense), the destiny Merlin was running away from, and you can't help but feel that this was a case of fate saying TheyWereHoldingYouBack.
* ''Series/AlexRider'': When Blunt first asks Alex to go undercover at Point Blanc, Alex flatly refuses. Blunt, unphased, tells him to "pick up the phone tomorrow if you change your mind." Sure enough, Jack and Alex's breakfast is interrupted by the police, who demand to see Jack's passport and declare it to be fake. They're followed by someone from Child Services, who asks who's looking after Alex and tells him to pack a bag. Alex goes into the next room and picks up his mobile.
-->'''Alex:''' I don't even need to dial, do I? You're already listening. Well, I just want you to know, I was already going to do it. All you've done is shown me who I'm dealing with.
-->[''A few seconds' pause before the various officials' phones and pagers ALL go off at once.'']

* TabletopGame/{{Scion}}. Your life ''will'' become a legend, whether you want it or not. Fate makes sure of that.
* ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' has elements of this. It's not just that you have an incarnation of death attached to your soul and whispering in your ear. [[ISeeDeadPeople You can see dead people]]... and the dead people ''know'' you can see them, and will seek your help any way they can.

* ''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 title character of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' initially refused Alex's offer to transfer to the DEA and work for him ("You'd make me work undercover in some hellhole. Sorry, Alex. Michelle and the baby come first."). But all that changed when three murderous junkies hopped up on a new designer drug called Valkyr broke into his home and killed his wife and baby girl. And, literally enough, [[spoiler: the BigBad phones Max's house as this happens to see if her hit worked]].
* In ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'', the call most definitely knows where Kaim lives. In fact, the call essentially comes (for all the immortal characters) in the form of the main villain, who, years ago, inflicted tremendous emotional pain to the point that the damage to their psyche was literally a fate worse than death, then subsequently sealed off their memories and left them to become walking corpses, eternally (but NOT desperately) searching for their purpose in life.

* Fei from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', not only is his [[spoiler:mother (who was taken over by one of the {{Big Bad}}s) is killed by his father (who is taken over by a previous incarnation of Fei)]]. Then, his [[spoiler:adopted hometown is burned to the ground]] by a battle from the ongoing war.
** Of course, a great deal of the damage to the town was done by [[spoiler: [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Fei himself]]]]!
* At the start of ''VideoGame/StarshipTitanic'', the eponymous starship literally [[BreakingTheFourthWall demolishes the fourth wall]] by crashing into the player's house.
* ''VideoGame/InFamous'': To be honest, there was no way Cole could have possibly avoided TheCall. [[spoiler: Kessler knew where he worked, asked for him to deliver a package by name and took him to an area with a large number of people before having him open it, so he could absorb plenty of neuro-electric energy to make him as powerful as possible. Kinda hard to avoid TheCall when the guy who's making it is you from the future and knows pretty much all there is to know about you.]]
* ''[[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor]]'' somewhat inverts this; your character has a mighty destiny that he can take hold of in any way he wishes. However, he also has the option of [[RefusalOfTheCall running away from it all]]; the result of this course of action, however, is that [[spoiler: the huge majority of his friends, along with ''hundreds of thousands'' of other innocent people, die in a manner so horrific that it will {{Squick}} you out if you think about it too hard; it's so bad that ''the top Seraph of Heaven'' comes to bitch you out for being a coward]]... and the player ''knows'' this is how things will play out before committing to the option.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' has a variation where the villains are shown ''searching'' for TheChosenOne long before you actually get to ''play'' as the chosen one. Instead, the first several chapters are spent [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent controlling the hero's future companions]] and seeing some of ''their'' adventures before meeting each other. This also allows the player to see some of the ''effects'' that the villains' global search for TheChosenOne has. And, of course, once they ''find out'' where the chosen one is growing up...

* ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'': Oliver didn't know about magic or parallel worlds until the White Witch tried to kill him, and succeeded in killing his mother instead. His sorrow over her death not only awakens Mr Drippy, who brings Oliver over to the other world, but provides Oliver's primary motivation for doing so.
* Two examples in ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'':
** [[TheProtagonist Desmond Miles]] ran away from home when he was 16 because he wanted to see the world outside of Assassin training. Then the Templars' modern incarnation Abstergo Industries found him when he tried to apply for a motorcycle license, kicking off the main plot of the games. Realizing that the Templar threat was real all along, Desmond finally embraces his calling as an Assassin.
** All his ancestor [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII Ezio Auditore di Firenze]] wanted to do with his life was jump and skip across the rooftops of Florence, screw the most beautiful women in Italy, and loot small chests of their money content. Then, [[spoiler: his father and brothers are arrested by the BigBad, betrayed by their close friend, and hanged in the public square]], throwing him into the RoaringRampageOfRevenge that would rage for the entire game.
* ''VideoGame/{{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 TheGoodKingdom.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** 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/DragonAgeII'' starts with the destruction of the town of Lothering (which happened offscreen in the first game), forcing the PlayerCharacter and his/her family to flee, which sets off the rest of the plot.
* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'': Poor Gaidel. The man thought that living in a small Brazilian village with his family would be enough to hide from the other Orochi warriors, but it wasn't. [[spoiler: Goenitz ''brutally'' proved him wrong via dropping by... and brainwashing his pre-teen daughter Leona into killing him and everyone else.]]
* In ''VideoGame/PennyArcadeAdventures'', The Call smashes your house. Twice. The second time it ''literally'' knew where you lived and was going there to pick you up.
* In ''VideoGame/PeasantsQuest'', Trogdor burninates Rather Dashing's thatched-roof cottage, thus motivating him to liberate the peasant kingdom of Peasantry from the Burninator's influence forever.
* ''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]] (It's AllThereInTheManual), [[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.

* Played quite literally in ''Videogame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber''. When [[spoiler:Richter]] decides to ignore the phone calls that encourage him to go and kill Russian mobsters, he finds his car on fire on the next day, with the very next call telling him not to tempt fate.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': The Otherworld Navigation app, which kicks off the rest of the plot, keeps reappearing on the Protagonist's phone no matter how many times he deletes it, and forcibly sends him to the MentalWorld of the Palace ''twice''.
* Players in ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' end up subjected to this right off the bat: no sooner have the player characters gotten their powers under control, an emissary from one of the three major factions shows up at their door with an invitation to join - all of which consist of poorly-disguised press-ganging attempts. Templar players are given the ''option'' to join, but are warned [[ShameIfSomethingHappened that staying neutral will make you a target of even nastier organizations]]; Illuminati players are given an employment offer enforced with a [[BigBrotherIsWatching veiled threat]]; Dragon players, on the other hand, are flat-out kidnapped, knocked unconscious, and [[WakingUpElsewhere stranded in Seoul with no passport]] - and there you'll stay until you've learned how to access Agartha, by which time you're firmly under the Dragon's thumb.

* Michael Kappel in ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'' is pushed into a life of adventure when government soldiers come looking for the SympatheticSentientWeapon he rescued and (accidentally) kill his parents. This not only gets him and his new sidekick on the move, it draws his attention to the true evil in the world and sets him on the quest to destroy it.

* 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/ConanTheAdventurer'', the eponymous hero gets started on his adventure when his parents and grandfather are turned into stone by the BigBad.

* In ''[[Anime/PrettySammy Magical Project S]]'' Sasami doesn't want to be a magical girl. Too bad her enemy Pixy Misa knows her secret identity and tortures her wherever she is.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''. [[spoiler: His parents' actions during the Great War (not either of the historical ones, but an InUniverse conflict) made enemies with two [[AncientConspiracy Ancient Conspiracies]]--the Cosmo Entelechia and the Megalosembrian Senate--the latter so bad that his mother was scheduled for execution and his father had to bail her out and [[FakingTheDead fake her death]]. It's no wonder that they decide to leave the boy to some relatives in a village on a different '''planet''' inhabited by mages. Unfortunately, the senate managed to get the intel on his whereabouts and send a demon army to wipe them out.]] The [[DoomedHometown destruction of the village]] would define Negi's character for years to come.
** A lesser example in Chisame Hasegawa: A girl who most definitely [[IJustWantToBeNormal wants a normal life]] (Double life as a Net Idol notwithstanding), but happens to be in the one classroom the Call has on Speed Dial.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': Poor Kira Yamato... this happened to him ''twice''. The first time he [[FallingIntoTheCockpit Falls Into The Cockpit]] and reluctantly joins. By the second season, he's taking care of orphans with his girlfriend, when [[BigBad Durandal's]] assassins come and blow everything up.
** It's pretty much the same for Amuro Ray. In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', he ends up FallingIntoTheCockpit. When ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' starts up, he's a shell-shocked veteran who's being confined by the Federation because he's a Newtype. As much as he doesn't want to, he ends up taking up the controls of an MS.
* Illya from ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya''. In the first season she becomes a MagicalGirl by being forced, the second season starts with Rin and Luvia straight-up [[KidnappedByTheCall kidnapping her]] to force another mission.
* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', after returning to her time after her first trip to the feudal era, Kagome assumes the whole experience was a dream and proceeds to forget about the whole thing... until Inuyasha barges into her house while her family is having dinner. She still tries to rebuff him, but one of the villains seeking the Jewel of Four Souls begins reaching through the well shortly after, quickly settling the argument.

* In ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'', Miho transferred to a school that specifically didn't have Tankery, due to a [[MyGreatestFailure traumatic incident]] during a previous Tankery competition. Unfortunately for her, [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil the student council]] at her new school decides to resurrect their Tankery program, and [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse forces her to join.]]

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', not only does the Call know where you live...it will probably make certain that your hometown is destroyed and everyone you love is EatenAlive.
** Eren Yeager wanted to answer the call, and had argued with his mother over this. Cue the Colossal Titan kicking in the Wall, and a chunk of debris landing on the Yeager house. Eren and his foster sister, Mikasa, are forced to helplessly watch their mother be EatenAlive by a Titan.
** Jean Kirstein spends a good amount of time talking about his intention to join the Military Police Brigade and live a comfortable, completely Titan-free life. Then, the day after graduation, his hometown becomes the site of a major battle and he is forced to step up to the plate and take command of the other stranded Trainees. And just to make sure he doesn't reconsider accepting the Call, in the aftermath of the battle he discovers [[spoiler:the [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe mangled]] corpse of his best friend, Marco]]. Even so, people are genuinely surprised when he decides to answer it and abandon his selfish ways.
** To be fair, [[spoiler: the call targeted the town on purpose.]]
* In ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce'', Hydra and Buster start killing truckers in order to eliminate Ginrai; since most of their victims are Ginrai's friends, this results in Ginrai being motivated to actually get involved in the fight.

* In ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'' Furuichi is ''not'' allowed to avoid participating in the plot of the day, as Oga will simply send the transfer demon Alaindelion to kidnap him if he's not already present. Including when Furuichi was vacationing far away.
* At the beginning of the XY arc of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures''; Team Flare effectively burns Vaniville Town to the ground in an attempt to steal X's key stone and Kanghaskhanite. While X remains in a stupor in the early chapters due to his backstory's nature; it's effectively made clear to the main characters YouCantGoHomeAgain.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/DevilsAndRealist''. William has absolutely no interest in the occult and flat-out refuses to take up his destined role as elector of the next substitute ruler of hell. Cue the demon candidates infiltrating his school and masquerading as students to bug him to choose one of them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'', Korso [[CallToAdventure tries to recruit Cale for a mission to locate the ''Titan'']]. [[RefusedTheCall Cale blows him off]], but the agents of the BigBad promptly kick down the door and try to kill him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', Elsa doesn't realize she's cast an EndlessWinter in Arendelle when she runs to the North Mountain and believes she's doing everybody a favor. But then, during "For the First Time in Forever" (Reprise), Anna proves her wrong.

* Dates back as far as the 1956 classic ''Film/TheSearchers'', where the protagonist is lured away from home only to return and find his homestead raided by Comanches. The movie then follows the hero's search for his [[TheCaptivityNarrative kidnapped niece]].
* In ''Franchise/StarWars Episode IV: Film/ANewHope,'' Luke is obliged to become a Jedi when his home is burned down with his aunt and uncle left as charred remains outside. However, he wanted to help fight the Empire in the first place but his Uncle and Aunt wouldn't allow it. So it was more their refusal than his. (Note that the scene where he says [[ExplainExplainOhCrap "That would lead them back...Home!"]], and the scene after it (see the page image) are based on a sequence from ''The Searchers'', above.)

** In the fourth film The Hunger Games - Mockingjay part 2, Katniss wants to [[GenocideBackfire take revenge]] against the government. Briefly before the end, Katniss decides she needs to kill the evil president [[spoiler:Coin]] to save many additional children from being slaughtered.

* 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.
** This also happens in ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' -- William Wallace just wants to 'till fields and maybe raise a family.' Guess what happens to his new wife?
** Mel Gibson is good at roles like these. In ''Film/MadMax1'', 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.
* In a literal case, in ''Film/BruceAlmighty'', Bruce finds a pager which he cannot lose or destroy with a number. When he calls the number, he is told to go to a certain address "or we'll just keep beeping you."
** God had done the same thing to John Denver in ''Film/OhGod'', but with a carefully typed invitation that he kept getting rid of, only to have it find him again.
* In ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' The call knows where Sam goes to school and where his [[Creator/MontyPython parents went on vacation]]. It's a very thorough call.
* Anti-hero Josey Wales is content to be a poor dirt farmer in Clint Eastwood's ''Film/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.
* Alex Rogan of ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'' wasn't crazy or stupid enough to hop into the middle of a space dogfight that had absolutely nothing to do with him... until Xur decided to send assassins to Earth to hunt him down and kill him. [[ConservationOfNinjutsu Cue epic one-man god mode wipeout]].
* Played with a little in ''Film/{{Tombstone}}''. Wyatt Earp leaves Dodge to have a normal life, only to wind up living and working in a town where a gang of lawless thugs are running things. His brothers answer the Call and become lawmen, but Wyatt keeps resisting... and then the bad guys start targeting his family. Cue RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* ''Film/StrangerThanFiction'' has a far less tragic example, but after finding out that he's living out a novel, Harold tries staying at home and doing ''nothing'' so his narrative can't move forward and he can take back control of his life. This ends in a wrecking crew smashing through his apartment wall.

* Literally in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. The young Charles Xavier gives up on his school and on helping mutants in general. The future Logan goes to find him in the mansion to persuade him to take up the cause again at his older self's request.
* In ''Film/IAmCuba'', Mariano declines an invitation to join Castro's revolutionary army. Immediately afterwards, planes from Batista's air force bomb his home (in rebel country) and kill his son.

* ''Literature/WarriorCatsDawnOfTheClans'': Gray Wing's sister is killed to show how desperate his tribe is for a new home. After he refuses to follow his friends on the dangerous quest, his younger brother (who was deemed too young to manage the journey) runs away to find the others, forcing Gray Wing to search for him, and keep him safe until they could locate the travelers. This is even LampShaded in ''The First Battle''
* ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'': Eragon finds his uncle's house blown up and his uncle dead; abruptly he realizes that dragon ownership comes with responsibilities.....
** To add insult to injury, when he and Brom are discussing the situation later, Brom remarks that [[BigBad Galbatorix]] would probably be mad at the Razac for killing his uncle for no reason and making Eragon into an enemy. NiceJobFixingItVillain!

* Rand al'Thor and friends in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' have their village attacked not once, but twice, because the Pattern is calling them into service.
** The first attack is to force the boys out into the world. The second forces the mantle of leadership onto Perrin.
** In a more amusing example, an Aiel clan chief named Rhuarc is all but kicked and prodded into mounting an expedition into the wider world by his Wise One wife because she saw a vision that told her that he had to do so.
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Frodo Baggins never ''actively'' resists the Call, but he drags his feet about leaving the Shire to the point that he just avoids meeting a Nazgûl on (literally) his front doorstep. (And it turns out that, at the same time, Saruman's thugs were invading the Shire from a different direction...)
** You could say that this happened ''literally'' to his uncle Bilbo in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', since 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.
* ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'': Kvothe leaves to gather firewood for five minutes, and comes back to witness the (supposedly fictional) Chandrian kill his entire acting troupe, family included.

* In both the second and last [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]], Lord Foul exerts influence in our world to torment the previous heroes until they return to the mythical Land to confront him, as his plans [[BatmanGambit require their powers]].
* Hogwarts sent Literature/HarryPotter a series of acceptance letters, pinpointing his near-exact location at the time the letter got there. Uncle Vernon went to great effort to [[ScreeningTheCall keep Harry from getting the letter]], up to moving the entire family to a small shack on a rain-swept island - where Harry got the call in the un-ignorable, unavoidable form of Hagrid.

* ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheNight'' by Creator/MercedesLackey: Di Tregarde, refusing the call to use her Guardianship, ignores an inept sorcerer's plans to summon an inhuman demon that was too strong for him, thinking it's [[BystanderSyndrome not her problem]]. Naturally he summoned the thing, it killed him and was wounded in the process, and it then went after Di, because even if she wasn't doing anything with it Guardianship sticks around. She beat it, but the panic attacks triggered by anything that reminded her of it lingered, as did the lesson that ignoring these things, on a purely selfish level, meant that they would meet her on ''their'' terms.

* In the ''Literature/KeysToTheKingdom'' series, not only does the call know where Arthur lives, it ''keeps coming back'' until the end of book three, when he decides to hunt it down and kill it until it leaves him alone. The villains' very first action was to put the lives of his family and half the town in jeopardy from a Nothing-fuelled disease, before trying to bankrupt them in ''Grim Tuesday'' and insert a mind-controlling doppelganger into the area in ''Sir Thursday''.
* In ''Literature/TheLicaniusTrilogy'', Ilseth Tenvar arrives at the door of Davian's dorm room in the middle of the night, uninvited, to send him on his quest.
* In the ''Literature/RainbowMagic'' series, Rachel and Kirsty are often told that the magic will come to them.
* Gregor from ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'' never wants to fulfill the prophecies that Sandwich set down for him, but they always find a way to rope him in. Particularly in ''Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods'', his Grandma tells him "You can run away, but the prophecy will find you somehow." A bit later Gregor's mother [[spoiler: is infected with a deadly plague forcing him to go after the cure.]] The call metaphorically hits him right where he lives.

* In ''Literature/OfFearAndFaith'', after Kavik rejects Noble and August’s offers to join their journey, another [[TalkingAnimal feral]] [[TheChooserOfTheOne Fionbri]] meets him after he collapses drunkenly into an alleyway, and convinces him to change his mind.
* ''Literature/{{ATLStoriesfromtheRetrofuture}}'' begins with Morgan, and Morgan's apartment, both getting wrecked by thugs.
* In the ''Literature/RainbowMagic'' series this is acknowledged and becomes a sort of mantra for Rachel and Kirsty. Rather than trying to seek out the fairies, they're told that the magic will come to them.
* In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series, if you are destined to be a Herald, a [[SapientSteed Companion]] ''will'' show up to Choose you. Even if it means shanghaing you from wherever you are and carrying you off to the Collegium without so much as a by-your-leave. ''Even if you are being burned to death for witchcraft at the time.''
* In ''Literature/SunderedLands'', Trundle Boldoak had no intention of leaving his home after Esmeralda tries to convince him to join her on her journey throughout the world. Then pirates show up and attack his hometown, and he's forced to leave with her for the sake of his own survival.
* 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.

* In ''Literature/LordsOfTheUnderworld'', William abandons his [[spoiler:demonic]] family and their evil plots so he can live a isolated, hedonistic life on Earth- in the middle of the Arctic, no less! Unfortunately, this arrangement only lasts a few years before an old friend of William's literally teleports in, asking for his help with finding a mystical artifact...oh, and mentioning that if he refuses, she can and will destroy his most prized possession.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, this is Rincewind's problem- no matter what he does, he invariably ends up in the right place and time to save the world from disaster, in spite of his efforts to avoid trouble. This has happened to him so often that in ''Literature/TheLastHero'' he volunteers to go on the mission to stop Cohen the Barbarian; He doesn't really want to, but by now has figured that he'll end up on it somehow anyway, and might as well save himself the time.

* In ''Literature/RavellingWrath'', once you are chosen to participate in the Ravelling, you can't get out of it, ''even if you die''.

[[folder:Religion and Mythology]]
* Occurs repeatedly in Literature/TheBible, as one of its central themes is that God's will reigns supreme:

* 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.

* The title character of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' initially refused Alex's offer to transfer to the DEA and work for him ("You'd make me work undercover in some hellhole. Sorry, Alex. Michelle and the baby come first."). But all that changed when three murderous junkies hopped up on a new designer drug called Valkyr broke into his home and killed his wife and baby girl.
** And, literally enough, [[spoiler: the BigBad phones Max's house as this happens to see if her hit worked]].
--> ''"Is this the Payne residence?"''

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

* ''Fanfic/ReluctantHero'''s Zuko very emphatically does ''not'' want to be the Avatar, but since killing himself is not an option, he's going to settle for spending his life in a backwater town from the Earth Kingdom. Of course the Northern Water Tribe choose to kidnap him right after he decided on this course of action.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/MakaiOuji''. William has absolutely no interest in the occult and flat-out refuses to take up his destined role as elector of the next substitute ruler of hell. Cue the demon candidates infiltrating his school and masquerading as students to bug him to choose one of them.

[[caption-width-right:350:Uncle Owen? Aunt Beru?]]

* In ''Series/{{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''.

** A LOT of neutral countries got this in spades during WWII. In sequential order: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Greece, Yugoslavia, and the Philippines, either by being ripe pickings for the Axis powers or strategic staging grounds for Allied ones.

* In the [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] / [[Series/StargateSG1 Stargate]] Fan Fiction [[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-4301/Kei+Trick+Or+Treat.htm Trick or Treat]], Xander is told point blank by an agent of the PowersThatBe that he is going to go along with their plan, one way or another. Subverted in that once his [[BerserkButton girls are attacked]], he dedicates a remarkable amount of insight into [[ScrewDestiny derailing]] not only their grand plans for him, but for a few of their favorite champions as well. [[spoiler: He succeeds.]]

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', Elsa doesn't realize she's cast an EndlessWinter in Arendelle when she runs to the North Mountain and believes she's doing everybody a favor. But then, during "For the First Time in Forever" (Reprise), Anna proves her wrong.

* ''VideoGame/WorldofWarcraft'' had a rare villainous example in Gul'dan's alternate timeline. deformed Gul'dan is the village [[ButtMonkey butt-monkey]], but the shaman tells him to go seek the help of the Elements. He makes the long journey, despite his disability and his lack of food or water. When he gets there though, the Elements don't like him. There's so much hatred in him, so much anger at how he's been treated. Instead, another cosmic force reaches out to him: the fel. He ends up becoming one of the strongest warlocks in the entire universe and extremely evil (as well as quite literally power-hungry).

* This was Standard Operating Procedure for the Scions, a group of evil telepaths in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse''. When they detected the development of a young new telepath, they'd approach the child's parents in the guide of a SuperHeroSchool that would train the child in the use of their new abilities. If the parents agreed, all was right with the world. If the parents didn't agree, they'd mentally manipulate the parents into some sort of fatal situation (murder-suicides were popular) and then manipulate whoever they needed to get the kid anyway.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, this is Rincewind's problem- no matter what he does, he invariably ends up in the right place and time to save the world from disaster, in spite of his efforts to avoid trouble. This has happened to him so often that in ''Discworld/TheLastHero'' he volunteers to go on the mission to stop Cohen the Barbarian; He doesn't really want to, but by now has figured that he'll end up on it somehow anyway, and might as well save himself the time.