History Main / VideoGamesAndFate

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[[VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallofMaxPayne quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/video_games_and_fate.JPG]]

This can be done in various ways: by having characters discuss the concept of free will in dialogue; using tropes such as NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom to visually represent the player's lack of choice both in-game and in-story; or having characters actively announce their lack of free will. In terms of plot devices, this trope can encompass supernatural examples such as YouCantFightFate; or more mundane MoreThanMindControl plot devices, in which the character's actions are controlled by another party in much the same way that the player's actions are "controlled" by the game itself [[note]]Or how the player character's actions are controlled by the player, who is in turn controlled by the game, but the player character is part of the game so [[MindScrew oh no I've gone cross-eyed.]][[/note]]. It can often overlap with PlayingThePlayer, in which the player is actively deceived by the game and their expectations about it betrayed, but this trope need not involve deception.

** Further embedded in the series in the concept of a "[[http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragon_Break Dragon Break]]", a localized phenomena where time itself becomes so convoluted that otherwise impossible things happen (such as both sides winning a battle, or a man being his own grandfather). This is mainly used to justify the lack of need to support the multiple possible endings in a few of the previous Elder Scrolls games.

* The ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series has this as an ongoing theme. Creator Creator/HideoKojima referred to the dominant themes of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty 2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater 3]]'' as "gene, meme and scene" respectively, referring to the extent to which these three concepts could influence an individual's destiny:

* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'', in [[InternalDeconstruction marked contrast to]] [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} its predecessor]] (which is all about making choices in how one plays games), repeatedly invokes this ''on the player''. You're presented with a CharacterCustomization menu at the start--only for it to be rejected in favor of the predetermined protagonist. Even though minor variations in the linear plot are possible, the outcome is still essentially the same. And at the end of the demo, the protagonist forcibly ejects the player (in the form of their SOUL) and acts on their own free will.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' Trilogy's Security Officer, in contrast to the other FPS protganists at the time like [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doomguy]] and [[VideoGame/DukeNukem Duke Nukem]], is for all intents and purposes a pawn on the [=AIs'=] figurative chessboard, particularly Durandal, who enjoys rubbing it in about the protagonist's lack of freedom while bragging about gaining his. In the second game, ''Durandal'', the Security Officer is hinted to be an EternalHero destined to battle evil for all eternity, whatever he likes it or not. And then in the final game, ''Infinity'', the CosmicHorror screws everything up, and the Security Officer has to take matters into his hands, while going slightly insane in the process somewhat similar to the AI Rampancy, in the end managing to break free from the AIs control. In the epilogue, moments before the heat death of the Universe, Durandal muses about the Security Officer, and concludes that he is Destiny itself.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrolls'' plays with this idea often. Though destiny and fate almost certainly exist, how much they effect the player (if at all) is left unclear. The third game, ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', notably plays with this with its heroic prophecies and vague divine intervention.
** Also comes up in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', where several characters (most prominently TheMentor Paarthurnax) will talk about how it's the player's fate to fight [[BigBad Alduin]]. You can either agree with him, or argue that preventing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is simply the right thing to do and that the next world will just have to take care of itself.

* The protagonist of the ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' series, No. 47, is a clone who has been genetically engineered and conditioned for his entire life to be the perfect assassin. Although he is a relatively sympathetic HitmanWithAHeart who desperately ''wants'' not to be an assassin and often feels guilty about the crimes he has committed (even attempting to retire at the beginning of ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin Silent Assassin]]''), he finds it impossible to go against his genetics & conditioning, and continues to carry out assassinations.

** Its interesting to note that simply not buying the game in the first place would also be an effective ending using the "don't play it" viewpoint, but that was not an option brought up by the developers.

** Also comes up in ''Skyrim'', where several characters (most prominently TheMentor Paarthurnax) will talk about how it's the player's fate to fight [[BigBad Alduin]]. You can either agree with him, or argue that preventing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is simply the right thing to do and that the next world will just have to take care of itself.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrolls'' plays with this idea often. Though destiny and fate almost certainly exist, how much they effect the player (if at all) is left unclear. The third game, ''VideoGame/TheElderScrolls3Morrowind'', notably plays with this with its heroic prophecies and vague divine intervention.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrolls'' plays with this idea often. Though destiny and fate almost certainly exist, how much they effect the player (if at all) is left unclear. The third game, Morrowind, notably plays with this with its heroic prophecies and vague divine intervention.

PlayerCharacter typically being significantly disconnected from the player; see PlayerAndProtagonistIntegration). Some developers have picked up on the parallels between presenting the player with the illusion of free

** ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' drops the anvil that the UsefulNotes/ColdWar was this ''in RealLife.'' Snake's mentor explains, at length, ''during the tutorial'', that "enemies" and "allies" are never chosen by the people who are called thus; in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, America and Russia were allies against the Nazis, and immediately became enemies once they were defeated, fighting over the resources they created to fight them.[[note]]Better yet, in Kojima's original proposal, said resources included ''the spoils of the war'' - the wealth and scientific discoveries the Nazis acquired through ruthless conquest, human experimentation and mass murder.[[/note]]. She herself had a Russian lover - ''the father of her child'' - whom she was later forced to kill on a Cold War mission on orders from her superiors. The events of the game itself only occurred because those same superiors ordered it - and she only obeyed because she couldn't think of anything better. This is the start of the ProtagonistJourneyToVillain - his transformation from loyal soldier to fanatical anarchist guerilla leader - because he refuses to die the way his mentor did, let alone sacrifice his allies and subordinates for the sake of his superiors.

* ''VideoGame/TheStanleyParable'' is a lengthy rumination upon and critique of this concept, which pokes fun at the concept of choice and free will in video games.

* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 2'' is entirely linear, with NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom (although there are two MultipleEndings depending on difficulty level). It also features numerous ruminations upon the nature of free will and destiny, with several of the characters debating whether they truly have agency of their own or if their actions are simply pre-determined (see the page quote).

->''There are no choices. Nothing but a straight line. The illusion comes afterwards, when you ask "why me?" and "what if?". When you look back and see the branches, like a pruned bonsai tree, or forked lightning.''
-->- '''Max Payne''', very heavily LeaningOnTheFourthWall, in ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne''

->''[[YouCantFightFate There are no choices]]. Nothing but a straight line. The illusion comes afterwards, when you ask "why me?" and "what if?". When you look back and [[StoryBranching see the branches]], like a pruned bonsai tree, or forked lightning.''

This is hence about video games in which the strict linearity of the storyline and the lack of agency afforded to the player is not employed solely as a gameplay contrivance but also as a storytelling device or thematic element. This can be used as a means of PaintingTheMedium or LeaningOnTheFourthWall, a device to express the themes of the game through its formal structure, or simply an amusing way to [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] the inherent artificiality of the medium. It can also act as a convenient way to avert GameplayAndStorySegregation (as many of the examples on that page illustrate).