History Main / YouCantFightFate

** Will Zepelli, from Part 1, subverts this trope in that he's given more or less the exact circumstances of his death, but makes no move to avert it because his death will help achieve his ultimate goal. Instead, he demands to know the manner of his death so he can plan on how to live from then on.

** You can also refuse to do the main part of the simulation claiming it's a trap.

* The ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Cassandra" provided a perfect example with a computer that could tell the future. After it had foretold that certain characters would be left alive, a gun was pointed in their face and the trigger pulled; naturally, it jammed. When pointed at another character who she foretold would die, it worked perfectly. This trope was then used almost word for word to seduce another character, since the computer had foretold he'd die while having sex with her (When her boyfriend caught them in the act). But in the end, it turned out that the computer was lying to cause jealousy. She foresaw that the boyfriend would kill her. He realized this and tried to avoid it, saying he wasn't going to kill her, but through a Rube Goldberg series of events ends up killing her anyway.

** Future Echoes. Each character sees "future echoes" which are events happening in the future, which will happen to the characters at some point as the ship is going past light speed. As they go faster past it, the echoes are in the more distant future. At one point, Lister sees the Cat with a broken tooth. Lister runs off to find the Cat to prevent it, and just as the Cat is about to eat the robotic fish inside the tank (which would break his tooth), the two struggle, with Lister trying to stop the Cat eating the fish. In this struggle, the Cat knocks his tooth off a corner of the ledge where the tank is, thereby breaking his tooth anyway.

** Boingo's Stand, Thoth, takes the form of a comic book that predicts the immediate future. These predictions are boasted by Boingo as being 100% absolute. While this is true, they are also highly prone to {{Prophecy Twist}}s; especially if someone actively tries to avoid the predictions of the book. For example, when Boingo's brother Oingo is about to be caught planting a trap that Thoth has prophecised will blow up Jotaro, he uses his Stand to transform himself ''into'' Jotaro to escape detection and ends up being the one who is injured in the trap. [[spoiler:However, one of Thoth's predictions shows Jotaro's face being split in half with "blood everywhere". While this doesn't happen immediately, 22 years later, Jotaro is killed by Enrico Pucci's Stand Made In Heaven. The scenario? His face is split in half.]]

* On seasons 3 & 4 of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' [[spoiler:many characters cannot be killed or die (Michael, Locke, Jack) because "the island needs them". Similarly, many characters are fated to die and any attempts to save them only postpone the inevitable]].

* In ''Literature/CatherineAndHerFate'', Catherine had told her Fate that given a choice, she would rather be happy in her old age than her youth. In her miserable and impoverished youth, she reminds herself of this trope to inspire herself to go on.

* A TearJerker example is the theme of ''Theatre/OurTown''.
* Theatre/{{Macbeth}}. A whole bunch of Theatre/{{Macbeth}}.

#The event comes true exactly as expected. Depending on the mood of the series, the final fulfillment of the prophecy may or may not be a DownerEnding. One technical term for the TimeTravel version of this trope is the ''predestination paradox'', a concept very popular with the Ancient Greeks, who believed YouCannotChangeTheFuture. There is only one possible future, and if you think otherwise, it's because you were [[BecauseDestinySaysSo destined]] to take a different path. Sometimes, the heroes still manage to put right the wrong the prophecy promises. In such situations, they usually conclude that fate only said something bad would happen, not that they couldn't eventually right it. AnAesop usually follows about free will being stronger than destiny.

* ''Henyoku No Labyrinth'': [[spoiler: Miyako travels back in time to prevent that her crush Hiroto falls in love with her sister but she fails to do so because he falls in love with her the first time they meet.]]

* This is actually very promoninate in Creator/{{CLAMP}} works. As the time witch Yuuko Ichihara herself's catchphrase goes "There is no such thing as a coincidence in this world, there is only the inevitable." It's to the point that everything that happened in one story will affect the others.

* Present throughout ''ComicBook/BoosterGold'', but particularly in the issue where he tries to keep Barbara Gordon (ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}) [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke from getting shot by]] ComicBook/TheJoker. He tries and fails to stop the event from happening multiple times before accepting that there are some things he isn't capable of changing because of solidified time (i.e. changing the past purposely, already extremely dangerous in "normal" cases, becomes impossible because certain events are too important to change, such as preventing Barbara Gordon from being crippled, thus preventing her from becoming Oracle, or saving ComicBook/BlueBeetle, preventing the Max Lord / Checkmate conspiracy from being revealed).

* Franchise/XMen villain Vargas (the BigBad for part of the early 2000s ''X-Treme X-Men'' title) was seeking out the diaries of Destiny, a long-dead BlindSeer with the ability to predict the future. Being convinced that the prophecies favoured him, he boasted to the X-Men that they couldn't fight fate. When he comes across a diary that depicts Rogue killing him in battle, he [[ScrewDestiny changes his tune]]. Vargas changed destiny... only to be killed around X-Men #200 by one of the Marauders.

* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' gets this a lot from demons who want him to assume his role as the AntiChrist. His response is usually rather realistic: "Says who?" followed by a punch to the face.
* Subverted in the crossover Comicbook/{{Spawn}} / Comicbook/{{Wildcats}}, where future versions of Grifter and Zealot (the former being the original's future self but the latter being a new Zealot) are sent into the past to slay Spawn to prevent him becoming a ruthless dictator known as the Ipsissimus. When they fail to kill him, the present Wildcats and Spawn agree to go with them into the future to defeat the Ipsissimus, but it turns out this was part of a predestination paradox, as the Ipsissimus uses the opportunity to give Spawn the medallion that corrupted him and caused him to turn evil to begin with. When back to the present, the influence stats, and Spawn starts EvilGloating... until the future Wildcats realize their mistake and make a last attempt to modify a minor action in the past. This causes Spawn to recognize future Zealot as an adult version of his widow's daughter Cyan, come back to his senses and hand the medallion to her, thus preventing the future.

** In ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'', Franchise/TheFlash Barry Allen and the original Supergirl find out they'll die [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths as battling the Anti-Monitor]] if they leave ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}'s domed cities. They become convinced that their deaths are inevitable but they find comfort in knowing they'll help save the universe.
** ''ComicBook/{{Valor}}'' is told this by the Waverider:

* Averting this was the goal of the original ''Comicbook/DaysOfFuturePast'': Kitty Pryde was sent back in time to prevent the assassination of Senator Kelly, which would result in a sequence of events leading to the virtual extermination of mutants. Kitty succeeds in saving Kelly's life, but she returns to the future to discover that nothing had changed. It turns out, the "future" was a completely different universe altogether (Earth-811), and because of the laws of time travel in the Marvel Multiverse that one cannot alter their own reality's past, her actions were only able to prevent the same catastrophe from befalling the main Marvel Universe (Earth-616).

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Hippolyta learns that Wonder Woman is prophesied to die, so she arranges ''ComicBook/TheContest'' and rigs it so that her daughter is stripped of the title and ComicBook/{{Artemis}} becomes the new Wonder Woman. In the end this ensures that [[ProphecyTwist both Diana and Artemis die]]. (They get better).

* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Discussed and defied. During a conversation [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Shinji]] asks [[BrokenBird Asuka]] if she has ever wondered what would happen if [[PeggySue they had the chance to travel back in time]] and [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong avert]] all what had gone wrong with their lives, including [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Third Impact]]. Asuka automatically replies that they would be incapable to avert the end of the world, not matter what. Shortly after they met Asuka's future self who told Asuka that they CAN fix things and if her younger self thinks otherwise is because she is so thoroughly [[BrokenAce broken]] and [[DespairEventHorizon burned-out]] that she is afraid to try to.

* The first season finale of ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'' takes this trope and runs with it, built on a WholePlotReference to [[Series/DoctorWho "The Wedding of River Song"]]. The three-parter shows what happens when Fixed Points in Time are broken: TimeStandsStill. To cap it off, even when things are set right, one married couple has to be separated, because the wife has a destiny in her own time, two centuries in the future for the husband.
** There appears to be Foreshadowing for this theme in the fourth episode, when the heroes meet a woman from their future who has a brief but charged conversation with the Doctor in this vein.

* In ''Fanfic/HowToDrillYourWayThroughYourProblems'' a crossover between ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' and ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Lagann cleans out Taylor's locker over the winter break. [[spoiler: She still triggers the first day back, and if anything, it's worse.]]
** Averted in the long run, since [[spoiler: Owl/Taylor joined Team Neo-Gurren, rather than the Undersiders.]]

* {{Defied}} in ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'': fate isn't ridged and in fact Rota Fortuna, the Concept of Fate, is ''also'' the Concept of Free Will and outright says she doesn't force any fate on anyone: whatever fate one meets is the result of their actions and those of others. She makes the roads, but there are lots of them and everyone decides which one they will take. Ironically enough, those who ''think'' fate has to be fought against and resisted often play this trope straight because they're so preoccupied trying to avoid fate they lock themselves into their path, as opposed to someone who just lives their life and continues making choices normally. [[spoiler:Nightmare Eclipse falls victim to this, locking herself and every single one of her alternate selves into one fate (as she merged with every Twilight to become her at the moment of their transformation, meaning she effectively tied every last one to herself), so when she's defeated all her alternates are likewise doomed to be defeated as well.]] The irony is, Rota herself plays this trope straightest of all: she will ''always'' lose one of her wings that becomes the [[ClockRoaches Blank Wolf]] in some way, be it by Discord during the war of the gods (prime Rota), to intentionally create the Blank Wolf (her EG self), or countless other ways.

--->'''Chat:''' "Why are you trying to ruin what we have together?! We're meant to be! The ladybug and the cat! ''Ladybug and Chat Noir!'' What do you have against ''destiny?!'' We're partners; ''special'' partners! We were ''chosen!'' We're ''soulmates!'' What's so hard about that?"
** This sparks off a ReasonYouSuckSpeech where Ladybug calls out his ItsAllAboutMe attitude, and is also what leads to him [[spoiler:losing the Black Cat Miraculous]].

* ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'': Sufferers of Setsuna Syndrome can be firm believers in this, which is why they developed it in the first place. They often get rather annoyed with usual looper antics that cause their loop to go OffTheRails, believing something bad will happen if they diverge from the baseline. Some loopers suffering from it can get rather...forceful about staying consistant with baseline, causing them to be rather disliked by the other loopers.

* [[{{Satan}} The Devil]] in the form of the Antichrist Franco Maccalusso in the ''Film/{{Apocalypse}}'' series knows he's doomed for the Lake Of Fire, and so decides to [[TakingYouWithMe take as many souls with him]] in the Tribulation through the MarkOfTheBeast.

* This is revealed to be the crux of ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' movies. Towards the end of ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'', Neo finally reaches the "source" of the Matrix and meets the Architect, the computer program who designed the Matrix. He informs Neo that Zion will ultimately be destroyed and that it cannot be saved. At the end of their conversation, he also mentions that Neo's "destiny", like that of his five predecessors, was to enter the source and restart the program, allowing 23 humans to be selected to rebuild Zion. Thus, the "prophecy" will be fulfilled that after a century of warfare between humans and machines, the fight will finally come to an end. However, Neo would only be restarting the war, not ending it. Finally, the Architect mentions that Trinity will inevitably die in order to save Neo. The Architect tells him that there is nothing he can do to stop that from happening. In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', Neo tells the Oracle about the Architect's warnings, and she [[spoiler:responds that the Architect is full of crap and can't predict the future worth a damn. Guess what? Zion is not destroyed and the war comes to a permanent end. Both Neo and Trinity die, though.]]

** Then there's Skynet's attempts to avert it's own destruction by repeatedly sending Terminators back in time to stop John Connor from being born or kill him. Not only does it's Terminators never succeed, they are indirectly responsible for multiple attempts to prevent the existance of Skynet. Worst of all, The Sarah Connor Chronicles shows by sending him into the future that even if John Connor wasn't a factor there would still be a Resistance there fighting Skynet anyway, so killing John Connor wouldn't have actually made a difference.
* Played with in the 2014 sci-fi thriller ''Film/TimeLapse''. A group of friends discover that their neighbor was a scientist who built a camera that can take pictures of the future. From his diary, they read that he saw his death in the future and tried to stop it, then discover his horribly mangled body and assume this means that if you try to change the course of time, your timeline stops right there and you die horribly. [[spoiler:The truth is that YouCantFightFate for a different reason - it is literally ''impossible'' to alter the predicted future, no matter how hard you try, it '''will''' come true. The scientist died in a mundane accident involving dangerous gases, failing to prevent his death. Similarly, Callie learns the hard way that you cannot use the camera to "reset" your timeline to a more favorable one by sending a new message to your past self. One way or another, circumstances will cause the message to revert to the previous one, preventing any alteration of the timeline.]]

* {{Discussed}} in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. Hank theorizes that the flow of reality eventually corrects itself, so one can't change the future by changing events in the past. At it seems [[AvertedTrope Averted]] when Xavier decides to ScrewDestiny and succeeds. However ''Film/{{Logan}}'' suggests this trope may ultimately be played straight: Though set in the "Good Future" timeline, mutants are ''still'' apparently gone.

* In ''Literature/BeforeIFall'', after dying in a car crash while leaving a party, Samantha is forced to relive the last day of her life. No matter what, at 12:39 am, she always dies (or starts over on the same day), and she finds that [[spoiler:Juliet Sykes always kills herself, until Samantha jumps in front of her, thus ending the GroundhogDayLoop.]]

* {{Subverted}} in ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge shadows of things prophesied by the Ghost of Christmas Present, including Scrooge dying sooner than expected with his belongings being plundered by his maid, laundress and undertaker, as well as the impending death of Tiny Tim:

** After seeing the vision, and pleading for a second chance, Scrooge makes good on his promise by buying a huge turkey for Bob Cratchit's family, promoting Bob to Scrooge's partner, donating generously to the charity solicitors, and finding physicians for Tiny Tim.

* This is a major theme of Creator/DeanKoontz's ''Lightning'': It's very difficult to change the future, because "destiny struggles to reassert the pattern that was meant to be."

* Seems to be the case in ''Literature/ShamanOfTheUndead'' universe. If Ida foresees something, you can be sure that it ''will'' happen. If she foresees your death, no matter what you do, you'll still die, even if in ProphecyTwist [[spoiler:she'll be the one to kill you by accident.]]

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' is PlayingWithATrope here. A dark and seemingly inevitable prophecy forming one of the major plots of Season Three was [[spoiler:ultimately revealed to be an elaborate GambitRoulette on the part of time-traveling BigBad Sajjhan, who wanted Connor killed off before he could fulfill the true prophecy: causing the death of Sajjhan. Ultimately, however, the true prophecy comes to pass...[[ProphecyTwist as does]] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy the fake one]].]].

** [[ZigZaggingTrope Quadruple-subverted]] with the Blue Hand Group: people who didn't have flash forwards since they'll be dead before April 29th and engage in risky behavior, as they think they have nothing to live for. When some of them live because others decided to ScrewDestiny, their members start dying before April 29th anyway, in the same manner as they were predicted to. Lloyd thinks its [[OntologicalInertia fate trying to correct discrepancies]] but it turns out to be [[spoiler:the Blue Hand's former leader doing what he thinks is fate's work.]] [[DoubleSubversion Double-subverted]] ''again'' when the FBI tries to [[spoiler:stop him from running over his last victim, only for one agent to accidentally hit her with her car]], proving Lloyd's theory that if you prevent your flash forward, someone else will just take your place in the sequence of events.

* The grim and [[TearJerker sad]] conclusion that Ted and Lily in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' come to in "Band or DJ" when they admit to each other that [[spoiler:there are times when Lily wished she wasn't a mother and Ted wished Robin was marrying him instead of Barney.]]

** Also done with [[spoiler:the main law of time travel, "Whatever happened, happened", meaning no matter what the characters do, the universe falls back into place.]]
** Also done in season 3 with [[spoiler:Desmond's mental time flashes. No matter how he tries to save Charlie's life, he still needs to die.]]

** The entirety of the last season. In the first episode, [[spoiler:Merlin is shown a vision of Arthur being fatally wounded by Mordred. Try as he might, he ultimately failed in preventing it and actually cemented its coming through his actions.]]

* "A Determined Woman", an episode of the DawnFrench comedy anthology series ''Series/MurderMostHorrid'', tells the tragicomic story of an inventor (French) working on a time machine, who gets so annoyed with her idiot husband disrupting her work that she hits him with a spanner, a little harder than she intended... some years later, after serving time for his manslaughter, she completes her time machine and goes back to try and save him, only to discover that her attempts to prevent his death were what caused it in the first place.

* ''Series/QuantumLeap'' played with this. In each episode, Sam's goal was to fight a particular piece of fate, and he invariably won. However, when he and Al occasionally tried to change other things in their own personal interest, they were unable to do so. For example, in ''MIA'', [[spoiler:Al lied to Sam about what his goal was, and had him try to stop Al's own wife Beth from remarrying while he was a prisoner of war. Whatever Sam did to keep Beth away from her future second husband, they kept bumping into each other in unlikely places. Sam was actually there to stop a cop getting shot and Al just never ran alternative scenarios]]. In ''The Leap Home, Part 1'', [[spoiler:Sam could not convince his father to take up a healthier lifestyle and live longer, or stop his brother from going to Vietnam and getting killed, because his only goal for the episode was to ''win a basketball game'' (albeit win a game where victory would allow two of his classmates to go to college on scholarships and his coach to move into the professional leagues)]]. It seems the Unknown Force only unlocked little bits of fate at a time. [[spoiler:Sam did save both his brother's life and Al's marriage in later episodes, though.]]

* Parodied in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode Trials and Tribble-ations. After flirting with an attractive Lt who shares his ancestor's last name, Bashir wonders if he is supposed to sleep with her to make sure he is born. O'Brian immediately points out that he's being ridiculous.

** ''Every'' DealWithTheDevil ends with hell, no matter if you're a guest star or one of the leads. Well, they did save the one guy who only made the deal to save his wife...but no one since. As the season 4 opener reveals, [[spoiler:you can still get out with a little help from above.]]
** In a more typical example of the trope, the episode "The Monster at the End of This Book" reveals that [[spoiler:there's a man with the gift of divine prophecy whose prophecies ''always'' come true, even when Sam and Dean try to avert them--which doesn't discount the possibility of a ProphecyTwist if the prophet doesn't see the whole scene.]]

* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' twists the whole notion around at the end of the second season: [[spoiler:John travels forward in time past Judgment Day, and discovers that he was superfluous; humanity is still around and kicking without him.]]

** The finale of the series [[spoiler:ended up ''averting'' this trope. Alex wins the final challenge and thus receives all of the Russo family's magical power. However, there's nothing that states that other forces can't grant people magic: Justin is appointed the future headmaster of Wiz Tech, and ''also'' becomes a full wizard. Max is the only one who doesn't receive any magical ability, but [[GracefulLoser he's OK with it]], and Jerry promises to give him the sandwich shop.]]

* In Wrestling/{{WWE}}, whoever competes against Wrestling/TheUndertaker at Wrestling/WrestleMania is destined to lose. Long live the Streak.
** Averted when Undertaker was defeated by Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 30 thus ending the Streak. Undertaker would be defeated a second time by Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 33 before retiring.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Synchrony" presents the case of a strange old man warning an MIT student and professor that the student is going to die at a specific time - because of this warning the professor, attempting to save the student, ends up accidentally pushing him into the path of an oncoming bus and thus the warning is a SelfFulfillingProphecy. The old man is [[spoiler:actually the professor from the future, who has traveled back in time]] attempting to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong set right what will go wrong]] and prevent an impending scientific breakthrough [[spoiler:that would be made by the professor in collaboration with his girlfriend, also a scientist, and the student, and which would be a catalyst for a catastrophic technological development.]] Mulder cites an old theory of Scully's about how the future can't be altered, and so the old man's efforts are probably doomed. [[spoiler:Although the professor manages to kill both his present and future selves and erase all of his files, as the episode ends, the girlfriend is continuing the research on her own with backups of the erased data.]] And said scientific breakthrough? [[spoiler:Something enabling TimeTravel itself. What goes wrong is that it generalized knowledge of the future and knowledge that it can't be changed]].

* Lia Marie Johnson's song "DNA" explains how some kids in bad families wind up being [[TurnOutLikeHisFather just like their parents.]] The singer is a child telling an alcoholic, possibly incarcerated parent that they're determined [[IAmNotMyFather not to become them]] when they grow up. But the last line of the chorus suggests that [[spoiler:the child is exactly doomed to become the bad parent, regardless of what they try to avoid it.]]

* It's sung verbatim in U2's "Out of Control".

** It was prophesied that Achilles, the TropeNamer of the AchillesHeel, was to die young in battle. His mother, Thetis, attempted to defy this prophecy by dipping his body in the River Styx, attempting to render him invincible, but holding Achilles by the heel, which proved to be his one weakness. His father, Peleus, sent him to train with Chiron, and gave him a suit of bronze armor. Unfortunately, all of his prowess in battle was not enough to prevent a spear or arrow from striking Achilles on the heel and his dying at a young age as prophesied

* Duke Rowan Darkwood in ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' gets screwed over by this ''in spades'', [[spoiler:becoming destined to be the person who instigates (as the ancient wizard rumored to have crafted a spell that can destroy the Lady of Pain), starts (as Rowan Darkwood), and ''ends'' (as Gifad, who coaxes the party to help him cast the Sigil Spell) the Faction War all in one go. And all this time, the Lady of Pain had controlled ''everything''...]]
* True to its [[Literature/TheWitcher source material]], Fate is one of the overarching themes in ''TabletopGame/TheWitcherGameOfImagination''. Regardless of anything else, players must either make a roll from secret table or outright leave it to [=GM's=] decision what will be the Fate of their characters. Fate remains secret for players and [[InsistentTerminology Story-tellers]] are obligated to create such plot stucture that will eventually lead to fulfilment of it. That might include death, constant persecution, PerpetualPoverty, being ''always'' in the wrong place in the wrong moment or being mistaken for hero[=/=]villain. On the bright side, certain paths of Fate are can be beneficial, like ''[[PlotArmor dying out of old age]]'' or becoming famous [=and/or=] rich. If rolls are used, the most common outcome is [[MythologyGag having your Fate tied with somebody]].

** Even earlier, both Mata Nui and Makuta tried to exploit this at the same time. Mata Nui determined which Matoran would become the Toa Metru, and a prophecy of their identities leaked out. The prophecy was quickly surpressed, but not before Makuta learned of it. He then tricked Toa Lhikan into deciding that the prophecized Matoran were not the ones truly destined to be Toa and caused Lhikan to pick six others who Lhikan thought would do the job. These six were, in fact, chosen by Makuta as six who would never be able to work together and therefor fail (and even if by some miracle they did succeed, he could at least have the satisfaction of knowing he screwed Mata Nui over). These six became the Toa and Makuta seemingly won (at least for a little while). Future averted, right? [[spoiler:Nope. The prophecy was a lie created by Mata Nui for just such an occasion. The six Matoran Makuta planted in Lhikan's mind were in turn planted into HIS mind by Mata Nui, thus allowing those truly destined to take the power.]] Not bad for a guy who was asleep most of the series.

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', no matter how many [[TheChosenOne Chosen Undeads]] relinked the fire, the prolonged Age of Fire will eventually end, and the Age of Dark will inevitably come.
** Until ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', at least, [[spoiler:which has a decently well hidden ending where you TakeAThirdOption to link the Fire with the Dark Sign, creating an "age of humanity" separate from the Age of Dark, whether this ends up being a good thing or a bad thing for the world... well, who knows?]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', regardless of alternate choices made, the outcome of certain events; such as Doug's or Carley's death will exactly be the same.
* In ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'', all the things that happened were ThePlan [[spoiler:from the twins to, not only save the world, but also to make Heiss accept his fate of being the sacrifice.]]
* In the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series, Kratos was able to fight the Sisters of Fate, but in [[VideoGame/GodOfWarII the game itself]] and the more recent ones it was revealed Kratos was fated to destroy Olympus. The implication being even the Sisters were bound by some higher power they could not control.
* Half of the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series revolves around this trope. The other half revolves around ScrewDestiny. It's...complicated.
** In ''Soul Reaver 2'' [[spoiler:despite rampant time-travel, different versions of the Reaver existing at the same time, and ''killing himself with his own soul'', at the end Raziel realizes that he never escaped his terrible destiny; he had merely postponed it.]] History abhors a paradox.
** Finally in ''Defiance'', Raziel [[spoiler:finally realizes that he ''can'' alter the timeline and thus his own fate. But he ultimately embraces it anyway because he believes it's the only way to defeat the true villain behind all of Nosgoth's suffering.]]
* The villains in the ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' frequently use this as a part of their HannibalLecture.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', the main plot of the big bad is to [[spoiler:win the power of the gods to control humanity's own history.]]

* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''
** The Anguished One eventually reveals that the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashic_records Akashic Records]] exist and that everything is written in them, ranging from small events to bigger events. Nicaea attempts to prove the Akashic Records wrong by handing out the Death Videos and seeing if people can prevent the foreordained deaths.
** The Triangulum Arc reveals that [[spoiler:after defeating Polaris and its Septentriones, the next batch of higher existences arrives in the form of Arcturus and its Triangulum, out to destroy the world and mankind, instead of merely testing them. And the Triangulum already appeared twice]]. One of the endings even includes realizing this trope and deciding to [[spoiler:fight a never-ending war with every Administrator coming to earth and trying to destroy humanity, with the party out to defend the world and regressing it over and over, until every Administrator is defeated]]. This ending is even implied to eventually [[DownerEnding not end well]].
* Kratos from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' tends to mention fate a lot in his battle quotes, such as saying "You can never escape fate." Considering what happened to him, it might be very justified.
* In the ending of ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'', [[spoiler:Kyle STILL ends up meeting Reala in the very same place they did before despite what happened after the final battle. Coincidence?]]
** This trope is zigzagged in the game in general. [[spoiler:Reala]] coming back at all was a case of [[spoiler:ScrewDestiny]], as was [[spoiler:Judas]] [[AmbiguousSituation maybe]] [[ThePowerOfFriendship coming back]].
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeries'': In spite of the TimeTravel, Allies will always win.
* Present for the BigBad in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesEchoesOfTime''. Larkeicus's plan is to stop an event that's about to happen from causing crystals to disappear from the world 2,000 years in the past [[TimeyWimeyBall (...somehow)]]. He calculates the exact time and location of the event, [[spoiler:which is in the middle of the air. So he builds a tower to reach that point. After you defeat him, Sherlotta tells him something along the lines of, "If there wasn't this tower, what could have possibly happened, all the way up here?". She then follows up by essentially [[InvokedTrope stating this trope]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'', you are chased by an unstoppable monster sent to kill you because you changed the timeline and it was bad. It is implied that it was sent by the gods. So, what do you do? [[spoiler:In the alternative/proper ending you find a magical mask that lets you exist in two places at once. You let your other self get killed to free yourself from destiny and then you stop destiny again using a magical sword to destroy the monster.]]
* In ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'', [[spoiler:you fight fate, or rather, FATE.]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Things don't exactly go smoothly afterwards...]]
** You get several opportunities (and multiple playthroughs) to try and avoid [[spoiler:the stabbing scene]] which was foreshadowed in the opening sequences. It doesn't work.
* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' (pictured above) has the Bad Ending where [[spoiler:you fail to defeat Lavos, followed by it ultimately destroying the earth.]] [[NightmareFuel Sleep tight,]] [[SarcasmMode kiddies.]]
** (SNES Version) '''But... The Future Refused to Change.'''
** (DS UpdatedReRelease) '''In the End, the Future Refused to Change.'''
* A good part of the common backstory of the Kusanagi, Yasakani/Yagami, and Yata/Kagura clans in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' relates to how they cannot escape from fighting the Orochi clan.
* The BigBad Dierker in ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'' said to Devlin in the Zeppelin "You should have died under my knife. Not like this.". Despite Dierker's Devil Luck to survive every ambush and attacks Devlin throws at him throughout the game, ultimately Devlin gets to kill him for good in the ending, showing Dierker can't fight his fate of dying.
* ''VideoGame/SunsetOverImdahl'' is particularly evil about this trope, since the entire plot is the main character's attempt to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong (and [[spoiler:his supposed ally's successful attempt to [[StableTimeLoop make it go wrong in the first place]]]].) There's only one apparent change: [[spoiler:while in the beginning the hero was the last survivor, in the end he gets a decent burial and a tombstone, while others are dumped in a mass grave.]]
* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'' has Gabriel Belmont attempting to ScrewDestiny, but no matter how hard he does, he cannot change it, and he cannot avoid it. Not only does he fail to save his love from death, but [[spoiler:he also becomes [[TragicMonster Dracula]]]] as the prophecy plays out; he also falls victim to [[spoiler:Satan]]'s EvilPlan all along...
* In the {{crossover}} ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsAceAttorney'' features a girl whose fate as written in the 'storytellers' book' is to die. The girl thinks that her death is her fate while Phoenix is sure that she will not die.
* ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory'' is about you teaching ''bad guys'' about this. Well...yeah.
* ''VideoGame/FearEffect''. The second game strongly gives off this message, if the things the Eight Immortals say are anything to go by.
* GameMod ''VideoGame/RedAlert3Paradox'' [[PlayingWithATrope plays with this trope]] by having it in its motto: "You can't change the universe without repercussions...", as in "TimeTravel can only make the universe worse".
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'', this ''was'' the case since the dawn of time. The Fateless One is special because he/she is ImmuneToFate, and thus is the ''only person in existence'' who can ScrewDestiny. Everyone else, even gods, can't change their fates.

* In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' the Scroll of Fate dictates the fate of everything in existence. The only ones who can fight fate are the Nephalem (the player characters) since the Scroll of Fate doesn't mention them. Their fate is unwritten. [[spoiler:This is good news for Heaven, since the Angels are otherwise destined to fall to the Prime Evil.]]
* Combined with ProphecyTwist in ''VideoGame/UmJammerLammy'': In the original version of Stage 6 ("Vital Idol"), [[spoiler:Lammy avoids [[LookBothWays getting hit and run by an out-of-control car]] so as not to end up in hell (as Chop Chop Master Onion has foretold in her dream). As she keeps running, she doesn't notice the BananaPeel that PJ Berri has left because she is in too much of a hurry, then slips on it, falls down, breaks her neck and dies, thus fulfilling Chop Chop Master Onion's [[DreamingOfThingsToCome dream prophecy]]]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Braid}}'': There are mistakes even Tim can't erase with his time powers, to wit...
** Green sparkling items and creatures cannot be manipulated by any sort of time travel.
** You can't fix attempting to use a key on the wrong door by rewinding time.
** [[spoiler:A secret star]] cannot be gotten if you solve the [[spoiler:World 4]] jigsaw puzzle too early.
** Time can no longer be rewound once [[spoiler:you see the ending]].
* The "Constant and Variable" concept in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' fits this trope, no matter what action is taken by the characters, the outcome still remains the same.
* {{Discussed|Trope}}, but ultimately subverted in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. Lucina travels back in time from a BadFuture where the Fell Dragon Grima was resurrected and destroyed most of humanity, hoping to stop his resurrection by changing history. When she only manages to change the circumstances of events leading up to its return like [[spoiler:Emmeryn's death]] rather than outright preventing them, she begins to fear this is the case. Eventually, however, it's revealed that [[spoiler:the Grima from her timeline followed her back (in its human form) and has been subtly manipulating events to ensure its resurrection]].
** Played straight in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''. After what looks like a victory, [[spoiler: [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest Jeralt is killed at the hands of]] [[DisguisedHostageGambit Kronya after disguising herself as a hostage.]] Byleth sees this right in front of their eyes and attempts to [[ResetButton turn back time using Divine Pulse]]. However, this too is fruitless, and they are forced to accept the inevitable with a heavy heart.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', PhysicalGod Vivec gives this as his reason for persecuting the [[PlayerCharacter Nerevarine]]. He actually appears to have believed the Nerevarine prophecy himself, and knew that when the real Nerevarine came along, all attempts to stop him/her would fail, giving proof of his/her legitimacy.
* It seems that fate is quite determined to have Alexander, main character of ''VideoGame/CirqueDeZale'', become the hero who will save the world. Once Alexander accomplishes his goal of getting a circus together, [[spoiler:he is kidnapped by the sorceror he was supposed to stop. Once he escapes and ends up on a deserted island, he decides to just stay in the fancy mansion that another inhabitant of the island built, resulting in said mansion getting destroyed.]] In the end, [[spoiler:Alexander destroys the device of destruction, but claims that he just did it because he wanted to, not because he was destined to.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', the guy making the 'prophecy' (that Issun would become a Celestial Envoy) didn't have as good an idea of the big picture as he thought he did. Ishaku always pushed Issun to be ''perfect'', and eventually Issun got fed up and left to wander the world. Which is good because Amaterasu awakens in Kamiki, miles away from the Poncles' village, and serendipitously Issun is right there to help. Turns out Amaterasu doesn't care about an Envoy's artistic skill so much as his willingness to accompany and [[HeroicMute speak for]] her.
* ''VideoGame/RandalsMonday'': It seems more and more like this is the case as the game goes on. [[spoiler:Randal has to make a deal with demons to [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] this.]]
* It didn't matter what Rean and Class VII did in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' despite their best efforts. There is no way to [[spoiler:prevent the Nameless One from dying just like according to the Black Records prophecy and unleashing the curse all over Erebonia and the continent. What's worse is that [[CosmicPlaything Rean]] does the deed ''himself'' when he loses it in his UnstoppableRage.]]
* In the world of ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'', you must pay off the "debt" you accumulated in life by staying in the Eighth Underworld for a certain amount of time, before being allowed to leave and reach the Ninth Underworld - the "true" eternal rest. If you haven't paid off your debt, you can't cross the gate. If you try to cheat the system by stealing a Double N Ticket (which are reserved for good souls), the AfterlifeExpress will ''jump into Hell'' instead of crossing the gate. The Gate Keeper says it best, "Your destiny...cannot be purchased."
* In ''VideoGame/TheWhisperedWorld'', the main character Sadwick is shocked and bewildered when he receives a prophecy from a forest oracle, foretelling that he will be responsible for the end of the world. As Sadwick is actually [[spoiler:the subconscious of a comatose boy, and his world is just a figment of his imagination]], this comes to pass at the end of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/CorpseParty'', anyone who dies in [[EldritchLocation Tenjin Elementary]] is destined to die in any and all future time loops. What's more, the method of death will get progressively worse and worse with every loop.
* ''VideoGame/{{Enderal}}'' begins with a prophecy that a great cleansing will occur, slowly devouring millions of lives, because the AbusivePrecursors order it. And that it cannot be fought because the cycle of world destruction has happened endless times. [[spoiler:Seeing as they also ''created the heroes of each iteration'' and manipulated their journey to the point they can make each generation speak the same exact fallacies word-for-word, it was practically inevitable. No matter what you do, even when one of their servants goes OffTheRails and gives the player a second chance, Enderal is destroyed.]]
* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies'', this is essentially what ends the Aether arc in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps4''. ''3'' seemed to end the story on a neat, paradox-free StableTimeLoop, but ''4'' clarifies that [[RealityEnsues such means any actions taken within the loop do nothing but prolong the cycle, and as such are meaningless]]. [[spoiler:The Apothicons may lose the Great War to the Keepers but, as pointed out in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYOGJ2_SChw review of Tag Der Toten]], they will ''always'' put the MPD and Divinium into countless realities, kicking off the events of the mode from "Nacht" to "Revelations" before starting again, and there's nothing Primis can do about it. The Apothicons lose the battle, but always win the war.]] Both Richtofen and Monty beleive in this trope via a deep fear of life after death, and as such keep the cycle going; [[spoiler: it takes Nikolai taking over and realising this folly to finally break the cycle via the killing of Primis and their alternates, plunging the multiverse into the Dark Aether and closing the loop for good.]]

* Even if Ange from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' [[ScrewDestiny changes the past and helps Battler come home]], [[spoiler:Battler still won't have come home, because [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble it already didn't happen that way]]]]. Though in the canonical ending, [[spoiler:Battler is one of the only two survivors of the incident on the island, and the whole series is how he tries to figure out what happened during those two days on Rokkenjima. The whole scenario is flipped around: No matter what happens, everyone but Battler and Eva are going to die on the island since that's simply how it happened.]]
* In ''Steins;Gate'', the concept of Attractor Fields plays with this. Certain groups of World Lines (alternate timelines) will always converge on the same result. Using TimeTravel, you can change World Lines, and thus change certain events, but unless the World Line changes to that of a different Attractor Field, then that specific event will always occur. For example, if you witness a person die on October 13th, then that person will always die that day, no matter what the cause is. [[spoiler:However, the True Ending reveals that TrickedOutTime is possible.]]

* Happens all the time in ''Webcomic/HitmenForDestiny'' for example [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/thorsby/destiny/series.php?view=archive&chapter=39639 here]]. Characters who have prophecies predicting their death tend to die right on time ([[spoiler:though sometimes they die earlier than predicted, destiny being fallible and damageable]]).
* Played with in [[http://www.oglaf.com/sooth/1/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' strip.
* Webcomic/{{Goblins}} pulls this on a magnificent scale - Goblins are named after prophecies of their future so Saves a Fox attempts to thwart destiny by killing a fox. [[spoiler:Guess what? It was suffering from a disease which would have left it to die a slow painful death - in context, she actually ''saved a fox''.]]

** [[spoiler:John]] is the only person able to actually fight this, [[spoiler:as since he's no longer tied down to the basic causality of the Incipisphere, his actions as he flits across time and space can actually change the alpha timeline. Considering how narrowly the kid's made it out alive, this is more than a little scary for him.]]

** And when the above two examples are mixed together, [[spoiler:it still ends up that this trope is played straight. Even when John teleports the Kids in using his Retcon powers to stop Lord English's younger self before he can become Lord English, it still ends up being the event that creates him anyways.]]
** It really doesn't help that [[spoiler:Lord English is ''also'' able to manipulate Fate for his own ends, being a Lord of Time who gained game-breaking powers thanks to playing and beating a Dead Session. The very juju that granted John his power was originally Caliborn's.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' this rule is what gives Creator/BenjaminFranklin [[http://www.spinnyverse.com/2011/10/28/10282011/ superpowers.]]

* In ''WebVideo/TheKingDragonCanon, Dennis plays a Telltale-Games-esque version of the game, but due to a PlotlineDeath in the original, a certain choice reeks of ButThouMust (Much to his dismay.)

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', in the 'Pandemic' two-parter. The kids rope Craig into becoming a member of their Peruvian flute band and end up in a hidden Peruvian temple as giant Guinea-pigs try to take over the world. They see a picture of Craig on a temple wall and insist that he's part of a prophecy to defeat them, so he ''has'' to keep going. Even the evil Guinea-Pirate calls him TheChosenOne. Craig decides he's had enough, and tries to prove that he does have a choice, and that you can just walk away - pretty gutsy when you're a kid and it's five against one. Except in doing so, he steps on a stone that leads to him defeating the evil Guinea-Pirate. Sorry Craig, but you're going to have lasers shooting out of your eyes whether you like it or not.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' episode "Seer No Evil", a gypsy moth named Cassandra gives a series of unlikely predictions to everyone except Zipper, but they all end in different ways than expected. Monterey Jack gets a pink fur coat (he gets covered in cotton candy), Gadget would have a run-in with a tall, dark stranger (specifically, the VillainOfTheWeek's monkey), Dale would fly without wings (a magnet picks him up after he gets his foot stuck in a thimble), and Chip would end up running into an elephant and get crushed by a trunk, implying that he would die. However, it was an automated elephant at the entrance of the fun house, and the trunk in question [[spoiler:had all of the stolen loot as well as Dale, Monty, and Gadget trapped inside, and they used force to knock it down and pry it open.]] Luckily, Chip didn't die, because [[spoiler:there was a hole in the floor.]]

-->'''Future Danny:''' ''I'' still exist! That means ''you'' still turn into ''me!''

* The ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "Epilogue" (also a FullyAbsorbedFinale for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'') has former CADMUS leader Amanda Waller explaining to Terry how her branch engineered his entire life to be the next Batman, from arranging for him to be conceived with Bruce Wayne's DNA instead of his actual father's, to setting up the DeathByOriginStory of his parents. The assassin they contracted for that purpose refused to go through with it, leaving the [=McGinnis=] family alive. Fate had other plans, however and Terry's father was later murdered by Derek Powers, coincidentally around the same time that Terry met the aged Bruce Wayne and managed to connect the dots about his identity as the former Batman.
** On the other hand, the very same episode emphasizes the choice Terry had in becoming who he is and how he's grown, considering the vast number of psychopathic or self-destructive nut-jobs CADMUS also ended up creating. It may have been fate that turned Terry into Batman, but it's Terry himself that became a hero.

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', one episode shows the Flash's grandson Impulse going back in time through a one-way time machine to prevent his grandfather from being killed by a supervillain named Neutron which he believes will prevent the world from being devastated by Neutron's uncontrollable power. He succeeds in saving Flash and also eliminating Neutron's power with a blue pill that the future Neutron gave him. Neutron is changed by Impulse's actions, but the world continues to be devastated.
** However, he ''does'' later help change the outcome of [[spoiler:the Reach invasion; by helping prevent Blue Beetle's FaceHeelTurn, the Reach are ultimately prevented from taking over Earth like they did in Impulse's BadFuture.]] The season finale (which until the revival was thought to be the last episode) suggests that there ''would'' be other threats to the Earth that might lead to the same (or similar) outcome, but until Season 3, this can't be known for certain.

--> "I can tell you from personal experience that time travel is overrated. For a while there, I was beginning to believe that Jughead was right, that you really ''can't'' fight fate. But when I took charge of the situation, I proved that a bad day is just a bad day, even if you have to repeat it, [[OnceAnEpisode in a little town called Riverdale.]]"
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'': This is the main reason why [[spoiler:Esther stopped pursuing Ben and started dating Antonio. While she really does like him, she realizes that her feelings can't compare to what's happening between him and Kai -- added with the knowledge from Spanner that the two are married in the future, she realizes that there's no point in fighting for him anymore since Ben and Kai are ''meant'' to be together.]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "The Time Travelers Pig" has Dipper getting a time-traveling device in order to go back in time and not hit Wendy in the eye with a baseball. But it's shown that no matter how many times Dipper goes back in time, he will always hit Wendy and she'll always start dating Robbie. The one timeline where he doesn't hit Wendy also prevents Mabel from getting her pet pig. Dipper decides that he can't take away Mabel's happiness and goes back in time to help Mabel win her pig, but also lose Wendy.

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'': After befriending Timezone, a Bang Baby with time powers, Static wants to go back five years into the past and help quell the Dakota Riots... and save Static's mom, who died working as an EMT that night. He saves her from a collapsing building and begs her to stay away from danger. However, just as they have to return to the present, he sees her rush into a dangerous situation to help, having rejoined her team against his wishes.

** Which means that with enough firepower, you cannot only Fight Fate, but you can also [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriend Fate]]. Befriend her right into the hospital. Then start [[ThereIsOnlyOneBed sharing a bed]] with her in [[TimeSkip a few years]]...
*** And if WordOfGay is anything to go by, the term [[ScrewDestiny "screwing fate"]] takes on a whole new level of meaning.

* The concept of predestination, which is common in Western Christianity, especially in Calvinist denominations, less so in Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism, but also in Islam. While the idea that the ultimate fate of every human being is ''foreknown'' by God is accepted by most, "Predestination" is normally associated with the idea that God picks who he will save ''completely'' independently of what that person does in life, i.e., no one actually has any true choice or free will in choosing or rejecting God and their final fate in the afterlife, it's all just destiny and what God wants to do with them. The reason given is usually that salvation is a freely given gift, and not something one can earn. In Christianity this ranges from hardcore Calvinism (God actively predestines people to Hell) to a lighter form in Catholicism (what God knows will happen must inevitably happen, but he does not cause it).

* The concept of predestination, which is common in Western Christianity, especially in Calvinist denominations, less so in Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism, but also in Islam. While the idea that the ultimate fate of every human being is ''foreknown'' by God is accepted by most, "Predestination" is normally associated with the idea that God picks who he will save ''completely'' independently of what that person does in life, i.e., no one actually has any true choice or free will in choosing or rejecting God and their final fate in the afterlife, it's all just destiny and what God wants to do with them. The reason given is usually that salvation is a freely given gift, and not something one can earn. In Christianity this ranges from hardcore Calvinism (God actively predestines people to hell) to a lighter form in Catholicism (what God knows will happen must inevitably happen, but he does not cause it).

* The concept of predestination, which is common in Western Christianity, especially in Calvinist denominations, less so in Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism, but also in Islam. While the idea that the ultimate fate of every human being is ''foreknown'' by God is accepted by most, "Predestination" is normally associated with the idea that God picks who he will save ''completely'' independently of what that person does or believes in life, i.e., no one actually has any true choice or free will in choosing or rejecting God and their final fate in the afterlife, it's all just destiny and what God wants to do with them. The reason given is usually that salvation is a freely given gift, and not something one can earn, with [[InsaneTrollLogic actually even being capable of accepting the gift on one's own accord being considered "earning it" somehow.]] Many have pointed out, including many other Christian denominations, that this belief is essentially saying God is deliberately choosing to screw over most of the world, and that it completely negates the whole "God allows suffering and evil to exist because we all must have free will" argument used by most Christian denominations.

** [[spoiler:Naruto would later discover that he was one of the reincarnations of one of the sons of the Sage of Six Paths, destined to forever fight his brother throughout every reincarnation, [[ScrewDestiny he ultimately subverted this fate by making peace with his current incarnation]], Sasuke.]].

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', it's possible to fight Fate. But look out, he can [[TakenForGranite turn people to stone]] and his {{power level|s}} is around 3,000, so...what? [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Wrong Fate? Oh. Um...never mind, then]].

* In episode 26 of ''Manga/ZettaiKarenChildren'', an Esper dolphin whose visions have always been 100% accurate is introduced. He has two particularly dire predictions: the first being his death by several gunshots; and the second one, where [[spoiler:a war erupts between Normals and Espers, and a grown Kaoru has become the Queen of Catastrophe leading the Espers. Minamoto ends up gunning her down]]. Needless to say, Minamoto is determined to ScrewDestiny. He actually manages to subvert the first vision; his interference causes [[spoiler:the dolphin to die from only ONE bullet]], proving that just maybe the visions aren't infallible.

** Returns in the "sequel" ''[[VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero Steins;Gate 0]]'' only this time Okabe actually figures out how to exploit it in his own favor. [[spoiler: While he's running for the Time Leap Machine in the year 2025, his friends act as decoys to interfere with the enemy tracking them down, banking on the fact that he saw them alive up to the year 2036 to keep them alive. Much later, the heroes are trying to send Mayuri and Suzuha back in time to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, but unfortunately, a missile is destined to be launched at them to prevent them from changing the future. Okabe manages to alter events enough that the time machine leaves just before the missile destroys it, and to make sure it sticks, he observes the event to make sure the Attractor Fields prevent it from being changed.]]

* ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'': ''Belief'' that this is true is a possible cause of Setsuna Syndrome, wherein the person attempts to [[{{Railroading}} railroad]] canon events into place. This usually places them at odds with most other loopers, who tend to cause severe timeline changes out of boredom.

* The StableTimeLoop in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' involves some elements of this trope. [[spoiler:Ellone]] repeatedly sends [[spoiler:Squall's consciousness]] into the past in an effort to change it, but concludes after repeated failures that changing the past is impossible. The BigBad also mucks around in the past in an effort to change it, but although the meddling causes quite a bit of trouble for everyone involved, it ends up ''causing'' the very results it was intended to prevent.
** Squall himself also catches some You Can't Fight Fate; he doesn't want to be in charge of anything and takes it very badly when he's [[YouAreInCommandNow summarily appointed leader of SeeD]] thanks to Cid's knowledge of the StableTimeLoop, but not only does he grow into and accept the role as his destiny, he also gives [[spoiler:Edea]] the information which [[spoiler:she and Cid]] use to found [=SeeD=] and put him in charge in the first place.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', the main plot of the big bad is to [[spoiler:win the power of the gods to control humanity's own history.]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' focuses on TimeTravel to avoid a BadFuture. Despite going into various decades, centuries, ''alternate'' centuries or even obtaining the paradox endings, [[spoiler:it always ends with Etro dying, time itself being destroyed and the Caius achieving his goal]].
** Many people see ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' as the same thing: The party resolves to fight fate by saving their world and escaping the curse of the L'cie (turning to crystal or turning into a monster), [[spoiler:however while they do save their home, they are only saved from the curse by the intervention of one of the Gods (Who's intervention causes the events of the sequel to take place). ]]

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX'', the Master of Masters could see into the future and wrote what he saw down in the Book of Prophecies. The last page of the book fortells of a great battle in which darkness will prevail and the light will expire, the end of the world. When one of his students, Ira, asks if there's any way to prevent this future, the Master tells him it's not possible and they need to plan for what comes AfterTheEnd. The Master is proven right, and the events he saw play out in what is known in the franchise as [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Keyblade War]].
** There is the matter with Young Xehanort. He is one of the few things the Guardians of Light simply can't do jackshit about due to the rules of time travel that, while preventing someone from accessing their time travel memories, still allow them to have precognition about what is to come. Whether they defeat him or not, Young Xehanort will return back in time and gain an urge to leave the islands and become the Xehanort as we know today.

* The MegaCrossover FanWebcomic ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' uses a highly meta version of this and BecauseDestinySaysSo. The characters are aware of their fictionality, the stories they are from AND the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality so the destiny that says so and/or the fate they can't fight. More directly: [[Film/{{Labyrinth}} Jareth]] desperately tries to be a hero but [[RunningGag always fails]] and got [[SuperPoweredEvilSide villainous]] [[ParanoiaFuel backlash]] because of it. [[Film/{{Zombieland}} Tallahassee]] tried to escape his {{canon}} to bring back his son...[[TearJerker and failed]].

* ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' has the Golden Age Prophecy, which predicts that two Sons of Adam (the Narnians' terms for a male human) and two Daughters of Eve (the Narnians' terms for a female human) will defeat the White Witch and restore peace in Narnia. It turns out that the Pevensie children are indeed the prophesized four. Although the White Witch tried to kill them to maintain her rule over Narnia, the siblings successfully defeat her and become the sworn protectors of Narnia.

** In the aftermath of Nirnaeth Arnoedia, Huor (Man) prophesied to Turgon (Elf) that new hope would spring from the two of them, saying "...from you and from me a new star will arise." This later proved to be true, for his son Tuor wedded Turgon's daughter Idril, and their son was Eärendil The Mariner, who sailed to Undying Lands to plead mercy for Two Kindreds. Eärendil himself was set to sail to sky with Silmaril on his ship, thus becoming the Morningstar.
* This trope is actually part of the draw of ''Literature/MachineOfDeath'' Many characters try to subvert their, or other peoples, predictions out of fear or wanting to prove the machine wrong. You explicitly know they die of whatever their paper says anyway, but [[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=675 according to the comic that spawned the project]] "part of the fun would be seeing how".

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Hippolyta learns that Wonder Woman is prophesied to die, so she arranges ''ComicBook/TheContest'' and riggs it so that her daughter is stripped of the title and ComicBook/{{Artemis}} becomes the new Wonder Woman. In the end this ensures that [[ProphecyTwist both Diana and Artemis die]]. (They get better).
** ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie Sandsmark is told repeatedly by her half brother ComicBook/{{Hercules|Unbound}} that she can't alter her fate of serving and protecting their father Zeus. Her ScrewDestiny goes much better than Hippolyta's, but Zeus does manage to manipulate her actions far more than she's like anyway.

#Everything does change, except for the one thing that the characters actually ''want'' to change. This is more common with TimeTravel stories, where a time traveller tries to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong (saving one particular loved one, hometown, etc.) but find that no matter how hard they try and how many times they time travel back, their attempts to do so still result in their loved one or hometown being gone. There might be an explanation involving some form of the grandfather paradox where the time traveller can't change that particular event because it's what led them to time travel in the first place; thus if they succeded they would never have started time traveling, which of course means that their loved one or hometown wouldn't have been saved. In any case, expect AnAesop about how there's no use crying over spilt milk and that it's important to move on.