Line #49 Main/PrescienceIsPredictable


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7	->''"If you handed (a man) the complete scenario of his life, the unvarying dialogue up to his moment of death -- what a hellish gift that'd be. What utter boredom! Every living instant he'd be replaying what he knew absolutely. No deviation. He could anticipate every response, every utterance -- over and over and over and over and over and... Ignorance has its advantages. A universe of surprises is what I pray for!"''
8	-->-- '''Leto Atreides II''', ''Literature/ChildrenOfDune''
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10	Have you ever been in line to a movie, and [[{{Spoiler}} someone else blabs the end]]? Or worse, you overhear the plot of the entire movie? [[ItWasHisSled After tossing a sled]] at the blabber, you now have to sit through a movie you will not enjoy as much or be as surprised at. Annoying, isn't it? Now imagine that you had the power to see the future in such exact detail that you are effectively TheOmniscient. Not only would you [[SeenItAll live a life with no surprises]], but [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow you'd know things]] no sane person should. You'd know the names of all your children, when and how they'll die, and [[YouCantFightFate if the laws of the universe make it impossible to change what has already been predicted, you'll be powerless to stop it.]]
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12	It's worse if someone is capable of any kind of action. You know everything about the future? That means you already know if you will attempt to avert the future. You already know how this attempt will turn out. You already know what you will think when you make the attempt. In fact, it will be impossible for you to think of doing something different. You will think what you will think, and you will do what you will do, and you already know what they are.
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14	So it goes for some [[FateAndProphecyTropes oracles]] and [[DeusEstMachina superpowerful intellects]]. They often go [[MadOracle mad]] from [[GoMadFromTheRevelation the knowledge]], their [[YouCannotChangeTheFuture inability to affect the future]], and the sheer monotony of it all, and thus turn into [[TheFatalist fatalistic]] {{Straw Nihilist}}s who have NothingLeftToDoButDie; If the future [[TemporalMutability is at all malleable]], they will become obsessed with unpredictability, living a life of [[ScrewDestiny screwing destiny]] to its most extreme and setting greatly chaotic events in motion just so that the outcome can become unpredictable.
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16	Compare how the LivingLieDetector is often fascinated by the ConsummateLiar. Contrast ScryVsScry and XanatosSpeedChess, which have oracles who are anything ''but'' bored. Overlaps with OmniscientMoralityLicense when the future is not known by all characters.
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18	----
19	!!Examples:
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21	[[foldercontrol]]
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23	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24	* In ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', Eriol claims that this was Clow Reed's motivation for setting events in motion to pass his powers on to Sakura. ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' and ''Manga/XxxHolic'', however, present [[PowerIncontinence an altogether different reason]].
25	* KnightTemplar[=/=]WellIntentionedExtremist Enrico Pucci seeks to invoke this in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean''. His belief is that if mankind already knows what their futures hold for them, there will be no more reason for war or suffering, since all the uncertainty will be taken out of life. In order to pull this off, Pucci [[spoiler:''resets all of existence'' by speeding up time to the point of the universe's destruction and recreation. However, he stops just short of a full cycle in order to finish off [[TagalongKid Emporio Alnino]], the only one of the good guys who wasn't KilledOffForReal. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard This is Pucci's undoing]], as Emporio pulls out an EleventhHourSuperpower to finish off Pucci for good]].
26	* Narumi Kiyotaka from ''Manga/{{Spiral}}'', even more obviously ''bored'' in the prequel ''Spiral: Alive''. It is hinted that the events of the manga happen because he was just too bored, and stated to be the reason he acts like an idiot and does ridiculous things such as dressing up in furry costumes: to spice things up in his boring life. Although his ability to predict ''everything'' is presented more as a form of incredibly high intellect than a supernatural ability to see the future, he is still considered a "god" by everybody else. [[spoiler:Ayumu eventually outwits and defeats him]], but Kiyotaka is so enigmatic that it can be argued he ''knew'' and in fact ''arranged'' this outcome. There's no way to know for sure.
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29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* Downplayed in ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'': the Midnighter has a huge amount of advanced circuitry in his head that allows him to run any battle a million times in his head, ensuring victory (which he apparently doesn't find [[VictoryIsBoring boring]]). The only two times he can't predict the fight, he's understandably shaken. (The first time, it's against a guy who does nothing at all, so he can't react; the second time, he's against [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} the Joker]], and [[ConfusionFu has no idea what he's going to do]].)
31	* Happens to a character from one of Creator/HarveyComics' ''WesternAnimation/CasperTheFriendlyGhost'' or ''ComicBook/HotStuffTheLittleDevil'' comics. He acquires a witch's crystal ball and sees the future so that when all the exciting things happen, he's totally bored because he already knows everything that's going to happen.
32	* In the late 1990s ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' run, Monty the precog believes that his life in meaningless because he knows every possible future. It takes him nearly ''dying'' on an ill-planned casino run with Deadpool to convince him life is worth living, because for a moment, he didn't know if he would live or die, thus learning the future is not set.
33	* In one incarnation of ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', one of the men who goes by Negative Man can see a short distance into the future. He ''believes'' he can't change what he sees, and thus is understandably cynical.
34	* ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'''s version of [[{{God}} Yahweh]] suffers from this since he knows how everything will turn out since he created all the rules by which the universe works, started everything, and is everywhere. Lucifer's own attempts to defy Yaweh's foreknowledge were all planned for at the beginning of the universe. The second half of the series has Yahweh withdraw from the universe to try and create an outcome where he does not know every last detail. Even observing would render this moot. Surprisingly, this kind of works. He knew generally how things would turn out, but not specific details, and is perhaps for the first time in his existence surprised by the ending.
35	* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', Nico [[spoiler:inflicts this on Gert's parents when she encounters them in the past. Consequently, they both ''know'' that the course of action they're taking will lead to their own and their daughter's death, but cannot change anything they do, listening to themselves justify actions that lead to their doom]].
36	* The title character of the near-future gangster comic ''ComicBook/{{Skreemer}}'' had seen his whole future by the time he was in his teens, including who he'll marry, who will betray him, and how he'll die. This leads to him taking outrageous risks (such as a home full of balconies with no railings, or walking through hails of gunfire). It also backfires in weird ways, such as when he tells a loyal henchman that he knows he'll turn traitor -- so the henchman does so, thinking it's what Skreemer ''wants''.
37	* Dr. Manhattan in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''. His reaction is to stop caring what happens. When [[spoiler:a tachyon swarm disrupts his ability to see the future]], he becomes ''excited'', saying that he'd almost forgotten how wonderful it was ''not'' to know what was going to happen next.
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40	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
41	* The protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' discovers a book in which all his future actions are written, and learns that in heaven, there are absolutely no surprises. The book didn't predict that he would ''[[HellOfAHeaven flee heaven]]'' because of this.
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44	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
45	* ''Film/TheAirIBreathe'': "Pleasure" is a mob enforcer who has the ability to see into the future. He seems to be thoroughly depressed by his [[YouCantFightFate "being nothing but a witness to coming events, unable to help"]].
46	* The killer in ''Film/TellMeHowIDie'' is a previous participant in a series of clinical trials that a pharmaceutical company is performing to test a drug that gives people visions of the future. These visions were initially fairly limited but then they kept giving him more of the drug, and since the effect is cumulative, he eventually started to see events months in advance. Video logs show that at some point he didn't even bother explaining the visions to people anymore since none of them could affect their outcome and even as an AxCrazy killer he just seems bored by everything that happens and the main characters' futile attempts to stop him.
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49	[[folder:Literature]]
50	%%* In an Italian story from the 14th century, a king buys a slave [[SpeaksFluentAnimal capable of understanding animal speech]]. However, the birds turn out to be speaking of the future. After he learns in advance of his son's death, the king decides to release the slave back to his homeland.%%This example has been commented out for not identifying the work from which it originates. Do not uncomment it without adding the work.
51	* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' has a notable example. [[spoiler:Ronnie, the demon with the immortality elixir,]] has this power, noted its drawbacks, and turned it off.
52	* Though we never meet him, a central character in the ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon'' story "Fivesight" has this in spades. He can see the future, but ''only'' the bad things, and he can do ''nothing'' to stop them from happening. Not the gruesome death of his lover's son, not their breakup, and not [[spoiler:his own death at the hands of the dumb kid she'd been planning to cheat on him with]]...
53	* The [[OurWightsAreDifferent Wights]] in ''Literature/TheCarpetPeople'' are an entire race who have an intrinsic knowledge of the future, and simply act out their lives in accordance with what they know must happen. Sometimes a Wight is born who has knowledge of ''all possible futures''. They tend to distance themselves from other Wights -- after all, if you have such an intense connection to a single future that it determines your every move, you don't want someone around reminding you that there are other possibilities.
54	* Death from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series remembers ''everything''. Everything that ''has'' happened or ''will'' happen. It's mentioned that entities like gods and demons are technically timeless, but in practice live from day to day because it's so confusing otherwise. Death may do this as well, though to a lesser degree.
55	* ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'':
56	** The most notable literature example is probably the GodEmperor Leto Atreides II. His [[GambitRoulette plan, over three thousand years]] of his life is to influence human breeding so as to create a human whose actions cannot be predicted by precognitives or prescients. Bear in mind that this is because Leto ''has'' calculated all possible futures and this course is the only way to prevent [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the extinction of humanity]] [[spoiler:by ultimate prescient hunter-killer machines]].
57	** Before that, Leto's father Paul discovers the terrible truth of being an Oracle -- the more a prophetic vision is fulfilled, the harder it is to avoid the rest of the vision, effectively being locked into it. It becomes worse after he becomes blind, and deals with the handicap by moving lock-step with his vision without any deviations. Eventually he realizes that the vision he had at first accepted wasn't such a great idea after all, and in the end, he sacrifices his powers rather than see his vision out to its ultimate conclusion. It takes his son Leto II to work his way around this by merging his father's already in progress vision with several new ones played out for a few thousand years.
58	** A slightly different take involves a weakness of the Spacing Guild. Because they use FasterThanLightTravel but don't have FTL sensors, [[PsychicStarshipPilot navigators use prescience to choose a safe course]]. This leads them to use their other applications of prescience in the same way, choosing the safe course and not realizing that others will choose the riskier way.
59	** This is ultimately the undoing of [[spoiler:Paolo, Paul's EvilTwin ghola]]. He consumes so much {{Spice\|OfLife}} that he becomes effectively omniscient, seeing the entirety of space and time at once... and immediately goes catatonic from the sheer predictability and boredom of it.
60	* Strangely averted by Artos in the ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' novels. After receiving [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement the Sword of the Lady]], he has clear and specific visions of the future seemingly at will, and there's no indication that they're anything less than 100% accurate and reliable. It never seems to get him down, though.
61	* ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'': The bonus chapter "Mirai Fukuin" focuses on two psychics with different types of precognition who both exhibit ennui resulting from knowing precisely where their lives are going. Shizune can foresee bad things happening to others, but because of [[CassandraTruth bad experiences]] in the past, she is too timid to warn them, resulting in them coming to pass. In the chapter, Mikiya helps her overcome her passivity by being the first person to believe her and helping her actually avert a negative outcome, showing that this is possible. Meanwhile, Mitsuru, the other psychic, perceives the world as a RubeGoldbergDevice that he can bring into any configuration he desires, and is consequently bored out of his mind, distracting himself by blowing up property for money. His boredom ends when Shiki uses her own powers to take away his precognition, leaving him [[FishOutOfWater floundering in a world where he cannot be certain of anything]] for the next decade.
62	* This is the reason why ''Literature/GoodOmens''' Anathema Device destroyed the book of prophecies left to her by her ancestor at the end of the book. After living her life around Agnes' previous book of prophecies and trying to decode it, Newton convinces her to give up being a "professional descendant".
63	* The interfaces from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya''. The desire to avert this is likely what drove Ryoko into the radical faction of the entity, and Kyon notes in the novels that Yuki becomes noticeably happier after she loses this ability.
64	* Atium in the ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'' books is treated as the ultimate weapon, since it allows the user to see a few moments into the future and thus predict their foe's actions, but [[DarkActionGirl Vin]] from [[Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy the original trilogy]] manages to use this trope to defeat an atium-burner with a carefully timed feint.
65	* In Creator/FrancisCarsac's "Les monts de destin", the main character travels to a planet whose native population is slowly dying off from apathy. Nobody can figure out why. He eventually meets with another human who reveals that there is a hidden device that captures anyone who comes near and shows them their future in its entirety before letting them go. Worse, the natives consider it a rite of passage, so all of them go on a pilgrimage to the device. The man also reveals that he is supposed to die the same day. He is accidentally shot minutes later. The protagonist travels to the device and, predictably, is shown his own future. However, the device is almost out of power, so the vision is soon all but forgotten. He still remembers the name of his future homeworld, the death of his lion companion, and he death of the woman he loves. Even knowing the truth, he still goes to that planet, where all these events still happen (in the sequel novel, ''La Vermine du Lion''). The device turns out to be planted by AbusivePrecursors who were about to die out, and were determined to allow no other race to take their place. (That's what they did to the less advanced planets; the more advanced ones were nuked outright.)
66	* In ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'', prophets are rare [[MageSpecies Others]], who are able to make predictions that are most definitely going to happen, as long as there is a human who hears it. If there is no human nearby, then the future remains in flux until such time as one does hear it. In this case, if the prophecy is very bad, the prophet may become the target of a [[GeniusLoci Twilight]] entity known as the Tiger, whose goal is to kill the prophet and any Other, who has heard the prophecy before they tell a human, in an attempt to prevent it. This is because prophecies are an unconscious will of the human race, manifested through the Twilight. Prophecies tend to be vague enough that no one truly knows if they have deciphered it right. For example, the witch Arina claims to have averted a prophecy in the early 20th century involving Russia, resulting in the UsefulNotes/RedOctober. However, as the Tiger tells her, attempting to avert a prophecy typically results in it coming to pass later, and usually with worse consequences than originally. Prophets are also able to use tiny prophecies to predict certain actions. For example, a young prophet dating Anton's daughter immediately agrees to go eat ice cream with Anton upon seeing him, pointing out that this is what Anton was going to suggest anyway. He later explains that it's a mix of prophesying and deduction: Anton always invites him to eat some ice cream, whenever he wants to have a serious talk. Also, he sensed himself having a sore throat the following day, hinting at him eating something cold the day before. There are also seers, but they are simply very good predictors, whose predictions (not prophecies) have a varying probability of coming to pass.
67	* The Clayr in the ''Literature/OldKingdom'' series like it when things go this way. They initiate new girls into their ranks because they had a vision showing that girl in the initiation ceremony. However, if the future becomes more and more difficult to see, that means more and more things are likely to go wrong... or that there may not ''be'' a future.
68	* Evanna the witch from ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' has this, and has taken a neutral stand on most things. Though, when she realizes that [[spoiler:her father [[MeaningfulName Des Tiny]] has fiddled with time and space to use his 2 sons to essentially cause a dystopian apocalypse, she realizes that maybe fate isn't totally set in stone]].
69	* Averted in ''Literature/SlaughterhouseFive''. Although the Tralfamadorians [[NonLinearCharacter see the past, present, and future as one]], without any possibility of changing the future (and Billy Pilgrim, UnstuckInTime, comes to see time this way too), [[TheFatalist they accept it with equanimity]].
70	* This trope is the main premise of Creator/TedChiang's "Story of Your Life", except that the protagonist is surprisingly okay with knowing the future; she compares it to the experience of knowing how a story ends but still wanting to read it.
71	* In ''Timequake'' by Creator/KurtVonnegut, the world had a kind of existential crisis and skips back to ten years ago. Everyone has to replay the last ten years, doing everything exactly the same as they did last time round but aware of what's going to happen.
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74	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
75	* One episode of ''Series/SevenDays1998'' features a seer who's been living on some sort of suppression meds for the last decade or so due to the trope.
76	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Brought up in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii The Fires of Pompeii]]" when the Doctor is trying to get [[MeaningfulName Lucius Petrus Dextrus]] to tell him what exactly Caecilius is doing making marble circuitry:
77	-->'''Lucius Petrus Dextrus:''' Enlighten me.\
78	'''The Doctor:''' What, the soothsayer doesn’t know?\
79	'''Lucius Petrus Dextrus:''' The seed may float on the breeze in any direction.\
80	'''The Doctor:''' Yeah, I knew you were going to say that. ''[turns back to the circuit]'' But it’s an energy converter.\
81	'''Lucius Petrus Dextrus:''' An energy converter of what?\
82	'''The Doctor:''' ''[grins]'' I don’t know. Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing! Keeps me on me toes. It must be awful being a prophet, waking up every morning, "Is it raining?" "Yes, it is. I said so." Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius, hmm? Who gave you these instructions?
83	* In the ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' episode "[[Recap/FringeS03E03ThePlateau The Plateau]]", a man is shown deliberately setting a pen on a mailbox, which serves as [[DisasterDominoes the catalyst for a chain of events resulting in catastrophe]]. It later turns out that the man was [[spoiler:the subject of an experiment that increased his cognitive abilities, allowing him to instantaneously calculate variables at a geometric rate, and resulting in his being able to both [[PrescienceByAnalysis predict the future]] and also control it via chain reaction. Unfortunately, his mental speed eventually surpasses his ability to communicate with anything other than a supercomputer]].
84	* Subverted in the ''Series/MetalHurlantChronicles'' episode "Master of Destiny". The deaths of every human [[spoiler:to reach the Turtle homeworld]] happens exactly as the Turtle-Sapiens and their vast computer-planet predict it, [[spoiler:but it's still the only entertainment they get in their tedious lives]].
85	* ''Series/TheXFiles'':
86	** One episode has a guy come from the future to [[GrandfatherParadox kill himself before he can invent his time travel technology]], and evokes this reason in a MotiveRant.
87	** Also the title character in "[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E04ClydeBruckmansFinalRepose Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose]]".
88	--->'''Mulder:''' I'm beginning to lose patience with our psychic, Scully. What good are his prophecies if they're not preventive?\
89	'''Scully:''' Actually, I'm starting to feel more sympathetic towards him.\
90	'''Mulder:''' So, you're convinced he's a psychic now?\
91	'''Scully:''' [[AgentScully Well, no, not really]]... but I am convinced that by thinking he can see the future, he's taken all the joy out of his life.
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94	[[folder:Radio]]
95	* Played with in an episode of ''Radio/OldHarrysGame'', where God is feeling depressed because everything is so predictable. He only snaps out of it once the Professor points out that God didn't know he was going to get depressed.
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97
98	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
99	* Every spanner in ''TabletopGame/{{Continuum}}'' is subject to this, because their model of time travel says YouCantFightFate (though Narcissists disagree). Some try to avoid learning any more about their Yet than they have to.
100	* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'':
101	** Theoretically, the Maidens know everything that pertains to Creation, up to and including its ultimate end. But if they actually do, they aren't telling anyone, which only reinforces their air of mystery. ''Glories of the Most High'' clarifies this: the Maidens don't know all the future all the time, but any time they ''do'' look into the future, they become exactly this -- to see the future compels them to bring it to pass.
102	** [[EldritchAbomination Sacheverell]], on the other hand, not only suffers this when he awakens, he puts everything, everywhere under the same effect.
103	* Odin is cursed with this in ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'': every time he uses the power of Prophecy in order to attempt to avert Ragnarok, another piece of the future leading to it will be placed in stone. The curse was designed to stop him from abusing prophecy so much; at this point, the god who put the curse on him is in a total panic, because he didn't think Odin would ''ignore'' it the way he did, and now ''he'' wants to stop Ragnarok as well...
104	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
105	** Tzeentch, the god of GambitRoulette. Technically, he ''doesn't'' see into the future, any more or less than any of the other partially precognitive Chaos Gods do. He, however, can calculate virtually every outcome of everything going on, in the entire galaxy. Constantly. He ''does'' have a Greater Daemon that can see the future... because he threw it into the "well" that was the literal axis of all of time. It emerged with two heads, [[KnightsAndKnaves one that always spoke the truth of the future and one that constantly states the opposite]]. [[UnreliableNarrator They switch roles unpredictably]]. He has eighty-one ''other'' demons constantly writing down the unending, insane gibbering, to try and glean what he can of what's to come. He controls his boredom by setting up a dozen plans at once and [[GambitPileup watching them crash into each other and spray shrapnel everywhere]] (in fact, he will never truly win, because that will leave him nothing to do, so all his plans are destined to fail so that another one can work). Entertainingly, his character is sometimes written as being so bored with how easy it is to predict the future that he complicates things arbitrarily just so it isn't anymore, making him the only chaos god who wants literal chaos more than some lower human desire.
106	** Inspired by Emperor Leto in ''Literature/GodEmperorOfDune'', the Emperor of Mankind was also able to see the future. He was also immortal (to the tune of ''over thirty-seven thousand years'' old) so his plans could afford to be very long-term. Around the time of the Horus Heresy, however, his precognitive abilities were starting to become unreliable, even outright fading, to the point he didn't realize Horus' betrayal was imminent, nor that he was taking half the Space Marine Legions with him. Turns out, [[DoomedByCanon as you should know]], this is probably due to his being nearly killed at the pinnacle of the Imperium-splitting civil war.
107	** Farseers of the Eldar craftworlds are those Eldar who walked the path of the seer, but are unable to change to another path anymore. The reason they get locked into their path is because their prognostication has gotten so accurate that any path they see besides the one they are currently on [[BlessedWithSuck leads to a worse outcome]].
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Video Games]]
111	* Fateweavers in ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'' don't actually weave Fate as their title might suggest. They can only see a person's fate, [[YouCantFightFate which cannot be changed.]] The first Fateweaver you meet, Agarth, was originally a famed adventurer and hero who thought becoming a Fateweaver was an honor. Then he read his own Fate and saw his own inescapable death: as the main ingredient of an ettin's stewpot. He started drinking pretty heavily after that. ''Then'' he crossed paths with [[ImmuneToFate the Fateless One]]...
112	* Trenia from ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'' is basically the soul of the Sacred Tome that happens to be a CosmicKeystone that records the netherword's history... in advance. Sure you can [[RealityWarper write a wish in the thing and alter reality]], but [[DreamCrushingHandicap you've gotta have thumbs for that, y'know]]? So when Zetta takes up her position in the opening, she thoroughly enjoys direct interaction with things, even though she still knows what will happen.
113	* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': The Fortune confidant, Chihaya Mifune, is a street FortuneTeller who is a real psychic, capable of predicting the future for herself and others. A series of traumatic events in her childhood, as well as years of indoctrination by a {{Cult}} that took her in after she left home have all left her with an unshakable conviction that future events are set in stone and cannot be changed once foretold. Then, however, [[PlayerCharacter Joker]] comes along and, being TheTrickster he is, completely nullifies several of her predictions, giving Chihaya an inkling that her predictions are not absolute. With Joker's help, she eventually discovers that her "predictions" are merely ''warnings'' that only come true if passively accepted, like she has done all her life until then, and that anyone with sufficient willpower, e.g. Joker, can ScrewDestiny.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
117	* [[spoiler:Junko Enoshima and Izuru Kamukura]] in the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' series have this mindset. Since they have [[AwesomenessByAnalysis superhuman analytical skills]] that [[PrescienceByAnalysis allow them to predict (almost) every conceivable outcome]], they grew bored with life and were constantly looking for anything that would excite them. "Boring" pretty much became [[spoiler:Kamukura]]'s catchphrase, and [[spoiler:Junko]] early on in life became obsessed with despair, both inflicting it and feeling it [[spoiler:herself]], since the unpredictable chaos and emotional turmoil that it brings is the only thing that makes [[spoiler:her]] feel alive.
118	* This is something that endlessly bothers three characters from ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'', Shirou Yusa, Reinhard Heydrich and Mercurius. The first two experience it as a constant sense of DejaVu and both are bored out of their minds as a result and seek something that can give their lives some excitement. This is actually a side effect caused by a constant EternalRecurrence, which echoes they feel. [[spoiler:This is a result of a law created by the third guy, [[{{God}} Mercurius]]. He has an even more extreme version since the same period of time has repeated for him endlessly to the point that he knows all there is to know and ''then'' some, and is so sick and tired of it that he just wants it to end.]]
119	* ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'': Okabe quickly discovers that [[spoiler:Mayuri's death is inevitable]] in any [[AlternateTimeline world-line]] other than the original. The knowledge that whatever he does will [[spoiler:lead to her death every time]] takes a serious toll on his psyche.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Webcomics]]
123	* Sarda of ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' often complains about the conversations he has with people because he already knows how they'll turn out, and they're boring then. (Plus, having several billion years to muse them over probably hasn't done well by his sanity).
124	* Juno from ''Webcomic/AtomicLaundromat''. She takes up working in the laundromat because it will be the site of something she cannot foresee.
125	* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
126	** This appears to be the main motivation of the shape-shifting Immortal entity dubbed 'Chaos' -- she(?) hates predictability and influences events only to make them more chaotic and unpredictable. She helped the good-guys on several occasions, simply because she knew they'd lose otherwise -- and she refuses to help the bad-or-not guy escape from his prison, since the only thing she really cares about is ''not'' knowing when, and if, he'll be able to escape. She only provides occasional hints, to keep him from giving up (because that would be boring). She eventually breaks this rule of hers, but that's part of her BerserkButton of someone [[MamaBear hurting her son]].
127	** All Immortals are potentially subject to this; the longer they exist without reincarnating, the more focused they become and the further they can predict future events, from a mix of lengthy experience and constantly improving cognition. Unfortunately, this influx of boredom from excess clairvoyance and constrained-yet-godlike magical power eventually drives them sociopathic / megalomaniacal alongside any mental scars in their time awake, so they 'reset' a large fraction of their memories and personality to reincarnate after about 2-4 human lifetimes. Chaos suffered PTSD that gave her a distinct fear of being unable to save her family after resetting, so she intentionally 'stayed awake' for far longer to predict how to preserve her family long enough for them to die of natural causes, going insane in the process.
128	* Played with in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', from Othar's Twitter account. A girl from Paris volunteered for an experiment, but was basically stuck in mental time travel. For everyone outside, it was maybe an hour, but for her and the others inside the experiment, it was a thousand years. During that time, the girl predicted every event that would happen if she tried a heist, and was correct, until [[SpannerInTheWorks Othar got massively drunk]].
129	* Aradia Megido from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' has this in spades, thanks to her communion with the dead and later time powers. She is convinced they are all doomed and nothing they do can change this. She at one point considers killing Karkat just to create a divergent timeline that won't save them either. (Karkat is not amused.)
130	* Jadis from ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons''. As TheOmniscient, she knows everything, all at once, at all times, and ''cannot'' shut it off. And because she is perfectly omniscient, she never sees alternate futures: She sees the exact future, as it will happen, perfectly, including all her own actions because anything she could attempt to try and change that future is itself included in that future. Jadis is, to put it ''very'' mildly, stark raving mad and [[DeathSeeker wants to die]], all the while knowing that she ''won't'' until her alloted time is up. She no longer considers herself a sentient being, just a sort of living recording running through her lines and actions until the inevitable end.
131	* The Master AI 'Oracle' from ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'' is very close to this, engineering chaotic and unlikely events solely so he can observe the unpredictable outcome. Rather than being caused by boredom, however, it's part of his basic programming: to observe matters in order to sharpen his own ability to predict future events. He just [[AIIsACrapshoot concluded that to improve his abilities further, he needed more chaotic and unusual events... and set about creating them]].
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133
134	[[folder:Web Videos]]
135	* In ''WebVideo/ScootertrixTheAbridged'', Pinkie Pie [[FourthWallObserver knows that she's a character in an abridged series]] and she can see the future by ReadingAheadInTheScript. As the series goes on, she reads ahead less and less often, eventually explaining that knowing too much about the future makes life boring.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Western Animation]]
139	* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' gives us the Oracle Twins. One of them always sees bad futures, and has become so used to hearing bad news that everything makes her bright and perky, making her an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of this trope. The other sister, however, only sees good futures, and in the spirit of this trope acts unenthusiastic all the time due to having all of the surprises taken out of life.
140	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' has the Oracle, a.k.a. [[UnfortunateNames Pickles]], who wishes to remove his foresight abilities so he won't know the punchline of every joke hours in advance.
141	-->'''Fry:''' [[TakeThat Like watching Leno]].\
142	'''Pickles:''' I knew you would say that!
143	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Sapphire uses her future vision constantly, looking into the future where everything has already been solved. She only sees one possible future, in contrast to Garnet, who sees many due to [[spoiler:an infusion of Ruby's ScrewDestiny attitude]]. This is the main reason for her [[TheStoic calm, cool personality]], but the downside is that she forgets about how people are feeling in the present, causing her to seem callous and unfeeling at times. Her OriginsEpisode "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E25TheAnswer The Answer]]" shows the first time her prediction was ever wrong, which shocked her. Eventually, we meet Padparadscha, whose future vision [[BlessedWithSuck is cripplingly malfunctional]], forcing her to see the recent ''past'' -- and as an apparent result, she is ''[[GenkiGirl much]]'' happier than Sapphire.
144	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PrescienceIsPredictable