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1%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are commented out.
2
3"We are all connected" isn't just hippie-dippie jargon; in Fictionland it's a universal constant like gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear forces. In a narrative with many characters (or even as few as two), these will [[JustForFun/HowToGatherCharacters invariably be drawn together]] no matter how far away or distinct the characters and their troubles are. They probably won't stick together as strongly as the CharacterMagneticTeam, but what ends up happening is that everyone meets at least once and they build at least a working relationship. Essentially, every character works on a different aspect of the plot; while one tracks down the [[AngelUnaware mysterious]] woman in [[EtherealWhiteDress white]], another fights the killer after her, and a third is trying to find out where the killer gets his orders from.
4
5This can culminate in {{Season Finale}}s where the characters (either by their own plans or serendipity) come together to beat the BigBad. Otherwise, expect to see a lot of RightHandVersusLeftHand struggles as the decentralized cast often struggles against each other as much as with the villains.
6
7The series might justify this with these characters having an interwoven "fate", or their alikeness (super powers, being supernaturals, street fighters, card duelists or what have you) naturally draw them to each other. Now, if it turns out they're all significant to each other ''before'' the story starts, you're looking at OneDegreeOfSeparation. If they all stick together after meeting, then they form a CharacterMagneticTeam.
8
9Related to the LawOfConservationOfDetail and the AnthropicPrinciple -- if they weren't part of a coherent story the author wanted to tell, they wouldn't have been included in the work.
10
11Sometimes occurs because EveryoneIsRelated, other times everyone shared a MassSuperEmpoweringEvent. See also HyperlinkStory, DebutQueue, and ConnectedAllAlong.
12
13Compare FateDrivesUsTogether.
14----
15!!Examples
16[[foldercontrol]]
17
18[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
19%%* The entire cast of ''Manga/DragonBall'' is as tight as any close family could be.
20* In ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'', you soon realize that EVERYONE is connected, from the OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Mikado to the ShrinkingViolet Anri to her StalkerWithACrush teacher Nasujima to IntrepidReporter Niekawa to TheFairFolk Celty to the MisterExposition Shinra to ManipulativeBastard Izaya to the amazingly ImprobableWeaponUser Shizuo to the FrozenFace Kasuka to IdolSinger Ruri to the ButtMonkey fanboy Togusa to the TortureTechnician otakus Walker and Erica the PerpetualFrowner Kadota to the ScaryBlackMan Simon to the LargeHam Kida to ALoveToDismember Seiji to InsaneTrollLogic practitioner Namie to... well... everyone.
21* Similarly ''Literature/{{Baccano}}.'' which is written by the same author as the above but set in prohibition-era America. Most of the characters are or are at least connected to either certain gangs and crime families, or a ship that carried immortals in the early 18th century.
22* In ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'' [[spoiler:Hideki's landlady was apparently one of the creators of Chii. FridgeLogic maybe she purposefully placed Chii in his path?]]
23* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' there certainly are times when Ryoga clearly arrives in Nerima by accident. However, there are definitely other times when he appears at a coincidentally perfect time to take part in the adventure. Please consider his appearance in the cave special. Ukyo has about ten seconds to find a guy to go in with other than Ranma, cue Ryoga entering in that exact time span.
24* The cast of ''Manga/GetBackers'' is an assortment of freelancers who retrieve things, transport things, find things out, etc. for a living, plus some of their friends and enemies. Most storylines involve the [=GetBackers=] themselves, Ban and Ginji, taking a job and coincidentally running into at least two other main characters (fellow retriever Shido, information-seeker Kazuki, transporters Himiko and Akabane), plus any other sidekick, friend or associate that might accompany them (third transporter Maguruma, Kazuki's friends Juubei and Toshiki, Shido's friend Emishi). The vast majority of these characters have met at least once, on a particularly dangerous job to retrieve a component of a nuclear bomb or the job to rescue Shido's girlfriend. Maybe half of them are former members of Ginji's street gang, Volts, and all of the main six, plus current New Volts leader Makubex, have some kind of link to the series' MythArc.
25* ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' has several storylines gradually converging into one by episode 18 or so, and it suddenly turns out that all the seemingly unrelated main characters are connected to Margaret in some way.
26* ''Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar'''s prequel manga, "Lady of Pharis", features a bunch of the NPC veteran heroes, such as the Holy King Fahn, the Sage Wort, and the Dark Emperor Beld, as PC protagonists rather than the movers and shakers they eventually would become. While they do form the iconic party referenced in the anime and manga – The Six Heroes – at the end of the story, much of the story features the characters grouping together for specific conflicts, then breaking up and doing their own things. While some have tighter bonds, Wort and Beld, for example, are old companions, while Fahn and Flauss both serve the God of Light Pharis/Falis (translation differences), the only time the ENTIRE group is all functioning together as one party is at the very end, when these six heroes are the only survivors of the 100 heroes that took on the Labyrinth of the Demon King. Heck, series antagonist Karla doesn't even actively join the group until the final battle at the Labyrinth, though Wort had been watching her movements throughout the story, and yet she claims to be one of the "protagonists" of that conflict when she resurfaces as a villain in the anime and manga.
27** Subverted in the video game sequel on the SNES; while the game does feature Parn and crew having their adventure that roughly follows the original anime and manga (to the showdown with Karla), the game STARTS with the final battle in the Labyrinth, giving the player control of the Six (then Seven) Heroes, and then follows each set of surviving heroes on their quests to establish themselves as movers and shakers in the years following.
28* Turns up in a big way in ''Manga/FruitsBasket''. At first, it seems that Tohru's dealings with the Sohma clan happen when it's discovered that she's a squatter on Shigure's property. However, it later comes out that Tohru was cheered up by Yuki when they were little, and he gave her a baseball cap that used to belong to Kyo, who had befriended Kyoko, Tohru's mother, and who heard her dying words. Oh, and the car that hit Kyoko was driven by the father of Komaki, who was dating Manabe, who became Yuki's friend on the student council. The circumstances behind all these chance meetings echoes heavily into the present plot.
29[[/folder]]
30
31[[folder:Comic Books]]
32* Creator/GrantMorrison plays with this in his ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'': Each of the titular seven protagonists' stories brings them against the same foe, even though the characters themselves[[note]]except Frankenstein and ComicBook/KlarionTheWitchBoy[[/note]] never meet.
33* ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIDW'' uses this heavily. April O'Neil is an intern at Baxter Stockman's company, where Splinter and the turtles are created. Stockman is working for Krang, and one of the scientists under him is a double agent for the Shredder, most of which is established in the first issue, which also brings Casey Jones into the mix. And it extends from there, but there's pretty much no character or plot element that doesn't tie back to at least three others.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Film]]
37%%* ''Film/RepoMan''. "There's this lattice of coincidence, see?"
38* ''Franchise/StarWars''. Oh, Star Wars... If you're not a Jedi, a Jedi's close friend, or take orders from a Jedi, you're welcome to live a normal, unremarkable life. If you are one of those things, you will be dragged into an intergalactic war with the Sith. Eventually you will be packed into a small area for the final bit of Rising Action before the Climactic Fight Scene with every other named character who fits this description. This will play out the same way regardless of any qualifications any of you may or may not have about fighting evil robots and space ninjas. The ''only'' thing more powerful than the Force in a galaxy far, far away is coincidence. (Although considering that the Force flows through everything, they may be one and the same.)
39* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Film/StarTrek2009'', with Spock's mention of the "Hands of fate" that led the Enterprise crew to completion.
40%%* ''Film/LoveActually'' is all about this trope, culminating in most of the characters going to the local school play.
41* ''Film/ValentinesDay'' had this as their main gimmick, but it manages to play off as a bit more realistic than at first glance, due to not all "connections" being particularly plot important or advertised.
42* In ''Film/WhatsUpDoc'', all of the owners of the four handbags, plus their various friends, associates, and loved ones, find themselves staying at ''exactly'' the same hotel. This leads to what is possibly the best chase scene in cinema history.
43* In ''Film/FinalDestination2'', five of the characters realise that they have previously cheated death by accident, and each case was the result of one of the deaths in the first film - the reason why they have been targeted this time.
44* In ''Film/Transformers2007'', the three separate subplots involving Lennox's team, the NSA hackers, and Sam and Mikaela (as well as the main plot about, y'know, the giant robots) all converge when everyone is assembled at the Hoover Dam for the final battle.
45* Parodied in a scene from ''Film/HotShots'': Turns out pretty much all the trainee pilots are connected in some way, due to an incident involving Hartman's father being mistaken for a deer.
46* ''Film/EskimoDay'' contains many overlapping characters, all in the similar situation of taking interviews at Cambridge university. When a scene focuses on one family, some of the other main characters are frequently seen in the background.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Literature]]
50* In ''Literature/{{Unique}}'', the four main characters all run into each other occasionally throughout the story, although they only find out at the end that any of the others are anything other than normal humans.
51%%* Creator/StephenKing - ''The Stand''
52%%* Effectively averted by Creator/HarryTurtledove in his series.
53* Lampshaded and played straight during Robert Jordan's ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': Rand al'Thor tends to bring in other ''[[TheChosenOne ta'veren]]'' (an in-world term for people around whom destiny works). Destiny exists in the world, but so do free will and random chance, and the way it's possible for all three to be real is that destiny doesn't actively push anything around unless a ''ta'veren'' is nearby, at which point people will make crazily impulsive major decisions out of the blue and freakishly lucky (or unlucky) flukes of chance will happen regularly. ''Three'' of the main characters are ''ta'veren''. The book begins in their home village, along with two of their peers (special in another way) and a visiting magic-user. Those six people get broken up partway through the first book and reunited near the end in a justified way (the magic-user was looking for the rest), then broken up again early in the second book and reunited in a very {{You ALL Share My Story}} way at the end of the third. Only two of them at most were together at any time from early in the fourth book until book fourteen. By the end there are hundreds of characters, most of whom have met two or three of the main characters even if they don't know it.
54%%* Some of the characters in the ''[[Literature/EndersGame Ender]]'' series
55* Creator/CharlesDickens loves this trope. ''Literature/BleakHouse'': there are over eighty characters, all of whom turn out to be essential to the denouement. ''Literature/OliverTwist'', ''Literature/LittleDorrit'', etc. also heavily participate in this structure.
56* Creator/TerryPratchett, author of the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, lampshades this in ''Literature/MovingPictures'':
57-->Reality is a quality that things possess in the same way they possess, say, weight. Some people are more real than others, for example. It has been estimated that there are only 500 ''real'' people on any given planet, which is why they keep unexpectedly running into one another all the time.
58* His friend Creator/NeilGaiman elaborated on this in ''Literature/AnansiBoys'':
59-->It is a small world.You don’t have to live in it particularly long to learn that for yourself. There is a theory that in the whole world there are only 500 real people--the cast, as it were. All the rest of the people, the theory suggests, are extras. And what is more, they all know each other. And it’s true. Or true as far as it goes. In reality the world is made of thousands upon thousands groups of about 500 people, all of whom will spend their lives bumping into each other, trying to avoid each other, and discovering each other in the same unlikely teashop in Vancouver. There is an unavoidability to this process. It is not even a coincidence. It’s just the way the world works, with no regard for individuals or for propriety.
60* It's a major tenet of the fictional religion Bokononism in ''[[Creator/KurtVonnegut Cat's Cradle]]'', called a ''karass''. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by the narrator at one point when a near-stranger shows him a collection of photos; he reflects later that they were all part of his ''karass'', [[spoiler:their fate being to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]].
61* George R.R. Martin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
62** Usually averted - there will often be two or more viewpoint characters sharing a few scenes ([[JustifiedTrope particularly at major gatherings like weddings and tournaments]]), but characters wander away from one another just as often as they meet up, and there hasn't yet been a single gathering of all (or even most) of the main characters.
63** The opening chapters of ''Game of Thrones'' have pretty much every POV character (in that book) except Dany in Winterfell. Justified, since they were all related by blood or marriage to Eddard Stark or Robert Baratheon, who in turn were old friends and fought together during Robert's ascension. Also, a fair portion (Jon, Bran, Arya, Sansa) are still children and would be expected to be living with their parents. While they might all have been conspicuously in the same place, at least there are reasons for it.
64** As of ''A Feast for Crows'', Samwell Tarly, close friend of HeroicBastard Jon Snow, has met Jon's younger brother Bran, whom he knew of, and his younger sister Arya, though neither knew who the other was. And, as of ''A Dance with Dragons'', several POV characters are set to meet up in pursuit of Daenerys Targaryen.
65* Many characters in ''Literature/TheFatherLukeWolfeTrilogy'' who Father Wolfe encounters are either his own former students, or the ''parents'' of former or present students.
66* The many different plot threads in Creator/PeterFHamilton's ''Pandora's Star'' and ''Judas Unchained'' all follow different characters who, through one way or another, end up working against the BigBad.
67* Many of the characters in ''A Confederacy of Dunces'' are completely unrelated until a comical convergence of events at the end.
68* ''Literature/CloudAtlas'' presents an unusual example. There are six stories, taking place at different times in the same history. Each story makes a cameo in the next segment, but otherwise they are only related to each other through symbolism and parallelism.
69** And possibly through the protagonist in each story (not always the Point-of-View character) being the same soul, reincarnated over and over.
70** The film takes this even further, with many of the actors playing side characters reappearing in each time period as different characters with different relationships to each other and the main characters.
71* ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'': Combined with TheLawOfConservationOfDetail and ChekhovsArmoury. All of the seemingly unconnected characters (including the Electric Monk) are all connected together.
72[[/folder]]
73
74[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
75%%* ''Series/{{Lost}}.'' One of the UsefulNotes/{{DVD}}s even has a chart keeping score of the character interactions pre-island.
76* The first season of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' had this as a major theme, with all the divergent characters slowly coming together over the course of the story, culminating with all the characters' paths lead them to converge at Kirby Plaza for the final showdown to save the world from Sylar. Unfortunately, the later seasons seem to be trying way too hard to ''resist'' this trope, with increasingly illogical results. After coming together through S1, by S2 they're all scattered and many of them seem to have forgotten they know each other (literally in Peter's case) and from there on in they're always encountering problems they could solve if they just called in someone they know, and nine times out of ten they don't.
77** In Season 1, Mohinder (and [[FutureBadass Future!Hiro]]) both hypothesized that this is an implied side effect of having a superpower.
78** This doesn't even mention that virtually the entire cast is either a Petrelli or otherwise a relative of a Company member.
79* ''Love Soup's'' premise is based on the exact opposite. We have Alice and Gil, two Londoners who would be perfect for each other - if they knew the other existed. In the final episode, you can see them sitting in the same theater without noticing each other - even though they are the only ones not laughing.
80* ''Series/DoctorWho'': {{Lampshaded}} by the Doctor in "The End Of Time Part 1"; he has just realised that [[spoiler: TheMaster has come BackFromTheDead]] and is amazed that Wilf has been able to find him in the space of a day, where some people can spend years searching for him. Also happens with Donna in "Partners in Crime", so that the Doctor suspects that the Noble family have a very important role to play in events to come.
81%%* Pretty common in all {{Soap Opera}}s.
82* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' does this with story book characters. Snow White's story intersects with Red Riding Hood's, King Midas's daughter was supposed to [[ArrangedMarriage marry]] Prince Charming, Charming and Snow are friends with Cinderella and her prince, Hansel and Gretel retrieved the poison apple for the Evil Queen, Belle helps Grumpy, Mulan fights alongside Prince Phillip, [[BadSamaritan Rumplestiltskin]] is just everywhere...
83* Averted on ''Series/TrueBlood'' due to the large number of characters and multiple sub-plots. Seasons 2 and 4 came the closest to involving all the main characters, but even then, there were a couple missing (Eric and Pam had nothing to do with Maryanne in Season 2; Sam had nothing to do with Marnie in Season 4).
84[[/folder]]
85
86%%[[folder:Theatre]]
87%%* This trope is important to ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods''. Especially since "No one is Alone" and they all fight a giant together.
88%%* ''[[Theatre/{{Twilight}} Twilight: Los Angeles]]''.
89%%* This is the central premise of ''Theatre/AnInspectorCalls''
90%%[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Video Games]]
93* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''
94** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', where it's revealed that [[spoiler:Squall, Selphie, Seifer, Quistis, Irvine, and Zell were at the same orphanage when they were little kids and have all forgotten about it]]. The exceptions are Irvine--he's how they figured it out in the first place--and Rinoa, who [[spoiler:did have a relationship with Seifer]]. Rinoa is also the daughter of [[spoiler:Julia, who Squall's father Laguna had a crush on, and another man courted after Laguna was presumed dead]].
95** The main cast of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Ashe; a princess who lost her kingdom to invaders, Basch; the man who took the fall for the invasion, Balthier; outlaw SkyPirate and [[spoiler:son of one of the architects of the invasion]], Penelo; a young girl who lost her entire family to the war, Vaan; who lost his older brother to the invasion, and Fran; Balthier's partner who remains level headed and reminds the rest that the world is a lot bigger than their petty squabbles.
96** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', everyone is drawn to the same place (the Pulse Fal'Cie Anima) through half a dozen different motivations: Lightning and Snow want to save Serah, who was abducted by Anima; Hope wants to kill Snow for [[spoiler:leading his mother to her death in the clashes against the police]] during the Purge; Vanille hopes to [[spoiler:find Fang, from whom she was separated soon after their awakening from crystal stasis by Anima]]; Sazh just tags along with Lightning because he has no real drive in life ever since his son [[spoiler:was turned into a l'Cie by a Cocoon Fal'Cie as its defense mechanism against the intruding Pulse l'Cie--namely, Vanille and Fang]]. Lastly, Fang makes an EarlyBirdCameo in flashback cutscenes, interacting with Lightning and Snow before the Purge, and is basically driven by the desire to reunite with [[spoiler:her fellow Pulse l'Cie Vanille, though she enlists the help of the military opposed to the Purge]].
97* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' feels like eight protagonists coming together, but each going through their own story path that has no connection to any other party member, except for [[OneDegreeOfSeparation certain [=NPCs=] from one path having a connection to another NPC on a different path]]. Then the final chapter reveals that each path is connected by a cult that is determined to set free the [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13th God]], Galdera.
98* The five playable characters of ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' (plus one very important NPC) run into each other all the time, and all wind up fighting to prevent Armageddon by the end of the game, [[spoiler:though said NPC winds up becoming the first member of the Armageddon book's BossRush]]. Also, they all end up being related in some way or other (Gwendolyn and Velvet are sisters, Cornelius and Oswald are cousins, etc.)
99* During the first part of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', Link helps a number of characters of various races in their homelands. Seven years later, the majority of them discover that they are actually the sages of various elements. While exceptions exist, the pattern is sufficiently established that, when Link goes back to his youth and meets Nabooru, the player can easily guess that the same thing will happen to her in the future. A similar thing happens in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds''.
100* ''VisualNovel/HotelDuskRoom215'': Every single person checked into the hotel has SOME connection to Kyle's search for Bradley. Every. Last. One. Well, Room 215 ''is'' called the wish room...
101%%* This is the defining motif of the visual novel ''[[VisualNovel/EfATaleOfMemories ef]]'' (and its anime adaptations), in which the stories of five separate couples are ridiculously closely intertwined.
102%%* This is one of the defining motifs of ''VideoGame/HeavyRain''.
103%%* A trait of the story mode in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''
104* In ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', each scenario feels separate until the Middle Ages chapter is played and reveals that the BigBad is [[spoiler:Oersted, the chapter's protagonist who becomes the Lord of Dark Odio at the end of the scenario, and he has been terrorizing and testing humanity in all the previous chapters using his various incarnations.]] The Final Chapter involves all of the protagonists from the previous scenarios (should the player choose one of them) being teleported to the BigBad's home world to confront them.
105* The majority of the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise, particularly ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Sonic Adventures 1]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 2]]'', had Sonic and the other playable characters take separate routes, each relating to their respective arcs, only for all of them to intersect in an unlockable final-storyline.
106* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' had the three friends, including Terra, Ventus, and Aqua all take separate routes that intersect with each other. [[spoiler:However, their stories would also intersect with Sora's, as it's revealed in the unlockable Blank Points ending that Sora would be the one to save Terra from Xehanort's control, Ventus from his comatose-state, and Aqua from the Realm of Darkness.]]
107* While ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' only takes place through Shepard's perspective, much like [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 the original]], that doesn't excuse the fact that the sequel was actually an anthology of ten-to-twelve character-stories, with each story relating to one of Shepard's teammates and their respective backstories. These stories are told through recruitment-missions, conversations with them on the Normandy SR-2, and most of all, the loyalty-missions, which increases Shepard's team's odds of surviving the final suicide-mission.
108** Really, throughout the ''Mass Effect'' saga, Shepard has been collecting, through happenstance and manipulation, an army of people who ''all'' basically share his/her story: with very few exceptions, they all were born into relatively unassuming circumstances, grew to a relative amount of fame in their chosen domains, and were then swept up in the plotline through no real fault of their own. It's not so surprising, really, given how the universe works; the same peaks of evolution, the same valleys of dissolution....
109* The first two ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' games for the Game Boy Advance told the same story through two characters' perspectives, one per game. The first ''Golden Sun'' was about Isaac, as he quested to stop Felix from restoring alchemy to the land of Weyard. Meanwhile, the second game, ''Golden Sun: The Lost Age'', was about Felix, as he quested to restore alchemy to Weyard before Isaac could stop him.
110%%* Deliberately invoked by Dr. Edward Roivas in the opening narration to ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness''.
111* This is the culmination of four games worth of metaplot in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations''. The ending reveals for the first time precisely how Altaïr ibn La-Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and Desmond Miles are related: a single shared moment when the three Assassins bridge the gap between the 13th, 16th, and 21st centuries and thereby allow [[{{Precursors}} Those Who Came Before]] to communicate across time to share their secret message.
112* In ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', every single character is somehow connected to the backstory. The two strange inmates? [[spoiler:They were manipulated by Yomiel.]] The lady detective's young roommate? [[spoiler:Her father was indirectly the cause of Yomiel being made immortal.]] In some cases it's justified, as [[spoiler:Yomiel is using that night as his last chance to get revenge on everyone.]]
113* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' invokes this. Part one features Micaiah and the Dawn Brigade as they seek to emancipate Daein from Begnion repression. Part two features Queen Elincia of Crimea dealing with a rebellion in her country, and part three focuses on the hero Ike and the war between Begnion and the Laguz Alliance. All their paths converge for the final part, as all groups join to [[spoiler:fight the Goddess Ashera and restore the world.]]
114* ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'' separates the franchises whose characters are involved in the crossover into five shared realms (as opposed to each franchise having its own world like the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' games generally imply), and everyone within each realm seems to already know or at least know of each other beforehand.
115* Dr. Edward Roivas declares as much during the prologue to ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'', as the game details the human race's efforts to stop Pious Augustus from summoning [[EldritchAbomination an Ancient]] to Earth, chronicling two millennia's worth of history in the process.
116-->"This is not ''my'' story, nor even the story of the Roivas family. It is the story of ''humanity''."
117* Every game in the ''VisualNovel/ZeroEscape'' series centers around a group of seemingly-unrelated characters who are all connected to a particular event, which is the reason why they are trapped together.
118** ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'': [[spoiler:The reason for the current Nonary Game stems back to a near-identical Nonary Game played nine years previously. Ace and the 9th Man were two of the people behind that event, and their other two co-conspirators are found dead, one purpose of the current game being to punish those responsible for the first. Snake, Santa, Clover, and June were participants in the previous Nonary Game. Further, Snake and Clover are siblings, as are Santa and June. Seven was the detective who saved the kids involved in the experiment, and Lotus is the mother of two more participants. Junpei's presence in the current game is necessary to save the life of his childhood friend Akane in the previous one, through the effects of LoveTranscendsSpacetime.]]
119** ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'': [[spoiler:The purpose of the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition is to develop Sigma and Phi's latent MentalTimeTravel abilities so they can travel to the past and SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. To accomplish this, all of the other participants (with the exception of Quark) have to be present to fulfill very specific roles. Clover and Tenmyouji's latent psychic powers are used to amplify those of Sigma and Phi, and Alice's incredible mathematical abilities are necessary to perform a prime factor decomposition on a 25-digit number. Because of this, Alice and Clover are cryogenically frozen for 45 years so they can participate. Tenmyouji, who turns out to be Junpei from the previous game, agreed to join because he would get to see Akane again. Akane herself is the old woman who turns up dead in several timelines. Tenmyouji brought Quark along with him because he didn't want to leave his adopted grandson alone. Dio is a prominent figure in the group behind the apocalypse this game is attempting to undo, and was tasked with infiltrating the project and stopping it from succeeding. Despite this, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain his presence is necessary for the project's success]], as an element of danger is necessary for Sigma and Phi's abilities to manifest. Luna and K were both created specifically for the project, the former being a robot and the latter a clone of Sigma. Luna is tasked with ensuring everything runs smoothly, and K would serve as Sigma's spare should something happen to him.]]
120** ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'': [[spoiler:The motives behind the Decision Game are complex, and each participant has a reason for being present. Sigma, Phi, and Akane are present because they are trying to prevent the outcome which leads to ''Virtue's Last Reward'' from happening. That said, this specific outcome is one which Delta wants to happen due to the high probability of Radical-6 killing an extremist who would otherwise kill all of the human race. Junpei is present once again due to the promise of seeing Akane again. Carlos's presence leads him to learn how to cure his sister of Reverie Syndrome, and his ability to SHIFT is integral in allowing the VLR path to come about. Mira is a serial killer who Delta intends to give her just deserts. Mira's first victim was Eric's mother, and Eric is Mira's boyfriend. Akane's father was framed for the murder, and her mother killed herself in her grief. Sean is a robot based on a boy who died as a result of this event whom Delta had befriended, created to give the boy a chance at the happy life he had been robbed of. Eric's mother's death lead to a drastic change in his father's disposition, which in turn lead to his brother's death and his own emotionally-unstable state. Diana joined in order to escape her abusive ex-husband, and in one timeline hooks up with Sigma, leading to the birth of Delta and Phi, who are twins. The overall purpose of the Decision Game is to mold the participants into people determined and persistent enough to stop the aforementioned extremist by their own hands.]]
121* For a game who's {{Tagline}} is 'Everything is Connected' it comes as no suprise that ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' ultimeately reveals that most of the people Aiden interacts with in the game is in some way connected to the death of his niece, which set him down his path in the first place. When he and his friend [[FaceHeelTurn turned enemy]] Damien try to hack Mob Boss, Lucky Quinn's hotel, gang leader Iraq hacks them at the same time, to steal blackmail on the Chicago Mayor, set up via a deal between Quinn and the company Blume. Mistaking Aiden and Damien for going after said file Quinn has one of his own hackers for hire, Clara Lille, track them down, before getting Iraq to hire Maurice, the hitman, to kill Aiden, which he fails to do, resulting in Lena's death, and Clara having a MyGodWhatHaveIDone induced HeelFaceTurn. Even Aiden's other ally Ray Kenny is very loosely tied to it as the blackmail was footage of the mayor killing his girlfriend, a former colleague of Ray's who turned whistle blower with him, putting her on Blume's hit list, causing them to manipulate the mayor and her together in the first place. Everything is connected indeed.
122* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'': Although Yumenosaki Academy is actually a full-sized school, all the audience ever sees are the same 40-odd main characters. This makes sense when it comes to idol units, as all of the faceless characters are simply implied to be in units together, but it gets a bit more confusing when it comes to clubs (do the Tennis and Basketball clubs really only have four members each?) and classes (in one event the six characters we know from 2-A put on a 'Class Live' together - did they invite any of the other guys?). Also, due to the writers' love of mixing and matching weird combinations of characters, the students have a striking tendency to randomly run into each other all over the place. It gets a bit weird when all of the main characters' relationships are ''so'' well-defined and elaborate (you'd be hard-pressed to find two characters who don't at least have one other character in common) and yet there are apparently large numbers of other students entirely left out of all this.
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126* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', a OneDegreeOfSeparation pocket existed between the Noob guild and Fantöm's team before Gaea joined the former, making their members running into each other quite frequent. Over the course of the story, pre-existing (or formed early) connections of a given group frequently end up having some kind of influence on the story of a member of the other.
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130* Guru Pathik of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' says that "Separation is an illusion" and that everything/everyone is connected.
131* Done in the ''Westernanimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", where Rainbow Dash's first successful Sonic Rainboom is revealed to be indirectly responsible for all of her future friends (and herself) getting their cutie marks. They wouldn't realize this until they all met years later.
132** Technically, the only reason Rainbow Dash performed the Sonic Rainboom is because Fluttershy was getting picked on by some bullies. So, it was Fluttershy all along.
133** To clarify for non-fans of the show:
134*** Rainbow Dash: Performs the Sonic Rainboom in a race to shut up the school bullies, revealing her special talent to be high-speed flying.
135*** Rarity: Her magic drags her out to the middle of nowhere, stopping in front of a giant rock. The shockwave from the Sonic Rainboom cracks open the rock, revealing the gems inside. She reaizes that this, plus her previous attempts at seamstressing, must be fate. Unicorn magic doesn't just come alive on its own and drag the unicorn somewhere, after all. This is confirmed as her Cutie Mark (jewelcrafting) appears.
136*** Applejack: Depressed with her new, high-class life with her wealthy aunt and uncle, she is gazing off into the distance when a sudden flash of color in the sky (the Sonic Rainboom) causes her to look up...and see her hometown, Ponyville, in the distance. She decides that the socialite life is ''not'' for her, and realizes that the family farm is where she belongs.
137*** Fluttershy: Having fallen from Cloudsdale to a strange and foreboding place (the Everfree Forest), she is initially terrified. But the surrounding animals, spooked by the sudden noise from the Sonic Rainboom, are even more afraid. Fluttershy takes it upon herself to soothe the frightened animals, and in doing so, realizes she has a certain knack for this, as shown by her newly-appearing Cutie Mark.
138*** Twilight: She is attempting to hatch a dragon egg using magic, which is the entrance exam to Princess Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns. Due to her anxiety, she chokes, and can't seem to use any magic at all. The sudden BOOM of the Sonic Rainboom causes her to panic, subconsciously opening the floodgates to her magic, not only hatching the egg and causing the dragon inside to grow huge, but turning her parents into potted plants and nearly destroying the Academy due to PowerIncontinence. Princess Celestia intervenes, and noticing that Twilight has incredible magical potential, takes her on as her personal student.
139*** Pinkie Pie: Having worked on a depressingly gray and dreary rock farm all her life, Pinkie wishes there was...something more. Something to brighten the day, just for a little bit. The Sonic Rainboom, with its sudden rush of color and sound, snaps Pinkie out of her depression, causing her to smile, ''really'' smile for the very first time. This inspires her to spread this newfound cheer wherever she can. The first thing she can think of is to throw a party, which leads to her Cutie Mark!
140* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' basically runs on this. The lives of titular step-brothers, Perry the Platypus, and Dr. Doofenshmirtz, are constantly interwoven, often affecting each other without fail. The only character out of the four mentioned that is involved with all of the other three is Perry, Pet to Phineas and Ferb, Nemesis to Dr. D, and is basically in the middle of all the mayhem. Phineas and Ferb don't even meet Doofenshmirtz until TheMovie, and even then [[spoiler: they get their memories erased of the whole thing.]]
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