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[[quoteright:800:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fortuna_or_fortune.jpg]]

->''Fortune, good night, smile once more; turn thy wheel!''
-->-- ''Theatre/KingLear''

Lady Luck -- known as [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Tyche to the Greeks, and Fortuna to the Romans]] -- is a {{stock god|s}} or AllegoricalCharacter, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the concept of chance.

In some works and mythologies, she's a real, active deity. In others, she's a metaphor no one literally believes in ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane whether correctly or not]]).

In Western art, she's commonly depicted holding the Wheel of Fortune, ''rota fortunae'', which she spins at random, changing the lives of those trapped on the wheel, and which has little to do with [[Series/WheelOfFortune Vanna White]]. Like [[ScalesOfJustice Lady Justice]], Lady Luck is often portrayed blindfolded, representing the impartiality of fortune, which falls randomly without favoring or disfavoring need, status, or moral character.

While Luck is almost always female in the Western tradition, this is not a gendered trope, and male examples of personified luck belong here as well.

The relationship of Lady Luck to Fate varies, assuming both exist. They may be opposing forces, or they may be two aspects of the same reality.

Compare the RandomNumberGod, her tongue-in-cheek modern cousin from VideoGame fandom.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/{{Noragami}}'': The ''binbogami'', the Japanese god of ''bad'' fortune and luck is a cute, childish pink-haired woman claiming the name of "Ebisu", the Japanese god of ''good'' luck and fortune (and fishermen, incidentally) as her "business name" to repair her reputation. The actual Ebisu is a masculine figure who reincarnates as a young boy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''[[ComicBook/{{Fables}} Jack of Fables]]'': A character of the name appears as a minor villain of the series and as to be expected she has the ability to affect people's luck and is implied to a fable of Greek origin much like the TropeNamer, in fact she may even be the TropeNamer InUniverse.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/AConfederacyOfDunces'': Ignatius J. Reilly, the overeducated {{manchild}} protagonist, repeatedly invokes Fortuna in response to his various misadventures.
* Creator/{{Boethius}}, a late Roman/very early medieval philosopher, although a devout Christian, kept the idea of Fortuna alive during the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance via his enormously influential ''Literature/TheConsolationOfPhilosophy''. She appears prominently in his dialogues, with the Wheel of Fortune (no, not [[Series/WheelOfFortune that one]]) being used as a symbol of people being elevated and torn down at random.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': "The Lady" is possibly the single most powerful goddess on the Disc, despite having no dedicated worshipers, and despite the only temple ever built to her having been destroyed in a natural disaster. Everyone hopes that she exists and smiles upon them at some point in their lives, and many people pay her lip-service through the repetitive prayer "please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please..." She is the eternal rival of the god Fate, being one of the only entities capable of upsetting his plans. She is known to give her aid to certain mortals who entertain her, with Rincewind being one of her favourites, but must instantly leave the presence of and withdraw her favour from anyone who speaks her true name.
* ''Literature/DoomValleyPrepSchool'': Fate is also Lady Luck. She has dice for eyes, and will occasionally pick a person to be her 'chew toy', giving them incredibly bad luck, mixed with just enough good luck that her toy survives and can potentially come out on top, after being suitably humiliated and injured for her amusement of course.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/Charmed1998'': The friendly {{Leprechaun}} race have magical power over luck itself; their chief responsibility is bestowing good fortune to mortals who deserve it and bad fates to the cruel. In their debut episode, the VillainOfTheWeek is killing leprechauns to steal their magic; with the assistance of the Charmed Ones, the leprechauns eventually get revenge by giving the murderer such bad luck that ''a meteor falls on him.'' Interestingly, their powers were described as [[TrueNeutral truly neutral]] and could manifest in strange ways: for example, a leprechaun frees Paige when she's stuck to a wall (lucky!), but she promptly falls ''off'' the wall about seven feet to the ground, breaking furniture as she goes (unlucky).
* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'': The Greco-Roman version appears and gives bad luck to a greedy merchant as punishment for not using his money to help the less fortunate.
* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'': The Librarians go up against Fortuna herself in [[Recap/TheLibrariansS4E02AndTheStealOfFortune "And the Steal of Fortune"]]. Imprisoned as a bronze statue for trying to make the world run on chance, she's stealing luck to gain enough power to take over the world. The Librarians manage to break her spell by cheating, since it defies luck, and that weakens her enough to return to a statue.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': In "[[Recap/SupernaturalS15E11TheGamblers The Gamblers]]", the Winchester brothers are suffering from God removing their usual PlotArmor and seek out help from Fortuna, the Roman Goddess of Luck. Fortuna often helps those she deems true heroes and runs an Alaskan pool hall designed to steal luck from unsuspecting players. As is usual for Luck-based characters, she's presented as unpredictable and dangerous, giving luck to those who win in her hall and prove themselves truly heroic and takes luck from those who don't, even sometimes personally killing those who lose her games if angered enough.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* The Gaullish Celtic goddess Vesunna is believed to have been associated with prosperity and good fortune.
* The Greek goddess of luck, Tyche, has older precedents but really came into her own in the Hellenistic era. Her symbology differed a bit from modern Lady Luck, incorporating a Horn of Plenty and a ship's rudder in addition to the Wheel of Fortune.
* In UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}, Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu, is the goddess of good fortune, while her sister Jyestha is the goddess of bad fortune.
* Fortuna was one of the most popular deities in the Roman pantheon.
* In ancient Semitic mythology, Gad was the god (sometimes, goddess) of fortune.
* In pre-Islamic Arabia, Manat was a goddess of fate and fortune.
* In UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} and Japanese folklore, a ''binbogami'' is a ''kami'' or spirit of bad fortune, usually appearing as a skinny old man.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* ''Music/CarminaBurana'': The first and most famous part of the song, "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" (Fortune, Empress of the World), is an extended prayer to Luck.
* Music/ElvisPresley calls upon Lady Luck in "Viva Las Vegas"
-->''I'm gonna give it everything I've got\\
Lady Luck, please let the dice stay hot\\
Let me shoot a seven with every shot\\
Viva Las Vegas!''
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXd0JR2SRE8 Queen]] of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P1UzLSgYtk Spades]]", from Music/{{Styx}}, is about a [[DarkerAndEdgier not very nice]] incarnation of Lady Luck, whose affections tend to end quite badly for anyone on the receiving end.
-->''Luck is a lady whose smile is as cold as a stone\\
She'll bring you things, many things you might never have known!\\
But when your die is cast, she'll have the final laugh at you\\
She'll lock you in a duel where you come out the fool..."

** If the lyrics left you in and doubt, just take a gander at the chorus:
-->'Beware of the Queen of Spades!\\
Her black widow's curse might find you yet!\\
Beware of the love that you will regret!\\
Her love means only your death!''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': There once was an ancient goddess named Tyche who embodied all forms of luck. The Dawn Cataclysm caused her power to be split into two goddesses; Tymora, goddess of good luck and victory, and Beshaba, goddess of misfortune and accidents.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'': The "Dungeon Fantasy" sub-line features classic dungeon fantasy-style clerics and holy warriors, and allows for the possibility of them worshiping a range of deities. ''GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics'' offers different spell lists and special powers for different types of deity served, and "Luck" gets a mention, albeit a short one.
-->''Experience suggests that any god of luck will be frighteningly whimsical -- but most are benevolent enough, provided that their worshipers don't take them for granted. Priests and holy warriors have luck-related advantages, of course. Additionally, clerics wield spells that manipulate fortune directly (Bless, Curse), that map the currents of fortune (Sense Danger, Divination, Predict Weather), or that produce subtle effects that could be explained as random chance (Weaken, Foolishness, Bless Plants, Turn Blade, Healing Sleep -- "Ah, 'twas but a flesh wound").''
* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' has Ranald, the God of Luck, Good Fortune, and [[TricksterGod Mischief]]. Many of his temples double as gambling dens; his religious observances include games of chance; and his [[ReligionIsMagic Divine Lore]] has several spells to [[WindsOfDestinyChange manipulate luck]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/GuysAndDolls'': The song "Luck Be a Lady". Later covered by far too many artists to list, most famously Creator/FrankSinatra.
* ''Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights'': Lady Luck was the mascot for the 21st Halloween Horror Nights, which was known as "No One Beats The House (Be Careful What You Wager)". She took the form of a beautiful woman in a green dress but also showed a more monstrous face in her other form. The scarezone "Your Luck Has Run Out" was based entirely around her.
* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'': In the PlayWithinAPlay, the players denounce "thou [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu strumpet]] Fortune!" and ask "All you gods in general synod [to] take away her power / Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel."
* ''Theatre/HenryV'': The comic relief characters Fluellen and Pistol discuss Lady Fortune and her "furious fickle wheel".
* ''Theatre/KingLear'': Invoked as quoted above.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'': Referenced. The BornLucky commanding officer Nell has an ability called "Lady Luck" that boosts the damage of friendly units.
* ''VideoGame/DiceyDungeons'': Lady Luck is the host of the ImmoralRealityShow the game takes place in.
* ''VideoGame/EiyudenChronicleHundredHeroes'' has Leene, the younger sister of [[PlayableCharacter Nowa]]. She is so lucky she can jump down a crevasse and get caught by elevator heading up, foiling bad guy's plans. During festivals in her hometown, people would always have two top prizes, because otherwise, Leene would always win.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': Nocturnal is the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of luck, at least for the thieves who venerate her.
* ''VideoGame/{{Elona}}'''s pantheon includes Ehekatl, goddess of luck.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': The [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Miss_Fortune Miss Fortune]] perk/character is a play on the phrase "lady luck". She can also be a AnthropomorphicPersonification since there's a 10% she can show up to cripple enemies, offering the player better "luck" in dealing with them.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has the Lady Luck dressphere, which specializes in using dice and slots to deal different types of attacks to the enemy. Quite obviously, it also boosts the user's luck, which they'll need in order to avoid screwing up and getting a [[DropTheWashtub Dud]]...
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Nymeia the Spinner is a member of [[FantasyPantheon the Twelve]] and worshiped as the goddess of fate. She weaves the tapestries of both destiny and [[GodOfLight the starry sky]] on her spinning wheel.
* ''VideoGame/NiNoKuniIIRevenantKingdom'': The city of Goldpaw, which is heavily dependent on casinos and gambling for its economy, has a statue of Lady Luck in front of the governor's residence. The statue's arms contain mechanisms that allow it to pick up and roll dice, and tradition dictates that when the governor wishes to raise taxes or makes a major political decision, they have the statue roll a die for them as a way of determining whether or not the goddess agrees with the ruling.
* ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' has the Lady Luctopus, the embodiment of a gambling addiction in the form of a giant neon octopus. Raz accidentally created Lady Luctopus by connecting the concepts of "Money" and "Risk" inside the mind of normally strict and pragmatic Hollis Forsythe, turning her clean and organized hospital-themed mental world into a twisted mix of a hospital and a casino.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' has Quizmalia, the capricious ChaoticNeutral demigoddess of luck. She also oversees the RPGMechanicsVerse's InexplicableTreasureChests and [[https://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0671.html nondescript cubic boxes.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''Franchise/CareBears'': Good Luck Bear. [[MeaningfulName True to his name]], he is BornLucky and [[WindsOfDestinyChange can even increase others' luck.]] He can also create four-leaf clovers.
* ''WesternAnimation/ClassOfTheTitans'': Lady Luck appears in the form of Fortuna, the Goddess of Luck and Chance and owner of the Fortune Casino, in "The Game Plan". After Zeus is kidnapped by Cronus, the group tries to get Amalthea's Cornucopia, an item that can grant any wish, to rescue him. The Cornucopia is in the hands of Fortuna, who refuses to give anyone anything unless they succeed at her deadly Wheel of Fortuna game, which is why they send their luckiest member Neil to get the job done.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': Discussed in "[[Recap/RugratsS5E1GrandpasBadBugLadyLuck Lady Luck]]", where Grandpa Lou is gambling and says that Lady Luck isn't with him. The babies [[LiteralMinded take this literally]] and search for Lady Luck, eventually believing a nurse to be Lady Luck.
[[/folder]]
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