->''"Destiny is unstoppable. Everyone has to give in... Give up--let life win."''
-->--'''{{Gravitation}}'''

->''"'D,' It is written."''
-->'''SlumdogMillionaire'''

{{Heroes}} find that they are fated to accomplish some task or face some overwhelming foe. Sometimes this is a prophecy, sometimes it's predestination or [[KarmaMeter karma]] left over from a [[{{Reincarnation}} previous life]], and sometimes it's because someone [[TimeTravel went back in time]] and told what he knew.

Whatever the mechanism, the prediction can become a central issue for the hero, either as a goal to pursue or [[YouCantFightFate a fate to dodge]], and can drive much of a storyline.

Characters based on the HeroicArchetype are often saddled with issues of destiny, [[SecretLegacy family]], and fate. See TheChosenOne. BecauseDestinySaysSo is a common excuse for why TheChosenOne is [[IWorkAlone the only one allowed]] to save the world, or what have you.

If it's a recurring thing, it's GenerationXerox asserting itself through the ages.

Sometimes TheHero identifies it only in retrospect and assures the other characters that this is not a ContrivedCoincidence. May be used to persuade them to carry out TheHero's plan: [[ThereAreNoCoincidences it can not possibly be coincidence that he just received exactly the information he needs to carry it out, or that his new companion has exactly the skills required]]. Any sort of portent can be interpreted as a prophecy. Sole survivors of disasters are often regarded as marked out by destiny. Although MaybeMagicMaybeMundane can come into play, with characters convinced that it was just coincidence to the end.

SubTrope of PropheciesAreAlwaysRight.

Compare with YouCantFightFate, OnlyTheWorthyMayPass.

Contrast with ScrewDestiny.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Fuu, Umi and Hikaru of ''MagicKnightRayearth'' must fulfill an ancient prophecy -- but what they think they have to do and what they actually must do are two very, very different things.
* Honoka and Nagisa of ''FutariWaPrettyCure'' are fated to become {{Magical Girl}}s, according to their mascots.
* A prophecy twist example: "The world will turn to ash"... which turns out to refer to Ash Ketchum in one of the ''{{Pokemon}}'' films.
** This is more a case of Because 4Kids Says So, since in the original version, Ash is named Satoshi, whose name has nothing to do with the prophecy. The prophecy is actually pretty bleak, prompting Satoshi to say "ScrewDestiny!"
** It was a decent turn of phrase, though.
* Himemiya Chikane and Kurusegawa Himeko in ''{{Kannazuki no Miko}}'' are the reincarnations of priestesses who fought {{Orochi}} and are destined to do so again.
* Borderline in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The Secret Dead Sea Scrolls possessed by the mysterious Seele organization supposedly predict the arrival of attacking Angels, although these predictions seem useless for all practical purposes.
* Used ''extensively'' in ''SailorMoon''. Sailor Moon is fated to find the Moon Princess and then be the Moon Princess once she discovers her true identity, the Inner Senshi are fated to protect the Moon Princess, the Outer Senshi (minus Saturn) are fated to protect the Moon Kingdom (and by extension Earth) from outside threats, and Sailor Saturn is destined to bring her Silence Glaive down on worlds whose time has run out.
** It also seems to be the only reason Mamoru and Usagi are together, as they hate each other before their civilian identities are revealed to each other.
***Only in the anime. Manga-wise the two where on friendly terms as their civilian selves and had apparently already started to like one another in their secret identities.
***Also, in the Japanese version of the anime while the two do bicker almost every time they meet, their bickering does get less antagonistic and more banter-like in nature; it arguably starts to reach a level of SlapSlapKissKiss prior to the reveal. And in the episode where Tuxedo Mask's identity is revealed, Usagi is clearly disturbed when the conversation she starts with Mamoru doesn't follow that pattern; that along with the shoulder wound makes her realize something's wrong.
** Subverted in [[PrettyGuardianSailorMoon the live-action series]], when Mars decides to actively work against what was decided by their past lives.
* ''{{xxxHolic}}'': "There is no coincidence in the world. What ''is'' there is 'hitsuzen'."
** For those who don't speak Japanese "hitsuzen" refers to "inevitable fate" or "what is determined".
* Fuma Monou in ''X'' kills his beloved sister, turns against his best friend and tries to eradicate humankind, simply because destiny says so.
* Boingo's Stand Thoth, of ''Jojo's Bizarre Adventure'', takes the form of a comic book, and tells the immediate future, and it will happen, no matter what, as proven by what becomes of Oingo and Hol Horse.
** The BigBad of part 6, Enrico Pucci, decides that heaven is a world where everybody knows their own destiny...and sets out to make it that way.
*''RahXephon'' subverts this. The prophecy is only revealed in the antepenultimate episode, and its origin is far from supernatural. The protagonist also goes out of his way to state that he's doing what he's doing because he wants to, not because destiny says he must.
*''GlassFleet'' characters seem to rely far too much on Destiny, with a prophecy being one of the central aspects to the series. However, characters don't always interpret the words correctly...

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* In ''[[TheSandman Sandman]]'', even Destiny the character has no free will. He calls a certain fateful meeting of the Endless because his Book told him he was going to.
**Although, Delerium escapes this trope by being the incarnation of insanity.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''{{Twelve Monkeys}}'': The past is immutable. Everything the characters do to try to change the past leads to ensuring events unfold just as they did.
* ''{{Sphere}}'': One character notes the logging of a certain event in a future spaceship (falling down a black hole) as unexplained. He believes that this means that he and his colleagues will die down there, or else the event would be known in advance. [[spoiler: In the event, they don't, but they end up choosing to use the Sphere's power to erase their memories of what happened.]]
* ''TheMummy Returns'' resorts to this to explain several coincidences in the movie. The most blatant is the artifact the heroes carry through the entire movie despite the fact that they have no clue what the MacGuffin is for; naturally, it turns out to be completely necessary at the end. So why do they even have it? Fate, of course.
* ''SlumdogMillionaire'' concludes that [[spoiler:"It is written"]] explains why Jamal [[spoiler:manages to survive, win the quiz game, and get the girl]], although some viewers may suspect that it's all a ContrivedCoincidence.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In DanAbnett's {{Warhammer 40000}} novels:
** In ''The Brothers of the Snake'', the Space Marine squad Damocles disgraced itself in its leader's eyes, [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb confessing to breaking rules]]; he refused to let them go on a certain undertaking. Somewhat thereafter, the Chapter Master insists on their going on the rescue mission for that undertaking. He tells the leader that first, he has [[DreamingOfThingsToCome dreamed of it]] and second, he thinks the squad's disgrace was Fate's way of ensuring that they would be kept off the mission itself, so as to be available for the rescue.
** ''[[GauntsGhosts Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' has this with the involvement of the Ghosts in general, and Gaunt and Milo in particular, in the reincarnation of Saint Sabbat.
* In Richard Adams' novel ''WatershipDown'', the story of El-ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inlé involved the rabbit hero trying to bargain with the Black Rabbit, to exchange his life for his people. However, the Black Rabbit refuses saying that there is no bargain; what is is what must be. (This suffers AdaptationDecay in the animated film, in which Hazel makes a similar attempt to bargain with the sun god Frith and receives the same answer.)
* In DavidDrake and S.M. Stirling's ''TheGeneral'' series the AI supercomputer Center's power to extrapolate future events from data is indistinguishable from prophecy - even if Center does include numerical odds.
** Center seems to particularly enjoy (as much as an emotionless AI can) showing the protagonist the Bad Ends that could result if things go wrong. Since the tech level is mid-19th century and politics is very much a Byzantine blood sport, they can go very wrong indeed...
* DavidEddings's ''{{Belgariad}}'' enjoys this trope throughout the series - Destiny quite ''literally'' says so, and takes the time to inform its main characters of what they're supposed to be doing any time they lose track.
* {{Lampshaded}} in the standalone Eddings novel ''TheRedemptionOfAlthalus''. One of the female leads sarcastically comments to one of the male leads upon hearing a prophecy: 'Gives you a nice, warm sense of your own importance, doesn't it? Save the world, boy! Save! Save!'.
* In TeresaEdgerton's ''The Queen's Necklace'', [[spoiler:Rath]] recounts how the religious group who raised him thought him a miracle: a Maglore appearing centuries after (they believe) the Maglore had been wiped out. Obviously, he had been transported through time for a purpose. Although he later learned that they were wrong about the wiping out, he had survived several things that should have killed him as a child, and he thinks it may have been his destiny that saved him.
* It's probably easier to count the ''{{Redwall}}'' books ''not'' hung on this trope. There's even a ProphecyTwist: the beginning of ''The Bellmaker'' has the prophecy "Five will ride the Roaringburn, but only four will e'er return"; five leave Redwall, but [[spoiler:Joseph stays behind to help the country they save rebuild itself.]]
* RobertJordan's ''{{Wheel of Time}}'' novels take this trope and turn it up to eleven. Not only must the Prophecies of the Dragon (which apparently run on long enough to fill a largish book) be fulfilled, but various characters are either having prophetic dreams, seeing prophetic visions, or travelling through magical gates to get prophetic answers, all of which inevitably come true. It's very nearly reached the point where major characters can fulfill a half dozen ancient prophecies without even meaning to just by having breakfast.
**This is also a literal case of {{Because Destiny Says So}} when the {{Chosen One}}, not knowing what to do next, consults the prophecies written about himself in a deliberate effort to fulfill them.
* In ''TheDarkTower'', Ka is the driving force between all of the main characters' actions. The particularly creepy tarot scene sums up Ka's position. In addition, in the twist ending Ka forces Roland [[spoiler: to begin his life again. It's mentioned that this isn't the first time it's happened]].
* Two of the main characters in NeilGaiman and TerryPratchett's ''GoodOmens'' possess a book of highly accurate (if not always understandable) prophecies from Agnes Nutter, witch. The BecauseDestinySaysSo reaches such a point that, toward the end of the book, these two characters realize correctly that they can pretty much select any prophecy at random and it will be ''exactly'' the one they need at that time.
** This is also the logic with which Anathema lives her life, [[spoiler:until [[ScrewDestiny Newt convinces her to live her own life instead of sticking to her ancestor's prophecies.]] [[BecauseDestinySaysSo Though this part may also be playing it straight,as knowing Agnes Nutter, she might have predicted this too.]]]]
* In GrahamMcNeill's {{Warhammer 40000}} {{Ultramarines}} novel ''Dead Sky Black Sun'', when Uriel meets Colonel Leonid, who can tell him what is in the [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Chaos fortress]], Uriel tells him that it was not chance that brought him to meet Leonid.
** Later, Leonid speculates that they recovered a woman from a daemon's control in order that he might not [[DyingAlone die alone]], since she comes from his regiment.
* In PhilipPullman's ''HisDarkMaterials'', various witches claim that most of what Lyra does is destiny (although just because it's destiny doesn't mean it ''has'' to happen).
* BecauseDestinySaysSo is a factor in the ''Sign of Seven'' trilogy by Nora Roberts. After their friends have gotten involved in relationships with each other. Gage and Cybil are actually pretty annoyed at the idea that they should get romantic because destiny said to. (They do anyway.)
* From ''{{HarryPotter and the Order of the Phoenix}}'' onward, the HarryPotter books were all about the prophecy "...neither can live while the other survives." Technically, ''all'' of the books (or at least Voldemort's motivations) were about that, but until OOTP, neither Harry nor the reader knew it. Partially subverted when Harry realizes in ''{{Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince}}'' that he could choose, at some point, to avoid the fight, but that he ''wants'' to be the one to take down Voldemort for what he did, Prophecy or not Prophecy.
** Also, it may be that Destiny Knows where you Live, as note how everyone Harry Potter loves seems to have big target signs on them...
** To be honest, the reader should have guessed fairly early on in the first book what Harry's destiny was. The book just hadn't pointed it out in big sparkly letters for them.
* In JamesSwallow's {{Warhammer 40000}} HorusHeresy novel ''The Flight of the Eisenstein'', the [[OldRetainer housecarl]] Kaleb thinks his master [[TheChosenOne chosen by the God-Emperor]] and so Kaleb's carrying out his wishes is part of the Emperor's work. [[spoiler:He [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices]] his life to preserve his master for that work.]]
* In JamesSwallow's {{Warhammer 40000}} BloodAngels novels ''Deus Encarmine'' and ''Deus Sanguinius'', both Arkio and Rafen foresee they are destined to a CainAndAbel fight, and one would die. When Inquisitor Stele plays on Rafen's mind to induce DrivenToSuicide, Rafen's random flight brings him to a make-shift mediation chamber that he had made earlier. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane It might have been the Emperor guiding him, it might have been chance, it might have been muscle memory]]; on the other hand, he breaks free of Stele's influence and receives a vision.
** At the end of ''Red Fury'', [[spoiler:Seth]] declares that the events of the novel had been sent by the Emperor to test the BloodAngels and [[spoiler:to remind the other Chapters from Sanguinius's gene-seed that they were not cousins but [[FireForgedFriends brothers]].]]
* In JamesSwallow's {{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''Faith & Fire'', when Verity is the sole survivor of a transport, she is told that the Emperor has plans for her.
* In Nick Kyme's {{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''Salamander'', an artifact calls Dak'ir toward it -- so powerfully that he doesn't even notice that he ransacks crates, looking for it, or that he had found it. He confides in another brother later, who agrees that it looks as if he were ''meant'' to find it.
** Later, a strange eruption from the planet Nocturne is regarded as a portent of ill fortune.
* Destiny is very much the driving force in Virgil's ''{{Aeneid}}''. The gods repeatedly tell Aeneas, as well as one another, that the Trojan refugee has a destiny to fulfill; and at the point when Aeneas finds himself comfortable & happy, pretty much playing house with Dido in Carthage, the gods get impatient and interfere, reminding Aeneas of his ''duty'' to keep sailing until he reaches Italy so he can get around to founding what will become the Roman empire. Definitely OlderThanFeudalism.
* The Tralfamadorians, an imaginary alien species from ''Slaughterhouse-Five'' take this to ridiculous extremes. They literally experience the entirety of history at once, and don't understand the concept of free will. They know they're going to destroy the universe doing pilot testing but don't try to stop it. Of course, to them, if something is ever alive, they can infinitely look at when it was, so death isn't a big deal to them.
* Taken really literally in ''LeftBehind''. There doesn't have to be logic behind some of the things people will do. They do it because it's in the prophecy.
* How much of ''{{Dune}}'' and its sequels are TheChosenOne acting out a preordained destiny, and how much is actually TheMessiah ''choosing his own'' destiny and then being forced to live it out unto the bitter end? FrankHerbert would like you to think about it.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'', the (highly accurate) prophecies of Valen are a central pillar of Minbari culture for a thousand years. Unlike many shows, however, there is a reason for the accuracy of Valen's prophecies... Other characters (Lady Ladira, Elric the Technomage) were also prophetic, mostly in regard to the future of Londo Mollari. (Londo himself had prophetic dreams on many occasions.) In fact, the use of prophecy in ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' is so extensive that there's an [[http://www.chronology.org/noframes/b-five/visions.html entire Web page]] detailing it. As with all good prophecies, however, when the events foretold eventually come to pass, they [[ProphecyTwist rarely happen in the expected or obvious context]].
* In ''{{Kings}}'', it's more like "Because {{God}} says so." And He's not always nice about it.
*In the third season of ''{{Lost}}'', Desmond regularly sees flashes of the future, always seeing Charlie die. He saves him a couple times, but [[spoiler: YouCantFightFate and Charlie dies in the season finale]].
* In ''{{Merlin}}'', Merlin is told by the last dragon that he is fated to protect Arthur until he can grow up, become king and have his own great destiny, so it's kind of recursive.
* Sam from ''{{Supernatural}}'' suffers from a very evil (and very vague) destiny. {{Wangst}} ensues.
** By Season 4, [[spoiler: Dean also qualifies for this.]]
---> [[spoiler: '''Alastair''']] (''to Dean''): "And it was written that the [[spoiler: first seal shall be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in hell. As he breaks, so shall it break."]]
---> ''And''
---> [[spoiler: '''Castiel:''' "The righteous man who begins it... is the only one who can finish it.]] You have to stop it."
---> [[spoiler: '''Dean:''' "Lucifer? The Apocalypse?]] What does that mean?!"
---> [[spoiler: '''Castiel''']] (a few lines before this omitted for expediency): "I don't know. Dean, they don't tell me much. [[spoiler: ''I know'' our fate rests with you."]]
* Unsurprisingly in a miniseries based on fairy tales, in ''TheTenthKingdom'' it is apparently Virginia's destiny to stop the [[BigBad Evil Queen]], save all the monarchs of the Kingdoms, and restore Prince Wendell to his rightful throne. Granted, seeing as [[spoiler:the Evil Queen is her [[MysteriousParent long-lost mother]]]], this might be seen as her responsibility, a personal problem she must clean up after. But when the Gypsy Queen vaguely intones that she has "a destiny that stretches way back in time", and [[SpiritAdvisor Snow White]] tells her that Wendell "needs you to save his kingdom, we all do," you get the feeling there's something rather arbitrary about all this. The fairy godmother does do a very good (if slightly {{Anvilicious}}) job of comparing her life to Virginia's to explain why she "found the right person." But when, after [[spoiler:killing her mother in self-defense [[KarmicDeath with the poison comb]]]], Wolf tells her it was not her fault, even Virginia seems to buy into it by saying the fateful words: "It was my destiny..."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Knuckles from the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' series is fated to spend the rest of his life on Angel Island, guarding the immensely powerful Master Emerald (although, considering the number of times it's been stolen or broken to pieces by a baddie or even himself, Knux is a pretty bad guardian). Whether he does this solely out of choice or whether someone told him to be the guardian isn't clear.
** Either that, or he subconsciously wants to be be done with fate.
* TreasureOfTheRudras The Danan Prophecies. [[spoiler: If you play as Sion you will know what they are in Ramylith's Castle late in the Sky Island portion of his scenario.]]
* In the dating sim/RPG ''ArTonelico'', one of the potential love interests has to spend her entire life singing in a special room to prevent the SealedEvilInACan from waking up, Because Destiny Says So. Her conflict between commitment to fulfill her duty and desire to avoid this fate and be free comes to the forefront many times if you pursue her.
** This isn't really a case of Destiny Says So. This is more of a case of inheriting the position and everyone uses the word Destiny as an excuse.
* Subverted, ironically enough, in ''TalesOfDestiny''. The title is actually misleading: One of the legendary Swordians tells the main character he's the ChosenOne, but later on it's revealed that the Swordian was just telling him that so he'd play Hero.
** On the other hand, this plays a giant role in ''TalesOfTheAbyss'', with the existence of the Score, a telling of fate lasting thousands of years, and whether or not the heroes decide to fight it or go along with it.
* Played with in ''FinalFantasyMysticQuest'': [[spoiler:The Dark King informs you at the end that he made up the prophecy foretelling his defeat. When you beat him, your TricksterMentor reveals he's the Crystal of Light - implying that he arranged things so that you'd fulfill the prophecy, true or not.]]
* This trope is the entire premise of the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time trilogy, although at the same time frequently and ruthlessly subverted by the [[ResetButton Dagger of Time]].
** Ironically, the combination of BecauseDestinySaysSo and YouCantFightFate is what drives the second and third games, wherein [[spoiler: the Prince is hunted in an attempt to remove him from time for screwing with, er, time, and the third game wherein everything he prevented in the ''first'' game comes to pass anyway because of what he did in the ''second'' game.]] In the end, he only escapes his rightfully deserved punishment because he accepts that he's ''not meant to change the past''. Which, again, ironically, he then does ''anyway''.
* Played with in ''MetalGearSolid 3'': Snake Eater, where Snake, when you call Sigint while equipping the cardboard box, displays such a fondness for it that he claims that it was his ''DESTINY'' to be in the box.
** [[MemeticMutation Snake! You can't do that! You'll create a time paradox!"]]
* Maria from ''SilentHill 2'', [[spoiler:who chooses to follow her fate, although she was told that James is a "bad man".]]
* Used in an interesting fashion in the ''[[BaldursGate Baldur's Gate]]'' series-the prophecies of Alaundo, which you discover towards the end of the first game, seem to lay out a specific path for the protagonist and his/her siblings, which indeed appears to be true throughout the first and second games-and in ''Throne of Bhaal'', even the bad guys are still operating from the prophecies and what they mean. The twist comes late in ''Throne of Bhaal'', when you find out that [[spoiler:the prophecies aren't a foretelling of what you will do-they're warning of what will happen if you fail]], and that the BigBad [[spoiler:is using the prophecies to manipulate everyone, and has no intention of following them.]]
* The meaning behind the word "Survivor" in the title of ''DevilSurvivor'' is a combination of this and ScrewDestiny--the main characters are told the major events of every day and the exact date of their (and most other peoples') deaths, and the goal of each day is to find a way to get around it.
* This is pretty much the driving force of any ''{{The Legend of Zelda}}'' game. It's destiny that if you are a blond-haired boy who wears a green tunic at any point in his lifetime, you are morally/contractually bound to {{save the princess}}.
**[[TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames It is written: Only Link can defeat Ganon.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* In the WhateleyUniverse, Bladedancer seems to be stuck with this in her role as Handmaid of the Tao. The most glaring example to date may be the incident where she was forced to [[spoiler:kill an innocent man]] 'because the Tao required it'. Though the mentor telling her so wasn't necessarily helping her own case by afterwards revealing that she'd been flat-out lying about the actual reason ''why''...

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''TeenTitans'', Raven is doomed to a "because destiny says so" scenario concerning the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt apocalypse]].
** Raven's case is a bit strange, because if she'd just sat down and thought about it for a second, she'd have realized that [[SelfFulfillingProphecy the prophecy couldn't come true unless she willingly allowed it]].
*** To be fair to the Gal, she was somewhat willing to give ScrewDestiny a chance until it was apparent that further resistance would get the other Titans killed.
* Another CartoonNetwork {{Superhero}} team series, ''JusticeLeague Unlimited,'' used a similar prophecy twist to the ''Pokemon'' example, in an episode where Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Supergirl are abducted to the 31st century by the [[LegionOfSuperHeroes Legion of Super-Heroes]]. The Legion is concerned, because all their records indicate that Supergirl won't return from the future, which we are led to believe means she's going to die. Indeed, she does have a DisneyDeath, but returns in the very next scene... but then decides to stay in the future, as she had fallen for Legionnaire Brainiac 5. (This episode was originally designed as a PoorlyDisguisedPilot for the ''Series/TheLegionOfSuperHeroes'' animated series; however, they decided to go for a different, non-{{DCAU}} production crew, and a different setup.)
*Zuko, from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', eats, breathes, and sleeps this trope. Only his interpretation of his destiny switches twice every season.
** The show's attitude to destiny can be summed up nicely by Iroh's line: [[ProphecyTwist "Destiny is a funny thing, Prince Zuko. It never happens the way you expect."]]

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