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Nostradamus Rule: All legends are 100% accurate. All rumors are entirely factual. All prophecies will come true, and not just someday but almost immediately.
Year after year, science finds explanations,
Scientific reasons behind all the legends.
They think this proves that history
Was not as myth has shown it
But in fact it proves
That all the myths are true.
Abney Park - All the Myths Are True
After all, if they weren't true, why were they even mentioned?
In fantasy settings, the idea that all myths, folk tales and prophecies are either accurate descriptions of past events or accurate predictions of the future is so often used that it deserves to be called a cliché. It's used so often, in fact, that exceptions to the rule are far more notable.
If the hero's got to do something Because Destiny Says So, these are the official mandates that force him or her. Saying "It's just a myth" always marks a jaded skeptic that has lost all faith in the world, regardless of the fact that in the real world, this complaint would make perfect sense.
Now consider the paradox if somebody tries to claim all religions are true. Even the ones that have a central theme of the others being wrong, especially those. By changing square pegs to fit in round holes, the theme is transformed into "religions are sorta true, but people got everything about them wrong."
- Unless, of course, you are an omniquantist
 or Adherent of Slag-Blah. Then all religions being true at the same time makes perfect sense
- For sufficiently small values of "perfect" and "sense"
And Man Grew Proud is a specific instance of this. Crossover Cosmology deals with the theological aspect. Take it to extremes, and you end up with the Fantasy Kitchen Sink. For the "got it slightly wrong" versions, see Cargo Cult, Ancient Astronauts, Physical God, Sufficiently Advanced Aliens, A God Am I.
Examples:
Video Games
- The Thief games feature vague prophecies which imply that antihero protagonist Garrett is a saviour who will protect the world from several menaces. Though he scoffs at this and finds the prophecies ridiculous, he does end up saving the day as foretold. The trope is especially strong in the third game, in which the main villain is thought by the general public to be just a "bogeyman" and is introduced by quotes from nursery rhymes.
- In Persona 2 (both of 'em), you actually hire people to spread rumors... which makes them true. In Eternal Punishment, to test it out, one of your party members spreads the rumor that the restaurant you're in sells guns (it's called Parabellum, after all). Minutes later, the waiter comes to your table and offers you some, when, moments earlier, the owner was actually supporting Japan's strict gun control laws. In Innocent Sin, it's a bit more bizarre, as they do the same thing with a random ramen shop that has no possible connection to weaponry except that it had been previously rumored that its owner once had an interesting past.
- The paradox mentioned above is actually done in the baseline Megaten series. All religions are true, all gods exist. It's just that one of them has forcibly supplanted all the others and rules humanity with an iron fist, leaving the gods-become-demons aching for some payback.
- The Rumors becoming true are all the result of the (nearly god-like)BigBad which justifies some of the rumors coming true(though one hilarious rumor involves Hitler and the rest Third Reich being alive the entire time but in hiding, why they would attack a random city in Japan is beyond this troper).
- In Kingdom Hearts 2, there are Seven Mysteries of Twilight Town, which invariably turn out to be for real when Roxas investigates, and serve as clues to the nature of the world he's been living in. But when Roxas's friend comes along to do the write-up, he assumes it was just a mundane misunderstanding.
- In the Discworld adventure-game, it is revealed that dragons only exist if you believe in them. Thus, you can make a dragon appear simply by chanting 'Dragons DO exist, Dragons DO exist'...
- Nasuverse, full stop. In fact, legendary heroes tend to be even more incredible and terrifying than their legends. Who knew Excalibur could fire giant beams of light?
- In the Melty Blood fighting games, the Night of Wallachia creates a situation much like Persona 2, above. Rumors and fears start to materialize as solid reality.
- Bungie's Marathon series contains an interesting example. The second game has a single terminal midway through the game that references a S'pht creation myth where the god Yrro (hmmm... sounds like Jjaro) flings a chaotic being into the star that Lh'owon orbits. This terminal is never mentioned by any character for the remainder of the game, even when the Pfhor destroy this star at the finale. This myth then forms the entire plot of the third game, Marathon Infinity. Sure enough, the Yrro/Jjaro stuck a chaotic being in the systems star.
- All of the "legendary" Pokemon exist and can generally be found easily if you just look in the right place. The actual details given for them in the Pokédex could be myth as far as the game is concerned but the various adaptations of the world treat them as true.
Comic Books
Film
- Somewhat lampooned in Undercover Brother when Eddie Griffin learns from "The Brotherhood" that all the supposed conspiracy theories about black people are true, as in:
Conspiracy Brother: What do you think? Things don't just happen by accident! Sometimes people - mostly *white* people - make things happen!
Undercover Brother: So the conspiracies we've believed for all these years are true? The NBA really did institute the three point shot to give white boys a chance?
Conspiracy Brother: Of course!
Undercover Brother: Then the entertainment industry really *is* out to get Spike Lee?
Conspiracy Brother: Come on man! Even Cher's won an Oscar! Cher!
Undercover Brother: Then O.J. really didn't do it? [Everyone looks away and mumbles].
Live Action TV
- In the 2000s Battlestar Galactica, the humans and Cylons both have their own, conflicting, sets of prophecies regarding their mutual future. Series creator Ron Moore has implied in interviews that both visions will prove to be true. Also, in a bit of a subversion, the humans aren't exactly sure if the planet Earth even exists at all, with quite few thinking it's just a myth.
- Stargate SG-1 has the Ancient Astronaut version of this, with plenty of snarky comments and Lampshade Hanging to go with in regards to the fact. For example, in a recent episode, before setting off, the characters all made a vow that dragons weren't real. And yet, by the end of the cliffhanger episode...
- The short lived series, Special Unit 2, was about a secret police division that dealt with real supernatural creatures. According to the show, all such creatures (called Links) are real except vampires (a little swipe at Buffy & Angel).
- In Big Wolf On Campus everything from Cerberus to Hell to Mummy curses to Medusa to Cyclops to even Santa Claus turns out to be real.
- One of the Tales of the Gold Monkey ("Legends Are Forever") had Jack Cutter run into an old flying 'buddy' who had the annoying habit of getting him involved in ill-fated searches for legendary treasure in the constant belief that "All legends are based on fact." He assures Jack that this time he's just on a mercy mission, which has nothing to do with a lost African tribe on an island in the South Pacific...
Tabletop Games
- The pen-and-paper roleplaying game Ars Magica makes extensive use of this via what the game calls 'Medieval Paradigm': whatever the peasant believes is true. This justifies the appearance of dragons, faeries, giants and werewolves in a game set in Earth's eleventh century.
- Co-creator Mark Rein-Hagen went on to create The World Of Darkness, and the setting for Mage: the Ascension was called "consensual reality". By this notion, the myths and legends of earlier days were real because back then people believed they were, while today they've been supplanted by science and technology because people were slowly brainwashed into believing them instead.
- Subverted in Mage: the Awakening where part of being a mage is sorting through which myths are true and which are not. Note that in this case "true" probably means "contains a tiny kernal of actual supernatural, historical or cosmic insight which was either implanted or leaked through into the human consciousness" while "not true" probably means "1) was deliberately fabricated by other mages in order to mislead those who would seek the truth 2)was deliberately fabricated by other mages in order manipulte the course of human culture or 3) was just a myth that people came up with".
- In Warhammer Fantasy, mortal beliefs and emotions affect the Realms of Chaos, the origin dimension of magic, giving birth to gods, spirits, ghosts, etc. If the belief becomes strong enough (buoyed by sacrifices or high ambient magic) these entities can push their way into the mortal realm.
- Emphasised less but still existent in Warhammer 40,000.
- In Glorantha, principal setting of Rune Quest, all the (non-Earthly) myths about a wide variety of gods and spirits are all literally true. Especially the ones that utterly contradict one another.
Western Animation
- Gargoyles practically named the trope when the Weird Sisters (yes, from MacBeth) said "All things are true." The line has become a favorite answer given by Word Of God to certain kinds of fan questions. In a recent comic book, it was given a slight subversion by King Arthur (in reference to Arthurian legends): "All things are true ... few things are accurate."
- Early on in Jackie Chan Adventures, the only thing supernatural was the titular magic talismans and a few Chinese myths, but filler-episodes soon gave way just about everything you can think of and then some.
- Played for laughs in an episode about Stonehenge. Apparently, it has some sort of great magical powers, but nobody really knows what it does. Jackie Chan, upon being told this, sarcastically remarks "Yeah, and some people think it's used to contact aliens." The bad guys figure it must be some kind of weapon, and Jackie Chan goes into action to stop them from activating it. Amazingly, the bad guys actually succeed at pulling off their Evil Plan to activate Stonehenge, revealing to everyone present that Stonehenge does... absolutely nothing. Everyone goes home, and then, in the last scene of the episode, a UFO lands at the now deserted Stonehenge.
- Despite diverse aliens initially being the main shtick, the sci-fi Ben 10 felt the need to make use of this. By season 2, sorcerers, the Krakken, and mall-attacking zombies are all but commonplace. Then they clumsily ret-conned everything away except for the aliens in Ben 10 Alien Force to the point where /everything/ is alien based, including super powered children (This literally means someone made a baby with a creature made of fire and charcoal, and someone mated with a dog like creature....real smooth guys).
- Kim Possible. Mystical Monkey Power, big time.
Literature
- Stephen Marley's books about Chia the Black Dragon Sorceress, Spirit Mirror and Mortal Mask, take place in 2nd century China, but there also appear Indian Buddhists, ancient Egyptians (in the back story) and a few Christians. It is suggested that the mythologies and afterlives of all four religions (Chinese, Buddhist, Egyptian and Christian) all exist. In addition to the Stephen Marley's own original myths and creatures, of course
- This is the whole point of Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, in which every god/spirit/devil/etc that mankind has ever dreamed up are still around, mostly living like normal folks. (ie Thoth and Anubis running a funeral parlor)
- In the webfiction Whateley Universe, it certainly appears that all myths are true, and maybe all religions as well. We don't know enough yet. But The Great Old Ones exist: one of the protagonists is directly descended from Cthulhu and Shub-Niggurath. God and Satan exist: one of the protagonists has been inducted into the 'Roses and Thorns' of the Catholic Church and has had the horrific experience of being used by Satan to send a message. Ancient Sidhe are re-appearing. Weres live in the national forest just off to one side of the Super Hero School Whateley Academy. You name it, it's probably in there somewhere.
- Word Of God has it that it might not be Satan but a god-like being calling himself Satan. He's 'close enough' to Satan for the protagonist who has to experience Hell, though, and the Knights both know of him and seem to take his claim at face value. (The difference between a 'real' mythological entity used in a work of fiction and some alleged impersonator who is nonetheless the being that all in-universe references point to is arguably somewhat academic, anyway. So far nobody else who could be the Whateley universe's 'real' Satan has stood up.)
- In K.A. Applegate's Everworld series, every god from every mythology gets together, and they create a parallel universe where they all rule. This causes some problems when every god has an extensive cult, and they're all militant. Kill the heretic for worshiping Aphrodite and not Quetzalcoatl!
- In Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Greek gods are real: features of Greek myths move around depending on where the center of Western civilization is. Olympus is on top of the Empire State Building; the Underworld is in Los Angeles.
- Robert A Heinlein's later novels, beginning with the novel The Number of the Beast - deal with the World As Myth, and expand it to the multiverse. In his multiverse, All Stories Are True and Exist, somewhere - and if you've read the stories, it's possible to visit the universe in which the story takes place. He shows this by having his four protagonists visit several universes, albeit unknowing. Side effect of this is that ALL worlds are part of a story, somewhere...and that anyone who writes a story has become the literal God of the universe the story creates.
- This leads to the disturbing possibility that this world's author is, in fact, Travis Tea.
- Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels often relate a creation myth for the house of Hastur explaining their powerful psychic abilities. Turns out, the myth is true (surprise, surprise), but Hastur wasn't a god, he was an alien.
- Children's author, Robin Jarvis loves this trope. The ending of the Wyrd Museum series features the deaths of the Nornir by the Spear of Antioch, as well as the ice giants being finally defeated by the Eye of Balor on a spinning weathercock. And it's awesome.
Web Fiction
- The SCP Foundation functions on this trope. So far SC Ps under study include Cthulhu, Cain, Abel, a dryad, a naiad, an entity who at the very least refers to himself as God, a blue goddess statue... and more!
Subversions and Exceptions:
Video Games
- The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind sort of features an exception, in that the particulars of a certain historical event relevant to the main plot of the game is recounted differently by different parties. This is more a case of deliberate revisionism. The main quest still requires the player to live up to a prophecy's version of the champion against the big bad. He turns out to be something of a Well Intentioned Extremist.
- Final Fantasy Mystic Quest has a prophecy wherein a hero will save the world... until you reach the final boss, who by way of pre-fight chat informs you he made that prophecy up as a prank ages ago. Once you defeat the final boss, you discover that the old man you had been running into is the Crystal of Light in the guise of a human.
- You forgot to mention that the Crystal of Light had been pulling strings behind the scenes to make it so that the prophecy does come true.
- In the original Game Boy game Final Fantasy Legend II (called SaGa 2 in Japan) there are some partial subversions. One world your characters explore has a myth that turns out to be true and another myth that turns out to be false. Also, there are actually 78 "MAGI", not the 77 that you are told about at the beginning of the game.
- In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Professor Frankly encounters conflicting theories on the nature of the treasure he's looking for.
- In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, the heroes learn that a medallion holds a dark god who will bring The End Of The World As We Know It if freed, and it can be freed by Magic Music or a huge war. The fact that certain people can become mindless berserkers by weilding the relic reinforces this belief. But in the sequel, Radiant Dawn it turns out to be a partial-lie spread by the Dragon Laguz king in vain hopes that it'll prevent war between everyone in Tellius. In truth, endless war will actually awaken the goddess Ashera, who will see the wars as a sign that those living in Tellius are failures, and must be purged away to allow for a perfect world.
Comic Books
- In The Sandman this trope is both subverted and played straight, in that all myths are true, but they are true because people believe they are true.
- Of course, this also applies to the American Gods/Anansi Boys example above, as well as (mostly) to Discworld.
Literature
- In the Principia Discordia, the founding document of the Discordian religion, the following conversation transpires between two saints:
GP: "Is Eris true?"
M2: "Everything is true."
GP: "Even false things?"
M2: "Even false things are true."
GP: "How can that be?"
M2: "I don't know man, I didn't do it."
- One literary example, probably not deliberate: a book series, name forgotten, where in the first volume the hero is told that the world he's trapped in is flat, then in the second volume told that's just a myth - it's really round. This may have been a retcon, but the effect is the same.
- This sounds like Moon Dreams and its sequels Nul's Quest and Wizard's Mole.
- In the Dune novels, the Bene Gesserit have a whole system of false myths called the Missionaria Protectiva. They purposely spread made-up prophecies that any member of their order can fulfill if needed. Thus, a member stranded on an otherwise hostile world can appear to be The Woman From the Prophecy.
- Which ends up biting them in the ass, hard, when Paul Atreides starts fufilling prophecies left and right and the Bene Gesserit are so used to treating prophecies as fakes and tools that they don't see The Messiah in front of their faces until it's too late to do anything about it. Lampshaded by Herbert in one of the Appendixes, an after-action report by the Bene Gesserit that points out all the clues that a lot of people who should have known better ignored. The report concludes that the only explanation is that the Bene Gesserit were themselves in the grip of a higher plan all along: In other words, yep, All Myths Are True and that's what they get for playing with fire.
- In Brandon Sanderson's The Well of Ascension, the Twist Ending is that the prophecies have been deliberately altered by a powerful being in order to manipulate humanity/the heroes into freeing it.
- The stories in the Magic The Gathering anthology The Myths of Magic are false, either because they contradict existing canon or because they contradict each other.
- Also from Magic, the name Lord of the Wastes originally referred to a Benalish mythological figure, but was later used as a name for Yawgmoth. However, the description of the Lord of the Wastes didn't match Yawgie at all, other than that they were both evil overlords.
Live Action TV
- Subverted in the third season of Angel, when the prophecy that drives Wesley to kidnap Connor, thinking that Angel will kill him as stated in the prophecy, turns out to have been false and written by a time-traveling demon who knows that Connor will grow up to kill him.
- Also subverted as a Running Gag throughout BuffyTheVampireSlayer and Angel. Despite living in a world where vampires, werewolves, witches, dragons, demons and zombies are all real and have been encountered by the main cast at one point or another, everyone agrees completely unanimously that leprechauns aren't real.
Anime
- The legend of the Tragic Meister in Mai-Otome had almost nothing to do with the actual events that led to Mai Tokiha's disappearance; the real story was considerably less tragic to say the least. However, the same series includes a straight example of this trope (although if the characters knew the circumstances under which the legend of the Guiding Star was fulfilled, it would definitely have quite a few eyebrows raised).O
Western Animation
- In one episode of The Real Ghostbusters, the Ghostbusters must deal with a creature from Irish folklore. According to legend, the creature can only be stopped by a four-leaf clover. All the characters go out searching for one, except Egon, who, playing the role of Agent Scully, insists that the creature can be captured using the same "scientific" methods they always use. In the end, the four-leaf clover fails (it was a fake taken from a parade float), and Egon saves the day by capturing the creature "scientifically", exactly as he said he would.
- Despite this exception, the show generally followed this trope faithfully, as did its sequel Extreme Ghostbusters.
Other
- Bionicle has made liberal use of this, though most of the myths have been distorted through the ages, and the rest have other things keeping them from being perfectly straight examples:
- In the first few years of the franchise, each time a new threat appeared, the Turaga elders had a legend ready to explain their presence. Eventually, the Toa got rather annoyed with being kept out of the loop until the last minute, finally getting the Turaga to explain just where they got all their information:
- The original backstory said that the Great Spirit brought the Matoran out of darkness to the island of Mata Nui. We later find out that it was actually the Turaga who rescued them (as Toa Metru) from their ruined city of Metru Nui, they just credited the Spirit with giving them the strength and abilities to do so. (They also treated Metru Nui's existence as a Greatest Story Never Told to keep the Matoran from remembering and getting homesick.)
- One story said that poor workers were sent to the dreaded realm of Karzahni to be punished. In truth, poor workers were sent to Karzahni to be fixed; it's just that Karzahni was a really crappy healer and he never let anyone leave.
- One legend that isn't real is that of the monster Irnakk - that is, it wasn't real until the Piraka entered an area that brought worst fears to life... (Thankfully, Irnakk only existed briefly before vanishing.)
Web Comics
- Myths and superstitions in Tales Of The Questor tend to be problematic after a few too many generations. Some of them end up being accurate, but for each one that actually is, you've got a few dozen that are corrupted from translation issues or pure age, and hundreds that are plain false or started up from illogical premises. It's also a rule for the setting that no one can see the future, so prophecy tends to always be wrong.
- In Thunderstruck, the two leads are sisters. One is an atheist-but not a Hollywood Atheist-and the other is a Christian, but not Holier Than Thou. They're both wrong. Sort of. The series also has a Fantasy Kitchen Sink.
- Alien species encountered whilst on Earthsong are revealed to be the source for pretty much all of humanity's myths and legends, as well as those of those same alien races.
Commercials
- This M&Ms commercial.
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