History Main / CentralTheme

* CentralTheme/VideoGames

* CentralTheme/WebVideo

Stories were first told for two reasons: entertainment and education. Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh was the story of a hero who kicked ass and took names, but it was also a celebration of the culture that produced it, one of the first.

Different from AnAesop in that the CentralTheme is often a question or a general topic rather than a direct precept or conclusion: where an Aesop is a specific moral that is explicated and forced on the audience, a Central Theme will more likely be explored, analyzed, and PlayedWith. For example, "ThePowerOfFriendship" or (even better) "The struggles of sustaining The Power of Friendship [[CrapsackWorld in a cold, harsh world]]" are themes in that they are questions or issues that the author is interested in exploring and[=/=]or wants the reader to think about, whereas "The Power of Friendship will ultimately overcome all obstacles" is an Aesop in that it is a lesson or conclusion the author wants the reader to take away from the work. Of course, there can be a fine line between them, and the central theme can and often is used to develop and deliver the Aesop, but they are not strictly speaking the same.

* CentralTheme/FanWorks''

* CentralTheme/FanWorks
** ''CentralTheme/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail''

* CentralTheme/{{Other}}

Put simply, the Aesop is the what the author wants the reader to ''learn''. The Central Theme is what the story is fundamentally ''about''.

* {{CentralTheme/Literature}}

* {{CentralTheme/Music}}

* {{CentralTheme/Theatre}}

* CentralTheme/WebComics

* {{CentralTheme/Other}}

Stories were first told for two reasons: entertainment and education. Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh was the story of a hero who kicked ass and took names, but it was also a celebration of the culture that produced it, one of the first. In essence this is what separates reality from fiction: RealLife has no central theme, no message or great meaning, save the ones that we transpose on it ourselves.[[note]]This last sentence is, however, by no means a universal belief; just look at the vast array of religions in the world for that. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment And that's all we'll say on that subject.]][[/note]]

Different from AnAesop in that the CentralTheme is often a question or a general topic rather than a direct precept or conclusion: where an Aesop is a specific moral that is explicated and forced on the audience, a Central Theme will more likely be explored, analyzed, and Played with. For example, "ThePowerOfFriendship" or (even better) "The struggles of sustaining The Power of Friendship [[CrapsackWorld in a cold, harsh world]]" are themes in that they are questions or issues that the author is interested in exploring and[=/=]or wants the reader to think about, whereas "The Power of Friendship will ultimately overcome all obstacles" is an Aesop in that it is a lesson or conclusion the author wants the reader to take away from the work. Of course, there can be a fine line between them, and the central theme can and often is used to develop and deliver the Aesop, but they are not strictly speaking the same.

Stories were first told for two reasons: entertainment and education. Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh was the story of a hero who kicked ass and took names, but it was also a celebration of the culture that produced it, one of the first. In essence this is what separates reality from fiction: RealLife has no central theme, no message or great meaning, save the ones that we transpose on it ourselves.[[note]]This last sentence is, however, by no means a universal belief; just look at the vast array of religions in the world for that. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment And that's all we'll say on that subject.]][[/note]]

Different from AnAesop in that the CentralTheme is often a question or a general topic rather than a direct precept or conclusion: where an Aesop is a specific moral that is explicates and forced on the audience, a Central Theme will more likely be explored, analyzed, and Played with. For example, "ThePowerOfFriendship" or (even better) "The struggles of sustaining The Power of Friendship [[CrapsackWorld in a cold, harsh world]]" are themes in that they are questions or issues that the author is interested in exploring and[=/=]or wants the reader to think about, whereas "The Power of Friendship will ultimately overcome all obstacles" is an Aesop in that it is a lesson or conclusion the author wants the reader to take away from the work. Of course, there can be a fine line between them, and the central theme can and often is used to develop and deliver the Aesop, but they are not strictly speaking the same.

Go to a work's {{Analysis}} sub-page to find a more detailed exploration of its central theme--or add your own insight. As always, however, be wary of [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic seeing messages where there are none]].

* [[CentralTheme/AnimatedFilms Films -- Animation]]
* [[CentralTheme/LiveActionFilms Films -- Live-Action]]

* CentralTheme/{{Film}}
* CentralTheme/{{Literature}}

* CentralTheme/{{Theatre}}

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': The uncertainty of life and the limitless bound of a child's imagination.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': The cruelty of childhood and the hardships of UnrequitedLove.
* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'': Life has its hardships but ''for better or for worse'' things will turn out fine.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has several:
** Life is not black and white - hard decisions are necessary and sometimes good people must do bad things, while even evil beings may sometimes PetTheDog.
** Our friends are our strength.
** Revenge rarely achieves anything but more misery.
** Actions have consequences - usually extensive and unforeseen.
** And of course, the classic - With great power must also come great responsibility.
* ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'': Among other themes, at the racial level (as seen with Roegadyn/Krogan, the Fiera/Asari, and even the humans), how do you deal with impending obsolescence?
* ''FanFic/ShowaAndVampire'' as many of them, but these four are the main ones:
** Your past isn't the key influence on your life; it's the now the counts.
** Love comes in many kind of forms: romantic love, familial love, a brotherhood-based love, and one based around sacrifice (usually of life) for the other person.
** Once you start the CycleOfRevenge, you must continue that course until your enemies are defeated - or you are.
** Humanity is defined as being able to empathise with one another - the prime example being the vampire Moka being much more human(e) than the cyborg Dr. Gebok.
* The overarching theme of the [[Fanfic/{{Cinderjuice}} Contractually Obligated Chaos]] series is that [[ThePowerOfLove love (in all of its forms) is stronger than anything, even death]].
* In ''Fanfic/SayItThrice'' and its prequel, ThePowerOfFriendship is the central theme.
* In ''Fanfic/CodeGeassColorlessMemories'' there is an undercurrent theme in the main character Rai's arc in regards to what exactly he is looking for in his search for his memories, what his future could be and [[spoiler: The truth behind his past]].
** There's also a recurring symbolic them of the moon and the color blue in many of Rai's internal thoughts. All of which seems to have some correlation with his contractor [[spoiler: E.E]]. Who has blue hair, wears silver clothes and has a moon generating a blue aura around herself.
** The meaning of truth and facing certain uncomfortable truths as well.
* ''Fanfic/PokemonStorySinnohJourney'': The precarious balance between your personal goals and your friendships that may or may not be related to them.
* ''FanFic/AChanceMeetingOfTwoMoons'': Synchronization.
* ''FanFic/ChangeUp'': For the first few chapters at least, appearances matter and perception is reality when trying to make it as a superhero.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Manhua]]
* ''Manhua/InfinityGame'': Isolation and the importance of real connections between people.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/TheBeachBoys
** ''Music/PetSounds'': The frustrations and anxieties of young adulthood. Particularly in regards to romantic love.
* Music/GreenDay
** ''Music/AmericanIdiot'': Blindly rebelling against authority is equally as bad as blindly submitting to authority.
** ''Music/TwentyFirstCenturyBreakdown'': In difficult times, whether remaining steadfast in your beliefs or instigating revolutionary change is necessary to restore order.
* Music/PinkFloyd
** ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'': The pressures of modern life can drive people to madness if left unchecked.
** ''Music/TheWall'':
*** The importance of coming to terms with your past, and how easily you can ''become'' the very kind of person that you hate if you don't.
*** The importance of thinking for yourself, and the perils of youthful rebellion turning into mindless obedience.
*** The cyclical nature of violence and oppression, and the unavoidable fact that mindless hate always begets more.
*** As ugly as the world may seem, cutting yourself off from society ''never'' makes anything better.
** ''Animals'': The dehumanizing effects of social hierarchies, and the roles that greed and complacency play in solidifying them.
** ''Wish You Were Here'': How hard it can ''really'' be to lose someone, even if they're not truly "gone". Also, the dehumanising and phony nature of the modern music industry.
* Music/TheProtomen: People can't just wait for someone to come along and save them; they've got to fight for themselves. Alternatively, you can't survive on blind hope alone.
* Music/{{Wings}}
** ''Band on the Run'': Although there's no central story or narrative developed across the album, a lot of the songs revolved around the themes of Escape and / or Freedom and the many different forms this can take.
* Most of the songs by Music/SimonAndGarfunkel are about a failure to communicate with one another. Becomes HarsherInHindsight given the duo's split, of course.
* Most instrumental music (symphonies, concertos, suites) uses the term ''main theme'' in this way. This musical theme is the core of the whole movement or even the whole symphony. Played straight in programmatical music, like ''Symphonie Phantastique'' by Hector Berlioz, where the central theme is the ''idee fixe'' symbolizing the LostLenore. Dmitrij Shostakhovitch also played with this, as some of his symphonies were statements in their own right (The "Central Theme" of the Leningrad Symphony is a recurring melody symbolizing the German advance).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
* {{UsefulNotes/Agnosticism}}: Nothing can be known with absolute certainty.
* {{UsefulNotes/Atheism}}: Reason over belief.
* Myth/AztecMythology: The necessity of [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice]].
* {{UsefulNotes/Buddhism}}: The search for inner peace and contentment.
* {{UsefulNotes/Christianity}}: Salvation and redemption.
** Catholicism & Orthodoxy: Sacrifice and sharing in it.
** Protestantism: God's sovereignty and the need for faith.
** {{UsefulNotes/Mormonism}}: Family.
* Myth/ClassicalMythology:
** YouCantFightFate.
** The folly of {{pride}}.
** The eternal struggle between parent and child.
* {{UsefulNotes/Gnosticism}}: Salvation through knowledge and wisdom.
* {{UsefulNotes/Hinduism}}:
** ''Literature/TheMahabharata'': Stay righteous and do your duty, whether or not it seems to be helping.
* UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}: Peace through submission to God.
* UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}: Man as God's partner in sanctifying the world.
* [[Myth/KingArthur King Arthur legends]]: Humanity's aspirations to transcend its baser instincts (lust, greed, vengeance, distrust).
* Myth/MesopotamianMythology:
** ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh'': The quest for immortality.
* Myth/NorseMythology:
** Heroism in the face of defeat.
** Acceptance of fate.
* {{UsefulNotes/Satanism}}:
** DarkIsNotEvil.
** Self-gratification.
* {{UsefulNotes/Shinto}}:
** Cleansing and purification.
** The natural world is sacred.
** Respect of AncientTradition.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''Android'': No matter how much technology advances - no matter how far it expands our reach, changes our world, or even [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman if it causes us to question our definition of human]] - humanity will stay the same... with all the good and bad that comes with it.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Continuum}}'': If people could travel through time, what kind of civilisation would they build?
* ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'': What will you do if the circumstances are bleak enough?
* ''TabletopGame/TheDresdenFiles'': Power is paradoxical: the more you accumulate, the less real freedom you have.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has many themes, but the two biggest are that every action has a consequence, and that while violence is often the easiest and fastest solution, it's very rarely the best one.
* Every gameline in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness has its own theme. Some of them include:
** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' - How do you remain a moral person in an immoral society?
** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' - How do you keep fighting when the battle seems hopeless? (Alternately: When will you, the player, stop playing games about fighting metaphors and actually go out and fight real-world evil?)
** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' - How can we build a better world when we can't agree on what that would look like?
** ''TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion'' - How far can you be pushed before you succumb to your dark side?
** ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming'' - How can we keep from losing our childhood innocence and hope?
** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning'' - Once you've seen what's wrong with the world, what are you going to do about it, and how far are you willing to go in the process?
** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen'' - How do you make up for the mistakes of your past? Is it even worth doing?
* The ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' also has a theme for each gameline. The new ones are:
** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' - How do you pass eternity?
** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' - How much responsibility do you have for your ancestors' sins?
** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' - What would you do for power?
** ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' - What is the measure of a man?
** ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' - [[TeethClenchedTeamwork Hang together or be hanged separately.]]
** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' - How do you fight against enemies you don't understand? Do you even have the right to?
** ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' - What do you do with a second chance at life?
** ''TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse'' - Know thyself.
** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' - Paranoia; breaking free and defining yourself.
** ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial'' - Justification and keeping yourself in balance.
** ''TabletopGame/DeviantTheRenegades'' - Isolation, and [[RevengeBeforeReason the cost of revenge.]]
** Fangame ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' takes a swing at one, too - the nature of futility (especially the inability for anyone to control or direct culture/humanity).
** Another fangame, ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'', is about [[EarnYourHappyEnding succeeding in the face of all hardships]].
** Another fangame, ''TabletopGame/DragonTheEmbers'', is about divine right facing faded glory. The reboot, ''TabletopGame/DragonRekindled'', focuses more on power in general: what will you do to gain it, and what will you do with it once you have it?
* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': Society is inherently insane, and the government is the craziest of all.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'': What is the true nature of reality?
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Is it possible to escape the machinations and schemes of those in power?
* ''TabletopGame/{{Sorcerer}}'': What will you do to get what you want?
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' - How do you fight [[CosmicHorrorStory what cannot be fought]]? Can [[CrapsackWorld the most oppressive society imaginable]] be justified by its circumstances?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/BeeandPuppyCat'': Facing the adult world with idealism.
* ''HanazukiFullOfTreasures'': The importance of expressing your true feelings, and how a varied emotional lifestyle is the healthiest one.
* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':
** Should friendship and cooperation develop naturally or intentionally?
** Peoples' reactions to [[TomatoInTheMirror learning harsh truths about themselves]].
** Coping with the cruel absurdities of life: [[SillyReasonForWar arbitrary conflicts]], [[TheLostLenore doomed loves]], [[FalseFriend false friends]], etc.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Facing the harsh realities of the world as a kid growing up, and how a large part of becoming an adult is how you face and deal with those harsh realities.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/GiftsOfWanderingIce'' it's immortality achieved by artificial means (memory transfer and other) and its price.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' is, at heart, all about balance. The Court and the Woods; Magic and Technology; Reason and Passion; Dark and Light. Everything ends up needing a balance, which the main character Annie is slowly becoming. Also: Violence is occasionally a necessary evil, though it should be used sparingly.
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': The necessity of teamwork for survival, and the challenges of being a kid and growing up.
** For the ShowWithinAShow ''Webcomic/SweetBroAndHellaJeff'':
--> "''where doing it man. where [[{{Determinator}} MAKING]] [[ScrewDestiny THIS]] [[EarnYourHappyEnding HAPEN]].''"
* A recurring idea in the ''Webcomic/{{Walkyverse}}'' is hypocrisy. It's most obvious in CharacterDevelopment, where someone will realize they've been acting hypocritically, but it also shows up in smaller ways - [[{{Jerkass}} Mike's]] favoured technique for inducing suffering is pointing out when someone is being hugely hypocritical (usually by painfully enforcing their own logic), one-shots in ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' tend to focus on hypocritical fan logic, etc.
-->[[ArcWords Act with integrity. No regrets!]]
** David Willis also likes exploring the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism. See the famous 'It's the rain' speech Walky gives in ''Webcomic/ItsWalky''.
* ''Webcomic/ImMyOwnMascot'': What it means to be a member of a {{Fandom}} and how, in the grand scheme of things, the world doesn't revolve around us. Driving this home is the main character being both an AuthorAvatar [[LifeEmbellished and the resident]] ButtMonkey ([[PrideBeforeAFall especially when he gets egotistical or self-indulgent]]).
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** Teamwork and trust are key to victory--the more people trust each other and are willing to cooperate, the more effective they are, even the bad guys. People who cannot afford to trust their allies, [[spoiler:such as Lord Shojo]], think they don't need others to help solve their problems, [[spoiler:like Miko or V in the "Don't Split the Party" arc]], or just want to do what they want, not thinking about their teammates [[spoiler:like Belkar, and perhaps Xykon]] will get in trouble.
** Also, {{Deconstruction}} of ''Tabletopgame/DungeonsAndDragons'' stereotypes by putting them in contrast with a realistic racial conflict.
** Another theme is the nature of power, and what it means to use this effectively and wisely. A recurring thread through the plot is characters who are supposedly more powerful being undone by their supposedly weaker opponents, often because the powerful get overconfident and/or limit themselves to brute force where the less powerful are forced to apply creativity and intelligence and exploit unforeseen flaws and weaknesses to solve their problems.
* ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'': Inversion/deconstruction of ''Tabletopgame/DungeonsAndDragons'' FantasticRacism -- just because some races are [[CharacterAlignment aligned]] [[AlwaysChaoticEvil as "evil" or "monsters"]] doesn't mean that humans and other player races are any better.
* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' deals with the rifts that are caused between people due to differences in power, luck, ability and resources and how these rifts cause betrayal and sacrifice that have no blame.
* ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings'': Being badass [[DeconstructedTrope doesn't mean you'll have good life]] -- most manly guys have strong problems with adjusting to normal life and traits that made them badasses in their games and shows only get in the way in normal life.
* ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'' explores the bond that exists between individuals of contrasting, even clashing, personalities, and how that bond ends up changing them.
* ''Webcomic/StrongFemaleProtagonist'': Can one person, no matter how powerful, really make a difference in the world?
* ''Webcomic/CobwebAndStripes'': LoveRedeems, and no one is beyond redemption.
* ''Webcomic/{{Rain}}'' explores the trials and tribulations that {{Transgender}} people, along with many others on the LGBT spectrum, experience, and shows that they a common part of our world. They're people in need of love and understanding just like everyone else.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': How necessary is it to [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow keep terrible secrets]] in order to [[WellIntentionedExtremist try and protect the world]]?
* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': Community. Even if the various citizens disagree, or outright menace each other, Night Vale is still a group of people committed to getting through their imperfect lives as best they can with their fellow citizens.
* The ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' seems to be fundamentally about prejudice. In a super hero world, there's prejudice against mutants and their powers, but in a lot of ways the stories are at least as much about prejudice against [=LGBT=] people, since every one in Team Kimba is a mutant who is [=LGBT=] in some way, perhaps against their will.
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'': People need to learn to communicate with each other, lest we tear each other apart.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'': With great power comes not just great responsibility, but also the need for restraint.
* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' explores the importance and impact of family on a lot of different levels both positive and negative, as well as in terms of blood relations versus or compared with your FamilyOfChoice.
** A secondary theme on the importance of forgiveness for those who have hurt you and for your own past mistakes has also developed between several of the main characters, particularly as the all-but-stated driving theme of [[spoiler:Percy and Vex’ahlia’s]] romantic subplot.
* ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'' in general: The media conditions children to think in certain ways that are manipulative and unhealthy. Learn to think for yourself.
** "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared": Creativity can be a dangerous thing when repressed and then let loose.
** "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 2 - TIME": Time will pass, no matter how one distracts him or herself, and take us in the end.
** "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 3": Love is not something that should be forced upon someone.
** "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 4": Technology can often distract us from its actual purpose and trap us within it.
** "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 5": Health and fitness experts are often ignorant, self-contradicting and exploit their audiences.
** Subverted in "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 6," which is initially about Dreams, but quickly shifts clear to focus on the series's general central theme.
* ''WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter'': When done right, animation can touch our emotions in many ways, inspire us to new heights, give us direction, and give us purpose.
* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'':
** Actions have consequences and you need to deal with them. Made especially obvious after [[ILetGwenStacyDie Ma-Ti's death]] in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''.
** Many of his videos highlight the dangers of fanaticism and nostalgia. Most things are not perfect and/or [[NostalgiaFilter not as good as we remember them]], and there are more important things in life than what you watched as a kid.
* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'': PositiveDiscrimination is more damaging than it seems, and female characters can and should be flawed and interesting.
* ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'': The things you love may not be as perfect as you thought, but that's no reason to not love them anymore.
[[/folder]]

* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': Community. Even if the various citizens disagree, or outright menace each other, Night Vale is still a group of people committed to getting through their imperfect lives as best they can with their fellow citizens.

* ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes: The uncertainty of life and the limitless bound of a child's imagination.
* ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}: The cruelty of childhood and the hardships of UnrequitedLove.
* ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse: Life has its hardships but ''for better or for worse'' things will turn out fine.

* In Fanfic/CodeGeassColorlessMemories there is an undercurrent theme in the main character Rai's arc in regards to what exactly he is looking for in his search for his memories, what his future could be and [[spoiler: The truth behind his past]].

* WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall: With great power comes not just great responsibility, but also the need for restraint.
* WebVideo/CriticalRole explores the importance and impact of family on a lot of different levels both positive and negative, as well as in terms of blood relations versus or compared with your FamilyOfChoice.

* WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter: When done right, animation can touch our emotions in many ways, inspire us to new heights, give us direction, and give us purpose.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic:

* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick: PositiveDiscrimination is more damaging than it seems, and female characters can and should be flawed and interesting.
* WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment: The things you love may not be as perfect as you thought, but that's no reason to not love them anymore.

* ''Android''- No matter how much technology advances- no matter how far it expands our reach, changes our world, or even [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman if it causes us to question our definition of human]]- humanity will stay the same- with all the good and bad that comes with it.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Continuum}}'' - If people could travel through time, what kind of civilisation would they build?
* ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' - What will you do if the circumstances are bleak enough?
* ''TabletopGame/TheDresdenFiles'' - Power is paradoxical: the more you accumulate, the less real freedom you have.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has the many themes, but the two biggest are that every action has a consequence, and that while violence is often the easiest and fastest solution, it's very rarely the best one.
* Every gameline in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness had its own theme. Some of them include:

** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' - How much responsibility do you have for your ancestor's sins?

** Another Fangame ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'' is about [[EarnYourHappyEnding succeeding in the face of all hardships]].
** Another Fangame ''TabletopGame/DragonTheEmbers'' is about divine right facing faded glory. The reboot, ''TabletopGame/DragonRekindled'', focuses more on power in general: what will you do to gain it, and what will you do with it once you have it?

A philosophy, a message, an idea at the heart of a work. What the story is ''about''.

Different from AnAesop in that the CentralTheme is often a question or a general topic rather than a direct precept or conclusion: where an Aesop is a specific moral that is explicates and forced on the audience, a Central Theme will more likely be explored, analyzed, and Played with. For example, "ThePowerOfFriendship" or (even better) "The struggles of sustaining The Power of Friendship in a cold, harsh world" are themes in that they are questions or issues that the author is interested in exploring and[=/=]or wants the reader to think about, whereas "The Power of Friendship will ultimately overcome all obstacles" is an Aesop in that it is a lesson or conclusion the author wants the reader to take away from the work. Of course, there can be a fine line between them, and the central theme can and often is used to develop and deliver the Aesop, but they are not strictly speaking the same.

** ''Music/21stCenturyBreakdown'': In difficult times, whether remaining steadfast in your beliefs or instigating revolutionary change is necessary to restore order.

** Nature is sacred and revered.

* {{Gnosticism}}: Salvation through knowledge and wisdom.

* {{UsefulNotes/Satanism}}: Self-gratification.