History Foreshadowing / Literature

* A rather interesting example shows up in ''{{Elantris}}''. Near the start there is a mention of [[spoiler:Hrathen as the savior of Arelon]] which most simply put down to simply stating his thoughts. it isn't until the end that you find out that [[spoiler:Hrathen defects when he realizes how evil dilaf is, and then sacrifices his own life to kill him, saving the entire joint population of both Arelon and Teod from being annihilated by the derethi cult.]]

** Earlier than that, the Bahrag queens in the 2002 book ''Beware the Bohrok'' compare their minions, the titular Borhok to the Toa heroes, calling them their brothers. Some years later, it's revealed that the Bohrok and the Barhag weren't evil at all, they had only been serving the will of PhysicalGod Mata Nui, the same as the Toa. Later still, we learn that the Bohrok [[WasOnceAMan were once Matoran]], the same "species" that the Toa belong to.

* About halfway through Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', Elizabeth says to Darcy, "I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry." [[LiteralGenie He is]].
** Long before that, when Jane is ill, Darcy and Elizabeth discuss the eventuality of Mr. Bingley suddenly leaving Netherfield at a friend's request. Darcy thinks it would be a lack of character to yield so easily to a friend, and Elizabeth thinks it's perfectly natural to be influenced by those who are dear to you. [[spoiler:Guess who changed their opinion when Bingley does leave Netherfield in a hurry at his friend's request?]]

* In the last book of ''ArtemisFowl'', when watching [[spoiler: Gobdaw's soul move on to the afterlife in bliss]], [[spoiler: Artemis]] wonders if when that happens to them, they would react the same.

* The 2003 ''{{Bionicle}}'' book ''Tales of the Masks'' is full of foreshadowing, hinting at a mysterious, forgotten past and an ancient city called Metru Nui. The following two years focused entirely on this. Later, in the '05 book ''Time Trap'', Toa Vakama received a vision that faintly hinted at the '06 storyline.

* Genesis 3:15 'he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.' If you're Christian, you probably think this is foreshadowing to Jesus punishing Satan (the snake) ... a few thousand years before he was born.

** This happens even in throw-away lines! In HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets after Harry was sent down the wrong chimney via Floo Powder, Draco is seen examining [[spoiler:a cursed opal necklace that claimed the lives of 19 Muggles. Sound familiar? Not to mention that Draco had also shown interest in the Hand of Glory, which should also sound familiar for the very same reason.]]

** In ''HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', it was mentioned that "Always the innocent are the first victims,". In ''HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', the first victims of Voldemort's plan to be completely restored were [[spoiler: Bertha Jorkins, Frank Bryce, Bartemius Crouch Senior (he was at fault but did not intend to help Voldemort) and Cedric Diggory]].
* Early in ''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} Wyrd Sisters]]'', Granny Weatherwax says "You'd have to be a born fool to be a king." By the end of the book, the court Fool has become the king. And not only that, he is a 'born fool' - his father and grandfather were Fools before him.
** A similar example crops up in ''Assassin's Quest'' by Robin Hobb. The character Kettle is part of a group who's looking for the White Prophet, and says with respect to their search "Perhaps it is a fool's errand that I go on." Again, the White Prophet turns out to be the Fool.
* happens throught all the second part of ''[[{{Foundation}} Foundation and Empire]]'', this part of the book being full of situations that not only hint the powers of The Mule but also wouldn't have been possible without them; the casual reader passes by without noticing anything out of place, is only when you have completed the book and start rereading it that everything makes sense.
* Another Literature/{{Discworld}} example: characters in previous City Watch books remark that there's no reason why the older but perfectly healthy Lady Sybil shouldn't [[spoiler: be able to have children]]. It still takes her husband the whole length of ''The Fifth Elephant'' to get the happy hint.
** And another: in ''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} Thief of Time]]'' there's a weird little section where Lu-Tze [[spoiler: cuts off a Yeti's head in order to show Lobsang their ability to [[SaveScumming manipulate time and avoid death]].]] It seems sort of out of place, especially considering they're supposed to be in a bit of a hurry to get to the city, until Lu-Tze says "I hope I'm never that desperate," at which point you are absolutely, without-a-doubt certain that by the end of the book he will be. Of course, this may also just be an example of TheLawofConservationofDetail and readers being GenreSavvy.

* An excellent example of foreshadowing is ''TheWheelOfTime'' in ''The Great Hunt'' Turak mentions that the Emperess of the Seanchan Empire rules from the Court of the Nine Moons, and her favorite daughter is named Tuon. In ''The Shadow Rising'' Mat Cauthon is told he will marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons. Guess who the Daughter of the Nine Moons is? To put this in perspective ''The Great Hunt'' is the second book in the series, ''The Shadow Rising'' is book 4, and ''The Winter's Heart'' where Tuon actually enters the story is book 9.
** This is in fact pretty much the ''entire principle'' behind the ''WheelOfTime'' books. That and clothes.
* About halfway through Creator/JaneAusten's ''PrideAndPrejudice'', Elizabeth says to Darcy, "I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry." [[LiteralGenie He is]].

* In the first {{Redwall}} book, Cluny had a nightmare where he was being chased by Martin the Warrior, and as the sword "struck" him, he was woken up by a giant bell. His final battle is in the bell-tower, where Matthias uses Martin's sword to chop the rope keeping the bell up, and it lands on Cluny's head.
* ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' is so full of this.

* The novel ''ToKillAMockingbird'' spends an entire chapter detailing local racist Bob Ewell's attempts at getting revenge on everyone he blames for being outed as a liar (he had beaten his daughter after catching her trying to seduce a black man and forced her to accuse the innocent man of rape. Despite evidence of his innocence, the man was convicted and fatally shot trying to escape.), stalking the man's widow, the trial judge, and explicitly threatening the man's lawyer, Atticus Finch. In the next chapter, as Atticus' children prepare to go to a Halloween party, their aunt mentions an uneasy feeling, "Something just walked over my grave". The children are viciously attacked by Ewell on their way home, and it is all but stated that they would have been killed had someone not heard their screams and come to help.

* In the ''SwordOfTruth'' novels, the best example is in the sixth book, ''Faith of the Fallen.'' Right after Nicci forcibly takes Richard prisoner and right before he leaves with her to the Old World, Kahlan tells Richard that he should, "Carve something to make Nicci see that you should be free." Richard dismisses this as unnecessary and silly. At the climax, when Nicci sees the statues on the cover of the book that Richard carved, she has an epiphany, sets Richard and Kahlan free, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn.
* In the first chapter of ''DeadSouls'' the author mentions that Chichikov (the protagonist) is able to talk about custom officials "as if he had been one of them". Much later we'll learn that this has indeed been the case - and that he tried a big smuggle operation, which almost would've made him a rich man.

* TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea:

* In Dorothy L Sayer's Busman's honeymoon, Peter and Harriet arrive at their honeymoon cottage and send Bunter to knock loudly when nobody lets them in, saying 'Wake Duncan with thy knocking'. This is what Macbeth says when Duncan is dead (Wake Duncan ... I woulds't thou coulds't). The person being knocked for is dead.

* In ''TheKiteRunner'', Amir reads Hassan a story about [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rostam_and_Sohrab Rostam and Sohrab]]. Rostam kills Sohrab in battle, not knowing that Sohrab is his son. Later in the book, [[spoiler:Amir blames himself for Hassan's death, and learns that he was his half-brother]].

** Ron is king of this. He says about Tom Riddle "maybe he killed Myrtle, that'd have done everyone a favour." Riddle ''did'' kill her! In Deathly Hallows, Ron almost predicts the taboo on saying "Voldemort." The exact words were "It feels like a jinx or something."!

* ''AndThenThereWereNone''. Soon after arriving to a manor with several others, one of the characters goes into his room and takes a bath while pondering what he's going to do next: "Warm steaming water - tired limbs - presently a shave - a cocktaildinner. And after - ?" [[spoiler:He dies during the dinner.]]

* ''[[Literature/TheHungerGames Catching Fire]]'' contains two. Katniss has a dream that essentially depicts [[spoiler:the epilogue]] and the resolution of the love triangle is foreshadowed when the characters describe [[spoiler:the wedding ritual of District 12 which includes the couple starting a fire and toasting a piece of bread. Take one guess as to whether the girl on fire ends up with the boy with the bread or with the other guy.]]

* In Dorothy L Sayer's Busman's honeymoon, Peter and Harriet arrive at their honeymoon cottage and send Bunter to knock loudly when nobody lets them in, saying 'Wake Duncan with thy knocking'. This is what Hamlet says when Duncan is dead (Wake Duncan ... I woulds't thou coulds't). The person being knocked for is dead.

** As well as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and every other prophetic book. Prophesies, in general, are this in real life.
** In addition, many Old Testament events are similar to events in the New Testament. They are known as "types."

* In the InheritanceCycle, Eragon at one point asks [[TheMentor Brom]] what his mother was like. Brom describes her as proud and dignified, which led to her downfall, but also willing to help others. FridgeLogic kicks in when you realize that Brom was an outsider to Carvahall who shouldn't have known this. When we are told that [[TheDragon Morzan]] was Eragon's father, that makes even less sense; why would Brom say that about Morzan's consort? How could he have known she had a nicer side. In the third book, we get an answer: [[spoiler: he and Selena had fallen in love and produced Eragon]].

* ''[[Literature/TheHungerGames Catching Fire]]'' contains two. Katniss has a dream that essentially depicts [[spoiler:the epilogue]] and the resolution of the love triangle is foreshadowed when the characters describe [[spoiler:the wedding ritual of District 12 which includes the couple starting a fire and toasting a piece of bread. Take one guess as to whether the girl on fire ends up with the boy with the bread or with the other guy.]]

** Many of Professor Trelawney's predictions, while mostly inaccurate, sometimes end up echoing events later in the book. The most obvious example is in ''Half Blood Prince'', in which Trelawney goes over Tarot readings. [[TarotMotifs The Tower]] comes up, and Trelawney uses it to predict Harry's death... again. It's not till later in the book, in a chapter titled ''The Lighting Struck Tower'' when Snape kills Dumbledore on top of the astronomy tower.

* The first volume of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' has this ironic example: [[ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne Frodo]] says, "So far, my only hope has been to get here (Rivendell.) I hope I shan't have to go any further...I have had [[ShortCutsMakeLongDelays a month of exile and adventure]], and I find that has been as much as I want." [[ItGotWorse Guess what the next two books are about?]]

* In Dorothy L Sayer's Busman's honeymoon, Peter and Harriet arrive at their honeymoon cottage and send Bunter to knock loudly when nobody lets them in, saying 'Wake Duncan with thy knocking'. This is what Hamlet says when Duncan is dead (Wake Duncan ... I woulds't thou coulds't). The person being knocked for is dead.

* Creator/JackMcDevitt really likes to do this before killing off any vaguely important characters. When he starts talking about how one character will think back to this moment, later, it's often because it's the last time they'll see another character alive. He's deliberately not very subtle about it.

* In ''ZForZachariah'', a character who later turns out to be a CompleteMonster tells the protagonist "Ann Burden, you're going to wish I'd never come here." At the time he doesn't seem serious, but turns out to be very right.

* TheDresdenFiles foreshadows the death of [[spoiler: Harry Dresden]] in multiple books. Prominent examples include, Quintus Cassius's [[spoiler: death curse: "DIE ALONE!"]], and [[spoiler: the tombstone Harry was given as a threat by Bianca. It's epitaph: He died doing the right thing.]] It's not wrong.
* Early in ''[[AuntDimity Aunt Dimity Goes West]]'', Bill marshals many arguments to convince Lori to vacation in Colorado with the boys and Annelise; among them, he cites the many wonderful activities available to the boys and says, "They'll have a tale or two to tell their friends when they start school in the fall, that's for sure." Yes, and some of those tales will prove more exciting than even he bargained for—so exciting that they prompt the school's headmistress to summon Bill and Lori for a conference early in ''Aunt Dimity Vampire Hunter''.

* TheDresdenFiles foreshadows the death of [[spoiler: Harry Dresden]] in multiple books. Prominent examples include, Quintus Cassius's [[spoiler: death curse: "DIE ALONE!"]], and [[spoiler: the tombstone Harry was given as a threat by Bianca. It's epitaph: He died doing the right thing.]] It's not wrong.

* TheDresdenFiles foreshadows the [[spoiler: temporary death of Harry Dresden]] in multiple books. Prominent examples include, Quintus Cassius's [[spoiler: death curse: "DIE ALONE!"]], and [[spoiler: the tombstone Harry was given as a threat by Bianca. It's epitaph: He died doing the right thing.]] It's not wrong.

* Among the various examples in ''Literature/{{Cerberon}}'' is this gem: When George and Cerberon are discussing what to do with the bodies of two highwaymen they had just killed, Cerberon asks, "Shouldn't we bury them?" to which George replies, "No. Leave them for the carrion birds. Maybe they can carry their wretched souls up to Heaven." Later on, they meet a family of skraad, [[BigBadassBirdOfPrey human-sized intelligent avian carrion birds]] [[{{Psychopomp}} who can lead lost spirits on to their afterlife]]. In an interesting CallBack to George's foreshadowing statement, one of the skraad tells another character, "There is nothing in the sky for the soul. It returns to the Source and the body nourishes more life."

* In ''[[MythAdventures Myth-Chief]]'', Aahz and Skeeve are competing over who gets to be the new president of M.Y.T.H., Inc. Early on, Guido accidentally calls [[spoiler: Bunny]] "boss", foreshadowing who eventually gets the job.

* Early in ''[[{{Discworld}} Wyrd Sisters]]'', Granny Weatherwax says "You'd have to be a born fool to be a king." By the end of the book, the court Fool has become the king. And not only that, he is a 'born fool' - his father and grandfather were Fools before him.

* Another {{Discworld}} example: characters in previous City Watch books remark that there's no reason why the older but perfectly healthy Lady Sybil shouldn't [[spoiler: be able to have children]]. It still takes her husband the whole length of ''The Fifth Elephant'' to get the happy hint.
** And another: in ''[[{{Discworld}} Thief of Time]]'' there's a weird little section where Lu-Tze [[spoiler: cuts off a Yeti's head in order to show Lobsang their ability to [[SaveScumming manipulate time and avoid death]].]] It seems sort of out of place, especially considering they're supposed to be in a bit of a hurry to get to the city, until Lu-Tze says "I hope I'm never that desperate," at which point you are absolutely, without-a-doubt certain that by the end of the book he will be. Of course, this may also just be an example of TheLawofConservationofDetail and readers being GenreSavvy.

* Bokonon tells the protagonist of [[KurtVonnegut Kurt Vonnegut's]] ''CatsCradle'' what he would do if he were "a younger man"...such as the protagonist. It is heavily implied that John does exactly what Bokonon says. We know for a fact that he does part of it by the end of the book.