History Main / AlreadyTheCase

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* This is why the barman in ''Literature/MovingPictures'' who carers exclusively to people DrowningTheirSorrows has learned never to say things like "It might never happen" or "It could be worse" to his clientele.

A variant involving objects is for a skeptic to say that if a certain object is genuine, it must fulfill certain criteria -- only to learn that, yes, those criteria ARE fulfilled. For example, say someone says a saxophone can only be a C Melody (a rare type) if it was custom-made or hailed from the 1920s -- only to learn said saxophone was indeed made in the 1920s.

* A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is when a resident of Hell is killed... only to reappear moments later. They're ''already'' in Hell!

* A RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is when a resident of Hell is killed... only to reappear moments later. They're ''already'' in Hell!
-->'''Saddam Hussein''': Yeah, well, where was I gonna go? Detroit?

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheTonightShow'': When Johnny Carson was retiring, Jay Leno and Creator/DavidLetterman were both vying for the job. Eventually it went to Jay, but Johnny was still hosting the show for several more months. Shortly after the decision, Johnny had Dave on as a guest.
-->'''Johnny:''' Well, why don't I start off with a question, here: just how pissed off are you?\\
'''Dave:''' Johnny, lemme give you a little piece of advice: you keep using language like that, and you're gonna find yourself out of a job.
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* ''Film/{{It 2017}}'': Mike initially [[IneffectualLoser rebuffs the Losers' friendship offer]], saying it'd make them a target for [[TheBully Henry Bowers]] and his gang. The Losers promptly inform him that they saved his ass, and Henry's already targeting them.

* or is the result of ''not'' doing "X".

* In ''Literature/SecondFoundation'', a student in the titular organization tells the First Speaker that there is a high chance the First Foundation had shifted its focus to anti-telepath research in order to fight them. The Speaker states it has already happened.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', Bill Raibert wants to be awoken before things spiral out of control. Maxwell Post tells him that things are already out of control.

* ''Webcomic/OnepunchMan'': When [[KillerGorilla Armored Gorilla]] is disabled by Genos, he refuses to give up any information to him or Saitama, boasting that his superior [[KingOfBeasts Beast King]] will kill them both. Saitama then pulls out the [[LudicrousGibs messy remains]] from when he'd slaughtered Beast King and asks if that's the guy he's talking about. After a '''long''' VisibleSilence, Armored Gorilla switches from RoboSpeak to a regular voice and meekly acquiesces.

Basically, this is when someone is told that an action or decision will lead to a certain outcome--but the predicted outcome is occurring (or inevitable) anyways, so the course of action might as well be taken. Nobody is TemptingFate at all, Fate has already done its thing, thank you.

A variant involving objects is for a skeptic to say that if a certain object is genuine, it must fulfill certain criteria--only to learn that, yes, those criteria ARE fulfilled. For example, say someone says a saxophone can only be a C Melody (a rare type) if it was custom-made or hailed from the 1920s--only to learn said saxophone was indeed made in the 1920s.

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!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film - Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'', during their journey the Monkey mentions to Kubo, who is climbing on some rocks behind her back, that any moment something terrible could come out of nowhere ... and as she turns around Kubo is gone. Turns out he was abducted by a beetle.

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* From the {{Prologue}} to ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'':
-->There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
-->There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

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[[folder:RealLife]]

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[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'': By the time a genestealer cult is found, it usually means the Tyranid hive fleet is well on its way, and that many individuals in the planet's infrastructure are now in the HiveMind's thrall.
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* In ''Heir of Andelun'', the prophesy warns that if the titular heir sires a child with the daughter of the current King and joining the two dynasties, it will mean that the dynasty the deposed Andelun belonged to is extinct. Turns out, Andelun's ancestors violated a law regarding inbreeding (several times, in fact), and thus went legally extinct long before even Andelun was born.

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* In ''VideoGame/IcewindDale'', the flavor text for [[InfinityPlusOneSword Pale Justice]] states that the sword was forged by a smith worshiping the god Tyr as his masterpiece. Then he brought it to Tyr's temple as a gift. The priests there prayed to their god for ten years to grant it magical power. Then they gave up, and a single priest prayed for it alone. After twenty more years, the priest realized that Tyr had enchanted the sword years ago... just without fanfare.

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[[AC:RealLife]]
* There is a story out of the former East Germany where a man who had criticized the government who'd been injured, and was given medication and told that, if he didn't take it, he would never regain his strength. After years of chronic illness and weakness, he decided if he was going to be this sick anyways it wasn't worth taking his medicine, so he stopped. He realized that the medicine was actually poisoning him when he recovered from his "illness".

* ''Webcomic/OnepunchMan'': When [[KillerGorilla Armored Gorilla]] is disabled by Genos, he refuses to give up any information to him or Genos, instead boasting that his superior [[KingOfBeasts Beast King]] will kill them both. Saitama then pulls out the [[LudicrousGibs messy remains]] from when he'd slaughtered Beast King and asks if that's the guy he's talking about. After a '''long''' VisibleSilence, Armored Gorilla drops the RoboSpeak for a regular voice and meekly acquiesces.

* ''Webcomic/OnepunchMan'': When [[KillerGorilla Armored Gorilla]] is disabled by Genos, he refuses to give up any information to him or Genos, instead boasting that his superior [[KingOfBeasts Beast King]] will kill them both. Saitama then pulls out the [[LudicrousGibs messy remains]] from when he'd slaughtered Beast King and asks if that's the guy he's talking about. After a '''long''' VisibleSilence, Armored Gorilla meekly acquiesces while dropping the RoboSpeak.

-->'''Johnny:''' Well, why don't I start off with a question, here: just how pissed off are you?
-->'''Dave:''' Johnny, lemme give you a little piece of advice: you keep using language like that, and you're gonna find yourself out of a job.

* In ''Webcomic/JackDavidHopkins'', a doctor working on the cure for cancer sexually abuses children, and keeps his assistant silent by using the assistant's wife as a hostage of sorts (she's dying of cancer). Finally the assistant snaps and calls the police. When the doctor tries again to use the dying wife as leverage, [[BlackmailBackfire he learns what made the assistant snap]]: [[spoiler:his assistant's wife is already dead.]]

* In ''Second Literature/{{Foundation}}'', a student in the titular organization tells the First Speaker that there is a high chance the First Foundation had shifted its focus to anti-telepath research in order to fight them. The Speaker states it has already happened.