History Main / EitherOrProphecy

** The Skeksis massacred the Gelflings to prevent the healing of the Crystal, following the logic that so long as no Gelfling was alive at the conjunction nobody could repair it. Sadly, they missed two.

* {{Naruto}} has the head frog sage of Myobokuzan foretell [[spoiler:that one of Jiraiya's pupils will either change the world for the better or bring the world to ruin. The possible candidates are Naruto and Pain/Nagato. Nagato ends up endorsing Naruto as he performs his DeathEqualsRedemption in order to resurrect all the victims of his attack on the Leaf Village]]

* A ''SpiderMan'' annual, "Night of the Bend-Sinister", begins with a prophecy from the Book of the Vishanti, stating that once every 60,000 years a mystical conjunction called the Bend-Sinister is possible, and at that time demons will succeed in invading the Earth unless "a mighty sorcerer'' joins forces with "one who both spider and man". Fortunately, Spider-Man and Comicbook/DoctorStrange are old friends...

* In the film ''TheDarkCrystal'':

* ''{{Candorville}}'' parodies this during TheReveal. [[spoiler:If a vampiress can produce a {{Dhampyr}}, which Roxanne managed to do thanks to modern fertilization techniques, she'll lose all the standard weaknesses and the need for blood while retaining all the assets. It's prophesied that she'll someday rule over mankind--unless she gives into her still-existing ''[[HorrorHunger desire]]'' for blood, in which case she'll be returned to normal having gained nothing. "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And her APR would shoot up to 29.97%.]]"]]

* In ''PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', there is a prophecy that a half-blood child of one of the big three will either save the Olympian gods or damn them... [[spoiler: or so we believe for the whole freaking series. what it actually says is that ''when'' the next child of the big three turns 16, ''a'' hero will make a choice to save or damn he Olympian gods...this hero and the halfblood aren't the same person.]]

* ''{{Lexx}}'' has the Time Prophet basically state that a Brunene-G will destroy His Divine Shadow. So, of course, HDS kills all of the Brunen-G... Only to turn the last one into a BrainwashedAndCrazy undead assassin. It was a specific case of His Shadow trying to ScrewDestiny, since He never thought that Kai would recover from being brainwashed (not so much the undead bit), nor that Kai would just so happen to have a brain-eating Cluster Lizard handy when His Shadow transferred back into the body of a [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere planet-sized Insect]]. Although the prophecy ITSELF is cut and dry, it falls into this trope because the Time Prophet specifically makes her predictions by looking "more or less into the [[HistoryRepeats cycles of Future-Past]]", which basically means "Since all this happened this way before under different names, it will happen again, probably, unless it doesn't".

* LegacyOfKain, Raziel sees murals depicting two champions that will battle each other to decide the fate of Nosgoth, but the victory is undetermined as the murals show both champions slaying the other. Then in a serious ProphecyTwist, we find out [[spoiler:Raziel is ''both'' champions at once. He ultimately allows himself to die because this is the only way he can "win," effectively meaning ''both'' outcomes of the prophecy are fulfilled - because the two champions are the same person, they both win, and they both lose.]]

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* LegacyofKain, Raziel sees murals depicting two champions that will battle each other to decide the fate of Nosgoth, but the victory is undetermined as the murals show both champions slaying the other. Then in a serious ProphecyTwist, we find out [[spoiler:Raziel is ''both'' champions at once. He ultimately allows himself to die because this is the only way he can "win," effectively meaning ''both'' outcomes of the prophecy are fulfilled - because the two champions are the same person, they both win, and they both lose.]]

** [[spoiler:When Belkar complains that the prophecy didn't come true, the Oracle tries to convince him that he [[HalfTruth caused all of their deaths already]]. Belkar doesn't buy the ProphecyTwist so well and goes for the last one. Except that it turns out that the Oracle was CrazyPrepared, engineered circumstances that resulted in the murder backfiring on Belkar through his Mark of Justice curse, and arranged for clerics to resurrect him after Belkar left.]]

* In ''ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'', Thomas Covenant is prophesied to "save or damn" the world.

* The Usurpation of the Solar Deliberative in ''{{Exalted}}'' was triggered when the Sidereals read the Loom of Fate and noticed a gigantic celestial clusterfuck would ensue if the Solars kept doing things as they were. They could either tell the Solars about this and hope that they'd yield to the advice, or overthrow the Solars and ensure that the crisis did not come to pass. They chose the latter, which had its own string of nasty side effects. The best part? Due to the manifestation of the Great Curse upon the Sidereals, the choice to kill them all did ''not'' avert the dark and miserable future that would come if they failed to persuade the Solars -- it only delayed it, and if not for the careless arrogance of the forces of Evil, there wouldn't have been any Solars to stand in the way.
* The Draconic Prophecy in the DungeonsAndDragons setting {{Eberron}} can be said to follow this trope; it describes the inevitable results of certain events, while remaining silent as to whether these events will ever happen. This works out perfectly for adventures: If event X happens, event Y will happen. If you want to prevent or cause event Y, you've got to worry about event X.

* This is seen somewhat in ''{{Dune}}'', where Paul and later Leto II can see possible futures and must choose the best one to carry out.

* DavidEddings loves this. The ''{{Belgariad}}'' has two competing prophecies which, combined, amount to one big Either-Or Prophecy. In the sequel series, the same continues in a slightly tweaked form, so that the winning future is determined by one person who is supposed to be totally impartial. [[spoiler: The dark prophecy tries to cheat at the last second... and it backfires, as they send the person making the choice into such a meltdown that she throws herself at the light prophecy.]]

** [[spoiler:When Belkar complains that the prophecy didn't come true, the Oracle tries to convince him that he [[HalfTruth caused all of their deaths already]]. Belkar doesn't buy the ProphecyTwist so well and goes for the last one. Except that it turns out that the Oracle was CrazyPrepared, engineered circumstances that resulted in the murder backfiring on Belkar, and arranged for clerics to resurrect him after Belkar left.]]

* Not exactly a prophecy, but more of a prediction: AdolfHitler supposedly was so fond of this kind of platitude ("there are two possibilities: Either x will happen, or y will") that even his secretary started japing about it ("there are two possibilities: Either there will be rain tomorrow, or there won't").

* SJ Games' ''TabletopGames/InNomine'' {{RPG}} features the Archangel of Destiny, who knows with divine certainty that ultimately everything will turn out all right... and the Prince of Fate, who has an equal certainty that Hell and the forces of evil will triumph. Fate and Destiny hang in a sort of metaphysical eigenstate over any sort of prophecy in this setting, and as angels and demons, the player characters themselves are often the 'spooky action at a distance' that resolves them.

* SJ Games' ''In Nomine'' {{RPG}} features the Archangel of Destiny, who knows with divine certainty that ultimately everything will TurnOutAllRight... and the Prince of Fate, who has an equal certainty that Hell and the forces of evil will triumph. Fate and Destiny hang in a sort of metaphysical eigenstate over any sort of prophecy in this setting, and as angels and demons, the player characters themselves are often the 'spooky action at a distance' that resolves them.

* ''StarWars'' - It was prophesized that the chosen one would bring balance to the force. Well, the chosen one did, first in Episode 3 ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' by [[spoiler: helping kill thousands of Jedi, thus reducing their numbers to roughly equal the Sith]], and then in Episode 6 ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' by [[spoiler: killing the Emperor, one of the last Sith, and [[HeelFaceTurn converting back to the light side]]]].

** [[spoiler:When Belkar complains that the prophecy didn't come true, the Oracle tries to convince him that he [[HalfTruth caused all of their deaths already]]. Belkar doesn't buy the ProphecyTwist so well and goes for the last one.]]

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has one of these among a hundred. Gawain will either kneel to his unofficial girlfriend Egwene, or kill her.
** The various viewings of the future, most notably Min's, qualify as well. They're accurate readings of The Pattern that shapes the past and future. However if the Big Bad wins The Pattern itself will be destroyed, rendering the viewings false.

** Also, another one of Min's viewings of Siuan Sanche and Gareth Bryne said that "You must stay close to each other or you will both die." [[spoiler: They end up saving each others lives after an assassin carrying a poisoned needle attacks them (Gareth kills the assassin and Siuan heals him from the poison)]]

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A little thought reveals that the [[InvertedTrope inverse]] of this trope, when applicable, falls under NoManOfWomanBorn. The latter trope requires that two or more conditions be met that are supposed to be contradictory (and thus interpretable as Neither-Nor)[[hottip:*:For instance, "No man of women born shall kill you" can be read as "The one who kill you will neither be a man, nor will that one be born of a woman".]][[hottip:**:This can be proven in general terms through formal logic: as the other trope's description puts it, it is "If X, then Y" where X is seemingly impossible, and formal logic clearly states that "If X, then Y" is equivalent to "Either Y or not X". Trust me.]], but in reality aren't, leading to the inevitable ProphecyTwist.

** Actually, [[spoiler: reducing the number of the Jedi to a handful]] ISN'T bringing balance. The existence of the Sith itself is the imbalance and the destruction of the Sith is what would bring balance.

* {{Naruto}} has the head frog sage of Myobokuzan foretell [[spoiler:that one of Jiraiya's pupils will either change the world for the better or bring the world to ruin. The possible candidates are Naruto and Pain/Nagato.]]

As its name implies, an EitherOrProphecy specifies two possibilities. '''Either''' the good will triumph over evil '''or''' the BigBad will mop the floor with the pesky heroes and reign unconquered forevermore. The point is that there is no middle ground.

When the EitherOrProphecy is split into two opposing prophecies, it forms a ProphecyPileup.

* DavidEddings loves this. The ''{{Belgariad}}'' has two competing prophecies which, combined, amount to one big EitherOrProphecy. In the sequel series, the same continues in a slightly tweaked form, so that the winning future is determined by one person who is supposed to be totally impartial. [[spoiler: The dark prophecy tries to cheat at the last second... and it backfires, as they send the person making the choice into such a meltdown that she throws herself at the light prophecy.]]

!!Examples

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* In Film/TheMatrix, the Oracle examines Neo and says, "But you know what I'm going to say, don't you?" "I'm not the [[ChosenOne One]], he says." The Oracle tells him that he has [[RealityWarper the gift]] but that he seems to be waiting for something--"Your next life, maybe." She then tells him that, soon, Neo's life or that of Morpheus's will hang in the balance, and that he can save himself or Morpheus. Because Neo believes (but the Oracle did ''not'' confirm) that he is not the One, Neo chooses to save Morpheus. Neo dies and arrives [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers in his next life]] once he disbelieves the reality of the Matrix.

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* In Disney's ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'', the Fates prophesize that Hades will overthrow Zeus at a time when the planets align perfectly unless Hercules fights to stop him. Hades spends most of the rest of the movie doing his darnedest to kill Hercules before the deadline.

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