History Main / EternalRecurrence

* ''KannazukiNoMiko'' (manga version) has a cycle of the world being destroyed by {{Orochi}}, one miko sacrificing her life to seal away Orochi, the other miko choosing one of eight possible worlds to revive, and the reincarnation of both mikos in the new world. [[spoiler:At the ending, it's suggested that the cycle is now broken… {{or is it}}?]]

*** None of the above. Just because the Nords say it happened, doesn't mean it did. TES has several conflicting (but often similar, suggesting extensive cultural dissemination or else a shared thread of truth) origin stories about the universe, and, just like in the real world, every myth is ''not'' true. Akatosh might not even ''actually exist'' making it quite impossible for him to eat the universe.

** And then there are people who admit they're just making stuff up.

* In ''{{Lucifer}}'', the Silk Man and at least three of the Jin En Mok are the only survivors of Yahweh's previous creations (although the Jin En Mok may have existed before even those). It isn't entirely clear how many creations there have been already, but we're given the impression He's been doing this for quite a while.

* This is EXACTLY what happens in the popular online RPG series, ''DragonFable'' and ''MechQuest'', where an event called 'the Reset' causes the Lorian people to revert back to magic in order to compensate for their ''LostTechnology'' and reincarnate... TWICE. Ironically only the NPCs just don't [[FridgeLogic realize this situation]], so it'll happen again in the future.

->''All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again''.

* In [[Shadowrun]] and EarthDawn, magic flows and ebbs. At its peak, the nature of reality becomes thin enough for the Horrors to come through, and they do. The indigenous population of Earth must then hide, if they do not want to be eaten.

* The classic series and expanded universe of DoctorWho imply that the Guardians and/ or the Eternals are the last survivors of the Universe before the Whoniverse, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time part two]], it is revealed that [[spoiler: the Time Lords with [[JamesBond Rassilon]] as president, were planning to use this method in order to escape the Time War and live on into the next Universe]]

** The classic series and expanded universe of DoctorWho imply that the Guardians and/ or the Eternals are the last survivors of the Universe before the Whoniverse, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time part two]], it is revealed that [[spoiler: the Time Lords with [[JamesBond Rassilon]] as president, were planning to use this method in order to escape the Time War and live on into the next Universe]]

* In the Novelization of ''HaruhiSuzumiya'', one of Haruhi's first truly chilling manipulations of reality has to do with this phenomenon. Not wanting to go back to school before experiencing a truly full summer, she forces the cast to repeat the last two weeks of summer vacation. More than 15,000 times. Kyon eventually pieces together his sense of deja vu, and asks Yuki what is going on. Yuki, who retains full memory of the situation, tells him that they have repeated the summer over and over again. And how many times have they realized they're stuck in a time loop? Over 8000.

** And yet another theory (or variation of the above) notes that what we call a void really isn't, but is filled with quantum energy, and particles that come and go in picoseconds. In untold trillions of years it will form conditions somewhere, which will produce another universe. When there's an infinity of time, even the utterly improbable will become a certainity.

* In {{Uzumaki}}, it is made clear that what happens to the town have already happened, and it will happen again.

* In ''Discworld/Going Postal'' Dorfl the Golom is quite literally waiting for this to happen so he can deliver a message he failed to deliver many thousands of years ago.

[[AC:Religion]]
* (Ecclesiastes 1:9-14 NIV) What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. {10} Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. {11} There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow. {12} I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. {13} I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! {14} I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* The dream plane of Dal Quor in the ''{{Eberron}}'' cosmology is said to work like this; aside from mortals' dreams, there's also the Quor Tarai, the big dream of the plane itself. When that changes, so does the nature of ''every single native of the plane!''
* In [[Shadowrun]] and EarthDawn, magic flows and ebbs. At its peak, the nature of reality becomes thin enough for the Horrors to come through, and they do. The indigenous population of Earth must then hide, if they do not want to be eaten.

* TheDarkTower.

** Then they go too far and have to "bring her around again'' and witness ''another'' Big Bang. But this time the new universe is about ten feet lower than their old one.

* Subverted somewhat in ''TalesOfSymphonia: Dawn of the New World''. Emil learns an arte called Ain Soph Aur, which he uses repeatedly in cutscenes after he gets it. It's extremely powerful for the most part, but notably, you cannot use it on Richter, who will always block and counter it with a move aptly named Eternal Recurrence. [[spoiler: it comes from the fact that Ain Soph Aur is the signature move of Ratatosk, Emil's true identity, who wanted to wipe out humanity but was stopped by Richter. Doesn't help that he took the form of the kid he killed, Richter's best friend.]]

[[AC:{{WesternAnimation}}]]
* When Bender, Fry, and Farnsworth travel to the end of the universe in a forwards-only time machine, they witness a new Big Bang, allowing them to return to the year 3010.