History Main / ForeseeingMyDeath

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', the ComicBook/MartianManhunter J'onn J'onzz is a powerless shadow of his former self. He tells the Question that he can still sometimes glimpse the future, which is why he knows that he is going to die that night. And it will be by fire, something he's always known since childhood. Though the Question tries to convince him he can ScrewDestiny, J'onn's prediction comes to pass.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* The 1982 Jamaican film ''Countryman'' has one minor character do this, though he himself isn't aware he's predicting his own death. The foreshadowing is done through a chart on the cycle of life which he's teaching to the village children from early in the film, which portrays a mule-drawn dray-cart as one of its most significant illustrations of death. He's later beaten to death by corrupt cops and his body is taken back to the village on a very similar cart.
* Any protagonist doing this is what kicks off the plots of the ''Franchise/FinalDestination'' series. The deaths of a small group of people is avoided as a result, but then Death gets mad...

* In ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'', Watson claims to have met a man in India who accurately predicted the circumstances of his death, including the number of bullets and where they hit him.
* In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', the Oracle foresees her death / assimilation by the rogue Agent Smith, as evidenced by her calm, unsurprised demeanor when he finally arrives at her current place of residence.
* An interesting case in ''Film/FourFliesOnGreyVelvet'': [[spoiler: Roberto Tobias repeatedly has dreams about himself being decapitated. In the end it is revealed that it was not himself who he saw in the dreams, but his wife, who turns out to the villain and is indeed decapitated.]]
* In ''Film/{{Krull}}'', Rell, like all cyclopes, knows when he will die.

* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' has 2014 Thanos view a recording of his future self dying at Thor's hands. As this Thanos is at a point where he lacks the capacity to understand why people struggle and/or sympathize with others, it inspires him to go out of his way to follow the time-traveling Avengers back to the prime timeline, so as to avert his demise and try to repeat what his future self achieved.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's short story "Life-line". Professor Pinero builds [[AppliedPhlebotinum a machine that can electronically predict the exact date and time of a person's death]]. He writes down when his own death will occur and seals it inside an envelope. When he's murdered, the envelope is opened and the prediction turns out to be correct.
** In ''Literature/MethuselahsChildren'' [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Lazarus Long]] mentions meeting a scientist who had a machine that could predict when one died, when Lazarus used it the inventor didn't give him his result and said the machine was obviously malfunctioning.
* In ''Literature/SlaughterhouseFive'', Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time and thus has experienced his own death several times "beforehand" - so he isn't really surprised when he is shot after one of his speeches.
* [[PsychicChildren Jojen Reed]] from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is heavily implied to have done this - he was blessed with symbolic visions of the future, and throughout the series, he repeatedly tells Bran and his sister that "this is not the day he dies."
* The Hungarian novel ''The Book of Fathers'' is about twelve generations of a Hungarian family, where the firstborn son has an ability to see into the past of his ancestors, or into the future. Nándor Csillag, who lived in the first half of the 20th century, once has a vision of how his life will end; choking to death with many others in semidarkness. He couldn't understand it. Because he was of Jewish descent, eventually he was gassed to death in Auschwitz.

* In the {{Novelization}} of ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'', Anakin and Dooku are in the middle of their lightsaber duel and Dooku has Anakin on the ropes when Palpatine starts shouting encouragement to Anakin, telling him to use his fear and anger as his weapons against Dooku. It is at this point when Dooku realizes that he's a DeadManWalking.
* ''Planet of the Damned'', by Creator/HarryHarrison. Ihjel, a psychic agent of the Cultural Relationships Foundation, recruits the protagonist because he's seen that he will be killed on his next mission. [[MentorOccupationalHazard He's shot dead the moment they land on the planet]], leaving the totally inexperienced protagonist to SaveTheWorld.
* ''Mindstar Rising'' by Creator/PeterFHamilton. Psychic soldier Greg Mandel recruits a fellow Mindstar Brigade veteran who can see the future, and notes how this trope has turned what was once an efficient officer to a prematurely aged spinster. It's not that she ''has'' seen her death, but the constant fear of doing so if she looks too far into the future.
* ''Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise'' has an actuary at a gathering of them finish his drink, then set his glass on the table upside-down. The other actuaries subsequently shun him. It's revealed that doing this means that actuary has used their tables to predict the date and circumstances of their own death, something they are forbidden to do.

* A variation in ''Series/FlashForward2009'': at the start of the series, everyone on Earth blacks out for 2 minutes, almost all of them [[Futureshadowing experiencing a vision of themselves six months into the future]]. However, one of the main characters -- FBI agent Demetri Noh -- doesn't experience anything, which leads him to the terrifying conclusion that it's because [[YourDaysAreNumbered he'll be dead before then]]. His arc for the rest of the series is involved in determining whether the visions of the future [[YouCantFightFate are preordained]] or if there's a reason why he didn't see anything other than death, [[SelfFulfillingProphecy consequently putting his life in even more danger]].

-->-- '''Kilrogg Deadeye''''s final words, ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Warlords of Draenor''

* Members of the House of Ariadne who wish to reach its highest Attainment in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' must seek out a symbol of their own deaths. What they aren't told beforehand is that this inevitably requires 48 hours of constant walking. Any who claim to have seen this symbol before the 48 hours are up are thrown out of the Legacy.

* Centauri of ''Series/BabylonFive'' have prophetic dreams of their deaths. Londo recognizes G'Kar as the one who kills him the first time they meet (but doesn't realize that [[spoiler:it was a MercyKill]]).

* There's a Dark Brotherhood assassin in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' named Gabriella who claims to have foreseen the circumstances of her own death. She's eventually killed when the Imperial bodyguard, the Penitus Oculatus, raid the sanctuary where she lives, but since she doesn't share any of the details of her prediction, it's left vague as to whether or not that's how she expected to die.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', the forced awakening of Chidori's Persona gave her foreknowledge of her own death. The knowledge sent her catapulting over the DespairEventHorizon and made her susceptible to Takaya's nihilistic preaching, leading to her recruitment into Strega.
* In ''VideoGame/WarCraft'':
** Nozdormu, as part of his powers as the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft's'' Aspect of Time, was given foreknowledge of the exact time and manner of his death. In fact, he oversees the players' killing his future self at the end of the End Time instance.
*** Chromie reveals this knowledge of their death is shared with the rest of his flight: They all know the time of their 'true' death, and use it as a measuring stick for how bad the flow of time has been disturbed; if they find a timeline where they die sooner or later than intended, they know something has been tampering with time in an unacceptable manner.
** The chieftains of the Bleeding Hollow clan undergo a ritual in which they carve out one of their eyes and receive a vision of their death. Knowing the circumstances of their death they can lead without fear even against foes that would usually concern them. Kilrogg in particular anticipated that final battle.
*** Kilrogg grants a vision of how players will die as part of his fight: Outnumbered against an endless army of Burning Legion demons as Azeroth burns, dying as Khadgar casts his last spell. The player is empowered by the vision as it is proof that Kilorgg will not kill them.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', it is strongly implied that Aerith's connection to the planet and the Arbiters of Fate let her be acutely aware of how and where she is fated to die. [[spoiler:In a dream-vision she warns Cloud not to fall in love with her, while striking the same prayer pose she held when Sephiroth killed her in the original Video/FinalFantasyVII.]]
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'', Agarth realized being a Fateweaver wasn't all it was cracked up to be when he foresaw his own ultimate fate of being the main ingredient of an ettin's stewpot. He got ''very'' drunk that day. When he accompanies the Fateless One during an early quest, they encounter an ettin. Agarth tells the Fateless One to go on ahead, convinced that this is the day he will die. The Fateless One then demonstrates the power to ScrewDestiny by slaying the ettin, averting Agarth's fated end.

* William Bishop, the PlayerCharacter of ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizon'', has been plagued by recurring {{Psychic Dreams|ForEveryone}} of his own death for months by the time the game starts -- in fact, the very first level is actually this specific dream, where he is shot down over Miami by a RenegadeRussian plane with a sharkmouth paintjob on it. [[spoiler:Subverted late in the game, when the scene Bishop dreamed of actually occurs in reality and he is saved in the last moment by his wingman TakingTheBullet for him.]]

* A characteristic of witches and wizards in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', witches usually use their visions to get their affairs in order while wizards prefer to empty their wine cellars and run up a ton of debts. Exactly how long in advance seems to vary as well, some of them only seem to have a few days' notice.

* ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheLackOfLambSauce'': In Chapter 81, Arjuna has a [[DreamingOfThingsToCome nightmare]] that ends with being encased in "bright, killing green" light. While her initial assumption is that three of her co-members of the VoiceOfTheResistance will die, the ambush that transpires two chapters later ends with Arjuna lying dead on the ground, while one of the co-rebel friends she thought would die is [[{{Brainwashed}} mind-controlled]] to obey his evil father's expectations for him.

A specific PortentOfDoom, in which a character has foreseen the circumstances under which he or she is going to die, whether by natural means or foul play. The character may also predict when and where the exact time and location of their death will be.

* 137. [[note]]Unless you're a physicist and already know, you're probably [[{{Pun}} dying]] to know what this is about. 137 is roughly the inverse of the fine structure constant, and when quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli saw it on his hospital room, he said to a colleague "I will never get out of here alive." He was right (although it wasn't voodoo, but undiagnosed pancreatic cancer).[[/note]]

* In ''Comicbook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', the ComicBook/MartianManhunter J'onn J'onzz is a powerless shadow of his former self. He tells the Question that he can still sometimes glimpse the future, which is why he knows that he is going to die that night. And it will be by fire, something he's always known since childhood. Though the Question tries to convince him he can ScrewDestiny, J'onn's prediction comes to pass.

* In the opening of ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' Uriel Septim states that he is aware of his own imminent death and is powerless to prevent it moments before it happens.
* There's a Dark Brotherhood assassin in ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' named Gabriella who claims to have foreseen the circumstances of her own death. She's eventually killed when the Imperial bodyguard, the Penitus Oculatus, raid the sanctuary where she lives, but since she doesn't share any of the details of her prediction, it's left vague as to whether or not that's how she expected to die.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', the forced awakening of Chidori's Persona gave her foreknowledge of her own death. The knowledge sent her catapulting over the DespairEventHorizon and made her susceptible to Takaya's nihilistic preaching, leading to her recruitment into Strega.

* The boss Soulcage in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyIX'' uses this as a boast shortly before you fight it, although you end up killing it anyway and proving its prediction wrong.

* In ''Videogame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'', Agarth realized being a Fateweaver wasn't all it was cracked up to be when he foresaw his own ultimate fate of being the main ingredient of an ettin's stewpot. He got ''very'' drunk that day. When he accompanies the Fateless One during an early quest, they encounter an ettin. Agarth tells the Fateless One to go on ahead, convinced that this is the day he will die. The Fateless One then demonstrates the power to ScrewDestiny by slaying the ettin, averting Agarth's fated end.

** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War]]'', Father Claud knew that he'd die either at the Battle of Barhera or around that time. He decided that, since he couldn't change his fate, he'd rather use the time he had left fighting against the Lopto Sect.

* ''Mindstar Rising'' by Creator/PeterFHamilton. Psychic soldier Greg Mandel recruits a fellow Mindstar Brigade veteran who can see the future, and notes how this trope has turned what was once an efficient officer to a prematurely aged spinster.

The character's death may be forecast through some incident, phrase or item that will later become a ChekhovsGun or MeaningfulEcho. The IncurableCoughOfDeath is often a giveaway clue.

* In ''Comicbook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', the ComicBook/MartianManhunter J'onn J'onzz is a powerless shadow of his former self. He tells the Question that he can still sometimes glimpse the future, which is why he knows that he is going to die that night. And it will be by fire, something he's always known since childhood. [[spoiler:And he does.]]