History Main / ScrewDestiny

--> '''Dean:''' So screw destiny. Right in the face. I say we take the fight to them, do it our way.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' it’s revealed that one of the Wardens [[spoiler: have to sacrifice themselves]] in order to defeat the Archdemon. You can through with it and [[spoiler:willingly give your life away or let your other Warden companion do the deed]]. Or you can take Morrigan's offer and (literally) Screw Destiny.

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* ''Anime/CorrectorYui'' [[TheReveal discovers]] that [[spoiler:she's not really TheChosenOne. Her best friend Haruna MissedTheCall. [[DarkMagicalGirl Haruna herself]] is BrainwashedAndCrazy by the BigBad, subliminally uses her power to [[MoreThanMindControl convince]] the Correctors to fight each other, ''and'' she's holding Yui's crush hostage. All without ''her'' real knowledge since Grosser [[TheManBehindTheMan pulls the strings from behind ]] as she "reunites" the Correctors, thinking she's sparing Yui from the dangers of being a Corrector]]. Yui witnesses all this in a matter of days. She [[HeroicBSOD doesn't take this very well]], but eventually decides that becoming a hero was always her dream, [[TheUnchosenOne and no amount of ordination can take that from her]]. [[spoiler: And not only she gets her Corrector status back, but she also manages to [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight revert Haruna's brainwashing]]. ]]

** If you make it through the fight without losing anyone, an ally suggests a possibly ProphecyTwist: that the dragon committing suicide after you beat it badly enough counts as the necessary sacrifice.

There are those characters who are mere {{Cosmic Plaything}}s in the scheme of an [[YouCantFightFate implacable Fate]] BecauseDestinySaysSo. And then there are those who don't care about that philosophical mumbo-jumbo and believe that as strong, free-willed individuals, there's no reason why ''{{the|UnchosenOne}}y'' [[TheUnchosenOne shouldn't decide their own futures]]. ScrewDestiny and all the others who try to [[TheFatalist discourage]] [[StrawNihilist them]]; they're ''not'' going to fulfill the prophecy of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt world destruction]] because they're the {{Big Bad}}'s [[InTheBlood descendant]], or become a [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificial magician]]. They're going to become who they ''want'' to be.

Note that it's only a true Screw Destiny if the characters actually succeed in evading fate. If they fail or [[ProphecyTwist succeed but fulfill the prophecy anyway]], it becomes YouCantFightFate and a strike against faith in individuality. If they set out to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong via time travel, and end up making it happen, it becomes YouAlreadyChangedThePast. Occurs frequently when rival seers engage in ScryVsScry. A hero who screws destiny by pressing on regardless of, or even against, a prophecy, becomes TheUnchosenOne. If one particular character has the ability to ScrewDestiny while everyone else is helpless against it, then they would be ImmuneToFate. If they get ahold of the TomesOfProphecyAndFate, they might ''literally'' [[RewritingReality rewrite their fate.]]

Villains often try to ScrewDestiny as well, particularly in regards to prophecies concerning their downfall. [[SelfFulfillingProphecies This never works]], as often, the means they employ to try to do this (which often involve [[NiceJobBreakingItHerod attempts to stop the hero from being born or kill him when he is still a child]]) will [[GenocideBackfire come back to]] [[NiceJobFixingItVillain bite him hard]], and will only serve to ''ensure'' their ultimate downfall in the end.

On the SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate, stories where it is possible to ScrewDestiny are Types 2 through 5 on the scale, with Type 2 being by far the most difficult.

The {{Aesop}} delivered in shows based around this trope is that what ultimately determines the worth of a human's life is not some [[GodIsEvil sadistic deity]] or [[PowersThatBe vague cosmic assembly]], but the choices of the human himself.

Likewise, sometimes a ScrewDestiny can turn out to be a YouCantFightFate in disguise, since the character's attempt to beat fate [[SelfFulfillingProphecy ultimately turns out to be what]] ''[[SelfFulfillingProphecy fulfills]]'' [[SelfFulfillingProphecy it]] (ala Oedipus Rex, the moral of which is that while Man can't beat fate, at least he doesn't have to ''look'' at it). Or it in can turn out to be a SelfDefeatingProphecy, where the disaster could never have been averted if the supposed doom hadn't prompted the character to try.

* ''Anime/CorrectorYui'' [[TheReveal discovers]] that [[spoiler:she's not really TheChosenOne. Her best friend Haruna MissedTheCall. [[DarkMagicalGirl Haruna herself]] is BrainwashedAndCrazy by the BigBad, subliminally uses her power to [[MoreThanMindControl convince]] the Correctors to fight each other, ''and'' she's holding Yui's crush hostage. All without ''her'' real knowledge since Grosser [[ManBehindTheMan pulls the strings from behind ]] as she "reunites" the Correctors, thinking she's sparing Yui from the dangers of being a Corrector]]. Yui witnesses all this in a matter of days. She [[HeroicBSOD doesn't take this very well]], but eventually decides that becoming a hero was always her dream, [[TheUnchosenOne and no amount of ordination can take that from her]]. [[spoiler: And not only she gets her Corrector status back, but she also manages to [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight revert Haruna's brainwashing]]. ]]

** Not coincidentally, Saiou, the villain who claims that YouCantFightFate, tries to ScrewDestiny himself by defying his own predictions at least once, and fails. When he tries to use a {{Brainwashed}} Asuka against Judai and he draws the Sun card, which he interprets as meaning the warmth and friendship he gets from her, he gives her the White Night Deck, which represents light without warmth, and drains her of emotion, turning her cruel and heartless. This plan not only fails miserably, but Asuka defects from the Society of Light as a result, costing him a valuable minion. (Of course, by then Saiou's sanity was getting progressively worse.)
** Likewise, Ishizu Ishtar in the original ''Anime/YuGiOh'' has the ability to see the future, and predicts many things in relation to our heroes, the villain, and the tournament in the Battle City arc. However, she loses this ability after AntiHero Kaiba defies his predicted defeat to her by his ''own'' vision of his past self. From Battle City onwards, half of Kaiba's dialogue is pretty much "ScrewDestiny!" even after it's clear that [[YouCantFightFate he can't fight fate]].

** [[spoiler:Rex]] himself had a goal with a ScrewDestiny type of attitude. He wanted to stop what he believed was a "vicious cycle" of good and evil fighting each over again and again, something that was supposedly fated to happen repeatedly until the end of time. One could say he had [[WellIntentionedExtremist somewhat of a noble cause]], but his way of doing it (destroying the world and then remaking it) was the wrong approach.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' the entire fourth movie (the first Shippuuden movie) is a {{Screw Destiny}} plot which begins with [[spoiler: Naruto's death being shown. Shion, a girl with the ability to see into the future, realizes that either she or Naruto will die. She decides to save Naruto, but of course, he charges in, rescues her, and unleashes a Rasengan the size of a CombinedEnergyAttack on TheDragon, saving them both.]]

** It doesn't really have to be wounds either. Theoretically, it could be anything, including birth, aging and [[{{ShonenUpgrade}} shonen upgrades]].

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': When Lelouch learns that the fate of every Geass "Witch" is to [[spoiler:give up their immortality to a sufficiently-powerful Geass User and then die]], and that C.C. intends to do so with his father the Emperor, he [[WorldOfCardboardSpeech encourages her]] to say "ScrewDestiny!" It works, but you'd better believe there's [[LaserGuidedAmnesia a catch]]...

** It can also be argued (if one tries to piece together the premise and plot of ''End of Evangelion'') that Shinji [[NiceJobBreakingItHero willfully sabotaged]] the [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Instrumentality Project]] by opting out of it (himself being the only person on Earth in a position to do so, protected, as he were, by Unit-01's AT Field and not [[strike:unconscious]] [[spoiler:eaten by MP Evas]] like Asuka).

** Note that the BigBad is also desperate to prevent the end of the universe. [[spoiler:They do this by [[PoweredByAForsakenChild turning little girls into]] {{Eldritch Abomination}}s]]. This itself is subject to a ScrewDestiny attitude, so there doesn't seem to be a win-win solution for the problem.
** And the biggest ScrewDestiny of all: [[spoiler:In the GrandFinale, Madoka uses her wish and the immense magical power she's built up due to Homura's GroundhogDayLoop to ''rewrite reality'' so that no magical girl, past, present, or future, in any timeline, will ever become a witch. Not only did she avoid her own nasty fate, not only did she keep preventing the end of the universe, she ''also'' screwed over the Incubators' system where all Puella Magi are forced to either die or become witches.]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Damn]].

* In ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' movie, Eureka told Renton that her lifespan is running out and doesn't have long to live as an Image. If Image is gone, so will she as well as evident by Anemone and Nirvash's fate. In the end, it turns out she [[ScrewDestiny screwed destiny]] by [[spoiler: being reborn as a human being, free of her ties to Image. The catches are that all of her memories will be wiped and she needs Renton's survival and memories in order to create dreams to sustain her existence]].

** Of course, one of the cats that hears the story doesn't believe it will ever happen, because no one -- cat, man, demon, or god -- could convince a thousand cats to agree on anything.
* Used a lot in ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'', with several issues being about them averting some "pre-destined" tragedy. Certain mutants can see the future, however, Destiny being one of them. Mystique does [[IncrediblyLamePun screw Destiny]] to "father" Rogue.

* The fanfic ''Fanfic/WhiteDevilOfTheMoon'' has [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Nanoha]] pretty much do this [[spoiler:to her past life and what is expected of her as the reincarnation of [[Anime/SailorMoon Princess Serenity]].]] This has major repercussions as [[spoiler:she refuses to reignite her [[ReincarnationRomance past romance]] with Mamoru so she can be with Fate and drives Luna to the point where she might end up [[HeWhoFightsMonsters deciding to find ways to get Nanoha to accept her destiny no matter what]].]]

* The title character tries to do this in ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia''
--> "Nothing is written..."
** Of course, he has to kill the man he had saved....

* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' ends in one big ScrewDestiny when John and Sarah Connor take every conceivable measure to make sure Skynet never even gets built, much less cause a nuclear holocaust.
** But it's a YouCantFightFate in disguise, because their attempts result in a TemporalParadox that ''facilitates'' Skynet being built via a StableTimeLoop.
*** Also, they completely overlooked the fact that the US government likely had records on Dyson's research, and simply had a team working on it in secrecy beyond what could be researched by the likes of Sarah and John Connor.
** ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', of course, [[AssPull completely ignored the message]] and went right back to YouCantFightFate (though John Connor does try to invoke this trope by name at least once).
*** To be fair ''Terminator 2'' was ''itself'' an instance of ignoring the YouCantFightFate message of the first film. The huge popularity of T2 has resulted in a certain amount of SequelDisplacement, so T3 (which in several respects is thematically closer to the first movie) gets a lot of flak over this issue.

** ScrewDestiny is played out on a grander scale in ''Reloaded'' and ''Revolutions'' when it is discovered that [[spoiler:the Prophecy about The One is a lie and just another means of control by the Machines, and that The One is not meant to end the war at all, but to perpetuate it by selecting the next inhabitants of the new Zion once the current Zion is destroyed by the Machines, like so many other Ones before him. Neo is the first One to defy this system of control and bring about the true end of the war]].

* Arguably the main theme in ''{{Paycheck}}''. The main character uses a time machine to see his own death in the future and spends the rest of the movie trying to change his fate. Ironically, he ultimately succeeds while the villains, who are trying to fulfill what the time machine shows and predicts, fail.
* Briefly parodied in ''MirrorMask'', when Valentine sees that in the future, he will be an overworked waiter feeding Indian food to yuppies. [[TheScream "NO I DON'T WANT TO BE A WAITER!"]] Luckily, his prediction gives him the necessary knowledge to avoid this fate by not betraying the heroine.
* One of the classic examples of this is in ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' where a camp follower strays into the desert and all the Arab chiefs demand that he be abandoned, because bedouin have enough experience of the desert to fear it. One of them says "it is written." At which point Lawrence goes into the desert to search for lost man saying, "Nothing is written." Then he brings him back.
** Of course following this the man Lawrence rescues murders another man from a rival tribe and Lawrence is forced to conduct the execution himself to prevent a feud, making you wonder if "it was written" after all. Thus this example could be either a played straight or a subversion.

** Curiously, ''{{Knowing}}'' also stars NicolasCage and seems to have a similar premise, only for Cage's character to [[YouCantFightFate fail to save anyone]].
* ''Film/{{Gattaca}}'' is basically a biological take on ScrewDestiny.

* In ''Film/WendyWuHomecomingWarrior'' [[spoiler: this is how the evil spirit Yan-Lo is destroyed. Shen was supposed to die during the battle BecauseDestinySaysSo, but Wendy refuses to let that happen and uses her powers to save him. After the two of them defeat Yan-Lo, they learn that by changing destiny, Yan-Lo has been destroyed forever.]]

** Lackey seems to like this trope. In the ''HeraldsOfValdemar'' series, there are characters who have Destinies, or find that ThereAreNoCoincidences, and scurry for a way to assert their agency, yelling "Screw destiny!" at the tops of their lungs. Nevertheless, things tend to turn out as they should.

* Played with in ''Literature/HarryPotter''. Harry spends much of ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'' worrying about the prophecy that marked him TheChosenOne. Eventually, Dumbledore makes Harry realize that the prophecy means nothing and Harry is perfectly free to ScrewDestiny and walk away from all of it. When Harry thinks back on what Lord Voldemort has done, however, he decides he doesn't ''want'' to Screw Destiny and [[TheUnchosenOne decides to do his part]] to finish Voldemort for good.
** Of course, it's convincing when Voldemort doesn't want either of them to ScrewDestiny, and will track down Harry and duel him in order to fulfill the prophecy.

** Moorcock hits the theme again both ways, subverting it by having the core persona that becomes all these heroes go back and begin the seminal events that create the backstories for places like Melnibone, while [[TheHistoryOfTheRunestaff Hawkmoon's quest]] leads him to Tanelorn and the final destruction of not only the Cosmic Balance but also the Law and Chaos aspects the first part of this entry unleashed on the multiverse.

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Lexx}}'': When Kai finds out that His Divine Shadow is going to wipe out the Brunnen G, he tries to rally his people into fighting him. This isn't him trying to say ScrewDestiny, though; he just believes that going out fighting like the race of {{warrior poet}}s they used to be is much better than just DyingLikeAnimals.
** Doubly subverted, actually--His Divine Shadow was bothering as he had found out a Brunnen G was destined to get him killed. Thus, His Divine Shadow exterminated the race, save for Kai, who he reworked into a technologically undead servant. [[spoiler:This, of course, eventually got His Divine Shadow killed.]]
* ''KamenRiderKiva'' seems to have this trope as a major thematic element; its opening theme is called "Break the Chain" and contains lyrics about "breaking the rules of fate", and the "next time" blurb contains the phrase "Break the chains of destiny (albeit in Japanese)."

* Attempted in ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', only to fail ''hard''. Back in season 5, ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'', a robot policeman came back in time to prevent a war that was to happen two years later. All he did was cause it to happen [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace the next year]], instead.
** Played straight in ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' and its source, MiraiSentaiTimeranger, where the main theme is choosing one's own path regardless of what the history books in the future say.
* People all over the world start believing that YouCantFightFate in ''{{FlashForward|2009}}''. However [[spoiler: Al Gough]] manages to provide the world with definitive proof that destiny is '''not''' set in stone [[spoiler: by [[HeroicSacrifice killing himself]] so that he wouldn't accidentally cause the death of a single mother of two.]]

* Season Five of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' is devoted entirely to the Winchesters trying desperately to ScrewDestiny - perfectly understandable, since their destiny involves the two of them [[spoiler: getting possessed by the archangel Michael and TheDevil, respectively, and then fighting each other to the death and destroying half the planet while doing so]].

*** Of course, it took a HeroicSacrifice...and the sacrifice of one poor schmuck with the bad luck to be [[CrusadingWidower John Winchester's]] [[TheUnfavourite third]] [[InTheBlood son]]. Of course, if he'd been able to [[HeroicWillpower resist Michael]], it wouldn't have been [[IDidWhatIHadToDo necessary]] to drag him down to stop Michael from [[InsaneTrollLogic saving his brother so he could kill him]]...yeah.

* In ''{{Series/Smallville}}'', the episode "Hereafter" reveals this to be one of Clark's powers when he saves a person from being hit by a car, despite Jordan Cross having a vision of that person dying. As his visions are ''never'' wrong and can ''[[YouCantFightFate never]]'' be changed, he is naturally freaked out by Clark's ability to alter destiny, particularly when he starts having visions showing ''other'' people dying before he knows they are ''supposed'' to.

*** [[spoiler:Chloe Sullivan]] in "[[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode Scare]]", who is terrified that she is going to end up insane like her mother.
*** Maddie in "Fragile", who thinks she is doomed to be [[spoiler:a psychotic killer like her father.]]

* In ''{{TabletopGame/Exalted}}'', various people have the ability to not only ScrewDestiny, but to be completely ImmuneToFate. The best of them make The Destinies (a grand total of five of them) their byches.

** Speaking of ''Suikoden'', ''[[VideoGame/SuikodenTierkreis Tierkreis]]'' screws one destiny (that predicted by the [[ReligionOfEvil Order of the One True Way]]) while fulfilling another (''something'' seems to have chosen the protagonists to fight the Order.) Of course, [[ShootTheShaggyDog the whole thing becomes moot if you get the bad ending]] . . .

*** Played straight if you get the [[MultipleEndings Perfect Ending]] by getting all the life containers and snag the Water Sword. [[spoiler: Instead of fighting Kaileena, you fight the Dahaka with Kaileena at your side, eventually dropping the bastard in the water and finishing him. Of course, this comes back to bite the Prince in the ass in ''The Two Thrones'', enough so that he decides he's had enough of screwing with destiny to leave things as is.]]

* ScrewDestiny becomes the cry of Yuna's party in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyX'' when [[spoiler:Yunalesca confirms that the Final Summoning has absolutely no chance of killing Sin permanently because the Final Aeon that destroys Sin will become Sin in its place]].

** And, of course, the player character gets to screw this destiny in a [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome very spectacular way]].

* ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory'', [[spoiler:inverted this: it was the BigBad trying to screw destiny, and the Senshi went and taught her that YouCantFightFate.]]
** [[BrokenAesop Warped]] in the best ending, where [[spoiler: even after the BigBad is killed, the Senshi get to keep the effects of her meddling that they like.]] Uhhh...

* According to WordOfGod, this is the [[FridgeBrilliance underlying reason]] as to why every ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' match starts with the announcement "''[[GroundhogDayLoop The wheel of fate]] [[ScrewDestiny is turning]].'' '''[[ArcWords Rebel]] 1: ACTION!'''"f

** ''Leviathan'' later confirms that in the millions of years since the Cycle began, Shepard's unerring ability to repeatedly ScrewDestiny has made them the ''only'' individual the Reapers have ever actually feared. [[spoiler: Leviathan]] even refers to Shepard as an "''[[ImmuneToFate Anomaly]]''" they have never seen before.

* The framework for magic in ''[[FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates]]'' makes it so that if you're strong enough, you can change fate. Played to a massive scale in the end of the game where [[spoiler:Chelinka doubles her power in order to make it so that the source of evil never existed, in order for the Twins to be happy with their parents... before the timeskip... keeping their memories of everything... and this also happened at the very beginning of the game...it's slightly confusing.]]

* {{VideoGame/Spyro|TheDragon}} in the ''Legend of Spyro'' games has an interesting version. Malefor believes he, and all Purple Dragons, are destined to bring about the end of the world; Spyro believes his destiny is to fight for good and ultimately save the world. [[spoiler: Spyro turns out to be right and saved the world]]. So Spyro managed to [[BecauseDestinySaysSo fulfill one destiny]] while screwing the other, at the same time.

* The goal of Raiden in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9.'' After ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon'' Shao Khan is victorious, Raiden is the only fighter still alive. In his last moments he sends visions to his past self in a last desperate bid to avert that future.
* ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWar God of War II]]'' takes this trope UpToEleven when Kratos '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu KILLS THE SISTERS OF FATES!]]'''
** [[spoiler: But it's ultimately subverted, because it was Kratos' fate to bring down Olympus.]]

* ''VideoGame/FearEffect''. The first game strongly sends this message, considering what Wee Ming and Hana do in the true ending. Of course, there are indications that YouCantFightFate here and there....
* Kurow of ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'' has a mission. Only late in the game does he find out what that mission is. [[spoiler:His body was made to be a seal for the BigBad Akuro, then when he dies Akuro dies with him.]] To quote Kurow: "[[ScrewDestiny Dudes must be trippin' to think I'm gonna do that]]". He shirks his mission at first and desperately tries to avoid it, but he realizes [[SubvertedTrope it's not worth it]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' allows you to ScrewDestiny on a regular basis. The [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Monado]] frequently offers Shulk glimpses of the future, and in addition to the myriad plot examples, this is [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration used as a game mechanic]]. During battle, Shulk will sometimes receive visions of would-be fatal attacks several seconds in advance, and from there, the player can either manipulate the prediction to make it less dangerous (heal or protect the victim so the hit isn't fatal, draw aggro to someone else who can take the hit, use StandardStatusEffects to make it use a different attack) or kill the initiating monster and shatter the destiny tag outright.
** In-story, a fair bit of the plot is driven by Shulk having visions of future events that he either wishes to cause or avert. The results run the spectrum from SelfFulfillingProphecy to full on ScrewDestiny.

** [[spoiler:The BigBad ''created'' the Fateless One in her own attempt to ScrewDestiny since she was otherwise fated to never escape her prison. This backfires immensely since the Fateless One is also the only being capable of killing her since she was also otherwise fated to never die. She also has the same power to weaponize the threads of Fate which she uses in the final battle.]]
* In spite of all that happens in the world of ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' (With the demigods and [[GaiasVengeance the Gohma]] being in a constant endless war with each other revealed [[spoiler: to be the machinations of a godly being that has destroyed the world and rebuilt it countless times just to find an heir to rule over everything]]) Asura [[ScrewDestiny Screws Destiny]] by [[spoiler: refusing to become Chakravartin's chosen heir, and end the cycle that Chakravartin created, even if it's at the cost of his own life.]]

* In the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' it’s revealed that one of the Wardens [[spoiler: have to sacrifice themselves]] in order to defeat the Archdemon. You can through with it and [[spoiler:willingly give your life away or let your other Warden companion do the deed]]. Or you can take Morrigan's offer and (literally) ScrewDestiny.

*** An even better example is Keiichi, who first encourages [[spoiler:Rika]] to ScrewDestiny by obstinately going against every prediction she made and defeating every one of the previous inescapable Bad Ends.

* In ''{{Webcomic/Oglaf}}'', a prince is informed by a seer that it's his destiny to ScrewDestiny, and decides to do so by ''not'' screwing destiny. This results in the seer's stabbing him in the throat rather than let the smug twerp become king.

** Megatron's plot for ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' was one big ScrewDestiny. [[spoiler: He went back in time to kill Optimus Prime while he was in stasis lock. He almost succeeded, but his plot hinged on the support of someone who would have been eradicated from the timeline. [[HeelFaceTurn She had something to say about that.]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' in TheMovie[[hottip:*: ''The Ultimate Enemy,'' specifically]], in which he is shown a [[BadFuture future]] where he's the BigBad. Chillingly, he doesn't mind until he finds out that his whole family, his friends, and (far less importantly) his English teacher died ''[[SelfMadeOrphan because of him]]''. He changed his tune right quick, then.

** Interestingly, the show actually doesn't make it clear if he can ScrewDestiny at all, or if YouCantFightFate. The show leaves this completely ambiguous.

** "How Long is Forever": Time-travelling villain Warp arrives in the present to steal a clock because history says it disappeared. In his fight with the Titans, he accidentally brings Starfire to a BadFuture where the team has broken up [[GoneToTheFuture due to her disappearance]]. Warp insists that Starfire can't prevent any of this, using his theft as an example of time's immutability. She proves him wrong by getting the future Titans back together, defeating him, and then returning to the past with the object he stole, ensuring it never disappears to begin with.
--> '''Starfire''': The past cannot be repaired. The future cannot be altered. No matter how wrong it seems.
--> '''Nightwing''': So - it's impossible? Good! If memory serves, we've done the impossible before.

* This is the whole idea of the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: M.A.U.R.I.C.E.". When it becomes evident to Numbuh Five that her idol Maurice has sided with Cree, she is despondent and close to giving up, thinking that YouCantFightFate and that she'll end up just like Cree when she turns thirteen in another year. Cree is actually happy about this, thinking that it may be the only way the two can ever reconcile. However, [[spoiler: it turns out that Maurice is actually a FakeDefector who has continued to work for the KND even after becoming a teenager. After entrusting Numbuh Five with this secret, she realizes that she can ScrewDestiny and not end up like Cree at all.]]

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* In ''WarriorCats'', Lionblaze wants to prove to Cinderheart that destiny doesn't control their lives when the latter thinks so. So he starts a fight with a [=ShadowClan=] patrol and deliberately lets Ratscar beat him. It backfires, for Cinderheart gets angry at him for being hurt (since his power prevents him from being hurt) and trying to avoid his destiny. The next time he persuades her, she finally chooses him as her mate.

* In the Creator/RogerZelazny story ''A Rose for Ecclesiastes'', the protagonist is studying the dying Martian culture, which is in slow decline since a mysterious catastrophe has rendered the population sterile. The Martians, following the predictions of an ancient prophet, believe this to be inevitable and make no effort to stop it. When the protagonist [[spoiler: discovers that his local lover, whom he impregnated (proving that the sterility problem can be fixed), is about to terminate because of this]], he bursts into the main temple and carries a blasphemous sermon, claiming that the greatness of humankind stems from our ability to ignore our own prophets of doom and carry on anyway. [[spoiler: It works, but is still subverted: he was actually fulfilling ''another'' prophecy about a man from space who will save Mars.]]

* In ''Next'', Creator/NicolasCage's character, Cris Johnson, is able to break through the common science fiction cliche that, even with the power to tell the future, destiny is unchangeable. In fact, the whole movie's tagline is that "If you can see the future, you can save it."

* Tragically subverted in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. [[CosmicPlaything Túrin]] desperately tries to do this (and actually says as much), but he can't. His attempts only lead to more tragedy.

[[quoteright:300:[[{{Franchise/Terminator}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/t2_nofate-300x124.jpg]]]]

!!Examples

* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}} 2: Judgement Day'' ends in one big ScrewDestiny when John and Sarah Connor take every conceivable measure to make sure Skynet never even gets built, much less cause a nuclear holocaust.

** ''Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', of course, [[AssPull completely ignored the message]] and went right back to YouCantFightFate (though John Connor does try to invoke this trope by name at least once).

** Played to the hilt in ''Series/TheSarahConnorChronicles'', where the finale for the second season ends with the series tossing out the most basic, fundamental caveat of the entire ''{{Franchise/Terminator}}'' setting: [[spoiler: John Connor chooses to travel forward in time past Judgment Day, thereby traveling to a future where he ''isn't'' humanity's savior - and the resistance is intact and fighting without him.]]
** Played straight with the cyborg in ''Terminator 4''. [[spoiler: Skynet miscalculated and allowed him to have an all-too-human mind. This backfired on Skynet, as he was able to subvert his own programming and fight against Skynet.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In Creator/CharlesStross's ''[[Literature/TheLaundrySeries The Jennifer Morgue]]'', the protagonist is trapped by a spell into following a particular destiny based on a particular narrative; specifically, that of James Bond. [[spoiler: He eventually manages to break the destiny trap by doing something that Bond would never do... [[Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService he proposes marriage to his girlfriend]], who accepts.]]
** Methinks you missed a fairly important plot twist, boyo. [[spoiler: Bob's not the hero, he's the maiden in distress. While Bond might propose marriage, the Good Bond Girl never would.]]

* The protagonists in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' would much rather drill a hole through destiny than submit to it.

* The protagonists in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' would much rather punch destiny in the face than submit to it.

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* Raul and Fiona Greydon of ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Super Robot Wars Reversal]]'' has a pretty interesting Screw Destiny moment: having been sent through time thanks to their machine, they've reached the day where the Zambot3 team would fall and the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]] pilots would fail to stop the Mariameia Uprising, setting the stage for ''Char'sCounterattack'' and ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico - The Prince of Darkness''. The two heroes suffer HeroicBSOD because of it (Raul hops out half-heartedly and Fiona doesn't sortie at all.) But, when they finally get their acts together, the two screw destiny, put Butcher in his place and make sure Relena is rescued.

* In the ''DragonAgeOrigins'' it’s revealed that one of the Wardens [[spoiler: have to sacrifice themselves]] in order to defeat the Archdemon. You can through with it and [[spoiler: willingly give your life away or let your other Warden companion do the deed.]] Or you can take Morrigan’s offer and (literally) ScrewDestiny.

** Ironically, he screws destiny as a whole by [[spoiler:giving in to his own destiny to become part of the Soul Reaver.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}} Xenoblade Chronicles]]'' allows you to ScrewDestiny on a regular basis. The [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Monado]] frequently offers Shulk glimpses of the future, and in addition to the myriad plot examples, this is [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration used as a game mechanic]]. During battle, Shulk will sometimes receive visions of would-be fatal attacks several seconds in advance, and from there, the player can either manipulate the prediction to make it less dangerous (heal or protect the victim so the hit isn't fatal, draw aggro to someone else who can take the hit, use StandardStatusEffects to make it use a different attack) or kill the initiating monster and shatter the destiny tag outright.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* You're born, you live, you suffer, you get disease, you die. Pretty much the destiny of humans (and everything else). "Screw that!" is the rallying cry of {{transhuman}}, and a lot of religions, in a nutshell.
** Buddhism and Hinduism have a variant that adds repeat at the end. The hope is to end the cycle. Whether this counts or not is an issue, as they believe it does happen (Though infrequently) and it's not unexpected.
* [[HollywoodAtheist Any non-religious person]] finds themselves [[CosmicHorrorStory in a cold uncaring universe, so incredibly massive that they are little more than a speck on a speck on a speck. Humanity is an insignificant anomaly on a small part of the surface of a small planet, and the universe won't even notice when we vanish.]] [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne (in Kelvin it's a very warm uncaring universe)]] [[ShutUpHannibal Like we care what the universe thinks!]]
* Arguably, ''life itself'' is matter that decided to stop being fate's plaything. Before bacteria manifested, stone was constantly scoured and dissolved by water fluxes, water was constantly ionized (i.e. split apart on a molecular level) by electricity, and all manner of things--winds, black chimneys, lava eruptions, etc.--caused everything else to undergo unplanned and unpreventable chemical reactions. In all such cases, the matter on the receiving end could do nothing but let itself be altered and/or sundered, and the forces on the sending end could do nothing but cause the alteration/sundering. Enter bacteria: formations of matter and energy than ''cannot'' be scoured without regenerating the scoured stuff back (by eating), ''cannot'' be ionized, and ''cannot'' be forced to react with something (at least, not with the usual amounts of force that the elements could normally muster). Of course, this was at the price of translating their fate onto more inert substances than normal. And this is just the autotrophs. When ''heterotrophic'' life--life that fed not on unliving sulfur et al., but on other creatures--popped up, you began seeing prey creatures "fated" to be eaten by the heterotrophs. Now, whether ''individual'' bacteria were "fated" to become food at a specific point...different story.
* In 4-5 billion years, the sun will expand to encompass the Earth. By that point, our species hopes to have invented interstellar travel and terraformed other planets.
** Way before then (some 400 million years from now) the Sun (which steadily heats up as it goes on) will have become hot enough to make life on Earth difficult. We'll have to get cracking...
*** Since that amount of time is 2,000 times longer than the existence of the genus ''Homo'' and 23,000 times longer than the existence of humans, or as long as the current age of the Earth, it is very unlikely that anything even remotely similar to humans will exist on earth at that time.
* [[http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Timeless_decision_theory Timeless decision theory]] seems to be based somewhat on this. You take the act that correlates with what you want, even if you already know what you want won't happen. This would be applicable to prophesies. Attempting to fight fate will always result in failure (barring ProphecyTwist), but the fact that you would have tried will mean that they're more likely to have prophesied what you want, so you'd never have needed to fight fate.
* Various Christian denominations combine belief in divine prescience with free will; not everyone is Calvinist.
** Calvinism is actually in the minority from a world wide perspective, the doctrine only exists in protestantism, and even then only certain denominations.
* Some Christians are truly convinced that the end times are upon us, and thus can't be bothered to lift a finger to improve the situation in their community/State/Country/etc. Other Christians do believe that the world will end one day, maybe even soon, but refuse to just lie down and wait for it to happen. Working to try and build a better tomorrow, they say: ''"Screw destiny, I'm doing what's right!"''
[[/folder]]

** And the biggest ScrewDestiny of all: [[spoiler:In the GrandFinale, Madoka uses her wish and the immense magical power she's built up due to Homura's GroundhogDayLoop to ''rewrite reality'' so that no Puella Magi, past, present, or future, in any timeline, will ever become a witch. Not only did she avoid her own nasty fate, not only did she keep preventing the end of the universe, she ''also'' screwed over the Incubators' system where all Puella Magi are forced to either die or become witches.]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Damn]].

** In a recent development, [[spoiler: it's been revealed that Sasuke and Naruto are destined to hate each other and eventually fight to the death.]] Considering the major ScrewDestiny themes of this show, it's amazing [[FanDumb how many people think this will actually happen.]]