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Misery Builds Character doesn't fit well though cause rather then building character it's more like events can't play out unless the character suffers first.
Edited by DarkShadowBlaze
Were you looking for Cosmic Plaything?
Cosmic Plaything didn't fit either, that is more of world or some high power being out to make you miserable. What I am looking for is a trope where the character needs to get screwed over to have their fate play out.
Haven't found one that matches yet though so may need to visit trope launch pad.
Doesn't that just make their fate or destiny (or whatever is in control of those things) the higher power in this instance?
The problem is no one is deliberately screwing with the character cause it doesn't like them and it isn't all the time as with Cosmic Plaything. It's just that for fate/destiny to do its thing the character in question has to go through unfortunate circumstances first.
Hence why I used fate instead of cosmic which is basically saying universe plaything.
Tropes Are Flexible. Fate, destiny, the will of the cosmos, the will of the gods... The rules may change depending on the setting, but usually what they amount to is just different ways of saying the same thing, particularly for any mortal who is at their mercy. In some cases, the plaything might never know who or what, if anything, is deciding their fate.
Edited by Unsung
Again though for Cosmic Plaything it's not just one bad thing, but that things go wrong all the time and usually for no purpose other then to mess with the character. What I brought up though isn't bad things happening to mess with the character, but just cause fate can't happen unless the character goes through very specific circumstances that involves negative things happening to them. The purpose of their suffering is in order to make that fate happen and not to mess with the character.
Alright then, maybe I'm getting hung up on semantics. I think it could be that the fate/destiny/plaything aspect isn't actually required for what you're asking? There's Necessary Fail for when the suffering is necessary for the character to become the person they need to be/events to play out in a way that ultimately turns out for the best, in a For Want Of A Nail sort of way. Doesn't necessarily have to involve fate and/or time travel, thought it very often does.
Edited by Unsung
Necessary Fail does fit more, but I am looking for one that has to do more with fate/destiny, but think that is the best we are going to get for tropes that match what I am looking for.
Thank you for your time.
Basically where a character is fated for something, but that fate can only happen under very specific circumstances which result in said character's life being impacted negatively to make happen.
e.g MC on earth is born with the special power needed to save another world and is more or less fated to save that world, but can only be summoned if his life is totally ruined first.
The hero can only become the hero if comes across a special item or person, but they are hidden in a prison so they have to become a criminal first.
Situations where the character in question fate can only be carried out cause of circumstances at their expense first and it feels like the suffering they went through was all to ensure they can carry out their fate.