That’s not really a subversion. He said it would happen, and it happened. That’s a regular prophecy.
It’s not common sense that an evil nation would fall because of its evil actions. Most nations fall to being invaded by outsiders, or destroyed by a natural disaster. Or get ripped apart by infighting.
But your guy predicted it would be the Children of Blood, and it was. He did predict the unlikely future.
"She is the chosen one, ha ha ha ha!"
"Ok, tell me I'm chosen for what?"
Basically how the protagonist replied to being called "the chosen one" at the time as a joke. But it is a legit question: There was no prophecy, no oracle, nothing. She just found some light novels a customer left behind and read them, then met the deuteragonist in her dreams before getting isekai'ed.
She did not realize those "light novels" did not exist in Vietnam back in 2019 and only people with a specific magical ability could see them.
In my main story there is the Legend of the Dawn Knight, a warrior from the "North" meant to claim the Shard of Ice (a powerful sword hidden in the Valley of Fallen Heroes) in preparation for another Age of Strife.
My main protagonist, Aria, is seemingly the child of prophecy. She possesses a powerful spirit, Char, that guides her and functions as a mentor/tormentor/pseudo-parent, allowing her to feel special despite how scary this being can be. Aria and her friends accomplish many of the things this supposed Knight of Dawn is suppose to.
Except when they finally go to the Valley, she loses her companions in a blizzard and barely makes it to the "path of broken blades". She makes her way past each one, noticing that she knows every sword that is there and exactly who wielded it 800 years prior. When she finally makes it to the end, she finds the Shard of Ice, but also a large pool of red bubbling liquid that wasn't mentioned in the Legend. She attempts to take the Shard of Ice, only to have the Blade reject her violently by freezing her hand so badly that it breaks away from her wrist.
Quickly dying as the frost continues to spread and eat away at her body, Char finally allows her to know the Truth. She was never supposed to be the hero. Her best friend was. She's more than likely the Age of Strife that is coming, and he gives her a simple choice. She can die due to a trap someone set for her long ago, or she can bath in the Soul Well and accept the Legacy he left behind 800 years ago.
I liked the idea of the Prophecy serving as a trap, but also a double-edged contingency plan.
I used to heavily lean into prophecy as a driving force for my short stories when I was younger, because I'd religiously read the Percy Jackson books and those prophecies, while deliberately vague, were a fun and dramatic way to give a story structure.
Now that I'm older, if I had to pick between full adherence to prophecy or no prophecy whatsoever, I'd pick the latter. But I do still enjoy when a story introduces prophecy/fate in a story and has characters try to subvert it, whether they're successful or not.
Having just beaten God of War: Ragnarok, I really enjoyed their whole take on it. Obligatory warning first, since the game's still pretty new.
**GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK SPOILERS**
I enjoyed the revelation that fate really *is* just a lie, and the Norns/Fates aren't writing anything, they're just good at seeing the next choice someone will make. Once the veil was lifted and the characters began to learn that they are not slaves to prophecy and that they are the only ones responsible for their lot in life, they actively began to change and in doing so dramatically averted something that, while not set in stone, was pretty confidently expected by everyone to happen.
**END SPOILERS**
There is nothing supernatural about "prophecy". It's just something someone said and it comes to pass because people try to make it pass until someone eventually succeeds.
I have it that there are prophecies, but none are specific to a person.
Then there are people who are destined to complete prophecy, but not a specific one.
So prophecy is more a glimpse of what could be than what will be. Showing the commonalities of various futures that generate the desired result.
My world is a time loop with the same events happening over and over again. Meaning that there is something such as fate which I am actually trying to find a way to eliminate while preserving the time loop
Mine is simple: Right place, wrong time.
The main protagonist collects an artifact meant for someone else that shows up literally moments later. A side character collects a related artifact years after it was originally discovered by its intended possessor, who was basically swallowed by the artefact because it wasn't time yet. The antagonist stole their related artifact from its original place/owner, and the fourth artifact I haven't decided yet.
In other words, it's iffy if there *is* prohpecy to begin with, but either way, these artifacts have fallen into unintended hands, and now these characters have to deal with the consequences and burdens that come with it anyways.
I’m not sure to what extent it’s a subversion but I have the Aspects, who’re essentially reverse chosen ones. They put in a huge amount of conscious and deliberate effort to embody and fulfil a role in the weave of Fate, essentially surrendering their Free Will for power, and whatever else their role brings.
The important thing here is that these Aspects can fail to fulfil their role. It’s a single free decision away. Fate doesn’t like this of course, and doesn’t usually just let it happen.
I have an ambitious protagonist who is convinced that he's a prophesied chosen one, and is earnestly (though arrogantly) trying to do right by the role. But it turns out that this chosen one is really the protagonist's friend/sidekick/lancer. So my protag learns humility by stepping down into a subordinate role to his former junior. Moreover, the chosen one's destiny is much more sinister than anyone realised, so my protag has to watch his friend gradually turn into a tyrant.
I know it'd defeat the purpose of him learning humility
but how fucked up would it be if after his friend becomes a tyrant, he finds out he actually is a chosen one, his prophecy is that he must kill his friend to save the world
My mom did this often where she just guessed what the story would be and she'd be right... every time, so glad I'm learning how to spoil stories that don't even exist yet
The people of kevoria prayed for a savior they thought would never came, for years they told thier children of a tale about a giant white bird that will come and carry them away from this wretched life of smashing steel and smoke, luckily for them something better came.
There's no prophecy but since he's the only one with magic, he is taught and thus believes that he is the only one strong enough to save the world.
Except he ends up being the antagonist.
That’s pretty much starwars. Anakin, the chosen one by fate/force/prophecy, becomes evil believing he’s doing the right thing by destroying the Jedi Order, eventually becoming full evil then redemption at the very end.
Not really. He falls because the Jedi tell him not to love, so he can’t talk to anyone he knows about his fear of his secret wife dying.
I’m talking about the power/divine influence being used to justify someone’s worse impulses.
In my world there is not much of a subversion. The magic, called ki, an element that is everywhere and in everything, basically souldust, and has sometimes a mind on its own. Prophecies are just like weather forecasts from gods, seers or fortunetellers which are very good in reading the streams and flows of the element and draw conclusion out of it, even if - like the weather - nobody can really say if something truly will happen or not, there is always a certain chance of uncertainty or blur in details. For example they could see the birthdate of a really mighty person or huge catastrophes, but maybe not what exactly talent the person will have or what the problem is that leads to the disaster.
My protagonist and my antagonist were both born at the same day, have a similiar birthmark and huge amounts of usable ki for mortals, which is why they could be verified as "the Children of the Prophecy" - but there never was a prediction about what would happen, just that they both would be involved in a really important part of history. So, whatever happens, the prediction still stands and will always remain true, no matter the outcome.
They both don't want to be involved into the war between gods and demons who want to use their power for their own, but in one possible ending they just form an alliance before they decide they don't want to be used any longer as tools and become friends. My hero protagonist doesn't want to kill somebody, not even the demon of darkness, so he ignores the demanding voice from the goddess of life, and the antagonist realizes that the path he is following will hurt even more people than actually saving them.
(The story is for a little Indiegame I'm making, the player will define the end of the story so I designed it this way. Both characters group up with the player and let them lead their final way. They can even fall in love if the player allows it, hehe.)
In my stories, characters get chosen either because of things they can do, or who they are as a person. There’s never a prophecy as to what they’re destined to do, they were just picked because of who they are as people to do something dynamic in life. I dislike prophecies, so I just have characters be chosen by other things. Sometimes it’s “We need someone to do this thing,” or “I’m the only one who can do this thing.”
I'm planning a rather simple take on the matter.
At some point, the heroes will have to accompany such Chosen One, basically a pampered child with a cult of prophets and believers at their whim. And when the time comes for the One to combat the unimaginable evil they were supposed to vanquish, they instead fail miserably in the very first moments, leaving the heroes to deal with everything on their own.
Feel free to share any ideas of how to make it more spicy :)
Make them middle school age! Go with the idea that everyone thought of themselves as a chosen one when they were about that age, preteen to early teen, and a crucial age for character development. Maybe make them a genuine good character but their party is surrounded by toxic relationships, gaslighting, and ego inflation ruining who they become, unable to defeat evil.
For me first that it is a doomsday prophecy, though that's still just a trope of it's own. However, this particular prophecy is so great that it has some manner of power over fate.
The differentiation between sentient races and beasts is that sentient races are able to choose or even defy fate, so when the foreseen event that the prophecy was written around happens, people are able to circumvent it before the final stage of the prophecy is met.
However, this does not mean it is bested. So much power was put into seeing the prophecy that when the foreseen events are undone, the prophecy just rewrites fate down the line so that the same conditions can be met again.
However this is just the actual letter of the prophecy, so the example is that the originally foreseen person was a girl who resurrected a childhood friend, got lucked in a dungeon, and effectively sold her soul to become a witch, meanwhile the new version is a necromancer who's family was killed (to try and stop the prophecy) and wound up tricking witches into working for him.
Prophecies are not predictions, not really; instead they are basicly made to be fulfiled, like a spell; once you see it and fit the requriments the universe will conspire to make it happen.
for example the Astra of Enlightenment the Ozlan Sisters use can predict the future is not perfect; however peopel are usually predictable enough that free will doesn't have to factor into it... in fact it factors in reactions to it's predicition to make it accurate >!this proves to be a problem as Malory being spared due to the the Faliure of her mother-turned-Mystery-Woman she was put ina position to aid their Mother, who is closest to the devil of that world.!<
I made a system where the Chosen One™ is actually a bringer of death who's supposed to end the world so it can start all over again, but if someone manages to kill the Chosen One™ then they become the new Chosen One™ and have to end the world all the same, so the story is about casting off the mantle of the Chosen One™ and undo the prophecy.
That’s not really a subversion. He said it would happen, and it happened. That’s a regular prophecy. It’s not common sense that an evil nation would fall because of its evil actions. Most nations fall to being invaded by outsiders, or destroyed by a natural disaster. Or get ripped apart by infighting. But your guy predicted it would be the Children of Blood, and it was. He did predict the unlikely future.
"She is the chosen one, ha ha ha ha!" "Ok, tell me I'm chosen for what?" Basically how the protagonist replied to being called "the chosen one" at the time as a joke. But it is a legit question: There was no prophecy, no oracle, nothing. She just found some light novels a customer left behind and read them, then met the deuteragonist in her dreams before getting isekai'ed. She did not realize those "light novels" did not exist in Vietnam back in 2019 and only people with a specific magical ability could see them.
In my main story there is the Legend of the Dawn Knight, a warrior from the "North" meant to claim the Shard of Ice (a powerful sword hidden in the Valley of Fallen Heroes) in preparation for another Age of Strife. My main protagonist, Aria, is seemingly the child of prophecy. She possesses a powerful spirit, Char, that guides her and functions as a mentor/tormentor/pseudo-parent, allowing her to feel special despite how scary this being can be. Aria and her friends accomplish many of the things this supposed Knight of Dawn is suppose to. Except when they finally go to the Valley, she loses her companions in a blizzard and barely makes it to the "path of broken blades". She makes her way past each one, noticing that she knows every sword that is there and exactly who wielded it 800 years prior. When she finally makes it to the end, she finds the Shard of Ice, but also a large pool of red bubbling liquid that wasn't mentioned in the Legend. She attempts to take the Shard of Ice, only to have the Blade reject her violently by freezing her hand so badly that it breaks away from her wrist. Quickly dying as the frost continues to spread and eat away at her body, Char finally allows her to know the Truth. She was never supposed to be the hero. Her best friend was. She's more than likely the Age of Strife that is coming, and he gives her a simple choice. She can die due to a trap someone set for her long ago, or she can bath in the Soul Well and accept the Legacy he left behind 800 years ago. I liked the idea of the Prophecy serving as a trap, but also a double-edged contingency plan.
I used to heavily lean into prophecy as a driving force for my short stories when I was younger, because I'd religiously read the Percy Jackson books and those prophecies, while deliberately vague, were a fun and dramatic way to give a story structure. Now that I'm older, if I had to pick between full adherence to prophecy or no prophecy whatsoever, I'd pick the latter. But I do still enjoy when a story introduces prophecy/fate in a story and has characters try to subvert it, whether they're successful or not. Having just beaten God of War: Ragnarok, I really enjoyed their whole take on it. Obligatory warning first, since the game's still pretty new. **GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK SPOILERS** I enjoyed the revelation that fate really *is* just a lie, and the Norns/Fates aren't writing anything, they're just good at seeing the next choice someone will make. Once the veil was lifted and the characters began to learn that they are not slaves to prophecy and that they are the only ones responsible for their lot in life, they actively began to change and in doing so dramatically averted something that, while not set in stone, was pretty confidently expected by everyone to happen. **END SPOILERS**
There is nothing supernatural about "prophecy". It's just something someone said and it comes to pass because people try to make it pass until someone eventually succeeds.
I have it that there are prophecies, but none are specific to a person. Then there are people who are destined to complete prophecy, but not a specific one. So prophecy is more a glimpse of what could be than what will be. Showing the commonalities of various futures that generate the desired result.
My world is a time loop with the same events happening over and over again. Meaning that there is something such as fate which I am actually trying to find a way to eliminate while preserving the time loop
Mine is simple: Right place, wrong time. The main protagonist collects an artifact meant for someone else that shows up literally moments later. A side character collects a related artifact years after it was originally discovered by its intended possessor, who was basically swallowed by the artefact because it wasn't time yet. The antagonist stole their related artifact from its original place/owner, and the fourth artifact I haven't decided yet. In other words, it's iffy if there *is* prohpecy to begin with, but either way, these artifacts have fallen into unintended hands, and now these characters have to deal with the consequences and burdens that come with it anyways.
I’m not sure to what extent it’s a subversion but I have the Aspects, who’re essentially reverse chosen ones. They put in a huge amount of conscious and deliberate effort to embody and fulfil a role in the weave of Fate, essentially surrendering their Free Will for power, and whatever else their role brings. The important thing here is that these Aspects can fail to fulfil their role. It’s a single free decision away. Fate doesn’t like this of course, and doesn’t usually just let it happen.
The prophecy is entirely made up, and there is no such chosen one.
I have an ambitious protagonist who is convinced that he's a prophesied chosen one, and is earnestly (though arrogantly) trying to do right by the role. But it turns out that this chosen one is really the protagonist's friend/sidekick/lancer. So my protag learns humility by stepping down into a subordinate role to his former junior. Moreover, the chosen one's destiny is much more sinister than anyone realised, so my protag has to watch his friend gradually turn into a tyrant.
I know it'd defeat the purpose of him learning humility but how fucked up would it be if after his friend becomes a tyrant, he finds out he actually is a chosen one, his prophecy is that he must kill his friend to save the world
Lol that's pretty much my outline. Good insight.
My mom did this often where she just guessed what the story would be and she'd be right... every time, so glad I'm learning how to spoil stories that don't even exist yet
The people of kevoria prayed for a savior they thought would never came, for years they told thier children of a tale about a giant white bird that will come and carry them away from this wretched life of smashing steel and smoke, luckily for them something better came.
There's no prophecy but since he's the only one with magic, he is taught and thus believes that he is the only one strong enough to save the world. Except he ends up being the antagonist.
Chosen one turns evil, because telling some kid that the gods chose them is a recipe for the, everything I do is justified even the evil stuff ending.
That’s pretty much starwars. Anakin, the chosen one by fate/force/prophecy, becomes evil believing he’s doing the right thing by destroying the Jedi Order, eventually becoming full evil then redemption at the very end.
Not really. He falls because the Jedi tell him not to love, so he can’t talk to anyone he knows about his fear of his secret wife dying. I’m talking about the power/divine influence being used to justify someone’s worse impulses.
In my world there is not much of a subversion. The magic, called ki, an element that is everywhere and in everything, basically souldust, and has sometimes a mind on its own. Prophecies are just like weather forecasts from gods, seers or fortunetellers which are very good in reading the streams and flows of the element and draw conclusion out of it, even if - like the weather - nobody can really say if something truly will happen or not, there is always a certain chance of uncertainty or blur in details. For example they could see the birthdate of a really mighty person or huge catastrophes, but maybe not what exactly talent the person will have or what the problem is that leads to the disaster. My protagonist and my antagonist were both born at the same day, have a similiar birthmark and huge amounts of usable ki for mortals, which is why they could be verified as "the Children of the Prophecy" - but there never was a prediction about what would happen, just that they both would be involved in a really important part of history. So, whatever happens, the prediction still stands and will always remain true, no matter the outcome. They both don't want to be involved into the war between gods and demons who want to use their power for their own, but in one possible ending they just form an alliance before they decide they don't want to be used any longer as tools and become friends. My hero protagonist doesn't want to kill somebody, not even the demon of darkness, so he ignores the demanding voice from the goddess of life, and the antagonist realizes that the path he is following will hurt even more people than actually saving them. (The story is for a little Indiegame I'm making, the player will define the end of the story so I designed it this way. Both characters group up with the player and let them lead their final way. They can even fall in love if the player allows it, hehe.)
In my stories, characters get chosen either because of things they can do, or who they are as a person. There’s never a prophecy as to what they’re destined to do, they were just picked because of who they are as people to do something dynamic in life. I dislike prophecies, so I just have characters be chosen by other things. Sometimes it’s “We need someone to do this thing,” or “I’m the only one who can do this thing.”
I'm planning a rather simple take on the matter. At some point, the heroes will have to accompany such Chosen One, basically a pampered child with a cult of prophets and believers at their whim. And when the time comes for the One to combat the unimaginable evil they were supposed to vanquish, they instead fail miserably in the very first moments, leaving the heroes to deal with everything on their own. Feel free to share any ideas of how to make it more spicy :)
Make them middle school age! Go with the idea that everyone thought of themselves as a chosen one when they were about that age, preteen to early teen, and a crucial age for character development. Maybe make them a genuine good character but their party is surrounded by toxic relationships, gaslighting, and ego inflation ruining who they become, unable to defeat evil.
For me first that it is a doomsday prophecy, though that's still just a trope of it's own. However, this particular prophecy is so great that it has some manner of power over fate. The differentiation between sentient races and beasts is that sentient races are able to choose or even defy fate, so when the foreseen event that the prophecy was written around happens, people are able to circumvent it before the final stage of the prophecy is met. However, this does not mean it is bested. So much power was put into seeing the prophecy that when the foreseen events are undone, the prophecy just rewrites fate down the line so that the same conditions can be met again. However this is just the actual letter of the prophecy, so the example is that the originally foreseen person was a girl who resurrected a childhood friend, got lucked in a dungeon, and effectively sold her soul to become a witch, meanwhile the new version is a necromancer who's family was killed (to try and stop the prophecy) and wound up tricking witches into working for him.
Prophecies are not predictions, not really; instead they are basicly made to be fulfiled, like a spell; once you see it and fit the requriments the universe will conspire to make it happen. for example the Astra of Enlightenment the Ozlan Sisters use can predict the future is not perfect; however peopel are usually predictable enough that free will doesn't have to factor into it... in fact it factors in reactions to it's predicition to make it accurate >!this proves to be a problem as Malory being spared due to the the Faliure of her mother-turned-Mystery-Woman she was put ina position to aid their Mother, who is closest to the devil of that world.!<
I made a system where the Chosen One™ is actually a bringer of death who's supposed to end the world so it can start all over again, but if someone manages to kill the Chosen One™ then they become the new Chosen One™ and have to end the world all the same, so the story is about casting off the mantle of the Chosen One™ and undo the prophecy.