History Main / ItBeganWithATwistOfFate

* On ''Series/{{Psych}}'', after Jules finds out that Shawn's not really psychic and dumps him, Shawn suffers a HeroicBSOD that causes him to fantasize about what might have happened if he'd made one different decision (offering Jules DaChief's scarf instead of his own jacket, as the contents of the jacket pocket were responsible for Jules realizing that he was a fraud). The fantasy version of events and the reality veer off in wildly different directions.

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}:'' If Jon hadn't forgotten his girlfriend's watch in the lab, he wouldn't have gone back to get it, gotten locked inside the experiment chamber, been ripped apart, and been reborn as Dr. Manhattan.
** He actually gets ''really'' caught up in this, asking if the man who stepped on the watch is actually responsible, or his father for throwing away his watchmaking tools and making him become a physicist, or Einstein for driving his father to despair by creating the atomic bomb, etc. His first conclusion is that [[StrawNihilist none of it means a damned thing]], and it takes a shared EpiphanyTherapy with his ex to realize that [[TheAntiNihilist we all share responsibility for creating the world]].

In fiction, not every main character has an astounding backstory that will make you want to bawl your eyes out for someone who doesn't actually exist. Sometimes, the best main character is a character the audience can relate to. But at the same time, the audience likes the idea of being mixed up in such fantastic adventures. Sometimes they like the idea that anytime, anywhere, anyone can find themselves in an epic journey to SaveTheWorld.

Now, that isn't to say that this character won't turn out to actually be central to this story's events, or won't go through tragic and/or spectacular events as the story goes on, or even that this inadvertent adventure won't rind up revealing important things about their past and destiny. In fact, doing so is a common method of avoiding having the story being told through the eyes of TheIshmael. The character can be anyone, anywhere. The key is that this character's random, everyday, completely not worthwhile decision is what pulls them into the events of the story. 

* In ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'', had Shu gone straight home instead of to his usual hangout, he wouldn't have encountered Inori and set of the chain of events that would result in his gaining the incredibly powerful Void Genome. 

* In ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'', had Shu gone straight home instead of to his usual hangout, he wouldn't have ecountered Inori and set of the chain of events that would result in his gaining the incredibly powerful Void Genome. 

* Lina Inverse from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' is hardly an everygirl, being one of the most powerful magic-users of her world. However, her usual modus vivendi is just being a wandering mercenary and treasure hunter; all that unwanted saving the world stuff happens to her due to seemingly insignificant choices, such as not agreeing to sell a particular statuette for cheap

When the main character of a story became involved in its ridiculous events due to a simple, everyday decision.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII:'' Vaan just happens to decide to break into the palace on the same night LaResistance tries to take it back and the dashing SkyPirate Balthier and his partner Fran also attempt to steal something from its hidden treasure troves. 

* How did the plot of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' get kicked off? A group of kids decided to take a short-cut through an abandoned construction site instead of take the long way home. If they hadn't, the never would have discovered the aliens...

* How did the plot of ''Literature/Animorphs'' get kicked off? A group of kids decided to take a short-cut through an abandoned construction site instead of take the long way home. If they hadn't, the never would have discovered the aliens...

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames:'' Katniss literally ''volunteers'' to be thrown into the life-or-death fight to the finish battle that is the Hunger Games. The twist is that she did so to keep her little sister out of the ring. 

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII:'' Vaan just happens to decide to break into the palace on the same night LaResistance triesto take it back and the dashing SkyPirate Balthier amd his partner Fran also attempt to steal something from its hidden treasure troves. 

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E11TurnLeft "Turn Left"]] it's revealed that the only reason Donna Noble ever got embroiled in the Doctor's life at all was because one day, she turned left, not right. Good thing she did, too; that same episode reveals that turning right led to the Doctor's death, the nuclear destruction of London, and the end of reality itself. Yikes.

* ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'': The film would have been very different had Hud not insisted on going to save his girlfriend. While NYC was in the middle of an [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever attack by a giant]] EldritchAbomination.

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}:'' If Jon hadn't forgotten his girlfriend's watch in the lab, he wouldn't have gone back to get it, get locked inside the experiment chamber, be ripped apart, and be reborn as Dr. Manhattan.

* Don't forget about the time Luke Skywalker's uncle bought a couple of droids in ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope.''

* ''Literature/CiaphasCain:'' Nearly every important plot event stems from Cain looking for a quiet, routine assignment away from the front line. All it does is allow him to run into the secret cult/the backdoor enrtrance into their base/ the unseen flanking attack which only leads him into greater danger as a result.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Turn Left" its revealed that the only reason Donna Noble ever got embroiled in the Doctor's life at all was because one day, she turned left, not right. Good thing she did, too; that same episode reveals that turning right led to the Doctor's death, the nuclear destruction of London, and the end of reality itself. Yikes.

* Lampshaded in the opening narration of ShakuganNoShana. Yuiji wonders how different his life would have been had he not decided to go to the CD store on the fateful afternoon where he met [[TheHero Shana]] and found out that he's a Torch with incredible magical power.
* In GuiltyCrown, had Shu gone straight home instead of to his usual hangout, he wouldn't have ecountered Inori and set of the chain of events that would result in his gaining the incredibly powerful Void Genome. 
* In CodeGeass, had Lelouch not decided to play the HeroicBystander, he wouldn't have met C.C. and gained the powers he needed to initiate the rebellion. 
* Lina Inverse from TheSlayers is hardly an everygirl, being one of the most powerful magic-users of her world. However, her usual modus vivendi is just being a wandering mercenary and treasure hunter; all that unwanted saving the world stuff happens to her due to seemingly insignificant choices, such as not agreeing to sell a particular statuette for cheap

* ''{{ComicBook/Watchmen}}:'' If Jon hadn't forgotten his girlfriend's watch in the lab, he wouldn't have gone back to get it, get locked inside the experiment chamber, be ripped apart, and be reborn as Dr. Manhattan.

* ''{{Film/Cloverfield}}'': The film would have been very different had Hud not insisted on going to save his girlfriend. While NYC was in the middle of an [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever attack by a giant]] EldritchAbomination.
* In ''{{Film/Chronicle}}'', three teenagers accidentally get superpowers just because they decide to check out a weird-looking grave. [[spoiler:The source of their superpowers is never even explained.]]
* Don't forget about the time [[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker's uncle]] bought a couple of droids?

* ''CiaphasCain'': Nearly every important plot event stems from Cain looking for a quiet, routine assignment away from the front line. All it does is allow him to run into the secret cult/the backdoor enrtrance into their base/ the unseen flanking attack which only leads him into greater danger as a result.

* On ''{{Psych}}'', after Jules finds out that Shawn's not really psychic and dumps him, Shawn suffers a HeroicBSOD that causes him to fantasize about what might have happened if he'd made one different decision (offering Jules DaChief's scarf instead of his own jacket, as the contents of the jacket pocket were responsible for Jules realizing that he was a fraud). The fantasy version of events and the reality veer off in wildly different directions.

[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]
* DigimonWorldDS: If your character had chosen to ignore the rumors about the "fighting monsters that are friends with humans" he or she (you can choose your character's gender) never would have been placed on the chain of events that would culminate in saving the Digital World from destruction.
* FinalFantasyXII: Vaan just happens to decide to break into the palace on the same night LaResistance triesto take it back and the dashing SkyPirate Balthier amd his partner Fran also attempt to steal something from its hidden treasure troves. 
* WhiteKnightChronicles: Leonard and co sneak into the palace on a whim. The guards just left the front doors open when they were delivering wine to Princess Cisna's ball. (No, seriously. That's how it happens.) Then he decides to rescue the princess from an assassin as the palace is under attack. Then he decides to take control of the [[HumongousMecha incredibly powerful Wite Knight]] in order to defend his home town. 
* Four out of six protagonists of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' are forced on an adventure by pure chance of being in New Bodhum when the Pulse Fal'cie Anima awakened near the city. What followed was a chain reaction of events that either killed or [[BodyToJewel crystallized]] their loved ones, driving the four into an ill-fated attempt to rescue/avenge them.

* Don't forget about the time [[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker]] bought a couple of droids?

* In the DoctorWho episode "Turn Left" its revealed that the only reason Donna Noble ever got embroiled in the Doctor's life at all was because one day, she turned left, not right. Good thing she did, too; that same episode reveals that turning right led to the Doctor's death, the nuclear destruction of London, and the end of reality itself. Yikes.

* {{Cloverfield}}: The film would have been very different had Hud not insisted on going to save his girlfriend. While NYC was in the middle of an [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever attack by a giant]] EldritchAbomination.

* Don't forget about the time [[StarWars Luke Skywalker]] bought a couple of droids?

*  Literature/TheSevenRealmsSeries: Han Alistar never have found himself pulled into a struggle for control over the Fells and the truth behind the Demon King's legend if he hadn't decided to steal Micah Bayar's amulet, an artifact that once belonged to the infamous Demon King.
* ''TheHungerGames:'' Katniss literally ''volunteers'' to be thrown into the life-or-death fight to the finish battle that is the Hunger Games. The twist is that she did so to keep her little sister out of the ring. 
* Pretty much the entire plot of Literature/CodexAlera happened because Tavi decided to get some flowers for a girl.
* CiaphasCain: Nearly every important plot event stems from Cain looking for a quiet, routine assignment away from the front line. All it does is allow him to run into the secret cult/the backdoor enrtrance into their base/ the unseen flanking attack which only leads him into greater danger as a result.
* In the original book version of ''ForrestGump'' most of Forrest's adventures start with some variation of the following: "So I was just sitting there minding my own business and a guy comes up to me and says 'Do you want to [join the army/be in a play/play college football/get shot into space/star in a movie/etc.]?' Well, I had nothing else to do that day so I said OK."
* Pretty much the entire plot of Literature/CodexAlera happened because Tavi decided to get some flowers for a girl.

* It varies based on universe and continuity, but SpiderMan generally gets bitten by a certain spider and gains his superpowers through a genuine twist of fate--by simply being in the right place at the right time. 
* Jay Garrick, the original [[TheFlash Flash]] gets his superpowers when he falls asleep in a lab, accidentally drops a bottle to the floor, and inhales the vapors thus released. Barry Allen, the next Flash, originally got his powers from a similar lab accident, though this was later [[{{retcon}} retconned]] so that the origin of his powers is his [[StableTimeLoop time-traveling future self]].
* {{Watchmen}}: If Jon hadn't forgotten his girlfriend's watch in the lab, he wouldn't have gone back to get it, get locked inside the experiment chamber, be ripped apart, and be reborn as Dr. Manhattan.

When the main character of a story became involved in it's ridiculous events due to a simple, everyday decision.