History Main / OmniscientMoralityLicense

If the heroes were to attempt anything resembling these actions, they would be [[WhatTheHellHero called on it]] by their manipulated "friends" and [[LaserGuidedKarma punished]] by the plot for their [[{{Pride}} arrogance]]. This trope is defied (their license revoked) when the heroes [[RageAgainstTheHeavens rebel against them]] for [[AGodAmI playing God]].

** The poster child is Cauldron, a secret organization that does many, *many* terrible things for the purpose of saving humanity from something that will probably kill 99% of the population some years down the line if nothing is done. Whether or not they were justified is a point of contention in and out of universe, especially since it's been demonstrated that precognition is never perfect.

* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', one of the earliest noted sprite comics, frequently invokes this. [[AuthorAvatar The Author]] at times either personally deals with (or at the very least addresses to the cast and audience) problems that he created for the sake of the series. Needless to say at various points in the comic, this pisses off the heroes but is played for laughs. Sprite Comics that were directly inspired by B&G tend to either follow this example or allude to it, especially earlier comics, or those made by "{{Noob}}s"

* Invoked and played for horror with the Celestial Dragons in ''Manga/OnePiece''. Due to their bloodline, they can do '''anything'' and get away with it, no matter how reprehensible. If you try to resist, you get killed. If you try to fight back (which wouldn't be too hard for most of the cast), even worse things will happen to you. They are, unsurprisingly, among the biggest villains in the series.
* Deconstructed with the BigBad of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', who justifies their [[ManipulativeBastard manipulations]], [[BreakTheCutie psychological torture]], and what is effectively mass-murder by claiming that [[spoiler:extracting humanity’s despair is necessary to [[WellIntentionedExtremist save the universe from heat death]]]]. In fact, it [[ObliviouslyEvil sees nothing wrong with what it’s doing]] because it [[EvilCannotComprehendGood literally can’t understand]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality why humans object to being made disposable pawns]], but the girls don’t care and are [[ShutUpHannibal pissed off]] anyway, and this line of thinking only serves to make the antagonist that much more [[EldritchAbomination inhuman]].
* There's an entire manga about this trope, a shoujo/josei series named ''Manga/SeigiNoMikata'' ("Ally of Justice"). The protagonist's sister is a loud, lazy, gluttonous, extremely manipulative cow, but somehow all the selfish, self-centered things she does work out great for her and everyone else. Apart form the protagonist, everyone in the series adores her.

->''"God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players,[[note]] i.e., everybody[[/note]] to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who '''smiles all the time"'''.''

** The Time Lords often come across as this before their reinvention as a DeadlyDecadentCourt. For example, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E4TheMutants "The Mutants"]], they give the Doctor a container to deliver, but they won't tell him what's in the container, or who's supposed to receive it, and then dump him and his assistant Jo on a planet at war and with an atmosphere toxic to humans. In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons "Terror of the Autons"]], a Time Lord in human clothing appears to inform the Doctor that the Master is active on Earth and encourages him to fight back, but provides absolutely no useful information other than this. They send the Doctor to revive the Sacred Flame on Karn in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius "The Brain of Morbius"]], but this is only implied by the fact that they dump him on Karn at all (notably, when Maren becomes convinced the Doctor's a Time Lord spy, he agrees he might be, as far as he knows).

* The Arisians of Creator/EEDocSmith's ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' universe use this extensively over a period of two billion years, gradually shaping the evolution of intelligent species and specific bloodlines within those species until their descendant civilizations can defeat their ancient and truly foul enemy, Eddore. They manage all this without ever letting on that they are, in fact, SufficientlyAdvancedAliens to do virtually everything their descendant cultures do, and easily.
** This ''looks'' like an Omniscient Morality License to most client species, but the books explicitly justify the Arisian policy: the Arisians are perfectly capable of defending themselves and could even kill '''most''' of the Eddorians outright at the time they become aware of them, but they couldn't get them all, and they couldn't protect anyone else against the remnant. They want very much to help Civilization, but if they do so too openly, the Eddorians will work out that they exist, and that won't go well for anyone. This means they ''have'' to let the Eddorians nearly destroy the client species over and over again while working in the shadows to salvage what they can and give one of their client races time to develop minds even more powerful than the Arisians themselves and that can exterminate the Eddorians completely.

* In ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, the NeglectfulPrecursors seem to think they have one--but they also argue over [[DuelingMessiahs who among themselves has it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Everyone seems to think the Avatar gets an Omniscient Morality License... everyone, that is, except the Avatar himself.

'''Sokka:''' Sure you can. You're the Avatar!

* In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', Waka could very likely be accused of this trope. In the game, it's shown that he can see the future, and is pretty strong, at one point even ''fixing the coastline of it's corruption''. Staggeringly, he does very little in the way of progress, when, theoretically, he could fix most of Nippon's problems. And a lot of problems would probably have been solved if he took a more direct approach in saving the world, rather than let destiny play out. Of course Waka, knowing the future, would know that he's not powerful enough to defeat the BigBad without a powered-up Ammy's help.

* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', one of the earliest noted sprite comics, frequently invokes this. [[AuthorAvatar The Author]] at times either personally deals with (or at the very least addresses to the cast and audience) problems that he created for the sake of the series. Needless to say at various points in the comic, this pisses off the heroes but is played for laughs. Sprite Comics that were directly inspired by B&G tend to either follow this example or allude to it, especially earlier comics, or those made by "{{Noob}}s"
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' features a super-intelligent A.I. which epitomizes this trope. He could probably solve the universe's problems if he didn't think it was better for everyone to "work things out themselves". Petey may be god-like within the galaxy, but he is engaged in an out-matched war with the [[spoiler:dark matter beings from Andromeda]], and an "easy fix" such as breaking through a teraport shield to save a single ship could cost a star system in the larger conflict. Petey increasingly sticks to behind-the-scenes work to conserve resources. It helps that, most of the time, he prefers to end fights ''without'' any deaths, since a "current enemy" could be a "future ally" given enough time, and why deprive them of the chance?[[spoiler: The main reason he can't do this with the dark matter beings is a lack of ways to communicate with them, and they started it.]]
* Sarda the Sage from ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' subverts this trope, with White Mage convinced he's operating under this license while the "Light" Warriors know damn well he hates them (and now they even know why).
* The Great Bird Conspiracy of ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', in addition to manipulating the inner workings of government and other institutions, carried out a long-running plan to prevent society from destroying itself by establishing computers to run it. In order to accomplish it, they abduct Vin, Fenton and Ray and have them work for Microtalon when they find out too much about it, and cause Lindesfarne to believe that her boyfriend Fenton is dead. While the people in question are eventually returned [[LaserGuidedAmnesia with their memories of their time at Microtalon wiped]] this caused a considerable amount of anguish for the cast. Not to mention the fact that the birds [[NiceJobBreakingItHero were responsible for making all these species intelligent in the first place]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'' features a clever subversion with {{God}} himself, who is all-knowing and yet apparently allows his angelic underlings to get away with errors. However, the twist (which is implied) is that God knows that these errors, such as the eponymous misfile, result in more actual good than harm, making him one hell of a [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]]...
* The ''Wizard of Oz'' example is lampshaded in ''Webcomic/CheshireCrossing'' when Dorothy finally confronts Glinda the Good Witch with the accusation that Glinda deliberately withheld information about the ruby slippers to get Dorothy to murder the Wicked Witch.

* It seems that the Predictamancers from ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' have a disturbing tendency to lean toward this. On one hand, Fate is a literal cosmic force, and whatever the Predictamancers predict ''will'' come true, by definition. (Whether the Predictamancers ''tell'' the real predictions are a whole other story.) On the other hand, both of the introduced Predictamancers have an annoyingly vague approach to telling their predictions, and give little to no help for anyone featured in their predictions, instead preferring to try and manipulate things from the side.
** It's implied that this is less because Predictamancers deliberately hold back info than it is because higher-level Predictions themselves are hyperfocused on one specific event that one specific unit will do sometime in the future (e.g. one unit is Predicted to "croak the leader of Haffaton", and both the leader and the method of croaking end up different than expected between prophecy and fulfillment). They're very into YouCantFightFate because any attempt to ScrewDestiny ends up making any SelfFulfillingProphecy turn out the worst. They can also end up extremely disconnected from others because, from Fate's point of view, the vast majority of people and events are of no importance whatsoever.

* Played with in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' by "Spooky Bot", an incredibly powerful AI strongly implied to be a product of TheSingularity. Their stated motivations are quite straightforward, but they also [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3402 admit]] that "there are no credentials of benevolence that we could not falsify" and tacitly ask Faye to have faith in their good intentions.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The reason Durkon was wandering human lands is because Odin sent a prophecy to his high priest that the next time Durkon returned home, he would bring death and destruction. The other priests decided the best way to avoid this prophecy was to exile Durkon, knowing he was so honor-bound that he would never return unless called, even though this meant he had to abandon his family and ailing mother. Durkon became a key member of the Order of the Stick, which in turn considerably increased the chances of the world being saved, and Durkon even ended up meeting Odin and Thor at just the right time to learn some important information. [[spoiler:Subverted when Thor asks Odin about it. Odin is a bit senile due to a problem with GodsNeedPrayerBadly, and doesn't even remember the prophecy; he says the whole plan "sounds kind of mean." Presumably he gave the prophecy on one of his better days, but Thor decides not to mention this to Durkon anyway, as it will probably crush his spirit]].
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Damien believed he had one [[AGodAmI as a god]] since he was created with the intent of fulfilling a prophecy of one who would unify the chimeric shapeshifter outcasts of the world.

* The [[AllPowerfulBystander Dungeon Master]] from the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' animated series. He uses ''children'' to carry out potentially fatal quests that work towards his enigmatic goals. Although he could easily defeat [[BigBad Venger]] and most of the other threats to the Realm, he prefers to use the kids to do it under the pretense of helping them get back to Earth. He is actually capable of just sending them home, but either gets evasive or disappears when asked to do so.

* The creators of ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'' have stated his seeming idiocy and recklessness [[ShrugOfGod may or may not]] actually be all part of his plan to improve children's lives.
* [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens The Vok]] from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' think they have this. They do all sorts of terrifying, inscrutable things while steadfastly refusing to explain their reasons, arrogantly claiming the Transformers couldn’t comprehend them. In the season one finale, they try to [[spoiler:''blow up the entire planet'']] [[DisproportionateRetribution just because the Transformers “contaminated” their precious experiment by total accident]]. Optimus calls them out on this and says that [[AvertedTrope they have no real right to murder thousands]], but the Vok disagree; in their eyes, it’s ''their'' planet to do with as they please.

* There's an entire manga about this trope, a shoujo/josei series named ''Manga/SeigiNoMikata'' ("Ally of Justice"). The protagonist's sister is a loud, lazy, gluttonous, extremely manipulative cow, but somehow all the selfish, self-centered things she does work out great for her and everyone else. Apart form the protagonist, everyone in the series adores her.

* Averted in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': after Trunks' first time travel and after he has warned the heroes about the incoming threat of the Androids, Bulma suggests seeking out Dr. Gero, the Androids' creator, and killing him before he can enact his plan, which they ''know for sure'' he will enact. Goku refuses, partly because he wants to fight the Androids, and partly because he doesn't think it's right to kill someone who hasn't ''technically'' done anything wrong yet (forgetting that Gero was the lead scientist of the Red Ribbon Army, and so most of their tech was probably built by him).
* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': Goku Black feels that he has one since he comes from a 'higher place' and has 'seen the truth'. He feels no remorse killing billions of mortals in the name of [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans creating a perfect universe]].
* In ''LightNovel/GoshuushouSamaNinomiyaKun'', the hero and heroine's family is a mass of absolute jerks willing to continuously mentally and physically torment the main characters, up to and including faking their own death just to get them riled up, as part of a "training" course. While they aren't explicitly stated to have God-like powers, their ability to be anywhere and everywhere at once borders on DeusExMachina.

* All of the ruling Elites in ''LightNovel/AiNoKusabi'' qualify for keeping slaves and how they treat everyone in castes beneath them. It's their right as the PowersThatBe to do as they please with those below them within their society. Iason Mink really takes the cake, however, as the most powerful Elite with his treatment of his SexSlave Riki.
* The Truth from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Yes, he punishes those that try to unlock the secrets of the universe, reverse death, and attain ultimate power by taking away limbs, reproductive organs, entire bodies, and even somebody's entire being, but it's ultimately because he wants people to just make do with the lives they have and appreciate the gift they've been given.
* Deconstructed with the BigBad of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', who justifies their [[ManipulativeBastard manipulations]], [[BreakTheCutie psychological torture]], and what is effectively mass-murder by claiming that [[spoiler:extracting humanity’s despair is necessary to [[WellIntentionedExtremist save the universe from heat death]]]]. In fact, it [[ObliviouslyEvil sees nothing wrong with what it’s doing]] because it [[EvilCannotComprehendGood literally can’t understand]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality why humans object to being made disposable pawns]], but the girls don’t care and are [[ShutUpHannibal pissed off]] anyway, and this line of thinking only serves to make the antagonist that much more [[EldritchAbomination inhuman]].

* ''Comicbook/XMen'' villain ComicBook/{{Mystique}} had a psychic lover for most of Creator/ChrisClaremont's run, who, according to his own {{Retcon}}, drove Mystique's [[NecessarilyEvil apparently evil]] actions until driving her insane by dying.

* In another comic example, an early GoldenAge superhero known as ''ComicBook/StardustTheSuperWizard'' is virtually all-powerful and, from the readers' perspective, quite insane. Yet he always winds up being treated as a hero in the story. A text feature in ''1910'', the most recent chapter of Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', reveals that a number of other heroes finally took Stardust down, imprisoning him in a super-dense ice block.
* ComicBook/{{Cable}} generally acts like this, thanks to coming from the future and already knowing how everything turns out. Curiously, although he's also from the future and is accompanied by a floating repository of 21st century history, ComicBook/BoosterGold doesn't.

* Subverted to the point of deconstruction in an issue of Impact Comics' ''Jaguar''. The mute, monstrous-looking and -acting antagonist turns out to be an alien that, in an obvious {{shout out}} to Franchise/{{Superman}}'s origin, was adopted by a friendly Earth couple as a baby, developed superpowers as he matured, was taught to use them for "good"... and one day started to kill people who hadn't actually done anything wrong. The theory his helpless foster parents eventually pieced together is that his species experiences time nonlinearly, seeing past, present, and future all at once, so he kills people for horrible crimes they ''haven't committed yet'' -- thereby of course making it kind of hard to demonstrate what they ''would'' one day have done to deserve death had they gotten the chance...

* Although not explicitly stated in ''Franchise/StarWars'', Obi-Wan and Yoda used Luke FromACertainPointOfView as what they felt was the best way to get him to stop Vader and the Emperor. In the end it's subverted, as Luke wins by NOT heeding their advice. If he had killed Vader like they asked, the Emperor would have won.

* Invoked via the Job argument in ''Film/WhollyMoses'': "Who are you to question God?" "I am Man!"

* Subverted in ''Film/ManOnFire''. "Do you think God'll forgive us for what we've done?" "No." Which is an interesting take on the concept. If he's already irredeemable, there's no reason to have any moral compunction left.
-->"Forgiveness is between them and God. It's my job to arrange the meeting."

* Before the climax of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', the Avengers have secured an organic android body that Ultron was planning on using for his final form, but was only able to place a portion of his programming in it before it was apprehended. ComicBook/IronMan wants to activate the android, saying that it could be a powerful ally and would be the savior Ultron was supposed to be. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica says that the risk of another robot as powerful as Ultron is far too dangerous, and demands it be destroyed. As they have only minutes to either activate the android or destroy it, the argument degrades into a brawl. Suddenly, [[spoiler: ComicBook/{{Thor}} crashes in, scatters his teammates and uses his lightning to bring the android to life. Why? Because oracular water spirits told him that the android would be a key factor in defeating Ultron. It is because of this that the android is given the name ComicBook/{{Vision}}. And when Vision's motives are questioned, he unwittingly proves his goodness by lifting Thor's hammer - even though a scene earlier in the film implied that most of the Avengers didn't really consider lifting the hammer proof of anything (but mostly because none of them could lift it themselves, with the exception of Steve "Captain America" Rogers who it's implied could lift it but chooses not to).]] Can't argue with Asgardians, can you?
* In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', ComicBook/DoctorStrange uses his Eye of Agamotto [[spoiler:(i.e Time Stone)]] to look into the future and see the ways the future will play out to find out any probability where the heroes can win against Comicbook/{{Thanos}}. Out of 14 million or so possible futures, [[MillionToOneChance he only sees one positive outcome]]. Then, [[spoiler:during his battle (assisted with Iron Man, Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy) vs. Thanos in Titan, as Thanos heavily wounds Tony, Strange decides to give his Time Stone to Thanos (who was seeking it) to spare Tony. This would later allow Thanos to complete the [[PowerFist Infinity Gauntlet]] and use it to wipe out half of the lives in the universe, which apparently includes Strange himself. As he's slowly crumbling into dust, he tells the distraught Tony that "this is the only way", suggesting that whatever positive outcome he saw would involve letting Thanos achieve his goal first]]. And it turns out as ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' reveals, [[spoiler:said outcome involves Tony performing a HeroicSacrifice by using the Infinity Gauntlet to turn Thanos and all his forces into dust evidently shown when Strange shows to one outcome finger to Tony which means he is fully willing to sacrifice Tony just to bring down the Mad Titan]].

** In book 9 of the series, the [[spoiler:Crocaryx]] were created by Kai solely to guard a Lorestone. Once that Lorestone is no longer in their possession, the narration announces that this is the beginning of their race's demise. Makes one wonder when [[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman humans]] will [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness fulfill their reason for existing]].

* ''Literature/SwordOfTruth''
** Annalina Aldurren often invokes this trope, believing that she has a right to steer the protagonist's life because she's spent hers studying prophecies about him. She is quite often called out on this by the other characters (most notably said protagonist's wife), is more often than not wrong in her interpretations of the prophecies, and on several occasions suggests doing things such as erasing the protagonist's memory and having another character seduce him in order to have him do what she thinks he should. In fact, it's outright stated that, had she not meddled in the protagonist's life in the first place, many of the events of the series would never have taken place. Interestingly, Anna is called on this and finally broken of the habit, only for the villains to mess with the timeline/people's memories and her to revert to form.
** In the same series, Nathan Rahl occasionally delves into this territory, but is more successful as he's an actual prophet, and gets the total experience and meaning of his prophecies. A more or less straight example: When he's introduced, it's mentioned that while entertaining a young woman, something he whispers to her makes her run screaming from his room, and eventually leads to a civil war and tens of thousands dead. Much later, he remarks that in that war, a pregnant woman died whose child otherwise would have grown into a horrible dictator who would have killed far, far more.

* ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'''s Good Magician Humfry will send the story's protagonists to face life- -- and occasionally world- -- threatening peril with nothing more than an objective and a general path to follow. Justified (albeit by Humfry himself) in that if he gives his supplicants the full story, they'd get things wrong and go straight for the end goal, instead of going through the experience and ally gaining journey actually needed to succeed. (That, and most Xanthians expect to be given the runaround, trusting that things will work out in the end.)
* Polgara from the ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}/Malloreon'' universe demonstrates this tendency a lot. Admittedly, it goes with the job. Belgarath describes how he often has acted as Aldur's holy hatchet man, but Polgara has the biggest attitude about it.
* In ''Literature/SpaceMarineBattles'', the Iron Warriors believe that as Space Marines, they're perfectly fine to send thousands of PDF soldiers to their deaths to wear down the enemies' defenses. They also don't bother with telling the PDF that there's Slaaneshi cult on the planet, because hey, they're the Emperor's "Angels of Death".
* In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Liu Bei and his companions (most notably Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang) can do no wrong, even when this means killing hundreds of thousands in various ways over the decades in the name of Liu Bei's vision of supporting the crumbling Han Dynasty, while Cao Cao is the big-time villain despite all the good works, major successes (against others who are ''not'' Liu Bei) and personal niceties that he's acknowledged to have.
* In Creator/SMStirling's and Creator/DavidDrake's ''Literature/TheGeneralSeries'', an ancient computer called center (always lower-case) establishes a telepathic link with General Raj Whitehall and drafts him into reuniting the human colony-world of Bellevue in order to restore the lost high-tech civilization of the long-collapsed interstellar Federation. Whitehall is a volunteer in this enterprise and retains his free will -- except that center is for all intents and purposes omniscient, and can always show him vividly, with a stated degree of probability, ''exactly'' what outcome will result from a given choice, so that Whitehall really has only one way to go.
** At the end of the series, [[spoiler:Raj's friend who was being held "hostage" by Center this entire time is released to become the ruler of mankind. Said friend has been learning all about human history, directly from Center, for several years, and presumably has the same link to Center that Raj has.]]

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
** The Aes Sedai all act like this, to the extreme annoyance of both characters and readers. To be fair, some of them are smart enough that things do kind of work out. Others, [[TooDumbToLive not so much]].
** Rand adopts a similar attitude as time goes on. He assumes that because he's TheChosenOne, he automatically knows best, and won't listen to any kind of dissent or independent initiative. Even a massive military fiasco doesn't humble him for long.
* In ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'', Fizban's way of helping people is by being a nuisance and hindering the progress of the heroes, even when it endangers their lives. It turns out his hindrances end up helping them in the end, and that is his unique way of helping them out. He can do this because [[spoiler:his secret identity is none other than Paladine, the chief god of light.]]
** Really, the entire setting's theology is built on this, with the notorious Cataclysm -- where ''all'' gods, Good, Neutral and Evil, abducted all of their priests from the mortal world and unleashed an EarthShatteringKaboom on the planet because of the arrogance of a mad theocrat who was slaughtering everyone who didn't fit his definition of good -- being the worst example.
* ''Literature/TheCulture'' novels are primarily about Contact exercising the Omniscient Morality License they believe themselves to have over all less advanced civilizations.
* Played with in Creator/MarkTwain's ''Literature/TheMysteriousStranger'', in which Satan explains exactly why his seemingly immoral actions, including causing deaths and madness, are [[CrapSackWorld in fact for the best]].
* Matthew Sobol in ''Literature/{{Daemon}}'', or at least his posthumous actions through the Daemon itself.
* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar''
** The [[SpiritAdvisor Companions]] have a tendency to succumb to this temptation from time to time, which is a major reason for their ObstructiveCodeOfConduct not to interfere with human affairs unless asked. A particular example occurs in the ''Mage Winds'' trilogy, when Elspeth's companion Gwena manipulates her toward her [[BecauseDestinySaysSo Glorious Destiny]] in an {{Anvilicious}}ly unsubtle way, and is soundly [[CallingTheOldManOut called on it]] by her Herald. This doesn't stop her from trying, though, and it isn't until Gwena gets a stern talking to from [[spoiler:Yfandes]] in ''Winds of Fury'' that she finally gives up.
** In ''Mage Storms'', the Gods themselves are revealed to have been playing this game for millennia; nearly every single one of the myriad disasters and near-disasters that have occurred since the first Cataclysm was engineered for the specific purpose of putting in place all the pieces necessary to avert the second Cataclysm.
* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': Vlad Taltos is often subjected to this excuse from his patron goddess, Verra, but he objects rather vehemently to it. After one of her plans blows up ''spectacularly'', he comments to a friend (with whom he had been discussing the concept of the Omniscient Morality License earlier) that he has concluded "when a god does a terrible thing, it's still a terrible thing".

* ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': Subverted with the Valar. [[{{God}} Eru]] gave them almost absolute authority (their authority over Elves and Men, particularly the latter, is a bit of a grey area) over the world, but they lack the "omniscient" part. The Valar can and do make mistakes in pursuit of a greater good, despite (and sometimes ''because'') of their good intentions. The narrative implies that several of their actions where they intervened directly to improve the lives of Elves and Men (such as bringing the Elves to Aman, or giving Númenor and extended life to the Edain) were entirely the wrong thing to do, even if they were motivated by the best intentions. Some of their other actions (such as releasing Melkor, or sending the Istari to Middle Earth) also had bad results due to lack of foresight ([[GoodCannotComprehendEvil or an inability to understand how good things can become evil]]). Played straight with Eru himself, who tolerates evil not only because He gave free-will to His creations but also because even evil actions have good consequences that the Dark Lords can't possibly foresee but He does.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheWiseMansFear''. The Ctaeh, a faerie oracle, is the ultimate evil. It uses its omniscience to guide whoever converses with it to their doom (and normally to cause massive chaos in the outside world). An entire faction of Sidhe exist just to keep everyone away.
* It's revealed in the sixth book of the ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' that [[spoiler:ThePowersThatBe are the ones who knocked humanity back to the bronze age, killing billions, because they had foreseen a bad future leading to the extinction of humanity]].
* Hathor of the ''Literature/TentyrianLegacy'' can predict the next two thousand+ years with perfect accuracy. Attempts to interfere with her visions go badly. This, despite the fact the Tentyrians would dearly love to prevent some of the events she predicts like [=WW2=].

* Aslan in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''. No matter what he does to whom (including in one book turning a class of schoolchildren into pigs with no indication that they'll ever turn back), both the protagonists and the reader are expected to take it on faith that it's good and right because he's so transparently supposed to be Lion!Jesus.

* Although the title character of Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/ParkerPyneInvestigates'' turned into another AmateurSleuth later, in his first appearances he is a consultant who boasts that he has discovered the underlying principles of human nature and can solve any kind of unhappiness. "Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne" -- who will probably lie to you, and on odd occasions may deliberately expose you to physical danger, but you ''will'' end up happy. His staff occasionally question his methods, but he's the expert on human nature, so there's not much they can do once he assures them that it's all for the best. (This would be easier to take if there weren't that one story where the twist ending is that Parker Pyne is after all capable of horribly misjudging the situation.) It's probably meant to be covered by RuleOfFunny.
* The Childlike Empress from ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' fits this perfectly when she has to basically mentally torture Bastian in order to get him to say her name. Of course, the people of two worlds were hanging in the balance, so she had justification.

* Much of the character drama in ''Series/{{Travelers}}'' comes from the protagonists really wanting to believe that [[BigGood the Director]] - who is not only incomparably smarter than any of them but also have the benefit of hindsight since it's watching events from four hundred years into the future - has one of these and that they can trust it to make the best possible choice in every situation, even though it won't (and possibly ''can't'') explain to them why it was the best one. Many villains are ex-Travelers who have, effectively, lost faith after seeing too many of the Director's supposed "best possible choices" appear to lead to nothing good.

* Some interpretations of the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting's Dark Powers invoke this trope, depicting them as harsh but well-intentioned judges who consign the multiverse's foulest villains to ThePunishment. Too bad for innocent bystanders living in the domains which confine said villains, because they're left at the mercy of the punished, as are the poor saps who get dragged into the game-setting by the Mists.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' campaign, the Athar are a group who actually call the PowersThatBe out for this Trope, calling them liars who use their power to call themselves gods, something they claim is untrue. They do, however, recognize their unfathomable power, but because the Powers depend on mortal worship to maintain their might, their (incredibly long-term) goal is to convince mortals of fraudulent divinity while encouraging the belief that mortals can shape their own destiny. Well, ''most'' of them do. The group has a ''few'' "extremists" who [[SoapBoxSadie don't endear themselves to others]], [[StrawNihilist have questionable motives]] or [[RageAgainstTheHeavens try to take things too far...]]
* Urza, in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', had this regarding the Phyrexian invasion. The results of this ranged from creating an entire race [[NotSoDifferent who were basically nicer-looking versions of the Phyrexians]] to recruiting a treacherous murderer onto a strike team so the guy would shank some of his allies and Urza could justify using his life energy to arm the mission's bomb payload.
* The Sidereals in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' like to think they have it. They were intended to by their creators (the goddess of Fate), but their metaphysically mandated FatalFlaw is Hubris via groupthink - they get together in large groups, work great foretellings, and then choose the wrong path for all the right reasons. The biggest example? The Usurpation, for they foresaw three futures: the Solars went mad and ended everything (very likely); the Solars were brought down and imprisoned, diminishing the world but allowing it to continue (pretty likely); or the Solars were drawn back from their madness by the other Exalts and the world entered a new golden age for all (extremely unlikely). They chose the middle road, despite being Exalted and thus meant to beat the odds [[RuleOfCool because it's more awesome that way]].
* In the "Atlas of Earth-Prime: Mexico" sourcebook for ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' 3rd edition, we're introduced to Tlacaelel, a Mexica noble from when the Aztec empire was first founded, who was granted immortality and immense magical powers when he subdued and absorbed the manifest Spirit of the Mexica Nation. Doing so granted him the apparent understanding that Mexica's glory would only survive if it was spiritually split; by keeping the nation locked in eternal turmoil, that greater conflict would swallow up and negate any external influences on Mexica's soul. To this end, he has been directly responsible for many of the tragedies to befall Mexico, from the massacres and near-genocide of the Spanish conquistadors (to forge a stronger nation from the once-disparate tribes under Spanish influence), the nation's loss in the American-Mexican War (to shed nations tainted by slavery and shield Mexico from the Mayombe cult), and culminating in directly supporting the modern era's prevalent drug wars. His current ploy boils down to supporting various criminal and super-criminal groups, whilst secretly leaking key information to heroic factions, ensuring perpetual war between both. However, the trope is zigzagged in that it's noted that Tlacaelel's taking of the Spirit by force meant he only got ''half'' of the Spirit; the Serpent, embodiment of the material world, and the Eagle is still out there. It's subtly implied that this actually gave him a faulty vision and he's been in the wrong all along despite thinking of himself as the BigGood... but, for the most part, the booklet falls firmly on the side of "he's been doing the right thing, or at least started out that way".
* A ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' splatbook covering TheMagocracy of Glantri, in the Dungeon Master's section, has an address to the reader from the Immortal Khoronus, who reveals that when Immortals of the Sphere of Energy transformed a nuclear reactor into a mystical artifact that could enhance arcane magic and assist mortals become Immortals of that Sphere, Immortals of the other Spheres reacted by tinkering with "The Radiance", causing it to permanently leech away magic from the world itself whenever it was used. Despite the fact that this will explicitly cause all magic to vanish forever, resulting in the extinction of every magical creature and most non-human races, as well as causing Glantri to collapse (or be annihilated in a nuclear inferno), Khoronus acts as though this is a perfectly justified act, simply because, he claims, humans will ultimately master science once magic has been destroyed.

* [[spoiler: Wilhelm]] in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}''. Though he does show concern for the future of humanity, he has no concern for anyone who perishes during the course of his plans, even his closest allies, and sees all of life as a grand stage performance.

* ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice''
** In ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' [[spoiler: Master Lamington manipulates Laharl's group, the EDF, Vulcanus, and even the Angels.]] Laharl calls him out. [[UnstoppableRage Very hard]] [[spoiler: Of course, Lamington's motivations are not necessarily bad.]]
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' delivers one in the form of the demons, who continually cast judgement on humans for being "bad", "sinful" and "warlike" and look down on them for becoming secular and not fearing demons enough anymore to provide them with the "fear energy" demons require (the fact that demons are essentially parasites living off humans is apparently lost on all the protagonists). There's also another with this universe's God who places genocide machines on every inhabited world in the universe and activates them when he feels like it. Not only is he indignant if the protagonists stop this happening to Earth, but if you get the ending where Valvatorez and co. actually defeat God's avatar in battle, the game ends with both Earth and it's Netherword being burned by God's forces.
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' and ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', the human-supremacist organisation Cerberus seems to think they operate under one of these, believing that any action they take to elevate humanity's position in the galactic community will be vindicated by history. On the one hand, they acted to prevent the release of a biological weapon on the Citadel, and tasked Shepard with stopping Collector attacks. On the ''other'' hand, they've conducted nightmarish experiments on aliens ''and'' humans, unleashed Thresher Maws and Husks on unsuspecting colonists, trained rachni as shock troops (which ultimately kill two marine companies), tortured children to make more powerful biotics, and "accidentally" detonated starships over colonies to infect unborn children with element zero (keep in mind that 30% develop fatal cancerous growths).
* ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion'': Good lord, Baretreenu. You want to ''MindRape'' someone to prove their innocence?! Why are you not getting called out on this?!
* In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', Waka could very likely be accused of this trope. In the game, it's shown that he can see the future, and is pretty strong, at one point even ''fixing the coastline of it's corruption''. Staggeringly, he does very little in the way of progress, when, theoretically, he could fix most of Nippon's problems. And a lot of problems would probably have been solved if he took a more direct approach in saving the world, rather than let destiny play out. Of course Waka, knowing the future, would know that he's not powerful enough to defeat the BigBad without a powered-up Ammy's help.
** His actions in ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'' only serve to show how far he'll go if his foresight shows him a better future. [[spoiler: He created the living doll Kurow, a younger copy of himself, specifically to house the evil essence of Akuro and allow Chibiterasu to strike him down once and for all. No one was informed, so it comes as a horrifying shock when they find out and nearly leads to a HeroicRROD for Kurow. Waka gets called out for his actions, but his absence from the game means he never actually has to own up.]]
* The Menders of Ouroboros in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''. Their leader, Mender Silos, hails from near the end of time and has recruited the heroes and villains of the present to try to stave off a disaster in the near future, known only as The Coming Storm. No one ever tells you what this might be, and the Menders will send you to accomplish the most random, and sometimes morally questionable, tasks in hopes of preventing the Coming Storm. (Though, if you're a [[VillainProtagonist Villain]] that's hardly a problem.) To add to all this, in every story arc they give you, a [[MysteriousWatcher mysterious messenger]] will leave you notes, telling you not to trust the Menders but to play along anyway. And the Menders also allow you to [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking relive your past adventures]], just in case you missed a [[CosmeticAward badge]] or [[BraggingRightsReward reward]] of some kind.
* ''VideoGame/DotHackGUGames'': Ovan, full stop. He [[spoiler:puts Shino in a coma and enables Sakaki to MindRape people and attempt to take over the world. Why does he do all this? So that [[TheHero Haseo]] will be able to stop AIDA.]]
* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''
** In the MythArc, [[{{Precursors}} Those Who Came Before]] are capable of apparently perfect precognition, yet bore witness to the near-absolute destruction of their First Civilization on Earth 75,000 years ago thanks to a solar flare. Dying out due to underpopulation, they FlingALightIntoTheFuture by manipulating the course of history such that the modern-day [[TheHashshashin Assassins]] can use their LostTechnology to attempt to avert a recurrence of the same catastrophe in 2012. Thousands of years of war, betrayals, scheming, and suffering as the Assassins battle the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Templars]] for control of the future of humanity are part of this scheme, but they have no choice when the alternative is potentially the extinction of the human race.
** The end of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' reveals that [[spoiler:Juno at least doesn't really care about humanity at all. She's been manipulating everyone to facilitate her own return and bid for conquest.]]
* Played straight [[spoiler:and then averted into a spin out]] in ''Monster Girl Quest''. The conflicts between monsters and humans are caused by Goddess Ilias' commandments, which explicitly prevent romantic relations between the two, and since monsters are a OneGenderRace which require human men to reproduce, that drives them to use uh, ''force'', which makes humans hate and fear them. Luka continues to cling to her ideology religiously, despite striving for peaceful coexistence between the two. Between the constant rape attempts from monsters who have been ''starved'' of sex, the ridiculously positive effects of romantic co-habitation between monsters and humans, the ''sanctioned'' abuse from arrogant humans and bloodthirsty monsters, and the horrifying fate of those who explicitly break the edicts, his zeal is slowly chipped away. [[spoiler:By the end of chapter 2, the final straw is being ordered by Ilias to murder Alice; Luka calls Ilias out on this, and full on [[DefectorFromDecadence rebels against her for it]].]]
* Comstock in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' due to a misunderstanding of the Christian concept of redemption. While it was meant to be understood as "this is a fresh new start, now GoAndSinNoMore," Comstock understood it as "because you are now saved, anything you do isn't a sin anymore."
* The Summon King Leviathan from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' abruptly wrecks the heroes' ship in his first appearance, separating and sending them into quite nasty fates: [[spoiler: Rydia falls into the water, Yang gets captured and brainwashed by the villains, Edward breaks his leg and is bed-ridden for the rest of the game. The ship's crew are never seen again, and Cecil is threw into Mysidia where people hate him.]] While things get much better for the heroes by the end, it can be jarring how the team easily forget the king's murderous sea monster's act and praise him for being wise and kind.

* Explicitly referenced and refuted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword''. The goddess Hylia set up all of the dangers that Link encountered in order to temper him into a weapon against evil. At the end of the game, she, as [[spoiler: Zelda, her human incarnation]], apologizes to Link. Explicitly saying that her actions were necessary, but that didn't make them right, and asks his forgiveness.
* ''Videogame/ChronoCross'' has Belthasar, who sets up [[GambitRoulette an incredibly complex scheme]] that spans across multiple time periods, destroys many lives, and causes changes to the world down to an alternate timeline. But given the endgame is noble - he's only doing that to ensure the universe isn't destroyed by an EldritchAbomination - it's ultimately alright.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': While there are numerous examples of characters in authority positions abusing their powers because they know everything will turn out alright, the straightest example of this trope is [[spoiler:Jacob]], the island's ageless supreme protector, who lives in isolation away from the people he brings to the island. His ultimate goal is to prove wrong the theory of his (currently) nameless archenemy, who thinks humans are inherently flawed with sin, and so he allows them to form their own ideas of good and bad on the island while avoiding corruption by the nemesis. If [[spoiler:Jacob]] intervenes, so he believes, his theory will be worthless: they must make their own decisions without his guiding hand. Regardless, in getting characters to the island, he has exercised some moral license: allowing [[spoiler:Sayid's wife Nadia]] to be killed or knowing the [[spoiler:plane they intended to return to the island on]] would crash.

* In another comic example, an early GoldenAge superhero known as [[http://home.comcast.net/~wanolan/28one1.html Stardust]] the [[http://www.boingboing.net/2007/06/26/i-shall-destroy-all.html Super Wizard]] is virtually all-powerful and, from the readers' perspective, quite insane. Yet he always winds up being treated as a hero in the story. A text feature in ''1910'', the most recent chapter of Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', reveals that a number of other heroes finally took Stardust down, imprisoning him in a super-dense ice block.

** Aeolia Schenberg from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' is revealed to be one of these when its revealed that his plan was that if mankind did not change than he would force them to change using Celestial Being. While his plan is hijacked a couple of times it's put back on track by the heroes.

** The clearest example is in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamNarrative'', where Rita [[spoiler: is revealed to have seen years into the future using her Newtype abilities, and thus orchestrated the events of the movie to ensure that her friends Jona and Michelle will be at the site of the climax to fight the II Neo Zeong, which had the capacity to ruin the Earth]].

** In the MythArc, [[{{Precursors}} The Ones Who Came Before]] are capable of apparently perfect precognition, yet bore witness to the near absolute destruction of their First Civilization on Earth 75,000 years ago thanks to a solar flare. Dying out due to underpopulation, they FlingALightIntoTheFuture by manipulating the course of history such that the modern day Assassins can use their LostTechnology to attempt to avert a recurrence of the same catastrophe in 2012. Thousands of years of war, betrayals, scheming, and suffering as the Assassins battle the Templars for control of the future of humanity are part of this scheme, but they have no choice when the alternative is potentially the extinction of the human race.
** The end of the third game reveals that [[spoiler:Juno at least doesn't really care about humanity at all. She's been manipulating everyone to facilitate her own return and bid for conquest.]]
* Played straight [[spoiler:and then averted into a spin out]] in ''Monster Girl Quest''. The conflicts between monsters and humans are caused by Goddess Ilias' commandments, which explicitly prevent romantic relations between the two, and since monsters are a OneGenderRace which require human men to reproduce, that drives them to use uh, ''force'', which makes humans hate and fear them. Luka continues to cling to her ideology religiously, despite striving for peaceful coexistence between the two. Between the constant rape attempts from monsters who have been ''starved'' of sex, the ridiculously positive effects of romantic co-habitation between monsters and humans, the ''sanctioned'' abuse from arrogant humans and bloodthirsty monsters, and the horrifying fate of those who explicitly break the edicts, his zeal is slowly chipped away. [[spoiler:By the end of chapter 2, the final straw is being ordered by Ilias to murder Alice; Luka calls Ilias out on this, and full on [[DefectorFromDecadence rebels against her for it.]]]]

* Zigzagged with Yukari Yakumo from the ''Videogame/TouhouProject''. As the founder, protector and benefactor of [[FantasyKitchenSink Gensoukyou]], everything she does is for the realm's sake... However, Gensoukyou is a FantasticNatureReserve, meaning the well-being of its [[OurMonstersAreDifferent Monsters]], {{Youkai}} and FairFolk is more important than the well-being of its humans, who are considered [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve superstition-and-faith livestock]] ''at best'', to say nothing of the humans from ''outside'' Gensoukyou who are treated as ''regular'' livestock for the realm's many [[ToServeMan man-eaters]]. Further complicating matters is Yukari's own refusal to explain or justify her actions, leaving other characters to merely ''hope'' she has an omniscient morality license... That said, even if she ''has'' one, it's not written with black letters on white paper, but rather [[BlueAndOrangeMorality orange letters on blue paper.]]

* Played straight [[spoiler:and then averted into a spin out]] in ''Monster Girl Quest''. Pretty much ever issue between monsters and humans is caused by Goddess Ilias' commandment that prevents relations between the two, and since monsters are a OneGenderRace that drives them to use uh, ''force'', which of course makes humans hate and fear them. Luka continues to cling to her ideology religiously, despite striving for peaceful coexistence between the two. [[spoiler:Until he's had enough by the end of chapter 2, calls Ilias out on this, and full on [[DefectorFromDecadence rebels against her for it.]]]]

* Before the climax of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', the Avengers have secured an organic android body that Ultron was planning on using for his final form, but was only able to place a portion of his programming in it before it was apprehended. ComicBook/IronMan wants to activate the android, saying that it could be a powerful ally and would be the savior Ultron was supposed to be. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica says that the risk of another robot as powerful as Ultron is far too dangerous, and demands it be destroyed. As they have only minutes to either activate the android or destroy it, the argument degrades into a brawl. Suddenly, [[spoiler: ComicBook/{{Thor}} crashes in, scatters his teammates and uses his lightning to bring the android to life. Why? Because oracular water spirits told him that the android would be a key factor in defeating Ultron. It is because of this that the android is given the name ComicBook/{{Vision}}. And when Vision's motives are questioned, he unwittingly proves his goodness by lifting Thor's hammer - even though a scene earlier in the film implied that most of the Avengers didn't really consider lifting the hammer proof of anything (but mostly because none of them could lift it themselves, with the exception of Steve "Captain America" Rogers who its implied could lift it but chooses not to).]] Can't argue with Asgardians, can you?

* Before the climax of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', the Avengers have secured an organic android body that Ultron was planning on using for his final form, but was only able to place a portion of his programming in it before it was apprehended. ComicBook/IronMan wants to activate the android, saying that it could be a powerful ally and would be the savior Ultron was supposed to be. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica says that the risk of another robot as powerful as Ultron is far too dangerous, and demands it be destroyed. As they have only minutes to either activate the android or destroy it, the argument degrades into a brawl. Suddenly, [[spoiler: ComicBook/{{Thor}} crashes in, scatters his teammates and uses his lightning to bring the android to life. Why? Because oracular water spirits told him that the android would be a key factor in defeating Ultron. It is because of this that the android is given the name ComicBook/{{Vision}}. And when Vision's motives are questioned, he unwittingly proves his goodness by lifting Thor's hammer - even though a scene earlier in the film implied that most of the Avengers didn't really consider lifting the hammer proof of anything.]] Can't argue with Asgardians, can you?

* From the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', the clairvoyant Domino, one of the closest advisors of [[DiabolicalMastermind criminal mastermind]] Baron Samedi (and one of the reasons the Baron is so successful) has this attitude. She knows the future (and the present, and the past) from her perfect tarot-card readings.

** Reed Richards exemplifies the trope again during the ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', using a ShoutOut to the central concept of Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''{{Literature/Foundation}}'' series; the [[FictionalFieldOfScience fictional mathematical science]] of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychohistory_(fictional) psychohistory]] (wherein one can, with enough time and mathematical expertise, [[PrescienceByAnalysis predict the generalized "future history" of mankind through mathematical formulae]]). [[spoiler:Using his new mathematical science, Reed Richards discovers that if the new SuperhumanRegistrationAct, which would require all superhumans to register their identities with the government regardless if they rely on the identities' secrecy for their own or loved ones' safety, doesn't pass and come into law the resulting fallout would lead to the deaths of ''billions''. This discovery is what prompts Reed's decision to support the act.]] A couple of supplementary stories have people telling Reed point-blank that human nature is the biggest SpannerInTheWorks of any possible psychohistorical theory and he needs to take more heed on that detail, [[spoiler:but not only does Reed not cares about this (even when his wife leaves him because she's fed up with his attitude) because as far as he knows the math checks ok, but a couple of arcs later on provide glimpses of worlds where the SHRA passed (and is still working) without ''any'' issues--and the factor that made such a thing happen was that Reed worked on the SHRA ''all by himself'' (the 616 version conspired alongside Tony Stark and Hank Pym).]]

** The 11th Doctor still has moments of this — he is almost as manipulative and secretive as Seven when it comes to using his companions as chess pieces, and the show is more reserved about treating it unambiguously as a character flaw. In [[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol "A Christmas Carol"]] (which was even adapted from a Seventh Doctor story written by Steven Moffat), the Doctor uses time travel to rewrite someone's personality by manipulating their life until that point, and while Kazran in his original state is an awful person the show glosses over the fact that he's not making the ''choice'' to become better as you would normally expect in the YetAnotherChristmasCarol plot, but having his life modified by an external person who knows the outcome. Kazran objects to what is happening at first, but (while its working) becomes a happier person as a result. Then TheReveal from his love interest spins him back to misery and old Kazran is delighted to throw the futility of it in the Doctor's face.

* In Creator/SMStirling's and Creator/DavidDrake's series ''Literature/TheGeneral'', an ancient computer called center (always lower-case) establishes a telepathic link with General Raj Whitehall and drafts him into reuniting the human colony-world of Bellevue in order to restore the lost high-tech civilization of the long-collapsed interstellar Federation. Whitehall is a volunteer in this enterprise and retains his free will -- except that center is for all intents and purposes omniscient, and can always show him vividly, with a stated degree of probability, ''exactly'' what outcome will result from a given choice, so that Whitehall really has only one way to go.

*** Subverted because the first thing [[spoiler:Naruto]] does is punch him in the stomach.