History Main / ProphecyTwist

* In the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheVow'', the Soothsayer foretells that the marriage between Lord Shen and Lady Lianne will happen "beneath tears of snow". When it's attempted to be held in midwinter when real snow falls in Gongmen City, a snowfall never happens and the ceremony is interrupted with Shen's canon act of [[spoiler:mass murder]] being exposed. [[spoiler:When Shen and Lianne are finally married after so much pain thirty years later, he cries for the first time since his childhood and sheds tears that look snowy with their cloudiness and milky white coloring.]]

** Throughout ''Jakhowls Rising'', a great prophecy is mentioned, which was foretold long ago by Crystal Clair's ancestor, who was Aurarora's most powerful {{seer|s}}. It was foretold of the eventual arrival of a jakhowl like no other, one that would "awaken a form greater than any other jakhowl, and would use it to defeat the greatest threat the jakhowls had ever faced and lead us into a golden age." For awhile, many of the jakhowls in Aurarora thought the prophecy was referring to Razor Fang, due to him having access to a Mega Mode, until it was revealed Springer had acquired his own Mega Mode a year before Razor did, with some assuming the "greatest threat" had already passed. However, it is eventually revealed [[spoiler:Razor Fang himself ''is'' the greatest threat to the jakhowls, due to his obsession with leading them to a war against Equestria that would have killed them all, even trying to instigate a war by killing the tribe leader Sirius and [[FrameUp framing Springer and his pony friends for it]], and in order to stop him, Springer unlocked a new form beyond his Mega Mode thanks to his bond with Ace and Mira, and since he defeated Razor Fang in a kyosongsai he is officially declared the new chief of Aurarora.

** The prequels are based on one of these, as Anakin Skywalker is prophesied to bring balance to the Force, which the Jedi believe means destroying the Sith and bringing peace to the galaxy. However, even that does not preclude him from falling to the Dark Side, slaughtering his fellow Jedi, and enslaving the galaxy ''first''. And if [[Film/TheForceAwakens Kylo Ren]] is anything to go by, the Prophecy doesn't mention that it ''stays'' balanced.[[note]]Not even in ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]],'' where Anakin is succeeded by his grandson Jacen Solo instead.[[/note]] There's also the Jossed but widely popular interpretation that Anakin's true purpose was to "bring balance to the force" by eliminating all but two Jedi so that the Light and Dark sides of the force would be properly balanced.
*** Additionally, both the Jedi and [[BigBad Darth Sidious (aka Palpatine)]] seem to believe that Anakin's high midi-chlorian count is the key to the Sith's destruction, and hence assume that is what makes him TheChosenOne. After Anakin became Darth Vader, Obi-Wan and Yoda came to believe the prophecy actually refers to Luke Skywalker, Anakin's son, rather than Anakin himself. Even Sidious starts to believe it to be the case, and tries to subvert it by attempting to convert Luke to the Dark Side (or if that fails, simply kill him where he stands) What Sidious fails to realize is that the Chosen One is still Anakin, and that Anakin's love for his son is what allows him to turn on Sidious and throw him to his demise[[note]][[spoiler: Or at least his temporary defeat and removal from power, as both [[Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker the sequels]] and ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' see Palpatine return]][[/note]]. It was [[ThePowerOfLove the creation of the Skywalker family]], not their strong Force-potential bloodline, that became the undoing of the Sith.
*** In a nutshell; TheChosenOne is a bloodline, not a single person. Anakin, Luke and Leia were all the Chosen One who would bring balance to The Force and peace to the Galaxy (prior to the HappyEndingOverride of the sequels unless we go by ''Legends'').

** Even the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt doomsday prophecy]] has a twist. [[spoiler: The prophecy states that only two people will survive Armageddon, but this does not include [[BeastMan Pookas]], allowing two more people to survive.]]
** Said prophecy also states that [[spoiler: King Onyx's rampage will be stopped by the WorldTree. When Armageddon comes, Onyx burns down Ringford forest and massacres the fairies, boasting that there is no World Tree to be found...until he finds out Queen Mercedes' true name: Yggdrasil, the World Tree from Myth/NorseMythology]].
** Yet another twist in the doomsday prophecy, combined with something outside of it. [[spoiler: Though the actual prophecy states that Gallon will be killed by "the shadow of the lost master" (the lost master being the late Queen Odette), Gallon also reveals another caveat; he can only be slain by Titanian royalty, and since Cornelius, the only surviving member of the Titanian royalty, has no real connection to Odette, Gallon is effectively invincible. Cue Oswald, wielder of power granted to him by Odette, taking him on anyway and having a ReallyRoyaltyReveal as he successfully kills Gallon.]]

See also NoManOfWomanBorn, FalseReassurance. For when the "real meaning" relies on an extremely dubious interpretation (beyond what a reasonable person would consider valid) of the original prophecy, see MetaphoricallyTrue. For when the vision looks like someone dying, but turns out to be a clone, robot, shapeshifter, identical twin, or other impostor, see ActuallyADoombot, {{Doppelganger}}, TwinSwitch, BackupTwin. If the prophecy explicitly mentions multiple possibilities, but that only one of them will come true, it's an EitherOrProphecy; here, the prophecy says that one thing WILL happen, and the question just comes down to what that thing means. Contrast ThreadOfProphecySevered, SelfDefeatingProphecy, and ScrewDestiny when the prophecy fails entirely. This trope may subvert ProphecyArmor, where a character knows (or at least believes) that they will die a certain way or at a certain time, and so believes that they are unkillable until the right conditions come to pass.

* [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-1032 SCP-1032]] of the Website/SCPFoundation likes to do this. SCP-1032 is an alarm clock with 22 hands, each of which moves at a different (but constant) speed and each of which has an inscription written on it in tiny letters. When a hand reaches the 12 o'clock position whatever the inscription describes ceases to exist and a new inscription appears. One of the hands has the inscription "Hostilities between the nations of Africa". On this the Foundation notes: "As SCP-1032 has often predicted violent or disturbing events using apparently harmless phrases, this inscription is considered equally likely to predict peace in Africa or the destruction of the continent.".

* A gypsy woman predicts that Hieronymus Jobs (from a story illustrated by Creator/WilhelmBusch) "will speak, and many will hear him; he'll scare the thieves and console the ill". Which is why his parents pay for his studies to become a priest. At the end of the story, he'll become instead a [[spoiler:nightwatch man]].

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': When Hippolyta learns of a prophecy stating Franchise/WonderWoman will die she decides to save her daughter by holding [[ComicBook/TheContest a contest]] for the role while siphoning power from Diana to [[Characters/WonderWomanAllies Artemis]] to ensure Artemis wins. While Polly's machinations do get Temi killed, they also end up causing Diana's death, and the prophecy is really foretelling that ''everyone'' who legitimately holds the title for even a little while, including Hippolyta herself and [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]], is going to end up killed by it even if they all [[DeathIsCheap get better]].

*** When Supreme Leader Snoke is torturing Rey, he gives a play-by-play of Kylo Ren's thoughts. He expects him [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten to kill Rey]], as he detects Kylo preparing to strike down his [[ExactWords 'true enemy']]. However, he fails to sense [[spoiler:that [[TheStarscream Kylo is about to kill]] ''[[TheStarscream him]]'', slicing him in half using the confiscated Skywalker lightsaber sitting on Snoke's throne. With Snoke being a ManipulativeBastard who's being a BadBoss to Kylo on purpose to control him, as well as TheCorruptor, it makes sense that he would be his ''true'' enemy.]] This is a rare case in that the twist follows immediately after the "prophecy" is spoken.

* After returning to [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] in 2014, Wrestling/LowKi had two title shots for the X Division Title involving Wrestling/SamoaJoe, the first being a triple threat match also involving Seiya Sanada, whom Joe choked out, and then a one on one match which Low Ki lost. Following these incidents, Low Ki asked Joe to be his partner in a {{tag team}} tournament to become number one contenders to the American Wolves, saying Joe's presence would "Guarantee Victory". Joe agreed but he and Low Ki lost to Wrestling/MattHardy and Wrestling/{{Jeff|Hardy}} in the final round, in which Joe was injured to the point he had to vacate the X Division Title. Low Ki would go on to win the belt in Joe's absence.

*** Subverted with Groa's prophecy of Ragnarok, [[spoiler:since she brazenly lied to Odin's face about the real details, knowing from the real prophecy that he would murder her and then try to ScrewDestiny - on false information, giving her people a chance to survive.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', protagonist Anna is accidentally cursed so that she's slowly turning into pure ice, but is told that only an "act of true love" can save her. The main characters quickly assume this means romantic love, in the form of TrueLovesKiss, and rush to get her to her romantic interest. [[spoiler:However, in the end, Anna selflessly sacrificing her life for her sister is what does it...Additionally, the same thing was key to ending the curse over her kingdom, which Elsa does by affirming her love of her own people]].

** This is why Jews didn't/don't recognize Jesus as the Jewish Messiah (and one of the factors in why Jesus got crucified). The Jews interpreted their prophecy to mean a literal revolutionary who would overthrow the Romans, restore Israel of old (like in the days of David & Solomon), and reign over it as a benevolent GodEmperor. Instead, they got a [[AllLovingHero pacifistic itinerant rabbi]] who preached in parables and riddles, [[{{Ubermensch}} antagonized religious leaders]], [[TheParagon espoused a bunch of social justice stuff]] then got the [[CruelAndUnusualDeath worst form of Roman execution]] (meant for the lowest of criminals...and the Jews would remain under the Romans' heel afterwards for a while more). According to Christians, the prophecies were taken too literally, were meant as a spiritual, universal thing and all that "King/Conqueror/Ruler" stuff was meant for The SecondComing.

** In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/26698570/ Strange Potter]]'', Doctor Strange (Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse) points out in a talk with Sirius and Remus that even assuming the prophecy refers to Harry, Voldemort dying by Harry's "hand" could mean that Harry asks Wanda Maximoff to deal with Voldemort for him (Wanda currently acting as the infant Harry's teacher to help him control his powers), or he becomes Minister of Magic and signs the order for Voldemort's execution.

* “[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/269317/ God is My Judge]]” features the Scooby Gang (''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'') and Stargate Command (''Series/StargateSG1'') facing a warlock who believes he will gain the power to open the Hellmouths by channelling Daniel Jackson’s latent power. However, the final prophecy states “The Judged One holds powers untold. From within the love and child the power will grow.” While the resurrected Sha’re has just learn that she’s pregnant, others observe that it’s possible the prophecy actually refers to Willow’s own pregnancy as she just got back together with Oz, given that his real first name is Daniel (the name meaning “God is My Judge”).

AmbiguousSyntax can be another technique: in "The duke yet lives who the king shall betray", will the king betray the duke, or the duke the king? And since most prophecies are spoken, there is always the possibility [[LadyMondegreen that it was simply misheard]]. Remember, when it comes to prophecy, homonyms are definitely not your friends. If the prophecy is old enough to have been recorded in a dead language, the original wording may also be forgotten, replaced by a less-clear translation — or in the worst-case scenario, multiple translations, at least two of which directly contradict each other.

** [[ForWantOfANail Chiba-Usa's actions]] imply that Mamoru and [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf a newly recruited Ranma]] are supposed to get together. [[spoiler: The reality is that [[GenderBender Ranma is the mother... but Usagi will be the father.]]]]

* In ''Film/{{Jessabelle}}'', the title character, nicknamed Jessie, finds some old tapes that turn out to be home movies of her late mother, Kate, who died shortly after she was born. In the first tape, she addresses Jessie by her full name and does a tarot reading for her: Jesse initially laughs it off because the first two predictions, that she'll never leave her hometown and will spend a lot of her time near water, seem pretty inaccurate. The third deals with an "unwanted presence" though, and that seems to relate to a StringyHairedGhostGirl Jessie's been seeing ever since she moved back to her childhood home with her estranged father. [[spoiler: It turns out the tapes weren't meant for her at all - Kate had an affair which resulted in a child (Who was also named Jessabelle), who was then killed by her father, with Jessie being adopted and given her legal name as part of a cover up. So Jessie ''is'' the unwanted presence, and the other two predictions apply to Kate's birth child, who was buried in a swamp not far from the house and thus never had the chance to leave town]].

* In ''Film/{{Jessabelle}}'', the title character, nicknamed Jessie, moves back in to her childhood house with her estranged father, Leon, and finds some old tapes that turn out to be home movies of her late mother, Kate, who died shortly after she was born. In the first tape, she addresses Jessie by her full name and does a tarot reading for her: Two of her predictions, that she'll never leave her hometown and will spend a lot of her time near water, already seem inaccurate. The third deals with an "unwanted presence" though, and that seems to relate to a StringyHairedGhostGirl Jesse's been seeing ever since she moved in. [[spoiler: It turns out the tapes weren't meant for her at all - Kate had an affair which resulted in a child (Who was also named Jessabelle), who was then killed by Leon, Jessie was then adopted to cover it up. So Jessie ''is'' the unwanted presence, and the other two predictions apply to Kate's birth child, who was buried in a swamp not far from the house]].