History Main / ThereAreNoCoincidences

* ''Literature/EddieLaCrosse'': In ''Burn Me Deadly'', the protagonist acts on the assumption that this is the case, but actually, it's specifically averted — ''most'' things are connected, but not everything. Eddie assumes that the [[spoiler:murder of Mother Bennings]] was orchestrated by the same people whose [[spoiler:attack Mother Bennings healed him from]], and not the marginally-connected guy who Gary Bunson is planning to execute. In fact, it really is the open-and-shut case Gary thinks it is, and the killer's choice of victim had nothing to do with a connection to Eddie.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} has a hard time accepting that coincidence is the reason for anything happening. Batman is right most of the time.

** ''ComicBook/AllNewUltimates'': ComicBook/MilesMorales pointed that they fought against Crossbones, Taskmaster and Scourge, three guys with skulls. He thinks that they must be related (they are not). Black Widow thinks that it's just that [[RuleOfCool skulls are cool]], and Kitty that they are fans of Music/TheMisfits.

# to show that there ''[[SubvertedTrope is]]'' such a thing as coincidences, the world is full of [[{{Mundanger}} shit happening]] no matter how bizarre it is, and that [[ImproperlyParanoid characters that are determined to believe otherwise are too narrow-minded]], even if they have the history to support this belief.

* During ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', you end up having to cross-examine a [[MakeTheDogTestify par]][[PollyWantsAMicrophone rot]], in a desperate attempt to link the owner to the current case. One press gets you nowhere, as it's a small clue that has no meaning, with the prosecutor and the judge calling it a coincidence. A second press gets a different answer, which is also a small clue which has no meaning on it's own. The prosecutor calls it a coincidence, but the Judge isn't so sure...

-->-- '''Elim Garak''', ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''

* ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'': The siblings don't believe that a game of "pure chance" exists. Whether its Black Jack or the probability that the next person to walk into a given alley is a given gender, there are any number of invisible factors that make the outcome inevitable. This is why information is so important.

* Mocked in ''LightNovel/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil''. A very, very long series of completely unrelated events leaves the intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Albion with the absolute certainty that the enemy Germanian Empire has completely infiltrated them to the point they're preparing for an invasion and laughing at the very idea of any resistance. [[EpicFail Germania has no spies in Albion]]. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome However, the idea alone spooks the Albish to the point of kickstarting a]] LensmanArmsRace [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome against Germania, joining forces with the Unified States and covertly beginning a cold war.]]

* In the ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'', [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonHumans Madison Russell]] takes on this mindset when her father Mark has chosen one of the worst possible times to ''not'' be quick to conclusions; regarding the phenomena in Berezniki and Monster X's disappearance, in Chapter 16.

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseFamilies Mark Russell]] seems to have this mindset throughout the movie, a notable example being when he quickly assumes that Godzilla's agitated activity means he'll lead them to the ORCA. Regardless of how well-founded or rational his assumptions are, he tends to be right.

* In the final ''Bakerix'' segment of ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/16829794/chapters/96143821 How Miraculous Should Have Ended]]'', Cat Noir finds it suspicious that Ronald Dupain, [[GrumpyOldMan who gets upset very easily]], has never once got akumatized until after his granddaughter Marinette meets him the first time and tries to invite him to her father's birthday so they can reconcile. The fact that she happens to get caught up with various akumas despite not intentionally upsetting people [[EntertainlyWrong causes him to conclude that Hawkmoth is deliberately targeting her]].

* Yuuko from ''Manga/XxxHolic''. This idea is her whole entire shtick and a major plot point, if not ''the'' major point of the series; though she also comments that the ultimate cause of an event may be an incident so minor that it's next to impossible to recognize the connection, even ''with'' supernatural help. She has a point -- for example, the only reason that we, the readers, know that Doumeki's destroying one specific spiderweb while housecleaning is at all relevant to the story is that the manga devotes an entire page to depicting it, as opposed to the many other spiderwebs that have presumably been destroyed at some point or another without being shown. (Watanuki's ''job'' is being Yuuko's live-in slave, after all.) [[LawOfConservationOfDetail Unlike real life, fictional works have limited space, so only the significant events are depicted]].

** Naruto's birth was the source of this speculation for several years. It was too much of a coincidence that the Kyuubi attacked on the day the Fourth Hokage's son was born, leaving him a convenient vessel for him to seal the biju in. Left at a loss due to missing pieces, most believed the stress of the attack caused Kushina to go into labor prematurely, which presumably killed her. [[spoiler:The truth reveals that none of it was a coincidence at all. Kushina was Kurama's previous jinchuriki, and female jinchuriki are at the risk of having their biju being released during childbirth due to the seal weakening. Kurama attacked that day because someone was able to release him from Kushina after Naruto's birth]].

* Kaguya and Shirogane end up getting trapped in a storeroom together in Chapter 78 of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' and are so used to their ongoing BattleOfWits that they both automatically assume the reason the door won't open is because it's part of some scheme that the other hatched and decide to play along. In reality, a twig had fallen off an overhanging tree and gotten caught in the track for the sliding door and both of them remain completely oblivious to the fact that they were actually trapped until Iino comes along.

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' fanfiction, [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonHumans Madison Russell]] takes on this mindset when her father Mark has chosen one of the worst possible times to ''not'' be quick to conclusions; regarding the phenomena in Berezniki and Monster X's disappearance, in Chapter 16.

* In [[FanFic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed Equestria: A History Revealed]], the narrator believes this to the point of using InsaneTrollLogic to justify her theories.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11229151/6/Days-of-Justice Days of Justice]]'' Power Girl believes it isn't a coincidence that the superheroes who would form the Justice League would just happen to be in Metroplois during Brainiac's invasion. As it turns out, she's right; Martian Manhunter used his powers to summon them.

* This is part of CentralTheme of ''Film/TheSunIsAlsoAStar'', in which the protagonists wonder how is it that so many factors intervened for them to meet and fall in love, and how those same circumstances now want to split them.

* This is a central belief of the two cults featured in ''Literature/TheTenetsOfFutilism''. The titular cult believes there are two gods, one representing fortune and the other misfortune, who fight for control of humanity's fate. The gods are known as Crescis and Decrescis, respectively. Everything that happens is ultimately a result of one of their wills. Nothing is truly random. Sasha, the novel's protagonist, doesn't initially buy the cult's teachings. That changes after a few very unlikely coincidences occur. So unlikely, in fact, they leave her believing they're not coincidences at all. Sasha ends starting a cult of her own known as the Disciples of Waxing (or Waxers). Their belief system is much the same as the Futilists, only with a few changes Sasha makes to fit her [[TheIdealist ideals.]] Waxers believe that Crescis overcame his twin brother on December 21st 2012 when he prevented the Mayan apocalypse from occurring.

* The basis of Aaron's worldview in ''Literature/{{Unsong}}'' to the point that his signature quote is "This is not a coincidence because nothing is ever a coincidence." This is pretty reasonable, considering that he practices magic based on the reverse engineering the nature of God from so called coincidences (and the [[WorldOfPun omnipresent puns]]) and the settings main other form of magic is based on NarrativeCausality.

* This trope is the staple of [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories conspiracy theories]]; no bad things happen naturally, but there must be [[ApopheniaPlot a sinister plot]] behind all ills.

** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': S.H.I.E.L.D. does not confirm or deny the allegations about Pym's wifebeating, but... a history of violent relations? An addiction to prescription painkillers? TV News anchor: "It hardly takes a genius to put two and two together here". Cap: "I believe the expression for that is 'cosmic coincidence'".

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Ater discovering that Halbrand has kingly blood, she is convinced that her meeting Halbrand was not the product of a mere coincidence.

* ''Webcomic/SquidRow'': [[http://squidrowcomics.com/?p=41 Randie doesn't believe in luck]].

* In the Hunted arc of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', [[spoiler: the teenage Wu]] doesn't use the words, but he does voice the same sentiment. He doesn't actually know the location of his father's armor or the way back home, but he believes there's a reason he had a dream where his father told him "You have to have faith" immediately before meeting an ally whose name is literally Faith, so he takes it as a sign to trust his instincts.

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': In the episode "A Higher Power", a detective enlists the help of the BAU to search for an "angel of death" SerialKiller who is targeting the grieving families of the people who died in a fire and [[NeverSuicide giving them the suicides he thinks they "want" to do]] when the detective's brother kills himself. After all is said and done, the BAU team has to look at the detective in the eye and tell him that while his initial suspicion about the spike of suicides was correct, unfortunately the brother's suicide ''[[SubvertedTrope was]]'' a coincidence - the killer had absolutely nothing to do with it. Understandably, this leaves the detective in utter shock.

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': In the episode "A Higher Power", a detective enlists the help of the BAU to search for an "angel of death" SerialKiller who is targeting the grieving families of the people who died in a fire and [[MakeItLookLikeASuicide giving them the suicides he thinks they "want" to do]] when the detective's brother kills himself. After all is said and done, the BAU team has to look at the detective in the eye and tell him that while his initial suspicion about the spike of suicides was correct, unfortunately the brother's death ''[[SubvertedTrope was]]'' a coincidence - the killer had absolutely nothing to do with it. Understandably, this leaves the detective in utter shock.

* This trope is the staple of conspiracy theories; no bad things happen naturally, but there must be a sinister plot behind all ills.

* The belief in the platitude "Everything happens for a reason". Some religions also integrate this as a part of their faith, that all of the things happening in the world are "part of God's plan".

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Mark Russell]] seems to have this mindset throughout the movie, a notable example being when he quickly assumes that Godzilla's agitated activity means he'll lead them to the ORCA. Regardless of how well-founded or rational his assumptions are, he tends to be right.

* Mocked in ''LightNovel/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil''. A very, very long series of completely unrelated events leaves the intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Albion with the absolute certainty that the enemy Germanian Empire has completely infiltrated them to the point they're laughing at the Albish attempts of gaining ''any'' intelligence on Germania. [[EpicFail Germania has no spies in Albion]]. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome However, the idea alone spooks the Albish to the point of kickstarting a]] LensmanArmsRace [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome against Germania, joining forces with the Unified States and covertly beginning a cold war.]]

* Mocked in ''LightNovel/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil''. A very, very long series of completely unrelated events leaves the intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Albion with the absolute certainty that the enemy Germanian Empire has completely infiltrated them to the point they're laughing at the Albish attempts of gaining ''any'' intelligence on Germania. [[EpicFail Germania has no spies in Albion]]. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome However, the idea alone spooks the Albish to the point of kickstarting a LensmanArmsRace against Germania, joining forces with the Unified States and covertly beginning a cold war.]]