History Main / VaguenessIsComing

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''' has the plans of [[KnightOfCerebus Emperor Belos,]] the BigBad of the show and an event he calls "The Day of Unity". [[spoiler:It eventually turns out that he's planning to use the power of a solar eclipse combined with his subjects' coven sigils [[FinalSolution to wipe out all the witches and demons on the Boiling Isles]]. All the talk of unity was just posturing to manipulate the masses into signing their own death warrent.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In a sense, the Super Saiyan prophecy is this in the Namek arc of Manga/DragonBallZ. Despite how ubiquitous it is now, at the time all that was known was that a prophecy existed of a Super Saiyan who would be a bloodthirsty apex of the Saiyan Race, and very little was known about it. Nowadays it's essentially an open secret.

* Justified in ''Anime/GurrenLagann'' when Guame makes a pair of cryptic references to humanity's "true enemy" and the danger of Spiral Power (referring to [[spoiler:the Anti-Spirals]] and [[spoiler:the Spiral Nemesis]] respectively). In the first case, he was musing aloud and in the second he was speaking to his boss who already knows about both; so he doesn't provide details because he doesn't need to.

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer: Tiberium Wars'': In the few missions before he [[FakingTheDead supposedly dies]], Kane is very nearly giddy about the arrival of... something. It's only once it shows up that anybody else, player included, learns that it's ''aliens''. '''[[AlienInvasion Hostile]]''' aliens. He's equally cryptic about what "ascension" is ([[spoiler:he's an alien who was exiled onto Earth in prehistoric times and after [[GeneralFailure Vega]] crashed the ship Kane built to escape the planet in GDI territory, [[MagnificentBastard Kane intentionally lured the Scrin onto Earth in order to hijack their]] [[PortalNetwork wormhole technology]] [[XanatosSpeedChess instead]]]]), and [[TheChessmaster everything else]].

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', Igor repeatedly mentions the "coming ruin." Good luck getting anything solid from him about the "coming ruin." [[spoiler:However, this is {{Justified}} when it turns out that the one speaking is the impostor [[BigBad Yaldabaoth]], having imprisoned the real Igor as part of an AssimilationPlot. Thus, it's fully in his interests to not disclose what's going on, and talking about his own ominous threat essentially lets him indulge in EvilGloating without suspicion.]]
** [[spoiler:The wording itself is also a hint that this Igor is an imposter; the real one is ''much'' more vague.]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

--> Howie: "....then he turns to look at me and he goes, "You're the CRAZY guy!" ''[Audience laughs]''
--> Arsenio: "Who do you think that guy meant when he was saying, "He's coming"?
--> Howie: "[[Creator/PaulReubens Pee-wee Herman]]?"
--> Arsenio: "I should just shut up now."

** The Skull Knight makes his first appearance [[spoiler: after Guts defeats Griffith and leaves the Band of the Hawk]] and tells Guts that from that moment up until [[spoiler: the Eclipse]] in one year, he and his friends have begun walking toward their doom. Though he does not give any more detail about what [[spoiler: the Eclipse]] actually does or signifies, he doesn't hesitate to tell Guts that when it does go down, horrible things will happen, saying that [[AStormIsComing a storm of death will come and consume the Band of the Hawk]] [[spoiler: which is quite literal when the Eclipse actually does happen -- and the chapter where it all starts going down is even called "Storm of Death."]] A year later, [[spoiler: when Griffith reaches his DespairEventHorizon and activates his [[ChekhovsGun Crimson Behelit]] and the Eclipse finally happens]], all Guts could think was that he and his comrades were in terrible danger.

** Law notes during the Summit War that "D will always cause another storm" while rescuing a [=KOed=] Luffy. It's revealed later in the Dressroa arc that Law heard this from his BigBrotherMentor, Corazon, when he revealed that those who carry the Will of D are the natural enemies of the Gods. In this case referring to the World Nobles who consider themselves Gods because they are the descendants of the creators of the world, i.e., the 19 Royal Families who founded the World Government several centuries ago.[[note]] There were actually 20 Royal Families who founded the World Government but one of them, the Nefertari Family, decided to remain in their home kingdom while the rest moved to the [[HolyCity Holy Land of Mariejois]]. Thus, the Nefertari descendants are not considered World Nobles.[[/note]] [[spoiler: The repeated mention of D being enemies of the Gods by the secret King of the World, Imu, hints that the characters who carry the name D will trigger some kind of massive event that destabilizes the world currently ruled by the World Nobles.]]

** When the Mink tribe is introduced in the Zou arc, we learn of an event called the "Dawn of the World". Not much is known about this event other than the Minks are waiting for someone to bring about this dawn.[[spoiler: When Pedro [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself to allow the Straw Hats to escape]] during the Whole Cake Island arc, he tells Carrot that he firmly believes that they are the ones who will bring about the dawn of the world.]]
** [[spoiler: As the World Government ships surround the Egghead island to eliminate Luffy and Vegapunk, the narration notes that this event will lead to a massive change in the status quo.]]

* Various characters in ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'' get thoroughly fed up with this; the ghost of Colin Piggy aka [[spoiler:the avatar of Hope]] appears to both Snow White and Rose Red to warn them things are about to get tougher and they need to brace themselves. Both of them repeatedly ask for useful details, but the vision says it can never stay for very long and always disappears before giving any information that would actually help them prepare a plan. The discovery of what the vision really is makes this a JustifiedTrope; [[spoiler: Hope isn't about reason or making strategies to survive, its province is the simple refusal to lie down and give up the fight, so it makes sense that it only tells people to summon their strength]].
** Ozma the witch gives young Ambrose Wolf a prophecy about his siblings, which he relays to Snow and Bigby. The prophecy is actually quite detailed, but it doesn't give anyone any information on how to avoid it. As of the end of ''Cubs in Toyland'' [[spoiler: certain parts of it have already come true]].

* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', the [[BadFuture Dark World]] Series has this happen, starting with the StormingTheCastle Arc: [[spoiler: It starts with [[TheStarscream the Valeyard]]'s FinalSpeech implying that Discord isn't the only BigBad they need to worry about. Then Aquamarine, a Sea Pony they meet, warns of an Alicorn Witch coming to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]], and after helping defeat [[OneWingedAngel Odyne]]![[TheDragon Cruelty]], Fluttershy's ghost warns them that they're "Apple Pie's hamster" (Apple Pie's pet hamster is named {{Groundhog|DayLoop}}). These are all warnings about the true BigBad, [[KnightTemplar Nightmare Eclipse/Paradox]]]].

* ''[[Fanfic/TheUltimateEvil The Stronger Evil]]'': Shortly after Shendu's turned to stone once again, the world is [[NaturalDisasterCascade unnaturally affected by powers of nature]] which the magically aware people explain to be a result of the unbalancing chis of the world. They're caused by the awakening of an unknown entity with CreepyBlueEyes, who is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler: Tiamat, the primordial god of creation and mother of the Demon Sorcerers]].

* ''Film/EventHorizon'' - when [[spoiler::Justin temporarily regains consciousness after spending time in vacuum]], his contribution to the conversation is "It's coming... the ''dark''..."

* Justified in ''Literature/GoodOmens'', which features ''The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch''. The Author managed to foresee centuries worth of events, including [[BurntheWitch her own death]] ([[TakingYouWithMe for which she planned accordingly]]), the apocalypse [[spoiler: [[AntiAntiChrist or lack thereof]], and the world that came after.]] The problem is that she saw things well beyond her time, and described them in ways that could rarely be deciphered until after they came to pass. How could one describe the Kennedy assassination in a time when Dallas didn't exist? She also cared more about things affecting her descendants more than general history; she didn't mention Dallas, but the warning about a falling brick on the same date was clearly understood.

* Invoked by Lawrence Bristow in ''Literature/{{Pale}}'', where he justifies his dictatorial plans for the practitioner community with the need to protect and organize against future threats, and when defeated declares that a threat of great magnitude will emerge within a few decades at most, but never provides specifics. He's proven right, after a fashion, a few months later, when [[spoiler: [[TheOathbreaker Charles Abrams]] seizes the throne of the Carmine Beast and begins levying arbitrary punishments on practitioners across Ontario, depriving them of magic at the worst possible times]], but it's noted that he could not have predicted this-he was simply referring to the continued decay of systems that keep the peace between human and Other, the growing human population, and the new interconnectedness of the practitioner community with the rise of modern communication, holding that enough will go wrong eventually to produce a major threat.

* The second episode of ''Series/DinosaurPlanet'' revolves around a catastrophic volcanic eruption threatening the lives of the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous Elkhorn Range. The dinosaurs being animals, they don't properly process what's about to happen, only being plagued by the telltale signs of the approaching disaster like violent explosions of gas and the smoking mountain. It's not until the pyroclastic flow from the eruption wipes out half of the region that the dinosaurs finally recognize that whatever is coming is a threat. [[spoiler: By then, it's too late, and the entire cast is wiped out.]]

** In S10, Death says getting rid of the Mark of Cain will unleash the Darkness. WHAT the Darkness is exactly is completely vague. [[spoiler: Even now that the Darkness IS released. It takes the form of an attractive woman, but she doesn't know much of anything, even wondering "who is this 'Death'?" when Dean told her that Death knew about her.]]

* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' starts with the PlayerCharacter emerging from the wreckage of a shot-down blimp, who then talks to the only other survivor, a gnome named Preston Radcliffe [[spoiler: who is actually a disguised dwarf named Stennar Rock-Cutter]]. He gives the player a ring and tells them to "find the boy", as well as informing them that he "escaped" from somewhere and that someone is "coming back" to destroy everything, all the while not elaborating on any of the information that he just gave you. This is {{justified|Trope}} by the fact that he [[AlmostDeadGuy was dying]], and it was a painful struggle just to get each word out.

** [[VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt Said third game]] couples this with a mild ProphecyTwist - the Wild Hunt [[spoiler: are elves from another dimension, and they're fleeing the ''true'' threat of the White Frost.]]

* What may be the final years-long mega StoryArc in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' started with hints that the Web of Fate has an enormous tangle of some sort and is due to break soon, indicating some kind of cataclysmic events in the world, which it reflects. It's since been revealed that this apparently refers to [[spoiler: events, seen to be taking place in the future in several parallel dimensions, where almost everything on the surface of the Earth is sent to other random dimensions, also potentially leading to a collapse of the whole dimension from such abuse of portal technology]]. However, the exact form of the events taking place in the here and now is still unknown.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', during the flashback from "The Core and the King", it is revealed that Leif's motives for stealing the Calamity Box and hiding it in Earth was that she had a vague vision upon touching the gems where she saw how Amphibia would be destroyed by further use of the box. [[spoiler: [[AllForNothing She didn't know that this was actually a self-fulfilling prophecy]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and that by betraying Andrias and hiding the box on Earth, she just kickstarted the events of the entire series.]]]]

* The entirety of Music/BobDylan's famous song [[AStormIsComing "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"]] (about [[NukeEm nuclear]] [[TheEndIsNigh armageddon]], [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible if you listen closely enough]]) is made of this trope. Here's an excerpt:

* In Grant Morrison's ''Franchise/{{J|usticeLeagueOfAmerica}}LA'' run, the various ComicBook/NewGods the JLA run into say something along the lines of "IT'S COMING!" to foreshadow the arrival of ancient god-weapon Mageddon.

* This trope is invoked by Destiny in one issue of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', describing his encounter with the Three Fates: "Their comments were, unsurprisingly, oracular and ambiguous."
* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel

** As the World Government ships surround the Egghead island to eliminate Luffy and [[spoiler:Vegapunk, the narration notes that this event will lead to a massive change in the status quo of the manga.]]

** When Law notes during the Summit War that the D will always bring a storm while rescuing a [=KOed=] Luffy. It's revealed later in the Dressroa arc that Law himself has heard this from his mentor and BigBrotherMentor, Corazon, when he revealed that those who carry the Will of D are the natural enemies of the gods. In this case referring to the World Nobles who consider themselves gods as the descendants of the creators of the World Government. [[spoiler: The repeated mention of D being enemies of the gods by the secret King of the world, Imu, hints that the characters who carry the name D will directly trigger the endgame.]]
** When the Straw Hat Grand Fleet is formed and they disperse to their daily lives, the narrator foreshadows they are yet to trigger a massive change in the world.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Oda (or rather the narrator) has hinted this trope on 3 occasions.
** Firstly, when Blackbeard [[spoiler: defeats Ace]], the narrator noted this event will give rise to a major change in the status quo. And it didn't disappoint, [[spoiler: Ace's capture leads to the Paramount War, which leads to the deaths of Ace dying in Luffy's arms after fatally intercepting a punch meant for Luffy, Blackbeard himself showing up and killing Whitebeard, Whitebeard defiantly revealing One Piece is real ''to the entire world'', and ''Blackbeard stealing Whitebeard's Devil Fruit for himself''!]]
** Secondly, when Law notes during the Paramount War that the D will always bring a storm, [[spoiler: while rescuing a [=KOed=] Luffy]]. Then it's revealed long after that [[spoiler: Law himself has heard this from his mentor and BigBrotherFigure, Corazon, while he revealed that the Clan of D and the World Nobles will always be enemies, hinting the D will directly trigger the endgame.]]
** Thirdly, after [[spoiler: the Straw Hat Grand Fleet is formed and they disperse to their daily lives, the narrator foreshadows they are yet to trigger a massive change in the world.]]

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', [[spoiler:Reiner and Bertolt]] after revealing themselves make vague references to a force that lies beyond the walls also "their hometown", and repeatedly state that "there's no future inside the walls". [[spoiler:Uri Reiss]] also made similar statements. It turns out what they refer to in TheReveal is [[spoiler:the Kingdom of Marley who are among living proof that humanity is thriving outside the walls and they plan to conquer for their resources along with the Coordinate]].

* ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'': A Holy War was prophesied to engulf all of Britannia. However, who the Holy War would be against is not stated. The King of Lyonesse tried to prevent the war by asking his knights to lay down their swords. The Holy Knights instead decided to prevent the war by overthrowing the king and forcing the various civilians to make preparations for it.

* Since the start of the Grand Magic Games in ''Manga/FairyTail'', the story constantly tries to foreshadow some terrible, apocalyptic event that would happen the day after the Games end. A few clues are given to what might happen ([[spoiler:Lucy will in some way be taken out from the plot and Levy will take over her narrator role, several people will die, the knight Arcadios is thinking out the so-called Eclipse Plan which will involve a Stellar Spirit Mage that will be either Yukino or Lucy, and there has been a mention of the Dragon King Feast where humans, dragons, and demons will meet]]), but most of it is shaded in mystery until the end of the arc.
* In ''Anime/{{Endride}}'', [[FaintingSeer Eljuia ]]is pretty upfront that he doesn't have much to go on in his visions of what's about to come, but it always looks ominous.

* Justified in ''Anime/GurrenLagann'' when Guame makes a pair of cryptic references to humanity's "true enemy" and the danger of Spiral Power (referring to [[spoiler:the Anti-Spirals]] and [[spoiler:the Spiral Nemesis]] respectively). In the first case, he was musing aloud and in the second he was speaking to his boss who already knows about both; so he doesn't provide details because he doesn't need to.
* In a sense, the Super Saiyan prophecy is this in the Namek arc of Manga/DragonBallZ. Despite how ubiquitous it is now, at the time all that was known was that a prophecy existed of a Super Saiyan who would be a bloodthirsty apex of the Saiyan Race, and very little was known about it. Nowadays it's essentially an open secret.

* Creator/MarvelComics' ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} was introduced without anybody knowing who Onslaught was, [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants including]] its creator. [[TheWorfEffect Just Juggernaut]]... falling from the sky, and when asked who/what happened [[HisNameIs all he could say]] was [[https://www.cbr.com/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-116/2/ "Onslaught."]]
* In the ''ComicBook/FinalDestination'' comics (as well as some of the films) the words "it's coming", and "it's here" can be seen at various points.

* This trope is invoked by Destiny in one issue of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', describing his encounter with the Three Fates: "Their comments were, unsurprisingly, oracular and ambiguous."
* Parodied in ''[[ComicBook/{{Asterix}} Asterix and the Soothsayer]]''. It is about a soothsayer who predicts the vague things that each one wants to hear. That the storm will end and then there will be good weather, that Obelix would find a girl, that Cacofonix's voice would become a music trend, that the Roman centurion will be promoted... stop. The Roman centurion tells him that all Gaul soothsayers must be taken to prison, so he cravenly admits he is a fraud who cheats people. But the centurion is so arrogant that he is damn sure that he would be promoted, and so keeps treating him as a real soothsayer. He even warned the Gaul village (under Roman orders) that the air would be polluted, and that they had to escape; Getafix played a joke on him by actually polluting the air on purpose.
* In Grant Morrison's ''Franchise/{{J|usticeLeagueOfAmerica}}LA'' run, the various ComicBook/NewGods the JLA run into say something along the lines of "IT'S COMING!" to foreshadow the arrival of ancient god-weapon Mageddon.
* In ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', Veronica Cale spends a panel foreshadowing ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' with a vague, oracular monologue.
* ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' was set up for years by DC, and during the course of this long game, various characters would make mysterious speeches about "a time of great darkness" and other such variations on that theme.

* During Creator/GrantMorrison's run on ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'', the yellow aliens (who first gave him his powers) gave him these words of warning: "Terrible times are coming. Be strong. Be careful." It's unclear whether they're referring to the Second Crisis (the incident with the Psycho Pirate, or ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime) which he saw an image of beforehand or the events following [[spoiler:his family's murder]].
* From ''Comicbook/LokiAgentOfAsgard'' comes, together with general warnings to be brave/strong/careful/etc. and remember, this piece of oddity: "That which is called '''ego-death''' is coming to you.", which was given to a time travelling Doctor Doom by [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Evil!Future!Loki's skull "friend"]], and Loki themself by one of Odin's crows.

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel
** ''ComicBook/UltimateOrigins'': The Watchers show up to watch some imminent devastation, and empower a human to deal with it, which they know nothing about, other than it will happen.
** ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': The video of the dying aliens really knows how to get a point across, but doesn't really say much that might be actually useful. "No. No escape. No escape. It comes. And there's no escape. All the stars got out. You are already dead. It comes and you are all dead. We are all dead. Listen. There is only death for you. There is only small life. Then there is this. We he I send this tell this warn this. There is only horror now. There is only death now"
* Played quite seriously in ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': leading to the Day of Chaos event, a cadet with psionic abilities named Hennessy begins to see vague but harrowing visions of the future, of death and destruction yet to come, but everyone tells her to be more specific, something she can't find herself to do. [[spoiler:In the end, it is precisely this vagueness that leads to Dredd being unable to prevent it.]]
* In the ninth issue of ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes2020'', Dream Girl warns everyone that a "[[ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga Great Darkness]]" is coming.

* President P. Resident in Fanfic/TwilightSparklesAwesomeAdventure is bad at describing what Enemy Boss Leader's weapon will do.
--> '''P. Resident:''' And he has an evil weapon that will do bad things to people if you don’t stop him.

* Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' series. Over the course of several books, Flinx learned of a horrible undefined threat that was sweeping toward Humanx space and would annihilate everything (and everyone) in its path. In ''Flinx Transcendent'' he destroyed it.

* "Bad Moon Rising": "Hope you have got your things together / Hope you are quite prepared to die. / Looks like we're in for nasty weather / One eye is taken for an eye". While the original is pretty upbeat, Rasputina did a pretty ominous-sounding cover version.

* The tutorial level of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' has quite a lot of this. But don't be afraid - the door's not yet open.

* One of the side missions in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' ends with Batman receiving one of these, ostensibly as a SequelHook.

* TheWildHunt in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' games is played for this trope, a mysterious force that Geralt is either chasing or fleeing even though he doesn't even know why. It seems that it's being set up as a major plot element of the inevitable third game.
** [[VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt Said third game]] couples this with a mild ProphecyTwist - the Wild Hunt [[spoiler: are elves from another dimension, and they're fleeing the ''true'' threat of the White Frost.]]
* The Keepers in ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' are an organization dedicated to interpreting such prophecies, devoting years of study to each of them and maintaining a gigantic library full of materials on them. Garrett (on those rare occasions that he works with them) is notably irritated by how vague the prophecies always are.

* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' is a ''big-time'' repeat offender. The Darkness is coming. An ancient power slumbers below. Something dark lies beneath. The shadow rises, we need your light. The dark is strong here.
* ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria}}'' has the FortuneTeller's message: "Evil will walk once more."
* Play through Universe mode in the ''VideoGame/{{WWE|VideoGames}}'' series and sooner or later an angle will crop up hinting The End is Coming. One of the guys or girls on your roster is going to be pushed into an Undertaker or Sting style feud, generally a FaceHeelTurn, with all the hoopla such a feud entails.
* Probably one of the harder-to-find examples: buried within the code of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is Entry #17, the only one not among [[spoiler:Alphys' notes in the [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon True Lab]]]]. The entry was apparently written by [[TheGhost Doctor W.D. Gaster himself]], and references his monitoring of some kind of ever-increasing darkness (in which photon readings are apparently ''negative''), before asking "What do you two think?" The identity of those he addresses are unknown.
* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'': The game starts after ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon'', with [[TheBadGuyWins Shao Kahn victorious]] and all the heroes dead. [[BigGood Raiden]] uses the last of his power to send a message back in time to himself around the time of the first ''VideoGame/{{Mortal Kombat|1992}}'' game, including images of some of the disasters that have come to pass and the words "He must win." Past!Raiden does his best to act on this cryptic warning, but his attempts [[NiceJobBreakingItHero tend to backfire spectacularly]], like how [[spoiler:he keeps Smoke from getting [[UnwillingRoboticisation turned into a cyborg]] and ends up causing the same fate to befall the second Sub-Zero]]. It isn't until the end of the game when Raiden finally realizes what his future self was trying to say: [[spoiler:the "he" is Shao Kahn himself -- once he breaks the rules by merging Earthrealm and Outworld without winning the Mortal Kombat tournament, the Elder Gods finally get off their divine asses and smite him. Unfortunately, at that point, most of the cast is dead, including [[TheHero Liu Kang]], and Earth is in ruins thanks to the invasion. As well, Shinnok is waiting in the wings for ''his'' chance to take over ...]]

* ''VideoGame/LostSoulAside'': In the 2016 trailer, the playable character mentions that "a new war is coming."
* ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'': After praising the player for completing their training on the Isle of Armor, Mustard says under his breath that maybe they'll be prepared for what's to come, possibly alluding to a follow-up in the Crown Tundra DLC.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The Dark One, god of the goblins, averts this with his message for Redcloak -- [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0704.html "Don't screw this up."]]
-->'''Redcloak:''' Well, as theological revelations go, I guess that's refreshingly direct.\\
'''Jirix:''' Then he added, "No pressure, though," which I thought was nice.

* Manga/{{Violence|Jack}} [[WebVideo/BennettTheSage is coming]]...

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'': The game starts after ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon'', with [[TheBadGuyWins Shao Kahn victorious]] and all the heroes dead. [[BigGood Raiden]] uses the last of his power to send a message back in time to himself around the time of the first ''VideoGame/{{Mortal Kombat|1}}'' game, including images of some of the disasters that have come to pass and the words "He must win." Past!Raiden does his best to act on this cryptic warning, but his attempts [[NiceJobBreakingItHero tend to backfire spectacularly]], like how [[spoiler:he keeps Smoke from getting [[UnwillingRoboticisation turned into a cyborg]] and ends up causing the same fate to befall the second Sub-Zero]]. It isn't until the end of the game when Raiden finally realizes what his future self was trying to say: [[spoiler:the "he" is Shao Kahn himself -- once he breaks the rules by merging Earthrealm and Outworld without winning the Mortal Kombat tournament, the Elder Gods finally get off their divine asses and smite him. Unfortunately, at that point, most of the cast is dead, including [[TheHero Liu Kang]], and Earth is in ruins thanks to the invasion. As well, Shinnok is waiting in the wings for ''his'' chance to take over ...]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', during the flashback from "The Core and the King", it is revealed that Leif's motives for stealing the Calamity Box and hiding it in Earth was that she had a vague vision upon touching the gems where she saw how Amphibia would be destroyed by further use of the box. [[spoiler: [[AllForNothing She didn't know that this was actually a self-fulfilling prophecy]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and that by betraying Andrias and hiding the box on Earth, she just started the events of the entire series.]]]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', during the flashback from "The Core and the King" it is revealed that Leif's motives for stealing the Calamity Box and hiding it in Earth was that she had a vague vision upon touching the gems where she saw how Amphibia would be destroyed by further use of the box. [[spoiler: [[AllForNothing She didn't know that this was actually a self-fulfilling prophecy]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and that by betraying Andrias and hiding the box on Earth, she just started the events of the entire series.]]]]

* In the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'', the [[BadFuture Dark World]] Series has this happen, starting with the StormingTheCastle Arc: [[spoiler: It starts with [[TheStarscream the Valeyard]]'s FinalSpeech implying that Discord isn't the only BigBad they need to worry about. Then Aquamarine, a Sea Pony they meet, warns of an Alicorn Witch coming to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]], and after helping defeat [[OneWingedAngel Odyne]]![[TheDragon Cruelty]], Fluttershy's ghost warns them that they're "Apple Pie's hamster" (Apple Pie's pet hamster is named {{Groundhog|DayLoop}}). These are all warnings about the true BigBad, [[KnightTemplar Nightmare Eclipse/Paradox]]]].