Red String of Fate
 

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There is a myth in Chinese and Japanese culture that the Gods place an invisible red string around the pinky finger two people who are destined to encounter each other in their life time. This thread doesn't break, it can stretch, tangle, be twisted in different directions, it doesn't break regardless of time, place, or circumstance.

Often this concept used to mean two people who are destined to become lovers. However I have seen this isn't always the case. As there some variations of the same myth where certain people are to fated meet one another in a certain situation or help each other in a certain way.

This concept could be certainly applied in Ninja Turtles for many of the relationships or chance meetings in the series.

For example Donatello is attracted to April the moment he sees her, but as much as he loves her. He is more content just being her friend regardless of whether he ends up with her or not.

A very interesting and insightful proverb.

I think you should make a story from that, I personally really enjoy your writing and work.

Idea that people are "destined" to become lovers is really crappy. I don't really get why people think that concept is romantic. Having to characters be together "because they are meant to be" instead of it actually making sense for them to be together is just dumb.

I've heard this before, seems a lot of cultures have stories for people getting together. I think people just wind up together and then say it's destiny. It is a sweet thought and gives up to pining, single people. I do like the idea, though, and think its good writing/art material.

I bet you are a joy at weddings.

:lol:

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Well, I can tell where you don't live.

Best to have kept that opinion to yourself...

Insulting other countries cultures, myths, and beliefs? Stay classy pal...:thumbsup:

:roll:

Even though the red string of fate is mostly used for romantic situations, I think it can apply to non-romantic relationships too, like a true friend.

In the Anime Tenchi in Tokyo, there is one episode where a love goddess is trying to tie a red string around the pinky finger of the title character and a girl named Sakuya.

It is revealed Tenchi is connected to all the main female characters in the show via a red string of fate. I may need to find and re-watch this episode again because I vaguely remember seeing him attached by a string of fate to his Father and Grandfather as well. Some people have taken this to mean that he is destined to marry all of them (the Female characters). But it's more like he was fated to simply meet them.

Just as well it's a myth considering there's no such thing as soul mates; people shouldn't be expected to be tied to one another for eternity.

Why? People who marry each other marry each other because they love each other, not because destiny said so.

Pretty much, I doubt anyone actually believes it is literally destiny. Though I don't think its good writing material because of how often it is used crappily just as bad excuse. Besides, destiny is as writing concept more fun when its about fighting against it.

Dunno what you mean, I'm not complaining about mythological belief(also, why you are talking about myths as if they are same as religion? This isn't religion, its more of silly "romantic" people like to spout because they think its romantic), I'm complaining about lazy writers who use destiny as in story reason for why things happen instead of actually bothering to write good reasons for it.

Exactly, there is no only one person in the world you could potentially find love and happiness with, just the person you actually do end up doing that with. Well, unless you and your partner are into polyamory.

Wow. You really have NO clue, do you?

First off, one man's "myth" is another's religion. The ancient Greeks? Those stories were more than just "myths" or fairy tales to them. Those were their understanding of creation and history, not to mention destiny, death, souls, and a host of other subjects. I myself am a Wiccan, and follow several deities that most other religions consider "myths". So don't start talking about cultural myths as if they aren't the same thing- the ARE.

As for destiny, it does not mean what you seem to think it does. It MEANS that there is a reason and a purpose to what happens to a person during his or her lifetime, and that there are certain events or incidents, and even people, that are intended to be included in that greater "plan". Destiny or fate is not some terrible prison sentence that you can't fight or escape (unless we're talking Greek tragedy) but a greater plan for our lives that can and sometimes does include certain other individuals being a part of our lives. It doesn't even have to be as mates, but can include family members, friends, or teachers, etc. There are people in your life that are there for a reason- to make you who you are. It's not the universe (or whatever you believe in) saying "this is where you HAVE to go", but rather "this is where you NEED to be". It's a guide on the path of life giving us a nudge in the right direction, rather than a shove from some all-knowing higher power forcing its will on us.

And this concept includes who we love and find happiness with. Here's a little example for you. (We'll say it's hypothetical, but this actually happened.) A guy and a girl meet in high school through a mutual circle of friends, and he starts to have a crush on her, but never says anything, thinking she is probably already taken by someone else. She, on the other hand, has no real relationship with anyone, serious or otherwise. She knows nothing of his interest, and thus never really notices him. Even when their group attends their prom together, and he takes another girl as his date, and she ends up going stag (her date never shows) neither one ever realizes the other's potential.

Cut to- a year or so after graduation, when she is living on her own after moving out of her parents' home, working for a living and basically having no social life since most of her friends are all doing their own things, going to college, etc. She hangs out with a friend who works with her, and they decide one night to go to a certain place that she's never been to before, that is a local night-spot for eclectic types that she's never hung out with before. And coincidentally, the guy and one of their former mutual friends do the same- ON THE SAME NIGHT. And they meet again. Only this time, both discover that the other is available, and they strike up an interest in each other almost immediately. And it soon becomes clear that there is a connection- and a very strong one. He leaves a note on her door the next night, and pretty soon, they are living together! And then they end up engaged, and finally, sixteen years later, are still happily married. And all because they both "happened" to run into each other in a place neither had ever been to before, and wouldn't have known about if not for others around them. Coincidence? Not very likely.....

And in case anyone's wondering who this happened to- it was me. This is exactly how I ended up with the man who has been my best friend, confidant, and (wonderful) love of my life since that night. Destiny? I believe it was. How else does one explain how two people end up in the same place they've never been to or known about at the same time, and end up happily married for years? I honestly can't describe it as anything other than "it was meant to be".....

Red string of fate isn't religious belief, its folklore type of thing :P A philosophical thing. Nobody believes it as a religious teaching. Saying that I'm being intolerant for saying that I don't like the concept is saying that you are being religiously intolerant for not believing in soulmates. Its basically Asian version of same concept.

I find it kinda sad that at least two people have started to ramble to me about religious tolerance(speaking of which I don't have any actual problems with religions) when they themselves don't know anything about what the subject is about.

And I'm not sure why you think you are some great authority on definition of destiny. By definition it means "a predetermined course of events". Also, yes that IS indeed a coincidence. Happy coincidence, but coincidence is still a coincidence. Its perfectly possible that you would have never met and would have met someone else and be happily married with them. Humans have ability of trying to think all chaos in the world as some kind of linear path where everything has a meaning. If I wanted, I could give you plenty of examples of coincidences which were in retrospect pretty important to my life.

While I do not condone the act of bashing myths and practices of another culture, I too dislike the red string of fate, partially because I think the concept of fate itself is not what people like to think it is. All fate is, is your own creation. We build our own destiny. It is not the product of some religion, faith, or myth. It's your own karma and actions, sorry to say. Own up.

Hey, I don't condone bashing believes, cultures or practices either, but red string of fate isn't one. Its not something that anybody from that culture really believes in (unless they happen to be same type of people who believes that soulmates really do exist), its thing that people say because they think its romantic while I think its horribly unromantic. Besides, I bash soulmate concept as much, it gives wrong picture to young people and pressure them to find "true love".

I personally think concept of fate is ridiculous concept since we can't see in the future. Without being able to predict future accurately, all that "destiny" is is basically same thing as history. You can only examine it in retrospect. What is physical difference between world where everything is predetermined and nothing is if in both worlds some guy starts to ponder about the existence of destiny? So in world where destiny exists some guy is destined to become a philosopher and ponder about existence of destiny for rest of his life?

Wow, I think I'm feeling some strong intellectual attraction here.

This NitpickingMask is good people.

I feel that every person we meet was fated to happen. I also believe everything happens for a reason, even if we don't understand why at that particular moment.

The red string of fate seems to be very idealistic in the romantic sense I'm sure couples who have been married for years believe they were destined for one another even if they didn't know it. My own parents have been together for nearly 40 years and my mother says even now that she and my father were destined to meet. If she hadn't decided to walk to the store that "fateful day" instead of driving, she wouldn't have met him.

Heh, thanks, I rarely get appreciated for my habit to debate. But at least nobody can say that I don't back up my opinions.

In a way Donnie and April were destined to meet. I may be a Don O'Neil Shipper, but I am not entirely pointing this concept at the love triangle because that is another argument entirely. In fact lets ignore the whole love triangle for the moment.


In a way Donnie (as well as the other turtles) and April were fated to meet in general, because the thing that connects them is the Kraang and in some ways the Shredder.

April's mother is abducted some time before April is born, she is experimented on by the Kraang so that a person whose DNA can stabilize the mutagen can exist.

Around this time Hamato Yoshi and his Wife Teng Shen get married and Teng Shen has a baby girl, Miwa.

Some how April's mother is released or escapes the Kraang. April is born.

Shredder arrives and attacks Hamato Yoshi and his family, Teng Shen is killed in the fire and Miwa is abducted and renamed Karai. In his grief, Hamato Yoshi leaves Japan and settles in America.

Hamato Yoshi buys four baby turtles from a pet store and the five of them are accidentally mutated.

Shredder starts training Karai how to be a Kunoichi.

15 years later the Turtles go up to the surface for the first time. April and her Father are walking home together when the Kraang attempt to take them prisoner. Donnie sees the abduction take place and wants to help despite the fact they were not supposed to be seen by humans.

The Turtles stage a rescue operation to save the father and daughter. Unfortunately they carelessly leave a ninja star behind and that catches the attention of the Shredder. The Shredder travels to New York.

April becomes friends with the Turtles and shows Mikey how to get in touch with Chris Bradford. And Mikey's short lived friendship with Bradford alerts Splinter that Shredder is in the city.

April reveals that she has a sensitivity to things around her, and begins her training as a Kunoichi under Splinter. While attempting to get April's father back, the turtles learn the Kraang are going to detonate a mutagen bomb in the city. Chris Bradford and Xever are mutated into Dogpound and Fishface in their inconvenient attempts to destroy the Turtles. Turtles encounter Shredder for the first time.

Leo and Karai encounter each other. Leo senses something is familiar about Karai, but mistakes it for infatuation.

April sends in her saliva to the World Genome Project causing the Kraang realize April is the person they are looking for. Karai introduces the Shredder to the existence of the Kraang.

Karai strikes a deal with the Turtles to help them take down a Kraang Stealth ship. Turtles attack the Shredder and Karai reveals to Leo that the Shredder is her father. Shredder captures a Kraang squid fand learns that it was attacking the Turtles because they were preventing the Kraang from capturing April. Shredder realizes that April is the key to bring the Turtles and Splinter out of hiding and order's Karai to capture her.

Timothy is mutated into the Mutagen Man, Donnie promises to find a way to make retromutagen someday.

Shredder has April's father brainwashed so that April can be used to bring Splinter out of hiding. Splinter goes to save her and learns Karai is actually Miwa.

While attempting to intercept a shipment of Mutagen that is being delivered to the Shredder. The Turtles inadvertently mutate April's father. April leaves the Turtles and encounters Casey Jones. Donnie begins his attempts at creating retromutagen so they can fix the damage he and his brothers have caused.

Shredder leaves for Japan to locate Tiger Claw. Karai is driven by her hatred for Splinter and the turtles for the death of her mother and disobeys her fathers orders about destroying the Turtles. Leo is informed Karai is his older sister, Miwa.

April learns that the Kraang want her because her DNA can stabilize the mutagen. And the reason she is sensitive to the things around her is because she has Kraang DNA.

Casey encounters the turtles for the first time.

Donnie's robot friend sacrifices itself to allow the turtles to escape-Lair security system supposedly is compromised.

Shredder returns with Tiger Claw. Other Turtles learn Karai is Splinter's missing daughter. Karai learns that Splinter is her real father.

Donnie succeeds in making retromutagen, restoring April's father. April revealed to be a key to creating retromutagen because she is immune to mutagen.

Karai begins to question the Shredder's relation to her and discovers that she is indeed Splingters Daughter. Knowing that Karai can no longer be controlled by him, Shredder imprisons her. Lair location is compromised.


If Splinter didn't come to new york, the turtles would have remained regular pet store reptiles. Thus they wouldn't have met April and she would become be a Kraang guinea pig causing the Earth to be mutated.

Thank you for the recap of the series. I don't see a point in there, just a lot of text.

How can you not see it? It's pretty much showing how they were all fated to meet one another and have their paths cross. They're all connected by that red string of fate. The red string thing can apply to not only romance but to other types of relationships too, like strong friendships, which is what I think the poster was referring to.

It's just a story. It's not fate. Events in a story are SUPPOSED to unfold that way, that's what makes them entertaining.

If Shredder didn't kill Teng Shen and abduct Miwa, Splinter would never have come to New York.

If Splinter didn't come to New York, he wouldn't have bought the Turtle's and the Turtles wouldn't have been mutated into the people they are.

If the Turtle's didn't mutate, they wouldn't be there the night April and her father were abducted by the Kraang.

If April was abducted by the Kraang they would have realized she is the person who has the specific strand of DNA that they want to stabilize the mutagen. And could then begin their plans to mutate the Earth.

Shredder killed Tang Shen because he is cartoonisly evil villain. Splinter then went to New York because TMNT has always taken plae in new york.

Then the turtles origin story happens because otherwise we wouldn't have the story.

And... Actually, I'm not going to finish this, you are seeing that I'm going to basically say "So? Thats because writers wrote the characters like that. And followed TMNT traditions."

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This is storytelling. The TMNT origin story is always a strange series of events, even in other continuities this remains consistent. That's kind of the point.

But in this version, April is the main reason Splinter and the Turtles became what they are. If April was never born, the Kraang would have never been in New York looking for her 15 years before hand.

Which is the whole point of this thread, it was like it was destiny that they would meet one day, which they did. You can amount that to many reasons in a story, one being fate.

Or you could amount it to being what it actually is: storytelling.

This isn't rocket science, guys.

And if your storytelling is "Turtles exist and fight Shredder because of destiny!" instead of there actually being character motivations and reasons, then you are lazy storyteller.

So much Tumblr in this thread.

While the "red string" itself is not religious in nature, your earlier comment regarding myths was what I was referring to- read that post again, please. I was speaking about religious myths and beliefs in general, which you seemed to be scoffing at. EVERY religion has its "myths" or origin tales, and to bash or disregard one culture or religion's beliefs might as well be disregarding or bashing them all.

Also, were you actually paying attention to the point of that post? I was making a point about how seeming "coincidences" (which is how destiny works, BTW- events that SEEM random, really DO have an "order" to them!- see "Chaos Theory".....) will lead to a chain of specific outcomes, that are much less "random" than we may believe. The point was that while things may APPEAR to be random, they happen because certain events happen in a way that leads to that outcome- which is the essence of what "fate" is. It's not some giant hand pushing you a certain way- it's events falling into place to lead you where you are meant to be at that moment in time. Like the people who had tickets for the Titanic, but for whatever reason, did not get on board- and thus were not aboard for that ill-fated voyage. There are so many seeming "coincidences" surrounding our lives that we never even see, but they are there if we truly pay attention.

My example was an illustration of how such events can play out in ways that lead us to something we never would have found on our own. That so many pieces of a puzzle fall into place so perfectly to lead to that "chance" encounter is too many "coincidences" to be pure "chance". Unless one subscribes to the idea that the universe has no order, which science tells us it does. There are even theories attempting to describe it. (And I left out the part about how we both felt an immediate attraction when we met up again during that night, or how we ended up together in spite of the fact that I was actually semi-dating the friend he accompanied that night.)



Karma plays a part of it, true, but there is far more at work than just that. There are outside forces and influences we have NO control over, such as weather, "accidents", our route, destination, other people or objects in the path, etc. For so many things to converge in ONE specific pattern is what makes destiny or fate. Our own actions or choices may play a part as well, but we can't control what happens around us, and that is why "fate" always seems so random to begin with. It's made up of literally thousands of tiny threads of one tapestry that we can't understand or even see most of the time. But every now and then, we can catch a glimpse of it.



Not so. At times, we CAN catch glimpses of the future, whether ours or someone else's. You've heard of clairvoyance? That's exactly what is referred to. As I mentioned above, there are cases throughout history of people who had "vibes" or "bad feelings" about some proposed action or decision, and acted on them, only to later discover that their gut instincts were correct, and they managed to avoid tragedy because of it. Just as there were individuals who chose not to take the Titanic voyage, the same happened with a few people during the Twin Towers disaster, or the plane that went down in Pennsylvania that same day, or even the Pentagon collision. All those people were wrong to trust their instincts, their sense of impending disaster? I disagree.

Destiny is as much about what happens around us as about how we react to it. A choice we make one minute may change drastically depending on our outside environment five minutes later. A woman's high heel snaps off, and she stops to take off her shoe, thus missing a bus that later collides with an eighteen-wheeler. Or a man takes his umbrella with him in spite of no rain in the forecast, and ends up sharing it with a woman at a bus stop, and they talk for hours and eventually end up together for life. The possibilities are all around us, we just very rarely see them.



^This. That was precisely my point earlier, although I disagree with it being over-idealistic. It doesn't always mean romance, it is simply an extension of what we are destined to experience in our lives. There is, in my particular faith, the belief that what we experience in one life (we go through MANY lives, each intended to learn certain lessons and grow in different ways as a soul) that what we experience in that life is chosen before we are born- BY OURSELVES. In other words, we DO choose our own "destiny" before we are ever even born! And each time, whether we achieve that destiny or not, we are set on a certain path that we may or may not ever reach the end of- or the specific end itself may be part of that choice.

Many cultures share a similar belief regarding souls and the concept of reincarnation. (Gee, even TMNT currently subscribes to the red string after a fashion, at least in IDW!!!) Destiny can be thwarted or postponed for a time, even for one or more lifetimes, but eventually, it will come around again, or so such beliefs tell us. And that is the beauty of it. It may not happen when or where or even how we expect, and we may not see it coming, but it's always part of us, a tapestry of our own weaving- in the space between lives..... :tshifty::tcool:

If the string is invisible, then how do they know it's red?

The important questions right here. :tlol:

So ultimately the real answer to saving the world is time travel... Sorry 'bout that, April.

The Red string in attached by god or gods. It's only invisible because it can't be seen with mortal eyes.

Also in Eastern Asian culture the color red has a vast meaning, it a the color used to represent happiness, good fortune. vitality, and long life.

And during weddings in China traditionally the bride will wear red.
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The original myth about the red string of fate tells of a young boy who is traveling home, when he sees an old man on his path. The old man tells the boy that there is a red string attaching him to his future bride. The boy looks to see whom the old man is referring to and sees a young girl.

Being young and not interested in having a bride, the boy picks up a rock and throws it at the girl before running off. Years pass and the young boy has become a man.

A marriage is arranged for him by his parents, and when he sees his bride for the first time he is happy to see she is one of the great beauties of his village. However he notices she has an adornment on his forehead. He asks her about it and she says that when she had been small a boy threw a stone at her which struck her in the forehead and she'd had a that scar ever since.

Just to add (it's kind of similar to what MsMarvelDuckie was stating) and throwing two cents into this discussion, it primarily boils down to how people interpret "coincidences" and "purely chance" events and their own degree of belief in spirituality, clairvoyance, etc. From a third person it may just be a statistical outcome, but for the individual and whichever path they are going in life, it could hold some utmost importance in symbolizing or suggesting something. Typically with immense success or tragedy (or even smaller events), there's a lot of self-questioning with questions like, "Why did ____ happen? Is that really just random chance? Why is it that _____ happened to me when this person was more/less likely to _______?"

These questions bring up the philosophical topic of free-will and to what degree a person has it, in regards to fate or spiritual forces (if one believes in it). As to how much a person's life is influenced by one's own volition versus fate/destiny/spirituality, is up to each individual to decide on that.

One main difficulty in "resolving" this issue is that we live our lives forward, but we learn, understand, and therefore apply things from a hindsight perspective onto our forward-moving lives, which doesn't always work out in unknown, varying future situations.

Sadly, your statement is 100% right xP

Also, MsMarvelDuckie, ever heard of instinct? I'm pretty sure you DO have considering you just said gut instinct. If you are seriously using fortune telling of clairvoyance as "evidence", we might as well start talk about spoon bending and psychic powers :P I feel like that all the time and its 99.99% me being paranoid. Sometimes I'm right, but most of the time I'm not. But unlike most people I don't bother remembering those times I'm right since I'm pessimist all the time anyway. Sometimes people feel something bad is going to happen and nothing happens, sometimes they are right. Thats bound to happen. Hell, a lot of people are always afraid of going to ships or planes and have bad feeling about it. Just because someone person didn't enter the plane that ended up being in 9/11 doesn't mean they really saw it coming, they just happened to be lucky to be paranoid. If you really want to use titanic as crappy proof for existence of fate, you'd better have better argument for it. Hell, I know one really amazing coincidence involving titanic that would have been better story to use as "proof" for that.

And seriously, referencing to chaos theory to prove your point? SERIOUSLY? Do you know what it is? Because its not what you think it is. And your comment about myths.. You are sliding down slippery slope there. Do you actually know what is the definition of the word? It has multiple meanings you know. So why me disliking red string myth would lead me to bashing all myths?

SHHH! You're interfering with my referencing of Occam's Razor!

[Shut up Netkeeper, nobody is going to understand that reference]

See, this is why I hate getting into these kinds of discussions. People are always so convinced that their understanding of the world around us is absolute, and that there are no "mysteries" beyond what we commonly perceive as reality. There has been ample evidence throughout history to show that people can and DO occasionally see glimpses of what lies beyond the present, (hey, surely you've seen Final Destination, right?) and can sometimes change their path accordingly. One little change is sometimes all it takes. As for the definition of a myth- Webster's defines it as "a fable; a legend embodying primitive faith in the supernatural; an invented story; an imaginary person or thing". By that definition, even the Bible is a myth, as it fits the second definition of faith in the supernatural. And that is a LITERAL interpretation, mind, but if one discounts the myths of Greece or Rome, or Japan, then one must also discount Biblical mythology as well. Sorry, you can't have it both ways. You either allow ALL faiths (because believe it or not, the Greek, Roman, Norse, Celtic, and Hindu gods are all still followed in some form by people all over the world) to stand on the same footing in their myths, or you have no footing for such statements.

Hmm, regarding the Titanic, I could give you a slew of stories about that, as its history happens to be an interest of mine. Such as the fact that one of the reasons it even hit the iceberg, being that on its last stop in England before heading out to sea, the binoculars for the night watch were left at port. Had they been on the ship, the berg would have been spotted in time to avoid the collision. And that's just one of many examples of minor "coincidences" that helped doom that entire voyage. But that wasn't my point, it was just the first example of gut feelings that came to mind, because it's one I'm very familiar with. The people who chose to travel on another ship, or even just cancel their trips due to such feelings weren't just being paranoid- they had little reason to be, as it was touted as the safest vessel afloat! It was billed as "unsinkable", a claim nearly everyone took to heart (Except the designer, oddly enough....). And yet a few people simply had a "bad feeling', that even they could not explain. And that's the point. It CAN'T be explained, at least not by any laws of science we KNOW.

And YES, thank you, I DO understand Chaos Theory- and quite well. Or as some might call it, the "butterfly effect". Which does include any of hundreds of variables that can change the outcome of any particular event, even when repeated a hundred times. Yet there IS an "order" to chaos, or so the theory tells us. We just don't have the means or knowledge to comprehend the intricacies of it all. To illustrate. You can walk out your door every day at the exact same time, and go to the exact same destination, following the same route each time, but your journey will NEVER be exactly the same, due to other outside factors that differ each day. And yet, if ONE of those factors causes you to deviate from your routine into a different path, it is called coincidence, even if that deviation causes you to change your life completely for no better reason than that it introduces you to a person you never would have met otherwise. And since we can neither fully understand how or why it occurs, most pass it off as a simple coincidence. I prefer to think of it as the hand of fate nudging us in that direction, for reasons we may never really know- or if we ever do, it's only later, in hind-sight. Hind-sight IS 20/20, after all.....

You can't go into a discussion on esoteric topics like fate or clairvoyance using purely logic and what is KNOWN, for the simple reason that those very topics are firmly in the realm of what is not KNOWN, but rather what is FELT and BELIEVED. Logic will get you nowhere regarding subjects commonly thought to be "myth" or supernatural. Because they simply are not logical. I've spent half my life learning and studying those very subjects, both from a historic and cultural standpoint (studied myths, fairy tales, and legends from just about every culture known, as well as the history of several of those cultures), and as part of my own beliefs and understanding of the universe. It's amazing when you can see space, time, and even the mind from a deeper perspective of not only what we SEE, but what we DON'T see. When you can look at the intricate webs of connection between all things, and realize that there IS something "more" to it, you start to understand just how small our perception of reality really is. It's beautiful, actually.


Note- not saying I know all the secrets of the universe- yeah, I WISH!- but I've found some pretty amazing connections, and evidence enough to convince ME that there's more to our world than we can possibly explain..... YMMV, of course.

Interestingly enough, there was a book by a man named Morgan Robertson called 'Futility, or Wreck of The Titan' that was written 14 years prior to the maiden voyage of the Titanic.

And even though the book was written before the Titanic was even designed there were some uncanny similarities such as the shape and dimensions of the fictional Titan to the real Titanic. Both ships were depicted as unsinkable, both weren't carrying enough life boats to save the passengers on board. Both ships strike an ice berg in the middle of the North Atlantic on an April's Night and both sink into the ocean drowning more then half of the passengers on board.

Another story I can bring to the table is Oedipus. In Oedipus a boy is born to a Thebian King and Queen. Not long after the king goes to the Temple of Delphi and learns that his son is fated to kill his father, marry his mother and by that account bring disaster upon his city and family.

In an effort to stop this prophesy from taking place they drive pegs into the infants ankles and leave the child in the mountains to die of exposure. However a Shepherd takes pity on the child and takes him to a childless family in another city. When Oedipus grows up he learns what his destiny is. Since the only parents he had known were his adoptive ones he leaves for Thebes as a means of protecting them from the prophecy. On the way he unknowingly encounters and kills his real father on the road. After arriving in Thebes he learns the king is dead and the city is under the mercy of the Sphinx. Oedipus is able to defeat the Sphinx and unknowingly marries his biological mother. When he realizes the prophesy he was running from had come to pass, he blinds himself with golden pins and is driven into exile.