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I don’t really know much about doom omens beyond what they are. These are warnings about disaster approaching. Sometimes they’re specific, but they tend to be vague and riddle-like. I keep thinking of Casandra from Greek mythology too where she has visions, but nobody believes her. That seems to be fairly common too. So, what exactly are the point of fictional doom omens?
I’m not really sure if I’ve ever used them in my stories. Foreshadowing is one thing, but this is a specific declaration made in the story. Maybe Gabriel telling the champions that at least one of them won’t make it to the final battle intact counts? This did make Legends of Windemere fairly interesting to me because my heroes were all continuing on with the knowledge that at least one will die. I always thought of this as twisting the prophecy/chosen one angle in a way that the audience starts to look for clues about who won’t make it. This does sound like a doom omen too, so I guess I’ve done it once without noticing it.
The reason I’m not sure is because I’ve noticed that authors tend to create doom omens that are incredibly vague. Gabriel was fairly direct. Still, I think this may have created similar reactions. The characters are made aware of a looming situation, which gives them a chance to prevent it from happening. Doesn’t really help when it’s vague, but at least they’re on alert and not blindly walking into danger. That is if they believe the omen, which doesn’t happen all the time.
Authors may use doom omens for the audience’s sake too. Even if the characters are ignoring the danger, the readers are now aware that doom is coming. It’s kind of like having eerie music in a horror movie, which plays in a way that you just know a jump scare is coming. Of course, the difference is that you never know how many pages you have to go before the doom happens. A reader can become tense at every encounter by thinking ‘this is when things go wrong’. You run the risk of wearing a person down and they no longer care, but you can also make them think you’re bluffing. Then, the doom happens and it has a stronger impact. Honestly, it’s a lot of juggling and emotional back-and-forth, which can be really tough on the author.
Aside from verbal prophecies like the ‘Ides of March’, you have events that count as vague doom omens. A common usage of this is one appearing when a character destined to cause trouble is born. Eclipses, comets, mysterious fogs, and a bunch of other celestial and weather events are popular. Sometimes an author may go further with another character dying right away in a gruesome manner. Many times its the one wanting to warn everyone about the danger. So, their death turns into the new doom omen, but only the audience realizes what is going on. I do enjoy these types of warning because they are so unclear that you can’t have the characters know exactly what is going on. They just go ‘well, that’s weird and might mean something, but damned if I know’. It feels realistic because we’d all do the same thing. How many eclipses have we seen and we don’t think a child is being born at that moment who will destroy the world? Although, now I’m starting to wonder about that scenario.
Anybody know more about doom omens? Again, I’m just flying by the seat of my pants on this one, so an expert would be appreciated.
Legends of Windemere 
I can’t say I know much about them. I remember the witches prophesied doom to Macbeth by way of Macduff. And the Percy Jackson series featured some prophecies of failure and doom. The ghost in A Christmas Carol prophesied doom for Tiny Tim if certain things didn’t change. Only Scrooge could prevent that doom from taking place. In the story of Dune some prophetic visions take place.
I think it’s natural to try to prevent the prophecy from taking place. However. if someone who can see into the future has seen what happens, it will take place. The only way to subvert this is if the person who sees the future misinterprets what he or she saw taking place. For example, the person saw someone fall to the ground and assumes death when the person just tripped.
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Prophecies do tend to be vague. The question of self-fulfillment comes up too.
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There are a couple of reasons authors might include a foretelling of doom. It increases the stakes and raises tension. It can help structure the tale, as well.
But with all kinds of prophecies, there are work-arounds and mistaken conclusions. A lot of readers don’t like them because they are used so often and sometimes the outcome is kind of cheesy. For other readers, a part of the fun is in seeing how the author carries out this prophecy.
I’m remembering that in Lord of the Rings there was a prophecy about Aragorn becoming king, but the main action was about Frodo and the Ring. And in the Harry Potter books there was a prophecy that Harry would defeat Voldemort, but it was phrased in such a way that Neville could have been the foretold victor. A prophecy with a fall-back plan?
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Great examples! 😄
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I think the destined one trope has been used without fail or vagueness too often. That’s hurt the entire concept.
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Certain astronomical events used to portend doom to our ancestors – comets, eclipses etc.
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Meteor showers.
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Oh, I forgot that!
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It think this is a valuable tool, but shouldn’t be used on every project. It has been overused to the point that second thought should play a role before grabbing it. Somewhere in my pile of notes is a prophecy tale involving doom and a hero that describes every kid in town. Lead readers to start making choices then subvert them all to have a perfectly described hero win the day who everyone wrote off at childhood. I might salvage it one day for a short story or something.
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Sometimes it’s hard not to do them in fantasy because soothsayers and oracles are a common career. I always thought the trick was to keep them vague, so the readers can’t tell if it will really happen. I’m reminded of ‘Troy’ when they’re talking about doom coming for Troy and Horace is saying it’s ridiculous. Turns out the doom was his. Using the tool like that seems to work out better than bluntness, which seems to be the norm these days.
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