When do I reveal a prophecy in my story?

Question

My story has a prophecy, when should I reveal it? Should it be in the first chapter? What’s the best moment? I’m not asking for ideas, I would really like to know your opinions to help guide me in the right direction for everything to turn out well.

Answer 1

Typically prophecies in stories are justifications for a major twist in the plot, after the hero(es) have been beaten down. Which means they cannot be introduced then, it will seem like a deus ex machina -- something you just invented to get your heroes out of an impossible situation. The prophecy must be part of the fabric of the story early.

Particularly, in the first Act (first 1/4 of the story). This is where the world is set up. This is where readers will accept almost anything. Gods, magic, hyper-technology, immortality, telepathy, FTL travel, hyper-intelligent aliens, whatever.

However, this acceptance of "anything" fades quickly; by the end of the first act, when your hero's problem has been escalated and they must leave their normal world to solve it; your license to invention is about over.

Of course, if you have introduced X in the first act, variations on X can also be introduced. New spells, for example. New hyper-technology. But you cannot suddenly introduce telepathy or Remote Viewing in the 3rd Act in order to have the hero prevail.

So the time to introduce your prophecy is in the first 1/4 of the story, and probably in the first 1/8th, before the "inciting incident" occurs.

A typical layout for a successful story, in the three Act Structure, is the first 1/8th is used to introduce the heroes and their normal world. Somewhere in there, during the course of their normal routines, you would want this prophecy to be referenced. After the "normal world" part of the story, something out of the ordinary happens to the hero, a problem the hero will try to solve.

But they will fail; the problem will escalate. And by the 1/4 mark, the hero is forced out of their normal world, either physically or mentally, the "problem" that began with the inciting incident must be solved.

Obviously there are variations from this, but for the purposes of a prophecy, you want to establish in the first 1/8 of the story, the "Normal World", that at least prophecies in general are taken seriously. Otherwise, your prophecy will look like a deus ex machina.

I would introduce it in a conversation, along with other prophecies that came true.

So when the time comes, when your hero has all but lost, your hero recalls this prophecy, and it's cryptic meaning, and that is their key to come back and prevail.

Answer 2

+1 Amadeus's answer. If it is something the reader needs to accept as factual (the prophesy is expected to come true one day), introduce it very early while the reader is still receptive to the rules.

Early if it's common knowledge

I'm not a fan of prologs or opening with a loredump featuring long-dead characters. My personal opinion is not to introduce it before your main story, or your story becomes the 'tail' on the dog. A story about a prophesy.

If the prophesy is common knowledge, a local legend, it can be mentioned early and the details filled in organically. There's a nursery rhyme, and the festival cakes, and sister's pageant dress – they all tell a part of the story, passed down through tradition.

When the prophesy starts coming true, or solidifying into tangible signs, readers can recognize the precursors from the worldbuilding. It may feel more earned and purposeful.

Skeptical if it comes late

In The Matrix, Neo is taken to the Oracle because another character believes he's their prophesied savior. Neo comes late to this story, and he doesn't accept it. It's just... something the others needed to believe. The Oracle shrugs and doesn't disagree, even though she is the one who prophesied it?

By introducing the prophesy late in the story, we have doubts and the protagonist has doubts. The story is asking him to take a leap of faith, and believe one more crazy thing – it's not that far from all the other crazy things he's experienced, but this feels like leadership, and a relationship..., and a lot of pressure to be someone important. Neo's not ready to take that responsibility at that point in the story.

Neo is their chosen one, but it's a subversion to have him reject the hero role (very literally). It makes sense for the story though. The prophesy in this case is actually pretty flimsy, and the Oracle herself signals it's no big deal. Neo wants to be off the hook. It feels like a relief. But it's the wrong step for the character and there are consequences.

Subvert all Tropes?

A prophesy is a trope, so readers have seen many ways it can be twisted (TV Tropes).

If you want to tell it 'straight', you may need to signal sincerity and subtlety. When a well-known trope is signaled too loudly readers usually wait for it to be subverted.

A prophesy is probably intended as foreshadowing. Originally used in Greek tragedies to set a darker tone, and remind the audience the protagonist is transgressing against the gods despite his apparent rise in status before the fall. Prophesies are big deals, they predict the fate of kings and battles, life and death. The end of nations.

In a world where your gods are real, and heroes defeat evil, your prophesy will play better 'straight'. But in a cynical world where the gods are long dead and religion is for fools, your prophesy will get dismissed as bunk. It will be an underdog that must prove itself multiple times before the protagonist will believe.

Many trope subversions are about having cake and eating it too. They play a line of 'maybe, maybe not', playing with words to find a loophole for a twist, or leaving it ambiguously open to interpretation whether the conditions of the prophesy were met.