foreshadower
Early warning giver
A foreshadower is someone or something that foreshadows—that hints at or suggests what is to come.
In literary analysis, a foreshadower might be a character, event, or detail that signals future developments: The raven serves as a foreshadower of the protagonist's doom.
The term appears mostly in critical discussion of narrative technique.
Sign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- presageIndicate beforehand
- auguryOmen interpretation practice
- premonitionAdvance sense of future events
sign · prophecy · oracle · divination · soothsaying · prognostication · auspice · foreboding
Careful attention to risk
- alertWarning or watchfulness
- alarmUrgent warning signal
- admonitionMild verbal correction
- advisoryNotice recommending action
notice · herald · signal · forewarning · precursor · announcement · red flag · heads-up
Solving aid
- signMark conveying information
- signalMessage-conveying cue
- indicatorSign revealing status
- markerSomething that signals location
pointer · trace · inkling · suggestion · intimation · implication · glimpse · teaser
Stretched or strained state
- anticipationState of awaiting something
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- intrigueSecret plotting or fascination
- buildupGradual accumulation over time
dread · apprehension · foreboding · unease · dramatic irony · thriller · noir · cliffhanger
How something is arranged
- plantBotanical organism
- payoffCulminating benefit received
- Chekhov's gunNarrative necessity principle
- telegraphingInadvertently revealing intentions
callback · motif · symbolism · leitmotif · prefigure · prologue · flashforward · dramatic irony
portent
Sign of future calamity
premonition · sign · prophecy · oracle · divination · soothsaying · prognostication · auspice · foreboding · vision
caution
Careful attention to risk
- alertWarning or watchfulness
- alarmUrgent warning signal
- admonitionMild verbal correction
advisory · notice · herald · signal · forewarning · precursor · announcement · red flag · heads-up · caveat
clue
Solving aid
marker · pointer · trace · inkling · suggestion · intimation · implication · glimpse · teaser · setup
tension
Stretched or strained state
- anticipationState of awaiting something
- mysterySomething unexplained or unknown
- intrigueSecret plotting or fascination
buildup · dread · apprehension · foreboding · unease · dramatic irony · thriller · noir · cliffhanger · ominous
setup
How something is arranged
- plantBotanical organism
- payoffCulminating benefit received
- Chekhov's gunNarrative necessity principle
telegraphing · callback · motif · symbolism · leitmotif · prefigure · prologue · flashforward · dramatic irony · storytelling
foreshadowerflashback
Involuntary past memory
callback · echo · reminiscence · reminiscer · recollection