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While some believe the 16th Century writer Nostradamus was a prophet with an uncanny ability to see into the future, others view his writings as cyptic nonsense.

Nevertheless, centuries after his death, Nostradamus remains a popular figure.

Every time a disaster occurs, message boards and inboxes fill up with mysterious quatrains proving that Nostradamus saw it coming. Of course, most of these posts are fake, and events are always easy to predict, and apply to obscure verse, after they have occurred.

Still, one cannot dispute that people are fascinated by the concept of prophetic visions. In the ?real world? though, having visions and seeing things that aren?t really there, often is a symptom of hallucinogenic drug use, sleep deprivation, stress, or even schizophrenia. Skeptical scholars even debate St. Joan of Arc?s status a prophet, positing that she may have suffered from some illness that affected her brain (i.e. tuberculosis or schizophrenia). Indeed, true visionaries and prophets are rare.

Yet in the fictional realm, visionaries and seers seem to pop up regularly. Stephen King?s novel ?The Dead Zone? focused on a common man, aptly named Johnny Smith, who developed his prophetic powers after years in a coma. The novel inspired a feature film and a television series. The latter ran for six seasons, starring Anthony Michael Hall in the role of modern day prophet.

Joss Whedon?s ?Angel? featured the half man/half demon seer Doyle, portrayed by the late Glenn Quinn. Doyle lasted only for only a part of the opening season before transferring his powers, via a kiss, to Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter). Doyle?s visions were physically painful when they came on, suggesting that prophetic powers come with a price.

Currently, a number of people gifted with some form of second sight populate the airwaves. "Supernatural?s" Sam Winchester (Jared Padelecki) is one such visionary. His powers have evolved into the exorcising of demons and sending them back to hell, but Sam started out having visions, thanks to demon blood he ingested as a baby.

In ?Lost,? following an explosion in a bunker, we learn that Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) sees the future. A large part of ?Lost?s" third season dealt with Desmond trying to prevent the death of Oceanic 815 survivor Charlie (Dominic Monaghan). Despite Desmond?s efforts to change the future, he continues to see Charlie die over and over again, until Charlie embraces his fate in the emotional Season 3 season finale.

During the first season of ?Heroes,? Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera) painted the future in a series of comic book-style paintings. Isaac, of course died, but his ability to paint the future was transferred to both Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) and Sylar (Zachary Quinto). Apparently, that wasn?t enough future painters for ?Heroes,? because another one Usutu (Ntare Mwine) showed up in Season 3.

Not all programs deal directly with future prophecy. The soon-to-be cancelled ?Eli Stone? started out with a poor lawyer tormented by visions of George Michael. OK, I admit there is probably more to the show than that, but to be honest, I could never get past the George Michael vision, and it was torture for me, so I assume it was for poor Eli (Johnny Lee Miller) as well. Of course Eli wasn?t the first lawyer show to feature visions. I?ve spent the better part of a decade trying to forget the dancing baby from ?Ally McBeal.?

In "Ghost Whisperer," Melinda Gordon?s (Jennifer Love Hewitt) visions don?t extend into the future ? they pretty much stop at the spiritual realm. Still, her visions are indeed portrayed as real, and generally everyone accepts them as real by the end of each episode.

Yet when it comes to fictional visionaries, Frank Herbert?s tormented adolescent Paul Atreides, from the masterpiece ?Dune,? reigns supreme. This novel was adapted by David Lynch into a terrible move in 1984. A tolerable miniseries, ?Frank Herbert?s Dune? was broadcast on SciFi Channel in 2000, followed by the surprisingly good ?Children of Dune? in 2003.

A forthcoming ?Dune? film has been announced, suggesting that the science-fiction community simply can?t get enough of Paul Atreidess struggles on Arrakis.

"Dune" is a superb novel, featuring a teenaged hero who ultimately gets trapped by his prophetic powers. Constantly seeing the future, and trying to change it turns Paul into a flawed hero that, despite his vision, makes you wonder if he sees reality at all. His powers are derived by ingesting massive amounts of the rare spice Melange, and drinking "the water of life," reinforcing the notion that visions and drug use are tied together.

While this list certainly isn?t inclusive of all popular media visionaries and seers, it does reflect a popularity of the figure. In a sense, the character is becoming an archetype that reflects and personifies our own desire to know the future.

Homework

?Dune? Frank Herbert

Dan Compora is an associate professor at the University of Toledo, and contributes SciFi 101 twice monthly for Airlock Alpha. He can be reached at drdan@airlockalpha.com.