Precognition is defined as the ability to see the future and act on that information to change the future. There are generally two types of precognition: long-range precog and battle precog. Long - range precog is the ability to see events far in the future, which is useful for planning long-term strategies. Battle precog allows you to see things accurately in the immediate future, allowing you to predict where and how your opponent will attack and defend and use that information to gain an advantage. Of course, there are degrees of precog. Sometimes it isn't always accurate, or provides limited information, so it's hardly a catchall defense to any attack, and usually not a substitute for an overwhelming speed advantage.
Long-term Precognition is also called Clairvoyance.
Examples of characters with precognition:
- Spider-Man from Marvel Comics (his spider-sense allows him to sense danger before it happens, and sometimes gives him more detailed information on how to avoid it)
- Atrocitus from DC Comics can use shamanistic magic to predict future events. He was one of the people who foretold the Blackest Night. In some versions, he also predicted Sinestro's fall from the Green Lantern Corps.
- Several characters and races from Doctor Who, a select few have perfect knowledge of the past, present, and future.
- Force Users from Star Wars (The Force allows for both long-range and battle precog, which is generally very accurate - The Force can even instruct someone on exactly what they are supposed to do to win; and a Force User does not have to be conscious to have the power active and it even has worked against actual lasers/masers)
- Many Psychic and Legendary Pokemon
- Eldar Farseers from Warhammer 40,000 (long - range precog can predict events accurately many thousands of years in advance)
- The Downstreamers from the Manifold Series (they basically have perfect knowledge of all possible timelines)
- Leto II Atreides from the Dune series (Long range precognition spanning millions of years of all the possible time lines)
- Uchihas from the Naruto (Short range ability that predicts bodily motion, not future events - based through muscle movement and chakra flow)
- Caerula Sanguis from the Battle Angel Alita series has a peculiar variation because she's so long-lived she can anticipate and "see" all possibilities pertaining to the fight.
- Dhomochevsky and Iko from the Blame! series. They predict fighters' attacks based on retinal movements and their own program algorithm.
- Vampires from Hellsing have the innate ability to predict the movement of humans.
- Kamijou Touma from ToAru has a form of battle precog that allows him to judge the severity of the attack coming towards him by the enemy's movements, and then move Imagine Breaker and the rest of his body to the best location to minimize the damage taken.
- In Fate/Stay Night all the Servants with high rank Instinct skill, especially Saber possess the "sixth sense" to predict incoming threats before they are coming and dodge attacks normally impossible to see or react to.
- Tsuna from Katekyo Hitman Reborn has "Hyper Intuition" which works by observing enemy movements and subconsciously predicting their next moves
- Many One Piece characters with Color of Observation Haki