History Main / AProtagonistShallLeadThem

* Aang of WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender. All Avatars have this, as it is their job to 'keep the balance of the world', but Aang in particular as he must end 100 years of war.

* Thrall is this for the Horde in ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]'' and ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.

* Despite Castiel's many missteps, the angels of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' continue to asks him to lead them.

* Despite Castiel's many missteps, the angels of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' continue to asks him to lead them.

* Usagi of ''SailorMoon'' will become this in 1000 years when she becomes Neo-Queen Serenity.

* Belgarion, when he becomes Overlord of the West in ''TheBelgariad''.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Harriet Jones, prime minister. Though she's only "chosen" by the fact that The Doctor knows 21st Century British future-history, she was credited in that history with stepping from the ashes of The Christmas Invasion and bringing Brittan through a golden age. [[spoiler: How much of that actually came to pass before she pisses The Doctor off in the next Christmas special and he changes that history, well...]]

* Shepard of ''MassEffect'' is another combination of this trope and MessianicArchetype. Of course, the definition of who exactly s/he is defending varies with Paragon and Renegade.

OlderThanFeudalism. May overlap with TheParagon. If the people are pressed by a foreign power, the heroic leader may become part of LaResistance. His story will frequently include an AwesomeMomentOfCrowning. When a secondary hero rather than the protagonist is the leader, its a SupportingLeader.

* Aragorn from ''TheLordOfTheRings''
* The Pevensies and later Prince Caspian in ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia''

* Paul Atreides in ''{{Dune}}''.

* The protagonist of ''DragonAge'' is another. You spend most of the game trying to unite everyone in the land against the Darkspawn invasion.

* Arren/Lebannen from the [[EarthseaTrilogy Earthsea]] novel ''The Farthest Shore''

* Dreamy Smurf in ''TheSmurfs'' who dreams of being taken to the land of the Pookies where his SecondComing portends a deliverance from the tyrannical Norf Nags.

* Played with in LawrenceWattEvans' ''Touched by the Gods'': Malledd is chosen by the gods to lead his people, but nobody, including Malledd, knows he's the ChosenOne. He ends up [[spoiler:leading accidentally but never actually becoming king, because he doesn't want to]].

* The Nerevarine from TheElderScrolls fits both this and MessianicArchetype pretty well. His background and predicted traits fit right in with the Jewish messiah, and the way s/he turns out to be is more like the Christian notion (i.e., didn't come to wipe out all the occupying foreigners and restore ethnic purity after all).

* Sheridan from ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'' leads the fight both against the corrupt President Clarke, and also [[AbusivePrecursors the Shadows and the Vorlons]].

* Eragon from ''TheInheritanceCycle'' fits the "leader of LaResistance" type. His cousin Roran does this on a smaller scale, literally leading his village out of the Empire.

* Neo, "The One" of ''TheMatrix'' is a weaker example than you might think originally (based on details from the 2nd film). He ''is'' a prophesied savior whose "return" raised morale and inspired humanity in their fight for survival, but he is not actually the leader of Zion nor does he hold any actual formal authority. In fact, he's overridden (and outranked) by individual captains on a few occasions.

* In ''TheWheelOfTime'', a good chunk of the prophecies surrounding The Dragon Reborn and Rand Al'Thor talks about this kind of stuff.

* Thrall is this for the Horde in ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]'' and ''WorldOfWarcraft''.

[[AC:Western Animation]]

* William Wallace in ''{{Braveheart}}''.

A HeroicArchetype of a character, frequently a ChosenOne who rises out of adversity to unite and lead his people. The people in question also tend to be threatened; by disunity, by the BigBad, by being a dying civilization, or other variations on the theme "their hour of greatest need". Through the leadership of the hero, the people see a considerable boost in quality of life and a renewed sense of pride and masses will flock to his banner.

In a sense, this is a much older interpretation of the MessianicArchetype - you could call this the Destined Leader Archetype. Before Christianity came along and gave us what most westerners understand as the Messiah with love and self-sacrifice, the Jewish people understood Messiah to mean "someone who will come in our time of need and unite the tribes of Israel" (because that's what the Bible [[CaptainObvious said he would be]]). It's not impossible or unheard of for the two to overlap.

!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]

* Initially, Kenji of ''TwentiethCenturyBoys'' is set up to be this. [[spoiler:It's only in the final arc that it comes to fruition.]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Aragorn from ''TheLordOfTheRings''

* KingArthur

* Referenced in an IsaacAsimov story, "Robot Dreams", where a robot has this kind of messianic dreams (complete with references to the story of Moses). [[ShootTheDog Susan Calvin shoots him in the head.]]

* Eragon from ''TheInheritanceCycle'' fits the "leader of LaResistance" type. His cousin Roran does this on a smaller scale, literally leading his village out of the Empire.

* Belgarion, when he becomes Overlord of the West in ''TheBelgariad''.
* In Sax Rohmer's ''The Mask of FuManchu'' the eponymous YellowPeril villain seeks to pass himself off as the prophesied "Masked Prophet" who will unite all Asiatic peoples (Arabs, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, ''etc.'') against the hated white race. This ''may'' have been suggested to Rohmer by the general British understanding of the Islamic idea of the Mahdi, which became widespread in Rohmer's boyhood.
* Played with in LawrenceWattEvans' ''Touched by the Gods'': Malledd is chosen by the gods to lead his people, but nobody, including Malledd, knows he's the ChosenOne. He ends up [[spoiler:leading accidentally but never actually becoming king, because he doesn't want to]].

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

* Pres. Laura Roslin from ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]''.
* Sheridan from ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'' leads the fight both against the corrupt President Clarke, and also [[AbusivePrecursors the Shadows and the Vorlons]].

* Many in the Hebrew [[Literature/TheBible scriptures]]:
** Moses
** King Saul and his successors David and Solomon.
** The Macabees.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

* Aang of WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender. All Avatars have this, as it is their job to 'keep the balance of the world', but Aang in particular as he must end 100 years of war.

* ''MegaManX'' ends up in this role. Unfortunately, being near-immortal and fighting the never-ending battle with no help pretty much tore his psyche up, making up half of his motivation for a HeroicSacrifice. His replacement then helps steer everything into hell.

* Sheridan from ''{{Babylon 5}}'' leads the fight both against the corrupt President Clarke, and also [[AbusivePrecursors the Shadows and the Vorlons]].

* Many in the Hebrew [[TheBible scriptures]]:

One of TheOldestOnesInTheBook, a HeroicArchetype of a character, frequently a ChosenOne who rises out of adversity to unite and lead his people. The people in question also tend to be threatened; by disunity, by the BigBad, by being a dying civilization, or other variations on the theme "their hour of greatest need". Through the leadership of the hero, the people see a considerable boost in quality of life and a renewed sense of pride and masses will flock to his banner.

May overlap with TheParagon. If the people are pressed by a foreign power, the heroic leader may become part of LaResistance. His story will frequently include an AwesomeMomentOfCrowning. When a secondary hero rather than the protagonist is the leader, its a SupportingLeader.