History Main / TheChosenWannabe

* ''Literature/MyBrotherIsASuperhero:'' Luke, an obsessive fan of comic books, left his tree house for ''five minutes'' in order to go to the bathroom. During that time, an interdimensional alien showed up to give his nerdy older brother superpowers. [[spoiler:And at the end of the book, it happens ''again,'' with his friend Lara lucking out this time]].

* Connie Maheswaran from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' envies Steven's supposed "magical destiny" and wants to have one of her own, as seen with her interest in fantasy stories like "The Spirit Morph Saga". This never leads to any ill will between them, and she instead joins the Crystal Gems at her first opportunity.

* Syaoran Li of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' believes himself worthy of being Master of the Cards due to being a descendent of Clow Reed and seemingly being more competent than Sakura when they start off. He is never officially deemed a Cardcaptor like Sakura however and the cards' guardian, Keroberus clearly roots for Sakura and [[SitcomArchNemesis sees Syaoran as an interfering brat most of the time]]. This makes him TheRival for most of the early run (especially in the anime where he manages to capture cards regardless) however by the time of final judgement, Syaoran has become Sakura's close friend and accepts her as official master rather nonchalantly.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'': Tai Lung became a villain because it was decided he was too ambitious to be the Dragon Warrior.
** Tigress also seems resentful that she might have been chosen had Po not fallen into the courtyard during the ceremony. Although it's hinted that she wanted it more to earn her master's affection than just wanting the position.

* Fern from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' was a plant-based clone of Finn the Human born from the merging between the Finn-sword and the remains of his cursed grass-sword. He has all of Finn’s memories but lacks some of the more virtuous qualities that make Finn so beloved and heroic. After a while, he comes to realize that as long as Finn exists he will always be second best and tries imprisoning him and later tries killing him after he escapes.
* Connie Maheswaran from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' envies Steven's supposed "magical destiny" and wants to have one of her own, as seen with her interest in fantasy stories like "The Spirit Morph Saga".

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'', after he finds out that Jim took the mantle of [[TheChosenOne trollhunter]] instead of him after his father’s death, Draal does everything in his power to humiliate Jim. When Jim grows a pair and challenges him for a rematch, due to troll-kinds HonorBeforeReason culture, Draal uses this as an excuse to kill Jim in hopes of taking the amulet himself. It is not until [[DefeatMeansFriendship Jim spared his life does he realize that Jim was the honorable one]] and decides to help him instead.

* Syaoran Li of ''CardcaptorSakura'' believes himself worthy of being Master of the Cards due to being a descendent of Clow Reed and seemingly being more competent than Sakura when they start off. He is never officially deemed a Cardcaptor like Sakura however and the cards' guardian, Keroberus clearly roots for Sakura and [[SitcomArchNemesis sees Syaoran as an interfering brat most of the time]]. This makes him TheRival for most of the early run (especially in the anime where he manages to capture cards regardless) however by the time of final judgement, Syaoran has become Sakura's close friend and accepts her as official master rather nonchalantly.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' has Sunset Shimmer, who was being groomed to become an alicorn (and presumably royalty as well) until her impatience and arrogance caused her to dismissed by her teacher, after which she [[DimensionalTraveler goes to live in the human world]]. She returns years later in order to gain the power she feels she should have received, which had since gone to series protagonist Twilight Sparkle. After being defeated, Sunset abandons this mindset to stay in the human world and devote herself to becoming TheAtoner, becoming the embodiment of a then-unknown seventh EmbodimentOfVirtue in the process.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicEquestriaGirls'' has Sunset Shimmer, who was being groomed to become an alicorn (and presumably royalty as well) until her impatience and arrogance caused her to dismissed by her teacher, after which she [[DimensionalTraveler goes to live in the human world]]. She returns years later in order to gain the power she feels she should have received, which had since gone to series protagonist Twilight Sparkle. After being defeated, Sunset abandons this mindset to stay in the human world and devote herself to becoming TheAtoner.

-->-- '''Boromir''', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', trying to take the One Ring from Frodo.

Compare and Contrast TheUnchosenOne (which is a character not chosen but takes and earns the mantle anyway), UnfitForGreatness (character is given a status but blows it).

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' the Targaryen dynasty is trying for years to fulfill the prophecy of the "prince that was promise". Rhaegar Targaryen believed that he was destined to be this, and tries to fulfill it by taking Lyanna Stark as a second wife. His action sparked a massive war that plunged the Seven Kingdoms into war, and destroyed the Targaryen dynasty.
* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', Clip introduces himself as the Mortal Sword of the Black-Winged Lord in ''Literature/ReapersGale'', a status he claims has been sanctioned by the Wizards of the Andara. A rather ambiguous claim, considering the Black-Winged Lord denies his worshippers, never mind appointing anyone to anything. On the other hand, he ''is'' able to open gates into Darkness, something not even his god's brother, Silchas Ruin, is able to do anymore. Nonetheless, when it becomes obvious that nobody is buying his claim, he switches locations and proceeds to introduce himself as the Herald of Mother Dark to Nimander and his followers. It goes down roughly as well as his previous claim. Still, there's his ability to open gates, and Silchas Ruin himself asserts that Clip is the Mortal Sword of Darkness, neither confirming nor disproving Clip's claims entirely. He clearly has some affinity to Darkness, and possibly a role to play in the bigger picture, yet his contant, insistent claims of being TheChosenOne come off as IJustWantToBeSpecial.

-->-- '''Boromir''', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': Rikku in the first game declares that Sora isn't worthy to be the keyblade wielder. It looks like this is the case when he seems to take it from Sora [[spoiler:but then it seems the keyblade was just giving Sora a SecretTestOfCharacter and returned to Sora after he passed it. This is well before it turns out there are many keyblades, and Rikku does become a keyblade master a few games later]].

Sometimes they will try to take the status of Chosen for themselves, particularly if this status is granted by a material thing (PowerGem, RingOfPower, etc.). Sometimes they will try this by force, but usually it's through other means, often allying themselves with the villains (foolishly thinking the bad guys won't simply use this opportunity to take the Chosen status for them instead).

* In the final "Hell" sequence in ''Videogame/BaldursGate II: Shadows of Amn'', the shade of Sarevok is really pissed that he's not the one who gained the ability to turn into the Slayer (or something). "It should have been I! '''It should have been I! ATTACK ME, WORM, IF YOU DARE!'''" On the other hand, this is {{averted}} in ''Throne of Bhaal'' when he's resurrected and offers to join the player's party. He thought that he was the centre of the prophecy of Alaundo, but now that he knows he's not, he's willing to fight alongside the one who really is.

* In the final "Hell" sequence in ''Videogame/BaldursGate II: Shadows of Amn'', the shade of Sarevok is really pissed that he's not the one who gained the ability to turn into the Slayer (or something). "It should have been I! '''It should have been I!''' ATTACK ME, WORM, IF YOU DARE!" On the other hand, this is {{averted}} in ''Throne of Bhaal'' when he's resurrected and offers to join the player's party. He thought that he was the centre of the prophecy of Alaundo, but now that he knows he's not, he's willing to fight alongside the one who really is.

* The "Slayer's Handbook" for the ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' RPG includes the "Slayer Poseur" template, which is basically a slayer wannabe.

-->-- '''Borimir''', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' Borimir wants to help his people, as they are all but under siege against the forces of Mordor. He feels if he had the ring he could use it to save his land. The ring then uses its corrupting influence to drive him slowly mad with this obsession (although he gets over it when Frodo runs away and the ring's power isn't affecting him).