History Main / TheUnchosenOne

* ''Discworld/IShallWearMidnight'' : [[spoiler: Eskarina Smith]] says this of Tiffany. Apparently the only thing Tiffany was born with a natural gift for is making cheese, but seeing old Mrs. Snapperly cast out of her home and allowed to freeze and starve to death by people who thought she was a witch made Tiffany determined to make sure it never happened again -- what better way to do that than by becoming a real one?

* ''Discworld/IShallWearMidnight'' : [[spoiler: Eskarina Smith]] says this Tiffany is. Apparently the only thing Tiffany was born with a natural gift for is making cheese, but seeing old Mrs. Snapperly cast out of her home and allowed to freeze and starve to death by people who thought she was a witch made Tiffany determined to make sure it never happened again -- what better way to do that than by becoming a real one?

* ''Discworld/IShallWearMidnight'' : [[spoiler: Eskarina says that Tiffany is: "I said you weren't ''born'' with a talent for witchcraft: it didn't come easily; you worked hard at it because you wanted it. You forced the world to give it to you, no matter the price, and the price is and will always be, high. [ ... ] People say you don't find witchcraft; witchcraft finds you. But you've found it, even if at the time you didn't know what it was you were finding, and you grabbed it by its scrawny neck and made it work for you." Apparently the only thing Tiffany was born with a natural gift for is making cheese, but seeing old Mrs. Snapperly cast out of her home and allowed to freeze and starve to death by people who thought she was a witch made Tiffany determined to make sure it never happened again -- what better way to do that than by becoming a real one?]]

*** While I did indeed "know that already", I must admit, in all fairness one should concede that had just about any other.
*** Neville, of course, is the ultimate Unchosen One---especially interesting because, when it was first made, the prophecy could have referred to him ''or'' Harry, but was definitely placed on the latter when Voldemort tried to kill him. Nevertheless Neville grows from a whimpering ButtMonkey in the first book to a [[TakeALevelInBadass badass]] [[LaResistance resistance]] leader in the last one, through sheer character and will rather than prophecy or even magical talent (of which he has little). He also [[spoiler:plays a pivotal role in Harry's ultimate victory. If Neville hadn't destroyed the final horcrux, Voldemort would have survived the final battle]].
**** Neville actually has a fair bit of talent. He's shown early on as a skilled herbologist. In his fifth year, he breaks his wand, which we later learn had in fact been his father's. Despite the fact it hadn't actually been his wand, he had already shown quite a bit of skill in the battle at the ministry. This only improves with his replacement wand, which he actually owns. We also learn that his grandmother is not helpful for his self-esteem; she compares him to his parents, highly gifted and fully trained aurors. Between getting his own wand and his grandmother being reminded that he is not his parents, he is able to put his talents toward other branches of magic.

* In DragonballZ Goku [[MostTriumphantExample is the best example]].for numeorous reasons:
##He was born with a power level of 1, and nobody tough he was going to achieve anything(including his own father).
##He was the son of a nobody (a low class warrior)
##He was supposed to conquer earth instead of saving it.
##He is, as a matter of fact classified as a "low class warrior"
##He saved the earth while the "real chosen ones" couldn't: Vegeta a saiyan prince and an elite warrior against Frieza and his son Gohan in his ultimate form gifted with "hidden powers" against majin buu.
##Even his creator AkiraToriyama intended to replace him with Gohan (the real chosen one).Because he was always hinted of having "hidden powers").
##His real destiny was to die from a hearth atack.[[spoiler:and he did die from a hearth attack in the main timeline were future trunks comes from.]]
##He only won 1 Budokai tenkaichi despite being the main character
##All his fights with {{BigBad}}s were supposed to be hopeless.And yet with his ward work he always trained and surpased even the god´s expectations expectations.
##Everything he achived could be done by any saiyan.What made him special was his hard work.

* In DragonballZ Goku [[MostTriumphantExample is the best example]].for numeorous reasons:
##He was born with a power level of 1, and nobody tough he was going to achieve anything(including his own father).
##He was the son of a nobody (a low class warrior)
##He was supposed to conquer earth instead of saving it.
##He is, as a matter of fact classified as a "low class warrior"
##He saved the earth while the "real chosen ones" couldn't: Vegeta a saiyan prince and an elite warrior against Frieza and his son Gohan in his ultimate form gifted with "hidden powers" against majin buu.
##Even his creator AkiraToriyama intended to replace him with Gohan (the real chosen one).Because he was always hinted of having "hidden powers").
##His real destiny was to die from a hearth atack.[[spoiler:and he did die from a hearth attack in the main timeline were future trunks comes from.]]
##He only won 1 Budokai tenkaichi despite being the main character
##All his fights with {{BigBad}}s were supposed to be hopeless.And yet with his ward work he always trained and surpased even the god´s expectations expectations.
##Everything he achived could be done by any saiyan.What made him special was his hard work.

#He was born with a power level of 1, and nobody tough he was going to achieve anything(including his own father).
#He was the son of a nobody (a low class warrior)
#He was supposed to conquer earth instead of saving it.
#He is, as a matter of fact classified as a "low class warrior"
#He saved the earth while the "real chosen ones" couldn't: Vegeta a saiyan prince and an elite warrior against Frieza and his son Gohan in his ultimate form gifted with "hidden powers" against majin buu.
#Even his creator AkiraToriyama intended to replace him with Gohan (the real chosen one).Because he was always hinted of having "hidden powers").
#His real destiny was to die from a hearth atack.[[spoiler:and he did die from a hearth attack in the main timeline were future trunks comes from.]]
#He only won 1 Budokai tenkaichi despite being the main character
#All his fights with {{BigBad}}s were supposed to be hopeless.And yet with his ward work he always trained and surpased even the god´s expectations expectations.
#Everything he achived could be done by any saiyan.What made him special was his hard work.

#He was born with a power level of 1, and nobody tough he was going to achive anything(including his own father).

#He was suposed to conquer earth instead of saving it.
#He is as a matter of fact classified as a "low class warrior"
#He saved the earth while the "real chosen ones" couldnt: Vegeta an elite warrior against frieza and his son gohan in his ultimate form gifted with "hidden powers" against majin buu.
#Even his crator AkiraToriyama intended to replace him with Gohan (the real choosen one , becuase he was always hinted of having "hidden powers").
#His real destiny was to die from a hearth atack.[[spoiler:and he did die from a hearth atack in the main timeline were future trunks comes from]]

#All his fights with {{BigBad}}s were supposed to be hopeless.And yet with his ward work he always trained and surpased everyone`s espectations.

#Even his crator AkiraToriyama intended to replace him with Gohan.
#His real destiny was to die from a hearth atack.

#Even his crator AkiraToriyama intended to replace him with Gohan and he always saved the day.

#No one realy asked him to defeat the BigBad and yet he did.

->'''Harry Potter:''' ''But, sir, it all comes to the same thing, doesn't it? I've got to try and kill him, or-''
->'''Albus Dumbledore:''' ''Got to? Of course you've got to! But not because of the prophecy! Because you, yourself, will never rest until you've tried! We both know it! Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard the prophecy! How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!''
->'''Harry:''' ''...I'd want him finished. And I'd want to do it.''
-->--''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]''

* As shown in the second page quote, this is played with in the ''HarryPotter'' series. Harry absolutely is TheChosenOne... but he doesn't like it, pointing out quite astutely that "destiny says I have to commit murder or die in agony" is a ''really bad destiny''. Dumbledore responds by making Harry into an Unchosen One in ''[[{{HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince}} The Half-Blood Prince]]''. He makes Harry realize that the prophecy marking him as TheChosenOne doesn't mean a thing and that, while Voldemort ''will'' continue to try and kill Harry because ''he'' believes in the prophecy, it is Harry's decision, and his alone, to stand up to him. Harry's happier once he realizes that he personally wants to take Voldemort down and would have done it anyway.
** A lot of people were convinced that Harry and Neville would turn out to have their chosen/unchosen roles reversed in truth. [[TheUntwist Turns out,]] [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready not so much.]]

* Though she's certainly [[TheChosenOne the Chosen One]] for a lot of other junk in Arcadia, [[spoiler: April Ryan turns out to NOT be the next Guardian]] in [[TheLongestJourney The Longest Journey]]. [[spoiler: Her job turns out to just be finding the old one, which is pretty damn important in itself.]]

* Simon from ''TengenToppaGurrenLagaan'' is a rather good example. He was just a kid with the right stuff who was lucky enough to stumble across the right mecha at the right time.

*** Lloyd technically doesn't count here. Sure, Collette and Zelos are Chosen Ones, but they were chosen to continue the mana cycle and provide a body for Marta. Lloyd didn't take up what they were doing, he did his own thing.

***Neville, of course, is the ultimate Unchosen One---especially interesting because, when it was first made, the prophecy could have referred to him ''or'' Harry, but was definitely placed on the latter when Voldemort tried to kill him. Nevertheless Neville grows from a whimpering ButtMonkey in the first book to a [[TakeALevelInBadass badass]] [[LaResistance resistance]] leader in the last one, through sheer character and will rather than prophecy or even magical talent (of which he has little).