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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 7 | [[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kfp.png]]]] [[caption-width-right:350:"The universe has brought us the Dragon Warrior!'']] |
| 8 | |
| 9 | ->'''Lana:''' So how is it that you're important enough to know about this prophecy, huh?!\ |
| 10 | '''Turrick:''' I wrote it. |
| 11 | -->-- ''Webcomic/AntiHeroes'' |
| 12 | |
| 13 | [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like the name says]], The Chooser of The One is the character who finds and chooses TheChosenOne. The Chooser can go about this a few different ways. They may possess a [[FateAndProphecyTropes book or prophecy]] that describes TheChosenOne, or a means of picking them out of a crowd, or they may be a prophet or seer of some kind who can [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling sense]] the One. Once found or selected, the chooser may take on the role of {{Mentor}} and start training them, tell them of their destiny, or simply deliver the CallToAdventure and hope they [[JumpedAtTheCall accept it]]. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Sometimes, the Chooser isn't charged with finding ''the'' One, so much as finding ''a'' One. The Chooser essentially looks for someone with the skills to fill a job description (defeating the BigBad, saving the world, etc) and goes with their gut rather than on divine mandate. A knight searching for someone to TakeUpMySword may simply look for anyone who has the right [[HorsebackHeroism amount]] (get it?) of [[HeroicBystander pluck and decency]]. In these cases the person picked may be more of an UnchosenOne who chooses to create their destiny rather than sit by passively. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | If the Chooser is a god or EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity they may do the designating themselves rather than via prophecy, SuperEmpowering the chosen from a complete random {{Muggle}} into the One. Other possible Choosers are SentientPhlebotinum, an EmpathicWeapon, or {{God}}(s). |
| 18 | |
| 19 | A common variation on this is a ProphecyTwist where the antagonist tries to make it impossible for a prophecy about their downfall to be fulfilled and in the process accidentally creates an opposing Chosen One. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Because of this potential for plot induced randomness, there can be an exploration of the true nature of heroism as something innate or [[ActionSurvivor vocational]], and destiny as [[YouCantFightFate immutable]] or [[ScrewDestiny malleable]]. It's possible that the Chooser could invoke a sort of {{Koan}} and claim that the mere act of choosing someone is meaningless, rather the [[PowerOfTrust faith and trust]] of the chosen paves their path... or that there is no randomness, only destiny. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Compare and contrast ThePresentsWereNeverFromSanta, which is when a character thinks they have supernatural aid or a helper, but don't. |
| 24 | ---- |
| 25 | !!Examples: |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 30 | * The Godhand of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' are malevolent examples, as they choose people to become demons through the process of Causality. |
| 31 | * In ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', Clow Reed knew that Kero and Yue would have trouble accepting a new master after he died, so to make sure they ended up with one they could both approve of, he split the task of appointing his successor between them. Kero would nominate a likely candidate, and Yue would test their worthiness once they had [[GottaCatchEmAll gathered all of the Clow Cards]]. |
| 32 | * In ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'', Chii is responsible for choosing ''The One Just For Me'' which beyond simple happiness for her and that one, activates a potentially dangerous program. |
| 33 | * ''Manga/DevilsAndRealist'': The protagonist William Twining is the elector, the one to choose [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils a demon to rule hell]] once [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] dies. He [[RefusalOfTheCall has no interest in this]], but the demons keep finding him anyway. |
| 34 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': |
| 35 | ** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Phantom Blood]]'': Zeppeli is a master of Hamon and trains Jonathan into a hardened Hamon user in a matter of days after choosing him to be the one who will defeat Dio. |
| 36 | ** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'': Polpo presents all potential Passione members with a lighter and orders them to keep it continuously lit for 24 hours. The flame is very weak, so it's likely to go out if not guarded carefully at all times. If the person relights it after it goes out, Black Sabbath appears, stabs them with the Stand Arrow, and says: |
| 37 | -->'''Black Sabbath:''' You relit the lighter, didn't you? I'll give you one more chance. You have two possible paths. The first path is to live and become a chosen one. Your only other path is death. |
| 38 | * ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' is strange in that being TheChooserOfTheOne is like being TheChosenOne. The Chooser, the Magi, is meant to select the next king who will lead the people to greatness. Aladdin, the main character, is [[spoiler: one of four]] Magi. [[spoiler: The others are Judar, Scheherazade, and Yunan]]. |
| 39 | * ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', William pulled a CreateYourOwnHero on Sherlock Holmes and chose him specifically to be the hero to his villain. |
| 40 | * In ''Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' the Holy Beast is born when the world will soon face a great disaster. Once matured it seeks out the one destined to fight against the disaster and accompanies them. [[spoiler:Its choice is not set, as it chose Lara Greyrate in this timeline but a different individual in previous iterations where she did not exist]]. |
| 41 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': |
| 42 | ** All Might aka Toshinori Yagi is the current user of a transferable quirk, One For All, that stockpiles the force of all previous users when given to the next one. He chooses the protagonist, Midoriya, to be the one to receive his power and the next one in the MasterApprenticeChain that exists with the power. |
| 43 | ** All Might's own predecessor and master, Nana Shimura, also chose and trained him to be her successor. Notably, she was technically the first holder of One For All to succeed in doing this. The other bearers before her simply passed on the quirk to one of their remaining surviving companions in their dying moments before All For One finished them off. There wasn't much of a "choice" there aside from ensuring the Quirk could continue on and hopefully grow stronger with each new bearer. |
| 44 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Jiraiya was destined to train the "Child of Prophecy" who would bring a great revolution to the shinobi world. Considering all of his other candidates/trainees are now dead and neither has happened yet, the titular character is now the one by default. Though he did consider Naruto TheChosenOne anyway even when one of his students, Nagato, who wielded the Rinnegan, was still alive. |
| 45 | * In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', plays around with this on several levels. The protagonist, Shinji Ikari starts out being choosen to pilot one of the HumongousMecha known as the "Evangelions". However, it is very quickly established that Shinji has the title of the "Third Child", and is just one of TheChosenMany and that the Chooser in this instance is the Marduk Institute, an organisation under the UN that picks potential Evangelion pilots. However, [[spoiler:it is later revealed that the Marduk Institute doesn't actually exist, but is a front organization for NERV, and by extension [[AncientConspiracy SEELE]], set up to cover for the fact that there is actually no real selection process for the pilots. As it turns out, every single one of Shinji's classmates are potential pilots, and they all are either explicitly said or at the very least heavily implied to have a MissingMom. It turns out that it is the later that makes them potential Evangelion pilots, as the Evangelions are controlled by the strong bound between mother and child, by having the soul of said mother placed in an Evangelion to properly power it]]. The ultimate truth, however, is that [[spoiler:Shinji ''actually'' is the Chosen One, and it was his mother, Yui Ikari, that was the Chooser. By willingly letting her soul get absorbed into an Evangelion, and thereby arranging for Shinji to be an Evangelion pilot, she threw the proverbial wrench in SEELE's AssimilationPlot, by making sure it was Shinji, and not them who would be in the place to be the final arbiter of humanity's fate]]. |
| 46 | * In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', the regional Professors are this, as anyone who ends up with a Pokedex is practically guaranteed a life of danger and fighting against evil. Humorously, a couple of the Pokedexes don't end up with the ones the professors originally intended (theft, loss, mixups), but things wind up working out eventually. Frankly, it doesn't matter who the professors choose; the Dexes will end up in the hands of exceptional trainers. |
| 47 | * Many of the heroines in the ''Anime/PrettyCure'' series are chosen by the fairy companions. Of course, there are a number of exceptions: |
| 48 | ** Nozomi of ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' chose her teammates and events conspired to make sure they did join in. |
| 49 | ** The [[Anime/FreshPrettyCure Pickrun Akarun]] [[ScreeningTheCall couldn't choose its user]] because [[spoiler:Eas was still evil]]. |
| 50 | ** [[Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure Potpourri]], being a baby fairy, kept choosing other people before ultimately finding his true partner. |
| 51 | ** [[Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure Hime]] was given an item to find her next partner. But, she didn't know how to work it, so she threw it randomly and chose the first person it hit. |
| 52 | * [[MentorMascot Kyubey]] from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' [[spoiler: is a rare [[BigBad malevolent]] example, as they deliberately set the heroes they choose onto a path [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption that will inevitably lead to their destruction]].]] |
| 53 | * In ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' it is eventually revealed that while a ritual must be performed to summon wielders of the Legendary Weapons, the Weapons themselves choose their wielder. The reason [[ThePoorlyChosenOne Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu perform so poorly]] is that summoning all the Heroes in a single ritual interfered with the selection process. While the Shield was able to choose its ideal wielder, the other Weapons had to make due with lesser candidates. |
| 54 | * The ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' TRY plays with it when Lina is approached by the dragon priestess Filia to save the world from destruction. Lina brags about how OF COURSE she'd come to her first, but at this point, the priestess announces that Lina was actually their second choice... with the first one being her ''much feared'' big sister Luna, who told Filia to go to Lina and tell her to take the "job". |
| 55 | * Directly invoked in ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' -- Akihiko, who programmed the titular VR-MMO and turned it into a [[TheMostDangerousVideoGame deathtrap]] also programmed the system to automatically assign the unique DualWielding skill to whatever player had the [[FragileSpeedster highest reaction-speed rating]] -- making them TheChosenOne by default, since they'd stand a much better chance of reaching the FinalBoss (himself) than any other player. Kirito -- the main character and TheChosenOne -- eventually becomes aware of this, and in a later arc, uses it to deduce that a fearsome fighter in the ''Alfheim Online'' VR-MMO isn't one of the survivors of SAO like many assumed -- since her reaction-speed is faster than his, ''she'' would have been designated as TheChosenOne if she'd been there, instead of him. |
| 56 | * ''Anime/TweenyWitches'': [[spoiler:Sigma]] chooses Arusu to be the one who fulfills [[spoiler:his father's]] prophecy by saving the Magical Realm. |
| 57 | * Kirin in ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'' choose each nation's king. The real deciders are gods, but the kirin never make a mistake, even if they think they did. |
| 58 | * In ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', a devil named Dokuro Skull needed to find a way to save [[DarkIsNotEvil New Hell]] from a [[ReligionOfEvil cult of evil demons]]. The odds were very bad, so she set-up events so that out of all the possible futures, ones where the world was saved would send back a messenger to help her make that particular future come true by creating a StableTimeLoop. Just in case the messenger turned out to be evil, she created an AlternateSelf to act as a watchman, judging the messenger's trustworthiness. The alternate Dokuro ultimately chose Keima to be the one to save New Hell. |
| 59 | [[/folder]] |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 62 | * This is Sunspot's role in the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'' reboot of ''ComicBook/NewAvengers2015'' -- through the reformed (and hopefully good) A.I.M. Corporation, he seeks out people he feel is ready to carry the title of "Avenger" No more [[ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative initiatives]], no more [[ComicBook/AvengersAcademy academies]], just people who have done the hero thing long enough to step it up. |
| 63 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Birthright}}'', the Chooser is Rook, a TokenHeroicOrc who plucks young Mikey Rhodes from his life on Earth according to an ancient prophecy that he will one day free the land of Terrenos from [[EvilOverlord God-King Lore]]. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, Rook was unaware that the prophecy was just recycled from an older version that placed ''Lore himself'' as the hero who saved Terrenos before he turned evil. And even the updated version only says that the summoning of the ChosenOne will "lead to" Lore's defeat, not necessarily that he will do it himself.]] |
| 64 | * The incumbent Sorcerer Supreme has at least some say in who becomes the next to hold the office. In Comicbook/DoctorStrange stories, the Ancient One guards the office and determines who is worthy to hold it, despite having died and become [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence one with Eternity]] many years before. |
| 65 | * Franchise/{{Green Lantern}}s are chosen by their ring for their ability to overcome great fear. Usually the living planet Mogo adds in a moral component to the criteria so villains who can overcome great fear aren't chosen. Later Hal Jordan destroyed the corps and all but one of the Guardians of the Universe, Ganthet. He forged one last ring and chose the next, last Lantern on his own and almost seemingly at random with a glib "You'll have to do." Years later, after Kyle relit the [[PowerCrystal Central Power Battery]] and resurrected the Guardians, Ganthet had this to say: |
| 66 | -->'''Ganthet''': You, my boy, my last lantern ... you have always been my greatest hope.\ |
| 67 | '''Kyle Rayner''': No kidding? When you gave me that ring you said "you shall have to do."\ |
| 68 | '''Ganthet''': I don't remember anything like that -- I have always had the greatest faith in you.\ |
| 69 | '''Kyle Rayner''': Sounding like a parent already. |
| 70 | * ''Comicbook/{{PS238}}'' has a Chooser who is a ChosenOne himself--apparently, whoever gets the TimeTravel superpower is destined to discover the Castle Outside of Time and Space, and whoever does that gets to pick out the person who will [[spoiler:decide whether or not to make superpowers permanent]]. Tom, the current Chooser, picks [[spoiler:[[MuggleBornOfMages Tyler]]]]. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': |
| 72 | ** In ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}},'' [[EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep the Wizard]] (aka, Shazam) chooses which Champion to give his powers to. His first choice, [[BloodKnight Black Adam]], went rather badly. He spent the next 5,000 years looking for someone who was [[IncorruptiblePurePureness completely pure of heart]], and wound up with [[ChildrenAreInnocent Billy Batson]], who was a much better choice. |
| 73 | ** In the ComicBook/{{New 52}}, Billy is [[AdaptationPersonalityChange decidedly not pure of heart]], but convinces Shazam that someone like that can't really exist; in this case, Billy is chosen for being "[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold pure enough]]." |
| 74 | * ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'': In ''ComicBook/UltimateOrigins'' the Watchers of the Universe announce that VaguenessIsComing and that they have chosen a herald to help with the upcoming crisis. [[spoiler:It is Rick Jones]]. He helped during the "Ultimate Enemy" arc. |
| 75 | [[/folder]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 78 | * ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' sets the [[LegacyCharacter Gaea Everfree]] in this role. For generations they acted as retainers for the Equestria Girl World's equivilent to the Elements of Harmony until a generation or time would come that the rightful Bearers of the Elements could be found. Their connection allowed the Retainers to use some of the Element's magic, but never as much as the Bearers could. |
| 79 | * ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Doctor Strange function as this, thanks to his abilities as [[TimeMaster time-traveller]], enormously powerful {{Seer|s}}, and world class MagnificentBastard, all as part of his grand plan to stop Thanos. He explicitly notes in the sequel that he could have arranged the powers and even the friends/relations that Harry has for more or less anyone, but he chose Harry specifically, on the grounds that he's TheHero ''in spite'' of his powers, not ''because'' of them. It's also made very clear that while Harry is his main focus, far from the only, and certainly not the first, example of this trope, because Strange has been doing this for a ''very'' long time. |
| 80 | * ''Fanfic/CyberpunkAnotherDaybreak'': Aruto picks David as the Kamen Rider of Night City and passes the Cyclone Rider on to him under the pretense of it being a mislabeled shipment. |
| 81 | * In ''Fanfic/{{Glowworm}}'', Shazam selects Taylor as a worthy champion after she offers him her umbrella and some company despite him being a perfect stranger to her. |
| 82 | * ''Fanfic/HonokasBizarreAdventure'': A pink-and-black automatic Stand carrying a Stand Arrow travels across Tokyo, locating people with strong fighting spirit [[SuperEmpowering and piercing them with the arrow to give them Stands]]. The choice of who gets the Stand is regardless of the person's age, gender, and morality, so alongside the heroic girls from [[Anime/LoveLive µ's]] like Honoka, Hanayo, Rin, and [[spoiler:Eli]], most of their antagonists also received their powers in the same way. |
| 83 | * ''Fanfic/JusticeLeagueOfTheRebellion'': [[Anime/CodeGeass Kallen Kouzuki]] is selected by the wizard to weild the power of Shazam at the recommendation of the Spectre, [[spoiler:whose current host is her dead brother Naoto]]. |
| 84 | * In ''Fanfic/KurAndTheCrown'', the Crown of Fire selects who will be the next Ghost King. Its selection is ultimately based upon how [[spoiler:Danny ''wasn't'' tempted by its powers during his battle with Pariah, tossing it aside without even considering trying to use it]]. |
| 85 | * ''Fanfic/OfSnowflakesAndDragonsFire'': Lyarra not only has the responsibility of selecting the next ruler of Albion, but of ensuring their survival. |
| 86 | * In ''Fanfic/OnceUponAHandplate'', Noelle's children Sam and Piper are the ones who learn what happened and deliver the CallToAdventure to their mother. |
| 87 | * ''Fanfic/ParallelLegends'': When Link fully embraces his destiny as TheChosenOne, he cites Zelda as the one who selected him, describing her as the "incarnation of wisdom, living legend of this world". |
| 88 | * ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': Unlike canon, where Master Fu was responsible for choosing who would become a Miraculous holder, here, the Kwamis choose who is worthy of wielding them. Though as Hawk Moth shows, they can apparently still make mistakes or get captured by villains, whichever happened here. The Guardians still existed in the past, [[AdaptedOut but are seemingly not around anymore in the present]]. The last time that Tikki can confirm that they were active as when her last bearer before Marinette, Jeann d'Arc, died, but that's still a 600-year time gap where they could have died. |
| 89 | * ''Fanfic/AMothToAFlame'': The Core wanted the best and brightest for its potential host, and selected Marcy after she defeated King Andrias at Flipwart. [[spoiler:Unlike canon, [[FallenHero Marcy]] is all on board with it.]] |
| 90 | -->'''Andrias''': Our lord has craved [a host] for so long, and it wanted the best, the smartest... and then you, a Wu, arrived in Amphibia. When you beat me in Flipwart, that sealed the deal. |
| 91 | * ''Fanfic/CodeGeassReverse'': The Code Bearer [=VV=] in the RoleSwapAU is an ancient former king of the Holy Britannian Empire, who [[DefectorFromDecadence left Brittiania out of disgust from his successors]] and seeks to find a worthy new ruler. A commoner descendant named Charles and a Chinese man implied to be Xing Ke were each chosen, but [=VV=] found Charles [[ThePoorlyChosenOne to be just as unworthy as the original royals]] while Xing Ke was deemed not worthy enough. However, he manages to find potential success with the vi Britannian siblings in Tokyo and gives the eldest, Nunnally, her own Geass. |
| 92 | * In ''Fanfic/{{Mortified}}'', the Core selects who has "the right to rule" and potentially become the next Ghost King/Queen. Earning this regard typically means completing at least one great deed in service of the Ghost Zone, impressing the Core enough to earn their approval. This can also be ''revoked'' by the Core at any time, should they decide that the Ghost Zone needs a new leader. |
| 93 | * In ''Fanfic/{{Blindness}}'', after learning that Harry is disabled, Dumbledore decides that Neville must be the chosen one, and begins testing him by providing him with many clues about the Philosopher's Stone. |
| 94 | * ''Fanfic/DreamlandUniversityRedux'': Bikaia is a RoyalBastard and fourth in line for the throne of Dreamland. Galacta Knight sets out to put him on the throne with the aid of the goddess Nova. |
| 95 | * In ''Fanfic/BreakItDownButterfly'', Nooroo manages to escape from Hawkmoth and selects Nino as his new bearer, remarking on how long it's been since he got to choose his own wielder. |
| 96 | * ''Fanfic/{{Cheshire|MiraculousLadybug}}'' [[DeconstructionFic picks this apart]] by showing how much research and observation is required to make a ''good'' selection. Master Fu's choices [[ThePoorlyChosenOne tend to go awry]] because he's basing his picks on superficial observations; he doesn't know what they're truly like as individuals. |
| 97 | * ''Fanfic/NymphAndTheCorruptedMiraculous'': Instead of being located and used by Hawkmoth, Nooroo was able to send out butterflies to find somebody and lead them to his brooch, with Marinette being the one who found him. |
| 98 | * ''Fanfic/RiseOfPaonneAndRenardRouge'': Gabriel used to be a KidHero himself, and selects Marinette as his successor, acting as her mentor long before passing on the Peacock Pin to her. |
| 99 | * ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'': |
| 100 | ** Master Fu's status as such bites him in the butt thanks to [[PointOfDivergence Chloé swiping the Earrings from Marinette's purse]] [[MissedTheCall before she discovered them]]. When Adrien finally gets a chance to meet Fu, he [[WhatWereYouThinking immediately berates him]] for supposedly selecting [[NominalHero Scarlet]] [[TheLoad Lady]] before Fu has the chance to clear things up. |
| 101 | ** At the end of "Mr. Pigeon", [[spoiler:Marinette Lenore]] reflects that one of the Miraculous -- specifically, [[spoiler:the Rooster]] -- might be a good fit for [[spoiler:Xavier Ramier]]. |
| 102 | * ''Fanfic/ThanksButNo'' has a DeconReconSwitch of this trope. Master Fu sees Marinette as both a potential hero and a future Guardian, and constantly sends Miraculouses her way, despite the fact [[RefusalOfTheCall that Marinette doesn't want the stress of being a hero added to her life]]. On the opposite end, Marinette ends up passing them to heroes that will either make the best use of them[[note]]Alya, Alix, and Max[[/note]], who would benefit from the freedom brought by their Miraculous[[note]]Adrien and Kagami[[/note]], or to help set up a healthy hero romance[[note]]Nino to set him up with Adrien[[/note]]. |
| 103 | * ''Fanfic/ErasedPotential'': [[TheChessmaster Nedzu]] toys with this by pointing Toshinori towards Izuku, despite knowing that Izuku is trying to prove himself as a Quirkless Hero. Eventually, Toshinori settles on [[spoiler:Kaminari Denki]] as the next bearer of One for All. |
| 104 | * [[PhysicalGod Arceus]] is this in ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', by virtue of being the one who saves Ash from the reality crash and sends him back in time with his memories intact, tasking him with the mission of stopping Cyrus from destroying the world. |
| 105 | * In ''Fanfic/PowerRangersWingForce'', Commander Gordon picks Mark, Carrie and Steven as three members of the titular team. Wayne nominates himself and Lulu as the other members. |
| 106 | * {{Downplayed}} in ''Fanfic/RWBYWildHunt'': Ozpin selects Ruby as TheChosenOne because she's one of the only Silver-Eyed Warriors ''left''. |
| 107 | * PlayedWith in ''Fanfic/CatRa'', where it's eventually revealed that the sword possesses a special feature called the Finder's Protocol, enabling the holder to tap into a fraction of its abilities so that they can find whomever the sword is ''meant'' to go to. This is why [[spoiler:Catra was able to use it in the first place; she was intended to give it to Adora... but by the time she figures this out, the sword has already transferred full ownership to ''her'', having deemed her worthy]]. |
| 108 | * In ''Fanfic/DifferentRoads'', Milisandre becomes convinced that Jon Snow is The Prince that was Promised, while the majority of Essos' Red Priests and Priestesses believe that Daenerys Targaryen is Azor Ahai reborn. |
| 109 | * ''Fanfic/DragonsOfIceAndFire'' has the three-eyed raven, Bloodraven, who proves very adept at selecting those who have the right skillsets (and/or supernatural abilities) and are in the right locations to complete important tasks. [[spoiler:However, many of these are actually decoy and stalling missions meant to obfuscate their true goals and intentions, as well as whom they ''actually'' require.]] |
| 110 | * In ''Fanfic/FlamesInTheDark'', Milisandre selects and promotes a yet-unnamed man as being the reborn Azor Ahai. |
| 111 | * ''Fanfic/{{Becoming the Mask|Trollhunters}}'': The Amulet's status as such gets {{Discussed}} when [[spoiler:Vendel]] is trying to understand why it selected a ''Changeling'' to become a Trollhunter. [[spoiler:Vendel]] suspects that this might be a case of HijackedDestiny, given how Jim had [[IntangibleTheft stolen James Lake Junior's name]]; however, the Amulet called for "[[ExactWords Jim Lake]]", not James, suggesting it deliberately picked the Changeling. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 115 | * In ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013'' it's Queen Tara's duty to pick her successor. Later, she picks MK to carry the pod to Nim Galuu. |
| 116 | * The wise turtle Master Oogway from ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'' is the one who chooses Po the panda as the next "Dragon Warrior". |
| 117 | * ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'': TheManInTheMoon picks the titular guardians, but don't give them a clue on what they are supposed to be, leaving them to figure it out themselves. This drives much of the plot, since Jack Frost only realizes in the end that, as a FriendToAllChildren, he is supposed to become the Guardian of Fun. |
| 118 | * Rare non-living partial example in the form of The Matrix of Leadership in [[WesternAnimation/TransformerstheMovie Transformers: The Movie]], in which the Matrix, a talisman of extraordinary power, and containing the soul of countless Autobot leaders, chooses Hot Rod to become the next Prime, and at the same time choosing him to defeat Unicron, an OmnicidalManiac who threatens to '''''eat''''' everything in existence. |
| 119 | [[/folder]] |
| 120 | |
| 121 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 122 | * Dodgers manager Branch Rickey in ''Film/FortyTwo'', who declares that ''somehow'' he's going to find an African-American baseball player to integrate into his baseball team. |
| 123 | -->"I don't know who he is or where he is, but he's coming." |
| 124 | * In the original ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' movie, Merrick is essentially this, being the one who finds Buffy and tells her she is the chosen one. |
| 125 | * In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', Dr. Erskine overhears a conversation between Steve Rogers and Bucky, and realizes that Steve is the perfect candidate for the SuperSerum. |
| 126 | * ''Franchise/TheMatrix'': Morpheus discovered and mentored Neo. |
| 127 | ** The Oracle, as the full story plays out, is the one that created the whole [[ProphecyTwist prophecy to begin with]]. Neo could have very well been chosen by the Oracle, although it requires a nudge to Morpheus to find him. Once that's done, [[ChekhovsGun she offers Neo a cookie, saying that, after he eats it, he'll be "right as rain."]] What are "cookies" in the computer world? They add information to a program. All that Neo needed was a push to act more than what he felt. Remember that the Oracle didn't tell Neo that he wasn't the One -- he drew his own conclusion. The Oracle is rooting for the humans, so helping Neo ultimately ''choose himself'' is part of her plan. Remember the sign above her kitchen: "Know Thyself" in Latin? That's what she does to people. |
| 128 | ** The Architect cannot be the Chooser. The One is an anomaly of the choice programming that the Oracle helped to add to make the first stable Matrix. It stabilized the system, save for the One, [[spoiler: "The Anomaly," who keeps reappearing every 100 years or so when the Matrix must be rebooted, or reloaded. The Architect noted he'd been trying to get rid of the Ones for a long time with no success (the Ones are ''Choice Incarnate'' and presumably can't be removed without removing choice from the Matrix and hosing the system). The Architect settles on using the Oracle's prophecy to force the One to come to him, presenting Neo with a MortonsFork to save humanity.]] |
| 129 | * The SideKick in ''Film/ThePumaman'' is also the one charged with finding the chosen one to become the eponymous hero. This involves throwing him out a window to see if he has a cat's ability to survive long falls. |
| 130 | * In ''Film/StarWarsThePhantomMenace'', Qui-Gon Jinn discovered Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one of an ancient Jedi prophecy. |
| 131 | * ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}'': Athena sees in Casey a dreamer who hasn't stopped dreaming yet and gives her the pin that leads her to Tomorrowland, so she can stop the impending disaster. |
| 132 | [[/folder]] |
| 133 | |
| 134 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 135 | * Creator/IsaacAsimov: |
| 136 | ** "Literature/DreamingIsAPrivateThing": Joe Dooley is a talent scout who looks for kids with the potential to become {{Creators}} of [[{{Cyberspace}} dreams]]. Jesse Weill is willing to risk his company's money on [[UnlockingTheTalent training a kid in storytelling]] for years on Joe's recommendation. |
| 137 | ** ''Literature/{{Franchise}}'': [[MasterComputer The massive computer, Multivac,]] chooses [[TheEveryman the perfectly average Norman Millar]] to represent the opinions and views of the entire American people in this year's election. Data about his opinions will be used to [[PrescienceByAnalysis extrapolate everyone's votes in every city/county of the country]]. |
| 138 | * In the ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomRynosseros'' a rogue AI, for reasons of its own, grants seven sandship captains "Coloured" status, making them living legends in the dominant Aboriginal culture, and free rein to pilot their ships across the Australian continent. The last of these captains, Tom Tyson/Rynosseros, is given the most important color, Blue, which signifies Unity. |
| 139 | * Riven from ''Literature/BlueRabbit'' has dedicated his entire life to finding a Dark Human who can become Illuminated and save his world. Once he discovers Erika is a Dark Human, she becomes pretty much [[WellIntentionedExtremist the only thing he cares about]]. |
| 140 | * ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Aslan chose the children. Not just the first four, but Eustace and Jill as well. |
| 141 | * In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': |
| 142 | ** The titular wizard Harry is given two Swords of the Cross, ''Amoracchius'' and ''Fidelacchius.'' These are holy swords whose hilts each contain one of the nails that pierced Christ to the Cross. He is told by the retiring Knights that they wish him to pick their successors, and he will know who the proper persons are when the time is right. |
| 143 | ** After Harry is presumed dead and has taken the mantle of Winter Knight, serving as the personal hitman to Mab, Queen of Air and Darkness, and the two other Winter Queens, Karrin Murphy becomes the next Chooser as she holds onto the Swords for their protection. When Harry returns, she refuses to hand them over to him because he is now the Winter Knight. |
| 144 | ** In ''Literature/SkinGame'', Murphy proves herself incapable of being the Chooser: she uses ''Fidelacchius'' to fight and kill an enemy--which causes the Sword to shatter. She later gives ''Amoracchius'' back to Harry, acknowledging that she doesn't have enough discipline to refrain from using it. |
| 145 | ** Previously in the series the Merlin of Arthurian Lore, who was a real wizard here, was possibly a Chooser of the Chosen One as the Sword ''Amoracchius'' was in his possession. This sword's other name? ''Excalibur.'' |
| 146 | * In the ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'', the sword of the king of the Enchanted Forest decides who gets to be the next king, though it usually goes to the eldest child anyway. |
| 147 | * ''Literature/EndersGame'': |
| 148 | ** Colonel Graff, as he is responsible for choosing Ender as the kid that will be able to lead the army and defeat the Formics. |
| 149 | ** Sister Carlotta in the ''Literature/EndersShadow'' series is the one who finds and chooses Bean. Graff later recognizes Bean as a potential replacement for Ender, should Ender break down under the stress. However, while Bean may be infinitely smarter than Ender (or anyone else, for that matter), he lacks any leadership skills. |
| 150 | * In ''Literature/HarryPotter,'' Voldemort was unknowingly the Chooser, since whoever he decided to mark "as his equal" [[SelfFulfillingProphecy would be the one with the power to defeat him]]. Technically, it could have been either Harry or Neville -- or even nobody at all, as Potterverse prophecies don't necessarily come true -- but Voldemort made it final. Such are the perils of trying subvert a prophecy when you've only heard half of it. Voldemort never does learn of his mistake. Plus, Voldemort's ego and sociopathy would never have allowed him to make the "correct" choice for subverting the prophecy by simply doing nothing even if he had heard the whole thing rather than just half of it. The very concept that someone even ''might'' become powerful enough to defeat him meant that he ''had'' to kill them. |
| 151 | * ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': |
| 152 | ** The [[SapientSteed Companions]] are the Choosers of [[TheChosenMany The Many]]. Each Companion sets out to find a Herald to [[BondCreatures bond to]] when the time is right ([[PubertySuperpower often around puberty]]), BecauseDestinySaysSo. Criteria include the potential for PsychicPowers and IncorruptiblePurePureness. Once the Herald is Chosen, the Companion acts as a mentor until the Herald is trained, and a partner ([[CoolHorse and mount]]) for the rest of both of their lives. The Companions also choose Valdemar's rulers, since only a member of the royal family who is also a Herald can be king or queen. |
| 153 | ** Valdemar's southern neighbor, Rethwellen, also has a supernatural means of choosing a good ruler, a magical sword that glows and "sings" when the proper heir approaches it. |
| 154 | ** Their other southern neighbor, Karse, quite abruptly gets in on the fun later in the series. Their very deity steps in to Choose the next ruler (after visiting His divine wrath on the corrupt former office-holder) and sends Firecats to guide certain heroic individuals in much the same way[[note]] Well, a very feline version of the same way.[[/note]] Companions guide their Heralds. |
| 155 | ** From Lackey's older books (the ''Vows and Honor'' series) is Need, a ClingyMacGuffin enchanted sword which chooses its bearer, granting all sorts of magical bonuses and obligations. She is eventually revealed to be a living woman who sealed her soul in the blade eons ago -- but even when Need is 'awake,' she decides who is going to carry her. |
| 156 | * In the epic fantasy ''Literature/TheJasmineThrone'', concerning a succession struggle between siblings in a crumbling empire, the royal family of the client kingdom Alor all have prophetic true names that they are only to reveal when the time is right. These range from MundaneUtility (a princess several generations back had a name that was three pages of advice on how to handle a drought), to predicting the person in question's death, to this. A certain character's name prophesies that [[spoiler: Malini, the imperial princess, is fated to rule. All the lords she recruited to fight for her compassionate-but-useless brother Aditya against their sadistic, fanatical emperor Chandra already know Malini is the real brains of the operation, but the prophecy helps her overcome the ingrained prejudice against a woman ruling in her own right.]] |
| 157 | * In the ''[[Literature/TheBelgariad Malloreon]]'' series by Creator/DavidEddings |
| 158 | ** The two opposing Prophecies cannot meet directly, lest the universe be destroyed (or worse, a third Prophecy be created), so they each choose a human champion to act on their behalf, the Child of Light and The Child of Dark. The Children generally are allowed to step down once they've accomplished a specific goal. |
| 159 | ** Cyradis the BlindSeer is responsible for choosing between The Child of Light and the Child Of Dark at the final showdown. |
| 160 | ** At the end of ''The Malloreon'', The Children of Light (Garion) and Dark (Zandramas) have to choose their successors, whom Cyradis will choose to become the new God That Should Have Been. |
| 161 | * ''Literature/NowhereStars'': The Messengers are a family of six [[MentorMascot Mentor Mascots]] that seek out those with the potential to become [[MagicalGirl Keepers]] and offer them the choice to do so. ''What'' actually qualifies someone for becoming a Keeper in the first place is a major mystery in-universe, or if the Messengers themselves are actually responsible for choosing at all. When asked, the Messengers don't seem able to understand the question, aside from it being "the wrong question." |
| 162 | * ''Literature/TheMessengerSeries'': As a hero in his own right, Favour's mystical purpose is to choose a rider who will become the Messenger, a hero that can right the wrongs of the past and save lives in the present. |
| 163 | * Vatra from ''Literature/OfFearAndFaith'' travels around recruiting various people at the behest of her Emperor to end the thirty year Demon War. Unlike Noble, who was given [[TheChosenOne specific directions]] who to find, Vatra chooses her recruits personally with her own judgement. |
| 164 | * ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The Stormfather, the unfathomably powerful entity that sends the [[HostileWeather highstorms]], is the one behind [[spoiler:Dalinar's visions]]. Honor, the creature called the Almighty, gave them to him and told them to send them when the time was right. Following the Almighty's [[spoiler:death at Odium's hands]], the Stormfather wanted nothing to do with any of it, but he kept his promise regardless, giving them to a variety of people, including [[spoiler:Gavilar Kholin, possibly Szeth-son-Neturo, and of course Dalinar]]. However, that was the exact minimum he was required to do, and he refused to help any further by speaking to the people involved or allowing his children, the honorspren, to return to humanity and [[BondCreatures make new bonds]]. Quite a few problems in the first two books arise because the visions make very little sense to someone without the proper context--context which no one alive today has. |
| 165 | * ''Literature/SwordOfTheRightfulKing'' is transparent about Merlinnus' role in placing Arthur on the throne of Britain. Merlinnus fabricates a mystical destiny for Arthur by creating the sword in the stone and passing it off as a genuine ancient prophecy. In short, destiny did not choose Arthur, Merlinnus did. Although he does indicate that he is following the directives of a greater force. |
| 166 | * ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'': |
| 167 | ** In ''Literature/TheHobbit,'' Gandalf chooses Bilbo to be the group's burglar, even though Bilbo has never been on an adventure before and doesn't want to go on one now. It turns out to be a good choice. |
| 168 | ** In Gandalf's backstory given in ''Unfinished Tales'', Gandalf (or Olórin) was in turn chosen by Manwë, being the only one of the five Istari to be so chosen rather than volunteering. |
| 169 | ** As Gandalf himself puts it: "I dare say he was 'chosen' and I was only chosen to choose him; but I picked out Bilbo." |
| 170 | * Deconstructed in "[[https://scrivnarium.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/child-of-prophecy/ Child of Prophecy]]" by Jeffrey Wells, written from the perspective of the Chooser, telling a young man toiling in the Dark Lord's pitchblend mine that it's ''possible'' he's the Chosen One [[spoiler: then heading back to his time machine to mock up a prophecy, go back in time to hide it somewhere it'll be found shortly, and move on to the next kid. ''One'' of them's bound to manage something. And then the ''second'' twist is that the Chooser was ''also'' Chosen, and vaguely suspects there may be something dodgy about that as well.]] |
| 171 | [[/folder]] |
| 172 | |
| 173 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 174 | * Doyle, on ''Series/{{Angel}}'', sent by the powers to tell Angel he was a chosen one, while also complaining that the Chosen One doesn't stock beer in his fridge. |
| 175 | %%* Rupert Giles, and also the demon Whistler in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. |
| 176 | * ''Series/{{Cleverman}}'': Uncle Jimmy identified Koen as [[TheChosenOne the Cleverman]]. |
| 177 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Melisandre identifies Stannis as the Lord of Light's chosen one. |
| 178 | * In ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'': |
| 179 | ** Zedd names Richard as the Seeker. There's some bias here, given that he is a relative. Later on, though, he chooses Leo to be the next Seeker while Richard is in the Palace of the Prophets. Later yet, he names ''himself'' as the Seeker, although at the time he wasn't quite himself. |
| 180 | ** Presumably, any wizard of the First Order can do that, but there are only two left, and the other one is in the employ of the first season's BigBad. |
| 181 | * ''Series/NirvanaInFire'': Langya Hall, run by Lin Chen. Langya Hall compiles the prestigious Langya List every year that lists the greatest talents in the world in each discipline. Most people seem to regard them as a divine oracle, but they are actually just an extremely well run nigh-omniscient KnowledgeBroker. |
| 182 | * In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Prince Charming chose Emma by placing her in Gepetto's machine, but she had to be re-chosen by Henry in order to receive the CallToAdventure. |
| 183 | * In ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'', Herne the Hunter, a pagan god/spirit of some kind, chooses who will become the Hooded Man, which is quite handy because if one dies, Herne can simply choose another. There seems to be some kind of prophecy involved, that "The Hooded Man will come to the forest, there to meet with Herne the Hunter, to be his son and do his bidding", but it's hard to tell if it's the prophecy choosing Herne's Sons, or Herne doing it, or both. |
| 184 | * This was basically [[spoiler:Azazel]]'s role in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. First, he chose a variety of kids who were possible candidates. Out of this group, one of them would be chosen ultimately. The idea was that the chosen one would [[spoiler:not only free Lilith from hell, but also be instrumental in releasing Lucifer as well as become Lucifer's vessel]]. |
| 185 | [[/folder]] |
| 186 | |
| 187 | [[folder:Religion & Mythology]] |
| 188 | * In Literature/TheBible: |
| 189 | ** The prophet Samuel chose the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David, led by God. |
| 190 | ** This happens often in [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Genesis]]. {{God}} chooses Abraham. He also chooses Jacob while Jacob and Esau are still in the womb and tells Rebecca about it, leading to her knowing which son to favor. Jacob favors Joseph out of his twelve sons, and Joseph ends up receiving prophetic dreams and the ability to interpret the dreams of others. In [[Literature/BookOfExodus Exodus]], {{God}} chooses Moses to lead the Israelites, Moses's elder brother Aaron as [[TheLancer spokesman]] and later High Priest, and Moses's older sister Miriam as another prophet and third leader of the people. |
| 191 | ** Jesus was not truly chosen by anyone other than himself (Jesus was chosen by God, but Jesus also ''is'' God in most Christian beliefs), but there are still scenes that fit this motif arguably; The Magi presenting him gifts and his Baptism by John are often viewed this way, even though Jesus entirely initiated the latter. |
| 192 | * In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is a title given by the Tibetan people for the foremost spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Following the Buddhist belief in the principle of reincarnation, when the current Dalai Lama dies, there is a formal search conducted to identify the reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama. |
| 193 | * There is the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, who is the second most important spiritual authority in Tibetan Buddhism. Each has a part to play in finding reincarnation of the next Lama. The Panchen Lama bears part of the responsibility for finding the incarnation of the Dalai Lama and vice versa. Tragically, this tradition seems to have come to a halt as the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was taken into custody by the Chinese Government when he was 6-years-old and hasn't been seen since. It's widely expected that whenever the 14th Dalai Lama dies, China will produce the Panchen Lama (or an imposter thereof) to "identify" a 15th Dalai Lama who can be raised to be loyal to the government. Possibly because of this, the Dalai Lama has hinted that he might choose not to reincarnate. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 197 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': If you're an Exalt and not a Dragon-Blooded, then someone in Heaven, Hell, the Underworld, Autochthonia, or optionally the Wyld is vouching for you. In case of being a Sidereal, one of the Five Maidens chose you ''before'' you were born, unless your exaltation is some kind of freak accident. |
| 198 | ** For Solars and Lunars in Second Edition, ultimately it's the Exaltation itself that chooses the one to be precise, in a manner of speaking. The heavens might influence whom is chosen, but in the end it is the actions of the mortal that call the Exaltation to them. |
| 199 | ** Similarly, the [[LooseCanon optional]] Umbrals are chosen by their Exaltations because their patron destroyed himself in the creation of the Umbral Exaltations, and the part of him within each Exaltation is what does the choosing. |
| 200 | ** Dragon-Blooded are the exception because the Five Elemental Dragons chose the Dragon-Blooded's family lines back in the depths of time, but don't choose who in that family line is Exalted. |
| 201 | ** For [[BadassNormal mortal heroes]] ([[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper when they matter]]), the choosers are usually the Sidereal Exalted, who oversee the Loom of Fate. They use astrology to manipulate destiny, and sometimes operate in disguise on Creation to ensure that fate goes the way it's supposed to. Their "prophecies" are a mix of genuine mystical foresight, careful planing, and subtle manipulation, and they sometimes have to improvise when their predictions go awry because pushing new prophecies through Heaven's [[ObstructiveBureaucrat hopelessly corrupt and frequently incompetent bureaucracy]] is often more trouble than it's worth. |
| 202 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': |
| 203 | ** Sorcerers of Tzeentch can use a spell called [[CallToAdventure Call to Glory]] to [[TookALevelInBadass turn a normal guy into an Exalted Hero]]. |
| 204 | ** Savage Orc special character Wurrzag Ud Ura Zahubu, the Great Green Prophet, is a shaman tasked by the greenskin gods to find [[Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing the Once an' Future Git]], the legendary orcish hero who will [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield pull a magical axe from the dwarf-shaped Gaffastone]] and lead the greenskins to glory as their DarkMessiah. After years of watching likely candidates, during the [[TabletopGame/WarhammerTheEndTimes End Times]] campaign Wurrzag realized that as there are two greenskin deities, so must there be two champions, making him the Choser of the Two. |
| 205 | ** The Daemon Prince Be'lakor was cursed aeons earlier by the Chaos Gods to become this rather than TheChosenOne, crowning the Everchosen of Chaos who will conquer the world for the Dark Gods. Be'lakor has gone through the process several times, and since he can only touch the Crown of Domination if it's to put it on the Anointed's head, he is very much unhappy about the whole thing. |
| 206 | [[/folder]] |
| 207 | |
| 208 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 209 | * ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' characters’ destinies are set by [[BigGood Mata Nui,]] and fate remains one of the only supernatural elements of the story to survive DoingInTheWizard. [[spoiler: The destinies of Mata Nui himself and Makuta were set by the Great Beings, who intended for them to be “brothers” and work together to restore Spherus Magna. Makuta’s ambition to take over Mata Nui’s body inadvertently fulfilled this destiny, as during his fight with Mata Nui he pulls Spherus Magna’s moons close enough together for Mata Nui to finish the job.]] |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 213 | * ''VideoGame/Centipede1998'': The opening cutscene of level 1-1 shows that the hero is selected by a "magic stick" -- a forked rod with what appears to be a compass on it. |
| 214 | * ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': A complicated and spoiler-iffic example. [[spoiler: The prophecy fortelling of the Chosen Undead specifies that s/he will ring the Bell(s) of Awakening... which are of course located [[TheQuest beyond a long string of obstacles]]. [[FridgeBrilliance Reading between the lines a bit]], the prophecy [[ProphecyTwist may actually be an elaborate testing method to find the strongest undead possible]] to [[BarrierMaiden Link The Fire]], a fact supported by the [[MetaphoricallyTrue half-truths]] that [[UnreliableNarrator Frampt, Kaathe and Gwynevere convey]]. At the end, by [[{{Determinator}} fighting your way to the end]] and [[HeroicSacrifice Linking the Fire]], ''you yourself'' choose to be the Chosen Undead. Or [[RefusalOfTheCall you]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere may opt]] [[AmbiguousEnding out]].]] |
| 215 | * ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with the Seven Gods who choose the player characters as their champions to [[GodhoodSeeker seek divinity]]. The trouble is, [[MultipleChoiceChosen only one Godwoken can become Divine]], many others have tried and failed in the attempt, and, ultimately, [[spoiler:the Seven are exposed as predatory {{Jerkass God}}s using the Godwoken as pawns in their [[DivineConflict power struggle]].]] |
| 216 | * ''Franchise/DragonAge'': |
| 217 | ** Duncan, in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins,'' arrives in each origin seeking new recruits for the Grey Wardens, ultimately choosing The Warden. |
| 218 | *** Morrigan's mother Flemeth does this, being the only reason the Warden and Alistair survive the Battle of Ostagar. |
| 219 | *** The Warden does this twice themselves, being the one to decide who will take the vacant thrones of both Orzammar and Ferelden. |
| 220 | ** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Flemeth serves as a villainous example of this, saving Hawke from the Darkspawn in exchange for delivering a [[SoulJar trinket]] for her. It's heavily implied that it was no coincidence that she stumbled upon them and she's aware of Hawke's destiny. |
| 221 | ** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', the Inquisitor is the one who determines the fate of Orlais by [[spoiler:deciding whether or not to let Empress Celene be murdered]]. |
| 222 | * ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' has Buzz Buzz come from [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 10 years in the future]] to declare Ness TheChosenOne. |
| 223 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' |
| 224 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] Azura is this, as well as a sort of BigGood. Back WhenItAllBegan, following [[PlotTriggeringDeath the death]] of her champion Nerevar and the defiance of his advisors, [[DeityOfHumanOrigin the Tribunal]], she declared the Nerevarine Prophesy which states that Nerevar's {{reincarnation}} will one day come to throw down the "[[PhysicalGod false gods]]" of the Tribunal. |
| 225 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', this is '''you''', being sent to find Martin, who is [[TheChosenOne the last remaining heir to the throne]]. Since you arrive at kind of a bad moment, i.e., during an attempt to assassinate Martin, you don't have time to give him much more explanation than "You're the Emperor's son, let's get out of here!" until later. |
| 226 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 227 | ** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', [[TheChosenMany several people]] are granted the Echo, the blessing of the goddess Hydaelyn, in times of great strife so that they can protect the realm from certain destruction. [[spoiler:At least, that's what everyone believes. ''Shadowbringers'' reveals that the Echo is, as its name implies, a simple ''echo'' of the power everyone had before the world was sundered, reawakened by triggering PastLifeMemories of the final days of Amaurot. Hydaelyn's words to "hear, feel, think" are not the source of the Echo -- the Echo is what allows you to hear them in the first place.]] ''Endwalker'' further reveals that [[spoiler:even the [[PlayerCharacter Warrior of Light]]'s status as Hydaelyn's "real" chosen hero was caused by a StableTimeLoop -- she chose them because they came from the future, already chosen, and told her of the quest she would put them on]]. |
| 228 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'' sees a mysterious old man name Benjamin the chosen hero of the prophecy, the only one who can defeat the Dark King. Turns out, he had no idea and was just guessing. Oh, and the ancient prophecy was started by a bored Dark King long ago as a lark. |
| 229 | * What little we know about the G-Man in ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' is that he is capable of plucking people from certain doom and replacing them [[RightManInTheWrongPlace where they'll be more useful]]. He does this with Gordon at the end of ''Half-Life 1'' and ''2'', and is later revealed to have done the same for [[spoiler:Alyx and Eli Vance at Black Mesa.]] |
| 230 | * ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': |
| 231 | ** Before he went to the Realm of Darkness, Mickey left Donald and Goofy a letter instructing them to find "The Key" -- a Keyblade wielder. A twist is that said Key is originally supposed to be Riku, but because he turns to the dark side, the key passes to Sora. |
| 232 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' reveals that Keyblade wielders can turn {{Muggle}}s into one of their own. Terra willingly turns Riku, while Aqua accidentally turns Kairi when the latter touches her Keyblade. Aqua also becomes a symbolic chooser of the one later on, when she advises Sora to rescue Riku if the latter falls to darkness. |
| 233 | * In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', Poppy assumes that this is her purpose; to find the fabled Hero of Demacia and pass the hammer she currently wields to its rightful owner. In truth, ''Poppy herself'' is TheChosenOne, but she is far too much of a HumbleHero to realize it. |
| 234 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 235 | ** The goddess Hylia in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', as part of her plan to permanently destroy [[spoiler:Demise]], needed to find someone with an unbreakable spirit to help forge the Master Sword and [[spoiler:wield the complete Triforce]]. No points for guessing who she picked. |
| 236 | ** Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors''. Zelda and Impa set out to become this, and Zelda seemingly has her sights set on Link, but then an attack happens. Link sets out on his own and proves to be the chosen one himself without Impa or Zelda coming to him. Then Impa sees this and gives him the hero's tunic, making her this trope after the fact. |
| 237 | * Gwonam in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames Link: Faces Of Evil]]'': |
| 238 | -->'''Gwonam''': It is written: "Only Link can defeat Ganon." |
| 239 | * A unusual example occurs in ''Franchise/MassEffect''. Nihlus was ''meant'' to be be this and joined the ''Normandy'' to assess whether [[TheChosenOne Shepard]] was suitable for the position of first Human Spectre. However, on the first of several missions meant to decide this, Nihlus ended up with a bullet in the back of the head, courtesy of [[BigBad Saren]]. Of course, this minor setback did little to stop Shepard from eventually taking up the role of ChosenOne and saving the Galaxy. |
| 240 | ** The prequel novel ''Literature/MassEffectRevelation'' describes Saren in this role for Anderson. Unfortunately, Saren has a deep-seeded hatred for humans (his brother was killed during the brief war between the turians and the humans), as well as an agenda of his own. He causes an explosion that kills many innocents and then blames it on Anderson, when it's time for the latter's evaluation. Naturally, this kills any chance for Anderson to become a Spectre. |
| 241 | * [[spoiler:[[BigBad Master Albert]]]] in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' is essentially [[TheChooserOfTheOne The Chooser of the Many]], having been directly responsible, through donating his blood, for the creation of all of the [[TheChosenOne Chosen Ones]] who could become Mega Men, [[spoiler:all in the name of awakening [[ArtifactOfDoom Biometal]] [[EmotionEater Model]] [[TheCorruption W]] and gathering the data necessary to create "[[UltimateLifeForm the Ultimate Mega Man]]"]]. The only Mega Man [[TheUnchosenOne who he didn't have a hand in creating]], [[spoiler:Ashe]], can still do so because [[spoiler: she's his [[LukeIAmYourFather last living descendant]]]]. |
| 242 | * In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'', [[BigGood Raiden]] designated [[TheChosenMany several characters as his chosen]] during [[BigBad Shao Kahn's]] invasion of Earthrealm, preventing their souls [[YourSoulIsMine from being taken by Shao Kahn's Soulnado]] and allowing them to mount a counterattack against the invaders. This group consisted of Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Johnny Cage (BackFromTheDead after being killed by Kahn's extermination squads due to the Soulnado preventing passage into the afterlife), Sonya Blade, Jackson "Jax" Briggs, Sub-Zero (the original's younger brother), Smoke ([[UnwillingRoboticisation much to his surprise]]), Nightwolf, Kurtis Stryker, and Kabal. Presumably, the same applies to the Forces of Light in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', which consisted of most of the same characters (key differences being that [[spoiler:Kung Lao had been killed off by Kahn in the climax of the ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatII MK2]]'' arc, Sub-Zero had been captured by the Lin Kuei and turned into a cyborg instead of Smoke, and Kitana and Jade had joined the Earthrealm heroes prior to the events of ''3'']]). |
| 243 | * ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'': |
| 244 | ** In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', [[spoiler:Aigis ended up in this role ten years prior to the game's story when she overpowered the weakened Death Shadow. She needed a [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan living can to seal it in]], and the protagonist happened to be the only living thing on hand. This ultimately puts the protagonist in position to save the world ten years later.]] |
| 245 | ** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', [[spoiler: the GreaterScopeVillain, Izanami, was responsible for giving the Protagonist, Namatame and Adachi the ability to enter the [=TV=] World, so that she could determine what sort of world humanity wanted. Since Adachi was the most actively prolific of the three, she decides that what they want is [[AssimilationPlot oblivion]].]] |
| 246 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has two examples: |
| 247 | *** [[spoiler:Yaldabaoth was the one who gave the Protagonist and Akechi the ability access the Metaverse, allowing them to create the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and Shido's Conspiracy, and pits them against each other as part of a twisted "game" to determine whether or not he should remake the world. However, Yaldabaoth intentionally [[FixingTheGame rigs the game]] so that he can enslave humanity himself.]] |
| 248 | *** [[spoiler:Morgana, meanwhile, was created by [[BigGood Igor]] to gather "Tricksters", and guide them in his place, so that they can stop Yaldabaoth.]] |
| 249 | * In ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'', [[spoiler:the Relic Fragment]] chooses who's worthy to enter the Hidden Land. |
| 250 | * ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'': In the Shijima ending, Hikawa realizes that his destiny wasn't to create the world of Shijima, but to choose the Demi-Fiend so that he could get the job done. |
| 251 | * In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', the Chosen Ones are members of a particular bloodline who have the potential to revive the Goddess Martel, and are selected by Cruxis, the organization of angels that runs the Church of Martel, to go on a journey to "regenerate the world", aka bring life-giving mana back to it. [[spoiler:Cruxis is actually run by the BigBad of the game, who is looking for a suitable vessel for the trapped soul of his sister Martel, since her body was killed long ago: the Chosen Ones are thus selected for their genetic compatibility with his sister, in order to give them the best chance of being able to "revive" her by acting as host for her soul at the expense of their own.]] |
| 252 | * ''VideoGame/{{Teenagent}}'': {{Downplayed}}. A FortuneTeller randomly picks Mark Hopper on a phonebook to train him into a secret agent. |
| 253 | * In ''VideoGame/Vampyr2018'', the main protagonist Jonathan Reid was turned into a vampire by someone to complete an important mission: [[spoiler:save London from the Red Queen's wrath. Turns out this wasn't the first time either, Myth/KingArthur and [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Sir William Marshall]] were also [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy vampire heroes]] before Jonathan that fulfilled the same purpose. This all makes sense when it's revealed said vampire sire is pretty much ''Myth/{{Merlin}}'']]. |
| 254 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Wandersong}}'', the angel of [[TheMaker the goddess Eya]] conducts a test by giving the same dream to everyone on the planet, where the sword sits at the top of a hill and must be used to defeat said angel in a monstrous form. The Bard takes this test at the very beginning of the game where they fail, but the angel still likes them and encourages them to try saving the world on their own terms with the Earthsong, making them TheUnchosenOne. |
| 255 | [[/folder]] |
| 256 | |
| 257 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 258 | * ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': To address the absence of the gods from Remnant, the God of Light chooses a single human to act as a guide that will help humanity achieve its potential. That guide also has been given the knowledge required to summon the gods back to Remnant. [[spoiler:Ozma is brought back from death to carry out this mission, which requires him to be [[ResurrectiveImmortality constantly reborn]] into the body of a living man. He must unite humanity in harmony then bring together four Relics to summon the gods. If they deem humanity worthy, they will restore humanity's full potential and live among them once more. If they are summoned while humanity is disunited and fractured, they will declare humanity irredeemable and destroy the entire world. As the BigGood, Ozma is locked in a ForeverWar with the BigBad, who -- having been [[BarredFromTheAfterlife cursed]] by the gods -- is trying to make humanity irredeemable as she believes it's [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum the only way]] to end her CompleteImmortality.]] |
| 259 | [[/folder]] |
| 260 | |
| 261 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 262 | * In ''Webcomic/AgentsOfTheRealm'', the part is split between two beings: Jade Blackwater searches for the Agents, but its the amulets that chose them. |
| 263 | * In ''WebComic/DarthsAndDroids'', Darth Kanata tries to offer the laser sword of destiny first to Rey because, due to her heritage, she might be the chosen one who will restore imbalance to the Force. After she refuses, she offers it to Yanni first, saying he might qualify just because he knew Luke, but changes his mind because a fresh chosen one can't be old and grey. Finally he gives it to Finn, who has absolutely no basis to be the chosen one, explaining that prophecies are rubbish anyway and ''someone's'' got to fix things. |
| 264 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=344 Ariel is chosen by Quain]]. As of the end of chapter 32, it appears that [[spoiler: Chrys]] has been chosen by [[spoiler: [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=1672 Sillice]].]] |
| 265 | * ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'': In the CosmicChessgame, Pete and Dragon each get to select a mortal cat or dog to be their avatar, fighting for them against the other side and the forces that would put Earth in jeopardy. While not quite TheChosenOne, an Avatar's access to magic(k) and being the underling of a [[PhysicalGod Celestial]] puts them at a pretty significant place in life. |
| 266 | * In ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'', Zoss is prophesied to pick a specific person to be his successor as, more or less, king of the multiverse. He shows he has a choice about this by choosing that person's girlfriend Allison instead, though this may only have been because his original choice is captured before he can hand over the MacGuffin. Anyway, it's pretty clear Zoss has made his choice, although there are others who continue to disagree and try to take the prophecy back on track. |
| 267 | * In ''Webcomic/RiceBoy'', T-O-E is the last of a group of three searchers, given a divine mandate to find and designate the Fulfiller of an ancient prophecy. The twist is that T-O-E's word is no indication that a chosen individual will actually fulfill the prophecy. One of the other searchers, Calabash, quit the job precisely because he was tired of choosing Fulfillers who go KnightTemplar or mess up just as bad in some other fashion.\ |
| 268 | And then in the final [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], [[spoiler:the most recently named Fulfiller, the eponymous Rice Boy, notices at the end that [[MultipleChoiceChosen T-O-E himself has also fulfilled all but the final step of the prophecy]]. At which point T-O-E does fulfill that final step, which is a world-saving HeroicSacrifice. So at the very end, the two characters swap roles: T-O-E becomes the Chosen One, and Rice Boy unintentionally becomes the Chooser.]] |
| 269 | * ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' has very few heroes because it's a small scale story and because the Chooser in it is a certifiable jerkass. ''The'' Chooser is a character known as the Scribble Person, who is the personification of the Story/Fate, so literally nobody can become a hero or defy his/her chosen (guess by whom) role without his/her consent, and (s)he loves the RuleOfDrama very very ''very'' much. |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 273 | * In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', the elven cleric Schuldich Cedheros is the sole survivor of the massacre of his order and is sent by the Gods of Order to find wielders for two special enchanted weapons, Dusk and Dawn, which the chosen ones will be destined to use to fight the forces of Chaos. Schuldich manages to deliver Dusk to its intended bearer but narrowly fails with Dawn (he did find two candidates for Dawn's intended bearer but before he could figure out which of the two women were meant to have the sword, an evil goddess appeared, killed him and stole the sword right in front of the women's noses). |
| 274 | ** Leon also ends up in this role when he is tasked with finding the bearer of the Silver Branch whose destiny is to stop the Landpoison of Yamato and heal the wound on the earth caused by the dark god Mardük's tainted magic. |
| 275 | * ''Literature/TheQuestportChronicles'': The Lord of the Supreme Council sends [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits the eight strangers]] that show up at the Temple out on a quest, on the basis that if a real hero hasn't shown up by now, it's unlikely that one ever will. She takes some flak from the rest of the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Supreme Council]] for it, [[TookALevelInBadass but it]] [[HiddenDepths works out]]. |
| 276 | [[/folder]] |
| 277 | |
| 278 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 279 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': |
| 280 | ** [[spoiler:The Calamity Guardian]] implicitly is the one who chose the Calamity trio to use the powers of the Gems to defeat The Core, and tries to offer [[spoiler:Anne]] their GodJob for passing their SecretTestOfCharacter. |
| 281 | ** In a dark example, [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination the Core]]]] chose [[spoiler:Marcy]] as its human host because of her high intelligence, and that she was the only one who could beat Andrias at Flipwart. |
| 282 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Wishology}}'' shows the Ancient Fairy Council holding auditions (on a stage and everything) for "the Chosen One" whom they would appoint to unite and wield the three wands needed to defeat "the Darkness," should it ever return. They chose a warrior named Turbo Thunder from a planet of people with superpowers who wanted the job so he could get revenge on the Darkness for destroying his planet. Unfortunately, after waiting thousands of years, [[MissedTheCall he fell asleep when the Darkness finally returned]]. In the meantime, Jorgen von Strangle deduced from the prophecy's description that Timmy Turner must be the Chosen One and gave him the job. |
| 283 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Twilight and her friends being the Elements of Harmony are potentially this, rather a pure case of BecauseDestinySaysSo, as the Tree of Harmony that is the origin of said elements is hinted to be sentient in later seasons. |
| 284 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' |
| 285 | ** Master Fu, the Great Guardian of the Miraculouses, who gave the heroes their {{Transformation Trinket}}s. |
| 286 | ** [[TheHero Marinette/Ladybug]] herself is generally given free rein by Master Fu to choose temporary wielders for the other Miraculouses when necessary. [[spoiler:At the end of season 3 she fully inherits his role as the Guardian.]] |
| 287 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Witches and demons originally carved their own [[{{Familiar}} Palismen]], but since Emperor Belos took over, the trees used to make them became scarce; the Bat Queen now brings abandoned Palismen for magic users to adopt. In this case, the wielder does not choose what Palisman they want, the Palisman chooses ''them'' based on what the wielder wants to do with their life. |
| 288 | * ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': |
| 289 | ** Played with in the episode "The Princess and the Protector" when a Protector-in-training has to get their Enchantlet from the Isle of Forever Frost. What's interesting is the Protector doesn't choose their Enchantlet, the Enchantlet chooses ''them.'' |
| 290 | ** Played straight with the [[MacGuffin Amulet of Avalor]] when Princess Elena got trapped in it. It is revealed in "Elena and the Secret of Avalor" that Elena herself chose the next bearer of the amulet to see if they were young and brave enough to free her. By the time of the series, she chose Sofia, who possesses the amulet to this day, and Elena was the one blessing and cursing her to test her to see if she's ready. |
| 291 | * Alpha Trion seems to fill this role across various incarnations of ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' often passing on the Matrix of Leadership or empowering pre-chosen Optimus Prime to serve as leader of the Autobots. Sometimes the Matrix itself serves this role in choosing [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield who may wield its power]] and punishing the unworthy. |
| 292 | * In ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}} Trollhunters]]'', it's implied that Merlin chooses the next Trollhunter, but it is also possible that [[TransformationTrinket the Amulet of Daylight]] can select them itself, independent of its creator's wishes. |
| 293 | [[/folder]] |
| 294 |
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