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I am Jack's default profession. A staple of fantasy adventures. Farmy McFarmboy is just an ordinary humble farmboy/hunter/etc. living and working in a tranquil and pastoral land until destiny (and his Obi Wan) comes knocking, normally knocking down his house or town in the process. Farmy is typically very whiny and resistant to the idea of being the Chosen One but eventually accepts the idea. Generally, he's the son of somebody important — either the Big Bad or The Dragon — or else from an ancient line of wizards or kings and raised by an aunt or uncle.
Does not have to be male, but almost always is.
One common beginning for The Heros Journey. Rural counterpart of the urban Ordinary High School Student. Very common in stories set in the past, because pre-industrialization, and for most of the history of human civilization, most people were farmers.
To make things safer, all heritage will be spoiler marked no matter how obvious.
As David Eddings (a major user of this trope) explained in The Rivan Codex, it is a good way to explain how your fantasy world works within the context of the story. The reader learns the rules along with the main character.
Examples
Anime
- Slightly off course is Sheeta from Laputa Castle In The Sky. She's a farmgirl who is descended from the Laputian royal family, but she already knows this when we meet her (neither we nor Pazu does, though).
- That shovel guy from MAR. Really a sidekick, but still a farmboy.
Comic Books
- Don't forget Superman, who was raised as naive farmboy Clark Kent. Last son of Krypton.
- Inverted with Superboy, his younger clone, who went to go live with the Kents for a "proper upbringing". Superboy has quite a bit more hubris than his progenitor, though...
- Ironically, Superman's Kingdom Come rival Magog started out a farmboy too, albeit from Iowa rather than Kansas.
Film
- Star Wars (of course) has Luke — a "moisture farmer", raised by his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. He got a reputation for being whiny, but if you look at him he longed to be someone but was very dutiful. Owen and Beru were killed when their home was blown up by Imperial Stormtroopers looking for a couple of droids. Son of Darth Vader.]] His wife sometimes teased him for his idealism by calling him "Farmboy".
- Anakin Skywalker is also a farm boy, of sorts, though replace "farm" with "He's a slave" and "Son of someone important" to "Virgin birth".
- The second-best
 Imperial pilot, Soontir Fel, was also a farmboy who loved to fly. He got pushed into service after stopping an Attempted Rape and offending the son of someone important, and quickly became an Ace Pilot. Unlike the other two from his 'verse, he grew up on a greener world and throughout his life he loved the soil and liked working with growing things. His clones were the same - part of an Imperial sleeper cell instead of immediately being part of the TIE fighter core, they became farmers and actually abandoned the Empire.
- In an urban variant in Kung Fu Panda, Po the Panda was just a noodle vendor and cook until he was picked to be the Dragon Warrior seemingly out of the blue. Partially subverted in that his father does not object to Po accepting this destiny, just initially disappointed his son did not follow his footsteps in a calling he sincerely considers fulfilling.
Literature
- The Belgariad has (Bel)Garion the farmer's nephew. His home town was not blown up and his "aunt" Polgara turned out to be a powerful and ancient sorceress. Son of the Rivan Kings.
- Durnik, the humble farm blacksmith of low birth, who insists that he's nobody important, turns out to be a signifigant part of the Prophecy and comes Back From The Dead to fulfill it, becoming an immortal sorcerer in the process and marrying Polgara. Too old to be a farm boy, but he otherwise seems to fit.
- Eragon was a hunter/farmer raised by his uncle, whose home was destroyed by forces looking for the dragon egg. At one point was thought to be the Son of Morzan, a Dragon Rider who was the pupil of the Old Master Oromis before he joined Galbatorix It turns out that he was actually the son of The Obi Wan Brom, who used to be Morzan's Lickspittle.
- Subverted thoroughly by Elizabeth Moon in The Deed Of Paksenarrion: Paks is A) a girl, and B) a sheepfarmer's daughter who is... actually the daughter of the sheepfarmer and the sheepfarmer's wife too. She gets all her power through hard slogging, not having been born to it. (The first book in the trilogy is actually called Sheepfarmer's Daughter.)
- Rand in The Wheel Of Time is a "farmer's son" who was also the reincarnation of the Dragon (not the trope, but an ancient warrior known as the Dragon), known as the Dragon Reborn. To the Aiel, Rand is He Who Comes with the Dawn and the Car'a'carn (Chief of Chiefs). To the Atha'an Miere, the Sea Folk, he is the Coramoor. His main titles are Shadowkiller (by wolves), Lord of the Morning, Prince of the Dawn, and True Defender of the Light. His birth was heralded by Gitara Moroso, Aes Sedai and Keeper of the Chronicles, who died from the sheer force of Foretelling his birth. Just in case anyone were ever to doubt how special he really is, his dead birth mother was a Rebellious Princess, whose disappearance started a war, and who may have been Not Brainwashed, and his dead birth father was a Aiel clan chieftain.
- Rand is also an important subversion of this trope, because unlike most FarmBoys who settle into heroism and leadership quite easily, Rand, with his utter lack of political and military training, is a terrible leader. Just like you'd expect a real-life farm boy to be.
- Rand is actually quite cunning and intelligent, and he plays the Game of Houses pretty darn well. Not to mention that he has all of Lews Therin's memories for reference. He gets advice in political matters from Elayne Trakand, and tends to leave military exploits to General Matrim Cauthon, as it isn't that he is necessarily bad at these, just that others are better. What he is terrible at is keeping his cool (and is hamstrung by some stupid weaknesses), and he is growing increasingly insane, which is a major reason he foists off ruling to stewards and mainly restricts himself to using his power and dangerous nature to keep everyone together as best he can (not terribly well, but the task is impossible), as none will work together without him, even in the face of the last battle being nigh.
- In The Lord Of The Rings, Frodo is the equivalent of a nobleman (i.e. rich enough to live a comfortable life of leisure) but Samwise Gamgee is a gardener. Unlike most Farm Boys, though, Sam does not resist being chosen, but rather forces himself into the quest when others are chosen. Son of his Gaffer.
- Richard from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels started off as a humble woodsman, before saving the Mother Confessor. He is the son of The Obi Wan's daughter and the Big Bad, which also makes him the first War Wizard in a thousand years. He is also the first one to turn the Sword of Truth White, the Seeker of the Truth, and so on. Again, just in case you didn't know he was special. Despite all this, he insists he's a "simple woodsman."
- Ged from A Wizard of Earthsea is a goatherd, son of a blacksmith, on a very rural island out on the edge of civilization — but the island is known for occasionally producing very powerful wizards.
- Westley in The Princess Bride begins as a farmboy, but eventually becomes the Dread Pirate Roberts. He's not related to anyone important, though.
- Subverted in the Vlad Taltos novel Athyra, which is told from the perspective of a smarter-than-average Teckla [serf] named Savn, who also has some skill with magic. From Savn's perspective, Vlad comes across as the Obi Wan figure, but the reader realizes this isn't the case, and indeed Savn does not have the happy destiny of the other characters on this page.
- In Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles (and Disney's film adaptation of the second book, The Black Cauldron), a young boy, profession assistant pig-keeper, ran headlong into adventures (and a thornbush) when Hen Wen, his oracular charge, ran away from Arawn's new lieutenant the Horned King. Special bonus points must be awarded as he is often called Farm Boy (or, more often, pig-boy) in a derogatory way.
- Son of nobody. He was found as a baby nearby a violent battle where nobody survived, so he was without rank or heritage, something which his foster-father took as a sign that he was the chosen child.
- Carrot Ironfoundersson of the City Watch fits this trope in every way, save that he's a miner's son rather than a farmer's son (and a dwarf, albeit two meters tall).
- Subverted with Tomjon, apparent heir to Lancre and supposed son of King Verence I. Given to a troupe of actors to raise (mostly because that's how these stories are supposed to go, but also so that, if this whole king thing doesn't work out, he'll at least learn a useful trade) he was raised to be his father's son. Turns out that if you raise a king as an actor, he'll mostly turn out to be an actor.
- Jesus, a carpenter who goes on to be a famous rabbi, messiah, and martyr. Son of God/a very major prophet/a nice dude.
- Tavi of the Calderon Valley, an orphan raised by his aunt and uncle. As he grows up people begin to notice strange things about him, such as how the mentally disabled slave in his uncle's town just happens to look like a legendary swordsman, how Tavi just happens to look like the prince Septimus, who just happened to be killed in battle near Tavi's home, how Septimus' father Sextus just happens to put Tavi through school, how "Tavi" just might be short for "Octavian"...
Video Games
- In The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Link was a goatherd before he was pulled into a world of Triforces, shadow demons, and the neverending battle of good vs. evil. Link is possibly descended (or at least reincarnated) from the previous Links.
- Other game's Links come close. Though not farmers, they often live a fairly simple life before something draws them into the adventure. Only the cartoon and direct sequels start out with a seasoned adventurer.
- The main character of Baldurs Gate is an ordinary guy living in a library fortress with his adoptive father. Son of Bhaal, the late god of murder.
- The Hero of Fable starts out as a farmboy, and then the whole village gets torched. The son of one of the most famous heroines around. Is also called Farmboy by the Rival and her brother.
- Turned on its end by Harvest Moon. Pete (or whatever you want to call him), the protagonist, is a farmboy because that's his Call.
- The hero of the Summoner game.
- Lucas in Mother 3.
- Played with in Valkyria Chronicles in that Welkin acts like a farmboy without actually being one. He also accepts the call without any serious objections. Of course his home-nation has a universal conscription law on it's books so he's probably used to the idea of having to enlist if there's an invasion.
- Dink Smallwood is a pig farmer who dreams about becoming a knight. His heritage is deliberately left wide open for the fanon to explore.
- The hero/heroine of Dungeon Siege starts as you guessed it, a humble farmer.
- Etrian Odyssey III has the Farmer class, which is supposed to be the weakest physically, but with plenty of skills useful for explorers to have handy.
- Alex from Lunar: Silver Star for the Sega CD, and later other platforms, is a boy who lives in a small farm community. He gets to fulfill his dreams of going on adventures and becoming a Dragonmaster just like his hero, Dyne.
Real Life
- Zhu Yuanzhang: youngest son of a peasant, home town wiped out by a flood when he was sixteen, who went on to found the Ming dynasty by way of the Red Turban secret society (and murdering their previous leader).
- Mao Zedong was born a peasant's son, rising to become dictator of Red China aged 56.
- Richard Bong, the top US Ace Pilot of all time (he got to 40 kills before being pulled from combat) was raised on a farm.
- He died while testing a P-80 Shooting Star on 6 August 1945. In some cases, his death shared the next day's front page with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
- Alvin York famous American soldier in World War I, was from a farming family.
- Abraham Lincoln also grew up in the backwoods.
- Former Three-time WWE Champion and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar grew up in South Dakota
- After the fakery of the WWE, he wanted something more real and respectable, so he tried football. I can't say I blame him. He failed to make any money playing football (he wasn't that good) so he opted to return to psuedo-sport/psuedo-TV drama of the UFC but how much more "real" is that? Lesnar's credentials are strictly for entertainment purposes and artificial, otherwise, how can one explain how he "earned" his shot at the title bout in the UFC when other more veteran fighters were previously denied? It's a far cry from anything real and an even further attempt at calling him a hero. The only real hero born in Webster, SD that this troper knows of is Tom Brokaw.
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