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alt title(s): Chosen One " It's one thing to think that you're the center of the universe — it's another thing entirely to have this confirmed by an ancient prophecy."
—Douglas Adams
The ultimate victim (or beneficiary) of Because Destiny Says So. The oldest and most common Super Hero Origin. The easiest way to turn an Ordinary High School Student into the only thing preventing The End Of The World As We Know It. Take it for granted that they are the Only One. Villains can just as easily be "chosen," too.
One would think that the title implies some superior intelligent being or force actually had to make the Choice, but it's not common practice to expect a corresponding Chooser of the Chosen One. Other human beings have a lot of trouble just finding the Chosen One. And don't even get started on when they're wrong...
Bonus points if the character is actually called "The One" or "The Chosen One", or the phrase "Only You Can Save X" appears. The title of Chosen One may prove to be largely unnecessary.
Examples
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Anime
- Sailor Moon: the titular character, and to a lesser extent, all the other "Sailor" characters... the non-evil ones, at any rate.
- In Tokyo Mew Mew, the creation of the titular Magical Girls is initially presented as an accident, but even with Lego Genetics in place, the whole thing seems too convenient. Near the end, Mission Control reveals that they were lying and had actually gone and tracked down five girls that were perfect matches for the DNA they had lying around. It's explicitly stated as the Earth itself having chosen the five of them to protect it.
- Subverted in Flame Of Recca where it turns out that the hero is NOT the chosen flame-wielder, and the villain IS.
- Magic Knight Rayearth: Three schoolgirls are dropped into an alternate reality where they are declared to be "the legendary Magic Knights" and are set off on a journey to become said legendary Magic Knights.
- Naruto: It is revealed in part 2 that Jiraiya was told one of his students would be the one who would either destroy the world or save it. He originally thought it might be Pein, but before he dies he thinks it might be Naruto instead. Later Tsunade also refers to Naruto as the child of prophecy. Goes against the big speech Naruto gave Neji in part 1 about not believing in fate and destiny at least.
- Kamui in X1999, as well as the rest of the Dragons of Heaven and Earth.
- Though it doesn't fit perfectly, Nasu says that in the Nasuverse, only one person can be born with the potential to possess "Eyes of Death Perception".
- Griffith of Berserk is a good example of a villainous Chosen One, what with being chosen by the Crimson Behelit to become the fifth member of the Godhand during the Eclipse.
- Played with in Neon Genesis Evangelion, where Shinji is one of the half-dozen or so people on earth who can defend humanity...and still manages to be a whiny, insecure loser. He, Asuka and Rei are rewarded for saving the planet by having...dinner at a Ramen restaurant.
- Yugi (the little one) is referred to as a Chosen One, though in this case, a more appropriate description might be chosen vessel as his body provides the spirit within the Sennen Puzzle with a physical connection to reality allowing him to save the world. Though Yugi turns out to be the one who will defeat the Pharaoh in battle allowing him to move on to the afterlife. Yugi tends to have more messianic associations to his name than Yami Yugi.
Comic Books
- In the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip "The Glorious Dead", the power behind the Omniversal Spectrum intends to pass its power to one of two adveraries, representing good and evil. The Master believes the Chosen Ones are the Doctor and himself; they're actually the renegade Cyberman Kroton and the Master's Dragon, Cardinal Morningstar.
- In the Ultimate Marvel reboot of the X-Men, Jean Grey is believed to be the reincarnated Phoenix God and is being fought over by two cults. It's deliberately ambiguous whether she is, or is just a very powerful mutant with a lot of mental problems.
- Sonic the Hedgehog's sidekick, Miles "Tails" Prower, was named as the Chosen One in a prophecy made by the Ancient Walkers that said he would collect the Chaos Emeralds and begin the "Great Harmony." Though this fact has been tapped on numerous occasions, Tails has yet to bring about the "Great Harmony" prophesized.
- Wrong. In Issue #169, A.D.A.M., Dr. Eggman's computerized "son," had used a special beacon, along with the powers of Tails and Shadow, to bring (almost) every Chaos Emerald in the universe to him. Turbo Tails, with the help of Super Shadow, put a stop to this plan by sending all the Emeralds to the Zone of Silence. A Panda Demigod living in that zone shaped all the Chaos Emeralds into seven.
- Evil Dead: The comics go into much further expositions and machinations that revolve around just how much it sucks being The Chosen One. (Aside from all your friends and loved ones going deadite ) Makes sense seeing as The Necronomicon itself has its ties directly to each one of each generation. Even going so far as to have a Werewolf assistant type with his mentors full journal account of the last generations Chosen One who apparently worked himself into the Jack the Ripper mythos
Film
- Neo in The Matrix. In Reloaded, Neo discovers that the One is a byproduct of the Matrix, anticipated and manipulated by the same artificial minds. Neo is just the latest of a long line. What makes him unique is his refusal to serve the function of the One. Note that Neo is the anagram of One.
- Neo's power is a result of an imbalance in the code of the Matrix resulting from the machines' inability to fully account for humans' free will. Smith is the Matrix's attempt to "balance the equation" by creating a being with equivalent power but exactly opposite personality. By defying the Architect, Neo inadvertently sets the stage for Smith to become strong enough to destroy the Matrix and potentially the machines themselves. The Oracle's plan is for this to bring about a situation in which the machines have to agree to a truce with the humans in order to prevent that from happening. Is that clear enough?
- Also should be noted that Neo is the rare Chosen One who chooses himself. He isn't officially the Chosen One until he decides for himself that he is. The Oracle just had a very good idea what his choice would be, seeing as how he was created by machines. Seeing how much the movies blab on about "choice," this makes sense.
- Smith's cloning himself technically make him "The Many", The One's (and therefore Neo's) opposite, which he shows himself to be on many occasions.
- In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker is the Jedi's prophesied Chosen One, though he goes through three movies of being The Dragon before doing a Heel Face Turn and fulfilling his destiny.
- John Connor is the chosen one to save mankind from destruction to the machines in the Terminator series. Mainly because of a Stable Time Loop. Thinking about this is not likely to help your sanity.
- The main character in Kung Pow: Enter The Fist is literally called "Chosen One". He's important because he has a sentient, talking tongue.
- In the second Pokemon movie, Ash gets roped into playing the role of the Chosen One in an island's festival/ritual celebrating an ancient prophecy. And guess what? He is the Chosen One. It's even more obvious in the English dub, where his name is stated in the prophecy!
- Kung Fu Panda has the fat panda Po chosen as the Dragon Warrior by Master Oogway, seemingly just for bursting into the arena via fireworks. Seen as a decision marked by senility and coincidence by his disciple Shifu, Oogway nonetheless genuinely believes Po is more worthy than any of the highly trained Furious Five. It takes a while, but everyone realizes that the turtle's choice is absolutely right.
- In The Never Ending Story, Bastian is the one chosen to stop The Nothing. It seems this calling was given to him the moment he opened the book and began reading.
- The book makes it clear this happens all the time.
- In The Golden Child, Chandler Jarrell is the man chosen to save the titular child from death. He's not at all happy about it.
- Cale from Titan AE is the only one able to operate the ultimate Treasure Map to Mankind's salvation.
Cale: For your information, I happen to be Humanity's last great hope.
Preed: I weep for the species.
- Genkuro in Sword of Alexander.
Literature
- JRR Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings is chock full of them: Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins, Aragorn.
- Aragorn, for sure, and Bilbo, maybe, by virtue of being chosen by Gandalf and the dwarves, but Frodo was first "chosen" by accident (inherited the ring from Bilbo), and then in Rivendell effectively chose to take the mission himself. This fails the Chosen One test, since the Chosen One isn't allowed to make the choice themselves.
- Harry Potter is even given the "chosen one" title by the general wizarding public, though this is based on a correct guess anyway. Oddly enough, Harry is not chosen by destiny but instead by his nemesis - who, in his ignorant paranoia, makes a rod for his own back.
- Harry is actually pretty much a Deconstruction of the trope; much of the series put emphasis on how he despises his status as the Chosen one, and how he's uncomfortable with how others (Classmates, Strangers, etc.) treat him differently because of it. His status as Chosen One has also caused other characters to look at him as a Glory Hound (most notably in Goblet of Fire.)
- Brutha from Terry Pratchett's Small Gods. The trick here is that Brutha doesn't want to become the prophet, but is actually the Only One that believes in Om...
- Subverted in the later Discworld novel Going Postal, in which Moist von Lipwig is the Chosen One simply because he's the One who happens to be available. "At a time like this, any One will do!"
- Also subverted by Carrot. From the first book he appeared in (Guards! Guards!), it has been obvious that he was the Chosen One to be king of Ankh-Morpork: he was a poor farm boy, he's Lawful Good, he has a cool sword, etc. However, even though later books have made it obvious that Vimes, Vetinari, Carrot, and even other members of the Watch know he is the Chosen One, Carrot prefers to remain in the Watch.
- In the Wheel Of Time fantasy series, Rand al'Thor is chosen by destiny to be Dragon Reborn. The previous Dragon was Lews Therin Telamon/Kinslayer. (The series hasn't said anything on who him, but, what with time being a wheel and all that...)
- It's also a brutal deconstruction. It's not just the taint that's making him insane, it's the knowledge that all of existence rests on his shoulders, while foolish people are fighting their savior at every turn. That much stress would drive anyone mad.
- All the other main characters have their own role to play in prophecy, so he really shouldn't feel so alone. Though his role is more central, not to mention he is regarded as the chosen one of several different prophecies, of whom the supporters of one still see little reason to cooperate with other people despite having the same chosen one.
- In L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth, Johnny Goodboy Tyler is recognized as the one, the individual who almost single handedly defeated an empire of billions of beings on thousands of planets. He is even introduced to the alien ambassadors as a force majeure, an unpredictable and unstoppable factor whose coming changes the whole Multiverse.
- Un Lun Dun by China Mieville subverts this. A book of prophecies says that Zanna is supposed to be the Shwazzy, the one who will save the world from Smog, the Evil Overlord. But when Zanna is injured, her friend Deeba must take up the fight against Smog, even though she's in the prophecies as the Plucky Comic Relief.
- Subverted twice in Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. First, the Antichrist (who is the Chosen One in this case) is accidentally Switched At Birth one too many times, leaving the forces of Heaven and Hell to prepare the wrong boy for Armageddon for 11 years. Second, when they both finally track the real Antichrist down, he reveals he doesn't want to destroy the world or Take Over The World, plus he manages to convince both sides to just forget the whole thing. There are strong hints that the Powers That Be intended all of it to happen from the start.
- Subverted in Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell where there is a prophecy about the two bringing magic back to England and they think of themselves as chosen ones, restoring magic to its peak, except that they don't match the Messianic Archetype at all (especially the unsympathetic Norrell). Additionally, their skills pale in comparison to those of earlier magicians, and in essence, they are pawns setting events in motion to hasten the Raven King.
- In The Belgariad and The Malloreon, Garion (or Belgarion, his adult name) is the Chosen One (his actual prophetic title) who has to save the universe, kill the bad god, raise the new one, and keep control of his wife. And that is no mean feat. Then he has to do it all again in the sequel series.
- This series takes this trope quite literally. The voice in Belgarion's head tells him that the world's reason for existence is to give him a place to stand when he achieves a crowning moment of awesome.
- Slight subversion with the Prophecy of Light: while Garion technically is the main Chosen One, the prophecy makes use of several others for various reasons. Driven home when the Prophecy itself informs Garion that what's happening with two of the others is, quite frankly, none of his business.
- George R.R. Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire series seems littered with people who believe they are or who might be the Chosen One. So far, Prince Rhaegar, Rhaegar's children, Lord Stanis, and Queen Daenerys have all declared themselves or been declared by others to fit the prophecy. Fans also name Bran and Jon as possible candidates based on everything from their actions to possible parentage.
- In a subversion of the trope, Daenerys and Khal Drogo's son is prophecised to be 'the stallion who mounts the world', who will unite the Dothraki tribes and lead them to domination over the eastern continent. However, instead the child is killed in childbirth by
an evil witch a woman who wanted revenge on Drogo for the destruction of her village and the prophecy is thwarted.
- In The Naming by Alison Croggon, Maerad is specifically mentioned in the dream of a seer centuries ago and is foretold to destroy the Nameless One in his greatest uprising of evilness and save the world. She's also known as The One, The Fated One, and The Foretold.
- Torak in The Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness. It's not exactly easy for him, but it does get him a wolf friend.
- Sparhawk in the David Eddings Elenium trilogy is the one destined to wield the mystical sapphire rose known as the Bhelliom. Eventually, this is explained by the fact that the Bhelliom, centuries back, actually spawned a human offspring, from whom Sparhawk is descended. Sparhawk is, essentially, a minor god and never knew it.
- This is about the only thing he's destined to do, because he's Anakha, the Man without a Destiny - a trait that scares gods shitless because, unlike any other person with a destiny, they can't predict what he's going to do from one moment to the next.
- A lot of the Ea Cycle revolves around finding The Chosen One.
- In the David Drake military SF series The General, Raj Whitehall is 'Chosen' by an ancient AI to save Human civilization on the planet Bellevue.
- Followed up with several other Chosen, in several sequel series.
- Seen also in Drake's later Belisarius Series, with the titular general (who formed, along with the 5th century AD Roman Empire he served in Real Life, the historical basis of The General) being chosen by Aide.
- In the Malazan Book of the Fallen, there are several possible 'Chosen Ones', such as the deathless Rhulad Sengar who is chosen by the Crippled God to be the ruler of his mortal empire (but is then brutally and unexpectedly despatched by Karsa Orlong using loopholes in the laws of magic). A better match may be Ganoes Paran, who is chosen to become the 'master of the deck', the arbiter of who will be chosen for godhood, for fairly obscure reasons. However, this power is not overused as he is only present in three of the eight published novels so far.
- In an interesting switch, Ansurimbor Kellhus deliberately sets himself up as the titular 'chosen one' of The Prince of Nothing through the manipulation of other characters, religions and factions, rising from solitary traveller to Emperor of the known world over the course of the series and its sequels.
- The Pevensies in CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are a Chosen Quartet.
- If this editor had a nickel for every time someone said Richard was "the only one" who could do whatever needed to be done, he wouldn't have to worry about his student loans.
- Every single main character in every single series in Warrior Cats. And now, as of Power of Three, they're getting special powers, too.
- Actually, Squirrelflight, Leafpool and Stormfur (if his short time as a protagonist in Moonrise counts as being a main character) weren't Chosen Ones. And it turns out that Hollyleaf wasn't one, either.
- Firestar got to be The Chosen One twice.
- At the end of Dan Abnett's Gaunts Ghosts novel Ghostmaker, with the eldar who could have closed the Way dead, Inquisitor Lilith must take his place. The eldar there are struck by her name, which they take as Lileath, and Gaunt points out that her whole life has led there. It merely states, however, that "perhaps" she had been born to do that.
- In James Swallow's Warhammer 40000 Horus Heresy novel The Flight of the Eisenstein, the housecarl Kaleb prays over his master, Garro, who revives, convincing Kaleb that the God-Emperor had chosen him. This inspires Kaleb to regard his own actions as part of the Emperor's work and to sacrifice his life to save Garro. It makes a deep impact on Garro, who, on more than one occasion on their flight, takes an action in faith that his purpose will bring him through — including one that he knows, and everyone else knows, will kill them all if it fails.
- In James Swallow's Warhammer 40000 Blood Angels novel Deus Encarmine, when Arkio picks up the Spear of Telesto, he briefly takes on the appearance of the primarch Sanguinius, and all the Blood Angels (even his brother Rafen) regard the miracle as evidence of his status. Shortly thereafter, one of them observes that those who object to this are dying and those who accept are living, which must be an omen, which is the point at which Arkio says he doesn't want it. But he is talked into carrying on, with all his doubts.
- In Deus Sanguinius, both Arkio and Rafen foresee a Cain And Abel confrontation between them. When Arkio's forces confront those under Mephiston, Combat By Champion is proposed. When Mephiston is about to face, Rafen shouts from among Arkio's men that he will do it. Mephiston reads his mind and discovers that he is not only pure but has been touched by a vision, and he stands aside to let Rafen take the challenge.
- One of the Young Wizards novels puts a strange twist on this trope: only at the very end of the novel, right after the Big Bad has been defeated, do the viewpoint characters learn that one of them had always been The Chosen One for that particular battle, and was the only person throughout all the timelines of all the universes who could have possibly pulled it off.
- Dune- the trope is thoroughly deconstructed with Paul Atreides and his son Leto. Played straight with Duncan Idaho in the final book.
- In The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix, Arthur Penhaligon is designated "Heir to the House" by Mister Monday, because he was supposed to die shortly thereafter, in an attempt to keep the Will at bay. Ironically, this was suggested by the Will itself, and led to Arthur becoming a major threat to the Trustees of the House.
- The Black Company decides to protect one after their employer turns on them. In this case she's the reincarnation of The White Rose, a hero who is supposedly able to defeat The Lady. The original was responsible for putting The Lady in the can along with her husband and sorcerers. It's implied that she was able to do this because she nullifies all magic around her.
- Dexterity Jones and to some extent Zandakar in Karen Miller's Godspeaker Trilogy. Rhian also displays elements of this trope as she is mentioned by Hettie.
- The Giver, anyone? Jonas is chosen by his society to be the new Receiver of Memory, a very revered position. Of course, halfway through the book he decides that pulling a Screw Destiny will work for the better of society in the long run.
- In The Resturaunt At The End Of The Universe, Zaphod Beebelbrox is placed in the Total Perspective Vortex - a machine that tells whoever's inside it exactly how important they are in relation to the universe. This is mainly used as a form of execution, as everyone placed inside it so far has gone insane. However, Zaphod walks (not falls) out triumphant - he really is (as he thinks) the most important person in the universe! Thing is, this gets subverted since he is unknowingly actually in a parallel universe created specifically for the purpose of him surviving the Total Perspective Vortex - thus since the universe was created just for him, he is by default the most important person in it. He then pulls a spaceship out of his pocket and travels through time.
- Tamora Pierce's Tortall series has several Chosen Ones, but in each case it's pretty clear who chose them and why. In fact, one girl is chosen by the Trickster God, who poses as the god of war in order to tell some people that she's been chosen. When they finally find out who really chose her, they kick themselves for not figuring it out sooner, because she was a talented spy instead of a warrior.
- Subverted in Warand Peace, where Pierre Bezukhov determines based on the gematria of his name that he is meant to save humanity by assassinating the anti-Christ Napoleon. Instead, he is captured for an unrelated act and forced-marched across most of Russia, where he learns the true meaning of his life.
- Andrew "Ender" Wiggin
- Played with in many, many ways before all is through by the prophecy of the Hero of Ages in Mistborn. The Hero turns out to be Sazed. Vin, the actual main character, is also a Chosen One of sorts, but isn't the Hero and wasn't part of prophecy.
- Eragon of the Inheritance Cycle seems to be a Chosen One of sorts. Though he wasn't actually named in prophecy, he was chosen by the dragon Saphira to be her rider during the war between the Varden and the Empire. Since he is the only Dragon Rider not on the side of the Empire, the factions aligned with the Varden often laud him as their "only hope" to defeat Galbatorix, as they will fail without him.
- Not that they're very happy about this, given that he tends to ignore orders, lacks common sense, and tried to seduce one one of their leadership figures. The dwarves are implied to conceal deep grudges against him.
- Morgon of Riddle Master can't seem to get a break. The man just wants to farm, but no. Rather he acquiesces to take a simple journey to answer a Riddle (ie a prophecy) that ends up sending him halfway across the continent a few times and we still doesn't know what's going on.
Live Action TV
- In Charmed, the sisters are referred to as the Chosen Ones. Wyatt Halliwell, Piper's firstborn son, is also known as the Chosen One.
- Now what does that make Chris?
- The titular character of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, as well as any other Slayer in the series (Faith Lehane, Kendra, Nikki Wood, etc). They rarely live to see their 20s, and tend to be chosen when they're extremely young, at 15-17 if they're exceptionally lucky, and didn't get discovered by the Watcher's Council particularly quickly (as appears to be the case with both Buffy and Faith and many of the Potential Slayers during season 7, but not the case with Kendra, who got an even shorter end of the stick, abandoned by her parents and raised by her Watcher). The "One" part of the Chosen One is very literal - "One girl in all the world." (At least until the end of Season One)
- It is indicated towards the end of the series that the replacement slayers are already lined up to take over when their predecessor dies, in significant numbers too. Apparently some get activated a little too early, maybe the Prophecy is incapable of distinguishing when a Slayer is going to be Back From The Dead. In the end of the series, the Good Guys do some magic to speed along the "Choosing" of the potential Slayers, essentially creating an army of girls with their Slayer activated.
- The Anointed One was also an intended chosen one, but instead was killed by a vampire who may not have been destined, but also wasn't stuck in the body of a child.
- The Anointed One may also be a subversion as, from his introduction to his quick death, he doesn't do anything. Even with all the vampires fawning over him, he doesn't even say very much. He's not an interesting character. No wonder Spike called him "The Annoying One."
- Locke on Lost appears to have been chosen for a special role. We just don't know what the role is or by whom he was chosen. Ben apparently used to be the chosen one. As he tells Locke, "Destiny is a fickle bitch."
- In an incredibly cruel twist, it seems his special role, his destiny was to die off Island and return so that Jacob's currently unnamed rival could pose as him and kill Jacob...and despite being said to be chosen by Jacob, he never even met the real Jacob while alive, implying that maybe the whole "chosen one" thing was just crap thought up by Jacob's nemesis (whose current Fan Nickname is Esau) so that he could return to life.
- In Carnivale both Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin are chosen ones on opposing sides, following in a long line of both good and evil avatars. Also, Sophie is revealed to be the final avatar late in the series.
- Clark Kent in Smallville is referred to as a sort of 'chosen one' by the local indian tribe, who call him 'Naman', the prophesied warrior who would destroy his worst enemy, Sagith. In fact this prophecy was implanted in the tribe (along with metahuman werewolf powers) by a Kryptonian visitor centuries ago.
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers definitely starts like this, with several (apparently) normal teenagers being selected to be defenders of Earth.
- Come on now, they weren't just normal teenagers, they were teenagers with attitude! Zordon's orders!
- Fast forward about 13 years, and we have the prophecy of The Light: a person born from the most powerful sorceress and the most skilled swordsman who is destined to defeat the forces of darkness. Power Rangers Mystic Force played this trope completely straight.
- In Babylon 5 there is not just 'One' Chosen One but three of them!
- The trio of Chosen Ones was probably (at least partially) a Ret Con to explain how the Jonas Quinn could replace the previous Chosen One.
- Ret Con doesn't even begin to describe B5. JM Straczynski pratically deserves to be listed under the Crazy Prepared trope for his contingency planning. From the very beginning, every single major character, in all five seasons had an "out" written into the story so that they could be removed without affecting the storyline, and indeed, could be reintroduced later if necessary.
- The new Battlestar Galactica is swimming with them. Dr. Gaius Baltar is 'chosen' by the hallucinatory vision of the Cylon Number Six to serve the One True God, and she manipulates him to that end over the course of the entire run of the series, from scientist to political leader to champion of the downtrodden underclass to religious icon. She actually calls him 'the chosen one' on several occasions.
- In the second instance, President Laura Roslin comes to believe that she is the dying leader who will lead the people to Earth, based on her interpretation of ancient religious texts. Her role is questioned when she is cured of her supposedly terminal cancer, and reassessed when she suffers a relapse.
- The third possibility is Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace, who is told early on by the Cylon Leoben that she is important and has a destiny. Unlike the other two, she actively denies it and works against it, before embracing it shortly before her 'death' in the atmosphere of a gas giant. Upon her return, she comes to passionately believe she is now the one destined to lead the human race to Earth, unaware of a Cylon prophecy that she will actually lead the human race to the apocalypse.
- The fourth example (is that a record?) is the Cylon Number Three, who becomes obsessed with seeing the faces of the Final Five and what lies between life and death. She declares herself to be a chosen one who will lead the Cylons into a new age, but instead her hubris kills her and leads to her entire line being boxed. It turns out her experiences were actually more important to furthering Baltar and arguably Starbuck's positions as 'chosen ones' (by putting Baltar in a position where he found his way back to the fleet, and by enabling Starbuck to find Earth).
- Its highly debatable if examples 1 and 4 are really chosen ones. Particularly 4 since she basically chose herself ... Gaius was originally chosen as a good target to deceive by the Cylons, not by fate or a god. If a god / angel did intervene it was after the destruction of the colonies and he was likely chosen because he was such an easy target due to his role in the genocide and his need to keep that hidden. Starbuck and Roslin much better fit the Chosen One trope as they're fulfilling prophecies from before they were around, and no human nor Cylon seemed to have much say in choosing them to fill their roles.
- A good point about Number Three, but Gaius wasn't chosen by the cylons at all. It was always "God" (though it doesn't like to be called that) who was plodding him along. When Head Six said he was the "Hand of God" and later when she said she was an "angel of God" she was very literally telling the truth. Of course, in that regard, we get a fifth candidate - Caprica Six, who like Gaius was given an angelic companion.
- Really, when it comes right down to it, Battlestar Galactica doesn't really have a Chosen One - it has a Chosen Five Man Band, each with a specific purpose in "God's" plan.
- No-one yet mentioned Kevin Sorbo's character Captain Dylan Hunt on Andromeda? He started out as a normal human (albeit genetically upgraded, which is pretty much standard for 90% of human characters in that series), but as seasons wore on he was retconned to be a half-human/half-Sufficiently Advanced Alien of the Master Race, then became the Paradine, spoken of in ancient prophecy, with his own prescient alien seeress by his side. (Trance Gemini, who started out as an (seemingly) innocent perky alien girl with hints of unusual powers, but in later seasons was transformed into a God Mode Sue.) Hercules in Space, indeed.
- Dean Winchester as of Supernatural season 4. Unfortunately, the guy's gone through so much Break The Cutie trauma by this point, that it's doubtful if he can actually fulfill this role. In season 5 it's revealed that he's the intended vessel of the Archangel Michael, which he doesn't agree to.
- Referred to as the "Golden One" in Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire because it's "slightly less cliche" than the Chosen One.
- Subverted in Willow, where a baby girl is prophesized to be the only one to defeat the evil queen, but what actually happens is that all the people trying to protect her end up defeating the evil queen while she's still a baby.
- The titular hero in Legend of the Seeker.
Radio
- Played with in the BBC Radio 4 play ElvenQuest, in which the Chosen One is the protagonist's dog.
Video Games
- Dragon Quest IV... Just Dragon Quest IV.
- In fact, a number of Dragon Quest games have a Chosen One, though the method of choosing differs. In DQ1, the hero is chosen by virtue of being the descendant of a great hero. In DQ2, er, ditto. In DQ3, the same thing happens, but the hero goes on to become the great hero of legend referenced in DQ 1 and 2. DQ4...yeah. DQ5, the protagonist is actually not the Chosen One, but his inevitable son is.
- Colette Brunel from Tales Of Symphonia, although she's not the main character and has been fully aware of her status as the chosen one her whole life, it being due to her genetics. It is revealed that there are entire families containing the chosen bloodline spread across the world, any member of whom can be proclaimed the chosen one by the Powers That Be whenever required. And then there's the whole issue of what it turns out that the chosen is really chosen For...
- Zelos Wilder is another chosen (the chosen of a different world, to be precise), but he doesn't really want to do it — in fact, at one point he either pretends to or actually does make a deal with the villains to betray the party in exchange for getting out of his duties.
- Speaking of the Tales series, Luke in Tales Of The Abyss is prophesied to be The Chosen One who will lead his world to new heights of prosperity. Which is then subverted. Then played straight again.
- The 2004 The Bards Tale parodies this rather savagely. You are told early on that your character is the chosen one on an important quest, but as you progress through the game, you encounter a number of self-proclaimed Chosen Ones who make big speeches about their destiny, only to get killed horribly by monsters or booby traps. You eventually stumble across a whole prison full of "Chosen Ones" of various ages.
- The best part, of course, being the creepy goblins that show up and sing a song about the latest Chosen One to get its ass kicked. Little bastards.
- The Reveal that Caleigh the princess is actually the demonic Big Bad of the game actually makes the situation pretty tragic. A demon has been tricking countless poor saps into getting themselves killed, trying to find someone skilled enough and gullible enough to free her.
- In Fire Emblem 10 (Radiant Dawn), the characters that enter the game's final tower are classified as "Chosen Ones". The player gets to choose most of them though, rather than fate directly.
- Notable aversion in Grandia: The protagonist Justin is an ordinary boy who just wants to be an adventurer. He isn't chosen by the "Spirits" after an ancient prophecy, but is begrudgingly accepted by them after proving how awesome he is.
- Link from The Legend Of Zelda; in some of the games he's specifically referred to as "the Chosen Hero."
- Interestingly enough, in later games, Link actually has to earn the title of Chosen Hero. Most notably in Wind Waker, where simply being on a quest to defeat the Big Bad isn't enough, he also has to recover the pieces of the Triforce of Courage and show that he's courageous enough to actually receive it in his various adventures.
- Note that his was probably because the out-of-timeline-erasure of the last Chosen One caused the Triforce to burst into 8 powerless fragments, which could not seek a bearer for themselves, like a complete Triforce-piece does. It still probably had to be Link and nobody else, since the Triforce probably wouldn't have accept anybody else for a "host".
- That's not just the later games. Proving his destined right to find and wield the Triforce of Courage is the entire point of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. That's when the existence of the Triforce of Courage is first mentioned; the original game had only Wisdom and Power.
- Zelda (the Zeldas?), too, would count as a Chosen One; seeing as how she received the Triforce of Wisdom. Ganondorf, though, he has the Triforce of Power, not so much; he unconsciously chose that one himself.
- The Keyblades in Kingdom Hearts tend to choose keybearers for themselves when needed. This part goes to Sora and later also to Mickey Mouse, Riku, and Kairi. Once chosen, a keybearer has to deal with a great amount of Heartless and Nobodies, who want to kill him/her because keyblades are the only true threat to them and also simply Because Destiny Says So. Additionally, Sora was also chosen to open "the door to light" with his keyblade for reasons as yet unknown.
- Interestingly, Sora was never meant to wield a Keyblade. The one he has initially chose Riku as its bearer, but since Riku had Jumped At The Call, Sora found it instead.
- Specifically, Terra chose Riku, but destiny chose Sora. They're both Chosen, but Destiny's Choice takes precedence.
- In the online Flash RPG, Adventure Quest, You are the Avatar of Hope, though it has been implied that the entire human race of Lore is the Avatar of Hope, in one of the stories posted by the admin Falerin on the forum.
- Gordon Freeman of Half Life is known as "the one free man", especially to the sequel's Vortigaunts.
- Even the villains recognize it: Overwatch refers to Gordon as "Anticitizen One".
- Alternately, this could be analogous to the most wanted criminal, or it could have been issued sequentially, since he was the first prominent resistance member, during the original Black Mesa incident.
- Your character in Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is generally assumed to be a Chosen One thanks to the prophecies of the "Nerevarine," the reincarnation of the heroic Nerevar Indoril. This trope gets subverted a ways into the storyline, when your self-appointed mentor explains that "having the spirit of Nerevar" isn't literal... you're not the reincarnation, you're just qualified to follow in his footsteps and save his people from his ancient foe. In fact, there are others qualified to become the Nerevarine as well, and you'll even meet up with a few who tried and failed. So really, you don't save the day Because Destiny Says So, but because you say so.
- There are a few hints from time to time, that the reason you're able to take up the mantle of the Nerevarine is that you really are the reincarnation of Nerevar. As this editor recalls it, at least one of the other failed Nerevarines died when trying to put on the ring "Moon and Star" which was enchanted to kill anyone who tried to wear it who wasn't Nerevar. Additionally Almalexia identifies you as Nerevar, though it's possible this was because she was trying to manipulate you.
- They take their Chosen Ones seriously on Vvardenfell, really. One of the Tribunal Temple's standing orders is to execute anyone calling themselves Nerevarine... not because they want to stop the prophecy but rather because if the Nerevarine is going to fulfill every point on his prophetic agenda (yes, there's an actual list) he can't let a little thing like a full inquisitorial execution stop him. Ergo, try to execute every pretender - if they succeed, they know it was an imposter.
- It is also implied that it may all be a set-up by Azura to get revenge on the Tribunal for going against her when they obtained their godhood. The Emperor is speculated by at least one NPC to be setting you up as the Nerevarine for PR (though the 4th game establishes The Emperor is a strong believer in prophecy).
- In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the player character is a Chosen One who is supposed to take the Emperor's mystical Mac Guffin to the his surviving son, another Chosen One. Sometimes it seems the gods spend their time just choosing people to do stuff. Of course, it is a world guided by prophecy...
- The player character can also be a villainous Chosen One, in which he or she literally meets the goddess who did the choosing while you "were in the womb", if they complete the "Dark Brotherhood" quest. All while still being a heroic Chosen One in the main quest.
- Metroid: Samus is sometimes portrayed simply as a singularly hyper-competent one-woman space police force, but in the NTSC version of Metroid Prime, the Chozo Lore entries imply that the Tallon IV Chozo prophesied and expected Samus to come save their dying planet after the Phazon meteorite strike.
- Valis: Yuko Ahso is generically thrust into the spotlight as the warrior who can wield the sword of Valis and defeat evil. (Okay, not quite generically—she's thrust into the spotlight with a big dose of Fanservice and Stripperificness. She plays the role of The Valis Warrior in the first three games, then becomes the Dream World's goddess (something like that, as much as this troper remembers), and in the fourth game, Lena takes over Yuko's prior role as the wielder of the titular legendary sword.
- Unreal has various messages (combined with your actions) that heavily suggest that you are The Messiah who will save the Nali from the tyranny of the Skaarj. This may be a subversion however, as the tournament games (said to be set after the first game) suggest that the Nali are still being hunted, although the reference is non-specific enough that you could easily assume your character at least made their situation far better.
- Fallout 2, wherein the player character is identified as the Chosen One at the very beginning. Apparently being descended from a local legend includes inheriting some pretty big expectations.
- Subverted in Arcanum Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura, where it appears that the player character is the reincarnation of the Living One, a mystical figure, but later in the game You discover that you are just a common person, that the phrophecy of the reincarnation is false, and that the Living One is in fact still alive.
- Double Subversion: The prophecy of the Living One becomes true, even without you being the reincarnation of Nasrudin, because you fill the role that was created.
- Though the prophecy is still subverted in other ways, such as the 'great evil' of ages past...that is, the 'evil' version of The Chosen One you've been sent to smite...being the almost completely helpless prisoner of the real Big Bad. And he's actually a pretty decent guy who, in his centuries of confinement, has had a chance to mull over his past actions and decide he was in the wrong.
- Divine Divinity has you being one of the chosen three, the Marked One, one will then be selected by the Council of Seven to serve as Divine One. You become Divine One after the enemies kill other two Marked Ones.
- The Legacy Of Kain series plays around with this, not getting around to deciding just who's The Chosen One, or what they're chosen for, until the end of the series. In Defiance, both Raziel and Kain believe they're the Champion of the vampires. Eventually, it's revealed that Raziel could be the Champion of either the Vampires or the Hylden, and as the only one with free will, he can choose. In the end, Raziel plays out both Champions' parts by giving the Hylden Overlord a sufficiently strong host body in the form of Janos Audron, and giving Kain, the Scion of Balance, everything he needs to fulfill his own destiny by erasing Nupraptor's corruption from his spirit and fusing himself with the Soul Reaver.
- Secret Of Mana also plays with this trope. Near the start of the game, the main character pulls a sword out of a stone. He is later told that only a great hero should be able to remove the sword, but since he is too young to be a hero, it must have happened because the power of Mana is weakening. He is asked to take care of the sword until he can find a real hero to give it to. Of course, later on it turns out that he was The Chosen One all along. He's even the son of a hero!
- The sequel, Seiken Densetsu 3, also handles this trope in an interesting way since there are six characters to choose from, and you can choose any one of them to be the main character. Destiny doesn't choose The Chosen One until shortly into the game when your first character finds a weakened fairy looking for somebody to save the Mana Tree. While you inevitably fail to save the Mana Tree, your fairy friend becomes the new Mana Goddess who will eventually be able to restore it.
- Infamous: Played straight. If you collect enough dead drops you eventually come across one of a phone call made by Kessler to the courier service Cole worked for. He asks for Cole by name to deliver a package, which is how Cole gets the Ray Sphere in the first place when he is instructed to open it. Might be an aversion given that technically he chose himself given that Kessler is Cole from the future.
- Final Fantasy III
- The Player Character in the Baldurs Gate series gets some of this in Throne of Bhaal. It turns out the outcome of the prophecy of the Bhaalspawn hinges upon them; the great destruction foretold will only happen if they fail.
Prophetic stone head:
"The wheels of prophecy e'er turn,
Gorion's ward hath come.
Crossroad of past, present and future,
The one foreseen, the one foretold."
- Arc The Lad subverts this tropes: Arc was not chosen by the Powers That Be: he was chosen by his father who then went to bargain with the power that be.
- In Super Paper Mario, it's stated that Mario, Luigi, Peach and even Bowser are the Heroes of Light chosen by the Light Prognosticus. Of course, Luigi is the Chosen One for the Dark Prognosticus, being the Apocalypse Maiden.
- Earthbound had the Chosen Four. With Ness as a more specific Chosen One.
Web Animation
- In the web cartoon Animator vs. Animation, a sadistic Flash animator creates a little stick man called "Victim" to torment. "Victim" quickly turns around and starts tormenting him, tearing up the Flash GUI and playing kickball with the mouse cursor until the harried animator manages to close the program. Things escalate in Animator vs. Animation 2, in which the animator makes the careless mistake of naming his creation The Chosen One: not only does this nightmare creature with the power of ten million stick men destroy the Flash interface, he escapes to the animator's desktop and begins wreaking havoc there. The only thing that stops his rampage is the timely intervention of AVG Anti-Virus, after which The Chosen One is rehabilitated as the best damn pop-up blocker ever (he incinerates the bastards!).
Webcomics
Web Original
- Jonas Wharton in LG15: the resistance is described as "the One", because he is the only trait positive male. Maggie also arguably qualifies, with her super-speshul magic blood.
- In the Whateley Universe, every few centuries, when The Balance is threatened, the Tao requires a mortal to take up the magical jade sword Destiny's Wave, and become the Handmaid Of The Tao. The Handmaid is always a beautiful teenaged Chinese girl, but Chou Lee, the current Handmaid, was chosen by the Tao, and transformed by the sword from a chubby white boy from Knoxville, Tennessee called Alex Farshine.
- In season four of Red vs Blue, Tucker becomes the chosen one for an alien prophecy after finding a sword (which he kicks ass with). The prophecy included a lot of Great things.
Western Animation
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