Basic Trope: A long-divided people are united by the prophesied arrival of our protagonist, who becomes their leader.
- Straight: The 13 tribes of Bickeria have been Struggling Together over a Silly Reason for War for as long as anyone can remember. Only the arrival of Alice, an idealistic Farm Girl who fits the prophecy of The Chosen One, shows promise of bringing them all together to oppose the Evil Empire at their gates.
- Exaggerated: Alice is an All-Loving Hero who, by opposing evil wherever she finds it, manages to usher in world peace.
- Downplayed: Bickeria isn't entirely devoid of leadership, but its governments are petty and disunited. It takes a lot of political savvy, rather than a convenient prophecy, for Alice to rise to the top and get everyone around a table together.
- Justified:
- There's nothing particularly special about Alice; it's a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy that someone will appear who everyone can rally around, since they only rally around her because of the prophecy.
- There's already a lot of public will to unite Bickeria, they just needed the sight of someone taking decisive action against The Empire to inspire them to join in.
- Alice has Hidden Depths such as an uncanny ability to lead, possibly aided by inherited magical powers.
- Alice has the favour of the Gods upon her. Things seem to naturally fall into place around her due to Divine Intervention.
- Alice's naive idealism prove a breath of fresh air to the cynical Bickerians and inspire them to a common cause.
- Alice is a Magnetic Hero.
- Inverted:
- The Bickerians were already loosely united against the foe, but a dispute about whether to follow The Chosen One Alice or The Chosen Other, Bob, becomes an Apple of Discord that threatens everything.
- The Hero Dies, and the ensuing Succession Crisis throws Bickeria into disarray.
- Subverted: After some initial successes gaining favour with the people of Bickeria, the weight of The Chains of Commanding and/or the scheming of Evil Chancellors sees Alice thrown out of her leadership position and forced to continue the fight as a rogue agent Hated by All. If she's lucky, a Supporting Leader will take up her cause and lend help when they can.
- Double Subverted: ...but the end of the war sees Alice able to Clear Her Name, her contribution to defeating the Empire is revealed, and she finally gets her Awesome Moment of Crowning.
- Parodied: Alice is a Cloud Cuckoolander with no place leading anyone, and proves to be a Pointy-Haired Boss at best, The Caligula at worst. She still seems to be leading Bickeria to victory though... somehow.
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Alice is just a Hero Protagonist, there's no suggestion that that puts her in any kind of leadership position.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "Ever since this Alice chick took over everyone talks about her like she's the star of the show, and the rest of us are just bit parts..."
- Invoked: The Chooser of the One decides that a hero is needed to unite the nation, and Alice fits the bill.
- Exploited: It's clear that Alice is rapidly gaining popularity, so the people already working to unite Bickeria do what they can to ride that wave.
- Defied: Alice Jumped at the Call to help her nation, but baulks at the extra responsibility of being Offered the Crown.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Reconstructed: The real work of uniting and leading Bickeria is done by politicians and diplomats working together behind the scenes, but they recognise the strong narrative of having a The Hero appear in the country's hour of need, and invoke or exploit as many tropes as they can to make this happen. In the end Bickeria going to war is as messy and ethically dubious as any war, but Protagonist-Centred Morality and Alice's own personal nobility cements her as a much-needed founding myth for the new Federation.
Back to A Protagonist Shall Lead Them.
