The Chosen One / Western Animation

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• Subverted for The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. Sheen Estevez is called "The Chosen One" by the monks of Shangri Llama, thanks to his strange ability to put his foot behind his head. However, he isn't the true Chosen One, but merely a substitute (since the monks were sick of waiting around for the real one to show up).
• Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra:
  • The Avatar, wielder of all four elements and reincarnation of the previous Avatars, is the Chosen One to act as a bridge between humans and spirits. The first series has Aang, and the second Korra. It sometimes just takes a while to find out who it is. The only exception is the very first one, who chose his own destiny, which started the so far ten millennia long reincarnation cycle
  • According to Iroh, Zuko was also a Chosen One, as he was the only Firebender who could teach Firebending to the Avatar, and restore the Fire Nation's honor, by taking on the role of the new Fire Lord.
  • The antagonist Amon also claims to have been chosen by the spirits to cleanse the world of Bending. He's lying.
  • The series, of course, also deconstructs this to a certain extent. Aang is a kid when he learns he's the Avatar, and promptly runs away from the pressure. Korra knew she was the Avatar from a young age, even younger than her predecessor was, and it's her only source of self-worth as her series starts. When she gets mercury poisoned in late Season 3, it destroys her mentally. All of her friends/family try to tell her that she needs to focus on getting better and they’ll take care of the world in the interim but that just makes things worse because her self-worth is so tied up in being the Avatar. She gets over it with time.
• In Barbie and the Secret Door, Romy and Nori believe Alexa is the only one able to stop Malucia.
• Ben Tennyson, aka Ben 10 is cemented as the chosen wielder of the Omnitrix after The Movie. In general, as of "Alien Force" he is very much The Chosen One for the universe, and it has become his destiny to become its protector.
• In Bolts & Blip, Blip discovers he was built by Dr. Tommy specifically to stop Dr. Blood, and that he has a secret Super Mode that he can't control very well.
• The Fairly OddParents!: In the Wishology trilogy, Timmy is declared the Chosen One, and he takes every opportunity to remind everyone that he is. He only is because, as it turns out, someone else Missed the Call. Although it's shown in "The Exciting Middle Part" that Turbo Thunder lacked the qualities necessary to be the true chosen one when he tries to attack the guardian of the ice wand without provocation. Timmy on the hand chose to ask for the Guardian's help, proving himself to be the true chosen one.
• Futurama: Fry. Unusually for the trope, it wasn't just a convenient prophecy: he was "The Chosen One" because he lacked a "delta brain-wave" explained as being a result of having gone to the past and becoming his own grandfather thus giving him a "superior yet inferior" intellect.
  Fry: So I really am important? How I feel when I'm drunk is correct?
  Nibblonian: Yes. Except the Dave Matthews Band doesn't rock.
• Gravity Falls: Invoked and subverted; Bill Cipher made the Author his Unwitting Pawn by telling him he was the Chosen One. The Author eventually figured out that he was being played, but not before building Bill's Doomsday Device. The final episode reveals that Ford is actually one of The Chosen Many in a ritual to destroy Bill. However, events prevent this ritual from playing out, and so other methods are used.
  "He told me he was a muse, and that he chose one brilliant mind a century to inspire. What a fool I was, blinded by his flattery and games."
• In Jackie Chan Adventures, there's an episode where an order of monks think that Tohru is the latest reincarnation of their leader. He isn't, but it's implied that Jade is.
• Kim Possible: Ron Stoppable is the chosen one with his Mystical Monkey Power, a power that eventually made him the strongest person by far in the entire series. Never mind that the power in question was supposed to just be a one shot thingy...
• The Life and Times of Juniper Lee: Juniper, saddled with the short end of the Chosen One stick by being forced to stay permanently in the same city.
• Metalocalypse: As revealed in the Season 4 finale, the members of Dethklok are the Chosen Ones of an ancient prophecy.
  Murderface: You mean we're the Jews?
• Mighty Max: The titular character is a twelve-year-old boy chosen by "Destiny" to be the hero of the series. Stopping a variety of threats throughout the show, his destiny specifically states that he will defeat the evil Skullmaster and destroy his Crystal of Souls. Max is equipped with a cosmic cap capable of opening portals that lead to all sorts of places around, in, and over Earth, although it can't make new portals.
• Mixels: In "A Quest for the Lost Mixamajig", King Nixel ends up creating a ruse plot on who will be the Chosen One to unlock the secrets of the Mixamajig, where Snoof is the one picked for his gullibility and heavy want to be special. Eventually, it is revealed that this was pulled on multiple Mixels at once, leading to a fight over who the Chosen One is, making it easier for them to fall into the King's trap.
• ¡Mucha Lucha!: Rikochet Buena Girl and the Flea from "The Return Of El Malefico". They are The Chosen One because they can stop El Malefico from taking over the world.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic featured Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's very own student and Chosen One. As the bearer of the Element of Magic, she would be sent to Ponyville to unite five more Elements of Harmony (all of them mares her age) under her leadership, so that she could use her friends as test-cases for the inevitable moment she must lead all of Equestria as its new princess. It's later revealed in the Season 4 premiere that the Tree of Harmony, a mystical tree where the Elements of Harmony come from, foretold of a pony that bore a certain cutie mark that matches the six-pointed star shape of the Element of Magic, and it's implied but never stated that Celestia was searching for this pony to choose as her student.
• Ninjago: A prophecy states that "One ninja will rise above the others and become the Green Ninja, the ninja destined to defeat the Dark Lord" (the Dark Lord being Lord Garmadon), and throughout the first season the four ninja compete and argue about who is deserves to be the Green Ninja. It turns out to be none of them and instead is Lloyd Garmadon, Lord Garmadon's son. While he was originally a Bratty Half-Pint, by the time this is revealed, he's been taken in by the ninja and wants to be good, and after that he matures into a brave hero and becomes the most powerful ninja. Additionally, the "Dark Lord" the prophecy was referring to turns out to be not Garmadon but the Overlord, a Greater-Scope Villain who was around since the dawn of time and who ultimately manipulates Garmadon for his own plans.
• On Ollie's Pack, this is the literal title of protagonist Ollie Allen, who is the latest in a long line of individuals entrusted with the duty of taking care of and protecting the Monster Pack.
• The Owl House: In "Witches Before Wizards" Luz gets fed up with the Boiling Isles being a lot more dreary and cynical of a fantasy world than she was hoping for. When a wizard named Adagast tells her she's "the chosen one", Luz leaps at the chance for a genuine adventure. Unfortunately this is subverted, as she eventually learns the quest is fake. Adagast is actually a "puppeteer demon" using illusions as part of an elaborate scheme to take out Eda, Luz's mentor and Adagast's major competition in the potions market, by using Luz as bait.
• Samurai Jack: In "Jack and the Traveling Creatures", Jack reaches a time portal that could take him back to the past. The portal's Guardian denies Jack entry, boasting that only one man is destined to defeat him and use the portal, and Jack is not that man. Jack challenges the Guardian anyway... and is soundly defeated. The Guardian only spares Jack at the last moment when the portal itself shows him a vision of an older Jack with a beard and a crown. The Guardian sends Jack off, telling him that he's not ready to use the portal now. Jack is the Chosen One after all, but he still needs to take a few more levels of badass. Sadly backfired and painfully deconstructed as Aku easily befelled The Guardian, destroyed the portal (among many), and subjected the future to a more hellish half-century. However, the gods that gave his father the sword officially revealed him to be the Chosen One, and Jack was still able to fulfill his destiny and defeat Aku.
• The Secret Saturdays: Zak Saturday is suspected by his parents to have been born to counter the Kur Stone, thus stopping a massive army of killer cryptids and saving the world, if need be. Now that it's been revealed that Zak is Kur; it's destiny for Zak to take over the world (as far EVERY SINGLE CRYPTID on Earth is concerned).
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Adora discovers that she's the first She-Ra chosen in a thousand years, tasked with restoring balance to Etheria and defeating the Horde. Darkly subverted, but with implications that the fifth season will make it a Double Subversion. Adora was chosen, but by an AI programmed by Abusive Precursors. "Restoring balance to Etheria" means bringing online all the power sources for the First One superweapon built into the planet — which will kill everyone; the Horde is only relevant because it's why Scorpia hasn't connected to the Black Garnet yet. Essentially, what Adora's been chosen to be is a firing pin, and she ends up destroying the magic sword that lets her use her powers in order to save a large chunk of the universe. However. Season 4 also establishes that the She-Ra identity isn't tied to the sword; rather, the sword was a First One creation to hijack She-Ra and bring her power under the First Ones' control. So it may be that Adora is still the Chosen One — just chosen by Etheria itself, not Light Hope, and it was proven to still be true.
• The Simpsons:
  • In "Homer the Great", Homer is revealed as the Chosen One of the Stonecutters, the secret society that controls the world. However, his actions as leader — namely wanting to use the Stonecutters to help people — annoy the members so much that they all quit and start the Ancient Mystic Society of No Homers.
  • In "Gone Maggie Gone", Lisa believes she might be the "gem child" that is destined to bring world peace. It's actually Maggie.
• Skyland: Lena is the "Lady of Light", destined to reunite the earth with someone who hasn't been revealed yet (nor, given the lack of new episodes, will ever be). A popular theory is that Mahad, Lena's brother and the deuteragonist, is the other chosen one.
• South Park is fond of prophecies and Chosen Ones: Cartman, Butters Stotch, Craig Tucker, Kyle Brovfloski, and Stan Marsh have all been some kind of Chosen One, although in four different events and in different ways.
  • Butters is stated to be some sort of child of prophecy by Aslan, and goes on to save Imaginationland.
  • Craig is stated to be a Chosen One by being part of an ancient Incan prophecy about defeating giant guinea-pigs.
  • Kyle is a blatant Expy of Jesus in one episode, willingly paying off everybody's debts from the recession and taking them on himself. You need to watch the episode to see just how blatant.
  • Stan became the chosen one to the Scientologists, after they determined that his thetan level was identical to their dead prophet, L. Ron Hubbard. Stan went along with all the perks of being "chosen" right up until he realized Scientology was a massive pyramid scheme.
  • Subverted with the Mysterion (AKA Kenny) who is trying to find the meaning behind his not-very-pleasant ability (constantly dying and coming back to life the next day with nobody remembering what happened). At a crucial moment, the spirit of an alien appears who seems to be claiming that Mysterion is his son sent to Earth. Then it turns out it was Mintberry Crunch, who ends up saving the day.
• In ThunderCats (2011), Young Rebel Prince Lion-O is marked as the Chosen One when, during a Rite of Passage designed as a test of his readiness, the Sword of Omens granted Lion-O a vision of the future, choosing him as the next king. The series' Opening Monologue by Court Mage Jaga quotes a prophecy from the Book of Omens concerning him:
  Jaga: For it was written that he would be born of fire, a king to lead his people to victory, against ancient spirits of evil.
• Transformers: The Movie makes very literal use of The Chosen One, with Hot Rod discovering he is the successor to the now-dead Optimus Prime, fulfilling the prophesy of one who would "light our darkest hour", and being upgraded by The Matrix into Rodimus Prime in the process. He is referred to as "The Chosen One" several times throughout the third season.
• Trollhunters: James "Jim" Lake Jr. is the latest Trollhunter — one who uses the Amulet of Daylight to protect the Human and Troll worlds from Gunmar and his hordes — as well as the first human trollhunter ever.
• Wander over Yonder: This is the point of Brad Starlight's prophecy in "The Hero". Only one hero can rescue Princess Demurra from the wicked dragon king Draykor, and Brad believes he is the hero with Wander as his goofy sidekick and Sylvia as his noble steed. However, several hinderances await the trio on the way to Draykor's castle, mostly with Wander ruining his plans. In a huge Plot Twist however, it turns out Brad is not the hero — Wander is, and Brad himself is just an egocentric knight only caring about himself, with his "prophecy" really his childhood diary. Also, Draykor is actually friendly, and he and Demurra are in love with each other.
• Xyber 9: New Dawn: Jack is the only one who can defeat Machestro, who is threatening to destroy and take over the kingdom. The show actually takes from Arthurian Legend.
• In a Yin Yang Yo! episode, Yin and Yang end up in a magic school, and they meet an otter named Terry, who is the Chosen One. He keeps saying this with dramatic fashion. It's a parody of Harry Potter, really.

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