History Main / TheCallLeftAMessage

* HarryPotter: Surely the Hogwarts letters that just ''keep on coming'' for Harry are an example of this? Throw one away? Another is delivered. Throw that one away? They come by the bucketload. Try to take him away to a remote place? A great big fucking giant comes and breaks down your door, bends your shotgun like a licorice stick and gives your son a pig's tail, THEN gives Harry his letter. At last. If that's not [[CallToAdventure The Call To Adventure]] refusing to take no for an answer, what is?
* Another one based on (or blatantly ripped off from depending on your perspective) Arthurian legend, in the ''WheelOfTime'': there is the crystal sword, Callandor, the Sword That is Not a Sword, sealed in the Stone of Tear, which only the true [[ChosenOne Dragon Reborn]] can take from its resting place.
* A literal message is left on OctoberDaye's answering machine in ''Rosemary and Rue''.

* OlderThanPrint: [[KingArthur Arthurian legend]] has more than one of these. Other than the Sword in the Stone, the most notable is the Seat Perlious, which was Galahad's call. No one but the greatest knight could sit in it, and considering the number of enemies Arthur had, no one had either the confidence or pure innocence of purpose to actually take the seat until Galahad got to the court some weeks later.

* Villanous example in ''TheSagaofDarrenShan'' where the Vampaneze have a coffin of fire, that only the true leader of the Vampaneze can sit in without dying horribly.

* R2D2 and the message from Princess Leia in StarWars A New Hope. Possibly the single most iconic version in modern fiction.

* The [[MacGuffin MacGuffins]] of ''[[{{Digimon}} Digimon Adventure's]]'' second [[StoryArc arc]], the Crests, only activate once their holder exhibits the trait that they were chosen for.

* In ''MassEffect'', the Protheans left their [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture warning about the]] Reapers in beacons. Both [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]] and [[TheDragon Saren]] answered.

* In ''MassEffect'', the Protheans left their [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture warning about the]] [[CosmicHorror Reapers]] in beacons. Both [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]] and [[TheDragon Saren]] answered.

Sometimes, when the CallToAdventure is made, no one is there to pick it up. But, as any GenreSavvy person knows, YouCantFightFate, and the call [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive won't take no for an answer]]. If no one's there to pick up, [[TitleDrop the call will leave a message]] that can only be "answered" by [[ChosenOne the person(s) that it was originally intended for]]. This also has the added benefit of dispelling any doubt that the character might not really be a hero.

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* The [[MacGuffin MacGuffins]] of ''[[{{Digimon}} Digimon Adventure's]]'' second [[StoryArc arc]], the Crests, only activate once their holder exhibits the trait that they were chosen for.
** Though they can also force a [[SuperpoweredEvilSide dark Digivolution]] if what motivates the user is the abuse of their trait; for example, reckless courage rather than for the sake of protecting others. It happened to Tai when he [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Flipped Off Cthulhu]] to force Greymon's evolution.
*** The second season does the same thing with similar artifacts, and the fourth has [[TransformationTrinket Spirits]].
* The Clow Book in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': A strange-looking book, in the basement of the 10-year-old heroine, and of all the people who had handled it previously, she's the only one to unleash the cards.

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** ''Ocarina of Time'' manages to invert this, actually: Link accidentally accepts TheCall seven years too early, rather than too late, [[TheCallPutMeOnHold forcing him to be put in stasis until he's actually old enough for it]]. Too bad [[XanatosGambit Ganondorf was expecting this...]] This is at least partially based on the Arthurian legend/myth of the Sword in the Stone.

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* The staff Drum Billet passes on to Esk in the {{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/EqualRites''.

* A literal message is left on [[OctoberDaye October Daye's]] answering machine in ''Rosemary and Rue''.

Sometimes, when the CallToAdventure is made, no one is there to pick it up. But, as any GenreSavvy person knows, [[YouCantFightFate You Can't Fight Fate]], and the call [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive won't take no for an answer]]. If no one's there to pick up, [[TitleDrop the call will leave a message]] that can only be "answered" by [[ChosenOne the person(s) that it was originally intended for]]. This also has the added benefit of dispelling any doubt that the character might not really be a hero.

* The staff Drum Billet passes on to Esk in the {{Discworld}} novel ''[[Discworld/EqualRites Equal Rites]]''.

* In RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/GloryRoad'', The Call comes to the hero in the form of a newspaper ad, specifically tailored to his interests, directing him to appear at a certain office at a certain time.

* The Clow Book in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': A strange-looking book, in the basement of the 10-year-old heroine, and of all the people who had handled it previously, she's the only one to unleash the cards.

* ''TheLegendOfZelda: Ocarina of Time'' does this twice in quick succession with the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Master Sword]] and the [[MacGuffin Triforce of Courage]].

* In ''[=~2001: A Space Odyssey~=]'', aliens leave the Monolith behind for humans to discover once they've advanced far enough to travel to the Moon.

* The Clow Book in ''CardCaptorSakura'': A strange-looking book, in the basement of the 10-year-old heroine, and of all the people who had handled it previously, she's the only one to unleash the cards.

** Though they can also force a [[SuperpoweredEvilSide dark Digivolution]] if what motivates the user is the opposite of their trait; for example, fear instead of courage. It happened to Tai when he [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Flipped Off Cthulhu]] to force Greymon's evolution.

Sometimes, when the CallToAdventure is made, no one is there to pick it up. But, as any GenreSavvy person knows, [[YouCantFightFate You Can't Fight Fate]], and the call [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive won't take no for an answer]]. If no one's there to pick up, [[TheCallLeftAMessage the call will leave a message]] that can only be "answered" by [[ChosenOne the person(s) that it was originally intended for]]. This also has the added benefit of dispelling any doubt that the character might not really be a hero.

* The Helmet of Fate tends to be this in TheDCU. It will transform the person it was intended for into the hero DoctorFate. If anyone else dons it, the results are not pretty.

* One of the books in the {{Redwall}} series delivers the message rather forcefully when a bolt of lightning knocks an heirloom sword from its hiding place on a high weather vane. The weapon comes within a few feet of skewering its intended recipient.
* In SwordOfTruth, [[spoiler: a magical message left for Verna forces her to become Prelate of the Sisters of Light]]. Despite all the other Sisters trying first, it could only be triggered by her.

* Speaking of [[KingArthur Arthurian legend]], it has more than one of these. Other than the Sword in the Stone, the most notable is the Seat Perlious, which was Galahad's call. No one but the greatest knight could sit in it, and considering the number of enemies Arthur had, no one had either the confidence or pure innocence of purpose to actually take the seat until Galahad got to the court some weeks later.

** ''Ocarina of Time'' manages to invert this, actually: Link accidentally accepts TheCall seven years too early, rather than too late, [[TheCallPutMeOnHold forcing him to be put in stasis until he's actually old enough for it]]. Too bad [[XanatosGambit Ganondorf was expecting this...]]
** As this is at least partially based on the Arthurian legend/myth of the Sword in the Stone, this trope is OlderThanPrint.

* Another one based on (or blatantly ripped off from depending on your perspective) Arthurian legend, in the ''WheelOfTime'': there is the crystal sword, Callandor, the Sword That is Not a Sword, sealed in the Stone of Tear, which only the true [[ChosenOne Dragon Reborn]] can take from it's resting place.

* Another one based of (or blatantly ripped off from depending on your perspective), Arthurian legend, in the ''WheelOfTime'', there is the crystal sword, Callandor, the Sword That is Not a Sword, sealed in the Stone of Tear, which only the true [[ChosenOne Dragon Reborn]] can take from it's resting place.

* Speaking of [[KingArthur Arthurian legend]], it has more than one of these. Other than the Sword in the Stone, the most notable is the Siege Perlious, which was Galahad's call. No one but the greatest knight could sit in it, and considering the number of enemies Arthur had, no one had either the confidence or pure innocence of purpose to actually take the seat until Galahad got to the court some weeks later.

* In SwordOfTruth, [[spoiler: a magical message left for Verna forces her to become Prelate of the Sisters of Light]].

* HarryPotter: Surely the Hogwarts letters that just ''keep on coming'' for Harry are an example of this? Throw one away? Another is delivered. Throw that one away? They come by the bucketload. Try to take him away to a remote place? A great big fucking giant comes and breaks down your door, bends your shotgun like a licorice stick and gives your son a pig's tail, THEN gives Harry his letter. At last. If that's not TheCallToAdventure refusing to take no for an answer, what is?