Basic Trope: A character decides to save the world despite not being marked as The Chosen One.
- Straight:
- When Bob, the real Chosen One, fails, his sister Alice decides to carry out his mission despite not being mentioned in the prophecy at all.
- After a lot of level grinding and sidequests, Bob goes to fight Emperor Evulz, only to find that Charlie has already beaten him, saving the world in the process.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice is determined to end Bob's mission even when she is threatened with execution (from the Big Good, at that!) for doing so.
- Alice decides to complete Bob's mission, simply because the prophecy explicitly states that she won't.
- Charles is a random stranger who isn't in the prophecy, but defeats Evulz anyway.
- Downplayed:
- Alice is a secondary candidate for the role of the Chosen One.
- The prophecy says that Alice will be Bob's sidekick, so it's no surprise that she is able to complete Bob's mission alone.
- Some interpretations of the prophecy mark Bob as the Chosen One, others point on Alice. Either way, Alice doesn't care and goes to save the world regardless of who is ultimately destined to carry out the mission.
- While Charlie cannot do the final step he can still complete 99% of the mission. Humble Hero Bob who does the last 1% even cheerfully admits that Charlie is the true hero - he just sealed Evulz while he was defeated while he vanquished him.
- Bob was chosen, but only because the real chosen one couldn’t be found and he’s the Closest Thing We Got.
- Justified:
- If Bob is defeated, someone still has to save the world. Alice goes because she is Immune to Fate, or at least thinks she is.
- Exact Words and Prophecy Twist is at play. The prophecy doesn't explicitly state that Bob will complete his mission either. Just that someone of his bloodline will.
- Exact Words and Prophecy Twist is at play. Prophecies here don't actually have Chosen Ones as much as they describe what the qualities and qualifications are needed for success—it's more an issue that, in-universe, most people think it's describing a specific person at the start of their quest instead of just giving general specs to meet by the end of the quest.
- Minor Prophecy Twist: the prophecy was for the year AM 3000, not 3000 CE.
- Inverted:
- Alice refuses to save the world, despite being marked by the prophecy.
- When Bob discovers that he isn't the Chosen One, he continues the mission anyway.
- Bob sets out to save the world, only to find out that an Unchosen One has beaten him to it.
- Subverted:
- It turns out that Alice was the real Chosen One. The people who interpreted the prophecy made a mistake.
- Alice decides that she won't make it because she isn't The Chosen One, and goes home.
- Double Subverted:
- After Emperor Evulz is defeated, we learn that the heroine wasn't Alice, but her identical twin sister Tiffany, who isn't in the prophecy.
- Charles takes over as the hero, and defeats Emperor Evulz in the end.
- It turns out after she beats Evulz that Alice was the real Chosen One, not Bob... except no, there was never a chosen one, the prophecy-sayers were just applying appropriate-looking phony prophecies all along.
- Alice is not the Chosen One, but she decides to save the world anyway. However, it later comes out that she is the Chosen One...because whatever handed out the prophecy decided to reinterpret the original prophecy and chooses Alice as the Chosen One after she decides to save the world.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig Zagged: Bob is the only one who can destroy the undead Emperor Evulz due to his purity of heart but as an Actual Pacifist he is useless against his mooks. This is where Alice comes in. If she were to try on her own she would succeed in killing all of his minions but die against the man himself. Technically anyone could have done Alice's job but she was the best fit for protecting him by far.
- Averted:
- Alice leaves saving the world to Bob.
- There is no prophecy.
- Enforced: The author believes there is no destiny and wants to show that anyone can be The Hero.
- Lampshaded: "I wasn't mentioned in any stupid prophecy. I chose myself for this job!"
- "Next time, maybe the Chosen One shouldn't let himself get distracted with all those fetch quests."
- Invoked:
- When Bob learns that he's The Chosen One, he immediately quits.
- Helen makes sure Bob fails in order to send Alice on the mission instead.
- Exploited:
- Bob dies, and Alice sells his lucky compass in order to obtain the money she needs for her journey.
- After Alice gets home, she is happy that Bob is no longer around to bother her.
- Defied:
- Alice considers carrying out Bob's mission for a while, and then she decides against it.
- The prophecy explicitly estates that anybody who rises up to save the world is "The Chosen One". Alice, Bob, Bill from Accounting, Jim the Pool Boy or Tropey the Wonder Dog — Anybody.
- Discussed: "If Bob fails, someone will still have to save the world. Maybe you should, Alice." "Don't be silly! He's The Chosen One, and I'm not even supposed to help him. Didn't you ever read the prophecy?"
- Conversed: "I'm so happy that in at least one movie the main protagonist isn't The Chosen One mentioned in some ancient prophecy. It shows you don't have to be special to save the world, and that just anyone can be a hero."
- Implied:
- Charles notes that Bob "is nothing like The Chosen One mentioned in the prophecy".
- The prophecy clearly states that Alice and Bob have no siblings besides each other. Because Alice has a twin sister (Tiffany), the real Chosen Ones must be a different Brother–Sister Team named "Alice and Bob".
- Deconstructed: Bob got everything handed to him on a silver platter – a faithful sidekick, a mysterious mentor, wonderful powers, and complete training. Alice has to do without any of that, which makes her mission much more difficult.
- Reconstructed:
- Alice realizes that because she had to work much harder than Bob, she also became much more powerful in the process. She uses her newfound strength to finish her mission.
- Charles sees to it that Alice gets the assistance and training that she needs.
- Played For Drama: Bob undergoes a Heroic BSoD for failing to kill Evulz himself, or starts to resent Alice for stealing his glory.
- Played For Horror:
- Because Alice is not the Chosen One, she fails and fails big regardless of her efforts, causing a Cruel Twist Ending and The End of the World as We Know It.
- Because Alice is not the chosen one, she is quickly corrupted by the dark forces the chosen one would be immune against. At absolute best, the situation devolves into a case of Evil Versus Evil.
- Alice quickly decides that, lacking the powers of the chosen one and the necessity to maintain a code of honor, she must become a Combat Pragmatist. Cue the Mook Horror Show as Alice unleashes terrorist tactics on the evil army.
Back to The Unchosen One.
