Good examples of "The Chosen One" - Possible Spoilers

[happyninja42]

So I was just thinking the other day about The Chosen One trope in entertainment media, and how overused it is. We hear all the time, even on this site, how lame the plot device is to tell a story, but I was curious what others thought about good examples of this trope.

Now maybe you don't think there are any good examples, and that's fine, I personally can only think of one off the top of my head, and I'm sure others will disagree with me on it.

So what are your favorite examples of The Chosen One trope used in entertainment? It can be games, books, movies, and warning to readers, there will likely be spoilers to lots of random things in this thread as people explain why they like the examples.

Ok so, my personal example, The Matrix. I don't count the 2 sequels, just the first movie by itself.

The reason I like this use of The Chosen One, is that through the entire movie, Neo doesn't put any weight in this Chosen One crap either, especially after the Oracle tells him he's not the one. He doesn't let this bother him though, and he still goes about his day, doing stuff to fight the machines. He doesn't care about any prophecy, he just cares about getting Morpheus back safely, and so he's going to do that. The fact that what the Oracle told him, was exactly what he needed to hear, I thought was a nice touch. If she had given him some grand "yes! finally you have arrived! praise be to the Users!" speech, it would've messed with his head, and possibly made him make choices that would've been bad ones. But instead, she burst that little Prophecy Bubble right away, and just sent him on his way to do what he does best, which is come up with crazy shit to hack the Matrix. And that's exactly what needed to happen. He needed to be unrestrained by the chains of prophecy and expectation, to be free to do whatever crazy thing came to mind.

I think it worked pretty well, and still holds up as a good example of the trope used correctly.

What examples do you have?

 

[Akjosch]

Well, Brian (of "The Life of Brian") obviously. The Messiah. Our Saviour. The best man People's Front of Judea has (Or was that the Judean People's Front? I always get those two confused ...).

 

[Ronald Nand]

I hate this trope so much, not only is it so overused and boring, but its extra stupid when the 'chosen one' is just some normal guy who need to be taught everything a basic warrior needs to do like firing a bow or sword fighting, instead of using one of the already bad ass trained people we're going to train some average Joe to be a warrior because he's the 'chosen one.'

I think another reason I hate this trope is because it draws on the beliefs of the past, stuff like this guy is King not because he's a good ruler or strategist but because he was 'chosen' by God, it doesn't matter if he's as mad and stupid as Joffrey Baratheon he was 'chosen by god.'

Anyway the only good use of this trope was the Lego Movie, although that was kind of a deconstruction of the trope, Emmett wasn't special because he was the 'chosen one' he was special because he inspired people, the 'chosen one' wasn't about finding a hero that could save the day it was a tool used to inspire people to fight back against the bad guy.

 

[happyninja42]

I hate this trope so much, not only is it so overused and boring, but its extra stupid when the 'chosen one' is just some normal guy who need to be taught everything a basic warrior needs to do like firing a bow or sword fighting, instead of using one of the already bad ass trained people we're going to train some average Joe to be a warrior because he's the 'chosen one.'

I think another reason I hate this trope is because it draws on the beliefs of the past, stuff like this guy is King not because he's a good ruler or strategist but because he was 'chosen' by God, it doesn't matter if he's as mad and stupid as Joffrey Baratheon he was 'chosen by god.'

Yep, it's a very tired trope, I agree.

Anyway the only good use of this trope was the Lego Movie, although that was kind of a deconstruction of the trope, Emmett wasn't special because he was the 'chosen one' he was special because he inspired people, the 'chosen one' wasn't about finding a hero that could save the day it was a tool used to inspire people to fight back against the bad guy.

Ah yes, I forgot about that one. I enjoyed that one too.

 

[Auron225]

I guess something like Kingdom Hearts (the first one anyway);

Sora is the one the Keyblade chose, so only he can use it. It distinguishes him from everyone else immediately, to the point where villains and whatnot go out of their way to try and steal it (doomed to fail as that may be).

What really annoys me about the trope is when someone is "The Chosen One" but there is nothing stopping anyone else from doing their job! If the only thing that makes them The Chosen One is some birthmark then it just comes across as all kinds of stupid.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I think another reason I hate this trope is because it draws on the beliefs of the past, stuff like this guy is King not because he's a good ruler or strategist but because he was 'chosen' by God, it doesn't matter if he's as mad and stupid as Joffrey Baratheon he was 'chosen by god.'

Yeah. Who chose this person? Why? What was there decision making process, and more importantly, why don't the rest of us get a say?

If you've been chosen, you better have been chosen by someone who is ultimately accountable to something, or I'm not having that.

Also, it usually seems an excuse for not doing any work. The "Chosen One" is usually just some random that gets special treatment just because they are chosen, it's an easy wish fulfillment fantasy.

 

[Loonyyy]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One Girl in all the world destined to...

It does the usual struggle with the burden thing that a lot of them do, but it does it well, and it contrasts nicely with the expectation that she'll fight evil, and the expectation that she'll be a normal girl, with all that that entails, which never really goes away. She herself wants the latter. It helps that the series isn't really consistent about power levels or anything, so they can play fast and loose with it, and the role of the Slayer is to fight the monsters, but the title is passed on with their death, so it's essentially eternal servitude, and a burden, rather than a boon and a guarantee of success. Since the series plays it so loose with the details of the power in mythology, a large cast of supporting characters have significant parts to play, so it doesn't get old.

Of course, your tolerance for Joss Whedon may vary.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One Girl in all the world destined to...

It does the usual struggle with the burden thing that a lot of them do, but it does it well, and it contrasts nicely with the expectation that she'll fight evil, and the expectation that she'll be a normal girl, with all that that entails, which never really goes away. She herself wants the latter. It helps that the series isn't really consistent about power levels or anything, so they can play fast and loose with it, and the role of the Slayer is to fight the monsters, but the title is passed on with their death, so it's essentially eternal servitude, and a burden, rather than a boon and a guarantee of success. Since the series plays it so loose with the details of the power in mythology, a large cast of supporting characters have significant parts to play, so it doesn't get old.

Of course, your tolerance for Joss Whedon may vary.

IMHO, you've glossed over the most important bit, that it is passed on upon her death.

She's not "The" Chosen One, she is the current holder of a title held by lots of others before her, which will immediately go on to someone else once she dies. She's ultimately expendable.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

A really good subversion of the idea of a Chosen One was in the television show Being Human. Spoilers ahead.

Spoiler

There's this baby who people think is the Chosen One who'll ensure the big bad vampires are defeated and don't take over the world. Actually she's the opposite, her survival is what ensures they win. Why? Not because she's magical and gives the vampires some sort of power. It's because the humans know this Chosen One exists so instead of doing something on their own to defeat the vampires they all just sit around and decide to wait for the prophesied Chosen One to show up and do it for them. It was actually a really good idea, the vampires want people to believe a Chosen One will save them because they know they're hated and they'd rather the resistance waste time sitting around for a Chosen One instead of doing something more productive.

On a related note to that spoiler, Mass Effect 3.

Spoiler

It's what I wish had happened with the Catalyst in Mass Effect 3. Instead of the "You would not know them and there's not enough time to explain." that somehow and for some reason over dozens if not hundreds of cycles, civilisations bit by bit made a device that did something, they don't know what, the plans were just planted by the Reapers in the remains of civilisations they harvested. Every new cycle a civilisation finds the plans the civilisation before them had which'll defeat the Reapers when really it doesn't do anything. It keeps them distracted from doing something that might actually beat them. It would make sense and would be in keeping with what the Reapers already do, have civilisations develop among lines they desire.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I guess something like Kingdom Hearts (the first one anyway);

Sora is the one the Keyblade chose, so only he can use it. It distinguishes him from everyone else immediately, to the point where villains and whatnot go out of their way to try and steal it (doomed to fail as that may be).

What really annoys me about the trope is when someone is "The Chosen One" but there is nothing stopping anyone else from doing their job! If the only thing that makes them The Chosen One is some birthmark then it just comes across as all kinds of stupid.

This one was ruined by Birth By Sleep. The Keyblade didn't "choose Sora"; rather it continued to choose Ventus, who's inside Sora's heart or some bullshit like that.

 

[Zontar]

Kouichi from Linebarrels of iron is a pretty good example in my mind. A picked on teen who was chosen by Linebarrel to be its pilot, the clichés stop there as he sucks at piloting it at first, gets his ass handed to him, causes more destruction then the people he's fighting, lets the power go to his head, starts bullying people in a self-righteous way, summons his mech just to impress a guy, fight everyone in sight regardless of their side or intentions while screaming he's an ally of justice, and generally being an incompetent moron who's also an asshole.

Now I say this is a good example because it's actually pretty believable to have the socially inept bullied teen with only two friends act that way once they get that type of power, and it was only in act one. As the show went on and the character developed it became completly believable to see him

Spoiler

go from being the new guy on the team who can't do anything right to being the leader of the whole organization.

 

[Asita]

Po from Kung Fu Panda. The guy had an intimate knowledge (read: obsessive fanboy tier knowledge) of what he was chosen for but lacked the requisite physical ability. Everyone was flabbergasted at the idea, because he seemed like such an unlikely hero. And he was good enough once he got trained, but for a good portion of the final battle the villain wasn't taking him seriously, and the very thing that led the others to be similarly dismissive of him ended up negating the villain's trump card...at which point the guy fully lost his cool and got his tail handed to him as a result. It's like the Dan (Street Fighter) psyche out in movie form. His greatest strengths are that nobody takes him seriously and mostly underestimate him as a result, and then they start panicking and lose their groove when it looks like he might win.

Also, Andor Vex.

Spoiler

 

[Casual Shinji]

Ok so, my personal example, The Matrix. I don't count the 2 sequels, just the first movie by itself.

The reason I like this use of The Chosen One, is that through the entire movie, Neo doesn't put any weight in this Chosen One crap either, especially after the Oracle tells him he's not the one. He doesn't let this bother him though, and he still goes about his day, doing stuff to fight the machines. He doesn't care about any prophecy, he just cares about getting Morpheus back safely, and so he's going to do that. The fact that what the Oracle told him, was exactly what he needed to hear, I thought was a nice touch. If she had given him some grand "yes! finally you have arrived! praise be to the Users!" speech, it would've messed with his head, and possibly made him make choices that would've been bad ones. But instead, she burst that little Prophecy Bubble right away, and just sent him on his way to do what he does best, which is come up with crazy shit to hack the Matrix. And that's exactly what needed to happen. He needed to be unrestrained by the chains of prophecy and expectation, to be free to do whatever crazy thing came to mind.

Well, I think it was because he really wasn't the Choosen One at that point. If you remember, the Oracle doesn't actually say he's not the One, he's the one who does. I think it was kind of her way of leaving it up to him whether or not he really believed he was the One at all, and at that point he just didn't.

Honestly I always have kind of a fantasy ending to The Matrix where Neo really is "just another guy" and just dies in that hallway, but that he still accomplished something no one else did.

OT: I don't know if you could really call it a Choosen One story, maybe the opposite of it, but Berserk is about a man who is destined to fail and be consumed by Hell no matter what, yet he just keeps on fighting at the expense of his own physical and mental health. It's the best!

 

[happyninja42]

Well, I think it was because he really wasn't the Choosen One at that point. If you remember, the Oracle doesn't actually say he's not the One, he's the one who does. I think it was kind of her way of leaving it up to him whether or not he really believed he was the One at all, and at that point he just didn't.

I personally disagree with this, but I see where you're coming from. Like I said above, I think it was more what Morpheus said "She told you, exactly what you needed to hear, nothing more." And what he needed to hear, was that he wasn't special, because if he did hear he was special, he might not make the right choices. Which is why I thought it was a good take on the Chosen One story, he went through pretty much the entire movie, being entirely skeptical of what they were trying to tell him, and just did what he thought he should do on his own. And I dug that. xD

It's a cliche, and therefore, should never be used(unless it's in an ironic or satire-esque fashion). However, I enjoyed on how KotOR 2 handled it.

I don't think any trope is off limits entirely, it's all about how it's implemented. That's the difference in the term trope versus cliche. A trope is meant to describe a story telling device, and whether it's used well or not is another situation entirely. Granted, most examples of The Chosen One are used poorly in my opinion, which is why I made this thread. So we could discuss times when it was used well. I don't recall Kotor 2 very well, what about the use of it in that game did you like?

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I was just thinking of making this exact same thread! Coincidence? I think not. It was DESTINED TO BE!

OT: The Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga really uses this trope well. Mainly because Nausicaä's not suddenly thrust into some epic conflict between good and evil surrounded by sages, demons and wizards, but rather continues her quest in trying to bring peace into the world. The characters who've known her also keep treating her the same, signifying much better that she's still a human being. Neither does she suddenly gain some magical superpowers or a magic sword, but keeps going with her pet and her rifle. It also touches on what being a Chosen one would actually be like, as people frenzy over her and just go nuts at the mere sight of her.

OT: I don't know if you could really call it a Choosen One story, maybe the opposite of it, but Berserk is about a man who is destined to fail and be consumed by Hell no matter what, yet he just keeps on fighting at the expense of his own physical and mental health. It's the best!

Hey, the OP didn't specify that the Chosen had to be the protagonist. Isn't Griffith pretty much the ultimate Chosen one, and a really sick twist on the whole thing too? A savior figure who reached (or was destined to reach) his stature by slaughter, sacrifice and rape.

 

[vid87]

I guess something like Kingdom Hearts (the first one anyway);

Sora is the one the Keyblade chose, so only he can use it. It distinguishes him from everyone else immediately, to the point where villains and whatnot go out of their way to try and steal it (doomed to fail as that may be).

What really annoys me about the trope is when someone is "The Chosen One" but there is nothing stopping anyone else from doing their job! If the only thing that makes them The Chosen One is some birthmark then it just comes across as all kinds of stupid.

This one was ruined by Birth By Sleep. The Keyblade didn't "choose Sora"; rather it continued to choose Ventus, who's inside Sora's heart or some bullshit like that.

It actually kind've makes sense - even in the first game they reveal in Hollow Bastion that the Keyblade originally chose Riku, but he had turned his heart to darkness.

 

[Mangod]

Dunno, does Avatar: the Last Airbender count? Aang isn't the "Chosen One" elected by some higher power to bring peace to the World, he's just the random guy who got picked to be the next Avatar, and when he dies the job'll pass on to someone else. Restoring peace to the world just happens to be part of the Avatar's job description.

 

[Mister K]

I'll say that Mass Effect did it well. I mean, Shepard became "chosen one" only because he touched The Beacon before Ashley. If she would have touched it, it would have been her who saw visions. Although I have to admit, that Shepard is still a better candidate.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Dunno, does Avatar: the Last Airbender count? Aang isn't the "Chosen One" elected by some higher power to bring peace to the World, he's just the random guy who got picked to be the next Avatar, and when he dies the job'll pass on to someone else. Restoring peace to the world just happens to be part of the Avatar's job description.

I don't think so. Being "chosen" would IMO have to be more specific than "literally anyone who's in the nation next in the cycle". Since there's no set rules or prerequisites to be the Avatar (not yet at least, and let's hope it stays that way), it's just a crapshoot.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I guess something like Kingdom Hearts (the first one anyway);

Sora is the one the Keyblade chose, so only he can use it. It distinguishes him from everyone else immediately, to the point where villains and whatnot go out of their way to try and steal it (doomed to fail as that may be).

What really annoys me about the trope is when someone is "The Chosen One" but there is nothing stopping anyone else from doing their job! If the only thing that makes them The Chosen One is some birthmark then it just comes across as all kinds of stupid.

This one was ruined by Birth By Sleep. The Keyblade didn't "choose Sora"; rather it continued to choose Ventus, who's inside Sora's heart or some bullshit like that.

It actually kind've makes sense - even in the first game they reveal in Hollow Bastion that the Keyblade originally chose Riku, but he had turned his heart to darkness.

I'm not saying it doesn't make sense (in KH's twisted logic), I'm saying it's pretty stupid nonetheless.