Trope of the Month February: The Chosen One

[Beth Pavell]

This month we're looking at a trope that will no doubt be familiar to pretty much everyone: the chosen one. Typically a character marked out by the fates or otherwise elevated above and beyond their peers, chosen ones seem to be so familiar that there's almost no point in discussing them, right? Clearly, I don't think so, otherwise I wouldn't be featuring the trope for February.

In Pokémon fanfiction it seems to me that Chosen Ones used to be more common. The cliché that comes to my mind is the journeyfic protagonist, whoever they may be, is given some task or featured in some sort of prophecy, typically associated with whatever legendary pokémon seems appropriate to the author (In practice, almost always Arceus). Another favourite mark of destiny is for the protagonist to be able to understand pokémon à la N. The reason why these can usually fall flat, I think, is because in-universe there's usually no convincing reason why this person, this otherwise ordinary person, ought to be marked out for anything. As the reader, we know the only reason they are Chosen is because they are the protagonist (I'd argue the official media is guilty of this as well).

This kinda pops up again in The Legend of Zelda. Since Skyward Sword the cosmology has been written to explicitly require that Link, in his latest incarnation, be a chosen one, chosen by an aeons-long curse to be the bane of evil in this latest game. It ought to be remembered, however, that many games had gone by where this wasn't the case at all, and that for essentially no reason the pretty blond farmboy turns out to have the martial skill to fulfil this role.

This serves to point out the difference between media. In a game, whether it's Pokémon or The Legend of Zelda, we accept this suspension of disbelief because we are the player and we think we are special. In non-interactive media - in our case, fanfiction - this just doesn't make sense because we're not usually reading the protagonist as an avatar for ourselves.

This video breaks down the trope in other ways - I'm going to point out now that this is not required watching! I include it to give other perspectives and to be a helpful writing resource, so please, don't feel you can't comment without seeing it:

 

[J Bouken]

I tend to dislike the Chosen One trope when it's used to justify a character's involvement in a grander narrative, or when it's used to explain a conflict between two powers. I much prefer these things to be driven by personal stakes because that's what gives the characters agency, whereas divine intervention tends to meddle with that. So to me, whenever an OC in a fic gets tossed into the big plot because of a prophecy, I always interpret that as the writer struggling to come up with a good justification for their involvement. It can be a lazy shortcut when used this way.

However, the Chosen One trope can create an intriguing scenario where the chosen in question is fighting against these higher powers to regain their agency. A game I really loved as a kid, Tales of Symphonia, basically ran with this idea. The protagonist, Lloyd, isn't the Chosen One - it's his closest friend Colette who has that honour. Initially, the game plays out like a standard prophecy fulfilling journey, but it gradually adds wrinkles. For every new power Colette gains, she loses a part of her humanity. She gets wings and cool magic, but she loses her sense of touch and taste, and even her own voice, before being asked to give up her very soul. Lloyd hates this. The first big turning point in the story is Lloyd resisting the so-called divine powers perpetuating this system because he believes there's another way that doesn't require the sacrifice of a friend. So in this scenario, the Chosen One is observed as a character with an incredible burden and pressure; someone whose humanity is stripped away by others because they're a means to an end. The disposable nature of the Chosen One is hammered into you when you walk into the Tower of Salvation and see coffins with the bodies of previous chosen floating around.

So I think there's a lot that can done with this trope, as long as the writer remembers that the Chosen One status isn't just all perks, and not something everyone would want to be. For example, I'd really like to see a story where a villainous character is a Chosen One fated to save the world; where saving people is against a character's very nature. I think that'd be a really interesting struggle.

 

[LightningTopaz]

In a way, would it be safe to argue that Mario is guilty of this as well? Or is Mario going to save Peach because he genuinely wants to?

The most obvious example of Mario as the chosen one is Paper Mario 64, where the seven stars revive him and tell him to go save them, defeat Bowser, and save Peach.

 

[canisaries]

In a way, would it be safe to argue that Mario is guilty of this as well? Or is Mario going to save Peach because he genuinely wants to?

The most obvious example of Mario as the chosen one is Paper Mario 64, where the seven stars revive him and tell him to go save them, defeat Bowser, and save Peach.

I mean Mario has been shown to have a rather close relationship with Peach in general. One could argue this might be because he has saved her in the past (which asks the question of what the Mario timeline is, and does anyone really want to suffer the headache of trying to form one), but at least now, Mario definitely wants to save Peach because he cares about her on a personal level. I think he's also been mentioned as famous in-world in a few games, so he would be someone people would go to when there's trouble.

Anyway, onto general thoughts:

Chosen Ones get bashed a lot online as people tend to strongly associate them with Mary Sues

I know this term tends to attract debate on its overusage and real meaning every time it's uttered, but let's define it here as 'character that is artificially set up as great/admirable by the narrative while the audience does not agree, with this dissonance being unintended' or something of the like and work with that

as it's seen as shorthand to making a character special and amazing. However, the "why does this character get to be a chosen one?" complaint is kind of a fallacy - if the story is about a Chosen One, then it's likely going to follow said Chosen One, and that's why the protagonist is the Chosen One. The story just would not exist in the first place otherwise. It's like asking "why does Earth specifically have life?" It's because life had to originate somewhere, and that somewhere is where that life is going to be, and that life is the only one that can actually ask this question.

Of course there are wrong ways to write a Chosen One. Being a Chosen One shouldn't automatically mean everyone loves you and/or that everyone who doesn't is wrong, or that you surpass previous Chosen Ones (who weren't mistakenly labeled as such). If the character is chosen by some entity, there should be a good reason for it (even if it's just "you were nearby, good enough"), or if there isn't or it's unknown, it should be pondered or doubted in-universe. Sometimes strange things we can't seem to find good reasons for do happen in real life, but rarely do people just accept it immediately and move on without further questions.

Don't have anything else on my mind about this at the moment, so will cut this here, but might come back later with more.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

My least favourite instances of chosen ones is when the chosen one is passive and has no personality except "unsure about what to do", and is surrounded by far more interesting characters. Examples include Jen from The Dark Crystal, Lucky from Phoenix by S.F. Said, and Kester from The Last Wild. I can only tolerate this in video games with self-insert player characters.

 

[Greninjaman]

It can be hard to create new and unique spins on this since it's been done in SO many ways. Also, a Chosen One does not need to be selected by a higher/divine power to go on the quest. Look at Frodo from Lord of the Rings. He is the Chosen One only because he chose to carry the ring. No one said that it had to specifically be him. He chose to do it. He could have just opted to go home, leaving the ring there.

 

[Juliko]

Yeah, the Chosen One cliche is rather overused. I at least try to have some kind of justified reason for having my characters be chosen ones rather than just because. I mean, look at all the crappy isekai novels that have the main character be ridiculously overpowered and be the only one to defeat the evil demon lord? Even in Pokemon The Movie 2000 (The English dub, at least, as this was not in the Japanese version), Ash was randomly made into a chosen one for a really flimsy reason: A word was in some stupid prophecy, and everyone latched onto it as having to do with him because the word in question was ash and his name is Ash. Uhhh...no. That is beyond flimsy.

 

[Greninjaman]

If I recall, the line was: The world will turn to ash.
That line can be interpreted in two ways:
1: The world turns to a person named Ash.
or
2: The world disintegrates into ashes (AKA the world is destroyed).

 

[Daren]

The dub adding a Chosen One where there wasn't one originally is some next level dedication to that trope.
(Although he's been involved in so many cataclyms now I wouldn't be surprised if he was a Chosen One somewhere in the Japanese version too by now).
*
As said, the Chosen One is a trope that is so common and so easy to do poorly that it's one I prefer to avoid for own writing. There is one fantasy story I wanted the write where the protagonist thinks he's been supernaturally chosen, but it's left out to the reader's own interpretation if he is or not.

I have seen some interesting twists on the formula, of course, but it very often does come across as an excuse.

 

[Greninjaman]

I have seen some interesting twists on the formula, of course, but it very often does come across as an excuse.

Like what?

 

[Daren]

Well, I'm a bit reluctant to go into specifics for spoiler reasons, but I'll list the work then spoiler tag the details.

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Spoiler

The player character is supposedly the Nerevarine, reincarnation of the great hero Nerevar.
Whether or not this is true is never really confirmed. You match the prophecy, but you find a cavern full of the ghosts of previous would be Nerevarines. A wise woman who is versed in the prophecy of the Nerevarine concludes you aren't the Nerevarine but "one who may become the Nerevarine". If the Nerevarine is a reincarnation how would such a thing work? At best it seems there's a certain set of conditions that give someone a chance to become Nerevarine if they pass the trials.
When you finally confront the game's main villain he asks you if you actually are Nerevar reborn or not and you can admit you don't actually know the truth any more than him, or even outright deny it.

It's actually possible to win the game without completing the prophecy.

 

[LightningTopaz]

What examples are out there of a chosen one done right? What makes this instance work?

 

[Beth Pavell]

Frodo is a pretty good exemplar, as Greninjaman mentioned. Frodo himself explicitly does the choosing, and in doing so becomes the only character in the story able to solve the problem the Ring represents. There's a complicating factor cryptically hinted at by Gandalf in Chapter 3 - Gandalf claims that Bilbo himself was meant to find the Ring, and therefore that Frodo was also meant to have it. What exactly this means is never explicitly stated, and I don't think it needs to be. Frodo may have been fated to inherit the Ring but there was never any guarantee he'd so anything with it

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I'm almost completely uninterested in the classic Chosen One trope. In fact, "unwilling underdog" Chosen Ones have become the new norm to subvert, so I'm not interested in those, either. I suppose I have some interest in Chosen Ones who choose themselves, or whose prophecies were basically nonsense, but I guess for me, I care far more about people whose motivations have nothing to do with destiny or obligation or anything like that. I like protagonists who do their stuff on their own impetus. (Frodo is halfway on this one, considering that while he volunteers as Ringbearer, he's only there in the first place because he's swept along having been "meant" to have the Ring.)

My latest serious brush with this trope was with Lyra Belacqua Silvertongue in His Dark Materials. I found the whole prophecy business rather tiring, but the twist on it that I quite liked was that her prophecy states in very clear terms that she must not under any circumstances know that she is a chosen one. (If she ever learns this about herself, she will fail in her journey, in fact.) My issue with that, then, is that the prophecy is a form of dramatic irony for the reader to be aware of, such that it raises the stakes almost artificially. It makes enough sense in a story that's to some extent about ending destiny, but I think the books would have survived without that entire element. Lyra's parentage and possession of an alethiometer is already reason enough for her to be important to the major players in the setting.

Funnily enough, simply removing the words "chosen one" can make other elements of the chosen one trope more bearable for me.

 

[Greninjaman]

The way I see it, you can have a 'Save the World' story without using a Chosen One. There are many stories that do this.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Lyra Belaqua's kind of a weird one as this trope goes. Pullman makes a big deal out of playing up the prophecy, and the twists it entails, but ends up kinda forgetting about it. The prophecy doesn't really go resolved, unless you're prepared to do a lot of digging and literary gymnastics to make the symbolism fit.

I think in part this is down to Pullman's dislike for fantasy and his dislike for the Catholic Church. I don't get the impression that he really wanted to go the distance with it - particularly with this business of putting an end to destiny and playing the part of Eve, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean in The Amber Spyglass.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I think the deal with Lyra and Will was that they were a redux of the break with God and the move towards free will. What's unclear is why they needed to mirror the Adam/Eve myth, or why this is somehow outside the Authority's intent. The mythology of the setting is a bit... unclear.

I like Good Omens for a weird take on the chosen one. In this case, the chosen one is the Antichrist, and he ends up rejecting his destiny because he decides neither he (a child) nor the forces of Heaven or Hell can/should run things better than humanity.

 

[Cresselia92]

The way I see it, you can have a 'Save the World' story without using a Chosen One. There are many stories that do this.

That is basically what an Unchosen One is — someone who hasn’t been picked by some random prophecy or entity, but that they choose to do something because they want to. Basically, they choose themselves to do something, like defeating the big bad or solving a conflict, of their own volition.

I quite like this approach better, especially when there are cases of Chosen Ones / Chosen Many refusing to pick the call, leaving to some randoms or unlikely heroes the task of taking things in their own hands.

Heck, an approach that I rarely see is the idea of an antagonistic Chosen One, who may be the vessel for the world’s destruction and whatnot, and the Unchosen One / Many refuse to accept this imposed destiny and fight against all odds. Super Paper Mario follows a bit this theme, with Luigi being the vessel that will end the existence of all multiverse.

The whole thing about the Chosen One not wanting to be a Chosen One is another interesting approach, or having to endure all the implications of being the designated hero. This is seen very well in the game One-Shot, where you have this child who is saddled with a responsibility far bigger than them and who have to restore the sun to save the dying world, and the ending is what better cements this responsibility.

I somewhat tackled this last part in my Delta Dossiers story, with Barbara thinking that she is the Chosen One and not wanting to have anything to do with all this business. She doesn’t want to be a hero, and would gladly ditch the responsibility to someone else if she could. But once again, she thinks to be the Chosen One, but is she?

Still, I’m not saying that the Chosen One / Many is a bad trope. It’s simply something that has been done so many times that it feels a bit… unoriginal in most cases, especially if they are covered in Plot Armor.

 

[LightningTopaz]

But can the traditional Chosen One (and all the tropes and trappings that come with it) still work? What can you do to make a Chosen One stand out from those that do it horribly wrong?

 

[hanecco]

I think traditional Chosen Ones work best when they have more reasons than just the prophecy to go on their journey/quest. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense for them to act on or care about the prophecy. In other words, they would be motivated to go on their quest even if the prophecy didn't exist.

For example, Harry is destined to kill Voldemort by the prophecy, but he also has his own reasons to do it:

• Voldemort killed Harry’s parents and robbed him of a happy childhood. Harry wants revenge for this.
• Voldemort wants to commit genocide against anyone who isn’t pure blood. A lot of Harry’s friends would be in danger if Voldemort came into power, so he would want Voldemort dead in order to keep them safe.
• Harry has a strong sense of justice. Even if he wasn’t going to be affected by Voldemort’s actions, it’s unlikely he would let Voldemort get away with it just to save his own skin.
• Voldemort keeps trying to kill Harry. If Harry killed Voldemort, he wouldn’t have this problem any more.