The Chosen One: A Dead Trope?
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- Опубліковано 28 лют 2023
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Fate has chosen you! The favorite among the gods. The prophesied one. Your cosmic role is great, your destiny assured. Fabulous. You have no idea how much this is about to suck.
The Chosen One is one of the easiest tropes to hate, but I think it has more depth than we like to give it credit for. It's certainly more tragic than it lets on, that's for sure...
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I think the main difference between a good chosen one character and a bad one is: a good chosen one is the chosen because of who they are, while a bad chosen one is who they are because they're the chosen one.
I think both of those types could be interesting in their own right if the context plays to the strength of their particular situation rather than just the chosen factor
it would also be fun to see those two types played off of each other duo team up or enemies either or would be interesting
so like luke sky walker and ray from star wars and much worse new star wars
I would generally agree, but it could be a funny subvertion to have a 'pathetic', 'useless' or 'despicable' chosen one that is the chosen one because they just are.
It's Fate after all.
The chosen one does not have to be a nice person, or sober most of the time. You can rehabilitate them or fail to. As long as the story is interesting or entertaining you are doing what you should.
@@didack1419 So Po in the beginning of Kung Fu Panda.
4:09 Luke is NOT the Chosen One. He gets destroyed by the Emperor. It's Anakin who was the Chosen One and destroyed Palpatine forever, with NO chance of him coming back, bringing balance to the force, in an incredibly roundabout and complex way.
And then Dark Empire happened
And then the sequel trilogy happened
It’s true he’s just trying to fix the mess the chosen one made when he was supposed to fix the messes
I thought Anakin was /expected/ to be the Chosen One, but Luke was the real chosen one all along.
Tbh THIS is why I like Anakin's journey so much, there's absolutely *nothing* about "victory being a foregone conclusion" in how it's told.
From literally everyone's perspective ("you *were* the Chosen One, you *were supposed to* bring balance to the Force, etc) Anakin had already failed and that was that. A failure. A broken prophecy. More machine now than man, incapable of ever being "the Chosen One" like they'd all hoped.
Luke having the guts to march right into Palpatine's face and give a damn about the monster everyone (including Anakin himself) had deemed a lost cause? Monumental.
The prophecy WASN'T fulfilled by anyone actively trying to fulfill it, Anakin just had enough of endless violence & tragedy -- he'd sold his soul to the Devil in the hopes of keeping his family alive, and finally tossed the old prune down a reactor shaft for the exact same goal.
I consider that a pretty satisfying use of the whole Chosen trope, even if people can argue about the specifics of its implementation all decade lmao
@@balsamon69 The sequel sucks (episode 7, 8, and 9). They have Disney written all over it in such a horrible way that I'm surprised Ray didn't start singing every 5 minutes like the average Disney princess would. Not only that, but the story as a whole is just trash.
Three of my favorite chosen one characters: Aang (Avatar the Last Airbender), Po (Kungfu Panda), and surprisingly Shrek (… Shrek). They all twist the chosen one trope in interesting ways, and they also have individual, identifiable personalities.
Avatar did it really well where the last great struggle wasn't how to defeat the big bad guy, but to do so peacefully according to the creed of the protagonist
I never watched the third movie but Po really did it great as a chosen one-protagonist. With the first movie saying that it's all bull and there is no chosen one of that story, it really was arbitrary with the rest of the events just being a test of character. And the second movie having it where he is infact revealed to be the chosen one of another story that has been going on off-screen, but it...genuinely just doesn't mean anything by itself. After he wins, he simply rejects fate and spares the villain and the only reason it ends in an oof is because that guy couldn't let go that he really lost to himself.
@@lpfan4491 I would reccomend at least watching the 3rd one
Avatar works well, since Aang isn't a chosen one in the sense that he is destined to win. He has powers beyond normal people, but it is completely possible he could die, and in fact other avatars had died fighting injustice in the past.
@@Lilitha11not to mention he almost did Die at the end of book 2
If the hero is destined to cause the downfall of the Evil Overlord, the greatest twist would be that they're not even the one who kills them. They cause their downfall because of the friends they made along the way continuing the quest even after he dies to save them.
That's actually kinda true for star wars surprisingly, Luke is not the one that strikes down Palpatine, rather it was Darth Vader who chose his son over his master.
Percy Jackson taking notes
@@gandalftheantlionin this case, Anakin ( Vader), was the Chosen One. Luke was mistaken as the Chosen by the Jedi cause they couldn't accept that the chosen one would be like Vader. Like how many didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah, because it was said he was the lord of the armies and Jesus was a pacifist and calm man.
An example of this done horribly bad is GoT Season 8, ie. Jon Snow vs Night King
Percy Jackson
I was thinking, for a slighly dark twist on the chosen one, maybe have them go into adventure at first believing all will be fine and easy, the prophecy said they are going to succeed, so there's nothing to worry about.
But then a companion of theirs is badly injured an dies just to protect them, and it feels odd, this person in particular was not one to do heroic sacrifices, and wasn't particularly attached to the main character.
It's a death after all, so the group has their hopes put down, and starts to be more careful, nobody dares to say out loud their thoughts on how what happened doesn't make sense. Until one day, despite the care the group has been taking, they're ambushed. The softest member of the group, someone who is like a younger sibling to mc, is attacked from behind, luckly mc sees it quickly enough to help, and jumps to protect their friend.
Except their body doesn't move. Their friend, who they swore to always protect, even before the prophecy, is murdered right in front of their eyes, and their body refuses to help. The little troup is now two members short, both deaths having involved someone acting in a strange way.
And that's when the protagonist realises, they are the chosen one, but their friends aren't, the prophecy that guarantees mc's success doesn't protect the rest of them. On the contrary, Destiny is ready to sacrifice any of them to make sure mc is safe to fulfill the prophecy. The plot armour is made not of incredible luck, but of human shields, no matter if they're willing or not.
Edit: (reply i wrote with an ending(?) because i really liked it)
@rosestar1324 nice, personaly i don't really like the concept of "traumatized people become evil", so i was thinking more the hero does it, not because they wanted to, or even had any motivation to, but simply because they had no choice. And then that's it, they feel free somehow, free of the prophecy, that sneaky curse, but that's it. There's no big feeling of accomplishment, not even any relief past the one of getting to the end of a draining long day. Such a big feat, defeating that great evil, completely worthless. And what can they do now? They're free, right, but freedom means absolutely nothing for someone who has lost everything, a husk of a person, a mere puppet of fate.
They can finaly die now, though. And that sounds like it should be a relief, but somehow it isn't. The journey was so consuming they can't even find the energy to go trow themself off some cliff. How much time had it been? They don't remember. It could have been days, could have been centuries. It sure felt like a few millennia had passed since they first left home to embark on an adventure, and, at the same time, they could still feel every single death of a loved one, acquaintace or stranger like it happened not more than a couple hours ago. They were tired, so tired.
With no energy left, that person who once was a hero, now a mere shadow of themself, collapses to the floor. They think maybe they should let the moss consume their body.
When they touch the ground, the plants around them don't wither, maybe for the first time in an eternity.
That is so frickin cool!
@@maxum00 thanks :)
You’d love the anime To Your Eternity Edit: Granted, the main character is literally immortal, but same idea
that indeed a good idea, plot armor as a curse, no matters what happens, he is unable to fail. Someone else always taking the bullet for him
whoa someone give this person a medal. That is an incredible idea!
10:10 Jolee Bindo from Knights of the Old Republic has a very interesting take on this. He tells a story of a Jedi Knight who knew he had a great destiny ahead of him thanks to the force. He does whatever he want, takes insane risks, because he knows he has a great destiny and thinks he can't be killed until that is fulfilled. Eventually, he boards an alien warlord's ship, goes to the captain and mocks him. The captain grabs him and, in his rage, throws him down a reactor shaft. The Jedi's body gets stuck in the system, blowing up the ship and saving the entire galaxy from this insane warlord. So he DID have a great destiny...
I hate you old man...
Love seeing more KOTOR references, completely forgot about that one!
Bruh that's kinda sad
@@kittygirl0872 that's the point
@@kittygirl0872 No, that's a great destiny. Bruh saved the entire galaxy.
Katniss everdeen actually made a lot of sense, since she was mostly a posterfigure for the rebellion. The world didn't revolve around her. She was just a convenient symbol.
It's not like she singlehandedly caused and fought the revolution, they just put her in some propaganda videos.
Is Katniss typically referenced as a chosen one figure?
@@Reepecheep she is in this video
@@lathalassa Yeah, fair point. I didn't agree with it there either when I hit that point. Maybe I misrecalled the story, but she wasn't picked before birth, or endowed with special powers, or prophesied or anything, right? Just kinda... was a regular person who became a symbol? Certainly, a strange person to pick to represent the 'chosen one' style of storytelling.
I think we are in agreement, I just don't remember it all that well. ^_^
She also slowly lost most of her semblance of reality as a result of what she went through. Hardly a sort of Chosen One thing to happen 😂
I never needed the Blank Slate type to imagine myself in a character's shoes. It is imagination, after all. It's not that hard to imagine other viewpoints or lifestyles. And it makes you a much stronger and more likable person to be able to do so.
Because he was supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!!!
Also, because he hates sand. And he's terrible with kids...
lol
Forget the children, WHAT ABOUT THE DROIDS.
@@theforsomereasonsentient8ball Nevermind droids, WHAT ABOUT THE WOOKIE?
@@retrosquadchannel2.050 What Wookie, and still, B1s are the best!
But thre were way too many influencal jedi. H was bringing balance with killing jedi, just not the balance the jedi thought. And ended it with him an th emporer that luke can start fresh.
I remember almost a decade ago I tried to participate with a small group of artists to make a story together. Each artists (back then we were only six) invented a character with a different background from the rest- Supposedly, they were chosen by a long lost god to be disciples, and were meant to face a conflict that was causing serious damage to their world.
One of the characters was a low-rank soldier in charge of looking after the first chosen one, a little girl who had little ways to defend herself in a real battle. The soldier in question was constantly weirded out by how "destiny" was making their trip convenient- crossing paths normally staked with bandits without a problem, or arriving at the last tavern in town to find there was still one room vacant. It was ridiculous.
It was as the story went on some red flags started to appear, and it started to look like they were stopping an evil on behalf of a greater one. They noticed their "boons" were taking bits of themselves in order to function, overall, it started to look more like a curse than a blessing. We didnt got to the end because a couple went to college that year, but it was an interesting story! It's good to hear we were going in a somewhat correct way to structure the story!
That sounds so cool
The Idea of the MC being this guy who is stuck with the main character and constantly questioning what the f*ck is happening Sounds Like a good premise for a Comedy or an The Office Type show (idk what they called)
if i ever become a dm in a dnd campaign in definitely gonna use this idea
I can dig it.
@@fegeleinherman8587 This soldier sounds like a father figure to this little girl. Bonus points if the girl's real father is dead. I like it.
I really like the way Morrowind handles the Chosen One trope. The Chosen One isn't some pre-destined individual, but anyone who appears and grows to fulfil the prophesied characteristics of the 'Nerevarine'. Not decided at birth, but something you become over the course of a journey. You even find your predecessors who tell you about their life stories. You could even clear the game while refusing to follow the prophecy entirely.
So basically they were destined to grow into that person lol
One of the things I enjoy with the Chosen One archetype is that they may win, but the prophecy rarely states the cost, the losses, the struggle, the tragic joy of being functionally immortal while no one else in your story has the same benefit. Want to make friends? Roll the dice. Want to take a risk? What can you wager besides the lives of others? And when you lose-- because that's more interesting than the Mary Sue approach-- what will it do to you? Will you soldier on? Or will you resist? Will you defeat the villain with gusto? Or with a sick, tired rage? Are you fighting a villain? a fate? a world that chose you to be the one exception to all the rules and damned be your actual wants? There is much that can be done here. And that's just on the Chosen One's side! What about those who travel with him? How far will they go? What will they do? How will the react to being the reliable risk? Do they get close to him and hope for the best? Do they push him away as a hazard magnet? Ah, the richness of material!
Agreed. The chosen ones great destiny also doesn't have to include what happens after they succeed. The moment they fulfill that destiny it could release them in a way. At that point the way they succeeded may be what decides who they become. A hero surrounded by friends who married royalty? The lone survivor drinking away the pain? Dead? Or even a monster who's quest for the means to accomplish the goal has made them worse than what they fought against! The path to this and the potential for a new story after the hero's journey is all full of potential. A chosen one can be the perfect way to begin something far greater or to just show that its how you accomplish the goal that matters.
My favorite "Chosen One" is the Nerevarine. There's a lot of ambiguity over whether the player character is really the Nerevarine or just someone who happened to fulfill the requirements along the way and earn Azura's favor.
This! Morrowind is a terrifically written game.
When Dagoth Ur asks if you're Nerevar reborn, you can tell him no.
The good thing with TES having the main character start as a prisoner is it makes chosen one stories a lot more right time and right place. (Ofc divine power to yell fire makes it a little less like that but still)
Aren't there also multiple nerevarine's throughout history? I was actually just about to bring up that concept of having "the" chosen one instead be "a" chosen one
@@noodles24601 There aren’t multiple but there are many who have attempted to be or attempted to prove they’re the Nerevarine. You as the player in Morrowind are the latest in that group and the one who finally fulfills the prophecy to one degree or another.
Look, just because fate is with you doesn't mean that it'll be nice to you, just look at oedipus, he still curses about it to this day, so much so that you think "you kiss your adoptive mother with that mouth?"
He kills those who forget to add the adoptive part
He left his adoptive home after hearing the prophecy, killed his bio father, and married his bio mother.
@@ayleth891 And he ended up in an adoptive home, not knowing who were his real parents because they feared the same prophecy
My favourite chosen one scenario is probably that of Saitama in One Punch Man. Where he is so immensely overpowered that he can win every and any battle with the titular single punch. This brings great boredom and depression to the protagonist as he's robbed of the satisfaction of genuine struggle when fighting.
So the story focuses on everything other than the fights. He is so inept at most other things. Especially charisma and leadership. So he goes largely unnoticed and misunderstood by the general public that ascribes his feats to the more PR driven Heroes Association.
Evangelion has one of the greatest takes on this concept in how being “the chosen one” can literally destroy you.
It subverts the chosen one trope because shinji chooses to end the world.
My favorite thing about chosen ones overlaps a lot with superhero genre stories.
You may know, with reasonable certainty, that the hero is going to win over the villain. You don't know what the cost will be. You don't know what kind of person the hero will be at the end of their journey. You don't know what will be endured or sacrificed. You don't know what will happen to them after that particular fate is fulfilled.
Chosen one, like you mentioned with Dune, doesn't necessarily mean happily ever after. Even if things are mostly okay, that doesn't mean there aren't scars left from the journey as happens to Frodo in Lord of the Rings.
And chosen ones can still feel terror, or despair. Fate can be a trap leading to learned helplessness. Imo when humans are thrown into those situations, things get complicated real fast just because people are messy. More happens than what is scripted.
IDW's post-war (2005 Transformers story arc) Starscream is, at first, happy to exploit being lauded as the Chosen One. He knows it's a lie, since he was fortuitously in the right place at the right time. Later, as the shine of ruling Cybertron wears off, he fears to be outed as a fraud, lurching from problem to problem, many of his own making as per usual. In the end, choosing to become the sacrifice needed to help save Earth, he notes that he "always knew it'd come down to this", as if it's the righteous punishment he deserves for claiming to be something he isn't. And he goes out with a small joke, too.
Now that's a more interesting take on the Chosen One (and it's in a comic!).
There is a type of nightmarish oneiric rules that Fated Chosen Heroes have to follow in which if they are fated to suffer tragedy, no amount of plot armor will save them from the inevitability of loss already destined to befall upon them. If the hero is fated to slay a great adversary, even if the hero grows attachment, doubt or even love against said adversary it must come true. The potential of stories like this is a type if subtle meta-narrative in which if the Chosen Hero is aware of the ordeals and gauntlets of challenges they must partake the stress and pressure becomes overwhelming to the point of dreadfulness.
The Chosen is a nomadic and unstable entity, one who is troubled by capricious and trivial laws of storytelling to ignore its specific desires and follow a greater will that is vague to them but clear to the reader. It would be frustrating if there was a grand plan, and the Hero had no real choice in the matter. It could even be quite tragic, that not even premature death will stop the dramatic resurrection from rest of this Hero, for their task may not be over. And maybe, never will.
Kai from lex is that. And so wellacted. And its a weird show . But he is such an interesting fated one. It gets ven more tragic to see that kai was heroic in the past, and fated to. Like he get toild his world will die but as silver lining he will be th one to kill his divine shadow. Which ends , tragic. It told with th dramatic irony of, what he is in the show.
Halo reach
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (with a bit of Two Thrones)
There is nothing wrong with the chosen one trope, or any other trope for that matter. Things don't become tropes unless people enjoy them. The problem is that there is a lot of bad writers that give every trope a bad reputation. When done properly the chosen one can be a lot of fun.
Exactly
Me agree with u
@@HughieCambell yep it’s just all subjective which sad some people want to put down that word a lot more than it should be.
@@bullrun2772 i will act like i understood what u said :)
@@HughieCambell lol bruh it’s really easy how hell did I offend you
I like how Bard's Tale did it:
There's actually about 50 or so "Chosen Ones" running around, and when 1 snuffs it another gets thrown into the fray like Manchurian Candidates. It's kind of an R-type survival model for heroes.
R-type?
Im writing a series of 3 books and what I am trying to do with the "Plot armor" problem is this:
Instead of the constant threat being "Would the Chosen One be able to survive?" the constant is "Would the Chosen One be able to protect her friends?"
Everyone knows that the MC will probably not die, so instead I try to put her allies in dangerous situations, making her aware of how powerful she is but at the same time making her aware of how easy her friends can die, which makes her feel guilty for their deaths... And believe me, *a lot of them die on the way*
*Yeah, it's evil, but it works*
@rafaelmartinez9259 an evolutionary strategy where a species will produce large numbers of offspring and hope for the best, unlike k-types, which stick with 1-2 offspring per long term cycle and dedicate their resources to ensuring they stay alive
@@francoborda826 Mine is another twist: What is the cost of the chosen one wanting to live, love, and generally, exist?
The thing about the chosen one trope is that it feels almost forced, like every single event aligns specifically towards the MC's favor for no real reason, and that the protagonist barely works to gain what they need to beat "the bbeg." This is why many people like to pull spins on the chosen one trope, some even actively getting rid of the "true chosen one" by killing them off or something, and then introducing someone else who is not even supposed to be there at all as a proper protagonist.
I think that there might be other ways to make a chosen one trope feel interesting, but you have to really think it through. A good idea perhaps would be to not reveal they are a chosen one, until faaaaar later into the story, and instead feed small hints to the audience without using it as a scapegoat for the character to not have to suffer much to get gains. Just don't make their entire personality about *being a chosen one.*
Make them work for it. Convince US that they are a chosen one *through their actions,* not with some random, old, arcadian prophecy babble
Theirs a fun yet unfinished game called Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen. (Highly recommend) with a very interesting take on the Chosen One because theirs multiple Chosen Ones but only one is more “chosen” than the others. Theirs a Godlike Guardian of the world called the Seneschal that is the previous Chosen One of a different age. When looking for a new successor they send a Dragon into the world. This Dragon will cause chaos and fear looking for those brave enough to kill it. When it finds people with the right set of criteria it will cast a curse and eat the persons heart. The Arisen is these literally Heartless people who still live because they’re bound to the Dragon. In order to get it back they must slay the Dragon. Many fail on the path to reach it, and others still fall victim to its final test. Offering to simply leave this world for a time and the Arisen can return a Hero, a false hero but a hero nonetheless, or they can face it and potentially die doing so. If they kill it your led down a new path to reach past our reality entirely and reach the cosmic throne of the Seneschal. The Arisen cannot defeat it but through determination and courage it may surrender the throne to you. As the new Seneschal you’re bound to watch over the world, never being allowed to interact with it, never to touch the world you stare at, waiting for a time where you too get tired of the position. Theirs another option when facing it down though. If you falter in your final test you’re deemed unworthy and become the next Dragon to find new Arisen and to die facing them. It’s a Chosen One story with a bittersweet end where through your courage are sent down this path and being the hero you are can’t stand by and watch people die, especially since the Dragon itself acknowledges you as one worthy to kill it. If at any point your falter theirs always another Arisen to walk over your corpse and finish what you started.
@@Broomer52 I know. I've played Dragons Dogma and beat the game before. One of my all time favorite games ever
What if there's a Chosen One who doesn't want to be the One? Something like Dune where Paul sees visions of being this messiah but he's frightened of it
@@58696c Or a chosen one who rejects the call of adventure and refuses to follow the path that "destiny has chosen" for them
If you have Fate, you can justify whatever state-of-affairs, it's the ultimate plot enabler. Of course, it will feel like BS if it happens too often and/or it's too outlandish (too unlikely without fate or conspiracy).
Different people will accept different degrees of BS.
This is super relevant to a book I'm writing right now. One of the main characters has a prophecy that foretells who will kill them and when. The character is then put upon to do all sorts of risky things by the people around them, because everyone knows they will only die at that moment. And they have a lot to fear. Just because they won't die, doesn't mean terrible things won't happen to them. Something they are keenly aware of.
The character knows when and who, not now many limbs they'll have
reminds me of Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker's Guide series: (spoiler)
in the third book he meets a person whose spirit is cursed to get killed by Dent in every reincarnation, from whom he discovers that in the future he will be at a place called "Stavromula Beta" and some stuff will happen - so he knows he can't die until after he goes there.
it's no surprise that he and the entire cast of main characters die almost immediately after it finally comes true, at the end of the final book.
I remember a book in which one of the main characters, the in-universe Chosen One, is effectively (later revealed to be *literally*) unkillable and immortable. His friends and family, however, are not, and he manages to survive so, so much that everyone around him doesn't. It begins to wear down on him, grinding away at his very soul until he simply stops his quest entirely.
But he is the Chosen One. It *must* be him. The world slows and, eventually, stops. While civilization seems to freeze in time, nature itself begins to fail, as if ill from fate being defied, or at least ignored.
The kicker: the second main character is a street rat orphan who goes on to find the Chosen One and decides to convince them to fulfill their destiny after all.
The weird thing about this trope is that the most famous, popular versions of the Chosen One )in Western culture, at least) actually fail at their great task.
Achilles, whom you mentioned, doesn’t cause the fall of Troy. He is killed before Odysseus invents his clever trick to take the city. Arthur fails to repulse the Saxon invaders, and is killed by his wife’s lover or his own bastard son, leaving no heir to his throne. Heracles suffers from fits of madness after achieving his destiny, killing his wife and children-twice. Notoriously, the two most famous Chosen Ones in the English canon also fail. Hamlet never really reveals his uncle to be the murderer of his father Hamlet the King, and he too dies with no heir. In Macbeth, an evil Chosen One kills the entire family of the good Chosen One, and then dies offstage, alone and hunted down like a dog. Again, the Chosen One has no heir. The granddaddy of all European Chosen Ones, Odin, leads the Mighty Aesir into battle with the forces of Evil and Chaos-and is eaten by Fenris Wolf in one bite, having not even slain one opponent.
In a weird way, the way that we use the trope today is kind of a subversion of what the original archetype was.
You didn't even mention the legendary screw up Cu Culhain. He got himself Chosen One'd and not only did he kill just a whole bunch of people he wasn't supposed to, including his battle-brother and the one son he ever had.
Ironically Dune and Michael Moorcock Elric are the few fantasy works that follow the anti chosen one heavily portrayed as a sad tragedy one is a sci fi where anything can go wrong despite prescient power while the other Evil win and get away with it. The Once and future King is also the best subversion of that as well portraying a Young King Arthur as an optimistic, heroic and proud (similar to Harry Pottet and Luke) to a broken man chained by power of his crown and delusional of his knights order as they too become violent and corrupted.
@@longwlenguyen4214 they're not "anti" chosen ones. Their just chosen ones. The fact that what they're chosen to do sucks is irrelevant. Fate is a cruel mistress. That's actually the moral of Oedipus Rex
@@user-ld9tf4td8s Funny you mentioned Oedipus Rex since Dune Messiah is basically a Sci Fi version of that except without the incest and more genocide, political intriguing, worms and lots of drugs.
@@user-ld9tf4td8s Oedipus Rex is more Fate vs Free Will than a chosen one since it was Oedipus own pride caused his downfall. When I mean anti Chosen One I meant not a morally just, saving the day, return of rightful king/Messiah, the always nice, kind and benevolent, loved by many to the point of worship as a righteous warrior that many bland fantasy genre borrowed from. I am more interested if someone were chosen but so unprepared and not up to that task and failed so spectacularly that ton of consequences reign upon their shoulders due to them being too young, ego, incompetent of their mentors or apathy towards the harsh reality, like Paul failure to stop the Jihad in his name led to billions of unnecessary death causing distrust to those closest to him and unable to escape the fate he chose for himself, Elric desperately tried to do the right thing but ends in failure led to him to brood, lust and drunk and his demonic sword get away with killing all his friends and went to create new evil in the reborn world, King Arthur tried to turn England a better kingdom for it all went in smoke because all of his knights are flawed human beings that too egotistical, selfish and violent to care, his laws and chivalry backfired when his best friend and wife have an affair and his ignorance led to his kingdom further decay and England went on to be conquered by his enemies.
I like it when "the prophecy was a lie all along" much like in the matrix. It adds tension back into the story. The first movie by itself had. A predictable ending, but that revelation about the prophecy became a wrench thrown into the plot.
But its not really a lie, its a story that exists to give people hope. And fits with what the oracle exits for, possibilities, the prophecy of th chosen one always was the possibility that people lik morpheus made real.
@marocat4749 The prophecy is just that, a made-up story that morpheus so desperately wanted to believe in. The oracle lied about the real "purpose" of "the one" in order to manipulate humans. It's not a prophecy in the truest sense of the word. So yes, the prophecy was a lie. "People like Morpheus made real" is a statement that still aligns with my logic.
Yea I know a good one with that but I won't spoil it
@@studiouskid1528 lol yes
The prophecy in the Matrix wasn't a lie.
You can actually take it all back to his first meeting with the Oracle when Neo knocks over the vase. "What will really bake your noodle is 'would you have broken it if I hadn't said anything'."
The prophecy exists to be responded to to get the prophecy as it actually had to play out. That's why the Architect and the Oracle have their little chat at the end of the third film
The 13:58 comment of "maybe being the least qualified person makes you the best suited chosen one" makes me think of Everything Everywhere All at Once - the idea that being the least remarkable option, the lost potential, makes somebody best tuned in to potential when it's needed most. Evelyn absolutely was a Chosen One archetype, complete with "Why Me/Seriously Why You?" postulating.
Agreed!!!
7:08 "This even works with Mary Sue characters" * Drawn an obvious picture of Rey * Just when I thought I couldn't love this channel any more, you go ahead and do something like this...
I roll my eyes when anyone talks about Rey that way...Especially when there's a million male characters who hit the exact same buttons.
@@viktorberzinsky4781
Rey is a particularly awful Mary Sue, but as you have helpfully proven, she gets away with it because her defenders are always desperate to change the subject to other characters…
@@killgriffinnow They basically turned it to "everyone with the force is good at anything"
@@viktorberzinsky4781 Your whataboutism is fake and most examples are either not it or nearly it, shes by far the worst example of mary sue in mainstream stories, even the og mary sue isnt as bad as that was a parody, yet you do a fallacy (whataboutism) to change subject and try to imply malice and prejudice if anyone dares pointing it, thats why that character is a rot, authoritarian bllying wont force bad writing to be considered good
@@madnessarcade7447 Liar, Thats not at all what a mary sue is, a character not changing has nothing to do with the concept, you literally bent it backwards to dismiss her bad writing and being the biggest mary sue ever made. Luffy is static and changes the world around, he still has flaws and isnt perfect, has to face difficulty and prove himself, inst a self insert nor cynically written by corporate, a mary sue has nothing to do with "impacting the world around". You cowardly gaslighting the words meaning wont make anyone ever like that mess
I the Zelda franchise does it best when it comes to the 'chosen one' cliche. Because, in that universe, IT'S A CURSE. The chosen one exists as a direct counter to a multigenerational curse upon Hyrule, created by Demise. The curse is that his hatred will never cease, and that he will always be resurrected to bring woe to Hyrule. Thus, because of this permanent curse, the gods had to make their own reincarnating hero and priestess to stop the villain's own reincarnation. The main plot point is that there is no true happy ending, evil will ALWAYS return. But good will also always rise to fight it. However, I think the biggest thing that makes it compelling, is the fact that the hero ISN'T guaranteed to win...it's just their best shot.
There's a take on the chosen one prophecy that's always stuck with me, there was a series I read as a kid, it was revealed in a sequel that the MC was some prophesied one that had a Destined task to fuffill and most of the side and companion characters bolstered this, except for one, there was one who would always scoff at profecies and when the MC asked them about it they said that 'prophecies aren't vague because of some mystical reason they are vague because they are playing on probablity that given enough time the conditions for the prophecy will be met and it will come true and all would rejoice... But it you fail, if you die, if you run away then they will just say it wasn't the right time and we must be trust the true hero will one day come.'
And that always stuck with me, a hero isn't chosen they are just the one that got lucky and survived to see the ordeal through, that who knows how many others got cheered on just like them, failed, and where called false just because they didn't get lucky. That ultimately prophecies exist to give hope to people that something can change what's wrong with the world and offer a fingers-crossed, vague path towards it that given time might come true.
"The great fate weavers of the arcade once spoke of a man, who was to be the one who could get eight prizes out of the claw machine with only two subsequent plays. Many have tried but all have failed. Getting two at once was doable but I had never pulled it off. Supposedly, some jock a grade above us had pulled off getting three. I don't know if his entourage is credible enough though, personally. He might have, but so have many others. Not many however, could get close to the coveted 4. Until one man, by the three letter call-sign JAS, grabbed five prizes at once. Everybody in the know believes him to be the chosen one. He took a hiatus last summer after the news broke out of his unbelievable claw machine game. Something about needing a break or getting a new job. But it's rumored he will be back in June. June 5th to be exact. A full year since his incredible 5 prize play. It's May 30th today. My friend and I were enjoying a bit of air hockey, as we do at the arcade. But in the middle of game two with Ronny, he looked up for a bit too long and let go of his lead of 3-2 against me. After I was done celebrating, I noticed his mouth was agape. Just then, a mysterious gust of warm wind hit my back. I turned around to see a scruffy faced JAS walk through the door. Today was the day. I was going to witness claw machine history."
Or, something like that.
That's what I like about the Prophecies in Wings Of Fire, the first one was a fake prophecy, which stated exact details of the thing, that the MCs eventually fulfilled (even though it wasn't a real one) then the next 2 prophecies were mostly warnings, not stating that there will be a hero, just that the world needs a hero to save people.
That's great from the perspective of somebody in the story, but the problem is that we, as the readers, by the very fact that we are reading the story of _this_ "possible chosen one" and none of the others, already have a pretty good idea that this time the prophecy will probably actually be fulfilled. So we know it _is_ "the right time" and it's not vague and uncertain _for us_ at all, which still leads to many of the problems discussed in the video.
There are a few things I've seen that feature prophecies where it does end up being genuinely uncertain for the reader whether the person actually is the chosen one or not, but not many, and it's very difficult to pull that off in a really believable way most of the time.
What I often find far more interesting, actually, is when the prophecy is obviously going to come true, but it is actually vague or impossible-sounding enough that it is unclear, even to the reader, exactly _how_ it will be made true, or what that actually will end up meaning for the people and the world around them. Or it appears to say one thing, but then you realize part way through that it could have a very different meaning that nobody originally considered...
(e.g. "He is the one who will bring balance to The Force" ...but what does "balance" mean exactly? And is that actually a _good_ thing?)
My favorite deconstruction of the chosen one trope is Tales of Symphonia, for one, the main character is not the chosen one, he's just a random dude that gets swept up in the real chosen ones quest as a companion. Already this sets up a unique and interesting perspective as we're focusing on a character that normally be just be a shallow companion. For two, it's revealed that the chosen one's quest is actually slowly sucking out her soul and dooming a entire other world to rot from lack of magical energy in that universe, pointing out how cruel it is to thrust all the worlds problems onto one person and hope they go away. For three, the conflict isn't solved by the quest being completed, it's only solved by the hero's seeing how cruel the cycle of the chosen one really is and fighting tooth and nail together to break it.
that is fascinating
It isn`t really a deconstruction, Lloyd just the real chosen one.
This is awesome! I've been replaying The Bard's Tale (ARPG), and it's approach to the "Chosen One," is hilarious. To sum it up, so many young adventurers think they are "The Chosen One," that everyone starts making fun of them. You'll see a "Chosen One" dead here, dead there, and everywhere, that it shows how much of a gimmick the troupe can be. It gets so bad for "The Chosen Ones," that a sheriff locks them up for their own protection.
I'm glad someone mentioned this game, it's great 👍 The person doing the "choosing" doesn't really care who pulls through so long as the job gets done. The protagonist is also so self centered that he barely stops to wonder why he's the chosen, why wouldn't he be? Yeah a lot of other people are confused but not him. He's also after a reward so even when he starts to catch on, he keeps going.
@@zaktan7197 Seconded this! Mentioned the Bard's Tale in a reply up above before encountering this comment. I have yet to finish that game.
you should read the light novel, fff-trash hero, a bunch of social outcasts just thinking they are the chosen ones, and just getting a dose of reality when they encounter others chosen ones.
Or better do not, it's basically a spite fic on the whole edgy subversion of the standard iseaki that is just another power fantasy.
Makes me think a bit of "Moonlighter" in a tangential sort of way. There are "heroes" and "merchants". The difference between them is the motivation they have for going into the Dungeon. Heroes are glory and thrill-seekers, whereas merchants want to get loot to sell at their store. The main protagonist is deemed a "merchant", but is really a bit of both.
There’s plenty of good examples. Being a chosen one can also be a curse or a burden as they have to bear the responsibility and could also make them a target like Aang. In Dragon Quest XI, the people have developed a superstition against the hero as the existence of the hero also means the existence of the big threat. Kung Fu Panda did this fantastically. It's something Po dreamed of but he and everyone else knows that he is incapable, but everyone is turned on their heads, including Po himself. Infamous as it may be, the isekai genre of anime could sometimes recontextualize it as because they’re from another world, they have outside knowledge or skills to contribute.
In The Legend of Zelda, it also mostly presents itself as a curse, especially in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, with Link and Zelda alike. Always having to bear responsibility and be surrounded by death. In Breath of the Wild, Link proves himself BEFORE they knew he was the one to wield the master sword.
I’m completely unfamiliar with the law of Dragon Quest so that comes as a bit of a surprise since I also had that exact idea quite a few months ago (last year I think) except my story has a whole load of multi-dimensional travel and other stuff
I actually would argue that it's Anakin Skywalker who brought balance to the force Luke was always just an instrument in his father's destiny or even the result with Luke and Leia being the only confirmed force users left when rotj came out
That actually makes sense, sure Anakin had to endure a lot of suffering, but if you think about it, sure killing Padmé isn’t an excusable thing to do, despite his rage, despite his grief, despite every tragedy he had faced, he wanted to destroy the emperor from the get go, becoming a double agent and even have those plans go undetected. Many force users would sense something.
A favorite simple indie game of mine explores the Chosen One theme a bit as well; Deadbolt. The premise of the game is incredibly simple. You're a reaper in a modern Hell populated with zombies, vampires, skeletons, and demons, employed by the Flame, a sentient godlike entity who grants fire to a chosen undead who acts on their behalf, their reward being great power, and warmth reminiscent of being alive once again. The plot follows you exploring a progressively deeper underhanded goal to create and activate a portal to the living world to once again achieve the warmth of being alive...only when inevitably the portal is opened it doesn't lead to the world of the living, but rather the realm where the Flame itself resides. It is here you come to discover the primary antagonist was a reaper once, cast aside for reasons unknown, who desperately wanted to reach the Flame again and understand why. You aren't the only chosen one in this story, and the consequences of being a chosen one are much more intriguing when you realize the epilogue is not the end. The story goes on and you will not be the last.
I like the chosen one trope, but usually with a twist. Sometimes they don't know what they're supposed to do. Perhaps it's not just a chosen ONE, perhaps having multiple characters chosen for a task they have no guarantee they'll survive. What if the prophesy is cryptic, making it harder to tell what they're suppose to do? What if there is no prophesy? How about just a mandate from the weaver of destiny to do... something, you'll know it when you see it. I like this as someone who writes Christian fantasy, since we're all chosen for something, it's just a matter of what and if we'll cooperate.
I've had an idea for a sort of "Overpowered MC isekai" type story with the sort of twist like you said at the start. MC gets summoned to another world but doesn't know why or how because all he knows is he was having a normal day in his world then he pops into a random forest in a vastly different world. His primary motivation being just getting home but, little does he know, he will need to save this new world in order to be able to be sent home.
You gotta make this into a book
The only thing I'd say when discussing Katniss Everdeen is that the plot revolving around her just because she's the main character is kind of doing a disservice to the reason why she was so important. She was chosen by people with much more power than her and forced to do the unthinkable as a child. She may have chosen herself for the first hunger games to protect her sister, but the world chose her to be the one that suffers for their freedom. She was forced to lose her humanity to become the symbol of a rebellion by everyone else and spends most of the story terrified and guilty about how her friends and family suffer and die because of her. You can make the argument for the love triangle, which I think was unnecessary and Gale could easily have just been a platonic character, but I'd hardly say what she went through was an idealised fantasy.
Haven't seen the series, but in The Wheel of Time books, Rand al'Thor is actually one of THREE potential Chosen Ones, each having reality bend around them to keep them alive.
Of course, "alive" doesn't necessarily mean "well." You'd be surprised what you can live through.
In Rand's case, since he's the *most* Chosen One, he finds himself under immense pressure from interested parties, and his character arc is him going slowly yet very much insane from the requirements of destiny. He does get better, but only slightly, and his life certainly doesn't get any easier...
He's the prime Chosen of 5 Chosen Ones; his Fate Field is strongest, two more that are a bit weaker, but stronger than the rest, and two more that have Fates to fulfill...
@@scottoconnell15815 is the TV show number. While all 5 are important in the book, the built-in plot armor of Taveren is specifically for three of them. Rand is the only specifically prophesied "chosen one."
@sabrinalandazuri3430
All 5 are ta'varen; Rand is the strongest, literally bending the world; Matt and Perrin just below him. Egwene is also definitely ta'varen, considering the things she pulls off, and Nyneave is as well but at a more... common extent. In less prophetic times, Egwene would be astoundingly ta'varen, I think.
@@scottoconnell1581 considering there are people around her who literally see a glow around taveren and do not see it around Egwene would mean that canonically she is not one by the rules established by the author. Obviously we're free to have our own head cannons!
@@scottoconnell1581 Sorry, but that is wrong. Ta'veren doesn't just mean that the character "pulls things off" and Egwene and Nynaeve are canonically not ta'veren.
I think link is an anomaly to this sort of character as yes he is the chosen one. But apart from the hero of time he isn't exactly the only chosen one. There's many chosen ones actually many more dead ones throughout the legend of zelda hell in twilight Princess we meet a previous chosen one who teaches us some neat tricks.
Can't wait to watch this one, personally I hate the idea of a chosen one because i rarely actually enjoy protagonists, I'm almost always drawn to side characters. Chosen one stories tend to be even MORE likely to sideline everybody else in favor of debatably the most boring one.
Probably cause you never read a good story /s.
One Punch Man is great because it solved this problem. The protagonist has no arc at all, he's barely relevant to the story or the brilliant side characters who actually matter and have struggles.
Luffy is one of my favorite executions of the “chosen one” trope. Also helps he’s a cool character too on top of side characters having their moments as well. It’s the whole cake and you can ear it too
_cough cough_ *Danganronpa* _cough cough_
Personally when it comes to plot armor chosen one is nothing more than a flavor text to me. What matters more is the believability of the plot armor
I love Kaladin from The Way of Kings because he isnt explicitly a chosen one but hes always the one who survives. Several groups have been killed except for him and he doesnt see it as a blessing but actually his greatest curse. Its a wonderful arc he has throughout the books
My MC in my manga series is going to be like this, a chosen one but with bad prophecy and mentally unable to handle all the weight of his path, having a bad ending. It is meant to be similar to these cases when someone as a kid and teenager is treated by everyone specially and everyone has great expectations from them, but then something goes horribly wrong and all this "potential" gets "wasted".
Monster Hunter International sort of made the chosen ones more like people destined to do certain things. Like defending artifacts or changing the world. Trese had all of the M.C.'s siblings be chosen for specific things. A priest, thief, a teacher, a monster hunter, and the sixth had multiple possibilities.
I'm going to be honest I don't hate the chosen one cliche. The problem is that's been overdone too many times already.
Honestly, all main characters fall into this, on some level. But, that's generally waved off, because those are the ones people get attached to. And often when "edgy" materials kill off a main character, it tends to make the fanbase want to make the creators suffer. So, yeah, on some level, this trope is just part of storytelling. I think it really works best when it's done with a light hand, though. Unless it's really a fantasy setting, or supposed to be a fantasy-type of story, we generally don't want to hear about how person or group A is destined to bring about the end of B, and thus save the day. It works with fantasy, because people expect fantasy to be more... Fantatasy. But look at characters like Mad Max, Ash J. Williams, John McLaine, John Wick. These are characters that really get put through the ringer, but see them as "chose one" heroes alongside the likes of Luke Skywalker and Prince Colwyn... Input the same for most any action hero. So long as the fact isn't being shoved in our faces all the time, we're happy to root for these heroes.
As with most other things in storytelling, it largely depends on the quality of writing.
It's not even that it's overdone, but that it's badly done. The hero is fated to be the hero and so everything aligns so they never have any actual challenges
The world of Naruto, and most interestingly Neji, is one of my favorite cautionary tales of the trappings of the "Chosen One" plot. Neji being a character from a lesser branch of a powerful family who constantly preaches that he is of lesser blood, despite all of his efforts to be the best that he can be, he is convinced that he is NOT chosen and therefore will never succeed because he is destined to fail. You then enter Naruto who is originally pitched as an anti-chosen one and convinces Neji that everyone is the master of their own fate, despite their less than ideal circumstances.
Fast-forward to the end of the series where Naruto is indeed confirmed to be the chosen one through a constantly recurring cycle of "brothers" who "change the world" during their generation. And despite having the powers of resurrection, the only character of note within the series that he is NOT able to save...is Neji, who still ends up dying at the end.
I've always assumed this HAD TO BE intentional, but if it was...then why bother trying to sell us on the lack of "destiny"? I realize that Naruto is very much a series that lost its way, but I feel this particular piece of the story goes to show just how far off its intended path the story wandered.
The other interpretation I can think of is that Neji and Naruto's reaction to him is essentially 'truth vs idealism'. Neji was right, 100% so. But Naruto, being a child, can't accept that. Even after his face is rubbed in how much destiny is how he got to fighting a goddess, he never accepts it. It's improbable he doesn't make the connection, but to acknowledge that would require him to admit Neji was right, that all 'his' deeds aren't the product of his own great efforts. Antithetical to Naruto, so he can't go there.
Mind you, it's pretty clearly the writer never plotted out where any of the story went in terms of the whole 'reincarnated brothers' thing at the time the fight with Neji happened. Just kind of interesting to consider it from this other angle is all.
@@Sorain1 but neji wasnt right
@@mrstrangeworld5977he was. His main thesis is that it is not worth questioning your place in the world, because if you are somewhere it isn’t by choice but because a higher power decided it. In other words its just luck
Naruto opposed the idea, by following an ideal where ones place in the world is defined by ones own actions and choices.
At first it seems like Neji was wrong because Naruto, who is just bad at everything beat him, despite being weaker.
But later it turned out that Naruto had every possible advantage one could have from birth. Meaning that Naruto’s achievements were all because of luck not his own choices.
Sure Naruto trained hard to make use of his gifts, but if any one else had the tools he was given, they likely would have been able to do similar things. And if Naruto weren’t born with all those things, he probably wouldn’t have made it far because everything about him that is unconnected to those things just make him awful
In other words Neji was right. All that mattered was luck
It feels like theres a very fine line between having a protagonist, and a chosen one. A constant focus on a character who always comes out on top sounds like every story to me.
Well, arguably there's a difference between "chosen by the author" vs "chosen by destiny". All protagonists are chosen by the _author_ to be the focus of the story, but "chosen one" usually refers to someone whose _ultimate fate_ is known by the reader (and/or characters in the story) _before_ actually reading that part of the story. That is, you already know the _end_ of the character's story ahead of time, you just don't necessarily know the in-between bits.
(that is, it's the difference between "this is an interesting character and you'll really want to read what happens to them, they might even do something really amazing" vs "this is an interesting character and at the end of the story they're going to kill the Demon Lord and bring peace to the realm.")
@@foogod4237 Indeed. The distinction is important because the chosen one does NOT have to be the protagonist. You can quite easily follow someone else just trying to survive in a world that needs a chosen one. They might not even make it to the end of the chosen ones story. They might go far past it. Point is the Chosen one is not the protagonist by default.
I think wheel of time did it best by having them be ta'veran which is a rule within the world. Having plot armor function as a rule of the world is a very interesting way to avoid the issue
And is also not a free card. The characters go through many awful things and is always implied that they can die. For me is the best book I've read about a chosen one
@@ToroidalX In fact, being given that title is actually quite worse, because not only do you know that you will have great things happen to you...terrible things are DRAWN to you. You might find riches, but you will have to deal with the consequences of it.
...poor, poor Mat.
rand lover detected
@@SnivyTries Mat had a rough time. But I think Rand got definitely the worst part of the deal. Dude's body was completely broken by the end, and on top of that people feared him and everyone wanted to control him
Agreed!
There's a story I really like called Berserk. It's essentially the opposite of a chosen one story. The protagonist is mostly a regular dude. Sure, he's physically strong, but that's it. In fact, this world actually does have a chosen one, except the chosen one is the antagonist, but from the perspective of pretty much everyone but the protagonist and his few friends, the antagonist looks like a chosen hero, and he's almost worshipped.
Berserk is a great story that uses the hate for the chosen one right
ooh sounds interesting!
@@staydetermined6717it is , and it has a anime adaptation if you want to see it type berserk 1990 .
If I were to write a Chosen one story, I would write one where the Mc learns that they’re a chosen one from a prophecy, causing them to start this quest, going head-first into everything, taking risks thinking he can’t be killed, then realising that he can be killed, the prophecy having a hidden part having wording suggesting that the Chosen One can die and can fail the prophecy… This makes the Mc reluctant on carrying on, having a moral battle in his mind.
I think one of the best chosen one stories I've experienced is from the Legacy of Kain games. The games subvert everything about the everyman hero's journey with Kain himself being a proud nobleman that looses his humanity and embraces vampirisim.
Kain starts off his journey as a quest for revenge on those that killed him and then turn into a plot about saving the world and curing his vampirisim. But along his journey he with every village and town he visits he hatred of humanity grows and so those his ego.
In the end when he discovers his 'Destiny' and has to sacrifice himself to save the world he refuses, damming the world to a slow death and makes himself king of this dying world for the centuries to come.
Okay so that was a long comment, but basically Kain is a chosen one who has the destiny to save the world but be cause of the journey he went he dosnt see that the world is worth saving and dooms it. I think a thing that can make chosen one stories unique is give the hero some agency, but their choices have huge ramifications for the story.
And let's not forget Raziel who is also a chosen but with a very complex prophecy around him and the reveal about how he is basically two chosen ones at once.
I am still waiting to see the finale of that story. Some day...
Man, the amount of 'playing the game of destiny' that Kain got up to really is mindboggling.
In a fantasy novel I just submitted to a publisher, one of the two main characters is a "Chosen One," but it turns out that the gods who chose her are evil, and intend to set her up to get killed by her enemies to spark the biggest "holy war" that their world has ever seen. When she finds this out, she fights for her own survival, knowing that if she dies, millions will follow her into the grave.
Good luck that's sounds like something I'd like to read one day
@@johnhanifin1952 Thank you so much!
Yeah, the chooser(s) is just as important as who the chosen one is.
@@the11382 I also recently had a thought: what if the reason a person is a "Chosen One" is actually because of something they did? As in, the main character does something heroic and selfless, and for this some higher power or another says, "THAT is who I want as my champion!"
@@johnhanifin1952 If you're really interested, keep an eye out for a novel called "The Third Genesis."
I think the book “The Wheel of Time” does an amazing job doing the “Chosen One” trope. I haven’t read it yet but my brother has been basically yelling/forcing me to read it as well, and what I’ve heard from it so far has been fantastic.
Go and read it, then come back and tell me if you were right. I don’t trust an assertion like that for something you haven’t even read.
I'm almost finished with my 3rd reread of the series and this series is what I was thinking about most. It does a great job of exploring how difficult it is to be the "Chosen One".
@@intergalactic92Lmao fr how you gonna think and make a statement without having actually seen anything about it
I just finished reading the original Mistborn trilogy and I really liked how Sanderson managed to both cleverly subvert the Chosen One narritive while alsovkind of playing it straight. Combining the concept with a mystery was a brilliant move.
I had an idea for a chosen one story.
The story is about an evil minion, who for years has been second in command to a dark overlord, only to discover that their the prophesies chosen one that’ll bring peace to the world and that’ll defeat the dark overlord. At first the minion rejects the prophecy and continues being evil. Only then the minion begins to notice things like they’ve been doing more good then bad, questioning their objections, and seeing that their overlord boss is not the person that they thought of them to be. This gets to ahead when the minion refuses to take orders and even attacks one of their own comrades when they go too far. As a result he is labeled as a traitor in the eyes of the dark overlord, but to the people that he protected, as the chosen hero.
Honestly I've always wanted something like this:
Dark Overlord learns prophecy of 'the one who will defeat them' and proceeds to acquire them as a child and raise them as their successor. Legitimately trying to be a decent parent and prepare them to run the evil empire. When the chosen one confronts them about it, the Overlord flat out tells them the truth, and when confronted? Immediately surrenders. "Prophecy will not be denied. But words are rather important, never forget that my child." So yay, the prophecy is fulfilled! Now what? (The Overlord retires, because they've prepared for this day and now they can catch up on their reading, do some research etc.)
I would also add that the Chosen One story can be approached from another angle by the audience: from the journey itself.
Sure, we know the hero will eventually prevail. But HOW will they do it? What interesting things and places and people will they encounter on the way to success?
The anime No Game No Life takes this route: Sora and Shiro are absolutely OP Chosen Ones who you know will succeed at their goals - that's literally their entire schtick. The fun is in seeing how they beat seemingly impossible odds and unbeatable opponents in clever ways.
As much as I like that show, I personally think that the way that the fps game ended was pure bs.
I love Morrowind’s take on the chosen one. I’m halfway through the video, but I hope you mention MacBeth (the Denzel Washington version), where MacBeth knows he’s not fated to die at a particular time, which leads to a badass scene
One of the most interesting Chosen One I could think of is Cucumber Quest.
It’s about the shy, destined hero in the title, Almond, his over confident sister, and the Nightmare Knight, the being the Chosen One must slay like in every Zelda game.
The characters are charming enough to get you invested, and the story deconstructs all characters in it.
Suck it's probably never going to be finished
I actually really like when this "greatness thrust upon" the chosen one tests the normal main character to their limits. Like they're not the chosen one because of who they are but they are the chosen one for some reason, nd they have to somehow shoulder the burden. It's interesting character conflict and development. When done right
Yes and know two stories that do that incredibly well, Wings of Fire and Avatar: the Last Airbender
While I definitely agree most Hero Journey's are like this, I think Jesus's story is the only that's a bit different. It's more tragic than anything. Like most Hero stories there's a dragon to slay or a evil tyrant to defeat and the lesson is always, "The real treasure is the friends we made along the way." While with Jesus is almost the opposite of those things. There was no dragon to slay, he wasn't there to overthrow Rome, and the real villains of his story are some the people he met along the way and the death they would bring him after he tried to help them. Yet they crucified him specifically because he wasn't your traditional Hero figure.
In alot hero stories it's kind of like the Batman philosophy. Where you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain. Jesus is the exception to that rule, because not only did he die a 'villain' in most people's eye's back then, but he came back to life and eventually was seen as hero later on by most people in the world.
Anyways great video though. I always wondered about stuff like this when reading comics. Glad you put it into better words than I could.
nahh jesus is as traditional chosen one as u can get. "chosen one"s all face prosecution in their story, potter got his parents killed, lives in an attic, always hunted down by death eaters and actually got killed in the last book. and there was a dragon to slay in jesus' story: proving that he's actually the "son of god". he did slay that dragon when he came back to life or whatever.
The "died as a villain, came back to life and became a hero" sounds like a REALLY cool story idea
@@quibble9003 he didn’t “come back to life” in the typical sense since his body was gone in every sense. The next time he appeared it was in a more heavenly form rather than a human one. He’s dead but not quite. In its own words he “defeated death” before this moment all humans were doomed to go to hell regardless of anything else because the debt of the original sin was too great for any one soul to pay. Jesus being born as a man was also doomed for that fate but that was the plan. He was a man with the soul of God so by him dying that debt could be paid with it paid all souls within hell we’re taken out with him. Jesus destiny as a Chosen One was to enlighten as many people as possibly, get the teachings and lessons God wanted people to know straight from his mouth and then to die a fate even Jesus himself was scared of. The ending of his story was Bittersweet if anything because he helped people, died a cruel death destined by a grim fate but ended in net good.
@@Broomer52 what part of his "sacrifice" was bitter? jesus gave up a weekend. he was "god" before, he was "god" during, and he was "god" afterwards forevermore. and since he was "all-knowing", he knew that he would come back to life at the end, no expectations were betrayed, thus no "bitterness". the only reason why the weekend was meaningful was because he is "the chosen one".
@@quibble9003 he was scared, suffering immensely, was betrayed, brutalized and humiliated. He knew it was going to happen but he was 100% not looking forward to it and no one was able or willing to stop it. Good things happened after but it was a sad and miserable way to go out. It’s the bitter to go along with the sweet
it would be cool for people in the series to hate the chosen one, purely out of jealousy
But anyway, I agree, they are hated for being over used, sometimes being to great, it hurts the story, sometimes you can't even connect with them
this video has really brought to life things about chosen heros that i haven't even thought about, I think if you do it right you can make the hero not boring.
This happened to Galahad, the perfect grail knight, in some way, in different forms depending on the author.
Hard disagree, because it is also another huge Mary Sue red flag. "If anyone hates me, it's only because they're jealous! That makes them evil! Anyone who's morally good will automatically love me!"
@@oboretaiwritingch.2077 Not necessarily, the chosen one can be a bad person who will happen to be at the right time at the right place. They don't have to be the avatar of good, only the champion of fate.
@@ninj-as7710 I was talking about how UwU said it'd be cool to have others be jealous of the chosen one for being chosen.
Which is the very annoying Mary Sue trope I talked about. That anyone who doesn't agree with the Mary Sue are automatically either evil or jealous.
It has nothing to do with actual morality, because you see this sort of logic just as often with the edgelord type Mary Sues.
Basically "if you don't agree with me, you deserved to be punished or humiliated".
@@oboretaiwritingch.2077 Oh ok, yeah I see what you mean.
One interesting Chosen One setup that I've been thinking about a lot is the prophecy in Deltarune. (Spoilers for Deltarune, btw.) The game isn't finished yet, so it's still up in the air how exactly it will address its various themes. But with what we have so far, it really seems to me like it's doing some very interesting things with the ideas of predestination and free will, using the lens of branching paths and multiple endings in games.
Toby Fox has stated multiple times that Deltarune will only have one ending, no matter what the player does... But he has also stated that "there is something more important than reaching the end." I predict that what he means by this is that no matter what, the prophecy of the Delta Rune presented at the beginning of the game will come true - the Angel's Heaven will be banished by the three chosen Delta Warriors, the balance of light and dark will be restored, the world saved from destruction. But the player's choices will still matter, because there's a lot you can do in the game that isn't directly related to achieving that ending. "Saving the world" only means that the world still exists in the end, not that it's in a particularly happy state. I can easily see the game technically ending with the same scene regardless of whether you've recruited every enemy and given them a better life, or manipulated Noelle into murdering them all. It's as Ralsei says at the very beginning: "This world is full of all kinds of people... In the end, how we treat them makes all the difference."
All that to say that this could be a framework for telling interesting Chosen One stories in general. Stories where the chosen hero has a particular predestined goal, but still has multiple ways they could choose to reach it. They could be offered easy, but unethical methods for fulfilling their destiny, and prove their heroism beyond the bounds of their Chosen status by rejecting those methods and standing by their principles. Just one more unique spin that could be used to make this old, tired concept a bit more interesting.
My favorite chosen one is Garion.
He doesn't know he's the chosen one until pretty late, everyone in his group hides it from him because they all know it would be too much for him to handle. He basicaly remains the tag-along kid until they are forced to tell him
I like the idea of a prophecy being somewhat vague, so that it's fulfillment is open to interpretation. That can lead to some exciting surprises. It's kind of like "He will bring balance to The Force", or "White Gold is the Wild Magic that destroys Peace". What do these really mean? They mean you have a lot of room to play in there.
I like stories of "the chosen" - as in not just one.
These stories are also more compelling if another entity is chosen on the failure of the previous.
The first chosen makes a little bit of progress, gets injured and then another picks up where the previous left off, makes a bit more progress, dies, another is chosen and it keeps going.
Those chosen don't get immunity to death or injury (though in some stories they may gain some resistance, or may even be empowered to continue so long as they have limbs to do so), and rejecting the task may result in you getting some form of punishment from the power that chose you.
Neutral mask reminds me of almost every isekai anime/manga/light novel. It is actually sad that the isekai setting is boiled down to pure wish fulfillment. It has so much potential that could be explored.
A big part of interesting storytelling is making the characters relatable in some way, yet not a blank slate where the reader can teleport themselves into.
Best of both worlds.
So my favorite book series had a very interesting twist on the whole "chosen one" trope. Instead of our protagonist being the chosen one, his best friend is instead. Only... The chosen one tries to cheat his way out of his fate using his literally god-given powers and switches bodies with his best friend, sending him off to fulfill his destiny for him. I won't spoil any more of it cus it's a really good book but check out Chosen by Casey White (also known as Inorai)
The character of Henry in Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a wonderful examle of the neutral mask.
They did a really good job to create him in a way that leaves more than enough room for the players own personality.
I think Berserk probably handled it the most interesting way, it was the MCs rival/former best friend who was the chosen one but in a twisted way where it would cause the MC to be chosen by fate to die but struggles on anyway and defies what causality wills upon him.
I have two favorite chosen ones; Lloyd Garamadon from Lego Ninjago and The Hollow Knight from the game……Hollow knight. Lloyd I like because, despite his father being an evil Oni warlord, he cares for Lloyd and doesn’t want to hurt him, so once Lloyd is revealed to be the green ninja, it sets up conflict for these characters. Also, his “chosen one” status is not always a good thing, Lloyd is just a kid and others who want to be the chosen one will blame him for a destiny he had no say in (cough cough Morro). The Hollow Knight, or THK for short, I like simply because they weren’t chosen by destiny, instead by someone trying to defy destiny. The Pale King’s desperate attempts to keep hallownest from falling to the radiance are what drove him to make the vessels and chose the hollow knight, despite him being not hollow. This destiny and fear of letting their father down gives THK a massive case of imposter syndrome and is what made them unable to contain the radiance and eventually causes the kingdom to fall.
Never thought a robot that talked about Junji ito would talk about Jesus. And yet, I'm somehow OK with that.
I love your videos so much! They are so insightful and I learn so much!!
Idea: what if your friend turns out to be the chosen one instead? And then what if they’re destined for evil? You’re supposed to stop them right? But they have plot armor and you don’t. Prophecy is loose at best, but his victories are uncanny.
Become the camera man then take him out!
@@texasforever7887 i think i was high when i wrote that hahahaha
My favorite subversion of the chosen one theme is from a series of books called "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan Not is there more than one "chosen one" but the chosen one is set to either save the world or destroy it completely. Doomed to go mad and trying to fight his fate at least at first.
I've always liked the idea of it being a sort of .... selection from success? Like, the oracle, or some god, can see "If THIS one goes to defeat the dark lord, they will succeed, so I'll start them on the path." Rather than, "I choose you to do this, so take this special gear and these powers, and get to it." Ya know? Puts it more on the qualities of the chosen one that bring success, rather than the prophecy.
There is a certain type of darklord that's stronger than the chosen one from "animator vs animation"
I started writing my story when I was little kid, so it’s a chosen one story, but now that I’m older, I’ve made some adjustments…
Originally my MC was a predestined savior, but now she’s more of a cog in a machine. Her world is magical and revolves around the concept of balance; of both the eight elements and good and evil. “In a battle of good and evil, good always wins, but evil always comes back.” The gods of her world have better things to do than to defeat the evil they created, so instead they bless mortals, who appeal to their values, with extra power. They create champions. Because evil always comes back, there have been many generations of champions. Luna (MC) is the champion of the Moon and stars. A large part of her arc is feeling that she was too young to accept the role (a role she never signed up for) , and that the Goddess had no right to randomly choose someone and uproot their life. Only when she realizes that she isn’t a puppet, but her own being who can make her own choices with her power will she be at peace.
Good plot
Rand Al'thor has a unique well done chosen one arc. Robert Jordan covers this well in the Wheel of Time. Just had to take 14 books to do it.
Yeah. I also like how Egwene hears that she will have healthy twins from Min, so assumes that she can survive everything till then.
It would be awesome to have a story where someone is destined to do something they don't want to do, and either have to fight it or accept it.
I'm not sure about being destined, but Ciaphus Cain is seen as a Hero of the Imperium, while the man himself has a severe case of imposter syndrome and often tries to avoid the battlefield - only to wind up in the thick of it later, or having to dish it out with an even fiercer foe somewhere else.
I FUCKING LOVE CHOSEN ONE STORIES i just want them to be written *good*
The chosen one from animator vs animation
Thank you for bringing up Rey from the Sequel Trilogy. The Term "Neutral mask" is a very interesting and more technical term for this.
Cause yes it's duly noted that Jedi are on a level of overpowered, but that's only when they've undergone Jedi Training.
Nothing has happened in all 3 movies to convince anyone that Rey's immense level of power is warranted.
It's the same thing with Legend of Korra.
while i’m not a huge fan of korra’s show, she did at least train for most of her younger years before the show started. but rey, she barely did anything and became a god among mortals practically overnight in episodes 7 and 8
@@jimblob1567 right, few problems are: they taught her to apply bending in combat without respecting bending and yet chastising her for not respecting bending.
They concluded season 1 by handing her the avatar state and the mastery demonstration. All because of this backwards logic that giving Korra her own lengthly avatar journey would have been retreading old ground.
And unlike Rey, they absolutely Nerfed the avatar state, reducing it to at least putting her on the level of her Antagonist opponents and still gets pwned anyway.
I swear both these characters would have been better if they weren't made for succeeding their Male predecessors, Legacy characters of established IPs, and just made for their own shows in original works. They deserve that much, but when these females are made to do the aforementioned, it just becomes more egregious.
In the Lego Movie (2014) the "Chosen One" concept was played around when it was explained that the prophecy is fake and it was intentionally made blurry so that everyone can put themselves under the "chosen" label and become determined to commit great deeds.
Katniss Everdeen was not Chosen by some glorious Destiny. She was literally chosen by the people of the Districts (and, subsequently, by the propaganda department of Coin's uprising) because of her circumstances, actions and choices that she had made BEFORE she became a symbol. Initially, she was only trying to survive, protect her sister and preserve her own humanity; it was these things that made her act in a way that fit into the mold of a revolutionary hero narrative which she had never desired to be a part of, before it happened. Even then, she was not in control of her narrative most of the time, she had to play the role of a Chosen One in what was factually a propaganda television show.
And that's the thing. It makes sense that someone who fights to survive night end up becoming the hero, because it turns out that the traits needed to fight to survive and the traits needed to do something heroic are one and the same, because the ones who try to be heroic without the ability to fight to survive are like the kinds of people who dive into a pool to rescue a drowning kid, only to be at risk of drowning themselves - in other words, a lot of those die and don't succeed at being the hero. Whereas the person who starts out trying to survive may be in no condition or position to be the hero at first, but in the long term they are in a better position to be the hero as they gain experience and/or influence.
This reminds me of the sister of the main character in when I got kicked out the hero's party. The sister didn't wanna be a hero but fate forced her to do it.
I think Katniss is a really interesting example to bring up because her main motivation is survival and to protect her sister, that’s it. She isn’t this great chosen one who’s destined to save everyone she was someone who was there at the right time and place.
The thumbnail makes me want to see a gruesome story of the protagonist getting "plot armor" where he just doesn't die. He'll be mutilated, lose limbs but not dead sorta like a curse instead. He'll eventually managed to finish his quest and finally die
While I'm thinking about it, another great option to spruce up the chosen one, you can have it be a general position rather than specific singular. You fit the bill so you could be the chosen one, but there are plenty of others who will come after you if you fail. We can just keep trying. You have the possibility of success where others don't, but not the guarentee.
7:13
Literally Yuno from Black Clover. As if being a Gary Stu blessed with plot convenient luck wasn't enough, he's also "loved by Mana" which in itself sounds ridiculously plot convenient. Not to say plot convenience doesn't happen in virtually every story but Black Clover just really pushes it to excessive extents.
Thank god he is not the main character thou.
One of my favourite characters I've ever played was an "immortal" shape-shifting, wandering folk singer. He created an identity as a mantle to passed down to a new face when his old one gets too famous. He had a guitar, a sword of darkness, a shabby suit, and a guitar case full of various pieces of culture he's collected over his millenia of life. Songs, stories, object, and such. His hoard of artifacts that came and went. And mechanically the game had an Immortal advanced class. Come back at 1hp the next turn unless overkilled. And can give that ability to party members. So whenever a great power rose up to subjugate, he would find a humble person, someone with righteous ideals, give them a magical artifact from his hoard, and unbeknownst to them give them his Immortality ability. All while singing them songs that would inspire them to the great deeds he has chosen them for. And if they actually died, he would choose another.
He was the choser. Sometime his shape-shifting let him play the role of the mentor. Sometimes he would kill and take the place of a specific lieutenant in order to be an antagonist to the hero. But he would find a way to be close to the action. He did it in order to spark great stories. He also did other fairy/wizard magical agent archetypes.
I was about to mention dune right as it was mentioned in the video. One of my favorite parts of the whole chosen thing prophecy thing though, was his son. He saw the path his father went down through his own genetic memories and saw why he forsook the golden path and ran to the desert. He saw the horrors it would bring and had to step forward anyway to finish what his father started. It's chilling. Especially considering that at 9 years old with the collective memories of thousands of generations, he turns his back on his own humanity in order to save it for others.
One thing I plan on doing with the trope is having the chosen one NOT be the protagonist. Not the antagonist either, just, the actual protagonist is someone who grew up WITH the chosen one. Compared themself to him their whole life. I plan on exploring the impostor syndrome for both the hero and the chosen one.
Ken keneki is a perfect example of a chosen one type character that isnt handed everything and isnt fated to do what he does its a choice he makes after fate turns him into a ghoul rather than lamenting his position he is made to realize while fate has gave him a crapshoot he being one foot in both species he has a unique opportunity to do something world changing with it.
Keneki even views his life as a tragic play. And while he attains his goal and gets his happiness it isnt without more suffering than one can imagine. Hes the kinda character who wishes he could get some plot armor.
I wish there were less stories out there that tell children to pray that they are special or chosen, and more that emphasize that they aren't special or chosen for anything, but how that in itself is a license to be and change the world however they wanna.
The thing about the hero's journey is that it doesn't require the plot armor to be infallible. The hero has a grand destiny, true. But that doesn't have to be so specific as to foretell the timing of the final conflict, what state the hero is in when it comes, or the method by which he wins. You can go the easy route where the hero completes the journey in a young and healthy state. You can have the hero deal with challenges that he always overcomes, but leave few physical scars like in Harry Potter (save for his resurrection just before the final battle). You can take the Luke Skywalker route where the hero actually tastes a major failure and defeat with a scar or two to remind him. Or you can take an even more extreme version of that where the hero must fight in countless wars, overcome PTSD (or not), overcome serious physical injuries (lose a limb or experience chronic pain), and visit any number of other setbacks, traumas, failures, tragedies, and such. The hero must win, but it doesn't say what state he'll be in when he does. He could even be goaded into making the attempt before he's ready, only to fail and barely escape with his life.
And all this is to say nothing of his companions. The hero may have plot armor. But his friends need not be so lucky.
But I like King Arthur. :(
And he wasn't perfect. He screwed up a lot. And failed. And he still suffered the consequences despite being "The Chosen One."
Correction not every one hates it.
Hate is a strong word, yes
However the trope still sucks
well OBVIOUSLY you can't say everyone and mean the entire world, no one can all agree on one thing
It's one of the most popular tropes in the history of literature in fact. Literary snobs hate it, which is why so many people hate literary snobs.
I like the trope of a chosen one not wanting to be the chosen one. Like, either they really don't want to have to deal woth the drama of being a hero, or they're prophecized to be the ultimate evil and they (understandably so) don't want fate to take its course.
I think what made a hero a little more interesting was how Lucas handled his hero-Anakin. His _Chosen One_ status didn’t provide the type of plot armor that protects him from physical injury. He was literally dismembered, cooked alive, and outfitted in a life-support suit! Then his son also suffered 10% of the same injuries-losing a hand.
I think more hero stories should start incorporating more physical injury of that nature, to show that a foreseen hero like a force-wielder can still have as frail of a body as we have.
9:47 I am reminded of Arthur Dent, in the Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy.
At one point, he is confronted by an entity named Agrajag, who has reincarnated several times, and remembers all of his lives. He also remembers that a particular individual, Arthur Dent, was the cause of his deaths in every single one.
He lets all of this slip to Arthur, including examples of times he died. Arthur points out that one of those he had never been to, causing Agrajag to curse about confronting Arthur too early.
See, Agrajag may reincarnate, but his reincarnations do not follow the timeline. In other words, Arthur now knows that he will at least be fine until he reaches that example location, leading him to being more willing to take more chances until he gets there and causes one of Agrajag's deaths, which is quite the difference in behavior from his timid English mannerisms to that point.
ooo that ones interesting, its like a mish-mash of multiple chosen one situations
Well-written Chosen One stories are some of my favorites. I especially like stories in which a character finds out their secretly magical or royalty. The reason why that trope is so hated is because it's easy to do lazily and badly, but when it works, it's a lot of fun.
I played a Chosen One in D&D, but he was chosen to be doomed. He was bound to a patron who would eventually take over his body, rewriting his being to bring the patron into the material world.
He was the one chosen because he was gullible
A great read that touches on a lot of this is The Riddle-Master series by Patricia A. McKillip. Her use of the trope is very intriguing and the world that she built is a fascinating gem. Well worth the read, even if it can get a little confusing the first time through.
Well as chosen ones go King Arthur ends up dieing in the end through even through Merlin try’s to stop him from his end (I ended up naming my old cat Merlin and now my new one is named Arthur) but yeah the chosen one plot is used a lot
But besides King Arthur with his wizard Merlin (I have to admit I found Merlin more interesting than Arthur in the story) I know Avatar the last air bender was a pretty good chosen one story being as ang is a kid who was given a role he didn’t want and wasn’t ready for so he ran away and ended up frozen for years until woken up to find so much of what he lost is gone that he had to take on the role of chosen one to stop more damage from happening