Opinion on the "Chosen One" trope

[Euryalus]

Yeah, I'll mimic the other voices in the thread, and say I can't stand it. Even in games where the story isn't all that interesting to begin with.

I rolled my eyes hard in Pokémon white when they started mentioning prophecy and a hero.

I mean come on. Pokémon? Do we really need a legendary chosen pit bull fighter Pokémon trainer?

The story would have played out exactly the same way without needing to make anyone a chosen anything. It was already set up for the "shit just happened that way" scenario.

 

[CommanderL]

While I agree that it can be used in interesting ways and some of these characters even experience character development (however mild or abrupt it may be) as a result of it, I've always thought the trope of the "Chosen One" (i.e. a character "fated" or "destined" to defeat the antagonist) can lead to lazy storytelling and bland protagonists.

I mean, I love The Matrix, but, ignoring the fact that he's played by Keanu Reeves, Neo remains as the same stoic and unsure hacker throughout the film, up until the final confrontation where he's revived or whatever by Trinity's kiss and goes all "badass Matrihax" on Agent Smith's ass. Then, at the end and in the sequels, he's all of a sudden this confident freedom fighter fully embracing his role. It just seemed so quick, and there's no real reason for Neo to be so much better than the other people in the Matrix other than Morpheus (and the Oracle, correct me if I'm wrong) thinks so. He's not more intelligent, skilled or brave than the others. He just simply is.

A similar thing goes for Harry in Harry Potter. He survived Voldemort's Killing Curse on a mixture of luck and...his mother's love (WTF; I know it's magic, but still?), and seems to have gotten this far due to Dumbledore's favouritism, but Hermione Granger was always much better at magic than him and actually worked for it. I think I heard someone say that the reason Harry was the protagonist and not Hermione was because a male protagonist would get more attention. But now that I think about it, Hermione would make a better protagonist than Harry: it would give more of a reason for Malfoy to hate the main character (Malfoy pretty much hates Harry just because he rejected his offer of friendship and sided with a poor boy and a "Mudblood"), and it would show a new perspective on a protagonist of children's books who was actually somewhat of an "insufferable know-it-all", as Snape put it, who has to learn to show more humility and whatnot.
Just a thought.
What do you think?

Harry was the chosen one becuase voldemort chose to kill him The whole chosen one is only valid becuase voldemort belives it to be As for the mother love it was becuase voldemort promised before hand he would spare her and when offered the choice to life she refused invoking deep and complex magic Love is a deep theme in the setting and the whole hating harry thing its becuase malfoy was raised pureblood and by turning his friendship down he insulted him and his family personaly becuase who wouldnt want to be friends with the esteemed malfoys

sorry for spelling havnt slept in ages TL<dr harry is only the chosen one because voldemort belives the propchey if he ignored it harry wouldnt be
Albus Dumbledore: "Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him -- and in doing so, he made you the person who would be most dangerous to him!"
Harry Potter: "But it comes to the same --"
Albus Dumbledore: "No, it doesn't! You are setting too much store by the prophecy!"
Harry Potter: "But, but you said the prophecy means --"
Albus Dumbledore: "If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant something? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?"
Harry Potter: "But, but last year, you said one of us would have to kill the other --"
Albus Dumbledore: "Harry, Harry, only because Voldemort made a grave error and acted on Professor Trelawney's words! If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate? Of course not, Harry! Don't you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realise that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he had not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons!"

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I think it's a bit overused. I think it's more interesting when the hero is just some every man/woman who takes up the mantle of hero because he/she feels like he/she should for whatever reason other than prophecy and not because they were destined to by some divine prophecy or whatever.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Subversion of the trope aside, it's right up there with "Power of Friendship" on my shitlist for lazy-ass tropes. If it's given the proper tone and in-context basis for being (like establishing a Greek Tragedy) then it can work, but even then I'm just tired of the whole thing.

 

[ckam]

Meh, I have no qualms against it. Though, if the story isn't well thought out I'd probably hate it too. Just depends on how it's told.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm a little tired of it, specially as far as RPGs go. I'm sick of playing as characters who are "destined" to do everything *I* accomplish. Everybody and their mother in Kingdom Hearts are The One. Sora's the one. Riku's the one. Roxas's the one. Terra's the one.

Honestly I don't remember the last time I played a JRPG where you're not The One. Except maybe Disgaea, and then that's debatable.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Depends on the writing or acting or presentation depending on the medium. If its just a hackjob to explain why x-character is badass at y-thing, then no. It should have at least something to get behind rather than a damn Deus Ex Machina reason.
Seriously that above all things is the sign IMO of a writer who either can't think of anything or wrote his/her-self into a corner.
But yeah I just think the Matrix is an example of poor usage of that particular trope. However I don't actually feel the Potter series counts as it really wasn't a given that there'd have been a chosen one at all. Its more of the villain of the series fucked up and created an enemy that could defeat them only because said villain was too damn paranoid.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

I though they did this well in Dragon Age Origin's, where they basicly build an order out of "chosen one's" and when they get butchered around you the game goes like:

"Well, you're the chosen one now, sure there are plenty other Grey Wardens, but Alistar basicly put you in charge and the other wardens are out of the country, so get to it.".

 

[The Night Angel]

I don't mind it, as long as it's compensated for by good character development for the supporting cast and everything else works well. I mean, at the end of the day, The Matrix was meant to be an action movie, and whilst having more character development for neo might have been good, the action scenes which were the most important thing, were superb.
One I never liked in the whole chosen one thing was Eragon... I mean, sure, they give him a reason to want to destroy the empire with the death of his uncle and burning of his home, but early in the book, before he gets his dragon, he already is shown as someone who hates the empire with a passion, and probably would have fought them anyway. Personally I think it would have been cool to make him like the empire at the start, and have him have to confront the empire's attrocities from that stand point.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Yeah, it's lazy and generally nonsensical. Why was Harry the chosen one? Why couldn't someone else beat Voldemort?

Actually thats the thing I've always found interesting about the prophecy in the HP books. See, its a really a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, purely because one of the subjects involved (Voldemort) insists on trying to fulfil it. There is absolutely nothing that makes Harry himself a Chosen One, and really the Chosen One could just as easily be Neville (hell, given that its Neville who renders Voldemort mortal and killable you could make an argument it was him who beat Voldemort). But Voldemort believes in the prophecy and believes Harry is the subject, so he keeps trying at it to make the thing come true. If he just ignored Harry (or let someone else kill him) then there'd be no Chosen One and the whole prophecy would fall apart.
I quite like how its done, just because it reminds me of all those times people have sought to avoid an ominous prophecy only to have their actions cause it to come true (looking at you Laius of Thebes), only its reversed. Someone is actively trying to make the prophecy come true, and in doing so is making it come true

 

[C.TYR]

I have a rather hot and cold relationship with this trope, here. You see, when used in the proper context, it makes sense and can be a strong way in which to help progress a story along or possibly create greater agency with a certain character or with the player character. When used in the improper context, like with some sort of nonsensical prophecy or something, then that's when it gets on my nerves.

Let me paint a picture here, in some movies like the Star Wars prequels or the Secret of Nimh 2, there is tell of some prophecy that works in some odd way or another that always comes together at the end to reveal a hidden plot point or to say that a character is suddenly special for apparent reason but for the fact that some (usually) old fart said it. To me, that is simply bad storytelling and is something that is used by the author for convenience of the fact that the character might not be someone we like or that that particular character doesn't makes sense.

On the flip side, however, in games such as Dark Souls, everyone is potentially capable of being the 'chosen undead' according to Kingseeker Frampt. Whether or not it was actually Frampt trying to persuade or use you to his own ends is regardless, because this is the truth. In Lordran, if you were Undead, you had the possibility to be the 'chosen one', however you had to have the skills and capabilities to pick up the task and fulfill the task of so many around you. It's dynamic, it creates an air of competition and agency, and it also makes you feel empowered because of what it took to figure out about this 'destiny'.

 

[CelestDaer]

Yeah, it's lazy and generally nonsensical. Why was Harry the chosen one? Why couldn't someone else beat Voldemort?

It could have been Neville Longbottom, if Voldy hadn't chosen Harry, and then had a part of his soul ripped out and stuffed into Harry for "safe keeping". So, short version is, Voldy chose Harry, not destiny or whatever.

 

[Lightknight]

It's just one of relatively few plot mechanics. You kind of need to have a reason why "YOU" have to be the one to save the day. Sure, the "chosen one" is used a lot. But so are the other ones. E.g. "Only you have the skill","only you have the knowledge.","Only you believe.","You're the only one there." and my least favorite "No explanation whatsover, sure, Ted could do it but he's really enjoying his soup".

You can generally pick any such mechanic and make an identical thread on the subject. But the reality is, we don't have as many alternatives as we think. You not being necessary just isn't as interesting and you being necessary has relatively few permutations that explain why you're necessary.

So I have no qualms about games that use the destiny/chosen bit. It's just a necessary mechanic and not inherently better than you being the heir to the throne or the only one who knows how to disable the bomb or whatever.

 

[lacktheknack]

If it's used for more than "lololol you are the Chosen One, now I don't need to justify your plot" then it's good. Usually, games pull it of decently well (in Skyrim, you're the Chosen One because you can Shout, for instance), but if it's done badly, it's truly the worst.

 

[Autumnflame]

Reading the Rift War Cycle.

There were many chosen ones and a few ultimate chosen ones.

Why they were the chosen ones was actually important to the story and had far reaching consequences.

There were reasons for their importance in the story that arced over the entirety of the continuity.

 

[Legion]

Yeah, it's lazy and generally nonsensical. Why was Harry the chosen one? Why couldn't someone else beat Voldemort?

Spoiler: Major Harry Potter spoilers

They could. Harry did not kill Voldermort, his own spell killed him.

The only reason Harry was "destined" to be the one was because Voldermort believed in the prophecy and kept trying to kill Harry. In doing so he enacted magic that linked their lives to one another. Had he not done so then anybody could have killed him.

By attempting to kill Harry as a child he put a part of his soul into Harry's body unintentionally.
By taking his blood to create a new body he put a part of Harry into his own body.

Neither could kill the other properly because wands recognise their owners. As they shared wands and blood, the wands saw each other as being "brothers" of sorts. This was why the battle in the fourth book had their spells block each other. It was why he couldn't kill him in the seventh near the beginning and the wand snapped. It was also why Harry's wand moved of it's own accord to deflect Voldermort at the same time.

When it came to the part where he did "kill" Harry, that was purely because Harry chose to accept it. Had he tried to defend himself it wouldn't have been possible. As for the final battle, Voldermort attempted to kill Harry, but the wand saw Harry as the owner due to the rules regarding the Elder Wand, so it then deflected back at him. Due to it being the unblock-able killing curse, it killed him.

When it came down to it, anybody could have killed Voldermort (assuming they knew of the Horcruxes and removed them first) it was Voldermort following the prophecy by choice, that led them to the situation that resulted in his own death.

The films did an absolutely appalling job of making this all clear though.

 

[IFS]

The chosen one, like any trope, is simply a tool of storytelling its the execution that matters. There are plenty of good chosen ones out there, Aang from Avatar for example. Just because they have to face this threat, and know it, doesn't mean there isn't room for character struggles and growth. It doesn't matter if its done so long as its done well, though I'm sure some people just dislike chosen one stories on principle.

 

[Lightknight]

The chosen one, like any trope, is simply a tool of storytelling its the execution that matters. There are plenty of good chosen ones out there, Aang from Avatar for example. Just because they have to face this threat, and know it, doesn't mean there isn't room for character struggles and growth. It doesn't matter if its done so long as its done well, though I'm sure some people just dislike chosen one stories on principle.

Exactly, it's just one of many tools. All the others are re-used constantly.

 

[Neonsilver]

It depends on how it's used. Harry Potter is the boring kind. At least in the movies he rarely seems to work to improve his magic abilities and it feels more like he is just lucky to survive. That just reinforces the idea that Harry will win, not because he works for it but because he is supposed to.
The first Matrix movie does it better. Neo is unsure, he doesn't believe that he is the chosen one and the oracle even says to him that he isn't the one. Despite that he fights, he goes on a suicide mission to rescue Morpheus.
It gives the message that he isn't fighting because he is the chosen one, but that he is the chosen one because he fights and that anyone could be the chosen one.

 

[Story]

Its okay. To be honest because I watch so many cartoons, particularly Cartoon Network whose shows are aimed at the young male demographic most of the time, I think I've just become very numb to it. Like so many have said already it really depends on how its used. By extension, to me it depends on who the chosen one is as well. I hate, hate, hate the chosen one with the huge ego I.E Ben Ten...no thank you.