Poll: Being The Chosen One

[L.B. Jeffries]

I was watching old tapes of Nickelodeon's Pete & Pete Halloween special and there's this scene where Pete has carved his pumpkin and he just starts saying "You are the chosen one. YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE," before he enters it into the big pumpkin competition.

Uh...sorry, that was a weird intro, I just really like that show. Anyways, it occurred to me that there are a lot of video games, both new and old, that use this gimmick. Fable 2 involves a lot of pre-destination, whereas Fallout 3 you just bust out of the vault looking for your Dad. In some games you play an average person, in others you are the arbiter of all that is good and right.

The problem is one that Yahtzee mentioned but that anyone could've observed: we can't all be the chosen one. SO, which plot device do you like more? Being the chosen one or just being an average soldier? Do you like it when an FPS has a reason you can slaughter hundreds of people or just contributes it to luck?

 

[rossatdi]

I get the point of it but I prefer normal people rising to greatness arcs than chosen people doing chosen deeds.

Actually about to level a pen & paper RPG on my mates where one of them is the chosen one but they don't know which. Future-fantasy blend and one of them is the heir to the Sword in the Stone and the most direct descendant of King Arthur Pendragon. Thing is they're not going to find out until they get to the rock.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I like stories of normal ish people pushed into circumstances beyond their control and forced to become something more. I'm not a big fan of destiny myself, in games or in life.

 

[shadow_pirate22]

I kind of like being a random nobody who goes on to do amazing things. What really annoys me is that after I do those amazing things, noone in the game believes me.

 

[Baby Tea]

I can't stand it. Nearly every RPG and FPS have you as some super soldier or super person whose messianic abilities are the salvation for 'insert crappy made up land name here'.

Of course, that's the point of a game isn't it? To pluck the player from his or her mundane existence (Comparatively) and into the shoes of the savior of the world!

But it just seems to tired now. How many times have I saved the world? How many times did I smite the 'ultimate evil'? Countless. The game that is the closest to you being just a guy, that I can see anyways, is the Fallout series (Timely mention considering Fallout 3's recent release, ehh?). The world is destroyed, it's a nuclear wasteland, and you CANNOT save it. It is what it is. Now this isn't a perfect example, since you are the 'only one' who can stop the super mutants and the children of the cathedral and get the water purification chip (Not in that order...technically), but I'd say it's the closest.

Other games have tried, and SUCKED terribly. Need I mention Turning Point: Fall of Liberty?

I think it can be done, I just think we need a good and creative developer to attempt it. Especially creative! You have to be if you want to make the player go from 'Average Joe' to 'Average Joe' and still have a memorable, and (Most importantly) FUN time.

 

[Sennz0r]

Hmm, that's a toughie..

I have to say it's nice to be the Chosen One so to speak. Take for example Morrowind: You're the reincarnate and have to fulfil a prophecy. Although this is true, not everyone in Morrowind is aware of this, which makes you feel important because you do memorable stuff, but at the same time keeps you a bit humble because you can't go all egomaniac and kill everyone you want or everyone bows at your feet (see: Fable, Halo).
Now, this is the example of a Chosen One done right of course, there's a nice balance.

However, I hear just being a simple soldier who contributes to fighting the enemy in whatever small way he can can also be appealing. I believe CoD4 lets you do something like that, and I hear it's a great game.

Now you also have the example of where this whole Chosen One/Random Person goes totally wrong, and it's called Oblivion. Believe me I like the game itself but if you think about it, you're not the protagonist. The story doesn't revolve around you. You just run around doing fetch quests for the heir and then everyone who does know you're the one who did all this awesome stuff dies (Jauffre, Blades, Martin etc.) or their gratefulness is somewhat, yeah.. lacking.
And then when you -YOU, not the heir- fight through hordes of enemies, at the end of it he just uses an amulet and sacrifices himself, completing his gloroius quest in front of everyone and leaving you there as a lost errand-boy.
I enjoyed playing Oblivion a lot, especially free-roaming and collecting legendary weapons, and the Shivering Isles expansion was also great fun, but realising that It might as well could've been someone else locked up in that jail at the beginning (for example, the annoying Dark Elf across your cell) who'd help out some guy too weak and pacifist to do anything himself, it pissed me off. It's not like I'm the Chosen One, but in the beginning they make you feel like you are (emperor and his dreams and stuff) and then they go and slap you in the face and say: "NO, we decided you're not the one who'll save the world, you're just gonna be the servant of the person who will!"

So yeah, that's my beef with Oblivion and making me feel insignificant.
So I guess what it comes down to is either one can be very good, lest you implement it correctly, or both can be a big pile of horse manure.

 

[bluerahjah]

Need I mention Turning Point: Fall of Liberty?

Did you have to, really?

Personally, I think the whole, "I'm the Chosen One" thing has been overdone.

Get a normal character, that happens upon some odd circumstance, to just pick up a knife/crowbar/gun and take out the bad guys.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I think both stories have their place, but I find the problem with Chosen One story arcs is that they don't always get their roots right. It's all a meditation on the Jesus Christ setup, you're this person sent to save everyone and they treat you like crap for it. Games where being the Chosen One is just this long parade of everyone loving you and life being dandy except for the big fight just feel stupid.

 

[Rush_Thores]

Well I think games like infamous start you out as some average cynical person in the city who gets an edge not because he's a chosen one or anything, but then again, there are cults, so who knows if they'll pull that chosen one card. . .

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Agreed that the device has been overused, but it's not exactly something with a huge variety of variations. I will generally prefer games where you are not chosen by 'destiny' or some ethereal claptrap like that, but either random circumstance* or your own will to make decisions and fight the hard battles. That being said, it is important to create a position that makes logical sense for them to be on the forefront of every important scenario that occurs in the game world.

*- There is a difference between this and 'destiny'. If you're 'the chosen one' everyone knows it and treats you accordingly- not compelling at all unless you've earned that respect beforehand (i.e. Gordon Freeman, the Prince of Persia). With random circumstance you just happen to be in the wrong place at the right time to screw up the antagonist's first of many plans... possibly before he/she even knows you exist.

 

[Sennz0r]

*- There is a difference between this and 'destiny'. If you're 'the chosen one' everyone knows it and treats you accordingly- not compelling at all unless you've earned that respect beforehand (i.e. Gordon Freeman, the Prince of Persia).

I do not agree entirely. As I have stated in my first post in this thread, TES III Morrowind has you playing a character that is also the Chosen One but No one over there knows it. They refer to you as an outlander, a stranger to them and they're not at all grateful for you being there. Which is great in my opinion because you -and a few select people in the game- know that you're supposed to save the world, but the world doesn't revolve around you. It's an unsung hero kind of feel, and it really adds to the game.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

AH-HA! I found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E89oyErB1nE&feature=related

That's the clip from the show I was talking about! Man, I miss it when eccentric humor was the ruling stuff on T.V.

Oh, back to the conversation.

@ WhiteFangofWar

If there is such a thing as destiny, then there are no random circumstances.

 

[Archereus]

see now, if its a single player game the whole chosen one works pretty good but if your playing a MMO and the game feeds the chosen one crap to every player then its a bunch of BS you know, cause you cant get the thought out of your head that every other player is called the same thing as you

 

[GloatingSwine]

I think both stories have their place, but I find the problem with Chosen One story arcs is that they don't always get their roots right. It's all a meditation on the Jesus Christ setup, you're this person sent to save everyone and they treat you like crap for it. Games where being the Chosen One is just this long parade of everyone loving you and life being dandy except for the big fight just feel stupid.

Chosen ones and special people in general going through shit to prove their chosenness is far older than Jesus. The Greeks were big on that kind of stuff hundreds of years before, hell, the oldest written story is one of those (the Epic of Gilgamesh).

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I think both stories have their place, but I find the problem with Chosen One story arcs is that they don't always get their roots right. It's all a meditation on the Jesus Christ setup, you're this person sent to save everyone and they treat you like crap for it. Games where being the Chosen One is just this long parade of everyone loving you and life being dandy except for the big fight just feel stupid.

Chosen ones and special people in general going through shit to prove their chosenness is far older than Jesus. The Greeks were big on that kind of stuff hundreds of years before, hell, the oldest written story is one of those (the Epic of Gilgamesh).

Just picked the example with the highest recognition and comprehension rate.

I thought the point of Gilgamesh was accepting the fact that he's just a normal dude whose going to die and be forgotten someday like Enkidu. So instead of his bonkers quest to live forever he goes home and tries to be a good king.

 

[NeedAUserName]

The thing I got about the Chosen one is, Who chooses the chosen one? I mean does a doctor tell a mother thats just had her child, Oh yes he is definitely a chosen one, you can tell by the dashing good looks, slight stubble and muscles. Or can I just walk up to someone on a street point at them and bellow "YOU, YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE"?

 

[internutt]

I do not mind being 'the chosen one' in games so long as its relevant to the game's story and playability.

If you are playing an MMO and the story says your character is the 'chosen one' its laughable, seeing as everyone else has a character who is the chosen one. There can only be one 'chosen one' after all, not a server of thousands of people.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

The problem with being 'a random guy' is that it always feels quite false. You always end up going against impossible odds and triumphing, so why not admit you're a totally awesome dude? Especially since the only difference between having the fate of doing something and just doing it is whether someone tells you it's you're fate. I mean, when you destroy an evil empire or whatever, you were effectively destined for it, whether you were told so at the begining or not.

Or can I just walk up to someone on a street point at them and bellow "YOU, YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE"?

Do it. It'll be hilarious.

 

[beddo]

The suggestion that as a normal person you would be able to save the world is nonsense.

Imagine being Joe the plumber, you'd have boring story lines. The reason we have heroes and chosen ones in these stories is so that we can have a story!

Really any 'ordinary' character who ends up saving the world, universe or whatever is 'the chosen one' but just isn't referred to as such.

One of the more recent games where you are the chosen one but don't save the world or do much else is Condemned. Still the story was good without you having to save the world.

Sorry for the fractured argument, just not really thinking through it properly, so to the point.

I don't mind having 'the chosen one' in some games where it fits, it. fantasy etc. As long as it is not used in all games choose away!

 

[GloatingSwine]

I thought the point of Gilgamesh was accepting the fact that he's just a normal dude whose going to die and be forgotten someday like Enkidu. So instead of his bonkers quest to live forever he goes home and tries to be a good king.

That's part of it (well, he tries and fails to become immortal, so goes home in disgrace). But there's also the bit where he royally pisses off the godess of war because she wants to shag him, and he's not having any of it (and she's a spiteful cow to boot). The gods wanting to get in your pants is pretty clear Chosen One material.

For most of the first half of the story it's all about how epic Gilgamesh is personally, mightiest god-king of Uruk and all that.