What if the protagonist of your fantasy story is not the Chosen One? A well-worn trope of fantasy fiction is the prophecy of the Chosen One, who will set the world to rights and lead the people to true freedom.
Whether they are heralded by prophecy, self-selected by their actions, or by requirements of the plot, the Chosen One is a staple character.
He’s not the Messiah…?
In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo volunteers and becomes The One to destroy the Sauron’s Ring. Or is he manipulated into it by Gandalf?
In Eragon and A Song of Ice and Fire, two teenagers, Eragon and Danaerys, each become The One through their relationship to dragon eggs.
The Wheel of Time has Rand as the prophesied Dragon Reborn. You don’t get more Chosen than that.
In every version of the myth, Arthur becomes the once and future king when he pulls the sword from the stone.
More proof?
In Dune, a fascinating Sci-Fantasy, the Bene Gesserit engineer the prophecy of the Kwisatz Haderach over several centuries. The Fremen come to believe in the Lisan al-Gaib or Mahdi, the Voice from the Outer World.
The convenient prophecy of a messiah keeps the Fremen in waiting for centuries, forestalling their rebellion. When Paul Atreides arrives, he knows the prophecy is a fiction. In his character arc, he embraces it to execute his vengeance against the Emperor and the Harkonnens. With the onset of his pre-cognition, he sees the path to become their messiah. A self-selecting prophet?
What of Luke Skywalker? Palpatine identifies him as The One, but gets it spectacularly wrong. From farmboy to Jedi master, Luke goes through the Hero’s Journey, a classic story structure that runs through fiction from ancient times. As does Rey in the later Star Wars trilogy.
This trope extends way beyond fantasy and sci-fi. The role of the Chosen One runs through other genres, too. In The Matrix, Neo is literally identified as The One through the Oracle’s digital prophecy. Step forward John Wick, rogue assassin, who self-selects as The One to oppose the guild of assassins.
So what makes a Chosen One?
Among the criteria for a Chosen One, we find they are:
- a farmboy, scavenger girl, office drone, or otherwise unremarkable geek. Princes and Princesses are natural heirs, so
- forced to do something remarkable to earn their chosen ‘oneness.’
- born with unrealized special abilities
- born from special parentage, supernatural patronage or both
- descended from an elite blood-line
- probably an orphan or from absent family
- live in a fortuitously right place and time
- trained to become a warrior, wizard, dragon-rider, pilot, assassin, puzzle-solver or super-hacker
a perfect fit to a foretold prophecy or a defined, unfilled character role
Usually, someone else has to tell them about their birth, ability, role or prophecy. “You’re a wizard, Harry!” It’s not subtle, but that’s Middle-Grade fiction.
After initial resistance, even rejection of their Chosen One status, they step into their role. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do,” said High Noon‘s Gary Cooper, self-selected by the sheriff’s badge he wears.
And after some kind of training montage, or try-fail cycle, they achieve their potential and take down the antagonist.
The prophecy is fulfilled. The Chosen one does what only they can, and order is restored.
Why not the Chosen One?
When does a trope tip over the line into cliche?
What do we make of the magically gifted Bloom Peters, Clary Fairchild, Avatar Aang? Too much? Too obvious? How about Katniss Everdene? She becomes the Special One to lead the rebellion.
At least Dune had the good grace to subvert its Chosen One prophecy. It’s a fiction created by political and religious institutions. Paul Atreides warns us never to trust prophecies and messiah-figures.
Always the Protagonist
The Chosen One is rarely the side character. We expect the main character of the story to step up and do the thing. We’re conditioned to think of them as the Chosen One. It’s a cultural as well as a literary trope.
It’s all in the set-up. You have a talented individual as the protagonist of the story; how can they not be The One? That’s their de facto role. Because we love to see an underdog rise to the challenge and overcome.
I’m wrestling with this in my stories. In the Escarri series, Jovanka is mixed race, born of a gypsy and a tanner’s son. She has her Second Sight which makes her formidable. But there’s no prophecy surrounding her, only visions of the future where she sees the Emperor’s death. So does this become a self-fulfilling prophecy, or a self-selection?
What about Aeryn? A blacksmith’s daughter with a talent and training, she’s an expendable asset in the search for the Sixth Messenger. She’s Jane Bond, Moiraine Sedai and Bryan Mills from Taken. Surely the child of the prophecy is the Chosen One, not her? But Aeryn is the only acolyte left to the see the mission through. Her own past leads her to self-select for the mission.
And Yari Tamm in Kamsen Knights? She’s a teenager, a diplomat’s daughter. She can’t fight, but she is a human lie detector. Caught up in the resistance against the Empire, she’s constantly in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her response elevates her to a position where only she can save the New Republic. It’s not her mission, her goal or motivation. She has to, because the Republic is her only means to find her missing father. It’s another self-selection.
The Hand of Fate
In some way, all protagonists become The Chosen One of their own story. Whether it’s Vin in Mistborn, Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, or Moana. Even the protagonists who don’t ‘protag’ (verb, copyright Brandon Sanderson) like Pip, Oliver Twist, or Bella in Twilight become Chosen Ones, because someone chooses them.
You might argue the ensemble cast of A song of Ice and Fire contains no Chosen One, but you’d be wrong. There are so many Chosen Ones, from Bran, Aria, Sanza, John Snow, Danaerys, Tyrion; not forgetting Bronn, Jorah, and Brienne. The series spins new prophecies and new roles around all of them.
However you create a leading character with their unique origin, backstory or talent, when are they not the Chosen One?