A Chosen One is only a problem, imo, when the whole story is bent around him/her. When a Chosen One is used as an excuse to not have to make up inventive and original ways to unravel a story, then it's a problem. When the story is solid and the Chosen One just happens to be the one that fixes things in the end, it's not. It's all up to the execution of things. An overpowered protagonist might be cool, but at least let us know how he/her came to be like that. And also; if the C.O in a story is a powerful mage, tutored from birth by a whole college of mages to make him become as powerful so as that he can overcome an evil in the future, is he still a C.O? That's a whole different scenario than a C.O just being born into the world and setting all wrongs right without a proper explanation, but just because he's the C.O. In my opinion, the second scenario is lame, but the first one is perfectly fine.
But that's 'cause the first Hunger Games movie was crap. The book was great! Anyway, chosen one - I like them. The only thing is, they're hard to write well because as others have mentioned, it's hard to give a good reason why this person's "chosen". Giving him unique great powers that warrant the title (only he can save us!) seems like a good solution but then you gotta explain why only him? How did he get those powers? Because the gods felt like it is a cop out. I thought Harry Potter and Katniss were pretty well-done forms of "chosen one"s. Things happened to them and they stepped up to the challenge, rather than it being inevitably them, if that makes sense.
I personally wouldn't mind the Chosen One mechanic if it was well done. I think the main reason that people don't like it is that some writers will use it as a gimmick to make up for poor writing. Also, many times the Chosen One themselves may be underdeveloped as characters.
I ld like to read a story where the mc is chosen by accident. A massive lottery to help decide who will be the wprld's next savior. Or a bunch of sages going "eenie minie minie mo"
Plenty of successful Chosen One characters out there, from Hercules and King Aurther to Buffy the Vampire slayer! Personally I think where it works best is where it's as much as a burden as gift or where it causes as many problems as it solves. I think it got a bad rep as a device because it was often done badly, with writers using it as Get Out Of Jail Free card where a characters destiny fixes all problems and gets round all plot holes or leave characters as one dimensional hoping that that giving them a destiny is as good as giving them a personality!
I've used the Chosen One trope multiple times, but I never play it straight. It's either from the perspective of a character who thinks of himself as the center of the universe, or the "Chosen One" is government propaganda to create child soldiers.
See, while I'm not all to familiar with King Arthur, the other two examples you list here, while they technically sort of are 'Chosen Ones', they aren't part of the 'Chosen One' trope. (At least in my opinion.) To my recollection of Hercules, he wasn't incapable of failure, he was just the only person who could *potentially* have stopped the bad guys. (Due to his being super strong, but not being a god. It's been a while though, so I'm hazy.) For Buffy, though, she definitely doesn't count. She's 'Chosen' in that she was literally picked out to get superpowers, but she isn't destined to do anything specifically. The title of 'Slayer' is just a mantle of power that grants incredible strength and durability, and a few other perks, but it doesn't mean she can or will *do* anything with those powers. And while there is definitely some prophecy going on in a couple different seasons, it's always either vague, deceptive, or flat-out wrong.
For me it depends. If everything is handed to 'The Chosen One' it drives me up the wall. However if your 'Chosen One' is based the fact that they have the most potential then that is different, because they have work and generally work hard for it. My fave example of a 'Chosen One' is "Kung Fu Panda" as Po had to really work hard to to be the 'Dragon Warrior' another is a manga called 'Hero Academia' where the character is the 'Chosen One' but he fights his own limits and the limits everyone has placed on him. He fights that uphill battle to exceed those limits and live up to the potential that HE believes he has.
Random add on. Does it count as the trope chosen one when you don't implicity say it? Valorie in my work is basically a chosen one. Someone born with the capcity to do great things and eventually fills that role but no one ever tells her she is chosen. She elects to do them because she can see the plain math that of everyone she is with, she seems like the only one with the capcity. On topic and @ everyone I do sort of dislike the chosen one concept. Not because I think it is bad, but because I think it is often used poorly. The concept of a pre-destined character able to do something really awesome is it innately makes me think that person is gonna be awesome. Which I suppose is the point. But if that character isn't awesome. Then it feels lazy. like the material didn't make an awesome character, and they try to hide behind this by just calling him awesome. No better an example than Harry Potter. In no part of that story(as I am aware) did Harry ever potray a trait that was more awesome than Hermonie. This is to me a problem because the chosen one role makes me think Harry is meant to be special, but he felt more like an everyman. Which pulled me ut of the story drastically.
I'm not sure about this. I'd say the majority of chosen one stories have some vagueness over whether the chosen one will actually defeat the bad guys. From The Matrix to The Wheel of Time, writers like to throw in a bit of doubt to keep the tension levels up. - I don't think it stops them from being chosen one stories.
I would say no, because that's the case of *most* Fantasy and Sci-fi heroes. You (Almost) never get someone totally random going on the quest, they've all got some kind of special link to the plot. Frodo had family connections. Luke Skywalker also had family connections. Any Marvel character has or gains superpowers. (Even in the case of a 'Self-made man' like Tony Stark, he still inherited wealth and is a supergenius.) These characters are the only ones who can do what they do, but they're not 'Chosen' by anyone. I'm unfamiliar with The Wheel of Time, but I don't think you're right about The Matrix. The question in the film was never if the Chosen One could stop the bad guys, it was whether or not Neo was the Chosen One. And while you're correct that this worked in the first movie because they kept the 'Is-he isn't-he' plot going, you'll note that the two sequels absolutely fall apart because, once we know that he's the Chosen One for sure, the plot becomes a huge mess of issues and can't really stand together under its own weight.
There is still plenty of doubt about if Neo will win in the sequels. There have been five chosen ones before Neo, and not one of them manages to win against the Matrix, so in some ways the 'One' is a little bit like the 'Slayer'. There's a continual line of chosen ones and they've been chosen to fight rather than to specifically win anything. I agree the sequels are rather poor though I never claimed they were great, but the determiner for if something is a chosen one story shouldn't be whether it's badly written. My point wasn't to pick out particularly good chosen one stories, but to say that most stories which are normally condidered to be chosen one stories, wouldn't be defined as such under your previous definition.
Sorry if anyone else already mentioned this (I just skimmed through the whole thread), but the reason I hate the chosen one is because it's all a self-fullfilling prophecy. The only reason the hero succeeds is because everyone is pressuring him into doing so. Heroes should be heroes on their own accord, not just because they resemble some cave painting.
So, there were five "chosen ones" before Neo? Why did they not make a film about the previous five? Because they lost, so weren't the chosen one. But, if you keep on choosing, sooner or later (enough chimpanzees and enough typewriters) you'll win. And THAT'S the one you make the film about - and the fact that there were five unsuccessful predecessors merely increases the stakes for THE chosen one. Hands up who's heard of Solomon Northup? Hands up who's heard of any other African-American who was kidnapped?
Well... Yes, sure, that was a plot point tacked on in those movies. The problem is that it was *clearly* tacked on. Unlike the 'Is Neo the One' conflict in the first film, which raised genuine conflict and questions, it was just a throwaway bit of story to show that the writers hadn't completely fallen asleep. The Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movie is probably a better example of the Chosen One trope being played straight, though.
A problem with using a Chosen One motif is that it opens up tiresome (and usually wrong) parallels with Jesus Christ (especially if it's a tragedy and the hero gets killed in the end). Then the religious arguments get started, and subtleties of the original plot are then forgotten in those silly parallels.
A lot of people don't like "Chosen Ones" for quite a few reasons, I'd imagine. Why them and not someone else? If they are chosen, then who by and why did they have to chose someone instead of doing it themselves? If it was pre-destined, doesn't that mean that it's impossible for them to fail? Isn't it just a reason to justify Average Joe as a hero or give them a reason to start their quest? And so on. Also, the fact that there are so many "Chosen One" stories that people get tired of it and want something new. Mostly, I think it's the lack of surprise. If you have a Chosen One, there's really no doubt that they're going they're going to succeed - which is why the ones with twists usually go better (Turns out so-and-so wasn't the chosen one, this other person was. Or "we're all Chosen Ones". Or that there are a history of Chosen Ones that all failed. Or there are multiple people who fill the criteria - one of which might be an antagonist - so you don't know how it's really going to go until the end.) I don't mind Chosen Ones in stories, but reading too many stories with Chosen Ones consecutively can get a little much. And I've typed Chosen Ones so many times that the words are starting to sound weird.
I think if it is done well, then go for it! I heard once that if the whole 'chosen one' plot could be removed from the story, and it be almost the same, then its pointless. So be all about that chosen one!
Thank you, @Lea`Brooks for posting this thread. I found it incredibly helpful. I've been sitting on a setting for more than a year now, unable to play around in it because I've had no idea about what the story of this place and the people in it would be. Yesterday, a plot occurred to me but it required a "chosen one" character. I didn't want to do that, and I came here to ask about it, but decided to search first to see what had been said on the topic. Found this thread, read through the replies, and I have come up with a perfect solution. I found a way to avoid The Chosen One trope and improved my overall plot so much that I'm excited to get started. So thanks, everyone who offered their opinions here!
