The Chosen One: Characters With Destiny

The Chosen One is one of our favorite tropes found in movies, television, and video games. This trope is where someone has been chosen to save the day, beat the baddies, or otherwise resolve the plot. The chosen one is often the subject of a prophecy, driven and protected by destiny, and may literally be the only person who can do what needs to be done. Let's take a look at some of our favorite chosen ones!

Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

Aang and Korra in The Legend of Korra. [Source: Nickelodeon Animation Studio]

Avatar: The Last Airbender introduced us to benders, people who could control one of the four elements (air, water, earth, and fire). One person, the Avatar, can bend all four elements; they are expected to master each of the bending arts and maintain peace among the four nations. Aang, the Avatar of Avatar: The Last Airbender, ends a century-long war while still a teenager! After Aang's death, the Avatar reincarnates as Korra, the main character of The Legend of Korra. Instead of ending a war, Korra helps to unite benders, non-benders, and spirits, all while harmonizing her own inner conflicts.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. [Source: Warner Bros. Pictures]

In the Harry Potter series, Sybill Trelawney foretells that a soon-to-be-born child will be the one to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort. Interestingly, the prophecy doesn't outright name Harry Potter, only saying that Voldemort would make the choice and "mark him as his equal". Voldemort did choose, of course, by attempting to murder infant Harry—and, in doing so, gave him the lightning bolt "mark".

The Matrix

Neo in The Matrix. [Source: Warner Bros. Pictures]

"The One" in The Matrix franchise is someone who attracts problematic anomalies within the virtual reality simulation, keeping them from spreading and wreaking havoc. In other words, the One is an intentional feature that maintains stability and will eventually reset the world. The Matrix has been reset five times previously, which makes Neo the sixth One. He has superhuman strength and speed, but also the ability to see and warp the Matrix—and also some machines outside the Matrix!

The Legend of Zelda

Link in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. [Source: Nintendo]

In the lore of The Legend of Zelda series, Link is somewhat of an ultimate chosen one. He's a storied hero, selected by the Golden Goddesses, reincarnated to save Hyrule time and time again. (We're talking across millennia and multiple timelines!) Link is blessed by the Triforce of Courage and can wield legendary weapons and armor like the Master Sword and Hylian Shield.

Dune

Paul Atreides in Dune. [Source: Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures]

Dune played with the chosen one trope in interesting ways, in the end subverting it. Paul Atreides is "chosen" in three ways: he's the heir of House Atreides; he's the (somewhat unintended) result of the Bene Gesserit breeding program to produce the Kwisatz Haderach; and he's the Mahdi or prophetic messiah to the Fremen. (Of course, it turns out that the Bene Gesserit influenced the prophecy in the first place.) The trope is subverted when Paul's leadership leads to billions of deaths across the universe.

Final Fantasy

The Light Warriors (represented by Fighter) in Final Fantasy. [Source: Square/FCPlaythroughs]

The Final Fantasy franchise is practically built on the chosen one trope. From the original Final Fantasy's Warriors of Light (though see below) to XIV's main character being chosen by Hydaelyn to use the Echo—but really, the trope is present in most games in the franchise. Earlier games had multiple chosen ones, the Warriors of Light, but in later games, this changes to the (singular) Warrior of Light and their companions. The trope is sometimes flipped, as in Final Fantasy VII, where Sephiroth believes that he's the one—though (of course) he's a villain.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Adora transforms into She-Ra in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. [Source: DreamWorks Animation Television/Mattel Creations]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power took the "Adora + Sword of Protection = She-Ra" element from the original She-Ra series and made her a chosen one, too. (She's also no longer a sister of He-Man, which sidesteps questions about his chosen-one-ness.) The chosen one trope is subverted when it turns out that She-Ra's sword controls the Heart of Etheria, which will destroy the planet. Adora later learns how to transform into She-Ra without the sword, which means she's a chosen one after all.

Star Wars

Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. [Source: Lucasfilm Ltd.]

In the Star Wars universe, the Jedi had a prophecy that a chosen one would appear and destroy the Sith, thereby bringing balance to the Force. Anakin is identified early on as the chosen one, though the trope is subverted when he becomes Darth Vader and is, you know, generally evil and everything. The trope is de-subverted when Vader kills the Emperor and himself, the last two Sith, and fulfills the prophecy. Sort of. The "bringing balance to the Force" part required a lot more work, primarily from Luke, Leia, and Rey.

Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon in Sailor Moon R: The Movie. [Source: Toei Animation/Vogue]

Sailor Moon is chock full o' chosen ones, or Sailor Senshi. There's Sailor Moon, plus Sailor Scouts of the planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, etc.—even Pluto!), and also a guardian from the future (Sailor Chibi Moon). Then there are Scouts from beyond our solar system and evil Sailor Scouts who act as villains in the series. There are power level differences among the chosen ones, though. As the titular character, Sailor Moon is by far the most powerful, able to use the Silver Crystal, see into the future, control time, and more.

Transformers

Rodimus Prime in The Transformers: The Movie. [Source: Sunbow Productions/Marvel Productions/Toei Animation]

Transformers had their own chosen Autobot when Optimus Prime prophesies that one would "use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour". While fighting Galvatron inside the planet-sized robot Unicron, Hot Rod touches the Matrix of Leadership and becomes Rodimus Prime—the chosen one and new leader of the Autobots. Of course, he defeats Galvatron and Unicron, and ushers in a new era of peace...for some time, at least.

Game of Thrones

Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. [Source: HBO/IndieWire]

Game of Thrones has all sorts of prophecies, which also means it has all sorts of chosen ones. Believers in the Lord of Light have a prophecy about "The Prince (or Princess) That Was Promised", the reborn hero Azor Ahai; possible saviors include Stannis Baratheon, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and others. (This is somewhat subverted when it's Arya Stark who kills the Night King.) Bran is a chosen one after prophetic dreams lead him to become the Three-Eyed Raven and eventually King of the Andals and the First Men. (Titles, titles.) Then there was a prophecy about Daenerys and Khal Drogo's son Rhaego being the "Stallion Who Mounts the World", which turned out not to be true—although the deaths of Drogo and Rhaego would motivate Daenerys for much of her life.

The Matter of Britain

Arthur in The Sword in the Stone. [Source: Walt Disney Productions/The Mary Sue]

For our final chosen one, we look to one of our favorite mythological figures, King Arthur. The wizard Merlin prophesies that only the heir of Uther Pendragon and "true king" could pull a sword from an anvil on a stone. The sword reads "whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England" on the pommel. Arthur easily pulls the sword in secret, and later in public. (The weapon-wielding trope can be found in plenty of other stories, like Sigmund and Gram or Rama and Sharanga. Thanks, TV Tropes!) Many stories mention Arthur returning one day, so he could still be seen as a "chosen one"—if you're into stuff like that.

Honorable Mentions

Of course, we can't cover every example of the chosen one. Some more of our favorites include the Children of the Prophecy (Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, although the plot largely focuses on Naruto) from Naruto, the DigiDestined of Digimon, Elora Danan in Willow, Moana in Moana (duh), and Yugi Muto in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Did we miss your favorite? Let us know in the comments. Maybe we'll do a part two! If you're a fan of these or any other series, be sure to check out our movie gifts, television gifts, and video game gifts—if you're worthy!