History Main / OnlyTheChosenMayPilot

So you want to ride that HumongousMecha and save the city from the AlienInvaders? Well, too bad, only one person can pilot it!

A common trope in the SuperRobot genre, though at times it shows up even in the RealRobot genre: only special individuals can pilot a mecha. This is commonly due to some special compatibility that the pilot has to the robot, or due to some AppliedPhlebotinum restricting the kind of person capable of piloting it. Either way, don't expect your average person to pilot this thing any time soon.

* ''Anime/TheBigO'': the Megadeus' judge the worthiness of potential pilots, it's not pretty if one fails though.

* In the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' and its sequels set in the Universal Century, certain mechs are specifically built for psychic Newtypes like Amuro and Char, with regular, non-psychic humans restricted to their most basic functions.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' in particular, the Unicorn Gundam is specifically keyed to Banagher's biometrics, making him the only person allowed to pilot it and access the La+ Program guiding the protagonists to the mysterious [[MacGuffin Laplace's Box]] that everyone's chasing after.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' has the five young pilots managing the advanced [[HumongousMecha mobile suits]] called Gundams. Every one of them are {{Child Soldier}}s trained all their life to become {{human weapon}}s and the only capable to pilot these giant robots.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'', the Aerial appears to be pilotable by anyone, even the ability to user higher permet scores without the [[DeadlyUpgrade usual effects]]. Episode 16 reveals that [[spoiler: both of these aspects are at the discretion of Ericht, whose mind dwells within the machine. When Elan tries to steal it he can't even turn it on, before it spontaneously raises his permet score to life-threatening levels, making Ericht visible to him and letting her order him out.]]

* One arc of ''ComicBook/IronMan'' revolves around a HumongousMecha called the Godkiller that can only be piloted by someone with the right genetic markers. Due to the meddling of a sentient robot who is attempting to restart the thing so he can use it to protect the Earth, Iron Man was genetically engineered before birth to have those markers, so he can pilot it, and the robot attempts to force him to do so. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: the baby who was genetically engineered is Tony's secret brother Arno Stark, and Tony was actually adopted, so he can't pilot the machine]].

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': The original [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Robot Plane]] and the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Lansinarian Disk]] versions of the invisible plane can reject pilots and only allow those they chose to pilot them. Despite its AI the Robot Plane doesn't start doing this until some aliens try to take it apart for parts, which makes it so selective it at one point abducts ComicBook/SteveTrevor so that it can have a pilot it approves of while Diana is busy.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'' RecursiveFanfiction ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/38446570/ Abraxas: The Clash of Silver]]'': [[HumongousMecha Kiryu]] doesn't let anyone except for [[HalfHumanHybrid Aleksandra]] remotely pilot him after he becomes sentient. She ends up piloting Kiryu in [[spoiler:his fight against the Apex-made Mechagodzilla to save the world]].

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* In ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials The Amber Spyglass'', intention crafts seems to be piloteable only by beings holding daemons.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' some games in the series allow the player to switch pilots to other mechas; however, only certain RealRobot mechas allow you to do that (typically from the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' franchise or certain original mechas), because the SuperRobot-type mechas wouldn't make sense (or even work) with different pilots.
* The titular Sentinels of ''VideoGame/ThirteenSentinelsAegisRim'' can only be piloted by people injected by nanomachines called Innerlocitors, and only people who are "Compatibles" can be injected Innerlocitors in the first place, of which only fifteen characters, all teenagers, are. [[spoiler: More specifically, it's because the "Compatibles" are the only actual flesh-and-blood people in the setting.]]
* In ''Videogame/FarCry3BloodDragon'', when Rex encounters the [[FunWithAcronyms Battle Armored Dragon Assault Strike System]], it recognises him as a worthy master due to him wielding the Kill-Star, and permits him to ride it into battle during his assault on [[BigBad Sloan's]] fortress.
* This is implied to be the case with the Divine Beasts in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild.'' They're four gigantic animal-shaped mechas that were built in ancient times as a defense against Ganon, with [[PartyOfRepresentatives representatives of each major race]]--Zora, Goron, Rito, and Gerudo--known as "Champions" chosen to pilot them. When the Divine Beasts are unearthed again, it's remarked that certain members of those races felt an inexplicable pull toward them: for example, Mipha, the Zora Princess and a mild-mannered WhiteMage, became vibrantly animated and even fiery as soon as she saw Vah Ruta, the Divine Beast of her people. It's [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] in that the chosen Champions needed to be taught to ''use'' the Beasts, but their general connection to them leans toward this trope.
* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'': The Emblem Frames are equipped with a HALO system, an interface that feeds on the pilots' mental condition to boost the ships' performance. Each one is set so only the respective Angels can make them work, and their performance goes down if they're having a HeroicBSOD.
* ''VideoGame/SakuraWarsSoLongMyLove'': The [=STAR=] armours are built to synchronize with specific pilots, who fuel the mecha with their personal spiritual energy. This becomes a major plot point in chapter 6, when Sunnyside explains that Gemini was never able to pilot her [=STAR=] due to [[spoiler:the existence of her SplitPersonality, which causes the armour to identify her as a completely different individual]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'' the titans have a neural link to their pilots, and only the linked pilot can pilot a particular titan. Interestingly, dialogue at the end of ''VideoGame/Titanfall2'' implies that a pilot can only have a link to one titan at a time.

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SisterTrope of OnlyTheChosenMayWield and OnlyTheChosenMayRide. Compare OnlyICanMakeItGo.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' in particular, the Unicorn Gundam is specifically keyed to Banagher's biometrics, making him the only person allowed to pilot it and access the mysterious La+ Program guiding the protagonists to [[MacGuffin Laplace's Box.]]

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': To pilot a [=BattleMech=], pilots use their own sense of balance through a Neurohelmet. While most people can handle this, anyone with an inner ear problem, vertigo, easily prone to motion sickness, or any other form of balance issue cannot pilot a [=BattleMech=].

SisterTrope of OnlyTheChosenMayWield and OnlyTheChosenMayRide.

* In ''Videogame/FarCry3BloodDragon'', when Rex encounters the [[FunWithAcronyms Battle Armored Dreagon Assault Strike System]], it recognises him as a worthy master due to him wielding the Kill-Star, and permits him to ride it into battle during his assault on [[BigBad Sloan's]] fortress.

* One arc of ''ComicBook/IronMan'' revolves around a HumongousMecha called the Godkiller that can only be piloted by someone with the right genetic markers. Due to the meddling of a sentient robot who is attempting to restart the thing so he can use it to protect the Earth, Iron Man was genetically engineered before birth to have those markers, so he can pilot it, and the robot attempts to force him to do so. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: The baby who was genetically engineered is actually Tony's secret brother Arno stark, and Tony was adopted, so he can't pilot the machine]].

* Averted in ''ComicBook/ShogunWarriors'', which is only notable because the three pilots ''are'' the chosen ones, selected and summoned by benevolent aliens who need them to defend the Earth. Throwing them into battle against their first {{Kaiju}} with barely twenty minutes training seems a lot harsher when you discover that the robots could be piloted by anyone (and have been sitting in storage for a century, with plenty of time to fully train some pilots in case of emergency).

* In ''VideoGame/TrailsOfColdSteel'', the Divine Knights are powerful and ancient mechas that can only be piloted by their respective chosen Awakener, in contrast with more "mundane" mechas like the Panzer Soldats that can be piloted by anyone with the right training.

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