History Main / RefusedByTheCall

---> ''WebOriginal/TheNostalgiaCritic'' on the plot of ''SecretOfNimh 2''.

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* In JamesSwallow's {{Warhammer 40000}} BloodAngels novel ''Deus Encarmine'', Rafen's BackStory: Koris rejected him for his [[{{Pride}} arrogant]] [[IWorkAlone independence]], Rafen walked out into the desert [[DespairEventHorizon on the verge of despair]] and nearly [[DrivenToSuicide let a scorpion kill him]] when he thought he saw a vision and was encouraged by it; then he realized that the BloodAngels shuttle had been crash-landed. He found the Space Marines dead or out cold and rallied those young men who had been chosen. Koris recovered and concluded that Rafen had learned his lesson, so he got to be TheHero anyway.

---> ''TheNostalgiaCritic'' on the plot of ''SecretOfNimh 2''.

* In the games PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver, Ecruteak City's gym leader Morty is a case of this. He trained for years believing that he would be the one chosen to summon the legendary Ho-oh back to its home, but then the player shows up and takes that role instead. He takes it ''much'' more gracefully than many examples of this trope.

Compare MissedTheCall, when the Call went to you by mistake and was aimed for someone else. Contrast RefusalOfTheCall, where the hero ''is'' the intended recipient of the Call, but isn't interested.

* In ''TheMatrix'', after Neo takes the red pill and joins Morpheus, the Oracle tells Neo that he isn't [[TheChosenOne The One]]. [[spoiler:Except he is, and the Oracle is just a ManipulativeBastard.]]

-> ''You know, just leaving the rest of the kids behind to waste their ''[[PropheticFallacy non-prophesized lives]]'' away;

-> ''You know, just leaving the rest of the kids behind to waste their ''[[PropheticFallacy non-prophesized lives]]'' away; "Of course you're welcome to [[CityOfAdventure Thorn Valley]], there's plenty of education for everyo- ''ooh'', you're not a ''[[TheMessiah Messiah]]'', are you? Yeah, [[JuniorHigh public school's]] down the stree''t''..."''

-> ''You know, just leaving the rest of the kids behind to waste their ''[[PropheticFallacy non-prophesized lives]]'' away; "Of course you're welcome to [[CityOfAdventure Thorn Valley]], there's plenty of education for everyo- ''oooooooh thhhhhhh'', you're not a ''[[TheMessiah Messiah]]'', are you? Yeah, [[JuniorHigh public school's]] down the stree''t''..."''

->''She's dragging destiny around like a screaming toddler.''
--->''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'', [[http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=759]]

* The younger sister in ALeagueOfTheirOwn. The league scout has no real interest in her and only recruits her because her older sister won't join without her. This builds up resentment on her part (she had already spent her life in her big sister's shadow) that culminates when the older sister goes to the bosses saying they just can't play on the same team anymore (hoping to be traded) and accidentally gets her little sister shipped off to another team.

-> ''You know, just leaving the rest of the kids behind to waste their ''[[PropheticFallacy non-prophesized lives]]'' away; "Of course you're welcome to [[CityOfAdventure Thorn Valley]], there's plenty of education for everyo- ''oooooooh thhhhhhh'', you're not a ''[[TheMessiah Messiah]]'', are you? Yeah, [[JuniorHigh public school's]] down the stree''t''..."''
---> ''TheNostalgiaCritic'' on the plot of ''SecretOfNimh 2''.

-> ''You know, just leaving the rest of the kids behind to waste their ''[[PropheticFallacy non-prophesized lives]]'' away; "Of course you're welcome to [[AdventureCity Thorn Valley]], there's plenty of education for everyo- ''oooooooh thhhhhhh'', you're not a ''[[TheMessiah Messiah]]'', are you? Yeah, [[JuniorHigh public school's]] down the stree''t''..."''

-> ''You know, just leaving the rest of the kids behind to waste their ''non-prophesized lives'' away; "Of course you're welcome to Thorn Valley, there's plenty of education for everyo- ''oooooooh thhhhhhh'', you're not a ''Messiah'', are you? Yeah, public school's down the stree''t''..."''

** Technically, she didn't say those words exactly; she just apparently confirmed his self-doubt. (Doesn't make her any less of a jerk.)
*** [[spoiler:As a matter of fact, she says "being the One is like being in love; either you are or you aren't" implying that he can't be the one until he believes he's the One. She never says he isn't, just that he's "holding back". Also "Looks like you're waiting for something... Your next life maybe, who knows?" And then Agent Smith shoots him to death. And then he gets back up, and bam! he's the One. He's not exactly jumping at the call, and his hesitation is the REASON he's not able to act as the One. He hasn't accepted the call, which is your basic heroic quest trope. The Hero tends to Refuse the Call.]]

* There's a DragonridersOfPern short story called 'Ever The Twain' about a pair of twins called Neru and Nian who live in a hold on Ista Island. Neru is fanatic about dragons and desperately wants to be a rider, and Nian doesn't really give a damn. Dragons come on Search and find Nian to be acceptable, but they pass by Neru until Nian convinces them to give him a shot.

* Sarkli in ''StarWarsRogueSquadron 3'' has his accomplishments (including personally saving the lives of Luke Skywalker and General Dodonna on Yavin IV) completely ignored in favor of Luke going and grabbing Dodonna from his hiding spot in the first place, then he gets left behind on Dantooine while Luke flies off to rescue Tycho Celchu by himself. It's no surprise that [[spoiler: he promptly defects to the Empire where his talents will actually be recognized]].

--->''{{Digger}}'', [[http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=759]]

* Arguably, Riku in KingdomHearts. WordOfGod says that the keyblade was originally for him, but came to Sora instead; Riku wasn't pure enough.
** To be fair [[spoiler: he did just open the door and allow TheHeartless to utterly destroy his world just for a chance to travel away from it]] so it did have a point.
*** In Birth By Sleep Ven desperately wants to help Terra and Aqua on their mission and sneaks out to do so but is constantly turned down by them and told to return home. [[spoiler: This is because they want him out of the Big Bad's hands because he's an important component of his plan but can't tell Ven this because it would cause Ven to remember his traumatic past. Naturally Ven does anyway and becomes an emotional wreck. Ironically at this point they do allow him to join them, because there's nowhere else to hide but by then Ven's enthusiasm is long gone.]]

* Antigra in the {{Redwall}} book ''Taggerung'' is convinced her son Gruven should have been the Taggerung (the chosen super-warrior) rather than Tagg, the hero of the book. She raises Gruven to be as bitter about it as she is, and everything goes horribly wrong for both of them because of it.

* Arata Kagami of ''KamenRiderKabuto'' attempts to become the titular rider only to have the [[TransformationTrinket Kabuto Zecter]] pair up with [[TheAce Tendou]]
** A bit of a subversion, because Arata gets the powers of [[KamenRider The Bee]] for a brief time and then becomes [[KamenRider Gatack]].
* ''LegendOfTheDragon'' has the "turns evil" variety where Ling becomes Shadow Dragon when she's unable to become the Golden Dragon.

* Arguably, Riku in KingdomHearts. WordOfGod says that the keyblade was originally for him, but came to Sora instead; Riku wasn't pure enough.
** To be fair [[spoiler: he did just open the door and allow TheHeartless to utterly destroy his world just for a chance to travel away from it]] so it did have a point.
*** In Birth By Sleep Ven desperately wants to help Terra and Aqua on their mission and sneaks out to do so but is constantly turned down by them and told to return home. [[spoiler: This is because they want him out of the Big Bad's hands because he's an important component of his plan but can't tell Ven this because it would cause Ven to remember his traumatic past. Naturally Ven does anyway and becomes an emotional wreck. Ironically at this point they do allow him to join them, because there's nowhere else to hide but by then Ven's enthusiasm is long gone.]]

* BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger: Emiri and Sugishita were initially in line to become [=AbareYellow=] and Blue, but their bodies cannot sustain the transformation and the respective Bakuryuu go to Ranru and Yukito. Later happens to Emiri again when she gains temporary superpowers and attempts to become "[=AbarePink=]" with them, but ends up turning herself into a pig instead. She can't catch a break.

* Possible SecretTestofCharacter version in ''MetalGearSolid3.'' The protagonist, Snake, is tasked with hunting down and killing his mentor, "The Boss." She's ''waiting for him'' right where he's supposed to be inserted into Soviet territory, beats him soundly with her bare hands, and tells him to go home, because he can't defeat her. She sends each of her subordinates after him one after another, which he beats, and each time Snake encounters and fights the Boss, he does better in their hand-to-hand encounters until he's finally good enough to be able to defeat her. [[spoiler: Since her mission was to be killed by him, it seems the entire operation was one giant SecretTestOfCharacter to strengthen him up.]]