History Main / RenownedSelectiveMentor

* In TrudiCanavan's [[TheBlackMagicianTrilogy Black Magician trilogy]], the heroine, [[ActionGirl Sonea]], becomes "The High Lord's favourite". He supposedly takes an interest in her unusually powerful magic and talent (and he does) but it's actually also[[spoiler: so he can keep an eye on her and use her to blackmail her friends into keeping his ability to use Black Magic a secret]].

* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] was just trying to get into the royal academy. One magic overload later, she is studying directly from Princess Celestia, [[PrincessesRule the ruler of Equestria]] herself, who also happens to be something of a PhysicalGoddess.

* [[ChivalrousPervert Jiraiya]] in ''{{Naruto}}'' fits this trope to a T. He only had two groups of students before Naruto, and in both cases one of them was an insanely gifted shinobi who became a legend. He chose to train Naruto become he reminded him of the Fourth Hokage, his previous student [[spoiler: and Naruto's father.]]

* In ''YuYuHakusho'', Yusuke has to [[TournamentArc enter and win a tournament]] in order to train under Genkai. Unfortunately, she has no concern for the moral character of her student and successor, so Yusuke must also win to prevent the technique from falling into the wrong hands.

* Lord Muten-Roshi from DragonBall is implied to be this. When he offers to train Goku, Yamcha (watching nearby) comments on how the master never takes on students, and when Kuririn comes asking for training, Roshi simply tells him to go home. Then he changes his mind when Kuririn shows him some dirty mags.

* In ''[[{{Dragonheart}} Dragonheart: A New Beginning]]'', Geoff is trained by the king's advisor Osric. Osric claims it is because he's a natural and deserves special attention, but his real motive was to make Geoff eager for battle and to trust him in order to convince Drake to give up half his heart.

* Master Piandao from AvatarTheLastAirbender, skilled swordman, former Fire Nation Elite Soldier ([[BadassNormal but not a]] [[KungFuMagic FireBender]]), [[spoiler: High Master of the White Lotus Order]] and famous for [[OneManArmy defeating 100 soldiers alone]] after he deserted the army, there were many people who wanted to be trained by him, but he rejected most of them, between the few pupils he accepted to train were Prince Zuko, and Sokka ([[TookALevelInBadass who gained him a level in Badassery after his training]]).

* Lord Muten-Roshi from Dragon Ball is implied to be this. When he offers to train Goku, Yamcha (watching nearby) comments on how the master never takes on students, and when Kuririn comes asking for training, Roshi simply tells him to go home. Then he changes his mind when Kuririn shows him some dirty mags.

Occasionally TheHero will be mentored by someone who holds an important position in their community. It may be the group's leader, someone with a special job that only takes on one trainee in their lifetime, or perhaps an old hero who is retired and normally no longer trains anyone. Sometimes the mentor is chosen by someone else, but for the most part it is their own decision to take the character under their wing. Perhaps they see some sort of special ability in the hero. Perhaps, especially if the character is young, they want to be an influence in the pupil's life, trying to make them grow up in a certain way.

Whatever the reason, it is almost always a big honor to be chosen by this person. Because of this, the choice may result in [[TheResenter someone becoming jealous of the hero]], possibly turning them into a [[TheRival rival]].

May have some overlap with TheObiWan. MentorOccupationalHazard may also occur.

!!Examples of this trope:

[[AC:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]
* The Forwards in ''NanohaStrikerS'' have been handpicked for a year-long personal training by the eponymous character. Most combat mages in the setting consider themselves lucky to get Nanoha to act as their OPFOR for half a day. Not to mention that she normally only teaches advanced aerial combat to squadron-sized classes (as opposed to one-on-four training from basics up for the Forwards).

[[AC:{{Fan Works}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In ''[[{{Dragonheart}} Dragonheart: A New Beginning]]'', Geoff is trained by the king's advisor Osric. Osric claims it is because he's a natural and deserves special attention, but his real motive was to make Geoff eager for battle and to trust him in order to convince Drake to give up half his heart.
* ''StarWars'': Due to his unusual affinity with the Force, Anakin gets mentoring and attention from high-ranking Jedi beyond that given to other padawans.
* Pai Mei from KillBill. Apparently he only rarely accepts students and is a thousand-year-old renowned recluse.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', it is considered to be a huge honor to be mentored by the Clan leader or, to a lesser degree, the deputy. It occurs only a couple times in the series, most notably in the first book when Bluestar, the leader of [=ThunderClan=], chooses the main character Firepaw as her apprentice. It is also considered an honor to train as the medicine cat's apprentice, because it is such an important position; each medicine cat only trains one apprentice in their lifetime. In that case, however, it usually isn't a surprise because the younger cat already has an interest in healing and helps out the medicine cat for a while before officially being apprenticed.
* Miss Havisham trains Thursday for Jurisfiction in ''[[ThursdayNext Lost in a Good Book]]''. She's specifically described by Mrs. Dashwood as being highly selective, and she herself says as much, warning Thursday that she could easily lose the privilege of studying with her.
* HarryPotter has a much closer relationship with the headmaster, Dumbledore, than is usual for a student, to the point of the Professor being almost a surrogate father. In the sixth book Dumbledore even gives him special lessons.
* In Tamora Pierce's ''CircleOfMagic'' series, Tris is trained by Niko, the super duper famous mage. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], in that the rules of magic dictate it.

* In ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', everyone is shocked when Lobsang becomes the apprentice of Lu-Tzu The Sweeper. Even if they don't recognise The Sweeper in person, they are shocked by his rep, and because he ''never'' takes apprentices anymore. In fact Lobsang's apprenticeship is a punishment posting for both of them in different ways.
* [[HeraldsOfValdemar Darian]] certainly has this reaction when he finds out Firesong k'Vala has moved to k'Valdemar Vale specifically to train Darian.
* In BelisariusSeries an emperor hires one of the greatest warriors in India to train his daughter as a BadassPrincess. Later she and her mentor get married and they become a BattleCouple.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* In the OldWorldOfDarkness [=RPGs=], placing [[PointBuildSystem four or five dots]] into the "Mentor" Background will give one of these to your PlayerCharacter.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Master Piandao from {{Avatar The Last Airbender}}, skilled swordman, former Fire Nation Elite Soldier ([[BadassNormal but not a]] [[KungFuMagic FireBender]]), [[spoiler: High Master of the White Lotus Order]] and famous for [[OneManArmy defeating 100 soldiers alone]] after he deserted the army, there were many people who wanted to be trained by him, but he rejected most of them, between the few pupils he accepted to train were Prince Zuko, and Sokka ([[TookALevelInBadass who gained him a level in Badassery after his training]]).

[[AC:RealLife]]
* If I recall, Bruce Lee went through a period of this...due to having a surplus of people who wanted to learn.

* In ''WarriorCats'', it is considered to be a huge honor to be mentored by the Clan leader or, to a lesser degree, the deputy. It occurs only a couple times in the series, most notably in the first book when Bluestar, the leader of [=ThunderClan=], chooses the main character Firepaw as her apprentice. It is also considered an honor to train as the medicine cat's apprentice, because it is such an important position; each medicine cat only trains one apprentice in their lifetime. In that case, however, it usually isn't a surprise because the younger cat already has an interest in healing and helps out the medicine cat for a while before officially being apprenticed.

* In [[TrudiCanavan]]'s [[TheBlackMagicianTrilogy Black Magician trilogy]], the heroine, [[ActionGirl Sonea]], becomes "The High Lord's favourite". He supposedly takes an interest in her unusually powerful magic and talent (and he does) but it's actually also[[spoiler: so he can keep an eye on her and use her to blackmail her friends into keeping his ability to use Black Magic a secret]].

* Koumyou Sanzo from {{Saiyuki}} puts his chosen successor, Kouryuu (later Genjyo Sanzo)) in a tough place by making him the favored disciple. The rest of the monks at the temple are explicitly jealous, and spread rumors of Koumyou choosing him for [[ParentalIncest other]] [[Shotacon reasons]]

* Koumyou Sanzo from {{Saiyuki}} puts his chosen successor, Kouryuu (later Genjyo Sanzo)) in a tough place by making him the favored disciple. The rest of the monks at the temple are explicitly jealous, and spread rumors of Koumyou choosing him for [[parentalincest: other]] [[shotacon: reasons]]

* Koumyou Sanzo from {{Saiyuki}} puts his chosen successor, Kouryuu (later Genjyo Sanzo)) in a tough place by making him the favored disciple. The rest of the monks at the temple are explicitly jealous, and spread rumors of Koumyou choosing him for [[parentalincest other]] [[shotacon reasons]]

** Note that this is as much a matter of raw power as skill--Twilight's MegaManning would present a serious risk to those around her if she didn't learn proper self-control.

* [[ChivalrousPervert Jiraiya]] in ''{{Naruto}}'' fits this trope to a T. He only had two groups of students before Naruto, and in both cases one of them was an insanely gifted shinobi who became a legend. He chose to train Naruto become he reminded him of the Fourth Hokage, his previous student [[spoiler: and Naruto's father.]]

** Note that this is as much a matter of raw power as skill--Twilight's MegaManning would present a serious risk to those around her if she didn't learn proper self-control. (It's worth noting that in the episode where she suffered SanitySlippage, she utilized [[TeleportSpam a spell]] demonstrated one episode prior by [[VileVillainSaccharineShow the vilest villain to so far appear in the show]].)

** Note that this is as much a matter of raw power as skill--Twilight's MegaManning would present a serious risk to those around her if she didn't learn proper self-control. (It's worth noting that in the episode where she suffered SanitySlippage, she utilized [[TeleportSpam a spell]] demonstrated one episode prior from [[VileVillainSaccharineShow the vilest villain to so far appear in the show]].)

** Note that this is as much a matter of raw power as skill--Twilight's MegaManning would present a serious risk to those around her if she didn't learn proper self-control. (It's worth noting that in the episode where she suffered SanitySlippage, she utilized [[TeleportSpam a spell]] she'd learned one episode prior from [[VileVillainSaccharineShow the vilest villain to so far appear in the show]].)

* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] was just trying to get into the royal academy. One magic overload later, she is studying directly from Princess Celestia, [[PrincessesRule the ruler of Equestria]] herself, who also happens to be something of a PhysicalGoddess.

* [[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] was just trying to get into the royal academy. One magic overload later, she is studying directly from Princess Celestia, [[PrincessesRule the ruler of Equestria]] herself, who also happens to be something of a PhysicalGoddess.

* Master Piandao from {{Avatar The Last Airbender}}, skilled swordman, former Fire Nation Elite Soldier ([[BadassNormal but not a]] [[KungFuMagic FireBender]]), [[spoiler: High Master of the Whie Lotus Order]] and famous for [[OneManArmy defeating 100 soldiers alone]] after he deserted the army, there were many people who wanted to be trained by him, but he rejected most of them, between the few pupils he accepted to train were Prince Zuko, and Sokka ([[TookALevelInBadass who gained him a level in Badassery after his training]]).

** ** Specifically, any mage that discovers magic in someone is responsible for teaching them or finding a mage with the same kind of magic to take over instruction. Mages who can control lightning like Tris are both rare and [[PowerIncontinence tend to get themselves killed young]] so Niko is responsible.

In fiction, occasionally TheHero will be mentored by someone who holds an important position in their community. It may be the group's leader, someone with a special job that only takes on one trainee in their lifetime, or perhaps an old hero who is retired and normally no longer trains anyone. Occasionally the mentor is chosen by someone else, but for the most part is their own decision to take the character under their wing. Perhaps they see some sort of special ability in the hero. Perhaps, especially if the character is young, they want to be an influence in the pupil's life, trying to make them grow up in a certain way.

* Master Piandao from {{Avatar The Last Airbender}}, skilled swordman, former Fire Nation Elite Soldier([[BadassNormal but not a]] [[KungFuMagic FireBender]]), [[spoiler: High Master of the Whie Lotus Order]] and famous for [[OneManArmy defeating 100 soldiers alone]] after he deserted the army, there were many people who wanted to be trained by him, but he rejected most of them, between the few pupils he accepted to train were Prince Zuko, and Sokka ([[TookALevelInBadass who gained him a level in Badassery after his training]]).

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