History Main / TheChosenZero

[[/folder}}

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* In the [[TheBible Gospels of Matthew and Mark]], this is arguably Judas's implied reaction to Jesus justifying the use of costly ointment to annoint him instead of selling it and giving it to the poor, because "You'll always have the poor with you, but you won't always have me." Immediately following this incident, Judas betrays Jesus to the authorities.

* One ''{{Kaamelott}}'' episode has the kingdom run into a problem that only [[IneptMage Merlin]] can solve. So when Arthur says "Wait a minute, are you telling me our last hope is ''Merlin''?". Cue concerned looks between all characters and Bohort saying it: "We're all gonna die!"

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* In the [[TheBible Gospels of Matthew and Mark]], this is arguably Judas's implied reaction to Jesus justifying the use of costly ointment to annoint him instead of selling it and giving it to the poor, because "You'll always have the poor with you, but you won't always have me." Immediately following this incident, Judas betrays Jesus to the authorities.
[[/folder]]

* This was Giles reaction to {{Buffy}}: "The Earth is doomed."

-->''"We Ninjas thought that this child would be the great White Ninja of the legend. We were wrong. We were ''very'' wrong."''
-->-- '''Sensei''', ''BeverlyHillsNinja''

* In ''PowerRangersNinjaStorm'', Cam initially has doubts that the three chosen to become Rangers...well, can become Rangers. To be fair, those three were considered the three worse students, not to mention that the reason they were chosen was because all the other candidates got kidnapped.

* In ''{{Tales of Symphonia}}'', there are two significant Chosen: the clumsy {{Pollyanna}} Colette and the seemingly dopey HandsomeLech Zelos. In this case, the real question everyone should be asking is "who chose them?"

The phrase "Is this ''really'' the Chosen One?" or "Who chose ''him''?" usually comes up once or twice. As a result the inept/jerkish person has to be trained and hardened into a suitable warrior.

* ''KingdomHearts'' does this several times to Sora.

* ''BlazingSaddles'' has this when the townsfolk realize their new sheriff is black. This takes place in the Old West.

** It's an inversion or playing with the trope in that the human characters described themselves as stupid -- in other words, this trope -- but what the Asgard were looking for was lateral, outside-the-bos thinking, and there's no doubt that they had that all along.

Often played for comedic effect. Sometimes the chosen one beats the enemy purely because he is an idiot.

* Played very seriously in the ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant.

* In ''TheHobbit'', the dwarves react to Bilbo this way. Ironically he doesn't even know he's been hired as an adventurer.

->"We Ninjas thought that this child would be the great White Ninja of the legend. We were wrong. We were ''very'' wrong."
-->-- '''Sensei''', ''Beverly Hills Ninja''

* ''{{Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}'': "You're a king? Well, I didn't vote for ya!"

->"We Ninjas thought that this child would be the great white Ninja of the legend. We were wrong. We were ''very'' wrong."

->''We Ninjas thought that this child would be the great white Ninja of the legend. We were wrong. We were ''very'' wrong.''
--> '''Sensei''', Beverly Hills Ninja

Mmhm. TheChosenOne has finally arrived to the stock town and everyone is rejoicing because they're saved from -

- oh, no. The Chosen One's a complete moron. Or a greedy {{Jerkass}}. Or a coward. Or he hates his job as chosen one.

!!Examples:

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* In ''GorskyAndButch'', the characters know they live inside a comic and want to break free. Thus, Jerry is made the chosen one specifically to make the whole story jump the shark and get cancelled.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

-->Kala: [hidden behind a screen] Do you have any other questions?
-->Jarrell: As a matter of fact I do. What are you doing this weekend, because your silhouette is kicking! [snip]
-->Kala: ''This'' is the Chosen One?
-->Doctor Hong: [looks embarrassed] Yes.

* Inverted in ''TheMatrix''; everyone is absolutely confident and sure that he is The One, except him, who considers himself incompetent.
* In the 2010 ''AliceInWonderland'', the denizens of Underland aren't sure that Alice is the prophesized champion, and the Dormouse is especially prone to proclaiming, "She's the wrong Alice!"

* Taarna from ''Film/HeavyMetal'' evokes this from the audience. The people she's supposed to defend get slaughtered, she gets captured, whipped, and sliced by the bad guys, and wins only due to a HeroicSacrifice from her pet and a random lightning bolt.
* [[MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail You're a king? Well, I didn't vote for ya!]]
* The character of Ash in ''ArmyOfDarkness'' is welcomed as "The Chosen One" who must quest for the Necronomicon and save the townsfolk. Unfortunately, he proves to be pretty inept and cowardly (saying the wrong magic words, summoning the titular Army of the Dead) and loses the faith of the people. Of course, he earns that faith back in the final showdown with the Deadites.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* In ''{{Discworld}}'' FeetOfClay Nobby Nobbs is [[spoiler: falsely]] revealed to be the Earl of Ankh and the successor to the throne of Ankh-Morpork. The rich and powerful citizens who want to dispose of Lord Vetinari see Nobby's claim to the throne as a stroke of luck (he is a useful idiot and will make a good puppet ruler). However one anonymous plotter couldn't accept Nobby Nobbs as king because "the man is a tit".
* [[WheelOfTime Rand Al'Thor]] frequently doubts himself, especially early in the series, while at the same time the people trying to manipulate or "guide" him have doubts about him for these reasons. He's a shepherd from a backwater area, lives by HonorBeforeReason sometimes, etc. It reads like GenreBlindness, as those traits are all very common in heroic fantasy and {{Messianic Archetype}}s even if they are objectively bad for a leadership figure.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

* In ''KrodMandoonAndTheFlamingSwordOfFire'' the DeadpanSnarker wizard of LaResistance invokes this trope when he reluctantly admits that only the titular character and his {{nakama}} can light the resistance's beacon. Of course [[spoiler: he was [[ShootTheDog planning to kill them]] to further his own plan to stop the BigBad]].

* It's somewhat inverted and played with in ''{{Stargate SG-1}}''. In the season four premiere episode, "Small Victories", the Asgard ask SG-1 for help defeating the Replicators, because despite all of their intelligence they have yet to figure a way to fight them..
-->'''Thor:''' I have come here to seek your help.
-->'''O'Neill:''' How can ''we'' help ''you''?
-->'''Thor:''' Your projectile weapons proved effective in fatally damaging the Replicators.
-->'''O'Neill:''' Er... ''some''...
-->'''Thor:''' Your technology and strategy for destroying the ''Beliskner'' was successful.
-->'''O'Neill:''' Yea, but.. you guys...
-->'''Thor:''' The Asgard have tried to stop them. You have demonstrated their weakness may be found through a less... ''sophisticated'' approach. We are no longer capable of such thinking.
-->'''Dr. Jackson:''' Wait a minute, you're actually saying that you need someone... ''dumber'' than you are?
-->'''O'Neill:''' You may have come to the right place.
** It's an inversion or playing with the trope in that the human characters described themselves as stupid - in other words, this trope - but what the Asgard were looking for was lateral, outside-the-bos thinking, and there's no doubt that they had that all along.

[[AC:{{Religion}}]]

[[AC:{{Theater}}]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

* In ''TalesOfSymphonia'', there are two significant Chosen: the clumsy {{Pollyanna}} Colette and the seemingly dopey HandsomeLech Zelos. In this case, the real question everyone should be asking is "who chose them?"

* ''TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' starts with Navi waking Link up, not succeeding for a while, then wondering out loud if Hyrule is really supposed to be saved by such a lazy boy.

[[AC:WebComics]]

* Played with in ''EightBitTheatre''. The main characters ''aren't'' the real chosen ones, but they do (sort of) save the world (albeit by being directly responsible for nearly destroying it), and the real chosen ones don't do anything important to the plot.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' - no one believes that the Avatar is a [[KidHero twelve-year-old boy]], not to mention that he acts kind of goofy. AND he even states that he doesn't want to be the Avatar, at least in the beginning.

* TheSimpsonsDidIt, of course. When Homer becomes a member of the secret society The Stonecutters, he is found to have a special birthmark that signifies he is The Chosen One. He actually proves to be a great leader -- but NOT the kind they were looking for. At least one or two characters have their doubts that he's really the one prophecized by the Sacred Parchment.

<<|HeroTropes|>>
<<|FateAndProphecyTropes|>>

-->'''O'Neill:''' You may have come to the right place.

* TheSimpsonsDidIt, of course. When Homer becomes a member of the secret society The Stonecutters, he is found to have a special birthmark that signifies he is The Chosen One. As Homer usually does in these situations, he screws it up. At least one or two characters have their doubts that he's really the one prophecized by the Sacred Parchment.

* Played with in ''EightBitTheatre''. The main characters ''aren't'' the real chosen ones, but they do (sort of) save the world, and the real chosen ones don't do anything important to the plot.