History Main / ThePoorlyChosenOne

-->-- '''Obi-Wan''', ''Franchise/StarWars Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith''

** [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Pinnochio}}]] as well. He was sent [[spoiler:through the wardrobe with Emma]] to be Emma's BigBrotherMentor and prepare her to come to Storybrooke on her 28th birthday and break the curse. [[spoiler:He did try for a little while, but when they were put in an OrphanageOfFear and the reality of growing up in the system hit him]], he ditched her at the foster home instead and ran away, and spent the next twenty-eight years on a hedonistic boondoggle around the world. He wasn't there to take Emma to Storybrooke, so Henry had to do it for him; and because he didn't teach and guide Emma like he was supposed to, she takes months to accept her role as the Saviour, resulting in all the suffering detailed above. As punishment for so royally screwing up, he's slowly and painfully [[spoiler:turning back into a puppet]], although in fairness it was a ton of responsibility to put on a seven year old.

** Emma Swan, the daughter of [[Literature/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White]] and PrinceCharming, destined to come to Storybrooke on her 28th birthday and break the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Evil Queen's]] curse. Unfortunately, due to a childhood in the [[DepartmentOfChildDisservices foster system]], and a difficult life overall, she's a KnightInSourArmour who's prone to making impulsive poor decisions and remains in deep denial about her true nature, refusing to believe that the people around her are displaced fairytale characters even as the evidence piles up. As a result, many people are hurt or killed because she refuses to accept her destiny.
** [[spoiler:Literature/{{Pinnochio}}]] as well. He was sent [[spoiler:through the wardrobe with Emma]] to be Emma's BigBrotherMentor and prepare her to come to Storybrooke on her 28th birthday and break the curse. [[spoiler:He did try for a little while, but when they were put in an OrphanageOfFear and the reality of growing up in the system hit him]], he ditched her at the foster home instead and ran away, and spent the next twenty-eight years on a hedonistic boondoggle around the world. He wasn't there to take Emma to Storybrooke, so Henry had to do it for him; and because he didn't teach and guide Emma like he was supposed to, she takes months to accept her role as the Saviour, resulting in all the suffering detailed above. As punishment for so royally screwing up, he's slowly and painfully [[spoiler:turning back into a puppet]], although in fairness it was a ton of responsibility to put on a seven year old.

** Emma Swan, the daughter of [[Literature/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White]] and PrinceCharming, destined to come to Storybrooke on her 28th birthday and break the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Evil Queen's]] curse. Unfortunately, due to a childhood in the [[DepartmentIfChildDisservices foster system]], and a difficult life overall, she's a KnightInSourArmour whose prone to making impulsive poor decisions and remains in deep denial about her true nature, refusing to believe that the people around her are displaced fairytale characters even as the evidence piles up. As a result, many people are hurt or killed because she refuses to accept her destiny.

* In ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'', Shota turns Zedd young and erases his memory, making him an arrogant youth again instead of a wizened old man. So, when she asks him to [[TheChooserOfTheOne name a new Seeker]], he chooses... himself, which is apparently allowed. He proceeds to act like a JerkAss and is easily tricked by the [[TheDevil Keeper]] to come to the Underworld. This trope is also a plot point in an earlier episode, where the party happens upon the tomb of an earlier Seeker, who supposedly perished in the final battle, where he fulfilled his prophecy. The truth is, he went insane and started slaughtering innocents, forcing a wizard to cut him down and falsify the the story.

* Introduced in the very opening of ''Anime/BeastTamer'', we have the Hero Arios Orlando, coming from a long family line of heroes. He is the chosen hero at the start of the story because he inherited the Hero skill "Limit Breaker" one would need to have in order to stand a chance against the AlwaysChaoticEvil Demon Lord and his armies. Sadly, it turns out there's absolutely nothing heroic about him. He's cruel, entitled, and petty, believing that just because he's the Hero, he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants, without ever worrying about consequences, and becomes murderously vengeful when this is shown to not be the case.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Melisandre believes that Lord Stannis Baratheon to be the [[MessianicArchetype Messianic]] hero of legend prophesied in the R'hllor religion. After managing to convert him and those in his territory, she advices him in various matters, claiming that the failures that she leads him to are all a part of ThePlan. It is not until he and his army perishes against the Boltons at Winterfell (even after offering ''his own daughter'' as a sacrifice) is it made clear that Stannis was not the prophetic hero that Melisandre hoped he would be.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/CorrectorYui'': Haruna was supposed to be the Corrector instead of Yui, but the moment she finally takes the reins, Drosser (the Evil A.I. BigBad) decides to say "LetsGetDangerous" and curb-stomped-slash-corrupted her in her very first battle. It turned out that Drosser had a crush on Yui and decided to manipulate events so she would become the Corrector because that way he would be able to meet her better, fulfill her MagicalGirl fantasies... and he was holding back because he didn't wanted to hurt her (bad).
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': [[FusionDance Gotenks]] is held up by the rest of the Z fighters as their best hope to defeat Majin Buu. This hope turns out to be misplaced, as Gotenks turns out to be a [[SmugSuper egocentric blowhard]] who cares more about looking cool than about saving the world. Consequently, all of his attempts to defeat Buu end in disaster.
* Mahito from ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' is propped up by his fellow Disaster Curses to be able to defeat the sorcerers once and for all due to his youth, [[BodyHorror power]], and growth potential. But a couple of dozen chapters after this sentiment is expressed,[[spoiler: he is [[CurbStompBattle utterly defeated by Yuji]] and attempted to flee, in contrast to the Villainous Valor shown by his peers during their own deaths, and ultimately assimilated by Geto for the said power.]]
* Chariot du Nord from ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'' was a witch and student from [[WizardingSchool Luna Nova Academy]] who was chosen to wield the Claiomh Solais, a MagicWand that chooses its wielder and is destined to break the seal of the Grand Triskellion when its user rediscovers the Seven Words of Arcturus. Believing that magic was meant to make people happy, Chariot became the idol "Shiny Chariot", using the Claiomh Solais (renaming it "Shiny Wand") to put on magic shows for the public. When her popularity declines, she grows desperate to impress her crowd when her usual spells no longer cut it, eventually leading to her [[spoiler:permanently scarring the surface of the Moon]]. Her actions deemed her unworthy of wielding the wand and it disappeared before she could ever find all Seven spells.
* In the ''Fortune Lover 2'' arc of ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'', we learn that [[spoiler:in said sequel, Katarina Claes is supposed to wield the Dark Covenant and spread evil with a Dark Familiar -Cerberus- by her side as the Chosen Champion Of Darkness]]. By this point in the series, [[spoiler:the real Katarina has firmly established herself in the opposite different alignment from that, and would be more likely to kiss the Chosen Champion of Light -Maria, who holds the Light Covenant- than to menace her.]]
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Jiraiya was told as a young man that someday he would mentor a child of prophecy who would either save the world or destroy it. At first, Jiraiya thought it would be Nagato, a war orphan from the Land of Rain who possessed the [[MagicalEye Rinnegan]], a power once wielded by the legendary Sage of Six Paths, and despite the boy's initial fear of his own powers, he matured during his training with the help of his fellow students/orphans/friends Yahiko and Konan. Unfortunately, after their training concluded and they parted, Jiraiya lost hope when he learned they all died during their attempts to reform their country. [[spoiler:In reality, only Yahiko died, but something in Konan and Nagato definitely died with him and Nagato became a DarkMessiah as a result]]. Later, he believed it would be Minato, who despite having no bloodline jutsu was TheAce and became the youngest Hokage of the Hidden Leaf...only for him to make a HeroicSacrifice to stop the Nine-Tailed Fox. Ironically, the ''actual'' chosen one, Naruto, was the one Jiraiya had no thought of it being [[spoiler:until shortly before his own death at the hands of Nagato]].
* In ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Ren, Itsuki, Motoyasu and Naofumi are [[TrappedInAnotherWorld brought to the Fantasyland of Melromarc as the Four Cardinal Heroes]], them being the Sword, Bow, Spear and Shield Heroes respectively. Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu are handed everything they could ever need and are treated with reverence (the Three Heroes Church even believing them to be gods) while Naofumi is [[HeroWithBadPublicity treated like a devil]] by virtue of being the Shield Hero and [[FalseRapeAccusation falsely accused of rape]] by Princess Malty ForTheEvulz. As time goes on however, it is proven that while Naofumi proves to be a competent and compassionate (albeit [[JadeColoredGlasses cynical]]) hero who slowly wins over the people, Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu's clashing egos and tendency to treat the world like it's a game lead to their [[NiceJobBreakingItHero idiot heroics only making things worse]]. It got to the point that the church that worshipped the Heroes of the Sword, Spear, and Bow decides to brand them as "fake" and kill them all simply because of their incompetence. [[spoiler:Finally, their decision to release a powerful monster just to prove a point and then failing to defeat it and causing a disaster of epic proportions utterly '''destroyed''' what little faith people had left in them.]] The reason Naofumi surpasses them is that the ritual which summoned the Heroes interfered with the ability of the Weapons to choose an ideal wielder. The Shield was able to choose the perfect match while the other Weapons had to make due with lesser wielders.
* Happens routinely in ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms''. Each of the titular kingdoms is ruled by an immortal god-king/queen, [[TheChooserOfTheOne chosen by a Kirin]]. Unfortunately, despite the inherently virtuous Kirin always having the best intentions, they DO screw up sometimes, and puts someone on the throne who'll crack under the pressure, turn into a vicious tyrant, or let the kingdom decay while wallowing in base hedonism. Worse, this world runs by FisherKing rules -- a poor king leads to natural disasters, droughts and floods, and even monster-invasions. The series starts when the Kirin Keiki tracks down an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent from ''our'' world to be the new Queen of Kei -- after his ''previous'' choice ended very, very badly. Considering this track-record, a lot of the kingdom's people are rather worried about this apparent [[TheChosenZero Chosen Zero]]... [[spoiler:If the enthrownment had gone as planned, they would have been correct. It's only a lot of hardship driven character development that made her someone who had a chance to rule sucessfully.]]
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[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' [[RevengeFic salt fics]] love doing this to Adrien, painting him as someone who doesn't treat hero work seriously and is only interested in wooing Ladybug.
** In ''FanFic/LadyBugOut'', Adrien was chosen in hopes of granting the LonelyRichKid some freedom, but proceeds to treat protecting Paris as just a game, more focused on joking around and flirting with his partner. What's worse, he convinces himself that since the Black Cat and Ladybug are a matched set, he and Ladybug are meant to be together, acting [[EntitledToHaveYou entitled to her affection]] and insisting that YouCantFightFate. This ultimately leads to him [[spoiler:getting stripped of the ring]] after being repeatedly called out on his bad behavior.
*** To a lesser extent, Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee. Though decent temporary bearers for their respective Miraculouses, their actions ''outside'' of their superhero identities call their trustworthiness into question; thus, three others are chosen as their ''permanent'' bearers. Alya's particularly upset to learn this.
** Adrien is also this in ''Fanfic/LeaveForMendeleiev'' for the same reason. He's [[SkewedPriorities more concerned with]] [[SecretChaser figuring out Ladybug's]] SecretIdentity despite being repeatedly warned against it, because he feels [[EntitledToHaveYou entitled to her and everything about her]]. He also firmly believes that since his partner's [[WorldHealingWave Miraculous Cure]] [[ResetButton repairs the damage done by akumas]], there's no real reason for him to take fighting them ''seriously''. He also [[EvilIsPetty pettily abuses his kwami]] for scolding him about his misbehavior, and is prone to trying to guilt-trip others into doing what he wants by acting like he's '[[HolierThanThou taking the high road]]' and [[DisappointedInYou disappointed by their behavior]].
* In ''Fanfic/TheSaviorKingTheMasterTacticianAndTheQueenOfLiberation'', by the end of the big war, most of the Agarthans feel that [[spoiler:Edelgard]] was a terrible choice to be their champion in their fight against the surface-dwellers and the Nabateans. Marian thinks [[spoiler:Dimitri]] would have done a better job, while Thales grouses that he should have snatched up [[spoiler:Claude]] instead.
* You want an example from ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' that isn't Adrien? Then look no further then fan comic ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'', which involves [[AlphaBitch Chloe Bourgeois]] stealing the earrings that would have turned Marinette into Ladybug from her handbag shortly after [[TheChooserOfTheOne Master Fu]] snuck them there (thinking that they belonged to Marinette, were some kind of heirloom or at least expensive, [[EvilIsPetty and looking to annoy her yet again with this theft]]) and putting them on, becoming "Scarlet Lady". Chloe then goes on to make the blood of everybody else in the cast boil through her [[ItsAllAboutMe immense vanity, pettiness]] and [[FakeUltimateHero incompetence]], [[VetinariJobSecurity but because she is literally]] TheOnlyOne who can purify the Akuma, [[VetinariJobSecurity there is absolutely nothing else anybody can do but grit their teeth and deal with her]]. Master Fu, for his part, after finding out the colossal screw-up that is happening, [[NeverMyFault briefly refuses to admit fault]], but later notes that finding out who intercepted the earrings is on his to-do list.
* ''Fanfic/VengeanceOfDawn'': Breaking Dawn was once Princess Celestia's personal student and potential candidate for the Element of Magic, but her laziness, spoiled attitude and delinquent behavior resulted in her losing her position to Twilight. She didn't take being replaced well, and her behavior grew worse until Celestia was forced to expel her from the School for Gifted Unicorns. At the beginning of the story, Dawn is living in a cheap apartment and working a low-end job at a clothing store, still bitter about what she could have had and blaming her failures on Twilight, who not only succeeded as the Element of Magic but has become an alicorn princess.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* During the main quest in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', the PlayerCharacter visits the Cave of the Nerevarine, where they can meet the shades of several Dunmer who previously attempted to fulfill the Nerevarine Prophecy, but failed and died. (It's implied that there isn't one true [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]] Nerevarine, but that [[MultipleChoiceChosen anyone who fits the initial criteria]] could ''become'' the Nerevarine. These people fit the initial criteria, but died before they could fulfill the prophecy.)
* You never knew it for about three quarters of the game, but you, the SoleSurvivor were actually chosen by the Director of the Institute in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' to become his successor. He thawed you out and let you escape a cryo-vault just to see how you would respond to a post-apocalyptic wasteland and how far you’d go to rescue the son who’s been stolen from you. The Director hoped you’d eventually find your way to the Institute and he hoped you’d have acquired a disgust for the wasteland and its denizens. You can fulfill the destiny the Director wanted for you, and become the new Director. Or, most likely, you join any of three factions opposing the Institute and become the one who destroys the Institute altogether.
* All over the backstory of ''VideoGame/TheLastSovereign'' where the whole concept of TheChosenOne gets [[{{Deconstruction}} the living crap kicked out of it]]. The game starts off with you controlling Kai, the chosen of the Goddess Ivala and his companions, Altina the elven sorceress and Simon the grizzled old veteran on their quest to save the world from the Incubus King. 10 minutes in [[DecoyProtagonist Kai gets killed]] and Altina captured, because the ''actual'' protagonist of the game is Simon. Turns out Simon has been futilely escorting ''[[TheChosenMany dozens]]'' of the little losers over the past few years, none of which have been worth a damn (at least one of which died after ''running off a cliff'' in his first battle) and he's getting tired of it. It doesn't help that while the "blessing of the Goddess" grants those who receive it a considerable boost in combat effectiveness, it also causes [[ItsAllAboutMe increased selfishness]], [[ExtremeOmnisexual drastically enhanced libido]] and [[TooDumbToLive severely reduced mental capacity]], not helped by the fact that for some reason the goddess tends to favour [[{{Jerkass}} nasty little self-centered shits]] to start with. When the next level 1 brat who gets assigned to him takes sexual advantage of one of their new companions and rudely brushes Simon off when he tries to stop him, Simon [[RageBreakingPoint has had enough]] and kills the wannabe-hero himself, [[TheUnchosenOne deciding to take the fate of the world into his own hands]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' reveals the [[SpaceElves asari race]] were this to the [[{{Precursors}} Protheans]], who gave them their advantages over the other races thanks to genetic engineering and [[spoiler:a Prothean Beacon]], believing they would use it to lead the galaxy to oppose the Reapers. Instead, [[WeHaveBecomeComplacent they became complacent]] with merely [[spoiler:using the Beacons knowledge to maintain their superiority, keeping it secret until the Reapers have overrun their homeworld]], by which time [[TheUnchosenOne humanity was leading the war effort]].
* ''VideoGame/Puppeteer2013'': Before Kutaro, Ezma chose other children kidnapped by the Moon Bear King to seize the magical battle scissors, retrieve the shards of light, and defeat the Thirteen Zodiac... and they never made it to the scissors.
* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'': King Knight is this in his prequel story, ''King Of Cards''. Lauded as a hero who will save the land by the people he meets, they somehow miss the fact that at his core, King Knight is a vain brute whose only goal is to become a king. Naturally, the moment the opportunity presents itself via the Enchantress's offer, King Knight kicks all his allies and admirers to the proverbial curb, helping to kick off the conquest of the valley.
** King Knight also pulls a RefusalOfTheCall on top of this when he [[spoiler:declines on Cardia's offer to be her planet's savior after proving to be the worthy Joustus player she was searching for, because she wouldn't let him be ruler of the planet in exchange and it would be too much trouble for him to rule over a second kingdom anyway.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheSwordsOfDitto'': Let's just say you'll go through MANY Chosen Heroes...
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', there were many Chosen Ones of Sylvarant before Colette, but they died at some point in their journeys. This is true, but the Chosen Ones who succeeded in their pilgrimages ultimately failed in their actual goal -- bringing peace to Sylvarant -- because [[spoiler:[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption the Big Bad uses their efforts to bring suffering to another world called Tethe'alla]]. [[ViciousCycle And then Tethe'alla performs their own pilgrimage to alleviate their world's suffering by forking it back to Sylvarant]]. The Chosen Ones are used as test subjects for body-swapping, but none succeed until Colette shows up. And all of this was a plan by the BigBad to revive his sister Martel; he couldn't care less about the fate of both worlds or the suffering of the people inside of them. Lloyd, TheUnchosenOne, is the person who ultimately stops this plan, with the Chosen Ones of both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla by his side, [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels both defying what was expected of a Chosen One]] to do it]].
* ''VideoGame/Vampyr2018'' reveals that [[spoiler:Myth/KingArthur was [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy a vampire]] sired by Merlin to protect Britain from [[BigBad the Morrigan's]] wrath. Unfortunately he failed in his mission and died prematurely, with the country suffering for his defeat for many years]].
[[/folder]]

* Partially played straight, partially subverted in the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}} Adventures'' books. Toa Lhikan secretly arranges for six seemingly unfit Matoran citizens to become the Toa Metru, his successors who would save the city of Metru Nui. Unknown to him, the names of this team were planted into his mind by [[BigBad the Makuta]]. The Toa Metru do fail, they can't keep Makuta from destroying the city, wiping its people's memory and [[spoiler:killing Lhikan]], however they do stop him just before he could take over. As the new Toa look for a place to evacuate the mind-wiped Matoran, they find proof that others were destined to become Toa, not them. This blow almost destroys what little was left of their morale, but after many further failings, adventures and battles (like being tricked into setting Makuta free, undoing their own biggest victory) they eventually reform and complete their task, becoming wise and capable leaders burdened by their past. Meanwhile they discover [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption their failure was meant to happen]] as part of PhysicalGod Mata Nui's contingency plan. Mata Nui had changed the prophecies, tricking Makuta into thinking other Matoran were destined to be Toa, so Makuta tried to cheat fate by choosing the worst possible candidates and coerced Lhikan into giving his Toa powers to them. Thereby Makuta unknowingly picked the best team who could stall his plan, recuperate and establish a new society following their failure to save the city. Their contrasting ideologies that initially lead to much infighting also proved helpful for guiding the Matoran later on.

* Chariot du Nord from ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'' was a witch and student from [[WizardingSchool Luna Nova Academy]] who was chosen to wield the Claiomh Solais, a MagicWand that chooses its wielder and is destined to break the seal of the Grand Triskellion when its user rediscovers the Seven Words of Arcturus. Believing that magic was meant to make people happy, Chariot became the idol "Shiny Chariot", using the Claiomh Solais (renaming it "Shiny Wand") to put on magic shows for the public. When her popularity declines, she grows desperate to impress her crowd when her usual spells no longer cut it, eventually leading to her [[spoiler:permanently scarring the surface of the Moon]]. Her actions deemed her unworthy of wielding the wand and it disappeared before she could ever find all Seven spells.

* ''VideoGame/{{Puppeteer}}'': Before Kutaro, Ezma chose other children kidnapped by the Moon Bear King to seize the magical battle scissors, retrieve the shards of light, and defeat the Thirteen Zodiac... and they never made it to the scissors.

* ''Fanfic/VengeanceOfDawn'': Breaking Dawn was once Princess Celestia's personal student and potential candidate for the Element of Magic, but her laziness, spoiled attitude and delinquent behavior resulted in her losing her position to Twilight. She didn't take being replaced well, and her behavior grew worse until Celestia was forced to expel her from the School for Gifted Unicorns. At the beginning of the story, Dawn is living in a cheap apartment and working a low-end job at a clothing store, still bitter about what she could have had and blaming her failures on Twilight.

* ''[[Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar:]] '' ''Literature/TheRiseOfKyoshi '': The previous Avatar, Kuruk, died at only thirty-three, which left a power vacuum. Jianzhu and Kelsang (Kuruk's earthbending and airbending teachers, respectively) desperately set out to look for his reincarnation only to run into trouble. The Earth Avatar is normally found by using geomancy to keep cutting the land in half to wind up on the Avatar’s door step. Since Kyoshi’s parents were outlaws, this method didn’t work, because when they got to where she was, she was gone. Then they try the Air Nomad method of having the kids play with past Avatar’s toys. She steals one when they come to her village, so they have to try another way. One day, Kuruk’s friends Jianzhu and Kelsang happen upon a kid named Yun hustling adults at pai sho using Kuruk’s odd strategy. They acknowledge that this is shaky evidence, but they're so desperate to find the Avatar and calm the global situation that they declare Yun the Avatar. It’s not until a couple of years later when he’s not able to bend the other elements and Kyoshi starts showing signs of being the Avatar that they realize they picked the wrong kid. [[spoiler:Yun was not happy ''at all'' when he found out the truth and he went on a murderous rampage that was only stopped by his death.]]

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' saga, Anakin Skywalker, believed to be the Chosen One, falls to the Dark Side, turns into a Sith and becomes Darth Vader. It's ultimately subverted when years later, he's redeemed by his son and kills Emperor Palpatine, ending the Sith and bringing balance to the Force at last. Zigzagged in that by eliminating the Jedi and Sith of old and making way for new organizations to take their places, he brought a new balance to the Force, rather than restoring the old one.

* Played with Priestess in ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'': [[spoiler:{{Top God}}dess Illusion had favored Priestess, but the latter loses her status to no fault of her own, but rather [[KillerGameMaster Illusion being horrible at dice rolls]]. This explains [[TotalPartyKill the disastrous results]] of the Greenhorn Team at the start of the series; however, Priestess is spared [[BigDamnHeroes due to the timely arrival of the titular Goblin Slayer]], which altered her fate, as Illusion had essentially given up on Priestess. In later volumes, Priestess' new ability "[[MySignificantSenseIsTingling Revelation]]" is implied to be a gift previously bestowed upon her by Illusion when she was the goddess' favorite]].

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' saga, Anakin Skywalker, believed to be the Chosen One, falls to the Dark Side, turns into a Sith and becomes Darth Vader. It's ultimately subverted when years later, he's redeemed by his son and kills Emperor Palpatine, ending the Sith and bringing balance to the Force at last. Zigzagged in that by eliminating the Jedi and Sith of old and making way for new organizations to take their places, it was never really a subversion in the first place.

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' saga, Anakin Skywalker, believed to be the Chosen One, falls to the Dark Side, turns into a Sith and becomes Darth Vader. It's ultimately subverted when years later, he's redeemed by his son and kills Emperor Palpatine, ending the Sith and bringing balance to the Force at last. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Though it can also be argued]] that by eliminating the Jedi and Sith of old and making way for new organizations to take their places, it was never really a subversion in the first place.

* Inverted in ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom''. In the ''Fortune Lover 2'' arc, we learn that [[spoiler:in said sequel, Katarina Claes is supposed to wield the Dark Covenant and spread evil with a Dark Familiar -Cerberus- by her side as the Chosen Champion Of Darkness]]. By this point in the series, [[spoiler:the real Katarina has firmly established herself in the opposite different alignment from that, and would be more likely to kiss the Chosen Champion of Light -Maria, who holds the Light Covenant- than to menace her.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', there were many Chosen Ones of Sylvarant before Colette, but they died at some point in their journeys. This is true, but the Chosen Ones who succeeded in their pilgrimages ultimately failed in their actual goal -- bringing peace to Sylvarant -- because [[spoiler:[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption the BigBad uses their efforts to bring suffering to another world called Tethe'alla]]. [[ViciousCycle And then Tethe'alla performs their own pilgrimage to alleviate their world's suffering by forking it back to Sylvarant]]. The Chosen Ones are used as test subjects for body-swapping, but none succeed until Colette shows up. And all of this was a plan by the BigBad to revive his sister Martel; he couldn't care less about the fate of both worlds or the suffering of the people inside of them. Lloyd, TheUnchosenOne, is the person who ultimately stops this plan, with the Chosen Ones of both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla by his side, [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels both defying what was expected of a Chosen One]] to do it]].

* Happens routinely in ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms''. Each of the titular kingdoms is rules by an immortal god-king/queen, [[TheChooserOfTheOne chosen by a Kirin]]. Unfortunately, despite the inherently virtuous Kirin always having the best intentions, they DO screw up sometimes, and puts someone on the throne who'll crack under the pressure, turn into a vicious tyrant, or let the kingdom decay while wallowing in base hedonism. Worse, this world runs by FisherKing rules -- a poor king leads to natural disasters, droughts and floods, and even monster-invasions. The series starts when the Kirin Keiki tracks down an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent from ''our'' world to be the new Queen of Kei -- after his ''previous'' choice ended very, very badly. Considering this track-record, a lot of the kingdom's people are rather worried about this apparent [[TheChosenZero Chosen Zero]]... [[spoiler:If the enthrownment had gone as planned, they would have been correct. It's only a lot of hardship driven character development that made her someone who had a chance to rule sucessfully.]]

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Jiraiya was told as a young man that someday he would mentor a child of prophecy who would either save the world or destroy it. At first, Jiraiya thought it would be Nagato, a war orphan from the Land of Rain who possessed the [[MagicalEye Rinnegan]], a power once wielded by the legendary Sage of Six Paths, and despite the boy's initial fear of his own powers he matured during his training with the help of his fellow students/orphans/friends Yahiko and Konan. Unfortunately, after their training concluded and they parted, Jiraiya lost hope when he learned they all died during their attempts to reform their country. [[spoiler:In reality, only Yahiko died, but something in Konan and Nagato definitely died with him and Nagato became a DarkMessiah as a result]]. Later, he believed it would be Minato, who despite having no bloodline jutsu was TheAce and became the youngest Hokage of the Hidden Leaf...only for him to make a HeroicSacrifice to stop the Nine-Tailed Fox. Ironically, the ''actual'' chosen one, Naruto, was the one Jiraiya had no thought of it being [[spoiler:until shortly before his own death at the hands of Nagato]].
* In ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Ren, Itsuki, Motoyasu and Naofumi are [[TrappedInAnotherWorld brought to the Fantasyland of Melromarc as the Four Cardinal Heroes]], them being the Sword, Bow, Spear and Shield Heroes respectively. Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu are handed everything they could ever need and are treated with reverence (the Three Heroes Church even believing them to be gods) while Naofumi is [[HeroWithBadPublicity treated like a devil]] by virtue of being the Shield Hero and [[FalseRapeAccusation falsely accused of rape]] by Princess Malty ForTheEvulz. As time goes on however, it is proven that while Naofumi proves to be a competent and compassionate (albeit [[JadeColoredGlasses cynical]]) hero who slowly wins over the people, Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu's clashing egos and tendency to treat the world like it's a game lead to their [[NiceJobBreakingItHero idiot heroics only making things worse]]. It got to the point that the church that worshipped the Heroes of the Sword, Spear, and Bow elects to brand them as "fake" and kill them all simply because of their incompetence. [[spoiler: Finally, their decision to release a powerful monster just to prove a point and then failing to defeat it and causing a disaster of epic proportions which then utterly '''destroyed''' what little faith people had left in them.]] The reason Naofumi surpasses them is that the ritual which summoned the Heroes interfered with the ability of the Weapons to choose an ideal wielder. The Shield was able to choose the perfect match while the other Weapons had to make due with lesser wielders.