History TheChosenOne / Film

* WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} is pulled into Jafar's plans because he is "the Diamond in the Rough", the only one who can enter the Cave of Wonders and reach the Genie's lamp.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', Anakin Skywalker is the Jedi's prophesied Chosen One, who will destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force, though he goes through [[ProphecyTwist several movies of being]] TheDragon before doing a HeelFaceTurn and fulfilling his destiny by hurling the Emperor to his death. He remains extremely lucky and unusually skilled (at everything except relationships, apparently) the whole time, consistent with a standard Chosen One package. In a twist, it is revealed in ''Literature/DarthPlagueis'' that he was [[CreateYourOwnHero indirectly created]] by the Sith themselves using the Force, resulting in a [[MysticalPregnancy "miraculous" birth]].
** It could be seen that the [[LegacyOfTheChosen Skywalker bloodline itself]] is the Chosen One as Anakin, Luke, and Leia all brought balance to the Force and peace to the galaxy with their descendants continuing their legacy in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends''.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' has the fat panda Po chosen as the Dragon Warrior by Master Oogway, seemingly just for bursting into the arena via fireworks. Seen as a decision marked by senility and coincidence by his disciple Shifu, Oogway nonetheless genuinely believes Po is more worthy than any of the highly trained Furious Five. It takes a while, but everyone realizes that the turtle's choice is absolutely right. [[spoiler:The sequels expand on this by revealing that Po becoming the Dragon Warrior was to also serve as a vehicle to help him on his path towards his ''true'' destiny: first to save China from Lord Shen, then to help panda-kind recover the lost art of chi mastery and defeat Oogway's brother-in-arms-turned-archnemesis Kai. In the short term, the fact that he ''is'' just some fat guy with more enthusiasm than training gives him a leg up on the current bad guy thanks to KevLard rendering his best attacks (which had earlier defeated every other Dragon Warrior candidate at once) useless.]]

* John Connor is the chosen one to save mankind from destruction to the machines in the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series. Mainly because of a StableTimeLoop. [[TimeTravel Thinking]] [[TimeyWimeyBall about]] [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast this]] [[IdiotPlot is]] [[MindScrew not likely to help your sanity.]]

%%* Liu Kang in ''Film/MortalKombat''.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', Anakin Skywalker is the Jedi's prophesied Chosen One, who will destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force, though he goes through [[ProphecyTwist several movies of being]] TheDragon before doing a HeelFaceTurn and fulfilling his destiny by hurling the Emperor to his death. He remains extremely lucky and unusually skilled (at everything except relationships, apparently) the whole time, consistent with a standard Chosen One package. In a twist, it is strongly implied that [[spoiler:he was created by the Sith themselves using the Force, resulting in a "miraculous" birth]].

** In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' the Sith had their own Chosen One prophecy, the Sith'ari. It was originally intended to foreshadow Darth Bane in stories set before the RuleOfTwo was in effect, but it became something of a RunningGag that ''every'' major Sith character ''except'' Bane, including ones who lived millennia after the prophecy was fulfilled, thought it was them.

** It could be seen that the Skywalker bloodline itself is the Chosen One as Anakin, Luke, and Leia all brought balance to the Force and peace to the galaxy with their descendants continuing their legacy in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends''.

* Moses in ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' is the prophesied deliverer of the Hebrews.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BoltsAndBlip,'' Blip discovers he was built by Dr. Tommy specifically to stop Dr. Blood, and that he has a secret SuperMode that he can't control very well.

* Neo in ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' trilogy. In ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'', Neo discovers that the One is a [[spoiler: byproduct of the Matrix, anticipated and manipulated by the same artificial intelligence that created it and that he's merely just [[LegacyCharacter the latest of a long line]]. What makes him unique is his [[ScrewDestiny refusal to serve the function of the One]].]]

* A recurring theme in ''WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}}'' movies:

* Liu Kang in ''Film/MortalKombat''.
* ''Film/MotherOfTears'': Sarah kind of becomes this by default.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', Anakin Skywalker is the Jedi's prophesied Chosen One, who will destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force, though he goes through [[ProphecyTwist several movies of being]] TheDragon before doing a HeelFaceTurn and fulfilling his destiny by hurling the Emperor to his death. He remains extremely lucky and unusually skilled (at everything except relationships, apparently) the whole time, consistent with a standard Chosen One package. In a twist, it is strongly implied that [[spoiler:he was created by the Sith themselves using the Force, resulting in a "miraculous" birth]].
** It could be seen that the Skywalker bloodline itself is the Chosen One as Anakin, Luke, and Leia all brought balance to the Force and peace to the galaxy with their descendants continuing their legacy in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends''.
** In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' the Sith had their own Chosen One prophecy, the Sith'ari. It was originally intended to foreshadow Darth Bane in stories set before the RuleOfTwo was in effect, but it became something of a RunningGag that ''every'' major Sith character ''except'' Bane, including ones who lived millennia after the prophecy was fulfilled, thought it was them.
* John Connor is the chosen one to save mankind from destruction to the machines in the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series. Mainly because of a StableTimeLoop. [[TimeTravel Thinking]] [[TimeyWimeyBall about]] [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast this]] [[IdiotPlot is]] [[MindScrew not likely to help your sanity.]]
** DeconstructedTrope, along with KidHero: what if your mother is [[MamaBear so determined to keep you safe]] that she drags you around the country committing acts of terrorism and teaching you paramilitary skills instead of anything close to a normal upbringing? Although [[ForegoneConclusion he does go on to lead humanity to victory]], [[WellIntentionedExtremist so maybe she isn't all wrong]].
* The main character in ''Film/KungPowEnterTheFist'' is called "Chosen One". He's important because he has a ''sentient, talking '''tongue'''''.
-->'''Master Tang''': He told me that there will be a Chosen One.\\
'''Ling's Father''': (flashes back) There will be a Chosen One.

* In ''Film/TheGoldenChild'', Chandler Jarrell is the man chosen to save the eponymous child from death. He's [[ResignedToTheCall not at all happy about it]].
* Reri in ''Film/{{Tabu}}'' is referred to as this word-for-word. It's a very bad deal for her, because she has been chosen to be a sort of Tahitian vestal virgin who can never be touched by a man--and she's in love.
* Jack Black's character in ''Film/YearOne'' ''thought'' he was the chosen one.
* ''Film/MotherOfTears'': Sarah kind of becomes this by default.
* Played with in the 2006 remake of ''Film/TheInitiationOfSarah''. The villains assume that the powerful MagicalGirl Sarah is the girl of prophecy that they need to sacrifice to complete their evil ritual. [[spoiler: It is actually Sarah's {{Muggle}} sister, Lindsey.]]
* Subverted in ''Film/{{Willow}}'', where a baby girl is prophesized to be the one to bring about the evil Bavmorda's downfall, but what actually happens is that all the people trying to protect her end up defeating the evil queen [[ProphecyTwist while she's still a baby]]. This happens in no small part due to a healthy dose of SelfFulfillingProphecy on the BigBad's behalf. The sequel novels go on to further deconstruct this; there are actually several mutually exclusive prophesies about her, all of which are fulfilled thanks to TimeyWimeyBall shenanigans.
* In ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'', the eponymous hero has earned his way into the elite group of soldiers who are the last hope against the massive enemy fleet. However, he refuses the call and just wants to go home. On his way home, [[spoiler: all the other soldiers are killed by a saboteur]] and he is forced to become the Last Starfighter.
* In ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', Rick O'Connell is suddenly revealed to be the chosen one, even though the first film never made any mention of a prophesied chosen one, and every other character was a reincarnation of some ancient Egyptian/ninja. Same thing happened in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'', but without the Egyptian/ninjas.
* Liu Kang in ''Film/MortalKombat''.
* ''Film/HarryPotter'': The whole 'chosen one' angle is played up more here than the book. It's also pointed out that Voldemort creates a chosen one as much as the prophecy does.
* The baby boy in ''{{Film/Legion}}'' is supposed to be the second coming.
* The titular character in ''Film/TheSorcerersApprentice'' is the Prime Merlinian, a sorcerer whose potential is equal to that of Merlin himself. Like Merlin, Dave is supposed to be able to do magic without a ring (or cane in Horvath's case). However, he lacks training in order to use this power and still needs Merlin's ring at first. He's also a physics genius, which is, apparently, a side effect of him being a sorcerer, and uses a combination of science and magic to defeat the BigBad.
* Sonmi-451 in ''Film/CloudAtlas''.

* Implied in ''Film/DraculaUntold'', to be Vlad based on the Elder Vampire's comments.
-->'''Elder Vampire''': I have been waiting an eternity... For a man of your strength to arrive.

* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Katniss is treated this way by the rebellion.
* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': ''Godzilla'' appears to be this as shown in a stinger to ''Film/KongSkullIsland''. He appears to be set up as the DestructiveSavior of mankind who will oppose the AncientEvil that is King Ghidorah.
* In ''Film/LazerTeam'', Adam has spent 38 years being trained to be the Champion of Earth, chosen by Colonel Emory to wear the [[PoweredArmor Suit of Power]] that is scheduled to be delivered to Earth in 2015. Then, on the day the suit is set to arrive, a bunch of losers accidentally shoot down the spacecraft and decide to try on the different pieces of the suit, causing it to bond with them. No wonder Adam is pissed. Those four idiots have just taken away his entire life's purpose. All he can do is to try to train them to use the suit, but their sheer incompetence and inability to work together (at least, at first) only confirms to him that he is the only one, who can save Earth. [[spoiler:He changes his mind after seeing the team successfully fight off alien agents. He ends up willingly acting as their coach during the final battle and then performs a HeroicSacrifice in order to give them a chance to succeed. He [[ObiWanMoment dies in the knowledge that his purpose is finally fulfilled]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' deconstructs this trope. It initially describes the savior of the world as the 'Special' by some magical prophecy, but [[spoiler: the prophet's last words are that he made up the prophecy]], leading Emmet, the main character, to [[spoiler: sacrifice himself for others to be inspired to prevent Lord Business from carrying out his masterplan to glue the entire world together. Emmet ultimately uses the power of the same words said to him to convince Business himself that he's also worth something and doesn't need to gain superiority over others in order to feel better about himself.]]
--> '''Emmet''': [[spoiler:[[KirkSummation You don't have to be the bad guy. You are the most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the universe. And you are capable of amazing things. Because you are the Special. And so am I. And so is everyone. The prophecy is made up, but it's also true. It's about all of us. Right now, it's about you. And you... still...can change everything]].]]
** However, this also serves as a very good reconstruction. [[spoiler:Vitruvius made up the prophecy to give people hope, which it does. Emmet's sacrifice causes him to become interesting and extraordinary, and the only thing he needed to become the Chosen One out of many ordinary people was to be [[SelfFulfillingProphecy told that he was]].]]
---> '''Vitruvius''': All this is true, because it rhymes.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BoltsAndBlip,'' Blip discovers he was built by Dr. Tommy specifically to stop Dr. Blood, and that he has a secret SuperMode that he can't control very well.
* WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} is pulled into Jafar's plans because he is "the Diamond in the Rough", the only one who can enter the Cave of Wonders and reach the Genie's lamp.
* The Detention Kids from ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife''. [[spoiler:For some reason, La Muerte as Mary-Beth, tells them they're not like other kids and need to hear Manolo's story.]]
* WesternAnimation/{{Moana}} pulls a DeconReconSwitch with this. [[AMinorKidroduction The plot begins]] with Moana's grandmother telling her and her peers the myth that the sea will select a chosen one who will find [[PhysicalGod the demigod Maui]] and return the Heart of Te Fiti. This is followed almost immediately by [[GeniusLoci the sea very literally choosing her]] by offering toddler-Moana the Heart. It gets deconstructed several times throughout the film, as Moana is confused as to why she was chosen due to having no sailing experience and never been beyond the reef of her island. As a result, she constantly second-guesses her decisions and develops a huge need to prove herself. Likewise, Maui [[JerkassHasAPoint constantly mocks the notion that the Ocean would randomly choose a young girl and points out that the ocean does not have perfect judgement]]. After [[spoiler:Maui [[TenMinuteRetirement temporarily abandons the quest]] when Moana’s recklessness during the first assault on Te Kā [[WreckedWeapon cracks his fish hook]]]], Moana also gives up [[HeroicBSOD and begs the sea to choose someone else]]. Only after receiving reassurance from [[spoiler:the spirits of Gramma Tala and her ancestors]] does she realize that [[AllLovingHero her love for her people and the sea]] and the desire to save them propels her to continue as TheUnchosenOne, reconstructing this trope. However, this does NOT mean the sea's choice was meaningless: it chose Moana [[EstablishingCharacterMoment after witnessing her act of kindness of helping a baby sea turtle to the water]]. Why was this important? [[spoiler:Te Kā [[JekyllAndHyde turns out to be Te Fiti transformed by her rage at the loss of the Heart]]. Maui is vital to the quest because he has lots of monster-fighting experience and teaches Moana to wayfind, but ultimately his strength and daring is not enough to stop Te Kā; it takes Moana's kindness and empathy to realize who Te Kā actually is, then [[BadassPacifist she asks the ocean to part the water so she can calmly convince the goddess to give up her anger and allow her heart to be restored]]. The ocean may not have perfect judgement, but it recognized that the person who will restore Te Fiti's Heart needed to have compassionate qualities and decided that Moana was worth a shot.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH2TimmyToTheRescue'' it is prophesied by Nicodemus that Timothy, the younger son of Jonathan Brisby would like his father step up to protect the rats of Thorn Valley from the wrath of NIMH who seeks to destroy them and their young civilization. The rats and their allies spend the better part of their time reinforcing this notion and preparing Timothy to take up his father's place as their protector, grooming him from childhood to fulfill this vague task before eventually being forced to do battle with NIMH itself. Interestingly, such a prediction was never mentioned in the original film and created exclusively for the sequel.
* A recurring theme in ''WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}}'' movies:
** Clara is revealed to be the mythical Sugar Plum Princess in ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheNutcracker''.
** Odette from ''WesternAnimation/BarbieOfSwanLake'' has a magical destiny to save the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest from Rothbart's reign of terror.
** Elina from ''WesternAnimation/BarbieFairytopia'' has "the rainbow in her eye", which marks her for a great destiny.
** Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle'': Alexa and Liana are just two regular women who happened to stumble across Melody's mirror. Then it's played straight when the girls seek shelter in a BigFancyHouse, and the inhabitants of the manor say that a prophecy foretold Liana and Alexa's arrival, and by fate's decree it belongs to them. [[spoiler:Turns out it was a trap set by Lydia, and they really are just regular people going on this adventure because it's the right thing to do]].

* In ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', the Mystics are convinced that Jen is the prophesized Gelfling who will heal the crystal. [[spoiler:They are right]].

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', Anakin Skywalker is the Jedi's prophesied Chosen One, who will destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force, though he goes through several movies of being TheDragon before doing a HeelFaceTurn and fulfilling his destiny by [[spoiler:hurling the Emperor to his death]]. He remains extremely lucky and unusually skilled (at everything except relationships, apparently) the whole time, consistent with a standard Chosen One package. In a twist, it is strongly implied that [[spoiler:he was created by the Sith themselves using the Force, resulting in a "miraculous" birth]].

** Before the expanded universe reboot the Sith had their own Chosen One prophesy, the Sith'ari. It was originally intended to foreshadow Darth Bane in stories set before the Rule of Two was in effect, but it became something of a RunningGag that ''every'' major Sith character ''except'' Bane, including ones who lived millennia after the prophesy was fulfilled, thought it was them.

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[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

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