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Post by Valhalla Erikson on Apr 5, 2024 22:07:31 GMT -6
Hated it. In fact it's one of the most common fantasy cliches that I'd avoid using. I much prefer a narrative where the character works at becoming a hero or savior against an evil empire. To use this trope in sports terms imagine knowing your favorite team will win the playoffs. No matter how hard their journey getting there might be eventually they'd win.
This is one of the many reasons why I liked Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series where it took that trope and flipped the script with it. Has anyone here ever done that? Subvert The Chosen One trope to make it feel less cliched?
The closest I've come was that I did a short story where The Chosen One wasn't a hero at all but a villain. In any other work of fiction he'd be The Dark Lord. Fortunately he has his share of noble traits that makes it easier to root for him.
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Post by Alatariel on Apr 6, 2024 9:53:06 GMT -6
Hated it. In fact it's one of the most common fantasy cliches that I'd avoid using. I much prefer a narrative where the character works at becoming a hero or savior against an evil empire. To use this trope in sports terms imagine knowing your favorite team will win the playoffs. No matter how hard their journey getting there might be eventually they'd win. This is one of the many reasons why I liked Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series where it took that trope and flipped the script with it. Has anyone here ever done that? Subvert The Chosen One trope to make it feel less cliched? The closest I've come was that I did a short story where The Chosen One wasn't a hero at all but a villain. In any other work of fiction he'd be The Dark Lord. Fortunately he has his share of noble traits that makes it easier to root for him. One that subverts the trope (coming out in May but I've already seen reviews on Booktok for it...) is How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying. It's about a young woman who's transported to a magical world and told by a wizard that she's "the chosen one". She tries to save the world and fails and dies. Then wakes up being told she's the chosen one by the same wizard in the same place as before...groundhog day! So this happens OVER and OVER until she says screw it, I don't want to save the world anymore. I'm going to try and destroy it by becoming the villain. Sounds REALLY fun. As for me and my stories, none of my characters are specially chosen by anyone to do anything. They all make the choice themselves to be the one to step up and try to make change. |
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Post by Valhalla Erikson on Apr 6, 2024 20:18:59 GMT -6
Hated it. In fact it's one of the most common fantasy cliches that I'd avoid using. I much prefer a narrative where the character works at becoming a hero or savior against an evil empire. To use this trope in sports terms imagine knowing your favorite team will win the playoffs. No matter how hard their journey getting there might be eventually they'd win. This is one of the many reasons why I liked Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series where it took that trope and flipped the script with it. Has anyone here ever done that? Subvert The Chosen One trope to make it feel less cliched? The closest I've come was that I did a short story where The Chosen One wasn't a hero at all but a villain. In any other work of fiction he'd be The Dark Lord. Fortunately he has his share of noble traits that makes it easier to root for him. One that subverts the trope (coming out in May but I've already seen reviews on Booktok for it...) is How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying. It's about a young woman who's transported to a magical world and told by a wizard that she's "the chosen one". She tries to save the world and fails and dies. Then wakes up being told she's the chosen one by the same wizard in the same place as before...groundhog day! So this happens OVER and OVER until she says screw it, I don't want to save the world anymore. I'm going to try and destroy it by becoming the villain. Sounds REALLY fun. As for me and my stories, none of my characters are specially chosen by anyone to do anything. They all make the choice themselves to be the one to step up and try to make change. Same with mine. I find a character chooses to become a hero a much better narrative than a prophecy saying they should be one |
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Post by saintofm on Apr 8, 2024 14:51:38 GMT -6
I think Dune Subverts it pretty well. Paul doesn't want to be the Murder Jesus, but is pushed into it as its the only way he can perceive things to not get out of hand. The Bennigeseret have been manipulating history and trying to make a self fulfilling prophesy. However he ends up coming early by a generation. Add the fact he's a Mantat, a living super computer, he can accuratly predict what will come. Combine that with the Spice and the Benigeseret training, he feels he's stuck with his Jihad.
Some other good stuff
Trope Talks Chosen One
Terrible Writing Advise Cosen One
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You add them to your profile as you do them around the forum.
