Top 10 Chosen Ones
I really think ‘Chosen One’ is my favorite character archetype. There’s just something so cool to me about a character being destined for greatness or some great calling. After all, I do love Destinie. So in this list I’m going to highlight 10 of the best Chosen Ones. I’ll be keeping this to Chosen Ones from movies, so some of my favorite characters like Percy Jackson & Avatar Aang will be excluded. I am only touching on characters that are actually designated as the Chosen One, not just a character who falls into greatness accidentally, think Frodo Baggins. Finally there needs to be some prophecy or something stating that a Chosen One was coming, which excludes the likes of Superman or Katniss Everdeen, who make a savior level impact, but aren’t necessarily predicted to be coming.
Harry Potter - The greatest Chosen One in any fictional medium and I won’t hear an argument otherwise. I guess this is my opportunity to give a spoiler warning for all the entries on this list because we don’t initially know that Harry is the Chosen One. In both the books & movies (& presumably the upcoming TV Series) we learn in Order of the Phoenix that there was a prophecy told to Albus Dumbledore about the one with the power to vanquish Voldemort. Interestingly enough, we also learn that the prophecy states it could be one of two boys (Harry or Neville Longbottom) & Voldemort attacking the Potters is what marked Harry as the Chosen One. One of my favorite movie additions not included in the book series is when Harry jokes to Hermione ‘Well… I am the chosen one.” Love that dude HP.
Neo - Thomas Anderson starts as a computer programmer/hacker in the ‘real world’ before learning that the world as he knew it was a simulation as he learns about The Matrix. Anderson, known as Neo, also learns that he is The One destined to end the war between man & machine and can manipulate The Matrix at his will. And then he does a bunch of cool stuff for four movies (though the stuff gets less cool as the series goes on).
Po - The lovable panda voiced by Jack Black, Po really stumbles into being the Dragon Warrior, a prophesied hero who is said to be able to read the Dragon scroll and presumably keep peace in the Valley of Peace. The wise Master Shifu has been diligently training the legendary warriors known as the Furious Five, Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper, & Mantis, with everyone assuming one of them will be named the Dragon Warrior. But Po accidentally interrupts the ceremony and is named the Dragon Warrior by Grand Master Oogway. Fighting an uphill, underdog battle Po does eventually prove himself as the worthy Dragon Warrior.
Emmett Brickowski - In this fun animated film, the wizard Vitruvius prophecies that a person known as ‘The Special’ will find the Piece of Resistance, the only thing capable of stopping the super weapon known as the Kragle (which is really just a bottle of Krazy Glue). Pretty wacky. What’s wackier is that of all the great master builders: including the tech savvy Wyldstyle, tough robot pirate Metalbeard, upbeat Princess Unikitty, spaceship-obsessed Benny, and literally Abe Lincoln & Batman, none of them are the Special. But instead an extremely normal construction worker who seemingly has nothing special about him.
Moana - The only female on this list (and one of the few female Chosen Ones I’m aware of across media), Moana is chosen by the ocean itself to be the one to travel across the ocean to return the Heart of Te Fiti to stop Te Ka’s darkness from spreading. Moana teams up with Maui, the demigod who originally stole the heart and proves that the ocean made the correct choice. She ends the spreading of the darkness which stops the blight that was on her home island, while also bringing back wayfinding to her people.
John Connor - John Connor stands out from the others on this list because we actually don’t really meet him in the original film, ‘The Terminator.’ Arnold’s titular killer robot is sent back in time from the future to kill the mother of John Connor, Sarah Connor, as Connor was the one who would lead the resistance in the coming years. You could argue that John maybe wasn’t a chosen one, but I’d say that Skynet targeting him, failing to kill him, and setting up the events of what’s to come would qualify him for this list. If you disagree with me, you can start yelling at your screen now.
Chandler Jarrell - The only name on here that may not be a standout, or even mostly household, name. Jarrell is the lead character, played by Eddie Murphy, in ‘The Golden Child,’ for which the tagline literally reads ‘Eddie Murphy is the Chosen One.’ Jarrell is a social worker in LA who learns of his Chosen One status & that he is now destined to save the titular Golden Child, a mystical young Tibetan boy who is said to be destined to save the world.
Arthur Pendragon - I guess I’ll go with the version from Disney’s 1963 film, ‘The Sword in the Stone.’ King Arthur is, of course, more famous outside of the film world and more as a legendary historical figure. But he has made a ton of film appearances, which almost always include Arthur’s origin story of pulling the legendary sword, Excalibur, from the rock it’s lodged in, with the person who does so being named the king.
Paul Atreides - In the world of Dune, all lineage is meticulously planned by the Bene Gesserit with the ultimate goal of creating the Kwisatz Haderach, a male offspring with the powers of all female Bene Gesserit, who would be able to bridge time and space by knowing everything that has ever happened or will ever happen. This figure will be thrust on the known universe as a messiah of sorts. What the Bene Gesserit did not plan for however, was Paul Atreides, who ended up being the one that was foretold. I won’t spoil the events of next year’s ‘Dune’ film, based on the novel ‘Dune: Messiah,’ but let’s just say that Paul is more of an atypical messiah. He takes control of the empire & bends everyone to his will, reluctantly becoming the antagonist of his own story. Paul is one of the few Chosen Ones who does a lot of bad & one of the best examples of when the Chosen One averts the positive expectations. And perhaps the best example, other than maybe…
Anakin Skywalker - Listen. Some people like to make an argument that Luke or Rey are really the Chosen Ones in the Star Wars story. Those people are wrong. Anakin is the Chosen One and that’s a hard fact. Yes, he does go down the path of the dark side, but he’s the Chosen One nonetheless. He does come back to the light at the end of his life (though his final turn definitely does not redeem his decades of evil doing) & is the one that brings the balance to the force. Whatever that means.
