Cmon I’m not the only one who’s tired of the “the chosen one” trope, nor am I the only one who’s ever attempted a crusade to combat the concept. I don’t hate it, there have been plenty of awesome chosen one characters in all kinds of fiction, as well as characters who also oppose the chosen one concept as well.

Right now, I’m just trying to devise my own unique attempt at challenging the concept. I had scrapped 99% of a previous work and started rebuilding from ground zero. Consider Avatar the Last Airbender, specifically the idea of someone being THE avatar (as a concept rather than the role itself). My mc rolls into the scene. A young pirate who’s determined to be the so called SPECIAL, a two step goal, one being to claim the title of the chosen one, and then streamlining all the way to accomplishing this secondary goal (yea this is just structural stuff, nothing cemented in yet given I’m rebuilding from nothing). Less than halfway through, my mc has it all. Majority of the main cast together, one city away from the place where the special is supposed to be found. Only to be blindsided with breaking news broadcasted to around the world. The special has finally been revealed.

The outline progresses to reveal that this special, similar to the Avatar from ATLA was not chosen at a whim, but determined at birth based on thousands of determining factors. This was no accident, and there was never going to be a chance for the mc to achieve that first goal. Coming to terms that they had invested hope in the wrong thing and trying to regain balance in their life. During the recovery process another sideline introduces itself into the plot, the previous special, the alleged “first” chosen one. Who makes a fool out of the current chosen one, who is supposed to be this new god-like figure in the world. This event is an attempt to shatter the idea that the chosen one can fulfill the destiny chosen for them, and to show that at least one other chosen one was given this false hope and experienced the crushing failure, the weight of loss, having all the people idolizing them demonizing them. My mc witnessing this and using it to jump off into a new path understanding that no destiny is set in stone no matter what. This is where my outline has it a bit of a roadblock but to be fair I came up with this last night baked outta my fucking mind 😂

So what do you think? Any advice? Any critiques? Any questions? I’m open to anything!