No More Chosen One, PLEASE!

[Zovesta]

Me? Nah, I don't normally read that type. Too Many Curses is good, but she sort of falls into your category of your "Self Chosen" CO.

[crazywargod]

Me? Nah, I don't normally read that type. Too Many Curses is good, but she sort of falls into your category of your "Self Chosen" CO.

Go google

 

Seems interesting. I will have to read it when I get a chance.

[Zovesta]

Yeah, it's my favorite book. >_>

[darkangel787]

O.o you guys lost me with your mass debate posting.

 

 

No matter what, HP will be my favorite series <3

[Kazeko]

HMM.

I suppose you are right about the chosen one being too overdone, but you have to remember Frodo and Sam did walk RIGHT INTO FREAKING MORDOR WHERE BOROMIR SAYS "ONE CAN'T JUST WALK INTO MORDOR"

I found this ironic.

 

But you know that seems reasonable. he doesn't use any sort of superpower to get there...

They didn't walk right into Mordor; they snuck in through a back gate that barely anyone knew about. The ones who did know about it didn't think much of it, because it was guarded by a giant hellspider who would be only to happy to omnomnom on anyone who tried to get by her.

 

More on-topic, I'm writing a story currently. The MC isn't all that special, actually, except she has an apostrophe in her name, but everyone has an apostrophe in their name (AU fantasy, don't ask). And she can turn into a lizard anthro, but that's not a unique power or even one she was born with--she joined the army, and this was done to her because she was female and joined the army (females are more receptive to the treatment than males). It barely even qualifies as uncommon. And it makes for a ****tastic life if you manage to survive and leave the army, because the Changelings (is what the army-animal-people are called) are despised by the general populace.

 

So... yeah. -cough- No Chosen One-ing there.

Edited September 5, 2010 by Kazeko

[Zovesta]

 

It was too tempting.

[DragonNighthowler]

Hum... I enjoyed the Legend of Huma, although I'm not sure this is really its title in english .

 

As for other CO like books. The Mystic Warrior was good too, if you skip the part about the goblin world which was rather boring, and the whole stupid fairy world. To be honest, the human world was great, and I never quiet got the ending, but... oh well.

 

I believe a good worked out CO character can make a nice story. It's just most of the time, CO characters fall too much in the Stu type.

Harry, not the character, but the story itself, was well worked out. The character evolved to become a pest to read about, and I found secondaries to be far more interesting, and the reason I kept reading.

 

The whole point, whatever, is I believe they are way overdone. I don't need a massive evil that's threatening the world, and a super hero that'll come save it because he's sooooo cool, specially when it all kind of falls into feeble logic. There is this bad guy, in this secret base the hero happens to find. What's keeping them from calling the US government, telling where the baddie is, and send a bomber plane with a nuclear bomb?

 

In The Dresden Files, you have a normal guy (as normal a mage can be), going through some adventures. It works amazing!

No super evil, no chosen one, no nothing. Just your mage guy, who happens to fight the paranormal.

We need more books like those.

[Zovesta]

I'll pick up both of those at the library.

 

Oh, a good Chosen One book: In The Company of Ogres. It helps, though, that it was written by my favorite author. The CO is a complete and utter loser, and the characters are fun. It's VERY crude, though.

[Kazeko]

World-destroying evils are overdone and rather illogical. I mean, does it ever cross these villains' minds that they just so happen to live on this world they're destroying, and will be just as screwed as everyone else when their plan works? Unless you're using an interstellar sci-fi setting. Even then... :/ Bleah.

 

I prefer not to CO or ubervillain in my stories--one is a bit CO, but it's not "because you were the only one who could do it"; it's "because you just happened to be the most convenient person at the time, now go do what we want you to do." The character is mostly "D: But I don't want to!"

 

"OH WELL. DO IT OR WE WILL EAT YOUR FAEC." (Mythical creatures. Long story.)

[DragonNighthowler]

Agreed Kazeko. World destroying evil are just stupid. Even if the evil plan of evil guy is simply conquering the world... well, it's not THAT easy, you see? You've got nearly 200 countries, and over 1000 nationalities that are willing to rip off your backside if you attempt to conquer them.

 

A bit of basic Geopolitics, please?

[lightbird]

I apologise but question not about HP but

 

 

Are there any CO books you like and or would recomend?

Mm, Robin Hobb's The Farseer and The Tawny Man trilogies are very good, about a royal assassin and a White Prophet, whose chosen "Catalyst" the main hero is. Until this thread I didn't realize that FitzChivalry was somewhat a CO, even if a very untypical one. Goes to show you that those are very good books.

 

Oh, Soldier's Son books by the same author, too. In those, a young military student gets marked by a forest deity (while on a shamanic journey) as the only one who can bring peace between some 19th-century-ish (technology-wise) people and forest folk. This trilogy was very good because of the concept that magic can find its way to make a person do what he/she is destined to do at the expense of ruining their families/good reputation/life, if they're not bidding its call.

Edited September 5, 2010 by lightbird

[Zovesta]

I prefer not to CO or ubervillain in my stories--one is a bit CO, but it's not "because you were the only one who could do it"; it's "because you just happened to be the most convenient person at the time, now go do what we want you to do." The character is mostly "D: But I don't want to!"

 

"OH WELL. DO IT OR WE WILL EAT YOUR FAEC." (Mythical creatures. Long story.)

Uhm. Wow. That is EXACTLY how my one story goes. o_o I mean EXACTLY. To a T. That's insane.

[DragonNighthowler]

Isn't Wheel of Time about CO too?

 

I never got past the first book due to lack of money, and since I began reading other things and kind of forgot about it . (ugh... 20 something books, each of them at 25 euros, was a LOT of money).

[lightbird]

I think, yes. Also only read the first book some 3 years ago. It wasn't that interesting for me to continue with.

[DragonNighthowler]

I just kind of finnished the sketch for my second book of a saga I'm on, and there is this part where this main character is fighting off a dragon. There is this moment of clarividence where he realizes that, no matter how powerful he is (as he is a powerful mage), he is a single man and can't change the world.

 

He is a fighter for this country and they are at war with another three countries. They are loosing the war, which kind of makes him decide it's not worth dying and leaving his wife and children orphans, for an ideal.

 

Eventually they do loose the war, so...

[Kazeko]

Agreed Kazeko. World destroying evil are just stupid. Even if the evil plan of evil guy is simply conquering the world... well, it's not THAT easy, you see? You've got nearly 200 countries, and over 1000 nationalities that are willing to rip off your backside if you attempt to conquer them.

 

A bit of basic Geopolitics, please?

Well, I've always thought that the best way to rule the world would be to do it undercover, rather than suicidal one-country-at-a-time frontal assault. Get operatives, work them into positions of power, then when you get the chance, stage a coup.

 

And let people keep their cultures. Nothing pisses people off so much as suppressing their cultures. It's pretty much suicide for anyone in control. The more of the status quo you keep, the better.

 

I've been hypothesizing for a while about a book with a world-ruler-aspirant antagonist, who, if given the chance, would actually do a good job as the ruler of the world.

[DragonNighthowler]

Sounds like a great idea for a book.

 

Your plan could work, but it is still very, very hard to manage. You have to take in account the whole international legislation (if you're placing it in today's world), the fact that the UN will eventually realize and go after whichever country is threatening world order.

 

I worked this fact a bit in my novels (although they're not placed in the real world), how the alteration of the status quo managed to anger countries and international organizations to the point war exploded, even when the ruler in question was making an amazing job in his country.

 

 

[crazywargod]

There is, not a book but you could use the idea in one, a game UBER villain that wants to destroy the world because he is going to die so he plans to take the world with him. So rather selfish and stupid the reason is pretty understandable. You can have the destroy the world thing but you must have a reason besides, I want to and it has to fit the character doing it. That kind of plot I see with a self-hating or depressed type character. I wouldn't see it with a greed bound character after money unless it was ,sci-fi, but they would be killing themselves so it really isn't the evil plot you should use often. While taking over the world is pretty stupid too it is a much better plan then world destruction. IMO

 

I want to write but

1)Spelling and grammar are bad

2)PS3 character limit would give a paragraph or 2 at most before cutting me off.

3)I have limits. I could probably start a story but run out of things too keep it going. Since I have never tried I don't know that I would run out for sure.

 

PS3 limit now*

[DragonNighthowler]

Isn't that FF IX plot?

 

Been years since I last played it.

[crazywargod]

Isn't that FF IX plot?

 

Been years since I last played it.

Yes it is. I don't know if you would call it CO but it was a good game.

[Kazeko]

A lot of RPG-style videogames are CO, just because of their nature--i.e., single protagonist (the player) as the hero.

[Kamak]

And yes, it was random. The egg only opens for whoever the hatchling desires (not a chosen one, that has nothing to do). It was random that the egg landed at Eragon's feet, and it was random that Saphira opened to him. As far as we know, she could have hatched for Roran, or even Sloan.

 

It's surprising that you can claim that CWG is interpreting Harry to not be a Chosen One, yet you ignore your own basis for argument for Eragon. Regardless of the circumstance, Saphira CHOSE Eragon. This makes him a Chosen One. It's a pretty cut and dry example.

 

I've been ignoring this topic since the same points were being made on both sides... but this just struck me as odd.

 

-K-

[Kazeko]

Eragon hardly counts, given as it's Star Wars in a Tolkien fantasy setting, with a touch of Pern on the side. I don't think there's a single original idea in those books.

[crazywargod]

Eragon hardly counts, given as it's Star Wars in a Tolkien fantasy setting, with a touch of Pern on the side. I don't think there's a single original idea in those books.

That is all very true but Eragon, even if not original in the least, is STILL a different story then star wars by far far away and is still very different from pern.

[DragonNighthowler]

Erm... no it isn't. Eragon is a complete rip off Star Wars from page 1. The only thing that changes is the setting, which is medieval.

 

http://everything2.com/title/Comparisons+b...n+and+Star+Wars