: Re: 'The Chosen One' paradox In many books novels or other forms of fictional writing, the reader is introduced to a so called 'chosen one'. This character or being is of higher power or in general,

@Fox6458700

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I see this more as a response to being "The Chosen One" rather than actually whether or not the character is the chosen one. What you pretty much always see is that the Chosen one is named, declared or defined so by outside forces. Take the obvious example of Harry Potter. The only reason he was the chosen one, as it were, is because the prophecy said it could have been him, so Voldemort made it him by saying "it must be you who is destined to bring me down" and everything else that happened is a direct result of his decision to make Harry his target.

Essentially, in most iterations of the chosen one concept, the chooser is not the character themselves. They show themselves worthy or not of the title through their actions, and whether they accept it or no, but essentially, be it prophecy or be it Greater Powers (interchangeable in this context,) they have no control over whether or not they are.

This is why it's not really a paradox most of the time. They are not the chosen one by their actions. Being the chosen one does not make them succeed. They would still have been the chosen one had they not overcome this challenge. If they have the same skills, they would have overcome the challenge if they weren't the chosen one. Mostly where the "won because you were worthy or worthy because you won" paradox occurs, it is deliberately invoked for ambiguity and drama (mostly they are explicit one way or the other.)

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