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Q&A '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, of different nature than ot...

5 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by user32730‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:38:07Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/38331
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar user32730‭ · 2019-12-08T09:38:07Z (almost 5 years ago)
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, of different nature than other characters.

To be more precise - my question is about the making or formation of said 'chosen one'.

In my experience, being the 'chosen one' is often related to a certain event in which the 'chosen one' overcame a certain enemy or challenge in which most other characters would have perished/not succeeded.

In this specific event, I see a paradox: Did the character overcome the enemy/succeed in the challenge **because** he is the chosen one - or did he **become** the chosen one by overcoming the enemy/succeeding in his task.

How can I approach this paradox in a fictional story that has a 'chosen one' as the main character?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-08-15T11:15:19Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 47