7 Best Fantasy Series Featuring a Chosen One Hero

The Wheel of Time series doesn’t just use the Chosen One trope; it engraves it in stone, lights it on fire, and spends 14 epic-sized books watching the flames spread.

Rand al’Thor is the Dragon Reborn, a reincarnation of Lews Therin Telamon, the ancient hero who saved the world from the Evil One, and then went mad and nearly burned it all down in the process. His story has all my favorite classic Chosen One details: a humble beginning from a tiny village, a secret and surprise lineage, a great big prophecy that follows him wherever he goes, and all the symbols proclaiming his destiny (that heron-marked sword still lives rent-free in my head).

It’s one of the best examples of the Chosen One trope done in a classic execution, and a series I recommend every fantasy lover reads at least once.  

The Fionavar Tapestry draws flavors from Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia, with a bit of enchanting Arthurian legend blended in for good measure. We’re introduced to five young people from Earth, each of which is a “Chosen One” in their own special way.

I loved following along on the epic—often terribly dark—journeys that each of our five heroes goes on, and this series shocked me time and again in all the best ways. If you like fantasy woven with myth and prophecy, with a classic feel and poetic prose (the hallmark of any Guy Gavriel Kay novel), this whole series deserves a place on your TBR.

John Gwynne used the Chosen One trope in one of the most interesting ways I’ve yet to find: he introduces us to a prophecy talking about two heroes, one who will bring destruction and the other who will bring light, then introduces us to two men who could be either.

I loved how I spent the first three books trying to figure out which was which, and how our main hero (Corban) could still be the hero even if he was the chosen of darkness. And when we finally got our answer, it was as satisfying and clever as I had hoped.

The entire The Faithful and the Fallen series is peak epic fantasy with a coming-of-age storyline that grows into a blood-drenched, action-packed, gut-wrenching saga I absolutely adored. 

Of Blood and Fire uses the Chosen One trope in a way that is instantly familiar, but slowly shifts and evolves over time to become a much more modern take on the old classic. Calen Bryer finds himself marked as a Draleid, destined to be a dragon rider and an elite warrior who will one day save the world. But just because he’s the Chosen One, that doesn’t make his journey easy or his future guaranteed. He’s got a lot of hardship to survive on the path, and will struggle for every step forward. Thanks to its very grounded progression and growth that feels earned, it feels fresh while remaining true to the spirit of the trope.

Eragon gives us a great big mouthful of Chosen One juice by introducing us to a farmboy who finds the first dragon egg to hatch in decades, thus becoming the first Dragon Rider. Things just tend to fall into place for him: he can speak ancient, forgotten languages with almost magical ease, he’s got himself a special elf-forged sword, and you just know that secret, dark legacy of his is going to be quite the dramatic reveal (a la Star Wars). 

Furyborn followed a similar route to The Faithful and the Fallen, giving us two characters who could be the Chosen One (Two queens will rise) and letting us spend the series trying to figure out which of our two POV characters are the “one of blood” and which the “one of light”.

The dual timelines is a unique and highly effective storytelling method that lets us follow along on both of their journeys and see how they become the queens of destiny. Best of all, it leaves you questioning if the prophecy is even right, or if these characters can defy expectations. 

The Licanius Saga set my expectations pretty early on when it introduced us to Davian, a character who is as “Chosen One” as I have ever read. And then it started getting sneaky! Oh, sure, there’s all the classics—an ancient prophecy, magical boundaries weakening, and dark forces threatening to unleash evil on the world—but I quickly learned that was just the skin of it, and what hid beneath was definitely intriguing.

The series plays with time travel, with the fickleness of memory, the ability to choose good even after doing evil, the struggle between fate and free will, all steeped in my favorite flavor of moral ambiguity. It’s a very complex, slow-burn series that I recommend for anyone who loves a good Chosen One storyline.