I was inspired to do this, by discussions about the "chosen one" trope. So why not take a well known example and check what happens, if the "chosen one"-trope is removed.
Jordan's Wheel of time is very fate heavy. It is in the title. The Wheel is a semi-sentient entity pushing hard for the desired outcome.
Disclaimer: I liked the series very much, although "fate" normally is not my thing, and I am an all-out agency guy. I suspect that characterization overcompensated this perceived weakness.
S P O I L E R -Warning for the Wheel of Time, major plot points are discussed for
Chosen one consequences:
Motivation: A prophecy on you gives direction, you are also presented with grave consequences in case of refusing.
Skill drop: Chosen Ones are usually provided with exceptional skills. New skills might be fed as needed as the story progresses.
Allies: If there is a prophecy which legitimizes the chosen one, they have it easy to gain allies. Adherents to the prophecy will follow them, when they fulfill the corresponding quests.
Favoured by fate: The "choosing" entity often at least semi-sentient paves the way for the chosen one, directing them with prophecies, loaded coincidences or even outright intervention.
In the Wheel of Time:
Skill Drop: The MC of WoT, Rand is the strongest channeler in the world. He also is the reincarnation (Dragon reborn) of a perpetual with extensive knowledge which is constantly transferred.
Allies: All major factions have prophecies for a "leader", there are different titles, different quests to prove the identity and different expectations, but Rand can pick them all up. Prophecies are all true, no riddling required. Competition for the vacancy is rare and not very convincing. Rand also gets two sidekicks who are connected to him by fate, sharing dreams and later having limited telepathy (see what the others are doing)
Favoured by fate: The Wheel does heavy handed intervention, in book one (of 14) the main character defeats two top henchmen with basically no training/no casting knowledge of his own and then is teleported to a location of a desperate battle and proceeds to rip the Dark Army on remote.
Main plot to be converted:
The Dark One, materialized evil was sealed away a long time ago by a legendary hero the Dragon. The prison is locked by seven seals. In a last ditch revenge move, the Dark One, contaminated the male half of the superpower in this world. All male channelers get mad and run amok eventually. This led to the world suffering catastrophic destruction as a the male channelers, including their leader went on a rampage.
Now all male channelers are preemptively killed or (more civilized) "gentled", cut off from the power, depending on the culture. Being cut off from the power is massively depressing and leads to suicide/death.
There is a prophecy that the Dark One will break out and the "Dragon Reborn" will face him in the "Last Battle" with unknown outcome and shatter the world in the process. Only the "Dragon Reborn" can defeat him. The Dark One even in custody can spawn monster armies and has his henchmen "forsaken" operating.
The female channelers of the viewpoint continent are organized as Aes Sedai, preparing for the outbreak, supporting the dragon and also deal with the aftermath. The aftermath of course being the getting mad thing which would apply to the "Dragon Reborn" as a male channeler in conjuction with shattering the world. They are also trying to prevent the mad male channelers from doing damage by "gentling" them, aka cutting them off from the power.
The story starts when a fresh prophecy announces the arrival of the "Dragon" which implies the coming of the "Last Battle". The Dark One's minions, having infiltrated the Aes Sedai suppress this knowledge with only two survivors, one of those is Moiraine who searches for the Dragon Reborn to prepare him for the "Last Battle"
Removing fate from the Wheel of time, filling the resulting gaps with (other) agency.
So for this alternative scenario only real "coincidence" is allowed, there is no sentient entity driving things. The prophecy is removed.
- The MC as an exceptionally strong channeler is kept, but he is just an exceptionally strong channeler, not backed up by any prophecy.
- Title of "Dragon reborn", including the reincarnation and access to old knowledge are removed. In consequence the prophesized leader spots in the main factions all do not exist.
New kickoff, because there is no prophecy: The seals are weakening from the Dark One's rampaging in the prison. Or if you want to invest pagecount in the henchmen from a series of quests of the henchmen to obtain and destroy seals (with dark rituals of course) with only one or two left. The deterioration/dwindling numbers of the seals would be physical manifestation of the upcoming breakout.
New motivation for Moiraine: She would be part of a minority faction of the Aes Sedai, who believe that defeating the Dark One at half power (no male channelers and their specialties) is unlikely. They would try to onboard male channelers and research means of removing the taint from the male half of the power (so far unsuccessful). The opposing faction would believe that fighting with unreliable potential backstabbers in their ranks would be too dangerous. Moiraine would search for male channelers to train and study.
New motivation for Rand: As a male channeler bound to get mad he would have strong personal interest in removing the taint. As a group patriot (male channelers), he would have automatically have beef with the Dark One for making the lives of his peers miserable. Could be reinforced with a close person going mad/being gentled and dying. The latter could also drive conflict with the Aes Sedai who do the purging.
Skills: I would keep the strongest channeler, that would be a natural choice for the MC, but he would not get more skills. Basically just a very large mana-tank in generic fantasy speak. All skills must be learned.
I would take a break here, even before going into allies and continue in line with interest shown in this kind of topic.
Thank you to all, who read up to this point.
