Frodo, Buffy, and Why I Intend to Move Away From the Chosen One

Photo by Anh Henry Nguyen on Unsplash

It’s a staple of western literature.

Luke, the farm boy, is driven to heroism by the death of his family, turns out to be the bad guy’s son. He’s the hero because The Force Says So.

Frodo, our hobbit friend, inherits heroism from an uncle who was a hero because Gandalf Said So. (It really is all Gandalf’s fault).

Buffy is the one girl in each generation.

Superman is the guy with the powers. Spider-Man is the hero because The Radioactive Spider Says So.

It’s so embedded in our way of storytelling that we can’t escape it. Arthur was the hero because The Sword Said So.

Either our heroes are chosen by some kind of external power…whether it’s the field that holds the universe together, a powerful wizard or…a spider. Or they are Driven To Heroism by hardship.

In Luke Skywalker’s case it’s both.

Frodo and Sam

I recently read a social media post that made this argument, and I think quite legitimately.

The protagonist of Lord of the Rings isn’t Frodo.

It’s Sam.

It’s Samwise Gamgee.