Birthmark of Destiny/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A birthmark marks a character as special in some way, possibly as The Chosen One.

  • Straight: Susie has a birthmark on her arm in the shape of a sun, meaning she's The Chosen One.
  • Exaggerated: Susie has an enormous and unsubtle birthmark over much of her face and neck, which just so happens to be sun-shaped if you look at the whole thing.
  • Justified: Susie's mother was visited during her pregnancy by a supernatural force that blessed her unborn daughter with magical powers.
  • Inverted:
  • Subverted: Initially, due to her birthmark, The Call thought Susie was The Chosen One, but The Call Dialled A Wrong Number and she's actually just an ordinary person.
  • Double Subverted: ...But The Call was wrong again, and as it turns out, Susie has a second birthmark which is the correct marker.
  • Parodied: Susie's birthmark is in an embarrassing place, such as on her behind, or incredibly tiny, such as a small mark between her toes.
  • Deconstructed: Due to the association of birthmarks with special powers, people with large or visible birthmarks are ostracized and are poorly treated by society.
  • Reconstructed: ...But after Susie defeats the Big Bad, she sets an example for the populace and gives them a lecture or two about prejudice.
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted:
  • Enforced: ???
  • Lampshaded: "Well, I was born with a birthmark in the shape of a SUN. Obviously, I was destined for something."
  • Invoked: The Call assumes he must be looking for someone with a birthmark because of this.
  • Exploited: A deceptive mentor uses this as proof that someone is The Chosen One, when in reality, he's just trying to manipulate that person for his own gain.
  • Defied: Despite having a sun-shaped birthmark that clearly seems "special," Susie is determined to refuse the call and live a normal life.
  • Discussed: Susie and her friends wonder if their birthmarks mean anything, beside the fact that they have skin anomalies.
  • Conversed: ???

Hmm, is that the Birthmark of Destiny on your arm?