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Fantastic Recruitment Drive (view source)

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{{trope}}
A classic Fantasy and Science Fiction trope. A group with extraordinary powers of some sort goes recruiting among the [[Muggles|general population]], searching for [[The Force Is Strong Withwith This One|others like themselves]]. They may be from [[The Order]], or a school for [[Wizarding School|wizards, witches]] or [[Super-Hero School|gifted youngsters]].
 
Key to this trope is the fact that ''they'' come looking for ''you''. Those extra-normal folk leave their ivory tower or basement lab and go out among the rest of us. The scene may subtly juxtapose the mundane with the fantastic (e.g. [[X -Men|Prof X]] sitting in your living room, drinking Mom's tea like a college recruiter), or it may be as grandiose and dazzling as a WWII recruitment drive.
 
Note this rarely happens in a world [[The Masquerade|where the supernatural stays hidden]], and the Search is usually open and above-board. Generally being chosen is a prestigious thing; the only ones who would interfere either have a inherent distrust of all things outside the mundane, or nefarious plans of some sort.
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[Marvel Universe]] ''[[X -Men]]''. Professor X used the Cerebro computer to locate mutants so he could recruit them into his school.
 
== [[Literature]] ==
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* In the ''[[Dark Visions]]'' trilogy by LJ Smith, the Zetes Institute runs tests across the nation to find people with psychic powers.
* In ''[[The Obernewtyn Chronicles]]'', the antagonists and the protagonists both at some point seek out children with special powers, referred to as Misfits, to attend the titular Obernewtyn.
* The [[Alfred Bester]] novel ''[[The Demolished Man (Literature)|The Demolished Man]]'' contains a great scene where the Espers (telepathic people) are trying to find undiscovered Espers. There is a line of people moving through an area, and an Esper is broadcasting something along the lines of, "If you can hear this, please go through the door on your left." IIRC, only one or two people per day actually go through the door.
* In the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'', Luke does a lot of this, trying to find hidden Jedi, their descendents, and those with raw talent.
* In ''[[Harry Potter]]'', the boarding school Hogwarts selects students at birth. A magic quill takes down the names of wizard children the moment they are born.
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