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Someone Has to Do It: Difference between revisions
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Usually, the job comes with exemption from aging and death by natural causes -- although exemption from death by violence may or may not be thrown in. It is often the case that being killed is the only way to leave the job, [[You Kill It, You Bought It|with the killer being drafted to fill the vacancy]].
The job itself is often something of a supernatural nature, such as guiding the souls of the departed into the Afterlife, but not always. [[Sealed Evil in
Compare to [[There Can Be Only One]]. See also [[Subbing for Santa]] and [[Klingon Scientists Get No Respect]].
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* In ''Fallen Angel'', the city of Bete Noire always has to have a Magistrate, as well as several other necessary positions. Doctor Juris seeks to escape his position as magistrate by handing it over to his successor, {{spoiler|his first-born son, descendant of Cain}} so he can leave Bete Noire forever.
* In the [[Marvel Universe]] Captain Marvel, the hero goes cuckoo banannas and eventually, with the help of the personification of Entropy, ends the universe. Rick Jones, also somehow existing, persuades Entropy to become the personifcation of Eternity, a long-established entity within the Marvel Universe. The universe, such as it is, reboots.
* Similarly, [[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]] is only the latest in a long line of "flushers," tasked with guarding a [[Sealed Evil in
== Film ==
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* The [[Doctor Who]] serial, ''The Keeper of Traken'', involved a planet where someone had to sit in a control chair to keep the planet running smoothly.
* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', "into every generation a [[Chosen One|Slayer]] is born." A girl, [[Because Destiny Says So|chosen]] from {{spoiler|about 1800 Potential Slayers}} is selected to fight [[The Legions of Hell|demonic forces]] in order to prevent [[The End of the World
** Subverted twice in the series: once when Buffy dies [[Because Destiny Says So]], only to come [[Back From the Dead]] with a little CPR (which means now there are ''two'' Slayers) and once at the end of the series, when {{spoiler|''every'' Potential is activated simultaneously through a spell}}.
* In ''The Lost Room'', the Prime Object aka The Occupant is a person, just as indestructible outside of the titular room as the other Objects. The only way for him to stop being the Occupant is to enter the room and have someone kill him, at which point [[You Kill It, You Bought It|they become the new Occupant]].
* In the ''[[Tales
* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]''
** TOS episode "A Game of Pool". After his death, Fats Brown has to show up and play a game of pool - to the death - against anyone who wants to prove he's the best pool player ever. When someone finally beats him, Fats is released, and the guy who beat him takes over.
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** In the classic TZ episode "Paladin of the Lost Hour", an old man carried a watch that was stopped at 11 o'clock with him at all times. He needed to find someone who would accept the watch before he died; otherwise the watch would start working again and {{spoiler|Doomsday would happen at 12 o'clock}}.
* ''[[Lost]]'': In Across the Sea, Mother implies that someone has to act as protector of the Island. Later, when Jacob is killed before a new protector is chosen, Jacob sticks around as a ghost until {{spoiler|Jack}} takes the job.
* Subverted in [[Star Trek: Voyager]] on a couple of occasions when the crew runs into waste disposal ships. While the aliens claim this is their situation, Janeway openly critiques them, suggesting that they simply aren't trying hard enough to come up with better options. She's proven right in one instance, where Voyager actually gives the alien technology that would render their current waste disposal methods unnecessary. But the alien decides he won't use this technology since it would ruin his profit margins in the waste disposal business (We'll ignore for the moment the lucrative business opportunity he could exploit by [[You Fail Economics Forever|patenting this technology]]).
== Tabletop Games ==
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* In one of the endings of ''[[Princess Maker]] 2'', you discover that the post of [[Satan]] passes on to the most fitting mortal should the Lord of Darkness himself ever die. Unfortunately, you only find it out when your daughter kills him and assumes the title.
* Overlordhood in the [[Nippon Ichi]] universe seems to work that way -- the only ex-overlords present {{spoiler|are Kricheschkoy and Xenon -- overlords who ''specifically'' died and reincarnated themselves in order to stop being overlords.}}
* The Nameless One in [[Planescape: Torment]] can find the Silent King of the Dead Nations completely dead. He can be replaced, but a new King would have to be someone still alive, and that person will be bound to the Throne. If the Nameless One chooses to do it, it's a [[Nonstandard Game Over]].
* The [[Fall From Heaven]] backstory has this typically happening with gods and particular elements of creation (represented in game by the different magic types.)
* A rare sci-fi example comes in the form of the Shadow Broker of ''Mass Effect.'' The Broker deals in trading secrets and information to high and low profile clients. He's been in power for so long, traded so many secrets, and has so many pan-galactic governments playing his game, all of civilization on a galactic scale would unravel like a tapestry without the Broker weaving secrets through societies. {{spoiler|The current Shadow Broker is your former teammate Liara T'soni. Who killed her predecessor with your help, and even the one you killed was not the original broker.}}
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== Western Animation ==
* In an episode of ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* In an episode of the ''[[Jumanji]]'' animated series, Alan and the kids finally manage to (apparently) kill [[Egomaniac Hunter]] Van Pelt by luring him into a [[Bottomless Pit]]. However, Peter ends up transforming into a miniature version of Van Pelt since, according to the latter, "There must always be a Van Pelt. It's the rules of the game." After turning Peter back, the original Van Pelt manages to climb out of the pit somehow, resuming his old job.
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