The Apprentice (trope): Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|'''[[The Obi-Wan|Obi-Wan]]''': If you spent as much time practicing your saber techniques as you did your wit, you'd rival Master Yoda as a swordsman.<br />

'''Anakin Skywalker''': I thought I already did.<br />

 

A character who is [[In Training]] for something, usually under some kind of [[Mentors|Mentor]]. Since they're still just learning, they are usually not very good, but if the show is long enough, they'll improve at least a little. Unless they're a [[Butt Monkey]]. If they're in a movie, they'll improve after a [[Training Montage]]. Sometimes have a chance of falling and becoming a villain, sometimes [[The Dragon]] or even the [[Big Bad]], and that usually causes [[Redemption Equals Death]].

And, of course, the life goal of some apprentices is to [[To Be a Master]].

 

{{examples}}

 

* [[Berserk|Schierke and Flora]]

* Shi Woon to Chun Woo in ''[[The Breaker]]''

* Mana to Mahad in ''~Yu-Gi-Oh!~''

* Yahiko in ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]''. He does progress, although rather slowly over the course of the many volumes of the manga and accompanying TV series. At the beginning of the series, Yahiko is most useful to the heroes as a thrown weapon (it happens). At the end of the series he has become a master swordsman in his own right.

 

** And again within the [[Wizards of Mickey]] comic, though to a different sorcerer

* Brutally subverted in ''[[Training Day]]'': the apprentice of the piece {{spoiler|is being set up by Denzel Washington's mentor.}}

* Mitch in ''[[Waiting]]'', who remains the [[Butt Monkey]] up until the final [[Rant-Inducing Slight]].

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* Skeeve in the [[Myth Adventures]] series.

* Merrin from the Septimus Heap series.

* ''Taran Wanderer'', book 4 in [[Lloyd Alexander]]'s [[Prydain Chronicles]]. Taran briefly becomes the apprentice of three different crafters.

* Molly Carpenter in ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. She's got talent in the finer details of magic, and like her mentor seems to have a talent for [[Made of Explodium|blowing things up]].

* Elena in ''[[Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms|The Fairy Godmother]]'' by [[Mercedes Lackey]] ends up apprenticed to, well, a fairy godmother. Comparatively little of the book is actually devoted to her apprenticeship, however; the plot doesn't really kick in until the job has officially been handed over to her.

* ''Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell'' begins with the eponymous Strange wishing to learn under the tutelage of the eponymous Norrell.

* Katherine in ''[[Swordspoint|The Privilege of the Sword]]'', and possibly Michael Godwin as well.

* In ''[[The Pillars of the Earth]]'' by Ken Follet, Alfred and {{spoiler|Jack later on}} are Mason apprentices under Tom Builder

* The protagonist of the ''[[Rivers of London]]'' series of books, Inspector Peter Grant, is a fully qualified policeman as of the first book, but also an apprentice wizard indentured to Detective Chief Inspector Nightingale. There used to be a [[Wizarding School]] but the birthrate of people who could use magic dropped making it unsustainable {{spoiler|that and most of the people who would've been able to teach magic were killed during World War II.}}

 

== [[Tabletop RPG]] ==

* In early editions of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' it was customary for mages/wizards to learn by becoming apprentices of established mages/wizards. A number of wizard/apprentice relationships appeared in the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting. For example, Elminster has had many apprentices over his long life span (hundreds of years).

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Luke from the [[Professor Layton]] series, though interestingly, Luke claims to be his apprentice, and Layton denies it (while letting Luke follow him around and teaching him things).

* Starkiller from ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'', to the extent that [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Everyone Calls Him The Apprentice.]]

* The apprentice warmage from ''[[Orcs Must Die]]''.