Tropes are those things we love to hate. No matter what genre you write or watch, you will be able to identify certain tropes that occur time and again. Some become so cliche that they’re corny. Others connect with the audience or become a guilty pleasure. There are some we love and there are some we hate, but tropes are necessary to find the right audience for a work.
Let’s talk about what a trope is. A trope is a literary device that occurs in a number of works to explore a certain concept within that work. The author can use a trope to connect with readers, find an audience, and explore their story with the ability to have it connect with other stories and lived experiences. Or, the author can deconstruct a trope, taking what is expected and turning it on its head. Whatever the case may be, tropes are pretty much unavoidable. And that’s good for us! Identifying tropes within a story can help us get a better understanding on if the book is worth our time. Because let’s face it, we all have those tropes we cannot stand!
I’ve made a list of my favorite and least favorite tropes in the fantasy genre. Let me know if you agree or disagree!
Starting with #5 on the tropes I cannot stand list:
Dislike #5: Medieval European setting
It’s not that I don’t love a good Arthurian tale (in fact I absolutely adore Arthurian legend and even listen to Heather Dale sing of them). Medieval settings seem to be the go to for many fantasy writers with the sword and sorcery appeal. Who doesn’t want a good story of a noble (and more than likely extremely attractive) knight or the “normal” peasant girl being swept off her feet by the prince of the kingdom (alright, I may have already written a story like this…)?
It is so common and often entirely romanticized to make it seem like an oddly unrealistic and incomplete story. Without technology, there is probably less room for plot holes, totally understandable, but what about the struggles that come with not having technology? How often are these people able to bathe? How are they eating that decadent meal when they’re supposedly poor? So many questions that rely on incredible worldbuilding and thorough thought process in implementing.
Common. Yes.
But are there still many questions left in mind when not developed properly because people assume you’ll get the point? Also, yes.
Like #5: The Dead Parents
I know. It sounds awful to say. But I’m not going to lie to you, I enjoy when the parents of the protagonist are dead or nonexistent in the protag’s life.
“Why?” you ask.
Especially with younger characters, it eliminates the question of “Where are their parents?” when going on crazy adventures. It creates an automatic need to sympathize with the character and their decision making because you figure they may not know any better.
Dislike #4: Assassins, but not really…
Assassins are super common in fantasy nowadays. It automatically builds up a character as being ruthless, merciless, agile, stealthy, and so many other traits that come with the job.
The problem: Most often these characters revealed as assassins in their introductions don’t do anything that would lead one to believe they are actually an assassin.
It’s as if giving them the job of an assassin is all the character building they decide to do at the start and throughout the story build up a character that probably would not be a very successful assassin. I could rant about this and there are plenty of examples but we’ll move on.
Like #4: The Chosen One
I can’t get enough of this trope. One of the most common tropes in fantasy, the Chosen One is truly a guilty pleasure. Even though the character often times has to do nothing but exist to fall into this role, discovering that they are the Chosen One and the consequent pressure that falls into their lap because of it creates automatic conflict. Even if they didn’t look for it didn’t ask for it, they have no choice. They must choose to accept their role or fall to the consequences of ignoring it. And the consequences are often much bigger than themselves.
It’s probably one of the oldest tropes in literary history and yet fresh and exciting takes are constantly written with this trope at its head.
Dislike #3: Love Triangles
I know you probably grunted upon reading this. This is the trope everyone either loves or hates.
The protagonist must choose between two love interests, both vying for their affection and love. One will win in the end. The other will live the rest of their life in solitude as the protag was their one true love…
Yeah, give me a break.
My biggest problem isn’t that two people are enamored with the protagonist. My problem is that more often than not, the two love interests are total opposites, and the protag ends up with the one they definitely should not be with! Bad boy versus Cinnamon Roll type, more than likely the bad boy is winning this round. I’ve written a love triangle before and I’ll probably write another one in the future. However, romanticizing toxic relationships over what could be a lovely couple is never the answer. Use the trope, fine. Just use it better!
Like #3: Quests
I don’t think this even needs an explanation. I love quests. It gives a great opportunity for character development and worldbuilding. The quest is what the fantasy genre is all about.It will never age. It can never be overdone. There are literally infinite possibilities with this trope so WRITE on!
Dislike #2: The Evil Villain
Not just the evil villain, but the EVIL villain. As in, that’s their only personality trait.
Why are they that way? They just are!
But can they ever be redeemed? Absolutely not, they’re evil!
People are three-dimensional. Characters in your story should be no different. Tell me why they’re evil. How did they end up that way? What motivates them currently? Creating an antagonist just so your protagonist has conflict isn’t good storytelling, it’s lazy.
Like #2: Training Sequences
It was hard to pick a number one over this, as I truly love training sequences! It’s great for character development and it gets rid of a pesky plothole. It tears down any plot armor and creates this character that we want to root for because we’ve seen them struggle and practice and now we want to see them succeed. Not to mention the Mulan music playing in the back of our minds as the characters trains!
No one wants, well, let me just give my number one dislike because…
Dislike #1: Suddenly Best of the Best
No prep.
No training.
No prior experience in what they are now doing.
Time to face the biggest, baddest bad guy of them all? No problem! Our protagonist is actually a PRODIGY and never needed to practice anyway. Just stop. No one, I repeat NO ONE, goes from just learning they are this special being, Chosen One whatever, and then defeating one who has exponentially more training and time invested in whatever it is. This eliminates all stakes, all conflict. If the character is just instantly good at everything, there is no story to be told. I could rant about this for a while because it is infuriating!
And for my #1 favorite trope in fantasy:
Like #1: Found Family
This kind of goes hand in hand with the Dead Parents trope. A character who is distant from others and their own emotions finds a group they can bond with outside of their biological family. Not only can the characters develop in meaningful ways from this, the reader can watch as the relationships form and the group comes together. Not to mention it can cause a great call for conflict or emotional scarring to your audience if something happens to one of the characters in this family. Found family gives hope not only to the characters but to any reading who feel alone, knowing that someday they may find that group that will take them in and treat them how they deserve to be treated.
Those are my picks! Let me know your favorite and least liked in the comments and let me know if you want any more 5v5.
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