There was a question similar to this: The most loved/hated cliches in writing in general. But let's narrow it down a bit to just fantasy. Now, what I love as far as a cliche, you just might hate or visa versa. This purpose of this discussion isn't figuring what cliche's to avoid and which ones are okay to use. They are ALL okay to use and there's simply no way to avoid using all cliches anyway. It's just to get people thinking what is it about these cliches that they might find annoying or why they just love them no matter how many times they see it. So without further ado, here are my most loved/hated cliches in fantasy. Hated: Prophecies. Now there have been cases where it has been done well (Mistborn) and there has been areas where it has been done very, very poorly. (Star Wars Prequels). Normally, where it drives me nuts is where it's not just unnecessary to be there, but it's also seemingly the only thing motivating the characters to do anything at all. Everyone just chooses to follow some nobody somewhere because some prophecy somewhere says they should? Talk about lazy character development. Hybrids. Particularly hybrids that are from two opposite sides of the force (ie the child of an angel and a demon... Like how does that even happen?) or supposedly a match up that never happened before. Again, there are times when this is done well, but most of the time it just sucks. Elves. Sigh. In every novel it seems. I think the big thing is that people use the elf in place of any real or meaningful character development. They just do things because that's what an elf does, but they don't really have any purpose to being there otherwise. Loved: Magic. Now that's not to say there aren't certain magic cliches I dislike (ie using earth, wind, fire and water because that's just been so overdone and so predictable) but in general it's such a versatile theme that it never grows old. Dark Lords. There many, many types of this cliche, and they're all good in their own way. There's the sympathetic and the just plain baddies. So long as this Dark Lord has a reasonable explanation for what he's doing and why he's doing it (even if he's just looking for power) and he's reasonably established as a threat, it's always a pleasure to read about ultimate darkness. Made up settings. Never get tired of people creating their own fantasy world either, especially when it's at least implied to have a rich history and lore. Back Stories. Everyone has their origins. I never get tired of fleshed out back stories for characters. Especially when it helps explains a character's motives and origins.
Currently disfavor (These are more annoying to me than hate generating): Destiny lovers. A couple that have an unrealistic absolute love for each other without first growing that love. The majority of the usual mythical creatures. Fae, vampires, werewolves, elves, dwarfs, dragons, Greek and other ancient mythical gods, ... Currently Favor: Refreshing new fantasy creatures like those in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and the aliens in Lilith's Brood (more sci-fi than fantasy).
I have a destiny/prophecy cliché in my story but I'm trying to give it a kind of irony, in that the prophecy need never have happened. The dragon destroys the castle hoping to kill the knight destined to kill him - however, the knight survives, and that sparks his journey to seek revenge for the destruction the dragon has wrought upon him. Had the dragon never attacked, the knight would have probably never sought to kill him. The scrying glass can be deceitful.
Personally I think the biggest problem with cliches or anti-cliches (when you do the opposite of the cliche), is when they actually replace real character development.
Sounds like you've written yourself a time-travel paradox...in that the dragon is trying to influence the present hoping to change the future he believes will happen.
Not so much a paradox, as the event that is predicted happens anyway. The irony is that he was the instigator of his own doom when he needn't have been.
I really enjoy fantasy stories about a protagonist who works very hard to cultivate either an innate power or a mystical power that is rooted in nature. Other bonuses: - The protagonist must clear his mind, detach himself from conflicts, and confront his inner demons in unexpected ways in order to achieve mastery. - The protagonist creates a heroic role for himself by doing this, rather than starting as a "chosen one" type of hero and learning how to fulfill his role. - The protagonist is guided by a brilliant old mentor with a few screws loose, preferably with a tragic backstory and/or ending.
Isn't that the same idea in Star Wars 3? Anakin gets a dream that Padme will die, and in trying to protect her he goes to the dark side. The grief of losing him causes Padme to lose her will to live, and so she dies. Cliches I like: 1. I do enjoy the whole chosen one thing, with the MC being special somehow. 2. star-crossed lovers, assuming the relationship is well-portrayed. (recently read one such book where it was not well-portrayed, which was a bit of a disappointment...) Cliches I dislike: 1. some earth-shattering twist that seems a little implausible and it exists just for the sake of a twist at the end. Some forbidden secret or unnecessary tragedy that's always way OTT, again, for the sake of drama. This happens in drama as well as crime fiction. 2. The token and expected gory crime that happens in every crime novel - it's turned into "shock the reader" rather than the mystery of the crime, how it was done and "whodunnit?" Esp in blurbs I hate lines like, "His past is catching up with him... Will he be able to fight his demons?"
Well I suppose I have no other option now than to burn my entire body of work and kill myself for being utterly unoriginal.
I've been thinking about this since it was posted, and I've finally come to the conclusion that... I don't really dislike any cliches. I think any idea has the potential to be written well, no matter how overdone it is. It's the one's written poorly I dislike. But that's just bad writing, not bad cliches. The only thing I really dislike (and this isn't really "fantasy," just a common trend in the YA fantasies I read) is first, lasting loves. A young teen meets someone, and they stay together throughout the series and hint at getting married. That's not how life works... I know every teen has their first love, and they truly believe it'll last forever. But actually allowing (or implying) it to last forever irks me. Like Twilight.
"I saw her and decided she was the one for me." Does she not get a say? Like Patrick Swayzee in Ghost, where he sits outside her window singing "I'm Henery the eighth I am" until she agrees to go out with him. Bullying, or what? On the other hand, William of Conqueror was sufficiently upset at being rejected by Matilda of Flanders for being beneath her - he was, after all, a bastard - that he rode all the way to Flanders, caught her coming back from church and dragged her off her horse by her braids. Her brother, the Count, was furious. But Matilda would "marry no other" than William. Even having the marriage banned by the pope couldn't stop her.
The Greek Tragedy Oedipus has the same concept with Oedipus' dear old dad trying to get rid of him as a babe by tying his son's feet together on a hillside and leaving him to die after it was prophesied that the bubby boy would grow up to kill him. Shepherds find the boy and take him in. Consequently, Oedipus grows up not knowing who his father is, kills his Dad in a road rage incident (not recognising him) and marries his Mum not knowing she's his Mum. If his Dad had not herd the prophecy, he would never have tried to kill Oedipus. Oedipus would have known who he was and not killed him and everyone would have been spared the family Christmas awkwardness. The self-fulfilling prophecy - a tale as old as time (or at least since 5th century BC) Picasso said "Good artists copy, great artists steal", the same is true of storytellers
My fantasy is filled with the clichés I love about the genre: Magic. My worry isn't that it's based around the four classical elements, though. My worry is that I'm ripping off of Dragonball Z. Crap, I'd better not have my MC scream her head off charging up her 'magical ki' before doing a move that suspiciously resembles the Kamehameha Wave. A blind assassin. Yeah, way overdone, I know, but my MC is one. Weird/hominoid/bestial races. I like to make my own races up, though. Empires and kingdoms. What? I like this sort of stuff. A huge war going on. Mine's about a world war. ...What? Their equivalent of our demons and angels. CHECK! Nobles, lords, barons, etc. Because why not? Lessons about morality, etc. Eh, this is a bit tricky, but I like a story that leaves me thinking. There are a few clichés I hate, but the chief few are: The Chosen One(tm). Planned out a hilarious scene that mocks this trope. The slavery thing. OK, this may not be a cliché, but what I've noticed in the fantasy books and video games I've checked out, there seemed to be this theme, or at least a scene where the author basically goes, “OMG SLAVERY!!” I get it, slavery is really bad, but I can't help but feel that it's just a lazy way of showing the corruption/evil of the society. Granted, I'm the one to talk because my own fantasy has this very thing... Or at least had it, anyway... Evil Empire that's Evil because "We're just evil. Here's our Evil Card with our Evil Number. Now I shall stroke the cat while twirling my glued-on mustache muwahaha..." Really, same goes for any 'evil' character. Protip: they never think they're evil for the sake of evil. They've a reason for what they're doing even if it only makes sense to them. When the MC learns complicated magic like it's no thing on their first try!! No, I'm sorry, but I just can't stand this at all. My MC isn't going to bend all the laws of the cosmos and reality on her first try. She'd need decades, if not centuries of study if she hoped to do that. ...Wow, um, am I sure I need to be writing this? 'Cause yeah... @Lea`Brooks - I hate that cliché as well, which is why it won't appear in my fantasy. My MC is not really into long-term relationships anyway, she's more into having friends. @AlcoholicWolf - Trust me. I think my fantasy is so unoriginal that I probably should just stop all together, but the maddening thing is that I still want to work on it regardless.
I used to nickname my novel "The Big Book of Cliches." lol I had the four elements magic (plus some), the orphan-turned-royal character, the Chosen One, learning complicated magic easily, a prophecy, destined lovers, and a huge war. lol I had it all, and I didn't care because I loved the story. I've since scrapped the entire idea... But once upon a time, it was good. lol
My fantasy's the same way. I think it's a cool idea despite the fact it's riddled with clichés. I love it, and even though it's probably never going to happen, I've this strange idea of actually getting it published once I'm done. The idea that it likely won't is a bitter pill I'll have to swallow one day. Or maybe not. I dunno, I'm just gonna keep all options open.
These are my personal opinions. Don't burn me at the stake. Clichés I don't like in medieval fantasy: -Elves and dwarves. I'm bored with both, sorry. -Special weapons, like sword with names and special powers. I don't know. I guess I just like them mundane and no-name. -Prophecies, because predicting the future is stupid even in fantasy. Clichés I don't like in urban fantasy: -Benevolent vampires who have perfectly adjusted in society and are just misunderstood and oppressed as if they were blacks or gays. Sorry, I like my vampires evil monsters who deserve no sympathy 'cause they're supposed to be demons. -Projectile weapons, ie. firearms that don't work against monsters, or they work if you chamber a silver bullet. I'm not so sure I'd want to use silver instead of lead... Plus it's stupid. -Sloppy killing of monsters. Just behead them, okay? Just in case! -Werewolves. Super duper meh. I actually like Mercy Thompson novels, but even there the werewolf clichés bore me. Clichés I like: -Quests -Horses -Longswords as weapons -Gritty fighting and gruesome, infected wounds -Fighty women -Gruff warrior men -Complicated magic (as in, it's difficult to learn)
Forgot to include all that in my list of clichés I love and are in my fantasy. :] In fact, that was the rest of them. Some more loved clichés from moi. • The gruff, cynical person with a kind heart deep down in the crusty exterior. • An honorable band of knights with a common code. Yes, it's very easy for it to become sickening and tired if done poorly, but I like it. • Redemption plot lines. I'm just a sucker for that kind of thing. Clichés I despise with a fiery passion of a thousand suns: • Earth being invaded or threatened. Please. Stop with that. • Forced romance between the main lead and a guy/gal. Especially if you know there's no way they could possibly have a good life together considering their personalities.
I really like how many replies I've gotten for this. My real question now is why these are not liked, aside from the fact everyone does them. As I mentioned before, I don't like the ones I listed mostly because they replace real character development. When you have a main character who is only following a prophecy, then that's not cool. Or he's only arrogant because he's an elf. That's really lazy writing.
Actually, this could be a really useful cliché. Something like... “You're pretty smart, elf.” “Thank you for not using the racial slang against my people, Vangu.” “What are you talking about?” “Clearly you've never been here long. There's an unfortunate stereotype that my kind are haughty, snobbish pricks and for that, ignorant people treat us with distain. They've even a word for us. Haosulat. A vulgar, disgusting term that compares our intelligence to pig crap! I mean, it's not my fault we can live up to five-hundred years! GIVE ME A BREAK, ALREADY!! GODS!” “Er, looks like I've touched a nerve there. Um...here, have a drink.”
I dont have much to add, but here's mine Hated Generic races like Elves, dwarves, goblins etc. It just seems completely uncreative to me and people's idea of each race has already been formed from previous books or films so it's hard for the writer to change that. First love/ love stories that take up far too much time. Maybe it's just not my kind of thing, but it usually slows down the story completely and is always some cheesy nonsense about how a guy loves a girl but cant be with her. I'm all up for characters having relationships, but theres no need to make it take up so much space. Love Well though out magic. Theres nothing more fun than having characters be able to do magic and it just opens up far more possibilities than would be there without it. Just as long is it's not some cheesy magic with water and fire like OP said, or boring like in GoT where it's hardly ever used. Gods that actually appear. I just think this ones entertaining.
I would agree on most things listed. But one of the things I think that I love is Magic - Classic, fantasy needs magic to be realitively mysterious and to help explain the unexplainable, But limited in its power. Magic is unique- Magic that is not mundane and does not happen all the time, and is more unique in terms of how it is used. Legend is real, (Sometimes) - sometimes legends are true, but are not completely accurate to the actual thing. Special Item - An item that ha unusual properities Token - An item with no powers but importance Gods are Real - the gods are real is an old cliche but it is pretty interesting to see well done. When the gods are nothing but human beings. Death is forever, and rebirth is damning - Characters can't come back from the dead due to unexplainable reasons. This is another favorite. I hate it when characters are brought back from the dead just to fit the plot. I allow it certain cases but even then in most of my writings, when a character dies, and is either brought up Undead are scary - I hate it when undead are just tools for no reason but there to be cool. If I saw a skeleton walking towards me, i would be fething terrified. Empire of the Sun - An empire that once ruled the world. This is a classic, an empire so large it literally has power over basically everything. Culture Specific Mythological Creatures - Dragons, Griffins, dire wolves, Nucklavee, Dragurs, all these come from similar cultures (IE europe) and are often in certain mythologies and are always are interesting to read and think about. They give the world mystery and a sense of fear about the world. The Unknown - The unexplainable, creatures or beasts that are far beyond human comprehension. The Past is uncertain - Sometimes the past remain a mystery, sometimes events are just mythology and fall into legends, whether they are true are uncertain, and are not validated by anyone. History Mistakes - Where history sometimes makes mistakes and spelling errors. Often omitting large events from public memory. Conflicting Views on Historical Events - A certain event happens and two scholars or two houses or noble families hold two conflicting and different views on a historical events, either be a tragic accident, a war, or a slaughter, this adds depth to all involved coloring them into an interesting whole. The Elder race- These ancient peoples are either human or not. Sometimes their deeds are exaggerated and sometimes were pretty powerful and compared to now, people are pretty weak compared to what their ancestors were like. Dislikes Legends are always real- Legends are always true don't you see? Fuck this one. Especially. Well according to legends this could happen. I did it exactly as the legend said. Why are they legends again? Prophecies predict the future - In the future I know who will kill me, it is said a boy will come from the human world a boy will lead an uprising a boy who can fly, and then defeat me. Yeah feth this one harder than a truck. Character who is badass, and then immedately dies to something stupid- Inspired by Game of thrones mostly. I hate this one. WE build up this badass of a character, and BAM the character is dead in three seconds in a fight scene. Magic is all powerful - Magic is basically god like and unstoppable. There is no defeating a magic user, unless you are also a god. There is no limitor to the power of magic. Swords for all!- Swords are expensive to have, not everyone is going to own a sword or a suit of armor. Axes, Spears, Halbreds, are more common place than a sword as a sword is very hard to make at a wide scale. Romance between two leads that leads to a fully blooming one and is completely fine at the end of the story- Self explantory. Major decision with no consequences- I choose to kill this character. And it is never talked about ever again. Hurray! Elves - Any ancient race that has ears and are immortal are pretty boring as characters. You are the chosen one - You are the only hope for this world. "What about that one guy?" Nope. You are the only one that can save everyone. We choose you! Because of some type of prophecy. There is no words to speak that I could say to describe my hate for this one.
I've been pondering this one. My problem is, or every cliche I hate, I can think of a book/series where it worked for me. For example: The main character who is naturally good at everything and better than everyone for no discernible reason - but it works in Rothfuss' Name The Wind and Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series The servant or companion who is bonded and loyal to the MC for no discernible reason other than it's their job - But Samwise Gamgee in LOTR Every death involving a main character is epic and takes centre stage, nobody important just gets hit by a stray arrow/bullet, any character you love WILL survive and have a happy ending - but this does work in SO many good books The good guys are thoroughly good and the bad guys are thoroughly bad and you can always tell the bad guys by their pointy horns and everyone lives happily ever after (admittedly the pendulum has swung on these last two, especially with the success of GRRM, now the opposite is almost cliche) I do love: Vain, witty, cruel talking dragons (Smaug and Hobb's recent dragon series comes to mind) A good antihero (Mark Lawrence does this so well) A magical family legacy or skill passed through generations (Hobb's Live Ship Trader series, GRRM's dragon riding royals) A hero struggling with the conflict of fate and free will (about 2/3 of all Fantasy I think!)
I'm pretty tolerant of most cliche's in fantasy, provided they are utilized intelligently. Any cliche can be insanely irritating if they aren't. That being said, there are some things I always roll my eyes at, and some things I almost always get a little excited for. Hate A doomsday-device: This can apply for science fiction as well. I HATE the all-powerful item that will destroy earth/kingdom/whatever, and the we-must-not-let-it-fall-into-the-wrong-OHNOITFELLINTOTHEWRONGHANDS-wait-it's-all-okay-now storyline. I have seen this in the fantasy genre, and it is everywhere in popular current series: (See: Most of the Marvel movies) Half-Baked Languages: I tend to get impatient with invented languages. Unless you go through the giant process of inventing the entire language, grammer included (looking at you, Tolkein and GRRM) then I feel like making up a language is pointless. Throwing a few random words of gibberish at me for a paragraph or two doesn't make me love you as an author. I don't mind when they indicate that another language is being spoken (He spoke to the ambassador in his native Gobledeeguk), and if it's necessary that the reader understands, translated into italics. But if you try to convince me of a language by just throwing some words at me, I wont buy it. (I admit, was guilty of this in my early adolescent forays into fantasy) Traumatic character histories and their vengeful characters: Okay, look. I've written my fair share of this too. It happens for a reason. Sometimes something bad happens, and all you can think of is getting revenge because you are just so angry. But also, other things can result from trauma. PTSD, for one. Or maybe your strong, totally awesome tough-guy is super, incredibly scared inside of lightning and doesn't act like his brave self when there is a storm on. I guess what I'm trying to say is: trauma doesn't always make you stronger. It doesn't always harden the person into this BA who doesn't care. Sometimes, it makes them weaker. Sometimes, it breaks them, or builds them but with deep scars. (Like I said, I can tolerate all of the above if done well.) Love Dragons/gryphons/pheonixes - I confess, I'm a sucker for dragons. I know some of you listed them in your hate, and that's fine. I am fascinated by them and love reading different people's imaginings of what they might be. Flighted mythological creatures tickle my fancy. Costly Magic: Magic that asks for something in return - it's usually always great. If magic were something free and accessible to all, everyone would have it which would be like no one having it. Magic with a price, now that's intriguing. Death as a non-evil character: Is this a cliche? I don't see if very often. Maybe it's just a thing that I like, and not a cliche at all. And okay, The Book Thief wasn't fantasy, but that book is a good example of what I mean. I love it with the author approaches the entity of Death, or the idea of Death, not as something horrible and evil, but as a character with its own thoughts and feelings and motives. Unrequited love: When done well, and when it doesn't pirate too much time from the story, I think unrequited love is so tragic and poignant. It's more believable that a person finds someone who they believe is their soulmate, but their "soulmate" doesn't get the memo and doesn't feel the same way. It can create some interesting plot development when done right. More interesting than the other kinds of love that crops up in fantasy. Social Structure/Nobility/Heirarchy: I do like reading about Lords and Ladies, handmaidens, squires, farmers, knights and peasants. I don't know why. I guess it's the kid in me who loved going to Medieval Times whenever possible.
