Fantasy Cliches you hate?

[DualDragons]

This is indeed one with quite a reputation and I agree. Probably one of the few things here that actually confuse me when I see it. 'Specially when said women who wear it live in cold/artic environments/places where it doesn't make sense

[DukeOfOool]

I hate repeatedly having to do X to ressurect character B who dies last time, saving the main character. Like onceis ok, but after the 3 time it's just a way to backpedal accidentaly killing a popular character. Or even worse baiting emotional reactions.

[brittanykeyesart]

I hate that a lot of fantasy will romanticize or reinforce the idea of divine right and monarchy. Good vs Evil. That is why I am currently writing out a script for a fantasy comedy series that pokes at fantasy cliches while still being a silly fantasy story.

[azzy-m]

• The north is a cold continent. The east is an asian-inspired country, probably named Jade something. The west is probably where the story takes place. The south can vary from story to story. Also, whenever the characters are at a desert, there is always a small group of probably Arabic travellers that live nearby in an oasis that meet with said characters. I don't really hate these types of settings, it just gets really tiring to see over and over.

• Unrealistic armor, just like the aforementioned bikini armor. Listen - I love girls, but I always get turned off whenever I see people drawing warrior women in unrealistic armor, probably because the designer is probably male trying to appeal to the male gaze.

• This is more specifically towards sci-fi (since I find this a problem more in sci-fi), but this could apply to fantasy too - when characters from a different race/species meet with our main cast they are just... instantly able to understand them. Like, no language barrier. I can buy that some of the characters could speak some sort of universal, common language, but if your clearly human characters are speaking English to a very alien character who has never once interacted with another human in their entire life, then that kind of breaks the worldbuilding a little for me. Think of Voltron - When Allura meets the characters for the first time, she was in basically cryosleep for like 10000 years and has never interacted with humans, but she knows, understands, AND speaks English fluently to the entire cast. Again , I don't actually hate this kind of stuff, especially considering I understand a lot that making fantasy languages is DIFFICULT because I'm not making one fantasy language, I'm making at least FIVE, it's just something I'm mildly annoyed by.

• Prophecies that don't really contribute anything to the story and just expose the entire plot. I think the only time I can recall the prophecy being used in such a way that I really enjoyed was in the Percy Jackson series and the sequel series.

• Alien species that are just like... humans but in different colors. I think having some races that are close to humans in appearance and/or biology are ok, especially when members of the main cast are members of that species. But, like, not every species that exists in your fantasy world should resemble humans. Especially when it comes to biology and reproduction and in extension, gender and sexuality. I could go on forever about fantasy species, but I don't want my post to be like, the size of a book. I think out of all of the ones I mentioned, this is the one I actually kind of hate (other than the second one, lmao) - because it just shows laziness to me.

[vothnthorvaldson]

Good ones! Exactly because I don't like when it's too unrealistically easy, I'm just starting working on an illustrated novel with an alien species with a pretty different aspect and biology, including reproduction and genders, and the main focus of the story will be developing and expanding communications strategies.
Reading your message is a good boost

[emrowene]

Approximately 70% of the items in this quiz lol.

http://www.rinkworks.com/fnovel/ (The "Fantasy Novelist's Exam")

(Unless you're intentionally leaning into the D&D thing, which can be very fun)

[TheBluester]

The damsel in distress, I've read too many novels that have characters like that! If you're going to have a damsel in your story, don't just have a damsel without any personality. Have her grow alongside the character, don't make her a bland potato.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

Ahahahaha! What a life being told by a random stranger to quit your work

Time to improve my series!

(But seriously, this is sarcasm right? People who actually believe it must be checked for brain damage)

[andY_drws]

the trope of: it's fantasy and literally everything is made up including anatomy parts but no we can't get rid of the patriarchy because THAT would be too unrealistic.

[dbeirigo]

i think is more about execution than the thing itself but the idea of a chosen one or someone powerfull because of bloodline always bother me a little, because sometime strike me as you can only be special, you can only suceed if you born destined to it. all those people that worked hard on their skill for years they cant defeat the bad guy only this random person by sheer luck is capable of doing such a thing, not because the person is cleaver or sharper than others its just because that human being has a unique special power or simply destiny wants the character to beat the badguy.

[Darth_Biomech]

Honestly, it would be easier to list these few tropes that don't irritate me. Fantasy is supposed to be all about wild imagination and, well, fantasy, but what we get is one of the most formulaic genres out there (rivaled only by maybe whodunit detectives) - bland copypasta that differs in minor details. Pick any fantasy, it will contain the majority of items from the following list: Orcs, elves, dwarves, mages, castles, European castles, peasants, dragons, knights, chosen ones, prophecies, artifacts of doom, evil overlords, evil armies, evil gods, goblins, taverns...

Ahahahaha! What a life being told by a random stranger to quit your work

The guy thinks that the Matrix should've been made. This is all it requires to disregard any and all opinions or advice he might have.

[azzy-m]

By the way, if any of you fantasy writers are having trouble with worldbuilding and making it make sense - I watch a youtuber named James Tullos who gives out good tips on worldbuilding a fantasy series. He has an entire playlist dedicated to worldbuilding evil empires, fantasy armies, governments, magic systems, etc. and even has videos dedicated to pointing out why some fantasy worlds in other books make absolutely no sense. Go give him a watch.

James Tullos

[Iris-Grimoire]

I mean, gatekeeping is real; even the most aggressive in this thread is nothing compared to stuff I've heard offsite.

But as andY_drws mentioned, oh Tolkien is too derivative and you need to be different, but you bet a lot of authors would say entirely different and new power structures that look nothing like patriarchy are just too fantastical and out there and you need to play it safe.

Any cliche can be done well, tropes are tools; it's always what new twist you can add to it. There's still tastes though, just like I can't stand Liar Revealed, but Rango does it so well I had fun anyway.

That said, one I don't see done right very often and is easy to dread is dwarves versus elves. For all the Tolkien inspiration, a lot of people do "elves are nature dwarves are industry - oh no they're more alike than you'd think! - they're either friends or mutually genocidal now". Lots of works do other species rivalries alright like beastmen or demons or etc, but this is a bit of a bummer since you can see the result from the first few interactions easily(unless it's Dwarf Fortress and RNG decided the dwarf king is a vengeful elf now). It's way more fun to see both species working together from the get go, to be honest.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

Gatekeeping is real, it is right. Is by your reply you are implying this guy is serious? I still (with my hopeful thinking) think it is satire or whatever.

Disliking some tropes because of taste or tired seeing it is okay, but discrediting a work just because it contains one or two tropes you do not like makes you an entire circus amongst clowns. That makes an elitist freakshow LOL.

[Iris-Grimoire]

I think the person is serious, unfortunately. With the internet you never know though

[spadesart]

everyone's brought up most of my issues with fantasy and its cliches so here's something more nitpicky

not to say every setting should look spotless but i really dislike when environments are specifically designed to look as filthy and disgusting as possible. i personally find it visually disinteresting, especially with the overuse of browns and muddy grays and i have trouble getting immersed in it. it's not necessarily the 'filth' part i dislike either, environments that are overgrown or crumbling or stained can be really visually interesting but i often see them done in a really disinteresting way (like a generic fantasy town with mud everywhere.)

[NickRowler]

I feel like there is a bit of a double edge sword when it comes to people criticizing magical creatures. Making elves, dwarf, orc, fairies, etc. people claim is cliche and some people on here have voiced against it. However if someone tries to reinvent fairies, critics will claim "Those aren't real fairies."

I can also understand a writer not wanting to world build and get straight to the story by just saying "This is a story about fairies".

I personally hate stories that get lost in their own crazy mythology. All the species have weird names that are hard to remember and no one can just talk normally. But maybe I am bias because I don't like high fantasy.

[DiegoPalacios]

Yeah, world building and a solid storytelling is a balancing act that is tricky to pull off.

[emrowene]

I mean, I read it as mostly sarcastic! A lot of the tropes in the quiz actually are really harmful (racist, sexist, etc), and I'd be happy to never read any of those tropes in a book again, but I also hit on a lot of the points in the quiz and consider it in good fun. I don't think it's actually meant to be taken seriously.

[ButterflyEmpress]

The old medieval style worlds. It's not really something I hate, but more bored of seeing. There's this anime called Yuushibu that takes place in a fantasy world where people can use magic and it takes place in a modern society with everything being powered with magic instead of electricity. Winx Club also does the same too. They have cellphones, malls, and cars despite living in a magical world. That's be cool to see more fantasy settings like that instead of the same old cobblestone streets, horse drawn carriages, chamber pots, hay beds, etc.

Races in the story: Human, dwarf, elf, dragon, orc, halfling, shape-shifters, fairy, unicorn, alien. Skin colour: pale to slightly less light....Good vs Evil race. Why the fuck an entire race managed to be "good" or "evil."

This bothers me too. They're more separate species than races. And it's weird that the whole world just has one type of human.
And the good v evil thing is something I noticed in early childhood shows like Paw Patrol and Lion Guard. That's a pretty toxic thing to teach young kids.