Fantasy Cliches you hate?

[DiegoPalacios]

Just imagine a convoluted explanation about many years of study to chanel the optimal ammounts of mana and chanting the perfect ritual to bake the perfect cake XD

[DogshitJay]

Dragons: exists
Me:

[Ramonkey]

I like you. That's it that's my post.

[DukeOfOool]

I don't like information dumps of astounding magnitude by some random guy/god. Like, I wouldn't be here if I wanted to read the encyclopedia universalis of this world. I'm here to suck the lore out of each panel and speechbubble like a vampire is trying to feed it's insatiable hunger for blood. But don't overfeed me or i get dizzy. So just keep trickling little drops of lore down my eyes, so I'm satiated for the moment, but stay interested.

I know this isn't only a fantasy issue, but I feel fantasy has the biggest issue with it, especially isekai manga. lmao

[Mallory]

YES!

Same with racism too. Oh I know we have dragons and magic and sh*t, but um, is the stern and just warrior ruler of the Good Guy Nation a woman? Or a non-white person? That just doesn't seem realistic!

Also my favourite of the "embracing realism >:(" crowd is when they don't even actually embrace realism. Oh yes there's rape and sexual assault galore in this world! Because, you know. WAR and REALISM. Gotta stay true to reality. Did you know children and teenage boys (and hell, even grown men) are also frequent victims of sexual assault in war time? HOW INTRIGUING, then, that things of that nature seem to only happen to young, attractive women in your story! I think that reveals more about what's going on in your head, rather than having any kind of relation to reality.

[Psychobott]

I don't particularly hate anything (or maybe I still haven't found that particular one that stirs me up). As long as the creation has quality, let it be cliche, and I deem it interesting, then mwah.

[IdiotWithPencil]

Same with racism too. Oh I know we have dragons and magic and sh*t, but um, is the stern and just warrior ruler of the Good Guy Nation a woman? Or a non-white person? That just doesn't seem realistic!

depends on the nationality with this one =/ like slime date and all japanes fantasy have japanesse as the Kings or leaders, also maybe it has something to do that most fantasy are basically base in Europe... don't know just a guess

maybe if people read more native American myths as inspiration instead of Tolkien, prosse eda and beowolf we would see more diversity but eh what can you do?

Did you know children and teenage boys (and hell, even grown men) are also frequent victims of sexual assault in war time?

basically beserk my friend which is pretty hard in realism and rape X0

. Oh I know we have dragons and magic and sh*t, but um, is the stern and just warrior ruler of the Good Guy Nation a woman? Or a non-white person? That just doesn't seem realistic!

there was one fantasy series that had a matriarchy recently... people called it mysogonist and racist cause the main character was blamed for a rape he didn't commit :>, funny how the matriarchal kingdome is mysogonist

Edit: Just Remembered Tolkien actually had a country full of Black peoples (kings citizense the works) south of Gondor called Harad, so yeah Tolkien has blacks they are just not the focus of the three books but the cut parts of said books (you can't writte about a world as expansive as LOTR in just 3-4 books :0)
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Harad#References

[Stargazer31]

This is mainly in norse mythology inspired fiction, but I hate it when Loki is written as basically Voldemort. In the myths, he's honestly closer to Wile E. Coyote.

[sarahmassey998]

Scary male monsters and sexy female monsters. Make women scary and don't make them fight in a bikini. There's been enough Mortal Kombat 9 Mileena's, dare to make a Mortal Kombat 11 D'vora! She's terrifying, ferocious, canabalistic but just attractive enough to make us monster lovers turn around. And she's not fighting in her underwear, that her exoskeleton: #femalearmorthatworks!

[Darth_Biomech]

However if someone tries to reinvent fairies, critics will claim "Those aren't real fairies."

Honestly the only flavor of this argument that I've ever heard was "wyverns are\ain't dragons!" one.

I think that reveals more about what's going on in your head, rather than having any kind of relation to reality.

I'd said that about any detailed rape scene in any kind of media. You won't be savoring the details if you wouldn't enjoy them.

[NickRowler]

I read a book years ago about vampires which were based off the original vampire myth which has them as more zombie-like. The author claimed that his motivation was he was unhappy with the incorrect depiction of vampires in popular media and he want to have “real vampires”. However I don’t understand why something has to be so restricted to one way instead of letting an author interpret creatures their own way. Heck, Dracula was a break away from the original mythos, and was praised for it.

It was also my annoyance when people’s major criticism of the Twilight series was that the Vampires were not “real vampires”. Boo, vampires aren’t real!

[KrazySparrow]

@NickRowler yea but sparkly vampires... you shouldn't be surprised that people make fun of that.

-Aand to the question here: I haaate it when they tell you a prophecy in riddels... I mean... why? Just talk normally!

[Azifri]

I haaate it when they tell you a prophecy in riddels... I mean... why? Just talk normally!

Haha this annoys me too. But when it's executed properly, and after the prophecy is revealed I can go back and re-read the story and everything makes sense, it's super rewarding (to me at least).

[KrazySparrow]

mh but not to me >< this stuff just makes me want to strangle the damn character
But it's ok if you like it!

[DiegoPalacios]

I think many times there is the need to be a bit vague about prophecies because otherwise they would be spoilers....Of course i understand how can this be annoying, specially when being upfront about the info could have avoided unneccesary drama.

I have a minor character that can see the future and tells prophecies in a straightfoward way, but the irony is that she takes this knowledge for granted so she ends up being unintentionally vague. Example: answering questions before the person asks, which could be enough for the asker (if it doesnt confuse them in the first place), but the comic readers would speculate on what was the question they were gonna ask to her.

[bakasama25]

I gotta agree with author to some extent, I kind of miss the days when undead were considered abominations against nature and the best way to deal with a plague of undead was with fire and blunt weapons like maces and mauls.

[Aims]

I think this one fits all genres, but I hate when one of the MC's loved ones just dies so they can be used as a motive to fight the bad guy. (Especially because it just feels unfair to the loved one in general, like, they're made out to be the embodiment of goodness or the light of the MC's life, don't they deserve a happy ending too?)

Maybe it's cause I'm a sucker for happy endings, but I think keeping their loved ones alive or saving them is just as good of a motivation.

[DiegoPalacios]

I think this one fits all genres, but I hate when one of the MC's loved ones just dies so they can be used as a motive to fight the bad guy.

That reminds me.....i wish protagonists were more proactive in general....

Maybe it's cause I'm a sucker for happy endings, but I think keeping their loved ones alive or saving them is just as good of a motivation.

true...

[Luminosophy]

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.

To tack on to that; the same kinds usually boil down to one trope I absolutely can't stand lol. I don't know if it has a name, but McHero of Swordlandia only has a continuing fued with his arch nemesis because he's simply "too good of a person" to kill a serial douchebag who's trying to ruin everyone's day for the rest of days. That sort of portrayal is always antithetical to the point the writer was trying to make about their hero, imo. If he's happy to let the douche go to terrorize another town for another day, he's kind of shit at being a hero.

[DukeOfOool]

Even worse than the too good to kill hero, is the bipolar lunatic. He's not trying to kill anybody to the point it hurts his companions and then he snaps kill all the enemies and then just goes back to literal saint. Rinse and repeat, he never learns and keeps harming his allies with his stupid idealism he doesn't even keep up for more than 2 seconds in battle. It's even worse when the author tries to justifie his behavior. Just no, this guy is a tactical-mininuke on accid with mood swings worse than the personification of petiness. Nobody should praise him and he should be locked away with the demonlord the author so originally created.