Tropes in That Make You Go "Huh?"

[O-1-D]

I’d say the trope that rubs be the wrong way the most is when the film tries to have a “strong independent female” where she’s skilled, smart and by all accounts is more capable and stronger than the male lead. Good stuff- but then the guy turns out to just be “gifted” or is the “chosen one” so is still better than her and she has to learn to accept that this guy with no training or prior experience is better than her.

So by having a female lead like this in a “chosen one” story they shoot themselves in the foot cause instead of “women can be just as strong/empowered as men” it reads more like “a man is always going to be better even with some bs like being a chosen one”

That grinds my gears oh so much.

HTTYD did this well as Hiccup actually WORKED to get better through learning and bonding with dragons. This is more like the film adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief; Annabeth is their strongest fighter but because Percy has Poseidon DNA he beats her anyway with no experience or skill.

Yeah- I don’t like that at all.

[SleepingPoppy]

This one drives me nuts. I suppose the "huh??" for me is that the people making these stories obviously noticed people wanted stronger and more interesting female leads, but instead of making some good female characters they decided to just kind of add a wrapping paper of Strong Independent Woman, but said woman still does absolutely nothing in the story!

The story that really drove this home for me was Jack the Giant Slayer. The story went out of its way to introduce the princess the exact same way as Jack. Same desire for adventure and such. And then when they're older, she's even framed as the proactive one, actually getting out there and wanting to find and adventure, while Jack's been sitting on his thumb. It's just so weird to me that the writers would take the time to dress her up like she's going to be so important an involved, only to have her be completely useless.

[cherrystark]

Yes!!! I've seen this one and it irks me. It also bugs me when the untrained "Chosen One" gets the endearing personality and the female lead gets nothing, but falls hopelessly for the "Chosen One".

In these stories, it also bugs me when he won't turn something over to her, when she's infinitely more qualified. Even Fred Jones was "man-enough" to realize Daphne was better suited to take lead on some cases and hands the reigns over to her.

[O-1-D]

Not to mention that a lot of peoples idea of “strong female” means “emotionless, stoic and bitchy” like NO!

I’m writing a beauty and the beast style story but with the genders swapped and there is no way imma fall into that trap! Lol

[O-1-D]

Exactly this! Why build her up if she’s going to be the second banana???

“Women have equal representation” my ass!

[SleepingPoppy]

Yup! I watch when this happens, wondering if the people who made this think I'm too stupid to notice the Strong Independent Woman doesn't do anything. Do they think they're tricking us? Why would they rather trick us then, you know, let the character do something?

Even with the Jack example. I think there's a scene towards the end where they have to hide in the castle. The castle the princess grew up in and should know back to front- who finds them a hiding place? Jack, obviously. It would have been such an easy thing to give to her in the script.

But yeah, it drives me bonkers. XD

[cherrystark]

@O-1-D @SleepingPoppy I have SUCH strong feelings about the "strong female character" trope, it's not even funny. I can go and on about it. All of my stories have female leads but they all have different personalities.

I have noticed the "emotionless, stoic, and bitchy" thing too, especially in the werewolf stories that are popular right now. And somehow those traits translate into "kind and gentle leader"??? What? I wrote a twist on the werewolf trend where instead of the female MC being stoic and bitter, she's a grad student with tons of debt and enjoys playing in the dirt (she's an anthropology major) and playing with kids. Her job in the pack is nursery worker and gardener.

[SleepingPoppy]

I wrote a twist on the werewolf trend where instead of the female MC being stoic and bitter, she's a grad student with tons of debt and enjoys playing in the dirt (she's an anthropology major)

I'm not as familiar with the trends in werewolf fiction, but I totally love the sound of this character. =)

[O-1-D]

@cherrystark I love the sound of that! The beast in my gender-bent BatB story is a bit of both. She's stoic and a bit cold to begin with but, well she's called out on for being that way and over time she's shown to be very gentle and caring, just under a gruff exterior. Ngl your character sounds like a cinnamon roll and love her already haha

@SleepingPoppy Ikr? It's like they can just slap Strong Independant Woman on a character and leave it at that. We're not blind we can see past that! I'm working on a screenplay which I hope actively defies the "sTrOnG iNdEpEnDaNt WoMaN" nonsense. If you want us to think they're strong, actually make them strong!

edit: also gotta love it when the "strong independent female" STILL NEEDS TO BE RESCUED BY THE MAN!

[cherrystark]

Thanks! It's told in diary format so there are huge gaps in the story, but what diary doesn't . The couple still has their culture clashes but they communicate (which is rare too in stories). My favorite part to write was the fact she loves training days because they were a chance to check out her hubby shirtless.

*I don't mind if "strong female characters" need to be rescued by a man, IF she still has an active roll in the story and just needs some help. IRL, we've all find ourselves in "hot water" and need a rescue from time to time.

[O-1-D]

I don't mind it either, but it's more like when she is religated to being the "damsel-in-distress" especially when the film/book/whatever had done everything to show her being "strong" when she wouldn't be.

One thing that happens in my fantasy is that the beast saves the beauty from being killed by a monster by attacking it, but she is then in trouble from being mauled so he in turn saves her back. One saves the other and it still sways towards the female had saved the male's life- even though she ended up needing his help at the end of it

[Wocalich]

I guess for me it's love triangles. What need is there to hurt someone to strengthen the relationship between the main characters?

[Jenny-Toons]

What need is there to hurt someone to strengthen the relationship between the main characters?

Especially when the author makes it obvious (or at least it's obvious to the readers) that the second lead is a way better choice than the main lead.

That always makes me go "huh??" Often, the second love interest is a childhood friend that's known MC for a minute, has treated them kindly, has kinda been the one to encourage them to break out of their mold, and sincerely cares when they're hurt. But we're supposed to expect that the romance between MC and the asshole main romantic partner is better?

Like, I get fantasies and stuff, but there's only so much I can take before I'm ripped outta it XD

[cherrystark]

Often, the second love interest is a childhood friend that's known MC for a minute, has treated them kindly, has kinda been the one to encourage them to break out of their mold, and sincerely cares when they're hurt. But we're supposed to expect that the romance between MC and the asshole main romantic partner is better?

It baffles me in love triangle stories when the writer puts drama over the need to explore both relationships. Like the seemingly "nicer" love interest becomes secretly entitled to the MC's affections and will try and force a relationship on them, often against the MC's wishes (ex. jealous childhood BFF) or the "jerk" love interest never gets a full redemption arc and the HEA is rushed (ex. kidnapping and hospital bed love confessions).

[Kiweevil]

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[DiegoPalacios]

What makes me go "Huh?" is mostly the "idiot ball".....when a character makes a dumb mistake that is out of character for them just so the conflict can keep going on.

[impossiblesoul]

It's always weird when a character is ultra mega powerful while no history is given to substantiate it. When a friend tried to get me into Sword Art Online, I just couldn't understand why this random nerd had a harem of girls chasing after his godlike presence when very little about his past was revealed to explain why he's more competent than all the other characters. Powerful qualities don't just pop out of thin air. In a broader sense you could call this the overpowered trope, but overpowered doesn't bother me so much as unexplained power.

[arxianfall]

A lot of post apocalyptic tropes began to really take me out of it as I grew older.

A few examples:

• Shack buildings. Now it really depends on the area/biome but you wouldn't see shacks in a settlement for a very long time. Stuff like metal, sheet metal scrap becomes a lot more useful to be made into tools or other materials. We've been making houses for millennia and recycling/reusing building materials like bricks is a thing. You would literally have a cozy village out of wood and traditional houses in less than a year.

• Betrayals, shitty drama and clan warfare won't happen as much as depicted in most stories. Again, heavily depends on the context, but humans are highly social and when our numbers are threatened we tend to start protecting our own a lot more. Even going as far as looking past differences a lot more than usual. "Yeah that's Greg, he likes to dress in woman's clothing but he's out best shot and knows how to take a joke."

[silverjackie1]

What an interesting topic guys!

One of the tropes that makes me go "huh?" is "the small kid who is extremely powerful" with no reason at all, just to make him/her look cute or something. And its even worse when you have a well trained adult with him who has spend years learning what that child could do just by blinking.

I also hate "I'm a girl so I must be the healer" I know they want the MC to do most of the job, but they could also fight together.

In romance I don't like the one that makes one of the characters act like some kind of child while the other is so composed and brave, sometimes its so extreme that it actually feels like some kind of abuse to an underage person in BL tends to be more common, with a guy acting like a 5 year old while the other looks like a full employee (while being actually a high schooler).

[Legendofgenii]

In a world that is "alive", tens of organizations and hundreds, or thousands, of people would fight to prevent it.

I agree with you on this one.