"Heroism requires effort." There's no chosen ones, only those who earn their right to be the chosen one. And yet the hero isn't the obvious choice, but someone with a passion for what is right.
Another cliche I love is "I loved you since I met you - just never bothered telling you about it for all these years... Seriously, why did you think I stuck around your sorry butt?"
I also love villains that aren't hateable. And I hate(in a good way) villains that ARE. I love a villain whom the reader would just love to see smashed down into the dust where they belong, and I love when that happens.
One more thing I love - scary mythological monsters. Typically in stories nations hunt these monsters to the brink of extinction, but I love the idea of indomitable monsters that are a plague to humans. Even more so if their common traits are known to the reader(hydra, phoenix, kraken, etc.). A story's characters would really have to work their way around these monsters of massive character death potential, and try to figure out a way to off them. Yes, off them. It's way more epic that way.
...One more thing. Seriously, just let me say my piece.
A young-ish woman from a long-lived race falls in love with a human. I just love the general feeling of tremendous loss and the transcendental themes that would accompany the story of her attempt at having a relationship with the said human.