Ghost
Inkling
Is Arya flat? Or Kitiara from Dragonlance? I don't think so [...] I personally prefer more traditional fantasy along the lines of Dragonlance, TLOTR, The Legend of Drizz't, and the ASOIAF, among others. All of those fail that test, and all of them are great novels in my opinion.
I didn't say Arya was flat. I said that, for me, the fearless warrioress calls to mind a "gruff female fighter." She wears men's clothing, has the strength of three men, and carries a very large weapon. She'd sooner kill a man than let him try to romance her. I know I'm not the only person who's seen that character in fantasy novels, stomping around as she spits chewing tobacco. Brienne doesn't fit exactly, but I think GRRM consciously twists those stock characters into something more than the stereotype. He makes "mannish warrior woman" a sympathetic woman with her own goals.
I don't think it's fair to use LOTR is a good example of a book that uses cliches well because it originated a ton of them. Besides, 74 on that exam was "Is your book basically a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings?" which seems to acknowledge it as the source of some of the tropes.
It's hard to come up with something original, but I appreciate when an author has a fresh perspective on a familiar subject. Cliches and tropes aren't unforgivable. It depends on what you do with them. When an author lets them replace character building and common sense, it's a waste of potential. As a reader, I've come across that problem before. Perhaps that's why I don't take the Fantasy Novelist's Exam personally.