The Fantasy Clichenomicron

Wize old wizard

Sexy warrior chick

 

Threads about fantasy cliches

I mean, seriously, how many of these have we had?

 

I'd say at least five more threads are needed.

Suave rogue

Damsels in distress

Elves being awesome hunters/bowman

Going through a dwarven tunnel/mine to reach an objective

 

1. The recurring character (usually a mage) who only makes an appearance to assist the protagonists.

2. Dragons portrayed as mindless and vile killing machines with no redeeming qualities.

3. A single object of power being capable of destroying the planet.

4. Barbarians using a big sword and being stupid.

5. A dwarvish miner/craftsman

6. Stupid demi-humans.

 

I agree that all of the above can be overplayed - but surely some of these features, as long as they're well written, are actually features of the genre? I.e. evil antagonist with magical power? Think how many fewer classics there would be without that!

 

I think this list sums up most of the clichés. Grand List of Fantasy Cliches | Silver Blade Magazine

x

 

unfortunately just about everything that makes my favorite race awesome is what makes them a cliche..... Dwarves living deep in a mountain mining and blacksmithing and just generally being badass

 

Elves as an advanced and/or dying civilisation
Elves as uptight, snobbish, pretentious, naturally graceful, genetically skilled at everything, arrogant, xenophobic, racist a-holes
Evil creatures whose only purpose in life is to be evil

 

Princess running away from an arranged marriage, even though she would have known it was going to happen for her entire life.

Villians who are brilliant suddenly becoming bumbling idiots in the presence of the hero.

Introduce villians by having them kill puppies. (I'm looking at you Goodkind)

Off the top of my head, I can only think of one example in history where the ruler of a country marries a commoner and both rule well. (Justinian and Theodora) So why does it happen so damn much?

If I even sense a love triangle beginning to take over my novel I burn it. It's why I tend to avoid urban fantasy.

Pointless secrets. Yeah you're the long lost heir to the throne. Even though you know nothing about ruling you can be a great king. Everyone knew this but you so I decided not to tell you for 3/4ths of the novel. Oh by the way I'm your father.

Villianous monologues....... Make me want to vomit.

 

I agree, love triangles=blah

The; oh you're adopted

Hitting puberty and getting magical powers (I'm guilty of this one)

Being destined to 'save the world'

 

Magic is a thing of the past but is about to make a big comeback!

Calender months like July and August, named by Roman, self-interested, emperors, appear in stories taking place in other worlds or well before Rome ever existed.

Big things in small packages.

Everyone else sucks with a sword/weapon except the main character who is insanely skilled.

Villains who are evil 'just because'.

Villains having disposable guards/servants that die if the main character(s) look at them funny.

 

Can I just mention that most of these are archetypes, not necessarily clichés.

I honestly don't even believe that narrative devices can be clichés inherently, rather they become clichés when the writer fails to make them interesting.

In other words, blame the author, not the archetype.

Arranged marriages weren't necessarily established from birth. And even if it was, there are several reasons the princess would decide to run away: She might have recently gained a new perspective on things as part of growing up, or she didn't want to leave her whole life behind before the situation became genuinely desperate (who knows, the guy might die or something) or she had only recently met her bethroded and found him to be kind of an ass.

We call this "Plot Induced Stupidity" or PIS on another forum. It's not really a fantasy cliché - it's bad writing in general and happens in virtually every genre.

 

I have an arranged marriage, but it is out the ordinary, and she didn't know who it was until just before the story began.

"You sly dog! You got me monologuing! I can't believe it. "
Incredibles blew monologuing out of the water.

 

Agreed. The cliche thing has been taken to such an extreme and there is such a wealth of talent in the world that not using cliches is cliche. I love cliches. They give you a solid opportunity to lull your readers into a false sense of security and generate some real emotion when you flip them.

Besides, I love coming-of-mage books. I want to read more of them because I like them. It like your favorite flavour of milkshake - everyone will have a cliche they love - elves, dragons, mages, witches, vampires, evil blah blah blah. Sure you'll try other flavours, but when it comes down to it you'll always go back to [insert favorite flavour here].