Top 10 Stereotypes in Fantasy?

[Mindfire]

I like to play a game called I Spy an Expendable character. Usually it's pretty easy to guess who's going to die, and you know their death is going to push the hero to limits he never before would have reached.

Speaking of the hero, why must he almost always be a man?

Because women are harder to write. And before you shoot me, twas a female writer who told me that.

 

[Jabrosky]

Because women are harder to write. And before you shoot me, a female writer who told me that.

Considering that one has to balance characterization with avoiding the charge of sexism, I'm not surprised. Also, unless you want to take creative liberties with medieval gender roles, women have less "exciting" jobs than men.

 

[ArielFingolfin]

Because women are harder to write. And before you shoot me, a female writer who told me that.

No, I agree completely. But I think fantasy has been a little too lost in the knight in shining armor/ damsel in distress stereotype.

 

[Kit]

9) The villain monologues, saying what he will do but never does it.
.

I HATE the villain monologue. If I don't know by the story's climax what your villain is doing and why s/he's doing it, you've messed up. Double penalty if the great climactic battle somehow conveniently pauses while the villian is about to win, so that the villian can explain hirself. Then the whole thing suddenly turns around and the hero wins instead. Arrgh!

 

[Kit]

Second, I'm not sure who you mean by "three unmarried women," as there's only two (unless you're counting Moiraine, but she's 42 years old at that point in the story.QUOTE]

Does the fact that she's 42 cancel out the fact that she is unmarried, or the fact that she is a woman? Or both?

Geez, I'm getting close.... now I have to worry about abruptly morphing into a married man on my 42nd b-day.... errgh...

 

[ArielFingolfin]

I HATE the villain monologue. If I don't know by the story's climax what your villain is doing and why s/he's doing it, you've messed up. Double penalty if the great climactic battle somehow conveniently pauses while the villian is about to win, so that the villian can explain hirself. Then the whole thing suddenly turns around and the hero wins instead. Arrgh!

That's why when you have your enemy in a corner, for goodness sake, kille them! Don't stand there talking about it! Drives me up the wall!

 

[BWFoster78]

Because women are harder to write. And before you shoot me, a female writer who told me that.

I'm finding this to be quite true. I've had an easy time getting inside the head of my main male leads, but I'm still struggling on the females. I've got one, I think, figured out, but the other two are sketchy.

I think it's kind of like actors vs. actresses. Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise in any role he plays. He has the same character traits. Nicole Kidman, however, morphs into whatever the role calls for.

 

[Kit]

That's why when you have your enemy in a corner, for goodness sake, kille them! Don't stand there talking about it! Drives me up the wall!

There is no reason why you cannot deliver your villainous manifesto to your enemy's corpse. Much safer and more practical that way. S/he won't be interrupting you, either.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

It has been a long time since I read The Eye of the World, so thanks for the refresher. But even in your breakdown you still have three unmarried women (with Nynaeve being the third I had in mind) and three unmarried men going along with someone they do not trust (Moraine). Nynaeve can hardly be considered a chaperon because a) she's unmarried and b) she wasn't sent, she followed. An unmarried country village woman running off into the wild with Trollocs and Mydraal about!

I completely forgot about Thom and Lan being there as well. So eventually you have 3 unmarried women from the village around 5 unmarried men! What?

I never got the impression that unmarried people spending time together was some sort of huge social faux pas in Randland, especially not when there are extenuating circumstances. Yeah, Thom and Lan are "unmarried men" but Lan is around 45 years old, and Thom is even older than that; I don't think anyone's concerned that something untoward might happen to the young folks on their account. Also Lan's a Warder; having one of them accompany your virgin daughter would be about as dangerous to her chastity as having a Jedi along.

Nynaeve can quite definitely be considered a chaperone; village Wisdoms were positions of high authority and respect, and nobody would dare tell one (especially not Nynaeve, who would rip you a new asshole) that she wasn't fit to be around unmarried men out in the wilderness.

And I don't think they "don't trust" Moiraine; they don't know her very well, sure, but she's Aes Sedai, who are highly respected even if they're mistrusted. And it's the best choice they have, considering that the alternative is to stick around Emond's Field and possibly get killed by Trollocs.

And even if it's a lousy situation, it's still not true that the other townsfolk "didn't blink an eye." The parental types in EF were still really scared and upset that their children were leaving, but they didn't really have a choice.

 

[Aravelle]

YESYESYES.

I'm especially fed up with elves and dwarves. I refuse to use them. Although I'm guilty of the pretty heroine... :X

 

[Aravelle]

Also, there's a lot of royalty. Such as the hero finding out he has noble blood, or he starts off as one. For once, why can't his dad just be a innkeeper?

Many bastard children/orphans/children with one parent. -___-

And thieves. Thieves as a whole are kinda overrused. Can't say I've read many books with them in it, but there's more than I find comfortable.

 

[Aravelle]

I agree. Women are much harder to write, and it's hard to keep them from having their own set of cliches- being an archer, being a princess, etc.

 

[Ireth]

Also, there's a lot of royalty. Such as the hero finding out he has noble blood, or he starts off as one. For once, why can't his dad just be a innkeeper?

Many bastard children/orphans/children with one parent. -___-

And thieves. Thieves as a whole are kinda overrused. Can't say I've read many books with them in it, but there's more than I find comfortable.

I've defied all three in my vampire novel. XD The hero has both his parents, and they both love him; his parents are shepherds; and he makes a point of not stealing unless it's absolutely necessary for survival. What he gains, he earns.

 

[Sheilawisz]

Well, now I have to accept that the readers can find a lot of Royalty in my otherwise low-stereotype Fantasy stories, since the protagonist of my first series is a Mage Princess (later a Queen) the same happens with the protagonist of my second series and I have the same all over again in my Joan of England story!!

I am obsessed with Royalty...

Another thing that it seems has not been mentioned so far, are the Medieval Settings so common in many Fantasy series =)

 

[Mindfire]

Also, there's a lot of royalty. Such as the hero finding out he has noble blood, or he starts off as one. For once, why can't his dad just be a innkeeper?

Many bastard children/orphans/children with one parent. -___-

And thieves. Thieves as a whole are kinda overrused. Can't say I've read many books with them in it, but there's more than I find comfortable.

We write royals because just about all of us, deep down inside, want to be one. There are some philosophical implications we could explore there, but whatever. As for thieves, they have a different kind of allure. The idea of someone who gets what they want through wit, charm, and resourcefulness is attractive. Also, thieves are ambiguous enough that they can make interesting heroes, or great sympathetic villains. Characters like Robin Hood, Arsene Lupin, and Carmen Sandiego are icons because of that.

In my book I'm two for two on those. My protagonist is a royal, but he starts out as a thief/vigilante. I think it works in a fairly unique way for him, stereotype or not.

 

[Saigonnus]

I have a WIP where the MC starts as a lowly type (he inherited his father's farm when he died) but he doesn't do much with it beyond leasing his fields to neighbors and caring for a bit of livestock. He finds a girl injured on the road (literally) and tends her. I have it somewhat planned out and one thing I probably won't be doing is making them love interests; maybe it starts, but she comes from a very strict culture and she wouldn't be able to "date" an outsider. I notice how many fantasy novels have that scenario; boy meets girl, boy does something to help girl, girl develops feelings, boy reciprocates and usually it causes drama in the story; she gets kidnapped or he is taken prisoner unless she goes with the bad guy.

My story probably won't have the presence of thieves in it (not that they don't exist, just that I choose not to use them) since there aren't any locks to pick in a forest or chests to open where the bad guys conveniently store their goodies. Certainly won't be any bards either... or old men who only show up here and there to advice the protagonist. I try not to use clichés, but with most good stories it is almost inevitable that something you write can be construed as cliché.

 

[Saigonnus]

1. The young hero who starts out as a whiny inexperienced bumpkin, and ends up a powerful wielder of some power he never knew he possessed.
2. The old eccentric mentor who sets the hero on his path.
3. The initially skeptical damsel, who has super skills, but for some reason will still need to be rescued at some point.
4. The epic bad guy whose name is super scary sounding.
5. The surprise relation. “Luke... I AM your father.”
6. The ancient prophecy that singles out our hero as the only person who can take down epic bad guy.
7. The scary witch/voodoo/swamp lady who scares everyone else but for some reason helps the hero.
8. The somewhat ridiculous bard who is there so the author can slip in some “poetry.”
9. The elf/human romance.
10. The item that the hero thinks is useless, but carries around anyway for 967 pages until he realizes that it’s what he needed all along to save the world! Lucky, that.

Lets see how my main WIP stacks up.

1. He is farmer (inherited when his father passed) but he is GIVEN power and has to learn to use it on the fly, rather than having it the whole time.
2. Non-existant and I think the scenario is silly; considering Elminster (the prototypical example) could do what he is sending other people and probably without much effort at all.
3. My "Damsel in distress" starts off that way, needing to basically be scraped off the road, but a different female character gets stuck in a kind of mental trap and needs to be shown the way back.
4. The antagonist (the lord of the Maki Hara) is a bit of an illusion, considering he doesn't exist, but was fabricated by the Council of Psions as a figurehead.
5. Doesn't happen since the MC's father dies before the story even begins.
6. He isn't the only one, but he happened to be in the right place at the right time (or maybe wrong place at the wrong time is more accurate). If he fails, time will continue turning, the world will be decidedly gloomier, but he wasn't "prophesied" for anything.
7. Doesn't happen.
8. Not this one either. I don't emply bards or thieves in my story since there aren't any locks needing to be picked or chests holding the bad guys goodies.
9. No elves... no human/elf romance.
10. He and his party lose pretty much everything they have during the adventure... and his traits are such that if he found something he'd consider worthless, he'd toss it without a second thought.

 

[Ireth]

1. The young hero who starts out as a whiny inexperienced bumpkin, and ends up a powerful wielder of some power he never knew he possessed.
2. The old eccentric mentor who sets the hero on his path.
3. The initially skeptical damsel, who has super skills, but for some reason will still need to be rescued at some point.
4. The epic bad guy whose name is super scary sounding.
5. The surprise relation. “Luke... I AM your father.”
6. The ancient prophecy that singles out our hero as the only person who can take down epic bad guy.
7. The scary witch/voodoo/swamp lady who scares everyone else but for some reason helps the hero.
8. The somewhat ridiculous bard who is there so the author can slip in some “poetry.”
9. The elf/human romance.
10. The item that the hero thinks is useless, but carries around anyway for 967 pages until he realizes that it’s what he needed all along to save the world! Lucky, that.

Let's see how mine stack up:

Winter's Queen and Summer's Blood

1. Nope. My normal human characters STAY normal human characters.
2. Nope. Unless you count my rhyming Pooka, who's presumably at least a few hundred years old. He sets Vincent and Dom on their way to finding Ariel.
3. I dunno if Ariel counts as skeptical, and she's pretty unskilled. Manages to save herself about as often as she's saved by others.
4. Hm... are Fiachra and Madoc Morfryn particularly scary?
5. Uh, kinda. "Luke, I want to be your father!"
6. Noooooope. No prophecies at all.
7. Nope.
8. I have a Pooka who spouts poetry (see #2), but ALL of his dialogue is in rhyme, and he's not a bard.
9. How about a Fae/human lust/hate relationship?
10. Nuh-uh! No MacGuffins here.

Low Road:

1. Uh, sorta. Olan doesn't quite stay a bumpkin, but he never whines. And he does learn to use his MacGuffin, but any other vampire could use it just as well, so there's nothing too special about him using it.
2. Well, he is old (about 180), but he doesn't look it, and he's not really eccentric.
3. No distressed damsels here. ^^
4. The scariness of the name "Conall" my be a matter of opinion.
5. There's probably going to be at least one.
6. Again, no prophecies at all.
7. Nope.
8. Nope again.
9. Well, there's a Fae/human romance, but it's in the backstory, and it's not the main character.
10. Yup, there's definitely one of those. He doesn't think it's useless though; it's just MORE useful than it seems at first.

 

[Sheilawisz]

Now let's try with my first Fantasy series:

1- My "heroine" is twenty years old when the story starts, but she's a Mage princess from the beginning. Well, I accept that after all she ends up having more power than she ever imagined.

2- Her dead mother's best friend is kind of a mentor sometimes.

3- Non-existant.

4- There is a powerful "dark lord" kind of character with a scary name, but she's like a legend and a background problem that nobody seems to really worry about.

5- Non-existant.

6- No prophecy, and in the end she takes down no bad guy: My heroine is kind of evil and a murderess herself.

7- Non-existant.

8- Non-existant.

9- No elves, no humans and no love story between different species.

10- Her favourite flute ends up being really important.

 

[Jess A]

Well, now I have to accept that the readers can find a lot of Royalty in my otherwise low-stereotype Fantasy stories, since the protagonist of my first series is a Mage Princess (later a Queen) the same happens with the protagonist of my second series and I have the same all over again in my Joan of England story!!

I am obsessed with Royalty...

Another thing that it seems has not been mentioned so far, are the Medieval Settings so common in many Fantasy series =)

I like royalty and nobility too. There will certainly be royalty in my book. I also like commoners and 'middle-class' or merchants and the like. A bit of a mix makes me happy, as does having a good balance of both genders.