Your Most Hated Tropes

[Fidel]

Trope subversion is my least favorite use of tropes.

For instance (to use low hanging fruit), in the trope knight-saves-princess-from-dragon, you have a clear hero, a clear goal, and a clear danger.
In the subversion of that trope (princess saves knight from dragon), what normally ends up happening is the knight isn't entirely helpless and the princess isn't entirely brave. The punch is pulled and everything that made the trope stick to begin with is discarded.

I love complexity and nuance, but not at the sacrifice of plot. Make the princess save the knight, sure, but don't try to sneakily present her as primarily helpless with undertones of bravery until BAM, you subvert the common trope and then pronounce smugly to your audience "you're welcome, peasants."

Make her brave. Really brave, just like the knight would have been. Any underlying reticence should be an INTERESTING SUBPLOT to spice up the ending, not the primary focus. If the knight is helpless, he should be PRIMARILY HELPLESS, with bits of courage slipped in the corners.
The uno reverse card, big twist ending "aha, gotcha! this trope is SUBVERTED," has become very, very stale.

I don't mind the idea of subverting tropes, I just think the execution usually fails, the writers relying too heavily on the fact that they subverted the trope at all and not trying hard enough to put something of interest and substance in its place.

Same with villains. It's one thing to have a classic-bad-guy-trope save a cat halfway through the story to plant a tiny seed of pathos in the minds of readers. On the other hand, in an attempt not to appear tropey, writers are having the villain do nothing but save cats for the whole story, then cobbling together some last minute excuse for them to still suffer a villainous end.

Trope subversion is watering down plot into a sort of empathetic white noise. Reality isn't even as subversive and morally ambivalent as many stories have become.

Oh man, you’ve hit on something *so* real here. Trope subversion can be amazing when it’s done right, but way too often it feels like writers are just patting themselves on the back for being "clever" without actually putting in the work to make the story compelling. Like, yeah, cool, you flipped the script but where’s the *heart*? Where’s the *stakes*? If you’re going to subvert a trope, you’ve gotta commit! Don’t just tease us with a half-baked twist and call it a day.

Your example of the princess saving the knight is spot on. If you’re going to make her the hero, then *let her be the hero*. Don’t water her down with hesitation or make her secretly helpless until the last second. Give her the same boldness, bravery, and agency that the knight would’ve had in the original trope. And if the knight’s helpless, then *own it*, don’t try to sneak in little moments of courage to make him look better. Let the subversion *mean* something, you know?

And don’t even get me started on villains. The whole "villain saves a cat to make them ~complex~" thing is so overdone. Like, sure, give your villain depth, but don’t just rely on cheap tricks to make them seem morally gray. If they’re going to be a villain, let them *be a villain*. Complexity is great, but not if it comes at the cost of the story’s tension or impact.

Honestly, I think a lot of writers are so focused on avoiding tropes that they forget what makes stories satisfying in the first place. Tropes exist for a reasonth, ey work! Subverting them can be fun, but only if you’re putting something equally interesting in their place. Otherwise, it’s just empty shock value.

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

I've got a whole bunch.

Not Like Other Girls
Damsel in Distress
Yanderes
Anything that Romanticizes Toxic Relationships
Love Redeems
Hurt To Protect
I Will Wait For You
Miscommunications
Love Triangles
Love at First Sight
Last Minute Romantic Pair-Ups [Strangled By The Red String]
Love Is Forbidden
Fake-Out Deaths
New Powers As The Plot Demands
Planet of the Hats
Medieval Stasis
Always Chaotic Evil
Balance Between Good and Evil
Because Destiny Says So
Divine Right To Rule
Deus/Diablos ex Machina
The Magic Goes Away
Villain Has A Point But Status Quo Rules [not sure if this has an actual name]
Grimdark
Fate Worse Than Death
Body Horror
Humans Are The Real Monsters
As Long As There is Evil

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

I'm not quite awake enough to explain why I don't like them, but I'll attempt to explain a couple sometime later.

 

[pmmg]

I am with those who does not like to focus on things I hate. And, as others have said, there really is no such thing as something universally hate-worthy.

I also don't think tropes are meaningful, but rather than derail the thread, I'll just say, for my full opinion on Tropes, it can be found here: Goldie on Tropes

I don't think I will comment much, but I might if something amuses.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I am with those who does not like to focus on things I hate. And, as others have said, there really is no such thing as something universally hate-worthy.

I also don't think tropes are meaningful, but rather than derail the thread, I'll just say, for my full opinion on Tropes, it can be found here: Goldie on Tropes

I don't think I will comment much, but I might if something amuses.

I'm fairly sure that, eventually, complaining about stupid stuff in literature will eventually be renamed "The Lowan" and my entire team will live forever in infamy.

Or maybe just complaining in general. I went All State my senior year.

But seriously (yeah, look for pods), tropes are shorthand for larger concepts, and we not only get to enjoy them in genre fiction, Lang and Lit gets to play with them, too. It's made up stuff. It's all made up stuff. My college mentor called it mental masturbation and I don't think she was wrong.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Ohhh, I feel this in my *soul*. Love triangles can be such a cheap way to create drama, and they often feel so forced. Like, why do we need two people fighting over one person when we could just have a solid, well-developed relationship (or even a polyamorous one, if we’re feeling spicy)? The angst is rarely worth it, especially when it’s clear the whole thing exists just to drag out the plot or make the protagonist seem ~desirable~.

And you’re so right when done poorly, love triangles can come off as sanctimonious or just plain exhausting. It’s like, "Wow, I’m so torn between these two incredibly attractive people who are both obsessed with me for no reason!" Give me a break. If you’re going to go for the feels, at least make it meaningful and not just a lazy way to create tension.

That said, I’ve seen a *few* love triangles that actually worked because the characters felt real and the stakes were high, but they’re definitely the exception, not the rule. Do you have any love triangles that made you particularly ragey? Or any that you thought were done well (if such a thing exists)?

Arthur, Lance, and Gwen. The Star Wars prequels were an opportunity squandered on a mind that wasn't mature enough to leave the things of adolescence behind. Wuthering Heights.



But honestly, this is what they all look like to me... probably why we have a lot of poly in our series. Yes, there is spice. And yes, there are little kids running around like mad in the middle of events of great peril. It's a multigenerational family saga about the difference a small but dedicated group of people can make in the world. Welcome to Seahaven.

 

[Skyfarer]

Two coming to mind at the moment ( if these are tropes):

1. Anytime YOU, THE PLAYER/READER/VIEWER, are the bad guy, or are otherwise brought into the fold. I dunno, it just never works for me.

2. The hero has had their limb cut off! But then they immediately get a replacement that looks like the real thing, moves like the real thing, feels like the real thing, and maybe even has some toys in it that makes it BETTER than the real thing. And then we can just move on.

 

[Miles Lacey]

Here's a few tropes I dislike:

▪︎ The villain who establishes his evil credentials with sadistic or sexual violence, usually both. This, in turn, is used to justify whatever acts of sadistic violence the hero(ine) commits against the bad guys.
▪︎ The goofball male sidekick, the naive but wise beyond his years hero and the beautiful, level-headed female sidekick who save the world.
▪︎. They're living with a peasant family but they're secretly a prince or princess who is hiding from the evil ruler of the Empire or Kingdom. End result: evil ruler is killed and said prince or princess ends up ruling.
▪︎. The never ending saga of a handful of rich aristocratic families fighting over who gets to put their butts on the throne. Imagine how many trees could've been saved if a guillotine was introduced at the end of the first book.
▪︎. The Princess in a gilded cage being rescued and falling in love with the poor but loveable rogue who saved her.
▪︎ Anything that's based upon the Bible or Tolkien.
▪︎. The fiercely independent, badass and competent heroine who becomes a docile, weak and indecisive imbecile who can barely wipe her own arse the moment the love interest shows up.

 

[Orc Knight]

▪︎. The fiercely independent, badass and competent heroine who becomes a docile, weak and indecisive imbecile who can barely wipe her own arse the moment the love interest shows up.

Oh yeah, that's definitely oh so annoying.

 

[Orc Knight]

Another couple or the list.

Evil Corvids. The crows, the ravens and magpies all end up being evil, helping evil and such. And they are such clever birdies. True, I get why they've gotten the bearers of ill omens and death, being carrion eaters amongst other things. Plus, they're really good at plucking out eyes.

Same goes for hyena's, poor yeens almost always made out to be cowards to the brave lions. Again, it's same for the crows. They don't really care where the meat comes from, much like most predators and do have that scavenging down. So do the lions. Though it is a most epic cat on cat conflict (Yes, hyena's are a part of feliformia for those not in the know).

Evil Matriarchy. Just, yeah. Yes, they can be very bad, so can anything else. Not getting into the nitty gritty of it though.

 

[Queshire]

I'm not a fan of evil gods, or rather, I'm not a fan of gods where you're left wondering, "why would anyone worship this?"

I've seen worshiping the god in order to ward them off, and there's always the risk of getting smote by a god if you're, say, an Orc who doesn't worship the Orc Gods. Those explanations work, but I never find them fulfilling. I like it when there's some aspirational element to a god even if they're not pleasant about it.

 

[Lead=Dragon]

Dragons - they tend to be bad or good. Very rarely are they portrayed as "honestly, cannot be bothered one way or another with these noisy monkeys".

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Dragons - they tend to be bad or good. Very rarely are they portrayed as "honestly, cannot be bothered one way or another with these noisy monkeys".

Or they're rather like the dragons in the Books of Binding. The noisy monkeys make great sports cars, and honestly, who doesn't have a weakness for feeling the wind of the Autobahn in your face with your ass three inches above the pavement? Well, unless we're flying. Did someone say we're flying?

Urban Fantasy is fun, especially when you have no regard for tradition or rules or morality. Just you wait until you see what we do with paladins and unicorns.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

The dragon should save the knight from the princess. I always wanted to be rescued by a dragon.

I hate no tropes. I do hate the word trope.