List-o-Fantasy-Clichés

Well, you've got the typical quest plot: something needs to be found or destroyed to keep the Evil Overlord from having power.

-The farm boy turned knight/prince/hero/whatever
-The princess who needs to be rescued
-The princess who hates feminine things, and wants to swordfight
-Carbon-copy Tolkein elves
-Dwarves and elves who don't get along
-The lovable rogue/sidekick
-Prophecies
-The Wise Old Mentor who Mysteriously Withholds Information for Mysterious Reasons

I'm sure I'll think of more later...

Pretty much anything from Tolkien has become a cliche.
Oh, and don't forget the now good character who used to be evil/ is the child of the main villain/ is a good person from a family or race of evil people.

Let's see....

Let's not also forget:

The quest for the artifact that will save/destroy the world.
The kindly old man who guides the MC on their way to greatness...

Sadly, to write 'em like they used to, you have to have some cliche in there somewhere--there's just no getting around it.
I am proud to admit that my upcoming nano is full of them--LOTS of characters, prophecy, qest for the thing that everyone and everything wants in order to stop the evil thing, a star-crossed romance, characters coming into their own and saving the world one obstacle at a time.

I have a few to add.

~ The orphan who turns out to be royalty
~ The old man who is either a hermit or a respectable yet humble member of the community who becomes the mentor to the hero.
~ Some evil character turns out to be related to the hero

hmm...let's see,
everyone seems to love the normal farmhand who becomes king/leader of great rebellion/generally amazing guy
the evil overlord that wants to take over the world because he's bored (or for no reason at all)
the beautiful princess who's useless and her knight in shining armor who loves her for her...well, he just loves her
the magical sword/wand that is unstoppable and is kept by a mysterious protector guy that shows up randomly, gives it to the hero after a small test, then disappears never to be seen again
the heroine who follows after the hero for love/revenge and becomes amazingly powerful through no effort of her own
the mysterious, usually lyconic guy who always manages to come save the hero in a tight spot only to dissapear again because of his "lone wolf" attitude.
a villian who could kill the hero easily but just has to monolouge.
a villian who could kill the hero easily but just has to play with him for a bit
a villain who could kill the hero easily but just has to see how much more interesting/challenging he'll be after he 'matures'

Basically, everything anyone could possibly think of. Ever.

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating. But not by much.

-The two main characters who are supposed to end up together spend all of their time arguing. It worked for Jane Austen, but now it's been done a ton.
-All of the protagonists are amazingly good-looking, while the antagonists are horribly disfigured. Ditto for white and black, respectively.
-Females are either: a) as pure as the driven snow, or b) completely challenging gender roles by being so completely badass with their swords and other cool weaponry. There's no middle ground.

-evil priests, corrupt church who serve an evil god and sacrifice virgins at the full moon, or whenever the hero can rescue said virgins
-orc knockoffs
-the evil overlord who kills a messengers just 'cause he brought bad news
-a big ending battle between the forces of good and evil
-the farm boy hero finds out he is someone special/important/the last mage who wields the MOST AWESOME POWAHS EVAR! (don't forget, his family is either abusive and doesn't understand, or is nice and killed)
-the hero or his friend turns out to be a relative of someone evil

*edited because I can't spell

If there's dragons, your characters will ride them.

Period.

Also, they will never be named Bob or Suzie. The dragons, that is.

The villian keeps the heir alive in the dungeon just long enough so that he can be rescued.

or, my personal unfavorite,

the beautiful, pure woman changes the surly hero and they end up together and roll around in the hay together.... >< And she's usually the prim, proper, pretty girl that has all these high standards... come on, seriously, who the hell is like this anyway?

I tried posting before, but after I had toiled over what I said and got it down on paper--er, screen--the web site shut down. I need to pay better attention to the clock. Let me see if I remember...I know a lot has been said already, so most of it will be repeats:

1. The orphaned hero raised by an aunt or uncle with special abilities and a special destiny awaiting him

2. The hero's mentor...who is old and has more power than people think; dies before he can see the hero's mission completed

3. An object that must be protected or destroyed by the hero (i.e., Tolkien's The One Ring and JK Rowling's Prophecy)

4. A language called The Forbidden Tongue (or language) or The Un-named Tongue (or language)

5. A gorgeous kick-butt female who doesn't get along with the hero, but then falls in love with him

6. A weapon special to the hero (be it a wand or sword or whatever)

and that's all I've got...for now.

"Also, they will never be named Bob or Suzie. The dragons, that is."

::giggles:: Now I have to write a story with a dragon named Bob.

lol!

Here are some:

"Bygosh! The gruff dwarf DOES have a heart after all!"

"Bygosh! The elf CAN drink after all!"

"Ahh. . . but I know the protagonist/dragon/sorceror's true name!"

"Makbar son of Akbar son of Kbar son of Bar son of Ar, founder of the royal house of R."

"Speaking of names, have I introduced you to my named sword, shield, and helm?"

Any scene in which a cat is more than just the furry, tankless goldfish that they are in real life.

The hero's home town, city, slum, or planet will usually be annihilated in a spectacular fashion before the end of the opening scene.

The big, tough guy who, deep down, is a complete softy.

No matter how big that sword/axe/halberd is, no one will stand out in a crowd.

An Ancient Evil was sealed away and it just so happens that the novel begins 999.98 years later. You figure out the rest.

First off, I am TOTALLY putting in a dragon named Suzie, cause that's just amazing. (Or it'll be for the adult swim-esque tv show I'm working on something along the lines of "Dumbass Dragon", but that'll be post-NaNo I'll be trying to get more ideas for that.)

Anyway, cliches in fantasy:

The hero/heroine must go on a journey to right what their parent did wrong. (Which I confess, my main character is using this partly, but there are at least other reasons for her journey.)

A parent or guardian that was abusive comes around and makes amends right before death.

Your group travels together. Just cause. Even if it's better for them to split, they still stick together.

Deus-ex-machinas. (These I hate more then...um...mangos, I really don't mangos. Yes, I hate these more then mangos themselves.) This is pretty much when things are going and going along and then all of a sudden an amazing act of god comes and rights everything and grants the hero what he needs. Generally used as a way to lead to the final grand finale.

Why do characters always wear the same clothes? Don't they like, get all torn and bloody?

It can take only minutes to walk across an entire plain, but hours and even days to march through a forest 1/10 of the size.

(This is more from video games) Why, oh why, do monsters drop gold? And why do ants have black holes in their guts (Champions of Norrath :-P)

Why is every race/creature either really smart or really dumb. How come there can't be any others like humans who simply are?

Oh, and the hero can always take on large quantities of enemies at once.

Don't forget mountains. Big, ominous, significant mountains, where important things happen (evil lairs or creation of objects or battles...)

Oh, and the hero/heroine being kept in some sort of isolation (from the world or their "true nature", etc) until they're a teenager.

Being the last of something. A race, or legendary group of people with certain abilities.

Someone in the group dies, sacrificing their life so the others can continue. And then a few chapters (or books) later they miraculously survived or were spared by the powers that be.

I feel confident that everyone has mentioned the dashing hero on his quest of d00m to save whatever other d00m is going to destroy the world. So I'll add some.

* Magicians who are too smart and cunning to ever get hurt or slip up their spells.
* Villains who are homosexual or bisexual simply for the sake of making them more evil. This is not only in fantasy, but I just thought I'd mention it. Also, when was the last time someone saw a female villain in mainstream fantasy? It's been a while for me.
* Supernatural beings who disdain humanity with a passion for no particular reason other than the fact that they're immortal and do not have "human flaws." Chapter-long ramblings from the MC about how human kind sucks counts, as well.
* The completely "selfless" MC who only care about the people around them and yet they never die, let alone sacrifice themselves for the greater good. They hide.
* Mysterious plagues that sweep across the land, affecting everyone but the hero (including the hero's entire family and his dog.) It is later found that the hero is not even human.

I'll edit this later if I summon up a few more...

The naming ones are so true. I mean, naming your sword is really just showing off--and it makes it that much more embarrassing if you ever lose it. If you're really that good with a sword, one should be as good as any other. Actually, even if it won't fit in my NaNo, I'd love to write a parody where the hero lost the ancient magical sword, or broke it, or had it stolen, and had to make do with a normal one.

And the similar parent/child names just make genealogy a headache. But I had to giggle at "the royal house of R".

Something that's not only a cliche, but is also something that pisses me off:

- Protagonists that are (almost) completely incompetent, but are surrounded by very talented friends who basically do the work for them yet get none of the credit. Think Frodo. Think Harry Potter. Seriously. Why can't the protagonist be able to take care of himself?

Here are some:

Any scene in which a cat is more than just the furry, tankless goldfish that they are in real life.

Those ones cracked me up. Nice!

"Also, when was the last time someone saw a female villain in mainstream fantasy?"

The Pale Woman in Robin Hobb's "Fool's Fate." (Book three of The Tawny Man Trilogy.) Granted she's is a bit cliché in the fact that she loves the sound of her own voice, but still, she's the villain. She even believes her vision of the future is the "right" one.

Oh and by the way- I love all the clichés you guys are coming up with. They all remind me of the game "The Bard's Tale". ::starts singing "Oh it's bad luck to be you...":::

"Makbar son of Akbar son of Kbar son of Bar son of Ar, founder of the royal house of R."

*snorts coffee laughing*

Oh, that is so very tempting. And, pure word padding gold if the character introduces himself as that every few pages.

"Makbar son of Akbar son of Kbar son of Bar son of Ar, founder of the royal house of R."

*giggle-snorts* I want to use that so badly! May I do so?

"hmm...let's see,
everyone seems to love the normal farmhand who becomes king/leader of great rebellion/generally amazing guy
the evil overlord that wants to take over the world because he's bored (or for no reason at all)
the beautiful princess who's useless and her knight in shining armor who loves her for her...well, he just loves her
the magical sword/wand that is unstoppable and is kept by a mysterious protector guy that shows up randomly, gives it to the hero after a small test, then disappears never to be seen again
the heroine who follows after the hero for love/revenge and becomes amazingly powerful through no effort of her own
the mysterious, usually lyconic guy who always manages to come save the hero in a tight spot only to dissapear again because of his "lone wolf" attitude.
a villian who could kill the hero easily but just has to monolouge.
a villian who could kill the hero easily but just has to play with him for a bit
a villain who could kill the hero easily but just has to see how much more interesting/challenging he'll be after he 'matures'"

Those are pretty much anime cliches, with the exception of the first one, which happens fairly often too. I've yet to see most of the things on there reoccur constantly in fantasy. And anime fantasy doesn't count.

To add to this fine list of cliches...

The MC will be a Blacksmith, and more often then not, forge his own swords and armour, which strangely also happens to be the best they ever made.

Rags to Riches. Mainly with kids who are orphans and living with mean aunts and uncles.

The obligatory, MC doesn't feel they are the chosen one, but after a long chat with the wise master (usually a wizard) then they go on the quest.

The MC always has the most amazing swordsmanship, even though they have never held a weapon in their life.

They always become friends with the King.

They will have shoulder-length wavy blonde/brown hair.

No matter how serious the injury, they will survive.

With that said, I hope to kill off a few of my MCs, make sure they are of really weird professions, all have heaps of supporting family, have short haircuts (okay, I'll slip the odd 'hero' mop in) and are generally not friends with royalty.
Yes, this will be the cliche busting year.

Josiah

I just wanted to say you are all absolutely amazing (and several of you made me laugh a little too loudly for this computer lab, but I'm used to odd looks).

Thanks! If you gather any more, please, don't hesitiate!

Good luck and happy writing.

To be fair, that was the point of Frodo - alone he couldn't have succeeded, but it was friendship that ultimately saved everything (inasmuch as it was saved). Sam got only as much credit as he needed - which was nothing, because he did what he did because he loved Frodo (... platonically!).

Otherwise, regarding Harry Potter, you're totally spot on. Grrirritatedmesomuch.

"-The farm boy turned knight/prince/hero/whatever"

That reminds me I was going to write the shortest story ever as an anti-cliche to that. XD Yue-chan knows all about that.

I love all the cliches posted thus far. Makes me surprised how well I'm doing to avoid so many of them. XD

Sadly, to write 'em like they used to, you have to have some cliche in there somewhere--there's just no getting around it.

That's really because a lot of these aren't entirely cliches - they're devices which continue to see use because people like to read about them; they evoke a response. Or, alternatively, because they help to move the story along.

This is particularly true of things like the orphan hero, the reluctant hero, the last-of-his-kind... some of these devices are roughly as old as storytelling itself, and while they can certainly be trite and dull when written by someone who's just regurgitating what they've read before on the assumption that that's how it should go, a skilled writer who knows what devices he or she is using and what they're bringing to his story can make a great story out of those same devices. Some of the best-loved stories in history use many of the very tropes being listed here, and it's not because they did it first, just because they did it well.

It's all about execution. The truism goes that there are no new ideas - that's why ideas can't be copyrighted, only the manner in which those ideas are executed.

http://tvtropes.org is a great site which compiles a list of devices like these, frequently with explanations for why they continue to appear, and examples of good and bad executions, along with bona fide cliches and discredited tropes which have been used so much and in such similar forms that nobody can take them seriously any more, or which have become outdated due to widespread changes in audiences' knowledge or values. TVTropes is a great resource in general, even if you're not looking for cliches, because of the basic, time-proven appeal of the devices and character archetypes listed.

Hmm... Some cliches could be:
The MC is poor then finds out that they have xxxxxxxxx amount of money,
The MC's life was either stifling and they just HAVE to leave on the quest,
They can dress up in the most obvious costumes and no one will guess who they are,
The Hero can beat the best of the best, usually swordfight. Usually done after the best bullies the Hero.
They just 'happen' to find a creek.
Every single inn owner is either working for the Dark Side or is a double agent.
MC is half-something; half-elf, half-dwarf, half-vampire, half-computer...