Fantasy Tropes to Avoid
S.R. Beaston
Crafty with words, wit, and wisdom, just add caffeine to make it more interesting.
The fantasy genre lends itself to never-ending, expansive imagination. Hardly anything is off limits. Unfortunately, that’s where some of us can fall into cliche tropes.
Honestly, no trope is bad. They can be used in stronger or weaker ways, but there's nothing inherently wrong with a trope. In fact, they're necessary for many genres to find success.
That being said, take this list as friendly caution if including any of these tropes in your fantasy novel. You don't have to actually avoid them, but do tread carefully!
Fantasy Tropes to "Avoid"
Here are a few frequently occurring tropes you'll find in fantasy that might be due for a makeover.
Deus ex machina
I lied, maybe there are some tropes that should never be done again.
Deus ex Machina on its own simply means "god out of the machine," coined to refer to a crane in Greek plays that lowered an actor (likely playing a god) into the scene to help solve an unsurmountable problem in the story.
Now it’s used more for anything that comes up out of nowhere to resolve the conflict, usually at the climax of the narrative. You see this in media all the time. It’s that moment where you say, "Well, that’s convenient."
As a trope, however, this term is not reserved for just the sudden and convenient conclusion to the final problem, but anything that happens as a correction to a problem that seems unsolvable. This may happen as a retcon, or when the writer trapped themselves in a plot hole they can’t easily fix.
There may be a time and place for a deus ex machina, but I can’t think of many, especially in a fantasy novel.
It can be far too easy to use underdeveloped magic or unknown creatures to help write you out of that corner and call it a day, but this trope is often used to messily patch up holes in a plot.
The chosen one
The chosen one trope might be one of the most popular plots in fantasy and sci-fi. Mistborn, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson are great examples of well-executed chosen ones. While these stories are fantastic, it's just been done-to-death, and if I see one more medieval-orphaned-farm-boy-turned-hero-by-means-of-prophecy, I’m going to lose it.
This trope is popular for a reason, but many readers feel it has run its course. If you decide to stick to this, try circumventing it. Maybe your character doesn’t just complain or resist at first (like most do), but he simply does not do what he’s told to do. Perhaps he becomes more antagonistic as a result. Maybe he kills the farm-boy-chosen-one. Now that’s a trope I’d read.
Speaking of farm boys…
The farm boy
The farm boy is any protagonist raised in an impoverished yet hardworking and humble town, and likely works on a farm. The townies either love or hate him—there’s no in between. He’s working that simple life until the author decides otherwise (usually sooner than we can really care about the town that’s about to be conveniently obliterated to start the farm-boy's journey).
I hate the farm boy. I hate him just as much as the shipwreck starter pack trope in video games. Let’s see if we can brainstorm some little twists on this trope.
Farm boy actually makes a lot of money because he is exceptional at growing and harvesting. He has prized livestock and several survival skills that will come in handy when he finally has to leave (as opposed to the exactly 0 skills most Farm Boy protagonists have.) Be creative with his weapon of choice, and give this hero a home to come back to.
See, even a slight change can ease this troubling trope into something more tangible. Oh, and leave old-man-wizard at home, please.
The wise sage
This is the trope I just told you to leave at home. With every confused, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, young protagonist, there is that wise sage meant to guide them on their hero's journey. The sage is usually magical, old, and male, but as of late, the trope has been warping a little out of its comfort zone.
This is a hard one to omit completely, as it’s always good to have a character that knows what’s going on. My novel has a crazy witch who loves to study the very thing that is plaguing my protagonist. She’s not all magical or all-knowing, but has the tools to help where needed while also being susceptible to her own flaws.
I’m not saying to avoid Old-Man-Wizard, but try to change him enough to make him interesting, helpful, and complex.
The orphan
Another popular, yet overused trope is the orphan. This completes the trifecta of tropes that hold hands through the finish line with the chosen one and the farm boy.
This allows for the author to not have to worry about their teenage protagonist wandering off and not having to come home before dinner. It’s a tool that, when done well, works, and when done for convenience, is immediately obvious. (That’s the case with most of these tropes).
There are ways to get around this, the easiest being: have them be an adult.
If you are dead set on having a teen as your protagonist, then another simple solution is to have interesting parents. Are they neglectful of their child? Are they super strict? Are they also a part of this journey, either secretly or openly? Parents can make for great tools and characters for world-building and plot development, so don’t be afraid to give your protagonist a family. Or at least give their family an original kind of death.
The training montage
Avoid training where training isn’t needed. I’ve read books where training didn’t need to happen at all, yet the montage took half the book. I’ve also read books where the protagonist went from clueless to competent in a time skip, leaving the reader to wonder…how?
Character growth, and by extension, the growth of their abilities, should be part of the journey we see, but it shouldn’t be the majority, and it certainly shouldn’t be skipped without reason.
Training montages are endearing to a lot of readers, so don’t dishearten them by mishandling a pivotal fantastical element. Imagine Mulan without her training montage.
Elemental Magics
Another trope that’s hard to avoid, but even harder to master, is the use of elemental magic. At its core, it’s a simple mechanic, but with writers inspired by things like Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Dresdon Files and any book with a fairy in it, this trope has gotten a little out of hand.
Hard magic systems are too convoluted, and soft magic systems may have too many holes in their logic, but patching up either problem with elemental magic becomes predictable and boring.
This is Baby's First Magic System, and it really shows when there is nothing more than "water beats fire."
This is fantasy—anything can be magic. Get creative!
Royalty
I’m unsure why royalty and fantasy go hand in hand other than the common placeholder of "medieval Europe". I do not mind this being the template for fantasy location inspiration, but does every protagonist have to be of royal blood? Is it always about either running from or helping a kingdom in some way? Does the king really have enough say to ban magic for the hundredth time in these novels?
I personally hate heavy politics in my fantasy. I deal with it because it’s literally everywhere, but I would like to see the fantastical get away from the mundane and true-to-life castles and nobility for a bit. How does your fantasy world function at ground level, where everyone else is?
Remember, kingdoms are not fantasy. In fact, they are still a part of quite a few countries' reality.
Regardless of the trope, there’s likely a good home for them. It’s ultimately up to you on how you want to use them. Tropes, cliches, and plot devices are all just tools in your writer's toolbox, daring you to take the challenge to innovate a new way to use them. It’s fantasy. Anything can happen.
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