A while back, I was watching an amazing video on Kate Cavanaugh’s channel (an absolute gem if you like writing videos!) where she made bad fantasy tropes *face off* against each other to determine the WORST FANTASY TROPE. I loved this idea- especially cos I agreed about so many of the tropes- and wanted to do my own spin on it. Maybe I’m lucky but I just haven’t seen some of these tropes in a while, so I tweaked the list a little to be more reflective of tropes I actually come across (including some from my least favourites post). I’m also gonna rank these instead of playing them off against each other. This is cos, as much as you guys know I love my rants, I don’t hate all these tropes (some I even LOVE).
“Here comes the cavalry”- I love this trope. Keep doing it please.
Made up languages- unless this is done so badly that it makes me laugh OR is just a way to rip off Tolkien (which we’ll get to way down the list) I’ve no problem with this.
Evil Dark Lord is secretly related to the hero– not only do I have no problem with this, but I actually love when heroes have a deep connection to villain- so bring it on.
A life for a life– seriously no problem with this- it’s a good way to weigh up the cost of magic. Unless it’s reused often in the same story!
Character resurrection– I only dislike this if it’s done over and over, but it’s not nearly as bad as a fakeout (which we’ll get to). Also, it’s VERY COOL when characters are brought back from the dead in a creepy way!
Hero is an orphan– yeah, controversial opinion, but I’m usually fine with this as well. I know why people don’t like this one, because it is overdone (Pages Unbound do great posts on this) however I still can’t bring myself to hate it?
Opening scene is hunting to survive– to be honest, although this is coming up more and more, I still don’t mind it as an opening. It’s really not going to put me off unless it’s badly written.
Magic system with no rules/confusing rules– yeahhh this one will get my fantasy credentials ripped away BUT while I like well done magic systems, I’m less likely to be critical of it.
Reluctant hero– as long as it’s done well, I think it can be fun. I prefer it to the bland milquetoast hero that jumps at the chance to save the day!
A character who is MIA for an entire book– Kate Cavanaugh mentioned this in relation to Song of Ice and Fire- and while I completely get her point and I’d miss the character too- I can live with this (provided we’re not led to believe the character is dead when they’re not).
Gratuitous sex scenes that don’t further the plot– erm I’m okay with some hot and heavy romance scenes… just as long as it’s well written! (I’m beginning to sound like a broken record now)
Forced romance between two main characters– I don’t necessarily associate this with fantasy- which is the reason it’s not lower on the list. That said, there are times when it really grates on me.
Time travel– I know so many people have a problem with time travel plots (which I get, cos, kinda interferes with logic a lot of the time) but it’s not going to put me off a book (though it doesn’t have me reaching for it either).
Medieval (usually British) fantasy– I haven’t read one of those in a while… but that’s cos I’m very unlikely to pick it up at this point. It’s definitely overdone. We’re kind of drowning in these at this point!
Prophecies– okay, yes, I could live without prophecies. HOWEVER, it’s not too bad if it’s kept vague. As long as it doesn’t say “X person is going to save the world”, then it can work. Although, I could still do with it being used more sparingly.
Long lost heir– nah, I’m not into this (thank you, next!)
“I’ll tell you when I see you next”- oof I get why Kate Cavanaugh included this (like she says, it’s code for *I’m gonna die and never tell you*) THAT SAID there are things that are a lot worse- and one that specifically relates to this.
Bad riddles– I hate this, cos I used to do it in my own writing and I think I got the maturity to stop… so wish other writers would too! It’s okay if it’s not your forte- just leave it at the door! Just because Tolkien did it, doesn’t mean you have to (although, of course, if you write gorgeous poetry, be my guest 😉)
The hero has the magic in them all along– it’s cheesy, but I can live with it… sometimes. In Middle Grade. Maybe. (Please don’t do it).
Hero with zero experience suddenly is a master– this is kinda similar to the Chosen One (spoiler alert, that’s gonna feature on this list). Still, this is not as bad, cos there’s often some kind of training montage to have them learn (even if it’s too quick).
Magic ex machina– this is when the characters into terrible situation- then (usually unexplained) *magic* comes in that saves the day. Similar to *here comes the cavalry*- except for some reason I find this one kinda takes all the tension out the story.
Overpowered object– magical artefacts are great and all- I’m just not really into swords/rings/nefarious objects being the centre of attention.
World building info dumps– this one hits close to home, cos I’m editing this out of my story right now… yet, even if I sympathise with the urge, it’s not good. Poor readers- they don’t deserve this shoddy writing.
Pointless meandering/book travelling syndrome– I swapped this out for the endless side quest, because it’s something I see more often (and includes the overlong side quest). It’s another one I’m guilty of- and I hate it!
Impossible to pronounce names– don’t get me wrong, much like made-up languages, I like funny or unusual names. ON THE OTHER HAND, the reason this is so high up the list is cos it can be taken too far. Don’t call your character Dhjoukn when the name you were going for was Jon. And maybe keep it in your pants a little if it’s something no one reading your book could feasibly pronounce.
Ripping off Tolkien– I feel like a lot of the above tropes can combine to produce this one… which is why it’s so bad! Writers that do this *overload* their books with tropes. Plus, if I wanted to reread Tolkien, I’d just do that!
Strong woman doesn’t need saving– okay, yes, I took out the damsel in distress in favour of this, because frankly I never come across damsels in fantasy these days (unless it’s a male character that constantly needs saving because) Yet, I see this one ALL THE TIME! Like I said, usually accompanied by endless quests to save their love interest AND snappy retorts about how they don’t need saving. It’s… not endearing to read. Not saying I want the damsel back, only I don’t want to read this either. Not only did it get boring after the fifty-millionth Buffy ripoff, but I also feel like this has been used as an excuse to give female characters less characterisation, not more!
Dragons that are just giant lizards– this one’s just personal. I’m really fussy about dragons in fiction. I’m all for interesting takes… but don’t push it. And, most importantly, don’t make dragons dull (somehow people manage to do that!!)
Fake deaths– yeah I can get on board with the odd resurrection- yet if you rob me of the impact of a character death, Imma be pissed!
Kill the big bad and all the minions die– this. is. such. an. obvious. plot. convenience. And I’ve no idea why it became a thing!! When would this ever happen in reality? I know it’s common in fantasy (or sci fi) but there should be *some* reason why this would happen. And I’m BORED of it. If you have to have the baddies run away and be routed, fine, I could live with it. NOT THIS!! NEVER THIS! So, writers PLEASE STOP!
The Dumbledore– okay so you know how I mentioned there’s something a lot worse than “I’ll tell you next time”? Well this is it. It’s one of the worst tropes because the character withholding information has no reason to do it! It just ends up being a ridiculous way to keep the main character in the dark when the information is readily available.
Evil for the sake of being evil– we all know this sucks, right?! I mean, it really, really, really sucks. I love when fantasy explores the nature of being evil, so when there’s a copout “they’re just evil because”, well then, here’s my response: *blows raspberry and tosses banana peel at writer’s face*. I hate I’d say it’s the worst, but there’s still one more…
The Chosen One– yeah, this is my worst trope. I know some people still like it, but I was bored of it by the time Harry Potter rolled around. And it hasn’t slowed up since then. It’s *everywhere*. There are adaptations of frickin Peter Pan with this trope shoehorned in!! And why? Give me a character that has to do it for any reason other than *a prophecy said they would defeat the baddie*. It’s lame and takes away good motivations for doing the right thing. And gives the story too much inevitability. I don’t even care if a character is overpowered… just please not this. (Oddly enough, and to end on a more positive note, I eat up stories that flip this trope in any way… more of those please!)
Wow I was surprisingly reasonable for a lot of that… But do you agree with me on any of these? What do you think is the worst fantasy trope? Let me know in the comments!
Dragons– all the DRAGONS!! Now, I will admit, I’m a bit more discerning when it comes to dragons- as I said in 
ool gadgets/magical artefacts– similar to the dragons, I’m not always into magical gizmo fixes all the problems/needs to be destroyed in order to save the world. That said, I do get a thrill when little magical objects find their way into the story and are shown off in a James-Bond-gets-his-gadgets kind of scene. 
Antagonist turned ally– I just love redemption arcs. So, whether it’s an enemies to lovers twist, or an antagonist turned ally, I am super on board for this trope!! At the same time, I wouldn’t say no to… 
The *just deserts* being served– as much as I love villains learning the error of their ways, I also enjoy them being punished just as much. Especially cos not all villains are created equal and sometimes it’s satisfying to see the Walder Freys of stories being served their own sons, Titus Andronicus style 
Quests! A huge part of the fantasy genre is the hero’s journey and what better way to get them started than sending them off on a literal journey?! While I think this can easily go wrong or be done badly, I can still be tempted by a jolly jaunt into fantasy land. For me, this will never get old!! 
Going into the *wilds* and coming back transformed– this is an age-old trick in folklore, which Tolkien drew on and famously made a part of the genre. It’s very typical to read a fantasy novel where the main character ventures out into the unknown (most often represented as forests) and learns something dark and twisted about the world or themselves. It’s a stalwart part of the genre- and I can’t get enough of it. 
Mysterious libraries/castles/schools– naturally, adding magic can make the mundane more special- who knew? 
Ghosts and necromancy– blame Garth Nix’s Sabriel for cementing my love for this one 
#1 Forbidden Love– starting off with something nice and safe, I love the Romeo-and-Juliet style forbidden romances, especially where everything is at stake because of two characters falling in love… Alright, so not totally safe 😉 This one ties me up in knots, unravels me and makes me super invested in the story. I don’t care how much of a cliché it is- it gets me (nearly) every time!
#2 Fake Dating– this is one of those romance themes that is becoming instabuy for me. Ever since I read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before I have been head over heels for this trope. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it, I will always go back for more!
#3 Misunderstandings– okay getting to the first controversial one. Lots of people hate this one- and believe me, I get why- the thing is… I don’t hate it. I think it’s a staple of romance for a reason, partly cos (unfortunately) it’s realistic, but mostly cos it creates tension and reasons for people not to be together, without resorting to making the love interests terrible people (aka indecisiveness, cheating, and basically most of the ingredients for a typical love triangle). Also, it nearly always gets used in one of my favourite ever tropes…
#4 Enemies to lovers– I’ll admit, I’m complete trash for this one. Think Simon and Baz from Carry On– there’s a reason I keep going on about that book! This one also ties into…
#5 Secretly a sweetheart– nothing melts my heart more than seeing the soft side of a supposedly hardened character. And I know it’s not always popular, but I cannot get enough of the misunderstood bad boy (important caveat that they can’t actually be an irredeemable bad guy for this to work).
#6 Redemption Arcs– this one can be unpopular, cos some people think it’s overdone… annnd I don’t care. Darth Vader, Snape, any other controversial redemption arc- I am *there* for it. For me, it’s a basic idea that if someone goes into the dark side, there has to be a way they can find their way back and if it’s done well nothing hits me in the gut more. More than that, I enjoy pontificating about how far a character can be redeemed (one great copout I totally approve of is for the baddie to redeem themselves and promptly die- yes, I’m sneaking in another trope that I am totally a sucker for 😉 )
#7 
#8 Moral ambiguity– well, if I like the last two, it stands to reason this would be on the list. Basically, I like the good, the bad and everything in between. Give me all the characters I don’t know whether to root for or simply hate (thanks GRRM)
#9 
#10 Rags to Riches/Cinderella stories– here’s another one that I cannot stop reading! Every time I see a Cinderella retelling, I pick it up. And whenever a character goes from incredibly sucky circumstances to being raised far above their station- I eat that stuff right up! I’m a glutton for this kind of narrative!
#11 Ridiculously overpowered characters or magic systems– this one’s a weird one for me to include, cos it skirts super close to the 
Before we get started we need a prologue about *mysterious forces* at work. It must be overladen with plenty of pathetic fallacy- make sure that wind roars and rain falls- you set that tone! Please note that this can’t have any actual bearing on the plot, because that would be daft. Instead, let’s flashback 10000 years, before the dawn of mankind, to where a magical talking rook-creature-thing lived. There- that seems sufficiently random and obscure. Now we can forget all about that and get to the actual plot…
But then!- lo and behold- something dark and evil and wolflike (but with a human voice for convenience sake) comes to the village late at night and kills the Nut’s father, who, with his dying breath tells him to go to the old guy for help. It turns out that old guy is an important wizard known as The Last Wizard Standing (didn’t see that plot twist coming, did you?).
Nut runs into said love interest just as he’s coming out of Last Wizard’s hut. He is instantly struck by her beauty. Conveniently- for the sake of the plot- a Swarg pounces just as they cross paths- but Nut really easily smites the beast! (very important to note here Nut’s amazement as he’s never handled anything more than a practice sword before). The female falls into his arms in a swoon.
Alrighty then, time for the quest! Make sure to bring this forgetful wizard along for the ride, but make sure he forgets anything expedient when asked and only use his powers when you’ve written yourself into a particularly tight scrape you can’t get out of with logic (it happens). You now have the perfect plot-foil. You’re welcome 😉
A place where “natives” live- description is blanked out for offensiveness (no I didn’t actually write this bit, what do you take me for?) Here they learn important *lessons* they never thought they would from *insert ambiguous term* people.
Finally they arrive in scary, scary Ochaye- which is supposed to be the villains’ lair, but this early into the story you’ll only get a projection of him. We have the opportunity to drop lots of very mysterious truth bombs like “I killed your parents… something… lost prince… something something… chosen one.”
Mr Evil– yup one of my least favourite tropes is the obviously evil villain with zero motivations for his/her actions (oh let’s face it, it’s nearly always male) JUST GIVE THEM A GOOD MOTIVE GAH!! And make them three dimensional for heaven’s sake! Also, while we’re on the subject “born evil” doesn’t work for me- I find the best villains take a dark path by choice and have that possibility of redemption (basically Darth Vader is awesome)
“I think you’re a Nazi baby, are you a Nazi?”– Basically evil organisations that are supposed to be Nazi-esque yet aren’t all that scary or motivated by the same sort of ideas, but whatever, here’s the paraphernalia, that’ll do. This comes back to me hating lame-ass villains. I’m also not keen on the “everyone I hate is Hitler” bandwagon or hanging on the coattails of true evil to imply the baddies really are bad. It’s not good enough to just whip out the “fascist” label like in 
Needless exposition– The “I’ve done loads of work on world building so you need to read *ALL OF IT*” trope. Seriously, if it’s not plot expedient, cut it out. It’s just boring and it’s why I quit the 
Ripping off Tolkien– do I need to explain why this is bad? Before people get mad, I will say that borrowing is a natural part of writing and this is a tricky area to navigate, so take everything I’m about to say with a grain of salt. This is a question of how much does this resemble Lord of the Rings. I don’t mind the odd elf, but maybe cool it on the orcs, hobbits, dragons, dwarves, ents etc. I’ll *hold my hands up* as guilty writer again- when I first started out I had a fair number of these (this is unintentionally turning into a what-I-did-as-a-teen writer confession piece 😉 ). But I grew up and realised *whoa I can do other things*. And it’s not just the copycat creatures. I’ve read whole books where I’ve genuinely thought c’mon this is just Lord of the Rings. An original plot point or two wouldn’t hurt. Speaking of which…
The *Chosen One*– especially if there’s a prophecy attached. This is something I’m sick of most of all, because it is literally done to death at this point. It was even shoehorned into a Peter Pan movie recently and Throne of Glass looks like it’s headed in that direction. Ironically, any play on the trope and I’m instantly in love with the book (you guys know how much I love Carry On, right?). If it turns up in a serious capacity… *groan*.
The *not dead yet* trick– I have a love-hate relationship with this one, because it’s something that can work if done well (all the different narrators in Game of Thrones mean that we’re often on shaky ground when it comes to who’s alive and who’s dead) BUT I feel like this can so easily suck and is something I see overused in YA. The biggest problem is if the character doesn’t matter or if it literally showed they got a ton of arrows to chest Boromir-style and just HOW?!? 
The “oh look savages!” trope– I debated over whether/how to put this on the list- but there’s no way to sugarcoat it and you all know what I’m talking about anyway. There is some seriously dodgy stuff in old fantasy- particularly from the 80s I believe- where there’s this kind of tribal tourism going on. I want to say, in fairness to the authors, there’s often this “surprise, they’re people!” moment (no shit Sherlock) which always makes me think the authors are seriously trying to be progressive… only trouble is, it was the eighties, it’s about as progressive as a spinning wheel in the 21st century.
the orang-utan librarian 