Favorite vs least favorite tropes

What are some of your favorite and least favorite tropes in fictional storytelling?

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All of them.

They can be used to a degree to man a good story.

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Favorite tropes:
All of them except for the ones I’m about to list off

Least Favorite tropes:

  • Overly Edgy Character (Shadow The Hedgehog, My Self-MOC before I changed my Story, Pretty much every overly edgy character that is unironic or has a good reason) These types of characters get on my nerves, but Egdy characters can be great if they’re done well.

  • Mary/Gary Sue (Can’t think of any examples) These types of characters, and this trope are just annoying. Usually they’re from stories or fan-fics made by 10-12 year olds. But sometimes they aren’t. As with most things, they can be done right.

  • OP/Unbeatable Villain (Can’t think of any examples) I’ve seen a lot of MOCs where the villain is an OP God who can’t be killed or something. It’s uncommon, and usually it’s fixed quickly I’ve noticed.

  • I ran out of tropes that I dont like

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Hard to say. I guess I don’t like Mary sues.

I’d say almost everything can be conveyed both correctly and incorrectly. But most stereotypical tropes fall into the negative for me. [quote=“Toa_Distraxx, post:3, topic:40105”]
Overly Edgy Character
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Agreed, I’m pretty freaking sick of these types of characters, often times I feel writers thinks this makes a character seem cool and when they’re actually just a pretentious dirtbag.

This also has been irritating me a lot. SAO is the obvious example here, but not for wrong reasons whatsoever. Nothing defines Kirito other than the fact that he’s apparently “really amazing” and that all the girls like him.

I find these two the worst at the moment because to me what it really shows me is that the writer did not care about making characters that iniatw any kind of emotion in the reader/watcher.

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Favorite

  • Xanatos Gambit/Pileup Gambit: If done right and foreshadowed well, it can add a layer of tension to your plot and make your Villain a lot more unpredictable. Examples like Revolver Ocelot’s plot to bring down the Patriots or Father’s plan to absorb The Truth via a Transmutation Circle can also give protagonists the feeling they are constantly being watched. Of course, this trope isn’t perfect. There are instances where it can make the plot feel absolutely convoluted, or just straight up confuse the audience. They’ll wonder: ‘How was (the Villain) able to conviniently plan for (the Protagonist) to end up in this location at this exact time’. Then you have instances like Makuta Teridax, where every failed act turns out to be just another part of his plan, honestly feeling kinda cheap.

  • Necromantic: There are many types of sympathetic villains in media, this one in particular happens to be my favorite. This trope occurs when a character becomes a villain because they really want to bring back a loved one. In works of science fiction or fantasy that deal with issues of morality, this trope can really shine if twisted in a unique way. Were the Red Star plot to have been continued, it would’ve been interesting to see this trope used in some certain capacity.

Least Favorite:

  • Darker and Edgier: It’s one thing if a story wants to introduce or cover darker elements within its subject matter, but it’s another when this is poorly conveyed with cheap shock value and forced writing.

  • Wild Card Villain/Jokester Villain: For every Joker, there’s a Felix or a Vezon. These are characters that can start off interesting and keep a story from taking itself too serious, but continuous screen time and simplification to mere comic relief can make them highly annoying. I don’t want to enjoy hating my villain or block my ears everytime they show up on screen. If a character wants to be humorous, fine, just don’t simplify them and make them likable.

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One of my favourite tropes is the madman villain (Stoax ur opinion is wrong lol) usually because they’re just so fun to write or watch. I’d have to say that my least favourite is the “end of the world”. They get very overdone, and are often too impersonal to get involved.

Favorites:

  • Deconstructions: After reading the TVTropes page for it, it sounds really interesting if done right.

Least Favorites:

  • OP characters: obviously

  • Dues Ex Machina: Also obvious as to why

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“mustash twirling villain” basicly some op guy who wants to take over the world and has no depth.

my favourite is self awareness

We are the same, Marry Sue, the ambiguously brown (a black or brown character but no one discusses what social consequences are are,) and (if over used ex: Fairy tale from what I have heard) the reformed villain.

One of my least favorite tropes is Mary/Gary Sue, and the paper thin, card board cut out villain.


One of my favorite tropes has got to be the mask reveal.

I like villains who crush heroes using laws, the hero’s own moral code, etc… I also like villains with good intentions. Another great villain trope would be the “proper”/“gentlemanly” villain. Reluctant heroes are usually cool.

Feel like the prophecy storyline, while used often in classic literature and iconic movies, is overused outside of such things. Percy Jackson handled it fairly well but was at the end of the day a typical book for 10-12yos, which brings me to another trope I don’t like: the “next generation” trope, Descenants, Percy Jackson, etc… All about children of fairytale/mythological figures. When it’s an instance where it’s make sense for a next generation to be necessary, like superheroes where characters age, die, etc., it works but it’s difficult to get right. Also any story where “shadow” is a consistently used prefix is rarely good.

Least favorite: Hero turning into a villain, taking something like Vakama hordika for example. Most of the time it’s simply the hero making a 180 with no build up or development. Sometimes they’ve done it right but they’re few and far between.

Favorite: The Hero doesn’t “win”. This is a trope that occurres most often in film noir movies. Where the protagonist either doesn’t defeat the antagonist or, when the antagonist is defeated it comes at such a heavy cost that you wonder if it was actually worth it.

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Oddly enough, this is one of my favorites, if exacted correctly.

My favorites:

Villains like Vezon, if developed properly.

Hero becoming villain, which can be twisted into the nobody wins scenario.

Least favorites:

Any generic character.

Breaking the fourth wall.

The Force.

OP villains (like ep. 9 Palpatine).

My favourite trope is when a series gets abruptly discontinued. Bonus points if there was indication of a “big finale” or more content ready to deliver.

I’m joking of course…it is actually quite hard to think of tropes let alone ones I dislike, I guess fan service is one I dislike just because it is so common now, but even then, I don’t closely follow any franchises nowadays, so it does not affect me much.

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