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 Iâm about to list off
Least Favorite tropes:
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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 theyâre done well.
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Mary/Gary Sue (Canât think of any examples) These types of characters, and this trope are just annoying. Usually theyâre from stories or fan-fics made by 10-12 year olds. But sometimes they arenât. As with most things, they can be done right.
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OP/Unbeatable Villain (Canât think of any examples) Iâve seen a lot of MOCs where the villain is an OP God who canât be killed or something. Itâs uncommon, and usually itâs fixed quickly Iâve noticed.
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I ran out of tropes that I dont like
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Hard to say. I guess I donât like Mary sues.
Iâd say almost everything can be conveyed both correctly and incorrectly. But most stereotypical tropes fall into the negative for me. [quote=âToa_Distraxx, post:3, topic:40105â]
Overly Edgy Character
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Agreed, Iâm pretty freaking sick of these types of characters, often times I feel writers thinks this makes a character seem cool and when theyâre 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 heâs apparently âreally amazingâ 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
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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 Ocelotâs plot to bring down the Patriots or Fatherâs plan to absorb The Truth via a Transmutation Circle can also give protagonists the feeling they are constantly being watched. Of course, this trope isnât perfect. There are instances where it can make the plot feel absolutely convoluted, or just straight up confuse the audience. Theyâll wonder: âHow was (the Villain) able to conviniently plan for (the Protagonist) to end up in this location at this exact timeâ. 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.
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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 wouldâve been interesting to see this trope used in some certain capacity.
Least Favorite:
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Darker and Edgier: Itâs one thing if a story wants to introduce or cover darker elements within its subject matter, but itâs another when this is poorly conveyed with cheap shock value and forced writing.
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Wild Card Villain/Jokester Villain: For every Joker, thereâs 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 donât 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 donât 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 theyâre just so fun to write or watch. Iâd have to say that my least favourite is the âend of the worldâ. 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:
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OP characters: obviously
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Dues Ex Machina: Also obvious as to why
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âmustash twirling villainâ 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 heroâs own moral code, etc⌠I also like villains with good intentions. Another great villain trope would be the âproperâ/âgentlemanlyâ 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 donât like: the ânext generationâ trope, Descenants, Percy Jackson, etc⌠All about children of fairytale/mythological figures. When itâs an instance where itâs make sense for a next generation to be necessary, like superheroes where characters age, die, etc., it works but itâs difficult to get right. Also any story where âshadowâ 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 itâs simply the hero making a 180 with no build up or development. Sometimes theyâve done it right but theyâre few and far between.
Favorite: The Hero doesnât âwinâ. This is a trope that occurres most often in film noir movies. Where the protagonist either doesnât 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 âbig finaleâ or more content ready to deliver.
Iâm joking of courseâŚit 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 donât closely follow any franchises nowadays, so it does not affect me much.
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One of my favorite tropes would be the âbad guy gone goodâ, basically when any villain redeems themselves and joins the good side.
Canât really think of any least favorites, but the âgood guy gone badâ would probably be around here 
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