Oddly enough, I generally don’t care too much about tropes. Like anything else, it’s all in the writing and down to whether or not they’re done well. Also, the idea of tropes is too often applied in criticism as a broad brush instead of properly weighing projects on their individual merits.
That said, just like Austin Powers’ dad has a hatred of of people who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch, I tend to groan at anything involving vampires, werewolves, and demons, only because there’s a slew of stories involving them. Most of them are very well-done and I enjoy them, so it’s less “hate” and more fatigue.
Also, a request: I would love a villain game that actually allowed me to be more villainous. I feel like most of the “be a villain” stories are genteel, though to be fair the genres they are in lend themselves to it. Still, the IF format is a ripe medium for some good villain and anti-hero storytelling.
I feel somewhat bad saying this because creating a completed work is a minor miracle to be celebrated, but I get disappointed when there’s a release and it turns out to be some 30k - 50k work that has all the hallmarks of being someone’s NaNoWriMo project.
I likewise feel bad about admitting to being leery now when I see “the first part of the blah blah series” or “Choice of Subject Matter: Sequels Coming!” because at this point while I love continuing narratives, the odds are the full project never gets done or it’s going to be a silly long time. I’m rooting for those authors, but increasingly I appreciate one and done stories that have heft to them like the one that just came out this week (Crown of Sorcery & Steel). Also props to that maniac of an author doing the Relics series because the first two were excellent, the final one sounds like it is coming out next year, and if so then the whole thing will have been wrapped in a 3 or so year span. That has been a lovely exception to the rule.
I have other things that bug me, but they’re less about content and more with the mechanics of how the games are laid out, and I’m presuming that’s already a thread on here, too!
Honestly, I loathe any story that has the main character super underpowered(like in fights where they just get pummeled) and stories that have “FRIENDSHIP WILL GIVE ME THE POWER TO THWART ALL EVIL!”. And stories that have a whiny mc, which kinda goes hand in hand with my first point.
Hate any time you have a game where your movement speed is tied to how fast you travel in real time (instead of say, in a turn-based game where it means you go after the others or smth), and you have items where you need to sacrifice movement speed for other benefits like strength. Yeah, I KNOW it’s realistic to not be able to move as quickly in plate armor but traveling at a snail’s pace in real time to get to where I need to go is NOT a good use of my time. I’d like to make it to the next dungeon before 6:00 AM.
Except that is not even what the term means. It is a parody term, that is parodying the actual “oh so perfect self insert MCs”. How can people not know this after so many years is beyond me?
Because after so many years the parody has been taken so seriously to become a de facto trope, meaning that now “Mary Sue” is used to codify any overpowered/perfect-I-can-do-no-wrong character
It is more so that people are unable to use proper terminology and I will most definitely keep reminding them all the time. Because Mary Sue will always be a parody term.
Don’t know if this is considered a trope but… It’s such a big problem in romance imo… Dubious Consent that is treated as if it were ‘normal.’ I don’t mind things getting kinky, but when every single piece of media depicting that kind of stuff involves… Either consent being not required or using someone’s attraction as a tool… I dislike that, I feel it sets an unhealthy expectation. (Twilight, Fifty Shades of Gray, etc etc etc. This is also really bad in the Yaoi manga genre in general)
Evil for Evil’s Sake (or Good for Goodness’ Sake) - A character who acts for no real motivational reason beyond because they want to. I think generally speaking that is so lame. I don’t know why you wouldn’t give your evil incarnate character some reasons behind their actions but to me it makes them unappealing. An example I like of someone who seems evil for evil’s sake but is given more depth is Manerkol from The Soul Stone Wars. I originally thought he was just a stereotypical evil guy, but then the romance route gives you a lot of insight about him and his motivations… I still find him right appalling, but it makes you understand his actions a lot more. It makes him a lot more compelling.
Chosen One - Been mentioned many times before, but I find it much more compelling conceptually to invert this trope on it’s head. What if you think you are the chosen one of prophecies, then it turns out… You aren’t, you can’t save the day, and now you live with everyone knowing you as a fraud? Instantly more interesting in my opinion. (Heroes of Myth iirc?)
Soulmates - This can be done well, but generally I feel it is really a poorly written excuse to make two people with zero chemistry be ‘meant for eachother.’ I do think that deliberately making the choice to make 2 incompatible people ‘soulmates’ would be interesting if intentional and played out but I haven’t run into anything that really tackles that.
Big Tough Guy who cant feel things. God I hate that trope, please come up with a man who can be bad ass and sensitive please. At the very least, provide more insight into him beyond how bad ass and masculine he is? Or make it clear he portrays himself that way due to deep seeded insecurities? Generally speaking, people who are big and tough do so out of a sense of necessity and not because it is just naturally how they are or ought be (imo).
Powerless MC has Magical Hidden Power! - I hate this so much. Like, if you have a powerless MC that is fine, if you have a MC with powers that is fine too… But making it so it’s like a secret revealed annoys me generally. I just feel a lot of the time it is a bandage for making the MC more boring. Especially when this is paired with the Chosen One trope it just… I don’t know, I hate it.
Point 3 and 6 are one of the biggest broken aesop of today medias:
You start with “everyone, even the most unlikely person can do It, no matter where they come or who they are” and “there is no predetermination, only choices and consequences” to end with “actually they matter: only the chosen one with the right innate power (training and control are optional, apperently) and/or genes/blood can do it”, also “it had always been Fate and you’ve never realised, not that you ever had choice to begin with”
Love triangle. Main character who is bullied/neglected/orphran/has only one friend. I see that often and i hate it. Is this just to gain symphaty for the MC?
Next are stories where the main character has to save the world or someone. Why are the stakes always so high and dramatic? MC being an ordinary human who find out they’re some kind of supernatural/savior.
Also the mysterious (bad) boy. And LI with blue eyes. Please, give me some brown eyed cuties.
It’s really annoying when the author keeps bringing up how the hero has a tragic backstory. I get it, this was a really traumatic experience for the PC but it grinds my gears when the story brings up how they suffered at the hands of Dr. Evil in every chapter
Hey, at least the Waynes can be dead and buried in a minute (two if you want to do that weird focus on the pearls) and Batman has no powers to need explaining; with Spider-Man you almost need to take up half the movie with Uncle Ben and the whole “Great power” motto and then you’ve got the powers on top of that…
In the MCU they decided to take a different approach. Instead of Peter talking about his backstory, they decided to show his entire life fall to pieces in real-time.
I feel like most of the “be a villain” stories are genteel, though to be fair the genres they are in lend themselves to it. Still, the IF format is a ripe medium for some good villain and anti-hero storytelling.
