When you read, watch TV and movies, or play games you may notice you can sometimes predict what’s going to happen because you’ve seen it happen somewhere else before! This is the basic idea of tropes.
Often people will make fun of tropes for being predictable, or for being a symptom of lazy writing, while they actually serve a very important purpose. Would you enjoy a story that gave you no indication of what’s going to happen? You might be an exception, but most people would get bored or confused very quickly and go do something else.
By giving you some of my favorite tropes, and the reasons why I chose them, I hope to illustrate their usefulness.
Disclaimer: I have not named these tropes myself. I’m using names I found on TvTropes. If you have never visited tvtropes.org take a couple hours after reading my post, it’s totally worth it. If you want to learn more about any of these specific tropes, I have also provided links directly to their TvTropes page.
Honorable Mentions
I wanted to give you my top 10 tropes. It didn’t work out and these six are the reasons why. I’m not going to go into too much detail on these ones; they’re awesome but they still didn’t make it into the top 10.
The Legend of Chekhov: You’ve started a story and the main character is being told a legend, fairy tale, ect. This is obviously going to be important in the characters future but to them it’s just a story.
Parental Abandonment: Every Disney movie ever (exaggeration but you get my point). There are so many stories where the main character is missing at least one parent.
Everyone Can See It: These two characters are perfect for each other! Everyone else can see it, reader and other characters alike, why can’t they!?
Gotta Catch Them All: X number of some important item(s) have been scattered. The main characters must find them to achieve their goal.
Coming-of-Age Story: A story of a child becoming an adult. This can be because of social constructs or the (usually teenage) protagonist going on some character-building adventure.
The Hero’s Journey: This is an incredibly common story structure that is taught in so many creative writing and literature classes. At it’s most basic the hero starts with a call to adventure, this adventure then includes various mini-adventures and subplots while the hero makes their way to a climactic event, and finally the hero is allowed to return home or continue their life as they see fit.
10. The Chosen One
Harry Potter is the only one who can defeat Voldemort. Frodo is the one who must take the One Ring to Mordor. King Arthur is the one true king proven by releasing the sword from the stone. It says in the prophesy that you are the Chosen One.
Ok, so not all chosen ones are prophesied. The main thing they have in common is that they are the only one (or one of a group) who can accomplish a specific task. There are many kinds of chosen ones and it’s a widely used trope. That’s probably why this is one of those tropes that gets made fun of a lot.
I included it in this list for the same reason it gets used so often. It’s useful! It gives the reader a reason why so-and-so is involved. The author has given themselves an interesting outlet for explaining backstory. Most importantly, and because of its widespread use, the audience inherently understands the importance of the Chosen One.
9. Ragtag Bunch of Misfits
A wizard, a rogue, a runaway princess, a humble farmhand, and an ex-knight walk into a tavern. No, I’m not starting a joke; I’m starting an adventure. A lot of the time our misfits are collected on the way, not immediately at the beginning of the story. That isn’t the important part.
No matter how we collected them, we now have a seemingly random collection of interesting people that are all good at different things. This is the value of this trope. The story can now include more variety in the adventure because of the variety of characters. Plus, it gives the audience more characters to relate to and decide who’s their favorite.
8. Badass Normal
Did you notice the humble farmhand in my ragtag bunch of misfits? Maybe he seemed out of place compared to the interest and talent around him. He has no magic powers, no subterfuge or intrigue, and no combat training. He is completely normal.
What could possibly be so interesting about a normal character amid everything else? He’s a blank slate. He could be anything. Maybe he has a secret talent even he didn’t know. Or what if he fulfills an unresolved spot in the prophesy? If the story has this character type, you can be sure that he’s secretly a badass.
This is an incredibly fun trope to experience as the audience. You get to watch this character be the comic relief, the voice of reason, or any myriad of things the other characters couldn’t accomplish because they’re already special. Then you often get to watch as the “normal” character struggles with themselves on their journey to becoming “special”. Isn’t that something that we all strive for?
I Interrupt This List
I have a good reason! It turned out to be longer and more in depth than I originally planned. If I kept going now it would be too long and no one would read it! Stay tuned next week for “Part 2” where I’ll talk about other interesting, useful, and fun tropes.
If you’d like help using tropes in your story, check out my creative writing or beta reading services.
It’s time to head over to Part 2!
