Writing Cliches to Avoid | FANTASY

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Woah, boy is this an old video. Thanks for all the new views guys, it means a lot! Just dropping in to say one thing. I should have been clear in this video that some of these things are more appropriately considered 'Tropes' rather than cliches. The good news is that I did a video talking about the important differences kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnTIhalso6uMipY

[@Fif0l]

8:10 oh, I know. I'll call my villain "the deliverer of light". No, that sounds too lame. Let's translate it to Latin for extra effect. Lucifer. Perfect.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Wait... really? I did not know that 😯

[@pRahvi0]

Lucifer had an ironic name before it was cool.

[@TheOtherCless]

Lucifer [lucis ferre] actually means morning star, day star, or light bringer, and originally was a name for the planet Venus in the morning sky before sunrise. The appearance of the Hebrew word Helel, translated in Latin as Lucifer, which occurs in the book of Isaiah does not refer to Satan but a king of Babylon. The conflation of Lucifer and Satan was cemented into modern Christian mythology largely thanks to John Milton's 17th century Bible fanfiction "Paradise Lost" which depicted Satan as a fallen angel (which is not from the Bible) in imagery highly reminiscent of Isaiah and the metaphors became mixed. Lucifer is not among the many names given to The Adversary/Accuser and much of the confusion came from translation issues.

[@werneresterhuizen3828]

I thought the same lol.

[@klarahorakova9957]

As a non-believer i am like: wait what. But I am lover of series so I know that lucufer was one favourite one. Lol

[@sometimesinovel]

"Every villain is a hero in their own mind." I live by that when creating my villains. Great video with excellent points. Thanks!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

That's what I'm here for 😊

[@The_Eno]

This is exactly what I loved about the fallen and the faithful series. You grow very fond of the villain only to find he is destined for evil kind of like anikan in star wars.

[@lukec2004]

Except the best villains I mean actually Vader hates himself, Joker gives no fucks, Sidius just enjoys being evil, Sauron is loyal to Morgoth and none of them sees themselves as good

[@mcp7158]

@@lukec2004 jokes aside..what about Thanos?🤔

[@lukec2004]

@@mcp7158 yeah Thanos is a hero in his own eyes, and a great villain but he's not on the level of the Joker or Vader

[@ImmaterialDigression]

So basically: the bad guy (who is tall but has a Scottish accent) seeks revenge after a short blonde/blue haired guy's horse takes a shit on him. The hero, who isn't orphaned nor has any unique powers, kills the bad guy with a sword that isn't too special. Gotcha.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

See, now you're getting it 😉

[@recemarkou3223]

Wolfshot Publishing Us writers use the horse not running out of breath or food and not taking a shit because no reader wants to read bout some horsey taking a terd on the ground randomly.

[@maggyfrog]

Old Peculier tywin lannister's horse actually took a turd randomly as he was about to enter the throne room majestically astride the said horse, and it was a glorious shot in tv history.

[@sarahgray430]

@@maggyfrog yeah...one of the things I love about Game of Thrones is those little bits of realism.

[@sarahgray430]

@dalana waller many Scots have a mixture of Celtic and Norse ancestry...two ethnicities that were famous for producing unusually tall people. The ancient Romans seemed to find Celtic women utterly terrifying and a particularly memorable description of Boudicca the Queen of the Iceni begins "Huge was she and terrible with hair like a river of fire and a voice like a brazen trumpet..." rather like Yours Truly.

[@silversamm]

I would love to one day read a book where 'the Chosen One' is actually one of the friends of the main character. There's so many things that could be done with a premise like that!

[@Queef_Storm]

Magesterium did that. Don't bother reading it though, it's awful

[@TheGoop22]

I'd say The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion did that well.

[@CrazyAjvar]

Mistborn did that.

[@naolucillerandom5280]

It would be interesting

[@KossolaxtheForesworn]

at least in star wars the chosen one turned to evil. tho I would have said chosen one just have it go to their head and corrupt them because "Im the chosen one, I cant do no wrong, I am the king and you dont know anything."

[@bruvtonV2]

I've decided to write a book using a whole bunch of cliches, but the main thing that differentiates it from others is not the sarcasm, but the fact that the main character finds out that he's in a book and tries to escape. Has that been done before?

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

That actually sounds amazing!

[@Mary-eo7ir]

That sound like a great idea, if you don’t mind a recommendation, Diana Wynne Jones has a good book of fantasy tropes called the tough guide to fantasyland. Im using it to find things to avoid but I guess it could also be used as inspiration.

[@skadi6750]

Inkheart

[@alvaroavilablanco3350]

Well, the spanish author Miguel de Unamuno was famous for his "nivola" ( thats how he called his novels ) called Niebla. In the chapter 31 the protagonist find out that he is a character book and he even talks with Unamuno, but i dont know if it was done before in english. I recommend you to read the novel if you are going to try your idea. Maybe It could give you more ideas.

[@ethancoster1324]

So it's Bandersnatch crossed with Never Ending Story.

[@japanjaydee]

I never really thought about the horse. But I remember reading that if a cheetah, horse, and human were to have a race, the outcomes would be different depending on the length of the race. A short sprint would have the cheetah as winner and human in third place. A marathon would have the cheetah losing badly, while the human would win. Humans have greater endurance than horses. A human can run or walk for 24 hours, while a horse can't. The main reason is that horses require a lot of time to eat. Grazing animals need to eat for a large part of the day, and it's difficult to get energy quickly from plants. Humans are omnivores, and we're able to get quick energy from meat to help sustain our endurance. So, if you want an animal that can go for days with reasonable breaks, humans are the animal to use.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Woah, you definitely know your stuff mate!

[@japanjaydee]

Only hearsay for the horses, really. But some basic biology, I think :) Actually, I enjoy some long distance hiking, and have gone 35 km without taking a break. I need to do it again sometime. Maybe when it's not winter!

[@ginge641]

So...it wouldn't be too crazy for humans to be used in this capacity as a slave race?

[@glenbe4026]

@@ginge641 it is generally believed that our upright posture is a result of our evolution to become the best endurance hunters in the animal kingdom. Even wolves can not run for as long a sustained length of time as humans (we also sweat instead of pant to reduce heat which gives us an advantage over wolves). Jay Dee Archer is slightly exaggerating though. A man on a horse will probably still beat a man on foot in a marathon (as long as they don't try to make the horse go full speed), but for even longer distances a man can outrun a horse.

[@Hildervinge]

The horse is a freaking running machine! Humans would not stand a chance! That is why they trapped animals like that. You think a human has more endurance than horses? Well, a horse has no muscles in their legs, only ligaments - to save oxygen when running, meaning when they run, their heart can focus on vital organs to keep the body going. Their lungs are huge, a child could live in them. They can go for hours when stressed and yes, they spend 15-17 hours eating on a normal day, but they can run for hours and days and they only need 2-4 hour sleep in a day, and they can do it standing up if feeling unsafe. Sure their all over well beeing would be terrible after, and they are capable of running to their own death, but its still possible. Homo sapiens downprioriticed the body in evolution to compensate for the big brain (which take 30% of the nutrition we eat). Humans do have stamnia, and are capable of jogging for hours on hours, but sprints are for short dictances. We have a wery complex muscle strukture all the way through our arms/legs which is perfect for climbing, toolmaking etc, but it costs a lot of stress to the heart that need to pump more blood while running. Imagination is what separates us from animals as far as we know (and thumbs, ability to make and use tools), physically we are not all that much in comparison with mother natures creatures. Cheetahs are not endurant, they are deadly, explosive sprinters and catch prey that is close. Horses are fast, strong and endurant and almost impossible to catch in open landscape (where they naturally live). Humans are smart and would chase the horse to a trap that keeps it from running and kill it there.... cavepaintings depict hunts like that :) Nature is awesome. Agreed with using animals as props in books... just poor/lazy writing. Horses are not like cars either, they have will, power and personalties

[@jackdoyle7453]

Man I cried so much as a kid when Artax died in that mud.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Me too Jack, me too

[@gregoryhancock6057]

I would say a new cliche' is: the race of the Orcs are entirely misunderstood and are actually the good guys, the Elves are always selfish to the point that they are damn near apathetic to the plight of all other races, the race of Men becomes the new villain. We still don't use Dwarves much. ;-) Good vid. Incidentally, his notes on horses is so true. If you have actually spent time with horses (my daughter has been riding for 5 years now), you look forward to seeing that horse almost as much as a beloved pet or even a good friend. There is a sentiment among many riders, "I'd rather muck my horse's stall than deal with people." Think about it!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Thanks for watching! I agree, especially with the race of man being villains bit, I am noticing that pop up a bit nowadays

[@skadi6750]

Yes, I totally love and respect Marcus Heitz and his Albae, but seems like it became a trend since "those days". He was the only one to write good version of negative elven race. The only one who was able to make them absolutely horrendous and still somehow creepy likeable.

[@maggyfrog]

at this point, anything that resembles tolkien fantasy is now a fantasy trope. just make something else. high fantasy is supposed to be any kind of elaborate alternate world.

[@matthiasthulman4058]

You should try Orcs from Stan Nichols. It's a great story from the perspective of the orcs, and they aren't necessary the bad guys. He has quite a few sequels come out since I've read the first one, and I couldn't recommend it enough.

[@c.d.dailey8013]

Wow. Your description of fantasy races fits World of Warcraft so well. The thing about horses is so sweet. Aww. :)

[@viruk78]

Great vid, Cam. Tolkien had a strong interest in Norse mythology (which is where he lifted his ideas of Dwarves, elves, trolls and giants). Even today, there is a location in Norway called Trollheimen (Troll Home). Norway is also home to the city, Trondheim, which is along the same vein. I agree about props. My wife and I own horses and know the difficulties (and expenses) to care for them. Depending on the breed of horse, the location in which they live and the workload of the animal, horses can consume up to 30 litres of water per day. So, if you look at even a small force of 10 cavalry (say they are scouts), were they to travel across an arid area where no water resupply would be available for some time, the force would need to carry with them 300 litres of water to survive 1-2 days (and that's just on the march, not in combat where the horses would be placed under much greater fatigue). They would need to be fed at least 1-2 'biscuits' of lucerne (for instance) twice per day. An average bale of Lucerne consists of 10-12 'biscuits'. So, for that crew of 10 cavalry scouts, to survive 2 days, they would require 4 bales of Lucerne. If you're talking a large cavalry force in a protracted conflict, they would require farriers to trim their hooves, shod them, re-shod them or repair shoes that may have been thrown. It becomes clear after a while that the saying, "an army marches on its stomach" is so true, and that wars are won by logistical prowess as much as they are by physical soldiering. Good clip, mate!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Holy hell Keith! You know your stuff! I’m gonna pin this one

[@viruk78]

Hi Cam, I have always had a keen interest in (certain) military history and tactics, so find all of those things quite interesting. Back to your props comment, many authors also use marching armies as props. These troops are inexhaustible, don't become hungry, injured or sick and it really grinds on me (if some type of magic is involved, I can accept that (to a point)). Like you said, if an author adds in a dose of reality to that marching army (the wheels of a couple of supply wagons become damaged or bogged forcing the army to stop), it makes the story (and the army) so much more feasible. Everyone knows the Normans successfully invaded England in 1066 after defeating the Anglo Saxon Army and England was forever changed after that point. But fewer people know that the Anglo Saxon Army fought off a 10,000 strong Viking invasion at Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066. Why is that date important? Because the Battle of Hastings (Norman Invasion) occured at the other end of the country on the 14th of October 1066. So the Anglo Saxon Army defeated the Vikings, then (in less than 3 weeks) performed a lightning march the length of the country to try and resist a second invasion attempt. When the Anglo Saxons arrived to face the Normans, they were exhausted, hungry, poorly resupplied, many of them were sick and subsequently, they were defeated. England was forever changed. Had the Vikings attacked six months before, or the Normans six months after, it would have given the Anglo Saxon Army time to rest, recover and reinforce prior to be expected to fight once more and England itself would be a very different country today.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

100% agree, like you said it's much the same when it comes to armies, minions and horses etc. I understand on a certain level why they wouldn't focus TOO much on those things as it could distract from the main story and get boring but even with that in mind, it gets a bit silly haha

[@viruk78]

Yup, true. It's definitely a fine line.

[@danielsaintaubin]

Keith McArdle Author - Your post is informative and very well written. You've just helped me learn how to better portray horses more realistically in a story I'm working on. I will research more based on what I've read today. You have my thanks, sir.

[@LiterallyJasmine]

"short dirty builders" VS "tall clean vegetarian plant lovers"

[@WhoPickedThisBook]

I think a good villain is one that makes the reader question where his/her loyalties lie. The morally gray character, if you will or maybe make the reader think that they are justified in their actions. I think marvel does a really good job of this and I think Tom Hiddleston said in an interview that marvel writers do a good job of making their heroes flawed and their villains heroic. I tend to agree. Great video! ❤️Nicole

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Completely agree Nicole!

[@katienixon4311]

Believe it or not, in Tolkien's legendarium, the majority of elves we see in Middle Earth had dark hair. The main house of elves that had blond hair was Galdriel and her family. I suppose the movies must have set forth the stereotype of blonde elves. If anyone knows differently, feel free to correct me.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

You have amazing attention to detail to notice that! 😮

[@katienixon4311]

Thanks! I attribute it to the fact that I wanted more of the elves to be blonde and I was disappointed when I found many were not.

[@sarahgray430]

That is correct...Lady Galadriel was blonde but the House of Elrond was dark haired and grey eyed as were many important human characters...I think Tolkien actually preferred dark haired and grey eyed ladies because his wife had dark hair and grey eyes.

[@WreckItRolfe]

There are also brown Hobbits in the southern Shire, from what I remember.

[@CrabTastingMan]

I heard somewhere there were only like, 5 elves in the Legendarium that had reddish hair, that right? So that gives extra extra snowflake Mary Sue points to the red-haired Tauriel in the Hobbit movies on top of all the other stuff (like love somehow lets a subject dare draw a bow at her king, her fanficky love makes the later, official Legolas and Gimli friendship seem less groundbreaking... etc.)

[@ScienceGeek23]

Every villain is the hero of their own story. Great video Cam! Suggestions on point!

[@rabidraviv]

I love this so much... I agree SO MUCH with the Dark Lord and Chosen One cliches😂

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Thank you! 😊

[@morganjones4281]

I would say that The One Ring is an example of "The Object" done well. If anything the ring provides an active threat to the heroes throughout their journey, rather than solving all of their problems for them. Also Percy Jackson is not "That Hero". He is set up to be in the beginning, but you quickly find out that A) There are many other demigods like him, and most of the hardships he encountered were in no way unique to him. B) He is not the only child of the Big Three, in fact there are many, and C) The prophecy is not even about him. Percy Jackson in the books was a hero not because he was "destined to be one" but rather because he was brave, resourceful, deeply caring, dedicated, and skilled.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Yeah I definitely agree in regards to the 1 ring

[@morganjones4281]

BUT NOT IN REGARDS TO PERCY JACKSON??? I REQUIRE COMPLETE AGREEMENT OR MY FRAGILE EGO WILL BE RUINED! FAN RAAAAAAAGGGEEE!

[@gmmay70]

Also consider that the One Ring is the immediate antagonist of the story. In that sense, it is a character. It truly is "The Object" done right.

[@JustClaude13]

I believe it was George MacDonald who originated the basic tropes of high fantasy. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis both learned their craft from his books.

[@fantasyalover4782]

That's true, he created the fantasy genre and Tolkien got inspired by George.

[@pinkuplinku4961]

For the "One object" clichè, you could have the main character pretend to go to break it, get it about a quarter through, and have the main plot start when they reveal that they just wanted to be in possession of it

[@sanfransiscon]

I kind of love the "That Hero" cliche because of ways you can twist it. For example, what if the hero is accepted as royalty not because of relation or prophecy, but because the family wants to be the one to say "Hey look, the hero is part of our family! Aren't we just the best?" Or, what if the hero is against joining that family for some reason? For example, if the love interest was part of that family and the hero accepting their place there would mean having to give up their feelings (or not, because that might make an interesting romance arc).

[@mybookishdelights4767]

Omg when you were talking about the horse getting sick I literally was thinking of the horse in Neverending Story and then you started showing that clip! Hilarious! 😂🤣

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Some wounds never heal ❤

[@alisondavis4256]

Me too! 😢

[@JulianGreystoke]

I did a whole video about what fiction gets wrong about horses on my channel because I own horses and am so sick of the Horses Are Basically Cars trope.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

That's a great idea! I'm glad someone did

[@helium-379]

Cars can also break down you know. They also need maintenence. Cars have feelings.

[@SebAnders]

Robot Rabbit a car is an iron horse with a drinking problem!

[@carlottathefriendlyperson7710]

-The Tolkien Formula 1:50 1# Races 2:55 (Don't use the generic formula) 2# The Object 5:15 (Give the object some dimension) 3# The Dark Lord 6:30 (The villain is the hero of his own story) 4# Animals as Props 8:20 (Make the animal a character) 5# 'The Chosen One 10:35 (Find character motivations other than tragedy)

[@deadringer-cultofdeathratt8813]

7:35 literally right as you mentioned George RR Martin I scrolled passed a video of him talking about complex characters. *I didn’t know this video was in 4D lol*

[@normality7397]

6:00 Him: Don't make it revolve around the object. His Mind: Yay! I didn't say the ring!

[@zamkowicz]

Avatar: TLA did the animal thing right with Appa

[@APPLEonSTEROIDS]

To an extent but there was an episode where he got captured by swamp poachers, and another by dessert traders, and when Appa's shedding fur helped their pursuers and his subsequent fatigue from running eventually made them have to stop

[@monicabellu9566]

Well, I don't think that the Elder Wand would fall in that description, Voldemort has it and he's a powerfull wizard, but it doesn't make him invincible, I don't think even being "The Master of Death", with al the Hallows, would make someone invincible. Also it's true that "the hero" cliché can sometimes be forced, but, again, in Harry Potter is also explained, Harry became the Chosen One, not Neville, because Voldemort chose him, but because he also, actively fought against him. And about the animals, I'm not sure that it'd help to the rythm of the story adding scenes taking care of the animal, or changing them for others more reseted, of course, it depends on the situation, but many times it's something we can imagine happening of camera because it's not that interesting, just like the protagonist taking a shower, or going to the bathroom, or cooking and eating, unless something else happens.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Very fair view! Respectfully, I disgree though. I think you may have misinterpreted some of the points I made. - The elder wand might not be 'the one object' as much as the Ring or Excalibur but in the narrative of the story it is absolutely treated as a sought after item that can change the balance of the 'war'. Whether it does in the end or not is irrelevant, the power of that object is still a major motivation for Voldemort (to attain it) hence, object of power. - You're absolutely right that if Voldemort had chosen Neville, it would have been him that was the chosen one, but it wasn't, it was Harry. I know they explain it, but my point in this video was simply that some protagonists are treated as the chosen one, or have a prophecy around them. Like Harry Potter. I never said anything negative about the Harry Potter stories mind you, I just pointed out some tropes that yes, do include Harry boy. - I'm a little confused because I never said anything about stuff happening 'off screen' with animals (unless you want to interpret the finding food and taking a poo bit that way) I was more talking about things that actively don't make sense. Like riding the same horse for days without them getting sick or dying from fatigue. That has nothing to do with stuff happening behind the scenes. I'm sure you're right that having a chapter about a tired horse wouldn't be all that interesting, but it's no reason to inexplicably make the animal immortal y'know? Wow, that's a lot of words. Anyway, just wanted to explain myself. Thanks for watching Monica 😊

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensen3648]

So basically, don't write Lord of the Rings.

[@lecherouslibrarian9924]

Yeah, that sounds about right

[@jupitercallisto1140]

Totally agree with the 3rd one. I hate villains that have no personal motivation and no reason to be villainous in the first place. Just makes no sense. I absolutely love morally gray villains.

[@Carson_Van_McUber]

Your grievances are very much valid. I've been working on a story, well mostly just bits and pieces here and there with an over all outline, that avoids all that. It's basically a story that destroys and desecrates the idea of a hero. Although it doesn't have a boring ending like game of thrones tv series did even though I like how he basically showed how myths are just myths and it was hilarious watching people come up with hair brained theories based upon them.

[@blackfalconotaku4392]

I have never watched game of thrones but I read a book ones where the main character defeated the villain but at the end of the story my sister and I both questioned if the main character was evil too. the villain was a terrible man who raped children and let his country go to ruin around him while he was given food on golden plasters. but I cant help thinking that the king's(villain's) terribleness lead us to ignore the main characters faults. the main character was a prince(he killed his own father, used people, was bent on revenge, accidentally killed 2 of his brothers(and only grieved one of them), and refused to believe that is was any part his fault.) at the end of the story the person who had been his friend, adviser, and love interest had looked at him in terror and thought "I made this man" showing that he(the main character and prince) had too much power and was a force that was completely unstoppable with no hesitation at all. to the people who I know who have read it the main characters are not necessarily sound of mind or heros. they are people, humans, and humans are destructive and powerful and dangerous and that is the feeling that the first book ended with. it is one of the best books I have read and it was a comic!

[@burmessafox3939]

I don't care if I breaking boundaries, but my elf is gonna be a black smith

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Go for it! 😊

[@nitogenski473]

Sorry, I know this is 7 months old, but Feanor from Silmarillion. Greatest blacksmith that ever existed... xD

[@marmaladeoftheworld9916]

10:02 **gets flashbacks from ‘That One Scene’ by the end of Shadow of The Collosus**

[@patrickowens4294]

Thanks for the tips. I'm writing a book right now and trying to keep it as fresh and cliche free as possible, but I think it's sometimes a difficult thing to do. There's nothing new under the sun, it's all been done before, and so on. When you've been reading fantasy you're whole life, it can be easy for some of those common tropes to slip into your stories. Great video and I'll check out some of your others.

[@avionpiscean33]

Say it with me now, . . . "ARTAX!"

[@Lord_Sunday]

nooooo

[@MichaelLoda]

I knew the first 4 well but the last one surprised me and gave me food for though, thank you

[@nellebolton7910]

In other words Make a character like Neville the hero rather than Harry

[@skadi6750]

Draco did aswell actually.

[@galangbio3958]

I was thinking the house fairy as main char

[@fungalmage3336]

I feel like those fantasy races are too well-established and accepted to be just tropes or cliches it's as if they are just an aspect of fantasy literature

[@jorgeramirez6060]

About horses, you made me think about Arthax from Neverending Story, he dies in the Swamp of Sorrow, it had such a emotional weight, he was not just a prop.

[@kalakartist]

Really good video. I was looking for fantasy story beats but instead I got your video that not only game me the elements of fantasy but also how to put your own spin on it.

[@astridb9379]

Camdalf! 😂 it's not easy steering away from these cliches when writing fantasy! Especially "the chosen one". I feel like you have to have multiple characters doing little things to change the world, rather than one character doing one big thing, if you want to avoid that one. And of course that takes a lot more planning. I have an idea for a series with multiple characters but don't feel ready to write something so complicated so instead I'm first writing a prequel to it with only one main character. And that character does fall in to the "chosen one"-cliche. I'm doing my best to still make it interesting and unique though!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Absolutely Astrid, it's hard to find the line between high and urban fantasy 🙄

[@nixiepixie5694]

I just saw this video and omg the thumbnail is AMAZING!!! lol camdalf=gold

[@LillyMoore]

Such a great video, really great that you also talked about ways to fix these cliches!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Thanks 😊

[@hyperboliccancers3269]

Video starts at around 1:50, for whom it may concern

[@user-lm8zg4md5r]

Good video, I'm getting more excited every time I watch something like this. It looks like I'm doing a lot right so far.

[@AshesandFlames]

With the 'Object,' I think that Tolkien had a better 'Object' before it was even a cliche. A little bit of a play on that. The Ring can give you a lot of power but it corrupts you. This is why characters like Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli couldn't have been the ringbearers because they are much more powerful than Hobbits, meaning the more powerful you are the more power you will gain from the Ring and the more corrupt they will be. This is why someone who is weak has to be the ringbearer if they want to get rid of a threat to Middle-earth.

[@InquisitorThomas]

Fantasy is a word that should imply the extent of human imagination, but as a Genre it's built around ripping off one author.

[@shaease4931]

ooh, thats deep...

[@aimeepartain4390]

Horse getting stuck in a mud swamp... (Cries)

[@prosimian]

I like how Game of Thronea subverts the dark lord archetype. He is still played straight as a trope, but instead of being black clad and living in a lava lair, he is literally called "White walker" and lives in an icy wilderness.

[@clintcarpentier2424]

Give your Dark Lord a rainbow robe, and blue hair.

[@skadi6750]

Oh I hate cliche fantasy races so much. I completely started to avoid fantasy with elves, dwarfs, travelling group of heroes, trying to find some stupid Mac Guffin to save the word against the ultimate lawless bad anyone who have no motivation to be bad...I love books like Mythago Wood of Robert Holdstock, but writers like him are so freakin rare. Those who just create their own world on their own rules...yes, he has some cliche traits, but other than that he wrote novels based on his own understanding of time and space and power of human mind, it is so beautiful. I wish there was more of these.

[@animeisdead]

Im writing a novel thats like a post apocolyptic medieval fantasy with lovecraftian aliens. Hopefully it goes well

[@prigg88]

I think with the last one that you mentioned is that it is the Hero's Journey which is more of a story type than a cliche. Is that story style more popular in fantasy sure.

[@alannothnagle]

Great video! Fun fact: High Fantasy basically originated with the English artist, Arts & Crafts designer and socialist William Morris in the late 19th century. A lover of Nordic lore, Morris wrote bulky pseudo-medieval sagas about heroes, elves etc., in which he illustrated his notions of social justice, aesthetics etc., just like his later admirer Tolkien wrote fantasy novels illustrating his Catholic beliefs and reflecting his understanding of mythology and language. While Morris was brilliant in many ways, his fantasy books are a tough slog today, which is why Peter Jackson filmed "Lord of the Rings" instead of Morris's "The Well at the World's End". In any case, when LOTR came out, I was delighted to see that the whole production design was in Arts & Crafts, Pre-Raphaelite style, which was entirely up Morris's alley.

[@WreckItRolfe]

Dwarves are basically personified "masculinity": Hairy, logical, strong, stoic, builders. The Gorons are similar in the Legend of Zelda. Even sharing the trait of being an unchanging and ancient race, and going as far as not having any "females" at all.

[@mcp7158]

"Not having any females at all" I think that's the same problem for the Gerudos from BOTW,but the other way around

[@CTSmerv]

"That" hero is an archetypal character as old a civilization. Perhaps one of the first being Sargon of Akkad, who was born of a Priestess, abandoned as a baby in a wicker basket to float down a river to be adopted by the royal family (Moses was based on him; it's that old).

[@carmenmoura2063]

The audience looooves the hidden royalty/Chosen One plot. Look how mad people are that the Targaryen thing didn't hold up enough for Jon Snow, and Johnson daring to write that Rey's parents are "no one."

[@SotraEngine4]

I do 2-5, but 2-4 I bend. Like quite a lot 2 - I made the character make the object and the object can just do very specific things. It can certainly not end wars. And like it's a really small part of the story, really 3 - I call "the big bad" the Shadow. But it's more like "the big understood" that everybody hates as he must kill people to survive. He's actually not that bad and don't dress in black 4 - The horses of my world has a bigger heart and a bigger belly 5 - That hero... You got me there... But he's not the only one

[@catbowserfantasytherapist3132]

Good points on a lot of these. I feel that the prophecy has been done to death and I actively try to avoid it. I am much more invested in a hero that gets involved just because they happen to be there. Or heck, getting involved for a completely self serving reason! Motivation is the most important part, I feel, of a character and so often, it's reduced to "it's your destiny"

[@c.d.dailey8013]

This video is great. I keep rewatching this. I like your idea of the Tolkein formula. That summarizes things so well. Tolkein is the great granddaddy of fantasy authors. He wrote Lord of the Rings, and that became a hit. Then other authors wrote knockoffs from that, and together they expanded fantasy into a whole genre of modern literature. When there are too many knockoffs there is a formula. The worst I have seen in terms of cliche is the TV show Legend of the Seeker. I only watched the first two episodes, but that is enough t get the gist of what the story is like. There are so many cliches that I can't take it seriously. I ended up laughing hard. I don't think that is the reaction the show is going for. Now I am wondering about whether to watch the series again. It can be so bad its good. You did give a good list of five cliche's. I am guilty of using all of them. I use the trick of having them, but not playing them completely straight. #1 is fantasy races. When races become cliche, they can become stereotypes. World of Warcraft is really good at subverting this. The elves are goody goody at first. Then they dabble in magic too much and they become currupt. When they get currupted, thier skin turns from dark to light. That is an inversion of the sterotypes of dark and light. The dwarvs are into mining at first. Then they get into archeology instead. The humans may seem good and heroic at first. Then they got into slavery which is bad. There was even a human, Medivh, who got demonic curruption. My favorite example is the orcs. Orcs tend to be coded based on nonwhite people like Mongolians or Africans. When they are the only evil race amoung the good white European coded races, it starts to get unfortunate implications of racism. In World of Warcraft there is a great subversion. Orcs were evil and currupted by the demons. They invaded Azeroth and fought the humans. Later the humans defeated and enslaved the orcs. Later the orcs became good guys that fight against demons and other bad guys. The orcs still fight against humans. That is the core of the fight between Horde and Alliance respectively. My favorite character in the lore is Thrall. He is an orc that saved orcs from both demons and humans. He lead the orcs to a time of being good and forming the current Horde faction.World of Warcraft is a huge improvement from Lord of the Rings in terms of political correctness. It is easier to pull it off in modern times. I do however find it unsettling that the more humanlike races are still coded European, while the other races get other cultures. Orcs and Trolls are Africans. Tauren are Native Americans. Pandarian are Asian. I do have race in my fantasy, but it is different. I go for a more realistic approach. There isn't the creepy othering of non Europeans as being more like monsters or animals. Instead I make different races more human. I have a group of heroic characters of various races. Yet they have realistic variation of race and remian human. There is a variation of skin color. Some members have extra skin folds making thier eyes appear to be a different shape. This is like Asians. I eve show variation. Luspear is the protagonist. She has brown skin and black hair, kind of like a Native American. Soram is the deuteragonist. He has white skin like a European. My favorite race is elves. I did add some elf like qualities for my humans. They live in beutiful fancy houses. They are good with magic. They are good with nature. They may even have long lifespans. I am a big fan of both Lord of the Rings Elves and World of Warcraft elves. When I play the latter I do use eleves as my two main characters. I use both night elves and blood elves. #2 is the object. What you are describing is actually called a Maguffin. It is a silly name for this cliche. It was coined by film maker Alfred Hitcock. In my early days of writing, I did this really bad. I regret that. Now I downplay it. Luspear acquires the Light Sphere as her Maguffin. She acquires it early on in her adventure. Then she uses its power to make herself more powerful. Then she can better tackle the problems and conflicts in the story. The downside of a Maguffin is that the audience won't be as invested as the characters. So having the Maguffin be used for something else helps the audience care. The worst Maguffins are those that can be replaced with something else without significantly changing the story. I do like how you say that a Maguffin shouldn't be a total game changer. That is that case of my story. When Luspear gets the Light Sphere, that doesn't give her the ability to solve the main problem. Whenshe goes overboard with this, she actually makes things worse. The key is for Luspear and Soram to work together. I did get inspiration from the Fisher King legend. So I made an alternative goal of making the land better instead of gaining the item. The Light Sphere is a means to this end. Luspear also learns a lot of magical knowlage. Maybe a more compelling and fresh goal is to learn the secret of magic. You do give good examples of Maguffins in fantasy. Another good example is the infinity stones in Marvel. I heard one call this the glowy thing. That is so amusing. So the main Marvel plot is about a purple villain trying to collect the powerful stones and wreck havok on the universe. Then a ragtag team of diverse heroes work to stop him. As a big fan of fantasy and Tolkein I find this story oddly familiar, very familiar. I do find it nifty that science fiction can put a spin on old stories by putting them in space. Star Warth is the mythical hero's journey in space. Avatar is Pocahontas in space. The Marvel story is like that too. It is Lord of the Rings in space. #3 is the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord is my pet peeve of fantasy cliche's. I don't like this because it makes for poor character development for the antagonist. They are one dimensional and all evil. I did a full blown subversion. In my story, there is a Dark Lord, who did cause problems. Luspear goes on a quest to stop him. Later she learns who the Dark Lord is like. He turned out to be her friend, Soram. He was a good guy deep down, and the harm was just an accident. Luspear and the Dark Lord end up falling in love, and use the power of love to solve the problems. Luspear does get the title of Light Lord. It is something I made up. When you said bright lord, it was really close. I did subvert the stereotype for light being goody goody. Luspear is the hero of the story. However she did accidently burned things down with her light powers. So light isn't always good. Luspear overcomes it with the help of the Dark Lord. The only dark lords I like in fiction are Darth Vader in Star Wars and Arthas in World of Warcraft. They are fleshed out better. They started out heroic. Then they turned to the dark side and got bad. Darth Vader does save Luke from Palpatine, and that is touching. Thanos is the Marvel version of the Dark Lord. He takes the redeamable part a step further. He wrecks havock on the universe. Yet at the same time he tries to solve the problem of overpopulation. Thanos is actually one of the best Marval villains. I like your Martain reference. I love to have gray characters. Martain is amazing at delivering them. A good example is Cersei Lannister. Some fans call her a villain. I may not root for Circe, but I don't think of her as being one. I think of her as simply being one of the players of Game of Thrones. One can root for her or against her and it would be totally justified either way. Cersei may be nasty and antisocial. Yet she also is incredible at surviving the brutal Game of Thrones. Both sides come from her cunning and savvy nature. Cersei does have a redeamable characteristic of loving her twin brother and thier children. I would argue she loves her brother too much. Eww. Fantasy has a convention of good triumphing over evil. In this case, there is a wierd irony that Cersei Lannister survives far longer than her rival, Ned Stark. Ned is honerable, which has a traoff in being both moral and naive. I rooted for Ned, and I feel so sorry for the poor thing.

[@c.d.dailey8013]

#4 is animals as props. I have actually heard of this one. I think the reason for this problem is that authors don't know about animals. As an animal lover, I get really irritated when people get things about animals wrong. I have noticed a weird mistake lately. A person can have a cat or dog, and get the gender wrong. I have even seen male pets get girls names. It is weird because distinguishing the genders is so easy. In many mammals, the males have their naughty bits exposed more. So that makes it easy to tell them apart from the females. Both cats and dogs have this distinction. I wonder how can people get it messed up. Humans have the same distinction. It is covered up by clothing, but it is there. Comparing the animals to humans makes things even easier. Horses can be a big problem in terms of inaccuracy. People are so used to cars and take them for granted. They don't realize the implications of horses being not only vehicles but also animals. Horses have the same kinds of needs other animals do. That makes them much higher maintenance. It is like how it takes a lot of effort to raise and train a dog. There is a difference in that horses are bigger animals and so need more resources. The one good thing about horses is that I find them far more interesting than cars. They also provide better companionship. In fantasy I like to go beyond regular horses and get into fantasy horses like unicorns and pegasi. Horses have the usual gender distinction among mammals. So distinguishing between a stallion and a mare is super easy. I thought of some funny names for people that are still confused about gender. This is Sue the stallion and Mulan the mare. Both are alliterations. Sue refers to a Johnny Cash song. Mulan refers to a hero of Chinese legend. I have animals in my story. They are not realistic either, but they do things that are different. The humans can turn into animals. They can also summon multiple forms, which are extensions of themselves. I like this superpower, so I use it a lot. It does solve a lot of things. The main thing is that theanimals can beattle like Pokemon, without as much implication to illegal cockfighting and dogfighting. I think of it as like legal boxing but with magic powers. There are other things. I do go beyond the fantasy race cliche. Having animals provides more diversity than humanoid races. I am sick to death of Disney movies having silly animal sidekicks. So having animals as forms allow them to be important characters. Luspear gets a dragon as an animal companion. The dragon is named Soram. Over time he is revealed to be a human. Even later he is revealved to be the Dark Lord. Luspear eventually gains the ability to turn into a horse. The humans have the usual needs like food, shelter, clothing and sleep. I address this by making accommodations magically convenient. A home has magic to keep stoking up with food and other supplies. There are two variants of the home I figured out. One is to have the creature use excellent transportation ability to go to a home. The trip is very quick, like a reasonable commute to work. Another is to have a small portable ball. Then one goes into the ball. Magic makes the ball really big on the inside. I provides living accommodations as well as extensive storage space. In one version of my story the animals needs did come up. Luspear was adventuring in a cave over a period of many days. She evetually got worn out. So Soram let her stay in his ball, where she could recuperate. #5 is that hero. You were good at combining several cliche's related to the main character. Another one I would like to add is farm boy. The farm boy has been done to death. I think Harry Potter is refreshing for being a suburban boy instead. He does live under the stairs. So like a peasant, he is still treated like dirt. It is like how Cinderella gets to live in a nice house, but is still treated like dirt. The main hero example in Lord of the Rings is Frodo. Ironically he was not a farm boy. He comes from a place with lots of farming, but he is more of an aristocrat. If anybody in the fellowship is a farmboy, it is actually Sam. Still the derivatives make the hero a farm boy. So the cliche is that the hero is a farm boy, but they discover that they are a long lost prince. I have Luspear as that hero. I do change things up. I actually have an inverse in terms of economic class. Luspear was a princess, and she later finds out she is the daughter of rebellious peasants. Interestingly Moses also has the inverse. I am too fond of the chosen one cliche. So I downplay it. Luspear is destened for greatness. However she doen't learn about it untill she is almost done with her adventure. Luspear is motivated to adventure because she wants to, not because some choosing forces her to. This is a more powerful character motivation, and it works better. Luspear was once a spiritual being of creation. Then she reincarnated in human form. She eventual goes through adventures and magic ultimately becoming a queen of the gods. This makes Luspear special. I can't resist specialness. Maybe all heros are special to some extant even if they are not chosen. Soram is also an incarnation of a spiritual being of creation. He does a lot of magic study simply because he wanted to. He ultamitly becomes king of the gods. Luspear and Soram are also soulmates with true love. I don't know whether this is cliche. I do find it easy to screw up romance. So I played it safe and dowplay it. I have them in love, have both be a duo of creation beings, and have telepathy powers. I don't think this is too overt. There are other overused things about hero which I go against. Heros are often white guys, and I am sick to death of this. So Luspear is hero, who is a woman of color. That is different. Heros are also pure good, which is bland and boring. It is an inverse of the Dark Lord problem. So I give Luspear a nasty side. She does her best to do the right thing. However sometimes she does something imoral. A major thing was accidently burning something down. Luspear attempted to fight the Dark Lord. That made the problems worse instead of better. It may be wrong to judge and attack the Dark Lord before getting to know him. I think grey heros are better. Martain is good at delivering gray heros. Daenerys does what she think is right and liberate people from oppression. However she can get too carried away with her dragon fire. Jon Snow does what he thinks is right, and helps the Free Folk escape to the south. However he can get too carried away with upsetting people that don't like free folk. Danerys and Jon are both heroic characters of Game of Thrones.However they have screwed so bad that is provoke thier own assasinations.

[@MaterialObserver3956]

What's funny is Tolkien's LoTR books basically takes what he experienced in his life and percolated the details through that high fantasy filter

[@mochiattoart514]

I've got shamans, werewolves, humans, shapeshifters, warriors, alchemists, and spell masters. It's a bit hard to manage, but okay.

[@frosttroll3411]

The Marvel Dork I’ve got everything. Just don’t let the reader know what’s out there, let them find out as they read along.

[@monus782]

Your description describes exactly how I feel about fantasy. Alongside sci-fi it's the only genre I really like and I feel that by using cliches huge amounts of potential are wasted. Thus I end up being a writer one of the things I'd want to do is to flip upside down those cliches and see what I get.

[@pheebsbee1280]

American Gods by Gaiman is a book who breaks all these cliches I think.

[@rodeljagad8127]

Fi Handley. which* not who.... Sorry lol

[@oonakaia4122]

I watched this video to see what to avoid with my new story idea before I even start writing and I think I can avoid almost all of them. The animal point was a good one I never even thought of thank you!

[@juliii_g]

I ALWAYS wonder how women handle their period in fantasy novels (or novels in general) because it’s a really big part of being a woman but it’s almost NEVER mentioned (except for game of thrones as far as I know). Like, are females in stories not able to bear children?? Don’t they have this problem that comes once a month? Can’t they tell how it’s handled in the fantasy world? Is it a thing that people don’t speak about? is it considered normal? Or is there a special medical treatment that stops/eliminates a woman’s period? Just a little background info would be interesting, because it makes women a more relatable. For me at least.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

That's an extremely good point Julia!

[@chameleonarcher]

Mercedes Lackey typically gives this at least a mention in her books, but honestly the best treatment I've seen was in a Middle-earth fanfiction called "Don't Panic!". Explaining it to Elves (who don't really have to deal with it) when you don't speak the language? Yikes.

[@arte0021]

Julia G because describing a period would be quite gross. the same reason book dont describe the characters taking a shit. even though they obviously have to do it.

[@skadi6750]

Marion Bradley did acknowledge these things absolutely normally, but it made sense in her themes, because her heroines were priestess of Goddess and phases of moon were quite a big thing in those stories, she also had her portion of feminism (but those were the times feminism still made some sense), but in most other stories it is absolutely not important and only would distract the story.

[@TheOtherCless]

A good writer wouldn't mention a woman's period unless it was important to the plot, the same way they wouldn't mention every time someone goes to pee or has a headache. And the only time I've seen it be important to the plot was when it was used to put her in a weakened state (couldn't use magic) during a conflict. I feel like a minority of people are going to be interested in this.

[@Thagomizer]

FAR too many fantasy writers have studied Tolkien's setting, but not his thinking. They look to other fantasy novels for inspiration instead of the sources that Tolkien himself looked toward: the myths, legends, fairy tales, folk tales, sagas, epics, romances, etc. Tolkien certainly wasn't the first to write epic fantasy. Just check this list out: www.unboundworlds.com/2017/05/4-epic-fantasy-novels-written-lord-rings/ R.E.Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, Arthur Machen, Clarke Ashton Smith, Manly Wade Wellman, L. Frank Baum, Fritz Leiber, Lin Carter, and C. L. Moore (just to name a few) were also writing Fantasy before Tolkien. All except for Lovecraft are underrated and need more love.

[@mcp7158]

Umm...have you seen "Berserk"?

[@FrozenGuineaPig]

This was really helpful! I'll definitely consider the horse's feelings from here on out.

[@MazokuJun]

Races, Japanese fantasy story usually have Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Orcs and Goblins acting as two different races(So you get the Sauron kind taller, warmonger ones as Orcs and the short croach like ones Goblins). They also very commonly have the Beast people(Cat is probably the most common and popular with Wolf being very close) that range from having only ears and tails on a human body or a full furry body and animal head replacing the human one. Many other races you like Cobalt, Lizardman, Draconic people, right out Dragon turning into human form and live in that, Harpies, Winged people(Angels without halos), Faeries, even Slime people becomes really common recently

[@lightjuli3564]

I agree with you so much about the whole Dark Lord and Chosen One cliche. In my book, the big twist is one of the protagonists is actually the villain, and has been evil the whole time. And the person you think is the villain, is actually good. Not sure how it will play out, but I don't think it's been done before.

[@Theocomicman]

Good video! It helped me a lot and I’ve come up with new ideas for my book.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

That's awesome!

[@miguel0n338]

Wow, thank you so much for this! Some of these are things I've done, some are things I knew to avoid, but some I never thought about. Like when you mentioned the race thing, I immediately thought of Narnia, and more specifically the Silver Chair. Narnia has dwarfs and man, no elves or orcs but fauns and centaurs and other creatures from mythology (including many fictional races who serve the "big bads"). But then there's Puddleglum, a creature called a marsh-wiggle. No other story has marsh-wiggles; they are a unique invention of C. S. Lewis. But Puddleglum is one of the most loved characters in the entire series! He's funny, he's brave (though pessimistic), and he's a very real character. So yeah, a good character of an original race can make all the difference. The Dark Lord thing is interesting too. The White Witch, though she doesn't wear black (for obvious reasons lol) definitely falls into this trap. Everything she does is self-serving; she doesn't ever seem to have a cause to fight for, or any other motivation besides to rule (or to maintain her rule). She wasn't ugly (in fact one guy actually had a crush on her, and another thought she was nice) but she was pure evil! And as terrifying as I always found her character to be, she's not a very real character. Compare her with Regina, the Evil Queen from the TV series "Once Upon a Time" and you'll see what I mean. On the surface, she's identical to the White Witch, powerful, self-serving and heartless. Like the Witch, her main focus is her only motivation: revenge. But as the story progresses, she gets over her dark past and becomes a hero - in some ways more so than the "Chosen One" (Emma). Her character is definitely more relatable, though I wouldn't want to meet either of them in a dark alley. :D Anyway, thanks again for the video. Tropes like these can be used effectively, but it's good to know what they are and when/why to use them - or in this case, how to avoid them. I appreciate that you added "fixes" for all of them.

[@emeraldeelentertainment8988]

About great villains having motivations and needing to think they're heroes: I partially agree. Some villains are maniacal and seek to kill or be evil for the thrill.

[@rodeljagad8127]

Emerald Eel Entertainment. Especially cuz we see examples of this in real life. Some people are just malevolent in ways that can’t be at all justified.

[@Kat_ko_02]

"Probably don't go with Dark Lord." Maybe I shouldn't have been laughing at this as much as I should've. But its obvious simplicity was brilliant. How about, "The Darker Lord…"

[@GeoRyukaiser]

I'm writing a story right now where I addressed the issues with 'the object.' First or all, there are thirteen (though only twelve are known of at first) and only 'people from another world' can use them, which is also the only reason the main characters are even in the story; the locals are abusing fact that is the only limitation to use them to defeat the 'Demon King.' Though things get iffy after the MCs learn that summoning people from another world costs lives and other spoilery details after that.

[@RebeccasStudio]

Thank you for your oppinions, they have really help me. I'm trying to wirte my fist story ever and althought I am using some of the cliches you mentioned. I'm trying to use them in a different way.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

No worries mate!

[@felizgar]

10:15... I wasnt watching the screen and still got the feels :(

[@DigitalDisciple4555]

Got a good laugh out of this, good thing I'm breaking the mold with all these cliches and archetypes lol.

[@JennyEverywhere]

Dark Chaos Lord vs. Bright Order Lord -- Yandros vs. Aeoris, Time Master Trilogy But which one is good, and which one evil? Hmmmm...

[@malcomalexander9437]

Or pull a Moorcock and have them both be bad.

[@Kikiinator]

Hey uh, I'm writing a book kinda thingy on Wattpad about these things (???). Basically, there are Night Walkers and Day Dancers. Night Walkers were formed by the moon god as revenge, they steal stuff from DDs. Day Dancers are typically rich and do more human like things (school, carnivals, theatre, ect). Obviously these aren't all the things about them, but uh yeah. It's kinda lame but I'm not really a writer, so uhh.

[@thescrapsmith446]

I'm trying to write my story differently all my character start plucky and generic till the world keeps shiting on their plans and goals

[@ThoseColoniesAreMine]

riders usually had to get a fresh horse and I think its safe to say that people went through many horses in military positions

[@AngelaMerici12]

The orphan hero is so cruel, because technically it's like " he doesn't have a family that could restrain him/her"

[@PeachyLiv]

Binge-watching all your vids!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

I'm honoured, thanks! 😄

[@StephenDuMont100]

horses that do not tire are the new guns that never run out of ammo.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Very true

[@JerkyMurky]

Its funny because with the exception of one fantasy universe with dwarves elves and men that I can think of tolkeins where always incredibly more complex. Dwarves weren't always builders and smiths in tolkiens works, they where also artists, explorers, merchants and craftsmen. and even then, the elves where the best craftsman and smiths. Everyone else runs into the world of hats problem, where every dwarf is a warrior smith and every elf is a holier then thou perfect god being. The only other fantasy I know of with these races (and there could be others but I don't personally know of them) is Dragon Age, and that's less because their cultures are more complex and more because their cultures have basically fallen. Dwarves WHERE the master builders. Elves WHERE the pure immortals. Now Dwarves are teetering on extinction with only one city left, more deeply involved in polotics then war or building. And elves are mostly slaves, their culture, language, writing, history lost to time. Now resigned to either small nomadic tribes or city slums. They don't fall into world of hats... kinda, because they where forced to change hats.

[@theM4R4T]

Were* were* were*

[@teejaykaye]

I love watching these kinds of videos and seeing how my own drafts stand up to them. I've got my own fantasy series I'm gonna be working on (im not counting my current fantasy series, since that's Earth-based urban fantasy, rather than real high fantasy). 1. Well I've got some different batches of humans, and then i've got devils that behave similar to hive-hierarchy aliens with sci-fi tropes. And earth giants. And weird sentient mythical animals. 2. I mean, I've got multiple Objects. The series is supposed to be named after them. They serve an important cultural purpose to the devil race. 3. ....well I REALLY don't have to worry about that since the main antagonist changes throughout the story, and ppl who are villains in one planned book might become allies in another. And the one individual who will probably end up being the overall antagonist isn't a bad person. Or really a person at all. 4. I'm not even sure I HAVE horses in this story. I've got some big rhino-things the size of a medium sauropod that are used for transportation, but they have character, and the people who use them care about them deeply. ALSO HOW DARE YOU REMIND ME OF ARTEX. 5. Hey hey hey leave Percy Jackson out of that hero trope. He's not even remotely similar to that trope. (As for my hero I don't even have ONE. The motley band of heroes I do have, all have family. And they end up the Heroes through matters of questionable decision making and really bad luck. Although one of them just IS royalty. No surprise twist about it.)

[@somegirl4631]

@6:21@ I made this "one object" a person (a girl, she can't really use her object power herself so sadly many wuse herw throught the book if tribble ways), and now my heros need to figure out if it's morally right to kill her in order for her power not to destroy the world (like her powers did... twice in the past, and destroyed entire civilasations) or to actually provide her a happy life that she actually deserve (after being abused and used for all this time).

[@AlexTalArt]

one of my ideas was to have a hero turn out to be an orphan and secretly royal last of there line and so on, BUT actually having loving adopted parents, being a hero just because, not be the only main character and not the leader of the group and either only having small clues but never having the character find out or have them find out but reject it because they wouldn't know how to rule.

[@calypso_lazuli]

I think too a lot DnD is influential in these kinds of stories too. Also making races where everyone is the same in the race, which is unrealistic. Diversity within the fantastical races is important, to achieve this I like to look at fantastical races as species similar to that of humans. Humans look different, have different personalities, have different goals, speak different languages, ect. So should different fantastical races. I think a lot of people associate a fantastical race with a real world culture, e.g. elves are usually of European decent. I have suffered from doing this too and when I catch myself I start to reorganize the attributes of that in particular race.

[@DuilioGF]

Amaaaaazing video D: I'm so freaking glad my story isn't following this cliches! I do use the Object thing, but it's a distraction. I make people believe they are crucial but they end up being the least important thing. I must admit I didn't want to watch this video, I was afraid my story would be filled with cliches xD It's so good to see other writers thinking like me :D Fills me with optimism :)

[@WideMouth]

There’s a difference between a cliche and an archetype. Archetypes represent fundamentally true aspects of the human experience, while cliches are common aspects of stories that are reused out of laziness or lack of creativity.

[@arceydear7078]

Oh no I have used all these tropes in some form or another in my unpublished high fantasy YA novel. The problem is I love Tolkien and can't get enough of his style in books. Most fantasies I read actually HAVE to have most of these in order for me not to put them down. I get what you are saying for sure and maybe some folks are tired of the same old same old, (too much vanilla) but a lot of us are looking for the next Tolkien and don't want to get into the psychology of the bad guy. It makes it more painful to watch him defeated or in most cases brutally killed. I know that is totally vanilla of me. I should try other flavors, but hey you know old horses and all that......I love your vlogs and am trying to incorporate them as best I can. keep on vlogging :)

[@matthewpettipas8233]

I have a special object in my series, but it's not central for the overall plot. In the first book, yes, it was of importance, but now it's just a weapon that makes my protagonist a deadly opponent on the battlefield, it's not connected to the world's fate anymore. As for Dwarves and Elves? Errr, I use them alot (elves are my favorite fantasy topic haha). But I try not to use the cliche around them. What I mean is, my elves come in a variety of kinds, from Wood elves who vary from light to very dark brown, to other kinds of elves including Dark elves (who are black in colour), and Midland elves (my own in universe name), who are white etc. I'm guilty of using some cliches I admit, but overall, I try to be as original as possible. Great video, it helps alot.

[@HalfEye79]

To compare your list with the books "Eragon": 1) Elves and dwarves - Okay, both are in that story. But both had some of background-story and not one-dimensional. In the first book, the urgals took the role of the orcs as the bad creatures. But in the further story they aren't as bad. And the Raz'ac are the real bad race. But it is completely new. 2) The object - Okay in Eragon, there is his sword, which is kind of special, but not as important. I think, the object is the name of the old language. But the loop is, that the villain, despite of controlling the spoken magic and nearly defeating Eragon, he can cast magic, which defeats the villain. 3) The dark lord - In Eragon, the villain is named Galbaborix. Sometimes, he is called as the mad king. Okay, his dragon is a black one. But thats it. And his sword is white or colorless. 4) Animals are used as props - Okay, in the first book, the horses of Eragon and Murthag, his companion, do very well, because they must ride very far in very few time. But there is said, that it was outstanding. The later "animals" of Eragon and Murthag are their dragons. But these are really characters. 5) The hero - Okay, Eragon had a little speciality, because is father was one of the best dragon riders. But that is revealed very late in the books. Else, he is special, because he is the only dragon rider on the side of the good. The books Eragon are very good. Despite of the cliches (But many are evased). I think it is more comparable with Star Wars then Lord of the Rings, although on critic says, Paolini is the young Tolkien.

[@silverdragonwolf1]

I think a better way to phrase that would be "Make the hero special because of WHO they are not WHAT they are", the way you phrased it still sounds like it contributes to the problem. The hero's personality, both core and what emerged over the course of development of the story, should always be a key factor in how they make choices.

Thank you for these videos!!

[@ellahulme8388]

can like someone help i dont know if this is a good character idea but my main character is an elf/water elementalist, and like she had brown hair brown eyes (that later become blue) and is quite determined but also quite scared and cowardly, she was raised in a war camp with everyone else mythical and her perants are only allowed to see her every month no idea if this is good but please give me feedback

[@authorrobjohnson3178]

I'm glad you brought this stuff up. In my Celina series, these are things I'm trying to avoid.

[@charlenefoti689]

I know this wasn't your point, but fun fact - horses take a shit whenever they want. They just shit while they're walking/running. Thank you for bringing this up though, before cars horses were VERY important creatures - not just for transportation but people were fucking attached to them, especially war horses. They were CULTURALLY important.

[@LafayetteLeSaint]

I wish that I viewed yours and some peoples videos before I finished writing my book. I have a number of cliches in it. Part of reason I did this was because I wanted to write my own version of these cliches and other the reason I did this was because I didn't realize how cliche my cliches were. About the only thing my novel that isn't cliche is the hero and the object.

[@theoneonly2406]

*3 min intro* “Let’s jump right into it” Wait what?😂🤣