So I'm sure by now everyone has heard of this one right? A writing trope. If not, essentially it is best described as a trend in writing that may never die. Some hate them, some love them, others like me hate only certain ones and that is what I intend to briefly talk about now that I'm two days late.571Please respect copyright.PENANAnWOdk2pDFs
The Tropes I hate: Mary Sue, Plot Armour, The Main Character Rule, Healers Suck, Women Are Weak, Prophecies, Villains need to be tragic or evil + extra moody or 'cool'.571Please respect copyright.PENANAZbjePe9ZlW
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Let's get started with Mary Sue. What is a Mary Sue? Someone who just seems to know it all and do it all without proper training, I despise this rule with a passion, and is part of the reason why I dislike the new Star Wars Trilogy. Basically they go from Bob to Super Man God Mode as we've seen if you watch that movie. I mean seriously, where is the fun in watching a character go from none to won in no time flat. We need to see some of that work, some of that determination.571Please respect copyright.PENANAOZRMsT0LcJ
When writing Ravenlight, I was concerned I didn't add in enough Elise content to show her progress and was concerned that she was going to be 'too much' as a fighter to just start out and seemingly be able to fend for herself. I needed to show that she had been working for a long time and explain a fair bit. She got her butt beat. (Spoilers follow in [ ] marks).571Please respect copyright.PENANAGT6XTYj2CW
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[It could be said that she is one because of how the ending of the novel goes with her picking up on Energy but here's the thing, I designed it so that there was a reason for that. And with that she didn't learn magic immediately. Even then she wasn't that good with it and needed help from her weapon. Energy control is like riding a bike once you get an understanding of it. Magic is taking the training wheels off, adding three rockets, telling her to collect 8 ducks flying at sound speed, and saying you only get one shot while balancing a cow on your back. There's also more to it which is hinted but not explained.]571Please respect copyright.PENANACnNivrJPwB
If it's logical why the character can pick up on something pretty quick, that's one thing. Having Rei from Episode 7 being able to use the Force and just break Kylo Ren, that's a different story. It's boring and lazy story telling in my opinion. SHOW US THE RISE OF THE CHARACTER SO WE GIVE A DAMN AND CAN RELATE TO THEIR HARD WORK!!!571Please respect copyright.PENANATwjbVkmO2x
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The next two go hand in hand so I'll tackle them both. Plot Armour and the Main Character Rule. Basically Plot Armour is where the character can't die because they are plot important. Or the Main Character Rule, where the MC never dies.571Please respect copyright.PENANAtYU4yWbYsm
I hate this one about as much as I do the Mary Sue rule. Basically both say that -specific character- can't die because of importance and that at times they will do the impossible. Again, going back to Episode 7, Rei & Finn should have died probably. Looking at 2 anime I like, Naruto & more so Bleach; Ichigo should have died to multiple foes yet some stupid ass pull saves his life. Naruto shows up and you know that the enemy is screwed.571Please respect copyright.PENANAKqjqGJExJX
Naruto specifically I think back to the Pain Invasion arc. Pain had him, yes the 9 tails saved him, yes he confronted and beat Pain, then we just get talk-no-jutsu and Nagato decides to be good & somehow Nagato's chakra manipulation failed up till then. I get it, Nagato was weak but TALK NO JUTSU!? I mean you can say it can be forgiven but this is more so the Main Character Rule. Story is called Naruto and he won't die.571Please respect copyright.PENANADQCK57GxlK
Bleach I absolutely have to slap. Ichigo nearly died multiple times yet magically pulled wins. You could say it was due to his Inner Hollow and all that but come tf on. Kenpachi, Ulquiorra TWICE, then that AIZEN ENDING. Like wtf. He just gains a power up and learns bankai and everything in 1-2-3.571Please respect copyright.PENANAGSalAsGzpY
Plot armour I don't need to really dive into because it's similar to what I just discussed. Characters doing what they shouldn't be able to do or being automatically safe. It's boring and I hate it.571Please respect copyright.PENANAdwzTXaMaH0
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The next two also go hand in hand at times. Healers are considered & shown to be weak or useless, then Women are weak & useless. Going back to Naruto I again think of a character. Sakura. Part 1 it made a bit of sense, she was smart and a Genjutsu pro, not much of a fighter. Cut to Shippuden and she holds her own against Sasori (with help but still). After that she doesn't do crap but scream "SASUKE-KUN" while creaming her knickers.571Please respect copyright.PENANAc9R4i4F4KN
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Why portray the character like this. She was trained, we know it. So many female characters follow this, especially the healers. Healers are 'intended to heal and don't need combat experience'. That's crap. It does provide risk but that isn't a definite rule. Sakura could kick face but doesn't do much and is constantly overshadowed.571Please respect copyright.PENANArgiKA7cLo3
Why is that?571Please respect copyright.PENANAf6248hOx2i
Bleach again, look at Orihime. Why are women, healers especially, weak or damsels all the damn time. Why can't they just surprise you or take the main role, maybe not even need a male counterpart to support them. This is why a lot of my characters are women, I'm sick of the male scenario. We need women leads. Sexist time but I truly feel that they are far more compassionate, far more understanding, far more caring, and yes they show their emotions more.571Please respect copyright.PENANAHmhwikIpFU
What's wrong with that? It shows us the character more. Instead of some tough guy that wants to fight or believes in himself or is chosen. Really guys shouldn't be held to that standard either which I intend to prove. A kick ass woman and a guy who is what he shouldn't be... literally nothing wrong with that & is actually more interesting.571Please respect copyright.PENANAk2XAJJdDv3
Who knows, maybe that'll become an overused trope one day and we'll want this trope back but whatever. Kick some ass women, you're interesting! Guys, take the back burner.571Please respect copyright.PENANA9b1HSaNRsm
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Oh and noticed how I said some chosen guy? Yeah let's dive into Prophecy characters. Seemless transition. Yes this could have gone back with tropes 2 & 3 but I wanted a transition. I hate the prophecy crap. It gives away the characters and tells you what's what. Maybe if prophecies were wrong at times I'd find them more interesting.571Please respect copyright.PENANA2pbzImLgto
Not much more I need to say right?571Please respect copyright.PENANAPesOIAbJbq
They fall in line with what I said about the other two.571Please respect copyright.PENANAL9KJTCNYjA
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And that brings us to the villain trope; that a villain must be bad ass, evil, cool, or something else. Well, to quote a Tumblr post I made:571Please respect copyright.PENANA7eqIqumQ7g
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"One thing I grow somewhat tired of is the typical ‘villain’ in writing. I am not referring to motivation; I don’t mind their reason as much be it just to be evil or because of past pain or doing it for greed as this can be customized or changed or tweaked to however you see fit.571Please respect copyright.PENANA4Xqgy3jSET
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These things can help build the villain, yes, but they are not what I have a gripe with. Often I see composed villains that seem casual sinister or chaotic sinister, some examples from anime like Madara or Aizen or Frieza or Esdeath. They seem to just have one gear or they pull the “I’m losing so I will start going a little crazier” card. There’s nothing wrong with this but lately I’ve struggled to find a villain that deviates from this. Classic example from my own writing: Tobex Tatara. He’s “mad” in the head, crazy, yet he to a degree knows what he is doing, he can plan. He does not act composed, he’s wild, he does what he feels like. In fact, some 'abridged’ villains actually hit a greater note when treated proper, such as TFS’s Cell or even Frieza. Yeah they have elements of what I just complained about but not as much.571Please respect copyright.PENANANpyUCngUTw
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You have Perfect Cell who sings a literal song when he finally achieves his final form, or Frieza who doesn’t seem as sinister-chaotic-serious (still evil yet laid back more). I’d LOVE to see more actual story villains that act like this instead of 1-geared literal composed sinister types I’ve been seeing lately. Again I am not attacking back stories or anything or even saying all villains are trash, I’m just saying I’d like to see more of the unusual rather than the 1-geared literal composed-sinister villains. Even seeing a 'villain’ who doesn’t kill yet is an evil douche bag would be exciting, as in maybe they spare their weaker opponents due to not wishing to kill? Even making an anti-hero like that the main villain would work. I think it’d be a real treat, eh? If anyone knows of any villains like this, please share!!571Please respect copyright.PENANAXpOTz1DuUL
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Basically just hoping to see more villains that aren’t 1-geared, villains with more to them than just that that act 'unusual’ would be great!!571Please respect copyright.PENANAIOJDxk61r3
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And maybe this isn’t always the case, I just haven’t found anything with a 'different’ sort of villain myself, would love to though. And yes, I do have my fair share of what seem like 1-geared villains in my writing though typically that’s because they play smaller roles or I have something different in mind or because I just have too many at one point. I do try my best though to keep them different so their personalities aren’t just carbon copies of other villains. Again, favorite of my characters for example, Tobex Tatara."571Please respect copyright.PENANAQjRINCh0mY
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I think that sums that up yes? I hate 1-geared diahrea. GIVE ME SOMETHING MORE!!!571Please respect copyright.PENANAxDB8s2cUvy
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Well again that wraps it up. If you stuck around, congrats, welcome to rant town. I hope you enjoyed my insights on these common tropes that I hate. Next time I might try something new... perhaps... an analysis post? I mentioned Bleach and Naruto a lot. How about I rank the Akatsuki and the Espada for the next 2 weeks? Jump into Superman vs Goku after for the heck of it. Yeah, that'd be great right?571Please respect copyright.PENANAAN5gmaVUzX
Ciao for now~571Please respect copyright.PENANARPbGx1jtBC