Favorite Character Tropes

@reigheena I love the trope reversal, any of them. Give me the Chosen One, except they're not actually special, the prophecy was just made up. Give me the unhinged genius, except they're actually just insane and lucky that some of their ramblings have been interpreted in ways that make them look smart. Give me the evil selfish b*****d who saves the land only because it was the easiest way to save his own home/routine. 

What do you find intimidating about writing battle scenes? I find the trick with those, like fight scenes, is not to focus overly on the logistics. What matters is how the individual events inside the scene change the relationships between the characters. Battalion Blabla taking the hill is boring, but Sylvia losing her lover or being betrayed by her friend is enthralling.

@ease I love trope reversal too. It makes me so happy to know that the readers expect one thing, and then pull the rug out from under them. That's one reason I think Hans from Frozen was such a good villain. (setting aside the small possible POV break from when he first meets Anna). 

I'm not sure why I find battles intimidating. Maybe it's because I don't know it myself, and the times I've attempted it have turned out boring. I have listened to many talks about how to make battles interesting, but one of the most interesting things I've found lately is a YouTube channel where they break down sword fighting in pop culture (Hollywood, anime, and books) and talk about what is accurate, what isn't, and how to fix it (with some nods to "yeah, rule of cool trumps here"). 

@nova I'd like to see a citation for your medical claims. 

@reigheena Good topic! It's nice to chat about the good stuff

I also love trope reversals and have a special place in my heart for creatures usually depicted as scary or evil, turned into complex, caring characters. (Trolls, ogres, goblins etc.)

Tropes I never get sick of: chosen family, the odd couple/unusual friendship, the tough big guy who is (either secretly or not) really tender and compassionate 

Probably one of my favorite character tropes is the identifiable villain. You know he's the bad guy, but he's the bad guy for reasons I can identify with. Voldemort was a well-rounded character, as was Saruman, President Snow, Randall Flagg, Jack Torrence...

"Every villain is the hero of his own story" kinda thing.

Posted by: @reigheena

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I will always have a soft spot for girls with swords. Love reading and watching them dominate battlefields. 

Yup! I was big into Tamora Pierce's Tortall series in High School for this reason, especially Alanna, and Kel from Protector of the Small. 

I also love a good himbo 🤣 Kronk, George of the Jungle, Tormund Giantsbane. Just super supportive, silly male characters in general. It kind of flips the script on the ditzy supportive female character, which I like.  I really like the golden retriever/black cat dynamic too. 

Both my spouse and I are suckers for German Shepherd personalities too. The characters who are loyal to the nth degree. Like, they find their person, and just stick with them like glue, no matter the circumstances. It's a big trope in anime. Like "Eminence in Shadow," all the people he saves become German Shepherds for him. Chewbacca, Samwise Gamgee, and Brienne of Tarth all kind of fit this category too.

@bootzenkatzen Oh yes, love all these too! Especially the 'german shepherd' personality (Sam might just be my all time favourite character)

Yes, chosen family is a trope I only became familiar with a few years ago, but have loved it ever since. 

And yes, Tamora Pierce, and Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown have excellent warrior women. In anime, Erza is the one who attracted me to start watching Fairy Tail. Red Sonja is a bit old for me. 

Himbos are hilarious, and I also love cinnamon rolls. Shows there's more to being a man than being tough all the time. 

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Posted by: @reigheena

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I also love cinnamon rolls. 

YES. Show me those good, good sweethearts that make even a villain feel bad for hurting them! Harming them would be as bad as kicking a puppy.  Characters that make you feel, as the book goblin put it, like saying "smoll baby, must protecc." I'm allergic to cinnamon, but I'd consume cinnamon roll content all the time if I could.

The trope I'm against, is killing those cinnamon rolls without good justification.  Like, just to make a hero angry. Or just to show that the villain is truly evil. Actually, let's not kill the cinnamon rolls at all 😆 May all the sweet sidekicks miraculously survive!