Fantasy Tropes To Avoid
Fantasy tropes aren’t bad, but overused ones can make stories predictable and shallow. This guide highlights common clichés, like chosen ones, dark lords, lazy prophecies, and convenient magic, and shows how to subvert or deepen them with stronger character agency, richer worldbuilding, and meaningful consequences.
Table of Contents
Common Fantasy Tropes to Avoid for Better Stories
How to keep your fantasy writing fresh, original, and engaging for readers
Fantasy is a genre built on familiarity. Readers come in expecting magic, quests, ancient conflicts, and extraordinary characters, and tropes help deliver that promise. They act as narrative shorthand, signalling genre, tone, and stakes almost instantly.
But familiarity can quickly slide into predictability.
When high fantasy relies too heavily on overused tropes without questioning or evolving them, stories begin to feel interchangeable. Plots become easy to anticipate, characters lose agency, and tension dissolves long before the climax arrives. Avoiding unoriginality in fantasy doesn’t mean rejecting tropes entirely; it means recognising when they’ve become lazy, dated, or emotionally hollow.
Below, we’ll explore some of the most common fantasy tropes that often weaken stories, why they cause problems, and how to either avoid or meaningfully subvert them to create richer, more engaging fiction.
Why Tropes Become a Problem in Fantasy
Low fantasy tropes themselves aren’t the enemy. The issue arises when they are used automatically rather than intentionally.
Unexamined tropes often:
- Remove character agency
- Make outcomes feel inevitable
- Replace complexity with convenience
- Flatten emotional stakes
Readers today are genre savvy. They’ve seen the chosen one rise, the mentor die, the prophecy fulfilled, and the villain defeated by a last minute power up. What they’re looking for now is depth, consequence, and surprise, even within familiar frameworks.
Character & Plot Tropes to Avoid or Subvert
The Chosen One
The prophesied hero destined to save the world is one of fantasy’s most recognisable tropes. While it can provide instant stakes, it often undermines character agency when success feels preordained.
When destiny does the heavy lifting, the protagonist’s choices matter less. Victory becomes expected rather than earned.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Reduces tension
- Limits personal growth
- Makes failure feel impossible
How to improve it:
Subvert the trope by questioning destiny itself. Let the chosen one resist, fail, or reject the role. Or shift the focus from fate to consequence, where choices, not prophecy, determine outcomes.
The Orphaned Protagonist
Dead parents are an easy way to grant a character freedom, trauma, and motivation without dealing with family dynamics. That convenience is exactly why the trope is so overused.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Feels formulaic
- Often lacks emotional specificity
- Avoids more complex relationships
How to improve it:
If a character lacks family, explore how that absence shapes them in unique ways. Better yet, allow family relationships, supportive, strained, or complicated, to exist and influence the story meaningfully.
Damsels in Distress
Female characters who exist solely to be rescued or motivate a male protagonist remain one of fantasy’s most criticised clichés.
Why does it weakens stories:
- Removes agency
- Flattens characterisation
- Reinforces outdated gender roles
How to improve it:
Ensure every character has goals, choices, and influence over the plot. Rescue can still happen, but characters should never exist only to be saved.
The Wise Old Mentor
Often a wizard or seasoned warrior, this character exists to guide the hero and then conveniently die once their narrative function is complete.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Predictable arc
- Mentor becomes a plot device
- Emotional impact feels forced
How to improve it:
Let mentors be flawed, conflicting, or wrong. Allow them to live long enough to complicate the hero’s growth rather than simply enabling it.
The Dark Lord
A purely evil antagonist who seeks domination “just because” may once have felt epic, but now often reads as shallow.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Simplifies moral conflict
- Limits thematic depth
- Makes victory feel inevitable
How to improve it:
Give antagonists coherent beliefs, personal stakes, or morally uncomfortable motivations. Even monstrous villains benefit from internal logic.
Love Triangles
Frequently used to manufacture romantic tension, love triangles can feel manipulative or distracting when poorly handled.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Feels artificially inserted
- Undermines character consistency
- Often overshadows core themes
How to improve it:
If romance is central, focus on emotional compatibility, conflict, and consequence rather than forced indecision.
Convenient Amnesia
Memory loss is often used to hide crucial information or delay revelations.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Feels contrived
- Removes accountability
- Delays plot artificially
How to improve it:
If using amnesia, explore its emotional cost and limitations. Information should be hidden for a reason, not convenience.
World-Building & Magical Tropes to Rethink
Pseudo-Medieval Europe
Castles, feudal systems, taverns, and swords dominate fantasy by default, often without cultural depth.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Worlds blur together
- Cultures feel shallow
- Missed opportunities for originality
How to improve it:
Develop societies with distinct customs, economies, histories, and belief systems. Even familiar aesthetics can feel fresh when their foundations are thoughtfully designed.
Uniform Species
When all elves behave one way and all dwarves another, fantasy races become stereotypes rather than cultures.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Removes individuality
- Encourages moral shortcuts
- Limits world complexity
How to improve it:
Treat cultures as internally diverse. Include political divisions, social classes, and conflicting values within groups.
Magic as Deus Ex Machina
Magic that appears exactly when needed and solves problems instantly destroys tension.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Undermines stakes
- Creates plot holes
- Replaces problem-solving
How to improve it:
Establish clear limitations. Magic should create problems as often as it solves them, and power should always come at a cost.
The Long, Dangerous Journey
Endless travel narratives can slow pacing without adding depth.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Repetitive structure
- Low narrative efficiency
- Stagnant character arcs
How to improve it:
Ensure every journey changes the characters. If nothing meaningful happens, reconsider the structure.
Misused or Overused Prophecies
Prophecies that dictate outcomes make character actions feel irrelevant.
Why does it weaken stories:
- Removes choice
- Makes events feel inevitable
- Reduces tension
How to improve it:
Use prophecies ambiguously, or let them be wrong, misinterpreted, or manipulated.
How to Avoid Unoriginal Fantasy Storytelling
Rather than relying on predictable or dated devices, focus on depth and intention.
Strong fantasy stories prioritise:
- Complex, flawed characters
- Clear cause-and-effect logic
- Unique magic systems with rules
- Cultures that feel lived-in and dynamic
Practical ways to strengthen your story:
- Add flaws: Let protagonists make bad decisions and face consequences.
- Subvert expectations: Change the outcome readers expect.
- Develop original cultures: Go beyond aesthetic differences.
- Establish magic rules: Limit power to preserve tension.
Final Thoughts
Fantasy doesn’t need fewer tropes; it needs more thoughtful ones. By recognising which fantasy book tropes weaken stories when used uncritically, writers can make more deliberate creative choices that serve character, theme, and emotional impact.
Avoiding unoriginality in fantasy means questioning why a trope exists in your story and whether it genuinely adds depth, meaning, and resonance. When characters are complex, worlds are logical, and magic has consequences, even familiar ideas can feel fresh again. For greater insight into epic fantasy tropes, check out a similar blog.
The most compelling fantasy stories aren’t defined by what they avoid, but by how intentionally they build on what came before, transforming old patterns into something new, engaging, and unforgettable. For an incredible fantasy read, our In All Jest Series will truly excite you.