# List of SFF Clichés



## Prefx

I hope this hasn't been done before. How about we compile a list of science fiction/fantasy clichés commonly found in the science fiction/fantasy realm of literature/movies/games.

I'll start.

1. Little poor boy/girl lives with family member(s). Family member(s) killed and the little poor boy/girl seeks revenge.


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## sanityassassin

2 Orphan grows up with different family and finds their real parents have some extrordinary gift which the've got too and they are the strongest weilder of it


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## Teresa Edgerton

3. The protagonist discovers that his worst enemy (or the chief villain) is his nearest kin.


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## Brian G Turner

Dark morally simplistic evil is rising - anyone against this evil is obviously good.


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## jackokent

He's really a prince


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## Cosmo

neutrall character who sometimes helpes inevitable good, or evil


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## Quokka

Male and Female lead characters argue and fight, before falling madly in love, preferably after he saves her.

Note: Female character must be of an age or younger than her male counterpart.


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## jackokent

Funny sidekick who gets into all sorts of amusing scrapes but somehow rescues heros in the end, in his own bumbling fasion.


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## Cosmo

jackokent said:
			
		

> Funny sidekick who gets into all sorts of amusing scrapes but somehow rescues heros in the end, in his own bumbling fasion.


love it, simply love it, nice one Jack


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## Saeltari

There is only one good person in the royal family, our hero.


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## jackokent

The mysterious old witch / wizard apears, imparts some obsure snipet of earthshattering wisdom upon which our hero is destind to ponder at length, then disapears.


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## chrispenycate

The hero, a scientist of some description, discovers an impendind disaster that will destroy the world, the solar system or Kalamazoo (your choice) and,despite overwhelming evidence and very dramatic music, not one scientist or politician will listen to him. Thus, with the aid of an attractive but ineffectual female lead (and possibly a cute kid for family appeal) he's forced to find the weak spot in the plot, foil it and save the world singlehanded.


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## Teresa Edgerton

"I have some last minute instructions to give before you embark on your quest.  Information so dangerous, so secret, so important to the fate of the entire world, I shudder to think what would happen if you set out without knowing this one vital thing -- but gosh, look at the time!  I'll tell you in the morning."


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## jackokent

All hope is lost, but ... no; there's a million to one chance... we might just make it.

Oh and what a spot of luck. We did. This calls for a final joke from the sidekick or cute kid, while the hero and iniffectual female lead kiss.


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## Paradox 99

Really old has-been knight with a bad temper and a face full of scars teams up with a young, voluptuous, beautiful, warrior maiden... who finds the bloke strangely attractive.


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## Saeltari

Kelpie said:
			
		

> "I have some last minute instructions to give before you embark on your quest. Information so dangerous, so secret, so important to the fate of the entire world, I shudder to think what would happen if you set out without knowing this one vital thing -- but gosh, look at the time! I'll tell you in the morning."


That is just funny.


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## Saeltari

Paradox 99 said:
			
		

> Really old has-been knight with a bad temper and a face full of scars teams up with a young, voluptuous, beautiful, warrior maiden... who finds the bloke strangely attractive.


 I, uhm, uhh, don't see anything wrong with this one. Ok, yes! I speak as a has been


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## jackokent

Strange, but sweet and highly principled, alien thing, that picks up english really quickly, and has some rather important moral message to impart to our hero.  And just maybe, human kind can teach it a thing or two about feelings and love.


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## Quokka

I'd like to come across a short, thin character that isn't too bright, the fantasy world is full of ones who are nimble and quick-witted.


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## Prefx

The antagonist makes a speech before killing our hero, thus helping the hero save him/herself.


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## Caretaker66

_Three words:             "I'll be back."_


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## Cyril

Space ships can only destroy things of their size or bigger; and their weakness is also proportional to their size: most imposing is the ship, easier destructible it is.

High tech laboratories in tv shows must have at least ten plasma screens by employee only devoted to display a geometrical logo screensaver.


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## Marky Lazer

Robots have feelings when you show them how to.

By the way, this is a great thread!


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## Thunderchild

There is an ancient weapon that was destroyed that the begining of time buy the good guys. The new villan has found a way to repair it and only you can stop him buy destroying/finding its parts/buying it of E-bay before they get their evil hands on it.


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## Winters_Sorrow

*Fantasy*
Fabulous jewel/object has incredible power which every ruler/person of importance good and evil desire. Is found by farmboy yokel, who against the odds (and boy, what odds!) manages to keep a hold of said object/jewel from powerful foes until it can be delivered to "nice" ruler.

With little or no training, said farmboy turns out to be a superior swordsman/magican due to his "natural gifts". It's be a bit more realistic if he attacked people with a shovel, if you want my opinion... 

*Sci-fi*
Human beings are a match for any other alien race in terms of space-craft design, operation & engineering, in spite of having developed these technologies hundreds of years after them. Also nefarious aliens (usually insectoid or with slimy icky tentacles) hate us because we're so popular, but some "good" aliens (usually humanoid or otherwise 'attractive') help us against them until we earn galaxy-wide respect and love from all alien races.

Before achieving space flight & meeting other races, we cure all known disease, stop war and form a planet wide bureaucracy free of corruption.

Robots would never harm people unless reprogrammed by unscrupulous scientists/businessman (of course we would never design war robots for the army, would we?).


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## Brian G Turner

Humans are the most important species in the universe. Any sentient being that isn't human must be taught how superior being human is.


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## Quokka

Advanced Alien race feels the need to wipe out the human race basically just because their bullys.

Alien race with unimaginably advanced technology is unable to create a plan of attack that actually wipes out primative humans. 

Luckily all alien technology is also easily understandable and preferably compatible with human technology.


five, six or(insert small number here) of the most talented, powerfull and lucky people ever to be born will either grow up in the same village or come together so quickly they virtually stumble into each other.


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## Symbolt

All the alien races in the universe speak English / intergalactic. 

The story has the main hero being persecuted and in the end it turns out they are an android.


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## jackokent

Muddy, savage, wild, native woman, in fur bikini, with big hair, (who also happens to be stunningly attractive), saves hero, often from her own kind, miraculously picks up his language in form of grunts and cutsy phrases and flies off with him to his highly advance civilisation (where presumably she won't feel in the least out of her depth)


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## Marky Lazer

The kid outsmarts the nasty greedy guy that destroys the world or something else important.


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## Elvendon

The youngest child of a group that journeys to another world being the one who makes the most profound insights into the plot/goodness/makes the first overtures towards the goodies/adjusts to the new world most easily.


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## Quokka

Good and Evil.


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## polymath

The hero is a down-at-heel aristo in a thousand year old space empire, super-bright but socially a pariah due to family misdemeanour/lack of money/accent and must overcome idiotic stupid young brattish aristo opponents whilst earning their grudging respect/making them look _really_ stupid during space-battle-practice/actual combat/high-society dinner parties.

Old family friends, old family retainers or old family bodyguards all pull together because of the warm memories of what the hero's family did for them during the hard times/the war/because they were really really good people and there's no way they would let down the son of their old warrior-friend/family-protectors-during-civil-war/ballet-partners.

The old family butler always gets killed helping him out.


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## Winters_Sorrow

Damn, you just summed up & ruined for me, Walter Jon Williams' "The Praxis" series...


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## polymath

Which, uncoincidentally, is what I've just started to read...literally just started it, not even sure what's going to happen yet, which prompted me to post the above because you can see it all over the place. It is a cliche though.


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## Carolyn Hill

Plot twist:  The planet is sentient.  (Usually "cleverly" signaled by a spaceship landing on the planet, followed moments later by an earthquake or storm, and nobody figures it out for hundreds of pages.)

Another plot twist:  The computer is sentient.  (Could also be signaled by an earthquake or a storm.  Ditto the hundreds of pages.)


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## Wolfeborn

woods/forest are always filled with elves, haunted or have mystical properties/strange beasties they never contained normal everyday birds squirels tres and mud.

Desert planets with no sign of water whatsoever will almost always have water found on it/ice metled on it etc etc, same goes for normal deserts which will always have an oasis just in the nick of time (not necessarily sff but hey)


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## Nokia

Everyone always managed to keep everything they know to themselves when the villain's sidekick, who is renowned for his horrific torture, tortures someone.


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## Thunderchild

the weapon or experiment will alter one of the good guys in just the right way to fight the bad guys


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## Paige Turner

Every explosive device has a red digital countdown display. Which is very handy.


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## Coolhand

To defeat a vast, powerful, unbeatable alien army, simply find and kill the Queen/Controlship/Hive Mind. 
Bob's your uncle, one quick clean and mostly painless end to the war.


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## alicebandassassin

Being differant alone but part of a large comunity you do not feel part of. Your bound to end up a hero and or dead


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## jackokent

Paige Turner said:
			
		

> Every explosive device has a red digital countdown display. Which is very handy.


 
But should you cut the green wire or the red one?


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## alicebandassassin

Cut them both and hedge your bets


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## Paige Turner

jackokent said:
			
		

> But should you cut the green wire or the red one?



Either is fine, as long as you s-l-o-w-l-y close the cutters on one wire, then rapidly switch and snip the other.


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## chrispenycate

The incredibly scientifically advanced alien invaders have inexplicably failed to notice they are alergic to something widely available on Earth, like salt water or no, we can make it garlic, then we can reuse the props from the son of the dust of the bride of…but I digress. This is dicovered by the cute kid (who flings his garlic sausage at the alien war machine in the first reel) but is only noticed by our hero in reel six.. Still, the entire terresrtrial war machine has been brought to its knees before the aliens, who had shrugged off tactical nuclear missiles and aircraft crashing into them, are subjected to ten volunteers with garlic sprays and retreat in confusuion (doubtless muttering “we’ll be back“ in alien as they leave the solar system)


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## SteveR

An alien enemy, hell bent on conquest, thousands of years more advanced than humans attacks Earth. The world is saved by a computer virus written in Java  

For smegs sake!


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## Thadlerian

Fantasy: Pedigree is emphasized. When you have magical powers, it's always inherited. Someone in the character gallery always turns out to be your father, and for some reason, this is crucially relevant to your identity and future actions.


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## cornelius

little boy is horribly mistreated turns out to be hero hero man


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## Nesacat

It's always the third son, step-child or the seventh child of a seventh child that has some reasonable amount of insight, a good heart, gets the girl and oh yes ... saves the day.

Girl does something amazingly daft and then spends the rest of the tale hiking across the world over mountain, under sea, working as a kitchen maid to redeem herself and get the prince.


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## mosaix

SteveR said:
			
		

> An alien enemy, hell bent on conquest, thousands of years more advanced than humans attacks Earth. The world is saved by a computer virus written in Java
> 
> For smegs sake!


This is soooo true.

It takes ages to get two Windows PC's to talk to each other, BUT we connect instantly with an alien computer and even manage to upload a virus (LOL) that just happens to run on their machine. 

They must be running Windows as well! 

Everyone knows that any advanced civilisation would be running Linux!


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## alicebandassassin

hey any and all invaders are only going to invade USA so the rest of us should be fine


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## SteveR

mosaix said:
			
		

> Everyone knows that any advanced civilisation would be running Linux!



 Like it!


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## tiny99

The government must not, I repeat not, be allowed to get thier hands on this curious but friendly alien being...for they will torture him and use him for thier own evil work.


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## Paige Turner

*grumble grumble* Lousy government!


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## tiny99

Those damn pen pushers down at city hall !!


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## kaneda

Teresa Edgerton said:
			
		

> "I have some last minute instructions to give before you embark on your quest.  Information so dangerous, so secret, so important to the fate of the entire world, I shudder to think what would happen if you set out without knowing this one vital thing -- but gosh, look at the time!  I'll tell you in the morning."



haha ! and then evil guy and his gang burst down the door and kills the one with information, but before he dies he gives the protagonist enough time to escape!


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## cornelius

what about " a Belgian, a Dutchman , a Brit and an Aussie walk into a pub..."

oh no wait that's something else


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## Paige Turner

Aren't you supposed to be "it?"


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## jackokent

Mad old inventor, who everyone else dismisses, saves the day with his rickey flying, floating, driving machine that gets them out of trouble in the nic of time.


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## cskendrick

Prefx said:
			
		

> I hope this hasn't been done before. How about we compile a list of science fiction/fantasy clichés commonly found in the science fiction/fantasy realm of literature/movies/games.
> 
> I'll start.
> 
> 1. Little poor boy/girl lives with family member(s). Family member(s) killed and the little poor boy/girl seeks revenge.


Are twists on the cliche' acceptable?

I'm only asking because it's what I'm attempting to do with a story I'm working on.

I'd rather know now, than later.


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## cskendrick

1. The captain just happens to be the youngest, most talented, best-connected and best-looking captain in the fleet. Just ask him!
2. The token alien officer has special powers as well as superior strength and intelligence, but it utterly subservient to human values and objectives, when asserted by #1.
3. The Ship's engineer is Scottish.
4. Both hand and ship's armaments have non-lethal settings.
5. For some reason, being caught by surprise, with utterly inadequate materials and impossible time constraints never stops the heroes from defeating the well-laid, well-supplied, well-orchestrated plans of the vastly superior antagonist.
6. At the same time, solid preparation, no pressure and getting the drop on the bad guys never goes wrong for the good guys.
7. A new principle of physics is discovered on the fly and converted into a ship- or world-saving solution in a matter of minutes -- and on a regular basis!
8. For some reason, the bad guys never accomplish this feat. Not once.
9. The good guys are always a harmonious team composed of talented members with a splendid and splendidly diverse toolkit at their disposal.
10. The bad guys are rife with dissension, possess obvious and easily-exploited weaknesses, and place all their eggs in one especially vulnerable basket.


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## Thadlerian

Scientist on the good team starts complexly explaining the technology/science behind the weapon that will save the universe, but is immediately cut off by one of the heroes (never the main protagonist, though), with something along the lines of: "Spare us the technical stuff" or "Could you make that comprehensible for ordinary mortals?" or whatever.


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## alicebandassassin

the guy you have never seen before and is not in the credits is going to cop it very soon


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## SteveR

Ok, saw this one this morning whilst watching Andromeda over breakfast (sad isn't it!)

"Breath, dammit breath....THAT'S AN ORDER!!!" 

...and of course the previously dead person breathes as requested for fear of a court marshall. 

Steve


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## tiny99

The significant alignment of the stars, or the ultimate day of reckoning, or the day on which the enemy beings are about to invade, which of course comes round once every six millenia is due to happen ... tomorrow (gasp)


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## FelineEyes

The captian always tries to go down with his ship, but is saved by some act of God at the last minute and so is his ship.

The "good guy" is always running from the cops for some small stupid thing and they will chase him for the rest of the movie, rather than work on the really, really obvious world problem at hand.  And they will always arrest the hero last minute and refuse to allow him to fix the problem.  The hero always escapes and gets to the timer before 0.


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## Milk

The ole "Tin man from the Wizard of Oz' cliche,


A robot/alien/android  that can't (or won't) feel human emotions.

Its usually either one of the two.

A. This alien or robot desperately wants human emotions. Like a   wooden pinochio.

B. This alien or robot consideres them beneath it or to be avoided, with a lot of lines like "You humans perplex me" etc etc etc.


Then it turns out that the Robot/Alien had these emotions the whole time afterall and is actually no different then us.


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## BookStop

A while back I was chatting with a friend and we discussed a similar issue.  He said all stories have at least one of three elements in common with all other stories.

1) An unlikely romance - usually between an unbelievably charming man with a very serious, smart, and gorgeous woman.

2) An unlikely hero - even though guy appears to be pretty low on the success ladder, he is brilliant at something and will inevitably foil the evil super-power

3) revenge


Now, I don't know if it's true for every story out there, although I suspect you can bend almost anythng to sort-of meet those requirements, but it is an interesting premise and most definitely true in many fantasy and sci-fi stories.


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## Tau Zero

1.  The Power to defeat your enemies was always within you, but to reach those Powers, you must suffer.  (Why can't anyone get fantastic powers from eating a piece of cheesecake and getting a good night's sleep?)

2.  The unattractive will become beautiful before it's over.

3.  Evil is always attactive until someone learns to "see" beneath the obvious.  Then it is hideous.

4.  Anti-matter engines, worm holes, FTL transition, can all be accomplished by hand.  Sure, computers help, but if anything goes wrong, a person can always take over.  And often do!


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## Thadlerian

Endless pedantic/jargon variations over "the **** starts to hit the fan"...

I swear, that one's all over the place.

EDIT: Oh well, seems like that word was edited out. You know which one it is, anyway.


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## Paige Turner

One of my favourites from the 50s was the spaceship crew member who was a ship's "mechanic," and walked around in coveralls with a wrench in his pocket. Usually he had a name like "Gus," and a streetwise Bronx accent. I think he had a hat, too.

I seem to particularly remember a scene where a retracted space antenna wouldn't extend:

Captain: That antenna won't budge. Gus, are you sure you checked everything out before blastoff?

Gus: Sure, Captain. I just can't figure it. I checked' em. Greased 'em up good, too.

Captain: Grease? Gus, It's 1000 degrees below zero in outer space. That grease has frozen solid!

Gus: Jeepers, Captain. I didn't think of that.


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## Tau Zero

I forget which book, but it was by A. E. Van Vogt (a favorite, i might add), in which a spaceship went faster than light by throwing a large lever labelled "Star Drive." Seemed a little simple to me.


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## jackokent

What ever battle or scirmish our hero gets in he will always emerge with his shirt carefully ripped at the shoulder.  It is likely to be a bit bloody but nothing gooey and unattractive.  The only expection to this is if he gets shot.  Again this will be in the shoulder and will require him to wear a manly, slightly bloodied bandage which will only serve to accentate his bicepts.


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## Stuart Jaffe

It was all a dream!


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## j d worthington

In a final gesture of defiance at a completely corrupt world, someone finally presses that button, plunger or lever, and "in a small corner of the galaxy a small, insignificant planet called Earth no longer existed."


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## ras'matroi

At the beginning of the story someone will say something to the hero which he/she  will repeat while delivering the final blow.

Fantasy worlds: The authors often try to create a world that is totally different from ours ´(different animals, plants, more moons, ....) but somehow horses and dogs/wolves keep showing up all the time.


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## iratebeaver

the heir to a throne gives up the throne in order to fight the villian(or to seek out side help)


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## Anomander

Why are theb heroes always tall and lanky? We need more "below average and chubby" heroes!!!

The strongest member of the band always has a hidden weakness (afraid of spiders).

The best magician is physically ill or weak

self doubt reigns supreme!!!

The evil are so obviously evil (We are the fighting uruk-hai!!!). They also for some reason wear black. (I bet they have ID cards with job: Evil Villain written in them

Help may not come when it is called, but it's always right on time.


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## cornelius

Anomander said:
			
		

> Why are theb heroes always tall and lanky? We need more "below average and chubby" heroes!!!
> 
> 
> The evil are so obviously evil (We are the fighting uruk-hai!!!). They also for some reason wear black. (I bet they have ID cards with job: Evil Villain written in them
> 
> Help may not come when it is called, but it's always right on time.


 
i think this post shows how well tolkien has done on some of those points in Lotr, in my opinion - the heroe is actually a hobbit ( i don't think of Aragorn being the supreme hero, sure he was a very important key figure but it was Frodo who had to go to mount doom)

and Saruman was dressed in white


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## mosaix

The hero's spaceship is on it's last last legs and falling apart but he's had it ages, feels loyal to 'the old girl' and always manages to patch it up.


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## Ismellofhockey

1. Humanity is an odd species, so very weak: quarrelsome, lacking any special powers or strength, not particularly wise or longlived and definitely dominated by our primitive emotions but gosh darn it we're just so great at adapting and we've got some kind of super-gumption that allows us to thrive despite our shortcomings.

2. That character flaw in the hero? Turns out it's going to be world-saving in the end.


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## Paige Turner

Anomander said:
			
		

> Why are theb heroes always tall and lanky? We need more "below average and chubby" heroes!!!



Bob Hoskins as Aragorn!


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## Tau Zero

In movies, you can be sure that the person you like is going to die.


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## Paige Turner

Tau Zero said:
			
		

> In movies, you can be sure that the person you like is going to die.



Only because _nobody _ likes Sylvester Stallone.


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## Nesacat

Or Arnold 'I'll be back' Schwarzenegger


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## Winters_Sorrow

Don't you be dissin' the main man.

"Where's Buzzsaw?"
(in thick austrian accent) "He had to split" 

genius.


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## Joel007

since I only watch action films for the inherant comedy value:

May clichés be long lived and hilarious as always.


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## Robert M. Blevins

Those old Star Trek cliches...from the original TV series...

'Scotty...I need warp power in three minutes or we're dead.'

You watched them coming at you from the horizon, you knew they were coming at you...and you didn't care.


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## jackokent

Woefully impractical aliens that flop / slide /shuffle* (delete as necessary) pathetically and precariously at almost standstill pace, are still able to catch up with running humans.


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## Nesacat

The inevitable only one man can save the world; and here's only of my favourites due to it's dramatic qualities.

"Immortal, demonic, metamorphic and amoral - evil can play the most terrifying tricks... The Trickster.  He is a shape-shifter. He kills without mercy. He is as old as time. Only one man can stand against him" 

I'm waiting for ... only one frog/worm/fish can stand against him.


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## Azathoth

How about the pseudo-feudal fantasy world which is somehow extraordinarily egalitarian in its attitudes towards women? *cough* Robert Jordan *cough*
The horse that requires zero maintenance.
The hero who suffers from one severe vice (always mentioned yet never properly shown), yet never suffers a bad hair day - or bad looks in general.
The archer who never misses unless for dramatic effect. Oh, and how is it (yeah, I've got my eyes on you, Legolas) that the string of a bow never gets soggy in the rain?
The civilization that hasn't advanced technologically since, oh, its creation.
Elves.
Short, comic races.
One violent, yet strangely noble race. (That goes for you too, Sci-fi!)
A poorly written romantic subplot, which will surely be done away with the very next episode or book.
Adulterous behavior which somehow doesn't damage the relationship between male protagonist and female love interest (unless of course it is the female that cheats.)


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## Nesacat

And no one ever needs to go to the bathroom or carry tampons.


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## Azathoth

Lol, maybe they wear diapers.


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## Dianora

lmao! This thread is hilarious.... there are so many good ones, I can't come up with something new! Ok, give me time. I'll think of something. Has anyone yet mentioned that nobody seems to bathe, and yet they all apparently look either ruggedly handsome or incredibly beautiful?


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## j d worthington

Not to mention they never have trouble with body odor....


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## Azathoth

> Has anyone yet mentioned that nobody seems to bathe, and yet they all apparently look either ruggedly handsome or incredibly beautiful?


  *cough* Aragorn *cough*   





> Not to mention they never have trouble with body odor....


  Save for the belchy/farty dwarf.


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## jackokent

Azathoth said:
			
		

> The horse that requires zero maintenance.


 
Loved this, so true 

Loner hero with no alliegences or morals meets cutsy, annoying but plucky urchin child (usualy urchin is robbing him but not mandetory). Hero eventually comes to grips with his "deep / sad / tragic" past and refinds his sensitve side having to rescue said child who seems bent on getting himslef captured by villain.  Any passing beautiful woman will be moved by this display of sensitiviy and inevitably become his companion.

Villain meanwhile, will have lots of pantomine character traits, typified by scars, jerky movements, and a propensity to announce his evil intentions in a loud voice followed by manic cackle.  He is likely to know the hero and share some secret past with him.  They may even have once been friends.

The gory demise of the villain will be undoubtably be accomanied by a final surprised look.


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## Azathoth

> Villain meanwhile, will have lots of pantomine character traits, typified by scars, jerky movements, and a propensity to announce his evil intentions in a loud voice followed by manic cackle. He is likely to know the hero and share some secret past with him. They may even have once been friends.


     Ha, too true!  It's almost as if villains all have Tourette Syndrome, a snake-handling past, and a voice that's forever stuck in puberty.      





> The gory demise of the villain will be undoubtably be accomanied by a final surprised look.


     LOL!  Yeah, while screaming, "NOOOOOoooooooooo....!!!" as he plunges into a volcano or whatever.


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## Nesacat

Dianora .... unless you are an elf and then no matter what mess you get into you'll end up with just the few artistic smudges and the tiniest frown on your brow.

Jackokent .... or the said urchin is a damsel in disguise that everyone but the hero recognises as being such.


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## j d worthington

Nesacat said:
			
		

> Jackokent .... or the said urchin is a damsel in disguise that everyone but the hero recognises as being such.


 
Um, considering that state of affairs, perhaps it's no wonder that heroes are a dying breed.....


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## scalem X

The minotaur's favored weapon is an axe.

The original minotaur from the greeck mythology never handled an axe! Where does it come from? Does D&D give minotaurs extra axe proficiency or something?


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## Thadlerian

*Ethnic Clusters*
Spaceship crews always seem to be international, with stereotypical names on members from non-US/UK countries: The Russian is Somethingnov, the Japanese is named Tanaka, and there's always some N'Soandso from an indeterminable African country.


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## jackokent

Thadlerian said:
			
		

> *Ethnic Clusters*
> Spaceship crews always seem to be international, with stereotypical names on members from non-US/UK countries: The Russian is Somethingnov, the Japanese is named Tanaka, and there's always some N'Soandso from an indeterminable African country.


 
Unless of course you are a baddy space crew in which case you all look exacty the same except chief baddy who is bigger and cheif lady baddy who wears some tall headpiece to depict her evil / superior status.

And you will all have warty skin.


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## Crisspin

Thadlerian said:
			
		

> *Ethnic Clusters*
> Spaceship crews always seem to be international, with stereotypical names on members from non-US/UK countries: The Russian is Somethingnov, the Japanese is named Tanaka, and there's always some N'Soandso from an indeterminable African country.



Don't forget they all speak English as well, as all other languages have fallen to the wayside (except the French who refused to play along ofcourse).


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## Dianora

Crisspin said:
			
		

> Don't forget they all speak English as well, as all other languages have fallen to the wayside (except the French who refused to play along ofcourse).


 
lmao.  That's true of most historical films as well. One of my favorites was "Amadeus" about Mozart. Cracks me up, hearing them all speaking English... still, I hate subtitles, so I can't complain.


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## Thadlerian

Crisspin said:
			
		

> Don't forget they all speak English as well,


Yeah, but always with either Russian or German accent.


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## zorcarepublic

I'd love for some evil baddies to have a Swiss accent. That would be good. In between detailing his latest plan to take over the world/galaxy/universe, he and the entire crew start yodelling...


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## Winters_Sorrow

That sounds like cruel & unusual punishment, somewhat similar to Vogon poetry...


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## Anomander

zorcarepublic said:
			
		

> I'd love for some evil baddies to have a Swiss accent. That would be good. In between detailing his latest plan to take over the world/galaxy/universe, he and the entire crew start yodelling...


 
I thought it was the Austrians that Yodelled? (Sound of music et al....)


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## SteveR

Well my worst cliche has to be...

Big ugly, greedy studios cancelling top shows like Farscape and Firefly just as they are either getting really good or almost at the end of their story arc. T***ers. 

Oh, yeah sorry, this is real life.  Mmmmm.

Steve (seriously, sorry - really winds me up!)


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## Azathoth

We seriously need to form a lynching mob and go after those network guys.  I mean, c'mon, how could they cancel Farscape?  Or Futurama?  And yet they'll air Sabrina: Teenage Witch, or Hercules, or Xena.  BLAGH!


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## Azathoth

(Oh wow, that's so cool, SteveR.  When I posted that, our post count became identical.)


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## SteveR

And now that I've posted again we're the same again. How long can we keep this up before we get bored! 

hehe! Anyway, count me in on the lynch mob. Grrrrr....


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## Nesacat

Count me in too.  I really miss Futurama, Firefly and Farscape. They had such a big audience I am sure they could have gone on profitably.


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## Paige Turner

One of the saddest things that can happen to a show is becoming popular enough to get the attention of the network people. It seems like, if shows are just marginally successful, they'll leave them on, what the heck. But if a show gets a following, and the network gets wind of it, then it goes to a (shudder) _focus group, _ to be watered down and painted beige to appeal to the largest demographic. I've seen a lot of shows start out good, and different, and end up three seasons in being some version of _Full Family, _ or whatever it was. (the one with the Olson twins)

The _John Larroquette Show, _ back in the 80s (90's?) started out dark, and bleak, and gritty, and funny. Two years later, it was as dull as dishwater, and two years after that, it was gone. What's the matter with these people?


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## j d worthington

I recall a symposium of writers of SFF for radio, tv and movies which included JMS, HE, D.C. Fontana, Richard Matheson, and others... and listening to JMS talk about his experience with a focus group viewing the pilot for B5 is both hilarous and cringe-worthy.

Some of the other stories were not at all shoddy, either. If you enquire with the Museum of Radio, TV and Film, I believe that this is available for either purchase or study ... or may be broadcast on various public access channels periodically (which is where I saw it).... Well worth seeing both as a fan of the stuff, or for anyone interested in writing (not just writing for the visual/audial media).


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## Azathoth

Hey, it looks like we have enough people to form that lynching mob now.  C'mon everyone!  *lights a torch and picks up a pitchfork*


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## j d worthington

speaking of cliches.....


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## chrispenycate

zorcarepublic said:
			
		

> I'd love for some evil baddies to have a Swiss accent. That would be good. In between detailing his latest plan to take over the world/galaxy/universe, he and the entire crew start yodelling...


How can you have a Swiss accent? The Swiss French accent is inistiguishable (in English, evidently) to the French french, idem the Swiss Italian, while Swiizerteuch consists of so many mutually incomprehensible dialects that they speak high german between regions, and again, the accent on English is the same as german. Which leaves you with Romanch, and there are fewer who speak that than expatriate brits.
Oh, and while the Swiss definitely do jodel, (I've recorded several LPs of it) in the majority of cases it's the females who do so.


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## Paige Turner

chrispenycate said:
			
		

> …while the Swiss definitely do jodel… in the majority of cases it's the females who do so.



Is science any closer to discovering _why _ they do it?


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## zorcarepublic

chrispenycate said:
			
		

> How can you have a Swiss accent? The Swiss French accent is inistiguishable (in English, evidently) to the French french, idem the Swiss Italian, while Swiizerteuch consists of so many mutually incomprehensible dialects that they speak high german between regions, and again, the accent on English is the same as german. Which leaves you with Romanch, and there are fewer who speak that than expatriate brits.
> Oh, and while the Swiss definitely do jodel, (I've recorded several LPs of it) in the majority of cases it's the females who do so.


Hey, don't analyse it! You're not supposed to analyse posts like that!


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## Nesacat

Another old favourite and there can be many variations on this theme. Here's one possibility:

When lightning strikes his satellite dish, he finds that he is manipulating on his screen characters who are real people in a different world. He himself can never enter that world but he must bear responsibility for the waging of their futile wars, their lives and their loves.


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## Azathoth

Ah, yeah, the old "lightning storm opens an alternate universe for some nerd to save" cliche.  Ha ha!


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## Cloud

ooh, the time warp/slingshot effect/wormhole to another universe, back in time, parallel universe, etc.

also: Guard? What guard? I thought you took out the guard! 

Sometimes there's a fine line between a cliche and an archetype though.


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## Crymic

Dunno if anyone has said this
Hero/Caster has said super magical power but can't use it freely or it might destroy the world.


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## Thadlerian

Space battles: Technobabble always includes abuse of mathematical terms like "vector" or "quadrant".


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## Crymic

When ever the evil overlord dies his castle/homebase always falls apart.
As the hero is running/flying away he always escapes at the last possible moment before being trapped inside.

Never ever say "Today is my last day before I retire"
You will die!


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## lea27

The little child who no-one pays attention to grows into the saviour of the land with special hidden talents.


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## Azathoth

> Never ever say "Today is my last day before I retire" You will die!


  Yes, and for God's sake, if you're an extra, don't *ever* pull out a picture of your wife and sweet five year old daughter - the narrator *will* kill you to pull at the heartstrings of the reader.


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## Crymic

Computers make beeping sounds when you type out text or it appears on the screen.
I would litterally rip out the pc speaker if mine did that.


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## mosaix

Crymic said:
			
		

> Computers make beeping sounds when you type out text or it appears on the screen.



Don't _all_ computers do that?


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## jackokent

And doors that make beeping sounds as they open.


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## Crymic

mosaix said:
			
		

> Don't _all_ computers do that?


there is a typeo writer sound effect function in windows if u turn it on.. but what i am talking about is the old 80's movies with computers. Where they'd make beeping sounds or printer sounds when text is appearing.


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## Riselka

Doesn't look like this fantasy cliche has been mentioned yet:

Beautiful young woman is being forced into a marriage she doesn't want.  She runs away from home just prior to the nuptials and proceeds to discover that she has some "great destiny" in life.  Rest of book (or series) is spent fulfilling her destiny.

Books for example:

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
The Wolfking by Bridget Wood
The King's Peace by Jo Walton


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## Crymic

Riselka said:
			
		

> Doesn't look like this fantasy cliche has been mentioned yet:
> 
> Beautiful young woman is being forced into a marriage she doesn't want.  She runs away from home just prior to the nuptials and proceeds to discover that she has some "great destiny" in life.  Rest of book (or series) is spent fulfilling her destiny.
> 
> Books for example:
> 
> The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
> The Wolfking by Bridget Wood
> The King's Peace by Jo Walton



She's forced into marriage, runs away to meet this nice stranger who helps her out.. She later falls in love with him and turns out to be the guy she was supposed to marry after all.


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## Riselka

Can't say as I've come across that particular scenario, Crymic.  Of the books I've listed:

1.  Paksenarrion never marries, and has no real interest in sex.  She lives for being a bad-ass Roman-style warrior come Paladin.

2.  In The Wolfking, our heroine is in love with another, but betrothed to a disgusting slob.  She flees into a mythic realm, followed by her beloved and if memory serves me right, they're eventually united there.  I have to admit I never even finished the first book in this duology as the writing style seemed rather infantile for my tastes.

3.  In The King's Peace, Sulien apGwien is brutally raped by invading forces which pretty much turns her off of sex for life.  She does eventually bear a child, but acting in defense of her King is her prime goal in life.  Never read the sequel as the first book didn't exactly blow me away.


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## Crymic

oh, Coulda sworn I've seen that one done before.. if not, there's your next book idea =P


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## Riselka

Naw, you came up with it, you take it.

The book I'm attempting to write is a fictionalized story surrounding a real-life shipwreck - kind of "Titanic"-like in nature.

FYI, it's the sinking of the CPR steamship Princess Sophia I'm talking about.  "The Sea Hunters" tv show did an episode on it.

She went down in Alaskan waters in October of 1918.  All 350+ lives on board were lost.  It's considered to be the most significant shipwreck to ever occur off the west coast of North America.  My great-grandfather went down on her - he was part of her crew.


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## mosaix

Crymic said:
			
		

> there is a typeo writer sound effect function in windows if u turn it on.. but what i am talking about is the old 80's movies with computers. Where they'd make beeping sounds or printer sounds when text is appearing.



LOL - thanks for the info. My post was supposed to be a joke.


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## Crymic

mosaix said:
			
		

> LOL - thanks for the info. My post was supposed to be a joke.



=P


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## Nesacat

This is one of my favourites and there's an infinite number of variations...

"... a sombre little town in the haunted hills of the Welsh Border Country. Sunless, secretive and going quietly to seed in the shadows of its gruesome past... until Max Goff, music tycoon... and his modern mystics believe that they can tap into Crybbe's hidden powers... the power it releases in ever darkening shades of evil..."


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## Thadlerian

Whenever the characters of a story perform magical activities in front of ordinary people's eyes, without anyone noticing, it's always "explained" away with "They see only what they want to see".


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## The Pelagic Argosy

The heroine is kidnapped by the bad guy.  Instead of raping and/or killing her outright, he forces her to put on an evening gown, negligee, or some other revealing outfit.  He either forces her to join his harem or sit through an awkward, candlit dinner with him.

After she escapes there will be no time to change, and she will have to wear the ridiculous get-up through the rest of the story.  If it's a fancy dress she's wearing, the bottom portion of it will be ripped off for some reason before the story ends.


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## Neal Asher

But that's not a cliche limted to SFF, e.g. it's precisely what happens in Thomas Harris's 'Hannibal'.

Thing is, just because something is regarded as a cliche in SFF doesn't mean it isn't true. The stungun has been a cliched weapon in SF for years, but tell that to anyone who'e been zapped by a taser.


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## jackokent

No matter how big the world is or how sprawling the metropolis the same old people will keep cropping up again and again and in the most unlikely of places.  No matter that our hero / heroine has just spent a year crossing continent after continent, by the purest of chances they will still run into thier mate / enemy who miraculously just happens to have found themselves a new job and life five thousand miles away.  Often, as chance may have it, it's more than one person even.  Our hero travells miles and miles and finds himself continuosly running into his mates.


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## Neal Asher

The daft thing is, Jackokent, that happens in reality too. How many times I've been on holiday thousands of miles away from home and run into someone I know. Small world and all that.


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## jackokent

Neal Asher said:


> The daft thing is, Jackokent, that happens in reality too. How many times I've been on holiday thousands of miles away from home and run into someone I know. Small world and all that.


 
I agree, but they don't tend to be the holders of that single bit of info or that one impliment that you just so happen to need to save the world.


----------



## K. Riehl

The loner human, most often an ex-warrior, through feats of arms/physical/mental trials becomes a adopted alien. Who, of course, is the only one who can stop the impending war between the races.


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## HappyHippo

magic is either as easy as breathing or comes with a terrible cost attatched.

kings are iether haughty or bumbling, never 'normal'.

queens may be beautiful, matronly or manipulative.

Sci Fi names are usually normal names spelt strangely; Alixsannndra, Stive, Jawn. OR simply add an X, Z or apostrophe anywhere you please for a fantasy name.

Saddle sores will be mentioned the first time the hero gets off his new horse, but will be gone by the next morning and NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN...

It doesn't matter if the sky is purple, there are fourteen moons or a great world dragon, the food and plantlife is Terran or always enough like Earth stuff to be understandable (Feist/Wurt's 'Servant' books are full of it)

Animals must always have either three or six legs. 

Alien races are 'haughty', or 'warlike' or peaceful'.

Cooking is frequently mentioned during any fantasy quest, laundry never is.

Banking doesn't change from planet to planet. 

~8~ I read too much!~*~


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## Delvo

HappyHippo said:


> Alien races are 'haughty', or 'warlike' or peaceful'.


Well, unless they're just like us, they'd have to appear to be something other than normal from our perspective, closer to one end or the other of some spectrum that we perceive ourselves in the middle of.

The intriguing thing is that it would mean we'd seem abnormal in some way to them...


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## Kitera

One of the most common ones: good verses evil


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## mutant_elf

This is a fantastic thread! 
I can't think of anything to add, just emphasize the cliche of a reluctant hero who comes from some small town as an orphan, fights all odds to save the world against some evil dude with the help from his bumbling sidesick, beautiful girl/handsome dude and wise, old man.


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## HappyHippo

Delvo said:


> Well, unless they're just like us, they'd have to appear to be something other than normal from our perspective, closer to one end or the other of some spectrum that we perceive ourselves in the middle of.
> 
> The intriguing thing is that it would mean we'd seem abnormal in some way to them...


 
oooh, good point. 

I'm not sure if it's a cliche, but why are dwarves always miners, or at the very least subterranean? Is it a height thing?


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## j d worthington

HappyHippo said:


> oooh, good point.
> 
> I'm not sure if it's a cliche, but why are dwarves always miners, or at the very least subterranean? Is it a height thing?


 
This comes from their ancient role in folklore:

Norse dwarves - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and the conflation of the term with the German _Kobold_:

Kobold - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## HappyHippo

thank you for the info!


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## j d worthington

You're quite welcome!


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## apokalypsis

How about Good vs. Evil > Good and Evil are inextricably mixed up in each other > Hero absorbing both good and evil into himself and "canceling the equation/debt" to save the world?


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## jackokent

The hero or heroine dies right in front of us and then miraculously after a bit of pleading or a majic word, or someone noticing that they are wearing the vest of enlightenment, they just suddenly get better.  They don't even seem to have a headache afterwards.


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## Azathoth

Here's one I've been noticing lately (sorry if someone already mentioned):

Wispy and thin heroine who weighs perhaps 90 lbs and stands a mere 5'5" just so happens to be a master swordswoman/martial artist, and she can kick the butt of any 6'8" man weighing 250 lbs of pure muscle. Because she knows kung-fu or whatever, and is faster than the man.


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## apokalypsis

Violence is a good way to solve nearly any problem.


----------



## Thadlerian

The accelerating development of gender roles in fantasy:

*Then:*
Girl gets captured by antagonist and boy comes to the rescue.

*Now:*
Girl spends half the book telling everyone how independent she is, gets captured by antagonist and boy comes to the rescue.


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## mosaix

Aliens are intelligent enough to build star ships, cross the galaxy, invade and enslave Earth, but don't recognise a human infiltrator disguised as one of them.


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## jackarcalon

-The movie "Strange Days": Impossible technology, but society made no progress. In reality, it was easier to emancipate women and end segregation than build flying cars. The most dramatic future changes may be social.
-Characters look too cool. If we could see real humans from the future they would look bizarre.
-It's dark in here, and grimy. 
-No one has to fill out paperwork.
-Characters have to solve unknown phenomenon themselves, without trying to alert every scientist and journalist on earth. They should call the media.
-Galaxies and nebulas are clearly visible to the unaided human eye.
-Spaceships that accelerate but don't decelerate.


----------



## Urien

The villain is always played by a Brit or a Brit playing a European. This is true for most blockbuster movies.

The government is always evil, always has more resources and always has black SUVs.

On a far future Starship representing earth, the crew is always predominantly American. Clearly the Chinese and Indians will suffer some terrible space sickness which prevents them from crewing.

Aliens are never alien, their motives are always distinctly human.

Human weapons are frequently ineffective against alien death bubbles or whatever.


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## jackarcalon

-Galaxies and nebulas are clearly visible to the unaided human eye.

Of course many are clearly visible, but never as bright as in the movies. 
If you get a chance to look up at night, find the three bright stars in Orion's belt, and form a line to the five bright stars that look like an M or a W.
Look at that area long enough, and you may see the Milky Way, made of billions of stars, and gas and dust clouds. It's surprisingly three dimensional.


----------



## j d worthington

Very difficult to see in the city these days, though. Had a conversation with Nesa about this the other day, about how, even within the city, you used to be able to see an entire sky full of stars... beautiful, awe-inspiring sight. Now, you're lucky to even see Orion here, let alone Cassiopeia; and as for the Pleiades....


----------



## mosaix

When aliens are depicted in films or on TV then the similarity in appearance between alien life-form and human life-form is inversely proportional to the size of the budget.


----------



## Ash59

Star Wars


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## ice.monkey

Okay, what about if you've got any character or being that's big and strong there's no way it's got more than two brain cells to rub together!

And the modern cliche in SF where the beings who have evolved to a higher state can in no way interfere with the current state of affairs in the universe. Nope, I'm all right jack and sod the rest of you!


----------



## DevoidRaptor

How bout this one:

Man 1- "..._Her_."

Man 2- "Her?"

Man 1- "Her."

Or really any use of the italicised pronouns, usually preceeded by an elipsis... _Him _and ..._It _are popular to.

"You mean, we have to visit... _him_?"


----------



## The Pelagic Argosy

Often when the Nasa scientists and five-star generals are stymied, despite having the resources of the entire military-industrial complex at their disposal (and the president on speed dial), they must rely on help from renegade streetwise punk computer hackers.

The initial meeting between the geeky lead scientist hero (played by Jeff Goldblum) and the attractive, pierced and/or tattooed lead female punk hacker will take place in the back room of a futuristic dance club.  

As payment for saving the world, the punk hackers demand that thier criminal records be wiped clean...and pizza. 

Replace "renegade streetwise punk computer hackers" with Bruce Willis and Steve Buscemi as needed.


----------



## mosaix

The Pelagic Argosy said:


> Often when the Nasa scientists and five-star generals are stymied, despite having the resources of the entire military-industrial complex at their disposal (and the president on speed dial), they must rely on help from renegade streetwise punk computer hackers.
> 
> The initial meeting between the geeky lead scientist hero (played by Jeff Goldblum) and the attractive, pierced and/or tattooed lead female punk hacker will take place in the back room of a futuristic dance club.
> 
> As payment for saving the world, the punk hackers demand that thier criminal records be wiped clean...and pizza.
> 
> Replace "renegade streetwise punk computer hackers" with Bruce Willis and Steve Buscemi as needed.



The pizza is an excellent touch.


----------



## Pyan

andrew.v.spencer said:


> The villain is always played by a Brit or a Brit playing a European. This is true for most blockbuster movies.


Especially noticeable in the _Die Hard_ films. And it's usually Jeremy Irons or Alan Rickman, as well.


----------



## Ash59

But how many of the abovementioned are 'Archtypes' rather than 'Cliches'?
Many of the 'cliched' carachters mentioned are to be found in the great narratives throughout history. Its no suprise that they turn up in sci-fi/Fantasy. As in the tales of that other Great Frontier - the American 'Wild West.
Dont' forget...Captain Kirk died for YOU!


----------



## Urien

More Brits as bad guys: The Emperor in Star Wars. The operative in Serenity. Sean Bean as evil scientist in The Island, evil Hitcher in The Hitcher, evil businessman in National Treasure.


----------



## HappyHippo

it's not just  a sci-fi cliche, us brits are evil to our eyebrows!

the self destruct sequence takes four people to authorise, and only one little button to deactivate.


----------



## mosaix

There is _always_ a self destruct sequence and it is _always_ counted down in a female voice and there is _only one little button_ instead of several easily accessed ones.


----------



## Winters_Sorrow

andrew.v.spencer said:


> More Brits as bad guys: The Emperor in Star Wars. The operative in Serenity. Sean Bean as evil scientist in The Island, evil Hitcher in The Hitcher, evil businessman in National Treasure.


 
Yeah, Sean Bean's in there twice. He's so eh-vil! 

Also plays the villain in Goldeneye, although the protagnist is also "English" (or in this case Irish!)

And regarding the Die Hard series you've got to admit a distinct lack of englishness in William Sadler's performance in Die Hard 2 

Completely digressing from the topic, so erm.....another cliche....hmm, ok!
When faced with an inescapable dilemma, a bit of on the spot inventive tech-wizardry is found rather than;
"What are we going to do?"
"Erm. I dunno"
*Boom* - everyone dies


----------



## iansales

Winters_Sorrow said:


> Completely digressing from the topic, so erm.....another cliche....hmm, ok!
> When faced with an inescapable dilemma, a bit of on the spot inventive tech-wizardry is found rather than;
> "What are we going to do?"
> "Erm. I dunno"
> *Boom* - everyone dies



It's called a _deus ex machina_.


----------



## philoSCIFI

Ash59 said:


> Star Wars


LOL

On a lighter note: "Galaxy Quest"


----------



## Ash59

j. d. worthington said:


> Very difficult to see in the city these days, though. Had a conversation with Nesa about this the other day, about how, even within the city, you used to be able to see an entire sky full of stars... beautiful, awe-inspiring sight. Now, you're lucky to even see Orion here, let alone Cassiopeia; and as for the Pleiades....


To digress from the thread slightly...I am lucky enough to live on the very edge of the Yorkshire Moors. I only have to step out of my back door, look up and...'My God..It's full of Stars'


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## Chrystelia

Take a look at this site: 
list of sf cliche
Not So Grand Cliche List


----------

