This is a guest post by Savannah Cordova. Savannah is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. She loves science fiction and fantasy.
3 Fantasy Tropes I Love — And 3 I Avoid at All Costs
As an avid fantasy reader, I’ve seen my fair share of different tropes that work well… and those that don’t. While many of these familiar storytelling elements are beloved, others can definitely feel overused or clichéd. In this post, let’s take a look at my favorite fantasy tropes, as well as the ones I’m pretty tired of seeing. We’ll start with some of the tropes I love most…
3 Effective Fantasy Tropes
1. Found family over bloodline
You can’t choose your blood relatives, so I love the concept of “found family”: a group of people who are not biologically related, but still consider each other family. With shared experiences and strong bonds, these characters make active decisions to stay in each other’s lives, creating so many opportunities for emotional resonance and a more moving, memorable reading experience.
One book that uses the found family trope especially well is Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. In this novel, various characters of different personalities and backgrounds (one’s a convict, one’s a gambler, one’s a spy, etc.) come together for a heist that could make them richer than they ever imagined. Naturally, a few of them are bound to clash at the start, but that’s actually more enjoyable to me (imagine if they all got along right away… boring!).
Throughout Bardugo’s novel, this ragtag group of criminals grows closer and closer, learning more about each other as the heist turns ever more perilous. It’s awesome seeing them slowly come to rely on each other, until they reach a point where any of them would (and do!) risk their lives for their fellow Crows.
2. The mentor — with a twist
When asked to think of a typical mentor in a fantasy novel, you might conjure up an old, wise man like Gandalf. That’s why I love the notion of the “mentor with a twist” — someone who’s young, reluctant, and maybe even a bit chaotic. Subverting the classic mentor trope is a great way to entertain your reader and keep their interest, while also facilitating certain moments and even plot twists that wouldn’t happen if your mentor were a mere archetype.
Look at The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Father Chains, who mentors the novel’s protagonist, is far from your typical mentor: he’s the priest of a god no one worships, fakes his blindness, and teaches orphans how to be exceptional thieves. But while he’s morally gray and quite mischievous, Father Chains actually cares for his protégés (in his own way) and sets them up for survival in a brutal world where deception can take you farther than the truth.
3. The “chosen one” in control
Don’t get me wrong — I think the “chosen one” trope can be entertaining. But you know what makes a “chosen one” story even better? Having the protagonist defy their supposed fate and take control of their life, instead of just doing whatever they’re “supposed” to do. There’s something extra powerful about a protagonist who takes matters into their own hands — often after they’ve gone through various ordeals that test their character and help them grow.
Vin, the protagonist of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, is a perfect example of this. She starts as an orphaned street urchin with no idea of her powers, then gets entangled in a life-changing prophecy. But instead of blindly accepting what everyone tells her — that she will serve as an important figure in an ongoing rebellion — Vin continuously questions the world around her and ultimately carves her own path.
Now that you know my favorite fantasy tropes to stumble upon, let’s dive into the ones I’d avoid at all costs…
3 Weak Fantasy Tropes
1. The overpowerful protagonist
I love a great fantasy protagonist as much as the next person, but when they’re a bit too powerful, it causes the narrative to lose some suspense. My preferred main character is someone who has relatable flaws, vulnerabilities, and needs to overcome challenges to reach their goals. If everything’s easy for them, that leads to a fairly predictable, far less engaging story — and who’d want to read that?
If you want some inspiration to create a compelling, believable character, I’d recommend The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Its protagonist, Kvothe, is obviously very talented — but he’s also deeply flawed, impulsive, and often his own worst enemy. Though he’s brilliant, he can’t simply outsmart his poverty or avoid humiliation at the hands of his peers; in fact, this often complicates things.
Indeed, what I think makes Kvothe such an interesting character is how he struggles to control his skills and power while trying to survive with his pride and conscience intact.
2. The convenient coincidence
Few things pull me out of a story faster than a deus ex machina: that moment when a sudden, often random force swoops in to save the day.
While I acknowledge that J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is a classic, I will never get over the moment when (spoiler alert!) the Eagles show up just in time to save Thorin and company from certain death during the Battle of the Five Armies. Fantasy should include a sense of wonder, sure, but authors must keep in mind that a last-minute solution often just appears to be lazy writing. “Surprise” outcomes are great — but they should still make sense in hindsight!
One example of a book that doesn’t rely on a convenient coincidence is The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. It’s filled with believable character-driven choices and thoughtful worldbuilding, not sudden saves or really random twists (phew!). Jemisin fleshes out a magic system, orogeny, with clear limits, and every main event in her book follows logically from what’s come before.
One of the most powerful reveals — the true identities of the three narrators — isn’t random; it’s built up through subtle clues and structure. Jemisin trusts the reader to keep up with her, and that trust pays off in a story that thrills readers without ever feeling cheap or unearned.
3. The evil villain with no depth
A one-dimensional, sinister villain might work in a traditional fairy tale, but in modern fantasy, that just won’t cut it. Whenever I’m reading and realize that a villain’s only motivation is vague “world domination” or just being evil for the sake of it, I fight the urge to throw my book across the room. After all, the best kind of villain (in my opinion) truly believes they’re doing the right thing, or has goals that make an uncomfortable kind of sense.
Let’s examine Holland from A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. Though ruthless and hardly reluctant to kill, this character is desperate to save his dying world, no matter the cost. He believes that regaining power is the only way to restore balance to White London, even if it means destroying others.
Holland’s actions are brutal, but readers eventually realize that they come from a place of loyalty and purpose. I’d argue that this moral complexity makes him a far more compelling villain than someone who’s evil for no reason — and it forces readers to consider how far someone might go for what they believe is right.
And there you have it: my top three tropes, as well as the ones I’d stay (very) far away from. Whether as writers or readers, we should all embrace beloved, thoughtful tropes, but also think critically about the most overused ones! While some classics still hold power, others need a refresh (or outright retirement).
So here’s to fantasy that surprises us — not just with magic, but with meaning!
