Clichés

and how to avoid them

In the right situation, a cliché can work well and even be humorous. But most of the time, they're just annoying. The damsel in distress. The evil dragon terrifying the countryside. The knight in shining armor. The vengeful hunter. On and on, ad infinitum.

Of course, we're not saying that you have to think of something totally original that's never been done before. That'd be nice, but that's also very difficult. ^^ Not to mention, who can say what's been done before and what hasn't? But what you can do is think of something that's been done less than others and is semi-creative, or perhaps a new twist on an old gag. Like, say, the virgin losing her virginity on the altar rather than the virgin sacrifice. Or maybe the valiant, gallant, skillful knight--who also happens to be completely blind. Something like that.

And now, just to make things easy for you, is a list of overused clichés in bullet form. Mind you, this list is far from complete. There are far too many clichés out there to be named.

• Evil twins. 'nuff said.
• Mischievous thieves. For once I'd like to see a cold, brooding thief.
• The innocent princess, her knight in shining armor, the villainous uncle/advisor/stepmother, and so on.
• Giggling, naive fairies.
• The master swordsman who is undefeatable and has no flaws! They have to start somewhere, you know. And while I'm on it, master mages have to start somewhere, too. Nobody knows all forms of magic in the world, and keep in mind that there are some forms of magic that nobody wants to use except the truly desperate or evil.
• The angsting lovers who are torn apart forever. I've been guilty of this myself and I admit that I enjoy good angst, but this is really clichéd. Good couples are woefully underdone.
• Amnesia. CAN'T ANYONE REMEMBER ANYTHING AROUND HERE?!
• Mysterious pasts. Not everyone has to have one. Speaking of which, not everyone has to have a traumatizing past, either. Some people have perfectly normal pasts.
• Witches aren't always evil. Neither are dragons. Knights aren't always good, either. Play around with good/evil roles.
• I should also point out that there aren't a lot of gay characters around, either. Or bi ones, for that matter.

There are exceptions to these clichés, of course. Some of them have been done and done well, and as I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of ways to twist them into something more original. All it takes is a little creativity and imagination. It's much more fun to play something original than something clichéd, don't you think?