It’s pretty much a given on how important characters are to a story.
Characters are wonderful, they shape literally the WHOLE story.
It’s also a given that some authors manage too mess up characters who have the POTENTIAL to be GREAT characters. In this post I’m discussing character tropes that are undeniably my least favorite. These are btw my opinions, and not facts. so don’t attack me if you don’t agree please.
Also, if the timing of this post in weird don’t mind it. I’m experimenting with different times too see when my followers are most active. Wow I am such a #businessmogul
“Bad-ass” female protagonists who are emotionally unavailable and asshole-ish.
These characters are really underdeveloped, and basically have no personality aside from being good at kicking peoples ass. And they get super over-hyped too which just leads me to get excited over nothing. There is nothing wrong with girls who can fight, but the thing is I don’t really see how they are strong in other aspects of life. How do they deal with things like stress, trauma, relationships etc… I feel like the way people respond to those things are really what makes us different human beings. Adding in their vulnerable side, or their irrational side could help me connect with the character better, and create entertaining characters overall.
Also, this sort of creates the “I’m not like other girls” trope which is super not healthy too young girls growing up in this day and age. Characters like this shows that only being able to fight, not liking makeup or boys, and overall being what society perceives as “masculine” is what a cool, quirky girl can be. Which is not the case at all. You can like sports, and fashion at the same time. I personally relate to this because growing up I was a tomboy, and refused to go near anything close to pink, and hated fashion. I forced myself too like and play basketball (never again will I go near those orange colored demons) and all these other things because I thought this made me… “one of the boys” or “not like other girls”.
Emotionally abusive bad boys
Not only are these boys so annoying, they also show that abuse is okay and the girl should put up with it (it also can go both ways btw!). Which of course, not acceptable. Somehow by the end of the story though, he becomes a stable and emotional, heroic guy and all thanks too the girl who taught him how to be vulnerable or whatever.
Yeah I don’t think so.
SAY IT WITH ME YA’LL : NO TWO PEOPLE IN A RELATIONSHIP SHOULD DEAL WITH EACH OTHERS TOXICITY, AND IT’S NOT ANYONE’S ROLE/JOB TO “FIX” A STRUGGLING PERSON. SEND THEM A THERAPIST’S NUMBER AND THAT’S IT.
These type of relationships are so prominent in the real world as well, but when you have a choice you shouldn’t add those types of romance to a book. It’s not in the least bit cute.
She doesn’t know she’s beautiful
“I tie up my long brown wavy hair into a messy bun, and put on a plain gray tee over my curvy body. I gaze at the mirror with my starling big blue eyes. I sigh. I’m so ugly”
Sometimes when I’m reading sentences like these I can’t help but think “is this some kind of Wattpad fan-fiction??”
next thing you know she goes downstairs and finds out she got sold to One Direction
Authors make characters place so much emphasis on their looks for no reason, and it’s not even a pivotal plot to the story. And the way the author writes out the character’s descriptions YOU KNOW that this person can be considered pretty in real life.
This also usually leads to a romance with another character saying the iconic lines of “you don’t even know your beauty” or “you’re not like other girls” or some other BS variation.
Being clumsy is a character trait.
Not being able to kick a ball without falling on your butt does not give you a personality, sorry but I think we’ve all been there.
This usually happens when an author just can’t seem to know how to write three dimensional flawed characters so they think being clumsy is a “cute” and “quirky” sort of way too make the character seem more realistic. And these authors will probably go to the extra mile to make these characters seem clumsy. Like leave-your-sim-alone-in-a-kitchen extra clumsy.
I don’t find clumsy characters funny, in fact I will just spend half the time worrying they will trip on a pencil and suffer a long, and painful concussion.
Teenage prodigy in one second/ the chosen one
I know firsthand as a teenager, AND AS AN ACTUAL HUMAN BEING, it will take more then one freaking day to get extremely good at something. In a lot YA fantasy books, you have a teen (14/15/16) who at first is this skinny, wimp, but then is like a freaking GOD when it comes to fighting/casting magic/etc… These are skills that probably take lifetimes too prefect, and now all of a sudden you can blast fire out of your hands in one day.
Which then you find out the character is some kind of “Chosen One” hero. I’m not super annoyed with this kind of trope, but after seeing it in a number of fantasy books it starts too get repetitive, and then boring.
This trope also kind of sets a bad example for real-live kids who have to put in time and effort to be good at anything.
like me lol
Manic Pixie Dream Girl/Guy
These type of characters are usually paired with another boring, shy, melancholy character. And the MPDG starts too teach them about life, and love, and wonder blah blah blah. This trope is a) super cliche b) totally boring c) not at all realistic. It’s also kind of problematic. It reminds me of the relationship in the emotional abusive bad boy trope, where you sort of depend on the romantic int rest to “fix” you and your problems. Not okay at all.
A good example of this is Alaska from Looking for Alaska. She has a unusual name, an infatuation with daisies, smokes, and has every girl/guy on her heel. She draws out the main character from his shell, and she is definitely Quirky with a capital q.
So that was my super long rant on character tropes I really dislike. I really think I ranted a bit too much, but I! Am! Tired! of these tropes. I know I put “THAT I REFUSE TO READ ABOUT” in capital letters in the title, but I really don’t mean it. Because let’s be honest, I would then have to stop reading all together. That’s how common some of these can be. What about you guys? Do you agree or disagree with some of them? What are some additional tropes you can’t stand? Can you add on too the list? Have a beautiful day! ❤
Nerd In New York 