[Ghost of Harrenhal]

A world in which the humans, elves, dwarves and possibly halflings or gnomes make up one faction and the other faction is something like orcs, trolls, vampires and lizardmen.

The two factions will constantly be fighting each other and the evil side will always outnumber the cornered goodies who will all be brave, selfless souls in shining gold armour that, despite all their bravery, go down with a single tap on the side of the helmet.

Hundreds of the thousands will die on both sides throughout the course of the story but it will all be for nothing because all the Hero had to do was realize he had some divine power that he inherited in the form of a ring or necklace or gemstone. Once he has it fully under control, which has to happen after his first mentor dies, he will then go on his final quest to destroy the evil wizard, king, undead lord, etc.

In the end the evil hordes that outnumbered the goodies will be disbanded or will have died in the blast that killed their king and the goodies will ALL be together in just one place to praise the Hero. The Hero also may or may not have some romance at the end.

Of course, no story will follow these exact rules because that would be just stupid. But if a story has a lot in common with them then it is generally a cliché in my eyes. The details are things like the Hero learning how to master his power in a dramatically reduced amount of time. Also the presence of a King or Queen for the forces of good but no clear order of government for the rest of the country. There is the King, the army, the hero, and the peasants. Stuff like this ruins stories for me.