List of SFF Clichés

[Crymic]

Originally Posted by 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

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.

[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.

[Crymic]

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

[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.

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by Crymic

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.

[Crymic]

Originally Posted by mosaix

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

=P

[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..."

[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".

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[jackokent]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[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!~*~