Fantasy Trope Quiz

Writing Unique Fantasy

In a sub-genre of Urban, Epic, Chosen One, Quest, Paranormal, Euro-centric, Contemporary, Otherworldly

About Demons, Angels, Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, Magicians, Sorcerers, Witches, Warlocks.

When the main character is non-human or half-n-half (like coffee creamer).

And the secondary character is a hot human, non-human, or half-n-half.

And the villain is an insane, megalomaniacal, just-plain-evil, human, non-human, or half-n-half.

Class, your assignment is to provide a few more subgenres. Also, name some additional Abouts, main character types, secondary character types, and villain types.

When the list is complete, look it over and write some kind of fantasy that does not fit in ALL of the lists above. That is each instance when your fantasy has a different item than those listed above, you score 0 trope points. Score 1/2 or 1 trope point for those that match or pretty closely match.

Provide the title, author, and a link with the Trope Score in a comment.

Extra Credit: Explain how the book that claims not to use the same old tropes still uses the same old tropes.

Can we come up with even one absolutely unique fantasy book?

I'll give this a stab with Setara's Genie:

Subgenre: It's closest to Quest, but since there aren't any quests for magical items or imprisoned princesses, I'll have to call my subgenre silly. Still, given the legendary status of 1001 Arabian Nights, I'm going to have to score 1 trope point.


Main Character: Setara's a plain old human being with no magical powers of her own. She's a lucky gal, though, to have a lot of magical friends, but that won't count in the MC category. Yea! No trope point here. 0 trope points.



Secondary Character: Basit is a full-fledged genie, which has been used, but I don't think it's reached the trope status. I'd say 1/2 trope point since genies are fairly rare secondary characters. More likely, they're a villain since that's what they are in mythological terms. Other secondaries include demons, flying horses, a historical figure, and a merboy, I'll take that extra 1/2 point. 1 trope point.




Villain: There are several villains, but other than a bunch of pirates, the only real villainous villain is another genie. He is really evil, however, so score 1 trope point.

Total: Three Trope Points.

How does your fantasy rank?