Every genre has its clichés. Patterns that once felt fresh, got repeated, and are now so worn that readers groan when they see them coming.
Here are some SFF tropes that could use a long rest — or at least a serious subversion if you're going to use them.
The Martyr
The character who sacrifices themselves for the greater good. Noble. Tragic. Done to death. It's become a lazy shortcut for emotional impact. Writer doesn't know how to end the story? Kill the hero. Need to raise stakes? Threaten a sacrifice. Want readers to cry? Martyrdom.
The problem isn't sacrifice as a concept. It's that the Martyr has become the default. When readers can predict from chapter one that the protagonist will die saving everyone, the emotional punch evaporates.
If you must use sacrifice, earn it. Make it surprising. Make it complicated. Or better yet — find another way. What if the hero has to live with the consequences instead of dying nobly?
The Chosen One
A farmboy/orphan/nobody discovers they're destined to save the world.
This worked when Tolkien did it. It worked when Star Wars did it. It's been working less and less ever since, because we've seen it so many times that the "discovery" carries no weight.
The deeper problem: Chosen One narratives often remove agency. The hero succeeds because prophecy says they will, not because of choices they make. That's not drama — it's destiny tourism.
If you want to write about an unlikely hero, consider: what if they choose the burden rather than having it thrust upon them? What if there's no prophecy, just a person deciding to act?
The Dark Lord
A villain who wants to destroy/conquer everything because... darkness? Power? Evil?
Pure evil is boring. It's also unrealistic. Nobody thinks they're the villain of their own story. Even the worst people in history believed they were justified.
Give your antagonist a reason. A wound. A philosophy that makes twisted sense. Let readers understand — even if they don't agree — why this person became what they are.
The Info-Dumping Mentor
An older, wiser character whose job is to explain the world to the young protagonist (and thereby to the reader).
Gandalf worked because he was mysterious and he didn't explain everything. Too many fantasy mentors since have become walking encyclopedias, delivering lectures that stop the story cold.
If you need to convey information, find ways to do it through action, conflict, discovery. Let readers learn alongside the character rather than being told.
The Tolkien-Standard Fantasy World
Medieval Europe. Elves in forests. Dwarves in mountains. Dark Lord in the east.
Tolkien invented this template. Generations have copied it. The result: a genre that often feels like it's set in the same world with minor variations.
There's nothing wrong with medieval fantasy, but the possibilities are so much wider. Non-European cultures. Non-medieval times. Completely alien social structures. The genre is called fantasy — why limit your imagination to one template?