Current Events > Worst story trope

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Parents/guardian MUST DIE so the hero can go on his little journey

Isekai by far

The entire plot being caused by an easily explainable miscommunication

UnholyMudcrab posted...

The entire plot being caused by an easily explainable miscommunication

Pretty much any given rom-com

It was all a dream people

Vs

I don't dream people

As much as I fucking hate "The Chosen One", I have never seen a "Just a Dream" twist done well.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

The entire plot being caused by an easily explainable miscommunication

This

You can't beat "it was all a dream" for sheer lameness.

Going into space.

It was all in your head is winning because the worse ones are below it and people stopped reading. Proof: I almost voted it also.

Out of those listed, all a dream is the worst.

But the one that I dislike the most would be separated twins, one good, one evil. I won't watch anything that uses this one.

HylianFox posted...

Pretty much any given rom-com

Its also real life diplomacy and international relations.

Time travel ruins every story its introduced in

Multiverse, Time Travel, and It Was All A Dream all have the potential to say that none of the story actually mattered, but it's most likely with It Was All A Dream, so that.

I hate Isekai, but "It was all a dream" just makes the entire story pointless I feel.

At least with Isekai SOMETHING has to be happening (even if its the silliest thing), when everything on the story was a dream, like, nothing happened.

Oh, I also really hate when a sequel immediately kills surviving characters from the previous movie(s).

UnholyMudcrab posted...

Oh, I also really hate when a sequel immediately kills surviving characters from previous movie(s).

Even worse when it happens before the sequel even starts

Riding the Wizard'a Coattails

Anyone ever wonder how often Dorothy dreamed of murdering older women then stealing their shoes?

A will they/won't they storyline that lasts more than a few episodes, much less and entire freaking series.

Of the options given, the dream one. Isekais seem to have the dumbest fucking titles possible by design as of late, though.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

Oh, I also really hate when a sequel immediately kills surviving characters from previous movie(s).

Really growing to loathe this one

Harem

I guess my biggest pet peeve would be "chosen one" stories. I prefer when protagonists are just ordinary people who got caught up in something greater than them. But if they were always destined to be the hero, then it feels like it diminishes their motivation and accomplishments. Heh, I guess you could say I'm less interested in "chosen ones" than "ones who chose"~

Deus ex machina

Definitely hate the "it was all a dream trope." Every single time something has done it, it sucked really really bad.

But as far as video games go, I also really hate the mute protagonist. I never cared about roleplaying as a self insert MC, so for me, the mute protagonist takes away from the story. Because now, for anything the player character would have said, some other character has to monologue for us.

I think the isekai hate is due to the over abundance of lazy stories being pushed out like steaming hot trash on a conveyor oven. If there werent 100+ of them in the past few years alone, the overwhelming majority having no real substance and just trying to sell on fan service, they wouldnt be hated nearly as badly.

The harem trope is just garbage. Its fan service in lieu of a story.

The it was all a dream is a big slap in the face if youre heavily invested, but it can at least be innocent and playful for a lighthearted experience.

Multiverse and time travel are just methods of maintaining continuity and changing past mistakes without needing to put any effort into making your storys universe cohesive.

The chosen one is the oldest of any of these I believe, and goes back to early human history.

Power of friendship is corny, but its not as offensive as the others.

Deus ex machina is the single story version of the multiverse/time travel; dont know what to do? Random plot device!

I honestly cant think of a mute protagonist example, or why I would mind it.

BDSMKane posted...

Multiverse and time travel are just methods of maintaining continuity and changing past mistakes without needing to put any effort into making your storys universe cohesive.

This is why I think this ruined Mortal Kombat series story for me. Just nothing matters since they keep resetting the timelines.

Isekai isn't bad in itself. People are just fucking annoying about wanting to apply the concept as widely as possible. For the usual reasons, I guess.

Anything can be good or bad, depending on how it's done, but I'm struggling to think of a decently handled multiverse concept, and can only come up with Primer.

Every other time, I sigh at that shit.

Amnesia. It really is so common in so many jrpgs but I still end up loving them anyway haha. But yeah they really need to get away from that crutch.

Unless the time travel is particularly nonsensical and fun, like in Back to the Future, it tends to void the plot entirely.

All a dream and multiverse just completely minimalize the story and setting for me. Time Travel to an extent too but I'm slightly more fine with singular timelines. All the other stuff like Deux Ex Machina and Harem are lame but there can still be a good story alongside it that doesn't just seem like lazy fanfiction the way just a dream and multiverse does.

HylianFox posted...

Parents/guardian MUST DIE so the hero can go on his little journey

This isn't the worst but I definitely agree this is a pet peeve of mine.

"There's a traitor among us" because it's usually either:

• The most obvious suspect
• The least obvious suspect

And its always telegraphed way too obviously which one it is. Baten Kaitos is the only time it was ever done well.

Umbreon posted...

As much as I fucking hate "The Chosen One", I have never seen a "Just a Dream" twist done well.

Link's Awakening did it extremely well. But I think that's because you get so attached to the characters that you don't want it to be true.

Equally tired of both isekai and multiverse, but gave it to isekai. Both are so fucking tired and predictable at this point.

From this list Harem. Because so many times the guy is like the biggest loser around that for no reason at all have the best looking ( in store) women around crushing over him and he is scared of females characters

Strictly speaking, all of these tropes can be done well.

Time travel and multiverse just add to the possibilities of a story. I have no problem with them.

The chosen one can, and recently often is, done intelligently, but it's hard to make it compelling when it's played completely straight.

Deus ex machina has its moments, but it's usually a desperate crutch.

I almost never see it was all a dream used anymore.

Isekai is my vote. Arriving in a different world is a pretty standard trope, but the absolute glut of shitty works with atrocious titles that are little more than exercises in attempting to titillate and be power fantasies for the most maladjusted of losers has managed the impressive feat of overtaking shonen as the worst genre in the medium.

Mute protagonist is just another choice. No beef with it.

Harem is a close second. If you're gonna do polyamory, be intelligent about it.

Power of friendship is fine if it suits the general mood of the work.

all a dream/multiverse
i wanted to play fire emblem 3 hopes but it seems to be another retelling of 3 houses and i already played that on all routes what the hell, can't we get a story continuation jesus christ

I voted from the list but it's actually Other for me: a villain's crimes or misdeeds being forgotten as soon as they're no longer a threat. Hate when someone switches sides or even is just no longer directly aggressive, and suddenly it's like they didn't rock up with the goal of genocide.

I picked harem from the list, though. A lot of the ones listed are ones where it will retroactively make things worse, but I can still enjoy the journey before that point. Harem is the one where it's a theme from the start and immediately lowers my estimation and enjoyment as soon as it becomes apparent.

Dalthine posted...

I voted from the list but it's actually Other for me: a villain's crimes or misdeeds being forgotten as soon as they're no longer a threat. Hate when someone switches sides or even is just no longer directly aggressive, and suddenly it's like they didn't rock up with the goal of genocide.

In contrast I would also add the character that was a villain and then seeks redemption who immediately dies as a "redemptive" act instead of exploring the process of redemption and the problems inherent to it.

I don't think an evil character being redeemed is necessarily bad, but in both your example and mine, they skip over the important part, and that is the process and the trials that come with it.

Dalthine posted...

I picked harem from the list, though. A lot of the ones listed are ones where it will retroactively make things worse, but I can still enjoy the journey before that point. Harem is the one where it's a theme from the start and immediately lowers my estimation and enjoyment as soon as it becomes apparent.

You're referring to the harem genre. As a trope, there can be harems simply at the end like Greek myths and Xenoblade 3. This is a pretty interesting note though. Stuff like Isekai and Harem are being considered because we're seeing the worst of the worst while Multiverse stuff currently have their best being mainstream (MCU and other crossovers) but even the best Multiverse stuff is lackluster and only slightly better than the worst of the other tropes.

GiftedACIII posted...

You're referring to the harem genre. As a trope, there can be harems simply at the end like Greek myths and Xenoblade 3. This is a pretty interesting note though. Stuff like Isekai and Harem are being considered because we're seeing the worst of the worst while Multiverse stuff currently have their best being mainstream (MCU and other crossovers) but even the best Multiverse stuff is lackluster and only slightly better than the worst of the other tropes.

I feel like "winding up" a harem at the end might subvert the running theme of it and avoid ruining the journey, but it's still bad. Throwing it in without extensive setup or at least hints along the way about how feelings grow is still a failure. (Granted I haven't done XBC3 yet so I don't know how it's set up there.)

I excuse ancient myths from this kind of discussion both because they weren't tropes then and expectations in storytelling are... much lower. Like, Greek tales were when storytelling paradigms were being established in the first place.

HylianFox posted...

Parents/guardian MUST DIE so the hero can go on his little journey

In todays world yes, otherwise theyd never leave the basement

Im not tired of any because all can work well, or bad.
but one issue with multiverse stories is it gets rid of the threat some knowing theres others.

but multiverse stuff can be awesome seeing how weird or twisted things can get

Dalthine posted...

I feel like "winding up" a harem at the end might subvert the running theme of it and avoid ruining the journey, but it's still bad. Throwing it in without extensive setup or at least hints along the way about how feelings grow is still a failure. (Granted I haven't done XBC3 yet so I don't know how it's set up there.)

I excuse ancient myths from this kind of discussion both because they weren't tropes then and expectations in storytelling are... much lower. Like, Greek tales were when storytelling paradigms were being established in the first place.

The way I view it, injecting a harem somewhere into a story is much less fucking it up than injecting multiverse or all just a dream. If you're building it up, that seems more like the entire story is based around the harem concept which makes it more the premise than just a trope and in that way I can see a story based around a harem premise being worse than one based around a multiverse premise but in that case, where does "all just a dream" premise fall in? All just a dream is near universally just a twist trope shown at the end rather than an entire premise built upon itself. Link's Awakening is one of the few that has it kind of be in the middle. I suppose a plot where someone knows they're in a dream and needs to wake up? I suppose having it be a quick gag.

ai123 posted...

Anything can be good or bad, depending on how it's done,

The Harem Trope says otherwise.

Other. Redeemable villain. Sure I genocided a whole nation, but I'm on the heroes side now, so it's cool right?

LeCh0nk posted...

The Harem Trope says otherwise.

It can be amusing if played as a joke.

GiftedACIII posted...

The way I view it, injecting a harem somewhere into a story is much less fucking it up than injecting multiverse or all just a dream. If you're building it up, that seems more like the entire story is based around the harem concept which makes it more the premise than just a trope and in that way I can see a story based around a harem premise being worse than one based around a multiverse premise but in that case, where does "all just a dream" premise fall in? All just a dream is near universally just a twist trope shown at the end rather than an entire premise built upon itself. Link's Awakening is one of the few that has it kind of be in the middle. I suppose a plot where someone knows they're in a dream and needs to wake up? I suppose having it be a quick gag.

I wouldnt write off Links Awakening as just a dream. Typically, the it was all a dream trope implies that nothing that happened really matters. However, in Links Awakening, even though the events occur within a dream, the dream world functions like another dimension. What Link does in this dream world has real significance.

Im surprised you didnt do the seeing the future its all post apocalyptic, we need to fix it with this today story thats in X-men stories every other year and countless other movies, shows and comics the last 15 years

thats what Im most sick of