I like to think I have taste. I try to be well-read, to appreciate a nuanced story the way a coffee guy talks about single-origin espresso, savouring the complexity, the artistry, the innovation. I want my own writing to be sharp, so I push myself to read work that’s fresh and boundary-breaking.
And then a hench lady swings an axe and suddenly all my literary standards are out the window. Turns out some tropes just own me, no matter how predictable, no matter how questionably executed. I won’t pretend to be above them. It's more fun just to enjoy things, I think.
Since suffering alone is boring, I asked my Instagram followers to share their own guilty pleasure fantasy tropes and it turns out a lot of you feel the same. I defined “guilty pleasure” as something you enjoy despite knowing it's not generally well-regarded or popular. Here are my guilty pleasure fantasy tropes as well as a list of yours.
Big Burly Ladies
Often fantasy novels will feature female characters who reject femininity in favour of more stereotypically masculine ideals. She hates embroidery and corsets but loves fighting, drinking and swearing like a sailor.
While these characters often scorn (stereotypical) femininity, the writers often aren’t brave enough to make them big and strong. Give me henchwomen who are actually hench women.
Yeah, I love feminine characters, sure. But I don’t love how many writers valorise “masculine” traits while still restricting their characters to a conventionally “feminine” appearance.
I said WHERE are my big, burly ladies??
Older Protagonists
As much as I valued feeling represented by 16-20 year-old protagonists when I was younger, at 27 I’m also enjoying stories led by characters aged 30+. Also 50+. The older the better.
There’s so much room for tragic backstories. Past mistakes. Ex-lovers. A real, juicy history.
Often when younger characters have tragic backstories, it wasn’t really their fault. I love seeing characters grapple with real regret. Baggage. War guilt and a failed marriage.
I say this as someone who’s writing a fantasy novel led by a 22-year-old, so maybe I don’t want to see “older characters” so much as I want to see age diversity.
Unrealistic Foods
As a writer, I spend a while researching historical accuracy so I don’t break immersion. I check foodtimeline.org to make sure my fantasy characters are eating plausible meals and I try to think about food availability.
But as a reader, I don’t even care a tiny bit.I don’t care whether a peasant could afford a gorgeous butter cake if the description is yummy enough. I don’t care that stew isn’t a good travelling food. It’s cozy! I just want to read about delicious fantasy foods!
If you want to hear me chat with a fantasy editor about our guilty pleasure fantasy tropes, you can listen to it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Protagonists Who Are Just Arseh*les
And not just because they’re sassy or because they’ve done some crimes!
I want genuinely dislikable protagonists whom I learn to love over the course of the story. I want them to be vain, jealous, conceited, mean-spirited - anything. At least at the start. It makes the journey of them learning and growing so much more fun.
Your guilty pleasure tropes are...
I asked you guys on my Instagram what your guilty pleasure fantasy tropes are. Here are the most common answers:
- Enemies to lovers
- Miscommunication
- Sunshine men (a good few of you also wrote “babygirl men” specifically)
- Chosen one / prophecies
- Scientific worldbuilding
- Found family
I found these results pretty interesting since a lot of these seem very popular, especially things like the chosen one trope. I suppose it could be that these tropes got so popular that there's some pushback where people find them overplayed? Feel free to let me know your thoughts!
