Tropes I Hate

So maybe the verb 'hate' is excessive, but there are some tropes that can really throw me off a story. Or perhaps, what throws me is the way they are used. I firmly believe that any trope can be part of a solid, enjoyable story, even the ones I hate. I just… rarely see them used that way, I guess.

This post, therefore, is in complete indulgence for me to have fun complaining at the end of a tough week. The tropes I'll list here may be tropes you like and that is perfectly okay. I bet plenty of people despise tropes I love. I just want to write out why they turn me away from a story, and feel free to do the same about tropes that have that effect on you in the comments!

Kids save the world, all adults are absent or nerfed or stupid

Exceptions that justify the rule: The Goonies, Avatar (ATLA)

This trope really gets to me. A team of preteens or outright children are called to deal with hugely dangerous adult-level problems, from magic monsters terrorizing a school to full blown alien invasions. Throughout the entire story they don't get and do not need supervision, support, mentoring, or any kind of adult presence. In fact, adults are always bumbling characters that either need saving or are part of the problem.

It's so deeply unrealistic that I can't easily suspend disbelief. Especially if the dialogue belongs more to adults than kids (i.e. the writers don't know how to write kids).

This trope is not the same as having kids needing to deal with hugely dangerous adult-level problems, but with a whole arsenal of support, mentoring, and even protection by adults, in a context where it can't really be helped. I like these stories.

Amnesia

No exceptions I can think of.

This trope I actually loathe, for two reasons: AMNESIA DOESN'T WORK THE WAY WRITERS WANT IT TO WORK. It grates on my nerves from a professional standpoint. Especially if the amnesia comes and goes with a whack to the head, like the skull is the on/off switch to memory.

From an author/audience standpoint, I hate it especially when it's used to pad the plot by 'erasing' all the progress done by a character for an arbitrary amount of time: the lover forgets his loved one and now has to fall in love all over again. The victim of a deception forgets the reveal and now has to discover it all over again or falls into really obvious traps because the amnesia has erased memories of previous encounters with the villain. It's like all the investment done up to then is put on hold for one last repeat of the same investment, and I hate it.

The plot armor

Exception to the rule: 80s Schwarzenegger action movies.

The hero is being shot at by an entire platoon but EVERYONE MISSES. The hero shoots one time and the bullet hits more people than the magic bullet in the JFK assassination. The hero never gets wounded and if they do, it's for aesthetic purposes only, and perhaps for the supporting characters to fawn over for a bit.

I don't know, I like my heroes to be vulnerable and I want to fear for them, that they may actually die or get seriously wounded if they're not careful. It adds to their gumption and capability.

So these three are my top three tropes that I really don't like (that I can think of right now), and the exceptions I listed is where I enjoy the stories/movies anyway even though they include them!

How about you? I'm curious to know.

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