In fantasy or epic stories, one thing that bugs me is how the hero is practically the same in every single one. I've noticed that the following have become very popular but also very overdone:
1) The hero starts off on a farm. There's nothing wrong with someone having farming origins, but there are plenty of other occupations that could be used instead. Your hero could come from a background in fishing, in hunting (though this one would depend on what kind of society you use, and it wouldn't really work in a Medieval-esque world... unless the family is poaching illegally), in mining, in forestry, or a number of other occupations.
2) The hero has obscure origins. In "The Inheritance Cycle", you have Eragon having an unknown father and a mother who was absent completely from his life. In "The Wheel of Time", the protagonist supposedly has parents but is revealed to have been adopted. It's rare to find a hero who has both parents still alive and who is living with them when the story begins.
3) The hero comes from a more remote region of the kingdom/empire/ civilization. I can't think of a recent hero that comes from a city or a more populated region. Granted, it does make for interesting interactions between a country boy and the big city, but it has been overused, in my opinion.
4) The hero falls for a princess or someone high up on the food chain. Eragon falls for Arya, Joraeim from "Beyond the Summerland" falls for Princess Wylla, and others do the same. I can't recall a hero who loves a girl from his hometown and returns to her at the end of everything; that, to me, is more romantic.
5) Another one is that the hero is somehow a descendant of a king or royalty or to whoever's ruling the place, which harkens back to his often-obscure origins. This too has been overdone, and I'd like to see a hero who is just an ordinary person with no connections to a ruling person.
These are just a few examples, but I find it sad that these five have been used so much in stories when there is greater potential for heroes and their background.
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Well, my hero isn't from a farm... he knows who his parents are, and lives with them at the beginning of the story (gets separated from them because of certain circumstances)... he lives in the capital city... he doesn't fall for royalty because (here's the kicker) there is no romance in my story... but, alas, he is a nobleman's son. And then another MC is a prince. But, the first four definitely don't apply. They basically marry within their own rank when they marry, too :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The farmer boy orphan descendant of kings who falls in love with a totally awesome princess is a little on the cliche side!
Good for you! :)
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