Fantasy trope
tropes in fantasy fiction literature
A fantasy trope is a specific type of literary trope (recurring theme) that occurs in fantasy fiction. Worldbuilding, plot, and characterization have many common conventions, many of them having ultimately originated in myth and folklore. J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium (and in particular, The Lord of the Rings) for example, was inspired from a variety of different sources including Germanic, Finnish, Greek, Celtic and Slavic myths. Literary fantasy works operate using these tropes, while others use them in a revisionist manner, making the tropes over for various reasons such as for comic effect, and to create something fresh (a method that often generates new clichés).
Good vs. Evil
The conflict of good against evil is a theme in the many popular forms of fantasy; normally, evil characters invade and disrupt the good characters' lands. J. R. R. Tolkien delved into the nature of good and evil in The Lord of the Rings, but many of those who followed him use the conflict as a plot device, and often do not distinguish the sides by their behavior. In some works, most notably in sword and sorcery, evil is not opposed by the unambiguously good but by the morally unreliable.
Hero
Heroic characters are a mainstay of fantasy, particularly high fantasy and sword and sorcery. Such characters are capable of more than ordinary behavior, physically, morally, or both.
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This entry incorporates text from “Fantasy trope” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.