RP clichés?

[DemetrioMachete]

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What are some of your most well known RP clichés? They dont have to be called favorites, but.. Just some that you believe have gained notoriety. Here are some of mine. -characters with Japanese names, or names inspired by Japan. While there is nothing wrong with this, it can seem out of place in a Western-inspired setting. -characters that use Japanese weapons. It seems like everyone and their mother uses a katana nowadays. When was the last time you saw someone use a longsword? A halberd? Their fists? Whats worse is that over half of these katana users have magical katanas. -Adolescent characters with significant angst. As though hormones have taken a wrong turn.. a lot of characters I have met are in the 16-18 year range and have horrible anti-social tendencies as well as post traumatic stress disorder. -Ancient young'ns. Unless youre an Esper or something.. why are you 5000 years old and you still look 18? Those are just a few I know of and can recall. What about you folks?


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[LegoLad659]

While I don't have an answer for your question, I'd like to point out that I thought of one of my OCs for each of the things you cited, either for following it and having an excuse for it, or being similar to it somehow xD Is this bad?

 

[call me rae]

Well my favorite cliche is just


- Misunderstandings that lead to shenanigans. or Shenanigans in general.

 

[DemetrioMachete]

While I don't have an answer for your question, I'd like to point out that I thought of one of my OCs for each of the things you cited, either for following it and having an excuse for it, or being similar to it somehow xD Is this bad?

No it isnt bad.. But I do think that those are relatively common in a lot of RP's.

 

[LegoLad659]

No it isnt bad.. But I do think that those are relatively common in a lot of RP's.

Eh. The way I see it, as long as it's significantly justified, then it's okay to use ( ) Otherwise it's just kinda... "Huh?!"

 

[Fire Emblem IF Leo]

I wouldn't really call it an RP cliche, it's more of an anime one. I've seen it in so many RPs I'm in. Though. When the main guy stumbles over and falls on top of his love interest.

 

[Elephantom]

Teenagers and young adults, all in bright condition. While this is generally good in small doses, it seems an awful lot repetitive in huge scales. For example, ever notice the massive amounts of high school and teen-oriented RP? In fact, this is so cliche, that I'm actually starting to despise even the thought of a teenage character. I once got a character rejected purely for being in his early forties, there wasn't any age limits before I made the character, but the GM did made sure of putting up one, after rejecting my character.


Another thing would be all the these unoriginal post-apocalyptic zombie plots, which neither seems to possess any realism nor any source of intrigue.


Simple or cheesy plots can also be considered as a cliche, seeing as there seems to be a lack of roleplays with detailed, meaningful plots and backstories which have depth in them.


At this point, I think I'm rambling a bit too much, I'll stop... For the current moment being.

 

[DemetrioMachete]

Hm.. I have a few more.


-Magic teens. These youngsters have about as good of a grasp on magic as a seasoned Wizard or Sorceror. Not only that, but most seem to conjure up whatever kind of magic they want. An example: an 18 year old knight that is versed in Fire magic, as well as ritual summoning and healing magic. Thats a Fighter, Evocation Wizard, Conjuration Wizard, and a Cleric all in one. Shouldnt you be about 80 by the time youve mastered all of those skills?


- Know-it-alls. Kinda goes hand-in-hand with Special Snowflake Syndrome. These characters know everything about the rp setting, and can easily tell when their character is being lied to.


-Vampires. Not the traditional kind of vampire, either. We're talking daywalking vampires that shed their signiature weaknesses of sunlight in order to become immortal mary sues with no weaknesses.


-Werewolves. Not the brutal, curse based ones. Im talking about the romanticized lycans that can engage their beastly forms at will, and have little to no connection with the full moon.. Which I think is unfair. Sad face.


-Kemonomimi. Hope I spelled that right.. If youre not familiar with the term, it refers to humanoid beings that also have animal parts, like fox ears, cat tails, or bird wings.. But still look human. (examples: Nekomata, Kitsune, Bunny people, Harpies.)

 

[ardentMirror]

Something that's gained a sort of infamy among fantasy RPers is what's called "The Bard". "Bards" don't actually have to be bards, but it's usually them. They often flirt with what is seen as exotic. And not I'm not talking about elves or even orcs. I'm talking about things like dragon people or really monstrous races.

 

[ETC]

A classic one is having two characters bump into each other. Not even always in the anime senpai-smacks-into-kawaii-kouhai sort of way.


I've seen it mostly used when the rp is just starting or when someone new signs up, and the player has no idea how to introduce their character into a plot. So, they just have their character run too fast or turn a corner, and physically bump into another. Mostly resulting in one of them getting angry, or them both apologizing. Whether or not it actually works to get characters interacting depends on the setting- for instance, if it's two strangers in a huge city realistically they'd just both apologize and go on their way... not very effective. If they're forced to stay in close proximity for some reason maybe it'll lead to a conversation that isn't about them bumping into each other.


I'll admit though, I used this one a lot when I was first starting rping and even have sort-of recently. Sometimes it can work as a way to get some action going!


But it has started to feel overused to me.

 

[pripyatranger]

Marry Sue type of characters... I mean the worst cliche in the world. Giving me cancer.

 

[Sunbather]

Teenagers and young adults, all in bright condition. While this is generally good in small doses, it seems an awful lot repetitive in huge scales. For example, ever notice the massive amounts of high school and teen-oriented RP? In fact, this is so cliche, that I'm actually starting to despise even the thought of a teenage character. I once got a character rejected purely for being in his early forties, there wasn't any age limits before I made the character, but the GM did made sure of putting up one, after rejecting my character.
Another thing would be all the these unoriginal post-apocalyptic zombie plots, which neither seems to possess any realism nor any source of intrigue.


Simple or cheesy plots can also be considered as a cliche, seeing as there seems to be a lack of roleplays with detailed, meaningful plots and backstories which have depth in them.


At this point, I think I'm rambling a bit too much, I'll stop... For the current moment being.

Oh my god, yes, this. I hate looking through ICs only to see that every topic starts with "[x amount] teens in their last year of school/on a cruise/in a vacation home doing [random edgy stuff]"

 

[Play On Words]

The plot: Bad boy x Good girl


The Power-Players


And the people that just join a RP and jump in at a dramatic part between 2+ characters, when it's crucial to the plot that they're alone.

 

[Upton O Goode]

Is anyone familiar with the "X is a nice person, but when things get serious, they get seriouser!" personality? I've seen it all the damn time. Half of everyone in my early days of roleplaying made characters who were nice people but went full combat mode when they had to. Naturally, this was in RPs with a dose of combat involved, like Naruto and Bleach fandom RPs, but anything where players might have to get into a fight had characters that were ALWAYS READY to fight.


But also friendly bubbly social butterflies when off the job.

 

[LegoLad659]

Is anyone familiar with the "X is a nice person, but when things get serious, they get seriouser!" personality? I've seen it all the damn time. Half of everyone in my early days of roleplaying made characters who were nice people but went full combat mode when they had to. Naturally, this was in RPs with a dose of combat involved, like Naruto and Bleach fandom RPs, but anything where players might have to get into a fight had characters that were ALWAYS READY to fight.
But also friendly bubbly social butterflies when off the job.

I'm of the mindset that unless the character is a full-on cloudcuckoolander, any character tends to get more serious when things get serious. I'm not a psychologist, but I'm pretty sure it's part of Human nature.

 

[Upton O Goode]

I'm of the mindset that unless the character is a full-on cloudcuckoolander, any character tends to get more serious when things get serious. I'm not a psychologist, but I'm pretty sure it's part of Human nature.

The point was that no character ever seems to not be one hundred and ten percent ready for a tense situation. You're not going to tell me that every person in the world would laugh in the face of death and fight like a trained soldier, are you?

 

[LegoLad659]

The point was that no character ever seems to not be one hundred and ten percent ready for a tense situation. You're not going to tell me that every person in the world would laugh in the face of death and fight like a trained soldier?

Now, there you have a point. It didn't sound like you were talking about the extreme, so I was just hoping to clarify ( )

 

[Bakuyoshi]

What are some of your most well known RP clichés? They dont have to be called favorites, but.. Just some that you believe have gained notoriety. Here are some of mine.
-characters with Japanese names, or names inspired by Japan. While there is nothing wrong with this, it can seem out of place in a Western-inspired setting.


-characters that use Japanese weapons. It seems like everyone and their mother uses a katana nowadays. When was the last time you saw someone use a longsword? A halberd? Their fists? Whats worse is that over half of these katana users have magical katanas.


-Adolescent characters with significant angst. As though hormones have taken a wrong turn.. a lot of characters I have met are in the 16-18 year range and have horrible anti-social tendencies as well as post traumatic stress disorder.


-Ancient young'ns. Unless youre an Esper or something.. why are you 5000 years old and you still look 18?


Those are just a few I know of and can recall. What about you folks?

Oh my god I just realized this race of creatures I made for an RP fit into that last category. Albeit somewhat. They bodies are stuck at the age of 18 for the first 300 years of their lives. After that they start aging. But at a slower rate than humans.

 

[Idea]

Time to be the devil´s advocate!

A classic one is having two characters bump into each other. Not even always in the anime senpai-smacks-into-kawaii-kouhai sort of way.
I've seen it mostly used when the rp is just starting or when someone new signs up, and the player has no idea how to introduce their character into a plot. So, they just have their character run too fast or turn a corner, and physically bump into another. Mostly resulting in one of them getting angry, or them both apologizing. Whether or not it actually works to get characters interacting depends on the setting- for instance, if it's two strangers in a huge city realistically they'd just both apologize and go on their way... not very effective. If they're forced to stay in close proximity for some reason maybe it'll lead to a conversation that isn't about them bumping into each other.


I'll admit though, I used this one a lot when I was first starting rping and even have sort-of recently. Sometimes it can work as a way to get some action going!


But it has started to feel overused to me.

My quarrel with that would be, what do you suggest is used instead? I agree, it´s overused, but it hasn´t quite "lost it´s meaning", so it doesn´t quite qualify as a cliché and even qualifying as bad is...quite debatable. I mean, I think it´s a good trade to have a bad way for the characters to introduce and in return have this much more interesting and disperse characters, that wouldn´t normally meet and interact and actually see them do so.

Hm.. I have a few more.
-Magic teens. These youngsters have about as good of a grasp on magic as a seasoned Wizard or Sorceror. Not only that, but most seem to conjure up whatever kind of magic they want. An example: an 18 year old knight that is versed in Fire magic, as well as ritual summoning and healing magic. Thats a Fighter, Evocation Wizard, Conjuration Wizard, and a Cleric all in one. Shouldnt you be about 80 by the time youve mastered all of those skills?


- Know-it-alls. Kinda goes hand-in-hand with Special Snowflake Syndrome. These characters know everything about the rp setting, and can easily tell when their character is being lied to.


-Vampires. Not the traditional kind of vampire, either. We're talking daywalking vampires that shed their signiature weaknesses of sunlight in order to become immortal mary sues with no weaknesses.


-Werewolves. Not the brutal, curse based ones. Im talking about the romanticized lycans that can engage their beastly forms at will, and have little to no connection with the full moon.. Which I think is unfair. Sad face.


-Kemonomimi. Hope I spelled that right.. If youre not familiar with the term, it refers to humanoid beings that also have animal parts, like fox ears, cat tails, or bird wings.. But still look human. (examples: Nekomata, Kitsune, Bunny people, Harpies.)

The point was that no character ever seems to not be one hundred and ten percent ready for a tense situation. You're not going to tell me that every person in the world would laugh in the face of death and fight like a trained soldier, are you?

Is anyone familiar with the "X is a nice person, but when things get serious, they get seriouser!" personality? I've seen it all the damn time. Half of everyone in my early days of roleplaying made characters who were nice people but went full combat mode when they had to. Naturally, this was in RPs with a dose of combat involved, like Naruto and Bleach fandom RPs, but anything where players might have to get into a fight had characters that were ALWAYS READY to fight.
But also friendly bubbly social butterflies when off the job.

Marry Sue type of characters... I mean the worst cliche in the world. Giving me cancer.

I can´t really contest these...

Something that's gained a sort of infamy among fantasy RPers is what's called "The Bard". "Bards" don't actually have to be bards, but it's usually them. They often flirt with what is seen as exotic. And not I'm not talking about elves or even orcs. I'm talking about things like dragon people or really monstrous races.

I...just don´t see how that´s a problem, like, at all. I mean, speaking as someone who often makes animal or monstrous characters because they are much more interesting to me, demanding that people won´t even get on friendly terms with those other characters seems quite narrow minded and frankly, neglecting.

Teenagers and young adults, all in bright condition. While this is generally good in small doses, it seems an awful lot repetitive in huge scales. For example, ever notice the massive amounts of high school and teen-oriented RP? In fact, this is so cliche, that I'm actually starting to despise even the thought of a teenage character. I once got a character rejected purely for being in his early forties, there wasn't any age limits before I made the character, but the GM did made sure of putting up one, after rejecting my character.

it´s the basis, because again, unless you have a plot that REQUIRES adults, it´s easier to make one with teens. Three reasons for it:


1.Teens are easier to gather, as they have schools and such things


2. Teens are the common accepted, it´s the first thing that pops into your mind if you want to have a closed age group


3. Teens are in the most suited time of their lives as far as psychological growth is when considering a character: Teens are finding their sense of identity and are beginning to explore the concept of sexuality. It´s perfect for RPs ,as they usually occur over short spans of time, and they need to have character growth and romance within that.


The last topic in particular, teens wouldn´t really be a cliché, as they haven´t lost meaning, it is still applied.

Another thing would be all the these unoriginal post-apocalyptic zombie plots, which neither seems to possess any realism nor any source of intrigue.

I would actually say the opposite: Zombie plots have so much intriguide and tension that it degrades itself. More than rip-offs, zombie apolcalypses are practically replays in most cases. Disguised fandoms. I will agree they are a cliché, but you have to consider if realism and intriguide is really what is at heart in a zombie apocalypse story.

Simple or cheesy plots can also be considered as a cliche, seeing as there seems to be a lack of roleplays with detailed, meaningful plots and backstories which have depth in them.

have you SEEN these "detailed meaningful plots"? Let me tell you the fantasy section is crawling up with worlds of clearly extensive content and very meaningful and detailed, but then loose themselves because they only appeal to a ninche.


All this said, I´ll post some of my own pet peeves soon.

 

[ardentMirror]

I...just don´t see how that´s a problem, like, at all. I mean, speaking as someone who often makes animal or monstrous characters because they are much more interesting to me, demanding that people won´t even get on friendly terms with those other characters seems quite narrow minded and frankly, neglecting.

I never said of that as a bad thing at all. Hell, sometimes I even make something that falls under the "Bard" cliche once in a while. Cliches aren't bad things at all. There's a reason they become popular enough to be considered cliches in a first place.

 

[Idea]

I never said of that as a bad thing at all. Hell, sometimes I even make something that falls under the "Bard" cliche once in a while. Cliches aren't bad things at all. There's a reason they become popular enough to be considered cliches in a first place.

that´s true, though a good cliché isn´t a cliché anymore. A cliché is something that is so overused it lost it´s meaning. If it is used well, then it is meaningful again, making it no longer a cliché at least in that situation.

 

[LegoLad659]

I never said of that as a bad thing at all. Hell, sometimes I even make something that falls under the "Bard" cliche once in a while. Cliches aren't bad things at all. There's a reason they become popular enough to be considered cliches in a first place.

I think people are getting the terms 'Cliche' and 'Trope' mixed up here...

 

[DemetrioMachete]

I think people are getting the terms 'Cliche' and 'Trope' mixed up here...

Honestly I get them mixed up, too.

 

[ardentMirror]

Yeah, I do admit I often get the meaning of those mixed up as well, but I was never one to completely discount cliches if you can still twist them in some shape.

 

[LegoLad659]

Honestly I get them mixed up, too.

Yeah, I do admit I often get the meaning of those mixed up as well, but I was never one to completely discount cliches if you can still twist them in some shape.

I guess it can be easy. To simplify it for anyone who doesn't know:


Cliche - A specific type of writing, either for a scene, setting, character, or really anything else, that has been used so much it has become tiresome for the general public to see. These can be very much subjective, however. Cliches have generally worked in the past, but have been used over and over and over and over again to where the original meaning for the scene the cliche spawned from has been completely lost.


Trope - A 'Tool' of sorts used to generate a setting, character, plot, etc. that has worked in the past, and is used by several other mediums as well. Many writers draw upon inspiration, often deriving their own ideas from tropes used in other works. And even if you don't intentionally use a trope, 99.9% of original works will contain a trope of some sort. It's unavoidable, the key to writing is not avoiding tropes, but using them to your advantage and to create a good story.