Tuesday, May 09, 2006

More Fantasy Cliches

Via Tambo, put your heroes and villains to the cliche test. I went through the hero test, checking everything that bore even a hint of a resemblance to Rayn. Scored a 94. Ouch. Went back through and unchecked everything that I had a "yes, but" answer that put a decent spin on the cliche and scored a 27. My villains did the best at 13 and 18, but then my villains tend to be my best drawn characters. Wish I knew why. *halo*

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

For Aurora's Riddle Aislin scored a 26 (heroine) and Nighili scored a 9 (villain). *-* Most of Aislin's score seemed to come from the magic aspect, which might be cliched, but it kind of goes with the "territory" (you don't get to have mythical creatures without magic).

Debating whether Nighili's is accurate, considering they listed "sea floor" as a harsh environment. I didn't check it, though, considering that's the environment the merrows exist in, as well, so it doesn't rank as "harsh" for this book.

Kellie said...

One of the cliches that surprised me was "son of a farmer," which is what Rayn is. Maybe I haven't read enough or the right fantasy novels, but I can't recall a single hero being the son of a farmer. *shrugs*

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I don't have sons of farmers on my shelf, but I have a lot of males who are in "low" professions at the outset. My guess is that's what they might be referring to, though it wasn't done properly.

To be honest, depending on what time period you're using for a "reference" farming makes a lot of sense. I mean, if you're in a newly settled region, you don't have a prominent aristocracy, do you? You have settlers who are likely farmers. Not the best question, really.

Kellie said...

If it's just "low" profession, then I guess Raynal doesn't apply as he is in training to be a scribe. Unless that's "low" as well?

Anonymous said...

Depends on the culture, I'd guess. I have a book where a scribe is actually a well-to-do and respectable position, in line with minor nobility.

And then I have a book where scribes are shunted into the corners and hidden behind screens, because they're meaningless little servants, designed to make the wealthy look intelligent.

Really depends on what the culture is like, I think (which, really, could apply to any position - even a farmer *-*).