10 WORST HERO TROPES IN FICTION
- Jenna Moreci
- Jun 17
- 7 min read
HelloOoOo everybody!
Recently I took a poll asking which tropes you'd like me to cover next, and we got a landslide vote. You guys want me to complain about terrible heroes and heroines, and I gotta say, I'm right there with ya. Everyone knows I love a good hero's journey, but some writers be fucking shit up, so let's discuss. I’m breaking down the ten hero tropes that need to be killed and burned to the ground ’cause they suck.
This video is sponsored by Skillshare. As always, all opinions are my own.
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Number 1: The Hero With the Dead Wife
Everyone knows about the woman in the refrigerator. Anyone with any taste hates the woman in the refrigerator. But this trope is so much more than that. There is an entire MC trope surrounding a hero with a dead wife, and people keep writing about him over and over again.
His wife died. It's usually murder and the culprit is, you guessed it, his enemies. He becomes cold and hardened, jaded to the point where he rarely if ever expresses any human emotion. But this is a good thing, because emotionally unavailable men are like, so hot. Of course, he's gonna fight the good fight against the baddies. He'll probably accumulate a band of loyal, skilled followers, because man, that one-note, dead-eyed bastard is cool, am I right?
Along the way, he'll screw lots of gorgeous women who are madly in love with him, but he can never commit himself to them because remember, he's damaged goods. If this character sounds familiar, it's because he is the lead in 50% of all action-adventure stories, and he needs to retire yesterday.
Number 2: Wild Red Hair
Nowadays you can usually spot the heroine of a story based on her wild, red, curly hair. You see, her hair is a metaphor. It’s wild because she's a free spirit, and she can't be tamed. I don't know if you know this, but hair always dictates personality. For example, my hair is brown 'cause I'm a piece of shit.
Next, her hair is curly because someone with straight hair probably wrote her. This chick lives in medieval Europe with zero access to styling balms, which means she probably looks like shit.
Lastly, her hair is red because it's unique, just like she is, along with every other heroine who has the same hair color and personality as she does. But then when you see the author's face claims for her, it's gonna be some hot blonde chick with bottle-red, because the natural redheads are too pale. Ew. Here's an idea: if you don't like the way redheads look, give them a different hair color dummy.
Number 3: The Grizzled, Alcoholic, Anti-Hero
His life's hard, the road is tough, and he is not your goddamn hero, all right? You can tell by the whiskers on his face and the empty bottles of alcohol in his dingy apartment. They're empty ’cause he drank them, in case you didn't get that. He's not a normal hero, he's a cool hero.
Sometimes he’s even edgier than a five o'clock shadow and Scotch neat. His Scotch is neat because everyone's heard of Scotch on the rocks, it’s too cliche. And he’s not a cliche. Sometimes this anti-hero takes pills, snorts cocaine, or even beats his wife. ’Cause nothing's more original than a white dude with an inferiority complex, who treats women like shit.
Number 4: “But I Don’t Wanna Be This Impossibly Cool Thing!”
A lot of times the hero faces an impossible dilemma, something that a normal person would struggle to overcome. Maybe they discover abilities that come with a steep price. Usually, their initial response is to nope on out of there, which makes total sense.
Then there are situations where the hero is rewarded with some impossibly cool thing: powers, magic, a royal birthright, a connection to the gods! And their first response is, “No! It can't be true. I'm just a regular teenager. All I wanna do is live a normal life.”
No one wants to live a normal life. Unless you've grown up destitute or in dire circumstances, normal is not going to be your goal. Give these powers some consequences or else no one's gonna buy the hissy fit.
Number 5: The Princess Who Is Bad at Princess-ing
She wants to be a good princess, the best princess the land has ever seen, but she's just such a disaster! Her hair is never in the proper place, she's terrible at curtsying, and these dresses are just too dang tight!
“Aurora, you dirtied your gown yet again!”
“But Mama, I can't help it. I love riding horses so very much.”
“Horses aren't for princesses Aurora. You should know that by now.”
“But Mama, I love riding with the boys. I love the feeling of the wind in my hair and a strong powerful force between my legs.”
"That sounded sexual.”
“Pretend it didn’t!”
“My sweet daughter. You're a woman now. Every princess from every fictional kingdom in the history of literature is expected to behave in the exact same manner. There's a status quo to uphold, and for the sake of regurgitating tired plots, our author really needs you to suck at sipping tea. Even though anyone with hands can do it.”
“But Mama!”
“Silence Aurora, you've disappointed me for far too long!”
Number 6: Femininity Is for Pussies
Like our last point, our heroine isn't remotely feminine. But that's why she's our leading lady. She's not like other girls. Her strength comes from her masculinity. She's one of the guys. Girly stuff is for airheads. She’ll remind you of that at least twice a chapter.
I am completely fine with a female MC who is not remotely feminine, but do we need to vilify femininity in order to validate her existence? A lot of feminine conventions are tough as shit. You know what I see when I look at heels? Danger! This ain’t just sexy, it's a goddamn weapon. Yeah, manicures are pretty, but with stiletto nails, I could claw your face off. Back up, bitch.
Femininity and weakness are not synonymous. Stop trying to make it happen, no one buys it.
Number 7: It’s Just a Scratch
It's hard writing action scenes in fiction because any injury sustained could potentially be fatal. This is why so many writers have plot devices like healing magic or super strength. It makes it so that you can rough up your characters without them keeling over.
Then there are writers who cut off their regular human character's arm and go, “Whoopsie, bet that tickled.” Then the character continues to fight the battle.
How? How are they not writhing on the ground in shock? How have they not passed out from blood loss? I see this done with all kinds of injuries. Do you know how serious an arrow wound is? Those things will fuck you up. Unless your character is immortal or magical, I expect you to treat their serious injuries seriously.
Number 8: Save Her From Her Shitty Boyfriend
Our hero is madly in love with the perfect woman. She's smart and beautiful, and so, so kind. But oh my god, her boyfriend is such a dick. Like we're talking cartoon-level douchebag. Clearly, our hero has to save her from her awful relationship. How else will she get out of it? Certainly not of her own volition.
I hate this trope because no matter the circumstance it makes the female love interest look so, so bad. Either she has no idea her boyfriend is an asshole, in which case, she is mind-numbingly stupid. Or she knows he's an asshole and she's perfectly fine with it. You know who's happy to fuck an asshole? Another asshole. It takes a true garbage human to be attracted to someone who happily degrades other people right in front of them. Guess who's not in love with your love interest? This lady.
Number 9: The Useless Warrior Woman
I love a kick-ass female character, and even better, she doesn't need a man to save her. Well, except when she's in danger, which is literally all the time. How the hell do you get off writing a soldier, fighter, or most commonly, an assassin, who is so adamant that she needs no help at all, and yet, never once proves it?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she can't stumble from time to time. The love interest can swoop in once or twice. I'm cool with it. It’s swoony.
But every goddamn time? She was described as lethal. You've done goofed up there, writer, ’cause I'm not believing any of that shit.
Number 10: Fuck All the Hoes
Our main guy slays all the baddies and fucks all the bitches. Of course, he does. I'm not saying our hero can't get laid, but does he have to put it in everything? At that point, he's just asking for syphilis. And nine times out of ten, the dude is a chauvinist and a womanizer. Wonderful.
How insecure are these writers that they need to live through a fictional character getting his fictional dick fictionally wet? The only people who are impressed by this cliche are old eggshell ego men, and they're gonna die pretty soon. Who are you gonna market these books to then?
So that's all I've got for you today!
If you're writing heroes or heroines like this, stop it. I can't take it anymore.
A huge thank you to Skillshare for sponsoring this video. They have my back and I love them for it. If you're interested in learning more about creative writing or the business end of publishing, I highly recommend Skillshare. They're super cheap, an annual subscription is less than ten bucks a month. Get in on this offer. No dicking around, okay?
*This post is sponsored by Skillshare. As always, all opinions are my own.
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This had me laughing and nodding the whole way through! These overused hero tropes seriously need to be retired, let’s aim for originality! And if you're stuck trying to break cliché habits or polish your work, a ghostwriter essay service can be a game-changer.
This was such a fun read! Wild how these clichéd heroes still end up on Wikipedia. I help authors boost their online presence with the help of services offered at low prices. https://www.wikicreation.co.uk/wikipedia-page-for-a-book ,this hit close to home! Let me know if you'd like it even more casual or polished.
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