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The 20 most used RPG cliches

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ThornThorizas's avatar
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Literature Text

The 20 most used RPG clichés.

1. The main character will often find themselves in a new world, with little grasp on what is going on.

2. No matter what the story, the world will always be in peril by the end.

3. Ancient prophecies always come true.

4. The main guy and girl will always get together by the end.

5. One of your party will be sulky, and be shrouded in mystery.

6. They will spend the entire story going ‘…’.

7. One of your party will be older than the main character.

8. The mage will be female.

9. The swordsman will be male.

10. One of your party will probably die/not be real.

11. Townspeople will let you wander into their houses.

12. Your party will be rebelling against royalty or a large organisation.  

13. Items that seem completely random and useless will be incredibly important later on.

14. Houses are always unlocked.

15. An authority figure that seems good at the beginning will be evil by the end.

16. Unusual items such as treasure chests and pots can readily be found in people’s homes.

17. One town will be inhabited by monsters/people who can’t speak English/no one.

18. Your character will be the ‘only one who can save mankind’.

19. No matter what the game is, it just won’t be as good as the original.

20. Our mothers told us never to talk to strangers, while the game encourages us to.
Exactly what it says on the tin. here are (in my opinion) the 20 most used RPG clichés, from Final Fantasy and such. Feel free to suggest more if you wish.
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torerik's avatar
You will accumulate at least three of these obligatory party members:

1. The spunky princess who is rebelling against her royal parent and is in love with the hero.

2. The demure, soft spoken female mage and healing magic specialist who is not only in love with the hero, but is also the last survivor of a ancient race.

3. The tough-as-nails female warrior who is not in love with the hero (note that this is the only female character in the game who is not in love with the hero and will therefore be indicated as such by having a spectacular scar, a missing eye, cyborg limbs or some other physical deformity.

4. The achingly beautiful gothy swordsman who is riven by inner tragedy.

5. The big, tough, angry guy who, deep down, is a total softy.

6. The hero's best friend, who is actually much cooler than the hero.

7. The grim, selfish mercenary who over the course of the game learns what it means to really care about other people.

8. The character who is actually a spy for the bad guys but will instantly switch to your side when you find out about it.

9. The weird bonus character who requires a bizarre series of side quests to make them effective (with the ultimate result that no player ever uses this character if it can be avoided).

And 10. The nauseatingly cute mascot who is useless in all battles.