Written by: wera_nyooms

Hello Citizens!

Today, we will be going over some Urban Fantasy clichés and what you can do to avoid them.

What is a cliché?

A cliché is an overused idea or concept that can be considered boring and uncreative.

Cliché #1: A Supernatural Law Enforcement Protagonist

Our first cliché involves a character who is a supernatural creature who works in law enforcement like a detective or a police officer.

Solution: Make the character different! Do they have to be supernatural creatures? Do they have to work in law enforcement? There are so many stories where a supernatural creature works against other supernatural creatures. You can explore your character in other settings such as medicine or school.

Cliché #2: Love Triangles

Our second cliché discusses romance triangles between the protagonist and two romantic interests. This is also prevalent in other genres as well. They typically make the first guy seem selfish and the second guy interferes in their relationship.

Solution: Love triangles aren't wrong, they're something that helps drive the plot. But if you want your story to be different from most urban fantasy novels, you could show the struggles between the protagonist and one love interest and show how their romance develops over a series of books, rather than in a single book!

Cliché #3: The Bad Boy

A common thing we see in urban fantasy novels is the bad boy. This character is bad in every way, ranging from questioning authority to downright defiance. He is usually presented as a supernatural boy with a dark past, but the protagonist still manages to fall in love with him. Despite the potential for a toxic relationship, the protagonist can't seem to stay away!

Solution: To avoid classic bad boy clichés, prepare a different description! It's always a character with dark hair. Wouldn't it be nice to have a character with blonde or auburn hair? Another way to address this cliché is to take away the dark past completely and change his personality! Make him the class clown, the protagonist's best friend, or a friendly neighbor.

Cliché #4: Vampires, Werewolves, Oh My!

Another common cliché in urban fantasy is the incorporation of vampires and werewolves. They are overused, but despite this, they prove to be popular time and time again.

Solution: Want to change the world? Consider incorporating other supernatural creatures from different regional mythology and folklore like legendary ghosts or vengeful spirits. There's more to the supernatural/paranormal genre than vampires and werewolves.

Cliché #5: The Chosen One

There's always a protagonist who is destined to save the world from the end of the world. It's a common trope we see in fantasy as a whole and can be hard to avoid because they provide such powerful narratives.

Solution: Change your character up a little! What if they were an antihero or the antagonist? If you're interested in a list of tropes, we recommend checking out this detailed list (https://screencraft.org/2018/07/09/99-archetypes-and-stock-characters-screenwriters-can-mold/).

Cliché #6: The Hidden World

Like the others on this list, a common cliché is that the supernatural world is hidden to humans. We see this in The Vampires Diaries and The Night World series.

Solution: What if humans coexisted with supernatural creatures?

Cliché #7: Rejecting the Supernatural

The protagonist, upon realizing that supernatural creatures exist, often deny that it exists even after seeing solid proof of their existence!

Solution: What if the protagonist didn't spend half the book disproving the supernatural and, instead, worked together with the creatures of this hidden world to help them achieve their goals?

Cliché #8: Love at First Sight

Instant love between two characters is not as common as most writers think, but when it actually happens, it's magical. However, it's yet another common cliché in urban fantasy. The protagonist and love interest may meet, but they have very little interaction, and yet, they manage to fall in love with each other instantly.

Solution: Develop their relationship in a deeper way. If it's instant love, what is it about the love interest that attracts the protagonist and vice versa? But if you want to set your novel apart from most urban fantasy books, you can do a slow burn romance, where the characters discover their love for each other over time through various obstacles and foes. Tension is key.

Cliché #9: The Damsel in Distress

When the protagonist is suddenly made aware of the supernatural world, she is exposed to the dangers of having this knowledge. Whenever she stumbles into a trap set forth by a supernatural creature, it's up to the love interest to save her.

Solution: What if the protagonist could save herself? Maybe she has a hidden power? If you make your character strong enough to defend herself, but not strong enough that she's overpowered, you've succeeded in avoiding this cliché.

Cliché #10: Age Difference

A common example is a vampire who is hundreds of years old, who happens to fall in love with a human girl who is considerably younger than the vampire (that's right, we're looking right at you, Twilight).

Solution: What if they were the same age? Explore different nuances so that it's not constantly the centuries-old vampire/human girl trope.

Sources:

https://writingtipsoasis.com/urban-fantasy-cliches-to-avoid/

https://screencraft.org/2018/07/09/99-archetypes-and-stock-characters-screenwriters-can-mold/