Fantasy is one of the most popular categories in media. To be considered fantasy, a world needs magical elements or creatures. Besides that, there are also recurring themes within the genre. A fantasy trope can make or break a person's experience with films, TV, movies, or books.
Some tropes are seen so often that people grow tired of their predictability. Other cliches are beloved even though people know what to expect. Those are the ones that will pop up time and time again. From an elf with a bow to a hero of prophecy, some fantasy tropes will last the test of time.
11 Artifact Of Power
Superpowered artifacts outshine most other things in the world. They are almost always constructed and hidden away to be found by heroes or villains. What makes these items exceptional besides their power is their rarity. Artifact implies something uncommon that poses specific importance to cultures or history, so the more there are, the less interesting they become.
An item that comes up in lots of fantasy media is Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur. It's magical, a representation of a true leader, and there exists only one of it. Similarly, the One Ring from Lord of the Rings is desired by many parties for the power it gives the wearer.
10 Parallel Magical World
A fantastical world can hide in plain sight without being noticed. When the main character finally discovers this and the secret is unmasked, the characters are thrust into the world. They can't deny it and going back to a mundane life is impossible. It's often been in the world all along and reveals to the characters and readers that such magic has been hiding under their noses the whole time.
Harry Potter is a great representation of this. Once the magical world was seen, new locations revealed themselves like an unknown train station platform.
9 Ragtag Team Of Heroes
The ragtag team of heroes that aren't qualified to solve plot problems, but they'll be victorious. The group could end up together if they are friends of the main character, put together at the last second, no one else is willing to try, or previous teams have failed. Most ragtag teams of misfits consist of any combination of hero, sidekick, brains, brawn, mentor, or comedy relief. Despite being flawed, the team always succeeds.
One example of this trope is the Mystery Inc. team. Daphne is the pretty one, Fred is the leader, Velma the brains, and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are the comedy relief. They get into a lot of hijinks along the way but always unmask the villain.
8 Legends And Mythology
Legends, myths, and folklore are used as inspiration for fantasy content. This means anything from Norse or Greek gods to mythical creatures like mermaids. These allow people to learn about the past in new and refreshing ways. History is told for the morals and characters that players can relate to. There's always a new way to depict Zeus or a different hero players haven't heard of.
God of War tells the story of Kratos living in the world of Norse myth after enacting vengeance on the gods of Olympus. Norse, Greek, and Roman mythology are all popular to pull from. Hades does this as well, turning the story of Hades' son into a roguelike adventure.
7 Medievalism
Many made-up fantasy worlds parallel Medieval Europe. This gives people the excuse to add swords, shields, knights and more into games as well as fantastical elements associated with that genre like dragons. These types of games often have hand-to-hand combat, ancient settings, and wars between kingdoms.
Video game examples include the Dark Souls franchise where players explore a vast world littered with castles and monsters, or Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim where players fight against dragons and other fantasy races.
6 Lovable Rogue
A lovable rogue is a character that despite doing bad things the viewer still likes. These characters will break the law or do other misdeeds for their own benefit, following their own moral code and not society's. Lovable rogues are often charismatic, charming, and do bad things for good reasons or to bad people.
Zidane Tribal from Final Fantasy IX is a great example of this trope of character. He belongs to a traveling group of thieves who perform to distract people while they do jobs. Despite deciding to kidnap a princess, things escalate into him helping protect the planet.
5 The Mentor And The Apprentice
This trope is most common in fantasy and science fiction. Main characters can start with few skills and must be taught by a wise mentor figure. Once trained, they're ready to go defeat whatever conflict exists. This can be depicted in a training montage. Sometimes the mentor will train multiple people, and students can turn into heroes or villains. Other times, the mentor will die which gives the apprentice the motivation to take action.
An example of this is Obi-Wan Kenobi training Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi. In this same trope and also from the Star Wars universe, Anakin Skywalker is trained by Qui-Gon Jinn but turns to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader.
4 Non-Human Races
Fantasy loves to include diverse races. Creatures considered races and not monsters are often semi-humanoid while not being the human race. Common examples are elves, dwarves, orcs, and goblins. The good races are often on the protagonist's side and are civilized. The evil side is often monstrous races living as tribes in the wilderness that the villain sides with and uses as their army.
While these races appear in much fantasy media, Dungeons & Dragons use these as a large part of their game. Races and classes give characters unique advantages, such as being able to see in the dark. Many games create races as well, such as the Elder Scrolls series naming their cat race khajiit.
3 The Chosen One
This trope is a character chosen by a force or character to be the hero. Destiny deems them the only person who can save the day, and they are often the protagonist. There are many ways characters can be chosen, from being the person of prophecy to an ancient artifact only revealing itself to them. No matter the way, these types of characters find out that they weren't as regular a person as they originally thought.
Harry Potter is The Boy Who Lived. A prophecy sent Voldemort to kill him and then sent Harry on a journey that ended with them battling. Harry was thrust into a world where he was important because fate decided so.
2 The Unchosen One
Also known as the reverse chosen one, this trope is an inversion of the chosen one. The main character rises to the occasion. They are the type of heroes to stand up for what is right because a villain needs to be stopped and not because destiny tells them to. Often they are just regular people that get caught up in world-changing events. They earn their title of hero and choose themselves as savior.
Bilbo and Frodo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings franchise are unchosen heroes. They didn't pick to be the bearers of the One Ring. It's a burden to them that they endure for the greater good. They may not be the best candidates for the job, but they work to earn the hero title through their actions.
1 Elemental Magic
In ancient times, nature was categorized into the four elements of air, earth, fire, and water. The powers balance out when paired against another. In some media, there's even a fifth element called spirit that's associated with souls. Nature powers often bleed into the characters that wield them, such as someone who can control fire wearing red and being hot-headed.
One of the most well-known series that uses this trope is Avatar: The Last Airbender. There are four nations, each controlling one of the elements, and they battle for control. Some characters need conditions to use their powers though, such as water being nearby.
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