forum Favorite Character Tropes???

Started April 11, 2018 by @alanye

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Contrary to a post I saw earlier, what are your favorite character tropes? Or just favorite tropes in general? Curious to know!

the feeble character that goes through hardships and becomes an absolute badass!

For me, I love when little details at the beginning that seem completely useless are actually hints for later in the book! (Chekhov's Gun, basically.)

The poor, unfortunate character who becomes famous, successful, and rich because of his humble kindness. So satisfying. :)

When a character is charismatic, seems self-serving, and is very funny, suddenly turns serious and protective to help somebody or when opening up (Sinbad, Lucifer, Gwain (Merlin), Puss in Boots (Shrek) etc.)

Someone who starts out alright, but then gradually his/her life gets more hectic, to the point where he/she is not the same person as before. Basically, protagonist gone antagonist. Take Mikado Ryuugamine from Durarara (spoilers, if you care).

At first, he is presented as the protagonist; timid, sweet, logical. He has a best friend and a crush, all that. But then it is revealed that he is the leader of a massive online gang. (So massive, you could picture it as a corrupt empire below his feet.) Then things get messy and he starts causing rampage and war between other gangs. His morals shift, and he becomes capable of shooting his own best friend without hesitation. It is not even out of fear or pressure, he genuinely wants to kill because he's bored. He doesn't actually become the antagonist, but he leans greatly in that direction.

Characters that always turn out to be my favorites for some reason:

The flirty ones who secretly have low self esteem,
The cute adorable weak ones who FRICKEN DESTROY PEOPLE WITH THEIR MINDS!!
The bums who seem like losers but are totally bad**s,
And finally, FATHER FIGURES!

@Beezer those character arcs always get to because they are so real! I didn't read your section about the Durarara character cause I am gonna get around to watching it, but I'll read it once I have :P.
@ThiaL I AGREE! Love those characters, but I've still not figured out how to make father figure characters. I mean, there is such a variety. Hershal from the walking dead is an old, wise, good-advice giver, while Lee from tell-tales the walking dead is the protagonist, and yet he acts as a father figure in the sense of whatever you make him. No matter what path you take, he always turns out to be a great father figure and I think its because of the ending (of which I won't spoil).
Can you think of any others?

Honestly, I personally love it when you have a character with a calm,sarcastic front but they're slowly shown to be caring and protective and a huge dork.
I also love the character who's been through hardships, and is ultimately allowed to bitter and resentful and allowed to fight back, while still coming out as a good person.
I'm also partial to LGBT+ stories, being a lesbian myself! I personally enjoy it when a character slowly comes to realize that they're not a freak and slowly become less anxious or apologetic in general.I also love it when you have a confident character who's already established as unapologetic about their identity.And the "two people in love with each other but are taken apart because they're the same gender and then later unite when they're old" is always good!