Least favorite tropes/cliches in sci-fi and fantasy?

[Steph's Never-ending Bookshelf]

I always hated how humans have to be the end all be all of species. Millions of other species or planets have succumbed to this BBEG but somehow we humans are soooo special.

[CBRetriever]

Stephanny wrote: "I always hated how humans have to be the end all be all of species. Millions of other species or planets have succumbed to this BBEG but somehow we humans are soooo special."

try the Chanur series - the main human character is very much below the playing level of the other main characters and in fact one species is protecting him

[Kirsten]

CBRetriever wrote: "Stephanny wrote: "I always hated how humans have to be the end all be all of species. Millions of other species or planets have succumbed to this BBEG but somehow we humans are soooo special."

try..."

I liked the first book in both the Foreigner and the Chanur series. They were very different than other books I've read.

[Ambereyes]

CBRetriever wrote: "Stephanny wrote: "I always hated how humans have to be the end all be all of species. Millions of other species or planets have succumbed to this BBEG but somehow we humans are soooo special."

try..."

Such ideas seem like a particularly perverse form of self-confidence.
Chanur is a great series. There's also Glenn Cook's Darkwar series about dog-like aliens. Humans are just supporting characters in these books.

[Kateb]

joel Shepherd wrote a great series " Cassandra" where the hero is an android

[Ambereyes]

There are also the books The Silver Metal Lover and Metallic Love by Tanith Lee. One of the main characters is a robot that looks a lot like a human.

[Steve]

Joe wrote: "Monica wrote: "Trike wrote: "The Chosen One.

Just stop it."

OMG. What Trike said!!! Nothing grates more than the only entity who can save us from this blight upon the universe...of any species. A..."

Tori wrote: "I can't express how sick I am of farmboys who become epic heroes with little to no training.

Also, there's a million other ways to damage your female characters outside of rape. It's too overused."

A very recent new take on this trope is the Nebula-winning novel (and Hugo-nominated) novel "The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera. I enjoyed his take on the unchosen one - although the novel did have its problems. Am waiting eagerly to see if it wins the Hugo on Aug. 11, or will there be another novel added to the 106 novels that have won Hugo or Nebula to date.. Thanks for you comments everyone.

[[deleted user]]

The 'everybody in the Galaxy speaks English' trope. This is so prevalent in sci-fi TV series and is for me a mark of intellectual laziness on the part of script writers and TV producers. You should have your aliens speaks a truly different language while showing written translations on the bottom of the screen. In books, aliens are rarely described as truly 'alien' and are too often only variations or approximations of Human beings. The STAR TREK various series are among the worst offenders in this aspect.

[Tara]

At least Star Trek tried ^^
Okrand, Doohan, and Povill did create an entirely new language--Klingon--for the show. Duolingo it up and you can even learn to speak it fluently. There are other languages as well, just not complete like Klingon. Despite that though ...t is rather a miracle that everyone in galaxy somehow knows English.

At least with the Tardis, you know she is using translation matrix to enable companions to understand and speak local dialects fluently. We all need this!

[CBRetriever]

Michel wrote: "The 'everybody in the Galaxy speaks English' trope. This is so prevalent in sci-fi TV series and is for me a mark of intellectual laziness on the part of script writers and TV producers. You should..."

but, but, but: the universal translator...

[[deleted user]]

CBRetriever wrote: "Michel wrote: "The 'everybody in the Galaxy speaks English' trope. This is so prevalent in sci-fi TV series and is for me a mark of intellectual laziness on the part of script writers and TV produc..."

Yeah, sure! The Deus ex Machina in Star Trek stories.

[CBRetriever]

yep, exactly

[Kateb]

at least in farscape they had injections to make translating fine

[[deleted user]]

Have you noticed that, while we have seen many times Klingons talking in Klingonese in the STAR TREK series, we never heard a Romulan speak Romulan, or a Cardassian speak Cardassian. We did hear Vulcans say a few isolated words in Vulcan, but never a true speech or conversation. Even the Kayzon (about the most lame aliens depicted in the series) spoke English. And don't get me on the Jem'Adar! The English language must have come from an ancient, long-extinct master race that once ruled the Galaxy.

More recent films and TV series apparently are in no hurry to correct this obvious problem. At least, the xenomorph aliens in ALIEN simply hiss and don't speak English. The one notable exception is the STAR WARS series of films and TV series: plenty of alien languages to be heard there (just ask C3PO). STAR WARS is proof that you can do something different than English speakers when you use some imagination and effort.

[CBRetriever]

Michel wrote: "Have you noticed that, while we have seen many times Klingons talking in Klingonese in the STAR TREK series, we never heard a Romulan speak Romulan, or a Cardassian speak Cardassian. We did hear Vu..."

Jar-Jar Binks with a Jamaican accent?

[[deleted user]]

CBRetriever wrote: "Michel wrote: "Have you noticed that, while we have seen many times Klingons talking in Klingonese in the STAR TREK series, we never heard a Romulan speak Romulan, or a Cardassian speak Cardassian...."

Jar-Jar Binks: the perfect image of an anti-hero.

[Ambereyes]

Creed wrote: "Right? It's a bit weird when newly discovered alien races speak English."

It's very strange indeed. But not all alien races actually speak English. If you watch certain anime series, you'll notice that some races speak Japanese.

[Ambereyes]

Steve wrote: "Joe wrote: "Also, there's a million other ways to damage your female characters outside of rape. It's too overused."

I totally agree with you. By the way, why don't writers do that with their male characters? After all, a man can also be raped, or at least be afraid of being raped.

[Alycia]

For me, my least favorite trope is miscommunication, especially if it drags on and can be resolved by a simple conversation. I read a book this year that dragged on with this trope and I definitely did not enjoy that part of the book.

[Jabotikaba]

Romance between captor and captive. It seems very ugly to me.

[Jeongwoo]

One trope that always pulls me out of a story is the idea that space colonization will be just like historical Earth colonization—complete with the same political structures, conflicts, and human-centric viewpoints. Given how alien space environments are, it feels like an oversimplification. Wouldn't space colonies develop governance, economies, and even moral systems that are shaped by their extreme environments?

I’ve been exploring this idea in my writing, particularly in how penal colonies in space might evolve differently from traditional societies. If survival depends on collective efficiency rather than hierarchical control, what kind of justice system would emerge?

Curious—what’s a trope that makes you stop suspending disbelief?