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Okay. So I’m plotting for a fantasy novel that plays off of fantasy cliches, and it has to have a quest. I generally don’t write quests, and I’m having a tad bit of trouble coming up with one. What are some goals fantasy quests usually have?
Any other fantasy cliches are also welcome here!
@daeus @dekreel @rochellaine @valtmy @itisastarrynight @anyone-else 🙂Silence! Silence everyone, for the king's speech!
@mnvalentine The most common quests, I believe, are (1) the knight has to rescue a princess, and (2) something like the holy grail, where the knight has to search for an object of great significance to the history or religion of the kingdom. Quests are often tightly intertwined with the fight scenes, because the hero will fight the dragon to get into the cave where the object is hidden or will kill the dark lord who is keeping the princess in a tower.
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@mnvalentine Just like when Jesus said “On these hang all the law and the prophets” it seems to me that nearly all if not every “quest” I have read has either been one of those two or a spin-off of one of them. 🙂
The dictionary definition of “quest” is that it is a search for something. So rather than a battle at the end of the journey, a quest’s sole purpose is to find a person or object. Think how it’s related to the word “question.” The desire in the end is that there be an answer found, not a battle won.
Though often in order to get an answer a battle will need to be fought. 🙂
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@rochellaine Never thought about the whole quest/question thing but that’s pretty cool. Thanks for your advice! I’ll probably use one or both of those 🙂
Silence! Silence everyone, for the king's speech!
@mnvalentine Since @rochellaine covered the questing thing, I shall bombard you with fantasy cliches:
- Damsel in distress
- Mentor (old with flowing beard, and ends up dying)
- Prisons in castle towers
- Dragons (Sorry, Snapper! But it’s true…)
- Elves
- Dwarves
- Medieval setting
- Castles
- Knights
- Magic
Watch Josiah and Daniel’s video How to Write the Worst Fantasy Novel Ever. It will help you even more 🙂
You can pronounce it however you want.
@dekreel Thanks for the list! That’s an awesome list, actually, I’ll be sure to reference it. I confess I’ve watched the Worst Fantasy Novel Ever like twenty times before, but I should probably watch it again… 🙂
Silence! Silence everyone, for the king's speech!
Just off the top of my head…
Quests usually involve an impossible task or saving the kingdom.
Types of quests (can be combined):
- Defeat the Evil Overlord
- Rescue the Princess
- Defeat the Dragon or (since this is becoming more common) Befriend the Dragon
- Find the Magical Artifact of Great Power before the Evil Overlord who will use it to destroy the world
- Collect all the Magical Artifacts (if there are multiple scattered in different locations which is good to give an excuse for the Hero to travel all around the world)
- Find the Lost Loved One (missing father, kidnapped sibling)
- Find a cure for the sick Lost Loved One
- Engagement challenge (i.e. Do this Impossible Task and win the Princess’ hand in marriage)
- Find a way to lift a Deadly Curse (this Deadly Curse is often actually very awesome because it gives the Hero badass powers)
- Revenge against the Evil Overlord
Fantasy Cliches:
- There is a war in the past that was started by the Evil Overlord
- A Prophecy is given by a Wise Oracle foretelling the coming of a Chosen One who is the only person that can defeat the Evil Overlord (aka the Hero)
- Hero is an orphan (one or both parents probably tragically killed by Evil Overlord) with no loving extended biological family (if grandparents/aunts/uncles exist to take care of him, they will be boring or abusive)
- Hero is a callow youth living a dull, unsatisfying life on a farm, learns awesome fighting/magic skills and somehow becomes a good king despite lack of experience and education in politics and governance
- Hero’s village/loving adoptive family gets destroyed by minions of Evil Overlord (thus freeing the Hero from any responsibilities back home and letting him start his epic Revenge quest)
- Mentor teaches Hero awesome fighting/magic skills instead of fighting Evil Overlord himself (because Destiny) and has a tragic death halfway through the story
- Evil Overlord sends wave after wave of minions of increasing strength after the Hero instead of immediately sending his strongest/going after the Hero himself
- Love Interest (likely the Princess) is disguised as a boy and runs away from home because she is getting forced into an arranged marriage, wants to be a badass warrior instead of a princess etc.
- Hero meets his Love Interest and allies in chance encounters (meeting together in an inn, getting thrown in the same prison cell etc.)
- One of the allies turns out to be a traitor working for the Evil Overlord
- Magic weapons (sword with special inscriptions and powers)
- Keepsake items that reveal secret heritage of characters (can be the magic weapons as well)
- Love Interest is a strong female warrior that still keeps having to be rescued by the Hero
- Sidekick is a comic relief character that makes lame puns
- Allies have standard, set roles like Knight, Mage, Archer, Thief, Priest, Healer etc.
- Obstacles like Monsters, Demons and Temptations
- Side quests like a Kill Quest, Escort Quest, Collect Quest, Delivery Quest, Search Quest that are irrelevant to the main plot
- Villains that represent different vices (e.g. Seven Deadly Sins)
- A trip to the Underworld (maybe to retrieve a Lost Loved One)
- The quest takes Hero on a journey that nicely shows off all the different regions/countries in the fantasy world
- One of the regions in the world is a matriarchy while everywhere else has a patriarchy and everyone naturally thinks their own system is the best
- Hero hesitates about taking the life of the Evil Overlord (because killing is bad) but does not do so for the nameless minions he fought previously
Haha, as you can tell I have become rather disfranchised with the fantasy genre lately. But I am sure you will be able to do a good job with your story! Looking forward to see what you come up with 🙂
@valtmy Thanks! I confess most modern fantasy is increasingly boring…
Thanks for the lists! Lots of useful stuff here 🙂 Although I may need to make it a trilogy to use everything that caught my eye 😀 And thank you for your vote of confidence!!
Silence! Silence everyone, for the king's speech!
There are some cliches I like in fantasy and others that are just boring. I was watching Legend of the Seeker a couple of nights ago, and when it got to the part where they have to tell the Seeker who he truly is and who he’s supposed to defeat, my eyes rolled so hard (lol), but it also gave me an idea. What if there were a school for all the children of prophecy (boys and girls) who are supposed to grow up and become heroes and heroines for their different realms? Only something happens and all the prophecies get overturned so they’re no longer future heroes, just ordinary kids. It’s not really fully developed and I’m not sure it ever will be, but it was a thought nonetheless. I hope your story goes well!
*whispers aggressively* "The HONOUR!"
@joy That’s a pretty cool idea 🙂 The only problem with it is that if the kids aren’t heroes, they’re not extremely involved in the story, so it might end up having to be short… idk 😀 Thanks!! By the way, what are some of the cliches you like?
Silence! Silence everyone, for the king's speech!
I do like a bit of the ‘damsel in distress’ – the girls who dress as boys and run away to avoid marriage annoy the life out of me 😉 Defeating a tyrant is another one of my favourites as long as it’s well done, and I’m a sucker for medieval settings with knights and castles and all that goes along with it 😀 I prefer my stories where the heroes are ordinary people and not ‘Chosen Ones’, though I know there are good ‘chosen one’ stories out there.
*whispers aggressively* "The HONOUR!"
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