STANDARD FANTASY PLOT No. 1,
or LORD OF THE WHAT?
A great Evil has come upon the magical land of Whatever, led by a single mysterious figure of great evil indeed. At the head of his evil, gruesome armies, he overtakes the land, destroying all that is Good and basically making life hell.
However, in a little out-of-the-way hamlet somewhere lives a child/a gawky teenager/an otherwise ineffectual and/or silly-looking creature of some sort. No one would ever take this person seriously, except... the Prophecy.
You see, hundreds/thousands/millions of years ago, the Prophecy decided that this specific nonentity would be the only person capable of wielding/using the Great Artifact against the Great Evil. Perhaps the nonentity is actually the descendant of kings, hidden away years ago; perhaps he's just lucky.
So, anyway, marshaling a small but plucky band of various odd people, usually including some sort of thief, some really powerful and annoyingly vague magician, and at least one demihuman, the nonentity must embark upon a great Journey to retrieve the Artifact, whatever it is. And of course the nonentity must make several mistakes along the way, being only a kid/a teenager/a cute munchkin-thing. But despite his companions' pity for him, he somehow gains inner strength or maturity. And of course, the Prophecy keeps popping up everywhere, as the nonentity steadily trips one omen after the other, slowly convincing the others that he IS the Hero of the Prophecy.
Eventually, a Love Interest pops up. She's usually not terribly interesting.
Then, sword/gem/artifact/doodad in hand, the nonentity (now a Hero) raises a great army, and the Great Battle begins. The forces of Evil and the forces of Good collide on a great battlefield. Much carnage ensues.
And somehow in the midst of all this (actual method may vary) the Hero destroys the Great Evil. Many things change. The Artifact may vanish, or lose all its power. Many of the Hero's followers fall in love with each other. The Hero takes his rightful place, whether that place is on some throne somewhere or just back in the little hamlet where he started, but generally with the Love Interest in tow.
STANDARD FANTASY PLOT No. 2
or I DON'T THINK WE'RE IN KANSAS ANY MORE, TOTO
One or several completely normal people from our world (you know, standard Earth) are somehow transported to a strange fantasy world. Once there, they find themselves playing a large part in some vast world-spanning conflict, whether by accident or by Prophecy.
No one trusts these people at first. They're strange, they're different, they're ignorant, they're heretics. They make a bunch of mistakes, not being familiar with the world's manners. They take a bunch of things the wrong way, also not being familiar with the world's manners. Bad and/or embarrassing stuff happens. There's a lot of yelling. Eventually, the denizens learn to trust these weirdos (except for one or two denizens, who are either evil or gravely misled by evil).
If there are several Earth people, one of them now dies. If there's just one, s/he is locked up/tortured/captured. People begin to fall in love with each other, sometimes in terribly wrong ways.
Eventually, all the remaining Earth people are found and brought back to safety, all the little problems and misunderstandings are ironed out (usually involving one of the misled people publicly recanting and embarrassing himself), and the side of Good stands united and strong, complete with however many Earth people are left. The Earth people turn out to be vitally important to the cause of Good, whether through Earth knowledge, through some completely normal talent of theirs that's unknown in this world, or hell, just through sheer luck. They've also learned a lot about the world they're currently in, and can usually use magic/swords/whatever with a great amount of skill, thanks to the Prophecy or just through their own personal intelligence. The few people who didn't like them either like them fine now, or are dead.
Finally, the Earth people manage to help right the wrongs and vanquish the enemy. Then, depending on their reactions to everything earlier in the book, they either stay in the fantasy world and are happy there, or go back to Earth and are happy there.
STANDARD FANTASY PLOT No. 3
or THE THRONE IS MINE NOW, EUGENE!
There are actually two variations on this one, detailed below.
A position of power (king, usually) is being held only precariously. The book follows the power struggles that erupt in the name of claiming this position of power. Intrigues run rampant, conflicting armies are gathered. People with claims both legitimate and not come swarming out of the woodwork, gathering support.
Large amounts of the country are decimated. Thousands of people die horribly. There is at least one long gruesome siege of a city. People invent strange new siege weaponry or magic or poisons.
On the other hand, quiet intrigues develop. People are poisoned, quietly stabbed, made to disappear. People sleep with each other for selfish gain and make horrible, horrible deals involving their offspring/their lands/their power/their bodies. There is an awful lot of kidnapping/forced marriage/torture/ransom demands/revelation of bastard sons.
FIRST VARIATION: Point of View, Prince.
This variation follows the actual competitors around, watching them scheme, murder, lie, and siege. There are lots of incredibly fancy dinners/dress balls/parties/celebrations.
Everyone seems to be either evil or the brainless dupe of evil. Everyone is greedy, selfish, short-sighted, angry, and twisted. Except one person, who really does mean well, and is therefore usually horribly dead about two-thirds of the way through.
Eventually, all the competitors are dead, save one, who actually claims the throne/position of power. Generally, you can tell who will be left; it will be the person least suited to the position, or else the person who was the quietest about trying to get it. Things subside to an uneasy peace. The country mourns its dead.
SECOND VARIATION: Point of View, Peasant.
In this variation, the book centers around some completely normal person/minor functionary, who would never be of any importance otherwise. By some fluke of luck, this person gets dragged into the intrigues (overhearing a conversation, being asked to deliver a message, stopping an assassination attempt, just being in the wrong damn place at the wrong time), and must fight with all his/her wits just to stay alive. Various royalty pop in and out of the woodwork, trying to help, trying to kill, trying to recruit, trying to interrogate. The poor person must run for his/her life, losing everything s/he has (family, home, fortune, livelihood, possibly an eye or a limb).
Eventually, after many harrowing adventures, the person reaches a place of safety and rests. Then, refreshed and determined, they set out again, to set things right. Eventually, through sheer guts, intelligence, and/or luck, the normal person manages not only to survive the intrigues, but to contribute greatly to the winning side.
Things go back to normal, the good guys win, the bad guys are all imprisoned and/or dead, and the person is suitably rewarded and left to his/her own devices once more. Generally, s/he goes back to his/her old life, or finds a nice minor place in the palace.
Replies: add your comment: currently 2 comments
LOL!!! You got it all figured out, Moon!!! This pretty much covers the stereotypes! lol Yet, there is some truth to what you say! Heh.
Posted by Wolf @ 06/27/2001 01:23 AM EST
Someday I should try to write up the plot used in... uh... every historical romance EVER.
Juno made me read some once. The only things that ever change are the names and locations. Otherwise, they're all the same.
Posted by Ed @ 06/28/2001 02:22 AM EST
