The Search for a Worthy Quest

This blog post is a continuation of the satirical series, “Poking Fun at Fantasy Tropes.” So far, we’ve looked at the tropes of taverns, heroes, and the mentor. Now we’re taking a look at one of the most common reasons protagonists decided to get out of bed in the morning: The Quest.

(We’re also going to count how many times I can use the word “quest” in a blog post. I promise I won’t go overboard, but I also won’t use synonyms if I can help it. Is that bad writing? Perhaps. We’re up to two already. Three if you count the title of the post.)

Ah, the quest—that noble and worthy goal, the all-important, vital mission that must be fulfilled before the story’s ultimate end.

Some quests are taken up by one’s own volition, other quests are thrust upon protagonists without warning. Quite like an unexpected guest, knocking at one’s door in the middle of the night.

Quests come in all shapes and sizes. No two are exactly alike. Kind of like people. And stories. They span chapters, trilogies, and entire sagas. (Let’s face it, in many storytellers’ minds, the longer and larger the quest, the better.)

The nature of such quests are just as varied—from finding magical artifacts to walking hundreds of miles just to throw said magical artifacts into active volcanoes. (Okay, maybe that was a rather specific example, but you get my point. What do you expect? This is a satirical blog series.)

Many quests are filled with high stakes and serve as behemoth plot engines that drive the course of the story itself. They set the story in motion (somewhere after the main introduction to the protagonist) and remain ever-present throughout the entirety of the tale. Whether the protagonist succeeds or fails in their quest remains to be seen, but that’s partly why we readers keep turning the page.

Other sorts of quests set the bar rather low for readers and protagonists alike. They aren’t so much behemoth plot engines as they are miniscule, plot devices. (Otherwise known as side-quests.) They pop up from time to time throughout the story, and whether the protagonist succeeds or fails in these arbitrary tasks doesn’t really matter because most people don’t even consider such things worthy of quest categorization.

Side quests range from a protagonist performing a ballad or attempting some feat of athleticism. To be sure, whether they succeed or fail in such tasks has an influence on their character, overall the grand scheme of things remains unaffected.

What would fantasy stories be without quests—large and small? I imagine they would have to be entirely rewritten. If left with such gaping holes, they’d be considerably shorter. I would argue that they’d quite possibly even be non-existent altogether.

After all, what is a quest, if not a thin, poorly constructed disguise for plot itself? Think about it. Quests get protagonists from point A to point B. Quests get them from boring, unassuming, ordinary, conflict-free lives to go on adventures all over the world. Quests change protagonists from common, ordinary folk into heroes. (Oh, sure, conflict drives such stories too, but usually conflict arises because antagonists don’t want protagonists to fulfill their quest.)

A story lives—or dies—by the quality, the worthiness of its quest. Are the consequences for failure and the rewards for success clearly explained? Is the quest interesting enough—engaging enough to hold the protagonist’s interest, as well as the reader’s? (Can you imagine if a protagonist abandoned their quest halfway through because it was boring? Hilarious, sure, but unheard of! Yet readers do it with books all the time…)

Perhaps the search for a worthy quest is a quest in and of itself. Perhaps that’s why some fantasy authors write as many books as they possibly can. They’re still searching for that meaningful, worthy quest. Perhaps that’s why others are slow and ponderous as they walk along the paths that they’ve set for themselves because they’ve already found it.

Regardless, I’m thankful for quests—in fantasy stories and in real life. Whether they’re big or small, side quests or main quests, fighting dragons or doing taxes, they certainly keep things interesting.

Until next time,

Al

Quest Count: 31 out of 719 words. Not bad.