This blog post is a continuation of the satirical series, Poking Fun at Fantasy Tropes.
So far, we’ve looked at the time-tested, favorite tropes of taverns, heroes, mentors, quests, allies, fantasy worlds, magic swords, and dark lords. It should come as no surprise that now, we’re moving on. We’re charging ahead with this blog series to take a look at something that many fantasy stories just can’t help but include in some fashion or other (sometimes throughout multiple points): the “Here comes the cavalry” trope.
In many stories, right before all hope is lost, right before the heroes end up being overwhelmed by the forces of darkness they’re fighting against, there’s a deciding, dramatic moment—a lull in the battle, the struggle between good and evil. (If the story is being told visually, events might even be happening in slow motion with tense music being played by 100 violins and discordant notes being sung by a professional choir in fortissimo.)
And then… the sound of hoofbeats like thunder rumbling on the distant horizon. At that distinguishing sound, everybody stops what they’re doing. They all turn and look, trying to see where the noise is coming from. (Seems to me like it would be hard to hear the source of hoofbeats over the din of battle, but what do I know? I’ve never tried.)
The protagonist wipes sweat from their brow and grins a weary grin despite the legion of enemies surrounding them, unfazed by the fact that they’ve let their guard down. “Here comes the cavalry,” they whisper and look to that distant horizon with relief in their gaze. (This scene usually also takes place in the morning, so the sun can be rising dramatically in the background—really ties everything together nicely.)
At just the right moment, the cavalry—most commonly made up of a group of allies that the protagonist thought wouldn’t arrive on time (or even come at all)—appears on the edge of the field of battle. Usually the allies are actually (believe it or not) riding horses. One wonders where they find enough horses for everybody, especially when there’s no mention of that many horses in the story beforehand. Or any mention of stables or large open spaces for horses to graze. Do you have any idea how much food a single horse eats—much less a thousand horses? Are there just roaming herds that get wrangled and tamed in such fantasy stories on short notice to go save the heroes from certain doom?
But I digress. Fantasy authors have been using horses to get their characters across vast distances in record time to help allies for years now, so this shouldn’t surprise us too much. We should expect it. Don’t ask too many questions or the illusion will fade away.
This time-treasured trope highlights the fact that help can always come at just the right time. Even when everything looks like it’s going to end poorly, there’s always hope that everything will turn out all right in the end. I think that’s a beautiful thing to include in stories.
However, I also think it’s important for such stories to have some semblance of reality to them. Help doesn’t always come at the last second. Sometimes, help arrives too late to help at all. And other times, help doesn’t come at all. But how many fantasy stories tend to end in tragedy? Not many—because we, as the readers, want good to triumph over evil. (I mean, who wants to see the good guys lose to the bad guys because the cavalry didn’t come?)
So, perhaps it’s best to say that storytellers who decide to include the “Here comes the cavalry” trope should at least consider where that cavalry realistically comes from and determine whether or not the allies have the financial means—and the feed—to sustain such a large number of horses.
Until next time,
Al
