This blog post is a continuation of the satirical series, Poking Fun at Fantasy Tropes. Find all of the posts here.
So far, we’ve looked at the time-tested, favorite tropes of taverns, heroes, mentors, quests, allies, fantasy worlds, magic swords, dark lords, and surprising timely cavalry charges. We’re forging ahead with this blog series to take a look at something that many fantasy stories just can’t seem to exist without: a battle between capital G and E Good and Evil.
Many classic fantasy stories have been told about desperate battles between the forces of Good and Evil. They follow familiar patterns, and are often quite recognizable despite taking place in different settings, and being told by different storytellers.
An ancient, slumbering evil awakens, gathers terrible forces, skies grow dark, the clouds of war cover the land, and a few brave souls make their stand against the darkness. Usually they win in the end, but only barely, and only after it looks like all hope is lost.
Just because it’s been done before doesn’t mean we stop using a classic trope, it just means we have to be clever in the manner in which we use them.
We tend to like our stories of Good versus Evil. Preferably where the good characters are good and stay that way, and the bad characters are bad (and they stay that way too). No one has to wonder if the villain will have a change of heart—they’ve made it clear that they don’t have one anyway.
Such stories are far easier to work through than the ones where stark moral and ethical distinctions between friend and foe have been tossed out of tall towers by morally gray individuals who seem a bit more… human. Such tales come a little too close to the real world, and many people prefer some distance with their fantasy.
After all, stories in which the noble heroes are fighting against villains and their followers who are Evil with a capital E and bent on world domination (or destruction) are far easier for us to stomach. It’s far easier to read about protagonists killing terrifying monsters than protagonists fighting against fellow humans who just happen to have differing viewpoints.
(It also seems that it’s far easier for young protagonists to take the lives of monsters and not have to deal with the ramifications of doing so because their foes were, in fact, evil. Don’t feel too bad for them.)
When the villains are pure evil in stories, violence against them seems more justifiable. Necessary, even. They can’t be reasoned with. And when noble protagonists are fighting for the good of others, their actions—no matter how deplorable they would be in real life—are applauded as virtues.
Of course, if a story is well told, the struggle between Good and Evil will not be a matter of black and white, but gray. On both sides of the conflict—however large or small it may be. Good characters must make bad decisions and struggle with the results, and bad characters must make good decisions and be conflicted by such things too.
Otherwise, such stories will not ring true. Because stories, at their heart, are about people. And people are many things, but we’re not two-dimensional beings. We’re multifaceted. Therefore, the best stories are too.
Especially fantasy stories filled with great battles between the forces of Good and Evil.
Until next time,
Al
