Alright, I've got a list, sorted by setting, and then just general stuff.
It's not that these things happen that bothers me, it's that there are no exceptions except for those that are deliberately averting them.
Sci-fi
-The people who, on first contact with the technologically superior aliens, decide that shooting it is the best intoduction
- The people who, when the previous didn't occur and the ET's struck first, try everything except violence.
- Humanity is the best, even though all the aliens think the same way we do and are physically superior in every way.
- Humanity brings some less technically un-advanced alien society into the galaxy, this is only a good one if humans were also uplifted in a similar manner
- Speaking of which, no aliens ever willingly advance human civilization, even in situations where it would benefit them.
- Most scientific projects going horribly wrong and creating the antagonist
- The rest of scientific projects going right beyond the planners imagination and creating the antagonist
Fantasy (both medieval and modern)
-people being turned to stone.
- sacred weapons are always silver longswords with gem encrusted v-shaped hilts and bare handles.
- nobody ever uses guns, even if it wouldn't break the story, seriously, medieval europe had guns, why doesn't "not medieval europe"
- by connection, the few times when people do use guns are exactly the times when they would be useless, such as against ghosts or against people wearing 4 freaking inches of steel.
-Should one of the characters be a mage, the main villain is ALWAYS immune to magic
-tears heal everything.
-safe shapeshifting, I would literally pay somebody to write in a story that the only reason most people don't shapeshift is because it's dangerous
- It's the twenty first century and magic has returned to the world, exactly zero people try to study it scientifically, instead opting for exclusively reading ancient tomes.
-There's a mage in modern times, all his spells are kept in book form and there are no backups. PDAs and IPADs would be both cheaper and easier to carry than a load of books.
-Incarnations of evil. Seriously, this makes it so the villain literally has no motive at all
- nobody ever uses any form of transit more advanced than walking, even in modern settings
- Magic and science being opposites. Somehow seeking enlightenment to the nature of electrons and protons makes it so you can't manipulate the other things.
- If the work has an event that proves an existing religion true, there are no "I told you so's".
- The lighting bolts that the mage summon are always electrical, but nobody ever suspects that the black mass that absorbs all light might contain protons.
modern setting
-The only hat an investigator will ever wear is a fedora
- Bars always have bouncers that decide who enters, the protagonists are only allowed in when it would be in their best interest to be anywhere else.
-Any politician mentioned by name is corrupt
- If there's a mafia style gang then there will be absolutely no other criminal activity, they are always conspiring with the above mentioned politician.
- The antagonist gets away with a murder at the start of the episode, and gets arrested and convicted before succeeding in a second, related murder.
- Oh yeah, and if a crime happens at any time during an investigation, it will be connected to the aforementioned murders
- The only weapon that is neither a revolver nor a russian rifle a villain will use is an UZI.
- Every investigator with a name had a relative or close friend murdered before they joined the police
-Standoffs never happen at ranges longer that 5 feet
-for no adequately explained reason, during a gunfight the guy with the revolver will always be the only survivor, unless he's the main villain, in which case he'll be killed effortlessly.
cell phones can only be used to deliver bad news, all other conversations must either be in person or use a landline.
The rebellious cop with no respect for the rules is A) Always right, B) always kicked off the police force and C) never accused of his obvious hypocrisy. D) always back on the police force at the end of the episode
General
-If there are male and female coprotagonists each of the girls will have a romantic engagement with a guy.
- Nobody is ever happy with their romantic relationships at the start of a movie, even if it's an action movie
-Nobody will ever realize that saving the world is more important than what they already had going on in life, unless these people need some sudden angst.
-Nobody who through some chain of events has to live somewhere other than home had anything but a perfect life before.
-Similarly, anyone who moves willingly always has an extremely dark past, nobody ever moves to be closer to somebody.
- If a protagonist dies at the end of a story, that person will be invariably male.
- If people close to the protagonist are killed, they are always either a single female, who is killed while the protagonist is away, or the protagonists entire direct family, who are of course killed right in front of him/her.
-The people who, on first contact with the technologically superior aliens, decide that shooting it is the best intoduction
- The people who, when the previous didn't occur and the ET's struck first, try everything except violence.
- Humanity is the best, even though all the aliens think the same way we do and are physically superior in every way.
- Humanity brings some less technically un-advanced alien society into the galaxy, this is only a good one if humans were also uplifted in a similar manner
- Speaking of which, no aliens ever willingly advance human civilization, even in situations where it would benefit them.
- Most scientific projects going horribly wrong and creating the antagonist
- The rest of scientific projects going right beyond the planners imagination and creating the antagonist
Fantasy (both medieval and modern)
-people being turned to stone.
- sacred weapons are always silver longswords with gem encrusted v-shaped hilts and bare handles.
- nobody ever uses guns, even if it wouldn't break the story, seriously, medieval europe had guns, why doesn't "not medieval europe"
- by connection, the few times when people do use guns are exactly the times when they would be useless, such as against ghosts or against people wearing 4 freaking inches of steel.
-Should one of the characters be a mage, the main villain is ALWAYS immune to magic
-tears heal everything.
-safe shapeshifting, I would literally pay somebody to write in a story that the only reason most people don't shapeshift is because it's dangerous
- It's the twenty first century and magic has returned to the world, exactly zero people try to study it scientifically, instead opting for exclusively reading ancient tomes.
-There's a mage in modern times, all his spells are kept in book form and there are no backups. PDAs and IPADs would be both cheaper and easier to carry than a load of books.
-Incarnations of evil. Seriously, this makes it so the villain literally has no motive at all
- nobody ever uses any form of transit more advanced than walking, even in modern settings
- Magic and science being opposites. Somehow seeking enlightenment to the nature of electrons and protons makes it so you can't manipulate the other things.
- If the work has an event that proves an existing religion true, there are no "I told you so's".
- The lighting bolts that the mage summon are always electrical, but nobody ever suspects that the black mass that absorbs all light might contain protons.
modern setting
-The only hat an investigator will ever wear is a fedora
- Bars always have bouncers that decide who enters, the protagonists are only allowed in when it would be in their best interest to be anywhere else.
-Any politician mentioned by name is corrupt
- If there's a mafia style gang then there will be absolutely no other criminal activity, they are always conspiring with the above mentioned politician.
- The antagonist gets away with a murder at the start of the episode, and gets arrested and convicted before succeeding in a second, related murder.
- Oh yeah, and if a crime happens at any time during an investigation, it will be connected to the aforementioned murders
- The only weapon that is neither a revolver nor a russian rifle a villain will use is an UZI.
- Every investigator with a name had a relative or close friend murdered before they joined the police
-Standoffs never happen at ranges longer that 5 feet
-for no adequately explained reason, during a gunfight the guy with the revolver will always be the only survivor, unless he's the main villain, in which case he'll be killed effortlessly.
cell phones can only be used to deliver bad news, all other conversations must either be in person or use a landline.
The rebellious cop with no respect for the rules is A) Always right, B) always kicked off the police force and C) never accused of his obvious hypocrisy. D) always back on the police force at the end of the episode
General
-If there are male and female coprotagonists each of the girls will have a romantic engagement with a guy.
- Nobody is ever happy with their romantic relationships at the start of a movie, even if it's an action movie
-Nobody will ever realize that saving the world is more important than what they already had going on in life, unless these people need some sudden angst.
-Nobody who through some chain of events has to live somewhere other than home had anything but a perfect life before.
-Similarly, anyone who moves willingly always has an extremely dark past, nobody ever moves to be closer to somebody.
- If a protagonist dies at the end of a story, that person will be invariably male.
- If people close to the protagonist are killed, they are always either a single female, who is killed while the protagonist is away, or the protagonists entire direct family, who are of course killed right in front of him/her.
It's not that these things happen that bothers me, it's that there are no exceptions except for those that are deliberately averting them.