What do you consider to be generic Isekai Fantasy?

[FlutterOfCrows]

Like the title says, what do you consider to be the common staples of Isekai? What is so generic you see it so often? Do you hate the generic stuff altogether or are there some exceptions? What tropes do you see done right generally and which poorly?

 

[prognastat]

Middle age inspired technology levels, culture and architecture. Basic elemental magic, elves, dwarves etc.

Pretty much people doing a weak imitations of Tolkien stuff.

I don't hate it. It's fine depending on what you're going for. It doesn't tend to make for the best of stories either though. Kind of the fast food of fiction.

 

[LilRora]

Knights, mages, mana, demons, hero, kingdoms. I can't say I dislike any of those by itself, but I generally don't like generic isekai fantasy. I prefer to have something new in my stories, and the sixth story I read where the mc was banished from the hero party, even if it's well-written and fairly interesting, is gonna get boring quickly if there's nothing that really sets it apart from the previous five.

And in regards to the trope's execution, almost every trope involving antagonists is done badly. Isekais tend to be particularly black-and-white, and that doesn't help with writing believable opposition for the mc.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Fantasy with medieval Western European aesthetic, feudal social structure (bizarrely, generally viewed as a good thing), usually several species of sapient humanoids (generally, most main conflicts are driven by race).

 

[ReadLight]

Like the title says, what do you consider to be the common staples of Isekai? What is so generic you see it so often? Do you hate the generic stuff altogether or are there some exceptions? What tropes do you see done right generally and which poorly?

You woke up, in another world, reincarnated/teleported/time traveled/quantum tunneled/got trucked, and you have no desire for going back to your own world because here, there are anime waifu ranging from every possible bust sizes that all falls in love with you.

And their love is justified because your System will, in 3 seconds, grant you super-goku-katana-ninja-samuri-one-punch-god-killing abilities that can easily over power the 10 brazillion years of the antagonist's actual trainings.

That is, as long as you diligently fart 10 times a day everyday to complete the arbitrary daily quests that the System assigns to you in order to gain an unreasonably large amount of exp.

But that's considered inspiring cuz you technically worked for your powers.

So now all you need to do is to wait for the natives of this world to explain you all 3 gazillions of their impossible problems that all originated from this one obviously-annoying-womanizing-smug-dickhead-antagonist, and watch the natives try everything that doesn't work, but still denies your capabilities.

Then you can truly shine as you wipe out all those problems with a berp, dropping the jaws of everyone who had ever doubted you, and soak in that admirations from your waifus.

You can now proceed to do squats over the obviously-annoying-womanizing-smug-dickhead-antagonist's face.

He watches as one of the jade-like-beatuy anime girl, that he was after, now happily joins your harem without you ever even asking, despite the fact that competition to be the best girl in your harem is now harsh enough to trivialize the Ivy League NBA MCATs written by NASA.

Repeat for 300 more chapters until happily ever after or something something THE END

Sounds pretty generic. It's fun to read, but when it's repeated this much, it gets boring as you recognize the pattern, the story becomes predictable, and you lose the fun. When stories in this trope is done right, to me, it's when they put their unique twists, and actually writes a proper story with a beginng and an end, rather than just a dopamine-triggering power fantasy brain vomit.

 

[Arkus86]

Average protagonist, medieval Europe inspired setting, common fantasy races, humans enslaving everyone, uninspired villains and overly game-like system controlling most of everything.

Of those, I only really hate system stuff, because I rarely see it done well.

 

[Corty]

Most of those mentioned above don't mean generic isekai to me.

What makes it generic for me is:

• The MC is always someone who initially bullied/weak/discarded
  • Then the MC turns out to be the bestest, most awesome, hidden-powered god killer
• The MC's character is soft. Even if it turns out to be edgy, it never stays that way.
  • Or the MC remains bland and goes along the usual: too shy to talk to women or too edgy to talk to women.
• The MC is super OP, and he knows it.
  • But he hides it. Deliberately. Does everything to show up as weak for some arbitery reason only he understands.

And the list could go on and on. I don't mind copy paste worlds, races, magic, etc, those are tools to be used. What makes it generic form me is that the characters are always the same cardboard cutout NPCs who you see in MMOs, wandering around the background with four animations bought from an assetstore.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Like the title says, what do you consider to be the common staples of Isekai?

Read my books. Why mess with perfection?

What is so generic you see it so often?

The going to another world thing by being hit by a truck. Which is why I hit my first MC with a truck. In fact, the whole prologue is from the driver's PoV.

Do you hate the generic stuff altogether or are there some exceptions?

Nope.

What tropes do you see done right generally and which poorly?

Anything I do is done right. Other people fuck things up, but its too numerous to list.

 

[Obsoleteness]

• The MC is super OP, and he knows it.
  • But he hides it. Deliberately. Does everything to show up as weak for some arbitery reason only he understands.

Nothing beats a MC with 9000+ power level letting sub 300 goblin fodder treat him like shit because "reasons". Starting to think that one of the requirements to get isekai'd is being a massive masochist

As for what I consider generic: 98% of my story, the last 2% is something original added by mistake.

 

[Voidiris]

Medieval fantasy world with a male goody two shoes character.

 

[KrakenRiderEmma]

For me, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, ten books published between 1977 and 2013, are the most prototypical isekai fantasy, since isekai is very obviously a genre that has a Japanese name but massive western fantasy influence. Stephen Donaldson’s books have everything: incredibly annoying hapless protagonist who gets hit by a car and sent to a fantasy world, his life totally sucks in our world, he has a power fantasy chosen-one experience gaining new abilities and taking out his sexual desires on women in the fantasy world, he constantly references cultural stuff from our world, there’s a demon lord who the world has to be saved from, the series builds towards a “encompassing the whole nature of the universe” ending, etc.

Whether anyone read these books or not they definitely laid down a template. Most things I like about isekai are when they undermine or twist stuff from this template, while the most common, straightforward additions to the template are basically what constitute LitRPG or progression fantasy as distinct genres.

The series also very weird at the same time — I think it’s one of the only fantasy series where the protagonist has leprosy, and he rapes the first person he meets and then there are ten books about him over the next three dozen years. But hey, fantasy novels, I guess.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Like the title says, what do you consider to be the common staples of Isekai? What is so generic you see it so often? Do you hate the generic stuff altogether or are there some exceptions? What tropes do you see done right generally and which poorly?

All hail to being generic!!!

 

[Pixytokisaki14]

Like the title says, what do you consider to be the common staples of Isekai? What is so generic you see it so often? Do you hate the generic stuff altogether or are there some exceptions? What tropes do you see done right generally and which poorly?

The typical, local looser gets hit by a truck, meets a goddess, gets a broken skill complete with an overused system of skills, levels and HUDs. (Seriously, people just straight up call these "system" its both cringe and uncreative) complete with a damn harem because why not?

The tropes i like to see done right are ones where the MC doesn't get a broken system from the start, he has to work for learning and improve a skill he inherited from his previous life over the course of the story, not that cringy ass system bs.

 

[LuoirM]

I hate, hate, hate, hate, I FUCKING DESPITE sexualized Elf that getting raped by Orc/Goblins, having big boobs with clevage and skin showing is a part of their trait. Its' so fucking lazy.
I'm going to physically assault anyone who write Elves like that.

 

[Pixytokisaki14]

I hate, hate, hate, hate, I FUCKING DESPITE sexualized Elf that getting raped by Orc/Goblins, having big boobs with clevage and skin showing is a part of their trait. Its' so fucking lazy.
I'm going to physically assault anyone who write Elves like that.

Knife eared heretical mfs

 

[LuoirM]

Knife eared heretical mfs

Youw hat

 

[Pixytokisaki14]

Youw hat

Nothin~ whistles

Cancel Exterminatus on that eldar craftworld, NOW!

 

[LuoirM]

Nothin~ whistles

Cancel Exterminatus on that eldar craftworld, NOW!

I will lick your toes.

Negatively.

 

[Pixytokisaki14]

I will lick your toes.

Negatively.

Will you stop doing that!? Simple_Russian_Boi literally spotted you sneaking into my room at night to do god knows what!

 

[LuoirM]

Will you stop doing that!? Simple_Russian_Boi literally spotted you sneaking into my room at night to do god knows what!

don't disrespecc the elves
then maybe, just maybe you'll get your toes lick positively