What sci-fi tropes/clichés do you hate/love the most

[Menilik]

When I first wrote my book it started with the "MC waking up" from a thousand-year sleep.

Then I started noticing so many stories where the opening scene is the MC 'waking up'. I've since changed it to a much stronger opening scene. But this whole experience made me curious about tropes or clichés people on RR see a lot:

1. Which tropes/clichés do you love reading?
2. Which do you hate reading?
3. What would turn you off a book completely?

Here are a few that I really like reading or writing about.

• I love when the MC has a companion. Especially a witty AI character. Although I often struggle to believe how 'dumb' and 'smart' they can be at the same time.
• I love the funny/witty MCs - especially when there's a lot of banter
• I love unique aliens - like truly alien from humans and all the problems associated with that

Here's a few that I'm not the biggest fan of.

• Not the biggest fan when the MC gets promoted to running warship/army/etc. just because they beat an alien in some sort of combat. As if killing a strong enemy automatically equips the MC to lead an army.
• I can never understand why 'kings' and 'queens' still exist in space operas. Like I'd be more willing to believe a CEO of a large corporation running a planet.
• I'm not the biggest fan of people that just meet. Then travel together for the rest story as if people do that. (Or worse they fall in love at first sight)

 

[Lorelliad]

I don't like it when sci-fi takes place 1000 years in the future. Like to the point that there's dystopian alien stuff and traveling to other worlds via spaceships. I know that's what sci-fi is probably about, but I like staying in our home world more.

Near future stuff, say like when humanity discovers a new resource that they use to drastically improve their technology to the point that everyone has flying cars and self-heating toilets, now that's more my style.

 

[Menilik]

I don't like it when sci-fi takes place 1000 years in the future. Like to the point that there's dystopian alien stuff and traveling to other worlds via spaceships. I know that's what sci-fi is probably about, but I like staying in our home world more.

OMG - me neither. I find it way more relatable when the story could happen in my lifetime.

I wrote my story so it happens right after we invent artificial general intelligence. And use that as my way of thrusting the MC into a world with a mix of 'old tech' and 'new tech'.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Which tropes/clichés do you love reading?

I like reading about pseudo science stuff and weird biological/metaphysical phenomena. So exploration stuff, like Star Trek or Stargate.

Which do you hate reading?

I don't know that there are any Sci-Fi tropes I genuinely hate... Sure, some tropes I hate can be applied to sci-fi, but that's not really the same thing.

I can never understand why 'kings' and 'queens' still exist in space operas. Like I'd be more willing to believe a CEO of a large corporation running a planet.

A monarch is basically the CEO of a Feudal government. It makes a whole lot more sense that a government with more than two worlds in it would give up entirely on a commercial system. Otherwise they'd never invest the money to make the trip to space. *cough* Like real life. *cough*

 

[Menilik]

A monarch is basically the CEO of a Feudal government. It makes a whole lot more sense that a government with more than two worlds in it would give up entirely on a commercial system. Otherwise they'd never invest the money to make the trip to space. *cough* Like real life. *cough*

This exactly. I feel like a corporation running a planet and monopolising it

 

[Cipiteca396]

This exactly. I feel like a corporation running a planet and monopolising it

What I meant was the opposite, lol. A corporation is already run by a king, so it's no stretch to have Kings or Queens in space.

 

[Menilik]

What I meant was the opposite, lol. A corporation is already run by a king, so it's no stretch to have Kings or Queens in space.

my bad.

I agree with you that a king/queen is similar to a CEO. But I guess I find a CEO more believable than a queen/king.

 

[minionlover]

Aliens acting superior to humans. Always rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Aliens acting superior to humans. Always rubs me the wrong way.

Huh. That's weird. I wonder why?

 

[K5Rakitan]

I don't feel like focusing on what I hate right now. What I like is when an alien race has 3 or more sexes.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Aliens acting superior to humans. Always rubs me the wrong way.

At this point, it is just the writers trying to garner compassion with our "brave human MC fighting against the odds".

Underdogs are nice, but projecting humans jerkassness onto aliens in order to stand on moral highground is lame.

I don't feel like focusing on what I hate right now. What I like is when an alien race has 3 or more sexes.

The problem is that some authors don't really focus on the thing.

Like Worth the Candle's dwarves, one sex organ with two configurations and here I must ask, is this the hermaphrodite thing? How do dwarves mate with humans then?

Also, what I hate about the whole sci-fi shit is just the superpositioning of RL crap onto space. Pirates... IN SPACE! World Government... IN SPACE! Samurai Ninja... IN SPACE!

I understand that authors are humans, asking them to reinvent the wheel is difficult and if the idea is too far out, they risk losing connections. But if your sci-fi is just modern crap but in chrome, please no.

 

[Sola-sama]

Aliens acting superior to humans. Always rubs me the wrong way.

Ah, I see you're a brother of culture as well. How can vile xenos dare to act superior to mankind. They should ask the opinion of our brothers in the Ordo Xenos before acting superior.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

I am tired of seeing dystopias in sci-fi. I understand why they are prominent, but that just means people aren't being imaginitive enough with the kinds of stories they want to tell. Real life is already too much of a dystopia right now.

Not enough wholesome religion content; science and religion are not in opposition to each other. It doesn't always have to be some weird cult.

Artificial sapience. No, robots cannot be humans. Robots are not better than humans, also their bodies break down far quicker. Just splash some water on them.

Transhumanism. Some things i like, some i dislike. Mixed i guess.

I do like space battles whenever they show up, especially if its creative or unorthodox.

The ideas of solving real world issues with technology is always cool, even if implausible science is used.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Wen people inject their current year politics into the future thinking that "The past 12 thousand years was wrong, but the bullshit I came up with in the past 10 years is new and original so I will show a future where my delusions come real and everything is a paradise even if a 5 yo could poke holes in my delusional future."

 

[Aaqil]

I agree with you that a king/queen is similar to a CEO. But I guess I find a CEO more believable than a queen/king.

If you're gonna be like a monarch, might as well go all the way and become one,

Besides, monarchy probably improves the companies' value, for yourself at least,

 

[Tsuru]

Love : sacrifice of self-explosion of mecha/armor/core, well done plot armor, brotherhood, teamwork, IQ plans, retribution, countering the bullshit words of enemies

Hate : Arrogant young master / despotism / rotten gov / betrayers / mc being chased by a mega op enemy like a cat-mouse / very trash villains

They are what i can think of in the surface of my turned-off brain right now.
I had txt.file with a very big list of all cliches i like and hate (mostly chinese ones) but i erased it 1 year ago, because there is no one worth sharing it with

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Hate robots with AI. They're just machines. No amount of tone will make me feel like they deserve some sort of humanity.

Love the constant environmental changes when done like a safari. Where the atmosphere changes and doesn't get switched to, "Earth atmo with a breathing mask on" and the impact of being in a new surrounding meshes with the scene.

I never understand why there aren't more stories like Enterprise or Stargate where there are already well established civilizations and... they don't care about the new comers. To them it's just another Tuesday.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Fun fact: the US is the longest running government in human history. Yes, there are older countries, but every other country today has been overthrown, or had a new government installed since America was founded.

Think about that.

As far as we call tell, no government in history or modern times has lasted longer than the US, with peaceful transfers of power from one leader to another.

Just about every other form of government has been thought up, and tried and none of them have any staying power.

My point is, I find it disturbing that people do scifi governments and believe they can last for a thousand years or some bs.

Revolution is the norm.
Peaceful transference of power is the exception.

 

[apexaltra]

I love unique aliens - like truly alien from humans and all the problems associated with that

Same here. Big fan of aliens that are actually, well, alien.
One of my pet peeves is when a story's alien species are just "human but blue," "human with horns," etc. It's boring. It doesn't stop me from enjoying a series, but it definitely makes me less interested in your aliens.

 

[T.K._Paradox]

Alien fauna and home worlds are awesome.

I also like the concept of extremely nonhuman aliens, but ones that can still be relatable.

I hate Space World War 2 and more specifically space Nazis, it is overrated and uninteresting.

Also copy pasting a human civilization from history and making it 'alien' gets old real fast, most people know nothing about the civilization itself and just use it for aesthetic.