Cliche tropes you like.

[Kitten Champion]

Funny you should mention that, because Kurosawa was one of the very few action directors I've seen who was willing to let his action heroes actually improvise for the sake of verisimilitude. Most directors regard their action sequences as the money shot of the film, so they'll have their actors and stuntmen and CGI artists hone everything to a dance that, while pretty to look at, also drains the tension right out of the scene because everyone is clearly focused on getting the dance steps right rather than showing that the characters are winging it while in peril.

By contrast, one of my favorite action sequences is actually a five-second shot from the climax of Seven Samurai, where a bandit on horseback attempts to attack one of the heroes, Kambei. Now, we already know that Kambei is an Obi Wan and veteran of a hundred battles, and in that circumstance, most directors would have him pull some cool action move and kill the bandit. Kurosawa just has the actor wave his sword wildly in a clear "stop trying to stab me with your sword" desperation maneuver so that Kambei could go back to what he was doing, which was shooting bandits with his bow.

I don't know that this is a trope or that it has a name if it does, but it was a wonderful moment for the film because it so efficiently showed that this was war, and in war even badasses flail and let their instincts rather than training take over when they are tired and have been pushed to their physical limit, and this does nothing to call their badass credentials into jeopardy. They are badasses, not inhuman juggernauts who feel no pain and never get tired.

Yeah, that's part of why I love Kurosawa, the haphazard fight scenes really diminish the sense of glorification of violence that's implicit to the genre and period films in general while still being captivating to watch. His fights are messy, painful, and even kind of pitiful to watch at times.

[Pendulous]

I'm a sucker for redeemed villains/antagonists. Especially if it's written well and the redeemed doesn't change who they are.

[TechnOkami]

I am an absolute sucker for Big F@cking Swords and Berserker Rage.

Why yes, Berserk is my favorite manga, why do you ask?

I would have to sit and think about what other tropes I enjoy in stories, which I will currently not do seeing as I am happily tipsy at an Oktoberfest celebration in my hometown, and don't really want to deal with thinking that hard right now. So sue me. :P

[Closet_Skeleton]

I like villain redemption when the villains are actually evil before getting redeemed. If they're merely good guys who are misled then that can be fun sometimes but its not proper redemption.

Most directors regard their action sequences as the money shot of the film, so they'll have their actors and stuntmen and CGI artists hone everything to a dance that,

Most directors rely on their choreographers for this. Kurosawa had Yoshio Sugino on Seven Samurai and Yojimbo.

[TheThan]

Oddly enough, I hate every single thing about Dragon Ball Z, including Vegeta. I must admit though that I gave up on the show before his face turn happened, so I can't comment specifically on how it was done. Vegeta didn't even occur to me as I was typing my post.

DBZ gets much better when you realize it’s a comedy.
(The joke is that these phenomenally powerful beings are all total idiots.)

[Rater202]

DBZ gets much better when you realize it’s a comedy.
(The joke is that these phenomenally powerful beings are all total idiots.)

Toriyama is a gag and parody mangaka who occasionally does serious things.

Dragonball is a parody of Wuxia and other "fantasy" martial arts stories as well as centuries old Chinese literature, comedic re-imaginings of Chinese and Indian mythology, all transplanted into a space opera setting ad expanded to a cosmic scale.

There's actually very little that's culturally japanese in the source matirial Dragon Ball is based on,and it;s one of the most well known things to come out of Japan. Is that Ironic?

The Anime has also been compared to Kabuki theater.

It's just that it happens to get dark and serious sometimes.

As for the Vegeta Heel/Face turn. That's actually a really good example of the trope, in that it takes pretty much the entire manga from his introductory arc before he's completely heel, and that makes it more believable.

[McNum]

Just an FYI: "Heel/Face Turn" is a wrestling term. It means going from Heel, who is supposed to generate hate and boos from the crowed, to Babyface who is supposed to generate cheers from the crowd. In other words, Face is the good guy, so Vegeta turned from Heel to Face. Now someone needs to call him "Babyface" and see what happens. Preferably someone who can fly really fast and breathe in space.

To go back to the main topic, there's one grand old cliche that I can't get enough of: Happy endings. Even better when it's well earned, of course, but in the end, I want the good guys to win and be happy about it. Heck, the bad guys can be happy, too, if they're not dead. I know it's shallow and unrealistic to want happy endings all the time, but I rarely look for realism in my entertainment. I can get that right here in reality. I want things that can't happen instead.

[Suichimo]

I will always appreciate a good tournament arc. When present, a lot of the best action can be found in them.

The other thing is "gondor calls for aid." Basically, at the climax and crucial moment, when the protagonists are overwhelmed by enemies, people you meet and helped along the way came to help. This is absolutely my favourite trope of all time. I know it's cliche, but hell, it's still awesome.

Absolutely.

Everything from the random villages following in Team Dai Gurren's steps and coming in to the battle for Teppelin to ones from smaller shows like Vandread.

Also have to include its sister trope, Big Damn Heroes.

Speaking of inversions: I have come to like all the tropes where the antagonist is not a Big Bad guy. Hero Antagonists, Anti Villains or just plain No Antagonist. Just because I am fed up with For the Evulz style antagonists which I have the impression have become pervasive in recent years. I feel that a conflict without an "evil" side is much more interesting and meaningful.

To a lesser degree I feel the same about The Chosen One and related tropes (Prophecies, Destiny, ...). I am happy every time I see a subversion.

If you haven't already, play Golden Sun and its sequel.

[Grim Portent]

Bad guys in spiky armour. I just love the ornate malevolent look spikes and blades can create.

Crapsack worlds are one of my big favorites, they reflect all the real world elements I consider most compelling and realistic in stories.

Unbeatable villains. Stories where the bad guy can be driven off or delayed but never truly slain are usually a big hit with me, whether the villain be an immortal dark lord, the manifestation or primordial darkness or just the flaws of humanity.

Larger than life villains mixed with petty ones. Several of my favorite stories had megalomaniacs striving to purge the world of all who would oppose them while lesser villains simply sought to settle old scores or make a profit at the expense of the protagonists.

[TheThan]

Since we’re on the topic of evil clichés, I like the Evil is Sexy Trope. Who said evil had to be ugly?

I dunno if this one has a name but I like villains to actually pose a threat to the hero. If this bad guy is supposed to be such a threat, why did the hero beat him so quickly and easily? I mean if the bad guy is supposed to be physical threat, shouldn’t he be an equal match for the hero, thus providing dramatic tension and an epic battle scene at the end. its one thing if the bad guy is say a corporate tycoon or some such, you know, someone who has people for that sort of work, then it’s fine. But often when a badguy is built up to be a huge threat and then goes down quickly, it bothers me.

Give me a threatening villain any day, Darth Vader, the operative from serenity, The Agent from the matrix, any Chop socky villain or villain from other styles of eastern martial arts films (western martial arts films are really bad about making bad guys pushovers; at least they used to be back in the 80s); you get the idea.

[Eldan]

The Martian just reminded me: I will watch or read anything featuring Mars. Well, almost anything. I just love that planet. I almost jumped up and shouted when they mentioned the Pathfinder landing site in that movie.

[Kitten Champion]

The Martian just reminded me: I will watch or read anything featuring Mars. Well, almost anything. I just love that planet. I almost jumped up and shouted when they mentioned the Pathfinder landing site in that movie.

Speaking of, that movie reminded me of how much I appreciate a story with Reasonable Authority Figures. It irks me when a plot is justified or prolonged by making the people in power over the protagonist(s) needlessly stupid, corrupt, ambivalent, irrationally stern, etc rather than coming up with some reasonable position as to why they can't act or simply find some way to integrate them in the ultimate resolution of the conflict in such a way that the story can continue along with the protagonist(s).

[TheThan]

I like a good rousing speech to encourage heroism especially if it’s just before a climactic battle.

[NovenFromTheSun]

Anti-heroes and anti-villains really only work for me if there are captial-H HEROES and capital V VILLAINS to contrast with.

I agree a bit with this part. White, black, and gray are perfectly capable of violently coexisting.

Maybe not a cliche really, but I love what I simply call THAT moment. Something happens and it becomes a very different story. Everything before it takes a much different context and the tone following it permanently shifted. Maybe the bad guy's your dad, maybe your quest to save the world comes at the cost of another group of people, maybe you're unknowingly mind controlling your seemingly loyal companions.

On a less heavy note, animated skeletons are fun to fight, especially if they break apart when they re-die.

[MLai]

I like the Trapped With Bad Guys trope. Protag is stuck in an enclosed environment (building, ship, train, plane, etc) with a bunch of bad guys and has to overcome them and the environment itself, with only what the environment can offer him. Some of my favorite movies are built on that trope: Die Hard, Under Siege 1 & 2, Alien/ Aliens, etc.

I think part of the appeal is that the limited environment not only limits the protag's options (and thus raises the tension), it also gives the viewer a defined set of variables to work with. You start pondering how the protag should survive given what you know he has, and you know the movie can't pull new plot elements/ threads out of thin air. So you become more invested as well.

[Delusion]

Super powered evil side. Yes it often ends up being predictable deus ex machina that allows the hero to win over vastly more powerful villain. I still love the trope. I love the internal conflict. I love the drama. I love the glorious ass kicking on the pompous villain.

I also love it when one of the villains turns out to be a double agent for the good guys. Itachi from Naruto, Snape from Harry Potter etc. I wouldn't invite either over for a dinner, but I still love them as deebly flawed characters.

I love the misunderstood hero.

...Actually I think I just like angst a lot. As long as there is a happy ending.

I also love Paladins when they are played straight, as opposed to the common Knight-Templar Heretics-go-burny-burny style.

[Lurkmoar]

...Actually I think I just like angst a lot. As long as there is a happy ending.

I'm really big on bittersweet endings myself. The heroes won, but it cost them. Still they have the strength to move on and grow.

[BannedInSchool]

The guilty or self-hating protagonist finding redemption is similar to the redeemed villain. They're the one who thinks they're a villain, and we usually spend more time with them moping about between discovering their wrong and their redemption, but the points along the journey are similar.

I don't know if they ran the Vengeance From Beyond the Grave cliche so hard into the ground that I'd still enjoy it, but I recall it being satisfying a few decades ago. Ghost Charlie Sheen with a mysterious black car killing the jerks who killed him (and his girlfriend?), hooyah!

[Closet_Skeleton]

I'm really big on bittersweet endings myself. The heroes won, but it cost them. Still they have the strength to move on and grow.

I like thematically consistent endings that fit the story. I don't care if they're happy, bitter, depressing, abrupt, whatever.

If I need to experience a story with a particular kind of ending, the rest of the story better build up to it properly.

[Traab]

Remember how I said I like Gauntlets? This is why. Its not in english, but the language of whup ass is universal. They must have gone through 70 pounds of celery and 5 gallon jugs of steroids to film this.

[The Fury]

The Evil Laugh. Oh my GOD I love a good evil laugh.

Oh yes. If I had to pick one trope that's actually a cliche to be my favorite, this would be it. I have been told many, many times how it's unoriginal, rote and frankly goofy to have villains do their evil laugh. I wouldn't entirely disagree, and yet... Don't knock it 'til you've tried it that's all I'm saying.

[gooddragon1]

I love the ethereal choir. Feel free to call me cheesy.

[Yora]

Oh yes. If I had to pick one trope that's actually a cliche to be my favorite, this would be it. I have been told many, many times how it's unoriginal, rote and frankly goofy to have villains do their evil laugh. I wouldn't entirely disagree, and yet... Don't knock it 'til you've tried it that's all I'm saying.

Muahahahaha

[Rohim Firesword]

I would have to go with the arrival of the cavalry, for sure. it's totally cliche, and if done wrong is practically deus ex machina, but when you have something like the Rohirrim charging into Pellenor fields, I get chills.

[Traab]

I would have to go with the arrival of the cavalry, for sure. it's totally cliche, and if done wrong is practically deus ex machina, but when you have something like the Rohirrim charging into Pellenor fields, I get chills.

I think the hardest part is balancing the foreshadowing with making the reader actually think all is lost even if only for a moment. If a chapter earlier you have it written where someone is locating the cavalry then the reader wont be surprised when they find out. If a messenger gets sent before the battle even starts and you dont hear anything from them for several chapters and so many events are going on its easy to forget about the short mention of a messenger then it works really well.

[Gnoman]

I think the hardest part is balancing the foreshadowing with making the reader actually think all is lost even if only for a moment. If a chapter earlier you have it written where someone is locating the cavalry then the reader wont be surprised when they find out. If a messenger gets sent before the battle even starts and you dont hear anything from them for several chapters and so many events are going on its easy to forget about the short mention of a messenger then it works really well.

What works well is having the cavalry arrive too late to do any good - except that the enemy panics at their arrival, the collapsing heroes manage a supreme last-ditch effort, or some other event just barely manages to let them save the day. One of the better examples I can think of is a Dirk Pitt novel (forget which one), where the hero is under siege by a bunch of mercenaries that want to torture him and the refugees with him to death, the defense is collapsing, and he's applying pressure to the trigger of a pistol held to his girlfriend-of-the-books head (for a mercy kill) when he hears the French(?) army arriving the save the day. The reader knew the troops were coming, but up until the last second, it looks like they'll be too late.

[DataNinja]

I always like it when the heroes are pitted up against a vastly technologically superior foe. Maybe it's just because I love seeing technology unbound by morals, or maybe it's just because it only ever seems to get used once when the heroes have it and then destroyed for some unexplained reason... But I just love over the top cool magi-techno-robotic-steampunk-whatever technology. Especialy Evil ones.

And on the subject of evil, I always like it when the villains dress in obviously evil attire - or at least sinister. I always like it when the villains look so much cooler than the heroes... but maybe because I like rooting for the underdogs. Everyone knew the Empire was doomed from the start of A New hope, right?

[ThinkMinty]

Tsunderes. They're inherently dynamic, so the cliche thing is kinda besides the point since there's character development built into the archetype.

Cartoonishly E-V-I-L Big Bads. Moral ambiguity is...I mean, I don't want heroes who never do questionable things, but I like Big Bads who are bad people. If they wanna blow up the sun to usher in eternal night or something, I don't care if they're nice to their blind niece or whatever.

[ThinkMinty]

Since we’re on the topic of evil clichés, I like the Evil is Sexy Trope. Who said evil had to be ugly?

Evil should be tempting, after all. That, and bad girls tend to have cute butts. 's not even wanting to seduce her into goodness, it's just the idea of having a good time with a bad girl is...appealing.

's why I like Liz Hurley's devil so much; she's all kinky and taunty, it's adorable. I have to wonder if stuff I saw as a kid shaped my sexuality in some way...probably, since fetishes are things you start having before puberty.

I dunno if this one has a name but I like villains to actually pose a threat to the hero. If this bad guy is supposed to be such a threat, why did the hero beat him so quickly and easily? I mean if the bad guy is supposed to be physical threat, shouldn’t he be an equal match for the hero, thus providing dramatic tension and an epic battle scene at the end. its one thing if the bad guy is say a corporate tycoon or some such, you know, someone who has people for that sort of work, then it’s fine. But often when a badguy is built up to be a huge threat and then goes down quickly, it bothers me.

No, the bad guy should be better, bigger, more powerful, and with much less restraint. The hero needs an uphill struggle. You want the chase to have effort, you want every fight leaving them panting and needing to take a knee. Push the heroes to their limits, and watch them bend and snap back rather than break and fall apart. Satisfaction comes with the challenge being met.

Spoiler: Iron Man (2008) Spoilers

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The corporate tycoon can easily have the resources to be physically threatening. Iron Man (the 2008 film), for example, puts the (anti-)hero up against a dark reflection of himself: An vicious, calculating tool of an arms dealer with a talent for tactics and the exploitation of knowledge. Sorta like how a lot of comics readers think of Iron Man, but without any redeeming features, and even more beard. Iron Man has to outthink the Iron Monger, because he simply will not, cannot overcome him with sheer firepower like he's been doing the whole movie. Even if he's just a bit quicker, he's utterly outgunned. Iron Monger spent a lot of the film trying to kill him, and the only way he managed to scrape his way out of those situations was by great effort, and at great cost to his well-being. He has to resort to deft trickery and ooze charm out of every exhaust port just to grunt out a victory.

Give me a threatening villain any day, Darth Vader, the operative from serenity, The Agent from the matrix, any Chop socky villain or villain from other styles of eastern martial arts films (western martial arts films are really bad about making bad guys pushovers; at least they used to be back in the 80s); you get the idea.

Holy ****, this! I wanna see the hero in a martial arts movie take a few blows instead of winning every single movement. Hell, take some serious injuries in the final fight. Should be a requirement for anything with action that the hero gets hurt at least once.

Spoiler: Rob Roy Spoilers

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Like that swordfight at the end of Rob Roy with Neesons and Tim Roth is much more satisfying because of the struggle between underdog hero and the elegant, erudite fiend. He takes a brutal thrashing, cut after cut after cut, and then at the end, Neesons grabs Tim Roth's sword and nearly gashes him in half to win the day.

[Draconium]

One of my personal requirements for when I make a villain is motivation - at least, motivation beyond "For the Evulz." Even the most chaotic, screwed-up bad guy should have a reason for why he's like that, or some explanation for what he's after what he's after. I'm not saying they have to be sympathetic, but at the very least, I prefer a glimmer of understanding to help me root for against him.