Cliche Characters

There are different types of characters in fiction which are often considered cliche because they have been used so many times before. They should generally be avoided by authors.

Fantasy
The Fantasy Character Cliche Meter
 * The tomboyish princess who doesn't want to wear dresses or do anything that her parents or dowdy middle-aged maidservant wants her to do.
 * The high priest or clergyman who is actually evil.
 * The wise old wizard or bard who teaches the hero a certain skill before dying (but still somehow managing to make a dramatic death speech despite the gaping hole in his throat or stomach).
 * The cool, calculating, somewhat overconfident assassin.

Science Fiction

 * The teenager working at a salvage yard or some other "dirty" job in the middle of space, who wishes for action and adventure.
 * The grizzled space bounty hunter.

Romantic Fiction

 * The beautiful girl/handsome boy who turns out to be a jerk.
 * The somewhat average-looking (or flat-out ugly) girl/boy who turns out to the be the nicest one there.
 * The hero/heroine that must choose between the previous two in one combined romantic plot, which usually has the equally cliche moral of seeing people for who they are and not how they look.

Cliche Names

 * Raven
 * Ebony
 * Luna
 * Hunter