How to use common fantasy tropes in a parody

[Zenomew]

Hey fellow scribblers!

So, I'm working on a fantasy parody, and I'm trying to figure out how to best use those classic fantasy tropes – you know, the chosen one, the ancient prophecy, the wise old mentor, the ridiculously overpowered sword, etc.

Basically, I want to lean into them hard, but in a way that's hilariously over-the-top and self-aware

Cough

All counsel, be it grand or small, is welcome here, to break the thrall! Let's hold a brainstorm, a merry meet, to forge a strategy, both sharp and sweet, for glorious trope-smashing,

(In english:- Just give me ideas please ?)

 

[BouncyCactus]

I'll toss ya one, The Ancient Prophecy.

Language changes. Meaning shifted. Grammar evolved. Vocabulary falls out of fashion. Spelling adapted over time. And more than that, ancient prophecy was written in a now lost language that the current scholars still could not agree upon how to reconstruct, translate, and interpret. And every scholars and their mom, aunt, and uncle have their own interpretation of it, and no one could fucking agree on what it mean, picking fight and arguing over the littlish, pettyish thing about the prophecy. The Academic world wages war over their own interpretations, fighting over the influence of the royal court.

"The Prophecy state that the fated hero is from XXX region!"
"Bullshit! The name of that region originated from YYY language, which is connected to ZZZ!"
"Nonono! You're all fucking stupid! What fated hero? It's about a blessing! A ritual is needed!"
"Shut the fuck up! Where the fuck did you get 'Ritual' from? It clearly stated that ---"

All the while, the prophet, immortal and wise, foreseeing the future and the past, long perished, but his soul still roams the world, is rolling in his grave because someone just discovered a Self-Insert Erotica he wrote after a night of heavy drinking with the 'Sword of Legend' maker.

 

[Zenomew]

Or turns out that the holy sword is actually a shape shifting weapon and everyone other hero only used it's sword form until our mc came along

In his hand he carried an ancient and trustworthy weapon, called by the Hero as a Browning semi-automatic.

Or anything presented as magic is usually just a lame trick or worse.

Insult not the Me the great wise wizard mentor , for I have many powers. Here, pick a card. Any card.

 

[Clo]

Some of my favourite tropes to make fun of is things like all JRPG groups tend to be between 14 and 17 year old when they save the world.

So if a women reaches 18 or something, and has yet to have saved the world? That's when she realises it's too late for her to be the love interest. All of her friend found a hero, and a shadow lord to defeat, but her.

Now she has to worry, is she going to simply age to become a random villager? A store NPC? Or maybe she'll become that grizzled old 25 year old scarred veteran in some other hero's party?

I don't know why, I've had this stupid idea of creating this absurd world where people are aware of the rules of the universe like that.

 

[Zenomew]

Some of my favourite tropes to make fun of is things like all JRPG groups tend to be between 14 and 17 year old when they save the world.

So if a women reaches 18 or something, and has yet to have saved the world? That's when she realises it's too late for her to be the love interest. All of her friend found a hero, and a shadow lord to defeat, but her.

Now she has to worry, is she going to simply age to become a random villager? A store NPC? Or maybe she'll become that grizzled old 25 year old scarred veteran in some other hero's party?

I don't know why, I've had this stupid idea of creating this absurd world where people are aware of the rules of the universe like that.

I am the Hero (NOT)

'Being a hero was everything to me... but if this is where it all leads, then I’m done.' The world is on the brink of destruction, and its last hope—the legendary hero—has been put out of comission. Now, the impossible task of saving everyone falls to...

www.scribblehub.com

Here is one where the female MC is 51 years old and decided to go save the world anyways because the hero is in bedrest(leg fracture)and grounded by his mother

 

[BouncyCactus]

Some of my favourite tropes to make fun of is things like all JRPG groups tend to be between 14 and 17 year old when they save the world.

So if a women reaches 18 or something, and has yet to have saved the world? That's when she realises it's too late for her to be the love interest. All of her friend found a hero, and a shadow lord to defeat, but her.

Now she has to worry, is she going to simply age to become a random villager? A store NPC? Or maybe she'll become that grizzled old 25 year old scarred veteran in some other hero's party?

I don't know why, I've had this stupid idea of creating this absurd world where people are aware of the rules of the universe like that.

And here I thought '5 years of relevant work experience for this entry level job' was bad.

"I'm sorry, but you clearly didn't have 'Save the world from an evil Lich' or 'Overthrowing a tyrannical ruler' on your resume, so we have to decline your application to our Local Institution of Art and Music. Thank you for your understanding"

 

[Vitriol]

Here, in the plaza, the wise old mentor tournament was taking place. Everyone, old and young, from afar and from next door, came to take part in the tournament.

It soon turned into a royal battle, where only the wisest and those who knew safety precautions survived the onslaught. The others either got tied up in their own magic ropes, got flung into the sky with their magic carpets to greet God, or exploded due to reasons unknown. And so, only 3 people remained.

Firstly, the chosen one approached the Great Wise Wizard Mentor™. Alas, the Great One guessed the wrong card and thus was disqualified.

Secondly, he approached the smallest wise sage, who had his beard glued on and held staff with his youthful, non-wrinkly hands and asked one thing — “milk before cereal or after cereal?” Alas, the sage answered milk before cereal.

“Poor sage” — sighed the chosen one — “doesn’t know that cereal must go after milk.”

For the optimal quantity of cereal, of course. Once you pour milk on cereal, it can never be unpoured. And if you dare to add more cereal after the deed you shall be disowned by your family and scorned by anyone that meets you.

The chosen one approached the last person remaining. It was an old, unkept man stuck in a beer barrel, located in a dark alleyway, where light barely reached. Standing before the old man, like Alexander the Great before Diogenes, the chosen one asked one thing:

“Oh wise one, I merely seek an answer to a question that has been plaguing me ——

—— pineapple on pizza or no pineapple?”

“Pineapple on pizza not” slurred the wisest old man, his face red and gaze unfocusing, as he fell into an alcoholic coma.

“Indeed, the only one worthy of becoming my mentor.”

Terms of service:
Upon agreeing to be the mentee to Great Wise Wizard Mentor™, we (GWWMA), are not held accountable for any injuries, seizures, dragon attacks, transformation potions (gender included), unsuccessful magic, Lich kings, explosions, witnessing beings beyond comprehension, calamities, summoning someone from another world, curse of bad reading comprehension, just curses and other life-threatening situations.

No refunds.

 

[Zenomew]

The demon lord is for once actually smart

Evil overlord list for success

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.


I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.

After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not Left for Dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.

When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around.

Once my power is secure, I will destroy all those pesky time-travel devices.

 

[CraneFlyingNorth]

Hey fellow scribblers!

So, I'm working on a fantasy parody, and I'm trying to figure out how to best use those classic fantasy tropes – you know, the chosen one, the ancient prophecy, the wise old mentor, the ridiculously overpowered sword, etc.

A strategy is also to look at your story and think about what would a normal hero do according to the common hero's journey structure used in many stories and then do the opposite: 'I'm the chosen one and supposed to go somewhere?' Well let me nope out of that and do something entirely else (or, sure we can do that but I'm there to have fun and enjoy the travels, nothing else, you can take care of the fighting), 'Oh, you are a wise man who wants to impart knowledge?' Let's discuss your old views and opinions until I've stomped them in the ground. Part of the parody could also be that the hero unintentionally ends up fulfilling a prophecy exactly by doing the opposite things and by going off track. Or the important part of a prophecy, which changes the whole meaning of it, went missing or was made unreadable because of a stupid incident or even on purpose by the hero himself. This is very fun to think about actually. What about the hero's 'halo', so no matter what happens, the hero survives taken to the extrem, some deus ex machina moments can probably be used well in a parody.