Unpopular Opinion: The Extra / Transmigration tropes are boring.

[AlwaysWanted]

"Shattered Innocence: Transmigrated Into a Novel as an Extra" "Path of the extra" "The Extra's rise".

ETC.

No disrespect to the others who have poured hundreds of hours into the creation of their respective stories following these tropes, but as much as I hate to say it, these stories just feel 'Tacky'.

My disdain for these stories where people are transmigrated into a game, novel, show, book, whatever source of media, stems from the fact that they are simply boring. The stakes feel nonexistent because the Main Character knows what is going to happen because they read/watched the book/show/game.

Take for example the popular webnovel:

Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades​

The main character, Neo, is transmigrated into a novel, and from then, all of his decisions are influenced by his knowledge of the novel.

*SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD*

There is no critical thinking involved. Neo is transported to a pond that is highly dense in natural energy that the characters use to powerup, and is greeted to the sight by the sea princess and her guard.

The sea princess is trying to use the pond to get stronger, but is shocked by the sight of Neo (Who she doesn't know is recently transmigrated and very weak, which leads to her confusing him for being a spawn of a god) and is wary of his presence.

Neo, taking advantage of this confusion, decides to ask for a council with the Queen of the sea land.

Here are where my problems arise.

The MC, Neo, doesn't need to make any critical decisions. Because he has knowledge of the novel, he knows what the next best thing to do. In this case, because Neo knew the Queen had access to a tremor level spell (Extremely powerful ability) that could shake the course of the world, he knew that he needed to take advantage of the situation and go to see her.

Nothing is earned. The MC didn't need to scheme, think, fight, or scavenge for knowledge, it's all just magically there and allows him to basically do everything with relative ease.

*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SHADOW SLAVE*

Now when you compare that to a story like Shadow Slave, the difference is night & day.

*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SHADOW SLAVE*

You compare the events of a story like Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades, to a story like Shadow Slave and you see a sharp contrast.

Sunny has little to no knowledge of future events and everything must be earned. And you can see him pay the price dearly in events such as the betrayal of Cassie, and the introduction of Mordret.

In a story where a character is brought to life with essentially fully omniscience due to knowledge of future, present, and past events, it makes it hard for the reader (AKA myself) to feel like MC actually EARNED anything, it feels moreso as if MC was rewarded just for existing.

I'll give another example.

How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game.

In this story, MC is reincarnated, and of course he knows everything. He knows that his childhood friend/one-sided love interest is a maniac who will kill him as soon as she loses interest. He knows about all the female leads, what they like, and how to steal them from the protagonist. And he knows all the critical events that happen in the story, where to find all the items that can benefit him, and how to 'Beat the game'.

You see my point here? What exactly did MC do? He did nothing but rely on prior knowledge in order to get better, stronger, and gain respect/interest from the heroines.

The trope in all honesty, is a form of wasted potential in my eyes.

You have the opportunity to create a unique world where your character has to earn, conquer, learn, and grow, and instead you make it so where your MC does essentially nothing but rely on prior knowledge. And that to me, is a disservice to the reader and author themselves.

Even in those stories where MC is stupidly powerful and 'can't lose'. (Villain Retirement, My Three Wives are beautiful vampires, Kingdom Building Game: Starting out with a million upgrade points!, etc.) these stories are made interesting by the fact that we don't know what's going to happen next in the story.

That randomness and slight mystery builds intrigue for the reader, whether they know it or not.

But once again, when you remove all this mystery, and have the MC in a role where he is essentially omniscient in terms of knowing what will happen next, it is incredibly boring and isn't worthwhile.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

 

[AlwaysWanted]

Damn, I clicked control by accident and somehow the thread got posted. I don't know how to delete it, so I guess I'll continue my point down here.

You compare the events of a story like Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades, to a story like Shadow Slave and you see a sharp contrast.

Sunny has little to no knowledge of future events and everything must be earned. And you can see him pay the price dearly in events such as the betrayal of Cassie, and the introduction of Mordret.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Damn, I clicked control by accident and somehow the thread got posted. I don't know how to delete it, so I guess I'll continue my point down here.

You compare the events of a story like Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades, to a story like Shadow Slave and you see a sharp contrast.

Sunny has little to no knowledge of future events and everything must be earned. And you can see him pay the price dearly in events such as the betrayal of Cassie, and the introduction of Mordret.

You can edit your post.
Also, wrong subforum buddy. Press report under your first post, and ask it to be moved to Reader General, or Author General.

 

[Justhetip...]

"Shattered Innocence: Transmigrated Into a Novel as an Extra" "Path of the extra" "The Extra's rise".

ETC.

No disrespect to the others who have poured hundreds of hours into the creation of their respective stories following these tropes, but as much as I hate to say it, these stories just feel 'Tacky'.

My disdain for these stories where people are transmigrated into a game, novel, show, book, whatever source of media, stems from the fact that they are simply boring. The stakes feel nonexistent because the Main Character knows what is going to happen because they read/watched the book/show/game.

Take for example the popular webnovel:

Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades​

The main character, Neo, is transmigrated into a novel, and from then, all of his decisions are influenced by his knowledge of the novel.

*SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD*

There is no critical thinking involved. Neo is transported to a pond that is highly dense in natural energy that the characters use to powerup, and is greeted to the sight by the sea princess and her guard.

The sea princess is trying to use the pond to get stronger, but is shocked by the sight of Neo (Who she doesn't know is recently transmigrated and very weak, and confuses him for being a spawn of a god) and is wary of his presence.

Neo, taking advantage of this confusion, decides to ask for a council with the Queen of the sea land.

Here are where my problems arise.

The MC, Neo, doesn't need to make any critical decisions. Because he has knowledge of the novel, he knows what the next best thing to do. In this case, because Neo knew the Queen had access to a tremor level spell (Extremely powerful ability) that could shake the course of the world, he knew that he needed to take advantage of the situation and go to see her.

Nothing is earned. The MC didn't need to scheme, think, fight, or scavenge for knowledge, it's all just magically there and allows him to basically do everything with relative ease.

*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SHADOW SLAVE*

Now when you compare that to a story like Shadow Slave *MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SHADOW SLAVE*

A lot of authors do use this trope for the sake of lazy writing, or so they can make the MC get power-ups without having to attribute it to plot armor or coincidence, since he knew about it. Though it does get tedious sometimes.

Of course, it also makes for interesting situation where the plot unfolds in completely unexpected ways, and the MC is left confused, or his attempts at changing the plot backfires too, but these situations are relatively rare compared to the more popular ones.

 

[AlwaysWanted]

Damn, I clicked control by accident and somehow the thread got posted. I don't know how to delete it, so I guess I'll continue my point down here.

You compare the events of a story like Extra's Death: I Am the Son of Hades, to a story like Shadow Slave and you see a sharp contrast.

Sunny has little to no knowledge of future events and everything must be earned. And you can see him pay the price dearly in events such as the betrayal of Cassie, and the introduction of Mordret.

In a story where a character is brought to life with essentially fully omniscience due to knowledge of future, present, and past events, it makes it hard for the reader (AKA myself) to feel like MC actually EARNED anything, it feels moreso as if MC was rewarded just for existing.

I'll give another example.

How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game.

In this story, MC is reincarnated, and of course he knows everything. He knows that his childhood friend/one-sided love interest is a maniac who will kill him as soon as he loses interest. He knows about all the female leads, what they like, and how to steal them from the protaganist. And he knows all the critical events that happen in the story, where to find all the items that can benefit him, and how to 'Beat the game'.

You see my point here? What exactly did MC do? He did nothing but rely on prior knowledge in order to get better, stronger, and gain respect/interest from the heroines.

You can edit your post.
Also, wrong subforum buddy. Press report under your first post, and ask it to be moved to Reader General, or Author General.

Is there any way to delete the post?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Is there any way to delete the post?

Same as moving. You report your first post and ask to delete it. Unfortunately that's the only way.

 

[AlwaysWanted]

In a story where a character is brought to life with essentially fully omniscience due to knowledge of future, present, and past events, it makes it hard for the

Same as moving. You report your first post and ask to delete it. Unfortunately that's the only way.

I already reported the post and asked it to be moved, so I guess I'll wait.

 

[BigBadBoi]

Depends. If the author is a coward and makes the MC go "I can't change the future because the plot will be affected" it is boring. It's more interesting if the MC actively takes advantage of it and switches things up, or future knowledge doesn't matter due to variables fucking up the story.

 

[AlwaysWanted]

Depends. If the author is a coward and makes the MC go "I can't change the future because the plot will be affected" it is boring. It's more interesting if the MC actively takes advantage of it and switches things up, or future knowledge doesn't matter due to variables fucking up the story.

The thing is, those novels where the MC (Extra/Transmigrator) actually tries to flip the script and do something unique are so far and few. Most of those novels are the same.

Typically, MC will do nothing but depend on his prior knowledge and that leads to a very boring story.

A lot of authors do use this trope for the sake of lazy writing, or so they can make the MC get power-ups without having to attribute it to plot armor or coincidence, since he knew about it. Though it does get tedious sometimes.

Of course, it also makes for interesting situation where the plot unfolds in completely unexpected ways, and the MC is left confused, or his attempts at changing the plot backfires too, but these situations are relatively rare compared to the more popular ones.

Unfortunately, I've yet to see a novel with the extra/transmigrator trope that really does something different and makes it so the MC having knowledge of the past, present, and future actually benefits the novel.

 

[BigBadBoi]

Unfortunately, I've yet to see a novel with the extra/transmigrator trope that really does something different and makes it so the MC having knowledge of the past, present, and future actually benefits the novel.

Honestly I've recently binged and catched up to a novel where the MC got isekai'd into a 4x grand startegy game. The MC taking advantage of the fact that it's not a game but real life so they take advantage of it to get more benefits is really fun. Or a story where they got isekai'd into a shounen manga and the author vanished when he released a chapter "Waiting for 200 Years"(I'm still waiting). Or many more examples. Too many isekai'd into [media] stories rely on future knowledge and don't take advantage of the fact that they aren't characters in a play but beings with free will.

 

[AYM]

It's not an unpopular opinion. Also, my problem with it isn't when authors assign MC the role of an extra or transmigrator. My problem is when authors assign the MC perfect knowledge.

 

[AlwaysWanted]

It's not an unpopular opinion. Also, my problem with it isn't when authors assign MC the role of an extra or transmigrator. My problem is when authors assign the MC perfect knowledge.

I would consider it to be an unpopular opinion due to the sheer volume of stories based on the Extra/Transmigration trope across various novel sites. I also agree with your point about perfect knowledge, but it's very common in the Extra/Transmigration trope so it's very related.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I would consider it to be an unpopular opinion due to the sheer volume of stories based on the Extra/Transmigration trope across various novel sites.

Thinking systems are trash isn't unpopular at all, but the sheer amount of novels with systems in it somehow makes it less popular?

 

[AlwaysWanted]

Thinking systems are trash isn't unpopular at all, but the sheer amount of novels with systems in it somehow makes it less popular?

Opinions you see on Online Forums such as this one make up less than 10% of the general consensuses of readers on platforms such as Webnovel, Royal Road, Wattpad, Scribblehub, etc.

If people really genuinely despised a certain trope, you would never see it anywhere close to the most popular novels.

 

[naosu]

It's not an unpopular opinion. Also, my problem with it isn't when authors assign MC the role of an extra or transmigrator. My problem is when authors assign the MC perfect knowledge.

It makes sense and is logical for the MC to NOT have perfect knowledge yes.

Thinking systems are trash isn't unpopular at all, but the sheer amount of novels with systems in it somehow makes it less popular?

What are you defining as a thinking system? Since most of us think (well not everyone does), that can be anything.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

Disagreed, usually the author of a good novel adds a twist that turns "the original work" on its head, butterfly effects cause enemies to be a lot more prepared, fleshes out characters, etc, etc

 

[Arkus86]

Nothing is earned. The MC didn't need to scheme, think, fight, or scavenge for knowledge, it's all just magically there and allows him to basically do everything with relative ease.

To be fair, this is not exclusive to transmigration. It's especially common in generic LitRPG/Isekai, where MC stumbles upon useful and powerful knowledge/items/skills every other step of the way.

In a story where a character is brought to life with essentially fully omniscience due to knowledge of future, present, and past events, it makes it hard for the reader (AKA myself) to feel like MC actually EARNED anything, it feels moreso as if MC was rewarded just for existing.

But there is a way to make even those novels interesting. Usually by making their decisions, or the acts of another transmigrated person, influence the story and making it diverge from the original path to a point where the plot no longer follows the original game/novel.

In one case I have seen the trope done from the PoV of the native of the world, who is a friend to the transmigrated heroine. The heroine knows what is going to happen, and is trying to avoid it, but the actual MC is her friend, trying to support her while living her own life.

 

[Rezcore]

The Novel's Extra seems a exception, he knows the story until suddenly he doesn't and he makes choices that reflect that. I love that in the end, he doesn't even actually win. It's a faux victory

 

[Representing_Tromba]

I wasn't a fan of the trope in the first place.