Cliches that you actually Like?

[him over there]

I know that people constantly complain about things being cliché, not specifically on here but it's one of the biggest criticisms that are often pegged onto a story. Sure everything has been done and there's a reason things become cliche in the first place but some form of ingenuity and originality is appreciated.

What I want to know is if any of you have any tropes or cliches that you like or don't mind. Maybe something so common place you don't even care anymore, or it's just transcendentally awesome like bullet time (Or used to be).

Personally I always like Catch phrases. Not really in videogames since there is infinite possibility for them but finite uses while they're still awesome but thy're cool none the less.

Also I'm not linking tvtropes because I've ruined enough peoples lives.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

Happy Endings [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HappyEnding]. I simply cannot bear to watch movies or read books if they end with a downer.

And no, I do not feel bad for linking TvTropes. >

 

[BloatedGuppy]

INB4 someone links to TV Trop.....ahhhhhhhhhh crap.

 

[Korenith]

Underdog stories and oversized animal/monster movies. I know exactly how they'll play out from the start 99% of the time but I still enjoy them. Full of cheesey rubbish and bad acting they still provide a cheerful way to fill an hour and a half of my life. That being said I won't pass up a genuinely good movie in favour of either.

 

[fubaring0]

Children's Choir singing a made up language over an action scene this has become really overused in movies but still think its an awesome use juxtaposition to me.

 

[Bomberman4000]

I've never really thought about cliches in a positive light before. I tend to like things that change up the formula so I try to avoid cliches when I can.

I guess if I had to pick one I like though, I'd go with the moment of doubt regarding whether or not a protagonist will succeed, specifically in movies. You know deep down that ultimately the hero will succeed, but I love the moments when it truly looks like he won't. Usually in the second act when things get hairier than they expect is my favorite part of a movie. Like I said, I enjoy things that break up the formula so I like to allow myself to think there's a chance our protagonist won't be successful.

Alas, Mr. Cwtchy gets his way more than I get mine :-(

 

[Fishyash]

Non-forced (...eh, sometimes forced) catch phrases so I can use them out of context in conversations... and sometimes to make fun of them because they can be pretty funny.

 

[Pandalisk]

Over-the-top bad-asses are still bad-ass
The rule of cool can never die.

 

[XMark]

I like sci-fi stories in which humanity stumbles upon super-advanced technology from a long-dead alien race.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Amnesia plots... which I feel work best with a "Tomato in the Mirror"-style reveal (check TVTropes for details.)

Also, happy endings, underdog stories, stuff like that.

 

[Zantos]

I love a little but of searching for some holy mcguffin, if it also solves the problem in a deus ex machina-y kind of way then bring it on!

 

[Tartarga]

All of these cliches are freaking awesome. I'm especially fond of the coat blowing in the wind cliche, it makes anything look incredibly badass.

Spoiler

 

[RussetRanger]

Bittersweet endings. Especially if it could have momentum towards more events in the movie (such as Stalag 17 and the Godfather).

Christian music playing during a tough and morally ambiguous decision.

The dying end of something and how it seems to be trying to extend itself as long as possible (such as the Last Picture Show).

 

[KrabbiPatty]

Unambiguous happy endings.

I can take a downer ending, but I don't like them. I find them, frankly, pretentious, as if the writer is trying to teach me some "lesson" that "only he knows" about how hard the world is or some shit.

A happy ending is, by definition, free of any pretensions to anything. Its more pure. More real and less phony and silly, to my mind. It represents a simple fact within the story's universe, that the good guys won. No denouement, no subtext, no additional information necessary, the bad guys lose and the good guys win. The end.

And really, other than some pretension to artistic whatever, why shouldn't they?

Or more realistically, why WOULDN'T they?

 

[The Pinray]

Y'know, in this day and age, isn't near everything cliche'd?

Anyway, I'd say the "heroic sacrifice." If it's a character that I'm into, even if I can see it from two continents away, it'll get me every time.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Happy Endings [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HappyEnding]. I simply cannot bear to watch movies or read books if they end with a downer.

And no, I do not feel bad for linking TvTropes. >

Those. I'm a sucker for happy endings.

 

[Mr. Omega]

"I'm just like you, with all your powers, but I'm EVIL!". Either that or people with a very similar backstory, but with one detail changed, and it results in them being a completely different person.

 

[Vault101]

ANY cliche has its place depending on how well its done

good old fashioned space ships and sci fi with nice civilised aliens....mass effect essentially

happy endings I can take sad/ambiguous endings if it "fits" and doesnt feel pointless...but somtimes nothing beats that uplifiting WE DID IT!! feeling

 

[Nouw]

One-liners. Why? Rule of cool, that's why. The one-liner makes the action-star. Not sure if it's a cliche though. What even strictly defines one?

All of these cliches are freaking awesome. I'm especially fond of the coat blowing in the wind cliche, it makes anything look incredibly badass.

Spoiler

Oh god, those made me laugh my ass off xD. Part 2, 4:22 is brilliant. Thanks for that buddy.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Ridiculously over-choreographed chase or fight sequences. Watching a guy spray a room with bullets, to me, is nowhere near as awesome as watching one dude defeat six others in clearly scripted, but still fun-to-watch hand-to-hand combat. That's one reason I happen to like Inception as much as I do.