Fantasy tropes and conventions

Okay so, you know how when you watch a movie or read a book about princesses and knights and dragons, they all seem kind of similar? That’s because there are certain things that happen a lot in those types of stories. We call those things “fantasy tropes and conventions.”

A trope is like a pattern or a theme that happens a lot in stories. For example, in lots of fantasy stories, there’s a main character who has to go on a quest (like Frodo in Lord of the Rings). Another trope might be that there's a group of friends who work together to defeat a powerful bad guy.

A convention is something that everyone kind of agrees is part of the fantasy genre. For example, when we talk about fantasy, we usually mean stories that take place in a magical world with mythical creatures like unicorns or dragons. There’s also usually some kind of magic involved, like spells and potions.

So, when you hear people talking about fantasy tropes and conventions, they’re basically talking about the things that happen a lot in those types of stories and the things that we all know are part of that type of story. And even though a lot of fantasy stories have the same tropes and conventions, there are always new and exciting ways to tell those stories!