One Hundred Fantasy Clichés That Really Need To Rest In Peace

#48: The Hero is Always in the Right

Let us backtrack from fantasy novels from one second to talk about a surprisingly underrated anime, The Devil is a Part-Timer. Goofy title aside, this fantasy series does an amazing job at breaking many of the clichés present in the genre. I could go on all day from the few episodes I have watched so far on how the humor does a great job at pointing out the truth behind the weaknesses in each cliché presented, how the villains and the heroes get a rare role reversal, and how the anime series somehow makes Satan of all characters into a goofy, relatable guy. However, that will have to be saved for the day I miraculously am able to write a full review of a TV show without ending it abruptly. (If you have been a follower of mine for a while and like this show called The Ridonculous Race, then you know what I am talking about.) The true point of bringing up a TV show in an editorial about how to avoid fantasy clichés when writing a book is about the handling of a certain hero character in the show that I have barely seen before. This hero character is Emilia (or Emi for short), who is depicted constantly in the show as being in the wrong, despite being labeled as the ordinary fantasy hero.

In most fantasy related literature, there exists this cliché where the hero no matter what is always shown to be in the right. Have them drive an illegal magical car to school under the legal driving age because they did not think to call for assistance when they missed their ride? Well, just give them a slap on the wrist and tell them to not do anything juvenile for the rest of the year. How about potentially committing multiple crimes against your Clan in the name of trying to bust a suspected murderer? The hero in this case will probably at worst be humiliated when busted, but never once will be potentially exiled for breaking the rules. The list goes on and on, even in great fantasy literature like Lord of the Rings or The Wizard of Oz. The hero may get called out by a gutsy character, but everyone else will almost always see them in the right, even if their actions were not well thought out.

So what makes this Emilia character so special from an anime not a lot of people know about? Emilia by multiple characters, even her own friends, call her out on multiple occasions for being hot headed in certain actions she took to take down Satan. These include becoming a stalker of sorts in hoping somehow without magic he will commit a felony, threatening him at knifepoint with basically the Japanese version of a Dollar Store flip blade, and blowing off her new friend in order to bust him in the moment. In every single instance, Emilia did not get away scot free. For stalking Satan, she became an annoyance to him, the flip blade ended up getting her questioned at a police station, and her friend accused Emilia of blowing her off for potentially a boyfriend. In all three instances, the character did something not well thought out and did not get away with only a slap on the wrist. She paid dearly for every single decision made.

This realistic direction creates more relatable aspects to the hero. When even the hero is shown to be making foolish mistakes that are not pushed aside by others, the audience stops seeing them as just another bland character. The character is complex, with fleshed-out flaws. Character flaws make the character feel more human in the eyes of the reader. Thus, this character has a lot more likability and the reader will tend to explore the story further out of curiosity to see what this character will go through next.

Escaping clichés such as the perfect hero makes for a stronger character and story. Although not a book, the anime The Devil is a Part-Timer teaches us that even the hero cannot be perfect all of the time. Like us in real life, they will make not well thought out mistakes. It is this relatable aspect that needs to be prevalent more in fantasy literature.
The day the perfect hero cliché finally gets addressed more often will be the day I finish my review on some Flash animation show I still am really into.