Worst clichés ever?

[Jack McSlay]

So I figured, what if the worst cliches one can ever use in a comic/cartoon/anime/movie?

On the very top of my list is "vengeance is bad"

Oh damn, if one gets a reason for revenge and moves on immediately, it's ok, but I want to shoot the writer whenever a character goes all the way for revenge just to back down in the last moment because all of sudden he decided that taking revenge will "taint his soul" or make him evil or something.

O even worst, having a chance to kill the evilest bad guy in history and letting him alive because he doesn't want to be "evil" too - often resulting on the villain escaping and screwing up again

[Vidar]

"I'll be back"

"Don't do drugs"

The story of the geeky guy who meets girl, transforms into a jock (otherwise known as "turing cool"), and lives happily ever after, because "everybody knows that nerds are losers".

"Bad guy kills sexually active teenagers in a variety of ways", also known as "horror movies" to some people, known as "bad films" to everyone else.

[superluser]

Oh damn, if one gets a reason for revenge and moves on immediately, it's ok, but I want to shoot the writer whenever a character goes all the way for revenge just to back down in the last moment because all of sudden he decided that taking revenge will "taint his soul" or make him evil or something.

You watched Return of the Jedi last night, didn't you?

Here.

[Jack McSlay]

You watched Return of the Jedi last night, didn't you?

Here.

Worst. Harry Potter & The order of the Phoenix

[Sofox]

Let's see...

Biggest peeve: Boy and girl meet, they fall in "love" and kiss/have sex by the end of the movie. This is regardless of whether the movie is a comedy, action, thriller, biographical, historical, anything etc. Also regardless of whether it contributes in any way to the movie, or whether any thought or attention is given to how the actual relationship.
This cliché can be done well, but rarely is.
Particularly irritating if the woman is 2 dimensional, whiny, a constant damsel in distress or simply doesn't have a brain. Sure, guy can be terribly written too, but at least they do something from time to time. Most female roles are incredibly sexist and lack character development (or even character).
A sub group of this is having a protagonist who seems unreasonably motivated to do something purely by love. (Yes, I know people do crazy things in real life from love, but the love part is rarely expressed well enough for the audience to understand why this tosser is doing all these things. Also, it would be nice to show other motivating factors for human beings, helping explore what motivates us).

Any cliché can irritate me if I hear it too many times over.
The whole, dystopian future can get on my nerves as well. As do a lot of stories where a small band revolts against a big totalitarian government/occuping force. What gets me is that in real life, a revolution like this is full the complexity, moral ambiguity, diverse opinion etc. Wheras with this cliché in most stories, it becomes a pithy tale of a group overcoming the odds and having escapist adventures in defeating cardboard and utterly undeveloped villian(s) in a universe that has as much depth as a stage backdrop.

To finish off:
Kill off the good guy/girl....BUT WE DIDN'T REALLY KILL HIM AND HE/SHE'S STILL ALIVE!!!!

[superluser]

Biggest peeve: Boy and girl meet, they fall in "love" and kiss/have sex by the end of the movie. This is regardless of whether the movie is a comedy, action, thriller, biographical, historical, anything etc. Also regardless of whether it contributes in any way to the movie, or whether any thought or attention is given to how the actual relationship.

The absolute worst is the type where the screenwriters seem to say, ``Whelp, the movie's wrapping up, so I guess these two have sex,'' despite the fact that there was no actual relationship development over the span of the film.

[techmaster-glitch]

My biggest pet peeve cliche is, naturally, anytime there is a "robot revolution" or a "destroy all humans" malfunctioning robot, or some snotty AI that engineers some sort of controlling takeover for the "betterment of humanity", or some kind of engineered experiment that goes horribly wrong, or some kind of technological disaster...the list goes on.

In short, any time robots/AI/science/technology are portrayed as the bad guy. That really pisses me off.

[Aisha deCabre]

The thing I like about this site, you can find a ton of idioms that television and movies often apply, many of them not so cliché, just essential to put into the plot.

However, I'm gonna say I get -ultra- annoyed at the "laugh take".  You know, where at the end of a TV show, someone makes a lame joke or something else happens, and the whole group just stands there making laughter, especially that which sounds SO fake?

That cliché is at the top.  I'll...think of more later, as that's the only thing that came to mind that I hate.

[Tipod]

Anytime the hero holds a gun to someone's head to get info, since it's always like
"Where's your boss?!"
"Screw off!"
"*racks slide of gun, indicating it's now loaded*"
"I tell you nothin'!"
"*cocks hammer back (bonus if it's a model that doesn't even have one)*"
"Woah, you really are serious. He's right over there, man."

[Sunblink]

Tremendous action movie explosions and busty superheroines who can perform acts of agility and flexibility in ridiculously long stiletto heels.

Oddly enough, I still love Ivy from Soul Calibur in spite of her adhering to that latter cliche.

[Joe3210]

Cliches are fun, but they can really irritate me.  Like the hero and heroine can fall in love and gain immortality.
spoiler:







I guess you guys just watched "Eagle Eye."
/spoiler

[Jack McSlay]

Tremendous action movie explosions and busty superheroines who can perform acts of agility and flexibility in ridiculously long stiletto heels.

Oddly enough, I still love Ivy from Soul Calibur in spite of her adhering to that latter cliche.

my only consolation to that cliche is the fact that if you manage to keep balance while using high heel shoes, you get extra weapons. I remember a few fighting game girls who hits or stomps the downed opponent using the heels (and I think that includes Ivy too)

[Janus Whitefurr]

In short, any time robots/AI/science/technology are portrayed as the bad guy. That really pisses me off.

Now they just need to make a movie where Humans Are Evil and the heroic robots have to crush the pathetic fleshy meatbags, and then you'd be happy?

[techmaster-glitch]

In short, any time robots/AI/science/technology are portrayed as the bad guy. That really pisses me off.

Now they just need to make a movie where Humans Are Evil and the heroic robots have to crush the pathetic fleshy meatbags, and then you'd be happy?

Yes, something like that. It would then at least be halfway accurate.

However, an important distiction is that I don't have so much of a problem with a robot being a bad guy, I just have a problem with robots being the bad guy.

[bill]

In movies, every drug acts like LSD. Fact.

[Turnsky]

everything explodes if you so much as look at it.

[bill]

Blind people are always black for some bizarre reason.

[Kipiru]

Super cliche: Black guy faces daager with a bunch of other guys and spits out: "I'll probably die first cause i'm black!"

[Tapewolf]

everything explodes if you so much as look at it.

Definitely.  Like my father, I have a very poor tolerance for films (and books) where cars explode, all electronics run off a 350 kilovolt power supply or otherwise have no safety features.  The only exception is Star Trek, where it happens so much I don't even notice it anymore.

Computers that explode when given an insoluble problem.  Gods help you if you make a typing mistake in your query!

**EDIT**

Kill off the good guy/girl....BUT WE DIDN'T REALLY KILL HIM AND HE/SHE'S STILL ALIVE!!!!

Brotherhood of the Wolf did something a little like that.  Only they did a pretty good job of it.  I sat there for 15-20 minutes thinking "OMG, they killed off both the protagonists.  Why is the film still running?"

[Dannysaysnoo]

The only exception is Star Trek, where it happens so much I don't even notice it anymore.

Yeah, they really should get a seatbelt or something.

Computers that explode when given an insoluble problem.  Gods help you if you make a typing mistake in your query!

Ever see Logan's Run? There's a bit where a computer basically doesn't get what it wants and blows up a city as a result. Wow, what a BSoD.

[Kipiru]

Largest cliche of all: Good always wins, even if evil dominates for 90% of the time! Only exception of this rule is J.R.R.Martins' books, where good is dragged in the mud, raped and then killed mercilessly! Good book 

[Tapewolf]

Ever see Logan's Run? There's a bit where a computer basically doesn't get what it wants and blows up a city as a result. Wow, what a BSoD.

I know.  I'm sure it wasn't in the book.  They did have this cool robot bird thing, I was kind of mortified when the guy blew it up.  I don't think it turned up in the film, though.
Mind you, I guess if they used a positronic brain a crash might result in that kind of explosion.  Or if it had a UPS with Lithium-Polymer batteries.

Not exactly a cliché, but bad book->film conversions really annoy me.  Of these, the most foul must be Make Room, Make Room by Harry Harrison, which was murdered, raped, burned and finally resurrected as 'Soylent Green'.  Friends, it is my sad duty to inform you that Soylent Green is not made of people(*), but soya and lentils, which is why it is called that.  If you want people eating, Half Past Human by T. J. Bass is second on the left.

(*)Actually, that's a cliché I can't stand either.

[Jack McSlay]

Definitely.  Like my father, I have a very poor tolerance for films (and books) where cars explode, all electronics run off a 350 kilovolt power supply or otherwise have no safety features.  The only exception is Star Trek, where it happens so much I don't even notice it anymore.

Computers that explode when given an insoluble problem.  Gods help you if you make a typing mistake in your query!

this reminds of a few more:

- Assembling circuitry with welding tools
- People using computers without ever touching a mouse
- People ramdomly button-mashing when playing videogames (gets worst when there's two people playing a single player game)
- Computer using weird OSes, often with letters large enough for a half-blind person to see (I lol on Jurassic Park where the girl navigates through a 3D GUI and calls it UNIX)
- Computers suddenly shutting down when you shoot the monitor

[Alondro]

Whenever anyone says, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

MOST... OVERUSED... LINE.... EVAR!!!!

[Lysander]

I will have to check into J.R.R.Martin's books...

So it's rather irritating, in more than one way, how nearly every modern-day style anime drama has the main character as awkward guy who has at least five girls in love with him even though he's too dense to notice any of them even if they tell him they love him and try to make out with him.

Whenever a main character's relative or friend randomly disappears early on in a show/game/book that person is almost guaranteed to become an enemy.

If aliens come to earth and they meet kids first they try to help humanity. Also if aliens come to earth and they meet adults first they want to destroy the planet.

The hero has some dark, twisted past.

The guy is a swordsman and his girlfriend/childhood friend (who will be his girlfriend at some point) is a sorceress.

If there is a love interest in some action related story the girl will be captured

Less clothing = more defense for females

If the villain is male with a female follower and the hero is male, she will fall in love with the hero.

The game Gun Metal is nice in the way that you are to defend the planet from Earth.

And for some list that may or may not include everything listed here: http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html   

[superluser]

Whenever anyone says, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

MOST... OVERUSED... LINE.... EVAR!!!!

Unless it's being spoken by Han Solo.

[Tapewolf]

- Computer using weird OSes, often with letters large enough for a half-blind person to see (I lol on Jurassic Park where the girl navigates through a 3D GUI and calls it UNIX)

That much was real... the SGI actually did ship with a 3D file manager, which is what they were showing.  The girl knowing UNIX was a bit of a stretch at the time, but it has become easier since the film was made.

Aside from that, yes... though they seem to getting a lot better in that regard lately.

[superluser]

Aside from that, yes... though they seem to getting a lot better in that regard lately.

I wonder if part of that may be due to HDTV.  For a film to be viewable on an NTSC TV, it has to be converted to 640x480 interlaced, which is not good enough to view anything better than 40-column text (q.v.).  PAL is better, but not by much, I suspect.

HDTV, on the other hand, has a higher resolution and less color bleeding, meaning that viewers at home can actually see what they need to.

[Tapewolf]

I wonder if part of that may be due to HDTV.  For a film to be viewable on an NTSC TV, it has to be converted to 640x480 interlaced, which is not good enough to view anything better than 40-column text.

That's probably part of the reason, but I don't recall it being a problem in Alien which IIRC used a straight 80-column teletype (we'll pretend the weird sound it made didn't happen).
In fact it worked pretty well until Windows became mainstream, at which point all these really weird and crappy GUIs suddenly turned up.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

That's probably part of the reason, but I don't recall it being a problem in Alien which IIRC used a straight 80-column teletype (we'll pretend the weird sound it made didn't happen).

Weird sound? What, like "bang", 500 times? ;-]