History Main / ClicheStorm

* ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' was full of this, playing all the usual frequently-pointed out Scooby-Doo tropes straight (such as LetsSplitUpGang, ScoobyDoobyDoors, YouMeddlingKids, etc.) or [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] them to the point where it's no longer funny.

* ''Series/LaCQ'': The series plays more like a stereotypical US high school series, only set in Mexico and with ([[ToiletHumor juvenile]]) [[WrittenSoundEffect comedy]] [[LaughTrack cliches]] thrown into the mix, while the characters are unrelatable due to being high-school stereotypes.

-->'''Mittens:''' ''[shaking her head and smirking]'' Sheesh -- look at me, Bolt. Who’da thunk it? I'm a [[HollywoodMidLifeCrisis card-carrying midlife crisis cliché]]. If I were a bank CEO, I’d have bought myself a [[MidLifeCrisisCar shiny new red sports car]] and dumped you for a [[AgeGapRomance studly tomcat half my age]].

* Most of the output of Music/ElectricLightOrchestra is a cliché festival, but "Tightrope" (from ''A New World Record'') compounds it on the opening line with redundancy:

* Music/ShaniaTwain's "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" is full of estrogen-soaked cowgirl-on-the-prowl cliches with lyrics like "You're a fine piece of real estate and I'm gonna get me some land."

* Take Jay & the Americans' "Come a Little Bit Closer," add Jim Croce's "Bad Bad Leroy Brown," mix with a generous helping of redneck, and you have Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Gimme Three Steps." All three tell of a guy at a bar trying to score with a jealous man's girl/wife.

[[index]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Most of the ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart'' series. The characters include a LoveFreak, a catgirl on a water blob, a RollerbladeGood demon girl, a CuteWitch, a [[TheStoic stoic]] [[AnIcePerson Russian ice girl]], a [[AnimeChineseGirl female Chinese android]] with BoobsOfSteel, mikos with BoobsOfSteel, a GunsAkimbo {{Ojou}}, a female AxCrazy [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Woobie]], you name it.
* The first ''VideoGame/AtelierIris'' game, and maybe the second one, work on this level as well--yeah, it plays a lot of common RPG adventure tropes completely straight, but they're used so ''well'' and the tone of the games is fundamentally so bright and optimistic [[{{Troperiffic}} that the audience ends up loving the product anyway]].
* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean''. You have Kalas, a teenage orphaned AntiHero out to avenge his family who was killed by TheEmpire. He meets up with Xelha, a MysteriousWaif who is trying to stop said empire from acquiring the five [[ArtifactOfDoom End Magnus]]. About a third the game is like that, then it turns out that ''[[PlotTwist nothing is as it seems]]''.
%%* ''VideoGame/BeyondTheBeyond'', one of Camelot Software's first non-''VideoGame/ShiningForce'' [=RPGs=].
* Creator/BioWare games in general run somewhat afoul of the fact that they've used [[https://web.archive.org/web/20131102045816if_/http://toroz.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/orig_320200_1_1257581825.png the same basic plot elements]] since ''VideoGame/BaldursGate''.
** Most people remember recent [=BioWare=] games for the characters, less so than the plots, due to the actual villain being obviously BlackAndWhiteMorality.
* ''VideoGame/BlackSigil'' is every late-80s/early-90s JRPG cliché rolled into one really slow DS game. It also suffers from the "one [[RandomEncounters random fight]] every three steps" syndrome that plagued a lot [=RPGs=] of the era.
* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''. It invokes so many anime and fighting game clichés (and subverts, inverts or averts just as many), every character is a walking case of {{Troperiffic}}[[BuffySpeak ness]].
%%* Expect this a lot with games done by Creator/BlizzardEntertainment, though many consider it part of their appeal, or [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory they just don't care.]]
* ''VideoGame/BlueDragon''. WordOfGod says making the game JustForFun/TropeOverdosed with every single JRPG trope was intentional as well.
* ''VideoGame/BodyBlows'': Naturally, as a series that was created as an AlternateCompanyEquivalent to ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' (the first Body Blows game following the basic formula of several people from random countries fighting in an international fighting tournament) after the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} port of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' was [[PortingDisaster panned by many owners]] of that brand of computers having similarities with that Creator/{{Capcom}} owned franchise was to be expected. The sequels especially became rife with cliches when it started copying elements of ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' (particularly Body Blows Galactic with the whole premise of humans fighting otherworldly fighters, though doing it in a Sci-Fi manner rather than through mystical means), and to some extent Creator/{{SNK}}'s ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' series (Of which the first game already demonstrated this in the form of the brothers Danny and Nik introduced in the first game were plainly based to an extent on the Bogard brothers from the former). You can probably have a drinking game spotting the character archetypes and other elements of this series that were inspired by those other games.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarezGunslinger'' leans into this on purpose, almost to the point of being a mild parody of the SpaghettiWestern. Cowboys and Indians, decisive quick-draw duels at high noon, thrilling wagon chases and jailbreaks, it's all there, but the more fanciful and unlikely aspects are treated as creative embellishments for drammatic effect by the UnreliableNarrator telling the story or, less commonly, gross misunderstandings by the slightly naive fanboy in the audience.
* ''VideoGame/DankiraBoysBeDANCING'' is a typical GamingAndSportsAnimeAndManga in video game form, but with dance swapped in for sports. Competitive activity treated as SeriousBusiness? Emphasis on TrueCompanions? Largely one-gender cast? Familiar anime archetypes of cheerful StockShonenHero, coolheaded sidekick, TokenMiniMoe, RichBitch, MrFanservice, etc? You name it, it probably has it. Add to it its gacha mechanic and premise of a NonEntityGeneral managing a CastFullOfPrettyBoys already set forth by games like ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbu'', ''VideoGame/IChu'', ''VideoGame/BungoToAlchemist'' and ''VideoGame/IDOLiSH7'' and you have a cliché tower for the ages.
* ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'' mainlines on {{Grimdark}} tropes: set AfterTheEnd, featuring a stoic badass on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, fighting against the LegionsOfHell, and so on and so forth. General consensus is that it ''works''.
* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'', which played everything so very straight that it ''actually included'' the line "AsYouKnow" without irony or LampshadeHanging. The designers admitted that Isaac's suit was inspired by the [[Film/{{Aliens}} Power Loader]], to which one imagines the world replied "Yeah, we know."
* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' appears to be deliberately invoking a ton of VerySpecialEpisode plots in the character of Noelle Holiday, already a Christmas-themed reindeer. To summarize, she's going through a ComingOutStory while trying not to upset her {{Workaholic}} mom and help her [[TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed hospitalized dad]], while [[spoiler:her sister is missing, or dead; it's not yet clear.]]
* ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' does this deliberately, invoking almost every well-known trope in the alien invasion genre. The locations Crypto visits represent Cliche Storm parodies of various countries.
* ''VideoGame/DisasterDayOfCrisis'' plays every single DisasterMovie-Cliche known to mankind painfully straight. And somehow, it [[NarmCharm still works.]]
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Granted, the game ''does'' have quite a few original things, but when one looks at the setting... with few exceptions... it's practically every Tolkienian-inspired [[HeroicFantasy Medieval Fantasy]] plus a few things, minus a few things. Forest-dwelling elves who are big on Archery and hunting, subterranean Mountain-dwelling dwarves with a fondness for alcohol and crafting, mage towers, humans who speak with British accents, obvious influence from the British Isles or Western Europe, mages wound up destroying the world and creating Darkspawn, Dwarven warriors,[[note]]One of the few aversions is that the dwarves don't have a Scandinavian accent--remarkably, they have American accents too![[/note]] FantasticRacism, [[RealIsBrown green and brown-stained landscapes]], evil dragons that are just giant animals in terms of intelligence, and last in the line of kings. The game's even ''self-aware''! During the human origin story, when you kill giant rats, your other party member says "Giant rats? That's like the start of every bad adventure tale my grandfather used to tell!"
* ''Dragoneer's Aria''. It's an RPG that consists of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII chasing a psychopath around the world]] as he [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV destroys the world's elemental MacGuffins]]. The battle system is also very stale.
* ''VideoGame/DualBlades'': While the [[StanceSystem Power Combing System]] is unique and praiseworthy and [[ExcusePlot what little plot there is]] is set up [[ThanatosGambit in a very different manner]] to most fighting games, the designs and characterizations of the fighters on the roster is quite it guilty of this. To quote one critic who [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/11/01/dual-blades reviewed this game]] "These fighters are rather uninspired in their character designs, lacking any real memorable flair. You've got Efe, a robed swordsman; Kanae a Japanese swordswoman; Brandon, a shirtless swordsman...okay, you get the picture. Each of these characters have their own crazy attacks and text after winning a bout, but it's obvious that these fighting guys and gals won't ever get their own fanclub, spinoff, or even a future sequel." [[HilariousInHindsight Though amusingly enough]], a sequel, titled ''Slashers: The Power Battle'', has since been made and the developers of that title have fleshed out at least some of the character backstories.
* ''VideoGame/EnchantedArms'' plays every trope, every cliche, and every stock phrase so straight, you could lock it in a temperature-regulated room in France as the International Standard for Straightness. Okay, it does have the Pizza Golem. With pepperoni, bacon and sausage. That's fairly original.
* ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' seems to teeter between this and {{Troperiffic}}, with varying opinions as to which side it leans more heavily towards. It has many elements of the traditional JRPG, but it's intentional.
* ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' pulls this off intentionally, putting the player in the shoes of a supervillain striving for [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]]. A Film/JamesBond {{expy}} even shows up trying to stop you. Your player avatar choices are a [[NapoleonComplex stout Austrian]], [[EvilIsSexy sexy socialite]] or [[YellowPeril ex-triad]], and the game takes place in an ElaborateUndergroundBase of the player's design. And it doesn't stop there.
%%* Done intentionally in ''VideoGame/FableI'', which essentially was a [[TheHerosJourney Hero's Journey]] simulator.
%%* ''VideoGame/TheFeebleFiles'' is kinda cross between genuine cliché storm and parody of it.
* The ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' series is split between Cliché Storm games and games which avert it: games one, two, three, six, eight, eleven and twelve fall under this (one and six being identical in how they do it!), whereas four, five, seven, nine and ten don't. (Worth noting that eleven and twelve are remakes). To be fair, ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and its immediate successors weren't [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny as cliche in their day as they seem now]]--consider Archanea helped establish the genre it's a part of; compare ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', which were about a decade and a half after Archanea.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' was, backstory and setting aside, this to ''Fire Emblem'' games. However, about halfway through the game, they start playing with the ''Fire Emblem'' tropes, such as having the princess (instead of being a plot figure) don {{armor|IsUseless}} and become full out playable. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' meanwhile goes into full-on DeconstructorFleet.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', while it plays character tropes uniquely, its main story is deliberately one giant Cliché Storm for the entire series as a whole, due to the game being a MilestoneCelebration. It's divided into three story arcs that, in themselves, are largely based on previous stock ''Fire Emblem'' plots: the Plegia arc is ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' (up to the ArcVillain Gangrel having the ''exact'' same title as Ashnard), the Valm arc is ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'' or the second half of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' (TinTyrant leading a major military power starts trying to conquer the world) and the final arc is the standard "EvilSorcerer tries to resurrect a dark dragon" plot from the very first game. [[BrokenBase Whether or not this worked is a heavy matter of debate.]]
** Two of the four routes of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' come off as this to varying extents.
*** The Verdant Wind route, with the occasional bout of NarmCharm, is this. [[spoiler:You end up aiding the Alliance to fight against the evil Empire. You fight the Emperor as a ClimaxBoss, but once they're defeated, they reveal that there is a [[TheManBehindTheMan man behind the man]] who has been trying to pull the strings and lead the land into war — those who slither in the dark. Despite defeating their boss, a powerful monster from antiquity (Nemesis) appears, with implications that he's with them as his army is made up of TheRemnant of Those Who Slither in the Dark. What's more, he's even defeated with a [[ThePowerOfFriendship power of friendship]] speech.]] If it is your first playthrough, it ''definitely'' feels like a rehash of all things ''Fire Emblem'', though this is arguably to the route's strength. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Fortunately]], when viewed [[JigsawPuzzlePlot as a whole]], plenty of the tropes are played with more than it appears.
*** The plot of Azure Moon is rather typical for a ''Fire Emblem'' game, as the plot focuses around a young noble [[spoiler:saving his homeland from an [[TheEmpire invading power]] hellbent on overthrowing it]]. However, what sets it apart from other stories in the series is its protagonist, Dimitri, and his [[HearingVoices rather]] [[SurvivorGuilt large]] [[IAmAMonster character]] [[AxCrazy flaws]] and arc. The Blue Lions are also tied very intimately with the plot, making for a character-driven story that exemplifies why Administrivia/TropesAreTools. Due to this, Blue Lions is regarded as the best route in the game by many, though especially by veteran ''Fire Emblem'' players.
*** If you play as the Black Eagles, the Silver Snow route arguably comes off as similar to the Verdant Wind route, due to having a mostly identical plot, whereas in the Crimson Flower Route, [[spoiler:you side with Edelgard and TheEmpire to conquer Fodlan]], making it the least typical route.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' cranks the cliche storm up to eleven, moreso than ''Awakening'' even. Not only does it rely heavily on stock ''Fire Emblem'' plot elements, such as the protagonist's sole parent dying and the heroes fighting against an evil dragon, but also adds common cliches used in Shounen anime to the mix, such as the main theme of ThePowerOfFriendship, [[ByThePowerOfGrayskull summoning other characters through a phrase]], and [[spoiler:the protagonist getting revived with an EleventhHourSuperpower with the help of spirits]]. Several fans, especially those of ''Three Houses'' don't enjoy the story for this reason, but others do otherwise thanks to how these cliches result in a very {{Narm}}y plot.
* The plot of Champion Mode in ''Fight Night Champion'' is essentially an amalgamation of every single boxing movie cliché in existence: brutish undefeated rival, crooked Don King-esque promoter, friendly rival brother that turns bitter only for the two to eventually reconcile, and SatelliteLoveInterest.
* ''VideoGame/GoneHome'' is a standard [[spoiler:lesbian]] teenage love story, combined with a standard "parents' marriage is falling apart" plot.
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' is particularly guilty of this, [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory though it doesn't get much attention. ]]The storyline in all four campaigns is pretty cliched itself, but if you listen to the dialog you'd think you were listening to a dictionary of cliche things to say. From the motivational speeches you quite often get ("We are the light that will shatter the coming darkness"), to the supposedly dramatic twists in the storyline ("But something tells me if they see for themselves what the White Mantle really do with the Chosen, they'll have a change of heart about their masters"). Although there are some subversions. (Varesh Ossa is actually TheDragon rather than a pawn of Abaddon, despite being Chosen, it's heavily implied ''any'' of the Chosen could have done what the player character does, the player character [[NiceJobBreakingItHero unintentionally screw over Elona in time for Guild Wars 2]]) Nightfall in particular has the most Cliché Storm story out of all of them...despite the subversions.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': Half of the Master Chief's quips or Sergeant Johnson's speeches fall into this category. That being said, Johnson's cliche "badass black hardass drill sergeant" tendencies are often PlayedForLaughs, and he actually gets some pretty clever lines too.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hatred}}'' unashamedly tries to place the VillainProtagonist under as many grimdark and "edgy" cliches as humanly possible... [[NarmCharm And succeeds with flying colors]].
%%* ''VideoGame/TheHouseOfTheDeadOverkill'' by far, and completely intentionally.
* ''[[VideoGame/JustCause Just Cause 2]]'' falls into the category, most likely as a stylistic choice. Having the good guys really wrestle between helping the average Panauan and serving the Agency? Resolving the [[ExcusePlot "plot"]] with something more sensible than the vile oppressive evil ''slimy toad'' of a dictator pulling a nuclear threat along an international struggle over a huge oil field that was there all along? Come on now, it'd just distract you from the ridiculous car chases and the [[ImpressivePyrotechnics 80's style]] [[MadeOfExplodium gasoline explosions.]]
%%* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' does this for ''Franchise/StarWars''. Obsidian did their utmost to subvert this in the sequel.
* ''VideoGame/LastScenario'' works sort of like the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' in this respect. A MysteriousInformant shows up to tell the FarmBoy that he is [[HeroicLineage the descendant of a legendary hero]] and must help [[GoodRepublicEvilEmpire fight the Empire]] to gain strength for the inevitable [[SealedEvilInACan awakening of the demons]]. He goes off to fulfill his destiny, overjoyed to be saving the world. By the end of the game, he's found out that [[spoiler:a) he isn't related to Alexander, b) the demons [[WrittenByTheWinners aren't]], and c) Zawu was an agent for the Kingdom, whose up-and-coming [[ManipulativeBastard General Castor]] was PlayingBothSides]]. Even [[spoiler:''the intro text scroll'']] was a lie.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon''. When it first came out, many fans couldn't stop comparing it to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. [[FollowTheLeader There is a good reason for this]]. It didn't help that the few "original" elements were downplayed. One of the "big revelations" ([[spoiler:one of the members of your group has been mass murdering anybody that comes in contact with The [[{{Reincarnation}} Reincarnated]] [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]] for hundreds of years]]) was just flat out ignored immediately afterwards without even so much as a chiding.
** The game actually [[PlayingWithATrope played around with]] the usual fantasy game cliches, deliberately invoking them before throwing in a twist that would turn them on their head.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' is what you'd get if you drew up a list of every Eastern RPG trope in the book, then built a detailed world to explain and justify said tropes. We've got a spunky, outgoing heroine with a staff, a reserved boy who keeps to himself with a mysterious past, a princess that lives a normal life until she's called to take up her family responsibilities, a loner swordsman with a sour disposition who comes to protect a much younger girl who acts as his anchor, and so on. But the scale is downsized from saving the world to traveling the local kingdom, the dialogue is full of incidental chatter about daily lives and the people in towns with their own subplots and personalities, making Liberl feel like a living, breathing place that didn't just spring to life when the protagonists were born to be saved. It also helps that Estelle and Joshua flip the usual roles of who's the viewpoint character. Joshua has all the trademarks of a angsty male lead, but the game's story is largely seen through Estelle's innocent outlook who subverts the idealized image of a heroine. Sure she's a GenkiGirl who believes the best in people, but she's also a slob, prefers physical activity and wearing practical clothes but is fully comfortable with girly things from time to time, can be utterly clueless, and isn't aware of the darker implications of her world. Putting all this together creates an experience that grounds cliches so thoroughly that a player can become invested in things they know are bound to happen.
* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' is like this for most of the game, with chapters made up of incredibly cliched characters and plots. Then you unlock another chapter that starts like this but turns into a {{deconstruction}} where [[spoiler:it plays exactly like a SaveThePrincess RPG plot where the KnightInShiningArmor Oersted goes to rescue his bride Princess Alethea from the Lord of Dark...[[MoodWhiplash only for the entire storyline to go dark extremely fast]] where his jealous best friend Streibough orchestrates a plan at the last moment to steal the glory for himself and results in everyone Oersted cared about being dead and the rest of his kingdom branding him a villain for (accidentally) killing their king. He then decides that [[ThenLetMeBeEvil he'll be just that]] and crowns himself the [[BigBad Lord of Dark Odio]].]]
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' is this in game form, although that's the point--it's like ''playing'' a SpaceOpera to the hilt.
** That and the writers show an awareness to all the cliches and play with them constantly. The writing is also so strong, that it never feels cliche or unoriginal. The game always feels nice and fresh.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' on the other hand, is much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]], [[DeconstructorFleet deconstructive]], and subversive than the first game.
** There's also a summary (on this very wiki no doubt) of this series that points out that each of the ''Mass Effect'' games correspond to one time period in sci-fi writing- ''1'' is the 1980s', ''2'' is the 1990's, and ''3'' is the 2000's. This can't be anything but intentional.
** Also in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', we hear snippets from ''Blasto VI: Partners In Crime'', which is every [[BuddyCopShow Buddy Cop]] movie cliche, complete with a CowboyCop with a ByTheBookCop, an irritable DaChief, and a DiplomaticImpunity villain. The CowboyCop is a [[ThirdPersonPerson Hanar]], the ByTheBookCop is an [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry Elcor]], DaChief is a [[VaderBreath Volus]], and the villain is a [[YouNoTakeCandle Vorcha.]] It's every bit as stupid and hilarious as it sounds.
* The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series, while highly innovative in terms of gameplay, is a long Cliche Storm as far as the writing goes. It thoroughly mixes cliches from some Manga[=/=]Anime series together with established Hollywood cliches, and barely ever lets up for more than a cutscene. Some fans enjoy the series expressly for that reason.
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2''. A somewhat unusual development by the team that brought you the {{Deconstructor Fleet}}s ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' and ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', it seems almost like an experiment in how many cliches (from DoomedHometown to GottaCatchThemAll) could be crammed into a fantasy {{RPG}} given enough attention to detail, characterization, and dialogue. The expansion pack, Mask of the Betrayer, was much more like their previous games and many reviewers wondered how the two games came from one developer.
* While ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' [[DeconstructorFleet does not count itself]], the protagonist's [[OccidentalOtaku obsession]], ShowWithinAShow ''Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly'', seems to be this. From what can be gleaned, it's an obscenely {{Moe}} collection of every stereotype about the MagicalGirl genre.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'', Ango Natsume's novels are apparently Cliche Storms when they aren't flat-out [[PlagiarismInFiction plagiarizing]] other works. His [[MentalWorld Jail]], modeled after his novel, features such things as a QuirkyMinibossSquad whose members face the heroes in ascending order of strength, several {{MacGuffin}}s to collect, and a demon lord from another world who calls the protagonists out on how many enemies they've killed to get to him. Futaba, who's rather familiar with the genre, ends up snarking at Natsume's lack of talent or originality.
* ''VideoGame/PunchClub'' is a storm of 80's martial arts and sports movie cliches: avenge your murdered father, recover a magic medallion, train under an old guy named Mick, re-enact the plot of ''Film/RockyIV'', win a prison fight ring, become a vigilante and fight mutants and robots, make your own TrainingMontage, attend a fighting tournament on a private island, and [[spoiler:your father is actually alive and a bad guy]].
* Try this ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'' drinking game. Take a shot for any SpaceMarines cliche lifted from ''Aliens'', ''Warhammer 40000'', Vietnam War movies like ''Film/ApocalypseNow'', and previous Id Software shooters. Only those MadeOfIron will still be conscious by the beginning of the third level. Seriously, the trope page for ASpaceMarineIsYou reads like the design document for the game.
* Dr. Nefarious from ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'', who's basically a cliche of every Saturday morning cartoon villain out there PlayedForLaughs. [[BewareTheSillyOnes Doesn't mean that he's not a legitimate threat though.]]
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRevolver'' is absolutely like this, to the point where it forgets to have a coherent plot in order to recycle as many SpaghettiWestern tropes as possible. All the set-pieces are there; [[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly blowing up a bridge in a warzone]], [[Film/ForAFewDollarsMore infiltrating the enemy banditos' camp to take their bounties]], but it happens solely for the sake of happening.
** ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' is also full of this. This is most likely because EVERYTHING that happens in the game is a tribute to old SpaghettiWestern movies.
%%* ''VideoGame/RedSteel'' is one of the most shameless examples of a Cliché Storm ever seen.
%%* Every single thing about ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy'', down to every line of dialogue.
* ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'' seems to have been made intentionally with every UsefulNotes/WorldWarII cliche in mind.
* ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction''. It actually manages to ''invert'' the trend seen in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries!'' The first 50 minutes of the game are pretty unique and very promising--the female lead doesn't want to save the world as most RPG heroes want, but rather [[VillainProtagonist destroy it.]] Unfortunately, by the next town she's already saving people and leaning towards the cliche-ism. More clichéd characters appear and more clichéd events happen, culminating in a finale that has more or less every finale cliché in the book, including LukeIAmYourFather, PowerOfFriendship, PowerOfLove, and EvilCannotComprehendGood. A common complaint towards the game is that TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot.
** Apparently this was due to ExecutiveMeddling: the game was originally going to be much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] with a more original plot akin to ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' (made by the same writer, even), but they were forced to {{Bowdlerize}} it to appeal to younger audiences, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen resulting in the plot becoming a Cliche Storm]].
* ''VideoGame/ShiningForceII'' is about TheChosenOne going on an adventure to find the SwordOfPlotAdvancement with which to seal a [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils devil lord]], SaveThePrincess, and [[spoiler: wake her from a magical sleep with TrueLovesKiss]] to get the StandardHeroReward. The game does nothing to change up or play with this formula.
* Creator/ZapDramatic[='=]s ''Sir Basil Pike Public School'' contains quite a few elements of the standard school drama (the BigGame, the school dance, disguising yourself as another person to humiliate someone, etc.).
* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''. The game is a fairly standard turn-based JRPG with your typical plucky kid heroes, [[LargeHam hammy]], one-dimensional {{Card Carrying Villain}}s, a "race around the world to collect the [[MacGuffin magic crystals]] before the bad guys" plot, and a very BlackAndWhiteMorality set-up. However, coming just in the wake of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and [[FollowTheLeader a fleet of imitators]] which mostly tried to emulate Final Fantasy VII by being [[DarkerAndEdgier filled with dark tones and angst]], it came across as a breath of fresh air rather than overdone. So much so that it became a {{Reconstruction}} of the JRPG form. It is widely regarded today as a CultClassic, in addition to having received universal critical acclaim.
** ''VideoGame/Grandia1'', may well have beaten ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' to the decision to stop trailing after ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''... though really, in ''Grandia'''s case it feels more like the writer just wanted to have fun rather than having a specific intention of being different. The hero's a mischievous young lad, who runs away from home chasing the legacy of his dead father to become an adventurer, carrying his OrphansPlotTrinket (the Spirit Stone), fights the evil empire... and it is awesome in very much the same way as VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia's lack of fear for the use of cliché lead it to be.
** Also the whole point of the aptly-named ''VideoGame/NostalgiaRedEntertainment''.
* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''; The entire story is a mashup of many standard fantasy, anime and video game cliches. Band of heroes out searching for magical trinkets to save the world, versus an evil mad scientist trying to get the trinkets himself to take over the world while putting up with them, and an evil monster is also giving them trouble along the way, eventually becoming the main villain and having a One-Winged Angel showdown with the main hero at the end. The hero defeats the villain by literally using ThePowerOfLove. Many of the following games in the series would follow a similar story structure and formula.
** E-102 Gamma's own story was deliberately [[LeftHanging left unfinished]] in favor of a different character in the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie Comic adaptation]] of ''Sonic Adventure'', specifically because the writers quipped that his story was "something you've seen a hundred times if you're a devotee to samurai movies".
* Subverted and played straight with ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine''. The plot is a brutally critical {{Deconstruction}} of military tactical shooters but a common criticism of the gameplay is it is unapologetically generic and bland. However, given how the entire point is for DoNotDoThisCoolThing, making the gameplay feel tedious and unfufilling was likely an intentional choice to reinforce the point.
%%* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' should have had a counter that clicked every time they recycled a cliché from ''Franchise/StarTrek, Franchise/FinalFantasy,'' and every other console RPG. Maria even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] it during one in-town dialogue. Oddly, it is both lampshaded and ''suvberted'' with the '''[[TheEndingChangesEverything HUGE]]''' twist that [[spoiler:the world of ''Star Ocean'' is a video game--even the 4D beings who play it probably thought "This game really ''is'' pretty cliche isn't it?"]]
* Some games in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series are this, mostly in regards to the franchise's own cliches.
** A prime example of which is the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' series, where all four (five with Luigi U) games are ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' copies with mostly similar world and level themes (grass, desert, water, forest, ice, mountain, sky and lava), the same bosses (the Koopalings, Boom Boom and Bowser), the same general soundtrack and bosses mostly from Super Mario Bros 3 and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. They also tend to have the same final boss concept (giant Bowser), certain recycled level themes (like one with tons of Skewers the player has to carefully avoid), and a secret world with a sky/space theme. ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' is basically a 3D version of this formula, albeit with less boss variety and a different style of final boss.
%%* [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/495903 Super PSTW Action RPG]] is this for video game [=RPGs=].
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' (especially ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'') is built on this it's not even funny, starting with a [[AscendedFanboy mecha otaku turned giant robot pilot]], a ''German {{Samurai}}'' with his CharClone HeterosexualLifePartner as [[MemeticMutation real men who ride each other]], TheStoic gambler and his ManicPixieDreamGirl partner, guy with ridiculous NoSenseOfDirection with one of the ElementalPowers in tow AND two talking cats, a ridiculously busty [[ArtificialHuman android girl]]... and so on. Really. And it's still ''awesome''.
* The first 10 hours or so of nearly every single ''[[VideoGame/TalesSeries Tales]]'' game. Then it hits you that the game [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle is supposed to end now but]] [[DiscOneFinalDungeon you're still on Disc 1]]. Cue WhamEpisode. And therein lies ''why'' they have a fanbase. The ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' series are great at [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] and [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], so, for fans of the series, part of the fun is waiting to see just how many cliches they are going to utterly demolish by turning them on their heads, or exposing the downright nasty sides of them. (Sadly, most people only seem to play the first two hours and then say "The plot is a Cliché Storm." The entire ''series'' is built on a big Cliché Storm.)
* It's hard to take any of the ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' stories seriously, since most of them are standard action-movie fare. They usually involve rescuing a hostage, stopping a weapon of mass destruction or recovering a MacGuffin, among other cliches that serve as [[ExcusePlot excuses]] for large-scale shootouts.
* And likewise, ''VideoGame/TotalOverdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico'' did this for the Mexican action movies.
* Likewise, ''VideoGame/TrueCrimeStreetsOfLA'' intentionally reproduced the 1980s action flick in video game form.
* ''Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta'' is already TheMockbuster to the ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' series, but it's also an hilariously bad cliche storm in just about every other sense too. You've got a guy who acts suspiciously like a mixture of Nathan Drake, Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. A TempleOfDoom in an ominous middle eastern desert location that's never named, complete with boulders to dodge, swinging blades crossing the room in predictable patterns, and a bunch of collectathon gameplay of the simplest order. There's a generic bald tough guy acting as the villain with a horde of identical henchman mercenaries, a driving sequence in town involving dodging the police and awful controls, a level set on the rooftops, a 'ToBeContinued' screen, and even an extra mode involving your characters fighting off a zombie horde like something out of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' or ''VideoGame/NaziZombies''. It's literally as standard as an action game gets, to the point even the characters lampshade some of the similarities and cliches..
* ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' was marketed as a campy mix of every [[BMovie B-grade]] teen horror movie known to man, with a plot revolving around a group of attractive young people spending the weekend at [[DontGoInTheWoods an isolated mountain cabin in the snowbound Rockies]] and finding themselves stalked by a [[MalevolentMaskedMen masked killer]]. [[spoiler:Turns out it's by design, a cruel prank staged by Josh to avenge the deaths of his sisters Hannah and Beth by throwing his friends (who pulled the prank on Hannah that accidentally [[DeadlyPrank got her and Beth killed]]) into a real-life horror movie and scare the living hell out of them, using '80s [[SlasherMovie slashers]] and modern TorturePorn as his reference points. Unfortunately for everybody involved, Josh's plan goes OffTheRails once the actual, malevolent supernatural forces haunting the mountain make their presence known.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' takes this trope and runs with it, using and exaggerating the majority of tropes found in a SaturdayMorningCartoon, being unapologetically ridiculous and silly the entire time. Despite this, the story does manage to pull off legitimate twists here and there.
* Deliberately invoked and played with by ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator''. The protagonist attends an ElaborateUniversityHigh filled with cherry blossoms, larger-than-life characters, romantic angst, and 'mythical' creatures who are somehow able to hide in plain sight. About a ''tenth'' of its students are [[ChickMagnet all in love with the same boy]] – [[ObliviousToLove not that he notices]] – and more than half have unnaturally colored hair that no one comments on. In all these ways and more, Akademi is a distillation of every anime school that has ever existed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AlphaAndOmega''. Entire movie in a nutshell: Male falls in love with female. Male realizes he can't be with female because their love is forbidden due to them being different. Male and female get captured, wake up in a new location, and have to find their way home. Then throw in a bunch of kiddie humor during their adventure. Male and female finally arrive home, but the female dies. [[DisneyDeath Oh, she didn't actually die]]. Male and female, despite their differences, fall in love, and live HappilyEverAfter. The end. '''''AND''''' there's a direct-to-video series where they have [[BabiesEverAfter 3 children]].
* While it was largely well-received, a number of critics have noted that ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys2022'' is pretty by-the-book in regards to both animated family film tropes and heist movie tropes; there's a VillainProtagonist who undergoes a HeelFaceTurn after discovering that GoodFeelsGood, his idealist mentor [[spoiler:turns out to have been EvilAllAlong and frames him for a heist, forcing the protagonist and his friends to ClearTheirName]], and the climactic heist involves using [[ReplacedWithReplica the old switcheroo]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' is often regarded as this, considering it stars a RebelliousPrincess (all too common in Disney films) and struggled a bit to distinguish itself from previous movies such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon''. To its credit, though, it did take a more subversive take on the worn formula it operated on.
* ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'' is considered to be the first of these from Creator/{{Pixar}}. It's easy to imagine a little counter in the corner dinging whenever you see a Pixar cliché. Stranger in a community or group; brooding moment from a side character; wacky sidekick who forms a comedic duo with the main character; said group full of wacky members with their own quirks; all of the development threatens to go downhill when something happens to separate or alienate the stranger, until they all decide they like this new stranger and want him back in the group; The stranger decides that s/he really is a member of the group. It doesn't help it's a beat-for-beat RecycledScript of ''Film/DocHollywood''.
** One of the major complaints about [[WesternAnimation/Cars2 the sequel]] is the fact that the Cliché Storm element is taken to nigh painful extremes. The clichés were even ''more'' evident in ''Cars 2'' because they were using action-movie clichés too, more notable than simple Pixar clichés.
** The SpinOff ''WesternAnimation/{{Planes}}'', which is ''not'' made by Pixar, is just the typical "underdog overcomes the odds and wins in the end" story, except the characters are planes and cars. It even includes one of the worst rival clichés ever - the "the rival is actually a dirty cheater behind the scenes" cliché.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Charming}}'': A prince is cursed and must go on a standard fantasy quest to lift the curse before the arbitrary time limit. He's joined by a thief who's presented as being NotLikeOtherGirls, and while they bicker at first they eventually fall in love and hook up (after the obligatory NotWhatItLooksLike moment where they believe the other doesn't return their feelings). Several fairy tales get lampooned along the way, in manners that have already been done to death by other FracturedFairyTale stories (e.g. Sleeping Beauty having narcolepsy).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'': You've seen this movie before. Kid with dreams that his family doesn't approve of, ParentalAbandonment, talent show the protagonist wants to enter, revered hero revealed as {{Jerkass}} BrokenPedestal, etc. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Not that it's a bad thing.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Delgo}}'': a [[GratuitousPrincess beautiful princess]] [[StarCrossedLovers falls in love with]] TheHero, who has to unite their FeudingFamilies and fight the EvilChancellor. All that, just gleaned from the trailer. Add in the annoying sidekick, who is just [[TheLoad so useless]] until the end when he "saves" the hero, except he gets attacked by some flying frog things as a result... Considering how it had the worst opening weekend for a wide-release movie in history...
** One comment on a Mogulus stream channel chat summed it up thusly: "[[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife It's like they got their script from TV Tropes]]!"
* Every Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon DirectToVideo sequel by Creator/DisneytoonStudios.
** Although, some ''have'' thought that ''WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIIATwistInTime'' was somewhat deconstructive, and it also lampshaded several tropes played in the original fairy tale (e.g., the king asking why the prince is so in love with someone over their choice in footwear, characters seemingly being very suspicious about choice of love).
** ''WesternAnimation/BambiII'' also plays around with several parts of the first film, even if its WellDoneSonGuy plot is still relatively much more formulaic, given the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' had [[ToughActToFollow one of the most nuanced and original forms of storytelling]] in the entire Disney filmography.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' is ''infamous'' for this. One of the film's biggest criticisms is that it is an unashamed mishmash of animated movie clichés from its era, as highlighted in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmUvW4egbNQ this video]] comparing it (or more, merely its ''trailer'') to the [[WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie many]], ''[[WesternAnimation/InsideOut many]]'' [[WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph works]] that it is derivative of. People had even begun ([[IKnewIt correctly]]) predicting the plot beats, characters, and the ending for this film since ''before the posters were even released'': The [[TheGenericGuy generic protagonist]] who [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer doesn't fit in]] and [[IJustWantToBeNormal goes on an adventure seeking to conform.]] Along the way, he meets an [[PluckyComicRelief obnoxious comic relief]] and a [[RealWomenDontWearDresses generic tough girl]] who [[spoiler:[[RebelliousPrincess happens to be a princess dreaming of more]]]] while being hunted down by an [[ControlFreak order obsessed villain.]] She is defeated, which results in [[DancePartyEnding a giant dance party.]] We also get a message about [[BeYourself being yourself]] when the movie itself [[{{Irony}} lacks an identity.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013'': [[http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/Epic-animated-2013 In the words of reviewer Matt Zoller Seitz]]:
-->"There's a protagonist grieving over [[MissingMom her mother's recent death]], and [[GeniusDitz a brilliant but scatterbrained]] [[BumblingDad father who loves his child but isn't the strong parental figure she desperately needs]]. There's a hidden world akin to Alice's Wonderland that the inquisitive heroine explores. There are beleaguered good guys that she joins in a war against bad guys that represent chaos and decay; their leader is a funny despot with a European accent. There's a mythology that will be fulfilled when good guys take a fragile pod on a journey toward a prophesied end. There's a young warrior with whom the heroine forms a flirtatious friendship. There's a tough older warrior who mentors the younger warrior. There are comic sidekicks, and a beautiful forest queen who utters platitudes about the cycles of life [[spoiler:and then dies]]."
* ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' uses many of the tropes from the game series (monsters appearing out of nowhere, romance side-plot, adventure to discover the truth behind supernatural events etc.) and there have been a dozen games. Naturally, this is the result.
* The animated ''WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI'' falls into this trap ''hard''. While its [[Theatre/TheKingAndI source material]] was a standard Disneyesque boy-meets-girl PeriodPiece, the animated version takes this a step further by adding an EvilChancellor, some {{Gratuitous Animal Sidekick}}s, an action-packed climax and an EverybodyLives[=/=]DisneyDeath ending.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' has a lot of clichés par the course for your standard action blockbuster, including TheEveryman who rises to become TheHero; the villain who wants to destroy the world; the ActionGirlfriend with a {{Jerkass}} RomanticFalseLead who's also Franchise/{{Batman}}; the old MentorArchetype who's the only one with any faith in TheHero; etc. Of course, this being a self-aware ''LEGO'' film, it's relentlessly [[ParodiedTrope parodied.]] [[spoiler:In a clever PlotTwist, the third act [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] the clichéd storyline by revealing it's all being played out in the imagination of an eight-year-old boy trying to cope with his ControlFreak father who won't let him play with LEGO the way he wants]].
* One of major criticisms put towards ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' was that the story just rehashes the basic plot formula seen in the show's adventure arcs with more typical fantasy adventure cliches. A villain appears in Equestria who easily defeats the ruling princesses and forces Twilight and her friends to search for a way to defeat them while meeting stock character archetypes in standard fantasy settings, like a cynical rogue with a hidden heart of gold in WretchedHive, a [[ShelteredAristocrat sheltered princess]] in a HiddenElfVillage, and a villainous second-in-command with a tragic past.
* One of the most common criticisms of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' is that it played out like a laundry list of Disney Renaissance clichés (a RebelliousPrincess who wants "something more" out of life, a [[HelicopterParents disapproving parent]] who wants her to marry someone she doesn't love, {{Non Human Sidekick}}s who serve no real purpose to the plot other than to sell toys...) at a time when the Disney formula was starting to feel a bit stale.
** The other theatrical films get accused of this also, especially around the TurnOfTheMillennium when it was becoming clear that Disney's AnimatedMusical formula was becoming overused, repetitive, and increasingly copied: sappy [[IWantSong "I Want" songs]], wisecracking sidekicks, charismatic villains who may or may not suffer a DisneyVillainDeath, [[RebelliousPrincess rebellious princesses.]] ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' got hit with this more than the others, since it not only exhibited just about ''every'' 1990s animated movie cliché, but did so in a movie {{Very Loosely Based on a|True Story}} [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie Dubious Historical Account]].
* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' was also widely criticized for being essentially a laundry-list of contemporary animated movie cliches. David Kronke of the ''Los Angeles Times'' even called it out as such in his review, saying it was "A nearly perfect reflection of troubling trends in animated features.''
* The ''[[WesternAnimation/RatchetAndClank2016 Ratchet & Clank]]'' film revolves around an orphan who lives on a quiet backwater planet and is also TheLastOfHisKind. Said orphan idolizes a hero and dreams of becoming one, gains a small sidekick, and undergoes training. The hero grows jealous of the protagonist for stealing his spotlight [[spoiler: and later betrays his team because of it. The protagonist gives up on his dream after a failed mission, but later comes back and convinces the hero who betrayed him [[HeelRealization to realize what he did was wrong]], then they both team up and save the galaxy]]. Also, the villain has a planet-destroying weapon, [[spoiler:is later usurped by a [[TheStarscream lesser antagonist]] who suffers a DisneyVillainDeath, but is revealed to have survived in TheStinger and became [[WeCanRebuildHim roboticized.]]]] It even got to a point where the SequelHook stated "[[LampshadeHanging Oh, like you didn't see this coming.]]"
* The movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'' is a compilation of every trope common to kids movies in the 2000s, especially [[Creator/DreamWorksAnimation Dreamworks]] movies. Creator/JesseEisenberg (whose acting and voice makes him qualify as a sort-of Creator/MichaelCera clone) plays a LastOfHisKind Blue Bird who [[AcrophobicBird doesn't know]] [[HowDoIShotWeb how to fly]] and tries to woo another just-discovered bird of his species, this one a {{hot blooded}} {{action girl}} played by Creator/AnneHathaway. Rounding out the cast are a [[IWasQuiteALooker vain]], [[SmugSnake egocentric]], and FauxAffablyEvil villain bird played by a Creator/TimCurry soundalike (in this case, Creator/JemaineClement), a goofy comic relief duo in the form of a cardinal voiced by Will.I.Am and a canary voiced by Jamie Foxx, and a {{happily married}} HenpeckedHusband [[TheMentor Mentor]] Toucan played by Creator/GeorgeLopez. An [[OddCouple quirky odd couple type romance]] followed by [[DieOrFly learning how to fly]] {{just in time}} (with the help of {{the power of love}}) scene are both bound to happen. The sequel takes it a step further, with [[BabiesEverAfter sequel offspring]], VillainDecay, and a plot that's ''very'' predictable.
* The protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' [[IJustWantToBeSpecial dreams of fame,]] [[LiarRevealed lies to everyone about being the hero,]] get involved in a [[ObliviousToLove romantic subplot borne of poor communication]] and because this is a kids movie, [[EasilyForgiven everyone just lets]] [[{{Pun}} him off the hook]].
* The infamous ''WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn'' has an ''insane'' list of clichés found in kids' movies (''especially'' Disney ones). Talking animal characters, a bad character with incompetent henchmen, a girl with an [[WickedStepmother evil stepfamily]], LoveAtFirstSight, {{Disneyfication}} gone mad, and more clichés are there to show its notoriety. Go to the article to see the full list of clichés.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''911 Nightmare'', a 2016 LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek starring Fiona Gubelmann as 911 operator Christine [=McCullers=] was in part, a {{parody}} of cliched Lifetime movies, although it was definitely [[DarkerAndEdgier dark and edgy]], with none of the usual comedic parody elements. It didn't do anything particularly original as a PoliceProcedural but it was apparently intended as a parody, according to WordOfSaintPaul.
* Two of Creator/JamesCameron's films, ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' and ''Film/Titanic1997'', show that this trope isn't always bad. ''Avatar'' is even ''self-aware'' of its clichés (calling the MineralMacGuffin "{{Unobtanium}}") and Cameron has said "It's just ''Film/DancesWithWolves'' [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace In Space]]". They became very high-grossing films and were well-liked by critics, [[JustHereForGodzilla even despite how many people only saw it to see the pretty technical aspects]] and SceneryPorn.
* ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'': A group of Marines, one about to get married, one trying to gain citizenship, one two days from retirement, one with a baby on the way, one a fresh faced rookie, one struggling to cope, and one who lost his brother, use the power of teamwork and MoreDakka to defend the United States from an AlienInvasion.
* ''Film/BigAssSpider:'' A secret government experiment accidentally creates a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin really big alien-hybrid spider]], which proceeds to go on a rampage in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. Fortunately, the film is intentionally humorous.
* Critics dismissed ''Film/BohemianRhapsody'' as this because it hits all of the typical beats of a story about a rock band's climb to the top. While this is technically true, it may have ended up this way because the plot takes place over a period of fifteen years and had to be [[PragmaticAdaptation greatly condensed]] in order to fit into a two-hour film. In the end, it made its budget back three times over in four days because it turns out that with a Music/{{Queen}} biopic, plot probably matters less than an actor's ability to transform into Music/FreddieMercury (which Creator/RamiMalek did exceptionally well), SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic, and CostumePorn.
* One of the biggest criticisms of ''Film/TheByeByeMan'' is that it borrows heavily from other horror films, but fails to do anything particularly original on its own.
* Intentionally invoked in ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', which throws in nearly every horror-movie cliche ever. Justified in that [[spoiler:the cliches are a requirement of The Ancient Ones who must be placated by the ritual.]]
* ''{{Film/Chicago}}'': "The Press Conference Rag" is an example, albeit one which is not apparent to the modern viewer. Roxie's BackStory, as given by Billy (CountryMouse, [[RichPeople rich family]], [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest dead parents]], [[OrphanageOfLove raised in a convent]], VagueAge, ShotgunWedding) was the Back Story of every young woman who wanted to get into showbiz in TheRoaringTwenties. By 1927 (when the play Chicago is based on was written) it was such an obvious sob story that, had the author attempted to sell it as anything other than an {{Amoral Attorney}}'s attempt to stir up sympathy for his client, the audience would have rolled their eyes and said "AndImTheQueenOfSheba".
* Referenced in ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'' where retired spy/country gentleman Sir James Bond (David Niven) [[RefusalOfTheCall turns down]] the entreaties of the secret service heads of the superpowers, telling them "If I may interrupt this flow of cliche, it is now that time of day that I set apart for [playing] Debussy."
* ''Film/DantesPeak''. Protagonist lost his spouse in the same disaster many years ago and is still hung up about it; jaded superior who insists that they need proof only for him to be, of course, wrong, and subsequently die a KarmicDeath; most annoying character who refused to come down from the mountain and thus endangered the lives of the others dies while the dog survives; big final blow-you-out-of-your-seat special effects sequence, and even a TokenRomance... And yet, for all that, it still manages to be good.
* In a SoBadItsGood way, both ''Darktown Strutters'' and ''Order of the Black Eagle''. These movies aren't related at all, they just fit together when run matinee style due to using exactly half of all available tropes ever created prior to the 80s. The combination effect induces what can only be described as an effect similar to a caffeine rush without the coffee.
%%* ''Film/{{Daylight}}''; it's every disaster movie since 1972.
* ''Film/{{Deathlands}}'': A cocktail of every sci-fi movie you've ever seen, thrown together on a budget equal to the price of a bus ticket.
* Cheap Creator/SylvesterStallone vehicle ''Film/DTox''. Stallone plays a cop who, after punching a CymbalBangingMonkey, finds out his wife has been killed by his nemesis. He develops a drink problem and is sent to a remote, snowy rehab place. People get killed off one by one. And who's doing the killing? Why, the [[spoiler:EvilBrit]]! As you'd expect from a film populated by alcoholics, you get an {{Anvilicious}} message:
-->"Booze may be a slow-burner, but it's still suicide."
* ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'''s ''Film/DirtyDancing'' parody spoofed not just the movie, put pointed out the cliche used in the scene they were spoofing in each panel; a display of {{Lampshading}} that would have done Website/TVTropes proud.
* ''Film/DungeonsAndDragons2000'', TheMovie. It's easy to imagine little "DING!" noises and a counter display ratcheting up as each cliché goes by. The film makes for an impressive [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0145.html drinking game]].
* ''Film/TheExpendables'', but that's precisely the point.
** In fact, it hits up more tropes than expected, particularly during the middle section, which unfortunately bores those who knows exactly what the main character's going to decide to do, and just wants him to get on with it.
** ''Film/TheExpendables2'' was even worse, which admittedly made it even more enjoyable. The best example was when [[SacrificialLamb Billy "The Kid" Timmons]], [[TooHappyToLive the young guy who's hopelessly in love]], [[FatalFamilyPhoto showed Barney Ross a picture of his girlfriend]], and told him he wanted to [[{{Retirony}} quit but would finish the month]]. ''Every single person watching knew exactly what his fate was''. Hell, even ''the character he was talking to'' knew what his fate was. [[spoiler: And the movie delivers, on time and as expected, with just about the most [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice wonderfully over-the-top death scene possible.]]]]
* Self-aware in ''Film/AFewGoodMen'', where Tom Cruise's character has a throwaway conversation with the local newsstand vendor involving each of them trying to wryly out-cliche the other.
* ''Film/GeminiMan'' is about an elite but aging assassin being chased by his 23-year-old clone. It is often seen as an inferior use of ''{{Film/Looper}}'''s premise. Many perceive it as [[DancingBear prioritizing special effects (and 4K/3D/120fps) over the plot]].
* ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' is chock-full of every action movie cliche most people have ever seen. If you want an explanation, look no further than [[http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2009/08/the-movie-non-review-gi-joe-the-rise-of-cobra/69002/ Christopher Orr's review of the movie,]] in which he decides to just let it speak for itself by providing 40 of the lines that sum up the entire plot and all of the typical one-liners and plot points it has. It's really a shame though, considering it had some great actors who did the best they could with the material they were given. Then again, for fans of the movie, this could be exactly what they liked about it.
%%* Ryuhei Kitamura isn't a terrifically subtle director, to say the least. He is, however, terrifically entertaining, which might explain why he was picked to direct ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars''.
%%* Those that dislike ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' consider it to be this; those that do enjoy it, however, consider it to be a decent film that's very [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools campy and doesn't take itself too seriously.]]
* The Hallmark Channel is famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) for heavily exploiting this, especially with their Christmas specials. The ChristmasSpecial usually consists of a woman who doesn't have someone to spend the holidays, later bumps into a guy that she later falls in love with, they solve the conflict of the story (usually consisting of giving the Christmas spirit to a [[TheScrooge holiday-hater]]), and ends with the main cast celebrating Christmas in the protagonist's house. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The writing tends to be cheesy, too.]] Regardless, many a fan consider these specials to be a GuiltyPleasure.
** A word of advice: If your TV's tuned in to Hallmark during Christmastime, ''do '''not''''' play a drinking game with the commercials for said long string of movies. You '''will''' collapse--especially if it involves the narration: "But she ''soon discovers''...that ''nothing'' is so/more X...as/than ''falling in love''." (Almost as frequent: "...as/than ''family''.")
* Done on purpose in ''Film/HardcoreHenry'' to give the movie some excuses for its UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective. The movie is a pretty unique example of this trope because it invokes ''videogame clichés'', not film clichés.
* Subverted in almost every possible way throughout ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'', a film in which almost everything you expect in a World War II action film turns out exactly the opposite of what you'd expect.
** Unlike ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan''... aside from the Normandy Beach scene, which broke some serious new ground in that genre.
* ''Film/IntoTheStorm2014'': It's a giant-killer-tornado film. A scrappy team of twister-hunters with an Obsessed JerkAss Leader, a slab of NewMeat, a Hot Single Mom Scientist, a [[BlackDudeDiesFirst Black Guy]] and a CoolCar are thrown together with a strict workaholic widower trying to raise two teenaged boys, and a couple of idiotic thrill-seeking yokels. Amazingly, [[spoiler: the black guy survives]], and the widower apparently ''doesn't'' [[spoiler: hook up with the hot scientist, even after saving her life]].
* ''Film/JupiterAscending''. A RagsToRoyalty PluckyGirl meets a NinjaPirateZombieRobot SuperSoldier and [[TheDulcineaEffect falls in love with him]], while they team up to fight through each member of a [[SiblingRivalry sibling]] [[AristocratsAreEvil villain trio]] who want to [[PeopleFarms destroy humanity]]. In the end, [[spoiler:the AGodAmI NonActionBigBad receives a DisneyVillainDeath, EverybodyLives, and the two protagonists get a RelationshipUpgrade]].
* Many Creator/QuentinTarantino movies are like this, but ''Film/KillBill'' is the poster child. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools And you will love]] [[RefugeInAudacity every last second.]]
%%* Part of the premise of ''Film/LastActionHero''.
* The Creator/AmyAdams flick ''Film/{{Leap Year|2010}}'' is not so much a film as it is the feeding every RomCom and {{Oireland}} cliche imaginable into a blender and making the audience drink the result.
* Creator/RennyHarlin's ''Film/TheLegendOfHercules'' is a perfect storm of AncientGrome clichés, including scenes blatantly ripping off ''Film/ThreeHundred'', ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', and ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|2010}}''.
* Parodied in ''Film/LoadedWeapon1'' with this exchange:
-->'''Gen. Morters:''' Where's the microfilm, Mike?\\
'''Mike [=McCracken=]:''' I don't know, I gave it to York. I thought she was one of your men.\\
'''Gen. Morters:''' Act in haste, repent in leisure.\\
'''Mike [=McCracken=]:''' But he who hesitates is lost.\\
'''Gen. Morters:''' Never judge a book by its cover.\\
'''Mike [=McCracken=]:''' What you see is what you get.\\
'''Gen. Morters:''' Loose lips, sink ships...\\
'''Mike [=McCracken=]:''' [[Music/TheBeatles Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing or fighting, my friend.]]\\
''[Gen. Morters, cornered, looks to Mr. Jigsaw]''\\
''[Mr. Jigsaw consults Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, shakes his head]''\\
'''Gen. Morters:''' Sorry Mike, no good.
* ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'' has Creator/BrendanFraser delivering cliché one-liners every few seconds.
--> "I really hate mummies!"\\
"Time to go!"\\
"Here we go again!"
* It's nearly impossible to find a review of ''Film/TheMortalInstrumentsCityOfBones'' that ''doesn't'' point out how similar it is to earlier properties. Most commonly cited were ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', ''Film/{{Twilight}}'', and ''Franchise/StarWars''.
* ''[[Film/NationalLampoon National Lampoon's Senior Trip]]'' is the bad/lazy version of this as the entire [[RagtagBunchofMisfits class]] is just one big checklist of student cliches from the HighSchoolHustler leader to TheStoner sidekick(s) to the [[GirlOnGirlIsHot lesbians]] with special emphasis on [[BigFun Miosky,]] who's trying everything in his power to be the next John Belushi, plus [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero "date a blonde Jap."]] The ''only'' saving graces to this film is Matt Frewer as their [[BadlyBatteredBabysitter teacher,]] [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch Kevin]] [[Series/TheKidsInTheHall McDonald]] playing an AxCrazy ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan out to kill them and [[Creator/TaraStrong Carla]] asking guys if they "want to screw."
* A common remark—for good or ill—seems to be that ''Film/Oblivion2013'' is made up out of other SF movies in general.
** A notorious sci-fi cliche was [[spoiler:aliens coming to Earth to steal our water. Though at least the alien is turning it into energy instead.]]
* ''Film/PacificRim'' once again shows us that Administrivia/TropesAreTools. The film manages to work with an absolute Cliché Storm of a plot that almost ''anyone'' who has seen a Kaiju movie can see coming from a mile away... but manages to make it work because Creator/GuillermoDelToro intended it as a Homage.
* ''Film/{{The Princess|2022}}'': '''Good Lord, where do we start?''' Pretty much every single PlotDevice, PlotTwist, RebelliousPrincess story, and even certain lines of dialogue, are either very obvious to the watcher, or based on cliche's that have been heard countless times before in countless other action, medieval, and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs medieval-action]] movies. To say the films' story is an ExcusePlot to see some choreographed action is something of an understatement.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''-featured fantasy film ''Film/{{Quest of the Delta Knights}}'' has the BigBad saying things like: "I grow weary of your antics, beggar man!" Ironically, and with no explanation whatever, both the BigBad and the old man were played by David Warner. The movie was a thinly-veiled attempt to do ''Franchise/StarWars'' in a fantasy setting long before ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eragon]]'' made it cool, and that's how they linked the Darth Vader and Obi-Wan characters. It's not ''much'' of an explanation, but it does seem ''slightly'' less random when you realize that.
* The ''Film/ResidentEvilFilmSeries'' contains so many cliches from every zombie, sci-fi and buddy action film in the past twenty years before release that it is near impossible to find something original in them. EasyAmnesia, {{Expendable Clone}}s, GunsAkimbo, StuffBlowingUp, BulletTime, and near shot-for-shot copying of scenes from ''Film/TheMatrix''. The films were one [[LukeIAmYourFather long-lost relative]] away from hitting every major cliché in the book... and then the last installment used ''that'' one, too.
* Discussed in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' as the setup for an action punchline:
-->'''The Operative''': "Nothing here is what it seems. He's ''not'' [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits the plucky hero]]; the Alliance isn't [[TheEmpire some evil Empire]]; this is ''not'' the grand arena --"
-->'''Inara''': "-- and that's not incense."
-->''BOOM!''
* The biggest criticism of ''Film/ShutIn'' is that it relies too much on traditional horror clichés, such as {{Jump Scare}}s and dream sequences, instead of properly building tension to provide scares. Some reviews even stated that the twist where [[spoiler:Stephen is revealed to have been faking paralysis the whole time]] is easy to predict.
* ''Film/{{Sleepover}}''. It ''is'' a preteen chick flick comedy, but this is ridiculous. It doesn't help that most of the actresses are fresh out of Barbizon and don't even realize how many {{Dead Horse Trope}}s they're playing straight.
* ''Film/SmallSoldiers'': Everything Hazard says is made of this, from the "roll call" when he activates his troops to his combat banter. The best bit is when he gives a hilariously cliché-ridden speech to his "soldiers", in which he actually contradicts himself by the end.
--> "Soldiers, no poor sap ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by being all that he can be. Damn the torpedoes, or give me death! Eternal vigilance is the price of duty. And, to the victors go the spoils. So remember: you are the best of the best of the few and the proud. So ask not what your country can do for you, only regret that you have but one life to live!"
%%* Creator/RogerEbert's review of ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' was [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19941028/REVIEWS/410280308/1023 one long checklist of the cliches involved.]]
* The three ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' movies. These movies are all about irony, producers claim. [[ParodyRetcon Whether or not that works for you is your call.]] The first and [[Film/StarshipTroopers3Marauder third movies]] are intentional satire, [[Film/StarshipTroopers2HeroOfTheFederation the second movie]] is closer to this, with some heavy-handed satire.
* The portions we hear of the speech the Federation President gives at Khitomer in ''Film/{{Star Trek VI|The Undiscovered Country}}'' are a political/diplomatic speech cliché storm.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** It's somewhat hard to believe nowadays, since the movie itself has been [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny so heavily copied]], but the first ''Star Wars'' movie, ''Film/ANewHope'', was intentionally written as a checklist of HighFantasy clichés given clichéd--although [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome absolutely gorgeous]]--SpaceOpera window dressing. In this case, the frisson between the two genres (as well as the {{Spectacle}}) [[TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste is entirely the point]].
** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' reuses many of the most memorable plot devices and tropes of ''A New Hope'' (an orphaned protagonist on a desert planet, a PlanetDestroyer super-weapon, and a villain who is a blatant {{Expy}} of Darth Vader, to name only three). However, the next movie in the new trilogy, ''Film/TheLastJedi'', managed to avoid being a Cliche Storm and created an identity of its own. [[BrokenBase As for whether that was a good thing...]]
** One of the common criticisms of ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' was how formulaic it is (it's been speculated the creators intentionally played it safe due to the controversy over ''The Last Jedi''). By the end of the first act, it's easy to predict how the film will play out, especially since it's similar to ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi.'' The hero is [[LukeIAmYourFather related to a bad guy]] who wants them to join the dark side. The mentor [[MentorOccupationalHazard dies]] heroically partway through to raise the stakes. The heroes make a {{last stand}} against the bad guys who are equipped with planet-destroying weaponry, a bunch of extras/side characters get whacked, but they prevail at the last minute by blowing up the bad guy's main ship and getting an [[TheCavalry unexpected cavalry arrival]].[[note]] unexpected for the ''characters'', rather than the audience [[/note]] The hero goes to confront the BigBad alone where they're tempted one last time to join the dark side, [[spoiler:and they are saved by the sacrifice of [[RedemptionEqualsDeath a redeemed villain]]]].
* ''Film/StreetFighterTheLegendOfChunLi'' has a terribly huge number of action movie clichés, even (perhaps especially) ones which contradict the canon and tone of the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series.
** So did [[Film/StreetFighter the original movie]], but unlike ''Legend of Chun Li'', [[SoBadItsGood it didn't suck as hard]].
* The 2007 hard sci-fi epic ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'' borrows heavily from both ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' and ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'', along with a host of other influences in the serious science fiction family of movies. The movie works though, mostly because you don't see its type very often anymore.
* ''Limit of Love: Umizaru''. Up until the last 10 minutes, you can easily predict not only every single "unexpected twist" but every single line the characters are about to say. Even if we count that last moment where [[spoiler: the ship sinks with the protagonist still on board]], the ending is still the same. Just goes to prove it, you can only make so many movies about a sinking ship.
* ''Film/WhenTimeRanOut''. Most of the Cliches used ''in'' that movie were the ones Irwin Allen himself have been credited with creating. (It's eerily similar to the 1972 film adaptation of ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'', complete with an elderly woman fleeing for an escape dying of a heart attack and the majority of the people who stayed behind dying.)
* The complete filmography of action movie directors Creator/RolandEmmerich, Creator/MichaelBay, and Creator/StephenSommers, but [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools that's not to say they aren't entertaining]].
** Sommers in particular [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this. In his commentary for ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', he notes that if you have a jungle full of ruins, you ''have'' to have {{Shrunken Head}}s.
** He also claims that movie rules require [[ChandlersLaw a pointed gun]] to make sufficient rattling noises--about the level created by a large garbage bag full of cans is a good starting point.
* ''Film/MaidInManhattan'' contains pretty much most RomanticComedy tropes, since it's a Cinderella retelling set in a Manhattan hotel.
* ''Film/StatusUpdate'' has been criticized for basically being a Disney Channel movie that made it to the big screen, due to the trailer including many tired plot beats: an unpopular guy becomes popular through magical means, a LoveTriangle between him, the AlphaBitch and the NiceGirl ensues, he realizes that the popularity isn't what he wanted and resolves to get his old life back.
* ''Film/UniversalSoldierTheReturn'': SETH's speech, which is both bombastic and awesome and hilarious for sounding like every other speech given by an AIIsACrapshoot villain ever. At the end he even basically [[AGodAmI declares himself God]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Grahame Coats of ''Literature/AnansiBoys'' is a walking Cliché Storm; to converse with him is to be buffeted by lines you've heard so often that they're not even language anymore, just meaningless noises. For his own part, Coats revels in cliches, finding them far more valuable and expressive than original thinking ever could be; this fits somewhat with the "corporate executive" to Coats' CorruptCorporateExecutive, because in conversation as in business, he'd rather go with the tried-and-true than take a real risk.
* ''Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}'' relies heavily on pandering to anime and light novel fans, and every character is an {{Otaku}}'s wet dream. It has ''three'' TokenMiniMoe characters--all of different classes--but the clichés don't end there. Like most harems, every female character is one that you've likely seen before. Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, however, and some characters ''do'' receive development that shy them away from the cliché, or at least give them a FreudianExcuse.
* The magazine essayist Gordon Baxter wrote the following after receiving a memo from management deprecating the use of cliches: "I congratulate you on having the courage of a lion to set foot where the hand of man has never trod before in these shark-infested waters."
* Very intentionally so in ''Literature/TheBelgariad''. It plays the cliches straight, for laughs, and occasionally mildly deconstructs them with the sequel series showing that the characters, having done it before, are very aware of the conventions they're operating under. The characters are a ''lot'' snarkier about it the [[HereWeGoAgain second time around]].
* Lampshaded in ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel''. Elijah Baley notes that popular culture on Earth includes many stories that follow the same basic template, none of which even vaguely accord to the reality Earthpeople face in the Robot Novels.
-->The popular book-film romances, to be sure, had their stock Outer World characters: the visiting tycoon, choleric and eccentric; the beautiful heiress, invariably smitten by the Earthman’s charms and drowning disdain in love; the arrogant Spacer rival, wicked and forever beaten.
* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] by ''Literature/CodexAlera''. Yes, it is a story about a FarmBoy who becomes a sword-wielding badass, learns the magic system, gets a hot girlfriend, saves the world from an AlwaysChaoticEvil nonhuman menace, and is [[spoiler:secretly the incredibly magically powerful heir to the throne]]. But it ''isn't.'' Perhaps this is due to the CoolVsAwesome. Or the unique magic system. Or the fact that all the races have been replaced by completely different and awesome things. Or that the main character is the DefiedTrope of the MartyStu. Or maybe because it was written by Creator/JimButcher.
* ''Literature/CopCraft'' is a full-blown hurricane of every BuddyCopShow and CowboyCop cliche available, except that the buddy cop in this instance is a cute young MagicKnight from a fantasy world.
* Taking away the BDSM, the main plot of ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'', revolving around Ana and Christian's relationship, is a very common and stereotypical romance plot – naive, virginal everygirl who doesn't realize [[IAmNotPretty how pretty she is]] meets a moody, hot rich guy, who is charmed by her purity and innocence. He provides her with a sexual awakening while she heals him with the Power of Magic Vagina... er, [[ThePowerOfLove Love]]. Oh and he's got an evil ex who is far more sexually experienced and aggressive than the heroine and tries to break them up. The ending even features [[spoiler: Ana and Christian being married, wealthy and having a son and daughter]], which is practically the ultimate romance cliche.
* ''Literature/TheFionavarTapestry'' reads like a deliberate attempt on the part of Guy Gavriel Kay to see how many high fantasy clichés can possibly be strung together in 1,000 pages of text. Considering his motive for writing it was because he'd just been helping Christopher Tolkien edit The Silmarillion and he needed to get Middle-Earth out of his system, this was probably ''very'' deliberate.
* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' is full of clichéd plots — sometimes due to Haruhi's [[RealityWarper reality-warping abilities]] subconsciously making her love of genre fiction manifest in real life, or due to Koizumi arranging the clichéd plot before Haruhi's subconscious gets a chance. They go to an [[ClosedCircle uninhabited island and someone is murdered]], go skiing and get [[SnowedIn snowed in]], get harassed by a student council that wants to shut the club down, and go on a treasure hunt where they actually find treasure, et cetera. The first episode of the anime adaptation is also a cliché storm, but it's a [[ShowWithinAShow movie made by the main characters]] which is meant to be [[StylisticSuck deliberately subpar]].
* Played with in Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's story ''[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire The Hedge Knight]]''. It begins with every possible cliched circumstance around a knight joining a tournament. Then every single element of the story is revealed to actually be something else.
* ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'' is basically a combination of the cliches found in the harem, ecchi, and shonen genres. However, the combination actually makes it stand out and indeed, serves as a {{Reconstruction}} of the harem genre. It also plays around with some of them- for example, main lead Issei is ''not'' a CluelessChickMagnet but an open pervert who decides to MarryThemAll long before the end of the series, and the girls are okay with this.
* Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Hover Car Racer'' in particular isn't exactly original, in fact it could be well described as ''Anime/SpeedRacer'' [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace in]] [[FlyingCar Hover Cars]].
* Besides the plagiarism (which included borrowing a lot from other popular teen-oriented ChickLit novels), many people who read ''Literature/HowOpalMehtaGotKissedGotWildAndGotALife'' have noted it comes off as a highly predictable coming-of-age comedy about a nerdy girl who tries get InWithTheInCrowd and discovers who she really is along the way, with stereotypical characters and cliched scenarios.
* One of the most common criticisms of the early ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' books (if you're feeling generous) or the whole series (if you're not). One of the main reasons [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie]] was worse was that it took anything original from the book and replaced it with {{Narm}}ful clichés. For example, in the movie, Saphira goes from being a small dragon hatchling to a fully-grown dragon in a matter of moments. How? She flies up into some stormy clouds. The book actually has her physically growing, over the course of a few months, without the use of magic clouds. Also, it removed a lot of the intricate details found in the book.
* ''In the Hall of the Dragon King'' by Stephen Lawhead fits this to a T. Peasant boy who becomes heir to the throne. Old, wise mentor figure. SupportingLeader. Completely evil, slightly insane villain who wants to take over the world. EvilPrince. Liberal use of both the IdiotBall and VillainBall. Despite all that, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it's still a rather well written book]].
* ''Literature/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' is full of this when it comes to the characteristics of the main characters. Just remember that the description of Miyuki Shiba on the characters page has almost all the tropes, in one way or another related to the LittleSisterHeroine. Even those that contradict [[NotBloodSiblings each]] [[RoyalInbreeding other]], yes.
* ''Literature/JimSpringmanAndTheRealmOfGlory'' has a [[ShowWithinAShow book within a book]] that purports to be about 'A unique fantasy world of hope and fear, good and evil, beauty and barbarity', where 'A teenager armed only with a magic sword and a stout heart takes up this impossible quest'. The (fictional) book is filled with cliches.
* From the evil twin and the stereotyped characters to the boy drama, the ''Literature/MaximumRide'' series uses almost every YoungAdult fiction cliché known.
* ''Literature/TheLightlarkSaga'': ''Lightlark'' is essentially an amalgamation of almost every popular young adult SpeculativeFiction and RomanceNovel cliché from the past decade before its publication (2022). This includes an angsty, inexplicably-badass heroine who is {{the only one}} who can resolve the plot, a [[StarcrossedLovers forbidden]] {{love triangle}} involving [[BettyAndVeronica a bad boy and a wholesome boy]] (both of whom are [[MayflyDecemberRomance centuries older]] than the heroine), a deadly tournament that also involves parties, pageantry and luxury housing, worldbuilding that largely boils down to PlanetOfHats, the heroine having a [[SecretLegacy secret]] [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark past]] she was unaware of and more.
* ''Literature/TheMissus'' is the sequel to ''The Mister'' and carries over its predecessor's cliches. The A-plot about a woman from a poor working-class background who married a rich upper-class man having to stand up to the judgement of his family and peers, all the while worrying about the effect this will have on their relationship and whether it will be worth the struggle, is pretty hackneyed; not helping is that the novel doesn't even try to do anything different with the premise, instead packing yet more romance cliches on top of this.
* ''Literature/TheMister'' gets this even worse than the author's previous series, ''Fifty Shades of Grey''; while that story was also cliched by romance novel standards, it at least stood out a bit due to its heavy focus on BDSM (albeit badly depicted). ''The Mister'' doesn't have this gimmick so we're stuck with an outdated, paint-by-numbers romance book about a playboy aristocrat who [[LadykillerInLove finally finds love]] with the [[TheIngenue unworldly]] [[CinderellaPlot and hard-done-by heroine]], whom he must rescue from numerous bad situations she gets into, up to and including [[spoiler:the villain kidnapping her and trying to pull an AndNowYouMustMarryMe]].
* ''Literature/RecordOfLodossWar'' in a {{troperrific}} way. As the novels were based on a D&D campaign the writer played, it's full of typical fantasy-related tropes that are largely played straight.
* ''Stained'' is a novel that attempts to address the serious issues of school bullying and sexual abuse. Unfortunately, in the process of doing so, it combines three stock YA novel plots into one monster cliché plot:
** The [[HollywoodHomely ugly girl]] who's not really that ugly (she's normal-looking but has an embarrassing birthmark on her face) but still gets [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer picked on by everyone and their mother,]] especially the AlphaBitch and her GirlPosse, with only her loving-but-not-entirely-understanding Mom and Dad, her [[WithFriendsLikeThese unfaithful popular-wannabe BFF,]] her outcast guy friend who's secretly in love with her and sees her "true beauty on the inside", and her imaginary superhero alter-ego to ''eeeeeease'' her ''[[{{Wangst}} paaaaaaiiiiiiinnnnn.]]''
** The outcast who is an AllLovingHero and PuritySue despite her suffering, taking a stand for her fellow outcasts and instantly forgiving her best friend for not speaking up for her against the popular kids. This is almost entirely an InformedAbility and has little bearing on the plot, as it is only seen during her would-be boyfriend's chapter-long monologues about how wonderful and amazing she really is beneath her ugly exterior.
** The girl who gets kidnapped and raped by a creep who deludes himself into believing [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty they were meant for each other and they'll be together forever,]] and eventually escapes with nothing but her wits, a metal bucket and some rusty nails.
* ''Literature/StrawberryPanic'' has so many YuriGenre cliches, both in the plot and the characters and their relationships, that it might as well be renamed ''How To Write A Stereotypical Yuri Series: The Light Novel''.
* ''Literature/RamaII'' and the ''Literature/RendezvousWithRama'' series contains many improbable and kind of laughable events. A robot genius is on a team of cosmonauts, where he is taciturn (yet perfectly likeable when it comes down to it), and eccentric. He [[SmartPeopleBuildRobots builds robots]]. The other cosmonauts are fine with this habit, like it in fact, and [[SmartPeoplePlayChess play chess]]. The female narrator is a [[MotherNatureFatherScience life science officer and mystic]], and her [[TwoGirlsToATeam complete opposite]] is also present, a materialistic and selfish and pragmatic reporter who [[spoiler: nearly kills Nicole and killed another member of the team]]. There is a gay cosmonaut, and he was 1) involved in politics in school, and 2) had to hide his orientation in order to join the crew. The half black character faces racism from her (Prince of France) husband, and random people, as does Reggie. The lone inventor also has AbusiveParents. In the future, when humans are taken aboard a spaceship, they prove to be their own worst enemies, recreating 70s and 80s 00politics within five seconds of landing on Rama 3. The cosmonaut Nicole who has African heritage knew and was a shaman,and saves herself using her mystical side (which her husband has no access to, being a logical engineer). The family, isolated on the ship, becomes incestuous. Then the husband is kidnapped by aliens, which changes his personality. In the future there will be space HIV, also, and the aliens are biological cliches, in that there is a symbiotic species and one species which is intelligent and like a cephalopod.
* The ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series. Everything from a common man of [[LukeIAmYourFather mysterious lineage]], to a [[TheMentor wise old wizard]] with robes and white hair, to a character that was [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings turned into a small, fanatical creature when deprived of the artifact that was precious to him]].
* ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'': Here, the "cliché storm" is almost literal: a metaphysical force called The Tradition which gathers around significant events and people, directing magical energy to flow in [[{{Archetype}} archetypal]] directions and following certain tropes that have been set down through folklore and that consequently reinforce themselves by inspiring even ''more'' folklore! Characters throughout the series find themselves guided by, opposed by, and sometimes rebelling against The Tradition--a witty metaphor for the writing process itself.
* ''Literature/SirAproposOfNothing'' gets humor from playing with many knight errant medieval story cliches. The cahracters themseves live up to them fully, from the perfect hero (who lives for heroism) to the protagonist, who is such a dadbeat he was born with teeth, from a rape, in a barn, his mother was a prostitute, he lost his money to a scheme from his first lover, worked in a tavern (where his mother was the prostitute), frequented by unruly knights, had a bum leg, red hair, and true to form once he realised he possessed all loser characteristics disqualifying him from herodom, doesn't care for any one or thing heroic without irony, despite his following the hero around for the time before he became a hero himself. Then other characters, like princess Entipy, are unlike their roles suggest, her being annoying, useless, and prone to tantrums, instead of wholesome, kind, useful or gentle. They even find and try to burn a witch, who gets the better of her attackers by being genre savvy and them not.
* ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'': Awkward, clumsy girl moves to new school and is instantly adored by all. She falls in love with the hottest guy in school, who falls for her in turn. Girl is so in love that she will do anything for her true love. And that's just the beginning.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' is a long running book series, so some entries in the franchise end up as these.
** The Original Series is a pretty standard example of the hero's journey. Mentor discovers chosen one, teaches them, then dies. Chosen one becomes king and defeats the great evil that threatens the world after uniting the warring factions. It also fits several {{xenofiction}} cliches, such as an [[CatStereotype orange cat]] [[APetIntoTheWild running away]] from his owners because he's bored of being a pet.
** The fourth and final installment of the [[Literature/WarriorCatsPrequelSuperEditions Prequel Super Editions]], ''Tallstar's Revenge''. The concept: Back when one of the most peaceful leaders in the history of the Clans was a young warrior, he left his Clan to seek revenge for the death of his father. The author also mentioned that he had a touching bromance. If you've been reading TV Tropes for any amount of time, you can probably guess exactly what happens, because you've seen it all before. [[spoiler:Tallstar leaves his Clan and is rescued by a friendly tom named Jake that helps him on his quest. They bond over their journey, and Jake eventually becomes like a conscience to him, telling him that vengeance is not the answer. Then Tallstar finds out the ''real'' reason his father died, and understands that friendship, not revenge is what he truly seeks. And then he returns and proves his loyalty to his Clan.]] [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This is not a bad thing.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''[[Film/NationalLampoon National Lampoon's Senior Trip]]'' is the bad/lazy version of this as the entire [[RagtagBunchofMisfits class]] is just one big checklist of student cliches from the HighSchoolHustler leader to TheStoner sidekick(s) to the [[GirlOnGirlIsHot lesbians]] with special emphasis on [[BigFun Miosky,]] who's trying everything in his power to be the next John Belushi, plus [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero "date a blonde Jap."]] The ''only'' saving graces to this film is Matt Frewer as their [[BadlyBatteredBabysitter teacher,]] [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch Kevin]] [[Series/TheKidsInTheHall McDonald]] playing an AxCrazy ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan out to kill them and [[Creator/TaraStrong Carla]] [[CatchPhrase asking guys if they "want to screw."]]

* ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' does this on purpose as part of an AffectionateParody of {{Dating Sim}}s in an episode where the cast gets [[TrappedInTVLand trapped in an old game console]] and has to play out the game to its completion (Mahiro, cast as the PlayerCharacter, has to find a girlfriend by the end of the school year) if they want to get back to the real world. Pretty much every single Dating Sim trope is either used (like MeetCute) or at least paid lip service (Mahiro's mother warning him that if he doesn't pick a girl soon, [[GayOption his best friend might confess instead]]).

* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' is like this for most of the game, with chapters made up of incredibly cliched characters and plots. Then you unlock another chapter that starts like this but turns into a {{deconstruction}}.

You are watching something and it strikes you that you have heard every single line of this somewhere else. Every trope is presented without irony or [[LampshadeHanging acknowledgment]]. ''All'' the situations and setups are [[{{Cliche}} clipped out of another story and pasted in as-is]].

Remember, this is [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools not a bad thing]]; originality and greatness aren't necessarily intertwined, and as such, many Cliché Storms are good in quality, as good stories, characters, humor, action, or whatever can produce a high caliber book regardless of originality. You can also see from the examples that people can ''intentionally'' create as big a Cliché storm as possible... and then start having fun with all of the Clichés. Oftentimes, they may not start around deconstructing or playing with the cliches as so much play it for laughs. It's very common in an AffectionateParody -- most of the times, they start poking fun at these Cliches. Very often, something may be intended as an homage, and it may be wise to look at them as such. In addition, an audience needs to be familiar with a trope before they understand variations of it. As everybody needs a place to start, many works aimed at young children, particularly educational ones, are designed with tropes mostly played straight.

* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' and ''Film/Titanic1997'' show that this trope isn't always bad. ''Avatar'' is even ''self-aware'' of its clichés (calling the MineralMacGuffin "{{Unobtanium}}") and Cameron has said "It's just ''Film/DancesWithWolves'' [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace In Space]]". They became very high-grossing films and were well-liked by critics, [[JustHereForGodzilla even despite how many people only saw it to see the pretty technical aspects]] and SceneryPorn.

* ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'': The first episode alone displays rather obvious parallels with ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'', ''Franchise/{{Beyblade}}'' and ''Franchise/YuGiOh'', among others.

* ''Manga/BlackClover'' is a highly derivative work that has been accused of this a lot, due to taking so much of other works without adding anything new. Asta being the hyperactive StockShonenHero seeking to become the strongest, alongside his more serious and talented StockShonenRival Yuno, are frequently dubbed copies of [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Naruto and Sasuke]]. The Black Bulls, the general setup of the magic system, and the Magic Knights gets the story called a ''Manga/FairyTail'' copy. Asta lacking ''conventional'' powers, but then being granted an ''unusual'' one has been compared to Izuku Midoriya's origins in its contemporary rival ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''. The overall tone of the manga has even seen it called "the new ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''".

* The ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' spin-off manga ''Manga/TheDisappearanceOfNagatoYukiChan'', based on the AlternateUniverse seen in ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'', is a relatively cliché rom-com series that plays most of its tropes straight, albeit reimagining most of the cast in an AU without the supernatural elements of its parent series.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is often accused of being one, especially in its early days. In particular, the characters of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were sometimes summed up as "TheHero, TheRival and The LoveInterest".
* ''Manga/{{Nisekoi}}'' is one of the most cliché shonen rom-com manga series in recent memory. Despite this, it has a pretty big fanbase and an anime adaptation, proving that, at least to some, Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad.

%%* Every character, visual element, and plot device in ''Manga/ElementalGelade'' feels lifted from some better series.
* The biggest reason why ''Manga/FairyTail'' is typically disliked in any anime[=/=]manga community, is this series plays every shonen cliche straight. Especially ThePowerOfFriendship.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Granted, the game ''does'' have quite a few original things, but when one looks at the setting...with few exceptions...it's practically every Tolkienian-inspired [[HeroicFantasy Medieval Fantasy]] plus a few things, minus a few things. Forest-dwelling elves who are big on Archery and hunting, subterranean Mountain-dwelling dwarves with a fondness for alcohol and crafting, mage towers, humans who speak with British accents, obvious influence from the British Isles or Western Europe, mages wound up destroying the world and creating Darkspawn, Dwarven warriors,[[note]]One of the few aversions is that the dwarves don't have a Scandinavian accent--remarkably, they have American accents too![[/note]] FantasticRacism, [[RealIsBrown green and brown-stained landscapes]], evil dragons that are just giant animals in terms of intelligence, and last in the line of kings. The game's even ''self-aware''! During the human origin story, when you kill giant rats, your other party member says "Giant rats? That's like the start of every bad adventure tale my grandfather used to tell!"

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Granted, the game ''does'' have quite a few original things, but when one looks at the setting...with few exceptions...it's practically every Tolkienian-inspired [[HeroicFantasy Medieval Fantasy]] plus a few things, minus a few things. Forest-dwelling elves who are big on Archery and hunting, subterranean Mountain-dwelling dwarves with a fondness for alcohol and crafting, mage towers, humans who speak with British accents, obvious influence from the British Isles or Western Europe, mages wound up destroying the world and creating Darkspawn, Dwarven warriors,[[note]]One of the few aversions is that the dwarves don't have a Scandinavian accent--remarkably, they have American accents too![[/note]] FantasticRacism, [[RealIsBrown Green and brown-stained landscapes]], evil dragons that are just giant animals in terms of intelligence, and last in the line of kings. The game's even ''self-aware''! During the human origin story, when you kill giant rats, your other party member says "Giant rats? That's like the start of every bad adventure tale my grandfather used to tell!"

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* Subverted so much in online text-based RP games that it's almost starting to come full-circle. Everyone seems so terrified of making their character too OP that they're going to ridiculous heights to make their characters/plots blandly average... even in genres and settings where everyone having some measure of the fantastic is not only forgivable, but ''preferred''. These often end up producing characters that still [[SuetifulAllAlong dominate the spotlight unfairly]] in spite of the total ''lack'' of anything noteworthy of them.
** This is ''especially'' prevalent mostly due to the misuse of such accusations--it has evolved from something that was reserved for genuinely annoying characters to simply [[Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike complaining about characters you don't like]], with several "Mary Sue tests" including stuff that ''really'' isn't Sueish... just stuff the author of the test dislikes and wants to get rid of.
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* It's nearly impossible to find a review of ''Film/TheMortalInstrumentsCityOfBones'' that ''doesn't'' point out how similar it is to earlier properties. Most commonly cited were ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', and ''Franchise/StarWars''.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Awkward, clumsy girl moves to new school and is instantly adored by all. She falls in love with the hottest guy in school, who falls for her in turn. Girl is so in love that she will do anything for her true love. And that's just the beginning.

* ''Manga/TheDisastrousLifeOfSaikiK'' has a character named Hiroshi Satou, who is perfectly average in everything and has the power of attract clichés. One episode is about a baseball game that follows a cliché plot. Saiki [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] every single cliché or generic line. However, Nendo and Kuboyasu pull the plot away from clichés, and Saiki has to {{enforce|dTrope}} the plot. [[spoiler: Nendo's pure skill leads to victory anyway.]]

* ''Manga/HoshiiroGirldrop'', the ShowWithinAShow of ''Manga/PopTeamEpic'' is [[InvokedTrope deliberately designed]] to be as much of a cliche HaremSeries as possible. And of course, ''Pop Team Epic'' [[SurrealHumor being]] ''Pop Team Epic'', it can't go more than a chapter (in manga) or an 5 minute segment (in the anime) before [[HostileShowTakeover Popuko hijacks it]]. The only aspect of the series that takes itself seriously is its anthology, which appropriately looks like any anthology series for an established manga.
** In the anime, all of the Space Neko Company shorts are genre spoofs played straight. "DONCA SIS" in particular is practically distilled Shoujo romance, with Popuko and Pipimi playing the AbusiveParents by changing ''nothing'' about themselves.

* While it was largely well-received, a number of critics have noted that ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys2022'' is pretty by-the-book in regards to both animated family film tropes and heist movie tropes; there's a VillainProtagonist who undergoes a HeelFaceTurn after discovering that GoodFeelsGood, his idealist mentor [[spoiler:turns out to have been EvilAllAlong and frames him for a heist, forcing the protagonists and his friends to ClearTheirName]], and the cimactic heist involves using [[ReplacedWithReplica the old switcheroo]].