Full transcript
0:00Welcome back to another genre analysis,
0:02where I take some of the top genres in
0:04the marketplace today and do a deep dive
0:06on them based on an in-depth blend of
0:08human and AI analysis uh of actual
0:11bestsellers to break them down scene by
0:13scene to know exactly what tropes it
0:14has, what character archetypes and
0:17worldbuilding elements that it has, and
0:19even a scene by scene plot template
0:21built from essentially kit bashing the
0:22core elements of what these bestsellers
0:24are all doing uh together into into one
0:27template. Today we're covering epic
0:29fantasy, specifically kind of your
0:31standard epic fantasy. There are a bunch
0:33of sub genres within that niche. Uh, but
0:36we're just kind of talking about sort of
0:38high level. What does epic fantasy look
0:40like? So, let's start by looking at the
0:42most common tropes. So, I tend to break
0:44these up by major tropes and common
0:46tropes. The major ones are you are the
0:48ones you'll find in almost every epic
0:50fantasy. And [snorts] the common ones
0:52are more just like sprinkles on top that
0:55you can use them. you you'll find them
0:57in a lot of epic fantasies, but they're
0:59not necessarily required. Uh, and the
1:01first one here under major tropes is the
1:03found family. The protagonist is often
1:05cut off from their biological kin and
1:07must forge unbreakable bonds with a
1:09group of strangers who become their true
1:11family. This is very common. We got what
1:13is probably my favorite trope in the
1:16entire world, the reluctant hero. This
1:18is a protagonist who wants nothing to do
1:19with saving the world, but is forced
1:21into action by circumstances or a moral
1:23obligation they can't ignore. I just I
1:25love when the reluctant hero finally
1:27just be becomes less reluctant and
1:29actually embraces their role. It's like
1:32my favorite moment in so many fantasy
1:35books. It's it's awesome. Uh there's
1:37often a hard magic system where the
1:39magic in this world isn't just a
1:40mysterious sparkles. It has strict
1:42rules, costs, limitations that the
1:43character must learn to navigate
1:45strategically. Now, I will say with this
1:47one, this is the way it is now. uh this
1:50doesn't necessarily this isn't always
1:52the case historically but I am running
1:55these analysis based on what is working
1:57today not on what has worked
1:59historically uh cuz I'm more interested
2:01in knowing like what's going on in the
2:03industry at this exact moment uh then
2:06there's either an evil empire or an
2:07ancient evil unleashed the primary
2:10threat is massive and overwhelming
2:11usually taking the form of a tyrannical
2:13government or dormant dark force that
2:15has returned to destroy everything
2:17there's a mentor figure you all know
2:19what that is. And the questjourney
2:22and um I actually I actually think a
2:25quest epic fantasy is kind of a subgenre
2:28these days and it's actually a little
2:29bit less common in modern times um
2:32because it's just been done so much in
2:34the past. So this is your typical Lord
2:36of the Rings, Sword of Shann um you know
2:39dragon lance type stuff. Um, but there
2:43is still going to be some kind of
2:45journey that the character has to go on
2:47um, both externally and internally. And
2:49then as far as common tropes go, we got
2:52the traveling troop. A character finds
2:53safety or purpose by hiding within a
2:55group of wandering performers. Uh, magic
2:57from the mundane. The author takes a
2:59seemingly normal skill like cooking or
3:01blacksmith blacksmithing and elevates it
3:03to magical status. There's often a
3:05masquerade where characters must wear
3:07disguises or adopt false personas to
3:08infiltrate enemy car territory. There's
3:11often a vengeance quest. Yes, you
3:13definitely see this a lot where your
3:15main character, you know, something
3:16usually happened to their family or or
3:19someone important and they're trying to
3:21avenge that issue. The chosen one is a
3:24very common one or a hidden heritage
3:27where the character has a a heritage
3:30that is beyond the scope of what they
3:33thought it was. There's often
3:34foreshadowing and a check off's gun,
3:36which is where uh significant objects or
3:39skills are introduced early in the
3:40narrative, seemingly unimportant at the
3:42time, only to become the key to victory
3:43in the climax. This is I would go so far
3:46as to say this is not so much a trope as
3:48it is a required part of structure
3:51[laughter]
3:51uh for any genre. Then we have the
3:54fallen city. So you might find a ruins
3:55of a once great civilization. There
3:57might be an arranged marriage involved
3:59somewhere. There might be a hidden
4:00prince. the royal heir is living in
4:02obscurity. Uh you might see a theme of
4:05like the religious zealot versus crisis
4:07of faith, a clash between those who
4:09follow strict religious dogma and those
4:11who are beginning to question the
4:12validity of their gods or leaders. Uh
4:14again, this is epic fantasy. So these
4:16are all like madeup religions, right? We
4:18have the shadow or the tyrant, a
4:20physical embodiment of the antagonist, a
4:22figure who seeks total control and
4:23stands in direct opposition to freedom.
4:25The power of truth versus the safety of
4:27silence. So, characters must decide
4:29whether to speak out against injustice
4:30and risk death or stay silent to survive
4:32a little longer. There might be a
4:34secession crisis. There might be a
4:36redemption arc, another of my favorite
4:38things, uh, favorite tropes. There might
4:41be an evil wizard or witch. Um, going
4:44along with the magic system. It could
4:45be, it's often categorized as forces of
4:48nature, uh, fire, water, earth, or air,
4:51that sort of thing. There's often a
4:52propaganda state. A secretly badass
4:55housewife. Love this one. A character
4:57who appears domestic or submissive is
4:59revealed to have a lethal set of skills
5:01or past life as a warrior. Uh this this
5:03is related to another of my favorite
5:05tropes of all time, which is the uh the
5:07wise fool, where you have a person who's
5:10typically very just like he's he's a
5:12fool. He's he's uh doing doing a lot of
5:15really weird foolish things and no one
5:18takes him seriously or her. And then uh
5:21at some key point you find out that
5:23they're much more involved and skilled
5:27than you gave them credit for. And the
5:28whole fool thing was kind of just a a uh
5:32facade. Love that trope. Then you get
5:34the stoic emotionless figure. A
5:35character buries their emotion to get
5:37the job done acting as a rock for the
5:39group until the pressure finally causes
5:40them to crack. Right? So those are all
5:42of them. I do have deeper breakdowns of
5:45all of these. Um, and uh, if you want to
5:48get your hands on this guide, by the
5:50way, uh, this is actually a a small
5:52booklet that I publish on Amazon for
5:54five bucks. But I actually don't
5:55recommend you get those on Amazon. I
5:57recommend you go to my membership where
5:59you can get all of them at no extra
6:01cost. Uh, they're all there. And then
6:03we've also just integrated these into my
6:05new tool, StoryHacker OS, which allows
6:08you to essentially use AI to help you in
6:10the process of writing a book in any of
6:12these genres. AI works so much better
6:14when you give it structure like this.
6:16So, this is exactly the kind of thing,
6:18and as far as I know, no other AI
6:21software out there has gone through the
6:23trouble of actually creating guides like
6:25this to actually give people something
6:27more useful than just generic plot
6:30templates that don't apply to like 75%
6:33of all genres. So, uh check there's a
6:36link down below if you're interested.
6:37But anyway, let's move on to my favorite
6:39of the process, which is the plot
6:41template. This is where I've gone and
6:42kind of looked at a scene by scene
6:44breakdown of all of the books in well
6:47all of the major bestsellers that I'm
6:48analyzing and sort of kit bashed them
6:51together into a template. So, we start
6:53with chapter one, the ancient wound.
6:55Often with a prologue set in a distant
6:57past or a mythological realm where a
6:59catastrophic event, betrayal, or magical
7:01breaking occurs that will shape the
7:02entire narrative. Yeah, you definitely
7:03see this all the time. And it's called
7:04chapter 1 here, but this is you could
7:06easily make this a prologue. It's
7:07probably most commonly a prologue,
7:09actually. And that just kind of sets up
7:10the world. Uh often doesn't involve the
7:14protagonist directly. It just sort of
7:16gets things going. Then chapter two is
7:18the hidden talent. Introduce the primary
7:20protagonist in their constrained normal
7:22world performing daily duties that
7:23highlight their lower social status or
7:25marginalization. Reveal what the
7:26protagonist possesses that the
7:28protagonist possesses a hidden ability,
7:30secret heritage, or forbidden skill that
7:31they must conceal from authorities under
7:33threat of punishment. Uh then there's
7:34the political an animal. Shift to a
7:36second POV. And that's another thing
7:38about this guide is um we often have
7:42more than one POV here. Um and this
7:46actually makes fantasy really especially
7:48epic fantasy really difficult to target
7:52uh with an analysis like this is because
7:54introducing multiple POVs actually makes
7:57the structure a little bit harder to
7:59track. Um but I've done my best here so
8:02hopefully it works out. So we shift to a
8:04second POV. a politically positioned
8:06character like a noble, diplomat, exile,
8:07or court attendant, navigating an arena
8:10of intrigue in a distant city or court.
8:12Through their eyes, introduce the wider
8:14geopolitical situation, including hints
8:16of foreign threats, religious tensions,
8:17and corrupt leadership. Chapter four is
8:19the veteran's burden. In introduce a
8:21third POV, the veteran or mentor figure
8:24or antagonist aligned character whose
8:26perspective frames the larger conflict.
8:28show them in a position of
8:29responsibility. Perhaps a retired
8:31warrior attending a homestead, a scholar
8:34guarding forbidden knowledge or a zealot
8:36arriving with a hidden agenda. So that's
8:37the kind of stuff we get there. Chapter
8:39five is the impossible demand. So we
8:41return to the p primary protagonist who
8:43is given an impossible task. An
8:45accelerated deadline or a forced
8:47assignment by an authority figure. And
8:48in chapter six, catastrophe sl uh
8:51strikes. So this is your inciting
8:52incident. A sudden devastating event
8:54shatters the protagonist world. ma
8:56massacre at the school or village or
8:57temple, a sudden curse, a betrayal, etc.
9:00There are all kinds of different things
9:01that could happen, but it's a disaster
9:03of some kind. And the political web
9:05titans cut to the political POV who is
9:07dealing with the fallout from the
9:08catastrophe, either witnessing it from a
9:10different angle or hearing the official
9:11sanitized version through propaganda
9:13channels. We get the reluctant mentor.
9:15The protagonist encounters their mentor
9:16figure, either someone known to them who
9:18reveals hidden depths or a stranger who
9:20intervenes at a critical moment. The
9:21mentor confirms that the protagonist
9:23hidden abilities are real and
9:24significant and that the catastrophe was
9:25not random but targeted. Then we get the
9:27refusal and the flight. So the character
9:30the protagonist doesn't like what he's
9:32seeing and he just decides to run away
9:34from it, dig his head in the sand, all
9:36of that. Then that leads to the first
9:39test of survival. The fugitives navigate
9:41hostile terrain, a border town, uh a
9:44smuggler's route, a bandit infested
9:46road, or magically dangerous wilderness.
9:48They encounter their first lethal
9:49challenge uh which could be any number
9:51of things and the protagonist is forced
9:52to use their hidden ability for the
9:54first time in earnest with messy and
9:56dangerous results that leads [snorts] to
9:57the antagonist's move. So shift to the
9:59antagonist POV or the political POV
10:01observing their the antagonist as they
10:04consolidate power following the
10:05catastrophe. The antagonist reveals
10:07their broader strategy uniting factions
10:09through manufactured fear, manipulating
10:11religious authority or seducing
10:13ambitious nobles into a coup. So that's
10:15where we get that. From there we go to
10:17sanctuary among strangers where the
10:19features find temporary refuge and they
10:22reach the point of no return which means
10:24like essentially at this stage they
10:26cannot just go back to the way their
10:27ordinary world was. It is just what it
10:30is. Uh then we have chapter 14 the
10:32political maneuver. So we return to the
10:34political POV who has now infiltrated a
10:36key court council or social circle.
10:38That's important. Um we have the road of
10:40trials. The traveling group moves
10:42through varied terrain each location
10:43revealing a new facet of the world. We
10:45have the training begins. So during an
10:47extended stop at a safe house, ruin or
10:49hidden settlement, the mentor begins
10:51formal training of the protagonist. And
10:53there we get a hidden history. So we
10:56some kind of truth is revealed involving
10:59the past, things that the protagonist
11:01might not have been aware of or had been
11:03lied to his whole life. And there's a
11:05romantic subplot that stirs. So, the
11:07protagonist shares a quiet moment with a
11:09love interest, which could be a fellow
11:11traveler, an ally encountered along the
11:13way, or a longtime companion seen in a
11:15new light. Through conversation, shared
11:16grief, or a small intimate gesture, an
11:18emotional connection deepens beyond
11:19friendship. This is the spark of that.
11:22And then we get to the first pinch
11:23point, which is a major beat where an
11:26elite enemy force, which could be
11:28assassins, supernatural pursuers, or
11:30specialized strike team, locates the
11:31protagonist group and attacks. The
11:33combat reveals the true scope of the
11:34antagonist resources with weapons or
11:37abilities far beyond what the heroes can
11:38match. And then we deal with the
11:40aftermath of that. And moving back to
11:43the political POV, there's an
11:44investigation that deepens there. And we
11:47get the sanctuary of knowledge where the
11:49group arrives at a hidden library, a
11:51magical wellspring or ancient site that
11:53holds keys to understanding the magic
11:55system. And from there, a convergence
11:57approaches. So, the traveling group
11:58nears a major destination like a capital
12:00city, a contested fortress or sacred
12:02site where they will encounter the
12:04political POV storyline and disguises
12:07are dawned, false identities crafted,
12:08and contingency plans laid. Um, so
12:11anyway, this is uh there are actually
12:13quite a few chapters in uh Epic Fantasy,
12:16so I'm not going to go through all of
12:17them, but you kind of get the idea of
12:18how this is all set up. And once again,
12:20you can easily get this guide on Amazon
12:22if you want or via my membership. Um,
12:24but you can kind of see just like the
12:26progression of the the beginning of the
12:28story and how that all works. It
12:30actually epic fantasy tends to meet a
12:33lot of the standard beats for uh all
12:36fiction really. Um, but you can
12:38definitely see a lot of the hero's
12:39journey elements in here and all of
12:41that. Moving on to the standard epic
12:44fantasy characters. These are the
12:45character types that you're most likely
12:47to see. So, we have the reluctant
12:49savior. Of course, this character begins
12:51the story in a status of low status. in
12:53a state of low status, exile or hiding.
12:55Often viewing themselves as powerless,
12:57broken, or merely a survivor trying to
12:59protect a sibling or loved one. Uh we
13:01also have the reactivated warrior or the
13:03retired badass. Uh another favorite
13:05trope of mine that you often see having
13:08to join the fight. And there's a
13:10highborn strategist. This is often the
13:12masked royal. Uh someone who seems to
13:15know a lot more than they're giving on.
13:16The doubting zealot. This is an
13:18ideological antagonist. and the broken
13:21mentor, which could also be the same as
13:23that reactivated warrior. Um, and those
13:26are the common ones. You'll also tend to
13:28find like a love interest and some other
13:30things, but these are like the core ones
13:32that you see in almost every epic
13:33fantasy. And then of course, world
13:35building for epic fantasy is going to be
13:37a really big one. Uh, so we start at a
13:40high level with a central mystery or a
13:41great lie that has been told to this
13:44character their whole life. Uh, there's
13:45usually some kind of post cataclysmic
13:48man, I can't speak today. cataclysmic
13:50status quo. Uh so something happened in
13:53the past that like ruined a whole lot of
13:55things and people are just kind of
13:56coming out of that. Uh there's usually
13:58hard magic mechanics, a physical and
14:01moral cost to using magic. Uh there's
14:03often a connection to geography or
14:05bloodline in that magic system. As far
14:08as settings and locations go, there's a
14:10bastion city, so a great urban location
14:13that serves as a microcosm of the
14:14world's social hierarchy. And you'll
14:16also often see the environmental hazard
14:18or barrier. So incorporate a massive dis
14:21dangerous geographical feature that
14:23dictates travel, trade, or military
14:25strategy such as a supernatural
14:26stormfront. Uh a cursed wasteland or an
14:29impossible mountain range guarded by
14:31monsters. And from here we get the
14:34theocratic or militaristic empire. uh as
14:37as far as population and politics goes,
14:39there's a oppressed magical CA cast
14:42often and there's uh the training
14:45institution or a war band. So, this is a
14:47specific organization or location
14:49dedicated to honing the skills of the
14:51world's warriors or mages. As far as
14:53history and lore goes, there's usually
14:56the something like a resurrection of an
14:57ancient evil or sensient artifacts or
15:00companions. And there's often a schism
15:02of faith under religion and beliefs um
15:05between people who are of a more
15:08conservative uh older religious faith
15:11and people who are rejecting that uh and
15:14so on. Common themes that you'll see in
15:16epic fantasy is the buried truth versus
15:17the convenient lie or blood versus bond
15:20that goes along with the found family
15:22trope or fate versus free will. You'll
15:24definitely see this one a lot. Uh I also
15:26have some notes on writing pros here uh
15:29as well as how a guide to actually write
15:31a book description in this genre. If you
15:33have written one and you want to publish
15:36something uh in in that genre, I have a
15:38guide for that as well. So hopefully
15:40this has been a useful exercise for you
15:42to go through this. And uh I guess I'll
15:44see you in the next video where we cover
15:46another genre just like this one.
15:48Pierce.