Plot devices you hate
 

Any plot or plot device that you hate from books, movies, videogames, TV shows or whatever, you can now rant about in this topic.

Now then, what I really hate are love interests. In any genre of any book or media, they always seem to feel the need to throw in some crappy love story with virtually no connection with the rest of the story. Not only are they insanely predictable, but they usually have no reason to exist in the first place. Movies seem to be especially bad in this regard. Like in action movies, the main character always seems to get a love interest for the sole purpose of having a love interest. Then they have a few incredibly boring scenes together that waste valuable screen time that could of been used for more explosions. Plus, love interests have been so ridiculously overused that I'm simply tired of seeing them. There is nothing new that can be done with this plot device, and every time it's used, I feel the need to punch something.

Another thing I really hate is destiny in general. Be it fate, an ancient prophecy, or the chosen one, I cringe everytime any form of destiny is present. Prophecies deserve to die and go to hell. They are the tool of a lazy writer and nothing more. Foreshadowing is supposed to be subtle and give vague hints, then when you read or watch the story over again, you start to notice all of it. But when someone predicts the future, saying something like "You will be betrayed by a close friend" or "The Dark Lord will conquer the world" or whatever, it's like taking a giant club of foreshadowing and bludgeoning you over the head with it.

Chosen heroes of destiny really irk me. Let's take The Legend of Zelda for example. Link is chosen to possess the Triforce of Courage, and even though the Triforce has no effect in gameplay, the story keeps saying that the Triforce is giving Link his strength. Now, maybe I'm just crazy, but I think Link would be a much more impressive hero if he didn't have the triforce, and was able to kick ass with his own strength and skill. It's like how Batman is one of the coolest superheroes because he doesn't have any powers. He's able to show time and time again that he just doesn't need any. Also, many so-called chosen ones have any jeopardy about their success completely eliminated. If fate has already decreed that they are the chosen one who will bring peace to the realm, then why even bother showing us if there is no chance of failure. Admittedly, you already knowthe good guys will win, but c'mon, at least pretend that they might fail.

There are more plot devices that I dislike, but these are my top two.
So what plot devices do you guys really hate?

EDIT: Holy crap! I can't belive I forgot Deus Ex Machina. I hate that too (But really, doesn't everyone?).

Deus Ex Machina was gonna be mine. IT'S JUST SO LAME.

I also hate movies where people are just able to have an epiphany and 'figure it all out'. Like "maybe, if we give the aliens a cold......" Or in a cop movie where the cops are chasing a serial killer psycho and he has all these intricate puzzles laid out for them ahead of time, and even though they are dumb meat-head cops, they are smart enough to figure out these obscure riddles that no one WATCHING the movie can understand. STUPID.

On the other hand, would you want to watch the movie where the dumb meat-head cops can't connect the dots even though you figured it out an hour ago?

If it's a comedy, sure.

It was all a dream...

I've never been a fan of the "Hey, remember that thing we were talking about earlier? Looks like we can finally put it to action!"

I mean, if you had the characters discussing, like, velociraptors in passing in one episode and then a few episodes later there was a velociraptor outbreak, I could buy that. But when you talk about how to neutralize velociraptors and then a velociraptor attacks you a minute later...I just don't like watching a show/reading a book and then knowing three minutes in what the entire experience will consist of.

Hmm.. for the destined main character, I have an idea. You know how the Prophecies are sometimes "And he shalt bring either an eon of peace or an age of darkness upon the planet" and it's always the eon of peace? Well, I like writing, so perhaps I could make a story where the protaganist becomes a feared Dark Lord?

Or better yet, is fated to become a Dark Lord, goes emo for a short while, then kicks arse as an psychopathetic villain that enjoys his fate.

Otherwise, I agree with you totally. Usually it's lazy writers that have those kind of *snort* plot twists. *snerk*

Someone linked this site in an earlier thread, and indeed it is a glorious litany of things you have always hated but could never quite name.

Particularly objectionable are Flanderization - the process of taking minor elements of characterization and blowing them up to the point that the character becomes his own caricature, and Spikeification - the process by which a totally awesome villainous badass gets watered down into a soppy douche with Daddy issues.

Of course it's got its fair share of totally great cliches that I absolutely love; for example I personally never get tired of a good Power Walk.

Wow, they labelled just about everything I don't like in plot devices.

So, stepping around the obvious stuff.

Protection issues. I hate it when adventurous characters who are together - be it sci-fi, fantasy, what have you - are working side-by-side, and then someone protects someone else at their own risk leaving them exposed, and afterwards get berated for it. As if two people engaging in war aren't already going to cover each other, or something. And yes, I'm looking at R.A. Salvatore, with the 'relationship issues' that he manifested in the early Drizzt books.

And while I'm speaking on the subject of Salvatore, how about issue cycling? Nothing that pisses me off more than having a sequel to a sequel to a sequel, where the third book has the characters going through yet again the same issues as the first book.

For example, Salvatore: After Hunter's Blades Trilogy, oh noes! Wulfgar has emotional problems! Bruenor is obsessed with an ancient kingdom of his anscestors! Drizzt and Catti-brie have relationship issues! The same Goddamn bullshit I read about three trilogies ago!

Also: The "Easy Out Girlfriend." Whenever a couple characters fuck a few times, then afterwards they break up, and then they hook up with new dates, and both parties are totally okay with it in one or two episodes or chapters, tops. "It's okay, I'm an elf, I've outlived all my boyfriends!" or "Nah it's fine, I'm over her!" or other such bullshit. If this immediately follows any sort of 'true love' issue, make it twice as painful.

Continuing stupid relationships: Convenience. When there are three females and three male main characters, do not under any means pair them all up under the flag of 'true love.' One is acceptable, two is stretching it, but any more and you've seriously broken any sort of believability. This is a surefire way to get me to squeeze by your legs in the theater, or close the book and find the closest bookshelf, or do whatever the hell it takes to stop caring about what I'm looking at.

Heh, I literally blogged about this a few days ago.

Plot devices I hate the most;

1) Lessening a character's intelligence/power to fit the plot
2) The 'hero' only turning up at the cinematic moment (see Transformers... *shudder*)
3) Ignoring physics, possibility or reality.