Star Wars The Most Overused Tropes?

[delericho]

I'm guilty of falling into this one myself sometimes, but the trope I probably dislike the most about Star Wars is "fans who do nothing but complain about the thing they claim to be a fan of".

A lot of this is perception. Criticism takes more words than adulation.

Multiply that by millions of fans online, all of whom mostly like Star Wars but who each have their one thing that they dislike, and the negativity just blows up massively.

(Which isn't to say there aren't toxic people out there. There are. But I can also attest from personal experience that I've been attacked on the lines of "why do you watch it if you hate it so much?" over shows that I have stated that I mostly enjoyed.)

 

[Zardnaar]

In the Star Wars universe, there are certain tropes and elements that have been used extensively throughout the franchise, sometimes to the point of becoming overused. While some of these elements, such as the Sith, Jedi, and Mandalorians, are inherently part of the genre and can still be enjoyed when used creatively, their execution can sometimes be lackluster. Here are a few examples:

1. Stormtroopers: Stormtroopers, the elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire, are iconic in the Star Wars saga. However, due to their sheer numbers and uniform appearance, they often come across as cannon fodder rather than formidable opponents. This overuse can make them seem less threatening and diminish the impact of their presence in battle scenes.
2. Droids as comic relief: Droids like C-3PO and R2-D2 have provided humor and charm throughout the Star Wars saga. However, there has been a tendency to rely on droids solely for comedic relief, which can undermine their potential for deeper character development. By pigeonholing droids into purely comedic roles, the franchise has missed opportunities to explore their complexity and emotional depth.
3. Bounty hunters: While the Mandalorians as a culture are an interesting part of the Star Wars universe, the constant portrayal of bounty hunters can sometimes become repetitive. The popularity of characters like Boba Fett has led to an abundance of similar bounty hunter archetypes, which can make their stories feel formulaic and predictable. Finding fresh angles and narrative arcs for these characters would help avoid the trap of overuse.
4. Force powers: The Force and its associated powers are fundamental to Star Wars, but their overuse can dilute their impact. When every character seems to possess incredible Force abilities, it can diminish the significance and uniqueness of those powers. Thoughtful and strategic use of Force powers, along with focusing on the internal struggles and moral dilemmas associated with them, can help maintain their mystique and narrative weight.

Legends in the 90's over used the darksider of the week, new imperial super weapon and new imperial faction.

Then TFA came along and erm nevermind.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Stormtroopers, the elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire, are iconic in the Star Wars saga. However, due to their sheer numbers and uniform appearance, they often come across as cannon fodder rather than formidable opponents.

Their aim doesn't help their reputation, either. They need to be equipped with blasters that can hit someone equipped with plot armor.

Bounty hunters: While the Mandalorians as a culture are an interesting part of the Star Wars universe, the constant portrayal of bounty hunters can sometimes become repetitive. The popularity of characters like Boba Fett has led to an abundance of similar bounty hunter archetypes, which can make their stories feel formulaic and predictable. Finding fresh angles and narrative arcs for these characters would help avoid the trap of overuse.

Excitingly, they've now branched out into showing Mandalorians as drivers ed instructors. This raises the possibility that there will finally get to see what the Department of Motor Vehicles looks like a long time ago, in a galaxy far away!

 

[Dioltach]

Like a bantha!

 

[JAMUMU]

In the Star Wars universe, there are certain tropes and elements that have been used extensively throughout the franchise, sometimes to the point of becoming overused. While some of these elements, such as the Sith, Jedi, and Mandalorians, are inherently part of the genre and can still be enjoyed when used creatively, their execution can sometimes be lackluster. Here are a few examples:

1. Stormtroopers: Stormtroopers, the elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire, are iconic in the Star Wars saga. However, due to their sheer numbers and uniform appearance, they often come across as cannon fodder rather than formidable opponents. This overuse can make them seem less threatening and diminish the impact of their presence in battle scenes.
2. Droids as comic relief: Droids like C-3PO and R2-D2 have provided humor and charm throughout the Star Wars saga. However, there has been a tendency to rely on droids solely for comedic relief, which can undermine their potential for deeper character development. By pigeonholing droids into purely comedic roles, the franchise has missed opportunities to explore their complexity and emotional depth.
3. Bounty hunters: While the Mandalorians as a culture are an interesting part of the Star Wars universe, the constant portrayal of bounty hunters can sometimes become repetitive. The popularity of characters like Boba Fett has led to an abundance of similar bounty hunter archetypes, which can make their stories feel formulaic and predictable. Finding fresh angles and narrative arcs for these characters would help avoid the trap of overuse.
4. Force powers: The Force and its associated powers are fundamental to Star Wars, but their overuse can dilute their impact. When every character seems to possess incredible Force abilities, it can diminish the significance and uniqueness of those powers. Thoughtful and strategic use of Force powers, along with focusing on the internal struggles and moral dilemmas associated with them, can help maintain their mystique and narrative weight.

These are musings on your excellent post, not attacks on your arguments, so no fear. Much love.

1. I always took stormtroopers to be like the Waffen SS. They're the most ideological of the Empire's troops. The baby-killers who follow orders without question. From a certain perspective these are definitely the most dangerous troops, but far from the most skilled. Bill Burr's character in The Mandalorian implies this with some of his dialogue.

2. Hard Agree. The Star Wars universe should go out in the magnificent blaze of a galaxy-wide droid uprising, and it will be well-deserved.

3. I've always associated the Bounty Hunters with the cowboy archetype so important to the emotional heart of the series. The Mandalorian touches on the "bad guys hunting other bad guys" thematic, but I'd like to see more of that. Didn't Dengar end up a good guy in the EU?

4. I dislike the idea of force powers as some "pick'n'mix" list out of a character creation chapter. Force abilities should be a small core of universal powers, with a wide range of powers developed by individuals. Sort of like martial arts in the real world.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The Star Wars universe should go out in the magnificent blaze of a galaxy-wide droid uprising, and it will be well-deserved.

Yeah, any time one picks at the droid issue, it's hard to not come to the conclusion that they're sentient and therefore, every civilization that allows droid ownership is a slavery-approving one. (Obviously, we've seen a few humanoid slaves over the years too, like Shmi.)

The one time Star Wars really tackled this, in Solo, they played it for laughs and ended up taking away the droid's agency at the end.

It does feel like, eventually, they're going to have to reckon with all of this, although damned if I know how they'll pull it off without just burning it all down.

 

[Ryujin]

Well those Stormtroopers only have 2D6 DEX and 2D6 Blaster Skill, so take off 1D6 for the armour and pop a smoke canister, or fight them in dim lighting, and they're pretty useless. Unless they Combine Action, but that generally involves a leader type

 

[MarkB]

Yeah, any time one picks at the droid issue, it's hard to not come to the conclusion that they're sentient and therefore, every civilization that allows droid ownership is a slavery-approving one. (Obviously, we've seen a few humanoid slaves over the years too, like Shmi.)

The one time Star Wars really tackled this, in Solo, they played it for laughs and ended up taking away the droid's agency at the end.

It does feel like, eventually, they're going to have to reckon with all of this, although damned if I know how they'll pull it off without just burning it all down.

Well, we have seen some movement on this, with B2EMO in Andor being actually treated with care and respect.

The Mandalorian's touch on the subject in season 3 felt like a misstep though, with the whole "droids are so much longer-lived than humanoids, they feel like it's the least they can do to help them out" bit. If there's one thing I detest more than a fictional slave race, it's a fictional slave race that's explained as being happier that way, to the extent that trying to free them would be cruel and harmful.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

What in your opinion are the most overused troops in Star Wars? Note some things to me such as Sith, Jedi and Mandalorians are part of the genre and by themselves aren't overused as such ymmv of course. How they're used can be fairly terrible.

Anyway here's a few I can think of.

1. New darkside villain of the week probably with some sort of new superweapon in tow or otherwise galactic threat. Am I talking about Dark Empire, Jedi Academy Trilogy, various video games, TFA or RoS here? Bonus points if the superweapon blows up planets. Of if one of Luke's students falls to the darkside.

2. Secret fleet conveniently pulled out of no where. Kinda done correctly in Thrawn trilogy but another old staple of the old EU they did it twice in the new Trilogy. Can be effective if explained well (KotoR, Katana fleet Thrawn trilogy). Bonus points if it blows up planets.

3. The baddie (warlord, darksider) has an even bigger or badder super/mega star destroyer. Bonus points if it has a super laser on it. That blows up planets. Vaders SSD was an Executor class but look it's an Eclipse/Sovereign/Mega/Assertor/Belator class that's even bigger and badder than an Executor!!!!. Well the Belator us more if a faster pocket ssd but you get the idea.

4. Darksider that is more powerful than Palpatine. Bonus points if they can blow up planets. Or depopulate a planet using the darkside.

Anyway anything I have missed?

The Cardassian repetitive epic. There are cool things in Star Wars, story telling is not among them.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Well, we have seen some movement on this, with B2EMO in Andor being actually treated with care and respect.

The Mandalorian's touch on the subject in season 3 felt like a misstep though, with the whole "droids are so much longer-lived than humanoids, they feel like it's the least they can do to help them out" bit. If there's one thing I detest more than a fictional slave race, it's a fictional slave race that's explained as being happier that way, to the extent that trying to free them would be cruel and harmful.

If they are artifially created to actual prefer serving, then is it really slavery or a lifestyle choice?

Think consenting BDSM relationships.