Note: It has been brought to my attention that I tend to use a lot of tvtropes terms.

You may have noticed that I tend to capitalize random words in the middle of a paragraph. Like whenever I talk about the Distressed Damsel, for instance. I do this deliberately, to indicate that I'm using a trope.

A trope, for those of you who don't know what it's about, is a writing device. And not one necessarily constrained to textual writing, either. A trope can just as easily be used in Live Action, animation, comics, music or any other form of communicative media. There is a site dedicated to cataloguing all (or at least a lot of) tropes, called tvtropes (dot) org. Anyone who finds this Guide interesting should probably head over there, because it's all about overanalyzing things. Just make sure you have nothing planned for the next couple of days. Or months.

For those of you who may get confused about my tropes usage, I'm sorry. :/ I tried writing without them, but got stuck. I'm going to continue using them, but I will stick as much as possible to the general, decipherable terms. If there are still moments of WTF, feel free to scream at/question me.

4.1. Of Archetypes, Stereotypes and Combinations

ie. prolonging of the introduction takes place

Annabeth's character analysis has been moved down a chapter, alas. This is partly because I wanted to go into archetypes (and stereotypes) and partly because classifying the sheer number of OOC Annabeths is a herculean task.

But I'm making progress, I swear.

So, about OOCness; it's mostly found in romance fics. Sure, the humor/angst sections have their share, but the Romance section really takes the cake here. Even in fics which are mainly other genres, OOCness happens mostly when one character is romantically attached to another. Put 'em next to each other and the Power of Love prompts a metamorphosis. The Action Girl turns into the Distressed Damsel. The Deadpan Snarker turns into The Romantic. The Artist turns into the Rich Bitch, and the Lost Soul turns into the Evil Overlord.

I think you can figure out who all I'm talking about here.

What's given below applies mostly to romances, but it treads over into general fic stuff at some points, but not all. A general fic offers even more archetypes, but not going into that here.

About Archetypes and Stereotypes:

Someone once defined an archetype as "a kind of readiness to reproduce over and over again the same or similar mythical ideas" in the collective consciousness of the people. And fanficton is most definitely a collective consciousness of the people.

An archetype is what you call the essence of your character. Why, at their core, they do what they do. The basic Archetypes are not clichés, as such. Because they form only the framework for what your character should be. You still have to add in the details. An archetype is to a character what a foundation is to a building. You can't build without it, but you aren't going to get by on just it, either.

The eight female protagonist archetypes in skeletal form are The Boss, The Seductress, The Spunky Kid, The Free Spirit, The Librarian, The Waif, The Crusader and The Nurturer.

The eight male protagonist archetypes in a nutshell are The Chief, The Bad Boy, The Best Friend, The Lost Soul, The Charmer, The Professor, The Swashbuckler and The Warrior.

Note: If you're interested in finding out more about these archetypes, try googling Tami Cowden. But here, we'll just stick with the names and whatever interpretation you get from them.

Now, the reason I mentioned these archetypes (yes, I had one) is this; more often than not, a romance fic heroine/hero falls precisely into one of the classifications given. Percisely. Which is where we have a problem.

Because when the archetype is taken at face value without any additions or twists, you get what's called a stereotype. It's defined as "A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image."Using a stereotype is not recommended.

For instance, commonly used Annabeth stereotypes are The Spunky Kid (Loyal and trusting; the quintessential best friend) and The Waif (Damsel in Distress who takes everything that's thrown at her in silence). Many people tend to forget that she generally exhibits characteristics of The Boss (arrogant, domineering, efficient, take-charge).

But that's not all. She has hints of The Librarian (Strategist), The Nurturer (gets fiercely jealous of her friends) and yes; The Spunky Kid. Can't see The Waif anywhere though. Sorry about that, folks.

Similarly, Percy is usually depicted as The Charmer (chick magnet, flirty) even though he fits a lot better into The Best Friend (honest, loyal), The Chief (likes giving orders) and The Warrior (defender) categories.

When you write a character, be it a canon character or an OC, I'd advise you to step back and take a look at the stereotypes listed up there. See if your character falls into only one of the sections, and if they do, step back and reanalyze them. Then give them a little variety.

Because here's something; people are complex. And ideally, so are characters, because they are stand-ins for people when you're reading the book or comic or watching the movie or whatever. Don't abandon them to a cardboard-cutout personality. Combine their traits, and don't abandon some characteristics in favor of others.

This is only the first step, though. Having a character who fits into all eight archetypes is not going to ensure he/she is a good character. But it's a pretty straightforward defense against really clichéd character personalities.

Note: The above stereotypes apply only to the hero/heroines. The villans have a sixteen of their own, which might come up in the OC section.

Note: Sorry for how long the Annabeth thing is taking. :/ RL can be a bit of a bitch sometimes.