Original Fantasy-- Help!

[Starry]

Alright, most people who have tried to write fantasy know that trying to be original and not incredibly cliche is fairly difficult. I think I've got a good thing going with my current project (Estara, the link's in my signature), but in Part Thirteen, where I've gotten in the story, I need to have a Final Sorcery Test Type Thing. And when I asked people before about how to make it not cliche, the response was "You can't. Just make it cliche and hope no one notices."

As horribly cliche as a Final Test is already, I think I might have a few ideas: a Harry-potter-1-esque riddle thing, and the traditional epic battle, but with a few new twists. My main question is: What's less cliche to fight in an epic magical battle than a dragon? Also, if anyone has any other ideas for a Test that they would like to share, care to help? Thanks!

[Imelda]

Well a final test is cliche, which is fine. Don't 'hope no one notices'--embrace it, use the cliche and give it new angles, new depth. Cliches are only bad if you try to pass them off as new and original.

[Crocolyle]

*cough*Eragon*coughcough*

[Shaun]

You might consider having the character fight an apparition of him or herself. Or have him or her fight someone important, like a loved one, which makes the test very difficult. If you make that apparition of a loved one so realistic it could be a very difficult task.

[Imelda]

Yeah, that's not cliche ...

:rolleyes:

[Shaun]

It's less cliche than having him or her fight a dragon. We're talking about fantasy, not 10,000 years from now.

[Starry]

Well, I'd rather not do something I've seen before, and my second favorite book of all time, Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward, does the fighting an incredibly realistic apparition of yourself thing. Normally I don't like that whole sort of thing, but this book does it really well. If I even tried doing that, it would just end up as me trying to live up to that and failing miserably.

As for fighting a loved one...well, I don't know if that would work logistically. My character here, Don, doesn't have much of the way of family. His parents are dead (his older sister killed them), his little sister has been banished from the Citadel (the magical establishment) so he hasn't seen her in months, and I can't have him fight an illusion of his older sister, because later on he actually does fight her. It's a good thought though. Maybe I could actually make a character for his father and have Don freak out when he sees him or something. That could be interesting. Except Don doesn't really come to terms with his parents' death until much later in the book, when he goes back to where they died.

[Rafael Domination]

Try having your character challenge a god (or teacher) in your novel, and based on how long he/she lasts against that being, the grade gets higher. Maybe set a grade sheet, eg: five minutes='F' and one hour='A+'.

I haven't heard that one before and it's especially nice because you can open so much new plot topics, like the test being impartial because some of the testers can be biased on just how hard they test the student, etc. :D

[Shaun]

Good lord, that's like Coast Guard Rescue folks...where they hold your head underwater and grab you, etc. to try to make you panic...

[Rafael Domination]

But it's not that cliche, is it? :D

Right?

[Shaun]

It's a twist on a cliche :P. Interesting idea nonetheless.

[Rafael Domination]

Yes! That's one of the ways with dealing with cliches: twisting them. Often, you should twist them so much they don't seem like anything ever done before, effectively hiding the fact that they ever are a cliche! ^^

[Starry]

Well, I should probably point out here that Don isn't actually the main character in the novel (well, sort of, he's the main good character, but this is really more of an anti-hero story), so there probably shouldn't be any radically-changing-the-world sort of events. Also, the magical establishment in the story is full of atheists, so the whole fightng-a-god thing wouldn't really work.

[Shaun]

Well have him or her fight a god-like being. Something that wouldn't be a god, but would still have amazing power, you know?

[Imelda]

Cliiiiiiiichhhhhhhhhhe.

How about just having a test? :p

[Andy]

Interesting. I've also got 3-part test in my story.

What's less cliche than a dragon? A creature you make up on your own. Give it a couple of random powers that the wizard doesn't expect, and let them surprise him. Maybe it breathes acid, can make him dizzy if they lock eyes, and...something else. Make it look unique, too. Perhaps some sort of mutilated giant hawk? :llama:

The tests in my book have the character making extremely difficult choices. One forces him to stay sane in a hellish place for a while with no hope of getting out. Your tests could probably include mind-tests, ones that build character, and ones that require power. Whatever you like.

Here's a good like for writing fantasy that's less cliche.
http://rinkworks.com/fnovel/

[Shaun]

Something humorous came to my head about this whole thing: what if the test was attempting to stay conscious for the longest? Person to last the longest without getting knocked out wins :P. You could have a creature that throws things at your character's head :D

[Andy]

Something humorous came to my head about this whole thing: what if the test was attempting to stay conscious for the longest? Person to last the longest without getting knocked out wins :P. You could have a creature that throws things at your character's head :D
That sounds like a Monty Python version of the story. :)

[Shaun]

I know, but it's kind of fun isn't it?

[Starry]

Cliiiiiiiichhhhhhhhhhe.

How about just having a test? :p

I've actually heard that idea a few times from my quirky friends, but it doesn't really fit with what I'm trying to do. I just have this picture in my head of Don talking to his teacher, and then when the Test begins, the teacher sort of melting into some sort of monster that Don has to fight. I'm thinking of using some modified version of a gryphon for that, but have it breathe fire or something wacky like that.

[Imelda]

You could do a homage to the Sword In The Stone fight, where the wizards morph into different animals. The teacher could do the morphing while the student has to figure out how to defeat each one?

[Crocolyle]

What happens when one of them morphs into the Ebola virus? (Well technically the student can call the Prof. out on that and bring up a scientific debate about whether viruses can be considered living. Neither makes any headway, they both get flustered, leave and forget about the original point of the whole test... and they live happily ever after?)

EDIT: Actually, I think I'm going to use that... so you can't.

[Shaun]

Haha, that's a fascinating idea too, Croc :P