Romantasy Tropes

Dear Reader, I now take you through a rollercoaster of a paper that I've (ahem) researched for about 2 years now. 

Your DragonRider has been reading questionable amounts of romantic escapades, and as our recent meeting revealed, even my tastes in these sort of things are decidedly strange (P got whiplash listening to me and D talking)

Anyway,  Romantasy an abomination of a word that means = romance + fantasy !

But DragonRider, you ask, I thought you hated romance, and all those wishy -washy things!

I did. I still do, which is where fantasy comes in!

I'll cover the major tropes that I've read so far and seem to persist across time , people, and universes:

• The lady : is young, is brave ( to the point of stupidity), absolutely poor (like that one anime where the guy sips on salt water for dinner poor) OR absolutely loaded (like mother is a politician raking in money rich), and is abused by family and friends
• She has a fancy , hard to pronounce name
• She can fight
• She may or may not be able to read
• She is human (or something like that) and is tiny
• She is beautiful, but only the readers know it, none of the characters in the lady's past life are aware or care how stunning she truly is, it takes an old fossil of 300 years to identify this beauty which brings us to :
• The .... male .... character : is older (10 to 1000 year differences are apparently ok), absolutely loaded (it doesn't matter if the lady is poor or rich, this guy will absolutely win in a comparative wealth measuring and other measuring contest)
• He may or may not be human ( 99.9% of the time, he isn't really human)
• He can fight better than lady
• He can read and write
• He is the master of darkness and shadows and black, and deep grays, and smoky , deep voices and lives in an abyss (basically darkness becomes him, and darkness is his old friend yada yada)
• He usually has some kind of wings (either on dragon back or of his own)
• He has been either a womanizer or a man untroubled by such things - there is no in-between!
• He is physically VERY BIG
• He is morally grey to dark grey (hehe get it?)
• The friend : if this one is the lady's friend, at least one betrayal is scheduled, if it is the guy's friend, no betrayals occur. The friends are usually set up with each other to nicely giftwrap and add a bow to the story. 
• The friend is also sadly, the only voice of reason, in all the chaos that ensues.
• The friend is NOT as hot as the main character, that would be absurd!
• Mate: This isn't the aussie mate, this is the soul mate, the one and only person for the fossil kinda mate. And the male character is usually disappointed that his mate is human. Because you know, they're delicate and incredibly stupid like the lady here. There will be multiple chapters explaining what does "mate" mean in each such series , because there are hidden clauses, loopholes, workarounds etc. which both characters use to the full extent
• Prophecy : Yes, because you might be wondering, what is so special about this lady who is too young to be having such shenanigans? Prophecy! she has been prophesized to save this universe / world / magic/ environment what have you!
• Growl: The male character (or rather most male characters) in these series, growl A LOT. 
• Imagine you're trying to get some sleep and there is a humanoid character growling to express some emotion that can vary from frustration, to anger , to romance, to pleasure and what have you!

Will add to these and complete the set for future references!

Until Next Time,

DragonRider