Ah, Isekai... the genre where you take a character from one world and transplant them into another through some special method.
Necessary Tropes
- Trapped in Another World - Obviously.
Choices, Choices
Unlike a lot of other genres, this one has a lot (and I mean a lot) of choices to make:- First up, how will your protagonist be brought into their new world? Will they be reincarnated into someone already living there as memories of a past life, be transported there as they originally were, or somewhere in between? Also, will they still be the same race when they're brought over?
- Second, what kind of world is your protagonist being brought into?
- Will your story end with the protagonist staying in the new world, or returning to the one they started in? Will that be their choice to make, or will they have it made for them? If they return to their original home world, would there be any possibility of them making another visit in the future? A few of these stories go so far as to give the protagonist the means to travel between worlds at will.
Pitfalls
- Anti-Escapism Aesop - Some isekai stories refer to the protagonist's home world as the "real world", and them going home at the end is used to deliver a lesson in growing up and/or facing your problems. Which neglects the fact that from the characters' perspective, the new world is just as real as the one the protagonist started in. Likewise, if the protagonist makes any new friends in the new world or falls in love, those relationships are just as valid as any they might make after returning home. Though this one could be justified if it's established that the protagonist's only motivation for wanting to stay was satisfying some superficial power fantasy or evading problems from their former home.
