how can i make urban fantasy interesting again

i'm planning working on another project called nightslayer, which is somewhat of a superhero/urban fantasy hybrid of sorts. sooo, how can i avoid the common cliches while still retaining a few things ( still keeping werewolves and vampire while changing and adding some more obscure mythical creatures like gargoyles and peluda) intact?

Depends on which common cliches you want to avoid. My own usual aversions are:

Hero is a born mage => Hero is a trained occultist, usually after having walked the globe a bit, mastering ancient arts and amassing power from holy places. Hero's power is not exclusive, but it does take some legwork.

Hero is a private detective type, with barely any ties to any civil authority, which itself has no idea of hero's abilities or the mystical world in general; alternatively, Hero works for an entirely clandestine mystical force with no civil supervision => Hero works with an officially recognized religious organization, the members of which have a pretty good idea of what he's dealing with. To them, Hero is a useful if unorthodox specialist.

Monsters functioning as criminal organizations, particularly vampire clans => Monsters are barely if at all organized, with headquarters well away from the big cities; or at least underground in sewers. Most villainous organizations consist of human cultists, with activities closer to terrorism than organized crime for profit.

Other than that, just mention a cliche you'd want to avoid, and we'll see what can be done about it.

edited 20th Sep '16 5:59:08 AM by indiana404

well my main characters are british exchange student that has a half-succubus living inside her, a brooklyn werewolf, and physic from a sub species of telepathic humans.

Okay, so far nothing problematic. Is the werewolf the kind that aren't particularly troubled by their condition, yet frequently wangst over it - 'cause that's rather played out. And I'd avoid the psychic going all Deanna Troi about sensing things, or getting overwhelmed and fainting during a crisis - never a good idea to use a character as a mineshaft canary. Finally, does the inner half-succubus lust over every able-bodied male in town or use supernatural abilities to gain more love interests than a homely sitcom protagonist - again, not breaking new ground if that's the case.

ian's ok with his condition.

hayley does get a attention from time to time (but she's severely afraid of boys). the half-demon inside her is basically bisexual but never manages to land a date (or even get laid for that matter).

nevon (note: their androgynous) rarely faints unless they end up reading the half-demon's dirty thoughts. their also quite powerful if they just stop being obsessed with cleanliness and order.

So far, so good then, at least from my perspective. And a half-succubus inside an androphobic girl is an interesting combination; ditto psychics on the orderly side.

oh thanks, i just wanted add that have some other characters planned like two vampires (one is a bit annoyed by his family's curse while the other embraces it). frankenstein's monster (reimagined as cyborg android and female). a mummy ( she's actually a revenant) living inside the body of a little girl. and last but least, some weird kid that turns out to be a cute fish girl in disguise.

jesus christ this too much. meh.

edited 20th Sep '16 8:15:56 AM by ewolf2015

The only thing I can say is that that is quite wacky. Just remember that weirdness can enhance some flavours, but it won't make your work interesting by itself.

i kinda get it. so what do you suggest?

The best thing to do in this case is to get a rough draft of your story up. The meat is in the actual writing.

I don't know if it helps, but all your character ideas so far are similar to stuff I've seen before. It does sound like an anime.

There's a name for that.

I'd say it's a good thing - anime-style characters are still relatively unexplored in Western fiction, and I for one think some wacky weirdness would be refreshing in a market that occasionally gets too full of doom and gloom to be enjoyable - Supernatural and The Dresden Files feel almost like tutorials on how to torture your main characters for fun and profit.

To that effect, if this is a superhero-style setting, how do the characters get involved in fights? Are they targeted personally by villains and monsters, do they help out when needed out of the goodness of their hearts, or is it like a day-job where they do this sort of thing for a living? Because it's rare indeed to find stories where thing's don't get too personal - the Special Circumstances and Monster Hunter International books are among those where the characters are trained specialists with negligible personal baggage.

to answer it simply, yes. their part of a monster and overnatural (differently powered individuals) hunter club of sorts.

and now that you mention it, it does sound a bit like a light novel. i even envision them like shonen anime characters.

edited 20th Sep '16 9:51:08 AM by ewolf2015