To be honest, the only cliches here are 3 and 4. 1 is the archetypal hero. It's been everywhere since the epic of Gilgamesh. Joseph Campbell has a really good book on it called "The Hero With A Thousand Faces". 2 is necessary for any fantasy story. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fantasy. 5 is more necessary than 2. Why are people complaining about this? 5 is a staple in a fantasy story. Not having any sort of quest would be like having a romance novel without two people following in love, or a science-fiction novel without any abnormal or futuristic elements. Now 3 and 4 on the other hand are cliches, though I'd disagree with four having not seen much of it anywhere other than the Lord of the Rings and WoW.
1 is the archetypal hero. It's been everywhere since the epic of Gilgamesh. Joseph Campbell has a really good book on it called "The Hero With A Thousand Faces".
2 is necessary for any fantasy story. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fantasy.
5 is more necessary than 2. Why are people complaining about this? 5 is a staple in a fantasy story. Not having any sort of quest would be like having a romance novel without two people following in love, or a science-fiction novel without any abnormal or futuristic elements.
Now 3 and 4 on the other hand are cliches, though I'd disagree with four having not seen much of it anywhere other than the Lord of the Rings and WoW.