I am in a writing group that working on creating new characters for an on-going series. The material is more on the novel/book side rather than TV so I cant rely on actor skills than I would like to. The audience is mostly female and young adult. Anyway, I have got the most unfortunate prompt - create a new ML. I can't get out of it. It's not like I don't like creating MLs - but my tastes on ML or any living guys are characterized as 'kinda extreme' by my female friends. I like unconventional and I don't like pairing them either. Think Lone Wolf trope and the Brooding Emo thing. So, if push comes to shove, I might have to rely on The Nice Guy or the Knight Guy to create this guy. Yes, I'm relying on tropes for this guy's foundation. And based on some reader response on this site about MLs in certain novels I read, I think these tropes are the best bet I have to give the character less extreme than my preference. I already sent some feelers to some guy friends I know but I would like to cast the net even farther in here. TIA for your feedback!
Writing a character without tropes is like expecting to grow a tree without wood. Tropes are basically everything you see in writing from events that can happen in a story to parts of a charater. For example, take one of your characters and list a few notable traits, take a part of your story and list a few notable events, it's likely that those are classified tropes already. I think you're talking about cliches, which you can still navigate around. For cliches, it all depends on how you execute them in the broader picture, how much thought you put into what kind of effect it can have on a character or the plot as a whole. They by themselves are not bad, but it's when you use them in an uninspired fashion does it give the readers the impression the author is being lazy about it. What I'd recommend is to analyze closely how you approach the Lone Wolf and Brooding Emo archetypes. What kind effect does it have on the character and those around them? What kind of misunderstandings does this cause? Do those misunderstandings feel like a natural part of their character or just forced drama? Are their interactions boring or predictable? What spin can I put on this archetype that will make it interesting, either through an aspect of the characters themselves or interactions between other characters? Hope this helps!
I total agree with LockedPuppet: trope has a broad definition when it comes to character creation. Personally, I find it better to think of a trope as an aspect of the character that the audience can identify due to a common understanding of a cliche in current culture. So if you want to make a character based on a "trope", its a good thing. Your audience will identify with them. Just be wary of forgetting to add traits that the audience will question. These are the small details that make a character seem more real (since nobody truly understands each other in real life).
I'm in two writing forums and someone asks this every week. At this point almost everything has been done. Nothing wrong with using a trope as the starting point for building your character. A trope done well is one the reader understands and has your unique spin on it. As long as it's written well, people will love it.
Your ML can have all the cliches and tropes in the world and I'll still love him IF he's entertaining. How about you put him in a situation, write how he reacts in it, and show it to readers to gauge reactions? Far more useful feedback than asking what-ifs on forums. If you get a positive feedback you can continue building his characters, if not you can make changes.