Thriller Tropes: A Guide for Writers
by Mary Kole | Former literary agent, now a freelance editor, writing teacher, and IP/story developer for major publishers and creators.
When it comes to writing a mystery, thriller, or suspense book, there are certain thriller tropes that can be used to your advantage. Thrillers tend to be trope-heavy, simply because readers have certain expectations that you will want to at least acknowledge, if not fulfill, if you want to write in this category. Tropes are literary devices and conventions that are widely used in writing and storytelling.
By understanding how thriller tropes work, you can use them in your own writing to create suspense and keep readers on the edge of their seats. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common thriller tropes.
Thriller Tropes: The Bad Guy is Always Chasing the Good Guy
One of the most popular tropes in thrillers is having the protagonist constantly running away from a relentless pursuer. Remember, thrillers are about endless tension and the pervasive feeling of dread or that something bad is going to happen. The climax happens when it’s the protagonist’s turn to stop it. (Thriller differs from mystery in that in mystery, the bad thing has likely already happened, and the protagonist is playing detective instead.)
This thriller trope of the constant chase is often used when the protagonist has stumbled across something they weren't supposed to know, or when they have gotten too close to uncovering the truth behind the antagonist’s schemes. In these cases, it's up to our hero—who may not even realize what's going on just yet—to stay one step ahead of their pursuer while also trying to figure out exactly what's going on and how they can put an end to it all by foiling or getting ahead of some master plan that’s working against them. These thriller tropes create story tension between characters, as well as suspense for readers who want to see if our hero will be able to escape unscathed.
Thriller Tropes: The Hero Has a Flaw
Another common trope used in thrillers is having a protagonist with amnesia, memory issues, or a flaw that keeps them from being able to function fully in the story. This allows writers to build mystery around the character, since their memories are lost or unreliable.
They must try and piece things together in order to understand what’s happening or why they are acting a certain way … but they might be an unreliable narrator to begin with, which only becomes clear to readers later in a surprising twist. It also allows writers to introduce twists and turns into a story as new clues are discovered about who the character was before the story started. Revealing information slowly or in surprising ways is one of the cornerstone thriller tropes.
Thriller Tropes: The Final Showdown
No good thriller would be complete without a climactic showdown between our hero and the antagonist. This is what Robert McKee, author of Story, calls the “expected scene,” and is one of those mandatory thriller tropes. This climactic encounter generally occurs near the end of a story, with our hero finally confronting the bad guy (or girl) and finding out once and for all who is right and who is wrong, and which moral or value system the world is going to uphold.
Through this final showdown, our hero learns more information that helps them put an end to whatever problem they were facing throughout the course of their journey. This is a high stakes scene—anything could happen. Depending on the tone of your story, you will want your protagonist to either triumph or fail.
Using thriller tropes in your writing can help bring life into your mystery, thriller, and suspense books by introducing excitement and conflict at each page turn. Keep these common thriller tropes in mind as you write your next thrilling novel. You never know when one of them might come in handy. Just remember that, while using tropes can add interest into your stories, you shouldn’t overuse them so that your plot feels fresh and original for readers.
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