Loser Fantasy Challenge

[manfred]

Maybe you are a fan of heroic fantasy, where a hero, endowed with great strength and possibly even wit, easily defeats scores of lesser opponents, saving the world and getting the girl in the process.

But perhaps, deep in your soul, you despise all those heroes, and desperately long for stories, of petty, untalented, and deafeningly boring folk.

For people of either of these groups - or for anyone up to it - comes the Loser Fantasy Challenge!

This Challenge was started on the website of a small civic group calling itself Mastodont. Since it didn't get anywhere, I thought I could move it here, where the users are creative (or perverse) enough.

Special thanks belong to Mastodont (link to original challenge, Slovak language only). The unique genre of Loser Fantasy was founded by its member known as 'Paldi', in the hopes of conquering its more epic variant. Sadly, only one short story has been written so far. You are the only hope of this man - and this genre - of going mainstream.

The rules are pretty simple:

I. The main character of a loser fantasy story must never, under any circumstances end up better than he began in the first place.

II. The Hero must not get very far from his place of birth, nor visit interesting or in some way enlightening locations.

III. The Hero must not have any natural or supernatural abilities, that would exceed the average.

IV. The Hero must never be aided by supernatural forces, unexpected luck, or higher powers (but of course can they act to his detriment).

V. The Hero must never have success with the opposite gender (or same gender in case of gay/lesbian fantasy).

VI. Every single story of genuine loser fantasy must feature at least one dragon and/or a dwarf.


(I didn't make the rules, the dragon or dwarf could be probably replaced by a suitable fantasy archetype, but don't push it. )

[Murometz]

Quite the challenge you have here! Has anyone attempted a sub on this? Someone should

[MoonHunter]

I just couldn't do it.

Well, I just couldn't get it to be more than a 5 line sketch (with a preponderence of tavern/ inn people).  It just goes against my overly heroic soul. Actually, I could do I., and two of between II. to V., and I just blow off VI as cliche, as a character. But more than that? Nah.

[Kinslayer]

I can think of several movies that would fit, except for the fantasy part.  The Maltese Falcon or Rosemary's Baby for starters, or The Amityville Horror.  Come to think of it, pretty much everything in the slasher-horror genre fits.  For the mandatory dragon, we have Disney's Dragonslayer.  Technically Galen was an apprentice wizard, but he was a really lousy mage & hero.  The dragon eats the princess, and the 'hero' is lucky to escape with his life. 

[Fallen Angel]

You know.. I do have a idea about this.. but it's my private verse and since I'm still worldbuilding, I'm concerned about se4tting thigns ins stone. Hell, it's probably what I need to do.

I shall attempt a outline, then look at making a story.

[Scrasamax]

http://www.strolen.com/content.php?node=5294

Umo Cinzento for the Loser Fantasy Challenge

[manfred]

And the winner is... Scrasamax!

Okay, I guess it can't be really a winner if there is no one else to contest, and it is not directly a story, but congratulations to a fine NPC! I sense it is the first of many!

[Dragonlordmax]

I find it amusing that Candide doesn't qualify as a loser by those guidelines - surely, he's pretty much the forefather of this sort of thing!

[Scrasamax]

In Umo's defence:
The rules are pretty simple:

I. The main character of a loser fantasy story must never, under any circumstances end up better than he began in the first place.
Ending up as a slave to a necromancer and later a zombie working in a quarrey, better than being a rice farmer???

II. The Hero must not get very far from his place of birth, nor visit interesting or in some way enlightening locations.

The Necromancer moved close to the village, and the quarrey itself is less than a day's travel from Umo's old village.

III. The Hero must not have any natural or supernatural abilities, that would exceed the average.

Umo has no special abilities, later the Necromancer grants him a lesser Mark, but if pressed, it means that the zombies eat him last/

IV. The Hero must never be aided by supernatural forces, unexpected luck, or higher powers (but of course can they act to his detriment).

Pretty much screwed on that one. No help comes.

V. The Hero must never have success with the opposite gender (or same gender in case of gay/lesbian fantasy).

Naza, fails utterly to save her.

[/i]VI. Every single story of genuine loser fantasy must feature at least one dragon and/or a dwarf.[/i]

Bloody-Beard Borsht, and Naza the dragon.

On a final note: is it a story?

Yes, technically. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Umo joins a band of would be heroes, becomes imprisoned and enslaved to the necromancer, and then dies, only to be resurrected as a zombie himself.