Yeah, Joseph Campbell was such a hack! 
This is a great one. So many older shows rely on knocking people out as a benign way to take them out of commission for awhile. But the reality is if a person suffers a head injury that renders them unconscious for more than a few seconds they probably have serious brain trauma. Even a few seconds ain’t good.
The hero and the villain dropping their guns and punching it out “just to see who’s the best.” Usually preceded by a lot of unfinished fights, close call encounters, and intense staring throughout the story up until that point.
Also, a group of henchmen surround the hero, but instead of just tackling him, they take turns fighting one-on-one (and of course get their asses kicked in order).
A place of safety? Haven’t you noticed that they are invulnerable during these hugs? All the action sweeps around their untouched bubble. Even when the bad guys are in hot pursuit, they don’t make up any ground on those standing in place. :smack: Where could they be safer?
Here’s one I hate. The hero, after being blasted and bombed and beaten to a pulp shows up the next day with one picturesque tiny band-aid on his face and no aches or pains elsewhere.
Child protagonists who are orphans.
I’ve been watching a lot of sci-fi shows lately. In those, one of the things that has been really annoying me is what I call “The absurdly precise deadline trope”.
Example - someone gets infected with an unknown disease. The doctor is somehow able to predict that he has exactly 12 hours and 34 minutes to find and administer a cure before the disease is fatal. If he can do so, the cure is completely successful. A few seconds more…
“I’m sorry, but we’ve tried everything and we can’t save your daughter. There is no treatment or cure known to medical science.”
“What? But I love her! She’s only ten! Please try something!”
“By god, you’re right! I have to TRY! Hang on- I’ll be back in five with some insane innovative technique that will cure her completely. Gosh, good thing you told me all that- too bad for all the other kids who died of this disease and didn’t have doctors who ever thought to try something.”
Or
“I’m sorry, but this tumor is inoperable. I don’t want to touch it.”
“Don’t tell me that! I came to YOU because YOU’RE THE BEST and I knew if anyone could do it, you could.”
“Okay, in that case, let’s get you scheduled for a surgery in which I will have to operate upside-down and remove your entire head. Wish me luck!”
“Cool, well I will 100% survive, although I might have some kind of scary symptoms when I wake up, but they’ll go away. Thanks!”
Doctors having sordid chats with each other about their sex lives and other drama while they’re in the room/elevator with a patient and the patient either says nothing or eventually pipes up with some wisdom or a supportive quip. “Don’t wait, honey. Life is too short to let a man like that get away. Plus, he’s a hottie.”
“I have vital information, but I can’t talk here. Meet me at stupid o’clock in this abandoned building site with plenty of cover for assassins, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know!”
The perfect girl has some ridiculously specific criteria for romantic partners that the hero must meet to get in her pants.
The puzzle isn’t that hard to figure out, but it takes the sidekick making some offhand remark to inspire the hero to figure it out via a long chain of inferences that are frankly much more complicated than just coming straight at the question.
The secondary characters who helped the hero in his conquest are materially worse off as a result, but they’re conveniently OK with that because they know they only exist as plot devices.
Similarly, superheroes catching falling people in midair. Spider-Man catching Gwen Stacy was one of the only times the real-world outcome was properly depicted.
Mixed group runs away from monster. Woman falls down. Man picks her up and carries her, instead of scurrying away faster than ever, expecting monster to slow down to eat her first.
Extra points if woman is in stiletto heels.
This is less likely to happen now than it was during the 1930s-60s.
Bad Guy gets the drop on Good Guy. Bad Guy says “Freeze” or some such and attempts to hold Good Guy at gun point rather than just, y’know, shooting him. And often standing withing arm’s reach. Thus allowing Good Guy the opportunity to take out Bad Guy.
There are certain situation where it makes sense (security guard stumbling across Good Guy while Good Guy is sneaking into an office). But this trope happens quite often in the middle of a gunfight, when all of the other bad guys are trying to kill Good Guy, and it’s only the one bad guy that gets the drop on Good Guy that inexplicably doesn’t try to kill him and instead just politely stands by and waits to be taken out by Good Guy.
Especially egregious recent example (spoiler for The Mandalorian):
In the final episode of Season 1 of The Mandalorian, two Scout Troopers just stand around arguing with IG-11 and threatening to shoot it, instead of just, y’know, shooting it. And then, when one Scout Trooper inexplicably lets IG-11 within arms reach, and IG-11 grabs his arm and just about twists it off, the other Scout Trooper continues to stand there pointing his blaster at IG-11 but not shooting!
Mixed group runs away from monster. Woman falls down. Man picks her up and carries her, instead of scurrying away faster than ever, expecting monster to slow down to eat her first.
Extra points if woman is in stiletto heels.
This is less likely to happen now than it was during the 1930s-60s.
And in that situation, you can be absolutely sure that the cure won’t be administered in the first 12 hours and 33 minutes.
The beautiful young woman that’s maybe 5’3" and might weigh 110 pounds is a kung fu master and her punches can hurl a man twice her size across a room.
Particularly when the orphaned (or at least alone) child protagonist lacks agency, or possess only minimal agency, as in Lion. I know at some point it ends up with an adult character actually turning around and doing something, but I just could not find it in me to care enough to keep watching to that point.
Bad guys who get the drop on the hero, and have the hero all but beat. Bad guy then tells his minions to finish hero instead of just killing him himself, or joining the minions in killing the hero.
Really nasty bad guys take hostage, make good guys throw away their guns.
(Expendales 2, I am looking at you).
Meanwhile, the bad guys would, in all reality , just shoot them all.
Likewise, doctors informing the family of a death or a serious illness or injury in the parking lot, or a crowded hallway.
Zombies and Vampires. Fuck 'em.