| A | B |
|---|
| Good vs. Evil | good triumphing over evil, and all the better if "good" is is vastly outmatched by "evil" but triumphs anyway |
| Man vs. Nature | the main character finds himself pitted against weather/environment, animals, or life/death. Sometimes humans triumph over nature; more commonly, nature triumphs over humans. Rarely, man and nature learn to exist together in harmony; more often, mankind risks destroying nature and themselves with untamed technology. |
| Love and Friendship | stories about love, in all its forms: romantic, platonic, godly, unrequited, familial, and altruistic. Usually, love triumphs over the barriers (natural, societal) placed in its way though, sometimes, love is unable to overmaster the odds set against it |
| Man vs Society | there are more examples of society conquering man than examples of man conquering society; though sometimes these two forces end in an uneasy draw |
| Man vs. Himself | The usual subtext of these stories is that man carries within him the seeds of his own destruction, and the causes of self-destruction. |
| Fate/Faith/Predestination vs. Free Will | explores whether man has the power to create his destiny, or whether his destiny is predetermined, whether by willful gods or fickle fate. The theme features reluctant heroes who are somehow "chosen" or "predestined" to save the world. |
| Suffering and Redemption | Features characters who are able to overcome obstacles or redeem past mistakes through courage, sacrifice, remorse, or divine intervention. |
| The Great Journey | Character or characters go through a series of episodic adventures as they travel. It may be a sad story or a happy story, or it may even be comedic |
| Loss of Innocence | coming of age story. Introduces and innocent character to the evil or complexity of the real/adult world. |
| Noble Sacrifice | Can be made for any reason except self - a loved one, an enemy, a group of people, the whole of humanity, a dog - the bottom line is that the protagonist sacrafices himself or herself in an effort to save others. |
| Great Battle | People or groups of people in conflict. It is sometines good vs. evil, but not always. |
| Revenge | To get back at someone or something. The subject is obvious, but the outcome differs. Sometimes the outcome is good adn sometimes the outcome is bad. |
| Big Mystery | Something unexplained happened and it is the protagonist's job to find and explanation for it. |
| Fall from Grace | This theme shows us people going where only God should go, doing what only God is menat to do, or attempting to do something that human beings should never do. Misfortune always follows as a direct result of thier action or and act of God. |
| Fate | Greek tragedies fit this category. Often, there is a major reversal of fortune. It could be from good-to-bad or from bad-to-good. |
| Big Trick | Someone or some group of people intentionally deceive someone else. |
