Strange things in fiction

I just recently started to read mysteries after avoiding them for years, and though I am by no means a good detective, it is enjoyable to try to deduce things for yourself. One problem about reading mysteries is that, since you know that they are mysteries, you automatically suspect everyone, because you know there will be a murder at some point. That idea (of knowing a little about what's coming) struck me as not only true for murder mysteries, but for many other books. For all the wonderful variety in fiction, there are some cliches that seem especially hard for authors to break (and I do not mean that in a derogatory way), and which make the task of a detective reader slightly easier once you know the code. Here are some examples that came to mind:


Romantic Fiction:

The most prominent male will be the groom (this is even true of Jane Austen...she mentions Darcy too much and Wickham too little for their places to be the same at the end of the book as at the beginning)

The male the main character hates from the beginning will be the one she loves by the end (again, people in romantic fiction rarely keep the same opinion of people, especially men, throughout the entire book)


Fantasy:

Countries are always kingdoms (you would think that, with such a wonderful medium for political musings, fantasy would have more than kingdoms or, occasionally, clans)

Any piece of jewelry mentioned will become important (this is almost without fail a definite clue for the reader detective)

Bad guys are never short (this isn't a really useful clue, but I found it very odd)

Kings are either wonderful or awful (where is neutrality in fantasy? I suppose that fantasy is a black/white medium in general, but I so much enjoy the shades of grey)

The horse culture is rarely the bad guy (big clue here...the clan of horsemen who surround the main character and demand his surrender are usually just independent, and not in league with the Dark Lord. Is this bias towards people who love horses a matter of fantasy books being written by equusphiles?)

Bad guys never pick the lush green land, but always the desert or barren land. (once again, not a very useful clue, but odd. If dark lords are smart enough to create specialized armies and weapons of mass destruction, you would think they would know enough about geology to pick the best ground for raising a nation. How do they feed their huge armies in the middle of a desert?)

The old man who acts as your mentor (and asks you to blindly trust him) is nearly always for the good (this is a cliche/clue that I am determined to break)


Victorian:

Fathers are never strong figures (not a clue, just an odd cliche)

Arranged marriages are never carried through with, and therefore never turn out well (another odd cliche)

Minor illnesses are nowhere to be found (yet another one!)


General:

First impressions are either right or a complete misjudgment; bad ones are never merely a result of seeing someone on a bad day (do people even have moody days in fiction?)

Characters can recall every line of dialogue they ever heard, even years from the event, word for word (this constantly jumps out at me...perhaps some people have photographic memory, but everyone?)

Characters can note the least change in the color of the face (“she paled slightly”) or the brightness of the eyes (I'd like to see that happen in real life...not only is it difficult, but characters usually trace the change to the right cause too)

Events are rarely mentioned which do not relate to the later plot (ah, back to some real clues)

Small children and pets are rare (another cliche I am determined to break. Small children are so endearing and common, you would think they would be more present in literature)

Odd or uncharacteristic things always have a meaning (ah, yet another important clue. If the character hears a scream in the night, or a whispered line of strange dialogue, or finds a monogramed handkerchief with no recognizable initials...it always means something. An ingenious author would have some odd things that are just that—odd, to throw people off. After all, it would be more realistic)


While these are probably just quibbles on the part of a reader, I not only enjoy finding them, but intend on breaking most of them in my writing for even more fun. I think that my main impulse to be a writer is that nobody writes certain things that I want to read. Has anyone else found cliches or clues in fiction?