tv is changing so much i kinda wanna discuss black girl archetypes in fiction and the characters that exemplify them — some are stereotypes while others are more innocuous tropes that are common because they’re easy to understand and recognize — idk feel free to add your thoughts

for starters the badass cool girl, she’s independent and reliable, she kicks ass, she’s usually part of an ensemble group and tends to be the “tomboy” so rarely is she given a romantic arc, but if written with care she’ll have a vulnerable side to her and maybe an endgame romance

the good influence friend is the black girl who wants to be a lawyer or doctor, she’s unlikely to be a lead character, she’s usually the supportive friend or the guide and rarely vulnerable, she’s either in an established relationship already or she doesn’t get a romantic arc

the support-friend advocates for the main character throughout the story, despite being pretty she’s never considered the mc’s competition with boys, if she’s considered romantically at all it’s likely played as comic relief or she’s in an already established subplot relationship

the unfriendly black hottie is exactly what’s written on the tin, unfriendly black and hot! if she likes a guy expect she’ll never actually “win” him, usually she cares more about making the main character miserable anyway, if she’s not hbic she’s her bestie or shares the throne

the rebooted hotgirl is the black girl who wasn’t black in the source material but is black now in the reboot, despite usually being the love interest to the main hero in og canon she is likely to wind up single (or dead) in the reboot, or at least get a ton of hate from viewers

the spoiled rich girl is classy bougie (and sometimes) rachet, she either doubles as the unfriendly black hottie or she’s genuinely nice and sweet, she’s often gullible, she’s always considered romantically by other characters but will usually wind up choosing to be single anyway

the mixed girl with problems is usually gifted and lonely, she almost always gets a love interest/romantic arc, she often endures emotional turmoil related to an identity crisis if racism is important to the story, otherwise she’s “quirky” or just an outcast without explanation

with “the daughter” you can expect the actress to be biracial but the character to have two black parents, usual daughter/sister tropes ensue, she’ll have on and off romantic interests throughout the series

“the older sister” overlaps with “the daughter” for obvious reasons, usual older sister tropes include being either “mean” and headstrong, or seemingly perfect, if she’s vulnerable it’s only ever around her family usually her younger siblings

“the younger sister” overlaps with “the daughter” and “older sister” for obvious reasons, she’s usually darkskinned/browner than the older/eldest sister, usual little sister tropes include being secretly manipulative or “sassy” but too adorable for anyone but her siblings to tell

the princess is rare, fictional black girls are rarely princesses, and most likely doubles as a rebooted hotgirl, nothing is ever handed to her so she suffers and works for most of her life before anything good happens, because she’s sweet and resilient she always finds love

“the love interest” is almost always skinny biracial and/or lightskinned but sometimes that’s subverted, she’s the sweet girl next door but also a risk taker, as a love interest she rarely has much of a story on her own, she exists mainly to catch feelings for the main character

the blerd girl is not only insanely intelligent but is usually the smartest in the cast, she’s charming and independent though rarely considered in a romantic light unless it’s for comedy, she’s the deadpan or sarcastic and more reliable level-headed one, she’s rarely vulnerable

the hbic is the unfriendly black hottie who runs things, if not head bitch herself she’s definitely second in command or on her way, she’s very pretty feminine and catty, sometimes manipulative, loved and admired and feared, she’s often a victim of unrequited love

the main character is rare, her personality is whatever it needs to be to drive the plot, she is usually light/biracial but not always! she thinks she’s regular schmegular but to everyone else she’s special, big flaws and big dreams, she often has 2+ potential love interests

so because getting black girl characters who are actually characters instead of flat subservient quota fillers is still a fight, there are black girl characters who feel like trope breakers simply because there aren’t enough of them to define them a trope... two of my favorites:

anyway i started this at 4am cause i couldn’t sleep lmao just thought it’d be fun to get a discussion of some sort going simply because we have more black girl characters than ever that redefine tropes and the stories that represent us are getting more enjoyable and interesting

just wanna add i don’t think tropes or archetypes are at all a bad thing! they’re useful to storytelling because they’re readily understood and recognized, humans are always redefining subverting and creating new types of characters in stories i just find the patterns interesting