I'm writing a story/novel. The story is based on vampires, mixing old vampire lore with newer lore. I'm thinking of doing the cliche of "This character didn't know they were half [not human]" (vampire in this case) which is actually a cliche I don't mind when done right, but I know other people do mind, so I just wanted some advice on it. I have a list of Pros and Cons of doing the cliche.

Pros: -Fills in some plot holes -Diversifies my cast a bit more -Makes hours of research I've already done not in vein -I love cliches -I've already thought about how to make it work

Cons: -Most people aren't me, and don't like cliches -It could also lead to the "How couldn't you tell [x] wasn't human, despite living with them your whole life?!" cliche

I don't see a problem with your idea being "cliche." I think a lot of stories have cliches or are cliched on some level, but that doesn't mean they're bad. I would ask instead, where are you planning on taking your plot? What's going to happen that makes the character realize they are part-vampire, and what will they do about it/how does it change them or their world? And how does this make the story interesting?

Also, in response to your second con, I think it would be helpful to do some good world-building--in particular related to the "masquerade" of vampires and supernaturals (does the human society know about their existence? or are they hidden/not known? if so, how do they keep up the pretense of living as humans? etc etc).

Thank you for your response.

In my world there are two main kinds of vampires, Sires and Childes. Sires are the vampires that turned a human, and Childes are the vampires that got turned. When a Sire turns a human and makes them their Childe, the Sire gains full control of Childe, and Childes have to physically follow the Sire's orders. Even though the Childe are still sentient beings, once an order is given, they lose control of their body and the order is fulfilled.

With that being said, a Dhampir is the child between a human and a vampire. They have a lot of the powers of a vampire, though to a lesser extent. without a lot of the negatives (Needing blood, not being able to go in the sun, etc). My main character (MC) would be a Dhampir who got turned into a full vampire. Because they were already half vampire, the Sire would not have control over them.

On top of that every Vampire and Dhampir have a special ability, some are common (like super strength, and mind reading), others are rare (like mind control). One rare power is the ability to "override" (for a lack of better words) a Sire's orders. Of course the MC would have this ability for the sake of the story. Childes and young vampires who are found to have this ability are suppose to be killed. But because the MC's parent live among the humans, the fact their child has the ability would not be made public.

It makes the story interesting because the MC uses their new found abilities to liberate abused Childes. Basically the MC starts a civil war to shift the power balance to something more fair, because currently Childes are treated like slaves, and "defective Childes" (ie don't have a favorable ability, get injured, etc) and accidental Childes (like the MC) are usually abandoned at sanctuaries or are killed.

As to the "how didn't you know" cliche, vampires are believed to be myths, but do saturate media (similar to our world). Vampires do physically appear fully human. From the perspective of a human who doesn't know about vampires, a vampire may just appear as an unusual human who doesn't go out in the sun, likes blood sausage/soup more than a "normal" person, and is a bit faster and stronger than most. To a vampire, humans and vampires are nothing alike, which is where the cliche would come in, of the MC's new friends being dumbfounded as to why they didn't noticed their parent was a vampire.

Sorry for the huge blurb, btw, I'm one of those people that take way too long to explain my thoughts, my apologies.

It's an interesting premise. I like the idea of the power struggle between Sires and Childes--it'd be cool to explore the "politics" of the vampire world. Some further questions if you don't mind:

What kind of setting is this story in? Modern/contemporary world like our own, or a more historical setting, e.g., Victorian England, or straight-up fantasy/made-up urban world? I ask about the "masquerade" effect because the way vampires interact (or don't interact) with humans could be something to think about. Like, since the MC grew up in a "human" environment, how is he/she affected by human-vampire interactions? After becoming a full-fledged vampire, does he/she still keep in contact with the human world? I'm assuming from your description that vampires are "hidden" (aka they technically shouldn't exist) so wouldn't the civil war end up exposing vampires to humans?

Adding to the above, what kind of environment did the MC grow up in? Was he/she ostracized for being different, or did he/she grow up relatively normal? Is the parent of the MC human or vampire? Did the parent (if human) know their spouse/lover/partner was a vampire? Does the MC find out about everything later from the parent, or does something major happen that makes the MC realize that he/she is not human? **I would only watch out on the fact that the MC is different from everyone else. Especially if this leads into angst, like the MC constantly wondering why he/she is different or weird and hates him/herself for it. (Btw, just to clarify, is the MC male or female? So I don't have to keep typing "he/she" "him/her" haha)

Also, what are the MC's motivations, i.e., reasons for wanting to liberate Childes? What caused him/her to start the civil war? I think this area should definitely be fleshed out, and it would help me (and the reader in general) understand the reasons behind the plot and character. Personally, I would be careful with another cliche of the "messiah" figure who wants to save the world from Evil (like Neo from the Matrix), because I find those characters hard to pull off without them turning into a Mary Sue/Gary Stu.

And no worries about the huge blurb--I just wrote one myself :P I'm a sucker for vampire/supernatural storylines (no pun intended) c:

, I'm just gonna second what Min said: Don't worry about whether an element is "cliche" or not. Instead, ask yourself whether it helps the story, or if there's a better way that the situation could be handled instead.

Honestly, I'm a lot more confused by your explanation regarding how the protagonist got their power. In one paragraph it appears as if the protagonist is resistant to Sire commands because they were already half vampire before being turned (which would be a very good reason to keep that aspect in), but in the next it implies that they inherited the power from their original half-vampire side, which would mostly come across as cheap and annoying.