Not a fan of the genre so take what I say with a grain of salt but I’ve always viewed it as the destillation of the “fish out of water” and power fantasy combined into one. Both reasonably popular tropes tied into one.
So it’s already readily consumeable for the targeted demo and relatively easy to write/draw since the you don’t need to worry about developing a distinct character trait/trope (he’s unique/powerful) or unique narrative framing. It’s not necessary bad, just easy to produce and readily consumable. It’s the equivalent of the step-fantasy or fast food. Not evil or bad, just not particularly unique.
Then you eventually get amazing works (Jack In The Box’s Chick n tater melt, Overlord, Eminence In The Shadow) that either push the best traits to 11 or are a direct commentary on the genre itself.
Nah, the genre is targeted towards teen boys. So the hero is a generically nice person with no skills or social experience. His “useless” ability is actually a super-powerful skill that makes him a hero. All the girls fall for him because he’s a nicer person than some other people in the setting, even if he does buy them as slaves. And any bullies enemies the protagonist has are easily defeated in a single move.
In some settings, the super-powerful ability is knowledge of the setting, so the hero has amazing powers due to being a nerd who likes fantasy stories. Like you, the reader!
And right at the start, the hero finds out there is an afterlife.
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