While She Knits - Fantasy tropes, much?

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Most of us read a lot of fantasy books, right?  There are elements/characteristics/tropes that appear often--things like:  good vs. evil, magic, DRAGONS, swords, a quest, the reluctant hero, etc.  These conventions sort of set the tone for the fantasy genre.  Sometimes they seem like old friends we're comfortable with.  Sometimes, in the right hands, they seem brand new.

But, sometimes these things drive me crazy.  Here's an example.  I'm reading The Rise of a Hero, book 2 in Hilari Bell's great Farsala Trilogy (thanks for all the recommendations).  When, however, the heroine chopped off her long hair with a knife, donned boy's clothes, and was immediately mistaken for a 12-year-old boy, I started to say "hey, wait a minute!"  How many 16-year-old girls could pass for a boy just because their hair is short?  How many boys have a face like a 16-year-old girl?  Am I being too picky?  Has anyone else ever pondered all the tropes we accept just because they are always there?

What other regular elements of fantasy books make you stop and say, "hey, wait a minute!"?

(my computer has eaten this post twice, so posting it NOW, grr.  Why, imac, why??)