I try to change things up anytime I see a rut forming, so I'm not sure I could really put my finger on any one pattern or archetype I like to follow. Branching out of my comfort zone tends to do well for me - in fact, a character I made two years ago trying to branch out into things I don't play much (in this case a muscular male swordsman with a heart of gold, pretty much the opposite of what I usually played before him) became my favourite and most well-developed character to date.

On a more general scale I do like to explore themes from less common points of view, ex. someone from a lesser caste actually looking favourably on a caste system rather than resentfully. I also like to explore themes of faith and obligation and how they're challenged, as well as trying to bend the rules of a given universe or taking unconventional approaches to things like magic or superpowers. Characters who [i]don't[/i] get happy endings have also been an interest of mine lately. 

But then, even these are mostly things I started doing because I was falling into a rut xD