History Main / GaslampFantasy

* ''HowlsMovingCastle

[[caption-width-right:350:Where {{mad scien|tist}}ence and {{fairy tale}}s meet.]]

Gaslamp fantasy, also called gas''light'' fantasy, is {{Steampunk}}'s magical cousin. It's a subgenre of fantasy (and more specifically of HistoricalFantasy) with a setting that is clearly recognizable as the real-world 19th or very early 20th century (or a reasonable analogue thereof). That's the [[RegencyEngland Regency period]] and the [[VictorianBritain Victorian]] and [[TheEdwardianEra Edwardian]] eras, if the work's set in England, which it usually, though not necessarily, is. VictorianLondon is especially popular. It may be identical to the real world with a {{Masquerade}}, or it may be a full-on AlternateHistory where magic exists openly and has affected the course of events. Gaslamp fantasy often draws on GothicHorrorTropes, and is sometimes seen as a sort of {{Reconstruction}} or revival of the genre.

The term was coined to describe the comic ''GirlGenius'', but has since come into wider use, and is sometimes retroactively applied to the more fantastical works of GothicHorror. ''GirlGenius'' was called that because its creators had never heard the term "Steampunk" before, but also because it was focused on more than just advanced steam power, and was not a dystopian-type "Punk" work, despite having similar aesthetics, and is heavy on [[MadScientist mad science]].

!!Examples:

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:Film]]

* ''{{Film/Stardust}}''

[[AC:Literature]]
* ''HisDarkMaterials'' By Phillip Pullman. A multi-universe spanning triogy. The first book "Northern Lights" is set in a alternate victorian northen europe and contains many elemants. Most prominatly the Gothic undertones (innocence lost, evil churches) and the daemons that every human has which are an expression of their personallity.
* ''TheParasolProtectorate''

* ''JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'' is about the last two practicing magicians in Georgian England (also, [[TheFairFolk fairies]]).
* ''TheNativeStar'' is fantasy set in America in the 1800s.
* The AlvinMaker series by OrsonScottCard is America-based 1800s fantasy as well.
* ''Literature/ShadesOfMilkAndHoney''
* The GemmaDoyle trilogy centers around a group of young Victorian ladies who get caught up in a secret magical conspiracy.
* Mercedes Lackey's ''ElementalMasters'' series is about mages in Post-Victorian England. The stories are loosely based on FairyTales.
* The Literature/LordDarcy stories are technically set in the 1960s, but due to magic, society and technology seem to be closer to the Edwardian era.
* ''InfernalDevices'' is set an alternate Victorian London that contains elements of a Masquerade: things such as magic, demons, werewolves, vampires, etc. wander around in the open - but only people with The Sight can see them.

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]
* ''CastleFalkenstein''. Set during the Victorian era. Has magicians, the Faerie, dwarves, dragons etc.
* ''VictorianaRPG''

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* The ''{{Thief}}'' games

[[AC:WebComics]]
* ''GirlGenius'' is steampunk combined with fantasy. Most of the weird stuff can be explained by weird technology, but magic-like elements remain. The river Dyne (an apparently natural spring the waters of which make the drinker a mad genius, though in most cases it's instantly lethal), "Constructs" made from corpses ala-{{Frankenstein}}, Jägermonsters (human volunteers converted into colorful and near-immortal SuperSoldier humanoids), multiple cases of BrainUploading, and the [[GeniusLoci castle Heterodyne's]] seemingly telekinetic ability to move chunks of itself. To say nothing of [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder the Spark]] itself.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

The term was coined to describe the comic ''GirlGenius'', but has since come into wider use, and is sometimes retroactively applied to the more fantastical works of GothicHorror. ''GirlGenius'' was called that because it was focused on more than just advanced steam power, and was not a dystopian-type "Punk" work, despite having similar aesthetics, and is heavy on [[MadScientist mad science]].

* ''HisDarkMaterials'' By Phillip Pullman. A multi-universe spanning triogy. The first book "Northen Lights" is set in a alternate victorian northen europe and contains many elemants. Most prominatly the Gothic undertones (innocence lost, evil churches) and the daemons that every human has which are an expression of their personallity.

[[AC:Literature]]

* ''TheStrangelyBeautifulSeries is set in VictorianBritain and involves a magical backstory where Hades murders Peresephone's lover, a phoenix.

* ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'', while set in an alternate universe to our own, is described by the author as a cross of ''Jane Eyre'' and ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''. With magic. Elements from Regency, Victorian, and Edwardian periods can be seen.

* TheStrangelyBeautifulSeries is set in VictorianBritain and involves a magical backstory where Hades murders Peresephone's lover, a phoenix.
* GailCarriger's ''Soulless'' novels - and [[http://www.yenpress.com/soulless/ their manga adaptions]] by Rem - seem to fit this trope rather well.

* ''ShadesOfMilkAndHoney''

* ''SorceryAndCecelia'' and its sequels, by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, are epistolary novels set in a Regency England where magic is part of everyday life.

* ''[[http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=23334 Broken Gears]]'' (CURS Publishing) is {{Postapocalyptic}} Gaslamp Fantasy -- "a game of animistic steampunk". It's about a {{Magitec}} AlternateUniverse where Devil-possessed Difference Engine rebelled after WWII, was nuked, and ''all'' electrical appliances got bedeviled. Which makes mass production harder, so most folk fall back to [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld zeppelins]], salamander-powered muskets, crossbows and rapiers.

The term was coined to describe the comic ''GirlGenius'', but has since come into wider use, and is sometimes retroactively applied to the more fantastical works of GothicHorror. ''GirlGenius'' was called that because it was focused on more than just advanced steam power, and was not a dystopian-type "Punk" work, despite having similar aesthetics.

* ''GirlGenius'' is steampunk combined with fantasy. Most of the weird stuff can be explained by technology, but not everything. The magic includes stuff like the river Dyne (which is an apparently natural spring the waters of which make the drinker a mad genius, though in most cases it's instantly lethal), "Constructs" made from corpses ala-{{Frankenstein}}, Geisterdamen (ghost-like beings), Jaegermonsters (non-human beings with superhuman strength and lifespans who are former humans who drank the "Jaegerdraught), multiple cases of BrainUploading, and the [[GeniusLoci castle Heterodyne's]] seemingly telekinetic ability to move chunks of itself. To say nothing of [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder the Spark]] itself.
* ''ThePhoenixRequiem'' is set in a fantastical analogue to Victorian England — one that worships spirits and is beset by omnicidal shades made of cremated ashes.

* ''GirlGenius'' is steampunk combined with fantasy. Most of the weird stuff can be explained by technology, but not everything. The magic includes stuff like the river Dyne (which is an apparently natural spring the waters of which make the drinker a mad genius, though in most cases it's instantly lethal), "Constructs" made from corpses ala-{{Frankenstein}}, Geisterdamen (ghost-like beings), Jaegermonsters (non-human beings with superhuman strength and lifespans who are former humans who drank the "Jaegerdraught), multiple cases of BrainUploading, the [[GeniusLoci castle Heterodyne's]] seemingly telekinetic ability to move chunks of itself...

* GailCarriger's TheSoulless seems to fit this trope rather well.

* TheStrangelyBeautifulSeries is set in VictorianBritain and involves a magical backstory where Hades murders Peresephone's lover, a phoenix.

* ''FinalFantasyVI'' Trope namer for {{Magitek}}

* ''ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura''

* ''GirlGenius'' is steampunk combined with fantasy. Most of the weird stuff can be explained by technology, but not everything. The magic includes stuff like the river Dyne (which is an apparently natural spring the waters of which make the drinker a mad genius, though in most cases it's instantly lethal), Geisterdamen (ghost-like beings), Jaegermonsters (non-human beings with superhuman strength and lifespans who are former humans who drank the "Jaegerdraught), multiple cases of BrainUploading, the castle Heterodyne's seemingly telekinetic ability to move chunks of itself...

* ''GirlGenius'' is steampunk combined with fantasy. Most of the weird stuff can be explained by technology, but not everything. The magic includes stuff like the Heterodyne fountain (which is an apparently natural fountain the waters of which make the drinker a mad genius, with varying degrees of both aspects), Geisterdamen (ghost-like beings), Jaegermonsters (non-human beings with superhuman strength and lifespans who can be either previous humans who drank the "Jaegerdraught", or born of them), a few instances of human souls inhabiting constructs ([[GeniusLoci Castle Heterodyne]], [[EmergencyTransformation Anevka]]) and possibly even completely artifical souls (the Muses).

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslamp_fantasy Gaslamp fantasy]], also called gaslight fantasy, is {{Steampunk}}'s magical cousin. It's a subgenre of fantasy (and more specifically of HistoricalFantasy) with a setting that is clearly recognizable as the real-world 19th or very early 20th century (or a reasonable analogue thereof). That's the [[RegencyEngland Regency period]] and the [[VictorianBritain Victorian]] and [[TheEdwardianEra Edwardian]] eras, if the work's set in England, which it usually, though not necessarily, is. VictorianLondon is especially popular. It may be identical to the real world with a {{Masquerade}}, or it may be a full-on AlternateHistory where magic exists openly and has affected the course of events. Gaslamp fantasy often draws on GothicHorrorTropes, and is sometimes seen as a sort of {{Reconstruction}} or revival of the genre.

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslamp_fantasy Gaslamp fantasy]], also called gaslight fantasy, is {{Steampunk}}'s magical cousin (and can overlap). It's a subgenre of fantasy (and more specifically of HistoricalFantasy) with a setting that is clearly recognizable as the real-world 19th or very early 20th century (or a reasonable analogue thereof). That's the [[RegencyEngland Regency period]] and the [[VictorianBritain Victorian]] and [[TheEdwardianEra Edwardian]] eras, if the work's set in England, which it usually, though not necessarily, is. VictorianLondon is especially popular. It may be identical to the real world with a {{Masquerade}}, or it may be a full-on AlternateHistory where magic exists openly and has affected the course of events. Gaslamp fantasy often draws on GothicHorrorTropes, and is sometimes seen as a sort of {{Reconstruction}} or revival of the genre.

The key difference between gaslamp fantasy and {{Steampunk}} is that {{Steampunk}} focuses on alternate developments in technology (and need not have any magic at all), while gaslamp fantasy focuses on supernatural elements (and need not have any technology that didn't actually exist). Of course, there is [[{{Magitek}} overlap]].

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslamp_fantasy Gaslamp fantasy]], also called gaslight fantasy, is {{Steampunk}}'s less science-loving cousin. It's a subgenre of fantasy (and more specifically of HistoricalFantasy) with a setting that is clearly recognizable as the real-world 19th or very early 20th century (or a reasonable analogue thereof). That's the [[RegencyEngland Regency period]] and the [[VictorianBritain Victorian]] and [[TheEdwardianEra Edwardian]] eras, if the work's set in England, which it usually, though not necessarily, is. VictorianLondon is especially popular. It may be identical to the real world with a {{Masquerade}}, or it may be a full-on AlternateHistory where magic exists openly and has affected the course of events. Gaslamp fantasy often draws on GothicHorrorTropes, and is sometimes seen as a sort of {{Reconstruction}} or revival of the genre.

* ''GirlGenius'' is steampunk combined with fantasy. Most of the weird stuff can be explained by technology, but not everything. The magic includes stuff like the Heterodyne fountain (which is an apparently natural fountain the waters of which make the drinker a mad genius, with varying degrees of both aspects), Geisterdamen (ghost-like beings), Jaegermonsters (non-human beings with suphuman lifespans who can be either previous humans who drank "the Jaegerdraught", or born of them), and a few instances of human souls inhabiting constructs (Castle Heterodyne, Anevka) and possibly even completely artifical souls (the Muses).
* ThePhoenixRequiem is set in a fantastical analogue to Victorian England — one that worships spirits and is beset by omnicidal shades made of cremated ashes.

* ''EchoBazaar'' is set in a Victorian London ruled by a shadowy cabal of nonhuman entities and full of things like devils, golems, and talking rats.