History Main / LowFantasy

* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' stories fit very much. There are non-human races like elves, dwarves, halflings, trolls, dopplers, and succubi, but they act more or less human, their fantastical attributes follow consistent and easily identifiable rules, and most of them are dominated by the humans (who are not above the occasional pogrom or two). Magic exists, but it's functional instead of fireworks wizard or king's healing power, and its users seem to spend most of their time plotting, Eminence Grise-ing, or basking in vanity. Said magic is known only by a handful of people and fairly modest in what it can do, meaning any given village, town, or battlefield will look nearly identical to its equivalent in real-world 14th century Europe (in fact in the game-only sequels, one of the greatest conquerors of the era is a man who entirely disregards all magic, including in war). Minor magic is contained in some potions and slightly enchanted objects (like swords) which are more common (more so among the nonhumans), but also even less impactful (in many cases basically just being a fantastical shortcut to a real-world object, e.g. a magic potion that mimics penicillin, another magic potion that's basically just an adrenaline shot, or a one-handed sword that due to its enchantment hits harder than normal but still not as hard as a regular two-handed axe). Most of the fantastical creatures hunted by the protagonists are treated like regular megafauna that just happens to have weird attributes to them (in ''Wild Hunt'', for instance, it's explicitly stated in the Bestiary that a mere brown bear is as dangerous as most monsters). Those creatures that are genuinely magical fit the usual trend of being so in a modest and self-consistent way. There is no central EvilOverlord or [[TheHorde Horde]], most conflicts encountered by the heroes are with wild animals or small-time criminals, and the larger conflict comes from politicking between more or less realistic power-hungry nobles. The "good" category is inhabited by protagonists and their friends, and almost no one else (and the protagonists themselves have some KickTheDog moments in their biographies). Also, fairy tale elements often show up in more-or-less their original forms only to be subjected to DarkParody.

* ''Literature/GunfightersRide'' is about a Pony Express rider and his horse dealing with magical menaces.

** ''On Stranger Tides'', while definitely higher than ''Curse'' kind of lowers the HighFantasy of the previous two sequels. Outside of mermaids and Fountain of Youth, the movie turns back into standard action-adventure film. That still does not seem to affect the critics and lots of fans who still think the entry is the lowest in the series.