History Main / Mythpunk

* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: In-story, the "punk" element of mythpunk often comes from the rampant [[RuleOfSymbolism symbolism]] and [[TheWalrusWasPaul surreal atmosphere]].

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!!Mythpunk Fiction Blog


The name [[http://mythpunk.blogspot.com/ Mythpunk]] also refers to a fiction blog containing action-comedy stories combining alternate history and epics. Set in a world where historical figures regularly clash with dinosaurs, zombies, and alien gods with kung fu, the stories run off of RuleOfCool and sly historical and pop culture in-jokes.

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'''Tropes:'''

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: In full effect for the Founding Fathers.
* BadassBoast: Alexander Hamilton has one of these.
* BadassNormal: Pretty much every historical figure, ever.
* {{Buddhism}}: With Jane Austen as Siddhartha.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Radio Gaga.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: "''The British were fielding velociraptors. A full legion of them, clad in red coats and powdered wigs, advanced on the colonial army, reptilian eyes aglint with the cold malice of primeval hunger.''"
* DealWithTheDevil: George Washington made a pact with the gods of firearms to become impervious to bullets.
* DoomsdayDevice: Benjamin Franklin built one of these.
* EldritchAbomination: LadyGaga.
* TheEmpire: The British, naturally.
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: ''Washington Invictus''.
* EyeBeams: Jane Austen's demon governess has these.
* FantasyKitchenSink: Gods, zombies, vampires, Buddhas, Lovecraftian horrors, mad scientists, dinosaurs, and presidents.
* GeorgeWashington: Is a total badass.
* ImmuneToBullets: George Washington.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Alexander Hamilton uses a katana forged by Adam Smith to defeat the god of economics.
* MadScientist: Benjamin Franklin is one of these.
* MartialArtsAndCrafts: Alexander Hamilton is a master of kung fu economomics.
* MetaphysicalFuel: Washington powers Benjamin Franklin's superweapon with the crystallized soul of Benedict Arnold.
* MindRape: LadyGaga does this.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: They're manifestations of the inherent suffering of all life. Or at least, Dracula is.
* RuleOfCool: The driving force of the stories.
* ScienceIsBad: Benjamin Franklin is seen as a villainous figure because he's a scientist. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson is a sorcerer and George Washington makes deals with various devils, and nothing is said of it.
* SomewhereAPalaeontologistIsCrying: Carefully danced around. While velociraptors appear, it's never mentioned whether they're realistically tiny, or the large-sized, Jurassic Park-style velociraptors.
** And beside that, they were created through MadScience.
* ZombieApocalypse: Anyone Died is one of these, and a Victorian-era zombie apocalypse is a minor detail in Virtue and Vampyrism.

* NightmareFuel: Disturbing, even horrific, imagery is a hallmark of these tales.

* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: The "punk" element of mythpunk often comes from the rampant [[RuleOfSymbolism symbolism]] and [[TheWalrusWasPaul surreal atmosphere]].

Characterized by [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel baroque multicultural fashion]], [[EveryoneIsBi alternative/ queer sexuality]], [[AdaptationExpansion bizarre retellings]] of [[TwiceToldTale familiar faerie tales]], [[ImHavingSoulPains pervasive anxiety]], [[BigNo fear of inevitable change]], [[MindScrew elaborate symbolism]] and [[{{Deconstruction}} radical reinterpretation]], mythpunk is a cross-media movement. Although largely defined through literary works like Andrea Jones's ''Hook & Jill'', Francesca Lia Block's {{Weetzie Bat}} series and Catherynne Valente's ''Literature/TheOrphansTales'', the mythpunk aesthetic occasionally manifests in music (The Decemberists), film (''Pan's Labyrinth''), jewelry and other media forms.

Although this (sub)genre shares many elements with {{Urban Fantasy}}, mythpunk stories tend to avoid [[ThreeActStructure linear or obvious story structures]], [[PurpleProse simple prose]] and [[ClicheStorm easily-discernible character archetypes]]. You may find talking dance shoes or carnivorous zebra-satyrs in a mythpunk tale, but [[{{Wangst}} lovesick vampires]] are right out!

* AdaptationExpansion: Common in such stores.
* ArabianNightsDays: Middle-Eastern influences (or outright) hommage is common.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Common in narrative, not as much among characters.

* CloudCuckoolander: Many mythpunk characters are decidedly, often wonderfully and occasionally frighteningly eccentric.
* CrypticConversation: Characters often speak in riddles, stories or baroque metaphors, often to the annoyance of other characters.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Almost a foundation for this genre.

* FairyTale: The foundation for this genre.
* FramingDevice: Many mythpunk stories involve tales-within-tales.

* LyricalDissonance: Beauty and misery are close companions in this genre.
* MindScrew: Almost by default, this genre presents almost everything in surreal terms, sometimes to excess.

* NightmareFuel: Disturbing, even horrific, imagery is a hallmark of these tales.
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Mythpunk authors hew closer to TheFairFolk than to Disneyfied pixies.

* PurpleProse: Often on the borderline and occasionally over the edge.
* SteamPunk: Often overlaps with mythpunk, especially in its Victorianna trappings.

* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: The "punk" element of mythpunk often comes from the rampant [[RuleOfSymbolism symbolism]] and [[TheWalrusWasPaul surreal atmosphere]].
* {{Twice Told Tale}}s: Many mythpunk stories have origins in older tales.
* UrbanFantasy: Usually the starting-point of an adventure that gets stranger as it goes along.

* WorldBuilding: Mythpunk stories often feature [[CultureChopSuey polycultural]] stews of elaborate degree.

* Valente's ''Literature/TheOrphansTales'' features most of the tropes above, wrapped in a [[RecursiveReality Recursive Narrative]] drawn heavily from [[Literature/ArabianNights Arabian]], [[HansChristianAndersen Danish]] and [[http://russian-crafts.com/russian-folk-tales.html Russian]] fairy tales. Plus {{pirate}}s!

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_Lia_Block Francesca Lia Block's]] novels and short stories practically vibrate with this style, most especially those in her Primavera series and the collection ''The Rose and the Beast''.

* Alan Moore's series ''{{Promethea}}'' is mythpunk from end to end.
* ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} has shades of this, combining fictional [[EldritchAbomination cosmic horrors]] with real-world mythological figures like BabaYaga and Hecate.

* The Decemberists 2009 release ''The Hazards of Love'' - a concept album based around the tale of a woman, her shape-changer lover, and his Forest Queen mother - is the epitome of this genre in action.
* Indie musician [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.J._Tucker S.J. Tucker S.J. Tucker]] has released, as of 2010, three albums based on Valente's work, toured with her to support ''Palimpsest,'' and sometimes performs in costume as characters from Valente's work. The first two albums in this series - ''For the Girl in the Garden'' and ''Solace and Sorrow'' are based upon the first two Orphan's Tales novels; the third, ''Quartered'', is based on ''Palimpsest''.
* With the 2009 album '':ankoko butoh:'', the band [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_and_the_Muse Faith and the Muse]] moved from its original [[{{Goth}} Gothic Rock]] sound to a more mythpunk aesthetic, including elaborate visuals, dancers, Asian cultural elements, and baroque theatrics.

* Tim Burton's 2010 version of ''Alice in Wonderland'' treads this territory with gusto.

** It can also be argued that neither one of them are, since they don't use "elements of postmodern fantastic techniques". Although you could consider the 1800's-parts of the story from the perspective of the main character, it still follows traditional fantasy.
* Although the film predates the term, the 1980 film ''[[TheCompanyOfWolves Company of Wolves]]'' displays this genre in all its best and most excessive elements.
* ''MirrorMask''. Totally... although it displays a bit more levity than many stories in this style.
* Americans thought that ''[=~Pan's Labyrinth~=]'' (El Labertino del Fauno) was a nice little fairy tale. [[NightmareFuel The "R" rating should have clued them in...]]

** ''The Deadly Assassin, The Invasion of Time'', and particularly ''The Five Doctors'' portray the Time Lords in a slightly Romanesque culture.
** ''Battlefield'' is a sequel to the King Arthur legend.

* As a promotional tour for her novel ''Palimpsest'', Catherynne M. Valente toured several cities by train (mirroring the locomotive and city themes throughout the book). During that tour, Valente, her fans and various collaborators staged readings, shows and musical performances, often in costume.
** Fans and performers were often painted with "tattoos" that recalled the mystical map-tattoos that appear on people who have been to Palimpsest. Several of them have gone on to make those tattoos permanent.
*** The [[http://orphanstales.com/ajanabh/ Ajanabah]] setting from the ''Orphan's Tales'' series has been spun off into artwork, jewelry, fire-spinning shows, costumes, and several albums.

The name [[http://mythpunk.blogspot.com/ Mythpunk]] also refers to a fiction blog containing action-comedy stories combining alternate history and epics. Set in a world where historical figures regularly clash with dinosaurs, zombies, and alien gods with kung fu, the stories run off of RuleOfCool and sly historical and pop culture in-jokes.

* {{Buddhism}}: With Jane Austen as Siddhartha.

* MadScientist: Benjamin Franklin is one of these.

* MindRape: LadyGaga does this.

* ScienceIsBad: Benjamin Franklin is seen as a villainous figure because he's a scientist. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson is a sorcerer and George Washington makes deals with various devils, and nothing is said of it.

* ZombieApocalypse: Anyone Died is one of these, and a Victorian-era zombie apocalypse is a minor detail in Virtue and Vampyrism.


<<|WebOriginal|>>

[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythpunk#Other_proposed_derivatives Mythpunk]] refers to "a subgenre of mythic fiction" in which classical folklore and faerie tales get hyperpoetic postmodern makeovers. Coined by author [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherynne_M_Valente Catherynne M. Valente]], the term describes ''[[http://yuki-onna.livejournal.com/263738.html a brand of speculative fiction which starts in folklore and myth and adds elements of postmodern fantastic techniques: urban fantasy, confessional poetry, non-linear storytelling, linguistic calisthenics, worldbuilding, and academic fantasy.]]''

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Disturbing, even horrific, imagry is a hallmark of these tales.

* {{Metaphorgotten}}: The genre's "linguistic calisthenics" can occasionally get rather thick.

* Americans thought that ''[=~Pan's Labyrinth~=]'' (El Labertino del Fauno) was a nice little fairy tale. [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel The "R" rating should have clued them in...]]

* Most of the elements involved in this genre can be found in the writings of AngelaCarter, most obviously ''Literature/TheBloodyChamber,'' ''Literature/{{Nights at the Circus}}'', and ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman''.

* ValuesDissonance: Faerieland often isn't a nice place to be...

* Valente's ''Literature/TheOrphansTales'' features most of the tropes above, wrapped in a [[RecursiveReality Recursive Narrative]] drawn heavily from [[ArabianNights Arabian]], [[HansChristianAndersen Danish]] and [[http://russian-crafts.com/russian-folk-tales.html Russian]] fairy tales. Plus {{pirate}}s!

* ArabianNights: Middle-Eastern influences (or outright) hommage is common.

* {{Hellboy}} has shades of this, combining fictional [[EldritchAbomination cosmic horrors]] with real-world mythological figures like BabaYaga and Hecate.

Characterized by [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel baroque multicultural fashion]], [[EveryoneIsBi alternative/ queer sexuality]], [[AdaptationExpansion bizarre retellings]] of [[TwiceToldTale familiar faerie tales]], [[ImHavingSoulPains pervasive anxiety]], [[BigNo fear of inevitable change]], [[MindScrew elaborate symbolism]] and [[{{Deconstruction}} radical reinterpretation]], mythpunk is a cross-media movement. Although largely defined through literary works like Andrea Jones's ''Hook & Jill'', Francesca Lia Block's {{Weetzie Bat}} series and Catherynne Valente's ''Orphan's Tales,'' the mythpunk aesthetic occasionally manifests in music (The Decemberists), film (''Pan's Labyrinth''), jewelry and other media forms.

* Valente's ''Orphan's Tales'' features most of the tropes above, wrapped in a [[RecursiveReality Recursive Narrative]] drawn heavily from [[ArabianNights Arabian]], [[HansChristianAndersen Danish]] and [[http://russian-crafts.com/russian-folk-tales.html Russian]] fairy tales. Plus {{pirate}}s!

* Most of the elements involved in this genre can be found in the writings of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Carter Angela Carter]], most obviously ''Literature/TheBloodyChamber,'' ''Literature/{{Nights at the Circus}}'', and ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman''.

* Most of the elements involved in this genre can be found in the writings of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Carter Angela Carter]], most obviously ''Literature/TheBloodyChamber,'' ''{{Nights at the Circus}}'', and ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman''.

* Most of the elements involved in this genre can be found in the writings of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Carter Angela Carter]], most obviously ''TheBloodyChamber,'' ''Nights at the Circus'', and ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman''.

* ''[[DoctorWho Doctor Who]]'' has some examples. Most of them predate the term ''mythpunk''.

* The ''Jabberwocky'' series of anthologies published by Prime Books

Characterized by [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel baroque multicultural fashion]], [[EveryoneIsBi alternative/ queer sexuality]], [[AdaptationExpansion bizarre retellings]] of [[TwiceToldTale familiar faerie tales]], [[ImHavingSoulPains pervasive anxiety]], [[BigNo fear of inevitable change]], [[MindScrew elaborate symbolism]] and [[{{Deconstruction}} radical reinterpretation]], mythpunk is a cross-media movement. Although largely defined through literary works like Andrea Jones's ''Hook & Jill'', Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat series and Catherynne Valente's ''Orphan's Tales,'' the mythpunk aesthetic occasionally manifests in music (The Decemberists), film (''Pan's Labyrinth''), jewelry and other media forms.

* DownTheRabbitHole: Taken to erotic levels in ''Palimpsest.''
* EmbarrassingTattoo: A core plot-point of the novel ''Palimpsest'' and the Orphan's Tales series.

* {{Mythopoeia}}: Especially true of the ''Orphan's Tales'', ''Primavera'' and ''Palimpsest''.

* The writer of the webcomic {{Digger}}, Ursula Vernon, obviously knows a LOT about comparative mythology, much of it apparently gained from doing research for a degree in anthropology, as shown by the story's mix of a variety of mostly Asian sources, but including influences from around the world,including in one memorable case a modification of a myth told by the children of Cuban refugees in Miami, as well as some Vernon made up on her own.

* Although the film predates the "official" movement, the 1980 film ''[[TheCompanyOfWolves Company of Wolves]]'' displays this genre in all its best and most excessive elements.

** ''Battlefield'' is a sequel to the King Arthur legend. From 1989, it's probably the first ''Doctor Who'' story influenced by the ''Mythpunk'' movement.

** ''The Androids of Tara'' is a futuristic retelling of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' with electric flashing swords! Also includes castles and kings.

** ''The Deadly Assassin'' and ''The Invasion of Time'' portray the Time Lords in a slightly Romanesque culture.

[[folder: Webcomics]]
* The writer of the webcomic {{Digger}}, Ursula Vernon, obviously knows a LOT about comparative mythology, much of it apparently gained from doing research for a degree in anthropology, as shown by the story's mix of a variety of mostly Asian sources, but including influences from around the world,including in one memorable case a modification of a myth told by the children of Cuban refugees in Miami, as well as some Vernon made up on her own.

* Most of the elements involved in this genre can be found in the writings of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Carter Angela Carter]], most obviously ''The Bloody Chamber,'' ''Nights at the Circus'', and ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman''.

* The writer of the webcomic {{Digger}}, Ursula Vernon, obviously knows a LOT about comparative mythology, much of it apparently gained from doing research for a degree in anthropology, as shown by the story's mix of a variety of mostly Asian sources, but including influences from around the world,including in one memorable case a modification of a myth told by the children of Cuban refugees in Miami, as well as some Vernon made up on her own.