History Main / SlidingScaleOfRealisticVersusFantastic

Not to be confused with SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness - a time-travel story with [[MinovskyPhysics rigorous rules]] can be fairly Hard but decidedly Fantastic, for example. SlidingScaleOfLikeRealityUnlessNoted charts the degree to which a work of fiction set in what is ostensibly a "modern", Earthly environment departs from RealLife.

A story's way of dealing with BackFromTheDead can often be a very good - but not the sole or final - indicator:

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Almost anything fantastic, futuristic or supernatural, can be (directly or not) brought down to Dr. Manhattan's powers - though they're huge. The rest is slightly unrealistic AlternateHistory.
* ''Manga/YamadaKunAndTheSevenWitches'': The witch powers are an important part of the story, but they're a [[{{Masquerade}} hidden]] part of the daily life on an otherwise mundane high school, and the story generally relies on SliceOfLife humor and conflicts even though a lot of the characters use magic. Furthermore, magic only seems to exist on this specific high school - the rest of the world is completely normal. The college preparation arc as well as the epilogue are on the "unrealistic" end of the scale instead of "unusual" as they don't involve witch powers, but still has some over-the-top humor and a couple of cases of cartoon physics ([[CharlesAtlasSuperpower such as Yamada lifting a gigantic boulder effortlessly]])

* Most of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s franchises, and certainly their most successful ones, reside on the border of Fantastic and Surreal. The {{Funny Animal}}s of ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'' and ''VideoGame/StarFox'', the [[StandardFantasySetting fantasy kingdoms]] of ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', the far-futures and alien worlds of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'', and ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'', and the odd characters of ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'', ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', and ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' make up the list of notables.

%% * ''Franchise/OnePiece'', though it has a stronger sense of {{Continuity}} than most examples in this category. The first 100 chapters probably came closer to "Fantastic" than "Surreal", but then the main characters entered the sea stretch called Grand Line where only few things are impossible (this is even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] at a point).

%% * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''

%% * ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' (and by extension, ''Film/InTheLoop'')

There is nothing that cannot be explained by contemporary science and nothing ever happens that could not conceivably occur in RealLife as we know it. A DreamSequence is the only way in which the otherwise hyper-realism in the work can be [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]. Darker works on this end often emphasize the irrevocable and often [[TrueArtIsAngsty brutal nature of mortality]], as well as the depiction of social injustices, such as exploitation of the poor on behalf of the rich. Films in this category may often be [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible pretentious creations]], often trying to be TrueArt. About the most 'fantastic' thing that happens here is a ContrivedCoincidence or two designed to bring as much bad luck (or good luck) to the characters as possible. ScienceFiction and {{Fantasy}} are by definition ruled out from belonging to this category.\\