History Main / Fantasy

* WerewolfWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[WerebeastTropes Werewolves]].

->''"Fantasy is the metaphor through which we discover ourselves."''
-->-- '''Creator/SusanCooper'''

* FantasticNoir: A mixture of the FilmNoir detective story with the more colorful aspects of {{fantasy}} and ScienceFiction.

** ThudAndBlunder: A heavy focus on personal combat.

* {{Demythtification}}: Real-world {{mythology}} as [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane semi-mundane]] [[HistoricalFiction history]] that "inspired the legend". Inverse of Magical Realism.

Common features of genre fantasy include:
* '''A secondary world''' -- A world whose connection with our present day world ranges from nominal to non-existent. It could be the remote past or future, or simply a-historical. The inhabitants can be anything from human only, through the standard elves, dwarves and orcs, to a complete FantasyKitchenSink. See StandardFantasySetting for the, er, standard fantasy setting.

* {{Demythtification}}: real-world {{mythology}} as [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane semi-mundane]] [[HistoricalFiction history]] that "inspired the legend". Inverse of Magical Realism.
* MagicalRealism: in which Fantasy elements intermingle with the realism of a contemporary novel.
* MundaneFantastic: in which Fantasy, ScienceFiction, or {{Superhero}} elements mix with more naturalistic elements.
* SwordAndSandal: set in a historical period or a FantasyCounterpartCulture to one. Often ranges from the fantastic to the historically accurate.
* {{Xenofiction}}: fiction from a [[MostWritersAreHuman nonhuman]] (alien or [[TalkingAnimal wild animal]]) perspective.

!!Subgenres:
* ComicFantasy: includes parodies, fractured fairy tales, and anything that doesn't take itself, its setting, or its tropes too seriously
* DarkFantasy: is fantasy with elements of [[HorrorTropes Horror]].
* GaslampFantasy: fantasy with an AlternateHistory 19th-century setting (or reasonable approximation thereof).
* FantasticNoir: a mixture of the FilmNoir detective story with the more colorful aspects of {{fantasy}} and ScienceFiction.

** MagicalLand: virtually a sub-genre in itself, and common in works for children. This overlaps with Modern Fantasy.
** {{Mythopoeia}} is also an established variant.
* HistoricalFantasy: a version of the history of our world, but with ''significant'' fantasy elements added.
* LowFantasy: anything ''not'' set in our world which isn't one of the others.
* ScienceFantasy: overlaps with other sub-genres, as well as ScienceFiction.
* UrbanFantasy, confusingly, has two meanings:
** [[/index]]a) A story which takes place in ''our'' world, or a recognizable AlternateHistory version of it.[[index]]
** b) Takes place in a major city in a fantastic world.

* DarkFantasy: is fantasy that is DarkerAndEdgier.

* RomanticPseudoFantasy: A book set in a fantasy setting where romance is the primary element.

In response to a flood of inquiries to Ballantine Books from grateful readers of the U.S. edition of Creator/JRRTolkien's monumental ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', many of whom thought Tolkien had ''invented'' this, Creator/LinCarter wrote ''Imaginary Worlds: The Art of Fantasy'', a [[https://www.tor.com/2009/04/21/lin-carters-imaginary-worlds-the-art-of-fantasy/ flawed but still valuable]] book explaining the origins of fantasy genres (plural) millennia before Tolkien and citing hundreds of authors and titles to guide newcomers. (Carter defined fantasy as literature set in a time and/or place where magic works.) He was also the editor, beginning in 1968, of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballantine_Adult_Fantasy_series Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series]] which reprinted many out-of-print and older titles, along with new works and anthologies. Ask your grandparents, check online or in used book stores, about this amazing series published under "[[https://www.nightfallbooks.com/bafs.html The Sign of the Unicorn's Head]]."

While the core of the fantasy genre is clear enough, there is no succinct definition that encompasses it all. The boundary with ScienceFiction is [[Analysis/SpeculativeFiction notoriously ambiguous]] and the boundary with horror is often no less fuzzy. Religiously inspired works, like the ''LeftBehind'' series, can have a basic good versus evil plotline that would fit well in HighFantasy, but few would place it there. And so on.

* {{Demythtification}} - real-world {{mythology}} as [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane semi-mundane]] [[HistoricalFiction history]] that "inspired the legend". Inverse of Magical Realism.
* GothicLiterature, ClassicLiterature, ChivalricRomance, FairyTales, {{Romanticism}}, and mythology can be seen as precursors but are usually excluded.
* MagicalRealism, in which Fantasy elements intermingle with the realism of a contemporary novel.
* MundaneFantastic, in which Fantasy elements (or {{Superhero}} or ScienceFiction) mix with more naturalistic elements.
* {{Wuxia}} - Chinese High Fantasy or Heroic Fantasy, with [[KnightErrant all]] [[ImplausibleFencingPowers the]] [[TheQuest elements]]. usually marketed as LitFic outside China.
* {{Xenofiction}} - Fantasy from a [[MostWritersAreHuman nonhuman]] (alien or [[TalkingAnimal wild animal]]) perspective.


Almost always marketed as Fantasy:

* ComicFantasy, which includes parodies, fractured fairy tales, and anything that doesn't take itself, its setting, or its tropes too seriously
* DarkFantasy, which is fantasy DarkerAndEdgier.
* GaslampFantasy, fantasy with an AlternateHistory 19th-century setting (or reasonable approximation thereof).
* FantasticNoir, a mixture of the FilmNoir detective story with the more colorful aspects of {{fantasy}} and ScienceFiction.
* HeroicFantasy, (also called Sword and Sorcery): TropeCodifier is the ''[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]'' stories.
** SwordAndSandal - fantasy set in a historical period, or a FantasyCounterpartCulture to one
** SwordAndSorcery - High fantasy in the style of early {{Pulp Magazine}}s
* HighFantasy, (also called Epic Fantasy): TropeCodifier is ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (but there [[OlderThanTheyThink were many precursors]]).
** MagicalLand - virtually a sub-genre in itself, and common in works for children. This overlaps with Modern Fantasy.
** {{Mythopoeia}} is also an established variant.
* HistoricalFantasy - a version of the history of our world, but with ''significant'' fantasy elements added.
* LowFantasy - anything ''not'' set in our world which isn't one of the others.
* RomanticPseudoFantasy - A book set in a fantasy setting where romance is the primary element.
* ScienceFantasy, which overlaps with other sub-genres, as well as ScienceFiction
* UrbanFantasy - confusingly, has two meanings:
** a) A story which takes place in ''our'' world, or a recognizable AlternateHistory version of it
** b) Takes place in a major city in a fantastic world.
[floatboxright:
Related:
+ SpeculativeFictionTropes
+ SpeculativeFictionCreatorIndex
* ThudAndBlunder is a subgenre.
]

[floatboxright:
Categories:

Common features of genre fantasy include:

'''A secondary world''': A world whose connection with our present day world ranges from nominal to non-existent. It could be the remote past or future, or simply a-historical. The inhabitants can be anything from human only, through the standard elves, dwarves and orcs, to a complete FantasyKitchenSink. See StandardFantasySetting for the, er, standard fantasy setting.

'''Appeal to a [[{{Arcadia}} pastoral]] ideal''': Much genre fantasy, of all genres, appeals to the pastoral ideal, one reason for the pseudo-medieval settings. Even urban fantasies will quite often depict cities as blots on the landscape, whose denizens are blinded to what really matters by material ephemera. There are some fantasies, however, which either deliberately take the opposite stance or present a more balanced worldview.

'''MagicAndPowers''': FunctionalMagic is almost always present, though its role in the world can vary widely. It might be either respected, feared, persecuted, or simply not believed in. Its frequency varies from the stuff of legend, through to rare but available to the well connected, up to a ubiquitous part of everyday life. {{Magitek}} usually lies at the extreme end of this scale. It may be taught through a [[MasterApprenticeChain master and apprentice system]], or in a [[WizardingSchool magical university]], when it can be taught at all. When wizards are immortal, they don't need to train successors, and may not be able to.

However, even magic itself isn't a required element, as novels such as Ellen Kushner's ''Literature/{{Swordspoint}}'', K.J. Parker's ''Devices & Desires'' or Ricardo Pinto's ''Literature/TheStoneDanceOfTheChameleon'' which feature no magic whatsoever but take place in an alternate, pseudo-historical world, are still classified as fantasy. This is due in part to their widespread use of other tropes associated with fantasy, particularly LowFantasy. (''Swordspoint'' is an interesting case, because while it contains no supernatural elements in itself, one of its sequels, ''The Fall of the Kings'', is largely concerned with TheMagicComesBack.)

* MagicalLand - virtually a sub-genre in itself, and common in works for children. This overlaps with Modern Fantasy.
* {{Mythopoeia}} is also an established variant.

* SwordAndSandal - fantasy set in a historical period, or a FantasyCounterpartCulture to one
* SwordAndSorcery - High fantasy in the style of early {{Pulp Magazine}}s

* HeroicFantasy, (also called Sword and Sorcery): TropeCodifier is the ''[[ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]'' stories.

Fantasy: it's stuff with magic in it, not counting PsychicPowers, or MagicFromTechnology, or anything [[HorrorTropes meant to frighten]], or MagicalRealism, or anything strongly religious, or the technology behind the magic is {{Magitek}}, or -- where did that clean-cut definition go?

'''MagicAndPowers''': FunctionalMagic is almost always present, though its role in the world can vary widely. It might be either respected, feared, persecuted, or simply not believed in. It's frequency varies from the stuff of legend, through to rare but available to the well connected, up to a ubiquitous part of everyday life. {{Magitek}} usually lies at the extreme end of this scale. It may be taught through a [[MasterApprenticeChain master and apprentice system]], or in a [[WizardingSchool magical university]], when it can be taught at all. When wizards are immortal, they don't need to train successors, and may not be able to.

* FantasticNoir: A mixture of the FilmNoir detective story with the more colorful aspects of {{fantasy}} and ScienceFiction.

* GothicLiterature, ClassicLiterature, ChivalricRomance, FairyTales, {{Romanticism}}, and mythology can be seen as precursors or at least containing precursors but are usually excluded.

Fantasy: it's stuff with magic in it, not counting PsychicPowers, MagicFromTechnology, anything [[HorrorTropes meant to frighten]], [[MagicalRealism classy literature]], or anything strongly religious, unless the psychic powers coexist with other forms of magic, or are stretched to the point where they are some other form in all but name, or the technology behind the magic is {{Magitek}} or the story is dominated by fantasy tropes, or -- and where did that clean-cut definition go?

In fact, while the core of the fantasy genre is clear enough, there is no succinct definition that encompasses it all. The boundary with ScienceFiction is [[Analysis/SpeculativeFiction notoriously ambiguous]], but the boundary with horror is often no less fuzzy. Religiously inspired works, like the ''LeftBehind'' series, can have a basic good versus evil plotline that would fit well in HighFantasy, but few would place them there, and so on.

Within fantasy, there are a few subgenres, in alphabetical order to avoid favoritism, but easily divisible into genre (labelled as Fantasy) and outside of genre.

** ThudAndBlunder is a subgenre.

** {{Mythopoeia}} is also an established variant.

** a) a story which takes place in ''our'' world, or a recognizable AlternateHistory version of it
** b) ''or else'' in a major city in a secondary world.

* HighFantasy, (also called Epic Fantasy): TropeCodifier is ''TheLordOfTheRings'' (but there [[OlderThanTheyThink were many precursors]]).

Within fantasy, there are a few subgenres, in alphabetical order to avoid favoritism, but easily divisible into genre (labelled as {{Fantasy}}) and outside of genre.

Often placed outside the {{Fantasy}} genre, or not marketed as such:

* MagicalRealism, in which {{Fantasy}} elements intermingle with the realism of a contemporary novel.
* MundaneFantastic, in which {{Fantasy}} elements (or {{Superhero}} or ScienceFiction) mix with more naturalistic elements.

Almost always marketed as {{Fantasy}}: