History Main / HistoricalFantasy

* ''Literature/TalesOfTheOtori'' by Lian Hearn.

** The series in general takes a considerable amount of references from [[HistoricalBadassUpgrade historical figures being summoned and given superpowers]] to fight in a [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne Holy Grail War]], taking [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent Heroic Spirits]] to act as [[TheMagocracy Magi]]'s [[{{Familiar}} familiar]] to [[MakeAWish win the Holy Grail and it's omnipotent wishing powers]]. [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Historical figures]] from [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare William Shakespeare]] to [[UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} Nero Claudius]] ([[HistoricalGenderFlip who's a girl here]]) to [[UsefulNotes/SirFrancisDrake Sir Francis Drake]] ([[RunningGag who's also a girl here]]), to even [[AllMythsAreTrue mythological figures who were historical individuals in-universe]] like [[Myth/CelticMythology Cu Chulainn]], [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] or [[Myth/ArthurianLegend King Arthur]] ([[RuleOfThree who's]] ''[[RuleOfThree also]]'' [[RuleOfThree a girl here]]). It should be noted however (as if the GenderBentAlternateUniverse examples didn't clue you in) that ''Fate'' takes a truly ''[[HollywoodHistory absurd]]'' amount of creative liberties in both [[ArtisticLicenseHistory history]] and [[SadlyMythtaken mythology]], with some of the more egregious inaccuracies being stuff like Gilgamesh being a [[BlingOfWar blonde, faired-skinned knight in golden armor]]. [[WatsonianVersusDoylist The series has attempted to explain away]] these massive inaccuracies to text as Servants being [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve distortions of popular perception]] which in turn [[PopularHistory warps actual history to be a reflection of this]] ([[ShownTheirWork which is actually the case]] for Servants whom [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade their real-world counterparts weren't evil, but they were]] ''[[HistoricalVillainUpgrade seen]]'' [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade as evil]], netting them the Innocent Monster trait), but the Doylist answer was that King Arthur (also known as Artoria[=/=]Altria) [[SexSells had to be a waifu]] to fit the [[BleachedUnderpants eroge nature]] of [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight the original visual novel]].

** Creator/StephenRLawhead's ''Literature/ThePendragonCycle'' series contains virtually no "flashy" magic like spell-casting, etc. But Merlin is descended from [[{{Atlantis}} Atlanteans]], who are treated like Tolkien's Elves - including their longevity and application of magic.

** Bernard Cornwell's ''Literature/TheWarlordChronicles'' trilogy, which casts Arthur as a Celtic pagan king during the Anglo-Saxon settlement and Christianization of Britain, takes the MaybeMagicMaybeMundane route for the first two books, but the waters get muddy in the third book due to some {{Contrived Coincidence}}s. It also has an UnreliableNarrator.[[/index]]

** Stephen R. Lawhead's ''Literature/PendragonCycle'' series contains virtually no "flashy" magic like spell-casting, etc. But Merlin is descended from [[{{Atlantis}} Atlanteans]], who are treated like Tolkien's Elves - including their longevity and application of magic.

* ''Literature/TheFactoryWitchesOfLowell'' takes place in the mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1830's, featuring a passel of mill girls who unionize in the face of deplorable working conditions and unsustainable rent increases. They make use of witchcraft to see their strike to fruition.
* ''Literature/TheFeyAndTheFallen'' duology overlaps with UrbanFantasy by taking place in the 1970's Ireland during the UsefulNotes/TheTroubles.

* Creator/MercedesLackey, Creator/EricFlint and Creator/DaveFreer wrote the novels ''Literature/TheShadowOfTheLion'' and ''Literature/ThisRoughMagic'', which are set in [[CityOfCanals Venice]] in the 1530's but contain [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], elemental spirits, and FunctionalMagic.[[index]]

* [[/index]]The PowerMetal RockOpera project Music/{{Avantasia}}'s ''The Metal Opera'' duology tells a story of an early 1600's Dominican monk named Gabriel who in an attempt to save his sister from a WitchHunt ends up discovering a gateway to another dimension called Avantasia.