History Main / MedievalEuropeanFantasy

No matter where a fantasy story may be written, whatever rich history the author's homeland might have, most fantasy stories take place in [[MiddleAges Medieval]] UsefulNotes/{{Europe}} (or a [[FantasyCounterpartCulture facsimile thereof, possibly reasonable]]), especially UsefulNotes/{{England}}. People will fight with swords and shields, and the government is usually vaguely feudal: it may not map well to any real-world political system, but it usually has [[RoyalBlood hereditary monarchs]] and [[BlueBlood nobles]] (which many other cultures also have, but if European titles are used, you're in a Medieval European Fantasy). Medieval European Fantasy settings are sometimes littered with SchizoTech, though FantasyGunControl is often a limiting factor.

This is also frequently the setting of {{Eastern RPG}}s, {{Wutai}} aside, as well as most {{Western RPG}}s in between Sci-Fi games. The first settings of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' are perhaps the most well-known example -- even though many later D&D settings avert this trope, the sheer popularity of [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Faerûn]] makes this trope almost synonymous with D&D. Notably averted however in {{Wuxia}}, which is a sister trope (Chinese fantasy with a long literary tradition, set in a pseudo-historical AlternateUniverse China, featuring magic, [[KnightErrant wandering errant martial artists]], legendary artifacts, [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] and the rest). Played straight in most fantasy {{anime}}. Myth/ArthurianLegend usually [[{{Demythification}} (but not always)]] overlaps with Medieval European Fantasy.

[[HollywoodHistory Often depicts]] the setting as more {{Arcadia}} and the GhibliHills than the actual medieval Europeans viewed it as, though [[TheDungAges not always]].

See also HeroicFantasy, StandardFantasySetting, StandardJapaneseFantasySetting, FantasyCounterpartCulture and HermeticMagic, all of which may overlap with this. See UrbanFantasy and NewWeird for alternatives fantasy fans, who were getting tired of this setting, came up with.

* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped'': The theme of the levels Toad Village, Gee Wiz and Double Header is a stereotypical despiction of 15th century Europe (specifically Great Britain and Rome). The first warp chamber is based on this setting as well. Features include oversized frogs (as well as magicians that can turn Crash into one), swordsmen, tents in the levels' landscapes, and (in the last level of this kind) giants with two heads. The boss battle againsgt Tiny Tiger takes place in a parodied version of the Roman Colosseum.

UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} may appear, as it almost always did in Medieval and Renaissance literature,[[note]]often [[AnachronismStew anachronistically]], as when the story took place in ancient Greece or Rome[[/note]] but it is fairly rare to find Christianity -- or any real-life religion -- in modern fantasy settings: that might attract distracting controversy towards the work, and wouldn't make sense for a setting that's supposed to be a different world than our own. {{Mythopoeia}} is possible, as well as CrystalDragonJesus. This will partly depend on whether it's a HighFantasy or LowFantasy setting, as [[ReligionIsMagic religion and magic are often closely associated]].

* The ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series is a DenserAndWackier take on this. ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' is the only one that doesn't play this trope straight, adding in robot [=NPCs=].

* Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower is based on ''Literature/TheHobbit'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', covering the mythological Second Age. The Southlands regressed to the TheDarkAges after the War of Wrath, and Numenor has a quasi-AncientGrome culture with feudal elements.

* Creator/HannaBarbera's ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' based on Peyo's comic of the same name. The show is set in a unknown medieval kingdom full of fantastic creatures.

* ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight}}'' - Justified in this case, since it's based around the Arthurian myths.