History Main / SteamPunk

There is also a steampunk genre of music (see Music, below), an element of cosplay, and the intersection with the Maker movement as described above (with designers such as Jake von Slatt receiving some mainstream attention). Wiki/TheOtherWiki also has an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/steampunk article]] about steampunk as well.

* Disney's gonna do this with [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Mickey and friends]] in the upcoming ''[[http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/03/the-mechanical-kingdom/ Mechanical Kingdom]]'' pin set storyline

However, any Victorian-era society which actually tried to create steampunk technology would soon find itself in stark trouble. Barring [[FunctionalMagic magical intervention]], the power requirements necessary to make real-world versions of steampunk devices (or at least Victorian-era versions of 20th century technology) would be enormous, and would soon exhaust all available supplies of coal and wood. [[MohsScaleofScienceFictionHardness A real steampunk society]] would have to either immediately transform into a fully modern society (with oil, gas, and nuclear power driving devices made of modern, lighter materials) or would quickly become, in all probability, a technological dead end. With this said, the recent development of a number of designs of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_stove rocket stoves]] beginning in the 1980s, have demonstrated that a highly fuel efficient steam boiler may in fact not be quite so impractical after all, at least on a small scale. On this point, it is also worth mentioning that the average contemporary power station still runs primarily on large coal-fired steam turbines, and that nuclear power still actually involves running a steam turbine as well, but simply uses the heat from (ideally) contained nuclear reactions to generate steam, rather than a wood or coal-fed fire.

* [[http://sillof.com/ Sillof's Workshop]]. Features (among other things) steampunk versions of Comicbook/TheAvengers, the ComicBook/JusticeLeague, and the entire cast of the original ''StarWars'' trilogy.

If instead of industrial era technology, the setting has pre-industrial technology, see {{clockpunk}}, and if it includes internal combustion engines in place of steam, see {{dieselpunk}}, though there can be crossover between them if used purely aesthetically. If the steampunk results from AppliedPhlebotinum, see PhlebotinumInducedSteampunk. Many examples of steampunk mix in a few mutated monsters (probably in homage to Charles Darwin living roughly in the era depicted), thereby bordering upon {{biopunk}}. If it assumes the truth of Victorian-era science, it may also become an example of AllTheoriesAreTrue. Visual media (and the real life steampunk subculture) will never miss a chance to showcase some seriously AwesomeAnachronisticApparel, and for {{fanservice}}'s sake a woman [[OfCorsetsSexy in a corset]] must be involved at some point. As might be expected, steampunk fashion/costuming has a certain amount of overlap with the Gothic subculture, although the Goth look tends to be somewhat darker, and not as heavily focused on machinery as such.[[note]]“Steampunk is what happens when goths discover brown.” -- Jess Nevins[[/note]]

Steampunk may be a modern reflection of the 1930s–40s trope of TheGayNineties, an idealized version of the 1890s. While various works may be more chronologically specific, any time from around 1860, through to the 1910's, can be considered fair game. Think of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar and UsefulNotes/WorldWarI as acceptable bookends: the former is when the technological revolution really started to take off, and the latter when it first started edging into DieselPunk. (Some definitions set the start date earlier, though, perhaps as far back as the 1780s, when the UsefulNotes/IndustrialRevolution first began to take off.) The term "steampunk" was coined by Creator/KWJeter to describe the speculative fiction stories in a Victorian setting that he, Creator/TimPowers, and Creator/JamesPBlaylock were writing in the early 1980s in contrast to the cyberpunk stories like ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'' that were saturating media. Steampunk's modern incarnation may be considered a reaction to the popular dystopias of that time: the positive power of the imagination and subversion of the NewTechnologyIsEvil trope are common steampunk themes, although recent steampunk is increasingly likely to deal with dystopian societies, sometimes even drawing upon the works of Charles Babbage to theorize humans with mechanical brains and other things rendering them cyberpunk in all but backdrop and visual trappings.

Elements of steampunk that are set in the American frontier are usually referred to as "{{cattlepunk}}". Some writers and fans refer to the "shiny happy" version as "Victorian Fantasy", "GaslampFantasy" or "Victorian Futurism". Supernatural or paranormal tropes are more frequently included in this approach, in which case the ''Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' favours "Gaslight Romance".

Compare {{Cyberpunk}}, which has some similarities with steampunk, TeslaTechTimeline, the result of moving one step further up the industrial scale, past the steam and gears and into steel and electricity, and RaygunGothic, the aesthetic of SF from the the immediate post-steam era. Compare also LowCultureHighTech, especially if the story takes place in a real-life historical period. Also compare {{Zeerust}}.

Oh, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA glueing some gears on it]] doesn't make it steampunk. As far as hardware hacking or Makerism specifically are concerned, (as opposed to the purely fictional stuff) the steampunk aesthetic exists on the basis of the idea that something ''looks'' good because it ''is'' good; i.e., a thing's image is an outgrowth of its (effective) fundamental design. This can be achieved in practice, by adhering to a proven engineering tradition, such as the [[http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ UNIX design philosophy]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j79XEgsTLoc This]] video may also help to explain further.

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[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SteampunkPicture_5839.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria Queen Victoria]] wishes she had men like these.]]

!!Examples:

* In 2019 Dr. Pepper gave us the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8cynJC_-Ns time]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAH8AwZ518 traveling]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k54vpyc2z-Q adventures]] of the eponymous Dr. Pepper.

[[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2013/07/what-is-steampunk_24.html What is Steampunk?]] It is a retro-style SpeculativeFiction set in periods where steam power is king. Very often this will be in an AlternateUniverse where the internal combustion engine never displaced the steam engine, and as a result, all manner of cool steam-driven technologies have emerged, ranging from UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} to [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea submarines;]] the plausible counterpart to {{magitek}}, with a HollywoodScience HandWave or TheSparkOfGenius. Largely, steampunk runs on RuleOfCool, with some supposedly "steam-powered" technology being more advanced than modern electronics. Sometimes combined with the work of Charles Babbage on mechanical computers to produce a kind of retro {{cyberpunk}} set entirely in the Victorian era or a close analogue, with Dickensian exploitation. In essence, it's applying the question of "What if the future happened sooner?"

The more Victorian branch of steampunk sometimes also incorporates vaguely [[EldritchAbomination Lovecraftian]] elements, [[http://thetentacleparadox.com/blog/?p=46 as shown here.]] Another good example of the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]]/antediluvian influence on steampunk would be the design of the ''Nautilus'', Captain Nemo's submarine, in the [[Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen film adaptation]] of ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.'' Expect to also see a strong, visible Irish influence, in terms of such features as stained wood, brass, and American frontier-style blown glass oil lamps. You will occasionally encounter some minor overlap with the post-Victorian Art Deco movement as well, particularly in terms of typography. The [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} Zeppelin]] or rigid airship could also be considered one of the major icons of steampunk, due to the major public enthusiasm for the craft [[UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg pre-1937]]. This is despite them being much more commonplace in the DieselPunk era. To be fair, though, the first airship flew in 1852, predating both the Lincoln Administration and [[OlderThanRadio radio]]- and yes, it was powered by a steam engine.

Creator/JulesVerne, the first SpeculativeFiction writer, is the king of this trope. He and Creator/HGWells are often mentioned as the foundation of a literary steampunk's reading list. For added style, however, knowledge of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought#Movement New Thought]] movement can help, as can [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism Spiritualism,]] as both of those were very popular among the Victorians, and very influential on their thinking. In addition to being a science fiction writer, Jules Verne was also a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history Naturalist.]] The [[https://www.cosmicpolymath.com/percy-fawcett.html steampunk Naturalist,]] as exemplified by Verne and others such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beebe William Beebe,]] is one of steampunk's most important subtropes.

Of course, [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory the difference]] in {{values|Dissonance}} between the Victorian era and the present are rarely mentioned, unless the work is emphasizing the "punk" side of things more than most of them do, or consciously attempting {{Deconstruction}}. This leads to occasional criticisms that steampunks are glamorising the racist, imperialist culture of the Victorian era -- though some of them can and will argue with that.

Oh, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA glueing some gears on it]] doesn't make it steampunk. As far as hardware hacking or Makerism specifically are concerned, (as opposed to the purely fictional stuff) the steampunk aesthetic exists on the basis of the idea that something ''looks'' good because it ''is'' good; i.e., a thing's image is an outgrowth of its (effective) fundamental design. This can be achieved in practice, by adhering to a proven engineering tradition, such as the [[http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ UNIX design philosophy.]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j79XEgsTLoc This]] video may also help to explain further.

* Following the [[TheEighties 198-something]] revamp of Disneyland California, Tomorrowland was whole-heartedly turned into this, described as something "straight out of Creator/JulesVerne's works." Walt Disney World's Tomorrowland followed suit in the early '90s.
** Discoveryland, the Disneyland Paris equivalent of Tomorrowland, was designed with the premise that the land is what Creator/JulesVerne, Creator/HGWells and their contemporaries ''thought'' the future would look like.
** Tokyo Disneysea has a VERY steampunk section known as the Mysterious Island, also based on the works of Jules Verne.

* [[http://www.subeta.net Subeta]] has a month-long celebration of {{steampunk}} for its forum members/roleplayers in the spring, called the Atebus Revolution Masquerade.
** [[http://www.valenth.com Valenth]], a related website created by the same people, is entirely based around {{steampunk}} technologies.

Creator/JulesVerne, the first SpeculativeFiction writer, is the king of this trope. He and Creator/HGWells are often mentioned as the foundation of a literary steampunk's reading list. For added style, however, knowledge of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought#Movement New Thought]] movement can help, as can [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism Spiritualism,]] as both of those were very popular among the Victorians, and very influential on their thinking. In addition to being a science fiction writer, Jules Verne was also a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history Naturalist.]] The [[http://www.cosmicpolymath.com/the-victorian-ethos-percy-fawcett.html steampunk Naturalist,]] as exemplified by Verne and others such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beebe William Beebe,]] is one of steampunk's most important subtropes.

** Most recently, Willeford created a steampunk ''Franchise/IronMan'' suit, calling it "Iron Man 1889". It won top honors in the Marvel Cosplay contest at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con.

[[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2013/07/what-is-steampunk_24.html What is Steampunk?]] It is a retro-style SpeculativeFiction set in periods where steam power is king. Very often this will be in an AlternateUniverse where the internal combustion engine never displaced the steam engine, and as a result all manner of cool steam-driven technologies have emerged, ranging from UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} to [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea submarines;]] the plausible counterpart to {{magitek}}, with a HollywoodScience HandWave or TheSparkOfGenius. Largely, steampunk runs on RuleOfCool, with some supposedly "steam-powered" technology being more advanced than modern electronics. Sometimes combined with the work of Charles Babbage on mechanical computers to produce a kind of retro {{cyberpunk}} set entirely in the Victorian era or a close analogue, with Dickensian exploitation.

** Thanks to your inventions (steamboats, gas lamps, single-shot riffles, ECT), Greece in “The Winged Victory” can be considered this.

* ''Fanfic/CaptainsCrash'': [[ZigZaggingTrope ZigZagging]] with Launchpad's Curtiss JN-4, or "Jenny"; a steam-powered biplane. It flies -- and in fact, there ''were'' real-world experiments into steam-powered aircraft from the 1840s till the 1960s -- but it's noted that it's very inefficient in terms of its power-to-weight ratio, which is the reason why the technology never got anywhere on Earth.

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]

Steampunk may be a modern reflection of the 1930s–40s trope of TheGayNineties, an idealized version of the 1890s. While various works may be more chronologically specific, any time from around 1860, through to the 1910's, can be considered fair game. Think of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar and UsefulNotes/WorldWarI as acceptable bookends: the former is when the technological revolution really started to take off, and the latter when it first started edging into DieselPunk. (Some definitions set the start date earlier, though, perhaps as far back as the 1780s, when the UsefulNotes/IndustrialRevolution first began to take off.) The term "steampunk" was coined by Creator/KWJeter to describe the speculative fiction stories in a Victorian setting that he, Creator/TimPowers, and James Blaylock were writing in the early 1980s in contrast to the cyberpunk stories like ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'' that were saturating media. Steampunk's modern incarnation may be considered a reaction to the popular dystopias of that time: the positive power of the imagination and subversion of the NewTechnologyIsEvil trope are common steampunk themes, although recent steampunk is increasingly likely to deal with dystopian societies, sometimes even drawing upon the works of Charles Babbage to theorize humans with mechanical brains and other things rendering them cyberpunk in all but backdrop and visual trappings.

[[caption-width-right:250:[[UsefulNotes Queen Victoria]] wishes she had men like these.]]

** Also, the Tomorrowland in Disneyland Paris still is something "straight out of Creator/JulesVerne's works."

The more Victorian branch of steampunk sometimes also incorporates vaguely [[EldritchAbomination Lovecraftian]] elements, as shown [[http://thetentacleparadox.com/blog/?p=46 here]]. Another good example of the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian]]/antediluvian influence on steampunk would be the design of the ''Nautilus'', Captain Nemo's submarine, in the [[Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen film adaptation]] of ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.'' Expect to also see a strong, visible Irish influence, in terms of such features as stained wood, brass, and American frontier-style blown glass oil lamps. You will occasionally encounter some minor overlap with the post-Victorian Art Deco movement as well, particularly in terms of typography. The [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} Zeppelin]] or rigid airship could also be considered one of the major icons of steampunk, due to the major public enthusiasm for the craft [[UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg pre-1937]]. This is despite them being much more commonplace in the DieselPunk era. To be fair, though, the first airship flew in 1852, predating both the Lincoln Administration and [[OlderThanRadio radio]]- and yes, it was powered by a steam engine.

Oh, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA glueing some gears on it]] doesn't make it steampunk. As far as hardware hacking or Makerism specifically are concerned, (as opposed to the purely fictional stuff) the steampunk aesthetic exists on the basis of the idea that something ''looks'' good because it ''is'' good; i.e., a thing's image is an outgrowth of its (effective) fundamental design. This can be achieved in practice, by adhering to a proven engineering tradition, such as the [[http://catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ UNIX design philosophy]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j79XEgsTLoc This]] video may also help to explain further.

* Steampunk/{{Anime}}

* Steampunk/ComicBook

[[folder:Pinballs]]

[[folder:Theater]]

* There is an excellent "silent movie" parody of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' -- [[http://www.sisterson.co.uk/ Steam Trek: The Moving Picture]].

* Engine Machines from ''VisualNovel/ShikkokuNoSharnoth'' are some weird form of technology that has granted VictorianEngland technology on par or superior to our own in many ways, especially military.