Line #60 Main/Fantasy


1	[[quoteright:330:[[Comicbook/{{Fables}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snow_queen_in_new_york_2480.jpg]]]]
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3	->''"Fantasy isn't just a jolly escape: It's an escape, but into something far more extreme than reality, or normality. It's where things are more beautiful and more wondrous and more terrifying. You move into a world of conflicting extremes."''
4	-->-- '''Creator/TerryGilliam'''
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6	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 that is {{Magitek}}, or -- where did that clean-cut definition go?
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8	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 ''Literature/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.
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10	Common features of the fantasy genre include:
11	* '''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, or include other species (or "races" as fantasy likes to call them) of intelligent peoples such as elves, dwarves and orcs. See StandardFantasySetting for the, er, standard fantasy setting.
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13	* '''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.
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15	* '''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.
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17	However, even magic itself isn't a required element, as novels such as Ellen Kushner's ''Literature/{{Swordspoint}}'', K.J. Parker's ''Literature/DevicesAndDesires'' 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.)
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19	Often placed outside the Fantasy genre, or not marketed as such:
20	* Examples from {{Mythology}}, {{Legend}}s, {{Fairy Tale}}s, ChivalricRomance, ClassicLiterature, {{Romanticism}}, and GothicLiterature can be seen as precursors to the genre, but are usually excluded.
21	* {{Demythification}}: Real-world {{mythology}} as [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane semi-mundane]] [[HistoricalFiction history]] that "inspired the legend". Inverse of Magical Realism.
22	* MagicalRealism: In which Fantasy elements intermingle with the realism of a contemporary novel.
23	* MundaneFantastic: In which Fantasy, ScienceFiction, or {{Superhero}} elements mix with more naturalistic elements.
24	* SwordAndSandal: Set in a historical period or a FantasyCounterpartCulture to one. Often ranges from the fantastic to the historically accurate.
25	* {{Xenofiction}}: Fiction from a [[MostWritersAreHuman nonhuman]] (alien or [[TalkingAnimal wild animal]]) perspective.
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27	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]]." Jamie Williamson's ''The Evolution of Modern Fantasy, From Antiquarianism to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series'' may also be helpful.
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29	See also: MaybeMagicMaybeMundane, SpeculativeFictionCreatorIndex, and SpeculativeFictionTropes.
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31	----
32	[[index]]
33	[floatboxright:'''Mediums:'''
34	+ FantasyAnimatedFilms
35	+ FantasyAnimeAndManga
36	+ FantasyComicBooks
37	+ FantasyFilms
38	+ FantasyLiterature
39	+ FantasySeries
40	+ FantasyTabletopGames
41	+ FantasyVideoGames
42	+ FantasyVisualNovels
43	+ FantasyWebcomics
44	+ FantasyWebOriginals
45	+ FantasyWesternAnimation
46	]
47
48	![[SubGenre Sub-genres]]:
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50	* ComicFantasy: Includes parodies, fractured fairy tales, and anything that doesn't take itself, its setting, or its tropes too seriously
51	* DarkFantasy: Fantasy with elements of {{horror\|Tropes}}.
52	* FantasticNoir: A mixture of the FilmNoir detective story with the more colorful aspects of {{fantasy}} and ScienceFiction.
53	* GaslampFantasy: Fantasy with an AlternateHistory 19th-century setting (or reasonable approximation thereof).
54	* GunpowderFantasy: Fantasy settings based on the early modern period, roughly spanning UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance to UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars.
55	* HeavyMithril: Fantasy-themed HeavyMetal.
56	* HeroicFantasy (precursor to Sword & Sorcery): Stories focused on adventuresome heroes and their exploits. TropeCodifier is the ''[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]'' stories.
57	** MedievalEuropeanFantasy: Fantasy setting that resembles Medieval Europe.
58	** SpiritCultivationGenre: Wuxia-inspired genre about individuals cultivating the power behind their SupernaturalMartialArts.
59	** SwordAndSorcery: In the style of early {{Pulp Magazine}}s.
60	** {{Wuxia}}: Chinese Heroic Fantasy, with [[KnightErrant all]] [[ImplausibleFencingPowers the]] [[TheQuest elements]]. Usually marketed as LitFic outside China.
61	*** SpiritCultivationGenre: Chinese High Fantasy, with a focus on [[TheAgeless immortal heroes]] with SupernaturalMartialArts and FullContactMagic.
62	* HighFantasy (aka Epic Fantasy): Very mythical in tone, focusing on grand adventures, epic deeds, and mostly clear-cut morality. TropeCodifier is ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (but there [[OlderThanTheyThink were many precursors]]).
63	** MagicalLand: Virtually a sub-genre in itself, and common in works for children. This overlaps with Modern Fantasy.
64	** {{Mythopoeia}} Is also an established variant.
65	* HistoricalFantasy: A version of the history of our world, but with significant fantasy elements added.
66	* LowFantasy: Anything ''not'' set in our world which isn't one of the others.
67	* MagicalGirl: Young female superheroes with magic-based powers.
68	* ScienceFantasy: Fantasy that overlaps with ScienceFiction; this can also be part of other fantasy subgenres.
69	* SlowLifeFantasy: Fantasy starring a protagonist that ignores greater conflicts for unremarkable concerns.
70	* UrbanFantasy: Fantasy set in modern times, or in imagined settings based primarily on modern society.
71
72	!Fantasy Works by Creature Focus:
73	* AngelWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[AngelicTropes Angels]].
74	* DeityFiction: Fantasy works themed around [[GodTropes Gods]].
75	* DemonWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[InfernalTropes Demons]].
76	* DragonWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[DragonTropes Dragons]].
77	* ElfWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[ElfTropes Elves]].
78	* FairyFiction: Fantasy works themed around [[FairyTropes Fairies]].
79	* GenieWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[GenieTropes Genies]].
80	* GhostFiction: Fantasy works themed around [[HauntedIndex Ghosts]].
81	* GoblinWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Goblins]].
82	* KaijuWorks: Fantasy works themed around {{Kaiju}}s.
83	* LeprechaunFiction: Fantasy works themed around {{Leprechaun}}s.
84	* MermaidMedia: Fantasy works themed around [[MerTropes Merfolk]].
85	* MummyMedia: Fantasy works themed around [[MummyTropes Mummies]].
86	* TrollTales: Fictional works about [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]].
87	* UnicornWorks: Fantasy works themed around {{Unicorn}}s.
88	* VampireFiction: Fantasy works themed around [[VampireTropes Vampires]].
89	* WerebeastWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[WerebeastTropes Werebeasts]]
90	** WerewolfWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werewolves]] specifically.
91	* WitchWorks: Fantasy works themed around [[WitchesAndWizards Witches]].
92	* YoukaiWorks: Fantasy works themed around {{Youkai}}.
93	* ZombieStories: Fantasy works themed around [[TropesOfTheLivingDead Zombies]].
94	[[/index]]

Context Main / Fantasy