Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Fantastic art is an art genre The parameters of fantastic art has been fairly rigourously defined in the scholarship on the subject Many Anime TV series movies and OAVs fall into the Fantasy genre Fantasy art is a genre of Art that depicts The definition of a fantasy author is somewhat diffuse and a matter of opinion – Jules Verne considered H A number of Fantasy themed Comic books exist For example Elfquest Monster allergy W A fantasy fiction magazine or fantasy magazine is a Magazine which publishes primarily Fantasy fiction. Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes usually involving magic, Supernatural events make-believe creatures or exotic Fantasy worlds Fantasy literature is Fantasy in written form Historically speaking the majority of fantasy works have been literature Fantasy television is a genre of Television featuring elements of the Fantastic, often including magic, Supernatural forces or exotic Fantasy Though the Fantasy genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old its antecedents have a long and distinguished history Though The Fantasy Genre has spawned many new Subgenres with no clear counterparts in the myths or Folklore upon which the tradition of fantasy storytelling is The Fantastique is a French term for a literary and cinematic genre that overlaps with Science fiction, horror and Fantasy There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises This article is about the word for other meanings see Quest (disambiguation A quest is a journey towards a goal used in Mythology A magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises A fantasy world is a type of Imaginary world, part of a Fictional universe used in Fantasy novels and games A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature Lovecraftian horror is a sub-genre of horror Fiction which emphasizes the Psychological horror of the unknown (in some cases unknowable over gore or other A magician, wizard, sorcerer or a person known under one of many other possible terms in fiction is someone who uses or practices magic Magic in Fiction is the endowing of Fictional characters or objects with magical powers. Tolkien fandom is an international informal community of fans of the works of J A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a Conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events objects people and The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events Mythos (Aristotle In literature the plot comprises all the events in a story particularly rendered towards the achievement of some particular Artistic or Emotional In Fiction, the setting of a story includes the time location and circumstances in which it takes place The genre is usually associated with the overall look, feel and themes of the European Middle Ages (including architecture, dress and technology), while the actual setting is often a fictional plane or planet where magic and magical beings are commonplace. A theme, from Old French tesme, is a broad idea in a story or literary work or a message or lesson conveyed by a written text Medieval architecture is a term used to represent various forms of Architecture popular in Medieval Europe. Early medieval European dress, from about 400 to 1100 changed very gradually Medieval technology refers to the technology used in medieval Europe, which generally does not include the parts of Europe under Arab rule, such as Islamic In Metaphysics and Esoteric cosmology, a plane, other than the Physical plane, is conceived as a subtle state of Consciousness that transcends

Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of technological and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three (collectively known as speculative fiction). Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience Macabre is a quality of certain artistic or literary works characterized by a grim or ghastly atmosphere Speculative fiction is a term used as an inclusive descriptor covering a group of Fiction Genres that speculate about worlds that are unlike the real world in

In its broadest sense, fantasy comprises works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians, from ancient myths and legends to many recent works embraced by a wide audience today. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" A legend ( Latin, legenda, "things to be read" is a Narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to

Traits of fantasy

The identifying traits of fantasy are the inclusion of fantastic elements in a self-coherent (internally consistent) setting. ^[1] Within such a structure, any location of the fantastical element is possible: it may be hidden in, or leak into the apparently real world setting, it may draw the characters into a world with such elements, or it may occur entirely in a fantasy world setting, where such elements are part of the world. A fantasy world is a type of Imaginary world, part of a Fictional universe used in Fantasy novels and games ^[2]

Within a given work, the elements must not only obey rules, but for plot reasons, must also contain limits to allow both the heroes and the villains means to fight; magical elements must come with prices, or the story would become unstructured. ^[3]

American fantasy, starting with the stories chosen by John W. Campbell, Jr. for the magazine Unknown, is often characterized by internal logic. John Wood Campbell Jr (June 8 1910 – July 11 1971 was an important Science fiction editor and writer Unknown (also known as Unknown Worlds) was a pulp Fantasy fiction magazine, edited by John W That is, the events in the story are impossible, but follow "laws" of magic, and have a setting that is internally consistent. ^[4]

History

For more details on this topic, see History of fantasy. Though the Fantasy genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old its antecedents have a long and distinguished history

See also: Sources of fantasy

Fairy tales and legends, such as Dobrynya Nikitich's rescue of Zabava Putyatichna from the dragon Gorynych, have been an important source for fantasy

Beginning perhaps with the Epic of Gilgamesh and the earliest written documents known to humankind, mythic and other elements that would eventually come to define fantasy and its various subgenres have been a part of some of the grandest and most celebrated works of literature. Though Dobrynya Nikitich (Добрыня Никитич is a Bogatyr Medieval Knight of Kiev Rus. In Slavic mythology, the word zmey or Змей and its cognates zmiy, zmaj, zmej and żmij are used to describe a The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. From The Odyssey to Beowulf, from the Mahabharata to The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, from the Ramayana to the Journey to the West, and from the Arthurian legend and medieval romance to the epic poetry of the Divine Comedy, fantastical adventures featuring brave heroes and heroines, deadly monsters, and secret arcane realms have inspired many audiences. The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. Beowulf is an Old English Heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki Journey to the West ( is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the Legends that concern the Celtic and legendary History of Great Britain, especially those As a Literary genre of High culture, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic Prose and verse Narrative An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation The Divine Comedy A hero (from Greek grc ἥρως hērōs) in Greek mythology and Folklore, was originally a Demigod, the offspring of a mortal and A hero (from Greek grc ἥρως hērōs) in Greek mythology and Folklore, was originally a Demigod, the offspring of a mortal and A monster is any of a large number of Legendary creatures which usually appear in Mythology, Legend, or Horror fiction. A realm (rɛlm is the dominion of a monarch king queen emperor empress or other sovereign ruler In this sense, the history of fantasy and the history of literature are inextricably intertwined.

Many works are unclear as to the belief of the authors in the marvels they contain, as in the enchanted garden from the Decameron

There are many works where the boundary between fantasy and other works is not clear; the question of whether the writers believed in the possibilities of the marvels in A Midsummer Night's Dream or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight makes it difficult to distinguish when fantasy, in its modern sense, first began. The Decameron (subtitle Prencipe Galeotto) is a collection of 100 Novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, suggested by " The Knight's Tale " from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century ^[5]

Although pre-dated by John Ruskin's The King of the Golden River (1841), the history of modern fantasy literature is usually said to begin with George MacDonald, the Scottish author of such novels as The Princess and the Goblin and Phantastes (1858), the latter of which is widely considered to be the first fantasy novel ever written for adults. John Ruskin (8 February 1819 &ndash 20 January 1900 is best known for his work as an Art critic, sage writer, and Social critic, but is remembered The King of the Golden River or The Black Brothers A Legend of Stiria by John Ruskin was originally written for the twelve year old Effie (Euphemia Gray George MacDonald ( 10 December 1824 &mdash 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author poet and Christian minister The Princess and the Goblin is a children's Fantasy Novel by George MacDonald. Phantastes A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a Fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858 MacDonald was a major influence on both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963 The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, a popular English poet who wrote several novels in the latter part of the century, including The Well at the World's End. William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896 was an English Architect, Furniture and Textile designer artist writer and socialist associated

Despite MacDonald's future influence with At the Back of the North Wind (1871), and Morris's popularity with his contemporaries, it wasn't until the turn of the century that fantasy fiction began to reach a large audience. Edward Plunkett, better known as Lord Dunsany, established the genre's popularity in both the novel and the short story form. Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett 18th Baron of Dunsany ( 24 July 1878 &ndash 25 October 1957) was an Anglo-Irish writer and Many popular mainstream authors also began to write fantasy at this time, including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE ( 22 June 1856 &ndash 14 May 1925) was a prolific writer of Adventure novels set Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936 was an English Author and poet Edgar Rice Burroughs ( September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author best known for his creation of the jungle hero These authors, along with Abraham Merritt, established what was known as the "lost world" sub-genre, which was the most popular form of fantasy in the early decades of the 20th century, although several classic children's fantasies, such as Peter Pan and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, were also published around this time. Abraham Merritt ( January 20, 1884 &ndash August 21, 1943) who published under the byline A Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J

Indeed, juvenile fantasy was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, with the effect that writers who wished to write fantasy had to fit their work in a work for children. Juvenile fantasy is Children's literature with fantasy elements Fantasy intended for readers not yet adult ^[6] Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote many early works verging on fantasy, but in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, intended for children, wrote fantasy. Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4 1804 – May 19 1864 was an American novelist and Short story writer A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys (1852 is a book by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. ^[7] For many years, this and successes such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), created the circular effect that all fantasy works, even the later The Lord of the Rings, were therefore classified as children's literature.

In 1923 the first all-fantasy fiction magazine, Weird Tales, was created. Weird Tales is an American Fantasy and Horror fiction Pulp magazine first published in March 1923. Many other similar magazines eventually followed, most noticeably The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (later Fantasy & Science Fiction and usually referred to as just F&SF) is a digest-size The pulp magazine format was at the height of its popularity at this time and was instrumental in bringing fantasy fiction to a wide audience in both the U. S. and Britain. Such magazines were also instrumental in the rise of science fiction, and it was at this time the two genres began to be associated with each other.

By 1950 "sword and sorcery" fiction had begun to find a wide audience, with the success of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. Sword and sorcery ( S&S) is a fantasy subgenre generally characterized by swashbuckling heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts Robert Ervin Howard ( January 22 1906 &ndash June 11 1936) was an American pulp writer of Fantasy, Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland Cimmeria) is a Fictional character often associated with This article refers to the science fiction writer For the actor see Fritz Leiber Sr Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two seminal Sword-and-sorcery heroes created by Fritz Leiber (1910–1992 and loosely modelled upon himself and his friend Harry ^[8] However, it was the advent of high fantasy, and most of all the popularity of J. High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of Fantasy fiction that is set in invented or parallel worlds. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the late 1960s, that allowed fantasy to truly enter the mainstream. The Hobbit or There and Back Again is an award-winning fantasy The Lord of the Rings is an epic ^[9] Several other series, such as C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea books, helped cement the genre's popularity. Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (ˈɝsələ ˈkroʊbɚ ləˈgwɪn (born October 21, 1929) is an American author Earthsea is a Fictional realm created by Ursula K Le Guin for her short story " The Word of Unbinding " published in 1964 but that became more

The popularity of the fantasy genre has continued to increase in the 21st century, as evidenced by the best-selling status of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Joanne "Jo" Rowling OBE (born 31 July 1965 who writes under the Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J Several fantasy film adaptations have achieved blockbuster status, most notably The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy consists of three Live action Fantasy Epic films The Fellowship of the Ring ( 2001 Peter Robert Jackson, CNZM (born 31 October 1961 is a three-time Academy Award -winning New Zealand director producer and writer best known for directing

Media

For more details on this topic, see fantasy art, fantasy literature, fantasy film, and fantasy television. Fantasy art is a genre of Art that depicts Fantasy literature is Fantasy in written form Historically speaking the majority of fantasy works have been literature Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes usually involving magic, Supernatural events make-believe creatures or exotic Fantasy worlds Fantasy television is a genre of Television featuring elements of the Fantastic, often including magic, Supernatural forces or exotic Fantasy

Fantasy is a popular genre, having found a home for itself in almost every medium. While fantasy art and recently fantasy films have been increasingly popular, it is fantasy literature which has always been the genre's primary medium.

Fantasy role-playing games cross several different media. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. The "pen & paper" role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons was the first and is arguably the most successful and influential, though the pseudo-science fantasy role-playing game series Final Fantasy has been an icon of the console role-playing game genre. Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a Fantasy Role-playing game (RPG originally designed by Science fantasy is a mixed Genre of story which contains some Science fiction and some Fantasy elements A console role-playing game is a video game genre that has its origin rooted in Video game consoles and includes game mechanics and frequently settings derived

Subgenres

For more details on this topic, see Fantasy subgenres. The Fantasy Genre has spawned many new Subgenres with no clear counterparts in the myths or Folklore upon which the tradition of fantasy storytelling is

Modern fantasy, including early modern fantasy, has also spawned many new subgenres with no clear counterpart in mythology or folklore, although inspiration from mythology and folklore remains a consistent theme. Fantasy subgenres are numerous and diverse, frequently overlapping with other forms of speculative fiction in almost every medium in which they are produced. Noteworthy in this regard are the science fantasy and dark fantasy subgenres, which the fantasy genre shares with science fiction and horror, respectively. Science fantasy is a mixed Genre of story which contains some Science fiction and some Fantasy elements Dark fantasy is a subgenre that combines elements of fantasy including marvelous abilities with those of horror

Subculture

Professionals such as publishers, editors, authors, artists, and scholars within the fantasy genre get together yearly at the World Fantasy Convention. The World Fantasy Convention is an annual convention of professionals collectors and others interested in the field of Fantasy. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the convention. The World Fantasy Awards are annual international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of Fantasy. The first WFC was held in 1975, and it has occurred every year since. The convention is held at a different city each year.

Additionally, many science fiction conventions, such as Florida's FX Show or MegaCon, also cater to fantasy and horror fans; and anime conventions, such as JACON or Anime Expo frequently feature showings of fantasy, science fantasy, and dark fantasy series and films, such as Cardcaptor Sakura (fantasy), Sailor Moon (science fantasy), xxxHolic (dark fantasy), and Spirited Away (fantasy). MegaCon, short for Mega Convention is a large convention that caters to the Anime, Sci-fi, Comic, and Fantasy community occurring between (anime in Japanese, JACON is an annual three-day Anime convention held in Orlando Florida sometime between the months of April and June Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an Anime convention that usually takes place on the July 4 weekend for four days each year in Southern California also known as Card Captor Sakura (with the space and often abbreviated as CCS, is a Magical girl Manga series from the well-known is the title of a Japanese Media franchise created by Naoko Takeuchi. pronounced "holic" is a Seinen Manga series planned and presented by Clamp. is a 2001 film by the Japanese Anime studio Studio Ghibli, written and directed by famed animator Hayao Miyazaki. Many science fiction/fantasy and anime conventions also strongly feature or cater to one or more of the several subcultures within the main subcultures, including the cosplay subculture (in which people make and/or wear costumes based on existing or self-created characters, sometimes also acting out skits or plays as well), the fan fiction subculture, and the fan vid or AMV subculture, as well as the large internet subculture devoted to reading and writing prose fiction and/or doujinshi in or related to those genres. short for "costume play" is a type of performance art whose participants outfit themselves with often-elaborate Costumes and Accessories, as a specific Fan fiction (alternately referred to as fanfiction, fanfic, FF or fic) is a broadly defined term for Fiction about characters or settings An anime music video (abbreviated AMV) is a Music video consisting of clips from one or more Anime series or movies set to songs the term usually are self-published Japanese works usually manga or novels They are often the work of amateurs though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular

See also

• Fantasy literature
• Conworld
• List of fantasy authors
• List of fantasy worlds
• List of fantasy novels
• List of high fantasy fiction
• Fairy tales
• Horror fiction
• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Science fiction
• Speculative fiction
• Supernatural fiction
• Themes in Fantasy
• Fantasy subgenres

References

External links

• SFFWorld - Interviews, reviews and forums
• Most Honored Fantasy Books at the Book Award Annals
• The SF Page at Project Gutenberg of Australia