Different types of Fantasy genre?

Visual Novel Community Off Topic
#1

What are the different types of Fantasy genre?

  • Low magic and metal working is rare (maybe even considered magical) settings like Conan and Xena Warrior Princess.

  • Classical wizards and dragons settings - with medieval castles, staff and scroll spell casters, knights on horses - like Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings.

  • Magic has spell academies, primitive gunpowder, and renaissance style nations like Warhammer.

  • Magic has applied the scientific method to itself and technology has achieved an (sometimes very advanced) industrial revolution like Warmachine.

  • Magic and technology are at space age levels: see standard Japanese anime fantasy with 50 mecha.

  • Magic and technology rip and rend reality at godlike levels like Exalted.

What else is there?

#2

That seems to cover most possibilities, though I would add:

  • Magic is believed to be mythical by most people and is known/accessible to only a select few, Harry Potter being the most famous example.

Also I’m going to nitpick and say that metal wasn’t exactly rare in Xena. :slight_smile:

#3

There’s a few more. Like GaiusMax just posted, there’s the standard MegaTen/Shadowrun/etc setting, where it’s essentially the modern world, plus magic.

Then there’s postfuturistic fantasy, where the fantastic elements are actually sci-fi.

Then there’s postapocalyptic fantasy, where a supernatural apocalypse happened in the past and the world is effed up as a result.

Then there’s worlds that used to be perfectly mundane, and all of a sudden, a switch gets flipped, and magic mysteriously exists.

Then there’s worlds that are mundane, except psychic powers have been proven and further industrialized.

Then there’s worlds that have as the only supernatural elements a fight for control over destiny.

Then there’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel. And then Interstate Dreams. And then The Iron Dragon’s Daughter. And then the Super Mario Bros. setting. And the Planescape setting.

There’s lots of differnet subtypes out there.

#4

There is a setting where technology and magic co exist side by side, though magic is accessible to only a select few.

Then there is Final Fantasy

#5

Cartoon-comedy magic - people having magic is extremely common but either it’s not very powerful or it’s so powerful that it counterbalances itself, and no one can use magic to make any real changes because someone else just changes it back. Very silly things happen with no lasting effect.

#6