Heroic Fantasy: Difference between revisions

The exploits of mighty-thewed, sword-wielding heroes and their thiefly, wizardly and/or priestly companions, as they [[In HarmsHarm's Way|spend their days]] smiting evil, fighting monsters, recovering treasures and quaffing ale.

Tends to be distinguishable from [[High Fantasy]] by its scale -- the problems are generally those of the hero, not the world -- and moral standards -- absolute evil and absolute good make fewer appearances. (Well, absolute good makes fewer. Absolute evil, in the form of a [[Religion of Evil]] or the like, makes a convenient foe.) Also by its tendency to be an endless series of adventureadventures, partly because the smaller scale makes it more plausible, and partly because the heroes are very prone to ''love'' being [[In HarmsHarm's Way]].

Heavily influenced by [[The HerosHero's Journey]], the [[King Arthur|Arthurian]] cycle, the ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' stories and movies, the game ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', and classical myth.

Sometimes set in a world that looks [[Medieval European Fantasy|an awful lot like medieval Europe]], although it can range all the way back to a "forgotten prehistory" such as in ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'', or even the "classical" period (ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, etc.), as found in ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess (TV)|Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' (this variant is sometimes called "[[Sword and Sandal]]" and more burly versions are called "[[Thud and Blunder]]"). May involve [[Mythopoeia]].

Also known as "Sword and sorcerySorcery", a term coined by [[Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser|Fritz Leiber]], one of the genre’s [[Trope Codifier|Trope Codifiers]], in reply to a letter by [[Michael Moorcock]]. There is much debate of the definition of these genres; unkind souls have even described Heroic Fantasy as nothing but an upmarket term for Sword and Sorcery.

See also [[Two -Fisted Tales]], [[Pulp Magazine]].

Contrast [[Sword and SandalsSandal]]. See also [[Medieval European Fantasy]].