Historical Fantasy: Difference between revisions

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== [[Anime]]/[[Manga]] ==
* ''[[The Mysterious Cities of Gold (Anime)|The Mysterious Cities of Gold]]'' is set in the 16th century during Spain's exploration/exploitation of the New World, but with [[Lost Technology|Lost]] [[Magitek]].
* ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' is set in the 1920s in America, and features a [[Church Militant|nun-with-a-gun]] and [[Deal Withwith the Devil|the demon she's contracted to]] fighting demons and other supernatural threats. The manga also fits under [[Alternate History]] towards the end, but the anime makes a point of working in the 1981 Pope John Paul II assassination attempt into the finale of the show.
* ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' is 1920s Japan but with demons -- it's also somewhat [[Alternate History]], although the [[Schizo-Tech|crazy steam technology]] doesn't seem to have affected the timeline much.
* On that note, ''[[Inuyasha]]'' qualifies as well, since it's Sengoku-era Japan but with demons and magic, and yet the timeline appears to be unchanged.
* ''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo]]'' is set in Sengoku Japan with a truckload of [[Functional Magic]] and [[Lensman Arms Race]] levels of new hidden powers coming to the forefront.
* ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano]]'' injects [[Hermetic Magic|alchemy]] (specifically, the [[Immortality|Elixir of Life]] and [[Artificial Human|homunculi]]) into the [[Gangsterland|organized crime world]] of the 1930s.
* ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' has some minor fantastical elements, like the existence of ki. Zombies, however, are most likely [[Mushroom Samba|mushroom-induced hallucinations]].
* ''[[Princess Mononoke]]''
* ''[[Blood: theThe Last Vampire]]'' largely takes place in a 1970s Japan that looks very much like the real world deal...[[Captain Obvious|except for the aforementioned vampires]] running around.
* ''[[Gate Keepers]]'' likewise is set a bit further back, in 1969-70 Tokyo, with a dash of [[Alternate History]]. Aside from the Invaders and super powered heroes, it does manage to capture the real economic and social changes in Japan during that time.
* Arguably due to the presence of [[Anthropomorphic Personifications]], ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' would likely count as well. Especially in the way the Nations are presented in contrast to [[Muggles|their citizens]].
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* ''[[Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell]]'' by Susanna Clarke is set in [[Regency England]], with [[The Fair Folk]] and [[Functional Magic|magicians]].
* [[David Gemmell]] has a few series like this, one set in [[Ancient Greece]] around the time of Philip II and Alexander the Great, and another in [[King Arthur|Arthurian Britain]]. He's also got one set during the siege of Troy, though that one is presented in such a way that almost all of the supernatural things apart from [[Cassandra Truth|Cassandra's precognition]] have obvious natural explanations.
* [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Stardust (Literaturenovel)|Stardust]]'' is an odd example, since most of the action takes place outside of historical England. The majority of the mystical parts are contained within the land beyond the wall. The wall is just a low stone wall running across the bottom of a village, which happens to contain a gate to the world that is spoken of in fairy tales. The part of England in that world is full of living stars and lightning smugglers. The real world, however, is so mundane that any part of the fairy realm that isn't at least partly from the real world would not survive the trip, turning into lifeless matter.
* ''[[Tales of the Otori]]'' by Lian Hearn.
* Sylvain Hotte's ''[[Darhan]]'' series takes place in the time of Genghis Khan.
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* The books in [[Anne Rice]]'s [[The Vampire Chronicles|Vampire cycle]] that are set in the past qualify since they are depictions of history - except with [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampires]].
** The same is true of the ''[[Vampire Plagues]]'' series.
* [[Caroline Stevermer]]'s ''[[Scholarly Magics (Literature)|Scholarly Magics]]'' series is set in an [[Alternate History]] early twentieth century with [[Functional Magic]].
* [[Patricia C. Wrede]] and Caroline Stevermer's ''[[Sorcery and Cecelia (Literature)|Sorcery and Cecelia]]'' and its sequels ([[Regency England]], but with [[Functional Magic|mages]]!). Also, [[Patricia C. Wrede]]'s ''Mairelon the Magician'' and ''Magician's Ward''.
* Megan Whalen Turner's ''[[The Queens Thief|The Queen's Thief]]'' series is an interesting case. It's set somewhere on the Mediterranean in a culture that's heavily Byzantine, but the countries mentioned are entirely fictional. Turner goes to great pains to make the story feel like real historical fiction. The fantasy comes from the highly active pantheon of gods directing events.
* Most of Andrzej Sapkowski's newer, post-''[[The Witcher|Witcher]]'' works fall into this cathegory, including the [[Fan Nickname|"Hussite Trilogy"]], a series of [[Historical Fantasy]] adventure novels taking place in 15. century Silesia and the Kingdom of Bohemia [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|during the time of the Hussite Wars]]...
* ''[[Tall Tale America]]'': a retelling of American history, but focusing less on tariffs and more on people digging the Grand Canyon with their bare hands.
* ''Devil's Tower'' and ''Devil's Engine'' by Mark Sumner: A combination of the fantasy and western genres. The Battle of Shiloh released magic into the world. A generation later the United States and the Confederacy are confined to the east and the western half of the country is broken up into isolated communities run by sheriffs who've mastered some magical powers.
* ''[[Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter]]''
** And ''Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter''
** And ''King Henry VIII: Wolfman''
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** And ''Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters''
* ''[[The Strangely Beautiful Series]]'' involves the guard facing off against Hades, the ruler of the whisper world, during the Victorian era.
* ''[[Shades of Milk and Honey (Literature)|Shades of Milk and Honey]]'': Mary Robinette Kowal's sweet evocation of [[Jane Austen (Creator)|Jane Austen]] and her own art of puppetry (recast as the magic of illusions). Quietly focused on characterization and a slow-burn romance, but with the magical talents an integral, trivial yet all-pervasive force, building to a quite exciting climax.
** It is [[Regency England]] [[In Space|with Magic!]].
* ''[[Literature/The Magicians And Mrs Quent|The Magicians And Mrs Quent]]'': a somewhat barefaced hodgepodge of [[Jane Austen (Creator)|Jane Austen]], [[Charles Dickens (Creator)|Charles Dickens]], [[Henry James]], ''[[Jane Eyre (Literature)|Jane Eyre]]'', and a couple other 19th century British greats, set in a parallel universe with a really odd sun cycle where magic provides a rationale for some of the gender roles that century is famous for. Clearly evoking the kind of [[Regency England]] fantasy Susannah Clarke achieved, but with considerably less subtlety, grace, or prose style.
* Paul Kearney's ''Macht Trilogy''. The first novel, ''The Ten Thousand '' retells [[Xenophon (Creator)|Xenophon]]'s ''[[Anabasis (Literature)|Anabasis]]''; the remaining novels, ''Corvus'' and ''Kings of Morning'', loosely follow the life of [[Alexander the Great]].
* Marie Brennan's ''[[Onyx Court]]'' series recounts the secret history of London and the faeries living beneath it, from Elizabethan times through the Victorian era.
* Modern retellings of the [[King Arthur|Arthurian mythos]] often overlap with [[Historical Fiction]] to show the writer's version of the [[wikipedia:Historical basis for King Arthur|"true story" behind the legend]]. These are set in a more or less historical Europe in the [[Dark Age Europe|Dark Ages]] (or [[The Low Middle Ages]]) instead of the fantasyland Europe of [[Chivalric Romance]], usually depicted as [[High Middle Ages]]. These may trade the glittering castles and [[Knight in Shining Armor|knights in shining plate armor]] for [[Demythtification|wooden hill-forts and horsemen in leather and chain mail]]. But magic and other fantastic elements may remain, thus falling under this trope. Other retellings (listed under [[Demythtification]]) play it straight and omit all fantastic elements.
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** ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'' by [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]. It has a series of prequels set in Britain co-authored with, and then (after Bradley's death) solely written by, Diana L. Paxson.
** ''The White Raven'', a retelling of Tristan and Isolde by Diana L. Paxson. Followed by ''The Hallowed Isle'' series, her own retelling of the Arthurian legends.
* ''[[Ragnar Lodbrok and His Sons (Literature)|Ragnar Lodbrok and His Sons]]'', a 13th century saga that mixes history and fantasy in its portrayal of the 9th century Viking Age.
* ''The Hammer and the Cross'' series by [[Harry Harrison]] and [[TolkienJ. (Creator)R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] scholar Tom Shippey (as "John Holm") is set in an [[Alternate History]] 9th century England. It also features the above characters.
* ''Child of the Eagle'' by [[Esther Friesner]]. [[Roman Mythology|Venus]] appears to [[Ancient Rome|Marcus Brutus]] and convinces him to thwart the assassination of [[Useful Notes/Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar]].
* ''[[Forgotten Gods]]'' has [[The Fair Folk]] returning 18th century Britain.
* ''[[Those Who Hunt the Night (Literature)|Those Who Hunt the Night]]'' and its sequels, by [[Barbara Hambly (Creator)|Barbara Hambly]], features vampires in [[The Edwardian Era]].
* ''[[The Cats of Seroster (Literature)|The Cats of Seroster]]'' by [[Robert Westall (Creator)|Robert Westall]] is set in a fairly realistic version of 16th Century France, with the tactics, weaponry and technology of the era preserved intact. It's just that there also happen to be [[Telepathy|telepathic]] cats and mystical knives that grant immortality to the wielder.
* ''The Cardinal's Blades'' series by Pierre Pevel is [[Alexandre Dumas (Creator)|Alexandre Dumas]] with dragons and dragon-kin, and also a [[Perspective Flip]] since the heroes are agents of Richelieu.
 
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Carnivale]]'': Fantastic things happened during [[The Great Depression]].
* ''[[Young Blades (TV)|Young Blades]]'': The Musketeers during the time of Louis XIV, and Cardinal Mazarin is the leader of an evil magical cult.
 
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Highlander (Film)|Highlander]]''
* ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]''
* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' was set in a loose early 18th century setting until the 4th movie set the year in 1750 and introduced historical characters such as Blackbeard<ref>He's still alive thanks to Voodoo</ref>, George II of Britain and Ferdinand VI of Spain.
* ''[[Indiana Jones (Franchise)|Indiana Jones]]''
* ''[[Anastasia]]''
 
== [[Role Play]] ==
* ''[[Marked RP (Roleplay)|Marked RP]]''
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
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== [[Tabletop RPG]] ==
* ''[[Ars Magica (Tabletop Game)|Ars Magica]]''
* White Wolf's ''[[Old World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|Old World of Darkness]]'' features a detailed alternate history of the world, in which powerful supernatural forces rage behind the scenes of most major historical events.
 
== Comics ==