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{{trope}}{{page should be category}}
An epic is a long story centered on a heroic character that describes a series of exceptional events, similar to and suggestive of epic poetry. There are numerous epics in fiction and storytelling. Epics are majestic depictions and capture impressive struggles, such as stories of war, adventures, and other efforts of great scope and size over long periods of time.
 
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* [[Epic Poem]] (also known as classic epic)
* Epic Narrative (also known as modern epic)
* [[Epic Movie]] (more broadly defined, includes film adaptations of the [[The Epic|'''literary epic]]''' as defined here)
 
Some basic guidelines:
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{{examples}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Akira]]'', both the manga and [[Epic Movie|the film]].
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** ''[[Digimon Savers]]''
** ''[[Digimon Xros Wars]]''
** ''[[Digimon Xros Wars: theThe Young Hunters Leaping Through Time]]''
** ''[[Digimon V-Tamer 01]]''
* ''[[Dragon Ball]]''
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** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing]]''
** ''[[After War Gundam X]]''
** ''[[Turn aA Gundam (Anime)|Turn a Gundam]]''
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED]]''
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]''
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam AgeAGE]]''
* The ''Mazinger trilogy'', with all their sequels and spin-offs throughout forty years, definitely fits:
** ''[[Mazinger Z]]''
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** ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer]]''
** ''[[Mazinkaiser]]''
** ''[[Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen]]''
** ''[[Shin Mazinger Zero]]''
* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]''
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* ''[[One Piece]]''
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''
* ''[[Twentieth20th Century Boys]]''
* ''[[Tower of God]]''
* ''[[Vinland Saga]]''
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* ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]''
* ''[[The Sandman]]''
** Also its popular spinoff series ''[[Lucifer (Comic Bookcomics)|Lucifer]]''.
 
== Fan FictionWorks ==
* ''[[Undocumented Features]]'' as a whole is a familial epic; the ''Symphony of the Sword'' story cycle within it is a heroic epic on its own.
 
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* ''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]''
* ''[[The Lion King]]''
* ''[[Master and Commander]]: Fits all but one of the criteria as it is focused on a single ship action. However it has a majestic plot, and larger then life characters and fits the other four criteria to a T.
* ''[[The Matrix]]''
* ''[[Star Wars]]''
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== Literature ==
* ''[[The Aeneid]]''
* ''[[Belisarius Series]]'' is a [[Double Subversion]] with larger-then-life characters and events, modified by cynical asides. That is it is a time-travel dimenensional war centered in the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian, with the characters talking like real soldiers rather then in Homeric [[Purple Prose]] and the effect can be a little odd. It certainly qualifies as an epic however.
* ''[[Beowulf]]''
* ''[[Book of the New Sun]]''
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* ''[[The Dark Tower]]''
* ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'' of [[In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It|Dante Alighieri]].
* ''[[Lord Byron's Don Juan|Don Juan]]'' by [[Lord Byron]] is an [[Affectionate Parody]] of [[The Epic]].
* ''[[The Dresden Files]]''
* ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]''
* ''[[Dune]]'' (particularly the first book, though most of them count anyways, and can be considered a hereditary epic as well)
* ''[[The Epic of Gilgamesh]]''
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* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'', the 7th book especially.
* ''[[His Dark Materials]]''
* ''[[Honor Harrington]]: Perhaps not. But it does include a journey to the underworld-well to a planet named [[Fridge Brilliance|Charon]].
* ''[[Hyperion]]''
* ''[[The Iliad]]''
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* ''[[The Stand]]''
* ''[[The Saga of the Volsungs|Volsunga Saga]]''
* ''[[Technic History]]'': Fictional history of the expansion of humanity and other races into the stars, framing device for several stories some of which are mini-epics in their own right.
* ''[[Warrior Cats]]''
* ''[[Watership Down]]''; also has [[Mythopoeia|its own epic mythology in-universe]].
* ''[[Wheel of Time]]''
* ''[[The Winds of War and War and Remembrance|The Winds of War/War and Remembrance]]'' (they are a two-volume set) by Herman Wouk. Someone or other said it was the [[World War II]] version of [[War and Peace]].
**Also a TV miniseries which really went over the top for it's time, including borrowing and blowing up surplus naval vessels, checking out the real Auschwitz as a stage prop for horrific and realistic Holocaust scenes, and hiring big-end actors like Robert Mitchum and Jane Seymour.
* ''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]''
 
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* ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'': Easily one of the most [[Department of Redundancy Department|Epic]] versions of this ever.
* ''[[Baldur's Gate]]''
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]''
* ''[[Exit Fate]]''
* ''[[Fallout]]'' series
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games after the [[Excuse Plot]] era.
* Most ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' titles:
** ''[[Fire Emblem Akaneia|Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem]]'' tell one epic in two parts
** ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War]]''
** ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn'' also tell one epic in two parts
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* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''
* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' has all the attributes and fits the structure... from children's points of view.
* ''[[ReBoot]]'' uses this structure mostly in its third and fourth seasons when it started using [[Story Arc|Story Arcs]]s.
* ''[[Samurai Jack]]''
* ''[[Exo Squad]]''
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[[Category:Genres]]
[[Category:Plots]]
[[Category:indexIndex]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epic, The}}
[[Category:The Epic]]▼
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
▲[[Category:The Epic Tropes]]

Latest revision as of 17:04, 4 May 2020

An epic is a long story centered on a heroic character that describes a series of exceptional events, similar to and suggestive of epic poetry. There are numerous epics in fiction and storytelling. Epics are majestic depictions and capture impressive struggles, such as stories of war, adventures, and other efforts of great scope and size over long periods of time.

Form is mostly limited to literature and theater, and includes.

  • Epic Poem (also known as classic epic)
  • Epic Narrative (also known as modern epic)
  • Epic Movie (more broadly defined, includes film adaptations of the literary epic as defined here)

Some basic guidelines:

  • A longer-than-average story that...
  • ... Is wide in scope (not just one battle or skirmish, but a war or a country-wide catastrophe) and...
  • ... Follows one hero, group of heroes or bloodline, who...
  • ... Strive to achieve a particular goal or complete a quest, in the course of which they...
  • ... Commit extraordinary deeds and...
  • ... Have multiple (three or more) separate adventures in the course of their quest or journey.

The classic epics had their own guidelines:

  • 12 chapters/stories/volumes
  • Starting In Medias Res, usually later having The Hero explain via Flash Back How We Got Here
  • "Invocation of the Muse" (formally asking one of the Muses to help the author live up to the task of doing the story justice, or achieve whatever goal they have in mind for it)
  • A trip to the Underworld

Can be divided into a few different subgenres. The divisions also come in two flavors, Form and Subject (may be subtropes/genres). Both forms can be divided by subject:

  • Heroic (one person, may include companions, but focused on the person)
  • Familial (follows a particular lineage)
  • and National (follows the history of an entire nation, not common)

Not to be confused with the modern bastardization of the term just to mean "awesome."

This is a distinguishing characteristic of Space Opera and High Fantasy.

Please do not add an example without ensuring that it first meets the criteria.

Examples of The Epic include:

Anime and Manga

Comic Books

Fan Works

  • Undocumented Features as a whole is a familial epic; the Symphony of the Sword story cycle within it is a heroic epic on its own.

Film

Literature

Live Action TV

Music

Roleplay

Tabletop Games

  • GURPS has a number of potential epics for The Gamemaster to work with in its various Sourcebooks some of which are quite well done. Several are suggested in the sample campaigns. In Vikings one can replay any saga or make up one's own. There is even a mythic campaign theme in which Loki escape's and threatens to bring about Ragnorak before its time. In Traveller Sword Worlds there is 100 Parsecs which is about the journey of a group of Sword Worlders to set up a new civilization in which the Sword Worlder way of life may be preserved far in the reaches of the universe. One can also do the original founding of the Sword Worlds which is an intensely powerful theme. Intersteller Wars is in a way a "national epic" of the Terran Confederation. In fact some GURPS ideas are so good that it is a tragedy that they were never taken in hand by a writer worthy of them. Hopefully one is waiting.

Theater

Video Games

Web Animation

  • Broken Saints, one of the first flash series to take itself seriously.

Webcomics

Western Animation

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