FANTASY STORY

WHAT IS FANTASY?

 Fantasy, from the Greek ϕαντασία meaning ‘making visible,’ is a genre of fiction
that concentrates on imaginary elements (the fantastic).
 This can mean magic, the supernatural, alternate worlds, superheroes, monsters,
fairies, magical creatures, mythological heroes—essentially, anything that an
author can imagine outside of reality.
 With fantasy, the magical or supernatural elements serve as the foundation of the
plot, setting, characterization, or storyline in general.
EXAMPLE OF FANTASY

 Susie sat at her table with all of her favorite dolls and stuffed animals. It was
afternoon tea time, and she started serving each of her pretend friends as she did
every other day. But today was no ordinary day. As Susie reached the chair where
she had sat her favorite stuffed bear, she suddenly had the strange feeling like
someone was watching her. She stopped pouring the tea and looked up at Bear,
who stared back with his glass eyes and replied, “Well Hello!!”
TYPES OF FANTASY

 Medieval
 Fantasy stories that are medievalist in nature; particularly focused on topics such
as King Arthur and his knights, royal court, sorcery, magic, and so on.
Furthermore, they are usually set in medieval times. They often involve human
protagonists facing supernatural antagonists—opponents like fire-breathing
dragons, evil witches, or powerful wizards.
 High/Epic Fantasy
 Fantasy stories that are set in an imaginary world and/or are epic in nature;
meaning they feature a hero on some type of quest. This subgenre became
particularly popular in the 20th century and continues to dominate much of
popular fantasy today. Prime examples include J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The
Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.
 Fairy Tales
 Short stories that involve fantasy elements and characters—like gnomes, fairies,
witches, etc— who use magical powers to accomplish good and/ or evil. These
tales involve princes and princesses, fairy godmothers and wicked stepmothers,
helpful gnomes and tricky goblins, magical unicorns and flying dragons. Fairytales
feature magical elements but are based in a real world setting; for example,
“Snow White” takes place in a human kingdom and also has a magical witch. The
most notable collections include Grimm’s Fairytales (Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel)
and works by Hans Christian Anderson (“The Ugly Duckling,” “The Little
Mermaid”) and Charles Perrault (“Cinderella,” Tales of Mother Goose). It is also
very common for stories in other genres to feature elements of fairy tales, like
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where humans are unaware that a
fantasy world exists within their own.
 Mythological
 Fantasies that involve elements of myths and folklore, which are typically ancient
in origin and often help to explain the mysteries of the universe and all of its
elements—weather, the earth, the existence of creatures and things, etc—as well
as historical events. The most well-known are Greek and Roman mythology; for
example, stories about the Greek Gods and heroes like Hercules have been retold
countless times through fantasy films. Major examples include Homer’s epic tales
The Iliad and The Odyssey.
 Fables
 Short stories that are similar to fairy tales, but involve animated animals as the
main characters. The most famous collection is Aesop’s Fables, which each end
with a short moral; for example, his tale “Mercury and the Woodman” concludes
with the lesson, “honesty is the best policy.”
IMPORTANCE OF FANTASY

 While fiction in general is a popular way to tell stories, fantasy’s key asset is that it
allows authors to do things outside the confines of the common world. By
removing the limitations of reality, fantasy opens stories to the possibility of
anything. People can become superheroes, animals can speak, dragons become
real dangers, and magic can be as normal as anything else in life.
 Most importantly, fantasy is for the audience—it allows people to escape from
reality, becoming lost in exciting and unusual stories that provoke the
imagination. Fantasy allows authors and audience alike to fulfill their wonders
about magic and the supernatural while exploring beyond what is truly possible in
our world. Furthermore, some fantasy stories (particularly fairy tales) confront
real world problems and offer solutions through magic or another element of
fantasy.
SCIENCE FICTION AND HORROR

 Technically, science fiction could be considered a subgenre of fantasy, as it

involves supernatural elements. However, it is always distinguished from fantasy
because its focus is scientific and futuristic rather than magical and (often)
medieval. The most influential science fiction stories to date are undoubtedly the
George Lucas’s Star Wars films; further examples include the TV series Star Trek
and novels like H.G. Wells’ The War of the World’s and Douglas Adams’ series The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
 Like science fiction, horror could also technically be considered a subgenre of
fantasy, but it is likewise always distinguished from fantasy. Horror’s main focus is
to promote fear and terror in its audience, sometimes using supernatural
elements like ghosts, zombies, monsters, demons, etc. Examples include classic
films like The Exorcist and Poltergeist, the popular TV series The Walking Dead,
and Stephen King’s horror novels like Pet Sematary.
SO,

 In conclusion, fantasy is one of the most popular and significant genres in both
popular culture and literary history. From its dozens of subgenres, to its
compatibility with other genres, to its ability to be adapted into any form of
media, fantasy’s influence cannot be compared to many other styles.
SOURCES

 https://literaryterms.net/fantasy/
 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Terry-Pratchett
 https://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/subjects/literature/what-is-fantasy-fiction
 https://www.twinkl.co.id/teaching-wiki/fantasy-fiction-genre