Fantasy, Mythical & Magic

A fantasy world is a type of imaginary world, part of a fictional universe used in fantasy novels and games. Typical worlds involve magic or magical abilities and a medieval theme. more...

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Some worlds may be a parallel world tenuously connected to Earth via magical portals or items; a fictional Earth set in the remote past or future; or an entirely independent world set in another universe.

Many fantasy worlds draw heavily on real world history, geography and sociology, and also on folklore.

Plot function

The setting of a fantasy work is often of great importance to the plot and characters of the story. The setting itself can be imperiled by the evil of the story, suffer thinning, and be restored by the transformation the story brings about. Stories that use the setting as merely a backdrop for the story have been criticized for their failure to use it fully.

Even when the land itself is not in danger, it is often used symbolically, for thematic purposes, and to underscore moodes.

History

Early fantasy worlds appeared as fantasy lands, part of the same planet but separated by geographical barriers. Oz, though a fantasy world in every way, is described as part of this world. Although peasants who seldom if ever traveled far from their villages could not conclusively say that it was impossible that, for example, an ogre could live a day's travel away, distant continents were soon necessary for such fantastic speculation to be plausible, and finally, further exploration rendered such fantasy lands implausible. Even within the span of decades, Oz, which had been set in a desert in the United States, was relocated into the Pacific Ocean.

Dream frames were also once common for encasing the fantasy world with an explanation of its marvels. Such a dream frame was added to the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the movie version; in the book, Oz is clearly defined as an actual place. These dream-settings have been criticized, and are far less frequent today.

This change is part of a general trend toward more self-consistent and substantive fantasy worlds. This has also altered the nature of the plots; earlier works often feature a solitary individual whose adventures in the fantasy world are of personal significiance, and where the world clearly exists to give scope to these adventures, and later works more often feature characters in a social web, where their actions are to save the world and those in it from peril.

Read more at Wikipedia.org