Fantasy world

A fantasy world is a fictional universe created in fiction media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and sometimes, either an historical or futuristic theme. 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 mythology and folklore.

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 a calamity, 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 moods.

Early fantasy worlds appeared as fantasy lands, part of the same planet but separated by geographical barriers. For example, Oz, though a fantasy world in every way, is described as part of this world.

Although medieval 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 necessary from the Renaissance onwards for such fantastic speculation to be plausible, until finally, further exploration rendered all such terrestrial fantasy lands implausible.

Even within the span of mere decades, Oz, which had been situated in a desert in the United States when first written about in 1900, was relocated to a spot in the Pacific Ocean.

An early example of the fantasy land/world concept can be seen in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), where places of which little was known, but where the occurrence of marvels was thus more credible, had to be set "long ago" or "far away". This is a process that continues, and finally culminates in the fantasy world having little connection, if any, to actual times and places. A more recent example of a fantasy land with definite connections to the actual world is Austin Tappan Wright's Islandia. Islandia's remoteness and aura of mystery, as well as its preservation of an arcadian society, are explained by means of a law which allows only limited contact with foreigners.

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