Fantasy Settings: Examples and Ideas for Fantasy Settings

Fantasy settings are the locations where fantasy series, novels, short stories, and movies take place. These settings tend to bend the rules of real life. Some fantasy settings recall eras past, such as steampunk novels set in Victorian England or epic fantasies that recall medieval Europe. Other fantasy books and movies use futuristic sci-fi settings that incorporate spaceflight, time travel, and other tropes of science fiction. Meanwhile, dystopian urban fantasies often take place in post-apocalyptic settings. In classic fantasy books and fairytales, the fantasy settings enable the main characters to grow and evolve.

In high-fantasy storylines, the entire world is constructed and clearly operates differently than the world we know. High-fantasy worlds may resemble certain areas of earth at specific periods in time, but their laws of physics and cultural customs are unique. Low-fantasy stories are set in the real world as we know it but incorporate magic or other fantastical elements.

Use these fantasy writing prompts to create compelling fictional worlds.

1. 1. Place modern concepts in a medieval setting. George R.R. Martin had great success inserting thematically modern storylines into his vaguely medieval fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Try your own version of this by thinking up a fantasy story idea that feels contemporary yet is set in a medieval world.
2. 2. Envision a quest that crosses many terrains. The quest is a classic fantasy trope, and it remains ripe for innovation. Use a quest narrative to think up a fantasy world that incorporates many settings, each with its own unique geographic flavor. Think about how the setting will impact your protagonist's quest both for good and for bad.
3. 3. Head to outer space. To get creative with outer space, pick a setting that breaks the known laws of physics, incorporates aliens, or forces its human inhabitants to adjust in an extreme way. Imbue your your sci-fi fantasy setting with myths and a deep lore.
4. 4. Dip under the sea. Underwater settings are popular in the fantasy genre, but not nearly to the degree of medieval worlds, dystopian future cities, or distant planets. As you pick an underwater setting for your novel or screenplay, decide whether your characters will be regular humans or whether they're amphibious creatures that can breathe underwater. Like all fantasy settings, an underwater world is a great vehicle for character development, so make sure to build out your protagonists and antagonists at the same time you embark on world-building.

Literature and film abound with top-notch fantasy worlds.

1. 1. Middle Earth: J.R.R. Tolkien set The Lord of the Rings trilogy in this land resembles a pre-historic Europe filled with mythical creatures like dwarves, orcs, and wizards.
2. 2. Westeros and Essos: These two lands comprise the setting of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which takes a page from Tolkien's high-fantasy world. Martin's books, and the TV series it inspired, Game of Thrones, overlay real-world motivations like lust and power atop a mythical domain filled with dragons and White Walkers. It’s a place where people take magic as a given.
3. 3. Narnia: C.S. Lewis set The Chronicles of Narnia in a fantasy world that children can reach. This is established in the first book in the series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In this sense, Lewis distinguishes himself from his English contemporary Tolkien by intentionally merging the real world with a fantasy land.
4. 4. The England of Harry Potter: Compared to the standard of Tolkien, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is more of a low-fantasy series because it does not depart as fully from the rules of the real world. Yet beginning with the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and continuing through subsequent sequels, it becomes clear that Harry's England is distinctly different from the real world. It's a place where kids like Harry study magic as a career path—a place where wizards and mythical creatures are commonplace.
5. 5. Roleplaying games: Sometimes the best fantasy settings are those created in real-time during a roleplaying game (RPG) like Dungeons and Dragons. In D&D, the world is filled with wizards, dragons, elves, orcs, and mystical clerics. Many games involve epic clashes of good and evil in lands reminiscent of medieval Europe, but the exact course of a game will depend on the decisions of the people playing it.

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