Less Popular Fantasy Subgenres

There are many fantasy subgenres out there, of which the most popular subgenre for fantasy books is romance fantasy/romantic fantasy/romantasy. However romantasy is often blended with one or more other subgenres, such as historical fantasy/romantasy.

And yet... Hollywood still hasn't caught onto this and decided to cash in on what is a huge market out there for romantasy.

Still, there are many other subgenres worth exploring too, including quite a few of the less popular subgenres. Here's a list of some of the many different types of fantasy:

1. Mythic Fantasy

  • Incorporates real-world mythology into fantasy settings, focusing on ancient myths and folklore.

2. Weird Fantasy

  • Blends elements of the bizarre, grotesque, and unsettling, often crossing into the surreal.

3. Gaslamp Fantasy

  • A fantasy subgenre set in a Victorian or Edwardian-like era with magic as a core element.

4. Portal Fantasy

  • Involves characters who travel from the real world into a fantasy realm through portals or gateways.

5. Arcanepunk

  • Combines magic with technology in a world where the magical energy is used to power machines, often with a gritty or urban setting.

6. Mannerpunk

  • Set in a world where court politics and social etiquette dominate, often combining fantasy with intricate plots involving power, class, and subtle magic.

7. Silkpunk

  • A blend of Asian-inspired cultures and settings with technology based on organic materials, often emphasizing airships, kites, and fantastical beasts.

8. Grimdark Fantasy

  • A very dark, gritty form of fantasy where moral ambiguity, violence, and bleakness are key themes.

9. Heroic Fantasy

  • Focuses on larger-than-life heroes, often inspired by sword-and-sorcery tales but with a more optimistic tone.

10. Gothic Fantasy

  • Incorporates dark, atmospheric settings typical of Gothic literature but in a fantastical world, often blending horror and fantasy elements.

11. Celtic Fantasy

  • Inspired by Celtic mythology, folklore, and settings, often involving druids, fae, and ancient rituals.

12. Fairytale Retelling

  • Reimagines classic fairytales with new twists, often subverting or modernizing the original stories.

13. Dieselpunk Fantasy

  • A fantasy world based on early 20th-century technology (1920s-1950s), with a focus on machines and industrial aesthetics powered by magic.

14. Noblebright Fantasy

  • A more hopeful counterpart to grimdark, where characters fight for good, and while evil may exist, the world isn't entirely hopeless.

15. Afrofuturist Fantasy

  • Blends African mythology, cultures, and traditions with futuristic or fantastical settings.

16. Arabesque Fantasy

  • Draws inspiration from Middle Eastern mythology, culture, and aesthetics, often featuring desert landscapes, djinn, and bazaars.

17. Alchemical Fantasy

  • Focuses on themes of alchemy, blending science and magic, often set in a world where alchemical processes are key to power.

18. Eco-Fantasy

  • Explores environmental themes in a fantasy world, often with a focus on nature magic, druidic traditions, or the consequences of industrialization on magical ecosystems.

19. Historical Fantasy

  • A mix of real-world historical settings with fantastical elements, often set in a recognizable historical period with added magic or mythical creatures.

20. Prehistoric Fantasy

  • Set in a world inspired by or resembling prehistoric Earth, with fantastical elements such as primitive magic or mythological creatures.

21. Wuxia Fantasy

  • Draws from Chinese martial arts traditions and often involves heroes with supernatural fighting abilities in a fantastical setting.

22. Southern Gothic Fantasy

  • Combines the eerie, decaying atmosphere of Southern Gothic with fantasy elements like curses, spirits, and old magic.

23. Cozy Fantasy

  • Focuses on low-stakes, slice-of-life narratives in a fantastical setting, where the primary focus is on character relationships rather than epic conflicts.

24. Cottagecore Fantasy

  • A subgenre that romanticizes rural life, featuring small-scale magic, idyllic settings, and often a focus on nature, craftsmanship, and homesteading.

25. LitRPG Fantasy

  • A genre where the world follows game-like mechanics, and characters can level up, gain skills, or follow specific "classes" typical of RPGs (Role-Playing Games).

26. Splatterpunk Fantasy

  • A hyper-violent and gory form of fantasy that doesn’t shy away from blood, guts, and horror, often pushing the limits of explicit content.

27. Spiritual Fantasy

  • Focuses on religious or spiritual themes, where divine beings or cosmic forces play a central role in the narrative.

28. Lovecraftian Fantasy

  • A subgenre that blends the horror elements of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos with fantasy, emphasizing cosmic dread, ancient gods, and madness.

29. Cyberfantasy

  • Combines cyberpunk aesthetics with magic, where digital spaces are influenced by mystical forces, and hackers can be spellcasters.

30. Ghibli-Esque Fantasy

  • Inspired by the whimsical and imaginative style of Studio Ghibli films, focusing on childlike wonder, magical realism, and environmental or spiritual themes.

31. Steampunk Fantasy

  • A blend of 19th-century steam-powered technology with fantastical elements, often featuring airships, clockwork devices, and Victorian aesthetics.

32. Artpunk Fantasy

  • An experimental, avant-garde form of fantasy that challenges conventional storytelling structures and norms, often with strange and innovative world-building.

33. Supernatural Noir

  • A mix of noir detective stories with supernatural or fantastical elements, often set in a gritty, urban environment where magic is hidden or criminalized.

34. Urban Arcanum

  • A subgenre where modern cities exist alongside hidden magical societies, often featuring street-level magic, crime, and underground fantasy worlds.

35. Sword and Planet Fantasy

  • Combines planetary romance with swords-and-sorcery fantasy, usually set on alien worlds where swordplay and adventure are common.

36. Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy

  • Set in a world after a cataclysmic event, where magic or mythological creatures have emerged from the ruins of civilization.

37. Court Intrigue Fantasy

  • Focuses on palace politics, where characters maneuver through royal courts full of secret alliances, betrayals, and often subtle magic.

38. Utopian Fantasy

  • Depicts a fantastical world that is inherently peaceful, harmonious, or perfect, in contrast to dystopian narratives.

39. Insect Fantasy

  • A unique subgenre where insect-like beings are the main characters, or where magic and culture are closely tied to insect-like creatures or biology.

40. Science Fantasy

  • Blends futuristic science fiction elements with traditional fantasy, where technology and magic coexist in the same world.

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