Science Fiction vs Fantasy
So earlier today I was browsing the official Discord Server for RuneScape. I saw a link to a presentation about the aspects of science fiction and fantasy created by Mod Jack - one of the writers for the game.
The following stood out the most to me:
| Science fiction concept | Fantasy concept |
|---|---|
| Newer is better | Older is better / more powerful |
| The status quo is bad | The status quo is good |
| Knowledge and exploration are good | Knowledge and exploration are dangerous and wrong |
| "We've invented a new energy source" | "We dug too deep and unleashed darkness upon this world" |
| Knowledge is created | Knowledge is rediscovered |
| Events are causal, but have a chaotic randomness to them | Events occur because of fate or providence towards a meaningful or karmic goal |
| Small things makes a difference | Only big choices matter |
| Ingenuity | Respect & Family |
| Liberty | Authority & Hierarchy |
| Shades of Grey Morality | Black & White Morality |
While looking at these, one could easily conclude that "conservatives like medieval fantasy" and that "liberal likes science fiction", but I think there is something more to that.
At the age of 12, I became obsessed with the "generic medieval fantasy" vibe that RuneScape has. Back then, I was fully ignorant of the darkness of the world and had no reason to look back to the past fondly. I think that most people would agree that actually going back to medieval times would be extremely undesirable or a myriad of reasons that are obvious.
I think the answer is simple. The thing that medieval fantasy and science fiction have in common is that stories in those genres tend not to be set in the present. While stories set in the modern day do exist, they typically involve some level of fantasy present or have an aspect of the setting that is greatly amplified (i.e the darkness of the world in a horror or dystopian story).
One thing I noticed is that in my mind I make the distinction between "generic medieval fantasy" and "high medieval fantasy". A good example of a "generic medieval fantasy" is Lord of the Rings. The setting kind of feel like medieval Europe with a few fantasy touches. On the other side, you have Genshin Impact which heavily leans into the "We dug too deep and unleashed darkness upon this world" concept.
Now that I think about it, I really like stories that have the vibe of "medieval fantasy setting where the status quo is threatened by a myriad of things beyond mortal comprehension". Both RuneScape 3 and Genshin Impact does this and I think this is why I adore the stories of those games. My favorite moment in RuneScape 3 is the described encounter with Vos and in Genshin Impact it is the encounter with the "sinner".
Although science fiction and medieval fantasy are two sides of the same coin, it is rare to see a story that blends the two genres together. The only example I can think of this is in Sword Art Online Alicization where a bunch of scientists essentially create a Matrix-like simulation set in a medieval fantasy world. Although the worldbuilding was good, the story left a lot to be desired.
Written by manpaint on 13 March 2025.