History Main / HighFantasy

* Morality: [[BlackAndWhiteMorality The good guys are strictly good and the bad guys are strictly evil, with fairly minimal overlap]]. Even in cases where moral ambiguity or flexibility exists, there's still a fairly clear divide between good and evil -- generally speaking, antiheroes and -villains still tend to fall mainly on one side or the other -- as opposed to the GreyAndGrayMorality more common in LowFantasy.

* Morality: [[BlackAndWhiteMorality The good guys are strictly good and the bad guys are strictly evil, with fairly minimal overlap]]. Even in cases where moral ambiguity or flexibility exists, there's still a fairly clear divide between good and evil -- generally speaking, antiheroes and -villains still tend to fall mainly one one side or the other -- as opposed to the GreyAndGrayMorality more common in LowFantasy.

* ''The Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant''.

Novels that are unambiguously Low Fantasy include Eisenstein's ''Sorcerer's Son'', about a family quarrel among wizards devoid of wider implications, Creator/BarbaraHambly's ''Literature/StrangerAtTheWedding'', where the threat is confined to a single merchant family, and ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', whose villain, a normal human, has no greater ambition than to run an opera house. Not to be confused with {{Demythification}}, which is a [[{{Mythology}} myth or legend]] reimagined as HistoricalFiction.

* ''Literature/SonOfTheBlackSword''. Is set in the unknown land of Lok. It is hinted that humans living in Lok are originally from Earth, but no reliable records of the past remain. At some unknown point in the past, demons came to the world, and started devouring humans, until there was a threat of extinction, but with the aid of black steel, humans fought off the demons, and forced them off land, and into the sea. Because of this, sea travel is impossible, and the inhabitants of Lok know nothing of what happened on the other continents. Lots of extremely fast paced action, but no shortage of intricate plot. The world of Lok draws heavily on Ancient Indian themes.

* ''Literature/TheAftermath'' by E. K. Johnston, with the High Fantasy themes being {{downplayed}} given they take place largely in the past (hence the book title) with the focus mostly on more prosaic things.

In former times, High Fantasy did not follow this formula. Creator/WilliamMorris' ''Literature/TheWellAtTheWorldsEnd'' doesn't have this, nor do the dreamers' tales of Creator/LordDunsany, or his ''Literature/TheKingOfElflandsDaughter'', which are very High Fantasy indeed. Neither Creator/GeorgeMacDonald nor Creator/HPLovecraft in his Dreamland cycle have such a storyline. Some more modern works usually classed as High Fantasy, like Hope Mirrlees' ''Literature/LudInTheMist'' and Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'', still don't. Also, there's sometimes a very fine line between what is defined as High Fantasy vs. HeroicFantasy, with some works kind of in the middle, like E.R. Eddison's ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros'' or ''Literature/TheElricSaga'' by Creator/MichaelMoorcock. And it's still not essential to stick so closely to the model, but many of today's fantasy writers still use many or most of the above elements, perhaps feeling that you don't mess with what works. Tolkien scholar Thomas Shippey talks about this in a chapter of his book ''J.R.R. Tolkien, Author of the Century''.

In former times, High Fantasy did not follow this formula. Creator/WilliamMorris ' ''Literature/TheWellAtTheWorldsEnd'' doesn't have this, nor do the dreamers' tales of Creator/LordDunsany, or his ''Literature/TheKingOfElflandsDaughter'', which are very High Fantasy indeed. Neither Creator/GeorgeMacDonald nor Creator/HPLovecraft in his Dreamland cycle have such a storyline. Some more modern works usually classed as High Fantasy, like Hope Mirrlees' ''Literature/LudInTheMist'' and Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'', still don't. Also, there's sometimes a very fine line between what is defined as High Fantasy vs. HeroicFantasy, with some works kind of in the middle, like E.R. Eddison's ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros'' or ''Literature/TheElricSaga'' by Creator/MichaelMoorcock. And it's still not essential to stick so closely to the model, but many of today's fantasy writers still use many or most of the above elements, perhaps feeling that you don't mess with what works. Tolkien scholar Thomas Shippey talks about this in a chapter of his book ''J.R.R. Tolkien, Author of the Century''.

* The ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' cycle by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin is considered a classic of the subgenre, though it famously avoids many of the associated cliches. Earthsea is a sprawling chain of islands populated mostly by brown-skinned peoples as opposed to the usual Medieval European-eqsue setting, and magic is a fine art, studied intensely and used sparingly, rather than a solution to all of life's problems. The series hits full High Fantasy status during the third book, ''The Farthest Shore'', which introduces a villain whose plan threatens to destroy the world, and a suitably epic quest by a young [[RightfulKingReturns heir]] and his aging wizard [[TheMentor mentor]] to prevent this.

* Morality: [[BlackAndWhite Morality The good guys are strictly good and the bad guys are strictly evil, with fairly minimal overlap]]. Even in cases where moral ambiguity or flexibility exists, there's still a fairly clear divide between good and evil -- generally speaking, antiheroes and -villains still tend to fall mainly one one side or the other -- as opposed to the GreyAndGrayMorality more common in LowFantasy.

* Magic: Magic, [[WizardClassic wizards]] and fantastical elements (dragons, spells, etc) are often to the fore in High Fantasy, and tend to play major roles in stories, worldbuilding and conflicts. While this isn't a strictly a crucial element -- you can and do get High Fantasy works with subdued or minimal magic and Low Fantasy works with quite a lot of it -- High Fantasy is distinguished by typically portraying its fantastical elements in a more positive and glamorous light, quite unlike the bestial monsters, shifty sorcerers and PowerAtAPrice style of magic found in Low and Heroic Fantasy.

* Morality: The good guys are purely good and the bad guys are evil, with fairly minimal overlap. Even in cases where moral ambiguity or flexibility exists, there's still a fairly clear divide between good and evil -- generally speaking, antiheroes and -villains still tend to fall mainly one one side or the other -- as opposed to the GreyAndGrayMorality more common in LowFantasy.

* ''ComicBook/WorldOfArran''

* ''ComicBook/ElfesEtNains'': A French collaborative series starring five races of Elves and a SpinOff featuring Dwarves.

* The Literature/{{Earthsea}} Cycle by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin is considered a classic of the subgenre, though it famously avoids many of the associated cliches. Earthsea is a sprawling chain of islands populated mostly by brown-skinned peoples as opposed to the usual Medieval European-eqsue setting, and magic is a fine art, studied intensely and used sparingly, rather than a solution to all of life's problems. The series hits full High Fantasy status during the third book, ''Literature/TheFarthestShore'', which introduces a villain whose plan threatens to destroy the world, and a suitably epic quest by a young [[RightfulKingReturns heir]] and his aging wizard [[TheMentor mentor]] to prevent this.

* The ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses'' series, mostly from the second book onwards; the first book falls more under HeroicFantasy.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is interesting in that it started closer to LowFantasy (what little magic there was could only be reached by the strongest-willed), but after [[TheMagicComesBack a major event]], it's turning ''into'' one of these.
* ''Anime/Berserk2016'', same as the above.

* Music/{{Negativland}} once created a hysterical parody of [[InAWorld trailers for High Fantasy and Heroic Fantasy films]], using dozens of snippets from Creator/DonLaFontaine narrations. It's on ''Moribund Music of the 70s''.

* ''Literature/{{Mithgar}}'': The early books take heavy inspiration from ''The Lord of the Rings'' (which makes sense given it's said the author originally envisoned 'The Silver Call'' duology as a sequel to LOTR), though it later becomes more of its own thing.

* ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}''

In former times, High Fantasy did not follow this formula. Creator/WilliamMorris ' ''Literature/WellAtTheWorldsEnd'' doesn't have this, nor do the dreamers' tales of Creator/LordDunsany, or his ''Literature/TheKingOfElflandsDaughter'', which are very High Fantasy indeed. Neither Creator/GeorgeMacDonald nor Creator/HPLovecraft in his Dreamland cycle have such a storyline. Some more modern works usually classed as High Fantasy, like Hope Mirrlees' ''Literature/LudInTheMist'' and Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'', still don't. Also, there's sometimes a very fine line between what is defined as High Fantasy vs. HeroicFantasy, with some works kind of in the middle, like E.R. Eddison's ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros'' or ''Literature/TheElricSaga'' by Creator/MichaelMoorcock. And it's still not essential to stick so closely to the model, but many of today's fantasy writers still use many or most of the above elements, perhaps feeling that you don't mess with what works. Tolkien scholar Thomas Shippey talks about this in a chapter of his book ''J.R.R. Tolkien, Author of the Century''.