History Main / HighFantasy

* ''ComicBook/LaQueteDeLOiseauDuTemps''

The setting of the stereotypical High (or "epic") {{Fantasy}}, a collection of tropes, often [[TheThemeParkVersion boiled down]] from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (and Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium in general) [[FollowTheLeader which has been the foundation]] for many a series of [[{{Doorstopper}} doorstoppers]].

The boundary between High Fantasy and LowFantasy is probably impossible to pin down, but the ''Literature/{{Deverry}}'' and ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' series are near the borderline, and may straddle it. In both, the protagonists are involved in high-level power politics, with the fate of their nation in the balance, but Deverry has superhuman evils which the Deryni series lacks. Another borderline series would be the violent, low-magic ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', which is on an epic scale, in a pseudo-medieval setting, with the looming menace of the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Others]], but lacks a Dark Lord (so far). The Literature/{{Discworld}} novels as a whole are another problematic case; they are generally considered Low Fantasy, but several of them tick all the boxes on the core elements noted above and epic-level plots (like ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'') happen just as frequently as street-level ones (like ''Literature/TheTruth'').

The [[JustForFun/SciFiCounterpart sci-fi version]] of High Fantasy is SpaceOpera, but not vice versa. The quintessential Space Opera doesn't necessarily include a Dark Lord equivalent, but if a Space Opera ''does'', as with Franchise/StarWars or Creator/VernorVinge's ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'', it is High Fantasy [[RecycledInSpace in space]].

* Many FrancoBelgianComics belong to High Fantasy, with a twist: [[spoiler:the plot seems classical at the beginning, but at the end, the BigBad is never the one we believed]]: ''Légendes des Contrées Oubliées'', ''ComicBook/LaQueteDeLOiseauDuTemps'', ''L'épée de cristal'', ''Les brumes d'Asceltis''. Others are LowFantasy or HeroicFantasy with some elements of High Fantasy: ''ComicBook/{{Thorgal}}'', ''ComicBook/LeRoiCyclope'', ''ComicBook/{{Lanfeust}}'', ''ComicBook/LesLumieresDeLAmalou'', ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'', ''ComicBook/LamentOfTheLostMoors'', ...

* Most Franchise/FinalFantasy games are HighFantasy to a degree, including ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI VI]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]''.
** XII is a borderline case. It meets most of the requirements except the scale. There's some power politics and the looming threat of a war between two great powers, but it's limited to threatening one small kingdom/city-state caught between them rather than any serious threat to the world at large regardless of who wins. The over-arching quest is more about preventing the city of Dalmasca from being turned into a battleground of two rival empires, neither of which represent the GoodGuys, than attempting to defeat the EvilOverlord (who turns out to be a KnightTemplar AntiVillain). At no point is TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt even on the table in the main plot.

* ''Literature/TheMirrorOfHerDreams''

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''

* ''Literature/BooksofPellinor'' features two lost and separated heirs to a magical tradition, a wise mentor, a world-threatening BigBad, much epic journeying, and TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. And many shout-outs to Tolkien.

* The first two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': A long time ago, the land of Equestria was [[GodEmperor ruled by]] two [[PhysicalGod godlike]] [[WingedUnicorn alicorn]] sisters who [[PaintingTheFrostOnWindows controlled the cycle of day and night]]. But the younger sister, [[TheSacredDarkness responsible for the night]], became [[GreenEyedMonster jealous and resentful]] and [[FallenAngel turned into]] the evil [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Moon]], [[TheNightThatNeverEnds refusing to lower the moon to make way for the day]]. The elder sister was forced to [[SealedEvilInACan banish her into the moon, where she has remained ever since]]. But a thousand years later, WhenThePlanetsAlign, she escapes and threatens to shroud the land in eternal darkness once more. Now it's up to [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits a group]] of cute but surprisingly badass ponies to travel through [[TheLostWoods the ancient Everfree Forest]] [[TheQuest to find]] the [[AncientArtifact Elements of Harmony]], the only thing that can stop Nightmare Moon. While the majority of the series is an [[AnAesop Aesop]]-driven ensemble comedy in a fantasy setting, the two-part season premieres and finales are consistently driven by High Fantasy tropes. Attempted takeovers of Equestria by {{Evil Overlord}}s [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] for a ''minimum'' of one thousand years alongside armies of EvilMinions run rampant, only to be undone each time by the forces of [[ThePowerOfLove love]] and [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship]]. This has started to creep into the "normal" episodes as well; "Hearth's Warming Eve," for instance, deals with the nation's founding amidst [[FantasticRacism prejudice]]-driven political struggles and ethereal winter spirits [[EmotionEater feeding on their hatred]], and "It's About Time" offhandedly establishes that Ponyville is located within walking distance of ''[[{{Hellgate}} the gates of]] [[FireAndBrimstoneHell Tartarus]]''.

* For ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, the individual games are more in line with [[HeroicFantasy Heroic Fantasies]] - your PlayerCharacter needs to save the world from a malevolent BigBad seeking to [[TakeOverTheWorld take it over]] or [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt end it outright]], while you get to have some fun exploring the WideOpenSandbox game world. However, when you take a step back and look at the series as a whole, as well as dig deep into the rich backstory, you can easily seem more of the High Fantasy elements. Overarching "Good vs. Evil" themes emerge, while in other instances, these waters are muddied, with many of the aforementioned {{Big Bad}}s having WellIntentionedExtremist slants and the like. Essentially, the Elder Scrolls universe is a High Fantasy setting, and each main series game is a Heroic Fantasy story told within that universe.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

** ''Film/VoyageOfTheDawnTreader''

* ''Film/InTheNameOfTheKing2TwoWorlds'' transports a special forces soldier into a high fantasy world, or at least as high fantasy as the budget will allow.
* ''Film/InTheNameOfTheKing3LastMission'' transports an assassin into a high fantasy world that's really just a few castles around Bulgaria.

* [[TropeMaker Unsurprisingly]], the [[TheFilmOfTheBook live-action adaptation]] of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''.

* ''Literature/TheBloodWarTrilogy'' by Creator/TimMarquitz is about a series of kingdoms under siege by no less than THREE examples of TheHorde, one of which is a race of orc-werewolves.

* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' are High Fantasy for children.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'': A lost adaptation of ''The Chronicles of Prydain''

Often a MedievalEuropeanFantasy, though [[{{Wuxia}} alternatives]] [[{{Xenofiction}} exist]].

* Great evil: An enemy which is near enough Evil incarnate or [[EldritchAbomination fundamentally abhorrent]], whose machinations and plots serve as the main push of the conflict. Their victory would be, in no ambiguous terms, a terrible thing for everybody else. This is in contrast to LowFantasy, which tends to favor human-versus-human conflicts, and HeroicFantasy, which favors pitting the heroes against successions of mostly unconnected human and bestial foes.
* Methods: Victory is not achieved through force of arms, the main feature distinguishing High Fantasy from HeroicFantasy. It is also not achieved through wide-ranging strategy, logistics and political and military conflicts, which is generally the case in LowFantasy. Victory will also be complete and with few loose ends or sour notes; this is shared with HeroicFantasy, but LowFantasy tends to favor more ambiguous and incomplete endings. Essentially, if Aragorn had killed Sauron in hand-to-hand combat, that would have been HeroicFantasy, and if Gondor had beaten Mordor by having more allies, better strategy and a better army, that would have been LowFantasy. Instead, victory is achieved through the efforts of a small number of characters acting against great odds, and a SupportingLeader or the [[IgnorantOfTheCall Reluctant Hero]] will be offered up instead of the [[BarbarianHero rough-hewn barbarian]] of, say, ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' or ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}''.

* TheChosenOne

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

The boundary between High Fantasy and LowFantasy is probably impossible to pin down, but the ''Literature/{{Deverry}}'' and ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' series are near the borderline, and may straddle it. In both, the protagonists are involved in high-level power politics, with the fate of their nation in the balance, but Deverry has superhuman evils which the Deryni series lacks. Another borderline series would be the violent, low-magic ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', which is on an epic scale, in a pseudo-medieval setting, with the looming menace of the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Others]], but lacks a Dark Lord (so far). The Literature/{{Discworld}} novels as a whole are another problematic case; they are generally considered LowFantasy, but several of them tick all the boxes on the core elements noted above and epic-level plots (like ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'') happen just as frequently as street-level ones (like ''Literature/TheTruth'').

Novels which are unambiguously LowFantasy 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.

Contrast with HeroicFantasy and SwordAndSorcery.

Heroic or High Fantasy of Chinese cultural origin is known as {{Wuxia}}.

For other [[TheEpic "epic"]] genres, compare SwordAndSandal and SpaceOpera.

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'': Based upon the book series of the same name, which is one of the most famous examples of this genre. Unlike ''Game of Thrones'', it leans heavily into classic epic fantasy tropes and plotlines.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Inspired a [[FollowTheLeader slew of imitators]] and [[TropeMaker created the genre as we know it.]] It's something of an UnbuiltTrope in ''Lord of the Rings'' itself, which can best be described as "high fantasy but low magic." Magic is extremely rare, viewed with awe and ignorance by most people, and quite restrained whenever it does show up. There are perhaps a few dozen "mages" on the entire planet (''i.e.'' the five wizards, the nine Nazgul, Beorn, Galadriel, the ''one'' remaining dragon), and other than them the only magic is minor charms embedded into a handful of items, usually those made by elves (like a piece of bread that can fill you up for a day or a sword that can glow and pierce things slightly better than a normal one). Some of the more impressive showings by said magicians include "shining lights to blind someone", "making someone scared, but not enough to override HeroicWillpower", "showing someone hallucinations", "poisoning or setting alight one person at a time", and "turning into a large and intelligent but otherwise completely ordinary bear or wolf." Even the titular Rings never ''do'' anything on-screen other than the One Ring making the wearer invisible (though it's implied they could do much more in the hands of a powerful being, the villain's plan was still mostly just to use their powers to build and control mundane armies). Furthermore the story's actual protagonists (as opposed to the SupportingProtagonist) are [[TheEveryman much more down to earth]] (both figuratively and literally) than typical fantasy fare. The lands and events aren't really larger-than-life either - the largest military engagement in the books had fewer soldiers involved than were present at Cannae, (and most of those were Orcs who are explicitly inferior to human troops), the state of the world outside of the [[https://external-preview.redd.it/LiF3406hmIV-GEqpjQ46P-lpiUyvb4vLtXtj1TvX38s.jpg?auto=webp&s=185233b0f783602dba93f191eadacb9c2a9351f4 relatively compact story area]] goes almost completely unmentioned, and as far as we know Third Age Middle-earth is very thinly populated and only has one city of any note (that is, Minas Tirith; even Edoras, the capital of Rohan, is referred to as a mere town). The books certainly ''feel'' big, though.