'Shroomfest (Round 8) - FANTASY vs SCI-FI

[DryBonesBandit]

Episode VIII: Return of the 'Shroomfest Comic

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This proves that space travel is unsafe! Stick to the horses, people.

 

[Sieglinde Sullivan]

Man I should probably whip up a post now huh.

To be quite honest I could go either side in this. However, as someone who's been playing a looooot of Dungeons and Dragons lately, I kinda have to go Team Fantasy on this one!

Theoretically you could set a DnD campaign anywhere, even in space if you so desired. However, I think it works best when a campaign is set up in a fantastical world of the DM's own creation! Of course there are also some campaign settings written by certain publishing companies, but many of these also take place in worlds that lean into the fantasy and magical aspect of DnD.

Speaking of magic, there are some really cool spells in DnD that have all kinds of neat effects. You can use spells to create water, set secret traps for your enemies, heal your allies, and more! (My personal favorite spell, at least in combat, is Moonbeam if you're wondering) If you can think of it, there is probably a spell for it. Lots of classes in DnD have access to these spells! My current favorite is Druid, I really like having the powers of nature at my disposal, many of which come from different spells. Also a big fan of some of the subclasses they added in the 2024 Players Handbook. They beefed up some of the spells in the new book too!!! Magic and spellcasting my beloved......... (Can you tell I mainly play spellcasters oops)

You have lots of options for character races that lean into the fantasy aspect too!! Elves, dwarves, dragonborns, tieflings, just to name a few!

Also I'm 99% sure Lord of the Rings got mentioned earlier so I'm just gonna say it: the story and adventure of it feels like a DnD campaign before DnD was a thing (you cannot change my mind)

(Also if someone made a post about DnD already IM SORRYYYY I've been super busy but I knew I wanted to make this post)

 

[Xiahou Ba]

play baldur's gate 3 it's probably the best game of this decade

 

[Sentient freedom]

Another reason why Fantasy is the better of the two is because of horses, they are the most destructive animal if you happen to run into one. Observe this video from Frosted_Derp, which shows how a poor man dies to a horse and now has to have his overall fate determined by a wheel.

Also, Waluigi Time, if you see this, just remember sci-fi is unpredictable and wild, just like this wheel that won't be nice to sci-fi users in purgatory.

 

[Wynn Liaw]

*Bully Student and Motorbikerette Engine are arguing.*
Bully: I'm endorsin' Fantasy. I can't exist without it.
Motorbikerette: I'm endorsing Sci-Fi. Hoverbikes are better than horses.

 

[Waluigi Time]

*Bully Student and Motorbikerette Engine are arguing.*
Bully: I'm endorsin' Fantasy. I can't exist without it.
Motorbikerette: I'm endorsing Sci-Fi. Hoverbikes are better than horses.

Endorsing both teams doesn't do anything, you'll have to pick a side if you want it to count for your team.

 

[Wynn Liaw]

Endorsing both teams doesn't do anything, you'll have to pick a side if you want it to count for your team.

Bully: What do you want me to do? Create an account just 'cause of this 'rette?
Motorbikerette: We'll eventually agree on a side. I promise.

 

[Boo1268]

Bully: What do you want me to do? Create an account just 'cause of this 'rette?
Motorbikerette: We'll eventually agree on a side. I promise.

Florida:
Dude and Dudette, like, let me help out man ok so Dudette, ya know how you like bikes and hoverbikes and stuff like that, man? we'll like have you ever rode and ostrch before dude? Or even better man rode a DRAGON you can go fast on land or fast in the sky broski and if you don'ts like either then there's always magic broomsticks bro

 

[Technetium]

Wellll I'm working on a proposal about Category:Aliens on the wiki so! That counts right

 

[Diamant]

JUDGE SESSION #1

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Silence, everyone! The judge is in the house. Ahem... Now, now, let's take a look at the report. Hmmm... So, the Cup-o-Soup partnership will... wait, WRONG PAPER. My apologies, we can toss this out for now.

Ah, yes. The actual debate: Fantasy vs. Sci-Fi. What's the strongest argument we can bring to the table this week, and who will earn those extra points? And which movie will we be watching? Definitely not a boring one, I'll make sure it's the most entertaining! Let's take a closer look and be quick about it; I've got lots of difficult work to do. A judge, as you might imagine, stays quite busy!

....Well anyway, I'm probably gonna be Endorsing Fantasy here, despite my love for Sci-Fi too. As you can probably see, I'm from the Dynasty Warriors series, which is based off a book (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a literary masterpiece that is as well known as Shakespeare in the West and one of the greatest of all Chinese novels), based off historical events dating all the way back to the end of the Han Dynasty, but this game has plenty of multiple fantastical elements that would qualify it, including a famous strategist using a war fan that shoots laser beams, magical sorcerers who use talisman cards, and another strategist using a scroll to generate soldiers that can fight for you!

Aha, I appreciate that someone brought up Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This novel is more than just a literal masterpiece; it has had a massive cultural impact, influencing countless media and franchises. Many stories and artistic creations have drawn inspiration from it, and that's without mentioning all the numerous adaptations existing.

As mentioned, Dynasty Warriors is one example, but another well-received game where its story has been influenced by Romance of the Three Kingdoms is none other than Fire Emblem: Three Houses! This is from a piece of media highlighted by none other than the leader of Team Fantasy himself. (Of course, I couldn't pass up the chance to mention Fire Emblem! ) And just to add a little more weight to the argument, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is also the best-selling Fire Emblem game to date!

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Speaking of best-sellers though, movies like Avatar are box-office juggernauts, and far surpassing games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses in terms of sales across the board. However, I must highlight the importance of cultural impact, which is something the Romance of the Three Kingdoms has had.

In fact, the same could be said for movies like Star Wars, which boasts one of the largest fanbases in the world. That being said, for a novel from the 14th century to still hold such massive significance in today's world is truly remarkable!

Well if we're going to be talking about fight scenes...

Spoiler: Star Wars: The Clone Wars spoilers

Darth Sidious' duel with Darth Maul and Savage Opress is one of the highlights of that show.

There's something quite epic about fight scenes in science fiction, a certain intensity that's hard to describe. It's those raw emotions that keep you on the edge of your seat, eagerly anticipating the outcome. Star Wars is skilled at creating these emotions. Take, for example, the fight between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hmm... Come to think of it, Star Wars has come up quite a few times already...

Speaking of emotion, and of Science-Fiction, one can also mention the dreadful impact felt when you're being chased by an E.M.M.I. in Metroid Dread. Quite... dreadful in emotions. Speaking of which, I need to give a new task to my E.M.M.I. pet. I probably should take note of this before I forgot. Allow me a few seconds before we keep moving with the case.

...

Alright.

THAT'S RIGHT - A LITTLE BIT OF SUPER SMASH BROS.! I'M NOT GOING TRY TO KID YOU AND SAY THIS IS A FANTASY OR SCI-FI GAME, BUT CHECK OUT THE KIT ON ARAN UP THERE! THEY'VE GOT FIGHTERS FROM BOTH GENRES COMING IN HOT! THEY EVEN FINALLY GOT THE GUY EVERYONE SAID WAS TOO BIG TO MAKE IT IN! SO PROUD OF YOU, RIDDLES, YOU'RE AN INSPIRATION. FANTASY'S GOT SCI-FI BEAT ON NUMBERS, BUT QUALITY OVER QUANTITY, AS THEY SAY! HOW MANY TIMES YOU GOING TO PUT THE SAME SWORDFIGHTER IN THAT GAME, SAKURAI?

SO WHAT DO YOU SAY? FOX, FINAL DESTINATION, NO ITEMS?

Speaking of magic, there are some really cool spells in DnD that have all kinds of neat effects. You can use spells to create water, set secret traps for your enemies, heal your allies, and more! (My personal favorite spell, at least in combat, is Moonbeam if you're wondering) If you can think of it, there is probably a spell for it. Lots of classes in DnD have access to these spells! My current favorite is Druid, I really like having the powers of nature at my disposal, many of which come from different spells. Also a big fan of some of the subclasses they added in the 2024 Players Handbook. They beefed up some of the spells in the new book too!!! Magic and spellcasting my beloved......... (Can you tell I mainly play spellcasters oops)

You have lots of options for character races that lean into the fantasy aspect too!! Elves, dwarves, dragonborns, tieflings, just to name a few!

Good point! LOTS of DnDs are existing, and lots of them are falling into more Fantasy aspects. And speaking of character races, such as dragons, we have to think about how fighting a dragon is such a classic of the fantasy story-telling genre, and to be fair, you can't go wrong with that. Hooktail in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the Gleeoks in The Legend of Zelda (and goodness aren't they terrifying) or The Immaculate One in Fire Emblem: Three Houses to name a few.

Okay, yeah, the Xenoblade games have a lot of fantasy elements, but there's plenty of sci-fi in there too! Besides, no one else has mentioned it yet, so I get first pick. A lot of good your fancy little Monado does you, Team Fantasy! It's been a long time since I engaged with the first Xenoblade Chronicles, but I still remember how a massive chunk of that game's plot is the Homs' war against the Mechon - literally fighting robots! I won't spoil too much (Smash Bros. is good at doing that already), but in case anyone's worried that this is just tossing robots into a story and not doing much else with them... Well, I'll just say that some interesting things happen with the Mechon, like our good friend Metal Face up there. If you know, you know.

I'm going to be the nitpicky judge here and point out that Xenoblade actually falls into the Science Fantasy genre. It's a perfect blend of both Fantasy and Sci-Fi elements. As one of the few Xenoblade aficionados in this community, I'm going to allow myself to make this countercase. And remember, I'm the judge here. Mwahaha!

Oi, you the journalist in the room, don't go and create another scandal okay. Thank you!

Hey actually, instead of just watching a Sci-Fi movie or a Fantasy movie, how about we combine the best of both worlds and have a Xenoblade Game Night? What? I can't decide that? Nonsense!

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Alrighty, I think I this point, the judgment is quite clear, but first, let's have some honorary mentions that I think are quite worthwhile too!

Endorse: Sci-Fi
As an alien, I approve Waluigi time.

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Age. It's undeniable that fantasy works are pretty much present at the dawn of humanity, which is an extension of the first point. There has been some debate that Sci-Fi is also been very old (speculative fiction pretty much is also another thing that exists as long as humans do), and good points have been made, that being said. There are some elements of sci fi to be found in A True Story. But some of the greatest historical works are probably closer to fantasy such as Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales, Journey to the West (an inspiration for Dragon Ball), and Don Quixote. (Aesop fables are folklore; fantasy draws from it).

endorse: Team Sci-FI

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"Hey all, Scott here. I have not slept in DAYS. I've been too busy worrying about the future! What will it look like?"

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"I need to get to the bottom of this! I'M GOING TO THE FUTURE!"

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"Y'know, I may be thousands of eddies in debt and owe my kneecaps to some guy named Adam Smasher... but the future's pretty great!"​

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The verdict: When it comes to cultural impact and historical significance of the fantasy genre, it has quite the edge, and Team Fantasy have delivered quite the points to prove it.

Winner of Week 1
TEAM FANTASY
Congratulations Team Fantasy, you earned +3 extra points to the EFFORT category!
​

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I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who's been involved in the 'Shroomfest so far. We're glad you are all having good fun and contributing in keeping this light-hearted.

Now, for WEEK 2!

Question of the Week:
Let's take a deeper approach in the genre, and take a closer look at specific characters of those genre. Which character stand out among the crowd and best represent the Fantasy genre or the Sci-Fi genre? Which is your favorite? Which is the most impactful? It's now up to you and bring up your case!

'SHROOMFEST DEBATE ROUND 8 - WEEK 2 BEGINS NOW!​

 

[Fantasy Tepig]

HUZZAH!! WAY TO GO TEAM FANTASY!​

But we must remain vigilant and keep at it until the end! Just because we have the advantage doesn't mean we should relax!​

We've only just begun!​

​

 

[DryBonesBandit]

That knight is schmovin'! I doubt a robot has such flexibility.

 

[Waluigi Time]

Wah-?! What do you mean we lost the first week? Well... I guess having a clean sweep would be pretty boring, so...

No matter! This gives Team Sci-Fi the perfect opportunity to strike back, wahaha! Team Fantasy may have the lead for now, so it's time for us to double our efforts!

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​

Remember when I said I'd be back with greater numbers? Well I brought 200,000 clone troopers with a million more well on the way. Regardless of where you stand on Star Wars being sci-fi, the clone troopers definitely fall into that area of exploring the impacts of this technology... and I'm not really talking about the prequel films where they mostly just exist to be proto-stormtroopers and then suddenly turn evil at the end (who could've seen that coming?). I'm talking about Star Wars: The Clone Wars and subsequent media, where we really get a chance to get in the heads of these guys.

There's quite a bit that goes on in there! After all, creating new people that age twice as fast for the specific purpose of being soldiers has a lot of implications, and ethical concerns (of course, given their creation was ultimately orchestrated by Palpatine, the ethics were probably never a consideration there). The clones at first see themselves as just that, expendable soldiers, with their Jedi generals encouraging them to see themselves as unique individuals. One in particular, however, takes an actively hostile view of the clones and throws them into the metaphorical woodchipper. The clones are encouraged to be free thinkers, and some of them sure do that - one of them chooses to desert and start a family, while another grows disillusioned with their treatment and sells valuable information to the Separatists. We see them question what their place will be after the war is over, and we see young Boba Fett come to grips with going against soldiers who look exactly like his deceased father. And, of course, we get the lore behind the inhibitor chips that will eventually force them to turn on their Jedi commanders, revealing that they never had quite as much freewill as everyone thought, and by the end of the series, we see long-established characters do just that - and have to come to term with their actions afterward.

But perhaps sci-fi characters don't necessarily have to come from sci-fi media...

Let me just address this now, Toy Story isn't really something you can call sci-fi. Sure, toys are suddenly alive now, but we never get an explanation for any of that! There's almost definitely nothing scientific behind it though, considering non-technological toys like Mr. Potato Head have no problem springing to life, and Toy Story 4 complicates things even more by introducing Forky, a craft made out of discarded school supplies. But we can still have characters like Buzz Lightyear and Emperor Zurg who are inspired by the trappings of science fiction all the same! Besides, they did end up getting their own spinoff series in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, which I think we can more safely classify in sci-fi at least.

I'm barely scratching the surface here, and great stories wouldn't be able to happen without great characters in them! So what are some of your guys' favorite sci-fi characters? They don't have to be genre-defining (although, bonus points if you bring some of that nature), as long as they're really cool!

 

[Boo1268]

Florida:
LIKE DUDES WE WON MAN DRINKS AT THE TAVERN ARE ON ME BROS!

 

[Boo1268]

View attachment 53251​

Wah-?! What do you mean we lost the first week? Well... I guess having a clean sweep would be pretty boring, so...

No matter! This gives Team Sci-Fi the perfect opportunity to strike back, wahaha! Team Fantasy may have the lead for now, so it's time for us to double our efforts!

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Remember when I said I'd be back with greater numbers? Well I brought 200,000 clone troopers with a million more well on the way.

Boo1268: Ahem allow me Friends....
I CAST TORNADO OF THE GODS ON THESE FOOLS!!!

 

[Technetium]

This mission is too important for me to allow Team Fantasy to jeopardize it.

Yep, I'll be focusing on THE AI character, HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. A full breakdown on his character and what I take from it will have to wait, but for now I wanna focus on just how much of an impact HAL has had!

AUTO from WALL-E? Thank HAL!

GLaDOS from Portal? Thank HAL! (Ok, this one isn't confirmed).

And, of course… HAL from Empress Theresa!

Just kidding. But seriously, there's no reason for the weird orb alien thing to be called HAL. It just is for some reason. This entire book is just…well, you'll have to see for yourself. It's quite the ride.

Anyway, I can't not mention TEC from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. I'm GLaD the remake made his eye red internationally!

Hmm, then again… People have been writing analyses of HAL and his malfunction for decades. Maybe I should shift my focus on the fictional supercomputer that inspired HAL 9000 - yes, there was one before him. A supercomputer that's inspiring me for a certain fan project I'm working on, actually!

Multivac.

 

[Boo1268]

Flordia:
Sorry dude but none of those dudes would survive if we simply sent an electric spell there way dude or even better a watter spell man basically any spell chould fry them dude so sorry man

 

[Technetium]

View attachment 53266
Flordia:
Sorry dude but none of those dudes would survive if we simply sent an electric spell there way dude or even better a watter spell man basically any spell chould fry them dude so sorry man

We already have waterproof devices (or so they claim phones are), why wouldn't advanced sci-fi tech also be waterproof lol

 

[Fantasy Tepig]

This is not my main post about one particular fantasy character I know of (you all probably know who it is too!) but I do have three of the most impactful characters in the history of Fantasy!​

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They all have to deal with the CDI era of The Legend of Zelda…​

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First up: King Harkinian!​

My boy, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!​

King Harkinian is the lovable king of Hyrule in both Link: The Faces of Evil, and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon! Always ready to help out those in need, he's also a kind ruler who's very merciful. His biggest "punishment" to criminals is community service! He just wonders what dinner will be.
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Gwonam​

Squadala! We're off!​

​

You have the vision to find my house! ​

Gwonam is a wizard who arrives in Hyrule to tell Link and King Harkinian about how Ganon and his minions seized Koridai. He even brings Link to the place! Also he has a pretty nice beard and robe.

And now to my personal favorite:
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Morshu​

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Lamp oil, rope, bombs? You want it? It's yours my friend, as long as you have enough Rupees!​

​

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Sorry Link, I can't give credit. Come back when you're a little, mmmm… richer!​

Morshu is the shopkeeper in Link: The Faces of Evil. If you have enough Rupees, he will gladly sell lamp oil, rope, and bombs. If you don't, you'll have to come back when you're a little, mmmm… richer.

It's amazing how often these characters appeared in memes and YouTube during its early years. These characters have about a minute of footage (16 seconds for Morshu!) so to see so many variations of their scenes is just… whoa.

Endorse: Fantasy! Even silliness helps!
​

 

[Sentient freedom]

Yes, yes, YES WE WON THE FIRST ROUND! I knew all those Frosted_Derp videos paid off, let us continue on Team Fantasy for the sake of HORSES!

 

[DryBonesBandit]

I've equipped myself with knightly armor for the battles ahead! Go Fantasy!

 

[Roserade]

The verdict: When it comes to cultural impact and historical significance of the fantasy genre, it has quite the edge, and Team Fantasy have delivered quite the points to prove it.

Alright, look, I'm Team Fantasy as much as the next user, but I'm momentarily putting on my space helmet because they need the boost and I need to argue this point.

It is true that fantasy as a genre has permeated public consciousness for a long time, but the sci-fi genre has just as much historical significance, if not more significance. In the world of literature, I would argue that sci-fi accomplishes much more important work than fantasy does.

First, just in terms of legacy, there's speculation on what quantifies as "science fiction" - science as a concept is dependent on the culture and its timing. However, many would agree that in the western literature canon, Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is the first true science fiction novel. I don't expect I have to tell you the staying power of Shelley's work. There are several notable science fiction novels to follow not too long after - "Le Dernier Homme" ("The Last Man"), "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "The Time Machine", "The War of the Worlds", all of these published before the year 1900! As a genre, sci-fi has a longstanding, influential history, established well before Tolkien popularized what the modern fantasy story looks like.

However, what I really want to argue is the potential function of science fiction. What I mean by this is, what can science fiction do as a genre that fantasy cannot? Fantasy is regularly a moral genre, it's true; heroes learn lessons intrinsic to how they should learn to experience the world. Fantasy can also explore material that is analogous to real-world concerns, particularly where questions of race and gender are concerned. But the thing is, fantasy is not the world we experience. We are not building ourselves towards magic. We are building ourselves towards technology - the speculative realm of sci-fi.

So what does sci-fi uniquely do? It allows us to critically examine the trajectory of our lives and humanity's collective pursuits. This is why so many dystopian novels - "1984", "Fahrenheit 451", "Brave New World", "The Giver", "The Hunger Games" - are planted firmly in the realm of speculative science fiction. It's a genre that encourages us to ask questions of ethics and morality, while we ever-approach the realities that these books speculated about. There's a reason why so much speculative sci-fi is taught in classrooms. Sci-fi holds a mirror to the world we experience, and demands that we reckon with how technology influences who we are and how we act (assuming we aren't talking about a sanitized franchise monopoly, anyway). Fantasy can make us raise questions too, but I'd argue that the ones raised by sci-fi are much more important, especially in a current-day overrun with technological surveillance, a devaluing of the natural world, and AI generation galore.

Fantasy is still cool let's go witches, but sci-fi is such a vital genre that deserves more historical recognition

 

[Arc]

Arc: "Hey, Yoshi the SSM?"

Yoshi the SSM: "Yes?"
Arc: "I was doing some research. Are dinosaurs dragons? Because they look the very similar in some cases."
Yoshi the SSM: "Yes. As a matter of fact, that is what they were called before the name of dinosaurs was given."
Arc: "And according to my research, Yoshis are dinosaurs. Based on this, you are a fantasy character, aren't you?"
Yoshi the SSM: "I am actually both fantasy and sci-fi. And this isn't news to me. Take a look at this from Super Mario Galaxy 2. This is in the Peewee Piranha's Speed Run mission."

Arc: "Oh. That even calls Yoshi a dragon. A space dragon, but a dragon nevertheless."
Yoshi the SSM: "Yes. And that is an example of both sides. But as for me, my sci-fi comes from a sci-fi place known as a space station from my childhood drawings. Anyways. Time for some examples. First off, The Doctor.

Yoshi the SSM: "And the other The Doctor."

Yoshi the SSM: "Yes. They are both called, "The Doctor". And I am using David Tennant's photo for the first one as that is my favorite of him. Both of these each represent Sci-Fi in their own way. First, let's talk about the first one. He and at one point she as that apparently happened. I stopped watching the series after she came on. Anyways. The first one travels through space and time in a machine called the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space). That is clearly Sci-Fi. As for the second, who I like to call Dr. EMH, he is a hologram. He is made from technology. And because the doctor on the ship died on the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager, he was the active doctor for Voyager for the entire show. And because of this, he became his own character throughout the show. Since he is technology, he is a good representation of Sci-Fi."

 

[Paper Plumm]

Wait there's a fantasy and sci-fi competition going on? How did I miss this? I endorse Team Fantasy! As the poll chairgirl I think that makes me qualified to talk statistics with you and statistically most NIWA wiki's series are fantasy! Let's break it down, minus the wikis that blend both or are neither element (These are: Tetris, Mii, Animal Crossing, Nintendo, Rhythm Heaven, Smash, Strategy, Mario, Wars, Mother and Kirby) we have 13 pro-Fantasy NIWA Members(Pokemon, Dragalia Lost, Fire Emblem, Golden Sun, Kid Icarus, Kingdom Hearts, Both Pikmiin wikis, Starfry, Super Mario 64, Drawn to Life, and Zelda) only 8 Sci-Fi members (ARMS, Chibi-Robo, F-Zero, Splatoon, Magical Vacation, Star Fox, Metroid, Xeno). In short Team Fantasy has a 16% lead over Sci-Fi in NIWA. Statistically we have the power! As for me personally I just love a fun fantasy setting, you're creating something new and freeing but somehow at its core still shackled by human limits. Sci-Fi feels both lacking in originality and almost too over expansive. If the technology to do literally everything is there everything almost loses its impact. Sci-Fi expands potential while Fantasy creates new forms of potential occurrences. Anyways we got this Fantasy! Go play Dragalia Lost to celebrate. (Unironically my favourite mobile game, period)

 

[Meta Knight]

This is long so if you just want my endorsement you can skip to the end. This is all my opinion and I probably will not spend as much effort in rebuttals as I did with this post.

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I want to start off by saying that I love fantasy, and enjoy so many properties in the genre.

Lord of the Rings is legitimately the greatest trilogy of movies ever and will probably never be topped. Game of Thrones is also something I'm super into for its engaging dialogue, and its way of reminding you that no one is safe; although the later seasons are pretty bad. The highlights of that show though, are really high. It uses real-world historical events to shape its fantasy world, while still including several mythical elements. Avatar: the Last Airbender has been mentioned already, but I will concur its use of world-building and storytelling makes it my favorite TV show ever made.

The Legend of Zelda is an excellent series of games each providing a perfect blend of exploration, wonder, and puzzle solving within a fantasy setting, although I imagine most of the people here are familiar with Zelda already. I've also played a chunk of Baldur's Gate 3, and it is one of the most ambitious games of the decade, and delivers on everything it sets out to do (even though I suck at it). Lots of other video games use the fantasy genre too like Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Elder Scrolls, etc., though its hard for me to judge those because I haven't played them.

The list goes on. Spyro the Dragon, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc. Dungeons and Dragons has been popular for over 50 years, spawning countless hours of friends getting together creating their own tales of epic adventures. D&D is so massive it has inspired several long running series such as Critical Role, Dimension 20, and plenty of smaller-scale productions found on YouTube. I myself have only played a single short session, but it's one of those things where I can see just how much fun people have with it and think "wow that's pretty cool".

I haven't even gone into the anime territory either. Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite movies ever, and shows how you can have a world with fantasy elements blend in with technology such as with Iron Town to deliver a rich narrative on the aspects of man and nature. Nausicaä does this as well, which is another great work by Hayao Miyazaki, but there's some sci-fi elements too. Dozens of isekai anime take place in a fantasy setting, with some better than others, but what all of these have in common is demonstrating how fantasy doesn't necessarily mean "no technology". They also throw the protagonist out of their comfort zone; forcing them to learn about the people, and the world around them.

I could name several other aspects and properties of fantasy that I enjoy thoroughly. Heroic tales of good vs evil, mythical creatures such as cyclops, giants, orcs, and especially dragons. The importance of fellowship, to keep your companions close and take care of each other even if it's difficult. Characters spend their time conquering these large quests in spite of the odds heavily against them. I'm generalizing heavily, but this is the aspect of fantasy storytelling that keeps me coming back the most. The fact that no matter how bad things are, it's important to never give up. I could never say it any better than Samwise Gamgee himself in LOTR: The Two Towers:

Spoiler: Video

Sam: It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened. But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam : That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.

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That being said, I also love sci-fi a lot. I think its only fair that I take a look at various science fiction works that I am familiar with and enjoy.

Star Wars is a poster child for science fiction, and it does use more fantasy storytelling tactics than you would think. The chosen one, heroic good vs evil, protagonists going up against a huge army despite the odds, the force is just space magic, etc. I wouldn't dismiss someone if they said "I like Star Wars because I like sci-fi" though, because there's something odd about saying Star Wars doesn't count as science fiction. If anything, it's a great example of how the genres can blend together seamlessly, but that's a topic for another time. Even so, there are technological aspects to Star Wars as well: plenty of different ships, gadgets, etc. The prequels go into the midichlorians, pod racing, specific planet infrastructure, etc. I don't love all of Star Wars though; and with every new Disney release that's mid, the more I start to question if I consider myself a fan of the global juggernaut. Star Trek definitely fits more into the science aspect, by leaning into how its technology actually works, but honestly I haven't watched much of it other than the reboot movies, so we'll skip that for now. I do appreciate the approach to world-building that Star Trek does. From what I heard, it's more... logical.

Metroid is one of my favorite game series ever, and Super Metroid is my favorite video game of all-time. The series frequently puts Samus alone, in an isolated area that's filled with wonder and life, but also hostility. There's so much lore to be discovered. Entire ecosystems are made, with direct consequences to them as events take place throughout each entry. You the player, are a direct witness to technology both for yourself and how it interacts with the environment around it. You also come across how entire civilizations used the technology around them to enhance their way of life; with various mechanisms and whatnot. The Chozo are definitely fans of the scientific method too; as evidenced by the amount of research left behind on each planet you find their history in. Although, anything that can't be explained logically does boil down to "bird magic", which sounds more fantasy than sci-fi.

One of the most influential sci-fi works ever is Dune. To be clear, I've only seen the recent movies, but I do hope to read the books sometime. Man oh man, those films are so good. The sense of scope really makes you feel like you're on another planet. These places are massive. There's an element of political drama to the narrative that reminded me of Game of Thrones, and it was just as engaging. Dune involves several factions at war for the spice, and watching how each event plays out, is so entertaining. There are some elements of fantasy storytelling here such as "The Chosen One", but I feel like saying Dune is not science fiction is wrong, so I feel like the aesthetic and setting do matter to some degree when figuring out what genre a work is. The amount of world-building Frank Herbert did is on the level of what Tolkien did for Fantasy, and when I watched Dune I could clearly see how Star Wars was inspired by it. Some other aspects of Dune that are fascinating are in regards to human nature. What lengths will people go through to gain power, or to keep it? What happens when you suddenly gain unchecked religious influence?

Let's take a look at Blade Runner. The story involves Rick Decker tracking down four escaped replicants, because they have been causing trouble. Replicants, are human-like beings being tasked with doing the difficult jobs of manual labor and war that are "beneath" regular humans. The replicants are clearly are not happy with the situation though, otherwise they wouldn't have escaped. It's pretty easy to see that the replicants are basically slaves. Should they have rights if they are not human? Should they be subjected to that harsh way of "life" if they are capable of human thoughts and emotions? Are they even capable of living, or should they? That's not even getting into the cyberpunk aesthetics that are quintesential sci-fi. The setting was inspired by real-life Tokyo quite a bit, which is why it shouldn't be a surprise that there are a ton of sci-fi works from Japan. Gundam, Ghost in the Shell, Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Akira, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, I haven't watched any of these, so I don't have a personal stake in that.

Battlestar Galactica, also features human-like cylons among the expected space shenanigans. They appear to be like us in every way, but they are not organic. Does that make them less human? When a cylon dies, it can resurrect with a new copy of its body and retain some of its previous consciousnesses. Is this something that people should strive for? How much of yourself would you sacrifice to a machine for the sake of continuing an existence? From what I recall, the cylons were never human, but it does bring up an interesting debate about the topic. Ex Machina is another movie in which Oscar Isaac's character creates the perfect "human" for the main character. She's everything he could ever want for a companion, but his job is to test how human is she? Is she capable of her own thoughts and feelings, or is she just a program made to follow the instructions put in by Oscar Isaac's character.

The Terminator features a ruthless killer with the sole purpose of hunting down specific people, but looks like any other person. How would someone look or act if they had absolutely no sense of self, no sense of compassion, no capability for nuance. Nothing but a target, a mission. Terminator 2 explores this a little bit where John Connor tries to teach Arnold Schwarzenegger's character about our world, our technology, etc., while being hunted by the T-100; who has no growth whatsoever. How could it without any influence from what we teach it, or are machines capable of learning from us at all? At what point does a robot become self-aware with its own mind, or is that even possible at all?

Other works such as 1984 and A Brave New World offer a dystopian world and ask you, the reader, to think about the consequences of what that means. 1984 presents a story where political and technological extremes are used to rule with fear. Do we want to live in a world where everyone is okay with a totalitarian rule, and the government uses tech to keep a constant surveillance on people? On the other hand, in A Brave New World, everyone lives in absolute pleasure. Everyone can have whatever they want, whenever they want. Everyone consumes as much as they want, and there's no need to worry about what's happening. Is that truly living though? To be distracted by overconsumption and desire without a care? Is it okay to let the government do whatever they want to control you because all your are pleasures met? Both of these stories use sci-fi elements to warn about the dangers about a unilateral power exerting its control. What kind of a world do you want to live in? How could that be achieved? Is it just a fantasy (no pun intended) or is that goal of a better world something we can work toward without sliding to any extreme?

There's no perfect answer to any of these questions, but that's just it: Sci-Fi frequently challenges our preconcieved notions of what is and what can be in regards to our humanity and the world around us. It can be a terrific medium to showcase a particular problem, and encourage the audience to think about the consequences, or ask if it's really a problem at all.

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Overall, I would never be able to say with 100% confidence that one genre is definitively better than another, because both of them are important, and both scratch a differnt itch. There is significant overlap in any individual work of art. As explored in this very post, there's elements of sci-fi in fantasy works, and aspects of fantasy in sci-fi. They both involve complex world-building, mystery about the world they are written in, real-world influences, etc. Both can have strong messages about environmentalism, technology, society, etc. More than any specific genere, I'm specifically Team: Good Stories.

With all of that in mind, I got really passionate writing about both to explore what it is about them I personally enjoy the most. I also like to make sure everything gets a fair shot, so I'm going to officially vote for the underdog with Endorse: Sci-Fi. It's possible I'll feel differently if you ask me tomorrow, or a week from now, or a year from now. What brings me over the edge with this decision today though, sci-fi's tendency to get my mind into a deep philosophical approach to things, and start asking questions about the present and future, and ourselves.

If I had to sum everything up, I got my answer with what about each genre appeals to me beyond the aesthetic. I love fantasy because it can show me that against all odds, there is good in the world with good people fighting for it. I love science fiction because it makes me think about what is a good world, and how can I be a good person that works toward that better future.