The Realism in Fantasy.

Good morning everyone! Okay, so, as some of you may or may not know, I wish to be an accomplished writer (I’m assuming like most of you here on Mibba), and I wish to write fantasy/adventure. Why? Because, let’s face it, I LOVE fantasy. I love everything about it. I love to read stories of brave, epic heroes, of magical, faraway lands, and of epic battles between good and evil. I can’t get enough of it. However, there has always been something that’s been bothering me for a while now, but I haven’t been able to put it to words, and I still don’t think I can do so, but, let’s give this a shot.

Okay, first, let’s begin with a definition of what fantasy is from good ole’ Wikipedia.

“Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Many works within the genre take place on fictional planes or planets where magic is common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three (which are subgenres of speculative fiction).”

As such, it is concluded that fantasy has little to no basis in reality. But, as I stalked the net and visited many blogs and websites which pertain to writing (Anti-Shurtugal and Arin I Asolde to name just a couple), I would read posts and/or critiques that were written by what I assume are weapon and/or armor efficianados, for they seem to enjoy calling out various works of fiction on any inaccuracies in how they handle weapons, armor, and combat (Not that I have anything against it, mind you, I happen to enjoy reading them). But, I began to think, I know absolutely nothing about how weapons or armor or how battles really…I dunno’ work, if that made any sense, and I’m worried that if I were to write any epic battles into my various works, is it going to be torn apart by these same people? Now, I understand that fantasy doesn’t give writers an excuse to do whatever the hell they want, if the characters do something in their work of fiction, it has to make sense and follow the rules of whatever world they’re writing about (unless you have an explanation for it that doesn’t come across as a cop-out). Plus, just because it’s fantasy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make the characters relate to the reader, you have to make readers care about the characters as much as in any genre.

But, I’m getting slightly off topic here. Now, I’m a guy who functions mostly on Rule of Cool, meaning I don’t often question how inaccurate or far fetch something is if it looks or feels, well, awesome (unless it’s SO inaccurate to the point of stupidity of course, I’m not that simple). But that becomes a problem when I write fantasy, because when it comes to writing epic battles, my only REAL exposure to swordplay is in movies, games, shows, etc. and it does kind of show in my past works. True, I COULD do research on how sword fights or how war really is, but, let’s face it, actual sword play or warfare (ESPECIALLY war fare) is nowhere near as awesome looking as say, the showdown between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from Star Wars or the battle between Aragorn and his mean against the dark lord’s army in The Lord of the Rings (Okay, so maybe they’re not the BEST examples, but it was all I could come up with, my apologies).

Speaking of dark lords, there’s another thing that bothers me. Is it me, or are people leaning towards stories with morally gray characters or worlds, or, whatever (again, not that I mind)? It seems like people LOVE seeing redeemable villains/antagonists that they could relate to, and people seem to enjoy stories where THEY decide who to root for (yet again, this is NOT a bad thing, and I’m hoping that made sense). But, here’s the thing, what if I WANT to create a lawful evil type character? What if I WANT to create a dark lord-type character who’s seething with evil? Does that mean I’m a poor writer because I don’t know how to create morally gray characters? Well, what if I LOVE good vs evil stories? Are they realistic? No, but it IS fantasy after all. But, to my experience from reading books, watching movies, etc., there has to be a degree in realism in fantasy, otherwise, it just becomes stupid. Oh, boy, I could’ve worded that better, huh? But, I’m hoping you’re all understanding what I’m trying to get across here, because this has been bugging me for a while, and I STILL can’t seem to find the right words to express how I feel on this topic.

So, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts about the degree of realism in fantasy. Trust me, I’m in the mood for an argument/debate. Now, I hope I’m not coming across as some whiny/rebellious/naive writer, I’m honestly asking a legitimate question in the hopes of becoming a better writer because of it.