What Makes Fantasy Feel Generic?

In this video we explore why fantasy has been feeling increasingly generic recently, as well as what distinguishes good fantasy from bad and generic fantasy!

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[easternlights]

You hit the nail on the head with the surface-level imitation of Tolkien.
Another issue, I think, is that a lot of authors try to write medieval fantasy without really understanding the Middle Ages. Now, "historical accuracy" is definitely not what I look for in a fantasy. It's not our world, it has its own history and culture. But as with music and poetry, one needs to first understand the rules in order to break them. You must first understand how pre-modern societies work in order to create one that follows entirely different rules and conventions in a believable manner. Something just always feels off when the setting is clearly medieval-inspired, and yet you can tell that the author's only knowledge of the Middle Ages comes from other fantasy works.
They want to achieve what Tolkien did, without taking the time to understand real life history and folklore as he did.

[TheMichaellathrop]

The sad thing is Frodo really wasn't a chosen one, at least not in the way it's come to mean. He was chosen by the council as the ring bearer but the entire point was that he was just a guy who had to do a very hard thing, not that he was born special but was forced to become special. Honestly I think that the move away from becoming special to being special is a huge part of what has led to the decline of fantasy as a genre.

[DrKarmo]

Classic fantasy ala Tolkien and D&D can generate some of the most interesting stories out there, it's just that people don't know how to draw from this type of world's strong points.

[KonguZya]

For me, it's the lack of culture and worldbuilding in costuming and design. This is why the Witcher games instantly clicked with me. Such a grounded and believable aesthetic. Ironically, even though the Jackson trilogy moved designs to more late medieval, they still had more distinct cultural designs than a lot of generic fantasy that's derivative of it.

[MagnificentDevil]

It is because modern fantasy has abandoned the distinct cultural myths, legends, and influences of fantasy's roots to take a more kitchen sink cosmopolitan approach. It has lost all distinctiveness, and has become a boring bland mess of styles and influences with no cohesiveness.

[borginburkes]

It’s the Glup Shitto effect. Tolkien was inspired by a whole host of European folklore and he combined it all with his own ideas to make something never seen before.

Contrast that with today. Most fantasy writers are fans of Tolkien. But instead of people bringing their own spin on things, they’re just recycling what Tolkien did.

[CharlesCorso-hwze]

To me fantasy can be grounded and fantastical at the same time. People seldom however commit to creating a whole new ecology and myths.

[AnotherDuck]

I like my standard medieval fantasy settings. I don't care that I've seen it a million times. I mean, why would that be a problem when we have tens or hundreds times the stories set in a typical high school or university?

It's always been what you do with it, and what the actual stories you tell are. A unique world where humans are aquatic, worlds are small, isolated spheres in a void, and magic is cast by exposing lies people tell sounds interesting, but it's nothing unless you actually do something with it. If you just plop down your Rings of Power characters and plot and think it's going to work, you're mistaken. You still need engaging characters and an interesting plot that isn't just held up by your setting gimmicks. If it is just held up by the gimmicks, you've got something on the level of a toy commercial that sells toys with those gimmicks.

A benefit with the standard medieval fantasy setting is that you don't have to explain everything. If your elves are like most others, you can just say a character is an elf, or has long ears, and that's the end of it. There's no need to focus on something everyone knows. But if elves in that world has a special connection to the magical elements that humans don't, then you can go into detail about that, and how that changes their culture. If it's important to the plot, and it should be since you put it there.

[williamchamberlain]

0:03 there's no common themes _at all_ to their costumes - no common thread that you'd get with fashions crossing over class/regional/professional boundaries. Go look at a variety of mid-to-late medieval paintings and you'll see lower classes picking up noble fashions with cheaper materials and fewer hours per garment, or cheap swords imitating the style of expensive swords.
Plus there's no sign of the clothes being worn-in, creased, sun-faded, and no dirt anywhere on them.

[QuentinKreamer]

Conan and Kull are my first major fantasy inspiration.

[jacquecortez]

Maybe they are comparing Fantasy to Middle Ages on Planet Earth. In my opinion Fantasy is so much more. It brings you to alien worlds with unique landscapes. Creatures from pure imagination. Scenarios that cannot happen in real life. Possibilities beyond the confines of reality.

[immortaljanus]

Very well put.

As a writer of fantasy, I read very little fantasy these days. I hope that my own works avoid the pitfalls you've described, I certainly attempt to do so. I focus a lot on going into details of how societies and cultures work, how they naturally clash and how they sometimes blend and become something new. No dragons, for a start, and the 'magic' is used sparringly so when it's used, it has an impact.

[karlandersson]

Something that immediately signals to me that something is generic trash is when the cast reflect current western city demographics without there being a good in-setting lore reason for the demographics to be that way, and also when the clothes look too new, clean and "ren-fairy". Another part is when people look too 'modern' in general, but that's harder to pin-point and comes down to things such as hair-styles and just general facial appearance.

[khylerbane]

What makes the old guard, Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, George RR Martin and Michael Moorcock… heck, even more “modern” ones like Guygax, Andre with Witcher, Skyrim/Elder Scrolls, Warcraft, Wheel of Time, Elden Ring, Dragon Age, Dark Souls, and Warhammer Fantasy Battle etc. so memorable is that what they made was either; what became the norm, or they were able to take a spin on those works and writers so much that is completely disincentive and unique.

The reason is simply because they had little to work on before. Howard made sword and sorcery a legitimate genre, because he loved history and made his work around that love. Moorcock was original enough and creative enough with what wasn’t his idea that his works came into its own. And Tolkien basically crested modern fantasy.

Even with the modern ones, there’s still a sense that this is a unique and different world. Warhammer Fantasy Battle is what happens when history nerds make a fantasy world. Witcher is a love letter to Polish mythology and folklore. Warcraft(and StarCraft ) is a canceled Warhammer game they put their own spin on. DnD is Fantasy writing the tabletop game when your party *aren’t* being soul crushing idiots. Dark souls, Dragon Age, and Elder Scrolls speak for themselves, and Elden ring is just what you get when a Dev plays Dark Souls while blitzed on LSD. So on and so forth.

Their isn’t much left to make that is truly original anymore. Not with taking from someone else, e or seemingly doing so. That and most writers, especially in 2025, don’t have the passion, patience, or creativity to make and fully fleshed out works or do something new. There is also the sense of feedback. That it may not be loved it viable. Look at Lovecraft… he made a whole new genre and yet it took 30 years after his death for prop to recognize his genius. Tolkien never got to see the true impact his work had. Howard didn’t get his universes made pop culture symbols because his estate kept going for decades after his untimely fate. Few like Andre, Moorcock, Martian, Guygax, and Wheel of Times author lived to see extent of their labor. They abs most authors I meet don’t do it full time. Few can. And many fear those two plausible fates. So they don’t try being original and just do what everyone else did.

[gustyko]

I feel like this is something that animation has over "live–action" CGI yes, it still has some generic elements, but the beauty of animation is is that *ALLOWS YOU* to create your own rather than how live action pretends to be "real" and to be "taken seriously" (this also applies to comic book super heroes).
Of course I'm not ditching live–action as a medium, I LOVE the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and the first Narnia but when it comes to modern entertainment, anime/manga such as "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" or "Delicious in Dungeon" as well as Angel Studios's adaptation of "The Wingfeather Saga" feel waaaay more engaging and captivating, than the majority of western big budget movies and TV shows with lots of CGI.

[benioz]

As soon as I see a Medieval European inspired Fantasy world that looks like Downton L.A., I lose all sense of immersion.

[nightmarishcompositions]

Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock were the peak of creativity and originality in fantasy imo.

[panzer]

Because the people who have been given massive budgets are just trying to copy the success of others without understanding why they were successful. They fundamentally misunderstand fantasy and in a lot of cases, they overtly hate the people who created successful fantasy. Amazon, Netflix, HBO and Disney have utterly ruined beloved franchises; I never want to see another adaptation again—only original sources for me going forward.

[vol]

Even though Lotr isn't my top fantasy book series (the trilogy is in my top 3 movies) whenever I read lotr it feels so fresh and different from all the medieval fantasy out there that just blends in my mind and feels a rehash of what's come before.

Even the song of ice and fire, which is a masterpiece, doesn't feel nearly as fresh and original as the Lord of the rings books. Almost everything about lotr feels unique, from the tone to the writing style, heck even the main antagonist being not an evil dark Lord but rather a magic item is very different to most dark Lord fantasy out there.

[SAR-refx]

Is the lack of color for me. Most of this books, movies and videogames are made by north americans. I´m spanish, and we know in Europe they loved colour in the middle ages. Bright red, bright blue, green, yellow, they loved patterns... Is just so boring that everything is beige, brown or grey lol.

Also, why not base the fantasy setting in Minoan civilization or Indo-greek empire or 1000 BC Norway or 500 AD Balkans or 1000 BC Italian peninsula... or 200 BC Russia... why is always middle ages that are portrayed really badly anyway?