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Speculative fiction is an umbrella phrase encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres , specifically science fiction , fantasy , horror , supernatural fiction , superhero fiction , utopian and dystopian fiction , apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction , and alternate history in literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.
It has been around since humans began to speak. The earliest forms of speculative fiction were likely mythological tales told around the campfire. Speculative fiction deals with the "What if?" scenarios imagined by dreamers and thinkers worldwide. Journeys to other worlds through the vast reaches of distant space; magical quests to free worlds enslaved by terrible beings; malevolent supernatural powers seeking to increase their spheres of influence across multiple dimensions and times; all of these fall into the realm of speculative fiction.
Speculative fiction as a category ranges from ancient works to cutting edge , paradigm -changing, and neotraditional works of the 21st century. It can be recognized in works whose authors' intentions or the social contexts of the versions of stories they portrayed is now known. For example, Ancient Greek dramatists such as Euripides , whose play Medea (play) seemed to have offended Athenian audiences when he fictionally speculated that shamaness Medea killed her own children instead of their being killed by other Corinthians after her departure. The play Hippolytus , narratively introduced by Aphrodite , is suspected to have displeased contemporary audiences of the day because it portrayed Phaedra as too lusty.
In historiography , what is now called speculative fiction has previously been termed "historical invention", "historical fiction ," and other similar names. It is extensively noted in the literary criticism of the works of William Shakespeare when he co-locates Athenian Duke Theseus and Amazonian Queen Hippolyta , English fairy Puck , and Roman god Cupid all together in the fairyland of its Merovingian Germanic sovereign Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream . In mythography it has been termed "mythopoesis" or mythopoeia , "fictional speculation", the creative design and generation of lore, regarding such works as J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings . Such supernatural , alternate history , and sexuality themes continue in works produced within the modern speculative fiction genre.
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American
epic space opera film written and directed by
George Lucas . It stars
Liam Neeson ,
Ewan McGregor ,
Natalie Portman ,
Jake Lloyd ,
Ahmed Best ,
Ian McDiarmid ,
Anthony Daniels ,
Kenny Baker ,
Pernilla August , and
Frank Oz . It is the fourth film in the
Star Wars film series, the first film of the
prequel trilogy and the first chronological chapter of the "
Skywalker Saga ". Set 32 years before the
original trilogy (13 years before the formation of the
Galactic Empire ), during the era of the
Galactic Republic , the plot follows
Jedi Master
Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice
Obi-Wan Kenobi as they try to protect
Queen Padmé Amidala of
Naboo in hopes of securing a peaceful end to an interplanetary trade dispute. Joined by
Anakin Skywalker —a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of
the Force —they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the
Sith . The film was produced by
Lucasfilm and distributed by
20th Century Fox .
Following the release of Return of the Jedi (1983), talks of a follow-up were proposed, but Lucas was unmotivated to return to the franchise. During the hiatus, the backstories he created for the characters, particularly Anakin's, sparked interest in him to develop a prequel trilogy during the 1990s. After he determined that computer-generated imagery (CGI) had advanced to the level he wanted for the prequel trilogy's visual effects , Lucas began writing The Phantom Menace in 1993, and production began in 1994. Filming started in June 1997—at locations at Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert—and ended in September. The film marked Lucas's first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following the original Star Wars [lower-alpha 1] in 1977. (Full article... )
“
The "hard" science-fiction writers are the ones who try to write specific stories about all that technology may do for us. More and more, these writers felt an opaque wall across the future. Once, they could put such fantasies millions of years in the future. Now they saw that their most diligent extrapolations resulted in the unknowable...soon.
”
—Vernor Vinge (b.1944), "The Coming Technological Singularity" (1993).
The
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both works of film and of television but since 2003, it has been split into two categories:
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) and
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) . The Dramatic Presentation Awards are part of the broader
Hugo Awards , which are given every year by the
World Science Fiction Society for the best
science fiction or
fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The awards are named after
Hugo Gernsback , the founder of the first
science fiction magazine ,
Amazing Stories , and was once officially known as the Science Fiction Achievement Award. The award has been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction". (
Full article... )
Possible events in the future as suggested by science fiction:
Around the year 18,000,000, a "half-plastic denizen" of the interior of a planet beyond Pluto exchanges his mind with the Great Race of Yith.
Here are ideas for how you can help improve the coverage of speculative fiction topics on Wikipedia:
Join a WikiProject or task force:
Science fiction (task force ): The 4400 , Babylon 5 , Battlestar Galactica , Doctor Who , Firefly , Futurama , G.I. Joe , Heroes , Hitchhiker's Guide , Life on Mars , Lost , Pokémon , Red Dwarf , Star Trek , Star Wars , Stargate , Superman , Transformers , Twilight Zone .
Fantasy : Artemis Fowl , Discworld , Fabelhaven , Harry Potter , Highlander , His Dark Materials , Inheritance Cycle , Lemony Snicket , Middle-Earth , Narnia , Oz , Percy Jackson , Redwall , Roald Dahl , Shannara , A Song of Ice and Fire , Warriors .
Horror : Buffy , Twilight .
Other and related: Animation , Anime and manga , Balzac , Children's literature , Comics , Disney , Machinima , Games (Board and tabletop games , Warhammer 40K , RPGs (D&D ), Video games (Square Enix )).
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This list was generated from these rules . Questions and feedback are always welcome ! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.
Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2024-07-22 23:07 (UTC)
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Man's Rights; Or, How Would You Like It? (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Nattes à chat (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-21, score: 40
Sara Doke (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Nattes à chat (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-21, score: 40
Founders Day (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by ElizabethOrrt (talk · contribs · new pages ( 2) ) started on 2024-07-21, score: 60
Yumiko Shirai (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Nattes à chat (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-21, score: 40
Ratu Sihir (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Dorothy Schnapp (talk · contribs · new pages ( 10) ) started on 2024-07-21, score: 40
Kuro (manga) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Xexerss (talk · contribs · new pages ( 41) ) started on 2024-07-21, score: 20
Lucie Chenu (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Fixer88 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 34) ) started on 2024-07-21, score: 120
Estelle Faye (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Nattes à chat (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-21, score: 100
Le Goût de l'immortalité (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Nattes à chat (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-20, score: 40
IRaH (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Sunderdam (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-20, score: 40
List of characters in Baalveer (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Heyhere24 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 2) ) started on 2024-07-20, score: 20
Electric Child (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Laurenschneider210 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 19) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 80
Simon Jaquemet (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Laurenschneider210 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 19) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 40
Once Human (video game) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Hahnchen (talk · contribs · new pages ( 3) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 20
Renée Marie Gouraud dʻAblancourt (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Nattes à chat (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 40
Kapkapiii (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by KLDE123 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 80
Morbius (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by SafariScribe (talk · contribs · new pages ( 179) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 40
Friday the 13th: Church of the Divine Psychopath (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Lord Crayak (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 60
After God (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Xexerss (talk · contribs · new pages ( 41) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 20
Emma Mieko Candon (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Fixer88 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 34) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 20
R/nosleep (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Di (they-them) (talk · contribs · new pages ( 16) ) started on 2024-07-19, score: 60
The Sudbury Devil (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Jg2904 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-18, score: 80
Werewolves (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by KingArti (talk · contribs · new pages ( 6) ) started on 2024-07-18, score: 60
Visitation (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Hildreth gazzard (talk · contribs · new pages ( 224) ) started on 2024-07-18, score: 100
Hooves (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Publicistor (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-09, score: 60
Arcs (board game) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by JamJamSvn (talk · contribs · new pages ( 3) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 20
M3GAN 2.0 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by TheMovieGuy (talk · contribs · new pages ( 2) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 160
Michael Martinez (Tolkien scholar) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Chiswick Chap (talk · contribs · new pages ( 6) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 20
Irina Morozova (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by IronMaximus (talk · contribs · new pages ( 17) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 40
A World Out of Time (album) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Koavf (talk · contribs · new pages ( 103) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 20
Miles Dale (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by IronMaximus (talk · contribs · new pages ( 17) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 40
Tracy Stevens (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by IronMaximus (talk · contribs · new pages ( 17) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 40
Jean Boullet (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Arthistorian1977 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 3) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 60
Moeyo Ken (manga) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by M.A.LasTroniN910 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-16, score: 20
In the Name of the Mermaid Princess (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Xexerss (talk · contribs · new pages ( 41) ) started on 2024-07-15, score: 20
Magik (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by SafariScribe (talk · contribs · new pages ( 179) ) started on 2024-07-15, score: 40
Scarlet Hollow (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by ThanatosApprentice (talk · contribs · new pages ( 2) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 40
The Dragon Knight's Beloved (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by SimonLagann (talk · contribs · new pages ( 9) ) started on 2024-07-12, score: 20
Endgame (video game) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by CarciaNullius (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-09, score: 25
Sorcha Ní Fhlainn (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Miraclepine (talk · contribs · new pages ( 12) ) started on 2024-07-04, score: 40
About the astonishing husband Horu (Ukrainian folktale) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by KHR FolkMyth (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 20
Tarot (2024 Korean film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Abskiee (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 80
Madō no Keifu (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by M.A.LasTroniN910 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 11) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 20
Ward (1973 film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Akatone (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 80
Destination: Skaro (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by TheDoctorWho (talk · contribs · new pages ( 5) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 40
Billi (disambiguation) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by MarjonW (talk · contribs · new pages ( 2) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 40
Rick and Morty Presents (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by 88.119.175.160 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 25
Alien 3 (podcast) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by TipsyElephant (talk · contribs · new pages ( 3) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 30
Your Utopia (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by ThadeusOfNazereth (talk · contribs · new pages ( 10) ) started on 2024-07-14, score: 40
Lena Jane Fry (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Penny Richards (talk · contribs · new pages ( 15) ) started on 2024-07-13, score: 20
Booger (film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by MatthewHoobin (talk · contribs · new pages ( 5) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 60
Florence McLandburgh (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Penny Richards (talk · contribs · new pages ( 15) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 20
Marina Perazić (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Ostalocutanje (talk · contribs · new pages ( 9) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 20
List of awards and nominations received by Thandiwe Newton (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by The One I Left (talk · contribs · new pages ( 4) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 40
Starfinder Character Operations Manual (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Arla (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 20
Metamorphosis (1990 Italian film) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by EdgarCabreraFariña (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 60
Pragma (album) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Bruce1ee (talk · contribs · new pages ( 4) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 20
The Red Dragon and the Gold (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by Lilcytrus (talk · contribs · new pages ( 3) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 20
84th World Science Fiction Convention (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by IJVin (talk · contribs · new pages ( 1) ) started on 2024-07-08, score: 80
Kaiserreich (mod) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools ) by NegativeMP1 (talk · contribs · new pages ( 2) ) started on 2024-07-07, score: 40
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