Fantasy Flowchart

Another great post from Susan Morris!

Not exactly a post, really. A flowchart. All those attempts to sort out the subgenres of fantasy? This flowchart may not be utterly complete, but it’s funny and (I think) accurate. Take a look.

My favorite tidbit is: Can The Hero Win? Y — vs — Outlook not so good. I’m sure you can guess that the former leads to heroic fantasy (among other options) and the latter to what the flowchart calls “dark” fantasy, but I would guess is these days sometimes referred to as grimdark. Or, hey, let’s have one more iteration down in that corner:

Are any characters or the world better at the end of the story than at the beginning? Or: Is there any hope?

Y: Dark fantasy

N: Grimdark