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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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Selected profile

Stoker c. 1906

Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of the most famous classics of English literature. The primary antagonist of the novel, Count Dracula, is often ranked among the most iconic and best-known fictional figures of the entire Victorian era, and the character's popularity has led to over 700 adaptations for films, movies, plays, comics, video games, cartoons, stage performances, and other forms of media.

During his life, he was better known as the personal assistant of the actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the West End's Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned. Stoker was also a friend and contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the fictional Sherlock Holmes crime detective character. The two novelists collaborated in writing other novels such as The Fate of Fenella in 1892. In his early years, Stoker was employed as a theatre critic for an Irish newspaper and occasionally wrote short stories and commentaries. He also enjoyed travelling, particularly to Cruden Bay in Scotland where he set two of his novels and drew inspiration for writing Dracula. (Full article...)
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Selected work

V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue from a screenplay by the Wachowskis. It is based on the 1988–89 DC Vertigo Comics limited series graphic novel by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare. The film, set in a future where a fascist totalitarian regime has subjugated the UK, centres on V (portrayed by Hugo Weaving), an anarchist and masked freedom fighter who attempts to ignite a revolution through elaborate terrorist acts, and Evey Hammond (portrayed by Natalie Portman), a young woman caught up in V's mission. Stephen Rea portrays a detective leading a desperate quest to stop V.

Produced by Silver Pictures, Virtual Studios and Anarchos Productions, Inc., V for Vendetta was originally scheduled for release by Warner Bros. Pictures on 4 November 2005 (a day before the 400th Guy Fawkes Night), but was delayed; it instead opened in the United States on 17 March 2006, to mostly positive reviews from critics and became a box office success, grossing $134.7 million against a production budget between $50–54 million. Alan Moore, dissatisfied with the film adaptations of his other works, From Hell (2001) and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), declined to watch the film and asked to not be credited or paid royalties. (Full article...)

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—Max Beerbohm (1872–1956), Zuleika Dobson (1911).
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Illustration to Tennyson's "Sir Galahad" by W. E. F. Britten.
Illustration to Tennyson's "Sir Galahad" by W. E. F. Britten.
Credit: William Edward Frank Britten (illustration), Tennyson (poem), Adam Cuerden (restoration)

Illustration to Tennyson's "Sir Galahad" by W. E. F. Britten:

My good blade carves the casques of men,
    My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
    Because my heart is pure.
The shattering trumpet shrilleth high,
    The hard brands shiver on the steel,
The splinter'd spear-shafts crack and fly,
    The horse and rider reel:
They reel, they roll in clanging lists,
    And when the tide of combat stands,
Perfume and flowers fall in showers,
    That lightly rain from ladies' hands.
   
How sweet are looks that ladies bend
    On whom their favours fall!
For them I battle till the end,
    To save from shame and thrall:
But all my heart is drawn above,
    My knees are bow'd in crypt and shrine:
I never felt the kiss of love,
    Nor maiden's hand in mine.
More bounteous aspects on me beam,
    Me mightier transports move and thrill;
So keep I fair thro' faith and prayer
    A virgin heart in work and will.
   
When down the stormy crescent goes,
    A light before me swims,
Between dark stems the forest glows,
    I hear a noise of hymns:
Then by some secret shrine I ride;
    I hear a voice but none are there;
The stalls are void, the doors are wide,
    The tapers burning fair.
Fair gleams the snowy altar-cloth,
    The silver vessels sparkle clean,
The shrill bell rings, the censer swings,
    And solemn chaunts resound between.
   
Sometime on lonely mountain-meres
    I find a magic bark;
I leap on board: no helmsman steers:
    I float till all is dark.
A gentle sound, an awful light!
    Three angels bear the holy Grail:
With folded feet, in stoles of white,
    On sleeping wings they sail.
Ah, blessed vision! blood of God!
    My spirit beats her mortal bars,
As down dark tides the glory slides,
    And star-like mingles with the stars.
   
When on my goodly charger borne
    Thro' dreaming towns I go,
The cock crows ere the Christmas morn,
    The streets are dumb with snow.
The tempest crackles on the leads,
    And, ringing, springs from brand and mail;
But o'er the dark a glory spreads,
    And gilds the driving hail.
I leave the plain, I climb the height;

    No branchy thicket shelter yields;

But blessed forms in whistling storms
    Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields.
   
A maiden knight--to me is given
    Such hope, I know not fear;
I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven
    That often meet me here.
I muse on joy that will not cease,
    Pure spaces clothed in living beams,
Pure lilies of eternal peace,
    Whose odours haunt my dreams;
And, stricken by an angel's hand,
    This mortal armour that I wear,
This weight and size, this heart and eyes,
    Are touch'd, are turn'd to finest air.
   
The clouds are broken in the sky,
    And thro' the mountain-walls
A rolling organ-harmony
    Swells up, and shakes and falls.
Then move the trees, the copses nod,
    Wings flutter, voices hover clear:
"O just and faithful knight of God!
    Ride on! the prize is near."
So pass I hostel, hall, and grange;
    By bridge and ford, by park and pale,
All-arm'd I ride, whate'er betide,
    Until I find the holy Grail.
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Did you know...

Annette Nelson as 'The Mountain Sylph'

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Upcoming conventions

June:

July:

Dates can usually be found on the article page.

See also these convention lists: anime, comic book, furry, gaming, multigenre, and science fiction.

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Selected article

Fennec Shand is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise portrayed by Ming-Na Wen in the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, and The Book of Boba Fett. An elite mercenary and assassin, she was introduced in "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" of The Mandalorian, in which she is sought by the show's title character and another bounty hunter, Toro Calican, who seemingly kills her. "Chapter 14: The Tragedy" established that Fennec was saved by Boba Fett, leaving her in his debt, and had parts of her body replaced with cybernetics. As Fett's new partner, she assists him in his mission to recover his old armor from the Mandalorian, and later to rescue Grogu to honor an agreement made with the latter. Once their mission is completed, the two conquer Tatooine and the remnants of the Hutt cartels. In The Book of Boba Fett, Fennec and Fett come into conflict with various enemies attempting to seize power from them, leading them to ally with the Mandalorian once more to defend their new crime empire. The character has been received positively by reviewers and fans alike and has been described as a fan favorite. (Full article...)
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On this day...

June 28:

Film releases

Television and web series

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Possible futures

Possible events in the future as suggested by science fiction:

  • The Terran Confederation, following five years of raids against their shipping by the Kilrathi, officially declare war against them on July 5, 2634.
  • In 5000, the Filipino Army defeats the Alliance at the Battle of Reykjavik during the closing stages of World War V.
  • In the year 500,000,000,000,000,000,000 (500 quintillion), the last descendants of humanity make some changes to our near present in order to release the universe's vacuum energy, spawn new universes, and prevent the Big Freeze from happening.
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Things you can do...

Here are ideas for how you can help improve the coverage of speculative fiction topics on Wikipedia:

Join a WikiProject or task force:

Start a requested article:

  • Create an article which someone has requested.

Expand a stub:

Expand a new article:

  • Expand and update a new speculative fiction article from the following list:

Note: If no articles are shown below, please work on those found in the Archive. 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: 2025-06-27 23:46 (UTC)

Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.

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Recognized content

Featured articles are considered to be the best on Wikipedia, as determined by Wikipedia's editors, and Good articles are those which are considered to be of good quality but which are not yet featured article quality. If you see one that should be listed here, please add it or post on the talk page and let us know so we can add it for you.

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Speculative fiction topics

Science fiction (definitions)

Creators: Artists (list) · Authors (by nationality) · Editors
Media: Animation · Anime and manga · Comics · Films (list) · Games (board · role-playing · video) · Literature (magazines (pulp) · novels · poetry · stories) · Opera · Radio · Television (films · list · sitcoms) · Theatre
Subgenres: Alternate history · Apocalyptic · Biopunk · Comedy · Cyberpunk (derivatives) · Dying Earth · Gothic · Hard · Human society · Military · Mundane · Planetary romance · Recursive · Social · Soft · Space opera · Spy-fi · Steampunk · Sword and planet · Tech-noir · Western (Space)
History: Films · Golden Age · New Wave · Scientific romance
Related genres: Fantasy (Science fantasy) · Mystery · Horror · Slipstream · Speculative (Weird) · Superhero
Themes: Artificial intelligence · Extraterrestrials (First contact) · Floating city · Hyperspace · Lost World · Planets · Politics (Libertarian · Utopia/Dystopia · World government) · Religion (Christian · ideas) · Resizing · Sex (Feminist · gender · homosexuality · reproduction) · Simulated realities/Virtual worlds · Slipstream · Space warfare (weapons) · Stock characters · Superpowers · Timeline (Alternate future · Future history · Parallel universes · Time travel)
Subculture: Fandom: By nationality · Conventions (list) · Organizations — Studies: Awards · Definitions · Journals · New Wave
By country: Australia · Bangladesh · Canada · China · Croatia · Czech Republic · France · Japan · Norway · Poland · Romania · Russia/Soviet Union · Serbia · Spain

Fantasy

Creators: Artists · Authors
Media: Anime · Art (Fantastic) · Comics (Webcomics) · Film · Literature · Magazines · Television (List)
Studies: History · Sources · Tolkienology
Subgenres: Bangsian · Comic · Contemporary (Urban) · Dark · Epic/High fantasy · Heroic · Mythic fiction · Steampunk · Sword and sorcery · Weird fiction
Tropes (List): Fantasy races · Fantasy worlds · Legendary creatures · Magic · Magic items · Magicians · Quests

Horror

Creators: Artists · Authors
Media: Anime and manga · Comics (US) · Films (list) · Games · Giallo · Grand Guignol · Magazines · Novels · Television
Subgenres: Body · Comedy (list · zombie comedy) · Dark fantasy · Dark romanticism · Ero guro · Erotic · Ghost · Gothic · J-Horror · K-Horror · Lovecraftian · Monsters (Frankenstein · vampire · werewolf) · Occult detective · Psychological · Religious (film) · Sci-fi (film) · Slasher (film) · Splatter/Gore (film) · Supernatural · Survival · Weird menace · Weird West · Zombie apocalypse
Related genres: Crime · Mystery · Speculative · Thriller
Others: Awards · Conventions · LGBT · Writers

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Subcategories

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Speculative fiction
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Fiction about dreams
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Wikimedia

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Science fiction

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