Editing Steampunk (section)

===Steampunk settings===

====Alternative world====
[[File:SteampunkProp(byMollyPorkshanksFriedrich).jpg|thumb|Steampunk-style composite apparatus]]

Since the 1990s, the application of the steampunk label has expanded beyond works set in recognisable historical periods, to works set in fantasy worlds that rely heavily on steam- or spring-powered technology.<ref name=Grossman/> One of the earliest short stories relying on steam-powered flying machines is "The Aerial Burglar" of 1844.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barger|first1=Andrew|title=Mesaerion: The Best Science Fiction Short Stories 1800–1849|date=2013|publisher=Bottletree Books Llc|isbn=978-1-933747-49-1|page=31}}</ref> An example from juvenile fiction is ''[[The Edge Chronicles]]'' by Paul Stewart and [[Chris Riddell]].

Fantasy steampunk settings abound in [[tabletop role-playing game|tabletop]] and [[Role-playing video game|computer role-playing games]]. Notable examples include ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9134.phtml|title=Skies of Arcadia review on RPGnet|publisher=RPG.net|access-date=September 8, 2009|archive-date=March 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323052846/http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9134.phtml|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/005141.php|title=Rise of legends as steampunk video game|publisher=Dailygame.net|access-date=September 8, 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217160302/http://dailygame.net/news/archives/005141.php|archive-date=February 17, 2009}}</ref> and ''[[Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]''.<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/>

One of the first steampunk novels set in a [[Middle-earth]]-like world was the ''[[Forest of Boland Light Railway]]'' by [[BB (author)|BB]], about [[gnome]]s who build a [[steam locomotive]]. Fifty years later, [[Terry Pratchett]] wrote the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Raising Steam]],'' about the ongoing [[industrial revolution]] and [[railway mania]] in [[Ankh-Morpork]].

The gnomes and goblins in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' also have technological societies that could be described as steampunk,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/lore/steampunk-paradise|title=WoW: Loremaster's Corner #5: A Steampunk Paradise|publisher=Ten Ton Hammer|date=March 9, 2010|author=Xerin|quote=World of Warcraft is almost a steampunk paradise if you look at the various technological advancements the gnomes have made. Most engines are powered by steam and there are giant airships floating around everywhere.|access-date=May 30, 2010|archive-date=July 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715110527/http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/lore/steampunk-paradise|url-status=live}}</ref> as they are vastly ahead of the technologies of [[human|men]], but still run on steam and mechanical power.

The Dwarves of the [[The Elder Scrolls|''Elder Scrolls'' series]], described therein as a race of Elves called the [[Dwemer]], also use steam-powered machinery, with gigantic brass-like gears, throughout their underground cities. However, magical means are used to keep ancient devices in motion despite the Dwemer's ancient disappearance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer_Animunculi|title=Lore:Dwemer Animunculi – The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages|publisher=UESP|date=Apr 24, 2017|access-date=Jun 5, 2017|archive-date=November 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128215429/http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer_Animunculi|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1998 game ''[[Thief: The Dark Project]]'', as well as the other sequels including its [[Thief (2014 video game)|2014 reboot]], feature heavy steampunk-inspired architecture, setting, and technology.

Amidst the historical and fantasy subgenres of steampunk is a type that takes place in a hypothetical future or a fantasy equivalent of our future involving the domination of steampunk-style technology and aesthetics. Examples include [[Jean-Pierre Jeunet]] and [[Marc Caro]]'s ''[[The City of Lost Children]]'' (1995), ''[[Turn A Gundam]]'' (1999–2000), ''[[Trigun]]'',<ref name="Neo Steam"/> and [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney's]] film ''[[Treasure Planet]]'' (2002). In 2011, musician [[Thomas Dolby]] heralded his return to music after a 20-year hiatus with an online steampunk alternate fantasy world called the Floating City, to promote his album ''[[A Map of the Floating City]]''.<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/>

====American West====
Another setting is [[Steampunk Western|"Western" steampunk]], which overlaps with both the [[weird West]] and [[science fiction Western]] subgenres. One of the earliest steampunk books set in America was ''[[The Steam Man of the Prairies]]'' by [[Edward S. Ellis]]. Recent examples include the TV show ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' and the movie adaption ''[[Wild Wild West]]'', the [[Italian comics]] about [[Magico Vento]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2016.pdf|title=Magico Vento|first=Lorenzo|last=Davia|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|issue=16|date=January 2011|page=17|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728091930/https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2016.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Devon Monk]]'s ''Dead Iron.''<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/2013/08/book-review-dead-iron-the-age-of-steam/|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|title=Dead Iron – Book Review|date=August 10, 2013|last=Kinkade|first=Scott|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728130143/https://neverwasmag.com/2013/08/book-review-dead-iron-the-age-of-steam/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Fantasy and horror====
{{See also|Cyberpunk derivatives}}

[[Kaja Foglio]] introduced the term "Gaslamp Fantasy", for the series [[Girl Genius]].<ref name=VanderMeer/>{{rp|78}} Gaslamp fantasy, which [[John Clute]] and [[John Grant (author)|John Grant]] define as "steampunk stories ... most commonly set in a romanticised, smoky, 19th-century London, as are Gaslight Romances. But the latter category focuses nostalgically on icons from the late years of that century and the early years of the 20th century—on [[Dracula]], [[Jekyll and Hyde]], [[Jack the Ripper]], [[Sherlock Holmes]] and even [[Tarzan]]—and can normally be understood as combining supernatural fiction and [[recursive fantasy]], though some gaslight romances can be read as fantasies of history."<ref name="Encyclopedia of Fantasy">{{cite book|last1=Clute|first1=John|last2=Grant|first2=John|last3=Ashley|first3=Mike|last4=Hartwell|first4=David G.|last5=Westfahl|first5=Gary|title=The Encyclopedia of Fantasy|date=1999|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-19869-5|pages=895–896|edition=1st|quote=STEAMPUNK A term applied more to [[science fiction]] than to fantasy, though some tales described as steampunk do cross genres. ... Steampunk, on the other hand, can be best described as technofantasy that is based, sometimes quite remotely, upon technological [[anachronism]].}}</ref> Author/artist [[James Richardson-Brown]]<ref>{{cite news|work=The Chronicles|year=2008|volume=2|issue=9|page=10|title=Steampunk – What's That All About|last=Richardson-Brown|first=James}}</ref> coined the term ''steamgoth'' to refer to steampunk expressions of fantasy and [[horror fiction|horror]] with a "darker" bent.

====Post-apocalyptic====
[[Mary Shelley]]'s ''[[The Last Man (Mary Shelley novel)|The Last Man]]'', set near the end of the 21st century after a plague had brought down civilization, was probably the ancestor of post-apocalyptic steampunk literature. Post-apocalyptic steampunk is set in a world where some cataclysm has precipitated the fall of civilization and steam power is once again ascendant, such as in [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|post-apocalyptic]] anime ''[[Future Boy Conan]]'' (1978, loosely based on [[Alexander Key]]'s ''[[The Incredible Tide]]'' (1970)),<ref name="Neo Steam">{{cite web|url=http://my.mmosite.com/1424882/blog/item/unprecedented_level_of_game_service_operation_from_steampunk_mmorpg_neo_steam.html|title=Unprecedented level of game service operation' from Steampunk MMORPG Neo Steam|date=June 29, 2008|access-date=January 24, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819032506/http://my.mmosite.com/1424882/blog/item/unprecedented_level_of_game_service_operation_from_steampunk_mmorpg_neo_steam.html|archive-date=August 19, 2017}}</ref> where a war fought with superweapons has devastated the planet. [[Robert Brown (musician)|Robert Brown]]'s novel, ''The Wrath of Fate'' (as well as much of [[Abney Park (band)|Abney Park]]'s music) is set in a Victorianesque world where an apocalypse was set into motion by a time-traveling mishap. [[Cherie Priest]]'s [[Boneshaker (novel)|Boneshaker]] series is set in a world where a [[zombie apocalypse]] happened during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] era. ''[[The Peshawar Lancers]]'' by [[S.M. Stirling]] is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which a [[meteor shower]] in 1878 caused the collapse of industrialized civilization. The movie [[9 (2009 animated film)|9]] (which might be better classified as "stitchpunk" but was largely influenced by steampunk)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940840.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|title=9 Review|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=August 18, 2009|first=Todd|last=McCarthy|author-link=Todd McCarthy|access-date=November 19, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823010822/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940840.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|archive-date=August 23, 2009}}</ref> is also set in a post-apocalyptic world after a self-aware war machine ran amok. ''[[Steampunk Magazine]]'' even published a book called ''A Steampunk's Guide to the Apocalypse'', about how steampunks could survive should such a thing actually happen.

====Victorian====
[[File:Nautilus_Neuville.JPG|thumb|upright|The ''Nautilus'' as imagined by Jules Verne]]
In general, this category includes any recent science fiction that takes place in a recognizable historical period (sometimes an [[alternate history]] version of an actual historical period) in which the [[Industrial Revolution]] has already begun, but [[electricity]] is not yet widespread, "usually Britain of the early to mid-nineteenth century or the fantasized [[Wild West]]-era United States",<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838844.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199838844-e-42|chapter=Retrofuturism and Steampunk|last1=Latham|first1=Rob|last2=Guffey|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Lemay|first3=Kate C.|date=Nov 1, 2014|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838844.013.0034|title=The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction|isbn=978-0-19-983884-4|access-date=January 31, 2018|archive-date=January 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131201102/http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838844.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199838844-e-42|url-status=live}}</ref> with an emphasis on steam- or spring-propelled gadgets. The most common historical steampunk settings are the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era]]s, though some in this "Victorian steampunk"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-15 |title=The Clockwork of Progress: The Victorian Era Unwound |url=https://infinitesteampunk.com/blogs/steampunk-blog/the-clockwork-of-progress-the-victorian-era-unwound |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Infinite Steampunk |language=en}}</ref> category are set as early as the beginning of the [[Industrial Revolution]] and as late as the end of [[World War I]].

Some examples of this type include the novel ''[[The Difference Engine]]'',<ref>{{cite web|last=Hudson|first=Patrick|title=(Review of) The Difference Engine|url=http://www.zone-sf.com/difengine.html|access-date=February 13, 2009|publisher=Pigasus Press|work=The Zone|archive-date=November 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120161845/http://www.zone-sf.com/difengine.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> the comic book series ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', the Disney animated film ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'',<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/> [[Scott Westerfeld]]'s [[Leviathan (Westerfeld novel)|''Leviathan'' trilogy]],<ref>School Library Journal,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/leviathan00west_0|title=Laviathan|date=Oct 6, 2009|access-date=Aug 19, 2011|isbn=978-1-4169-7173-3|publisher=Simon Pulse|url-access=registration}}</ref> and the [[roleplaying game]] ''[[Space: 1889]].''<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/> The [[anime]] film ''[[Steamboy]]'' (2004) is another example of Victorian steampunk, taking place in an alternate 1866 where steam technology is far more advanced than reality.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/steamboy|title=Steamboy|last1=Bertschy|first1=Zac|work=Anime News Network|date=July 21, 2004|access-date=March 18, 2014|archive-date=April 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415180553/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/steamboy|url-status=live}}</ref> Some, such as the comic series ''[[Girl Genius]]'',<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/> have their own unique times and places despite partaking heavily of the flavor of historic settings. Other comic series are set in a more familiar London, as in the ''[[Victorian Undead]]'', which has [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[Doctor Watson]], and others taking on zombies, [[Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde]], and [[Count Dracula]], with advanced weapons and devices. Another example of this genre is the ''[[Tunnels (novel)|Tunnels]]'' novels by [[Roderick Gordon]] and Brian Williams. These are set in the modern day, but with an underground Victorian world that is working to overthrow the world above. Detective [[graphic novel]] series [[Lady Mechanika]] is set in an alternative Victorian-like world.

[[Karel Zeman]]'s film ''[[The Fabulous World of Jules Verne]]'' (1958) is a very early example of cinematic steampunk. Based on [[Jules Verne]] novels, Zeman's film imagines a past that never was, based on those novels.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://locusmag.com/2004/Reviews/10_WaldropPerson_Verne.html|title=The Fabulous World of Jules Verne|publisher=[[Locus Online]]|date=October 13, 2004|last1=Waldrop|first1=Howard|last2=Person|first2=Lawrence|access-date=May 10, 2008|archive-date=May 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511234309/http://www.locusmag.com/2004/Reviews/10_WaldropPerson_Verne.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Other early examples of historical steampunk in cinema include [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s [[anime]] films such as ''[[Laputa: Castle in the Sky]]'' (1986) and ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (film)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'' (2004), which contain many archetypal anachronisms characteristic of the steampunk genre.<ref name=matronline>{{cite web|url=http://www.matrix-online.net/bsfa/website/matrixonline/Matrix_Features_3.aspx|title=The news and media magazine of the British Science Fiction Association|publisher=Matrix Online|date=June 30, 2008|access-date=February 13, 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221090854/https://matrix-online.net/bsfa/website/matrixonline/Matrix_Features_3.aspx|archive-date=February 21, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Reviews/Ward08_Miyazaki.html|title=Hayao Miyazaki: The Greatest Fantasy Director You Never Heard Of?|publisher=Locus Online|date=August 20, 2003|first=Cynthia|last=Ward|access-date=June 13, 2009|archive-date=August 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807064942/http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Reviews/Ward08_Miyazaki.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

"Historical" steampunk usually leans more towards science fiction than fantasy, but a number of historical steampunk stories have incorporated magical elements as well. For example, ''Morlock Night'', written by [[K. W. Jeter]], revolves around an attempt by the wizard [[Merlin]] to raise [[King Arthur]] to save the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] of 1892 from an invasion of [[Morlock]]s from the future.<ref name=Grossman/>

[[Paul Guinan]]'s ''[[Boilerplate (robot)|Boilerplate]]'', a "biography" of a robot in the late 19th century, began as a website that garnered international press coverage when people began believing that [[Adobe Photoshop|Photoshop]] images of the robot with historic personages were real.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/020826/archive_022363_5.htm|title=Gotcha!|page=39|newspaper=U.S. News & World Report|date=September 3, 2002|last=Hayden|first=Tom|access-date=January 5, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216170108/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/020826/archive_022363_5.htm|archive-date=December 16, 2005}}</ref> The site was adapted into the illustrated hardbound book ''Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel'', which was published by [[Abrams Books|Abrams]] in October 2009.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRtKPgAACAAJ|last1=Guinan|first1=Paul|author-link1=Paul Guinan|last2=Bennett|first2=Anina|author-link2=Anina Bennett|year=2012|title=Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel|publisher=[[Abrams Books]]|isbn=978-0-8109-8950-4}}</ref> Because the story was not set in an alternative history, and in fact contained accurate information about the Victorian era,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/04/a-preview-of-boilerplate-historys-mechanical-marvel.html|title=A Preview of Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel|publisher=Omnivoracious|date=Apr 29, 2009|access-date=Mar 17, 2011|archive-date=August 22, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822034645/http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/04/a-preview-of-boilerplate-historys-mechanical-marvel.html|url-status=live}}</ref> some{{Specify|date=January 2012}} booksellers referred to the tome as "historical steampunk".

====East Asia====
Fictional settings inspired by East Asian rather than European history, especially those inspired by [[History of China|Chinese history]], have been called "silkpunk". The term originated with the author [[Ken Liu]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Clements |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Clements |date=September 12, 2022 |title=Liu, Ken |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/liu_ken |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Clute |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David |editor2-link=David Langford |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |edition=4th |access-date=October 20, 2022 |archive-date=October 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012190116/https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/liu_ken |url-status=live }}</ref> who defined it as "a blend of science fiction and fantasy [that] draws inspiration from classical [[East Asian]] antiquity", with a "technology vocabulary (...) based on organic materials historically important to East Asia (bamboo, paper, silk) and seafaring cultures of the Pacific (coconut, feathers, coral)", rather than the brass and leather associated with steampunk. Liu used the term to describe his ''Dandelion Dynasty'' series, which began in 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Misra|first1=Ria|title=Author Ken Liu Explains "Silkpunk" to Us|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/author-ken-liu-explains-silkpunk-to-us-1717812714|access-date=20 February 2018|work=[[io9]]|date=4 July 2015|archive-date=9 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109064416/https://io9.gizmodo.com/author-ken-liu-explains-silkpunk-to-us-1717812714|url-status=live}}</ref> Other works described as silkpunk include [[Neon Yang]]'s ''[[Tensorate]]'' series of novellas, which began in 2017.<ref>{{cite news|title=J.Y. Yang's two novellas are like rojak, a surprisingly delicious blend of unexpected flavours|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/fantastical-world-rooted-in-the-east|access-date=20 February 2018|work=The Straits Times|date=26 September 2017|language=en|archive-date=6 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306235336/http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/fantastical-world-rooted-in-the-east|url-status=live}}</ref> Lyndsie Manusos of [[Book Riot]] has argued that the genre does "not fit in a direct analogy with steampunk. Silkpunk is technology and poetics. It is engineering and language."<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://bookriot.com/what-is-silkpunk/|title = Silkpunk: What It is and What It Definitely is Not|date = 4 August 2021|access-date = 7 August 2021|archive-date = 7 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210807123855/https://bookriot.com/what-is-silkpunk/|url-status = live}}</ref>