When is your genre a Sci-Fi or a just Fantasy set in space?

[michaelbelvedereper]

I'm setting up a new comic series and couldn't figure out whether to call it a sci-fi or a fantasy when choosing the genre. I was just hoping someone could lend me some advice.

The comic takes place in space, way in the future and has all the juicy stuff like aliens, lasers, cyborgs, portals and space ships but the main premise is about a kid exploring ancient alien ruins looking for rare treasures and loot, avoiding traps, fighting alien monsters and evading space cops.

So its would it be more of a dungeon crawler fantasy set in space or a sci-fi with fantasy elements? And if its in the middle of the two, which would you recommend I put it under?

Thanks

[shazzbaa]

I feel like the question of "is this sci-fi or a fantasy set in space?" is very different from the question of "which category should I put it in?"

Like, Star Wars is absolutely a "fantasy" story with lasers and robots. Mystic monk and cocky rogue become friends, save a princess, and help badass princess defeat the evil dark lord. But if Star Wars were a comic that was joining Tapastic, I would tell its author to upload it under sci-fi, because that seems like the audience that'd be more receptive to it.

I feel like the only conceivable time your genre will matter is when someone is looking for a specific genre, and they'll generally be expecting to see the trappings of that genre. Someone who specifically enjoys fantasy and goes looking for it is probably not going to click on Star Wars, because it looks like space ships and robots. Someone who enjoys sci-fi and goes looking for it (in comics especially) will probably give Star Wars a chance, because it's in a setting they enjoy.

It may actually be a dungeon crawler fantasy set in space, but if it LOOKS like a sci-fi, it might make more sense to call it sci-fi. I think calling it fantasy would only really make sense if it doesn't really look like sci-fi -- that's my feelings, anyway, but if someone has more experience with that genre on Tapastic, please listen to them instead!!

[hushicho]

I agree with @shazzbaa here; it may be most important to consider what the comic is ostensibly, even if technically it may be something else. It's harder with genres like modern fantasy, which is still fantasy, but the term "fantasy" invariably makes at least some people think of medieval-inspired fantasy, with wizards and Dwarves and whatnot. What people expect with sci-fi is space, technology, aliens, things like that. That's probably what they're looking to find, if they're looking under sci-fi. I still would like to have a better system for genre choice on Tapastic.

Things like the adventures of John Carter are more science-fantasy, which is all but neglected in terms of genre names now. Most will default to calling it sci-fi and thinking of it that way. Maybe it's best just to get as close as you can with what your prospective audience may expect. Even if it's dashing buccaneers in spacefaring galleons, they're still in space and still probably going to be thought of as sci-fi.

[michaelbelvedereper]

Right, that makes a lot of sense. What I really wanted was to figure out which category would be more true to what people would be looking for, so even if its not technically a true sci-fi, I would have a better chance of getting readers if it matched their expectations of the genre. Thanks for the reply.

[Chopythes]

Do you have magic in it? = Fantasy (star wars, Avatar)
Is everything run by technique and no one have any special powers like, making things grow etcetera? = Sci Fi (Star Trek, Prometheus, Alien)

Something I read somewhere but am unable to recall the source atm unfortunately.

[tayo_rafferty]

A sci-fi story is something that has a basis in real science. Having said that, there is not space opera category on Tapastic as far as I know.