List of fantasy worlds
This is a list of fictional fantasy worlds and lands. The best-known lands or worlds, not necessarily the most encompassing, are listed. For example, Middle-earth is only a region of Arda in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe, but it is far better known.
Media key:
- Listed in chronological order.
- A: anime and manga
- C: comics and graphic novels
- F: film
- G: gaming (tabletop)
- N: novels and short stories
- O: other
- P: plays
- R: radio
- T: television
- V: video games
Setting | Creator | Description | First appearance | Year | Media |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abeir-Toril | Ed Greenwood | The planet that serves as the setting of the Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms. | Darkwalker on Moonshae | 1987 | G/N/C/V |
Albion | Lionhead Studios | Primary setting of the Fable series. | Fable | 2004 | V/N |
Averoigne | Clark Ashton Smith | A fictional French province. | "The End of the Story" | 1930 | N |
Azeroth | Blizzard Entertainment | Primary setting of the Warcraft franchise. | Warcraft: Orcs & Humans | 1994 | A/C/F/G/V/N |
Barsoom | Edgar Rice Burroughs | A version of Mars inhabited by various species of intelligent life | Under the Moons of Mars | 1912 | N/C/F/G |
Darkover | Marion Zimmer Bradley | This science fantasy series is set on a planet colonized by humans, but with native intelligent races. | The Planet Savers | 1958 | N/G |
Deltora | Emily Rodda | The setting for the Deltora Quest series of children's novels | The Forests of Silence | 2000 | N/AT |
Destiny Islands and other worlds | Square | The multiple worlds that make up the setting of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. | Kingdom Hearts | 2002 | V/M |
Discworld | Terry Pratchett | A vast disc of land resting on four elephants which stand on a giant turtle. Setting of the Discworld series. |
The Colour of Magic | 1983 | N/V/M/G/T |
Dying Earth | Jack Vance | A worn-out Earth with a dying Sun in the far distant future where magic prevails. | The Dying Earth | 1950 | N/G |
Earthsea | Ursula K. Le Guin | A planet consisting of numerous islands. | "The Word of Unbinding" | 1964 | N/T/R/A |
Encantadia | Suzette Doctolero | A realm that serves as the setting for the Encantadia Filipino franchise. | Encantadia | 2005 | T/F/V |
Equestria | Lauren Faust | The setting of the fourth and fifth generations of the My Little Pony franchise. | My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic | 2010 | T/C/V |
Eternia | Roger Sweet | The home world of the Masters of the Universe animated series. | 1981 | O/C/N/V/T/F | |
Etheria | Larry DiTillio J. Michael Straczynski |
The mythical world of the She-Ra: Princess of Power animated series. | She-Ra: Princess of Power | 1985 | T/O/C |
Filgaia | Media.Vision | Multiple worlds sharing the same name. The main setting of the Wild Arms series. | Wild Arms | 1996 | A/V |
The Four Lands | Terry Brooks | The post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest following a nuclear holocaust is the setting for the Shannara novel series | The Sword of Shannara | 1977 | N/V/T |
The Four Nations | Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko |
The setting of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise | Avatar: The Last Airbender | 2005 | T/F/C/V |
Halkeginia | Noboru Yamaguchi | A world whose social structure is similar to that of medieval Europe. | The Familiar of Zero | 2004 | N/A |
Fictional universe of Harry Potter | J. K. Rowling | The Wizarding World co-exists with and is mainly hidden from the mundane world of the non-magical Muggles. | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | 1997 | N/F/G/P |
Glorantha | Greg Stafford | The setting of numerous tabletop games, including RuneQuest and HeroQuest | "White Bear and Red Moon" | 1975 | G/V/N/C |
Hyborian Age | Robert E. Howard | A fictional prehistoric period of Earth's history placed by most around 10,000 BC, in which Conan the Barbarian rampaged. | "The Phoenix on the Sword" | 1932 | N/C/G/F/V/T |
Hyrule | Shigeru Miyamoto Takashi Tezuka |
A kingdom that is the main setting of The Legend of Zelda franchise. | The Legend of Zelda | 1986 | A/C/N/T/V |
Ivalice | Yasumi Matsuno | Setting of multiple video games, including Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and Final Fantasy XII. | Final Fantasy Tactics | 1997 | A/R/V |
The Land | Stephen R. Donaldson | Location of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series of novels. | Lord Foul's Bane | 1977 | N |
Magic Kingdom of Landover | Terry Brooks | Setting for six novels and two short stories | Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold! | 1986 | N |
Lankhmar | Fritz Leiber | A city on the primitive world of Nehwon, home of the rogues Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. | "Two Sought Adventure" | 1939 | N/G/C |
Magic: The Gathering multiverse | Richard Garfield | A collection of planes, including Dominaria, where most of the action occurs. | Magic: The Gathering | 1993 | G/N/C/V |
Melniboné | Michael Moorcock | Island homeland of Elric of Melniboné. | The Dreaming City | 1961 | N/C/G |
Middle-earth | J. R. R. Tolkien | The setting for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. See also Arda, of which Middle-earth is a part. | The Hobbit | 1937 | N/P/F/R/C/G/V |
Mushroom Kingdom | Shigeru Miyamoto | Primary setting of the Mario franchise. | Super Mario Bros. | 1985 | A/C/N/T/V |
Myst worlds | Rand Miller Robyn Miller |
Various worlds, referred to as "Ages", featured in the Myst franchise. | Myst | 1993 | V/N/C/G |
Narnia | C. S. Lewis | Setting for The Chronicles of Narnia series of children's novels. | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | 1950 | N/T/R/P/F |
Neverland | J. M. Barrie | A fictional island, home to Peter Pan. | Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up | 1904 | P/F/T/V/R |
Nirn | Bethesda Game Studios | The primary setting of The Elder Scrolls franchise. | The Elder Scrolls: Arena | 1994 | N/V/G |
One Piece world (unnamed?) | Eiichiro Oda | A world composed of a vast ocean and a single continent. | One Piece | 1997 | A/V/N |
Land of Oz | L. Frank Baum | A magical country in which 14 Baum children's novels are set. | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | 1900 | N/P/F/T |
Pellucidar | Edgar Rice Burroughs | Another world 500 miles underneath the Earth's surface. | At the Earth's Core | 1914 | N/C/F/T |
Pern | Anne McCaffrey | A planet settled by humans using spaceships. Setting for the science fantasy Dragonriders of Pern series. Note that McCaffrey considered herself a writer of science fiction, not fantasy. | "Weyr Search" | 1967 | N/G/C/V |
Planescape Multiverse | TSR, Inc. | The planes of existence beyond the standard worlds of the Dungeons & Dragons game, most detailed in the Planescape setting. | Manual of the Planes | 1987 | G/N/V |
Prydain | Lloyd Alexander | The country of The Chronicles of Prydain, consisting of five children's novels and assorted short stories. | The Book of Three | 1964 | N/F |
Spira | Yoshinori Kitase Motomu Toriyama |
The world in which Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 take place. | Final Fantasy X | 2001 | V |
Tékumel | M. A. R. Barker | A technological world is suddenly cast into a "pocket dimension". Reversing the usual sequence of events, Barker spent decades building his elaborate, detailed world before designing the initial tabletop role-playing game. | Empire of the Petal Throne | 1974 | G/N |
Thedas | BioWare | The primary setting of the Dragon Age franchise | Dragon Age: Origins | 2009 | V/N/C/A/G |
Thieves' World | Robert Asprin | A collective setting for stories by numerous authors. | Thieves' World | 1979 | N/T/C |
Warhammer world | Bryan Ansell Richard Halliwell Rick Priestley |
The setting of the Warhammer franchise. | Warhammer The Mass Combat Fantasy Role-Playing Game | 1983 | G/N/V/C |
Westeros | George R. R. Martin | The continent in which most of the A Song of Ice and Fire series takes place. | A Game of Thrones | 1996 | N/T/C/V |
Witch World | Andre Norton | A world in a parallel universe where magic works. | Witch World | 1963 | N/G |
Wonderland | Lewis Carroll | An underground realm accessed through a rabbit hole. | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | 1865 | N/P/F/C/T |
The World of the Wheel | Robert Jordan | Also referred to as "The Randlands", the setting of The Wheel of Time series. | The Eye of the World | 1990 | N/C/G/V/T |
Xanth | Piers Anthony | Locale for 44 novels and counting. | A Spell for Chameleon | 1977 | N/G/V |
Novels and short stories[]
A[]
- Alagaësia – a continent in Christopher Paolini's The Inheritance Cycle and in The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm (Tales from Alagaësia)
B[]
- Bas-Lag – China Miéville novels
C[]
- Corona – R.A. Salvatore (The DemonWars Saga and The Highwayman)
D[]
- Dinotopia – James Gurney novels
- Dreamlands – stories by H. P. Lovecraft and others, also a Tabletop role-playing game.
E[]
- Emelan – Tamora Pierce novels
G[]
- Gor – John Norman's "Gor " saga
- Green–sky – Zilpha Keatley Snyder novels
K[]
- Krynn – Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, and numerous others – Dragonlance novels
M[]
- Malazan World – Steven Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen novels
- Mid-World – Stephen King – The Dark Tower
O[]
- Oerth – Gary Gygax and others – Greyhawk novels
R[]
- Rokugan – Legend of the Five Rings
S[]
- Sartorias-deles – Sherwood Smith novels
T[]
- Tortall – Tamora Pierce novels
Z[]
- Zothique – Clark Ashton Smith stories
Comics and graphic novels[]
- Asgard – Marvel Comics
- Avalon – Marvel Comics
- The Homelands - Fables
- World of Two Moons – Elfquest comics
Film and television[]
A[]
- Asgard - Marvel Cinematic Universe
Table-top gaming[]
E[]
- Exandria – setting for the Dungeons & Dragons games played on the web series Critical Role
K[]
- Krynn – Dragonlance games and novels, Dungeons & Dragons RPG
- Kulthea (Shadow World) – Rolemaster RPG
M[]
- Magnamund – Lone Wolf gamebooks and d20 system
- Mystara – Dungeons & Dragons RPG
O[]
- Oerth – Greyhawk; Dungeons & Dragons RPG
R[]
- Rifts – Rifts - Role playing game by Kevin Siembieda
T[]
- Titan – Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and RPG
U[]
- Uresia – Big Eyes, Small Mouth and d20 system RPGs
W[]
- World of Darkness from the series of tabletop role-playing games of the same name.
Y[]
- Yrth – GURPS setting
See also[]
- Imaginary world
- Simulated reality
- Planets in science fiction
References[]
Categories:
- Fantasy-related lists
- Fantasy worlds
- Lists of fictional locations