List of genres
Genre is the term for any category of creative work, which includes literature and other forms of art or entertainment (e.g. music)—whether written or spoken, audio or visual—based on some set of stylistic criteria.
An action story is similar to adventure, and the protagonist usually takes a risky turn, which leads to desperate situations (including explosions, fight scenes, daring escapes, etc.).
Action and adventure are usually categorized together (sometimes even as "action-adventure") because they have much in common, and many stories fall under both genres simultaneously (for instance, the James Bond series can be classified as both).
Comedy is a story that tells about a series of funny, or comical events, intended to make the audience laugh.
The supernatural variety is occasionally called "dark fantasy", since the laws of nature must be violated in some way, thus qualifying the story as "fantastic".
[10][11] Subgenres include: In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement.
Satire is usually meant to be funny, but its purpose is not primarily humour as an attack on something the author disapproves of, using wit.
This "militant irony" (or sarcasm) often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist actually wishes to attack.
Often strictly defined as a literary genre or form, though in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts.
It generally includes or is centered on the presumed effects or ramifications of computers or machines; travel through space, time or alternate universes; alien life-forms; genetic engineering; or other such things.
Cyberpunk is a speculative subgenre of scifi that involves stories with a futuristic storyline dealing with people who have been physically or mentally enhanced with cybernetic components, often featuring cyborgs or the singularity as a major theme, and generally somewhat cynical or dystopian (hence the "punk" portion of the name).
The themes tend to be cynical or dystopian, and typically involve a person, or group of people, fighting the corruption of the government.
Suppositional fiction is a subcategory in which stories and characters are constrained within an internally consistent world, but this category is not necessarily associated with any particular genre.
"different world" or "otherworld") is a Japanese genre of speculative fiction—both portal fantasy and science fiction are included.
This plot device typically allows the audience to learn about the new world at the same pace as the protagonist over the course of their quest or lifetime.
For that reason, film and TV genres may include additional categorical characteristics to consider, even diverging in some way from their literary counterparts altogether at times.
Subgenres include: Horror is a genre in which works seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears.
As such, games are sometimes categorized by platform or interface, as differences in technology can lead to distinct gameplay and aesthetic features, etc.
