What We Crave from Fantasies

By Tricia Copeland

One of my most important friendships was founded on the love for the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. We attended movie releases, compared progress on the Volvo® New Moon online game, and hosted Twilight themed parties. Years later learned that this friend doesn’t like fantasy stories. What? I felt betrayed. So, why Twilight? Why would a person with no interest in vampires, werewolves, or magic gravitate towards Twilight? 

Twilight features an unlikely heroin. Bella Swan, a girl who feels isolated and out of step with other teens, meets a boy who turns out to be a one-hundred year-old vampire. She discovers a world where she fits, finds a power she didn’t know she possessed, and the ever-elusive true love. She’s able to use her gift to protect the people who become her family. Further, she begins a legacy of a human-vampire child bonded to a werewolf, summoning peace between two enemy groups. The themes of friendship, belonging, perhaps more succinctly found family, happily-ever-after, and legacy permeate the series. 

These themes echo through many fantasies. In Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Frodo, a timid, yet searching, soul becomes the unlikely hero. He battles a sometimes inner demon, the allure of power, and returns home victorious to find his people flourishing in a new prosperity. We find these themes repeated in characters like Harry Potter, of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Percy Jackson, of Rick Riordan’s Olympians series, Buffy, of Joss Whedon’s Buff the Vampire Slayer, and others who have amassed huge popularity.

If you Google what things are most important for human happiness quality connections and purpose top the list and fantasies like these deliver both for the characters portrayed. For a few hours, or for many, many hours, if you’re a whole series of books, we get to experience what we crave most, the promise of belonging and a worthy quest. Further, we’re transported to a world devoid of bills, work, and chores. It’s the ultimate escape that delivers a story that feeds our inner longing for meaningful relationships and realized dreams.

But does fantasy do this better than other genres? Romance provides, at the least, a lasting love, or the promise of a happily-ever-after to that one significant other. Thrillers and horror books usually end with the antagonist thwarted which delivers a gratifying outcome. Fantasy usually supplies both found connectivity as well as achievement of some goal so, perhaps fantasy wraps two elements together in a way that other genres don’t. If you tread into the path of a romantasy you may gain the happily-ever-after love interest, a new collection of integral people, plus the quest attainment. Did I just admit that romantasy may include a trifecta? But a fantasy would not necessarily need to be a romantasy, a fantasy with the main storyline featuring romance, to supply an HEA, found family, and purpose fulfilled.

The next time your bestie is reluctant to dive into a new fantasy series, movie, or book with you, tempt them with the promise of adventure, found community, and a worthy crusade. I did poll my friend, who I haven’t abandoned BTW. 

I’m still working on bringing them fully into the fold of fantasy lovers. She indicated that it is a story that ultimately summons her into a series and captures her heart. Whether you lean towards dark, spicy, or light and heartwarming, I believe a good fantasy will deliver the tale you truly crave.

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