Poll: Sci-Fi vs. Fantasy,who wins?

[Duskflamer]

If you're talking about grounded armies of equal number facing off against each other, I think I'd have to give the edge to Fantasy.

But after the Sci-fi team loses that battle they can retreat to their starships and nuke the battlefield from orbit.

You have to keep in mind that Sci-fi includes a lot of space-travel, where any Fantasy story stays on one world, or maybe have parallel dimensions (which Sci-fi also has) at best. On the grand scale, Sci-Fi can't lose. Fantasy settings don't have the means to travel into space and launch a grand attack on the Death Star, Enterprise, Citadel, or any other space station you care to name, while the Sci-fi side has more than the means to invade any fantasy planet it wants, and just destroy it if they can't conquer it.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

Well...

Fantasy has the Magic, great warriors, God's and God Killers...

Sci-Fi has advanced technology, God-Like Races of Beings, and the potential to end the universe...

...but magic can end the universe too...

Gao-Gao, my head hurts...

 

[hittite]

I beg to differ.

You were saying?

Hey, what's the difference between the meteor that killed the dinosaurs and a KE bomb launched from my dreadnaught in orbit? Give up? There was only one meteor.

 

[Aean]

Something I want to say.

Science is NOT limited so far as we know, it can continuously adapt.

Magic is NOT limited either, so many of the best scenarios from that genre involve people being capable of devising new spells or discovering/creating new creatures.

Fantasy gods are never omnipotent I don't think. If they were, it wouldn't be much fun to read/play/watch. Same goes for technological weapons of mass destruction.

Some of the best works from both genres mix the two beautifully. Templars from Starcraft, Jedi from Star Wars, Engineers from Final Fantasy, and more.

 

[Beryl77]

I don't think the god card counts, since there are also gods in sci-fi, so both could do that. As for Cthulhu, isn't he both fantasy and sci-fi?
Anyway, I think it would be a draw. Fantasy could use a magic of immense destruction which wipes out all beings and sci-fi could do the same with some hyper advanced technology.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Depends entirely on what sort of fantasy vs what sort of sci-fi.

Neuromancer vs Harry Potter? My money's on sci-fi.
The Time Machine vs Artemis Fowl? I'm betting on the fair folk.

There is so much sci-fi and so much fantasy out there it is literally impossible to call. In general though I'd say fantasy, because although there are some sci-fi out there that have god level aliens, fantasy is more likely to have a brand new pantheon of omnipotent beings with each new book.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

The thing is that Science Fantasy is still fantasy more than sci-fi since it can't happen in real life.

So, science fiction has giant mechs... and science fantasy (which is fantasy) has giant magical mechs. Shaped like dragons.

Edit: Fantasy wins btw.

 

[Dfskelleton]

Fantasy has Cthulhu. How is this even a contest?

What are you talking about "fantasy"? Are you denying the existence of the great one?
OT: I pick Sci-Fi. Sure, Fantasy has Gods, but Sci-Fi has emotionless computers with god-like control over physics.
And lasers.
You can't go wrong with lasers.

 

[Nemesis729]

Fantasy of course, Dem gods

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

Well I prefer fantasy settings to sci-fi. So I'll go with fantasy, plus it has you know gods.

 

[deckai]

Clearly Sci-fi would win, a Sci-fi setting doesn't exclude any fantasy elements, like magic (or equivalents... psi or other techno-based superpowers) or gods, while a fantasy setting almost always exclude any sci-elements (You can have dwarfs, dragon and magic in space but no orbital station in middle earth). That's also the reason why I usually prefer Sci-fi over fantasy.. well, at least when I need to decide between those two .

With this in mind, Sci-fi could use everything fantasy has + their technological advantages.

But if you go with a more classic view on this (space marines vs. "input-random-fantasy-race-here") I would still probably go with Sci-fi it's more flexible than fantasy which would be a big advantage in the long run.

 

[Andothul]

I love both but i think you can just do so much more with a sci fi universe.

 

[Zipa]

The thing is that Science Fantasy is still fantasy more than sci-fi since it can't happen in real life.

So, science fiction has giant mechs... and science fantasy (which is fantasy) has giant magical mechs. Shaped like dragons.

Edit: Fantasy wins btw.

Unless you are warhammer 40k which has both mechanical mechs and magical ones to.

 

[T0MCAT]

I say they join force's into the ultimate genre, Sci-fi Fantasy

 

[Aean]

The thing is that Science Fantasy is still fantasy more than sci-fi since it can't happen in real life.

So, science fiction has giant mechs... and science fantasy (which is fantasy) has giant magical mechs. Shaped like dragons.

Edit: Fantasy wins btw.

Science Fiction - (Noun)
- a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible (or at least non-supernatural) content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities.

Super Natural

1.(of a manifestation or event) Attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature

I'm pretty sure that means that we are still allowed to classify Jedi, Protoss, and the Zerg as "Sci-Fi". Actually, even dragons and the like could be considered science fiction if placed in the proper context.

Edit @ Dekai

I'd have to say not quite. Sci-Fi is limited in that you can't have spellcasters, Fantasy isn't technically limited to not have space stations either, it is rather implied though.

 

[FourEyedTroll]

So basically Tom, Warhammer 40,000 wins...

 

[JambalayaBob]

Well, fantasy can pretty much call the God card depending on the setting, so they would clearly win.

Dude, Clarke's Third Law is Sci-Fi's version of this if taken to its necessary extreme (which it has been on numerous occasions).

 

[fulano]

They're both the exact same thing.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

I can't say who wins, but since 40k has been called up, EVERYONE loses!

 

[Drunkbot]

As I recall from the comic book series Fable, it was technology beating magic. Not even sci-fi, just modern stuff. The point is even made several times through the series that gunpowder weapons in general trump magic.

Dragons lose to fighter jets. I am pretty sure gods get jacked up by nukes.

So, while I have been a fan of fantasy for decades, long before I was interested in sci-fi, I am afraid I would contend that fantasy in general cannot match up with modern tech, much less future tech.