Official Genres List
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- While every narrative sequence can be tagged with at least one of the Genres from Table 1 (adventure, drama, humor, non-fiction), the indexer does not have to pick one of these. The indexer can be more specific by choosing a Genre from Table 2. The distinction is supposed to be, "Here are the broad categories in Table 1. Here are the more specific ones in Table 2."
- See also the Genre page for more detail on use of this field.
- See also Genres in other languages.
Genre | Description | Includes | See Also... | Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|
adventure | Works characterized by an emphasis on physical and often violent action, exotic locales and danger | action | animal, aviation, car, crime, detective-mystery, fantasy, horror-suspense, jungle, martial arts, science fiction, sports, spy, superhero, sword and sorcery, war, western-frontier | Bob Morane, Indiana Jones, Tintin, Captain Easy, Terry and the Pirates |
drama | Works containing events having vivid, emotional, conflicting, or striking interest or results on a human level | melodrama, soap opera, joho, ryori | erotica, fashion, medical, romance | Box Office Poison, Love & Rockets, Mary Worth, A Tale of Two Cities |
humor | Works that are primarily comical or amusing | pantomime, demenziole | anthropomorphic-funny animals, children, domestic, military, satire-parody, teen | Mutt and Jeff |
non-fiction | Works purporting to present factual information | fact, real life | biography, history, math & science, nature | Ripley's Believe It or Not |
Genre | Description | Example Keywords | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
advocacy | Works in which the reader is specifically asked to take some action to protect or support a cause, idea, event or person. Often published by an organization outside of normal publishing channels. | propaganda, politics, idealogies, charities | Brought to Light, Is This Tomorrow?, History of Gas, Eat Right to Work and Win, Blood is the Harvest, The Story of Harry S. Truman, Vica (Nazi comic published in France) |
animal | Works featuring animals essentially acting like real animals | dog, horse, cat | Lassie, Rex the Wonder Dog, Inubaka |
anthropomorphic-funny animals | Works featuring characters acting like humans which are not human | Disney, funny animals | Donald Duck, Corky the Cat, Cerebus, Milk and Cheese |
aviation | Works centered on flying planes or other flying machines | jets | Airboy, Steve Canyon |
biography | Non-fictional works depicting the actual events and experiences of a real person’s life or real persons’ lives | memoir, autobiography | American Splendor, Political Power, Wonder Women of History |
car | Works featuring automobiles, race cars, trucks, etc. | hot rod, NASCAR, trucks | Hot Wheels, Speed Racer, Michel Vaillant |
children | Works featuring children (approximately age 12 or younger) as the primary protagonists, often having to act more reasonably and resourcefully than their age, in the absence of adult figures | kid gang. | Little Lulu, Peanuts, Dennis the Menace |
crime | Works featuring realistic stories centering on the commission of a crime or crimes and those who commit the crime or crimes | gangsters, prohibition | Stray Bullets, A True Crime Story, Torpedo |
detective-mystery | Works featuring realistic stories centering on the solving of a crime or mystery and those who solve the crime or mystery | private investigator, whodunnit? | Charlie Chan, Roy Raymond, P.C. 49 |
domestic | Works centered on life in and around the home | family, sitcom | Blondie, The Simpsons |
erotica | Works with sexually explicit content whose primary purpose is to elicit sexual arousal | hardcore, softcore, gay, hentai | Tijuana Bibles, Little Annie Fannie, Sally Forth, Dragon Pink |
fantasy-supernatural | Works in which magic, enchantment, or the occult encroach upon the material, scientific world and/or in which such elements form the backdrop of an alternate realm. A useful test is if the story does NOT terrify, repulse, or unsettle the reader, but is instead lighter and may be meant to amuse. | mythology, fairy tales, witches, ghosts, Magic | Fables, Wolff & Byrd, Cardcaptor Sakura, Dr. Strange, Zatanna, Sabrina |
fashion | Works centered on fashion and the fashion industry | models | Katy Keene, Barbie, Cloth Road |
historical | Fictional works set in an historical period prior to the time of publishing which attempt to convey the spirit, manners, and social conditions of a past age with realistic detail. At least partially they aim to explore some aspects of that setting to play off of particular historical events, to explore social mores, to play with certain technologies and/or technological limitations, examine historical developments, or to involve actual historical personages, etc. | Trojan War, Victorian England, Medieval | Prince Valiant, Berlin, Lone Wolf and Cub |
history | Works relating actual events from history | American history, World War II | Hop Harrigan’s History of Aviation, Picture Stories from American History |
horror-suspense | Works intended to terrify, frighten, shock, mystify, or otherwise hold the reader in tension or dread. Stories in this genre are often concluded with an ironic plot twist | monsters, supernatural | The Walking Dead, Jack O’Justice, non-Feature stories from Tales of the Crypt or other "horror" comics, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Swamp Thing |
jungle | Works featuring stories primarily set in the world’s jungles, rainforests, or other equatorial wildernesses | Africa | Tarzan, Nyoka, Saber - King of the Jungle |
martial arts | Works featuring stories centered on characters who use the fighting styles developed in East Asia and similar fighting styles | kung fu, karate, judo | Master of Kung Fu, Street Fighter, Jimmy Chang |
math & science | Works relating information about the mathematical disciplines or the hard sciences | astronomy, algebra | Science Says You’re Wrong If…, The TRS-80 Computer Whiz-Kids |
medical | Works centered on medicine and the medical profession | nurses, doctors | Rex Morgan, MD; Linda Carter, Student Nurse; Black Jack |
military | Works featuring armed forces outside of combat, or related, situations | army, coast guard | Sad Sack, Steve Canyon |
nature | Works relating information about the environment and the natural world | ecology | Nature’s Notebook, Ma Nature’s Curiosity Shop |
religious | Works centered on a particular religious tradition or reflecting a particular religious point of view | mythology, propaganda | Picture Stories from the Bible, The Crusaders, Amar Chitra Katha |
romance | Works centered on love and related personal relationships | soap opera, dating, wedding | Johnny Love, Dance ‘Til Tomorrow, non-Feature stories in Sweethearts |
satire-parody | Works using irony, sarcasm, ridicule and the like to comment on, denounce, or deride social conventions, human relationships, or other literary works (including other comics) | pastiche, social commentary | Mad’s Spy Vs. Spy, Cerebus, Sid the Sexist, Fighting American, normalman |
science fiction | Works featuring advanced scientific, futuristic, or extra-terrestrial elements | cyberpunk, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, mecha | Star Wars, Dr. Who, non-Feature stories from Metal Hurlant |
sports | Works featuring athletic activities | baseball, Olympics, tennis | Joe Palooka, Strange Sports Stories, Roy of the Rovers |
spy | Works featuring spies, secret agents, and secret service agencies | espionage, thriller, political | Man from U.N.C.L.E., Modesty Blaise, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D |
superhero | Works featuring the adventures of costumed crime fighters, who may also battle alien or supernatural menaces, similarly costumed and/or powered criminals, or other antagonists bent on conquest, often with the aid of specialized and/or superhuman abilities or unique weapons and gadgetry. Also include stories of non-costumed characters who otherwise fit the definition, particularly if they are often referred to in story as super-heroes, and also to stories featuring super-villains | team, pulp | Superman, The Phantom, Marvelman |
sword and sorcery | Works featuring stories of epic or heroic fantasy, violent conflicts, often with elements of romance, and usually elements of the supernatural | enchanted swords, post-apocalyptic | Conan, Axa, Elric |
teen | Works featuring teenagers (approximately 13-19 years of age) as the primary protagonists, particularly in stories that deal with their coming of age or maturing into the beginnings of adulthood | pop music, high school, school life | Dick Cole, Archie, Kare Kano |
war | Works featuring armed forces in combat, or related, activities during wartime | Revolutionary War, World War II, navy, army, frogmen | Willie and Joe, Charley’s War, non-Feature stories from G.I. Combat |
western-frontier | Works primarily set in the American frontier during the 19th or early 20th century and often featuring cowboys, Indians, ranchers, etc., and other period stories in a similar style, set in other times and places | Native Americans | Red Ryder, Lucky Luke, Jonah Hex |
For a mapping of genres to languages other than English, see https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkhWAzEemAojdHl0MEluaDJQdmlBMXlXWVlZeUJNTkE#gid=0 .
(end of definition)
Policy Votes Affecting This Topic
- Ballot 187: Fantasy-Supernatural genre - 2013-08-09
- Ballot 135: Adding genre 'Advocacy' - 2012-07-11
- Ballot 131: Add genre 'Historical' - 2012-06-27
- Ballot 130: Limit the genre field data entry to officially-sanctioned genre list - 2012-06-23
- Ballot 124: Amend the Genre document for "Anthropomorphic-Funny Animals" - 2012-06-02
- Ballot 123: Approve Genre Document - 2012-05-23
- Senior Editor vote: Martial Arts genre - 2008-02-19
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