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KnightPunk, A New Punk Genre

Railazel

Well-known Member
KnightPunk is a genre I made up inspired by the Legend of Zelda, Devil May Cry, Lost Odyssey, and the Final Fantasy series. The genre is defined by incorporating medieval knight armor with modern fashion, a growing emphasis on unified ethics and codes among society, and technology similar to our's if not somewhat more advanced. As such, the genre is characterized by the minimalist take on armor that allows a focus on modern fashion, so warriors have armors in certain areas of their body. The warriors combine gunplay with swordplay, never getting rid of the classic styles of Medieval and Renaissance fencing as well as swordplay from other regions of the world while a focus on moving targets changes traditional gun combat and weaponry. With the warriors having little armor, mobility is a top priority. The traditional form of vehicle in KnightPunk are motorcycles designed for quick turns, high speed, and stability. On foot, the warrior has a strange way of running where he is ducking low and his balance is on his toes. This, in turn, has hand-to-hand combat focusing on grappling, trapping, and tripping. The general look of the warrior is gauntlets, grieves, a flat metal mask in a shape similar to traditional knight helms, and whatever clothing fits their preference in style.
 

Demi-fiend

Metempsychosis
Supporter 2014
Good idea.

It was actually the central aesthetic for my HP/DMC3/Kingdoms of Amalur/Darksiders II ripoff story.

However, you were the first to come up with the actual name for the art style, so my hat's off to you.
 

Railazel

Well-known Member
Good idea.

It was actually the central aesthetic for my HP/DMC3/Kingdoms of Amalur/Darksiders II ripoff story.

However, you were the first to come up with the actual name for the art style, so my hat's off to you.

Thanks, I was hoping I wouldn't be the first one to have come up with something like this. I was looking around the other Punks to see if I could anything similar but the closet was dungeonpunk.
 

DragonMaster2010

Don't Let the Fall of America be Your Fall
Sounds promising. I was thinking of doing a genre of my own for a while called Punk Noir, in which it adds the aesthetics and story telling of Noir, but the feel and brutality of punk.
 

TWOxACROSS

Hot-blooded God of Guns
Premium
I believe this already exists as "dungeonpunk", actually >.> Where technology and modern aesthetic is merged medieval fantasy settings - a lot of the Final Fantasy games, especially VI, VII, and XII, are quintessential dungeonpunk.

Either way, there's also a lot of stuff in what you've made that shoehorns the genre quite badly. Saying people need to run like ninjas (which is really overdone), everyone drives motorcycles, and that people all need to adhere a specific type of armor placement is silly and restrictive. It should be enough to just say it merges contemporary fashion with a fantasy setting.

Otherwise this also just falls into "contemporary fantasy", like what I've done in my book already (got a head start on you :p).

What you've created isn't a genre, it's the basis for a world in an already existing one.
 

Demi-fiend

Metempsychosis
Supporter 2014
buy-my-book.gif


BUY MY BOOK

BUY MY BOOK

BUY MY BOOK

BUY MY BOOK :D
 

Railazel

Well-known Member
I believe this already exists as "dungeonpunk", actually >.> Where technology and modern aesthetic is merged medieval fantasy settings - a lot of the Final Fantasy games, especially VI, VII, and XII, are quintessential dungeonpunk.

Either way, there's also a lot of stuff in what you've made that shoehorns the genre quite badly. Saying people need to run like ninjas (which is really overdone), everyone drives motorcycles, and that people all need to adhere a specific type of armor placement is silly and restrictive. It should be enough to just say it merges contemporary fashion with a fantasy setting.

Otherwise this also just falls into "contemporary fantasy", like what I've done in my book already (got a head start on you :p).

What you've created isn't a genre, it's the basis for a world in an already existing one.

It would be best you hold your criticisms until the genre is explored further. I haven't filled in a lot of details because it was late and I was too tired to write all I wanted to say and it looks like I added story concepts along with the actual description of the genre which is something I didn't intend to do.

But there are some differences between dungeon and knight that I should've put in my initial post. To oversimplify it, knight punk is dungeonpunk without the magic.

Knightpunk imagines the medieval era in modern society. The political aspects of a monarchy and a church-state union, concepts of knighthood, role of science, religion, and philosophy, etc., etc., will be explored under the framework of the modern mind. Essentially, it is an alternate timeline where the authority of the king and church was never challenged.

Sounds great.

are you just creating the genre or are you gonna write a story on it?

Yes, I'm writing a story for it.
 

TWOxACROSS

Hot-blooded God of Guns
Premium
But there are some differences between dungeon and knight that I should've put in my initial post. To oversimplify it, knight punk is dungeonpunk without the magic.

Knightpunk imagines the medieval era in modern society. The political aspects of a monarchy and a church-state union, concepts of knighthood, role of science, religion, and philosophy, etc., etc., will be explored under the framework of the modern mind. Essentially, it is an alternate timeline where the authority of the king and church was never challenged.

Punk is a subgenre based on fantasy and/or science fiction, and often fighting corruption or how people deal with the world that exists around them (hence the "punk" of it all). Without any grand technology or fantasy elements, what you have is really nothing to do with the punk sub-genres, which exist from Sci-Fi/Fantasy. It's more of a Utopian/Dystopian idea, which falls into the greater Speculative Fiction genre - your world has a society different from what readers know, which justifies certain practices or ideas (how people fight or dress).

If "knightpunk is dungeonpunk without the magic" then it's not part of the punk genre at all.

I'd reiterate that you're not making up a new genre, you're building a world. The more specific you get about your "genre", the less it sounds like a genre at all...but it's not like that's bad.

-------------​

This next portion is ConCrit :p

Despite how dickish I might seem towards you "creating a new genre" (which in all honesty sounds sorta conceited), it's an interesting idea that's nice to see being explored more. My current project EdEN SYNDROmE is a lot like that, an alternate timeline of "our world",where the world's mythologies are real, and the world grew into modern day with all that in mind, creating a contemporary fantasy setting. Of course, lots of artistic liberty is taken with the mythology, but yeah.

You're also going to have to do quite a bit to explain why swords have not become obsolete in a world where firearms exist, especially without magic or supernatural shenanigans being involved in any way. Plus, why anyone would do just about anything else you want them to do. Why doesn't everyone use firearms? Why does everyone use motorcycles if a car offers more protection? Why would they run the way you want them to run, especially if everyone has learned tricks to overcome people who move that way?

Remember, when you use the modern world as your base, everyone will question why something is done differently explicitly for your world. You're going to need quite a bit of justification to prevent people from thinking it all exists as it does simply because you think it's cool.
 

Railazel

Well-known Member
Punk is a subgenre based on fantasy and/or science fiction, and often fighting corruption or how people deal with the world that exists around them (hence the "punk" of it all). Without any grand technology or fantasy elements, what you have is really nothing to do with the punk sub-genres, which exist from Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

But isn't that a strict definition? While it is true that some Punk genres are based on the tech and the idealogies that form as a result of that but that vastness of the tech isn't universal even within their own universe (e.g. Arcanepunk has us moogles using normal tech in one category, other times its the normal world with some magitech or, in Desertpunk, technology is stunted by the lack of resources). Others are based on just setting (Oceanpunk, Skypunk, Desertpunk). Hell, Mythpunk is just taking old fairy tales and redesigning them... and retelling their stories in modern ways and... pretty much tearing my Disney childhood apart. Even the name "Punk" doesn't necessarily reference any conflict or reaction to society, its just part of their name (the only genre that seems to take the Punk name seriously in a consistent manner is Cyberpunk).

It's more of a Utopian/Dystopian idea, which falls into the greater Speculative Fiction genre - your world has a society different from what readers know, which justifies certain practices or ideas (how people fight or dress).

Sure, I'll agree to that but isn't that the essence of some of the Punk genres (especially Cyber and Steam)?

If "knightpunk is dungeonpunk without the magic" then it's not part of the punk genre at all.

But I didn't exclude anything outside of magic. Magic isn't always an aspect of the Punk genres. Furthermore, I never stated that some aspects of sci- fi or fantasy are neglected from Knightpunk, I'm just making the distinction that magic is never used because that easily makes it fall into the dungeonpunk arena. You can have mechs, weird animals, etc., etc., just no magic.

I'd reiterate that you're not making up a new genre, you're building a world.

Sure...?

Remember, when you use the modern world as your base...

Wait, by modern world, you're not talking about our world, right? Because you do realize that in my story there are going to be dragons, superhumans, giant mechs... Yeah...

Everyone will question why something is done differently explicitly for your world. You're going to need quite a bit of justification to prevent people from thinking it all exists as it does simply because you think it's cool.

Trust me, I'm pretty sure the audience's disbelief will be well suspended. I mean, a exposition describing the brutal process of how spoilers would be enough to inspire a person to not question the logic of the story.
 

Railazel

Well-known Member
Punk is a subgenre based on fantasy and/or science fiction, and often fighting corruption or how people deal with the world that exists around them (hence the "punk" of it all). Without any grand technology or fantasy elements, what you have is really nothing to do with the punk sub-genres, which exist from Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

But isn't that a strict definition? While it is true that some Punk genres are based on the tech and the idealogies that form as a result of that but that vastness of the tech isn't universal even within their own universe (e.g. Arcanepunk has us moogles using normal tech in one category, other times its the normal world with some magitech or, in Desertpunk, technology is stunted by the lack of resources). Others are based on just setting (Oceanpunk, Skypunk, Desertpunk). Hell, Mythpunk is just taking old fairy tales and redesigning them... and retelling their stories in modern ways and... pretty much tearing my Disney childhood apart. Even the name "Punk" doesn't necessarily reference any conflict or reaction to society, its just part of their name (the only genre that seems to take the Punk name seriously in a consistent manner is Cyberpunk).

It's more of a Utopian/Dystopian idea, which falls into the greater Speculative Fiction genre - your world has a society different from what readers know, which justifies certain practices or ideas (how people fight or dress).

Sure, I'll agree to that but isn't that the essence of some of the Punk genres (especially Cyber and Steam)?

If "knightpunk is dungeonpunk without the magic" then it's not part of the punk genre at all.

But I didn't exclude anything outside of magic. Magic isn't always an aspect of the Punk genres. Furthermore, I never stated that some aspects of sci- fi or fantasy are neglected from Knightpunk, I'm just making the distinction that magic is never used because that easily makes it fall into the dungeonpunk arena. You can have mechs, weird animals, etc., etc., just no magic.

I'd reiterate that you're not making up a new genre, you're building a world.

Sure...?

Remember, when you use the modern world as your base...

Wait, by modern world, you're not talking about our world, right? Because you do realize that in my story there are going to be dragons, superhumans, giant mechs... Yeah...

Everyone will question why something is done differently explicitly for your world. You're going to need quite a bit of justification to prevent people from thinking it all exists as it does simply because you think it's cool.

Trust me, I'm pretty sure the audience's disbelief will be well suspended. I mean, a exposition describing the brutal process of how spoilers would be enough to inspire a person to not question the logic of the story.
 

TWOxACROSS

Hot-blooded God of Guns
Premium
But isn't that a strict definition?

That's what happens with sub-genres, they're a little more strict. This is different from what you're talking about though, because the elements you're talking about are specific things for your story.

While it is true that some Punk genres are based on the tech and the idealogies that form as a result of that but that vastness of the tech isn't universal even within their own universe (e.g. Arcanepunk has us moogles using normal tech in one category, other times its the normal world with some magitech or, in Desertpunk, technology is stunted by the lack of resources). Others are based on just setting (Oceanpunk, Skypunk, Desertpunk). Hell, Mythpunk is just taking old fairy tales and redesigning them... and retelling their stories in modern ways and... pretty much tearing my Disney childhood apart. Even the name "Punk" doesn't necessarily reference any conflict or reaction to society, its just part of their name (the only genre that seems to take the Punk name seriously in a consistent manner is Cyberpunk).

I have heard of none of those types of "punk" being used ever, and it sounds like people just tried to make up something by appending punk to the end of a story element because "cyberpunk" and "steampunk" are buzzwords these days. The fact that most of these don't adhere to what the entire sub-genre is should be your hint that people who don't really understand what the punk genre is just bullshitted a term out of their ass to make their work sound cool.

"Punk" is a sub-genre of Science Fiction, and the entire point is that the technology being used in the story is extremely important (cyberpunk, steampunk, dungeonpunk, dieselpunk). The (sometimes) anachronistic technology that helps the world along is one of the most important parts, just as without the fictional spaceship technology, Star Trek wouldn't be Science Fiction. Then there's the varying degrees of social and political aspects present in punk, as well.

Sure, I'll agree to that but isn't that the essence of some of the Punk genres (especially Cyber and Steam)?
It's one part of it, as I said above, but it can be of varying degrees. However, your story isn't motivated by the things that a punk story is, it's motivated by the societal structure. You're entire linchpin is that the governmental and societal structures are a certain way - at least that's how you've been selling it so far.

But I didn't exclude anything outside of magic. Magic isn't always an aspect of the Punk genres.

No, it's not, but something sci-fi or fantasy is. Punk is a sub-genre of science fiction and needs some form of technology or fantasy element that is a large part of everyday life in that (usually gritty) world.

Furthermore, I never stated that some aspects of sci- fi or fantasy are neglected from Knightpunk, I'm just making the distinction that magic is never used because that easily makes it fall into the dungeonpunk arena. You can have mechs, weird animals, etc., etc., just no magic.

Wait, by modern world, you're not talking about our world, right? Because you do realize that in my story there are going to be dragons, superhumans, giant mechs... Yeah...

Then...it's just a light fantasy/sci-fi >.> Pretty much as soon as you have things that don't exist naturally in the world, you've got yourself a sci-fi/fantasy. Reign of Fire had dragons, but no magic, and it's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy. Mechs are vaguely becoming science fact, but they're still very much science fiction in the way we like to see them (Gundam, EVA, etc).

Hunger Games had hologram tech and zombie-dog people, so it has a sprinkling of the sci-fi in its dystopian/utopian concept (as most dystopian/utopian do >.<). That's pretty much what you've got going on with yours from what you're telling me.

-------------​

I'm sorry to sound like such a d!ck about this, but I'm really tired of watching the English language and definitions be butchered by misinformation. It's bad enough that contradicting definitions of things like "nonplussed" and "moot" exist, and people use the incorrect definitions...

Trust me, I'm pretty sure the audience's disbelief will be well suspended. I mean, a exposition describing the brutal process of how spoilers would be enough to inspire a person to not question the logic of the story.

I hate to burst your bubble, but in this day and age you really don't ever want to bank on that. Like, ever. Everyone is critical of everything these days, and will look for flaws in a story or world. "Rule of cool" is one of the few tropes that is often looked at with derision, sometimes because it can be seen as a cheap entertainment device. If this is going to be any sort of book, you're going to have a lot of very intelligent readers looking at your work with a heavily-scrutinizing eye.

Do as much as you can to justify your content; suspension of disbelief isn't something you can just invest in, you have to build it up and retain it for the reader. It's your job to create it, not the reader's.[/quote]
 

Railazel

Well-known Member
That's what happens with sub-genres, they're a little more strict. This is different from what you're talking about though, because the elements you're talking about are specific things for your story.

Not all of it.

Here are the points that are for the genre:
KnightPunk is a genre I made up inspired by the Legend of Zelda, Devil May Cry, Lost Odyssey, and the Final Fantasy series. The genre is defined by incorporating medieval knight armor with modern fashion, a growing emphasis on unified ethics and codes among society, and technology similar to our's if not somewhat more advanced. As such, the genre is characterized by the minimalist take on armor that allows a focus on modern fashion, so warriors have armors in certain areas of their body.

Knightpunk imagines the medieval era in modern society. The political aspects of a monarchy and a church-state union, concepts of knighthood, role of science, religion, and philosophy, etc., etc., will be explored under the framework of the modern mind. Essentially, it is an alternate timeline where the authority of the king and church was never challenged.

The parts that are specifically my story are:

With the warriors having little armor, mobility is a top priority. The traditional form of vehicle in KnightPunk are motorcycles designed for quick turns, high speed, and stability. On foot, the warrior has a strange way of running where he is ducking low and his balance is on his toes. This, in turn, has hand-to-hand combat focusing on grappling, trapping, and tripping. The general look of the warrior is gauntlets, grieves, a flat metal mask in a shape similar to traditional knight helms, and whatever clothing fits their preference in style.

I have heard of none of those types of "punk" being used ever, and it sounds like people just tried to make up something by appending punk to the end of a story element because "cyberpunk" and "steampunk" are buzzwords these days. The fact that most of these don't adhere to what the entire sub-genre is should be your hint that people who don't really understand what the punk genre is just bullshitted a term out of their ass to make their work sound cool.

No... They are actually pretty legit. Desertpunk is famously exemplified by the anime of the same name, Desert Punk (note: Desert Punk didn't give birth to the name Desertpunk). Oceanpunk is encompassing works like Pirates of the Carribean and One Piece. Bioshock Infinite is a good example of Skypunk. Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are examples of Arcanepunk.

There are other genres like Post- Cyberpunk (Ghost in the Shell being a good example) and Cattlepunk (Wild Wild West, Cowboys and Aliens, and the Jonah Hex film). Mythpunk is rather questionable (since it has no commonality with any other Punk genre as far as I can see) and so is the genre Biopunk which rarely stands alone as a genre and is usually mixed in with something else.

Looking back at it, it seems like people have taken a collection of works (pretty much anything that happens to be similar to each other) and put a name on them. If that's the case, then maybe I should wait until after some books, anime, western cartoons, films, etc., come out before I start calling out a new genre...

It's one part of it, as I said above, but it can be of varying degrees. However, your story isn't motivated by the things that a punk story is, it's motivated by the societal structure.

Not by societal structure, but by era. If that's what separates it from any other Punk genre and, thus, not really part of Punk fiction, then sure, I'll agree to that because those genres are either defined by the tech or environment that they are in.

I'm sorry to sound like such a d!ck about this, but I'm really tired of watching the English language and definitions be butchered by misinformation. It's bad enough that contradicting definitions of things like "nonplussed" and "moot" exist, and people use the incorrect definitions...

That's the essence of the American language, my friend. Furthermore, you're on the internet, that's the last place you should preach language purism in.

I hate to burst your bubble, but in this day and age you really don't ever want to bank on that. Like, ever. Everyone is critical of everything these days, and will look for flaws in a story or world. "Rule of cool" is one of the few tropes that is often looked at with derision, sometimes because it can be seen as a cheap entertainment device. If this is going to be any sort of book, you're going to have a lot of very intelligent readers looking at your work with a heavily-scrutinizing eye.

Do as much as you can to justify your content; suspension of disbelief isn't something you can just invest in, you have to build it up and retain it for the reader. It's your job to create it, not the reader's.

Woah there buddy, who said that this was going to be a book? I never have the memory nor the attention span to have written anything more than three chapters. With that said, this is only going to be a one- shot. I don't have a lot of room to do any real explaining.
 

TWOxACROSS

Hot-blooded God of Guns
Premium
No... They are actually pretty legit. Desertpunk is famously exemplified by the anime of the same name, Desert Punk (note: Desert Punk didn't give birth to the name Desertpunk). Oceanpunk is encompassing works like Pirates of the Carribean and One Piece. Bioshock Infinite is a good example of Skypunk. Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are examples of Arcanepunk.

There are other genres like Post- Cyberpunk (Ghost in the Shell being a good example) and Cattlepunk (Wild Wild West, Cowboys and Aliens, and the Jonah Hex film). Mythpunk is rather questionable (since it has no commonality with any other Punk genre as far as I can see) and so is the genre Biopunk which rarely stands alone as a genre and is usually mixed in with something else.

Those are in no way actual genres, and they are not "legit" just because someone says it is. The anime Desert Punk ("Sand Brat" in Japanese) is named after the main character, not a genre, and Harry Potter and Buffy are just contemporary fantasy, with Potter subverting it by half of the series taking place in a wholly mystical place. Punk has nothing to do with locations, doesn't matter if it's land, sea, or sky.

Not by societal structure, but by era. If that's what separates it from any other Punk genre and, thus, not really part of Punk fiction, then sure, I'll agree to that because those genres are either defined by the tech or environment that they are in.

What do you mean the era? The era you're mentioning is like...modern day, right? If there's guns and motorcycles? I know the societal structure you're talking about is one from a medieval era, but the structure itself isn't necessarily defined by the era; there's no reason why aristocracy can't exist in any era, y'know? Except for now, because "F#CK YEAH DEMOCRACY" :p

That's the essence of the American language, my friend. Furthermore, you're on the internet, that's the last place you should preach language purism in.

But it hurts my brain, Rai. IT HURTS US!

ae655acda7dd141553bb2f902d272b78.600x.gif


Woah there buddy, who said that this was going to be a book? I never have the memory nor the attention span to have written anything more than three chapters. With that said, this is only going to be a one- shot. I don't have a lot of room to do any real explaining.

Well, you can always create a master doc and just expand on topics of concern when you have an idea. That's how a lot of my worlds ended up getting created; I'd get one idea and then just sorta keep going whenever I had an idea. Half a story is the concept anyway. Maybe you could get a ghost writer to take those ideas you have about that world and make something big out of it.
 

Railazel

Well-known Member
But it hurts my brain, Rai. IT HURTS US!

ae655acda7dd141553bb2f902d272b78.600x.gif

Stop resisting and submit yourself to the ignorance!

Those are in no way actual genres, and they are not "legit" just because someone says it is. Punk has nothing to do with locations, doesn't matter if it's land, sea, or sky.

So... would it be too late to mention Spacepunk and Cybertopia? Oh, and did I mention there was a Bugpunk and a Teslapunk? Oh how about Squidpunk? Oooooh! I can't forget Weedpunk!

What do you mean the era? The era you're mentioning is like...modern day, right? If there's guns and motorcycles? I know the societal structure you're talking about is one from a medieval era, but the structure itself isn't necessarily defined by the era; there's no reason why aristocracy can't exist in any era, y'know? Except for now, because "F#CK YEAH DEMOCRACY" :p

Well, and I know you're going to hate me for this, it turns out that there is an actual Punk "genre" (can't really call it that because... well... there's no work to give it any credit or defining Punk feature to it) called Castle-/Candle-/Middle-/Plaguepunk. So, seemingly, the entire concept that I was trying to work with has already been covered... I think... Seriously, Castlepunk nothing to go with but someone has already decided to cover the middle ages so... yeah, this thread's kind of done.

Well, you can always create a master doc and just expand on topics of concern when you have an idea. That's how a lot of my worlds ended up getting created; I'd get one idea and then just sorta keep going whenever I had an idea. Half a story is the concept anyway. Maybe you could get a ghost writer to take those ideas you have about that world and make something big out of it.

Never considered using a master doc... I might try that. A ghost writer would be quite a help but, from what I understand, ghost writers don't do work for free.
 

TWOxACROSS

Hot-blooded God of Guns
Premium
Stop resisting and submit yourself to the ignorance!

watchmen_zpsc985f99d.gif


And I'll whisper "No".


Never considered using a master doc... I might try that. A ghost writer would be quite a help but, from what I understand, ghost writers don't do work for free.

They can be, but otherwise you could release the master doc later as a guideline for a world, and others could write about it at their leisure. It's like tossing the idea out there and seeing what people come up with, with a stipulation to credit you for inspiration on the setting and such. I can't quite remember what did that, but I know something did.

I always figure an idea is a terrible thing to waste. Might as well get stuff down. If you look at it later and find it dumb, you can delete it, but otherwise it could turn into something. Hell, you could possibly even sell the idea, if you get enough of it figured out and then get it copyrighted.
 

Railazel

Well-known Member
watchmen_zpsc985f99d.gif


And I'll whisper "No".

You just earned yourself some awesome points, sir.

They can be, but otherwise you could release the master doc later as a guideline for a world, and others could write about it at their leisure. It's like tossing the idea out there and seeing what people come up with, with a stipulation to credit you for inspiration on the setting and such. I can't quite remember what did that, but I know something did.​

I always figure an idea is a terrible thing to waste. Might as well get stuff down. If you look at it later and find it dumb, you can delete it, but otherwise it could turn into something. Hell, you could possibly even sell the idea, if you get enough of it figured out and then get it copyrighted.

Oh trust me, figuring out what I'm going to do with the idea is the tough part. But the bolded statement is definitely a dream of mine. It's why I like writing short stories rather than longer ones (apart from my flaws in memory). To see people add to something that I created is something beautiful. So I'll definitely throw my idea out there for the masses.
 
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