Introduction

Orcs and elves, vampires and werewolves, angels and demons—you’ll find these creatures and more in Fantasy novels. But what you’ll seldom find are people like me: Black and brown folks. But why is this? It’s not as though people like me don’t read and write in this genre; you have fantasy greats such as Octavia E. Butler, N.K. Jemisin, and Charles R. Saunders. And in recent years there has been a push for more diverse books in every genre, so why the hold up with Fantasy? This post aims to answer this question.

First, we must examine the history of Fantasy.

A Brief History of Fantasy

Arguably, Fantasy began with tales of heroes and gods. The Epic of Gilgamesh; which chronicles the feats of the eponymous Sumerian hero and his battles with gods, demons, and humans alike; is the oldest written document ever.

Likewise, you have the epic poem “Beowolf,” which tells the exploits of a hero from Geet who is summoned by the Danish king to dispatch a monster who’s been attacking them. Then there are the Egyptian and Greek myths, which focus on the humanoid gods and their soap operas.

From these myths, rose legends and folk tales about people who may or may not have existed—Robin Hood, King Author, John Henry, Keel Boat Annie, Davy Crocket, and Paul Bunyan, to name just a few. Following this was the rise of fairy tales a la the Brothers Grimm, which featured the traditional fantasy stock characters of talking animals, fairies, dwarves, elves, etc.

Only these stories were darker than the ones we heard as kids. For instance, in their version of Cinderella, one of the Ugly Stepsisters cut off part of her foot so it would fit in the glass slipper.  It wasn’t until Hans Christian Anderson came along that these grim fairytales become the happy ones everyone knows today.

However, it wasn’t until Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Joseph Campbell came along that Fantasy as we know it today was established. It was Tolkien who took all the elements from fairytales and blended them with bits of Germanic, Scandinavian, and other European myths and cultures to create the world of Middle Earth and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. To this day he is credited with creating many of the tropes, good and bad, that remain at the bedrock of Fantasy—the evil overlord, the quest, the mcgaffin (the object everyone wants), light/white is good and dark/black is bad.

Similarly, C.S. Lewis popularized the trope of a hidden fantasy world, which is common in stories from Harry Potter to Blade. And often in these hidden worlds, the protagonist(s) discover they are the chosen one(s). But where did this concept come from?

Joseph Campbell and the Monomyth

Joseph Campbell was a writer and mythologist most known for his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he argued that the hero’s journey or monomyth was at the heart of every story from Jesus to Star Wars. And in fact, George Lucas credits Campbell’s book as helping him conceive the Star Wars franchise. So, what is the monomyth? Basically, it’s the journey every hero and heroine must go on to become a complete person; it’s also a metaphor for growing up. While there are several variations on it, the basic story arc is as follows:

•  The protagonist feels something is off with them or their world.
• They receive a call to adventure, which they either accept or deny
• An event happens which forces them to accept the call or prevents them from going back home.
• They then discover a hidden world where they are revealed to be special. Most often, they are secretly royalty or a demi-god and/or the subject of a prophecy.
• They then go on a quest or journey to defeat the evil overlord/antagonist.
• Along the way, they suffer many trials, leading to them almost giving up.
• Only by having faith in themselves and others are they able to complete their quest and defeat the evil overlord.

There are more steps, depending on which version you look at, but they all boil down to the protagonist only being able to succeed once they realize a truth about themselves or the world. Then their job is to relay that truth to everyone else.

So, what can be wrong with this?

 

Eurocentrism in Fantasy

Well, Campbell studied European and the “Near East” myths, so the monomyth is bereft of myths from Africa, Asia, and the Americas, a trait his work shares with Tolkien’s et al’s work. The erasure of Black, brown and people of color is clear when you read the pages of their work. The elves and fairies are described as having stereotypical European features such as wavy long blonde hair and blues eyes with fair skin. Meanwhile, orcs are described as having swarthy (read black) skin and hair with a propensity to war. And goblins are described as:  “big, ugly creatures, “cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted.”   But this isn’t just an issue with older works.

In the Harry Potter series, Hogwarts is an international school, yet there were only a handful of Black and minority ethnic students. Furthermore, you had house elves, a magical race of slaves, of whom Dobby was thought crazy by his peers for wanting to be free. Then you had the hook-nosed, money-obsessed goblins who controlled the wizarding world’s banking system. Gee, where have I heard those tropes before? But it gets worse.

In Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, she appropriates an actual native tribe, The Quiletues, for her “saga”. And of the few Black characters in the series, they are either minor characters with no impact on the story as a whole or villains.

 Likewise, In the Game of Throne TV series, the only Black people are the Unsullied who are slaves until Deaneryus Targaryan frees them. The simple fact is if Black and brown folks appear in fantasy at all, we’re often sidelined as supporting characters who are only there to advance the plot of the white protagonists. And this all ties into white supremacy and the idea that only white culture, stories, and people are valued.

Again and again, Fantasy writers populate their works with people straight out of the middle ages, and set their worlds in feudal/medieval Europe. Or if they’re feeling extra, they’ll set them in Greek- or Roman-styled worlds. There are so many other cultures and time periods to explore. I don’t get this obsession with “Ye Olde Europe.” Even in Urban Fantasy the tropes established by Tolkien et al are still there, just in cities populated with tons of white folks with a few Black and brown characters sprinkled in for flavor.

But why is this?

The Myth of Profitability and The Black Fantasy Reader

 The common arguments given for why there aren’t more Fantasy stories with Black and brown people of color is that a) it’s not profitable and b) Black people don’t read Fantasy. Both of theses are false. Books like Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton, Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James, and the Tristan Strong series by Kwame Mbalia are all popular books by and about Black folks. And we need only look at the massive success of the Black Panther movie to see that, contrary to conventional wisdom, Black people are starving for representation in Fantasy.

I know this feeling firsthand. As an ‘90s teen there were few depictions of people like me in the media I consumed. So when movies like Meteor Man, Spawn, and Blade, and shows like The X-men and Static Shock came out, I was hyped as hell to finally see myself reflected on the screen.

The fact is there are great Black Fantasy writers out there, yet they are told by agents and publishers there’s no profitability in their work because people (read white people) won’t buy them.

 As I’ve already stated, there is a huge, largely untapped market of Fantasy readers who want diverse books. Yet publishers keep buying the same tired stories featuring the same generic white woman or man because these stories are deemed universal.

Furthermore, when Fantasy books featuring Black or brown characters are published, they often don’t receive the same amount of publicity. And when they arrive at bookstores, they are often segregated from the other Fantasy books and placed in the “Urban” section, thus decreasing their visibility.  

Why is this?

White Fragility and Toxic Masculinity

This strategic placement is all about maintaining the status quo of white Fantasy fanboys who have thrown literal fits about attempts to diversify their favorite fandoms. We saw this in scandals like Comics Gate, in which mostly white males boycotted attempts by comics to diversify their characters such as when Marvel Comics introduced Thorina, a female who could wield the powers of Thor. Or when they introduced Riri Williams, a Black girl, as the next Ironman, well Iron Maiden. Then there was the time they introduced Kamal Khan, a Muslim woman, as the next Ms. Marvel.

Whole blogs and YouTube channels sprang up for the sole purpose of stating how awful these changes were. And it came as a surprise to no one that the majority of these sites and channels were run but white dudes, whose thinly veiled racism and misogyny were apparent to anyone with half a brain. Their complaints all boiled down to, “Whaa! They changed my fandom, and I don’t like it.” But it wasn’t just comics that received a backlash.

Following the release of The Force Awakens these same entitled brats lamented how Disney ruined their Star Wars because it now featured a female protagonist and more people of color. In fact, a segment of the Star Wars fandom lost their collective racist minds when it was hinted at that Finn and Rey might have a romantic relationship.

Similarly, when the Ghost Busters reboot released, you had the same level of vitriol hurled at it. And star Leslie Jones had so many racist comments thrown at her that she quit Twitter. All because they dare changed these fanboys’ fandom. But this sense of entitlement didn’t come from nowhere.

The Chosen One Trope and White Supremacy

 The chosen one trope is ubiquitous because it dove-tails seamlessly with the hero’s journey. The basic premise is there’s only person who can save the world, defeat the evil overlord, ya da, ya da. However, the chosen one is almost always white and male. This is bad for many reasons.

First, it implants the idea that white males are better than everyone else, that they’re special and owed the world. Second, this trope reinforces the old racist stereotype that it’s the white man’s burden to civilize the world. Third, that they alone can save the world, which plays into the white savior trope.

Fourth, the chosen one trope is meant to uphold the status quo. In nearly every story the point is for the chosen one to return peace to the land or return things to the way they were before the evil overlord awakened/attacked. In essence these stories socialize readers to believe things should never change.

All of the above creates a toxic brew that tells white boys they are the masters of the universe and always will be. Thus, when they aren’t the total focus of their fandoms they lash out. They spew racist comments at black cosplayers and gamers, and misogynistic comments at female gamers, comics readers and characters, and generally be dicks to anyone unlike them.  

Not Even There

Another reason Fantasy lacks diversity is simply that author don’t bother adding diverse characters. Instead, they have fantasy races which are coded as actual races. Tolkien had his orcs with their slanted eyes and dark complexion. C.S. had his Calormen with their dark faces, long beards, and war-like nature. And Terry Pratchett had racial epitaphs for trolls, elves and dwarves, yet no mention of anyone who wasn’t white. This erasure by omission is such a common thing, and when it’s brought to the attention of writers, they wave it off.  And if they do include us, we are the comic relief or written for the white gaze.

Attempts to Diversify Fantasy

In recent years Urban Fantasy has popped up; it’s basically the same tropes as standard Fantasy, except set in cities and suburbs. The problem with these books is they still feature mainly all-white casts. And while they often have female protagonists, said protagonists are white.  

And while attempts to diversify books have been made by organizations like We Need Diverse Books, Fantasy and Writers Of Color, Fantasy, and publishing as a whole, remains overwhelmingly white.

According to a 2020 study done by the New York Times, of 8,004 books released between 1960-2018,  3,471 of which they could identify the race of the author, 5% were written by Black and people of color. So, publishing doesn’t care about Black and people of color in Fantasy or any other genre. This was made clear this past summer when in response to the death of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police, Agents and magazines opened submissions strictly or primarily for Black writers. However, once this stopped earning them internet clout, they suddenly stopped this.

So, What Can Be Done?

First, support the works of marginalized writers like, Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, Marlon James, LL Mckinney, and Roxane Gay. Second, review said books and demand publishers release more diverse books. Third, if they don’t, then support independent publishers and authors who will. Fourth, tell your friends and family about these books; word of mouth is often the best publicity because posts on social media have a short shelf life. Fifth, if you especially like a diverse book, ask your library to buy a copy, or offer to donate yours. Sixth, call out the racism/racial erasure you see in books and don’t support creators of work that isn’t diverse. Last, if no one has created the work that you want to, then do it yourself.

That’s what I’m doing.

Conclusion

Now I don’t want to be accused of policing people’s reading habits, nor do I want to censor the stories authors write. Read what you want and write what you want. I just won’t read if it doesn’t contain people like me in it.

This isn’t to say every Fantasy story must have Black and brown folks in it. But if you can conceive of worlds with dragons, mechanical elves, or boy wizards, then why not one with Black people in it?

The truth is Fantasy, like any genre or fandom, should be for everyone who likes it. I long for the day it won’t be controversial to have a Fantasy book without an allo, cis, het, white protagonist, for the day when we have just as many Black chosen ones and knights, dragon riders, and shifty thieves, princesses and princes, kings and queens, shifters and vampires. Until then I’ll keep hyping the works of those doing it right and plucking away at my own dark fantasy series.

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