Most Well Known Fantasy Worlds

[howandwhy99]

Most Well Known Fantasy Worlds

I was wondering what the most well known fantasy worlds are. Of course, popularity is somewhat subjective, but a small internet campaign world isn't quite the same as say: Greyhawk. Please feel free to add and I will update the list.

Here are few to start off. These are in no particular order. And what I have is probably just a drop in the bucket:

(these are categorized by first appearance - so Middle Earth falls in print instead of film)

PUBLISHED RPG:
Greyhawk
Forgotten Realms
Eberron
Known World/Mystara/Red Steel
Kara-Tur/Oriental Adventures
Spelljammer
Planescape
Ravenloft
Dragonlance
Birthright
Al Qadim
Old World (warhammer)
World of Darkness (white wolf)
Tekumel/Talislanta
Freeport
Europa (Ars Magica)
Midnight
Codex Arcana
Dawnforge
Kingdoms of Kalamar
Oathbound
Wilderlands/City of the Invincible Overlord/Judges Guild
Glorantha
Harn
Earthdawn
Castle Falkenstein
Mythus/Aerth (Dangerous Journeys)
Kulthea Shadowworld
Magira (german)
Adventuria (german)
Kreijor (german)
Yrth
Jeremiah
Violet Dawn (Avadnu)
Dark Legacies


PRINT:
Middle Earth
Amber
Hyboria (Conan)
Wheel of Time
Newhon/Lankhmar
Song of Fire and Ice
Legend of the 5 Rings
Magnamund
Camelot/King Arthur
Knottingham/Robin Hood
Shannara trilogy
Midkemia/Krondor (raymond fiest)
Narnia
Shangri-La/Utopia
Lilliput/Gulliver's Travels
Wonderland/Alice in Wonderland
The Land (stephen donaldson)
Dragaera (stephen Brust)
Midgard
Valdemar (mercedes lackey)
Osten Ard
The Spiral of the World of Winter (michael scott rohan)
Ehvenor
Enwor
Lyonnesse
Dying World
Young Kingdoms/Elric
Bas-Lag (china mieville)
Earth/Harry Potter
Oz
100 Acre Wood
Wind in the Willows
Wrinkle in Time
Barsoom/Mars (Burroughs)
Pellucidar (Burroughs)
Monster Island (David Wellington)
Lost World (Arthur Conan Doyle)
Xanadu
Atlantis
The Kingdom (johann presbyter)
Gormenghast
El Dorado
Mu
Abbey of Theleme (Rabelais)
Eleven Kingdoms/Deryni (katherine kurtz)
Mallorea and the Kingdoms of the West (eddings)
Thieves World
"Swords" Earth (saberhagen)
Titan (fighting fantasy series)
Discworld
Dreamlands (lovecraft)
Neverneverland/Peter Pan
Ruwenda (marion zimmer bradley)
Gaia (escaflowne)

INTERNET:
Agyris
Farland
Vintyri
The Kyngdoms

COMPUTER GAMES:
World of Warcraft
Everquest
Britannia (ultima)
Xeen (might&magic)

TV:
Hercules
Xena
Buffy
Sliders


FILM:
Willow
Krull
The Dark Crystal
Labyrinth
Princess Mononoke
Ninja Scroll
Legend
Highlander
Pirates of the Caribbean

EDIT: Please choose world you believe qualify under your own definition of FANTASY. Science Fiction, Western, Kung Fu, and other genre may not really apply.

 

[MonsterMash]

For TV would things like

Buffy
Hercules/Xena (theoretically Greek Myth, but definitely on its own tangent)
Stargate

Count?

 

[the Jester]

I'd prolly call Stephen Donaldson's "the Land" from the Thomas Covenant books well known, and maybe Stephen Brust's Dragaera too.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

A place where monsters walk beside humans, uncommented upon.

A place where giant birds vist the shops and irritate the owners.

A place where an obsessive cumpulsive vampire may be seen by daylight... people of E. N. Workd I bring you...

SESAME STREET!

The Auld Grump, Sunny day, keeping the clouds away. Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street...

 

[sword-dancer]

German

Magira
Midgard
Aventuria
Kreijor


Kulthea Shadowworld
Glorantha
Old World(TheWarhammer World)
Yrth

btwKrondor is a Print World
World of Valdemar(MercedesLackey)
Osten Ard
TheSpiral and theWorld of Winter(Michael Scott Rohan)
Ehvenor
Enwor
Midgard(Mckiernan)
Lyonnesse
Dying Earth

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

How about the Young Kingdoms from the Elric Saga? And don't forget Bas-Lag from China Mieville's novels.

 

[S'mon]

Magnamund, of course! I wouldn't mention my 'small Internet world' Ea, but you seem to have some almost equally obscure worlds in that first post...

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

And the infinite alt.Earths, like that of Harry Potter/

 

[Glyfair]

Glorantha/Harn

Just a small quibble, these don't belong linked together. They have nothing to do with each other.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Most of this thread aren't the best known, they're the most popular with (some) fantasy fans.

Best known fantasy worlds would start with the generic world of fairy tales, Oz, the 100 Acre Wood, the forest of "The Wind in the Willows," the fantasy/sci-fi worlds of the "Wrinkle in Time" series, Mark Twain's Camelot, Camelot in the more generic sense.

Even the most popular fantasy world that's mostly read by genre enthusiasts hasn't been visited, in one form or another as much as fairy tales have or even Oz was. (Oz, at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century was unbelievably popular, the Harry Potter of its day.) I'd also include the worlds of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne in the broad fantasy category at this point, as well as the worlds of Stephen King.