What do you believe to be the defining line between fantasy and sci-fi?

Well?

a good question live, for dragons and elfs/ d&d etc , always gonne be and old school good fantasy, whereas future/tech stuff sci-fi, thats how I draw the line.Steam punk is the sci-fi.

but i guess, the sci-fi is just a part of the fantasy, like a subset.

I agree. I actually view Star Wars to be more fantasy than Sci-Fi, for instance. Also, I think Steam Punk is more fantasy than Sci-Fi, depending on the story itself though.

For me, sci-fi is where there is obvious fiction, whether or not it's futuristic doesn't quite matter, but there are drawn out and specific details to the "science" part of it. Like in Star Trek, Alien Anthology, Event Horizon, etc.

but, these specific details of science , is fantasy, because most of them will not ever happen, so i think sci-fi is bit more complex than just science-y written work, it is a idea that science replaces magic in most of the fantasy works, and yet there has to be more to it...

you may laugh at me, but star trek/star gate in my idea is fantasy, for a true sci-fi I believe is Tron, Enders Game...

let's say if it has blaster and warp/FTL/starburst/hyperdrive... it's scifi... 'cause otherwise line is very blurry... look at star wars (and force), dune (and spice, mesiah, etc.), also series like star trek, farscape, babylon 5 have lots of mystical stuff...

I kinda agree with anon here (if I'm understanding correctly). It's all fantasy to me, hence the "fiction" part of "science fiction".

That's why I'm asking what you guys think, so I can get an understanding of how other people view it. I'm digging these answers so far.

Many people argue over which is "better" etc, and I think it's silly. It's all fiction, so it's all "fantasy". But sci-fi just has a science twist on it. It's harder to define than you think

True that. Like others have said, something like Star Wars could be considered more fantasy than science fiction, but then I guess that depends on how you define "science" in the context of these make believe worlds. Does the mere existence of high tech looking... well, tech or machinery automatically make something sci fi? By that definition Neighbours would be sci fi 'cos it shows people using mobile phone tech that wasn't considered possible until a few years ago. I do think that defining line can be a blurry one.

^^ what liv said.

I think that the definitions are all relative to your own perspective. I define sci fi as using the scientific laws of the universe to make the currently impossible possible. If I was still alive 1000 years into the future I might label what I would call "sci fi" today as "historical fiction" at that point in time. I define fantasy as ignoring the scientific laws of the universe to make the currently impossible possible. In 1000 years people might have discovered things that makes what used to look like fantasy reality. Maybe then they'll call what I now label as "fantasy" "historical fiction" then too. I think the most accurate way to describe a story is to say that it has elements of fantasy or elements of sci fi instead. I've read/seen a few crossovers that incorporate some mixing of the genres and they're impossible to pin down. "Star Wars" is a great example. "There Will be Dragons" by John Ringo is another.

why define, just enjoy

Klingon wrote:why define, just enjoy

true dat

yeah!

No.

Pick apart everything until it is well and truly dead. So there.

gimme some chalk I wanna draw the line!

Now you're talkin'! If I can't enjoy something then no one can! Dead bodies of fun stuff everywhere!

ahem... this is the sci fi forum.... lasers only: NO CHALK!

but it's chalk with nano particles...

So it is kinda science fictiony...

very much so!

See, I knew you'd come 'round to our way of thinking!

well.... I guess nano-chalk is probably OK... lasers are way cooler though

Admittedly, lasers make everything cooler.

especially since nano-chalk did not do anythiong special... it's sole purpose was to be cool enough to be suitable for scifi...

Well, quite.