Questions tagged [history-of]
For questions about the history of the genre: the origin and evolution of ideas in speculative fiction. Example topics include the first work of speculative fiction with a particular property, or the origin of a term or trope.
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When was the first "having a stat too high in proportion to another stat is bad" LitRPG?
The Gamer had Intelligence above 400? (440.3), out of possibly 5:1 proportion with Endurance released July 6, 2017, leads to damage every 24hrs.
Budding Scientist In A Fantasy World, started 2022, ...
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When was the first inanimate object to be in a closed time loop?
From the comments on Story about a woman about to go on her first date with a guy and his future self arrives to talk her out of it, there's this undiscovered story:
A woman found a like bracelet or ...
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When was Krypton first depicted as a rigidly stratified caste society?
I recently read the first few issues of Absolute Superman (2024), which portrays Krypton as a society rigidly divided by caste, with the Science League at the top of the hierarchy and the Labor Guild ...
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When was the first "Pokemon being raised by other Pokemon, deciding to become a trainer" story?
I like fanfic where Pokemon-raised Pokemon become Pokemon Trainers, and I thought they'd be easier to find.
There's Sep 28, 2014's, apparently, Hyphen of a Ralts raised by Kirlia becoming a Trainer.
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When was the first story with soulmates that could be confirmed by some process?
Looking at Wikipedia about soulmates and the red string of fate in particular, I can't find any books I could cite for the first instance of soulmates drawn / bound together by a clear source:
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When were the Greek and Roman gods first depicted as separate gods that could interact with each other?
In my line of Percy Jackson-inspired / Wonder Woman-connected questions, and I know about Interpretatio graeca... I could ask about split or unity of divine entities, but split is more characters more ...
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Who was the first author to write about something that had already been invented, as if the invention were new?
Sci-fi's all about futuristic technology, but authors aren't perfect at research.
I haven't heard of the following happening, but it must've happened at least once?
"Author writes (futuristic?) ...
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What's the first non-aquatic member of the human species to be supernaturally impossible to drown, as a specific immunity?
Was thinking about Percy Jackson, who can't drown... And found this:
TVTropes on Divine Parentage:
In the 1998 film adaptation of The Ring, it is all but outright said that Sadako is the product of ...
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When was the first character that was a Greek demigod without being one of the mythological ones?
Percy Jackson made modern demigods of the Greek gods popular... Ish? But there's gotta be older ones, I'm quite sure.
But I haven't heard of them, so who's the oldest?
TVTropes on Divine Parentage:
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When was the first "reproducible injection / process that's designed to turn humans into bombs"?
Neal Shusterman's 2007 Unwind Dystology has "Clappers" who have injected a triglyceride-like chemical that turns them into impact-triggered explosives, basically.
The 2000 video game, No One ...
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Was An American Werewolf in London the first quadrupedal werewolf in movies?
Was An American Werewolf in London (1981) the first quadrupedal werewolf in movies?
I know werewolves used to be just large wolves, but as far as I know, before An American Werewolf in London, film ...
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Is giving the condition of every object, only something LitRPGs do? Or was the first user something else?
A LitRPG reminded me of how Sword Art Online's "Underworld" virtual world gives everything Durability/Life to measure condition of literally everything in the world. And that "...
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When did polygenetic requirements for superpowers first appear?
Inspired by this article which mentions polygenetic traits instead of Mendelian genetics.
And this Question on a mystery of how magical genetics works in a story released in the past 5 years...
When ...
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Who is India’s first superhero?
Googling "India’s first superhero" gives Shaktimaan as a result. This is wrong because the Shaktimaan TV series was first aired in the late 90s, and Raj Comics first published Nagraj comics ...
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When was Spider-Man first depicted using a bulky external web fluid tank as seen in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man?
In the 2025 animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and its tie-in comic, Spider-Man starts out with bulky external web fluid tanks connected to his web-shooters by hoses. This setup ...
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