A number of cyberpunk derivatives have become
recognized as distinct subgenres in speculative
fiction. These derivatives, though they do
not share cyberpunk's computers-focused setting,
may display other qualities drawn from or
analogous to cyberpunk: a world built on one
particular technology that is extrapolated
to a highly sophisticated level (this may
even be a fantastical or anachronistic technology,
akin to retro-futurism), a gritty transreal
urban style, or a particular approach to social
themes.
One of the most well-known of these subgenres,
steampunk, has been defined as a "kind of
technological fantasy", and others in this
category sometimes also incorporate aspects
of science fantasy and historical fantasy.
Scholars have written of these subgenres'
stylistic place in postmodern literature,
and also their ambiguous interaction with
the historical perspective of postcolonialism.American
author Bruce Bethke coined the term "cyberpunk"
in his 1980 short story of the same name,
proposing it as a label for a new generation
of punk teenagers inspired by the perceptions
inherent to the Information Age. The term
was quickly appropriated as a label to be
applied to the works of William Gibson, Bruce
Sterling, John Shirley, Rudy Rucker, Michael
Swanwick, Pat Cadigan, Lewis Shiner, Richard
Kadrey, and others. Science fiction author
Lawrence Person, in defining postcyberpunk,
summarized the characteristics of cyberpunk
thus:
Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized,
alienated loners who lived on the edge of
society in generally dystopic futures where
daily life was impacted by rapid technological
change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized
information, and invasive modification of
the human body.
The relevance of cyberpunk as a genre to punk
subculture is debatable and further hampered
by the lack of a defined cyberpunk subculture;
where the small cyber movement shares themes
with cyberpunk fiction and draws inspiration
from punk and goth alike, cyberculture is
much more popular though much less defined,
encompassing virtual communities and cyberspace
in general and typically embracing optimistic
anticipations about the future. Cyberpunk
is nonetheless regarded as a successful genre,
as it ensnared many new readers and provided
the sort of movement that postmodern literary
critics found alluring. Furthermore, author
David Brin argues, cyberpunk made science
fiction more attractive and profitable for
mainstream media and the visual arts in general.
== Futuristic derivatives ==
=== Biopunk ===
Biopunk emerged during the 1990s and focuses
on the near-future unintended consequences
of the biotechnology revolution following
the discovery of recombinant DNA. Biopunk
fiction typically describes the struggles
of individuals or groups, often the product
of human experimentation, against a backdrop
of totalitarian governments or megacorporations
which misuse biotechnologies as means of social
control or profiteering. Unlike cyberpunk,
it builds not on information technology but
on biorobotics and synthetic biology. As in
postcyberpunk however, individuals are usually
modified and enhanced not with cyberware,
but by genetic manipulation of their chromosomes.
=== Nanopunk ===
Nanopunk refers to an emerging subgenre of
speculative science fiction still very much
in its infancy in comparison to other genres
like that of cyberpunk. The genre is similar
to biopunk, but describes a world in which
the use of biotechnology is limited or prohibited,
and only nanites and nanotechnology is in
wide use (while in biopunk bio- and nanotechnologies
often coexist). Currently the genre is more
concerned with the artistic and physiological
impact of nanotechnology, than of aspects
of the technology itself. Still, one of the
most prominent examples of nanopunk is Crysis
video game series. And much lesser famous
examples is Generator Rex and Transcendence.
=== Postcyberpunk ===
As new writers and artists began to experiment
with cyberpunk ideas, new varieties of fiction
emerged, sometimes addressing the criticisms
leveled at the original cyberpunk stories.
Lawrence Person wrote in an essay he posted
to the Internet forum Slashdot in 1998:
The best of cyberpunk conveyed huge cognitive
loads about the future by depicting (in best
"show, don't tell" fashion) the interaction
of its characters with the quotidian minutia
of their environment. In the way they interacted
with their clothes, their furniture, their
decks and spex, cyberpunk characters told
you more about the society they lived in than
"classic" SF stories did through their interaction
with robots and rocketships.
Postcyberpunk uses the same immersive world-building
technique, but features different characters,
settings, and, most importantly, makes fundamentally
different assumptions about the future. Far
from being alienated loners, postcyberpunk
characters are frequently integral members
of society (i.e., they have jobs). They live
in futures that are not necessarily dystopic
(indeed, they are often suffused with an optimism
that ranges from cautious to exuberant), but
their everyday lives are still impacted by
rapid technological change and an omnipresent
computerized infrastructure.
Person advocates using the term "postcyberpunk"
for the strain of science fiction he describes.
In this view, typical postcyberpunk stories
explore themes related to a "world of accelerating
technological innovation and ever-increasing
complexity in ways relevant to our everyday
lives" with a continued focus on social aspects
within a post-third industrial-era society,
such as of ubiquitous dataspheres and cybernetic
augmentation of the human body. Unlike cyberpunk
its works may portray a utopia or to blend
elements of both extremes into a more mature
(to cyberpunk) societal vision.
Rafael Miranda Huereca states:
In this fictional world, the unison in the
hive becomes a power mechanism which is executed
in its capillary form, not from above the
social body but from within. This mechanism
as Foucault remarks is a form of power, which
"reaches into the very grain of individuals,
touches their bodies and inserts itself into
their actions and attitudes, their discourses,
learning processes and everyday lives." In
postcyberpunk unitopia 'the capillary mechanism'
that Foucault describes is literalized. Power
touches the body through the genes, injects
viruses to the veins, takes the forms of pills
and constantly penetrates the body through
its surveillance systems; collects samples
of body substance, reads finger prints, even
reads the ‘prints’ that are not visible,
the ones which are coded in the genes. The
body responds back to power, communicates
with it; supplies the information that power
requires and also receives its future conduct
as a part of its daily routine. More importantly,
power does not only control the body, but
also designs, (re)produces, (re)creates it
according to its own objectives. Thus, human
body is re-formed as a result of the transformations
of the relations between communication and
power.
The Daemon novels by Daniel Suarez could be
considered postcyberpunk in that sense. In
addition to themes of its ancestral genre
postcyberpunk might also combine elements
of nanopunk and biopunk. Often named examples
of postcyberpunk novels are Neal Stephenson's
The Diamond Age and Bruce Sterling's Holy
Fire. In television, Ghost in the Shell: Stand
Alone Complex has been called "the most interesting,
sustained postcyberpunk media work in existence".
In 2007, SF writers James Patrick Kelly and
John Kessel published Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk
Anthology. Like all categories discerned within
science fiction, the boundaries of postcyberpunk
are likely to be fluid or ill defined.
== Retrofuturistic derivatives ==
As a wider variety of writers began to work
with cyberpunk concepts, new subgenres of
science fiction emerged, playing off the cyberpunk
label, and focusing on technology and its
social effects in different ways. Many derivatives
of cyberpunk are retro-futuristic, based either
on the futuristic visions of past eras, especially
from the first and second industrial revolution
technological-eras, or more recent extrapolations
or exaggerations of the actual technology
of those eras.
=== Steampunk ===
The word "steampunk" was invented in 1987
as a jocular reference to some of the novels
of Tim Powers, James P. Blaylock, and K. W.
Jeter. When Gibson and Sterling entered the
subgenre with their 1990 collaborative novel
The Difference Engine the term was being used
earnestly as well. Alan Moore's and Kevin
O'Neill's 1999 The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen historical fantasy comic book series
(and the subsequent 2003 film adaption) popularized
the steampunk genre and helped propel it into
mainstream fiction.The most immediate form
of steampunk subculture is the community of
fans surrounding the genre. Others move beyond
this, attempting to adopt a "steampunk" aesthetic
through fashion, home decor and even music.
This movement may also be (perhaps more accurately)
described as "Neo-Victorianism", which is
the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles
with modern sensibilities and technologies.
This characteristic is particularly evident
in steampunk fashion which tends to synthesize
punk, goth and rivet styles as filtered through
the Victorian era. As an object style, however,
steampunk adopts more distinct characteristics
with various craftspersons modding modern-day
devices into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical
"steampunk" style. The goal of such redesigns
is to employ appropriate materials (such as
polished brass, iron, and wood) with design
elements and craftsmanship consistent with
the Victorian era.
=== Dieselpunk ===
Dieselpunk is a genre and art style based
on the aesthetics popular between World War
I and the end of World War II. The style combines
the artistic and genre influences of the period
(including pulp magazines, serial films, film
noir, art deco, and wartime pin-ups) with
retro-futuristic technology and postmodern
sensibilities. First coined in 2001 as a marketing
term by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe
his role-playing game Children of the Sun,
dieselpunk has grown to describe a distinct
style of visual art, music, motion pictures,
fiction, and engineering. Examples include
the movies Iron Sky, Rocketeer, K-20: Legend
of the Mask, Sky Captain and the World of
Tomorrow and Dark City, and the games Crimson
Skies, Greed Corp, Gatling Gears, BioShock
and its sequel BioShock 2, The Legend of Korra
and Skullgirls.
== Other proposed science fiction derivatives
==
There have been a handful of divergent terms
based on the general concepts of steampunk.
These are typically considered unofficial
and are often invented by readers, or by authors
referring to their own works, often humorously.
A large number of terms have been used by
the GURPS roleplaying game Steampunk to describe
anachronistic technologies and settings, including
stonepunk (Stone Age tech), bronzepunk (Bronze
Age tech), ironpunk (Iron Age tech), candlepunk
(Medieval and Renaissance tech), and transistorpunk
(Atomic Age tech). These terms have seen very
little use outside GURPS.
=== Stonepunk ===
Stonepunk refers to works set roughly during
the Stone Age in which the characters utilize
Neolithic Revolution–era technology constructed
from materials more or less consistent with
the time period, but possessing anachronistic
complexity and function. The Flintstones franchise
and its various spin offs, Roland Emmerich's
10,000 BC, and the flashback scenes in Cro
fall under this category. Literary examples
include Edgar Rice Burrough's Back to the
Stone Age and The Land that Time Forgot, and
Jean M. Auel's "Earth’s Children" series,
starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear.
=== SandalpunkThe term "Sandalpunk" was coined
by Pyramid magazine, an in-house Steve Jackson
Games periodical that published articles about
the GURPS role-playing system. It is derived
from the "sword and sandals" film genre set
in Ancient times and used Mythical or Biblical
characters and plots. ===
This genre is set in an alternate universe
in which civilizations during the Ancient
era have access to advanced fantastic Bronze-Age
(bronzepunk) or Iron-Age (ironpunk) technology.
This would potentially lead to a less-isolated
retro-futurist Greece that was never conquered
or a retro-futurist Roman Empire that never
fell. Prime examples would be the mechanical
wonders in films like Jason and the Argonauts
(1963) and Clash of the Titans (1981) or the
God of War video game series. High-technology
in such works is rare (usually a "one-off"
by a genius philosopher or a hand-crafted
"trade secret" product made by workshops of
artificiers) but potentially indistinguishable
from miracles or magic. Another example is
the retro-futuristic blend of Imperial Rome
and 1930s Fascist Italy in Julie Taymor's
Titus (1999). There are motor vehicles, radios,
and simple firearms, but war is still waged
by armor-clad troops with swords and spears.
Like the other -punk genres, the technology
doesn't change history completely but it does
have societal changes. How would automation
affect the semi-skilled and specialized labor
markets? How would the culture's welfare systems
handle technological unemployment? How would
they influence nearby rival cultures and their
technological development? How would education
fare in a world in which the complete writings
(and conflicting theories and ideas) of every
natural philosopher and school of thought
are available? Would the development of scientific
experimentation, standard classification/taxonomy,
and mathematics/physics be delayed or accelerated?
Would new knowledge and discoveries be freely
shared with others or kept secret within a
guild or school? Would the necessary "pruning"
provided by the Enlightenment occur or would
the accumulated knowledge be overwhelming
and fraught with errors and contradictions?
It can also be compared with "modern day"
satirical TV shows set in this period like
Hanna-Barbera's The Roman Holidays (1972)
(a rehashing of The Flintstones set in Classical
Rome) or ITV2's Plebs (2013-Present) (a sitcom
in which Rome is a stand-in for modern-day
London). This subgenre is noted for having
Ancient analogues to modern technology (like
vending machines and water coolers) or using
manpower or animal power to do mechanical
tasks (copy and send documents, mow the lawn,
or power a vehicle). The characters have anachronistic
modern-day concerns and beliefs and are ahistorically
aware of modern philosophical and intellectual
concepts.
=== Clockpunk ===
Clockpunk portrays Renaissance-era science
and technology based on pre-modern designs,
in the vein of Mainspring by Jay Lake, and
Whitechapel Gods by S. M. Peters. Examples
of clockpunk include The Blazing World by
Margaret Cavendish, Astro-Knights Island in
the nonlinear game Poptropica, the Clockwork
Mansion level of Dishonored 2, the 2011 film
version of The Three Musketeers, as well as
the videogames Thief: The Dark Project, Syberia
and Assassins Creed 2.
The term was coined by the GURPS role playing
system.
=== Rococopunk ===
Rococopunk is a whimsical punk derivative
that thrusts punk attitude into the late baroque
period. Although it is a fairly recent derivative,
it is a style that is visually very similar
to the New Romantic movement of the 1980s
(particularly such groups as Adam and the
Ants). As one steampunk scholar put it, "Imagine
a world where the Rococo period never ended,
and it had a lovechild with Sid Vicious. Rococopunk
has most recently been featured on The X Factor
through the artist known as Prince Poppycock.
Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, often
known as "the Queen of Punk Fashion", also
mixes Rococo with punk stylings.
=== Raypunk ===
Raypunk is a distinctive (sub)genre which
deals with scenarios, technologies, beings
or environments, very different from everything
that we know or what is possible here on Earth
or by science. Covers space surrealism, parallel
worlds, alien art, technological psychedelia,
non-standard "science", alternative or distorted/twisted
reality and so on. Predecessor to atompunk
with similar "cosmic" themes but mostly without
explicit nuclear power or exactly described
technology and with more archaic/schematic/artistic
style, dark, obscure, cheesy, weird, mysterious,
dreamy, hazy or etheric atmosphere (origins
before 1880-1950), parallel to steampunk,
dieselpunk and teslapunk.
=== Nowpunk ===
Nowpunk is a term invented by Bruce Sterling,
which he applied to contemporary fiction set
in the time period (particularly in the post-Cold
War 1990s to the present) in which the fiction
is being published, i.e. all contemporary
fiction. Sterling used the term to describe
his book The Zenith Angle, which follows the
story of a hacker whose life is changed by
the September 11, 2001 attacks.
=== Decopunk ===
Decopunk is a recent subset of Dieselpunk,
centered around the art deco and Streamline
Moderne art styles, and based around the period
between the 1920s and 1950s. In an interview
at CoyoteCon, steampunk author Sara M. Harvey
made the distinctions "shinier than dieselpunk,
more like decopunk", and "Dieselpunk is a
gritty version of steampunk set in the 1920s–1950s.
The big war eras, specifically. Decopunk is
the sleek, shiny very art deco version; same
time period, but everything is chrome!" Its
fandom arose around 2008. Possibly the most
notable examples of this are the first two
BioShock games, films like Dick Tracy and
The Shadow, and the cartoon Batman: The Animated
Series which included neo-noir elements along
with modern elements such as the use of VHS
cassettes.
=== Atompunk ===
Atompunk (sometimes called "atomicpunk") relates
to the pre-digital short twentieth century,
specifically the period of 1945–1965, including
mid-century Modernism, the Atomic Age, Jet
Age and Space Age, Communism and concern about
it exaggerated as paranoia in the U.S. along
with Neo-Soviet styling, underground cinema,
Googie architecture, Sputnik and the Space
Race, early Cold War espionage, superhero
fiction and comic books, the rise of the US
military/industrial powers and the fall-out
of Chernobyl. Its aesthetic tends toward Populuxe
and Raygun Gothic, which describe a retro-futuristic
vision of the world. Notable examples of Atompunk
in popular media include the Sean Connery-era
of James Bond, television shows like The Avengers,
Doctor Who, The Green Hornet and The Man from
U.N.C.L.E., cartoons like Dexter's Laboratory
and The Powerpuff Girls, Marvel comics like
Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and Spider-man,
movies like The Incredibles and X-Men: First
Class, and video games like the Fallout and
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, both of which receiving
widespread distribution and critical acclaim.
=== Steelpunk ===
Steelpunk focuses on the technologies that
had their heyday in the late 20th century.
In a post describing Steelpunk on the SFFWorld
website it is characterised as being “about
hardware, not software, the real world not
the virtual world, megatechology not nanotechnology.
The artefacts of Steelpunk aren’t grown,
printed or programmed, they’re built. With
rivets.” Examples given in the post include
Mad Max, Terminator, Barb Wire, Iron Man and
Snowpiercer. Other writers suggest Harry Harrison’s
Stainless Steel Rat series, the Heinlein juveniles
and the film Sky Captain and the World of
Tomorrow.
=== Cyberprep ===
Cyberprep is a term with a very similar meaning
to postcyberpunk. The word is an amalgam of
the prefix "cyber-", referring to cybernetics,
and "preppy", reflecting its divergence from
the punk elements of cyberpunk. A cyberprep
world assumes that all the technological advancements
of cyberpunk speculation have taken place
but life is utopian rather than gritty and
dangerous. Since society is largely leisure-driven,
advanced body modifications are used for sports,
pleasure and self-improvement.
An example would be Scott Westerfeld's Uglies
series.
== Other proposed fantastic fiction derivatives
==
=== 
Elfpunk ===
Elfpunk is subgenre of urban fantasy in which
traditional mythological creatures such as
faeries and elves are transplanted from rural
folklore into modern urban settings and has
been seen in books since the 1980s including
works such as War of the Oaks by Emma Bull,
Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino, Artemis Fowl
by Eion Colfer, and The Iron Dragons' Daughter
by Michael Swanwick. During the awards ceremony
for the 2007 National Book Awards, judge Elizabeth
Partridge expounded on the distinction between
elfpunk and urban fantasy, citing fellow judge
Scott Westerfeld's thoughts on the works of
Holly Black who is considered "classic elfpunk—there's
enough creatures already, and she's using
them. Urban fantasy, though, can have some
totally made-up f*cked-up [sic] creatures".
=== Mythpunk ===
Catherynne M. Valente uses the term "mythpunk"
to describe a subgenre of mythic fiction which
starts in folklore and myth and adds elements
of postmodern literary techniques. As the
-punk appendage implies, mythpunk is subversive.
In particular, it uses aspects of folklore
to subvert or question dominant societal norms,
often bringing in a feminist and/or multicultural
approach. It confronts, instead of conforms
to, societal norms. Valente describes mythpunk
as breaking "mythologies that defined a universe
where women, queer folk, people of color,
people who deviate from the norm were invisible
or never existed" and then "piecing it back
together to make something strange and different
and wild".Typically, mythpunk narratives focus
on transforming folkloric source material
rather than retelling it, often through postmodern
literary techniques such as non-linear storytelling,
worldbuilding, confessional poetry, as well
as modern linguistic and literary devices.
The use of folklore is especially important
because folklore is "often a battleground
between subversive and conservative forces"
and a medium for constructing new societal
norms. Through postmodern literary techniques,
mythpunk authors change the structures and
traditions of folklore, "negotiating—and
validating—different norms".Most works of
mythpunk have been published by small presses,
such as Strange Horizons, because "anything
playing out on the edge is going to have truck
with the small presses at some point, because
small presses take big risks". Writers whose
works would fall under the mythpunk label
include Ekaterina Sedia, Theodora Goss, Neil
Gaiman, Sonya Taaffe, Adam Christopher, and
the anonymous author behind the pen name "B.L.A.
and G.B. Gabbler". Valente's novel Deathless
is a good example of mythpunk, drawing from
classic Russian folklore to tell the tale
of Koshchei the Deathless from a female perspective.
=== Swordpunk ===
Another punk subgenre that depicts a highly
technological society where societal issues
remain stagnant around the middle ages.
It could be considered a more extreme version
of swordpunk where society is pushed further
back and technology centuries forward, coexisting
feudal kingdoms and sword fights with gene
recombination, AI and such
