- "Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery."
A subgenre of science fiction or fantasy that features technology and aesthetics inspired by the Victorian era.
- "Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or the American 'Wild West'."
- "Steampunk features anachronistic technologies or retrofuturistic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them — distinguishing it from Neo-Victorianism."
- "Such technologies may include fictional machines like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne."
- "Steampunk may also incorporate additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre."
- "As a form of speculative fiction, it explores alternative futures or pasts but can also address real-world social issues."
- "The first known appearance of the term steampunk was in 1987."
- "It now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created as far back as the 1950s or earlier."
- "A popular subgenre is Japanese steampunk, consisting of steampunk-themed manga and anime."
- "Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or subcultures that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction, art nouveau design, and films from the mid-20th century."
- "Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical 'steampunk' style."
- "A number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk."
- "Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era."
- "Such technologies may include fictional machines like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne."
- "Steampunk features anachronistic technologies or retrofuturistic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them — distinguishing it from Neo-Victorianism."
- "As a form of speculative fiction, it explores alternative futures or pasts."
- "Such technologies may include steam cannons, lighter-than-air airships, analog computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine."
- "Steampunk may also incorporate additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre."
- "Steampunk elements have appeared in mainstream manga since the 1940s."
- "Steampunk works are likewise rooted in the era's perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art."