View source for Steampunk

{{Short description|Subgenre of science fiction}}
{{About|the genre of fiction and associated subculture}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
[[File:20000 Nautilus engines.jpg|thumb|upright|Original illustration of [[Jules Verne]]'s ''[[The Nautilus|Nautilus]]'' engine room]]

'''Steampunk''' is a [[subgenre]] of [[science fiction]] that incorporates [[retrofuturistic|retro-futuristic]] technology and [[Applied arts|aesthetic]]s prominently inspired by 19th-century [[Industrial Revolution|industrial]] [[steam engine|steam-powered]] machinery and design.<ref>{{cite web|title=Definition of ''steampunk''|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=6 October 2012|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/steampunk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724014252/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/steampunk|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Latham>{{cite book|last=Latham|first=Rob|title=The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-983884-4|page=439|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://geargadgetsandgizmos.com/what-is-steampunk-all-about/|title=What Is Steampunk All About? {{!}} Gear Gadgets and Gizmos|website=www.geargadgetsandgizmos.com/|date=25 September 2017|access-date=Feb 23, 2020|archive-date=24 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324230945/https://geargadgetsandgizmos.com/what-is-steampunk-all-about/|url-status=live}}</ref> Steampunk works are often set in an [[alternate history|alternative history]] of the [[Victorian era]] or the [[American frontier]] where steam power remains in mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power.

Steampunk features [[anachronism|anachronistic]] technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them – distinguishing it from [[Neo-Victorian]]ism<ref name=Nally>{{cite press release|url=http://newsroom.northumbria.ac.uk/pressreleases/expert-comment-fabricating-histories-steampunk-neo-victorianism-and-the-fantastic-1636852|title=EXPERT COMMENT: Steampunk, Neo-Victorianism, and the Fantastic|last=Nally|first=Claire|date=Nov 7, 2016|publisher=Northumbria University, Newcastle's Newsroom|access-date=January 21, 2019|archive-date=March 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321105224/https://newsroom.northumbria.ac.uk/pressreleases/expert-comment-fabricating-histories-steampunk-neo-victorianism-and-the-fantastic-1636852|url-status=live}}</ref> – and is likewise rooted in the era's perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://steam-punk.co.uk/what-is-steampunk.html|title=STEAMPUNK|year=2014|publisher=Lulu.com|language=en|access-date=2021-02-23|archive-date=2023-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306235111/https://steam-punk.co.uk/what-is-steampunk.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Such technologies may include fictional machines like those found in the works of [[H. G. Wells]] and [[Jules Verne]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ922998|title=Steampunk: Full Steam Ahead|last=Campbell|first=Heather M.|journal=School Library Journal|date=Dec 1, 2010|language=en|volume=56|issue=12|pages=52–57|issn=0362-8930|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-date=March 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306235147/https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ922998|url-status=live}}</ref> Other examples of steampunk contain alternative history-style presentations of such technology as [[steam cannon]]s, [[Lifting gas|lighter-than-air]] [[airship]]s, [[analog computer]]s or such digital [[mechanical computer]]s as [[Charles Babbage]]'s [[Analytical Engine]].<ref name=VanderMeer/><ref name=Grossman/>

Steampunk may also incorporate additional elements from the genres of [[fantasy]], [[horror (genre)|horror]], [[historical fiction]], alternate history or other branches of [[speculative fiction]], making it often a [[hybrid genre]].<ref name="Encyclopedia of Fantasy"/> As a form of speculative fiction, it explores alternative futures or pasts but can also address real-world social issues.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Taddeo|first1=Julie Anne|title=Steaming Into a Victorian Future: A Steampunk Anthology|last2=Miller|first2=Cynthia J.|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-8108-8586-8|location=Lanham, MD|pages=5}}</ref> The first known appearance of the term ''steampunk'' was in 1987, though it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created as far back as the 1950s or earlier.<ref>{{cite web|title=What Is Steampunk – Steam Punk Explained|url=https://steam-punk.co.uk/what-is-steampunk.html|website=steam-punk.co.uk|access-date=May 26, 2020|archive-date=March 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306235111/https://steam-punk.co.uk/what-is-steampunk.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A popular subgenre is Japanese steampunk, consisting of steampunk-themed [[manga]] and [[anime]].<ref name=Wired/>

Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or [[subculture]]s that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, [[19th century in literature|Victorian-era fiction]], [[Art Nouveau|art nouveau]] design, and films from the mid-20th century.<ref>{{cite news|title=Steampunk artists meld Victorian era, science fiction|work=Duluth News Tribune|date=January 1, 2012|url=https://secure.forumcomm.com/?publisher_ID=36&article_id=218702&CFID=310156968&CFTOKEN=53867445|access-date=March 6, 2012|quote="It's the stuff Jules Verne used to write about, looking at it from the hindsight of the 21st century,"|archive-date=July 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707140050/https://secure.forumcomm.com/?publisher_ID=36&article_id=218702&CFID=310156968&CFTOKEN=53867445|url-status=live}}</ref> Various modern utilitarian objects have been [[modding|modded]] by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical 'steampunk' style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Steampunk-s-subculture-revealed-3206839.php|title=Steampunk's subculture revealed|work=SFGate|access-date=Aug 12, 2017|archive-date=August 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818182448/http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Steampunk-s-subculture-revealed-3206839.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==
===Precursors===
[[File:Sortie de l'opéra en l'an 2000-2.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Print (c. 1902) by [[Albert Robida]] showing a futuristic view of air travel over Paris in the year 2000 as people leave the opera]]
[[File:Aerial house3.jpg|thumb|upright|"Maison tournante aérienne" (aerial rotating house) by [[Albert Robida]] for his book ''[[Le Vingtième siècle. La vie électrique]]'', a 19th-century conception of life in the 20th century|alt=black and white drawing of small house of complex design raised above the surrounding buildings on a turntable.]]
Steampunk is influenced by and often adopts the style of the 19th-century [[scientific romance]]s of [[Jules Verne]], [[H. G. Wells]], [[Mary Shelley]], and [[Edward S. Ellis]]'s ''[[The Steam Man of the Prairies]]''.<ref name="HSW Steampunk">{{cite web|url=https://people.howstuffworks.com/steampunk.htm#pt4|title=Famous Steampunk Works|publisher=[[HowStuffWorks]]|date=Feb 15, 2008|last=Strickland|first=Jonathan|access-date=May 18, 2008|archive-date=August 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808081951/http://people.howstuffworks.com/steampunk.htm#pt4|url-status=live}}</ref> Several more modern works of art and fiction significant to the development of the genre were produced before the genre had a name. ''[[Titus Alone]]'' (1959), by [[Mervyn Peake]], is widely regarded by scholars as the first [[novel]] in the genre proper,<ref>{{cite news|author=Oliveira, Camilla|publisher=Wall Street International – Culture Section|title=Steampunk: The Movement and the Art|date=Nov 2, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3C-oSC5GbcoC&pg=PA753|last1=Peake|first1=Mervyn|year=2011|title=The Illustrated Gormenghast Trilogy|publisher=Vintage|location=London|isbn=978-0-09-952854-8|page=753|edition=New}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Daniel|first1=Lucy|title=Defining Moments In Books: The Greatest Books, Writers, Characters, Passages And Events That Shook The Literary World|year=2007|publisher=Cassell illustrated|location=New York|isbn=978-1-84403-605-9|page=439}}</ref> while others point to [[Michael Moorcock]]'s 1971 novel ''[[The Warlord of the Air]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spdhpod.com/spdhepisodes/2017/6/21/episode-1-islands-in-the-time-streams-1|title=Steampunk Dollhouse: Islands in the Time Streams or How a Privileged White Edwardian Man Had His Eyes Opened Rather Forcefully|date=21 June 2017|author=Bluestocking|access-date=24 June 2017|archive-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706051115/https://www.spdhpod.com/spdhepisodes/2017/6/21/episode-1-islands-in-the-time-streams-1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/04/michael-moorcock-hari-kunzru/|title=When Hari Kunzru Met Michael Moorcock|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=4 February 2011|author=Kunzru, Hari|access-date=10 September 2016|archive-date=6 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160906173653/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/04/michael-moorcock-hari-kunzru|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Bebergal>{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/26/the_age_of_steampunk/|title=The Age of Steampunk|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=August 26, 2007|author=Bebergal, Peter|access-date=May 10, 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414184624/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/26/the_age_of_steampunk/|archive-date=April 14, 2008}}</ref> which was heavily influenced by Peake's work. The film ''[[Brazil (1985 film)|Brazil]]'' (1985) was an early cinematic influence, although it can also be considered a precursor to the steampunk offshoot [[dieselpunk]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%206.pdf|title=Beneath an Amber Moon; Brazil|first=Ella|last=Kremper|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|issue=6|date=November 2009|pages=12–13|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728154039/https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%206.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Adventures of Luther Arkwright]]'' was an early (1970s) comic version of the [[Michael Moorcock|Moorcock]]-style mover between [[timestream]]s.<ref name="La Ferla">{{cite news|last=La Ferla|first=Ruth|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Steampunk Moves Between 2 Worlds|date=May 8, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html|access-date=Nov 21, 2010|archive-date=May 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511203417/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Braiker>{{cite magazine|author=Braiker, Brian|magazine=[[Newsweek]]|title=Steampunking Technology: A subculture hand-tools today's gadgets with Victorian style|date=October 31, 2007|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2007/10/30/steampunking-technology.html|access-date=Nov 21, 2010|archive-date=November 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114095424/http://www.newsweek.com/2007/10/30/steampunking-technology.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In fine art, [[Remedios Varo]]'s paintings combine elements of Victorian dress, fantasy, and [[technofantasy]] imagery.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kaplan|first=Janet A.|title=Remedios Varo: Unexpected Journeys|date=2000|publisher=Abbeville Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7892-0627-5|edition=1st|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/remediosvarounex0000kapl}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2017}} In [[television]], one of the earliest manifestations of the steampunk ethos in the mainstream media was the [[CBS]] television series ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' (1965–69), which inspired the [[Wild Wild West|later film]].<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/><ref name=Grossman>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1945343,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209022518/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1945343,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 9, 2009|title=Steampunk: Reclaiming Tech for the Masses|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=December 14, 2009|first=Lev|last=Grossman|author-link=Lev Grossman|access-date=Dec 10, 2009}}</ref>

===Origin of the term===
Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term "steampunk" originated largely in the 1980s<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Duggan|first1=Anne|title=Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from around the World, 2nd Edition [4 volumes]: Traditions and Texts from around the World|last2=Haase|first2=Donald|last3=Callow|first3=Helen J.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2016|isbn=978-1-61069-253-3|location=Santa Barbara, CA|pages=835}}</ref> as a [[tongue-in-cheek]] variant of "[[cyberpunk]]". It was coined by science fiction author [[K. W. Jeter]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/william-higham/steampunk-what-the-hell-is-it_b_1015192.html|title=What The Hell Is Steampunk?|newspaper=HuffPost UK|language=en-GB|date=Oct 17, 2011|access-date=Aug 12, 2017|archive-date=August 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812210853/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/william-higham/steampunk-what-the-hell-is-it_b_1015192.html|url-status=live}}</ref> who was trying to find a general term for works by [[Tim Powers]] (''[[The Anubis Gates]]'', 1983), [[James Blaylock]] (''[[Homunculus (novel)|Homunculus]]'', 1986), and himself (''[[Morlock Night]]'', 1979, and ''[[Infernal Devices (Jeter novel)|Infernal Devices]]'', 1987) — all of which took place in a 19th-century (usually Victorian) setting and imitated conventions of such actual Victorian speculative fiction as [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The Time Machine]]''. In a letter to science fiction magazine ''[[Locus (magazine)|Locus]]'',<ref name=":0" /> printed in the April 1987 issue, Jeter wrote:

{{blockquote|Dear Locus,

Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel ''Morlock Night''; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it to Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in "the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate" was writing in the "gonzo-historical manner" first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March Locus to be quite flattering.

Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like "steam-punks," perhaps....|K.W. Jeter<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/327|title=Science Fiction Citations|date=March 9, 2005|author=Sheidlower, Jesse|access-date=May 10, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205025641/http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/327|archive-date=February 5, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://i.imgur.com/M7ema1o.png|title=Letter – essay from K. W. Jeter|magazine=Locus|publisher=Locus Publications|volume=20|issue=4|date=April 1987|last=Jeter|first=K.W.|access-date=2016-09-26|archive-date=2016-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927014545/http://i.imgur.com/M7ema1o.png|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
<!-- NOTE ON SPELLING:
'steam-punks', with single quotes and a hyphen, is how it's rendered on one cited page and in the online Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online), but rendered as "steam-punks," in what seems a reproduction of the original printed letter. Since Sheidlower is an OED editor, his two cites don't really qualify as two separate sources, but they do qualify as a reliable source. However, as I was noting on the talk page, two books quoting the letter can be found in Google Books and they show it with no hyphen, "steampunks" (and in one case with double quotes). Possibly the publishers considered this an acceptable typographical variation to conform with their house styles. The actual Locus issue would be the right source to confirm the spelling, but it doesn't seem to exist online and I haven't been able to locate it through a library either. -->

===Modern steampunk===
{{Original research section|date=November 2020}}
While Jeter's ''[[Morlock Night]]'' and ''[[Infernal Devices (K. W. Jeter novel)|Infernal Devices]]'', Powers' ''[[The Anubis Gates]]'', and Blaylock's ''[[Lord Kelvin's Machine]]'' were the first novels to which Jeter's [[neologism]] would be applied, the three authors gave the term little thought at the time.<ref name=VanderMeer>{{cite book|last1=VanderMeer|first1=Jeff|last2=Chambers|first2=S. J.|title=The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature|year=2011|publisher=Abrams Image|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8109-8958-0|url=http://steampunkbible.com/|access-date=2011-08-31|archive-date=2017-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522142855/http://steampunkbible.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|48}} They were far from the first modern science fiction writers to speculate on the development of steam-based technology or alternative histories. [[Keith Laumer]]'s ''[[Worlds of the Imperium]]'' (1962) and [[Ronald W. Clark]]'s ''[[Queen Victoria's Bomb]]'' (1967) apply modern speculation to past-age technology and society.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nevins|first1=Jess|author-link=Jess Nevins|title=Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen|date=2003|publisher=[[MonkeyBrain Books|MonkeyBrain, Inc.]]|location=Austin, Texas|isbn=978-1-932265-04-0}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2017}} [[Michael Moorcock]]'s ''[[Warlord of the Air]]'' (1971)<ref name=Bebergal/> is another early example. [[Harry Harrison (writer)|Harry Harrison]]'s novel ''[[A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!]]'' (1973) portrays Britain in an alternative 1973, full of atomic locomotives, coal-powered flying boats, ornate submarines, and Victorian dialogue. ''[[The Adventures of Luther Arkwright]]'' (mid-1970s) was one of the first steampunk comics.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Isomaa |first1=Saija |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9D5DwAAQBAJ&dq=The+Adventures+of+Luther+Arkwright+first+steampunk&pg=PA73 |title=New Perspectives on Dystopian Fiction in Literature and Other Media |last2=Korpua |first2=Jyrki |last3=Teittinen |first3=Jouni |date=2020-08-27 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-5872-4 |language=en}}</ref> In February 1980, [[Richard A. Lupoff]] and [[Steve Stiles]] published the first "chapter" of their 10-part [[comic strip]] ''The Adventures of Professor Thintwhistle and His Incredible Aether Flyer''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lupoff|first1=Richard|author-link=Richard A. Lupoff|last2=Stiles|first2=Steve|author2-link=Steve Stiles|title=The Adventures of Professor Thintwhistle and His Incredible Aether Flyer|magazine=[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]|date=February 1980|pages=27–32 et seq}}</ref> In 2004, one anonymous author described steampunk as "Colonizing the Past so we can dream the future."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://prof-calamity.livejournal.com/277.html|title=Steampunk Manifesto|website=prof-calamity.livejournal.com|language=en-us|last=Calamity|first=Prof|access-date=Aug 18, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807204010/https://prof-calamity.livejournal.com/277.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The first use of the word "steampunk" in a title was in [[Paul Di Filippo]]'s 1995 ''Steampunk Trilogy'',<ref name=Bebergal/> consisting of three short novels: "Victoria", "Hottentots", and "Walt and Emily", which, respectively, imagine the replacement of [[Queen Victoria]] by a human/newt clone; an invasion of Massachusetts by [[Lovecraftian horror|Lovecraftian]] monsters, drawing its title from the historic racial taxonomy [[Hottentot (racial term)|"hottentot"]]; and a love affair between [[Walt Whitman]] and [[Emily Dickinson]].

===Japanese steampunk===
{{See also|Japanese cyberpunk}}
{{Unreliable sources |section|date=June 2024}}

Japanese steampunk consists of steampunk [[manga]] comics and [[anime]] productions from Japan.<ref name=Wired>{{cite news|last=Sterling|first=Bruce|title=Japanese steampunk|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/03/japanese-steampunk/|access-date=26 April 2020|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|date=22 March 2013|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308124443/https://www.wired.com/2013/03/japanese-steampunk/|url-status=live}}</ref> Steampunk elements have consistently appeared in mainstream manga since the 1940s, dating back to [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s epic science-fiction trilogy consisting of ''[[Lost World (manga)|Lost World]]'' (1948), ''[[Metropolis (manga)|Metropolis]]'' (1949) and ''[[Fumoon|Nextworld]]'' (1951). The steampunk elements found in manga eventually made their way into mainstream anime productions starting in the 1970s. Influenced by 19th-century European authors such as Jules Verne, steampunk anime and manga arose from a Japanese fascination with an imaginary fantastical version of old [[Industrial Revolution|Industrial]] Europe, linked to a phenomenon called ''[[Paris syndrome|akogare no Pari]]'' ("the [[Paris]] of our dreams"), comparable to the [[Western culture|West]]'s fascination with an "exotic" [[Eastern world|East]].<ref name=Cavallaro>{{cite book|last=Cavallaro|first=Dani|year=2015|chapter=Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (Fushigi no Umi no Nadia)|title=The Art of Studio Gainax: Experimentation, Style and Innovation at the Leading Edge of Anime|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=978-1-4766-0070-3|pages=40–53 (40–1)|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uSxzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA40|access-date=2020-04-26|archive-date=2023-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712001533/https://books.google.com/books?id=uSxzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA40|url-status=live}}</ref>

The most influential steampunk animator was [[Hayao Miyazaki]], who was creating steampunk anime since the 1970s, starting with the television show ''[[Future Boy Conan]]'' (1978).<ref name=Cavallaro/> His manga ''[[Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga)|Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind]]'' (1982) and its [[Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)|1984 anime film adaptation]] also contained steampunk elements. Miyazaki's most influential steampunk production was the [[Studio Ghibli]] anime film ''[[Castle in the Sky|Laputa: Castle in the Sky]]'' (1986), which became a major milestone in the genre and has been described by ''The Steampunk Bible'' as "one of the first modern steampunk classics."<ref>{{cite book|last1=VanderMeer|first1=Jeff|last2=Chambers|first2=S. J.|title=The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature|year=2012|publisher=[[Abrams Books]]|isbn=978-1-61312-166-5|page=184|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xp12RPAYgrIC&pg=PA184}}</ref> Archetypal steampunk elements in ''Laputa'' include [[airships]], [[air pirates]], steam-powered [[robots]], and a view of [[steam power]] as a limitless but potentially dangerous source of power.<ref name=Cavallaro/>

The success of ''Laputa'' inspired [[Hideaki Anno]] and [[Studio Gainax]] to create their first hit production, ''[[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water]]'' (1990), a steampunk anime show which loosely adapts elements from Verne's ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas]]'', with [[Captain Nemo]] making an appearance.<ref name=Cavallaro/> Based on a concept by Miyazaki, ''Nadia'' was influential on later steampunk anime such as [[Katsuhiro Otomo]]'s anime film ''[[Steamboy]]'' (2004).<ref name=Nevins2019>{{cite book|last=Nevins|first=Jess|chapter=Steampunk|editor-last1=McFarlane|editor-first1=Anna|editor-last2=Schmeink|editor-first2=Lars|editor-last3=Murphy|editor-first3=Graham|title=The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture|year=2019|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-351-13986-1|page=107|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mfvADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA107}}</ref> [[Disney]]'s animated steampunk film ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'' (2001)<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/> was influenced by anime, particularly Miyazaki's works and possibly ''Nadia''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2001-05-15|title=Probing the ''Atlantis'' Mystery|work=[[Anime News Network]]|date=May 15, 2001|first=Lee|last=Zion|access-date=July 15, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629004303/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2001-05-15|archive-date=June 29, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.gwern.net/docs/eva/2002-takeda-notenkimemoirs|title=The Notenki Memoirs: Studio Gainax And The Men Who Created ''Evangelion''|work=Gwern|date=March 25, 2019|first=Takeda|last=Yasuhiro|access-date=October 29, 2019|archive-date=November 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121215358/https://www.gwern.net/docs/eva/2002-takeda-notenkimemoirs|url-status=live}}</ref> Other popular Japanese steampunk works include Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli anime film ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (film)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'' (2004),<ref name=Cavallaro/> [[Sega]]'s video game and anime franchise ''[[Sakura Wars]]'' (1996) which is set in a steampunk version of [[Meiji era|Meiji]]/[[Taishō era]] Japan,<ref name=Cavallaro/> and [[Square Enix]]'s manga and anime franchise ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' (2001).<ref name=Wired/>

===Relationships to retrofuturism, DIY craft and making===
[[File:Shanna-jones-photography-yatzer-truth-coffee-shop-cape-town-11 (1).jpg|thumb|Truth Coffee, a steampunk café in [[Cape Town|Cape Town, South Africa]]]]

Steampunk used to be confused with [[retrofuturism]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Druce|first=Nikki|title=Making Steampunk Jewellery|publisher=The Crowood Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1-78500-215-1|language=en}}</ref> Indeed, both sensibilities recall "the older but still modern eras in which technological change seemed to anticipate a better world, one remembered as relatively innocent of industrial decline." For some scholars, retrofuturism is considered a strand of steampunk, one that looks at alternatives to historical imagination and usually created with the same kinds of social protagonists and written for the same type of audiences.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Whitson|first=Roger|title=Steampunk and Nineteenth-Century Digital Humanities: Literary Retrofuturisms, Media Archaeologies, Alternate Histories|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2017|isbn=978-1-317-50911-0|location=New York, NY|pages=14}}</ref>

One of steampunk's most significant contributions is the way in which it mixes [[digital media]] with traditional handmade art forms. As scholars Rachel Bowser and Brian Croxall put it, "the tinkering and tinker-able technologies within steampunk invite us to roll up our sleeves and get to work re-shaping our contemporary world."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bowser|first1=Rachel A.|last2=Croxall|first2=Brian|title=Industrial Evolution|journal=Neo-Victorian Studies|year=2010|volume=3 |issue=1|page=23|url=http://www.neovictorianstudies.com/past_issues/3-1%202010/NVS%203-1-1%20R-Bowser%20%26%20B-Croxall.pdf|access-date=April 12, 2016|archive-date=April 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412021640/http://www.neovictorianstudies.com/past_issues/3-1%202010/NVS%203-1-1%20R-Bowser%20%26%20B-Croxall.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In this respect, steampunk bears much in common with [[DIY]] craft and [[Bricolage|bricolage artmaking]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Guffey|first=Elizabeth|title=Crafting Yesterday's Tomorrows: Retro-Futurism, Steampunk, and the Problem of Making in the Twenty-First Century|journal=The Journal of Modern Craft|year=2014|volume=7|issue=3|page=250|doi=10.2752/174967714X14111311182767|s2cid=191495500}}</ref>

==Art, entertainment, and media==
{{See also|List of steampunk works}}

===Art and design===
[[File:Aura Krsitall Instrument.jpg|thumb|Aura Crystall Instrument – 1987 – by [[Marc van den Broek]]]]

Many of the visualisations of steampunk have their origins with, among others, [[Walt Disney]]'s film ''[[20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]'' (1954),<ref name=yrb1>{{cite news|url=http://www.yrbmagazine.com/2011/12/yrb-interview-dr-grymm/|title=YRB Interview: Dr. Grymm|magazine=YRB Magazine|date=December 6, 2011|first=Stephanie Amy|last=Collazo|access-date=March 6, 2012|quote=a dangerous tattoo machine, fusing a tattoo machine and an arm. Using a hand massager, projector parts, tube radios, a paint sprayer and miscellaneous parts (such as a glass vial of squid ink), Marsocci created an interesting piece that looks like something you'd find in Mary Shelley's home.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125234416/http://www.yrbmagazine.com/2011/12/yrb-interview-dr-grymm/|archive-date=January 25, 2012}}</ref> including the design of the story's submarine the ''[[Nautilus (Verne)|Nautilus]]'', its interiors, and the crew's underwater gear.

Aspects of steampunk design emphasise a balance between [[Form follows function|form and function]].<ref name=hampton1>{{cite news|date=August 1, 2008|access-date=March 6, 2012|title=Steampunk Art And Design Exhibits In The Hamptons|first=Eileen|last=Casey|url=http://www.hamptons.com/detail.php?articleID=4486|work=Hamptons Online|quote=Steampunk is not considered 'Outsider Art,' but rather a tightly focused art movement whose practitioners faithfully borrow design elements from the grand schools of architecture, science and design and employ a strict philosophy where the physical form must be as equally impressive as the function.}}</ref> In this, it is like the [[Arts and Crafts Movement]]. But [[John Ruskin]], [[William Morris]], and the other reformers in the late nineteenth century rejected machines and industrial production. In contrast, steampunk enthusiasts present a "non-[[luddite]] critique of technology". In Dutch amusement park [[Efteling|De Efteling]], there is a dive coaster themed to a steampunk Victorian haunted goldmine called [[Baron 1898]].<ref>Catastrophone Orchestra and Arts Collective, [[iarchive:SteamPunk Magazine 1-printing/page/n5/mode/2up|"What, Then, is Steampunk? Colonizing the Past So We Can Dream the Future", SteamPunk Magazine 1]] (2006), p 4.</ref>

Various modern utilitarian objects have been modified by enthusiasts into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style.<ref name=Braiker/><ref>{{cite news|title=Steam dream: Steampunk bursts through its subculture roots to challenge our musical, fashion, design, and even political sensibilities|first=Sharon|last=Steel|url=http://thephoenix.com//Boston/Life/61571-Steam-dream/|newspaper=[[The Boston Phoenix]]|date=May 19, 2008|access-date=September 27, 2008|archive-date=December 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111209130942/http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Life/61571-Steam-dream|url-status=live}}</ref> Examples include [[computer keyboard]]s and [[electric guitar]]s.<ref name=Hart1>{{cite news|last=Hart|first=Hugh|date=December 1, 2011|title=Steampunk Contraptions Take Over Tattoo Studio|url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/12/mobilis-in-mobili-steampunk/?pid=5507|magazine=Wired|access-date=December 5, 2011|archive-date=December 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204190110/http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/12/mobilis-in-mobili-steampunk/?pid=5507|url-status=live}}</ref> The goal of such redesigns is to employ appropriate materials (such as polished brass, iron, wood, and leather) with design elements and craftsmanship consistent with the Victorian era,<ref name=Bebergal/><ref>{{cite web|last=Farivar|first=Cyrus|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]|title=Steampunk Brings Victorian Flair to the 21st Century|date=February 6, 2008|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18710895&sc=emaf|access-date=May 10, 2008|archive-date=January 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108213153/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18710895&sc=emaf|url-status=live}}</ref> rejecting the aesthetic of [[industrial design]].<ref name=hampton1/>

[[File:Arts-et-Métiers 11 (Paris métro) quai Châtelet par Cramos.JPG|thumb|right|Paris metro station "[[Arts et Métiers (Paris Métro)|Arts et Métiers]]", designed in 1994 to honor the works of Jules Verne]]
In 1994, the Paris Metro station at [[Arts et Métiers (Paris Métro)|Arts et Métiers]] was redesigned by Belgian artist [[Francois Schuiten]] in steampunk style, to honor the works of Jules Verne. The station is reminiscent of a submarine, sheathed in brass with giant cogs in the ceiling and [[porthole]]s that look out onto fanciful scenes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raileurope.com/blog/12073-paris-metro-art-et-metiers|title=Paris Metro Travel: Full Steam(punk) Ahead at Arts et Métiers|author=Jackie|publisher=Rail Europe|date=October 17, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407085254/http://www.raileurope.com/blog/12073-paris-metro-art-et-metiers|archive-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ontheluce.com/2011/11/07/in-pictures-arts-et-metiers-metro/|title=In pictures: Paris' steampunk Arts et Métiers Metro station|last1=Dodsworth|first1=Lucy|publisher=On The Luce|date=November 7, 2011|access-date=April 6, 2014|archive-date=March 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323074335/http://ontheluce.com/2011/11/07/in-pictures-arts-et-metiers-metro/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The artist group ''Kinetic Steam Works''<ref>{{cite news|last=Hartwell|first=Lane|title=Best of Burning Man: Fire Dancers, Steampunk Tree House and More|date=September 8, 2007|url=http://www.kineticsteamworks.org/|access-date=January 5, 2011|magazine=Wired|quote="Kinetic Steam Works' Case traction engine Hortense glows on the playa. The art vehicle was named in honor of the artist and mother of Cal Tinkham, the steam enthusiast and railroad engineer who originally restored the engine."|archive-date=January 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117033021/http://kineticsteamworks.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> brought a working steam engine to the [[Burning Man]] festival in 2006 and 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://galleries.burningman.com/photos/tristan/tristan.30621|title=Kinetic Steam Works' Case traction engine ''Hortense''|year=2007|first=Tristan "Loupiote"|last=Savatier|access-date=2010-11-12|archive-date=2012-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205140105/http://galleries.burningman.com/photos/tristan/tristan.30621|url-status=dead}}</ref> The group's founding member, Sean Orlando, created a Steampunk Tree House (in association with a group of people who would later form the ''Five Ton Crane Arts Group''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fivetoncrane.org/|title=Five Ton Crane|publisher=Fivetoncrane.org|year=2010|access-date=Aug 6, 2014|archive-date=February 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207212422/http://fivetoncrane.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>) that has been displayed at a number of festivals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tv.boingboing.net/2008/01/24/steampunk-tree-house.html|title=Steampunk Tree House|publisher=[[Boing Boing]] TV|date=24 January 2008|first=Xeni|last=Jardin|author-link=Xeni Jardin|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209233826/http://tv.boingboing.net/2008/01/24/steampunk-tree-house.html|archive-date=December 9, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Orlando|first=Sean|title=Steampunk Tree House|date=2007–2008|url=http://www.steamtreehouse.com/|access-date=May 10, 2008|archive-date=February 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224131355/http://www.steamtreehouse.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Steampunk Tree House is now permanently installed at the [[Dogfish Head Brewery]] in [[Milton, Delaware]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dogfish.com/community/news/press-releases/steampunk-treehouse-finds-home-at-dogfish.htm|title=Steampunk Treehouse Finds Home At Dogfish|publisher=Dogfish Head Craft Brewery|date=21 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625015204/http://www.dogfish.com/community/news/press-releases/steampunk-treehouse-finds-home-at-dogfish.htm|archive-date=25 June 2010}}</ref>

[[The Neverwas Haul]] is a three-story, self-propelled mobile art vehicle built to resemble a Victorian house on wheels. Designed by Shannon O'Hare, it was built by volunteers in 2006 and presented at the Burning Man festival from 2006 through 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=Maker Faire: The Neverwas Haul|url=http://makezine.com/2007/04/18/maker-faire-the-neverwas/|website=Make: DIY Projects, How-Tos, Electronics, Crafts and Ideas for Makers|access-date=Nov 19, 2015|archive-date=November 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119194043/http://makezine.com/2007/04/18/maker-faire-the-neverwas/|url-status=live}}</ref> When fully built, the Haul propelled itself at a top speed of 5 miles per hour and required a crew of ten people to operate safely. Currently, the Neverwas Haul makes her home at Obtainium Works, an "[[art car]] factory" in [[Vallejo, CA]] owned by O'Hare and home to several other self-styled "contraptionists".<ref>{{cite web|title=Crew|url=http://www.obtainiumworks.net/crew-2/|website=Obtainium Works|access-date=Nov 19, 2015|archive-date=November 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119224732/http://www.obtainiumworks.net/crew-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In May–June 2008, multimedia artist and sculptor [[Paul St George]] exhibited outdoor interactive video installations linking London and [[Brooklyn]], New York, in a Victorian era-styled [[telectroscope]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Melena|last=Ryzik|title=Telescope Takes a Long View, to London|date=May 21, 2008|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/arts/design/21tele.html|access-date=August 5, 2008|archive-date=April 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402190736/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/arts/design/21tele.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1899|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/oct/17/popandrock2|newspaper=The Guardian|date=October 17, 2008|first=Caroline|last=Sullivan|access-date=October 17, 2008|location=London|archive-date=November 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104102052/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/oct/17/popandrock2|url-status=live}}</ref> Utilizing this device, New York promoter Evelyn Kriete organised a transatlantic wave between steampunk enthusiasts from both cities,<ref>{{cite web|last=PH|first=Julie|title=Testing the Telectroscope|url=http://londonist.com/2008/06/testing_the_tel.php|publisher=Londonist|date=June 5, 2008|access-date=1 August 2012|archive-date=26 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126064014/http://londonist.com/2008/06/testing_the_tel.php|url-status=live}}</ref> prior to [[White Mischief (festival)|White Mischief's]] ''[[Around the World in 80 Days]]'' steampunk-themed event.<ref>{{cite web|title=Telectroscope Merged Topic Threads|url=http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=9166.35;wap2|publisher=Brass Goggles|access-date=1 August 2012|archive-date=26 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126070745/http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=9166.35;wap2|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Clockwork universe by Tim Wetherell.jpg|thumb|upright|Tim Wetherell's ''clockwork universe'' sculpture at [[Questacon]], Canberra, Australia (September 24, 2009)]]

In 2009, for [[Questacon]], artist Tim Wetherell created a large wall piece that represented the concept of the [[clockwork universe]]. This steel artwork contains moving gears, a working clock, and a movie of the moon's terminator in action. The 3D moon movie was created by Antony Williams.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wetherell|first1=Tim|title=Clockwork Universe|url=http://www.wetherellart.co.uk/pages/sculpture_clockwork.html|website=Tim Wetherell|access-date=8 December 2017|archive-date=8 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208003446/http://www.wetherellart.co.uk/pages/sculpture_clockwork.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Steampunk became a common descriptor for homemade objects sold on the craft network [[Etsy]] between 2009 and 2011,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Taddeo|first1=Julie Anne|last2=Miller|first2=Cynthia J.|title=Steaming into a Victorian future : a steampunk anthology|year=2013|publisher=Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-8586-8|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/183386586|access-date=2019-01-24|archive-date=2020-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807082411/https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/183386586|url-status=live}}</ref> though many of the objects and fashions bear little resemblance to earlier established descriptions of steampunk. Thus the craft network may not strike observers as "sufficiently steampunk" to warrant its use of the term. Comedian [[April Winchell]], author of the book ''Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF'', cataloged some of the most egregious and humorous examples on her website "Regretsy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regretsy.com/category/not-remotely-steampunk/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908060752/http://www.regretsy.com/category/not-remotely-steampunk/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 8, 2012|title=Not Remotely Steampunk|publisher=Regretsy|access-date=Aug 26, 2011}}</ref> The blog was popular among steampunks and even inspired a music video that went viral in the community and was acclaimed by steampunk "notables".<ref>{{cite web|title=Just Glue Some Gears On It (And Call It Steampunk)|author=Pikedevant|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/TFCuE5rHbPA| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|publisher=Youtube|date=Nov 29, 2011|quote=From the video's comments: 'This is Datamancer, the steampunk keyboard guy, and I approve of this video wholeheartedly. In fact, we make this joke at the workshop almost daily. "I can't figure out how to finish off this edge". "Just glue some gears to it and call it done" haha. Well-made song and video.' – Datamancer. 'Glad to see a new contender for the chap-hop crown, and such a relevant message. I love it!' – Unwoman. 'Professor Elemental here, Just wanted to give this my most hearty applause. A fine, fine song by a true gentleman.'|access-date=December 4, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

From October 2009 through February 2010, the [[Museum of the History of Science, Oxford]], hosted the first major exhibition of steampunk art objects, curated and developed by New York artist and designer Art Donovan,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8325000/8325994.stm|title=The Steampunk movement in Oxford|work=[[BBC News]]|date=Oct 26, 2009|access-date=Apr 12, 2016|archive-date=April 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410185509/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8325000/8325994.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> who also exhibited his own "electro-futuristic" lighting sculptures, and presented by Dr. Jim Bennett, museum director.<ref>{{cite web|title=Steampunk|quote=Imagine the technology of today with the aesthetic of Victorian science.|url=http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/steampunk/|publisher=[[Museum of the History of Science, Oxford]]|access-date=2009-08-28|archive-date=2009-08-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831105940/http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/steampunk/|url-status=live}}</ref> From redesigned practical items to fantastical contraptions, this exhibition showcased the work of eighteen steampunk artists from around the globe. The exhibit proved to be the most successful and highly attended in the museum's history and attracted more than eighty thousand visitors. The event was detailed in the official artist's journal ''The Art of Steampunk'', by curator Donovan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8376028.stm|title=Tech Know: Fast forward to the past|first=Mark|last=Ward|work=BBC News|date=November 30, 2009|access-date=November 30, 2009|archive-date=December 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203044804/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8376028.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In November 2010, [[The Libratory]] Steampunk Art Gallery was opened by Damien McNamara in [[Oamaru|Oamaru, New Zealand]]. Created from papier-mâché to resemble a large cave and filled with industrial equipment from yesteryear, [[raygun]]s, and general steampunk quirks, its purpose is to provide a place for steampunkers in the region to display artwork for sale all year long. A year later, a more permanent gallery, [[Steampunk HQ]], was opened in the former Meeks Grain Elevator Building across the road from The Woolstore, and has since become a notable tourist attraction for Oamaru.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/press-releases/2012/9/tourism-news_lonely-planet-new-zealand-2012.cfm|title=Lonely Planet launches latest New Zealand guide (2012, Steampunk HQ one of author's top 12 recommendations)|publisher=New Zealand Government official tourism website|access-date=Mar 21, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114015359/http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/press-releases/2012/9/tourism-news_lonely-planet-new-zealand-2012.cfm|archive-date=November 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>"[https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201822049/oamaru-steampunk-capital-of-the-world Oamaru - steampunk capital of the world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111055226/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201822049/oamaru-steampunk-capital-of-the-world |date=2022-01-11 }}", ''[[Radio New Zealand]]'', 1 November 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2022.</ref><ref>Roy, E. A., "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/30/new-zealand-town-oamaru-steampunk-capital-of-the-world How an ordinary New Zealand town became steampunk capital of the world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111055219/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/30/new-zealand-town-oamaru-steampunk-capital-of-the-world |date=2022-01-11 }}", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 30 August 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2022.</ref>

===Fashion===
{{main|Steampunk fashion}}
{{Unreliable sources|section|date=November 2020}}
[[File:Steampunk-falksen.jpg|upright|thumb|Author [[G. D. Falksen]], wearing a steampunk-styled arm prosthesis (created by [[Thomas Willeford]]), exemplifying one take on steampunk fashion]]

Steampunk fashion has no set guidelines but tends to synthesize modern styles with influences from the Victorian era. Such influences may include [[bustle]]s, [[corset]]s, gowns, and [[petticoat]]s; suits with [[waistcoat]]s, coats, [[top hat]]s<ref>{{cite book|last1=Campbell|first1=Jean|title=Steampunk Style Jewelry: A Maker's Collection of Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Designs|date=2009|publisher=[[Creative Publishing International]]|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|isbn=978-1-58923-475-8|page=58}}</ref> and [[bowler hat]]s (themselves originating in 1850 England), [[tailcoat]]s and [[Spat (footwear)|spats]]; or military-inspired garments. Steampunk-influenced outfits are usually accented with several technological and "period" accessories: timepieces, [[parasol]]s, flying/driving goggles,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theurbancrew.com/blogs/fashion-trends/steampunk-sunglasses|title=Steampunk Sunglasses – All you need to know!|work=The Urban Crew|access-date=Jul 19, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902004844/https://theurbancrew.com/blogs/fashion-trends/steampunk-sunglasses|archive-date=September 2, 2017}}</ref> and ray guns. Modern accessories like cell phones or music players can be found in steampunk outfits, after being modified to give them the appearance of Victorian-era objects. [[Post-apocalyptic]] elements, such as gas masks, ragged clothing, and tribal motifs, can also be included. Aspects of steampunk fashion have been anticipated by mainstream high fashion, the [[Lolita fashion|Lolita]] and [[aristocrat (fashion)|aristocrat]] styles, neo-Victorianism, and the [[Goth (subculture)|Romantic Goth subculture]].<ref name="La Ferla"/><ref name=Poeter>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/06/LVL211GOO2.DTL|title=Steampunk's subculture revealed|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=July 6, 2008|author=Damon Poeter|access-date=September 8, 2008|archive-date=July 30, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730235507/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2008%2F07%2F06%2FLVL211GOO2.DTL|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Rowe>{{cite web|title=What Is Steampunk? A Subculture Infiltrating Films, Music, Fashion, More|first=Andrew Ross|last=Rowe|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1595812/20080929/index.jhtml|publisher=MTV|date=September 29, 2008|access-date=October 14, 2008|archive-date=February 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211231722/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1595812/steampunk-subculture-looks-poised-move-above-ground.jhtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2005, [[Kate Lambert]], known as "Kato", founded the first steampunk clothing company, "Steampunk Couture",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://steampunkjournal.org/2014/02/20/steampunk-couture/|title=Company Spotlight: Steampunk Couture|publisher=Steampunk Journal|date=Feb 20, 2014|access-date=Apr 11, 2014|archive-date=April 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407092026/http://steampunkjournal.org/2014/02/20/steampunk-couture/|url-status=usurped}}</ref> mixing Victorian and post-apocalyptic influences. In 2013, [[IBM]] predicted, based on an analysis of more than a half million public posts on message boards, blogs, social media sites, and news sources, "that 'steampunk,' a subgenre inspired by the clothing, technology and social mores of Victorian society, will be a major trend to bubble up and take hold of the retail industry".<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/40120.wss|title=IBM Social Sentiment Index Predicts New Retail Trend in the Making|publisher=IBM|last=Dahncke|first=Pasha Ray|access-date=18 February 2013|archive-date=7 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207043425/http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/40120.wss|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Time>{{cite news|url=https://style.time.com/2013/01/17/will-steampunk-really-be-the-next-big-fashion-trend/|title=Will Steampunk Really Be the Next Big Fashion Trend?|magazine=Time|date=Jan 17, 2013|last=Skarda|first=Erin|access-date=Feb 18, 2013|archive-date=March 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307120643/http://style.time.com/2013/01/17/will-steampunk-really-be-the-next-big-fashion-trend/|url-status=live}}</ref> Indeed, high fashion lines such as [[Prada]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/11/sci-fi-actors-wearing-steampunk-clothes-designed-by-prada|title=Sci-Fi Actors Wearing Steampunk Clothes Designed by Prada|date=June 25, 2012|author=Stubby the Rocket|access-date=Mar 28, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211111549/http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/11/sci-fi-actors-wearing-steampunk-clothes-designed-by-prada|archive-date=December 11, 2013}}</ref> [[Dolce & Gabbana]], [[Versace]], [[Chanel]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://steampunkworkshop.com/steampunk-couture-hot-runway-and-were-not-talking-airships|title=Steampunk Couture Hot on the Runway (and We're Not Talking Airships)|publisher=Steampunk Workshop|date=Mar 6, 2013|author=Cicatrix13|access-date=March 29, 2014|archive-date=March 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329155404/http://steampunkworkshop.com/steampunk-couture-hot-runway-and-were-not-talking-airships|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Christian Dior]]<ref name=Time/> had already been introducing steampunk styles on the fashion runways.

In episode 7 of [[Lifetime (TV network)|Lifetime]]'s ''[[Under the Gunn]]'' [[Reality television|reality series]], contestants were challenged to create [[avant-garde]] "steampunk chic" looks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/35702/under-the-gunn-episode-7-steampunk-chic/page/all|title=Under the Gunn, Episode 7: "Steampunk Chic"|publisher=Threads Magazine|date=Mar 6, 2014|access-date=March 29, 2014|archive-date=March 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329155702/https://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/35702/under-the-gunn-episode-7-steampunk-chic/page/all|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[America's Next Top Model]]'' tackled steampunk fashion in a 2012 episode where models competed in a steampunk-themed photo shoot, posing in front of a steam train while holding a live owl.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lacedandwaisted.blogspot.com/2012/09/americas-next-top-model-goes-steampunk.html|title=America's Next Top Model goes STEAMPUNK|publisher=LacedAndWaisted|date=September 30, 2012|access-date=September 14, 2015|archive-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016034838/http://lacedandwaisted.blogspot.com/2012/09/americas-next-top-model-goes-steampunk.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|sure=yes|reason=Source is a blog.|date=December 2017}}

===Literature===
[[File:Amazing Stories 1927 08.jpg|thumb|left|The August 1927 issue of ''[[Amazing Stories]]'' featuring work by [[H. G. Wells]] ]]

In 1988, the first version of the science fiction [[tabletop role-playing game]] ''[[Space: 1889]]'' was published. The game is set in an [[alternate history|alternative history]] in which certain now discredited Victorian scientific theories were probable and led to new technologies. Contributing authors included [[Frank Chadwick]], [[Loren Wiseman]], and [[Marcus Rowland (author)|Marcus Rowland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heliograph.com/space1889|title=Heliograph's Space 1889 Resource Site|publisher=Heliograph, Inc.|date=Jun 30, 2010|access-date=Nov 29, 2010|archive-date=November 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123092802/http://heliograph.com/space1889/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[William Gibson]] and [[Bruce Sterling]]'s novel ''[[The Difference Engine]]'' (1990) is often credited with bringing about widespread awareness of steampunk.<ref name=Grossman/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Csicsery-Ronay|first=Istvan|title=Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr. {{!}} The Critic|journal=Science Fiction Studies|issue=#71; Volume 24, Part 1|publisher=SF-TH Inc.|location=DePauw University, Greencastle Indiana|date=March 1997|url=http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/reviews_pages/r71.htm|access-date=Nov 29, 2010|archive-date=March 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320180812/http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/reviews_pages/r71.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The novel applies the principles of Gibson and Sterling's [[cyberpunk]] writings to an alternative Victorian era where [[Ada Lovelace]] and [[Charles Babbage]]'s proposed steam-powered mechanical computer, which Babbage called a [[difference engine]] (a later, more general-purpose version was known as an [[Analytical Engine]]), was actually built, and led to the dawn of the [[Information Age]] more than a century "ahead of schedule". This setting was different from most steampunk settings in that it takes a dim and dark view of this future, rather than the more prevalent [[utopia]]n versions.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

[[Nick Gevers]]'s original anthology ''Extraordinary Engines'' (2008) features newer steampunk stories by some of the genre's writers, as well as other science fiction and fantasy writers experimenting with neo-Victorian conventions. A retrospective reprint anthology of steampunk fiction was released, also in 2008, by [[Tachyon Publications]]. Edited by [[Ann VanderMeer|Ann]] and [[Jeff VanderMeer]] and appropriately entitled ''[[Steampunk (anthology)|Steampunk]]'', it is a collection of stories by [[James Blaylock]], whose "Narbondo" trilogy is typically considered steampunk; [[Jay Lake]], author of the novel ''[[Mainspring (novel)|Mainspring]]'', sometimes labeled "[[clockpunk]]";<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/08/jay-lakes-mainspring.html|title=Jay Lake's "Mainspring:" Clockpunk adventure|date=July 8, 2007|author=Doctorow, Cory|access-date=May 10, 2008|archive-date=April 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422172738/http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/08/jay-lakes-mainspring.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the aforementioned Michael Moorcock; as well as [[Jess Nevins]], known for his annotations to ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' (first published in 1999).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Liddo |first=Annalisa Di |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wCbEM6obkQC&dq=Jess+Nevins+annotations+League+of+Extraordinary+Gentlemen&pg=PA36 |title=Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel |date=2010-01-06 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-476-8 |language=en}}</ref>

Younger readers have also been targeted by steampunk themes, by authors such as [[Philip Reeve]] and [[Scott Westerfeld]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2013/feb/28/sharon-gosling-top-10-childrens-steampunk-books|title=Sharon Gosling's top 10 children's steampunk books|newspaper=The Guardian|date=February 28, 2013|first=Sharon|last=Gosling|access-date=December 13, 2016|archive-date=September 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917065038/https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2013/feb/28/sharon-gosling-top-10-childrens-steampunk-books|url-status=live}}</ref> Reeve's quartet ''[[Mortal Engines]]'' is set far in Earth's future where giant moving cities consume each other in a battle for resources, a concept Reeve coined as ''Municipal Darwinism''. Westerfeld's ''[[Leviathan (Westerfeld novel)|Leviathan]]'' trilogy is set during an alternate [[World War I|First World War]] fought between the "clankers" ([[Central Powers]]), who use steam technology, and "darwinists" ([[Allied powers of World War I|Allied Powers]]), who use genetically engineered creatures instead of machines.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%209.pdf|title=Adventures at Armageddon; Review; Leviathan|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|issue=9|pages=10–11|date=November 2009|first=Alasdair|last=Czyrnyj|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728124050/https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%209.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

"Mash-ups" are also becoming increasingly popular in books aimed at younger readers, mixing steampunk with other genres. [[Stefan Bachmann]]'s ''[[The Peculiar (novel)|The Peculiar]]'' duology was labeled a "steampunk fairytale," and imagines steampunk technology as a means to stave off an incursion of [[faeries]] in Victorian England.<ref>{{cite web |last=Carpenter |first=Susan |date=2012-09-23 |title=Not Just For Kids: 'The Peculiar' by Stefan Bachmann is a fantastical tale |url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-stefan-bachmann-20120923-story.html |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=2022-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027083124/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-stefan-bachmann-20120923-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Suzanne Lazear's ''Aether Chronicles'' series also mixes steampunk with faeries, and ''The Unnaturalists'', by Tiffany Trent, combines steampunk with mythological creatures and alternate history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/54166-what-s-new-in-ya-mashups.html|title=What's New in YA? Mashups|publisher=PublishersWeekly.com|date=Sep 28, 2012|last=Corbett|first=Sue|access-date=Apr 12, 2016|archive-date=October 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026003218/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/54166-what-s-new-in-ya-mashups.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Self-described author of "far-fetched fiction" [[Robert Rankin]] has incorporated elements of steampunk into narrative worlds that are both Victorian and re-imagined contemporary. In 2009, he was made a Fellow of the Victorian Steampunk Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/11/27/meet-the-victorian-steampunk-society/|title=Meet the Victorian Steampunk Society|publisher=SFX News|date=November 27, 2011|access-date=January 5, 2011|archive-date=December 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201013538/http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/11/27/meet-the-victorian-steampunk-society/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[comic book]] series ''[[Hellboy]]'', created by [[Mike Mignola]], and the two ''[[Hellboy]]'' films featuring [[Ron Perlman]] and directed by [[Guillermo del Toro]], all have steampunk elements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/that-time-hellboy-got-steampunk-added-to-the-dictiona-1578661997|title=That Time Hellboy Got "Steampunk" Added To The Dictionary|publisher=Gizmodo|date=May 19, 2014|last=Misra|first=Ria|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728100003/https://io9.gizmodo.com/that-time-hellboy-got-steampunk-added-to-the-dictiona-1578661997|url-status=live}}</ref> In the comic book and the [[Hellboy (2004 film)|first (2004) film]], [[Karl Ruprecht Kroenen]] is a [[Nazi SS]] scientist who has an addiction to having himself surgically altered, and who has many mechanical prostheses, including a clockwork heart. The character [[Johann Krauss]] is featured in the comic and in the second film, ''[[Hellboy II: The Golden Army]]'' (2008), as an [[Ectoplasm (paranormal)|ectoplasmic medium]] (a gaseous form in a partly mechanical suit). This second film also features the [[Golden Army]] itself, which is a collection of 4,900 mechanical steampunk warriors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morehead |first=John W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4kq7CQAAQBAJ&dq=Hellboy+II+4900&pg=PA98 |title=The Supernatural Cinema of Guillermo del Toro: Critical Essays |date=2015-05-23 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2075-6 |language=en}}</ref>

===Steampunk settings===

====Alternative world====
[[File:SteampunkProp(byMollyPorkshanksFriedrich).jpg|thumb|Steampunk-style composite apparatus]]

Since the 1990s, the application of the steampunk label has expanded beyond works set in recognisable historical periods, to works set in fantasy worlds that rely heavily on steam- or spring-powered technology.<ref name=Grossman/> One of the earliest short stories relying on steam-powered flying machines is Percival Leigh's "The Aerial Burglar" first published in 1844.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barger|first1=Andrew|title=Mesaerion: The Best Science Fiction Short Stories 1800–1849|date=2013|publisher=Bottletree Books Llc|isbn=978-1-933747-49-1|page=31}}</ref> An example from juvenile fiction is ''[[The Edge Chronicles]]'' by Paul Stewart and [[Chris Riddell]].

Fantasy steampunk settings abound in [[tabletop role-playing game|tabletop]] and [[Role-playing video game|computer role-playing games]]. Notable examples include ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9134.phtml|title=Skies of Arcadia review on RPGnet|publisher=RPG.net|access-date=September 8, 2009|archive-date=March 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323052846/http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9134.phtml|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/005141.php|title=Rise of legends as steampunk video game|publisher=Dailygame.net|access-date=September 8, 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217160302/http://dailygame.net/news/archives/005141.php|archive-date=February 17, 2009}}</ref> and ''[[Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]''.<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/>

One of the first steampunk novels set in a [[Middle-earth]]-like world was the ''[[Forest of Boland Light Railway]]'' by [[BB (author)|BB]], about [[gnome]]s who build a [[steam locomotive]]. Fifty years later, [[Terry Pratchett]] wrote the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Raising Steam]],'' about the ongoing [[industrial revolution]] and [[railway mania]] in [[Ankh-Morpork]].

The gnomes and goblins in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' also have technological societies that could be described as steampunk,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/lore/steampunk-paradise|title=WoW: Loremaster's Corner #5: A Steampunk Paradise|publisher=Ten Ton Hammer|date=March 9, 2010|author=Xerin|quote=World of Warcraft is almost a steampunk paradise if you look at the various technological advancements the gnomes have made. Most engines are powered by steam and there are giant airships floating around everywhere.|access-date=May 30, 2010|archive-date=July 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715110527/http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/lore/steampunk-paradise|url-status=live}}</ref> as they are vastly ahead of the technologies of [[human|men]], but still run on steam and mechanical power.

The Dwarves of the [[The Elder Scrolls|''Elder Scrolls'' series]], described therein as a race of Elves called the [[Dwemer]], also use steam-powered machinery, with gigantic brass-like gears, throughout their underground cities. However, magical means are used to keep ancient devices in motion despite the Dwemer's ancient disappearance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer_Animunculi|title=Lore:Dwemer Animunculi – The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages|publisher=UESP|date=Apr 24, 2017|access-date=Jun 5, 2017|archive-date=November 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128215429/http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer_Animunculi|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1998 game ''[[Thief: The Dark Project]]'', as well as the other sequels including its [[Thief (2014 video game)|2014 reboot]], feature heavy steampunk-inspired architecture, setting, and technology.

Amidst the historical and fantasy subgenres of steampunk is a type that takes place in a hypothetical future or a fantasy equivalent of our future involving the domination of steampunk-style technology and aesthetics. Examples include [[Jean-Pierre Jeunet]] and [[Marc Caro]]'s ''[[The City of Lost Children]]'' (1995), ''[[Turn A Gundam]]'' (1999–2000), ''[[Trigun]]'',<ref name="Neo Steam"/> and [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney's]] film ''[[Treasure Planet]]'' (2002). In 2011, musician [[Thomas Dolby]] heralded his return to music after a 20-year hiatus with an online steampunk alternate fantasy world called the Floating City, to promote his album ''[[A Map of the Floating City]]''.<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/>

====American West====
Another setting is [[Steampunk Western|"Western" steampunk]], which overlaps with both the [[weird West]] and [[science fiction Western]] subgenres. One of the earliest steampunk books set in America was ''[[The Steam Man of the Prairies]]'' by [[Edward S. Ellis]]. Recent examples include the TV show ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' and the movie adaption ''[[Wild Wild West]]'', the [[Italian comics]] about [[Magico Vento]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2016.pdf|title=Magico Vento|first=Lorenzo|last=Davia|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|issue=16|date=January 2011|page=17|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728091930/https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2016.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Devon Monk]]'s ''Dead Iron.''<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/2013/08/book-review-dead-iron-the-age-of-steam/|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|title=Dead Iron – Book Review|date=August 10, 2013|last=Kinkade|first=Scott|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728130143/https://neverwasmag.com/2013/08/book-review-dead-iron-the-age-of-steam/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Fantasy and horror====
{{See also|Cyberpunk derivatives}}

[[Kaja Foglio]] introduced the term "Gaslamp Fantasy", for the series [[Girl Genius]].<ref name=VanderMeer/>{{rp|78}} Gaslamp fantasy, which [[John Clute]] and [[John Grant (author)|John Grant]] define as "steampunk stories ... most commonly set in a romanticised, smoky, 19th-century London, as are Gaslight Romances. But the latter category focuses nostalgically on icons from the late years of that century and the early years of the 20th century—on [[Dracula]], [[Jekyll and Hyde]], [[Jack the Ripper]], [[Sherlock Holmes]] and even [[Tarzan]]—and can normally be understood as combining supernatural fiction and [[recursive fantasy]], though some gaslamp romances can be read as fantasies of history."<ref name="Encyclopedia of Fantasy">{{cite book|last1=Clute|first1=John|last2=Grant|first2=John|last3=Ashley|first3=Mike|last4=Hartwell|first4=David G.|last5=Westfahl|first5=Gary|title=The Encyclopedia of Fantasy|date=1999|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-19869-5|pages=895–896|edition=1st|quote=STEAMPUNK A term applied more to [[science fiction]] than to fantasy, though some tales described as steampunk do cross genres. ... Steampunk, on the other hand, can be best described as technofantasy that is based, sometimes quite remotely, upon technological [[anachronism]].}}</ref> Author/artist [[James Richardson-Brown]]<ref>{{cite news|work=The Chronicles|year=2008|volume=2|issue=9|page=10|title=Steampunk – What's That All About|last=Richardson-Brown|first=James}}</ref> coined the term ''steamgoth'' to refer to steampunk expressions of fantasy and [[horror fiction|horror]] with a "darker" bent.

====Post-apocalyptic====
[[Mary Shelley]]'s ''[[The Last Man (Mary Shelley novel)|The Last Man]]'', set near the end of the 21st century after a plague had brought down civilization, was probably the ancestor of post-apocalyptic steampunk literature. Post-apocalyptic steampunk is set in a world where some cataclysm has precipitated the fall of civilization and steam power is once again ascendant, such as in [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|post-apocalyptic]] anime ''[[Future Boy Conan]]'' (1978, loosely based on [[Alexander Key]]'s ''[[The Incredible Tide]]'' (1970)),<ref name="Neo Steam">{{cite web|url=http://my.mmosite.com/1424882/blog/item/unprecedented_level_of_game_service_operation_from_steampunk_mmorpg_neo_steam.html|title=Unprecedented level of game service operation' from Steampunk MMORPG Neo Steam|date=June 29, 2008|access-date=January 24, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819032506/http://my.mmosite.com/1424882/blog/item/unprecedented_level_of_game_service_operation_from_steampunk_mmorpg_neo_steam.html|archive-date=August 19, 2017}}</ref> where a war fought with superweapons has devastated the planet. [[Robert Brown (musician)|Robert Brown]]'s novel, ''The Wrath of Fate'' (as well as much of [[Abney Park (band)|Abney Park]]'s music) is set in a Victorianesque world where an apocalypse was set into motion by a time-traveling mishap. [[Cherie Priest]]'s [[Boneshaker (novel)|Boneshaker]] series is set in a world where a [[zombie apocalypse]] happened during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] era. ''[[The Peshawar Lancers]]'' by [[S.M. Stirling]] is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which a [[meteor shower]] in 1878 caused the collapse of industrialized civilization. The movie [[9 (2009 animated film)|9]] (which might be better classified as "stitchpunk" but was largely influenced by steampunk)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940840.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|title=9 Review|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=August 18, 2009|first=Todd|last=McCarthy|author-link=Todd McCarthy|access-date=November 19, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823010822/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940840.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|archive-date=August 23, 2009}}</ref> is also set in a post-apocalyptic world after a self-aware war machine ran amok. ''[[Steampunk Magazine]]'' even published a book called ''A Steampunk's Guide to the Apocalypse'', about how steampunks could survive should such a thing actually happen.

====Victorian====
[[File:Nautilus_Neuville.JPG|thumb|upright|The ''Nautilus'' as imagined by Jules Verne]]
In general, this category includes any recent science fiction that takes place in a recognizable historical period (sometimes an [[alternate history]] version of an actual historical period) in which the [[Industrial Revolution]] has already begun, but [[electricity]] is not yet widespread, "usually Britain of the early to mid-nineteenth century or the fantasized [[Wild West]]-era United States",<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838844.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199838844-e-42|chapter=Retrofuturism and Steampunk|last1=Latham|first1=Rob|last2=Guffey|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Lemay|first3=Kate C.|date=Nov 1, 2014|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838844.013.0034|title=The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction|isbn=978-0-19-983884-4|access-date=January 31, 2018|archive-date=January 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131201102/http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838844.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199838844-e-42|url-status=live}}</ref> with an emphasis on steam- or spring-propelled gadgets. The most common historical steampunk settings are the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era]]s, though some in this "Victorian steampunk"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-15 |title=The Clockwork of Progress: The Victorian Era Unwound |url=https://infinitesteampunk.com/blogs/steampunk-blog/the-clockwork-of-progress-the-victorian-era-unwound |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Infinite Steampunk |language=en}}</ref> category are set as early as the beginning of the [[Industrial Revolution]] and as late as the end of [[World War I]].

Some examples of this type include the novel ''[[The Difference Engine]]'',<ref>{{cite web|last=Hudson|first=Patrick|title=(Review of) The Difference Engine|url=http://www.zone-sf.com/difengine.html|access-date=February 13, 2009|publisher=Pigasus Press|work=The Zone|archive-date=November 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120161845/http://www.zone-sf.com/difengine.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> the comic book series ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', the Disney animated film ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'',<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/> [[Scott Westerfeld]]'s [[Leviathan (Westerfeld novel)|''Leviathan'' trilogy]],<ref>School Library Journal,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/leviathan00west_0|title=Laviathan|date=Oct 6, 2009|access-date=Aug 19, 2011|isbn=978-1-4169-7173-3|publisher=Simon Pulse|url-access=registration}}</ref> and the [[roleplaying game]] ''[[Space: 1889]].''<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/> The [[anime]] film ''[[Steamboy]]'' (2004) is another example of Victorian steampunk, taking place in an alternate 1866 where steam technology is far more advanced than reality.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/steamboy|title=Steamboy|last1=Bertschy|first1=Zac|work=Anime News Network|date=July 21, 2004|access-date=March 18, 2014|archive-date=April 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415180553/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/steamboy|url-status=live}}</ref> Some, such as the comic series ''[[Girl Genius]]'',<ref name="HSW Steampunk"/> have their own unique times and places despite partaking heavily of the flavor of historic settings. Other comic series are set in a more familiar London, as in the ''[[Victorian Undead]]'', which has [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[Doctor Watson]], and others taking on zombies, [[Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde]], and [[Count Dracula]], with advanced weapons and devices. Another example of this genre is the ''[[Tunnels (novel)|Tunnels]]'' novels by [[Roderick Gordon]] and Brian Williams. These are set in the modern day, but with an underground Victorian world that is working to overthrow the world above. Detective [[graphic novel]] series [[Lady Mechanika]] is set in an alternative Victorian-like world.

[[Karel Zeman]]'s film ''[[The Fabulous World of Jules Verne]]'' (1958) is a very early example of cinematic steampunk. Based on [[Jules Verne]] novels, Zeman's film imagines a past that never was, based on those novels.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://locusmag.com/2004/Reviews/10_WaldropPerson_Verne.html|title=The Fabulous World of Jules Verne|publisher=[[Locus Online]]|date=October 13, 2004|last1=Waldrop|first1=Howard|last2=Person|first2=Lawrence|access-date=May 10, 2008|archive-date=May 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511234309/http://www.locusmag.com/2004/Reviews/10_WaldropPerson_Verne.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Other early examples of historical steampunk in cinema include [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s [[anime]] films such as ''[[Laputa: Castle in the Sky]]'' (1986) and ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (film)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'' (2004), which contain many archetypal anachronisms characteristic of the steampunk genre.<ref name=matronline>{{cite web|url=http://www.matrix-online.net/bsfa/website/matrixonline/Matrix_Features_3.aspx|title=The news and media magazine of the British Science Fiction Association|publisher=Matrix Online|date=June 30, 2008|access-date=February 13, 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221090854/https://matrix-online.net/bsfa/website/matrixonline/Matrix_Features_3.aspx|archive-date=February 21, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Reviews/Ward08_Miyazaki.html|title=Hayao Miyazaki: The Greatest Fantasy Director You Never Heard Of?|publisher=Locus Online|date=August 20, 2003|first=Cynthia|last=Ward|access-date=June 13, 2009|archive-date=August 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807064942/http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Reviews/Ward08_Miyazaki.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

"Historical" steampunk usually leans more towards science fiction than fantasy, but a number of historical steampunk stories have incorporated magical elements as well. For example, ''Morlock Night'', written by [[K. W. Jeter]], revolves around an attempt by the wizard [[Merlin]] to raise [[King Arthur]] to save the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] of 1892 from an invasion of [[Morlock]]s from the future.<ref name=Grossman/>

[[Paul Guinan]]'s ''[[Boilerplate (robot)|Boilerplate]]'', a "biography" of a robot in the late 19th century, began as a website that garnered international press coverage when people began believing that [[Adobe Photoshop|Photoshop]] images of the robot with historic personages were real.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/020826/archive_022363_5.htm|title=Gotcha!|page=39|newspaper=U.S. News & World Report|date=September 3, 2002|last=Hayden|first=Tom|access-date=January 5, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216170108/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/020826/archive_022363_5.htm|archive-date=December 16, 2005}}</ref> The site was adapted into the illustrated hardbound book ''Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel'', which was published by [[Abrams Books|Abrams]] in October 2009.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRtKPgAACAAJ|last1=Guinan|first1=Paul|author-link1=Paul Guinan|last2=Bennett|first2=Anina|author-link2=Anina Bennett|year=2012|title=Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel|publisher=[[Abrams Books]]|isbn=978-0-8109-8950-4}}</ref> Because the story was not set in an alternative history, and in fact contained accurate information about the Victorian era,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/04/a-preview-of-boilerplate-historys-mechanical-marvel.html|title=A Preview of Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel|publisher=Omnivoracious|date=Apr 29, 2009|access-date=Mar 17, 2011|archive-date=August 22, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822034645/http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/04/a-preview-of-boilerplate-historys-mechanical-marvel.html|url-status=live}}</ref> some{{Specify|date=January 2012}} booksellers referred to the tome as "historical steampunk".

====East Asia====
Fictional settings inspired by East Asian rather than European history, especially those inspired by [[History of China|Chinese history]], have been called "silkpunk". The term originated with the author [[Ken Liu]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Clements |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Clements |date=September 12, 2022 |title=Liu, Ken |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/liu_ken |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Clute |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David |editor2-link=David Langford |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]] |edition=4th |access-date=October 20, 2022 |archive-date=October 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012190116/https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/liu_ken |url-status=live }}</ref> who defined it as "a blend of science fiction and fantasy [that] draws inspiration from classical [[East Asian]] antiquity", with a "technology vocabulary (...) based on organic materials historically important to East Asia (bamboo, paper, silk) and seafaring cultures of the Pacific (coconut, feathers, coral)", rather than the brass and leather associated with steampunk. Liu used the term to describe his ''Dandelion Dynasty'' series, which began in 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Misra|first1=Ria|title=Author Ken Liu Explains "Silkpunk" to Us|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/author-ken-liu-explains-silkpunk-to-us-1717812714|access-date=20 February 2018|work=[[io9]]|date=4 July 2015|archive-date=9 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109064416/https://io9.gizmodo.com/author-ken-liu-explains-silkpunk-to-us-1717812714|url-status=live}}</ref> Other works described as silkpunk include [[Neon Yang]]'s ''[[Tensorate]]'' series of novellas, which began in 2017.<ref>{{cite news|title=J.Y. Yang's two novellas are like rojak, a surprisingly delicious blend of unexpected flavours|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/fantastical-world-rooted-in-the-east|access-date=20 February 2018|work=The Straits Times|date=26 September 2017|language=en|archive-date=6 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306235336/http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/fantastical-world-rooted-in-the-east|url-status=live}}</ref> Lyndsie Manusos of [[Book Riot]] has argued that the genre does "not fit in a direct analogy with steampunk. Silkpunk is technology and poetics. It is engineering and language."<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://bookriot.com/what-is-silkpunk/|title = Silkpunk: What It is and What It Definitely is Not|date = 4 August 2021|access-date = 7 August 2021|archive-date = 7 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210807123855/https://bookriot.com/what-is-silkpunk/|url-status = live}}</ref>

===Music===
[[File:Robert Brown and Finn Von Claret of Abney Park 2008.jpg|thumb|Robert Brown and Finn Von Claret from Abney Park]]

Steampunk music is very broadly defined. [[Abney Park (band)|Abney Park]]'s lead singer [[Robert Brown (musician)|Robert Brown]] defined it as "mixing Victorian elements and modern elements". There is a broad range of musical influences that make up the steampunk sound, from [[industrial dance]] and [[world music]]<ref name=Rowe/> to [[folk rock]], [[dark cabaret]] to straightforward [[punk rock|punk]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-the-men-that-will-not-be-blamed-for-nothing-this-may-be-the-reason-leather-apron-7554544.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-the-men-that-will-not-be-blamed-for-nothing-this-may-be-the-reason-leather-apron-7554544.html |archive-date=2022-05-24 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Album: The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing, This May Be the Reason (Leather Apron) – Reviews – Music|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=Mar 11, 2012|author=Simon Price|access-date=Aug 6, 2014}}</ref> [[Carnatic music|Carnatic]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://dmp.dreamwidth.org/9727.html|work=Tales of the Urban Adventurer|title=Beyond Victoriana: #10 An Interview with Sunday Driver|author=D.M.P.|date=Jan 16, 2010|access-date=February 25, 2010|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191507/http://dmp.dreamwidth.org/9727.html|url-status=live}}</ref> to [[industrial music|industrial]], [[hip-hop]] to opera (and even [[Doctor Steel|industrial hip-hop opera]]),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rue-morgue.com/mag_42.php|title=Audio Drome Review: Dr. Steel|magazine=Rue Morgue Magazine, issue 42|date=November–December 2004|format=back issue|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310161056/http://www.rue-morgue.com/mag_42.php|archive-date=March 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indymogul.com/post/11836/interview-dr-phineas-waldolf-steel-mad-scientist|title=Interview: Dr. Phineas Waldolf Steel, Mad Scientist|publisher=[[Indy Mogul]]|first=Wesley|last=Scoggins|quote=Many have mentioned your work in regards to Steampunk influenced bands like Abney Park (and for that matter the Steampunk "style" in general).|access-date=August 29, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227003408/http://www.indymogul.com/post/11836/interview-dr-phineas-waldolf-steel-mad-scientist|archive-date=December 27, 2010}}</ref> [[darkwave]] to [[progressive rock]], [[Barbershop Quartet|barbershop]] to [[big band]].

Joshua Pfeiffer (of [[Vernian Process]]) is quoted as saying, "As for [[Paul Roland]], if anyone deserves credit for spearheading Steampunk music, it is him. He was one of the inspirations I had in starting my project. He was writing songs about the first attempt at manned flight, and an Edwardian airship raid in the mid-80s long before almost anyone else{{nbsp}}..."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://steampunkbible.com/2012/04/in-memoriam-joshua-pfeiffer-interviews-paul-roland-part-i|title=In Memoriam: Joshua Pfeiffer interviews Paul Roland, Part I|publisher=The Steampunk Bible|date=April 12, 2012|access-date=April 12, 2016|archive-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404025621/http://steampunkbible.com/2012/04/in-memoriam-joshua-pfeiffer-interviews-paul-roland-part-i/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Thomas Dolby]] is also considered one of the early pioneers of retro-futurist (i.e., Steampunk and Dieselpunk) music.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pri.org/stories/arts-entertainment/music/music-festival-conference-set-to-celebrate-steampunk-11696.html|title=Music festival, conference set to celebrate steampunk|publisher=Public Radio International|author=Kurt Andersen|date=6 October 2012|access-date=20 November 2012|archive-date=26 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126065637/http://www.pri.org/stories/arts-entertainment/music/music-festival-conference-set-to-celebrate-steampunk-11696.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Steamstock>{{cite web|url=http://steampunk-music.com/article.cfm?a=82|title=Steamstock: An Antiquarian Exposition|publisher=steampunk-music.com|date=September 10, 2012|first=Mark|last=Rossmore|access-date=November 15, 2012|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305023226/http://steampunk-music.com/article.cfm?a=82|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Amanda Palmer]] was once quoted as saying, "Thomas Dolby is to Steampunk what [[Iggy Pop]] was to [[Punk rock|Punk]]!"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/idUS181362+22-Jun-2011+BW20110622|title=Thomas Dolby Debuts The Floating City Transmedia Game|work=Reuters|date=Jun 22, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061702/https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/idUS181362%2B22-Jun-2011%2BBW20110622|archive-date=January 26, 2013}}</ref>

Steampunk has also appeared in the work of musicians who do not specifically identify as steampunk. For example, the music video of [[Turn Me On (David Guetta song)|"Turn Me On"]], by [[David Guetta]] and featuring [[Nicki Minaj]], takes place in a steampunk universe where Guetta creates human androids. Another music video is "[[The Ballad of Mona Lisa]]", by [[Panic! at the Disco]], which has a distinct Victorian steampunk theme. A continuation of this theme has been used throughout the 2011 album ''[[Vices And Virtues|Vices & Virtues]]'', in the music videos, album art, and tour set and costumes. In addition, the album ''[[Clockwork Angels]]'' (2012) and its supporting [[Clockwork Angels Tour|tour]] by progressive rock band [[Rush (band)|Rush]] contain lyrics, themes, and imagery based around steampunk. Similarly, [[Abney Park (band)|Abney Park]] headlined the first "Steamstock" outdoor steampunk music festival in [[Richmond, California]], which also featured [[Thomas Dolby]], [[Frenchy and the Punk]], [[Lee Presson and the Nails]], [[Vernian Process]], and others.<ref name=Steamstock/>

The music video for the [[Lindsey Stirling]] song "Roundtable Rival", has a Western steampunk setting.

===Television and films===
{{More citations needed section|date=September 2016}}
[[File:20,000 Leagues ride Disney World.jpg|thumb|"[[20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage]]" ride at [[Walt Disney World]] (1971–1994). This ride is based on the 1954 film ''[[20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]''.]]
[[File:Arliss Loveless.jpg|thumb|upright|A fan [[cosplay]]ing as the Arliss Loveless character in steampunk wheelchair costume from the 1999 film ''[[Wild Wild West]]'']]

''[[The Fabulous World of Jules Verne]]'' (1958) and ''[[The Fabulous Baron Munchausen]]'' (1962), both directed by [[Karel Zeman]], have steampunk elements. The 1965 television series ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'', as well as the [[Wild, Wild West|1999 film of the same name]], features many elements of advanced steam-powered technology set in the [[Wild West]] time period of the United States. ''[[Two Years' Vacation (film)|Two Years' Vacation]]'' (or ''[[The Stolen Airship]]'') (1967) directed by [[Karel Zeman]] contains steampunk elements.

The [[BBC]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'' also incorporates steampunk elements. Several storylines can be classed as steampunk, most notably ''The Evil of the Daleks'' (1966), wherein Victorian scientists invent a time travel device using mirrors and [[static electricity]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/evildaleks/detail.shtml|title=BBC Doctor Who Classic Series|publisher=BBC|access-date=16 December 2013|archive-date=6 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106023449/http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/evildaleks/detail.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> During season 14 of the show (in 1976), the formerly futuristic looking interior set was replaced with a [[Victorian era|Victorian]]-styled wood-panel and brass affair.<ref>{{cite web|title=TARDIS builders|url=http://tardisboard.proboards.com/thread/1396/season-14-wooden-console|access-date=16 December 2013|archive-date=12 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712034209/http://tardisboard.proboards.com/thread/1396/season-14-wooden-console|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1996 American co-production, the [[TARDIS]] interior was re-designed to resemble an almost Victorian library with the central control console made up of an eclectic array of anachronistic objects. Modified and streamlined for the 2005 revival of the series, the TARDIS console continued to incorporate steampunk elements, including a Victorian typewriter and [[gramophone]], for many years.

''[[Dinner for Adele]]'' (1977) directed by [[Oldřich Lipský]] involves steampunk contraptions. The 1979 film ''[[Time After Time (1979 film)|Time After Time]]'' has [[Herbert George Wells|Herbert George "H.G." Wells]] following a surgeon named John Leslie Stevenson into the future, as John is suspected of being [[Jack the Ripper]]. Both separately use Wells's time machine to travel.

''[[The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians]]'', (1981) directed by [[Oldřich Lipský]], contains steampunk elements.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=12593|title=Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians, the Review (1981)|access-date=2020-02-27|archive-date=2019-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120005735/http://thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=12593|url-status=live}}</ref> The 1982 American TV series ''[[Q.E.D. (U.S. TV series)|Q.E.D.]]'' is set in [[Edwardian period|Edwardian]] England, stars [[Sam Waterston]] as Professor Quentin Everett Deverill (from whose initials, by which he is primarily known, the series title is derived, initials which also stand for the Latin phrase ''[[quod erat demonstrandum]]'', which translates as "which was to be demonstrated"). The Professor is an inventor and scientific detective, in the mold of [[Sherlock Holmes]]. The plot of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] film ''[[Kin-dza-dza!]]'' (1986) centers on a [[desert planet]], depleted of its resources, where an impoverished dog-eat-dog society uses steampunk machines, the movements and functions of which defy Earthly logic.

In making his 1986 Japanese film ''[[Castle in the Sky]]'', [[Hayao Miyazaki]] was heavily influenced by steampunk culture, the film featuring various airships and steampowered contraptions as well as a mysterious island that floats through the sky, accomplished not through magic as in most stories, but instead by harnessing the physical properties of a rare crystal—analogous to the [[lodestone]] used in the [[Gulliver's Travels#Part_III:_A_Voyage_to_Laputa,_Balnibarbi,_Luggnagg,_Glubbdubdrib_and_Japan|Laputa]] of [[Jonathan Swift|Swift's]] ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''—augmented by massive propellers, as befitting the Victorian motif.<ref>[[Castle in the Sky#Influences]]</ref> The first "Wallace & Gromit" animation ''[[A Grand Day Out]]'' (1989) features a space rocket in the steampunk style.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

The second half of ''[[Back to the Future Part III|Back to the Future III]]'' (1990) gradually evolves into steampunk.

''[[The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.]]'', a 1993 [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox Network]] TV science fiction-Western set in the 1890s, features elements of steampunk as represented by the character Professor Wickwire, whose inventions were described as "the coming thing".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2010/06/a-fistful-of-geek-a-look-back-at-the-adventures-of-brisco-county-jr/|title=A Fistful of Geek: A Look Back at The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.|first=Andrew|last=Orillion|magazine=[[Slant Magazine]]|date=June 8, 2010|access-date=April 20, 2020|archive-date=February 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203100737/http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2010/06/a-fistful-of-geek-a-look-back-at-the-adventures-of-brisco-county-jr/|url-status=live}}</ref> The short-lived 1995 TV show ''[[Legend (TV series)|Legend]]'', on [[UPN]], set in 1876 Arizona, features such classic inventions as a steam-driven "quadrovelocipede", [[Night-vision device#Other technologies|trigoggle]] and [[night-vision goggles]] (à la teslapunk), and stars [[John de Lancie]] as a thinly disguised [[Nikola Tesla]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}

[[Alan Moore]]'s and [[Kevin O'Neill (comics)|Kevin O'Neill's]] 1999 ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' [[graphic novel]] series (and the subsequent 2003 [[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)|film adaption]]) greatly popularised the steampunk genre.<ref name=Poeter/>

''[[Steamboy]]'' (2004) is a Japanese animated action film directed and co-written by [[Katsuhiro Otomo]] (''[[Akira (1988 film)|Akira]]''). It is a retro science-fiction epic set in a steampunk Victorian England. It features steamboats, trains, airships and inventors. The 2004 film ''[[Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' contains steampunk-esque elements such as costumes and vehicle interiors. The 2007 [[Syfy]] miniseries ''[[Tin Man (TV miniseries)|Tin Man]]'' incorporates a considerable number of steampunk-inspired themes into a reimagining of [[L. Frank Baum]]'s ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''. Despite leaning more towards [[Gothic fiction|Gothic]] influences, the "parallel reality" of Meanwhile, City, within the 2009 film ''[[Franklyn]]'' contains many steampunk themes, such as costumery, architecture, minimal use of electricity (with a preference for gaslight), and absence of modern technology (such as there being no motorised vehicles or advanced weaponry, and the manual management of information without computers).

The 2009–2014 [[Syfy]] television series ''[[Warehouse 13]]'' features many steampunk-inspired objects and artifacts, including computer designs created by steampunk artisan Richard Nagy, a.k.a. "Datamancer".<ref>{{cite web|title=Warehouse 13: Steampunk TV|url=http://closetscifigeek.com/2009/08/16/warehouse-13-steampunk-tv/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709032830/http://closetscifigeek.com/2009/08/16/warehouse-13-steampunk-tv/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2012|work=closetscifigeek.com|author=Stephanie|date=August 16, 2009|access-date=October 2, 2009}}</ref> The 2010 episode of the TV series ''[[Castle (TV series)|Castle]]'' entitled "Punked" (first aired October 11, 2010) prominently features the steampunk subculture and uses [[Los Angeles]]-area steampunks (such as the [[League of STEAM]]) as extras. The 2011 film ''[[The Three Musketeers (2011 film)|The Three Musketeers]]'' has many steampunk elements, including gadgets and airships.

''[[The Legend of Korra]]'', a 2012–2014 [[Nickelodeon]] animated series, incorporates steampunk elements in an industrialized world with East Asian themes.
The ''[[Penny Dreadful (TV series)|Penny Dreadful]]'' (2014) television series is a Gothic Victorian fantasy series with steampunk props and costumes.

The 2013–2014 [[ABC3]] game show ''[[Steam Punks!]]'', sees [[Paul Verhoeven (broadcaster)|Paul Verhoeven]] playing The Inquisitor, who helps teams complete multiple challenges who have become trapped in a bizarre world controlled by an evil genius named The Machine.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-02-17 |title=Steam Punks |work=[[Sunday Mail (Adelaide)]] |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AUNB&req_dat=2FC64405CDC9450D8CE0F660AE4E730F&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F1447DF1C08A921F0 |access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref>

The 2015 [[Game Show Network|GSN]] [[reality television]] [[game show]] ''[[Steampunk'd]]'' features a competition to create steampunk-inspired art and designs which are judged by notable steampunks [[Thomas Willeford]], [[Kate Lambert|Kato]], and [[Matthew Yang King]] (as Matt King).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Jeannie-Mai-to-Host-GSN-New-Competition-Series-STEAMPUNKD-819-20150709|title=Jeannie Mai to Host GSN New Competition Series STEAMPUNK'D, 8/19|date=Jul 9, 2015|website=Broadway World|access-date=August 5, 2015|archive-date=July 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714043714/http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Jeannie-Mai-to-Host-GSN-New-Competition-Series-STEAMPUNKD-819-20150709|url-status=live}}</ref> Based on the work of cartoonist [[Jacques Tardi]], ''[[April and the Extraordinary World]]'' (2015) is an animated movie set in a steampunk Paris. It features airships, trains, submarines, and various other steam-powered contraptions. [[Tim Burton]]'s 2016 film ''[[Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016 film)|Alice Through the Looking Glass]]'' features steampunk costumes, props, and vehicles.

Japanese anime ''[[Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress]]'' (2016) features a steampunk [[zombie]] apocalypse.

The American [[fantasy]] [[animated sitcom]], ''[[Disenchantment (TV series)|Disenchantment]]'', created by [[Matt Groening]] for [[Netflix]], features a steampunk country named Steamland, led by an odd industrialist named Alva Gunderson voiced by [[Richard Ayoade]], first appears in the season 1 episode, "The Electric Princess."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stubbs |first1=Dan |title='Disenchantment' season three review: Matt Groening's swords-and-swigging sitcom loses the plot |url=https://www.nme.com/en_asia/reviews/tv-reviews/disenchantment-season-3-review-netflix-2854203 |website=[[NME]] |access-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116172752/https://www.nme.com/en_asia/reviews/tv-reviews/disenchantment-season-3-review-netflix-2854203 |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |date=January 11, 2021 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cremona |first1=Patrick |title=When is Disenchantment Part 3 released on Netflix? Everything you need to know |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/2021-01-13/disenchantment-part-3-release-date/ |website=[[Radio Times]] |access-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122152233/https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/2021-01-13/disenchantment-part-3-release-date/ |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |date=January 13, 2021 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>{{efn|The country is alluded to in the show's first episode when an object looking like a blimp is briefly shown in the background when the protagonist and her friends flee into the forest.}} The country is portrayed as driven by [[logic]] and is [[egalitarian]], governed by science, rather than magic, as is the case for Dreamland, where the protagonist, [[Princess Bean]], is from.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morrison |first1=Matt |title=Disenchantment Season 2's Ending Was Foreshadowed From The Start: Here's How |url=https://screenrant.com/disenchantment-season-2-ending-foreshadowing-early-episodes/ |website=[[Screen Rant]] |access-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930211856/https://screenrant.com/disenchantment-season-2-ending-foreshadowing-early-episodes/ |archive-date=September 30, 2019 |date=September 28, 2019 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The country has cars, automatic lights, submarines, and other modern technologies, all of which are steam-powered, and references to Groening's other series, ''[[Futurama]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murthi |first1=Vikram |title=Disenchantment goes all steampunk in the penultimate episode of the season |url=https://www.avclub.com/disenchantment-goes-all-steampunk-in-the-penultimate-ep-1838334512 |website=[[Screen Rant]] |access-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230165108/https://tv.avclub.com/disenchantment-goes-all-steampunk-in-the-penultimate-ep-1838334512 |archive-date=December 30, 2020 |date=September 22, 2019 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Elderkin |first1=Beth |title=Some of Disenchantment Part 2's Coolest Teasers, Nods, and Easter Eggs |url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/some-of-disenchantment-part-2s-coolest-teasers-nods-a-1838249940 |website=[[Gizmodo]] |access-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112023225/https://io9.gizmodo.com/some-of-disenchantment-part-2s-coolest-teasers-nods-a-1838249940 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |date=September 23, 2019 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Steamland appears in three episodes of the show's second season,{{efn|Specifically the episodes "Steamland Confidential", "Freak Out!", and "Last Splash"}} showing an explorers club as part of the country's [[high society (social class)|high society]], flying [[zeppelins]], and robots with light bulbs for heads that chase the protagonists through the streets.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jennings |first1=Collier |title=Netflix's Disenchantment Part 3 Trailer Reveals Release Date |url=https://www.cbr.com/netflix-disenchantment-part-3-trailer-reveals-release-date/ |website=[[Comic Book Resources|CBR]] |access-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219191654/https://www.cbr.com/netflix-disenchantment-part-3-trailer-reveals-release-date/ |archive-date=December 19, 2020 |date=December 16, 2020 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Griffin |first1=David |title=Disenchantment: Season 3 Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/disenchantment-season-3-review-netflix-matt-groening |website=[[IGN]] |access-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116013842/https://www.ign.com/articles/disenchantment-season-3-review-netflix-matt-groening |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |date=January 15, 2021 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Some even argued that Steamland is "[[dieselpunk]]-inspired."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Liptak |first1=Andrew |title=Netflix's Disenchantment Returns in January |url=https://www.tor.com/2020/12/16/disenchantment-netflix-matt-groenig-trailer-watch/ |website=[[Tor.com]] |access-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216161959/https://www.tor.com/2020/12/16/disenchantment-netflix-matt-groenig-trailer-watch/ |archive-date=December 16, 2020 |date=December 16, 2020 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The 2023 film ''[[Poor Things (film)|Poor Things]]'' has been noted for its "steampunk-infused" production design.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ide |first=Wendy |date=2024-01-14 |title=Poor Things review – Emma Stone transfixes in Yorgos Lanthimos's thrilling carnival of oddness |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/14/poor-things-review-yorgos-lanthimos-emma-stone-frankenstein |access-date=2024-09-13 |work=the Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Video games===
A variety of styles of video games<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-20 |title=Steampunk in Video Games |url=https://infinitesteampunk.com/blogs/steampunk-blog/steampunk-in-video-games |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=Infinite Steampunk |language=en}}</ref> have used steampunk settings.

''[[Steel Empire]]'' (1992), a [[shoot 'em up]] game originally released as ''Koutetsu Teikoku'' on the [[Sega Mega Drive]] console in Japan, is considered to be the first steampunk video game. Designed by Yoshinori Satake and inspired by [[Hayao Miyazaki]]'s anime film ''[[Laputa: Castle in the Sky]]'' (1986), ''Steel Empire'' is set in an alternate timeline dominated by steam-powered technology. The commercial success of ''Steel Empire'', both in Japan and the West, helped propel steampunk into the [[Video game industry|video game market]], and had a significant influence on later steampunk games. The most notable steampunk game it influenced is ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' (1994), a [[Japanese role-playing game]] developed by [[Squaresoft]] and designed by [[Hiroyuki Ito]] for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]]. ''Final Fantasy VI'' was both critically and commercially successful, and had a considerable influence on later steampunk video games.<ref name=Nevins2019/>

''[[The Chaos Engine]]'' (1993) is a [[run and gun (video game)|run and gun]] video game inspired by the Gibson/Sterling novel ''[[The Difference Engine]]'' (1990), set in a Victorian steampunk age. Developed by [[the Bitmap Brothers]], it was first released on the [[Amiga]] in 1993; a sequel was released in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk/our-games/past/chaos-engine.htm|title=The Chaos Engine|publisher=The Bitmap Brothers|access-date=Aug 6, 2014|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518024253/http://www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk/our-games/past/chaos-engine.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[graphic adventure game|graphic adventure]] [[puzzle video game]]s ''[[Myst]]'' (1993), ''[[Riven]]'' (1997), ''[[Myst III: Exile]]'' (2001), and ''[[Myst IV: Revelation]]'' (all produced by or under the supervision of [[Cyan Worlds]]) take place in an alternate steampunk universe, where elaborate infrastructures have been built to run on steam power. ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' (since 1994, last release in 2014) is an [[action role-playing game]] where one can find an ancient extinct race called dwemers or dwarves, whose steampunk technology is based on steam-powered levers and gears made of bronze or brass, which are maintained by magical techniques that have kept them in working order over the centuries.

''[[Sakura Wars]]'' (1996), a [[visual novel]] and [[tactical role-playing game]] developed by [[Sega]] for the [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]] console, is set in a steampunk version of Japan during the [[Meiji era|Meiji]] and [[Taishō era]]s, and features steam-powered [[mecha]] robots.<ref name=Wired/> ''[[Thief: The Dark Project]]'' (1998), its sequels, ''[[Thief II]]'' (2000), ''[[Thief: Deadly Shadows]]'' (2004) and its reboot ''[[Thief (2014 video game)|Thief]]'' (2014) are set in a steampunk metropolis. The 2001 [[computer role-playing game]] ''[[Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]'' mixes [[fantasy]] tropes with steampunk.

The ''[[Professor Layton]]'' series of games (2007 debut) has several entries showcasing steampunk machinery and vehicles. Notably ''[[Professor Layton and the Unwound Future]]'' features a quasi-steampunk future setting. ''[[Solatorobo]]'' (2010) is a role-playing video game developed by [[CyberConnect2]] set in a floating island [[archipelago]] populated by anthropomorphic cats and dogs, who pilot steampunk airships and engage in combat with robots. ''[[Resonance of Fate]]'' (2010) is a role-playing video game developed by [[tri-Ace]] and published by Sega for the [[PlayStation 3]] and [[Xbox 360]]. It is set in a steampunk environment with combat involving guns.

''[[Impossible Creatures]]'' (2003) [[real-time strategy]] game inspired by the works of [[H. G. Welles]], especially "[[The Island of Doctor Moreau]]". Developed by [[Relic Entertainment]], it sees an adventurer building an army of genetically spliced animals to battle against a mad scientist who has abducted his father. The player's headquarters is a steam-powered "Hovertrain" [[locomotive]], which functions as both a science lab and mobile command center. Coal is a key resource in the game, and must be burned to provide power to the players many base buildings.

The ''[[SteamWorld]]'' series of games (2010 debut) has the player controlling steam-powered robots. ''[[Minecraft]]'' (2011) has a steampunk-themed [[texture pack]]. ''[[Terraria]]'' (2011) is a video game developed by [[Re-Logic]]. It is a 2D [[open world]] [[platform game]] in which the player controls a single character in a generated world. It has a Steampunker [[non-player character]] in the game who sells items referencing Steampunk. 
''[[LittleBigPlanet 2]]'' (2011) has the world Victoria's Laboratory, run by Victoria von Bathysphere, which mixes steampunk themes with confections. ''[[Guns of Icarus Online]]'' (2012) is multiplayer game with steampunk themes.

''[[Dishonored (series)|Dishonored]]'' is a series (2012 debut) of [[stealth game|stealth]] games with role-playing elements developed by [[Arkane Studios]] and widely considered to be a spiritual successor of the original ''Thief'' trilogy. Set in the Empire of the Isles, a steampunk Victorian metropolis where technology and supernatural magic coexist. Steam-powered robots and mechanical combat suits are present as enemies, as well as the presence of magic. The major locations in the Isles include Dunwall, the Empire's [[capital city]] which uses the burning of [[whale oil]] as the city's main fuel source,<ref name="whalepunk">{{cite web |last=Hillier |first=Brenna |title=Celebrating Dishonored 2's stylish, "whalepunk" art |url=https://www.vg247.com/2016/11/23/celebrating-dishonored-2s-stylish-whalepunk-art/ |date=23 November 2016 |work=[[VG247]] |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-date=6 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006084249/https://www.vg247.com/2016/11/23/celebrating-dishonored-2s-stylish-whalepunk-art/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and Karnaca, which is powered by wind turbines fed by currents generated by a cleft mountain along the city's borders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/dishonored-2-trailer-examines-the-making-of-karnaca/|title=Dishonored 2 trailer examines the making of Karnaca|first=Andy|last=Chalk|work=[[PC Gamer]]|date=5 October 2016|access-date=22 August 2020|archive-date=9 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109050813/https://www.pcgamer.com/dishonored-2-trailer-examines-the-making-of-karnaca/|url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[BioShock Infinite]]'' (2013) is a [[first-person shooter]] game set in 1912, in a fictional city called Columbia, which uses technology to float in the sky and has many historical and religious scenes.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2016.pdf|title=BioShock Infinite|first=Nick|last=Ottens|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|issue=16|date=January 2011|page=9|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728091930/https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2016.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[Code: Realize − Guardian of Rebirth]]'' (2014), a Japanese [[otome]] game for the [[PS Vita]] is set in a steampunk Victorian London, and features a cast with several historical figures with steampunk aesthetics. ''[[Code Name S.T.E.A.M.]]'' (2015), a Japanese tactical RPG game for the [[3DS]] set in a steampunk fantasy version of London where you are a conscript in the strike force S.T.E.A.M. (short for Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace). ''[[They Are Billions]]'' (2017), is a steampunk strategy game in a post-apocalyptic setting. Players build a colony and attempt to ward off waves of zombies. ''[[Frostpunk]]'' (2018) is a city-building game set in 1888, but where the Earth is in the midst of a great [[Ice age|Ice Age]]. Players must construct a city around a large steampunk heat generator with many steampunk aesthetics and mechanics, such as a "Steam Core."

==Culture and community==
[[File:Steampunk magazine Issue3.gif|thumb|upright|Cover of ''Steampunk Magazine'']]

Because of the popularity of steampunk, there is a growing movement of adults that want to establish steampunk as a culture and lifestyle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/monologues/25steampunk.html|title=Mom, Dad, I'm Into Steampunk|publisher=McSweeney's.net|date=July 25, 2008|last=Kaye|first=Marco|access-date=August 4, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804235630/http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/monologues/25steampunk.html|archive-date=August 4, 2008}}</ref> Some fans of the genre adopt a steampunk aesthetic through fashion,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailysteampunk.com/Steampunk%20Aesthetics.html|title=Steampunk Aesthetics|date=July 1, 2008|author=Rauchfuss, Marcus|access-date=February 9, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531032150/http://www.dailysteampunk.com/Steampunk%20Aesthetics.html|archive-date=May 31, 2008}}</ref> home decor, music, and film. While Steampunk is considered the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies,<ref name="La Ferla"/> it can be more broadly categorised as [[neo-Victorian]]ism, described by scholar Marie-Luise Kohlke as "the afterlife of the nineteenth century in the cultural imaginary".<ref>{{cite web|author=Miss Jessica Rose|url=https://pastbooks.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/so-what-is-neo-victorianism/|title=So what is neo-Victorianism? A working definition. &#124; Past Books|publisher=Pastbooks.wordpress.com|date=November 5, 2013|access-date=November 19, 2016|archive-date=November 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119120933/https://pastbooks.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/so-what-is-neo-victorianism/|url-status=live}}</ref> The subculture has its own magazine, blogs, and online shops.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/steampunks-twist-tech-102747|title=Steampunk's Twist on Tech|website=Newsweek|date=October 30, 2007|last=Braiker|first=Brian|access-date=July 11, 2017|archive-date=July 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707073047/http://www.newsweek.com/steampunks-twist-tech-102747|url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2012, a panel, chaired by steampunk entertainer [[Veronique Chevalier]] and with panelists including magician [[Pop Hadyn]] and members of the steampunk performance group the [[League of STEAM]], was held at [[Stan Lee]]'s [[Comikaze Expo]]. The panel suggested that because steampunk was inclusive of and incorporated ideas from various other subcultures such as goth, neo-Victorian, and cyberpunk, as well as a growing number of [[fandom]]s, it was fast becoming a ''[[super-culture]]'' rather than a mere subculture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comikazeexpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Comikaze-Panel-Schedule-Saturday-9-1.15.121.pdf|title=Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo 2012 Panel Schedule, Saturday, September 15|publisher=[[Comikaze Expo]]|date=Sep 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020155343/http://comikazeexpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Comikaze-Panel-Schedule-Saturday-9-1.15.121.pdf|archive-date=October 20, 2012}}</ref> Other steampunk notables such as [[Professor Elemental]] have expressed similar views about steampunk's inclusive diversity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/10/professor-elemental-defines-steampunk-or-at-least-tries-to|title=Professor Elemental Defines Steampunk (or, at Least Tries to)|author=Professor Elemental|publisher=[[Tor.com]]|date=Oct 2012|access-date=2012-11-09|archive-date=2015-04-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409072133/http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/10/professor-elemental-defines-steampunk-or-at-least-tries-to|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some have proposed a steampunk philosophy that incorporates punk-inspired anti-establishment sentiments typically bolstered by optimism about human potential.<ref>{{cite web|last=Swerlick|first=Andrew|title=Technology Gets Steampunk'd|date=May 11, 2007|url=http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=24611|access-date=August 4, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209175637/http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=24611|archive-date=December 9, 2007}}</ref> A 2004 "Steampunk Manifesto," later republished in ''[[SteamPunk Magazine]]'', lamented that most "so-called" steampunk was nothing more than dressed-up recreationary [[nostalgia]] and proposed that "authentic" steampunk would "take the levers of technology from the [technocrats] and powerful."<ref name="Steampunk Manifesto">{{cite web|author=Prof. Calamity|title=Steampunk Manifesto|date=November 27, 2004|publisher=LiveJournal|url=https://prof-calamity.livejournal.com/277.html|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807204010/https://prof-calamity.livejournal.com/277.html|url-status=live}}{{self-published inline|date=July 2020}}</ref> American activist and performer Miriam Rosenberg Rocek impersonated [[anarcha-feminist]] [[Emma Goldman]] to inspire discussions around gender, society and politics.<ref name=Nally/> ''SteamPunk Magazine'' was edited and published by anarchists. Its founder, [[Margaret Killjoy]], argued "there have always been radical politics at the core of steampunk."<ref name=Killjoy>{{cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2011/10/03/steampunk-will-never-be-afraid-of-politics/|title=Steampunk Will Never Be Afraid Of Politics|publisher=Tor.com|date=October 3, 2011|last=Killjoy|first=Margaret|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807134517/https://www.tor.com/2011/10/03/steampunk-will-never-be-afraid-of-politics/|url-status=live}}</ref> Diana M. Pho, a science-fiction editor and author of the multicultural steampunk blog [https://beyondvictoriana.com ''Beyond Victoriana''], similarly argued steampunk's "[[Progressivism|progressive]] roots" can be traced to its literary inspirations, including Verne's [[Captain Nemo]].<ref name=Pho>{{citation|url=https://overland.org.au/previous-issues/issue-207/feature-diana-m-pho/|title=Leftist constructs|first=Diana M.|last=Pho|journal=Overland|issue=207|date=Winter 2012|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807144817/https://overland.org.au/previous-issues/issue-207/feature-diana-m-pho/|url-status=live}}</ref> Steampunk authors [[Phenderson Djèlí Clark]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://disgruntledharadrim.com/2013/04/17/radical-dirigibles-black-socialists-anarchists-reformers-and-airships/|title=Radical Dirigibles – Black Socialists, Anarchists, Reformers and Airships|publisher=The Musings of a Disgruntled Haradrim|date=April 17, 2013|last=Clark|first=Phenderson Djèlí|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728131739/https://disgruntledharadrim.com/2013/04/17/radical-dirigibles-black-socialists-anarchists-reformers-and-airships/|url-status=live}}</ref> Jaymee Goh,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2009/10/19/there-is-totally-punk-in-steampunk/|title=There is Totally Punk in Steampunk|publisher=Tor.com|date=October 19, 2009|last=Goh|first=Jaymee|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807090422/https://www.tor.com/2009/10/19/there-is-totally-punk-in-steampunk/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Dru Pagliassotti]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://drupagliassotti.com/2009/02/11/does-steampunk-have-politics/|title=Does Steampunk Have Politics?|date=February 11, 2009|last=Pagliassotti|first=Dru|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728122513/http://drupagliassotti.com/2009/02/11/does-steampunk-have-politics/|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Charlie Stross]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/10/the-hard-edge-of-empire.html|title=The hard edge of empire|date=October 27, 2010|last=Stross|first=Charlie|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701040907/http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/10/the-hard-edge-of-empire.html|url-status=live}}</ref> consider their work political.

These views are not universally shared.<ref name=Poeter/> Killjoy lamented that even some diehard enthusiasts believe steampunk "has nothing to offer but designer clothes."<ref name=Killjoy/> Pho argued many steampunk fans "don't like to acknowledge that their attitudes could be considered ideological."<ref name=Pho/> The largest online steampunk community, [http://brassgoggles.co.uk ''Brass Goggles''], which is dedicated to what it calls the "lighter side" of steampunk, banned discussion about politics. Cory Gross, who was one of the first to write about the history and theory of steampunk, argued that the "[[Photographic print toning|sepia-toned]] yesteryear more appropriate for Disney and grandparents than a vibrant and viable philosophy or culture" denounced in the ''Steampunk Manifesto''<ref name="Steampunk Manifesto"/> was in fact representative of the genre.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gross|first=Cory|title=A History of Steampunk, by Cory Gross|date=August 27, 2010|url=http://steampunkscholar.blogspot.com/2010/08/history-of-steampunk-by-cory-gross.html|publisher=Steampunk Scholar|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807092726/http://steampunkscholar.blogspot.com/2010/08/history-of-steampunk-by-cory-gross.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Author [[Catherynne M. Valente]] called the punk in steampunk "nearly meaningless."<ref>{{cite web|last=Valente|first=Catherynne M.|title=Blowing Off Steam|work=Jeff VanderMeer |date=November 28, 2007|url=https://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2007/11/28/blowing-off-steam/|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728120032/https://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2007/11/28/blowing-off-steam/|url-status=live}}</ref> Kate Franklin and James Schafer, who at the time managed one of the largest steampunk groups on [[Facebook]], admitted in 2011 that steampunk hadn't created the "revolutionary, or even a particularly progressive" community they wanted.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Franklin|first1=Kate|last2=Schafer|first2=James|title=Why Steampunk (still) Matters|url=http://parliamentandwake.com/veil/whysteampunkmatters/whysteampunkmatters.html|access-date=Jul 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301174950/http://parliamentandwake.com/veil/whysteampunkmatters/whysteampunkmatters.html|archive-date=March 1, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Blogger and podcaster Eric Renderking Fisk announced in 2017 that steampunk was no longer punk, since it had "lost the [[Anti-authoritarianism|anti-authoritarian]], [[anti-establishment]] aspects."<ref>{{cite web|last=Fisk|first=Eric Renderking|title=Requiem for Steampunk|date=March 4, 2017|url=https://thefedorachronicles.com/rants/2017/requiem_for_steampunk.html|publisher=The Fedora Chronicles|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707135805/https://thefedorachronicles.com/rants/2017/requiem_for_steampunk.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Others argued explicitly against turning steampunk into a political movement,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/2010/11/get-your-punk-out-of-my-steam/|title=Get Your Punk Out of My Steam|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|date=November 5, 2010|last=Ottens|first=Nick|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728135155/https://neverwasmag.com/2010/11/get-your-punk-out-of-my-steam/|url-status=live}}</ref> preferring to see steampunk as "[[escapism]]"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/2011/10/is-steampunk-radically-political/|title=Is Steampunk Radically Political?|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|date=October 20, 2011|last=Rauchfuß|first=Marcus|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728111603/https://neverwasmag.com/2011/10/is-steampunk-radically-political/|url-status=live}}</ref> or a "fandom".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2012.pdf|title=The Steampunk Fandom|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|issue=12|page=5|date=May 2010|first=Chris|last=Garcia|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728111607/https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2012.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, Nick Ottens, editor of the online alternate-history magazine ''Never Was'', declared that the "lighter side" of steampunk had won out.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/2018/03/punk-is-dead-long-live-steampunk/|title=Punk Is Dead. Long Live Steampunk!|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|date=March 31, 2018|last=Ottens|first=Nick|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728131735/https://neverwasmag.com/2018/03/punk-is-dead-long-live-steampunk/|url-status=live}}</ref> To the extent that steampunk is [[politicization|politicized]], it appears to be an American and British phenomenon. Continental Europeans<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/2011/12/a-rupture-between-continents/|title=A Rupture Between Continents?|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|date=December 1, 2011|last=Heyvaert|first=Hilde|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723044730/https://neverwasmag.com/2011/12/a-rupture-between-continents/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Latin Americans<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2019.pdf|title=Iberoamerica: The Lost World|magazine=Gatehouse Gazette|issue=19|page=18|date=March 2011|first=Araceli|last=Rodríguez|access-date=Jul 28, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728111843/https://neverwasmag.com/Gazette%20-%2019.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> are more likely to consider steampunk a hobby than a cause.

===Social events===
June 19, 2005 marked the grand opening of the world's first steampunk club night, Malediction Society, in [[Los Angeles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2010/10/22/the-steampunk-music-timeline/|title=The Amazing Fantastic Steampunk Timeline of Music and Things|website=Tor.com|date=Oct 22, 2010|last=Kriete|first=Evelyn|access-date=Jan 29, 2019|archive-date=January 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129182103/https://www.tor.com/2010/10/22/the-steampunk-music-timeline/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Lecaro>{{cite web|url=https://www.laweekly.com/music/club-monte-cristo-to-close-after-19-years-after-one-last-party-from-xian-vox-and-ladead-8091384|title=The Monte Cristo, Longtime Home to Dark L.A. Nightlife, Is Closing Down|newspaper=[[LA Weekly]]|date=Apr 4, 2017|last=Lecaro|first=Lina|access-date=Jan 29, 2019|archive-date=January 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129183859/https://www.laweekly.com/music/club-monte-cristo-to-close-after-19-years-after-one-last-party-from-xian-vox-and-ladead-8091384|url-status=live}}</ref> The event ran for nearly 12 years at The Monte Cristo nightclub, interrupted by a single year residency at Argyle Hollywood, until both the club night and The Monte Cristo closed in April 2017.<ref name=Lecaro/> Though the steampunk aesthetic eventually gave way to a more generic [[Gothic rock|goth]] and [[Industrial music|industrial]] aesthetic, Malediction Society celebrated its roots every year with "The Steampunk Ball".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.laweekly.com/music/steampunk-industrial-complex-bridging-subcultures-at-malediction-society-2405248|title=Steampunk Industrial Complex: Bridging Subcultures at Malediction Society|newspaper=LA Weekly|date=Jun 23, 2009|last=Ohanesian|first=Liz|access-date=Jan 29, 2019|archive-date=January 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129182211/https://www.laweekly.com/music/steampunk-industrial-complex-bridging-subcultures-at-malediction-society-2405248|url-status=live}}</ref>

The year 2006 saw the first "SalonCon", a neo-Victorian/steampunk convention. It ran for three consecutive years and featured artists, musicians ([[Voltaire (musician)|Voltaire]] and Abney Park), and authors ([[Catherynne M. Valente]], [[Ekaterina Sedia]], and [[G. D. Falksen]]). It also featured [[Salon (gathering)|salons]] led by people prominent in their respective fields, workshops and panels on steampunk, and a seance, ballroom dance instruction, and the Chrononauts' Parade. The event was covered by MTV<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/videos/news/280093/its-airships-pirates-and-goggles.jhtml#id=1595811|title=Steampunk Infiltrates the Mainstream|website=[[MTV]]|access-date=Feb 25, 2010|archive-date=May 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513210615/http://www.mtv.com/videos/news/280093/its-airships-pirates-and-goggles.jhtml#id=1595811|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ''The New York Times''.<ref name="La Ferla"/> Since then, a number of popular steampunk conventions have sprung up the world over, with names like [[Steamcon]] ([[Seattle]]), the [[Steampunk World's Fair]] ([[Piscataway, New Jersey]]), Up in the Aether: The Steampunk Convention ([[Dearborn, Michigan]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/01/steampunk-conventions-2013|title=Gearing Up for 2013: A Steampunk Conventions Listing|author=Ay-leen the Peacemaker|date=Jan 10, 2013|access-date=March 27, 2013|archive-date=May 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514001938/http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/01/steampunk-conventions-2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Steampunk NZ ([[Oamaru, New Zealand]]), Steampunk Unlimited ([[Strasburg Railroad]], [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster, PA]]).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/11/steampunk_unlimited_strasburg_1.html|title=Strasburg Rail Road's Steampunk UnLimited draws more than 1,000 on its first day|work=PennLive|agency=The Patriot-News|date=16 November 2013|last1=Hatmaker|first1=Julia|access-date=26 May 2015|archive-date=27 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527020949/http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/11/steampunk_unlimited_strasburg_1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Each year, on Mother's Day weekend, the city of [[Waltham, Massachusetts|Waltham, MA]], turns over its city center and surrounding areas to host the [[Watch City Steampunk Festival]], a US outdoor steampunk festival. In [[Kennebunk, Maine|Kennebunk, ME]] the [[Brick Store Museum]] hosts the Southern Maine Steampunk Fair annually.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2019-08-01|title=Steampunk Fair returns to Kennebunk on Aug. 10|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2019/08/01/steampunk-fair-returns-to-kennebunk-on-aug-10/|access-date=2021-11-12|website=Portland Press Herald|archive-date=2021-11-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112044520/https://www.pressherald.com/2019/08/01/steampunk-fair-returns-to-kennebunk-on-aug-10/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=23 July 2020|title=Southern Maine Steampunk Fair moved to digital format|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2020/07/23/southern-maine-steampunk-fair-moved-to-digital-format/|access-date=11 November 2021|website=Portland Press Herald|archive-date=12 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112044518/https://www.pressherald.com/2020/07/23/southern-maine-steampunk-fair-moved-to-digital-format/|url-status=live}}</ref> During the first weekend of May, the Australian town of [[Nimmitabel]] celebrates Steampunk @ Altitude with some 2,000 people in attendance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://snowymountains.com.au/event?ev=5ad4e27a4023c8aa109829cd|title=Steampunk At Altitude (2020)|publisher=Regional Tourism Organisation for the Snowy Mountains|access-date=April 4, 2020|archive-date=March 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316040715/http://snowymountains.com.au/event?ev=5ad4e27a4023c8aa109829cd|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:CarnevaleSteampunk.JPG|thumb|A steampunk couple at Carnevale 2012 in [[Boise, Idaho]] ]]
In recent years, steampunk has also become a regular feature at [[San Diego Comic-Con]], with the Saturday of the four-day event being generally known among steampunks as "Steampunk Day", and culminating with a photo-shoot for the local press.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://frocktalk.com/?p=1237|title=Comic Con: Day Three&nbsp;– Steampunks!|publisher=FrockTalk.com|date=July 28, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210104/http://frocktalk.com/?p=1237|archive-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/san-diego-comic-con-2010-day-3-30647156/24/|title=San Diego Comic-Con 2010 Day 3|newspaper=LA Weekly|access-date=Jul 31, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022052805/http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/san-diego-comic-con-2010-day-3-30647156/24/|archive-date=October 22, 2013}}</ref> In 2010, this was recorded in the [[Guinness Book of World Records]] as the world's largest steampunk photo shoot.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/9000/largest-gathering-of-steampunks|title=Largest Gathering of Steampunks (2010)|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=Jul 11, 2012}}</ref> In 2013, Comic-Con announced four official 2013 T-shirts, one of them featuring the official [[Rick Geary]] Comic-Con toucan mascot in steampunk attire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comic-con.org/toucan/comic-con-2013-t-shirts-revealed|title=Comic-Con 2013 T-Shirts Revealed!|publisher=comic-con.org|date=July 1, 2013|access-date=Jul 2, 2013|archive-date=July 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704181945/http://www.comic-con.org/toucan/comic-con-2013-t-shirts-revealed|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Saturday steampunk "after-party" has also become a major event on the steampunk social calendar: in 2010, the headliners included The Slow Poisoner, Unextraordinary Gentlemen, and [[Aurelio Voltaire]], with [[Veronique Chevalier]] as Mistress of Ceremonies and special appearance by the [[League of STEAM]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chrononautclub.com/special.htm|title=The League of Temporal Adventurers First Society Gala|access-date=Jul 29, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122033110/http://www.chrononautclub.com/special.htm|archive-date=January 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.laweekly.com/stylecouncil/fandom/voltaire-comic-con-san-diego/|title=Comic-Con Interview: Musician/Artist Voltaire is a Convention Renaissance Man|newspaper=LA Weekly|date=July 28, 2010|first=Liz|last=Ohanesian|access-date=Jul 31, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801062654/http://blogs.laweekly.com/stylecouncil/fandom/voltaire-comic-con-san-diego/|archive-date=August 1, 2010}}</ref> in 2011, UXG returned with Abney Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/2092/26205610150364945442306.jpg|title=Promotional poster for Comic Con's steampunk after-party, "The Time Machine"|access-date=Jul 23, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323222230/http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/2092/26205610150364945442306.jpg|archive-date=March 23, 2012}}</ref>

Steampunk has also sprung up recently at Renaissance Festivals and [[Renaissance Fair]]es, in the US. Some festivals have organised events or a "Steampunk Day", while others simply support an open environment for donning steampunk attire. The [[Bristol Renaissance Faire]] in [[Kenosha, Wisconsin]], on the [[Wisconsin]]/[[Illinois]] border, featured a Steampunk costume contest during the 2012 season, the previous two seasons having seen increasing participation in the phenomenon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesteampunkempire.com/events/event/listByLocation?location=Bristol+Renaissance+Fair|title=Steampunk Empire: All Events in Bristol Renaissance Faire|access-date=Oct 5, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203003615/http://www.thesteampunkempire.com/events/event/listByLocation?location=Bristol+Renaissance+Fair|archive-date=February 3, 2014}}</ref>

Steampunk also has a growing following in the UK and Europe. The largest European event is "[[Weekend at the Asylum]]", held at [[The Lawn, Lincoln]], every September since 2009. Organised as a not-for-profit event by the Ministry of Steampunk (formerly Victorian Steampunk Society), the Asylum is a dedicated steampunk event which takes over much of the historical quarter of [[Lincoln, England]], along with [[Lincoln Castle]]. In 2011, there were over 1,000 steampunks in attendance. The event features the Empire Ball, Majors Review, Bazaar Eclectica, and the international Tea Duelling final.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://steampunk.synthasite.com/|title=The Asylum|access-date=Feb 17, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325111027/http://steampunk.synthasite.com/|archive-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pastbooks.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/tea-duelling-and-other-splendid-steampunk-adventures-at-lincoln-2014/|title=Tea Duelling|access-date=Feb 17, 2015|date=Sep 23, 2014|archive-date=January 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150117072738/https://pastbooks.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/tea-duelling-and-other-splendid-steampunk-adventures-at-lincoln-2014/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Surrey Steampunk Convivial was originally held in [[New Malden]], but since 2019 has been held in [[Stoneleigh, Surrey|Stoneleigh]] in southwestern London, within walking distance of [[H. G. Wells]]'s home.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eehe.org.uk/?p=24117|title=H G Wells Literature and Love|publisher=G R Crawford|access-date=3 September 2015|archive-date=15 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115234014/https://eehe.org.uk/?p=24117|url-status=live}}</ref> The Surrey Steampunk Convivial started as an annual event in 2012, and now takes place thrice a year, and has spanned three boroughs and five venues.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/9560784.steampunks-hit-epsom/|title=Steampunks hit Epsom|date=29 February 2012|publisher=Surrey Comet|access-date=27 November 2018|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127110209/https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/9560784.steampunks-hit-epsom/|url-status=live}}</ref> Attendees have been interviewed by [[Phill Jupitus]] for [[BBC Radio 4]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrGDwumqaso |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/OrGDwumqaso| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=BBC radio {{sic|nolink=y|documentary}} about Steampunk with Phill Jupitus|date=20 May 2013 |publisher=toswitchoffvoicemail|access-date=3 September 2015|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and filmed by the [[BBC World Service]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTtSQT5u9R4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/eTtSQT5u9R4| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=The Surrey Steampunk Convivial|date=6 May 2015 |publisher=Ben Henderson|access-date=3 September 2015|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The West Yorkshire village of [[Haworth]] has held an annual Steampunk weekend since 2013,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haworth-village.co.uk/steampunk/|title=The Haworth Steampunk Weekend|website=www.haworth-village.co.uk|access-date=Jun 20, 2016|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303113646/http://www.haworth-village.co.uk/steampunk/|url-status=live}}</ref> on each occasion as a charity event raising funds for [[Sue Ryder (charity)|Sue Ryder's "Manorlands" hospice]] in [[Oxenhope]]. In September 2021, [[Finland]]'s first steampunk festival was held at the [[Väinö Linna Square]] and the Werstas Workers' House in [[Tampere]], [[Pirkanmaa]], Finland.<ref>[https://www.steampunk.fi/ OHJELMA 2021 – Steampunk Tampere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919064516/http://www.steampunk.fi/ |date=2021-09-19 }} (in Finnish)</ref><ref>[https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12106196 YLE: Tampereella käynnistyi Suomen ensimmäinen steampunk-festivaali: katso tästä muinaisen teknologian höyrystämät kuvat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919072118/https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12106196 |date=2021-09-19 }} (in Finnish)</ref>

===Other===
Physicist [[Nicole Yunger Halpern]]'s 2018 Ph.D. dissertation used the phrase "Quantum Steampunk" in the title. Yunger Halpern has discussed the relationship between her research in physics to historical thermodynamics research.<ref>Nicole Yunger Halpern, "Quantum Steampunk: 19th-Century Science Meets Technology of Today", ''Scientific American'' '''322''':5:n.p., [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-steampunk-19th-century-science-meets-technology-of-today/ May 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424143346/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-steampunk-19th-century-science-meets-technology-of-today/|date=2020-04-24}}</ref><ref>Nicole Yunger Halpern, "Quantum steampunk: Quantum information, thermodynamics, their intersection, and applications thereof across physics", Ph.D. Dissertation, California Institute of Technology, 2018 {{doi|10.7907/96EJ-N815}} {{arXiv|1807.09786}}</ref> In 2022 she published the book "Quantum Steampunk", which uses the idea of quantum steampunk to explain quantum physics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halpern |first=Nicole Yunger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0blgEAAAQBAJ |title=Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday's Tomorrow |date=2022-04-12 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-1-4214-4372-0 |language=en}}</ref> While the term has not been widely adopted, Yunger Halpern has promoted and discussed quantum steampunk as a genre, organizing a quantum steampunk writing competition at the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Halpern |first=Nicole Yunger |date=2022-10-10 |title=Announcing the quantum-steampunk short-story contest! |url=https://quantumfrontiers.com/2022/10/09/announcing-the-quantum-steampunk-short-story-contest/ |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Quantum Frontiers |language=en}}</ref>

A 2012 conference paper on [[human factors]] in computing systems examined the use of steampunk as a [[design fiction]] for [[human-computer interaction]] (HCI). It concludes that "the practices of DIY and appropriation that are evident in Steampunk design provide a useful set of design strategies and implications for HCI".<ref>Theresa Jean Tanenbaum, Karen Tanenbaum, Ron Wakkary, "Steampunk as Design Fiction", ''Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems'' (CHI '12), May 2012, {{doi|10.1145/2207676.2208279}}, pp. 1583–1592</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Speculative fiction}}
* [[Air pirate]] – Common stock character in steampunk
* {{annotated link|Alternate history}}
* {{annotated link|Cyberpunk}}
* {{annotated link|Cyberpunk derivatives}}
* [[Dark academia]]
* {{annotated link|Dieselpunk}}
* {{annotated link|Retrofuturism}}
* {{annotated link|Retrotronics}}
* {{annotated link|Tik-Tok (Oz)}}
* [[Technological utopianism]]
* [[Afrofuturism]]
* [[Solarpunk]]
* [[Pasquale's Angel]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Alkon |first=Paul K. |year=1994 |title=Science Fiction Before 1900: Imagination Discovers Technology |location=New York; Toronto |publisher=Twayne Publishers; Maxwell Macmillan |isbn=978-0-8057-0952-0 |oclc=29258896}}
* {{cite book |last=Donovan |first=Art |year=2011 |title=The Art of Steampunk: Extraordinary Devices and Ingenious Contraptions from the Leading Artists of the Steampunk Movement |location=East Petersburg, PA |publisher=Fox Chapel Publishers |isbn=978-1-56523-573-1 |oclc=682894178}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Erlich |editor1-first=Richard D. |editor2-last=Dunn |editor2-first=Thomas P. |year=1983 |title=Clockwork Worlds: Mechanized Environments in SF |location=Westport, Conn. |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-23026-4 |oclc=9323267}}
* {{cite book |last=Guillemois |first=Alban |year=2006 |title=Louis la lune |location=Paris |publisher=Albin Michel |isbn=978-2-226-16675-3 |oclc=747952415}}
* {{cite book |last=Landon |first=Brooks |year=2002 |title=Science Fiction After 1900: From the Steam Man to the Stars |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-93888-4 |oclc=50526879}}
* {{cite book |last=Nevins |first=Jess |author-link=Jess Nevins |year=2005 |title=The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana |others=Introduction: [[Michael Moorcock]] |location=Austin, TX |publisher=MonkeyBrain Books |isbn=978-1-932265-15-6 |oclc=62469949}}
* [https://open.lnu.se/index.php/hn/article/view/4306/3797 Nilson, Maria (2024) "'Longing for What Never Was' – Steampunk Romance and Nostalgia", ''HumaNetten'' 52.]
* {{cite book |last=Perschon |first=Mike |year=2018 |title=Steampunk FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World of Goggles, Airships, and Time Travel |location=Milwaukee, WI |publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books |isbn=978-1-61713-664-1 |oclc=1023524878}}
* {{cite magazine |editor-last=Person |editor-first=Lawrence |date=Winter 1988 |title=Steampunks! Theme Issue<!-- Multiple articles --> |magazine=[[Nova Express (fanzine)|Nova Express]] |volume=2 |issue=2: Steampunks |location=Austin, TX, USA}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Slusser |editor1-first=George |editor2-last=Shippey |editor2-first=Tom |year=1992 |title=Fiction 2000: Cyberpunk and the Future of Narrative |location=Athens, GA |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-1425-9 |oclc=24953403}}
* {{cite book |last=Strongman |first=Jay |year=2010 |title=Steampunk: The Art of Victorian Futurism |location=London |publisher=Korero Books |isbn=978-1-907621-03-1 |oclc=610822460}}
* {{cite book |last=Suvin |first=Darko |year=1983 |title=Victorian Science Fiction in the UK: The Discourses of Knowledge and Power |url=https://archive.org/details/victorianscience0000suvi |url-access=registration |location=Boston |publisher=G.K. Hall |isbn=978-0-8161-8435-4 |oclc=9645769}}
* {{cite book |last1=Westfahl |first1=Gary |first2=George |last2=Slusser |first3=David |last3=Leiby |year=2002 |title=Worlds Enough and Time: Explorations of Time in Science Fiction and Fantasy |location=Westport, Conn. |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-31706-4 |oclc=543793951}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* ''[https://www.pbs.org/video/off-book-off-book-steampunk/ Steampunk Culture]''—Documentary produced by ''[[Off Book (web series)|Off Book]]''

{{Cyberpunk and derivatives|state=expand}}
{{Science fiction}} 
{{Fantasy fiction}}
{{Film genres}}
{{Gothic}}
{{Goth subculture}}
{{Authority control}}

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