Action fiction

Fiction-writing mode or genre

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Action fiction is a literary genre that focuses on stories that involve high-stakes, high-energy, and fast-paced events. This genre includes a wide range of subgenres, such as spy novels, adventure stories, tales of terror and intrigue ("cloak and dagger") and mysteries. This kind of story utilizes suspense, the tension that is built up when the reader wishes to know how the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is going to be resolved or what the solution to the puzzle of a thriller is.[1]

## Genre fiction[edit]

Action genre is a form of fiction whose subject matter is characterized by emphasis on exciting action sequences. This does not always mean they exclude character development or story-telling. The action genre is also related to comic books and graphic novel formats such as manga, and non-literary media including anime, action film, action television series, and action games. It includes martial arts action, extreme sports action, car chases and vehicles, hand-to-hand combat, suspense action, and action comedy, with each focusing in more detail on its own type and flavor of action. It is usually possible to tell from the creative style of an action sequence, the emphasis of an entire work, so that, for example, the style of a combat sequence will indicate whether the entire work can be classified as action-adventure, or a martial work. Action is mainly defined by a central focus on any kind of exciting movement.[2][3][4][5]

## Notable examples[edit]

### Novels[edit]

* 58 Minutes (1987)
* The Bourne Identity (1980)
* The Chinaman (1992)
* First Blood (1972)
* Man on Fire (1980)
* Nothing Lasts Forever (1979)

### Films[edit]

* Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
* Dirty Harry (1971)
* The Equalizer (2014)
* Hanna (2011)
* The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
* Mad Max: Fury Road (2015 )
* Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
* Seven Samurai (1954)
* Top Gun (1986)
* The Villainess (2017)

### Television series[edit]

* Airwolf (1984)
* The A-Team (1983)
* Counterstrike (1990)
* Fallout (2024)
* Highlander: The Series (1992)
* MacGyver (1985)
* My Name (2021)
* Nikita (2010)

### Comics[edit]

* Action Comics (1938)
* Captain Easy (1933)
* Connie (1927)
* Dick Tracy (1931)
* The Phantom (1936)
* Tarzan (1929)
* Terry and the Pirates (1934)

### Animation[edit]

* Arcane (2021)
* Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
* Blue Eye Samurai (2023)
* Ghost in the Shell (1995)
* Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
* The Legend of Korra (2012)
* The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

## See also[edit]

* Action-adventure game
* Action hero
* Martial arts film
* Pace (narrative)
* Spy fiction
* Thriller novel
* List of female action heroes and villains
* List of male action heroes and villains
* List of genres

## References[edit]

1. ^ Turco (1999, pp. 58, 116)
2. ^ "Action". Literary Terms. October 21, 2016.
3. ^ Nibandhe, Sushmita (January 8, 2024). "10 Best Comic Books For Adventure And Action Lovers". The Education Magazine.
4. ^ Dow, Isabella (April 26, 2017). "The Appeal of the Action Genre". The Heights.
5. ^ Hellerman, Jason (December 6, 2023). "The Action Genre in Film and TV". No Film School. Retrieved 1 May 2024.

### Sources[edit]

* Turco, Lewis (1999). The Book of Literary Terms: The Genres of Fiction, Drama, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, and Scholarship (1st ed.). Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England. ISBN 978-0874519549.

## External links[edit]

* Media related to Action (genre) at Wikimedia Commons

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Narrative

Character|

* Antagonist
* Archenemy
* Character arc
* Character flaw
* Characterization
* Confidant
* Deuteragonist
* False protagonist
* Focal character
* Foil
* Gothic double
* Hamartia
* Hero
* Anti
* Byronic
* Tragic
* Narrator
* Protagonist
* Stock character
* Straight man
* Supporting character
* Title character
* Tritagonist
* Villain

Plot|

* Ab ovo
* Action
* Backstory
* Origin story
* Chekhov's gun
* Cliché
* Cliffhanger
* Conflict
* Deus ex machina
* Dialogue
* Dramatic structure
* Eucatastrophe
* Foreshadowing
* Flashback
* Flashforward
* Frame story
* In medias res
* Kishōtenketsu
* MacGuffin
* Pace
* Plot device
* Plot twist
* Poetic justice
* Red herring
* Reveal
* Self-insertion
* Shaggy dog story
* Stereotype
* Story arc
* Story within a story
* Subplot
* Suspense
* Trope

Setting|

* Alternate history
* Backstory
* Crossover
* Dreamworld
* Dystopia
* Fictional location
* city
* country
* universe
* parallel
* Utopia
* Worldbuilding

Theme|

* Irony
* Leitmotif
* Metaphor
* Moral
* Moral development
* Motif
* Deal with the Devil
* Conflict between good and evil
* Self-fulfilling prophecy
* Time travel

Style|

* Allegory
* Bathos
* Comic relief
* Diction
* Figure of speech
* Imagery
* Mode
* Mood
* Narration
* Narrative techniques
* Hook
* Show, don't tell
* Stylistic device
* Suspension of disbelief
* Symbolism
* Tone

Structure|

* Act
* Act structure
* Three-act structure
* Freytag's Pyramid
* Exposition/Protasis
* Rising action/Epitasis
* Climax/Peripeteia
* Falling action/Catastasis
* Denouement/Catastrophe
* Linear narrative
* Nonlinear narrative
* films
* television series
* Premise
* Types of fiction with multiple endings

Form|

* Drama
* Fabliau
* Flash fiction
* Folklore
* Fable
* Fairy tale
* Legend
* Myth
* Tall tale
* Gamebook
* Narrative art
* Narrative poetry
* Epic poetry
* Novel
* Novella
* Parable
* Short story
* Vignette

Genre
(List)|

* Autobiography
* Biography
* Fiction
* Action fiction
* Adventure
* Comic
* Crime
* Docu
* Epistolary
* Ergodic
* Erotic
* Historical
* Mystery
* Nautical
* Paranoid
* Philosophical
* Picaresque
* Political
* Pop culture
* Psychological
* Religious
* Rogue
* Romance
* Chivalric
* Prose
* Saga
* Satire
* Speculative fiction
* Fantasy
* Gothic
* Southern
* Horror
* Magic realism
* Science
* Hard
* Utopian and dystopian
* Underwater
* Superhero
* Theological
* Thriller
* Urban
* Western
* Nonfiction
* Novel
* Creative

Narration|

* Diegesis
* First-person
* Second-person
* Third-person
* Third-person omniscient narrative
* Subjectivity
* Unreliable narrator
* Multiple narrators
* Stream of consciousness
* Stream of unconsciousness

Tense|

* Past
* Present
* Future

Related|

* Dominant narrative
* Fiction writing
* Continuity
* Canon
* Reboot
* Retcon
* Parallel novel
* Prequel / Sequel
* Genre
* List
* Literary science
* Literary theory
* Narrative identity
* Narrative paradigm
* Narrative therapy
* Narratology
* Metafiction
* Political narrative
* Rhetoric
* Glossary
* Screenwriting
* Storytelling
* Tellability
* Verisimilitude

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Film genres

By style|

* Action
* Arthouse
* Heroic bloodshed
* Hong Kong action
* Adventure
* Survival
* Art
* Biographical
* Christian
* Comedy
* Action
* Black
* Commedia all'italiana
* Sexy
* Bromantic
* Dramedy
* Gross out
* Horror
* Parody
* Mo lei tau
* Thriller
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* Sex
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* Silent
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* Cyberpunk
* Japanese
* Documentary
* Animated
* City symphony
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* Mockumentary
* Mondo
* Pseudo
* Semi
* Travel
* Video essay
* Drama
* Calligrafismo
* Dramedy
* Historical
* Legal
* Melodrama
* Korean
* Erotic
* Commedia sexy all'italiana
* Pink
* Sexploitation
* Thriller
* Educational
* Social guidance
* Epic
* Sword-and-sandal
* Experimental
* Exploitation
* see Exploitation film template
* Fantasy
* Comedy
* Contemporary
* Fantastique
* High
* Historical
* Magic realism
* Science
* Film noir
* Neo-noir
* Pulp noir
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* Gothic
* Romance
* Southern
* Space
* Suburban
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* Horror
* Arthouse
* Body
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* Chinese horror
* Christmas horror
* Comedy
* Eco
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* Found footage
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* Holiday
* Japanese horror
* Korean horror
* Lovecraftian
* Natural
* New French Extremity
* Psycho-biddy
* Psychological
* Religious
* Science fiction
* Slasher
* Splatter
* Satanic
* Maximalist film
* Minimalist film
* Mumblecore
* Musical
* Arthouse
* Backstage
* Jukebox
* Musicarello
* Operetta
* Sceneggiata
* Mystery
* Detective
* Occult detective
* Whodunit
* Giallo
* Pop culture fiction
* Crossover
* Pornographic
* Hardcore pornography
* Softcore pornography
* (Malayalam)
* Propaganda
* Reality
* Romantic
* Comedy
* Bromantic
* Fantasy
* Gothic
* Paranormal
* Thriller
* Science fiction
* Art
* Comedy
* Fantastique
* Fantasy
* Gothic
* Horror
* Military
* New Wave
* Planetary romance
* Space opera
* Steampunk
* Tokusatsu
* Western
* Slice of life
* Slow cinema
* Thriller
* Comedy
* Erotic
* Financial
* Giallo
* Legal
* New French Extremity
* Political
* Psychological
* Romantic
* Techno
* Transgressive
* Cinema of Transgression
* Extreme cinema
* New French Extremity
* Trick

By theme|

* Animals
* Beach party
* Body swap
* Buddy
* Buddy cop
* Female
* Cannibal
* Chicano
* Colonial
* Coming-of-age
* Concert
* Crime
* Detective
* Gangster
* Gentleman thief
* Gokudō
* Gong'an
* Heist
* Heroic bloodshed
* Hood
* Mafia
* Mafia comedy
* Mumbai underworld
* Poliziotteschi
* Yakuza
* Dance
* Disaster
* Apocalyptic
* Drug
* Psychedelic
* Stoner
* Dystopian
* Ecchi
* Economic
* Ethnographic
* Exploitation
* Blaxploitation
* Mexploitation
* Turksploitation
* Extraterrestrial
* Food and drink
* Gendai-geki
* Ghost
* Goona-goona epic
* Gothic
* Romance
* Space
* Suburban
* Girls with guns
* Harem
* Hentai
* Lolicon
* Shotacon
* Tentacle erotica
* Homeland
* Isekai
* Jidaigeki
* Samurai
* Kaitō
* LGBT
* Yaoi
* Yuri
* Luchador
* Magical girl
* Martial arts
* Bruceploitation
* Chopsocky
* Gun fu
* Kung fu
* Ninja
* Wuxia
* Mecha
* Anime
* Monster
* Giant monster
* Kaiju
* Mummy
* Vampire
* Zombie
* Zombie comedy
* Mountain
* Mouth of Garbage
* Muslim social
* Nature
* Environmental issues
* Opera
* Outlaw biker
* Ozploitation
* Partisan film
* Prison
* Women
* Race
* Rape and revenge
* Road
* Rubble
* Rumberas
* Sexploitation
* Bavarian porn
* Commedia sexy all'italiana
* Mexican sex comedy
* Nazi exploitation
* Pornochanchada
* Nunsploitation
* Sex report
* Shoshimin-eiga
* Slavery
* Slice of life
* Snuff
* South Seas
* Sports
* Spy
* Eurospy
* Superhero
* Surfing
* Swashbuckler
* Sword-and-sandal
* Sword and sorcery
* Travel
* Trial
* Vigilante
* War
* Anti-war
* Euro War
* Submarine
* Western
* Acid
* Contemporary Western
* Dacoit Western
* Fantasy
* Florida
* Horror
* Meat pie
* Northern
* Ostern
* Revisionist
* Science fiction
* Singing cowboy
* Space
* Spaghetti
* Weird Western
* Zapata Western

By movement
or period|

* Absolute
* American eccentric cinema
* New Objectivity
* Australian New Wave
* Auteur films
* Berlin School
* Bourekas
* Brighton School
* British New Wave
* Kitchen sink realism
* Budapest school
* Calligrafismo
* Cannibal boom
* Cinéma du look
* Cinema Novo
* Cinema of Transgression
* Cinéma pur
* Commedia all'italiana
* Czechoslovak New Wave
* Documentary Film Movement
* Dogme 95
* Erra Cinema
* European art cinema
* Film d'art
* Film gris
* Free Cinema
* French New Wave
* German Expressionist
* German underground horror
* Nigerian Golden Age
* Grupo Cine Liberación
* Heimatfilm
* Hollywood on the Tiber
* Hong Kong New Wave
* Indiewood
* Iranian New Wave
* Italian futurist
* Italian neorealist
* Japanese New Wave
* Kammerspielfilm
* L.A. Rebellion
* Lettrist
* Modernist film
* Mumblecore
* Neorealist
* New French Extremity
* New German
* New generation
* New Hollywood
* New Nollywood
* New Queer
* No wave
* Nuevo Cine Mexicano
* Pan-Indian film
* Parallel cinema
* Persian Film
* Poetic realist
* Polish Film School
* Poliziotteschi
* Praška filmska škola
* Prussian film
* Pure Film Movement
* Remodernist
* Romanian New Wave
* Slow cinema
* Spaghetti Western
* Socialist realist
* Social realist
* Kitchen sink realism
* Soviet parallel
* Structural
* Surrealist
* Sword-and-sandal
* Telefoni Bianchi
* Third Cinema
* Toronto New Wave
* Vulgar auteurism
* Yugoslav Black Wave

By demographic|

* Adult
* Black
* Children and family
* Anime
* Men
* Seinen
* Stag
* Teen
* Shōnen
* Shōjo
* Women
* Chick flick
* Josei

By format,
technique,
approach,
or production|

* 3D
* Actuality
* Animation
* Anime
* Art
* Cartoon
* Computer
* Stop-motion
* Traditional
* Anthology
* Art
* B movie
* Behind-the-scenes
* Black-and-white
* Blockbuster
* Cinéma vérité
* Classical Hollywood cinema
* Collage
* Color
* Compilation
* Composite
* Computer screen
* Cult
* midnight movie
* Database cinema
* Docufiction
* Ethnofiction
* Experimental
* Abstract
* Feature
* Featurette
* Film à clef
* Film-poem
* Found footage
* Grindhouse
* Hyperlink cinema
* Independent
* Guerrilla filmmaking
* List of American independent films
* Interstitial art
* Live action
* animation
* Low-budget
* Major film studios
* Masala
* Maximalist film
* Message picture
* Meta-film
* Minimalist film
* Mockbuster
* Modernist film
* Musical short
* Mythopoeia
* Neorealist
* No-budget
* One-shot
* Paracinema
* Participatory
* Poetry
* Postmodernist
* Reverse motion
* Satire
* Sceneggiata
* Semidocumentary
* Serial
* Shinpa
* Short
* Silent
* Slow cinema
* Socialist realist
* Sound
* Underground
* Video nasty
* Vulgar auteurism
* Z movie

* Category
* Portal

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Television genres

By style|

* Drama
* Action-adventure
* Comedy drama
* Fantasy
* Horror
* Legal drama
* Medical drama
* Police procedural
* Political drama
* Science fiction
* Serial drama
* Supernatural
* Thriller
* Comedy
* Mockumentary
* Parody
* Satire
* Sitcom
* Sketch comedy

By theme|

* Adult
* Artistic
* Educational
* Music
* Public affairs
* Religion

By audience|

* Children's program
* Saturday-morning cartoon
* Teen program
* Teen drama
* Teen sitcom

By format|

* Animated
* Anthology series
* CGI
* Puppetry
* Stop motion
* Award show
* Animated cartoon#Television
* Factual television
* Docudrama
* Documentaries
* Fly on the wall
* Reality
* Game shows
* Infomercials
* Instructional television
* Miniseries
* News programs
* Current affairs
* News magazine
* Tabloid television
* Serial
* Soap opera
* Telenovela
* Dizi
* Talent shows
* Talk shows
* Tabloid talk show
* Television movies
* Sketch comedy
* Stand-up comedy
* Variety show

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