Steampunk is a type of science fiction that uses old-fashioned futuristic technology and designs inspired by 19th-century steam-powered machines and styles. Stories in this genre often take place in a different version of the Victorian era or the American frontier, where steam power is still widely used, or in a fantasy world that also uses steam power.

Steampunk includes technologies that would seem out of place in their time, such as inventions imagined by people in the 19th century. These are different from Neo-Victorianism and are based on the fashion, culture, architecture, and art of that era. Examples of such technology include fictional machines from the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, as well as real or imagined items like steam-powered cannons, airships, analog computers, or Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.

This genre often combines elements from fantasy, horror, historical fiction, or alternate history, making it a mix of different types of stories. As a form of speculative fiction, it explores different versions of the past or future and can also discuss real-world issues. The term "steampunk" was first used in 1987, but it now describes many works from as early as the 1950s. A popular type of steampunk is Japanese steampunk, which includes manga and anime with steampunk themes.

Steampunk also refers to art styles, clothing, and subcultures inspired by steampunk fiction, Victorian-era stories, art nouveau designs, and films from the mid-20th century. Some modern tools and objects have been redesigned by artists to look like they belong to the steampunk style. Many visual and musical artists have also been described as steampunk.

History

Steampunk is inspired by stories from the 1800s written by authors like Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, and Edward S. Ellis’s The Steam Man of the Prairies. Many important works that helped shape the steampunk genre were created before the term was used. Titus Alone (1959), by Mervyn Peake, is often called the first true steampunk novel, though some scholars mention Michael Moorcock’s The Warlord of the Air (1971), which was influenced by Peake’s work. The film Brazil (1985) also had an early influence on steampunk, even though it is sometimes linked to a related style called dieselpunk. The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was a comic from the 1970s that showed characters moving between different time periods, similar to Moorcock’s style.

In art, Remedios Varo’s paintings mix Victorian clothing, fantasy, and futuristic ideas. On television, The Wild Wild West (1965–69), a CBS show, was one of the first mainstream examples of steampunk.

Although many important steampunk books were written in the 1960s and 1970s, the term “steampunk” was first used in the 1980s as a playful variation of “cyberpunk.” Science fiction writer K. W. Jeter created the term to describe works by himself, Tim Powers (The Anubis Gates, 1983), and James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986). These books were set in the 19th century and used styles similar to H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. In a letter to a science fiction magazine in 1987, Jeter wrote:

“I think Victorian fantasy stories will become popular again if we can find a name for them. Maybe ‘steam-punks’?”

At the time, Jeter, Powers, and Blaylock did not think much about the term. Earlier works, like Keith Laumer’s Worlds of the Imperium (1962) and Ronald W. Clark’s Queen Victoria’s Bomb (1967), also explored steam-powered technology and alternate histories. Michael Moorcock’s Warlord of the Air (1971) and Harry Harrison’s A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! (1973) are other early examples. The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (mid-1970s) was one of the first steampunk comics. In 1980, Richard A. Lupoff and Steve Stiles began a comic called The Adventures of Professor Thintwhistle and His Incredible Aether Flyer. In 2004, someone described steampunk as “Colonizing the Past so we can dream the future.”

The first use of “steampunk” in a book title was in Paul Di Filippo’s Steampunk Trilogy (1995), which included three stories: one about a clone of Queen Victoria, another about monsters invading Massachusetts, and a third about a love story between Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.

Japanese steampunk includes manga and anime. Steampunk ideas appeared in Japanese comics as early as the 1940s, starting with Osamu Tezuka’s science fiction trilogy: Lost World (1948), Metropolis (1949), and Nextworld (1951). These ideas later influenced anime in the 1970s. Japanese steampunk is inspired by 19th-century European writers like Jules Verne and reflects a fascination with a romanticized version of old Europe, called “akogare no Pari” (“the Paris of our dreams”).

Hayao Miyazaki, a famous Japanese animator, began making steampunk anime in the 1970s, starting with Future Boy Conan (1978). His manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1982) and its 1984 anime version also had steampunk elements. Miyazaki’s most famous steampunk work is Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), which features airships, steam-powered robots, and air pirates. This film is considered a key example of steampunk.

Laputa inspired Hideaki Anno and Studio Gainax to create Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990), a steampunk anime based on Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. This show influenced later works like Steamboy (2004) by Katsuhiro Otomo. Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) was also influenced by Japanese steampunk, especially Miyazaki’s work. Other popular Japanese steampunk works include Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Sakura Wars (1996), and Fullmetal Alchemist (2001).

Steampunk was once confused with retrofuturism, a style that also imagines the past with futuristic ideas. Some scholars say retrofuturism is a type of steampunk.

One of steampunk’s most important contributions is combining digital media with traditional handmade art. Scholars Rachel Bowser and Brian Croxall explain that steampunk encourages people to “get to work re-shaping our contemporary world” through creative, hands-on projects. This connects steampunk to DIY crafts and art that uses everyday materials.

Art, entertainment, and media

Many steampunk visual designs come from Walt Disney's 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This includes the design of the submarine called the Nautilus, its inside, and the underwater equipment used by the crew.

Steampunk design focuses on combining beauty and usefulness. This is similar to the Arts and Crafts Movement. However, John Ruskin, William Morris, and other reformers in the late 1800s disliked machines and industrial production. In contrast, steampunk fans support a way to think about technology that does not oppose it. In the Dutch amusement park De Efteling, there is a ride called Baron 1898, which is themed as a steampunk Victorian haunted goldmine.

Many modern everyday items have been changed by fans to look like Victorian mechanical objects. Examples include computer keyboards and electric guitars. The goal is to use materials like polished brass, iron, wood, and leather, and to make designs that match the style of the Victorian era. This avoids the look of modern industrial design.

In 1994, the Paris Metro station at Arts et Métiers was redesigned by Belgian artist François Schuiten in a steampunk style. This was to honor the works of Jules Verne. The station looks like a submarine, covered in brass, with large gears on the ceiling and windows that show imaginative scenes.

The artist group Kinetic Steam Works brought a working steam engine to the Burning Man festival in 2006 and 2007. A member of the group, Sean Orlando, created a steampunk tree house. This tree house was shown at many festivals and is now permanently displayed at the Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware.

The Neverwas Haul is a three-story, self-moving art vehicle that looks like a Victorian house on wheels. Designed by Shannon O'Hare, it was built by volunteers in 2006 and shown at the Burning Man festival from 2006 to 2015. When completed, it could move at a top speed of 5 miles per hour and needed ten people to operate safely. Today, it is kept at Obtainium Works, an art car factory in Vallejo, California.

In May–June 2008, artist Paul St George showed outdoor interactive video installations that connected London and Brooklyn, New York, using a Victorian-style telectroscope. Using this device, a New York organizer named Evelyn Kriete arranged a transatlantic event for steampunk fans before a steampunk-themed event called Around the World in 80 Days.

In 2009, artist Tim Wetherell made a large wall piece for Questacon that showed the idea of a clockwork universe. This artwork includes moving gears, a working clock, and a 3D movie of the moon's terminator. The movie was created by Antony Williams.

Between 2009 and 2011, the term "steampunk" became common for homemade items sold on Etsy. However, many of these items and styles did not match earlier descriptions of steampunk. Comedian April Winchell, who wrote a book called Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF, shared examples of these items on her website. The blog was popular among steampunk fans and inspired a music video that became famous in the community.

From October 2009 to February 2010, the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford hosted the first major steampunk art exhibition. Curated by New York artist Art Donovan, the event included works by eighteen artists worldwide. It was the most visited exhibition in the museum's history, with over 80,000 visitors. Details about the event were written in The Art of Steampunk, an artist's journal.

In November 2010, The Libratory Steampunk Art Gallery opened in Oamaru, New Zealand. Created to look like a large cave and filled with old industrial equipment, rayguns, and steampunk-themed items, the gallery gives local artists a place to sell their work year-round. A year later, a more permanent gallery called Steampunk HQ opened nearby and became a popular tourist spot.

Steampunk fashion does not have strict rules but often mixes modern styles with Victorian influences. These may include bustles, corsets, gowns, and petticoats; suits with waistcoats, coats, top hats, bowler hats, tailcoats, and spats; or military-style clothing. Accessories like timepieces, parasols, flying goggles, and ray guns are often added. Modern items like cell phones or music players may be changed to look like Victorian objects. Post-apocalyptic elements, such as gas masks, ragged clothing, and tribal designs, can also appear. Mainstream fashion trends like Lolita style, neo-Victorianism, and Romantic Goth have included steampunk influences.

In 2005, Kate Lambert, known as "Kato," started the first steampunk clothing company, "Steampunk Couture," blending Victorian and post-apocalyptic styles. In 2013, IBM predicted that steampunk would become a major trend in retail based on an analysis of online posts. High fashion brands like Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Chanel, and Christian Dior had already used steampunk styles in their runway shows.

In episode 7 of Lifetime's Under the Gunn reality series, contestants were asked to create "steampunk chic" outfits. In a 2012 episode of America's Next Top Model, models competed in a steampunk-themed photo shoot, standing in front of a steam train while holding a live owl.

In 1988, the first version of the science fiction tabletop game Space: 1889 was published. The game is set in an alternate history where Victorian scientific theories led to new technologies. Contributors included Frank Chadwick, Loren Wiseman, and Marcus Rowland.

William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's novel The Difference Engine (1990) is often credited with making steampunk widely known. The book uses ideas from cyberpunk writing to imagine an alternate Victorian era where Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage's steam-powered mechanical computer, called a difference engine, was built. This led to the Information Age beginning over a century earlier than in real life. This setting was different from most steampunk stories because it showed a dark and difficult future.

Culture and community

Because of the popularity of steampunk, more adults are working to make it a culture and lifestyle. Some fans show their love for the genre through fashion, home decor, music, and films. Steampunk combines Victorian-style designs with modern ideas and technology. It can also be called neo-Victorianism, a term described by scholar Marie-Luise Kohlke as "the lasting influence of the 19th century in today’s culture." The subculture has its own magazines, blogs, and online stores.

In September 2012, a panel led by steampunk entertainer Veronique Chevalier and including magician Pop Hadyn and members of the steampunk group the League of STEAM took place at Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo. The panel said that because steampunk includes ideas from other groups like goth, neo-Victorian, and cyberpunk, as well as many fandoms, it is becoming a larger movement rather than just a subculture. Other steampunk figures, like Professor Elemental, have shared similar views about steampunk’s diversity.

Some people believe steampunk has a philosophy that includes ideas from the punk movement, such as opposing authority and being hopeful about human progress. A 2004 "Steampunk Manifesto," later published in SteamPunk Magazine, said that most "so-called" steampunk was just nostalgic costumes and that real steampunk would "take control of technology from powerful groups." Activist Miriam Rosenberg Rocek dressed as Emma Goldman, an anarcha-feminist, to discuss gender and politics. SteamPunk Magazine was run by anarchists. Its founder, Margaret Killjoy, said steampunk has always had strong political ideas. Diana M. Pho, a science-fiction editor and writer of the blog Beyond Victoriana, said steampunk’s roots include progressive ideas from stories like those by Jules Verne. Writers like Phenderson Djèlí Clark, Jaymee Goh, Dru Pagliassotti, and Charlie Stross also see their work as political.

Not everyone agrees. Killjoy said some fans think steampunk is only about fashion. Pho said many fans avoid talking about their beliefs. The largest online steampunk group, Brass Goggles, focuses on the "lighter side" of steampunk and avoids political discussions. Cory Gross, who wrote about steampunk’s history, said the "old-fashioned" look described in the Steampunk Manifesto was actually part of the genre. Author Catherynne M. Valente said the "punk" in steampunk is not meaningful. Kate Franklin and James Schafer, who managed a large steampunk group on Facebook, said in 2011 that steampunk had not created the "revolutionary" community they hoped for. Blogger Eric Renderking Fisk said in 2017 that steampunk is no longer punk because it lost its anti-authority ideas.

Some people believe steampunk should not be political but instead be a form of escape or a fandom. In 2018, Nick Ottens, editor of Never Was, said the "lighter side" of steampunk has become more popular. Steampunk’s political ideas seem to be mostly found in the United States and the United Kingdom. People in Europe and Latin America are more likely to see steampunk as a hobby rather than a movement.

On June 19, 2005, the first steampunk club night, called Malediction Society, opened in Los Angeles. The event lasted nearly 12 years at The Monte Cristo nightclub, with a short break at Argyle Hollywood. Both the club night and the nightclub closed in April 2017. Though steampunk style later changed to more goth and industrial looks, Malediction Society kept celebrating its roots each year with "The Steampunk Ball."

In 2006, the first "SalonCon," a steampunk and neo-Victorian convention, took place. It lasted three years and included artists, musicians (Voltaire and Abney Park), and authors (Catherynne M. Valente, Ekaterina Sedia, and G. D. Falksen). It also had salons, workshops, panels, a seance, ballroom dance lessons, and a parade. The event was covered by MTV and The New York Times. Since then, many steampunk conventions have started around the world, including Steamcon (Seattle), the Steampunk World’s Fair (Piscataway, New Jersey), Up in the Aether (Dearborn, Michigan), Steampunk NZ (Oamaru, New Zealand), and Steampunk Unlimited (Lancaster, PA). Each year, Waltham, MA, hosts the Watch City Steampunk Festival during Mother’s Day weekend. In Kennebunk, ME, the Brick Store Museum holds the Southern Maine Steampunk Fair yearly. In Nimmitabel, Australia, the town celebrates Steampunk @ Altitude with about 2,000 people each May.

In recent years, steampunk has become a regular part of San Diego Comic-Con. The Saturday of the event is known as "Steampunk Day," ending with a photo shoot for the press. In 2010, this photo shoot was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest steampunk photo shoot. In 2013, Comic-Con released four official T-shirts, one featuring a steampunk version of its mascot. The Saturday "after-party" has become a major event for steampunks. In 2010, the headliners included The Slow Poisoner, Unextraordinary Gentlemen, and Aurelio Voltaire, with Veronique Chevalier as host and the League of STEAM making an appearance. In 2011, UXG returned with Abney Park.

Steampunk has also appeared at Renaissance Festivals and Faires in the United States. Some festivals have events or "Steampunk Days," while others allow people to wear steampunk clothes freely. The Bristol Renaissance Faire in Kenosha, Wisconsin, held a steampunk costume contest in 2012, following years of growing interest in the style.

Steampunk is also growing in popularity in the United Kingdom and Europe. The largest European event is "Weekend at the Asylum," held in Lincoln, England, every September since 2009. Organized by the Ministry of Steampunk, the event takes over parts of Lincoln’s historical area and Lincoln Castle. In 2011, over 1,000 people attended. The event includes the Empire Ball, Majors Review, Bazaar Eclectica, and the international Tea Duelling final. The Surrey Steamp