Urban Fantasy is all about magic and the past--how mighty beings who have always existed will affect our modern world as it stands today.

Cyberpunk is all about technology and the future--how technology will change society, and indeed our very nature, challenging us to redefine humanity in a transhuman world.

How can they ever meet?

Science vs Magic

Right away, let's do away with the concept of Science vs. Magic. This is an impossible fight; both are intractable, and the lack of magic in the real world makes it a one-sided conflict. This world isn't a soapbox for or against either of the two: its an exploration of how both have shaped humanity thus far, and how they will continue to do so.

We already live in a world of Science vs Magic; they have traded blows for hundreds of years, and despite Magic not being real, that hasn't stopped the idea of it from faring decently well. Magic has survived into the 21st century; it has shown remarkable ability to adapt, even taking on a scientific guise. The memes of Magic have learned to exploit man's newfound trust in Science while continuing to dwell as ever in his need for higher purpose and specialness. Its objective reality is irrelevant: as a meme, it is as strong as ever.

There is no denying that Magic serves a useful purpose to mankind, as much in the 21st century as ever. Magic fills in the void left by Science; it explains the unknown and the unknowable (assuming the latter literally exists). It gives comfort in these realms, where our lack of sure knowledge brings fear and uncertainty. It is our greatest weapon against our eternal foe: mortality.

For all this, it deserve a pat on the back. Magic is not evil, per se, nor is Science. They are what they are. Good and evil exist in Man, thus it is his choice to what purpose Magic and Science will be put. And that is what BDH is all about.

There are heroes and villains on both sides. Some surely prefer their brand; but neither Magic nor Science will change mankind's fate--he must do that for himself.

The world of 2030 is not perfect--it has some extrapolated, perhaps exaggerated traits, which present problems for heroes to solve (or opportunities for villains to exploit). Like our own world, our problems were created by the actions of man; in his head were ideas both of Magic and Science. Neither one led us to this place alone, nor is one the only possible solution.

Everyone ought to know how Science and Magic can both be used for evil. The challenge for the audience is to also grasp how both can be used for good. Individual characters may take sides on this issue, but the setting does not. Both are held essentially equal, though they may differ substantially in character and effect.

Urban Fantasy vs Superheroes vs Cyberpunk

BDH, like any young, healthy meme, has worn many guises, tried on many outfits, and experimented radically on its path to maturity. And like any healthy meme, it has learned that true identity lies not in avoidance of trope, but knowledge of it, the better to learn one's true place in Ideaspace.

In another life, BDH was urban fantasy; before that, it was Cyberpunk, before that, superheroes, and before even that, urban fantasy again. Was it wrong all but one time? No, it was right and wrong each time. It is all of those things. The error was in trying to be just one.

BDH is a new, separate idea; that means it is not simply one of those ideas. Rather, it is the child of all of them, and like any child, it is youthful, up-to-date, and able to perhaps carry on the work of its forebears in a new generation?

What do I mean? Well, quite specifically, Urban Fantasy and Cyberpunk are obselete. The latter is hopelessly so, and the former's weaknesses will become apparent over the next decade or so. And as for Superheroes, they continually reinvent themselves--a wise strategy for any living organism--but they have much to teach BDH.

And it is in the examination of exactly why those genres are obsolete that BDH will find its purpose. In uniting those disparate concepts, in rebirthing them into a new age, it will bring entirely new ideas to the world, ideas its forebears would be proud to count among their legacy.

Being an entire world (multiverse, really), BDH doesn't have any one single style or tone, but there are certainly pervasive elements across its many facets.

Sci Fi or Fantasy

The late 20th century brought us grittier, more realistic superheroes. Their popularity inspired a counter-revolution from the campier superheroes of yesteryear, but their death throes soon faded; by 2001, superheroes were firmly in the camp of "serious business", though they would always remember their wacky, clownish days with a wink and a smile.

Similarly, Urban Fantasy got off to a rocky start--early entries were rife with melodrama, cheesy romance, and essentially the hallmarks of fanfiction. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; if poorly-written dreck can attract such popularity, the genre must have great potential. Sure enough, as more serious writers came to the fore, the genre matured into one worthy of serious recognition. However, its fantasy roots have left it firmly in the camp of "magic is superior to technology"; by focusing entirely on vampires, wizards, and the mystical, it wastes the potential of the modern world, using it only as a cheap prop (in the worst cases) to explore pure fantasy concepts. This tendency overlooks the potential of modern Earth to provide a verisimilitude that no fantasy world can match. That is something BDH tries specifically to achieve.

Science Fiction is generally distinguished from Fantasy in that the former attempts either to extrapolate current technological trends, or proposes entirely new, but scientifically plausible scenarios, with the intent of exploring the resultant world in an accurate--and hopefully dramatically interesting--manner. Whereas Fantasy delves into the past, harnessing elements of folklore and mythology to explore the present condition of humanity. It re-enacts real or realistic events, using a fantastic backdrop, and replacing humans with outlandish creatures who exaggerate the traits of humanity. By casting the reality of the human condition in such a stark, bold light, Fantasy reveals aspects of our condition that were not as visible or understandable before, and in some cases provides possible answers to our questions about life, the universe and everything.

To that end, it is not unreasonable to claim that most "sci fi" is not Science Fiction; specifically, Star Wars and Star Trek. While some effort is made to explain various technological devices, the essential purpose is not to extrapolate or explore scientific ideas, but to present an exaggerated fantasy, a deliberately-crafted reality, for both entertainment and inspiration. The latter certainly has strong sci-fi elements, but (especially in latter incarnations) is more a tool for exploring the problems and conditions of today through metaphor than of predicting those of tomorrow.

Of course, both worlds are staggeringly successful, and have contributed vast, overwhelmingly positive ideas to the collective mind. They are distinguished from their less-successful cousins, those married to only one or the other genre. This would seem to imply that the union of the two carries great potential, if managed properly. There have been many attempts since, but most have the "wolf in sheep's clothing" conundrum, claiming to be a constructive union, but revealing themselves to be one genre attempting to subvert the other through disguise.

To put a fine point on it, consider Battlestar Galactica; it began as a profound reimagining of science fiction, tackling a classic sci-fi scenario (the robot revolution) and evoking new thought by forcing the audience to imagine the very real and practical concerns of the situations depicted. And yet, there was a fantastic element, too, a religious thread that promised greater depth than the pure, atheistic message of worlds past. There was great potential there. But it was not to be; over time, the mystical element entirely subverted the scientific. All attempts to realistically extrapolate human (and AI) behavior were abandoned; events began to occur because they were mystically ordained. Concepts of fate and destiny overwhelmed human choice. In the end, a not uncertain message that "magic is better than science" led to the complete abandonment of the latter in favor of the former. That is not a constructive union; that is a Trojan Horse.

BDH is not that.

It is not a vehicle to prove that Science is good and Magic is bad. Nor is it the reverse. It is a constructive union.