Heroic fantasy is a story about a hero and his or her adventures. Heroic fantasy has evolved from sword and sorcery with which it shares basics of plot and characterization. The subgenre is also sometimes referred to as adventure fantasy.

Some people group heroic fantasy with high fantasy; however, in heroic fantasy the emphasis is on the hero and the adventures undertaken and there is not necessarily a grand motive for which the hero is fighting.

The term sword and sorcery is generally attributed to Fritz Leiber who coined it to describe the pulp adventures popularized by Robert E. Howard, author of the Conan the Barbarian stories.

The key elements of heroic fantasy are the hero--often a person of humble origin or a reluctant leader--and his or her adventures in pursuit of some goal or quest.

Garyn Roberts notes that the hero of sword and sorcery is "physically strong and beautiful, is alone and orphaned, and judges morality and creates justice by an innate sense of what is right. . . . [The are ]emotional and perhaps crafty. . . but . . . not . . . intellectual heavyweights" (207)

Early practitioners of sword and sorcery fiction include:

• Edgar Rice Burroughs
• H. Rider Haggard
• Robert E. Howard

Fritz Leiber's tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser provide a good range of stories with some depth of characterization.

Some more modern writers of heroic fantasy include:

• Stephen R. Donaldson with his Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
• Michael Moorcock with his Elric books
• Terry Pratchett for an ironic take on this subgenre.