The fascination humans have with athletic competition extends far beyond the stadium. We not only love watching, playing, or betting on sports, but we also love fantasizing about sports that could be. Fictional sports can be a fascinating topic to consider, as there have been quite a few fantasy, science fiction, and general fiction media that has made up their own sport. In this article, we would like to go over the most interesting and exciting fictional sports.
Shaolin Soccer/Wuxia Sports
In the early 2000s, Stephen Chow introduced the world to the concept of “sport wuxia,” with his film Shaolin Soccer. As the name suggests, the plot of the film revolves around a kung fu master, who develops a fascination with soccer. He uses his knowledge in kung fu to perform incredible feats of skill.
Shaolin Soccer’s success is not surprising. Everybody loves football. It is the most popular betting sport on most, if not all online sportsbooks, and with over 3 billion people backing it, that isn’t surprising. The FIFA World Cup is one of the most popular sporting events in the world, getting billions of fans watching, and millions of punters.
Many of these punters might want to broaden their betting experiences. In 2023, that is easy, as most sportsbooks will also function as an online casino . Once you’ve established that the website is safe to use, you can play any of your favorite games, like slots, roulette, blackjack, and even poker. The connection between Shaolin Soccer and online gambling does not end there. Plenty of slots take themes and inspirations directly from Wuxia Sports, and you can play the Shaolin Soccer slot at various online casinos.
Nobody could have predicted is that Shaolin Soccer’s success would spawn numerous imitators. Kung Fu Dunk’s premise focuses on a martial artist who develops a love of basketball, and the 2003 film Battlefield Baseball, applies the same basic premise to baseball. While none of these sports are fictional, the intensity of fusing them with martial arts, mythical energies, and outright super powers certainly propels them to the land of fantasy.
Quidditch
Can we really deny the impact that the Harry Potter series has had on fantasy and fiction in general? The books and films inspired a whole generation of kids and teens, and continue to do so to this day. They’ve sold over 500 million copies worldwide, and have led to an entire subgenre of “school fantasy.”
In most of the films, there are iconic scenes where Harry plays a fictional sport called Quidditch. Many have described the game as “Rugby on Brooms,” and indeed the description is apt. However, the game also incorporates aspects of cricket, dodgeball, and hockey.
The rules of Quidditch are as follows; there are three categories of balls: The Quaffle, used to score points, the Bludgers, which is magically enchanted to, well bludgeon, the players, and the Golden Snitch, which could win or lose a team the game.
The main goal of the Quidditch players is to score as many goals as they can, while avoiding the Bludgers. All the while, the Seeker hunts down the miniscule Golden Snitch. Grabbing the Golden Snitch automatically wins a team the game.
The game has become so popular, that real-life quidditch leagues are now held. Often called quadball, players run around a field, striding on broomsticks, and largely follow the rules of the fictional sport, though obviously a bit tweaked to fit the real world.
Quidditch is a rare example of a fictional sport being adapted to the real world, instead of a real life sport adapting to a fantasy setting. For that, we certainly believe that it deserves a spot on our list.
Podracing
When Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace first came out, many film-goers were massively disappointed by the film’s focus on political intrigue, some of the actors, the clunky dialogue, and the relatively poor comedy. And though a lot of people have, recently come out in defense of the film , it is largely agreed to be a terrible installment in the Star Wars franchise.
However, there are two scenes that most agree are great. The so-called “Duel of the Fates” and the podracing scene. Podracing is a “motorsport,” in which racers blaze across the scorching Tattooine desert in little pods, seemingly powered by some sort of anti-gravity tech. Podracing is known across the galaxy as a deadly sport, in which racers frequently suffer heavy injuries, or just outright lose their lives. From that perspective, it could be called a space version of the Isle of Man TT.
The Star Wars franchise has certainly had its ups and downs, but the introduction of podracing is a universally agreed-upon positive addition to the franchise. It broadens the world, teaches us more about what the residents of the Far Away Galaxy find interesting, and humanizes a lot of the characters, who we can now imagine spend their Sunday nights watching a podrace, in the same vein that we might watch an F1 competition.
The Death Race
Let us stick to the theme of motorsports, and take a look at the 1975 underrated cult classic science fiction film, Death Race 2000 . In the movie’s universe, the world has fallen prey to apocalyptic nuclear war, and is now under the governance of a totalitarian regime that works only to keep the citizens undereducated and overstimulated. For that purpose, they invented The Death Race.
What may seem like a regular dirt racing event on first glance is revealed to be so much more. The goal of the Death Race’s participants is not just to win first prize, but to run over as many “obstacles” as they can along the way. But, what are these obstacles you may ask? Well, they are people. From political dissidents to just everyday Joes minding their own business, they can all fall prey to the Death Race.
In the 2000s, Bruce Willis starred in a sort of reboot of the franchise. However, for our money, The Death Race (1975) is the one and only film in the franchise worth the attention.
Disclaimer: The above is a sponsored post, the views expressed are those of the sponsor/author and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.
