Nobody enters a story clean. We come dragging a hunger—some bruised idea of ourselves. Maybe we don’t say it aloud. Maybe we don’t even know it yet. But we crack open the book, press start, or settle into a dark theatre because something in us whispers:
“Let me feel like that for a while.”
That’s Audience Fantasy. It’s not about what the character does. It’s about what we ache to feel through them.
In Tempified, we’ve mapped 48 of these longings—each one a quiet attempt to make sense of the self. Not because we’re broken, but because we’re still becoming. Each fantasy speaks to a need: freedom, control, connection, purpose. And we chase them through fiction like messages in bottles.
In this article, we’re focusing on just 4 of the 12 audience fantasies for each core temperament: ⚔️ Blade, ❤️ Heart, 🏡 House, ☀️ Sun
But in the book to come, you’ll find the complete set: 12 for each temperament. 48 in total.
Master World-building & Player-Fantasy, where we talk about all the Audience Fantasies.Soon to be published — your world deserves this.
Also, you can also blend two fantasies to shape your experience—just like we do when building character archetypes. A game isn’t just about freedom or mastery—it might be about mastering through freedom. Belonging through connection. Challenge with rebellion. The mix matters. It’s in that overlap where unique gameplay, tone, and emotional depth come alive. The same way a character becomes more than a role—your experience becomes more than a genre.
So, it’s not just a storytelling tool. It’s a map—for creators, for audiences, and for the parts of us still reaching for something we don’t have words for yet.
Below is the list, laced with the ghosts we carry. Use it to understand why you create what you create, what your audience secretly craves, or what your clients are chasing but can’t quite name. It doesn’t start with plot. It starts with a question:
“Who do I want to feel like right now?”
FANTASIES OF THE ⚔️ BLADE
For some people, fantasy doesn’t look like magic or escape. It looks like control. Clarity. Power, earned.
These are the people who grew up needing to keep it together. The ones who were told to be smart, be first, be useful. The ones who secretly believe, “If I can just figure it out, I’ll be okay.”
They crave stories not to soften—but to sharpen.
We’ve mapped 12 of these Blade-rooted audience fantasies in Tempified. Here are 4. You’ve probably lived at least one of them yourself:
1. Fantasy of ⚔️ Challenge
The audience wants to know they’re strong enough.
It’s not about winning. It’s about enduring. They’ve faced failure, pressure, or just silence when they needed help. Now, they want to watch someone push through the impossible and stand back up—because they want to believe they can too.
This fantasy whispers: “I still have more in me.”
Arya, blind and bruised, sparring in silence. No teacher. No sight. Just grit. (Games Of Thrones -HBO)
2. Fantasy of ⚔️ Competition
The audience needs to prove it—to someone, maybe just to themselves.
This fantasy isn’t petty. It’s personal. It’s for the ones who were overlooked, underestimated, or expected to coast. They don’t want to destroy others. They want to surpass expectation—their father’s, their coach’s, the version of themselves from last year.
This fantasy says: “I am not who you think I am.”
Rocky running before dawn. Not chasing anyone. Just proving he can. (United Artists).
3. Fantasy of ⚔️ Expertise
The audience wants to stop doubting what they know.
In real life, they second-guess. In fiction, they own the room. They want to feel mastery in their bones—like their brain is a weapon, not a liability. This fantasy attracts the perfectionist, the analyst, the quiet one who's sick of not being heard.
This fantasy murmurs: “I know what I’m doing. Let me show you.”
Dr. House, leaning back, solving the case in ten seconds. No smile. No debate.
4. Fantasy of ⚔️ Invention
The audience needs to build something new—because the old system failed them.
These are the dreamers with a tool belt and a vendetta. They’re tired of being told “it’s always been done this way.” They want to fix, break, or reimagine the world—especially when the rules no longer serve.
This fantasy sparks: “There’s a better way—and I’ll build it myself.”
Doc Brown, hair wild, muttering “Great Scott!” beside a machine that shouldn’t work—but does (Back to the Future, Universal).
Each Blade fantasy is a mirror held up to a hidden ache: to be capable, respected, undeniable, brilliant.
These aren’t power fantasies in the flashy sense. They’re about being seen for what you can do—and having that be enough.
FANTASIES OF THE 🏡 HOUSE
Some audiences don’t chase escape. They chase stability.
These are the people who’ve been through chaos. Who’ve held things together while others fell apart. They’re the steady ones. The quiet ones. The ones who make order because nobody else will. And they don’t want fantasy that rips them from the world. They want one that says: “You’re safe here. You belong.”
In Tempified, we explore 12 House fantasies. Here are 4 to start with—rooted in real emotional cravings, not tropes.
🏡 1. Fantasy of Security
The audience wants to believe it won’t all collapse.
They’ve lived through instability—divorces, layoffs, loved ones with chaos in their wake. In fiction, they crave a space that holds. They don’t care if it’s perfect—they just want it to last. Characters like them keep the fridge stocked, the routines sacred. They want the fantasy where home still means something.
This fantasy hums: “I’ll be okay as long as I’m not alone.”
Marge Simpson, arms around her kids—well, not Bart. He’s usually the reason she’s clinging so hard to the feeling of security in the first place. Thank god, Homer is here. Kind of.
🏡 2. Fantasy of Belonging
The audience needs to stop feeling like the odd one out.
In real life, they’ve been the weirdo at school, the quiet one in meetings, the person who doesn’t "fit." What they crave isn’t wild reinvention—it’s inclusion. Not being the special one. Just one of them.
This fantasy says: “Please let this be the moment I belong.”
Samwell Tarly, exiled by his family for loving books more than blades—enduring the Night’s Watch, but finally belonging in the library, where reading actually saves lives (Games Of Thrones, HBO).
🏡 3. Fantasy of Ordinariness
The audience wants boring. Boring sounds peaceful.
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