Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,546
edits
prefix>Import Bot (Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.CrapsackWorld 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.CrapsackWorld, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
No edit summary |
||
(12 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:300px-Crapsack-
{{quote|''The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears it is true.''|'''James Branch Cabell''', ''The Silver Stallion'', [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|misattributed to]] '''Robert Oppenheimer''' }}▼
A '''Crapsack World''' is a horrible setting where the [[The Cynic|pessimistic]] notion of "[[
▲{{quote|''The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears it is true.''|'''James Branch Cabell''', ''The Silver Stallion'', [[Beam Me Up Scotty|misattributed to]] '''Robert Oppenheimer''' }}
Although there are countless ways Crapsack Worlds can be depicted (often with [[Scenery Gorn]]), it is usually [[Darker and Edgier|dark]] and on the [[Cynicism Tropes|cynical end]] of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism]], so it will have either [[Grey and Gray Morality]] or [[Black and Grey Morality]], if not outright [[Evil Versus Evil]] in the worst of cases (beware of [[Darkness
▲A Crapsack World is a horrible setting where the [[The Cynic|pessimistic]] notion of "[[Finagles Law|anything that can go wrong]] [[It Got Worse|will go]] ''[[It Got Worse|horribly]]'' [[It Got Worse|wrong]]" almost always applies, and it corrupts its inhabitants into perpetuating that nastiness against each other. More succinctly, trying to survive in one of these places [[This Is Gonna Suck|is gonna suck]].
Heroes in this setting are usually [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroes]] on any level of the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes]], and often have at least a bit of the [[Deadpan Snarker]] about them. [[Being Good Sucks|Being good will suck]], and if there are genuinely good heroes in this setting, expect them to be [[Knight in Sour Armor|Knights In Sour Armor]] and/or [[Hurting Hero]]es—more idealistic heroes such as the [[Knight in Shining Armor]] tend to not last long in this kind of setting.
▲Although there are countless ways Crapsack Worlds can be depicted (often with [[Scenery Gorn]]), it is usually [[Darker and Edgier|dark]] and on the [[Cynicism Tropes|cynical end]] of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism]], so it will have either [[Grey and Gray Morality]] or [[Black and Grey Morality]], if not outright [[Evil Versus Evil]] in the worst of cases (beware of [[Darkness Induced Audience Apathy]] if you decide to go this route though). Settings like these are not kind at all to [[Wide Eyed Idealist|idealists]], who usually get traumatized and/or die horribly when their attempts to change the world through idealistic means [[Deconstruction|meet up with cold hard reality]].
From here, these worlds can be depicted by authors in various ways, whether it would be dramatic or comedic, immutable or mutable.
* A ''[[Rule of Drama|dramatic]]'' Crapsack World [[True Art Is Angsty|has plenty]] [[Dysfunction Junction|of angst]] to go around, and often makes [[Woobie
* A ''[[Rule of Funny|comedic]]'' Crapsack World is [[Played for Laughs]] and is made up of idiots, [[Jerkass
* An ''[[Status Quo Is God|immutable]]'' Crapsack World has agony [[Inherent in
* A ''[[Screw Destiny|mutable]]'' Crapsack World simply ''starts out'' as crappy, but a determined protagonist and his [[True Companions]], be they the [[Knight in Shining Armor|Knight In Shining]] (or in many of these cases, [[Knight in Sour Armour|Sour]]) [[Knight in Shining Armor|Armor]] or a simple old PI, can actually cause some, but mostly few, [[Earn Your Happy Ending|positive changes in the setting]]. See also [[A World Half Full]].
This kind of world often occurs [[After the End]]. [[Wretched Hive]] and [[City Noir]] are tinier versions of the Crapsack World. A [[Dystopia]] is a speculative Crapsack World ruled by repressive forces modeled after real-life politics. A [[Teenage Wasteland]] is a Crapsack World run by kids. If the Crapsack World's continued misery is caused by supernatural forces, see [[Dark Fantasy]], [[Hell
If a [[Sugar Bowl]] (usually the antithesis of this trope) turns out to be one of these under the surface, then you have yourself a [[Crap Saccharine World]]. A [[Villain World]] is likely to be this, and [[Bad Future]] is a [[Sub
For worlds that are almost literal sacks of crap see [[The Dung Ages]]. See [[You Would Not Want to Live In Dex]] for other crapsack environments. On a less negative note, the [[World of Badass]] will also be likely to have elements of the
This trope is also known as [[World Half Empty]], for the expression of pessimism being a state of seeing a glass with half the amount of water in it as being "Half empty". By definition, contrast [[A World Half Full]].
{{examples on subpages|suf=s}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:This Index Means Trouble]]▼
[[Category:Tropes of Legend]]▼
[[Category:Civil Unrest Tropes]]
[[Category:Cynicism Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:The Great Depression]]
[[Category:Plots]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:You Would Not Want to Live In Dex]]
|