Crapsack World: Difference between revisions

[[File:300px-Crapsack-world_5759world 5759.png|frame|No hope. No release. No end.]]

A '''Crapsack World''' is a horrible setting where the [[The Cynic|pessimistic]] notion of "[[Finagle's Law|anything that can go wrong]] [[ItFrom GotBad to 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]].

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]].

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|Hurting Heroes]] -- morees—more idealistic heroes such as the [[Knight in Shining Armor]] tend to not last long in this kind of setting.

Villains tend to run the gamut from sympathetic [[Anti-Villain|Anti Villains]] (on any level of the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains]]) right down to the most horrific [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]]s to grace any kind of media. [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]]s are especially common in these kinds of settings, both to represent the misery of the setting in general and to give the [[Anti-Hero]] someone to whom he can look good in comparison. In truly extreme cases, even the most [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity|popular]] or powerful of these monsters [[Being Evil Sucks|suffer just as badly as everyone else.]] And [[Anyone Can Die]].

* A ''[[Rule of Drama|dramatic]]'' Crapsack World [[True Art Is Angsty|has plenty]] [[Dysfunction Junction|of angst]] to go around, and often makes [[Woobie|Woobies]]s out of its sympathetic cast, particularly the protagonist, as they [[Trauma Conga Line|suffer horribly]] in their attempts to do the right thing or pursue their dreams. Expect characters [[Being Good Sucks|who do the right thing]] to [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|suffer for it]]. Expect characters who do the wrong thing to prosper... and ''[[Lonely Atat the Top|then]]'' [[Pyrrhic Villainy|suffer]]. See also [[World of Woobie]]. Examples: ''[[New World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|New World of Darkness]]'', ''[[Old World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|Old World of Darkness]]'', ''[[Sin City]]'' and ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''.

* A ''[[Rule of Funny|comedic]]'' Crapsack World is [[Played for Laughs]] and is made up of idiots, [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]]es, [[Butt Monkey|Butt Monkeys]]s, [[Chew Toy|Chew Toys]]s and the occasional [[Only Sane Man]], with plenty of [[Comedic Sociopathy]] to go around. These include the [[Black Comedy]], the [[Sadist Show]] and the [[World Gone Mad]]. The "upside" is that it's usually [[Satire, Parody, Pastiche|parodic]] and [[Crosses the Line Twice|funny in its extremes]]. Though people die left and right, it likely has [[Negative Continuity]] to facilitate the inhabitants' suffering. Examples: ''[[Invader Zim]]'', ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]'' and ''[[South Park]]''.

* An ''[[Status Quo Is God|immutable]]'' Crapsack World has agony [[Inherent in Thethe System]], both physically and metaphysically. Trying to break [[The Corruption]] [[Status Quo Is God|will instead always result]] in [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu|breaking every bone in your body]] [[Downer Ending|and it winning]], and any positive changes that you try to make will ultimately be torn down and revealed to be [[All for Nothing]] -- [[It Got Worse|or even worse]], they will only succeed in [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|making things even worse for you and the people that you were trying to help]], and/or [[Gambit Roulette|even accomplish whatever the villains wanted in the first place]]. Example: ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' and the [[Lovecraftian Fiction]] genre in general.

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 Onon Earth]] and [[Cosmic Horror Story]].

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-Trope]]. Someone who just thinks the world they inhabit is this is a [[The Cynic|Cynic]] or a [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] (or a [[Grumpy Bear]] if he lives in a pretty nice world).

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 [['''Crapsack World]]''', to give justification on why kicking ass is very important to survive.

''[[No Real Life Examples, Please]] {{noreallife|This is a metaphysical trope that's clearly defined by the writer, not an opinion by people complaining about the world as a whole.}} (Localized places that '''are''' very horrible in Real Life should perhaps go to [[Wretched Hive]] and other non-metaphysical tropes instead).''

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[[Category:You Would Not Want to Live In DexAbsurdism]]

[[Category:CyberpunkDepressing Tropes]]

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