Dark Fantasy: Difference between revisions

[[Darker and Edgier]] [[Science Fiction]] isn't recognised as a subgenre as '''Dark Fantasy''' is; however, [[Dystopia|dystopic fiction]] often has markings of SF and thus gets an honourable mention here.

 

* [[Magic Is Evil]], at best relatively neutral. Often [[The Corruption]]. There is a good chance it's directly obtained through a [[Deal with the Devil]], powered by [[Blood Magic]] or involves [[Human Sacrifice]]. Individual wizards tend to [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|go mad with power]] (or just the [[Mad Scientist|possibility of it]]) and are [[Vain Sorceress|full of themselves]]. This is likely why [[Burn the Witch]] is a popular pastime of the lower classes.

* Magical weapons tend to be [[Evil Weapon|evil]], or at least require a very heavy price for their use.

 

* [[The Horde]] vastly outnumbers civilization. The [[Fantasy Axis of Evil]] is there, and is either [[Eviler Than Thou|even worse]] [[Exclusively Evil|than you'd expect]], or the "good" guys aren't really better than them. Expect a lot of [[Rape, Pillage and Burn]] when they go raiding. Good chance someone (on either side) will say "[[The Women Are Safe with Us]]."

* [[Wretched Hive]]s of cities and [[The Dung Ages]] in the countryside is what you should expect of society. The lower classes are [[Medieval Morons]], while the upper prove that [[Aristocrats Are Evil]]. The slave trade is the main source of income, both in terms of taxes and population. Expect the cute, fuzzy, [[Weak-Willed]] ones to be targeted, such as [[Petting Zoo People]] or [[Hobbits]]. Conscription into the army may be present, overlapping with an [[Army of Thieves and Whores]]. Often, [[Hobbes Was Right]].

* If [[Fractured Fairy Tale]] is being used, the darkest [[Alternative Character Interpretation]] possible will be used. Forget three little pigs building houses out of questionable materials because mum kicked them out, it'll be a horde of Orcs trying out new fortress designs so they have somewhere to store pillage from the village vs. a werewolf knight, or perhaps Puss in Boots is a shameless [[Con Artist]] [[Femme Fatale]] [[Beast Man|Humanoid puma]] or cat-demon, or Little Red Riding Hood and the Woodsman are a serial killer [[Unholy Matrimony|husband and wife team]].

* In terms of politics, often there's an [[Forever War|endless]] [[Hopeless War|conflict]] between the civilizations. Wars of extinction are not uncommon and entire Worlds<ref>world, in this context, means both planets and planes of the multiverse</ref> are often put to the sword to ensure victory. Otherwise it is a fight to be the new figurehead of the old empire that had fallen eons ago.

 

* The gods [[Jerkass Gods|are all jerks]] who pass the time [[Pass the Popcorn|eating prayer chips and drinking soul-booze while placing bets]], and [[The Legions of Hell]] are mere days away from digging into the Mortal Realm, or are there already. A [[God of Evil]] is probably [[Villains Act, Heroes React|the only active one]], unless the point of the story is that he doesn't need to, because people will jump at any opportunity to do harm anyway. [[Demonic Possession]] is quite common. If there are no "gods" per se, the [[Celestial Bureaucracy]]/[[Council of Angels]] have more red tape than a ribbon factory. May even have [[Devil but No God]], or an outright [[God Is Evil|evil supreme god]] running the show. Alternatively, the [[Angels, Devils, and Squid|eldritch abominations might be destroying both sides]].

* Any [[The Church|organized religion]] which is not a [[Corrupt Church]] or [[Religion of Evil]] is a [[Path of Inspiration]]. What else there is tend to be [[cult]]s, paganic [[Scary Amoral Religion]]s, or even more radical offshoots of the big ones. Often led by a [[Sinister Minister]]. Expect [[Church Police|The Inquisition]] to burst in at any given opportunity, and we don't mean [[No One Respects the Spanish Inquisition|the funny kind that wonders why nobody expects them.]]

* [[Zombie Apocalypse|The dead find staying buried a little boring, and resist any and all attempts to keep them buried]], short of [[Kill It with Fire|cremation]] or dismemberment. There might even be [[Corpse Land|a region so full of undead nothing in its right mind goes there]].

 

* The very best you can count on is an [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroic]] [[Knight in Sour Armor]]. There is a high chance of (likely more than a bit of [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], or just straight-out [[Evil Versus Evil|bad guy]]) [[Designated Hero]], who will [[The Bad Guy Wins|probably]] [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|lose]] [[Downer Ending|or end up as]] [[He Who Fights Monsters]] or [[And Then John Was a Zombie|a zombie]] anyway, no matter how hard he may [[Resist the Beast]].

** If they're [[Giving the Sword to A Noob]] to [[Defied Trope|Defy]] this, expect said Noob to fail.

 

Sibling trope to [[Dungeon Punk]], which can be just as grim and gritty, but Dungeon Punk has [[Magitek]]. May be the result of a disruption in, or Evil's turn, on the [[Balance of Good and Evil]].

 

== [[Anime]] and Manga ==

* ''[[Claymore]]'': monsters run amok devouring the innocent civilians while [[They Look Like Us Now|disguising themselves as their neighbors]] and the [[Demon Slayer|only warriors who can fight them]] (all [[Broken Bird|psychologically damaged young women]]) tend to live very short lives thanks to [[The Corruption]] which will [[One-Winged Angel|turn them into something]] [[Eldritch Abomination|much worse]] and {{spoiler|it's all just a [[Monster Protection Racket]] (something that the warriors are just as ignorant of as the terrorized peasants). And for what? To create ideal weapon for an [[Forever War|Endless War]] between another continent bent on seeing them dead.}}

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Dragon Age]]'': Kinda like Claymore, but {{spoiler|the [[Demon Slayer]]s are genuinely trying to win and}} one can play as a guy. The Grey Wardens are all [[Death Seeker]]s, because they drink Darkspawn blood and risk [[And Then John Was a Zombie|becoming one themselves]]. Magicians constantly fight against the whispers of demons from the Fade trying to [[Demonic Possession|take them over]] (little wonder many of them choose to be [[Empty Shell|lobotomized]]), and every so often, one succumbs and becomes a [[Humanoid Abomination]], or [[Deal with the Devil|makes a deal in order to learn]] [[Blood Magic]]. Elves are a [[Slave Race]] destinguished from humanity only by their long ears and the fact that they produce magicians slightly more. The Dwarves cower in their two fortress-cities. The [[Our Orcs Are Different|local flavour of Orcs -which resemble muscular, horned Drow- called Qunari]], are gearing up for an invasion. The [[Evil Empire]] ''is'' invading. And they're all under attack by [[The Horde|Darkspawn]], [[The Scourge of God|which God cooked up as divine retribution because Humanity tried to invade heaven.]] ([[Unreliable Narrator|according to the intro cutscene, anyways]]) Hauntings and undead are common.

* ''[[Diablo]]'' has elements of it. Moreso in Diablo II, where [[The Legions of Hell]] have [[The Horde]] of [[Undead]], mutant wildlife, lesser demons, and [[Deal with the Devil]] types Vs. a [[Black and Grey Morality|morally dubious]] [[Necromancer]], a [[Vain Sorceress]], or a [[Paladin]] who belongs to a [[Corrupt Church]]. [[It's Up to You|And it's all up to that one person]], plus any minions s/he may hire/summon. Heaven won't help out because of a strict non-interference policy, except for one Angel who sells goodies and resurrects dead party members to pay rent -- {{spoiler|and who, in the third game, finally gets fed up and decides to become a mortal in order to help humanity directly}}.

* ''[[Drakengard]]'', which later jumps feet-first into a [[Cosmic Horror Story]].

* ''[[Overlord]]'' series are both a pastiche and a parody of this genre.

* The aforementioned ''[[Ur Example|Warhammer]]'' games are just as dark as the video games based on them.

** As of 8th edition, the only thing on the list ''Warhammer'' lacks is organized religion comprised entirely of evil cults. Sigmar and Ulric have reasonable priesthoods.

** The overall theme in ''[[Planescape]]'' is its moral ambiguity, and the bizarre settings only increase grim mood.

** The ''[[Dark Sun]]'' setting takes place in a desert fantasy world where the Forces of Primordial (or whatever bad, bad guys the writers feel like throwing in an edition) won the war and the heroes ([[I Did What I Had to Do|if you can call them that]]) fight out of necessity, not idealism.

* ''Gemini'' is set in dying world that succumbed to [[You Fail Biology Forever|eternal twilight]] and the people are harassed by the demonic forces looking for hiding Prophet believed to be a Saviour of Man.

* ''[[The Eye of Argon]]'', and not just because of the [[So Bad It's Good|shoddy writing]].

* ''[[The First Law]]'' series and really anything by Joe Abercrombie

* ''[[The Children of Húrin|The Children of Hurin]]'' could be one of the earliest examples, if only Professor [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]] had't held it in [[Development Hell]] until his death.

* ''[[Above Ground]]''

* In ''[[The Acts of Caine]]'' it's one half of the setting. The other half if classical [[Dystopia]].

* The ''[[Second Apocalypse]]'' series begins with about half the known world being destroyed by the No-God, and things continue in the same general tone from there.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==