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Dark Fantasy: Difference between revisions
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== Politics and society ==
* [[The Horde]] vastly outnumbers civilization. The [[Fantasy Axis of Evil]] is there, and is either [[Eviler Than Thou|even worse]] [[Always Chaotic 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]]."
* Of the [[Five Races]], the elves are all stuffed-up jerks who have either sneaked off, devolved into fancy-eared humans or gotten [[Enslaved Elves|enslaved]] (the only kind who may thrive are the Dark Elves), the [[Hobbits]] were the first to be subjugated or are just plain evil in the first place, the dwarves don't care about anyone else and thus shamelessly nickel-and-dime the other guys, and the [[Humans Are Bastards]] and actively persecute the rest. [[Abusive Precursors]], if any.
* [[Wretched Hive|Wretched Hives]] 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
* 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]].
* There is a high chance that there is an evil, expansive and genocidal empire, which nonetheless is a seemingly [[Trains Run On Time|better alternative]] to the rest of the lot, if only for the fact that everyone is too afraid of the Emperor to try anything funny. Which means that if the emperor is weak or ill, then all bets are off. When democracies and republics exist, they are corrupt and profit driven. [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Kingdoms]] and [[Corrupt Church|theocracies]] don't even need a description, and [[The Magocracy]] uses magic to [[Mind Rape]] the people into obedience.
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== Religions and deities ==
* 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|cults]], paganic [[Scary Amoral Religion|Scary Amoral Religions]], 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]].
== Heroes ==
* The very best you can count on is an [[Anti
** If they're [[Giving the Sword To A Noob]] to [[Defied Trope|Defy]] this, expect said Noob to fail.
* Even if you don't count in the black and grey morality of the heroes. Most of the respite they spend is mostly on having sex or getting drunk and violent and has a less than amicable working relationship with his comrades.
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== [[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
* ''[[Berserk]]'': Take Claymore. Replace the army of hot [[Demon Slayer]] chicks with a one-eyed [[Jerkass]] with a [[BFS|big-ass sword]], a mechanical [[Arm Cannon|cannon arm]], a sacrificial mark on his neck that draws demons to him, and a pet fairy. Add a [[Corrupt Church]], a [[Bishonen]] in white who is on the side of [[Complete Monster|very, very EVIL]], and {{spoiler|an [[Evil God]] who's running the whole show}}.
* Most [[Hentai]] set in a fantasy world, if only because [[The Women Are Safe With Us]] and the [[Sex Slave]] [[Fetish]] is so pandered to. Some don't, but most do.
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* Most things set in either ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'' or ''[[Warhammer 40000]]''
* ''[[Dragon Age]]'': Kinda like Claymore, but {{spoiler|the [[Demon Slayer|Demon Slayers]] are genuinely trying to win and}} one can play as a guy. The Grey Wardens are all [[Death Seeker|Death Seekers]], 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]]. [[
* The [[Dept Heaven]] series in general. As if the mortals [[Humans Are Bastards|weren't bad enough by themselves]], all mortals are by design stuck in the middle of the war between [[Order Versus Chaos|gods and demons]], both sides of which will actively screw you over in the name of their own victory. Defectors from [[Fallen Angel|either]] [[Ascended Demon|side]] generally don't get very happy endings either.
* ''[[Drakengard]]'', which later jumps feet-first into a [[Cosmic Horror Story]].
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* All novels written by Feliks W. Kres, especially the ''Szerer cycle.''
* [[Michael Moorcock]]'s ''[[The Elric Saga|Elric saga]]'', focusing on a doomed albino emperor with [[Artifact of Doom|the mother of all]] [[Evil Weapon|Evil Weapons]].
* ''[[The Eye of Argon]]'', and not just because of the [[So Bad
* ''[[The First Law]]'' series and really anything by Joe Abercrombie
* The [[Gentleman Bastard]] series is this applied to [[Sword and Sorcery]] thief protagonists.
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Drow Tales]]''. Murder and [[Demonic Possession]] are very common. One character whose life is in danger comments that she doesn't want to end up Undead. Cannibalism is completely legal due to a resource shortage, as is rape, incest, paedophilia, and [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]]. Schools don't mind the students killing each other, as long as they do so quietly and dispose of the bodies themselves. And those are the "[[Designated Hero|good]]" guys. On the surface world, nobles [[Blood Bath|bathe in elven blood]] because they think it'll make them immortal. Magic is fairly neutral though, but some are allergic to [[Blood Magic]].
* ''[[Ark The Improbable]]''. The main characters are an Elf and a [[
* Parts three and four (and possibly part 5, we're not sure since it hasn't been posted yet) of ''[[A Modest Destiny]]'', although they manage to inject some humor. It also seems to be getting better (due to one character, a frost-elf Vampire/ Necromancer, being stuck in the [[Heel Face Revolving Door]].)
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