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Dark Fantasy: Difference between revisions
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== Magic ==
* [[Magic Is Evil]], at best relatively neutral. Often [[The Corruption]]. There is a good chance it's directly obtained through a [[Deal
* Magical weapons tend to be [[Evil Weapon|evil]], or at least require a very heavy price for their use.
* If [[Sufficiently Advanced Magic]] [[Dungeon Punk|enters play]], the following may happen: [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|augmentations eat away at one's humanity]] (often [[Body Horror|involuntarily]] for the sake of war and profit), [[Sinister Surveillance|communication magic]] creates new and fascinating ways to control people, and [[Golem|sentient constructs]] [[AI Is a Crapshoot|have only contempt]] for their creators.
== 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
* 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-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]].
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* 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
== Heroes ==
* 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
* 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.
* [[The World Is Always Doomed]]. One may be able to [[Earn Your Happy Ending]], but [[Evil Only Has to Win Once]].
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* ''[[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.}}
* ''[[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
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* 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
* ''[[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
* 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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== [[Forum-based Roleplay]] ==
* ''[[
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
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* ''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.
* ''[[Don't Rest Your Head]]'': A group of insomniacs are slowly losing their minds, and gain access to a city built out of insanity, and populated by corporeal nightmares, which they fight off with [[Power Born of Madness]]. And, as the title suggests, if they ''do'' ever get to sleep, they are in deep shit (If they live long enough to wake up again, they lose their superpowers untill sleep deprivation drives them crazy enough to use them again).
* [[
* ''[[
* ''[[Atmosfear]]''
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* ''[[The First Law]]'' series and really anything by Joe Abercrombie
* The [[Gentleman Bastard]] series is this applied to [[Sword and Sorcery]] thief protagonists.
* ''[[The Children of
* ''[[Above Ground]]''
* The ''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]'' have evil cultists galore, and a whole plethora of [[Evil God|Evil Gods]]. Magic is generally not used, as one wrong word gets you eaten by an [[Eldritch Abomination]]. Success will usually either drive you insane(r) or get you eaten by an [[Eldritch Abomination]].
** It even inspired its own trope, [[Cosmic Horror Story]].
* ''[[Miserere:
* In ''[[
* The ''[[
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Ark The Improbable]]''. The main characters are an Elf and a [[Frankenstein's Monster]] belonging to a [[Bounty Hunter|Bounty Hunters]] guild, fight hideously mutated creatures, developed from [[The Virus]] working it's disgusting magic on mundane animals, plants, humans, and fantastic creatures, including Werewolves and Zombies.
* 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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