Knight of Cerebus: Difference between revisions
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* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'' takes a somewhat more balanced approach with the franchise, using dark elements but also lighter moments within the same game, and also lampshading the series' traits, but whenever Ghirahim appears, the game makes a big change in tone, becoming much more serious. {{spoiler|His owner, Demise, isn't much better}}.
* Mr. Sandman from ''[[Punch Out]]''. This [[Scary Black Man]] is the only one of Little Mac's opponents to resemble an ''actual'' boxer (opposed to a cartoon-character boxer) as befits one of the hardest opponents in any of the games. He also seems to be the only one who sees his bout with Mac as a personal issue; in Title Bout mode, there is a cutscene showing him training in a gym, then noticing a poster with Little Mac's face, and becoming so enraged at seeing it that he wrecks the entire gym.
* Since ''[[Octopath Traveler]]'' has eight separate storylines running all at the same time, each character's route has a villain whose presence signifies a shift towards a more dire (or at the very least, more serious) tone.
** The Mystery Man and Shady Figure are the third bosses of Ophilia's story, but are the first to be malicious (unlike the [[Hero Antagonist|Guardian of the First Flame]]) and sentient (unlike [[Non-Malicious Monster|Hrodvitnir]]). Murderous cultists working for The Savior, aka {{spoiler|Mattias the trader}}, they blackmail a noble-hearted bishop into trying to steal Aelfric's Embers on threat of murdering his daughter while secretly planning to kill them both anyway. Not only are their crimes bad, but their appearance happens just before {{spoiler|Ophilia's adoptive sister Lianna betrays her due to being led astray by Mattias}}, which causes the story to take a far darker turn with much higher stakes, both personally for Ophilia as well as for the world at large.
** Cyrus' story basically starts with him beating up a rogue colleague for stealing a library book. The very next chapter? He's hunting down Gideon, a [[Serial Killer]] who kidnaps people off the streets of Quarrycrest so he can use them as fodder for his sick and twisted blood magic experiments. And things only get darker once he realizes that Gideon was pulling inspiration from a bootleg copy of a [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]], and the real thing is still out there...
** Mr. Morlock is this for Tressa. While her story never gets as dark as the other characters', he's still a far more serious and dangerous threat than [[Laughably Evil|Mikk and Makk from the previous chapter]] since he's an abusive landlord who exploits his workers while attempting to have a rival merchant sold into slavery out of spite. He and his right-hand guy Omar are the first, proper look Tressa gets at just how harsh and unfair the world can be, and kickstart the more emotional and introspective tone her adventure takes for the rest of the story.
** While introduced at the very start of Olberic's story, Erhardt is a proper example once he shows up in Chapter 3. Being a kingslayer responsible for the destruction of Olberic's homeland, he's the source of the trauma and guilt haunting his former friend, and when his names comes up, the optimistic tone never fails to darken. Compared to the fights against Gaston, Gustav, and the Lizardman Chief before him, Olberic's duel with him is deeply serious and emotional.
** While Primrose's route starts off as being way [[Darker and Edgier]] than everyone else's, you at least get the sense that things will get better for her as she starts killing her way through the "Crow Men" that murdered her father. And then comes {{spoiler|Simeon}}, whose betrayal, near-murder, and psychological torture of Primrose kick the dark tone into maximum overdrive while making it clear that whatever happens going forward, [[Bittersweet Ending|the end of her story won't be a happy one.]]
** Alfyn's route seems [[Lighter and Softer]] than the others, not unlike Tressa's. After all, he ''is'' a good-natured country boy who helps out sick and ailing people purely because it's the right thing to do. But it's when he meets {{spoiler|Miguel Twinspears}} during his third chapter that he finds himself suffering a crisis of faith. Thanks to his refusal to turn down a patient for any reason, {{spoiler|him saving Miguel's life leads to the abduction and near-murder of a little boy because it turns out that the seemingly regretful criminal he saved was a sadistic, vindictive piece of shit who'd gladly spit in the face of those who'd show him kindness [[For the Evulz]]}}. After {{spoiler|fatally wounding and leaving him to die in the middle of the woods, Alfyn is shaken as he's confronted with the truth that not everyone in the world is worth saving after all}}.
** Therion himself is a frigid, humorless [[Jerkass]], but his route starts off light-hearted enough since he's playing the role of a [[MacGuffin Delivery Service]] for a friendly noblewoman. But right when it seems that his mission is going to be a walk in the park, we meet the man who's responsible for him being such a frigid, humorless [[Jerkass]] in the first place: {{spoiler|Darius, his former partner in crime before he betrayed and nearly killed him for the sake of profit.}} Traumatized by {{spoiler|his friend's betrayal to this day}}, Therion finally has a personal stake in helping Cordelia once he {{spoiler|steals the Dragonstone Therion was trying to recover}}.
** H'aanit's story starts off innocent and fun, what with her being a beast tamer who helps hone the skills of her fellow hunters with the help of her adorable leopard companion... and then a psychotic, freaky-looking monster called a Ghisarma starts slaughtering the local wildlife in droves, angering her to the point of willingly hunting and killing it. While the Ghisarma doesn't kill anyone close to H'aanit or otherwise traumatize her, its appearance heralds the presence of a [[Humanoid Abomination|much nastier threat]] lurking in the background, something foul and dangerous enough to drive the Ghisarma out of its natural territory...
== Web Animation ==
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* Sideshow Bob from [[The Simpsons]]. In most of his appearences he attempts to ''kill' Bart ( ''10-year old boy'') or Krusty The Clown and his actions are played seriously and episodes become more intense and dark when he appears.
** [[Big Bad|Mr. Burns]] also qualifies, at least in seasons 1-8. While he does have some comical traits and funny quirks, the episodes with him are more serious and dramatic than any other episodes and his actions are played seriously. Most notable examples are "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" two-parter, where he screws over all other characters and finally [[Moral Event Horizon|blocks all the sunlight from Springfield]] and this was so evil that [[Even Evil Has Standards|his loyal doormat Mr. Smithers objects to this]] and all of his actions are played seriously and episode is dramatic and intense, not to mention that it is the ''only'' ''two-parter'' episode in the series; ''The Curse Of Flying Hellfish'' where he crosses [[Moral Event Horizon]] by attempting to [[Would Hurt a Child|drown Bart]] and in "Mother Simpson" where he worked on biological warfare and made Mona Simpson, Homer's mother, run from the law and hide from the rest of her life, meaning that Mr. Burns is responsible for Homer losing his mother and setting some of the series plots in motion.
** [[The Don|
** The series had few villains who have no funny quirks and are played seriously to the point of going into Complete Monster territory. Examples include the winemakers from "The Crepes Of Wrath", who treated Bart like a slave and nearly killed him by giving him antfreeze-laced wine, the Babysitter Bandit from "Some Enchanted Evening" (who tied up the kids and tried to rob the house) and Bart's [[Sadist Teacher|kindergarten teacher]] from "Lisa's Sax" (whose treatment of Bart made him considered '''''suicide''''', when he was just a '''''five year old boy''''' and made Bart what he is today).
* [[Wallace and Gromit|Pie]][[Complete Monster|l]][[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|la]]. She murders twelve bakers, and plans on making Wallace her thirteenth. This was because she ''hated'' bakers.
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* ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]'' gives us [[Bastard Boyfriend|Mad Dog]]. He abuses Bunny to the point where he buries her up to her neck in dirt when she tried to escape, he tried to drive her and Courage down with his car, and most importantly, he somehow caused Kitty to be convinced that all dogs were evil. And that, like [[Complete Monster|Katz]], he's played dead seriously, and that he almost resembles a real life abuser.
** Katz himself should not be overlooked as well. Whereas the general series dealt with courage battling monsters and whatnot, at least they had some light-hearted tones in those episodes. Katz starkly contrasts these themes as He's essentially [[Ax Crazy]] [[Serial Killer]] played completely, horrifyingly, and competently straight. Courage usually struggles in the episodes he's in, nearly getting killed twice.
* While Agent Kallus was a fairly competent threat, the Imperials of ''[[Star Wars Rebels]]'' were, for the most part, ineffectual goofballs and cowards that were easily outwitted by the teenage [[Kid Hero]] and his friends. And then along came the one-two punch that is the Grand Inquisitor and Grand Moff Tarkin, the former of which being a dangerous Jedi hunter that the heroes can only run from, and the latter ''executing'' the ineffectual goofballs in Lothal's Imperial garrison and making life much more difficult for the Ghost Crew with his heavy-handed, yet effective tactics. These guys are dead serious and not funny in the slightest, and do a good job at showing just how rough of a time the heroes will have now that their antics have gotten the attention of the Imperial high command.
== Other ==
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