History CastingAShadow / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2004'': There's a unique elemental attribute called Dragon which, similar to Fire, Water and Thunder, can be inflicted by some of the hunter's weapons onto monsters that are particularly weak against it; Dragon is effective against the likes of Rathian, Rathalos (not anymore in games past the second generation), and most notably Elder Dragons. This element manifests like a dark energy colored red and black (though the icon representing it is colored dark purple), and is known to weaken the victim's power attack (the exact way it does so varies depending on the game, though in the earlier games as well as ''Portable 3rd'' it simply deals extra damage). Interestingly, in the very first game only two monsters are known to have this same dark energy: Lao-Shan Lung and Fatalis. And the former only has it stored in its body and doesn't use it in combat, so it's more of an InformedAbility in its case (this also applies to its Ashen subspecies, introduced in ''Monster Hunter G'').
** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2Dos'': Chameleos, Teostra and Kushala Daora are known to have Dragon energy stored in their bodies, but only the latter one uses it actively during combat, as it allows it to empower its physical blows; this combined with the monster's [[BlowYouAway exceptional control of wind]], makes it a formidable opponent.

* Rumia of ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' was made to play with this notion. Her power, the power of darkness, is meant to sound like the dark and powerful abilities of other characters on this page, but she is actually one of the weakest of all {{youkai}} in Gensokyo. Her darkness only blinds anyone within her field -- which includes herself -- and she is known for crashing headlong into trees. It is fortunate she is so weak, since she is a man-eater. The ribbon in her hair is supposed to be an amulet keeping her powers in check, however, so WildMassGuessing holds that she would be the unstoppable "[[BonusBoss EX-Rumia]]" if that amulet was removed.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge: Blight magic is apparently powered by darkness. In the novel ''The Last Flight'' a character sees the Archdemon casting a Blight-powered spell and notes that it's a vortex "of darkness both spiritual and physical".

* The titular character of ''VideoGame/{{Aragami}}'' makes great use of sciakinesis, allowing the player to [[ShadowWalker teleport to other shadows]], become invisible in the shade, and [[ShapingYourAttacks create dragons out of shadows]].
* In ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart'', both [[ElegantGothicLolita Lieselotte]] [[EnfanteTerrible Achenbach's]] and [[CuteWitch Yoriko]] [[RobeAndWizardHat Yasuzumi's]] default arcana's, [[LivingShadow Gier]] and [[TheGrimReaper Dieu Mort,]] deal with Darkness element powers.
* Most of Ruh Kaan's abilities in ''VideoGame/{{Battlerite}}'' have a shadow theme. Highlights include the long-ranged, high damage Shadowbolt, the [[YouWillNotEvadeMe enemy-pulling]] Claw of the Wicked, and the Ultimate Shadow Beast, where Ruh Kaan makes himself a giant body of shadows that enhances his attacks.
* Infernal Demons and the [[DarkIsNotEvil Umbra Witches]] in the ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' franchise.
* The elemental affinity of the main protagonist of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', Ragna the Bloodedge, is darkness. This is also the case for Hazama (and Yuuki Terumi by extension), as most of his non-chain snake attacks seem to be surrounded with dark energy. Beyond this, there are also Kagura Mutsuki, who can generate shadowy fire and electricity, and Hibiki Kohaku, who can extend his shadow, create clones from shadow, and vanish into a fog of shadowy ravens.

* Good ol' Dracula and Death in ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''. Dracula uses #4, Death uses #1.
** Not to mention various other monsters in the series, who, between themselves, make liberal use of all four varieties.
* The Shadow Element in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''.

* The god [[MeaningfulName Charnel]] in ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'' gives your wizard access to dark magic if you choose to follow him.
* UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga as portrayed in the ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' is constantly brimming with dark, vorpal energy. Not only does he outright shoot dark orbs of shadow and emit damaging shockwaves, but his special moves often involve passing a hand over his blade while [[SpellBlade imbuing it with a dark energy]], making it do more damage and even unlocking further attacks.
* Shade from ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana''.
* Many characters in ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', including DemonKingNobunaga himself, his sister [[BrokenBird Oichi]], and his AxCrazy BloodKnight retainer [[WhiteHairBlackHeart Mitsuhide Akechi]]. Others include [[EvilGenius Hanbe Takenaka]], [[MisanthropeSupreme Yoshitsugu Otani]], [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity Mitsunari Ishida]]...and [[DarkIsNotEvil Sasuke Sarutobi]]. Gameplay-wise, it drains health from enemies, so most dark elementals tend towards GlassCannon territory.

* Death/darkness spells from the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series, which are OneHitKill attacks.

* [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Many characters]] in ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'', including DemonKingNobunaga himself, his sister [[BrokenBird Oichi]], and his AxCrazy BloodKnight retainer [[WhiteHairBlackHeart Mitsuhide Akechi]]. Others include [[EvilGenius Hanbe Takenaka]], [[MisanthropeSupreme Yoshitsugu Otani]], [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity Mitsunari Ishida]]...and [[DarkIsNotEvil Sasuke Sarutobi]]. Gameplay-wise, it drains health from enemies, so most dark elementals tend towards GlassCannon territory.

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'':

* Dark Jak in ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' is capable of funneling Dark Eco through his body as a result of two years worth of experiments that pumped it directly into him. The Dark Eco takes the form of lightning, and all of his powers are somewhat electricity based with a purple hue.
* Darkness and the powers derived from it are central to the universe of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. The BigBad Xehanort and his various incarnations mostly utilize darkness as their magic of choice (except for [[PowerOfTheVoid Xemnas]]). TheHeartless are [[MadeOfEvil Made of Darkness]] and thus of course use it in many of their attacks. But though many villains utilize it, the heroes agree that [[DarkIsNotEvil Dark Is Not Always Evil]]; past [[TheLancer deuteragonist]] Terra and present deuteragonist Riku have the ability to use dark attacks like Dark Firaga, Dark Aura and Dark Volley, to name a few. Riku, in fact, is the only Keyblade wielder thus far who has managed to completely tame the darkness (since Xehanort is, after all, evil).
* In ''VideoGame/LegendOfDragoon'', Rose is the Dark-elemental dragoon [[spoiler:and the black monster.]] Of course there are also Darkness-elemental spells that can be purchased and are most effective against light-elemental monsters (which, unfortunately, are not very common).
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'' gives Cynder the power of Shadow Breath, her counterpart to Spyro's Earth Breath. Using Shadows, Cynder can either hide in her own shadow to cross certain gates and to deliver sudden rising attacks to groups of enemies and later breath a stream of flame-like darkness against her foes, stunning them.

* Brett from ''VideoGame/LiEat'' has the ability to manipulate shadows, pulling them out of the ground as jagged dark shapes and using them to hold swords and attack. He can also use shadows as a {{Hammerspace}} and use them to teleport.
* The Lady from ''VideoGame/LittleNightmares'' has the ability to blend in amongst shadows, disappear and reappear in a puff of black smoke, cast entire rooms into complete darkness, and turn shadows into malevolent faux children able to suck the life from any living thing they come in contact with. She's also implied to be able to [[LifeDrinker suck the souls]] out of anyone via a dark mist.

* [=ShadeMan=], [=DarkMan=], and [=KillerMan=] in ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork''.
* Dark Necrobat/Dark Dizzy from ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man X}}5'' and Dark Mantis from ''X8''. The former uses darkness to [[TimeStandsStill stop time]], the latter's a ninja who incorporates dark energy into his attacks. Naturally, both of them are weak to [[HolyHandGrenade light-elemental]] attacks.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' has the Dark Beam, which is a shot of dark energy (which, when charged, [[FreezeRay freezes things]]).

* Noob Saibot from ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' can create a LivingShadow copy of himself.
* Primrose and the Dancer class from ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' have the ability to deal dark-based damage with Moonlight Waltz and Night Ode.
* Oswald from ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' is able to harness the power of the [[EvilWeapon Belderiver]] he wields to transform into a vicious shadow creature with [[LightningBruiser greatly enhanced speed and power]], at the cost of having his POW meter rapidly eaten away at as long as he's in that form (and in story terms, being slowly weakened until his soul is destroyed and he's turned into a ghostly Revenant if he uses it too much.) He's also constantly stalked by [[GrimReaper Halja]] because of his power, who are always waiting for him to let his guard down so they can kill him and drag him off to the Netherworld.

* Two types in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' utilize this Trope, although the one you'd think that would utilize it is not among them:
** [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghost-type Pokemon]] follow the "Shadow Element" form and several Ghost-type attacks, such as Shadow Punch, utilize "Hard Dark".
** [[VideoGame/PokemonColosseum Shadow Attacks]][[note]]"Dark" Attacks in Japan[[/note]] are Anti-Light versions of otherwise normal attacks. This is due to its nature as TheCorruption.
** Although some Dark-Type attacks, such as Dark Pulse and Night Daze, also utilize "Hard Dark", the type ''itself'' is more based in [[CombatPragmatist trickery]] than Anti-Light. On the other hand, {{Holy Hand Grenade}}s[[note]]Which prior to Gen VI were all Fighting Type[[/note]] are Super Effective against Dark types but are ineffective against Ghost Types and don't have a different impact on Corrupted Pokemon than other attacks do. The effectiveness is better expressed by the Japanese name for the Dark type: "[[DarkIsEvil Evil or Scum]]".

** [[AntiHero Magus]]' exclusive spell line (starting with Shadow Bomb)

* Darkness is shown in multiple forms in ''{{VideoGame/Skylanders}}''. In the first game, much like in the aforementioned ''Legend of Spyro'' series, Cynder can turn into shadows, but she uses it to summon ghostly allies to do her bidding, as she is of the [[{{Necromancy}} Undead element]]. Indeed, in the first three games, darkness is more associated with the Undead element, as Hex's {{Catchphrase}} is "Fear the Dark!" and has other quotes relating to darkness, though Trap Shadow of the [[FunctionalMagic Magic element]] uses shadows to infuse his claws with them for more damage and hide in them to sneak around opponents.
** Come the fourth game, though, darkness became its own element along with [[LightEmUp light]]. The Dark element, additionally, is associated with [[UnrealisticBlackHole black holes]] to contrast with the Light element being associated with [[StarPower stars]]. Additionally, it is more clearly shown that the element of a character has no effect on their personality, as not only are there [[DarkIsNotEvil Skylanders of the Dark element]], but there are also [[LightIsNotGood villains of the Light element]].

* In ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', Gravity-elemental spells usually manifest as spells of darkness, appearing as orbs and/or vortexes of shadowy energy. The Gravity summon Diabolos is also a BigRedDevil that is sometimes fought in a dark, shadowy alternate dimension. Otherwise the Dark-elemental abilities you're likely to see frequently are Shadow Flare and the Dark Knight's Dark Wave/Darkside attack. The Ivalice titles like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' work Dark into the standard ElementalRockPaperScissors set-up. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' is the first game to give it proper SpellLevels under Arcane Magic and while ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' bring them back, it's only as enemy abilities.

* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'' has the Shadow Peashooter, who is a Shadow Plant and actually uses dark-based abilities such as shadowy peas, slowing beams of darkness, using a black-hole like power to [[BuriedAlive drag zombies into the ground]], and even nuke zombies with a powerful darkness-based attack. [[DarkIsNotEvil Despite this, it's still one of the plants]].

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': In the final phase of the fight against Ganon, he uses a "secret technique of darkness" to make himself invisible and darken the room.

** Come the fourth game, though, darkness became its own element along with [[LightEmUp light]]. The Dark element, additionally, is associated with [[UnrealisticBlackHole black holes]] to contrast with the Light element being associated with [[StarPower stars]].

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': In the final phase of the fight against Ganon, he uses a "secret technique of darkness" to make himself invisible and darken the room.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro Dawn of the Dragon'' gives Cynder the power of Shadow Breath, her counterpart to Spyro's Earth Breath. Using Shadows, Cynder can either hide in her own shadow to cross certain gates and to deliver sudden rising attacks to groups of enemies and later breath a stream of flame-like darkness against her foes, stunning them.

** Midna, a DeadpanSnarker from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''.
** Darkness is featured as one of the main weapon elements in ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', which features the effect of raising a warrior's power when focusing attacks a single enemy. It's the to-go element for most of the playable villains such as Ganondorf, Girahim, Zant, Cia and Wizzro, but also used by the hero Midna in both of her forms, Young Link with his Fierce Deity Mask, and even Princess Zelda can wield darkness with her Dominion Rod weapon. Furthermore, many of the Level 4+ weapons feature darkness as their secondary element, including Link's Darkmagic Sword or Darunia's Darkfire Hammer.

* In ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', Gravity-elemental spells usually manifest as spells of darkness, appearing as orbs and/or vortexes of shadowy energy. The Gravity summon Diabolos is also a BigRedDevil that is sometimes fought in a dark, shadowy alternate dimension. Otherwise the Dark-elemental abilities you're likely to see frequently are Shadow Flare and the Dark Knight's Dark Wave/Darkside attack. The Ivalice titles like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' work Dark into the standard ElementalRockPaperScissors set-up.

* In ''VideoGame/LegendOfDragoon'', Rose is the Dark-elemental dragoon [[spoiler:and the black monster.]]

* Abyss Sorcery returns in ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'' though they are called Hexes now. Instead of dealing physical+magic damage, they deal Dark elemental damage. Hexes require a hefty investment in Faith ''and'' Intelligence, and certain Hexes can only be cast with sorcery catalysts or chimes. The more powerful Hexes also consume souls when cast. Despite these drawbacks, Hexes are for the most part the most powerful spells in the game.

* ''Videogame/FireEmblem:''

** [[Videogame/PokemonColosseum Shadow Attacks]][[note]]"Dark" Attacks in Japan[[/note]] are Anti-Light versions of otherwise normal attacks. This is due to its nature as TheCorruption.

** The Eiha line of spells in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' inflict Dark damage, whereas Mudo spells are the aforementioned instant-kill type.

** [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Oni]], Akuma's {{Superpowered Evil Side}}, plays this trope straight. His Hadokens, especially his Meido Gohado, are clearly composed from dark energy, and his Ultra Combos turn the screen black and white with evil energy.

* Rumia of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' was made to play with this notion. Her power, the power of darkness, is meant to sound like the dark and powerful abilities of other characters on this page, but she is actually one of the weakest of all {{youkai}} in Gensokyo. Her darkness only blinds anyone within her field -- which includes herself -- and she is known for crashing headlong into trees. It is fortunate she is so weak, since she is a man-eater. The ribbon in her hair is supposed to be an amulet keeping her powers in check, however, so WildMassGuessing holds that she would be the unstoppable "[[BonusBoss EX-Rumia]]" if that amulet was removed.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wizard 101}}'':

* In ''VideoGame/{{Sonny}}'', the Psychological (or Shadow Strain, depending on the version) uses dark-element psionics to act as a GradualGrinder and layer debuffs on the enemy. Their basic attack, Shadow Bolt, is an ArmorPiercingAttack, which makes it BoringButPractical in that, despite being the weakest base attack of the non-physical strains, it always hits for full damage. And it can be fired every turn.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Crystalline}}'' Shadow is the fifth elemental magic after the classical four, focussing on concealment and emotional manipulation (in addition to direct attacks, which all elements in the setting can do). It was once a perfectly acceptable field of magical study but a cult called VOID tried to use Shadow magic to TakeOverTheWorld. By the time of the game, a few decades after VOID was defeated, Shadow magic has been made illegal.

** The series as a whole associates dark magic as being extraordinarily powerful, which is what makes it so dangerous. Dark magic is depicted as being able to allow people to communicate with the dead, absorb life energy, negate attacks entirely, or just outright FantasticNuke people. Because it's so powerful, it seems that those with weak hearts become corrupted by it (something that's actually a major plot point in ''The Blazing Blade''). The side-effects of failing to control the darkness range from becoming an EmptyShell to a full-on FaceHeelTurn. On the other hand, those with strong wills are capable of maintaining their sense of self - but it takes a great deal of self-control.

* Marlowe in ''VideoGame/VisionsAndVoices'' specializes in Necrotic spells.
* Jackie Estacado from the video game adaptation of the aforementioned ''VideoGame/TheDarkness''. Despite being a nice guy (erm, [[AntiHero insofar as an enforcer for the Mafia can be considered "nice"]]; he's pretty cuddly compared to his boss), his powers include his ability to form a shield of darkness and somehow ''breathe in'' darkness to replenish his health, his ability to summon Darklings, his use of CombatTentacles of darkness, and even imploding a small piece of darkness to create a freaking ''black hole''! To top it off, light - ''any'' light - will weaken his powers, but a solar eclipse will supercharge them.

** Although it rarely comes up, [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]] can cast Shadow Magic - most notably, taking the form of a shadow and zipping/teleporting around the room.

* Darkness is an effect of some attacks in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''. They're mainly Ganondorf's speciality, but Mewtwo and Giga Bowser can use them as well. (And White VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}, though that's considered to be [[PoisonousPerson poison]].) [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Dharkon]], the Embodiment of Chaos and Darkness, naturally has darkness-themed powers.]]

* Rumia of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' was made to play with this notion. Her power, the power of darkness, is meant to sound like the dark and powerful abilities of other characters on this page, but she is actually one of the weakest of all {{youkai}} in Gensokyo. Her darkness only blinds anyone within her field - which includes herself - and she is known for crashing headlong into trees. It is fortunate she is so weak, since she is a man-eater. The ribbon in her hair is supposed to be an amulet keeping her powers in check, however, so WildMassGuessing holds that she would be the unstoppable "[[BonusBoss EX-Rumia]]" if that amulet was removed.

* Being one of the elemental Blade types in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'', the player can resonate with Dark-type blades, just like with any other. The most prominent examples include [[{{Yandere}} Azami]] (a ruthless marionette/cyborg-like woman with a MagicEye and a [[{{BFG}} huge gun]]), [[KnightErrant Perceval]] (a former assassin with a desire to punish evildoers with his [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] and a [[ThouShaltNotKill no-kill policy]]), [[TheJinx Kasandra]] (a sweet girl who seems to be unaware of the misfortune that seems to follow her around, and [[DropTheHammer wields a gigantic hammer]]) and [[{{Goth}} Vale]] (a [[BladeOnAStick spear-wielding]] teenager with an appreciation for the occult).

* Mephiles the Dark, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', is a being of pure shadow that is able to take physical form by merging with someone's shadow (in this case, Shadow's). He can also [[MookMaker spawn creatures of his dark essence]], cast a pool of darkness, and fire spheres of dark energy.

** Although it rarely comes up, [[Franchise/SuperMarioBrothers Bowser]] can cast Shadow Magic - most notably, taking the form of a shadow and zipping/teleporting around the room.