History DarkIsNotEvil / LiveACtionTV

* In ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse'', [[spoiler:most of the ghosts haunting the [[GeniusLoci Hill House]] are trying to scare the Crains ''away''. For example, William Hill (the "Tall Man") seems to just be driven by curiosity and a desire to get his hat back and didn't intend any harm to Luke in haunting him. By extension, the spirit of Nell as the Bent-Neck Lady.]]

** Like in the original, the Night's Watch fits the bill perfectly. Conscripted outlaws, thugs and dishonoured nobles who wear all black and don black armour don't paint a very friendly image, yet they are a LawfulNeutral force that forms the first line of defence against the ChaoticNeutral and ChaoticEvil powers that lurk beyond the Wall.

** The MainCharacters themselves, with the exceptions of Hughie and Starlight are darkly dressed and unpleasant but are most certainly the real superheroes of the world. Billy Butcher, Kimiko (who often looks like Sadako) and Frenchie in particular would be villains in any other setting, with Billy espeically frequently pushing the bounderies of this trope (as many of his allies call him out on) despite Butcher having a HiddenHeartOfGold and being a FriendToAllChildren who is far more heroic than Homelander (his {{foil}}) who is firmly LightIsNotGood.

* ''Series/TheBoys'':

* In ''Series/TheMandalorian'' the titular BountyHunter is a case of this. At fist Din Djarin seems little different from the other [[TheFaceless faceless]] HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic ruthless cutthroats such as Jango and Bobba and his color scheme is a cold silver and black. The first hint we get that he's actually a more noble character, is that he is pleased that his excess Beskar will help the Mandalorian foundlings. Then when he finds The Child aka Grogu he reveals himself to BruiserWithASoftCenter who protects and raises his new adoptive son. This compassion is so jarring with the usual bounter hunter way, that the cold-blooded Imperial Client is confused by it when Mando asks what they'll do with the child after [[WhatYouAreInTheDark initally]] handing him over to them, noting it's "uncharacteristic of one of your reputation". By the end of the season and throughout the next Din is willingly to take what's left of the Empire to protect his green little son.

** Subverted with Kali, initially she appears to be a case of this being a dark punk AntiHero taking revenge on those who took away from her mother and teaching her "sister" Eleven to hone her powers. Except as the episode goes on, it's clear Kali has dissolved into HeWhoFightsMonsters territory happy to expolit her ablities for her own selfish gain and is really a PoisonousFriend to El.

** Eddie from Season 4 is an epic case of this. His EstablishingCharacterMoment is him being a rowdy and crass troublemaker in the school cafeteria who antagonises the popular crowd and is harsh and demanding fellow D&D lovers to Dustin and Mike. This along with Eddie's HeavyMetal interests, other demonic allusions (being head a club called ''Hellfire''), drug dealing and almost slashing Steve with a broken bottle when startled from a hiding place paints a negative picture on the surface. Yet as we see in his touching scenes with his crush Chrissy as well as Dustin, Eddie is really a sweet and funny guy who has multiple HiddenDepths and by the end of the season proves be geuinely heroic. This contrasts well to Eddie's {{foil}} Jason, who looks and seems a tradional hero [[LightIsNotGood but reveals a uglier and cruelly violent side to his personailty]] after a SanitySlippage.

** [[spoiler:Played straight with Black Noir, in stark contrast to the utterly vile DarkIsEvil comic version. He was once a good man who received horrific brain damage from the aforementioned Soldier Boy leading him to being ReforgedIntoAMinion by Vought. Yet despite his status as TheHeavy, his former better nature still lingers on, sparring innocent children he encounters on his assassinations and becomes a tragic AntiVillain in Season 3 when Soldier Boy comes back into the picture.]]

** The MainCharacters themselves, with the exceptions Hughie and Starlight are darkly dressed and unpleasant but are most certainly the real superheroes of the world. Billy Butcher, Kimiko (who often looks like Sadako) and Frenchie in particular would be villains in any other setting, with Billy espeically frequently pushing the bounderies of this trope (as many of his allies call him out on) despite Butcher having a HiddenHeartOfGold and being a FriendToAllChildren who is far more heroic than Homelander (his {{foil}}) who is firmly LightIsNotGood.

** Eddie from Season 4 is an epic case of this. His EstablishingCharacterMoment is him being a rowdy and crass troublemaker in the school cafeteria who antagonises the popular crowd and is harsh and demanding fellow D&D lovers to Dustin and Mike. This along with Eddie's HeavyMetal interests, other demonic allusions (being head a club called ''Hellfire''), drug dealing and almost slashing Steve with a broken bottle when startled from a hiding place paints a negetive picture om the surface. Yet as we see in his touching scenes with his crush Chrissy as well as Dustin, Eddie is really a sweet and funny guy who has multiple HiddenDepths and by the end of the season proves be geuinely heroic. This contrasts well to Eddie's {{foil}} Jason, who looks and seems a tradional hero [[LightIsNotGood but reveals a uglier and cruelly violent side to his personailty]] after a SanitySlippage.

'''Dalek:''' [[AC:So are you.]] ''[the Doctor's smile slips]'' [[AC:[[NotSoDifferent We are the same]].]]\\

*** The Twelfth Doctor, played by Creator/PeterCapaldi, is a stark contrast to the goofy, light-hearted Eleventh (Creator/MattSmith). Twelve has [[KubrickStare a stoic, intimidating face]] with a constantly-furrowed, [[BigOlEyebrows bushy brow]] and perpetually unhappy expression. Gone are the bow-ties and fez hats: Twelve prefers a dark blue BadassLongcoat. His goofy sense of humour has been replaced by a very dry wit. And like Nine, his personality has darkened into TheStoic. Twelve's first Dalek story, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E2IntoTheDalek Into the Dalek]]", hearkens back to Nine's encounter, with the NotSoDifferent question raised once more. Despite this drastic change, and his own doubts about his nature, Twelve is still fundamentally a good person and notably remains FriendToAllChildren (though he's more prickly about it), and he still cares deeply for the people he considers his friends. It's just a shame that who counts as "his friends" was [[{{Protectorate}} limited only to Clara]] as of the end of Series 8. He's a KnightInSourArmor -- if you were to meet him, (a) he'd do everything he could to save your butt, and (b) you'd still want to punch him much of the time. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E8MummyOnTheOrientExpress "Mummy on the Orient Express"]] is a prime example of this, as he didn't display the least bit of sympathy when someone was targeted by the mummy (it can only be seen by its target and kills precisely at the 66 second mark) and kept telling him to describe it so that others could be saved, and later lies to manipulate the person he expects its next target to be to get them where he needed them to be. But it turns out that he needed to do that so he could [[spoiler: redirect it to target ''him,'' risking his life on being able to figure out how to stop the creature in 66 seconds or less.]] And he does. In his later two seasons he stops insulting people just for the hell of it and ultimately goes down as one of the kindest Doctors of all -- but he still ain't warm and cuddly. As he puts it in his FinalSpeech prior to his regeneration, "Always try to be nice but never fail to be kind."

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

** First, there is House Stark itself - a family of unshaven, dark-haired frontiersmen from the [[GrimUpNorth bleak, murderous North]] who dress in dark pelts and have a snarling wolf for a sigil... yet they're, unambiguously, the primary protagonists ''and'' heroes of the story, being one of the last families in Westeros that still puts HonourBeforeReason.

*** The Twelfth Doctor, played by Creator/PeterCapaldi, is a stark contrast to the goofy, light-hearted Eleventh (Creator/MattSmith). Twelve has [[KubrickStare a stoic, intimidating face]] with a constantly-furrowed, [[BigOlEyebrows bushy brow]] and perpetually unhappy expression. Gone are the bow-ties and fez hats: Twelve prefers a dark blue BadassLongcoat. His goofy sense of humour has been replaced by a very dry wit. And like Nine, his personality has darkened into TheStoic. Twelve's first Dalek story, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E2IntoTheDalek Into the Dalek]]", hearkens back to Nine's encounter, with the NotSoDifferent question raised once more. Despite this drastic change, and his own doubts about his nature, Twelve is still fundamentally a good person and notably remains FriendToAllChildren (though he's more prickly about it), and he still cares deeply for the people he considers his friends. It's just a shame that who counts as "his friends" is [[{{Protectorate}} limited only to Clara]] as of the end of Series 8.\\
12 is very much a KnightInSourArmor. If you were to meet him, (a) he'd do everything he could to save your butt, and (b) you'd still want to punch him much of the time. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E8MummyOnTheOrientExpress "Mummy on the Orient Express"]] is a prime example of this, as he didn't display the least bit of sympathy when someone was targeted by the mummy (it can only be seen by its target and kills precisely at the 66 second mark) and kept telling him to describe it so that others could be saved, and later lies to manipulate the person he expects its next target to be to get them where he needed them to be. But it turns out that he needed to do that so he could [[spoiler: redirect it to target ''him,'' risking his life on being able to figure out how to stop the creature in 66 seconds or less.]] And he does. As of his second season, he's stopped insulting people just for the hell of it, but he still ain't warm and cuddly.\\
This theme is extended into the video game ''VideoGame/DoctorWhoLegacy'' with regards to PersonalityPowers — where other Doctors wield fire, electricity, ice/time, or nature-based energies, Nine and Twelve (as well as [[BreakTheCutie Eight]], who doesn't fall under this trope) wield TheSacredDarkness.

* This is Jugglus Juggler's gimmick in ''Series/UltramanZ''. After his HazyFeelTurn after the events of [[Series/UltramanOrb Orb]] and [[Series/UltramanGeed Geed]], Juggler now uses his dark powers for the greater good of humanity when he is needed for an emergency, [[spoiler:whenever he is not masquerading around [=STORAGE=] as Hebikura]]. Although that doesn't stop him from [[TrainingFromHell using his darkness as a means to teach Haruki (and Z) how to fight]].

* ''Wrestling/{{WWE}}'':
** [[InsistentTerminology Superstar]] Mark Callaway is best known for being "Wrestling/TheUndertaker", a [[ProfessionalWrestling wrestling]] gravedigger/zombie/death incarnate/cult leader/biker. Although he started off (and [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor every so often returns to being]]) a {{Heel}}, currently he's often treated as a Face, being one of the longest-tenured and popular currently active wrestlers. Behind the scenes, he's also very well respected as a mentor and AFatherToHisMen.
** Boogeyman has red and black devil-style face paint and originally a stage persona to match. What impression do you get [[http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/pictures/b/boogeyman/02.jpg about]] [[http://mimg.ugo.com/201101/7/8/5/162587/cuts/03boogeyman_480x480.jpg this]] [[http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/6269/boogeyman4cv.jpg guy]]? If you guessed he belongs on this page, you'd be correct.

* Jack Kline, Lucifer's son, turns out to be a wide eyed innocent who loves his adopted family (the Winchesters) and world.