History Main / AnimatedShockComedy

* While ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is fairly tame as far as adult cartoons go (despite it being considered edgy for its time), it gravitated towards more edgy humor and grossout comedy as it had to compete with the likes of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. One example is a panda rape scene in "Homer vs. Dignity." However, [[DownplayedTrope this isn't a consistent tone across the show]], which is generally seen as pretty laidback.

* ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' is a sequel to ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'', a classic shonen gag manga that was largely kid-friendly. However, ''Osomatsu-san'' is marketed mainly at an teen and adult audience due to having a ''much'' more adult and raunchy sense of humor. Since the six brothers are [[LazyBum lazy]], [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy hard-drinking]], [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered]] [=NEETs=] who [[CasanovaWannabe obsess over sex but can rarely find female companionship]], it has a lot of crude humor, up to and including a scene in the OVA showing [[BestialityIsDepraved the title character getting 'ridden' by the horse instead of the other way around]].

* ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' is superficially similar to ''Crayon Shin-Chan'' (the previous series, ''Osomatsu-kun'', was even more so), though it is marketed mainly at an teen and adult audience. Since the six brothers are [[LazyBum lazy]], [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy hard-drinking]], [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered]] [=NEETs=] who [[CasanovaWannabe obsess over sex but can rarely find female companionship]], it has a lot of crude humor, up to and including a scene in the OVA showing [[BestialityIsDepraved the title character getting 'ridden' by the horse instead of the other way around]].

* When ''Anime/GhostStories'' was dubbed into English, the producers at ADV Films were told to do whatever they wanted, as the original version failed in it's Japanese run on Fuji TV (even though scripts were made, the voice actors mainly ad-libbed). There are many jokes that would be deemed as racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, etcetera.

%%* ''Manga/{{Mitsudomoe}}'' is quite raunchy, with gross-outs and sex jokes galore.

* ''Anime/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'' is all about graphically killing the main character for laughs and reviving him each time to do it again, so that he doesn't grow up to be a pedophile who creates a potion to keep girls from aging. And there's more, including the fact that angels get chronic diarrhea when their haloes are removed.

Animated Shock Comedy received a fair amount of backlash back in the day, both from MoralGuardians due to the genre's family-unfriendliness, and from critics for the perceived [[BottomOfTheBarrelJoke laziness]] of its quick gag-based humor. The latter criticism was enhanced by SeasonalRot and perceived FollowTheLeader tendencies amongst some popular examples. However, the genre received something of a rehabilitation in the 2010s, with a number of critically-acclaimed examples, like ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'', ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' that managed to balance key features of the genre with CharacterDevelopment. Remember that Administrivia/TropesAreTools and any genre can be done well or poorly.

In TheNineties, shows like ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' proved to the industry that cartoons with an adult[[note]]though in many cases it's more of a teen/young adult[[/note]] audience could be a success, and introduced certain elements, like social satire (''The Simpsons'') and crudeness (''Beavis and Butthead'') that paved the way, but the genre really took off with the debut of the TropeCodifier ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' in 1997. ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had a huge impact on the genre as well, particularly in its use of the CutawayGag. The massive success of these shows [[FromClonesToGenre spawned a whole host of imitators]] and helped initiate a RuderAndCruder shift within pop culture as a whole.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is [[GenrePopularizer almost single-handedly responsible]] for kickstarting the trend of RefugeInAudacity and CrossesTheLineTwice in adult animation. Hard as it is to imagine these days, in 1997 the sight of cartoon characters telling each other to "suck balls" was totally wild and crazy (the closest ''The Simpsons'' had ever come to that was, of course, "Eat my shorts!"), and the show drew huge viewership numbers purely from the [[DancingBear novelty factor]]. Like all popular things, it was quickly aped and imitated, and soon it became standard practice for adult cartoons to take a page out of Parker and Stone's book. Unlike many of its derided imitators, though, South Park's humor relies heavily on satire and mockery of weekly news {{Ripped From The Headlines}}; while {{Toilet Humor}} and crude sexual jokes feature frequently, they're not the sole source of comedy in the show, or even the primary one.
* The main reason ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory'' lasted as briefly as it did (aside from being a "filler" show inbetween seasons of ''Family Guy'') was that it was so sophomoric and the characters were so needlessly cruel and unlikable that nobody found it appealing or funny.

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' deconstructs some of this genre's conventions. There's no SnapBack, very little [[NauseaFuel grossout humor]] and all of the socio-political messages are well-informed (if a little heavy-handed). Instead, the show analyzes why [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist a crude, selfish, destructive person]] would be that way. The result is a story about how love is earned and that nobody is going to like you if they have a perfectly good reason not to. While the series has some EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in the first few episodes, where it does lean more towards the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''/''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' style of animated comedy, it quickly settles on character-driven BlackComedy. For example, there's a lot of dark jokes about [=BoJack=]'s AbusiveParents and addictive tendencies, and Sarah Lynn's drug abuse and sex addiction, but all of these concepts become major plot points down the line.
* The main criticism of ''WesternAnimation/{{Brickleberry}}'' is that tries to be the next ''Family Guy'' (next to its art-style being incredibly similar) by cramming as many vulgar, offensive and tasteless jokes as humanly possible at the cost of any well-developed or likable characters or interesting storylines.

* ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'' is one of the most notorious examples. As it turns out, a show that already thrived on vulgar humor doesn't automatically become more "adult" when you show outright what the original cartoon could only imply--if anything, that makes it ''less'' funny. There's some debate over whether this was Spike TV trying to appeal to the post-''South Park'' crowd or just what happens when you don't rein in Creator/JohnKricfalusi.

* Part of the reason for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' SeasonalRot was pressure to become more "edgy" and "adult" in order to compete with shows like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. This resulted in an increase in mean-spirited humor and gross-out gags that aren't particularly funny and don't fit the show's milder, more laid-back tone. It all culminated in the infamous panda rape scene in "Homer vs. Dignity."

* ''Manga/CrayonShinChan'' is an odd example. In the franchise's native Japan, the manga is aimed at adults as it was published in a {{Seinen}} manga magazine. Its anime adaptation, on the other hand, is considered ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids family-friendly]]'' despite the crude, raunchy humor being kept in. In addition, the vast majority of the foreign dubs {{Bowdlerized}} the anime to make it more suitable for younger audiences[[note]][[GettingCrapPastTheRadar though they still had their moments of raunchiness]], some of which were actually added by the dubbers themselves[[/note]]. When the anime finally received the more well-known GagDub by Creator/{{FUNimation}}, it was marketed specifically towards adults and had its raunchiness turned UpToEleven.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', the QuietlyPerformingSisterShow to ''Family Guy'', is also one on its off days. That said, the humor tends to be more character and plot-driven, and as a result is generally more critically respected than its older brother.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''[='s=] a particular style of pop culture-centric humor and cutaway gags proved a big hit with audiences (especially following its [[UnCancelled uncancellation]]), and made it arguably just as influential as ''South Park'' in popularizing the genre, for better or worse.

For a long time Animated Shock Comedy series were, for all intents and purposes, the ''only'' successful Western animated works aimed at adult audiences. This began to change in the late 2010s, with the introduction of the first successful non-comedy adult animated series such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Primal}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'', but shock comedy is still by far the dominant genre in Western adult animation. Therefore, aversions and subversions should not be listed here.

* ''WebAnimation/ObjectRedundancy'' is rather fitting, as it's another series full of VuglarHumor.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

Animated Shock Comedy received a fair amount of backlash back in the day, both from MoralGuardians due to the genre's family-unfriendliness, and from critics for the perceived [[BottomOfTheBarrelJoke laziness]] of its quick gag-based humor. The latter criticism was enhanced by SeasonalRot and perceived FollowTheLeader tendencies amongst some popular examples. However, the genre received something of a rehabilitation in the 2010s, with a number of critically-acclaimed examples, like ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' that managed to balance key features of the genre with CharacterDevelopment. Remember that Administrivia/TropesAreTools and any genre can be done well or poorly.

For a long time Animated Shock Comedy series were, for all intents and purposes, the ''only'' successful Western animated works aimed at adult audiences. This began to change in the late 2010s, with the introduction of the first successful non-comedy adult animated series such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Primal}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'', but shock comedy is still by far the dominant genre in Western adult animation.

* ''WesternAnimation/TrippingTheRift'' is a rare CG example (the only other one being ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'') of this being played straight, with gross outs and sex jokes galore.

Animated Shock Comedy is a genre of WesternAnimation that emerged in the 1990's (primarily in the United States), towards the tail end of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation. A new generation of cartoons busted TV animation out of the AnimationAgeGhetto by infusing animation with pervasive elements that are decidedly ''not'' for children: VulgarHumor and BlackComedy. These shows typically feature heavy elements of ComedicSociopathy, profanity, pop culture references, and political {{satire}}.

Animated Shock Comedy received a fair amount of backlash back in the day, both from MoralGuardians due to the genre's family-unfriendliness, and from critics for the perceived [[BottomOfTheBarrelJoke laziness]] of its quick gag-based humor. The latter criticism was enhanced by SeasonalRot and perceived FollowTheLeader tendencies amongst some popular examples. However, the genre received something of a rehabilitation in the 2010's, with a number of critically-acclaimed examples, like ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' that managed to balance key features of the genre with CharacterDevelopment. Remember that Administrivia/TropesAreTools and any genre can be done well or poorly.

[[folder:Other]]
* In his 2015 autobiography, Music/EdSheeran says that he wasn't allowed to watch ''The Simpsons'' as a child because his mother thought it was on the same level as ''South Park.'' Strangely, he quit church choir so he could watch ''The Simpsons,'' which is mentioned in his 2017 song "Eraser."
[[/folder]]

Visually, Animated Shock Comedies are not confined to any particular animation style, though ThinLineAnimation is probably the most common.

* [[Creator/RalphBakshi Ralph Bakshi's]] early films, in particular ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat'' can be considered an UnbuiltTrope version of this genre. They were driven by racy content and edgy humor, but they were also [[TheBigRottenApple fairly grim portrayals of life in New York City]], even featuring some somber moments of MoodWhiplash; the {{Jerkass}} protagonists that became common in the genre were targets of satirical mockery; and more "offensive" elements such as racial stereotypes were generally used as social commentary. While some of today's adult animation, including ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' itself, arguably does follow up on Bakshi's satirical tendencies, this was certainly not the case with the now-forgotten ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat'' imitators of TheSeventies.

* Zig-zagged with ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty''. There's plenty of CharacterDevelopment and a solid plot, but it still sold itself on being the first 3D computer-animated feature to get an R-rating. Viewers are divided on its quality, with some feeling that it tried too hard to shove crude humor into every available place it could find.

* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' is one of the few non-animation examples of this trope, with sex jokes and grossout gags galore. This was a deliberate choice in response to critics who felt that earlier builds were too similar to Rare's other cartoonish mascot platformers.

* [[Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]] zig-zags this trope. While it does use a lot of swear humor and sex jokes, it does not rely on shock humor and gross-out and would put more emphasis on [[ZanyCartoon classic cartoon gags]] from the UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation.
* ''WebAnimation/SonicForHire'' is jet-packed with BlackComedy and VulgarHumor, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids though YouTube rates it TV-PG]]. Its brother show, ''WebAnimation/MegaManDiesAtTheEnd'', is LighterAndSofter in terms of this trope, but it's still present.

* The later seasons of ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' resort to this kind of humor, being one of the few non-animated examples of this trope

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is [[TropeCodifier almost single-handedly responsible]] for creating the [[RefugeInAudacity audacious]], [[CrossesTheLineTwice line-crossing]] brand of humor that has become so prevalent in adult animation. Hard as it is to imagine these days, in 1997 the sight of cartoon characters telling each other to "suck balls" was totally wild and crazy (the closest ''The Simpsons'' had ever come to that was, of course, "Eat my shorts!"), and the show drew huge viewership numbers purely from the [[DancingBear novelty factor]]. Like all popular things, it was quickly aped and imitated, and soon it became standard practice for adult cartoons to take a page out of Parker and Stone's book. Unlike many of its derided imitators, though, South Park's humor relies heavily on satire and mockery of weekly news {{Ripped From The Headlines}}; while {{Toilet Humor}} and crude sexual jokes feature frequently, they're not the sole source of comedy in the show, or even the primary one.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', the QuietlyPerformingSisterShow to ''Family Guy'', fits the trope just as well. That said, the humor tends to be more character and plot-driven, and as a result is generally more critically respected than its older brother.

* While ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' definitely qualifies as this in its later seasons (earlier episodes were much tamer, while episodes from season 4 onwards are filled with VulgarHumor and {{Gorn}}), the [[ShortRunners extremely short-lived]] SpinOff ''WesternAnimation/SoulQuestOverdrive'' takes this UpToEleven, featuring a non-stop barrage of crude sex jokes, random gratuitous violence, drug references, and ComedicSociopathy crammed into every 5-minute episode.

* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/BabyBlues'' on Creator/TheWB was a failure mainly due to this trope, taking what was a genial, family-friendly comic strip about the everyday hassles of parents raising two young children, and filling it with sexual innuendo and adult-oriented plots, [[AudienceAlienatingPremise driving away fans of the comic strip while failing to bring in people who weren't]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' is an early (pre-''South Park'') example, deriving several jokes from ToiletHumour and the title characters [[HehHehYouSaidX love to point out innuendoes]]. Its spinoff, ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', largely averts this trope. While it was controversial in its time, later shows such as ''South Park'' and ''Family Guy'' have taken their vulgar humor to much greater lengths, to the point that ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' can look [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny tame in comparison]]. This may be one of the reasons why the 2011 revival was so short-lived.
* The Netflix show ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' is a {{Downplayed|Trope}} example, since it's ostensibly centered around middle schoolers who have reached the onset of puberty and are confused about their sexual and psychological changes, something an adult would have outgrown. That said, barely an episode is devoid of dealing with mature topics like sex, drugs, crime, and containing profanity.
* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' played this trope straight in [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Season 1]] (the first episode alone cracked jokes about pedophilia, autism and cannibalism). As of Season 2, the show grew out of it and was made into a DenserAndWackier version of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' (which is perhaps the ultimate aversion of this trope).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' averts this trope. While it's a comedy that does have a lot of sexual humor, swearing, and some bloody violence, it seldom resorts to ToiletHumor outside the episode where Music/RKelly is on trial for a sex tape of him urinating on a 14-year old girl. It has been compared to the [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark trope namer]], but only in regards to its biting social commentary, not its style of humor.

* Possibly one of most well-known shows that play this trope straight is ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', which is 90% CringeComedy and VulgarHumor. You can count the amount of jokes that are not [[RefugeInAudacity shock value]], [[NauseaFuel bodily function-related]] or at the expense of any kind of social/racial minority on one hand. Unlike other shows of its kind, though, it has at least good art-direction and frequently [[SelfDeprecation mocks the lack of artistic merit this show has.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has a particular style of pop culture-centric humor and cutaway gags proved a big hit with audiences (especially following its [[UnCancelled uncancellation]]), and made it arguably just as influential as its brethren, for better or worse.
* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'' averts this trope via not resorting to shock humor and [[SirSwearsALot having the characters utter expletives every half-minute,]] instead defining itself as mature by its emotional, gripping story arcs and complex, multilayered characters, irrespective of the moderate language and (stylized) violence here and there, but thankfully [[GoshDangItToHeck none of the swear words are more vulgar than "crap."]]

* The MTV ShortRunner ''WesternAnimation/GoodVibes'', which was originally intended to air alongside Seth [=MacFarlane=]'s series but ended up airing with the revival of ''Beavis and Butt-head'', had some HiddenDepths and the main characters avert being {{ComedicSociopath}}s, but was otherwise this trope.
* Despite its superhero comic origins, ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'' fits nicely in this category. It delights in how crude and raunchy it can get, with gratuitous violence, profanity, and jokes about all manner of off-color topics fill every episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'', one of the inaugural Creator/AdultSwim shows, largely averts this. It has some ToiletHumour and profanity, but by and large prioritizes strong, witty dialogue-based humor over shock comedy.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoops}}'' is another Netflix cartoon that plays this trope straight. The art-style is crude and unappealing, the main character is a completely unlikable {{Jerkass}}, and the humor is very crass and crude, with lots of dick jokes and '''extreme''' amounts of [[ClusterFBomb F-bombs]] from it's [[SirSwearsALot ''very'' foul-mouthed protagonist]].

* Deconstructed in the third season of ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel''. While the show is a biting criticism of Christianity and plays most of the tropes straight, when the CerebusSyndrome hit, it starts exploring how psychologically damaging the violence and obscenity can turn out to be.
* One major complaint about ''WesternAnimation/MrPickles'' is that the show tries to cram as many sex jokes and as much violent, disturbing and disgusting content as humanly possible into 11 minutes. ''WesternAnimation/KingStarKing'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'' fall under this formula as well, although the latter is considered as many as this trope done right. That said, there are hints of a consistent plot, and notably for this type of show it rarely delves into politics. Season 3 tries other types of humor besides just gross-out, like genre parodies, though it still thrives in gore.

* Creator/{{Netflix}}'s ''WesternAnimation/ParadisePD'' is a glaring example of this trope in action. Every episode is a nonstop barrage of stereotypes, graphic violence, drug jokes, [[GrossoutShow grossout jokes]], ToiletHumour, and ComedicSociopathy so unrelenting it almost borders on parody.
* Creator/BillPlympton is a noteworthy subversion as, while his films DO feature completely unfiltered vulgarity and violence, they're strictly AuthorAppeal and [[DoingItForTheArt not intended to appease some kind of demographic]]. At one point, he ''was'' dealing with criticism that he could only do over-the-top sex and violence with no emotional substance, and challenged those critics with the somber, personal ''WesternAnimation/{{Cheatin}}''.
* This is why ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'' was canceled after only six episodes. As it turns out, a show that already thrived on vulgar humor doesn't automatically become more "adult" when you show outright what the original cartoon could only imply--if anything, that makes it ''less'' funny. There's some debate over whether this was Spike TV trying to appeal to the post-''South Park'' crowd or just what happens when you don't rein in Creator/JohnKricfalusi.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' is often seen as an example of this trope "done right". A lot of the humor is extremely sophomoric, with phallic imagery, burp/fart jokes, pop culture references and violence galore; however, much like ''Bojack Horseman'', it plays the consequences of a lot of these jokes completely straight for the sake of furthering the story and developing the characters, who even at their flattest are much more fleshed out and three-dimensional than a good deal of the show's contemporaries. The most notable of this is the writers' conscious decision to make the occasional verbal rape joke while playing every instance of the act itself completely for horror, illustrating the difference between [[BlackComedy making jokes]] ''about'' rape and thinking rape is ''funny''.
* Part of the reason for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' SeasonalRot was pressure to become more "edgy" and "adult" in order to compete with shows like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. This resulted in an increase in mean-spirited humor and gross-out gags that aren't particularly funny and don't fit the show's milder, more laid-back tone. It all culminated in the panda rape scene in "Homer vs. Dignity."
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Squidbillies}}'' is a pretty faithful adherent of this trope. All of the humor is either sexual, violent, offensive, or just plain gross, and is also drawn in a deliberately sloppy, ugly art-style.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' is one of the biggest aversions of this trope. Despite being a Main/SadistShow with tons of BlackComedy, graphic violence, substance abuse, [[MsFanservice female fanservice]], and nudity, this '''''very''''' [[ContinuityLockout continuity-heavy show]] prioritizes long-running plot-lines with tons of character development, lots of CallBack's to prior episodes, humor that derived from cleverly-written shout-outs and deconstructions to ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' and Creator/MarvelComics instead of just mindless shock value and mean spirited take-that's, there's almost no ToiletHumor, and higher-quality animation and art direction than other shows of it kind.

* ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' is superficially similar to ''Crayon Shin-Chan'' (the previous series, ''Osomatsu-kun'', was even more so), though it is marketed mainly at an teen and adult audience. Since the six brothers are [[LazyBum lazy]], [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy hard-drinking]], [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered]] [=NEETs=] who [[CasanovaWannabe obsess over sex but can rarely find female companionship]], it has a lot of crude humor, up to and including a scene in the OVA showing [[BestialityIsDepraved the title character getting 'ridden' by the horse instead of the other way around]].
* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' is this as it has toilet humor and fourth wall breaking even though it was published in a certain [[Magazine/ShonenJump shonen manga magazine]]. As a matter of fact, it's frequently cited as the Japanese equivalent to ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' due to their very similar styles of humor.
* ''Anime/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'' is all about graphically killing the main character for laughs and reviving him each time to do it again, so that he doesn't grow up to be a pedophile who creates a potion to keep girls from aging. And there's more, including the fact that angels get chronic diarrhea when their haloes are removed.

* Zig-zagged with ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty''. There's plenty of CharacterDevelopment and a solid plot, but it still sold itself on being the first 3D computer-animated feature to get an R-rating. Viewers are divided on its quality, with some feeling that it tried too hard to shove crude humor into every available place it could find.

* ''WebAnimation/ObjectRedundancy'' is rather fitting, as it's another series full of VuglarHumor.

* ''La Familia De Barrio'' is a Mexican web-series (which eventually got adapted into a full TV-series on MTV and Comedy Central Latin America) with crude animation, lots of swearing, sex jokes, and constantly ridiculing politics and pop-culture like ''South Park''.

* ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'', one of the inaugural Creator/AdultSwim shows, largely averts this. It has some ToiletHumour and profanity, but by and large prioritizes strong, witty dialogue-based humor over shock comedy.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has a particular style of pop culture-centric humor and cutaway gags proved a big hit with audiences (especially following its [[UnCancelled uncancellation]]), and made it arguably just as influential as its brethren, for better or worse.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', the QuietlyPerformingSisterShow to ''Family Guy'', fits the trope just as well. That said, the humor tends to be more character and plot-driven, and as a result is generally more critically respected than its older brother.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' is one of the biggest aversions of this trope. Despite being a Main/SadistShow with tons of BlackComedy, graphic violence, substance abuse, [[MsFanservice female fanservice]], and nudity, this '''''very''''' [[ContinuityLockout continuity-heavy show]] prioritizes long-running plot-lines with tons of character development, lots of CallBack's to prior episodes, humor that derived from cleverly-written shout-outs and deconstructions to ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' and Creator/MarvelComics instead of just mindless shock value and mean spirited take-that's, there's almost no ToiletHumor, and higher-quality animation and art direction than other shows of it kind.
* Part of the reason for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' SeasonalRot was pressure to become more "edgy" and "adult" in order to compete with shows like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. This resulted in an increase in mean-spirited humor and gross-out gags that aren't particularly funny and don't fit the show's milder, more laid-back tone. It all culminated in the panda rape scene in "Homer vs. Dignity."
%%* The Creator/DreamWorksAnimation show ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'' attempted to be the first adult AllCGICartoon. It flopped and was canned after one season due to its expensive CG-animation, HypeAversion, and a campaign against it by the [[MoralGuardians Parents Television Council]], who feared advertising it as "[[AdvertisingByAssociation From the creators]] of ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}''" would lead kids to watch it.
%% Please explain why it's an example.
* The main criticism of ''WesternAnimation/{{Brickleberry}}'' is that tries to be the next ''Family Guy'' (next to its art-style being incredibly similar) by cramming as many vulgar, offensive and tasteless jokes as humanly possible at the cost of any well-developed or likable characters or interesting storylines.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'' halfway fits. Although mostly a drama that focuses on storyline and CharacterDevelopment more than laughs, it is nonetheless an animated series full of {{gorn}}, heavy cursing--bordering on ObligatorySwearing, considering most ''Castlevania'' games don't go beyond "damn"--overt sexual references, and a drunkard in a pub rambling in gruesome detail about the time he caught some stranger [[BestialityIsDepraved raping his goats]]. (BreadEggsBreadedEggs, perhaps.)
* Possibly one of most well-known shows that play this trope straight is ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', which is 90% CringeComedy and VulgarHumor. You can count the amount of jokes that are not [[RefugeInAudacity shock value]], [[NauseaFuel bodily function-related]] or at the expense of any kind of social/racial minority on one hand. Unlike other shows of its kind, though, it has at least good art-direction and frequently [[SelfDeprecation mocks the lack of artistic merit this show has.]]

* This is why ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'' was canceled after only six episodes. As it turns out, a show that already thrived on vulgar humor doesn't automatically become more "adult" when you show outright what the original cartoon could only imply--if anything, that makes it ''less'' funny. There's some debate over whether this was Spike TV trying to appeal to the post-''South Park'' crowd or just what happens when you don't rein in Creator/JohnKricfalusi.
* The main reason ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory'' lasted as briefly as it did (aside from being a "filler" show inbetween seasons of ''Family Guy'') was that it was so sophomoric and the characters were so needlessly cruel and unlikable that nobody found it appealing or funny.
* Creator/BillPlympton is a noteworthy subversion as, while his films DO feature completely unfiltered vulgarity and violence, they're strictly AuthorAppeal and [[DoingItForTheArt not intended to appease some kind of demographic]]. At one point, he ''was'' dealing with criticism that he could only do over-the-top sex and violence with no emotional substance, and challenged those critics with the somber, personal ''WesternAnimation/{{Cheatin}}''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TrippingTheRift'' is a rare CG example (the only other one being ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'') of this being played straight, with gross outs and sex jokes galore.
* The short-lived British series ''Full English'' was roundly panned for being a very blatant ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' rip-off, right down to the cutaway gags. The series featured much more graphic content than ''Family Guy'', however, with constant swearing, nudity, sex, and shock humor in every episode.
* The MTV ShortRunner ''WesternAnimation/GoodVibes'', which was originally intended to air alongside Seth [=MacFarlane=]'s series but ended up airing with the revival of ''Beavis and Butt-head'', had some HiddenDepths and the main characters avert being {{ComedicSociopath}}s, but was otherwise this trope.
* ''Hell and Back'' is another rare feature film example as well as one of the few stop-motion examples besides ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', with tons of sex and [[BlackComedyRape rape jokes]].
%%* Most of ''Animation Domination High-Definition'', especially ''WesternAnimation/HighSchoolUSA'', plays this straight.

* The Filipino-American creators of ''WesternAnimation/TheNutshack'' say that their series is the very first Asian adult cartoon. Anime aside, most of the humor is very low-brow and crude, with sex, violence, and drug use throughout.
* ''WesternAnimation/LegendsOfChamberlainHeights'' is another example, not only having loads of stereotypes and sexual humor, but even using the same two-frame animation style as ''South Park''. It doesn't help that Creator/ComedyCentral is using ''South Park'' as a lead-in in it's first season.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Squidbillies}}'' is a pretty faithful adherent of this trope. All of the humor is either sexual, violent, offensive, or just plain gross, and is also drawn in a deliberately sloppy, ugly art-style.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' contains loads of sex, violence and shocking subject matter, particularly jokes involving Krieger, the NightmareFetishist. It does have a highly detailed and realistic art style, however, compared to the usual crude and simplistic looks of shows of this type, and mixes in long-running plotlines, a surprising amount of CharacterDevelopment and a love for obscure GeniusBonus jokes.
* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/BabyBlues'' on Creator/TheWB was a failure mainly due to this trope, taking what was a genial, family-friendly comic strip about the everyday hassles of parents raising two young children, and filling it with sexual innuendo and adult-oriented plots, [[AudienceAlienatingPremise driving away fans of the comic strip while failing to bring in people who weren't]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' deconstructs some of this genre's conventions. There's no SnapBack, very little [[NauseaFuel grossout humor]] and all of the socio-political messages are well-informed (if a little heavy-handed). Instead, the show analyzes why [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist a crude, selfish, destructive person]] would be that way. The result is a story about how love is earned and that nobody is going to like you if they have a perfectly good reason not to. While the series has some EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in the first few episodes, where it does lean more towards the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''/''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' style of animated comedy, it quickly settles on character-driven BlackComedy. For example, there's a lot of dark jokes about [=BoJack=]'s AbusiveParents and addictive tendencies, and Sarah Lynn's drug abuse and sex addiction, but all of these concepts become major plot points down the line.

* Deconstructed in the third season of ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel''. While the show is a biting criticism of Christianity and plays most of the tropes straight, when the CerebusSyndrome hit, it starts exploring how psychologically damaging the violence and obscenity can turn out to be.
* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' played this trope straight in [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Season 1]] (the first episode alone cracked jokes about pedophilia, autism and cannibalism). As of Season 2, the show grew out of it and was made into a DenserAndWackier version of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' (which is perhaps the ultimate aversion of this trope).
* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' is an early (pre-''South Park'') example, deriving several jokes from ToiletHumour and the title characters [[HehHehYouSaidX love to point out innuendoes]]. Its spinoff, ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', largely averts this trope. While it was controversial in its time, later shows such as ''South Park'' and ''Family Guy'' have taken their vulgar humor to much greater lengths, to the point that ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' can look [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny tame in comparison]]. This may be one of the reasons why the 2011 revival was so short-lived.
* Creator/{{Netflix}}'s ''WesternAnimation/ParadisePD'' is a glaring example of this trope in action. Every episode is a nonstop barrage of stereotypes, graphic violence, drug jokes, [[GrossoutShow grossout jokes]], ToiletHumour, and ComedicSociopathy so unrelenting it almost borders on parody.
* Despite its superhero comic origins, ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'' fits nicely in this category. It delights in how crude and raunchy it can get, with gratuitous violence, profanity, and jokes about all manner of off-color topics fill every episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/JJVillardsFairyTales'' is full of {{Gorn}}, VulgarHumor, and has LimitedAnimation to the point where the character animation is just like South Park's.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoops}}'' is another Netflix cartoon that plays this trope straight. The art-style is crude and unappealing, the main character is a completely unlikable {{Jerkass}}, and the humor is very crass and crude, with lots of dick jokes and '''extreme''' amounts of [[ClusterFBomb F-bombs]] from it's [[SirSwearsALot ''very'' foul-mouthed protagonist]].

%%* This trope might as well have originally been called "All Adult Animation Is Creator/RalphBakshi" for two reasons: one, when he was still making films, it was, as nobody was making animation for adults as noteworthy as him (relatively speaking). Two, the only others who were only aped the gratuitous sex and nudity, which Bakshi only included in his films as a form of rebellion. His gritty violence and themes of corruption and racism, however, all came from personal experience and are never played for laughs. To be fair, the only reason he got away with this is because he worked independently, a big part of the reason ''Film/CoolWorld'', produced by Paramount, plays this trope straight.
%% Focus on specific films.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/EightCrazyNights'' is one of the few feature film examples of this trope played straight.

In TheNineties, shows like ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' proved to the industry that cartoons with an adult[[note]]though in many cases it's more of a teen/young adult[[/note]] audience could be a success, and introduced certain elements, like social satire (''The Simpsons'') and crudeness (''Beavis and Butthead''), but the genere really took off with the debut of the TropeCodifier ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' in 1997. ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', had a huge impact on the genre as well, particularly in its use of the CutawayGag. The massive success of these shows [[FromClonesToGenre spawned a whole host of imitators]] and helped initiate a RuderAndCruder shift within pop culture in general.

Animated Shock Comedy received a fair amount of backlash back in the day, both from MoralGuardians due to the genre's family-unfriendliness, and from critics for the perceived [[BottomOfTheBarrelJoke laziness]] of its quick gag-based humor. The latter criticism was likely due to SeasonalRot and perceived FollowTheLeader tendencies amongst some popular examples. However, the genre received something of a rehabilitation in the 2010's with a number of critically-acclaimed examples, like ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' that managed to balance key features of the genre with CharacterDevelopment. Remember that Administrivia/TropesAreTools and any genre can be done well or poorly.