History Main / DarkIsEdgy

[[quoteright:408: [[WarCraft http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warcraft-death-knight_1755.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:408:Yes, I serve the [[BigBad Lich King.]] Why do you ask?]]

Want to prove just how {{Darker And Edgier}} your villain is? Want to show just how diametrically opposed he is to the forces of good?

Simple! Give him control over the [[DarkIsEvil very opposite]] of the [[LightIsGood shiny, benevolent light]], and the goodness and morality "inherently" associated with it, that the protagonists fight to protect!

In short, this is a character that can control or otherwise manipulate the powers of Darkness.

This "Darkness" can come in 4 forms. In no particular order:
# Death, hate, anger, fear, disease, negativity, etc. and other general nastiness associated with these. [[BadPowersBadPeople Expect people who use these to be pretty unpleasant.]]
# Directly manipulating darkness itself. [[YouFailPhysicsForever It should be noted that this completely bastardizes the laws of physics.]] Darkness is simply absence of light, and is no more capable of causing harm than a dark room. Additionally, the "creation" of darkness would involve the destruction of light, violating thermodynamics. One could say that those using these powers draw their power directly from the {{Rule Of Cool}}, and heaven help them if they aren't enough of a {{Badass}} to do so. Fortunately, [[RequiredSecondaryPowers they often are]]. Can be explained as the darkness being a form of {{Applied Phlebotinum}}, possibly taking the form of a solid, in which case it has a strange tendancy to take the form of [[CombatTentacles tentacles]]. Often explained through AWizardDidIt.
** Other manifestations of "darkness" are depicted like other elemental types except "dark"; "dark fire", "dark light", "dark ooze". Take some kind of "energy" and PaintItBlack.
# Things or forces associated with the dark and/or night. Again, expect people using these to be [[DarkIsEvil evil]], or at the very least, creepy. Or maybe even ninjas!
# Evil, or possibly even demonic in nature. Unless coming from a [[FunSize diminutive]] {{Deadpan Snarker}}, get out your {{Infinity Plus One Sword}} or '''run like [[IncrediblyLamePun hell]]'''. Use of these powers often requires/precipitates a fall to the {{Dark Side}}. May taste like {{Hellfire}}.

People using the ([[DangerousForbiddenTechnique often-forbidden]]) powers of darkness tend to be [[ByronicHero brooding]], [[IWorkAlone secretive]], mildy-to-severely sociopathic, either a) emo or b) psychotic/homicidal, and, if not the enemy legion as a whole, then the {{Big Bad}} or at least {{The Dragon}}.

If the character is a protagonist, the forecast is for an {{Anti Hero}} with a 50% chance of [[{{Wangst}} whiny self-loathing]]. May have or even be a {{Superpowered Evil Side}}, but even if not, [[UnstoppableRage never, EVER piss them off]]. Of course, both villains and (anti)heroes may disregard the preceding completely in favor of being a {{Badass}}. Villains who take this option have an odd tendancy to become a {{Cultured Badass}}.

Any females wielding the power of darkness [[strike:may]] [[RuleofSexy will]] have clothes that are [[strike:slightly]] [[BeyondTheImpossible brain-bendingly]] {{Stripperific}}.

If DarkIsNotEvil, however, all bets are off.

May be combined with its opposite for a {{Yin Yang Bomb}}. A subtrope of {{Elemental Powers}}. Not to be confused with {{Black Magic}}, though the two may overlap to some small extent. See also {{Living Shadow}}. May be WeakenedByTheLight.

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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}} And {{Manga}}]]
* ''CodeBreaker'': The Prince's power is this, featuring literal edges.
* [[TheSmartGuy Shikamaru]] of ''{{Naruto}}'', who controls his shadow and can use it to [[PeoplePuppets control]] or strangle opponents, as well as amplify its reach with other shadows.
* Blackbeard from ''OnePiece'' has the literal "Darkness" power. Oddly, he mainly uses it to crush his opponents with ''gravity'', the chain seeming to go "dark->black->black hole->super gravity." This is fairly typical of the superpower logic in ''OnePiece''.
** [[spoiler: It appears to have the ability to do some [[MegaManning sort of power vampirism as well]]]]
** Or rather, as Blackbeard's explanation to Ace goes, his power is gravity (according to fansub). Apparently, the darkness is only a result of his power being able to absorb even light, which likely caused the fruit's name... which would appear to the human eye as darkness. [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum As far as One Piece powers go,]] his is one of the less fantastical.
*** Basically, just think of him as a living black hole, and it makes sense.
** Gekko Moria has power have shadows; mostly he steals them from people and uses them to reanimate zombies, although he can absorb them himself to become more powerful or just use it to attack directly as well.
* Takane Goodman in ''MahouSenseiNegima'', #2 Darkness (Shadow) as a form of GreenLanternRing. Prone to getting stripped, as the series has stripping disarm attacks; and when she tried to counter that by making her clothing out of Shadow, she ran up against Asuna and her magic cancel power. She usually uses her power to create golems for attack and defense, the other shadow user who has appeared used his power more like a Green Lantern, forming blades, etc. She's is definitely one of the good guys, if a little over serious.
** The Magic World Arc introduces Kagetarou, who ''acts'' like an antagonist at first [[spoiler:but turns out to be a buddy of Rakan's]]. There's also [[BigBad Fate Averruncus']] accomplice [[spoiler:Dynamis, who: can summons swarms of Invincible Minor Minions and a humongous EldritchAbomination; is stated to be almost as powerful as Fate himself; and tried to kill Nodoka and came damn close to succeeding, killing two of her friends who tried to protect her the first time, and only being driven off the second time by Setsuna (who hacked his right hand off at the forearm) & Kaede]].
* Hayate Yagami of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', the Queen of the Night Sky who has Diabolic Emission, a SphereOfDestruction that envelopes the land in pure darkness, as her signature spell. Oh, and [[DarkIsNotEvil she's the cheerfully optimistic]] BigGood of the series. [[ArtifactOfDoom The Book of Darkness]], [[SuperEmpowering the one she inherited her powers from]], probably fits the personality type a bit better.
* In ''DigimonFrontier,'' darkness is just one more element, and not inherently evil. The original Legendary Warriors - the warrior of Darkness included - were all good guys, and the new one, like every bad guy in the first half of the series, was corrupted by Cherubimon [[spoiler: and eventually got better, joining the team]]. More of his attacks than not have "Dark" or "Shadow" or some other darkness-related word in the name, and involve black energy.
* Doryu, from ''RaveMaster''
* From ''YuYuHakusho''
** Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame could be considered a mixture between fire and type four above. He's a ''DeadpanSnarker'' though, so it's ok.
** Asato Kido uses a direct manipulation of his shadow, allowing him to [[spoiler: paralyze Yusuke with it during their fight]]. He also has enough control to use it to write [[spoiler:Dr. Kamiya's]] name in his own blood after being attacked in the hospital.
* Certy from ''{{Durarara}}'' is a [[HeadlessHorseman Dullahan]] capable of manipulating shadow and giving it physical form. The uses of this ability range from creating weaponry and restraining enemies to [[MundaneUtility instantaneously dressing herself and letting her type faster]]
* Pride from ''FullmetalAlchemist'' slices, dices and [[ImAHumanitarian eats]] with his extensible shadows. [[spoiler: He's powerless in complete darkness, though. Shadows cannot exist without light.]]
* Kageyama, Jose, and Zero from ''FairyTail'' are all users of this type of magic, the first one weaker than the other two.

[[AC:{{Comic Book}}]]
* In Marvel Comics, Darkforce users can [[UnEntendre do number two]], although they aren't all evil.
* Subverted in the comic ''TheDarkness''. He manipulates the dark, but broadly speaking he's a good guy. For a mob hitman. Well, he's better than the wielder of the [[LightIsNotGood light powers]], anyway.
* Malice Vundabar, the youngest member of the [[NewGods Female Furies]], could summon a shadow monster called Chessure.
* [[TheDCU The DCU's]] shadow wielders, by and large, draw their powers from an alternate dimension known as the Shadowland (or Dark Zone). Much like their Marvel counterparts, they range the gamut from hero to villain.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* A non-evil example would be Arithon from ''{{Wars of Light and Shadow}}''. He's called the Master of Shadow for a reason, having power of the darkness and anything related to it, while his half-brother is the Lord of Light.
* [[EmotionlessGirl Ethereal]] of Three of Heart, One of Blood, is able to manipulate shadows to the point she can create sentient beings with them, albeit fueled by her own personality in a sense. She also averts the {{Stripperific}} clothing rule by wearing large, conservative dresses.
* Not evil, just cruel. The Dark court in ''WickedLovely'' are a combination of types one and two. They are emotional parasites, and at the hight of their power can manipulate shadows and form strange 'shadow creatures', which follow their leader of the time, although they serve little purpose. Generally, the edginess comes from the darkly seductive nature of them- one subspecies, the gancanagh, are addictive to mortals and the embodiment of DeathBySex. They also like tatoos, although this half-apllies to all the fey in Melissa Marr's work. It's AuthorAppeal, as Marr herself has several tatoos.
* In ''The WheelOfTime'', the [[SealedEvilInACan Dark One]] manifests an [[GodInHumanForm avatar]] with the power to create black fire, a "sphere of black light", and generalized darkness in rooms. This may be [[JustifiedTrope analogous]] to its other unique ability, to block access to the One Power: it can destroy physical light as it can the magical [[LightIsGood Light]].
** Myrddraal are terrifying, though that just may be because of their EyelessFace, extraordinary combat abilities, and love of rape. They possess the ability to teleport through shadows.
* In ''LordOfTheRings'', the [[TheDragon Nazgul]] generate terror in their enemies and are most powerful in the darkness. Since their chief weapons are fear, terror, ...um, fear, and a [[MontyPython fanatical dedication]] to the Dark Lord, they are WeakenedByTheLight.
* In ''TheSilmarillion'', the Unlight of [[EldritchAbomination Ungoliant]] falls somewhere between DarkIsEdgy and the PowerOfTheVoid.

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]
* The Shadow Queen, a Type 2 villainess in the ''{{Champions}}'' adventure ''The Great Supervillain Contest''. She had Darkness powers, including the ability to solidify, project and merge with shadows.
* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' has a number of Type 2 monsters that create and/or use darkness and shadows as weapons, such as the shade, shadow dragon and shadow mastiff. The shadow demon was a type 3/4 monster: it was more effective in darkness/shadow but couldn't create or manipulate it.
** The Shadowdancer PrestigeClass in ''DungeonsAndDragons'' (also available in ''NeverwinterNights''.) Again, DarkIsNotEvil, though it does synchronize well with the Thief class.
** One of the power sources for ''DungeonsAndDragons'' 4th Edition is Shadow, which is the dark half of arcane magic. (This is mirrored with the ''ForgottenRealms'' own Shadow Weave in lore.) So far, assassins are the only class released that makes use of this power source. Necromancers and hexblades have also been rumored.
* Mentioned in the backstory of the ''{{Warhammer40000}}'' universe, [[MissedMomentOfAwesome but sadly not playable on the tabletop]], are the Umbra, a strange race of aliens that look like completely black spheres. They have the power to manipulate any shadows in the vicinity, turning them into [[CombatTentacles huge toothy tentacles]] that tear people to pieces. And they can do this to ''any'' shadow. [[NightmareFuel Even the ones in your pupils]].
** {{Warhammer}} had a minor chaos god named Obscuras whose powers were mainly based on shadow, and who could grant to his followers the ability of seeing without requiring light. Some people can sttill obtain powers based on shadow without worshipping him, however.
* The [[DarkIsNotEvil Darklings]] from ''ChangelingTheLost'' have a buy-in with the Contracts of Darkness. They don't involve shadow manipulation, however, as much as they play on some of the stereotypical qualities of darkness (creepy, unnerving, etc.).
* The [[MeaningfulName Lasombra]] clan of vampires in VampireTheMasquerade had the ability to control and create shadows as their signature power. When handled correctly this made them more disturbing then their, initially, more monstrous allies from clan [[BodyHorror Tzimisce]].
** The Khaibit bloodline from the successor game ''VampireTheRequiem'' gets a toned-down version of Obtenebration, complete with the power to interact with ghosts and spirits, teleport through shadows, and turn into a shadow yourself. Between this and their fluff (which paints them as worshippers of Set who work to keep back even darker monsters), they are ''quite'' popular in play.

[[AC:{{Videogames}}]]
* Rumia of ''{{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 "EX-Rumia" if that amulet were removed.
* Count Bleck in ''SuperPaperMario'', who has the Chaos Heart.
** Although it rarely comes up, [[SuperMarioBrothers Bowser]] can cast Shadow Magic, most notably, taking the form of a shadow and zipping/teleporting around the room.
* TreasureOfTheRudra uses Type 1
* Shadow from ''{{Tales of Symphonia}}''.
** A female example from this game is [[strike:Porn]]Pronyma. And, predictably enough, she dresses like a demonic hooker.
** [[DarkIsNotEvil Emil]] and [[MeaningfulName Tenebrae]] in Dawn of the New World.
*** Also, [[BlackMagicianGirl Rita]] from ''{{Tales of Vesperia}}'' specializes in using Darkness spells such as Violent Pain, Negative Gate, and Spread Zero.
* Dark-type {{Pokemon}}
** Actually only Dark Pulse. The rest of the dark-type attacks are just [[CombatPragmatist cheating]]. Ghost-types, however, have plenty of type 2 shadowy attacks.
** Dark Pokemon are good indicators of what kind of DarkIsEdgy attack the enemy is throwing at you. If it's shrugged off quick, it's a type-2 Ghost attack (Shadow Punch, Shadow Sneak, etc). If it's writhing in pain, it's a manifestation of TheCorruption, and thus either types 1 or 4 (Shadow Blitz, Shadow Fire, etc).
* [[BadAss Magus]] in ''{{Chrono Trigger}}''.
* The Shaman and Druid classes in ''{{Fire Emblem}}''.
** Canas seems to subvert the typical personality attributes by being a genuinely good guy.
* [[spoiler:Ansem/Riku]] in ''{{Kingdom Hearts}}''. Also, the Heartless.
** Subverted with Terra who's pretty friendly and goofy even after using darkness.
*** [[spoiler: Then he get's GrandTheftMe'd, because that Darkness make his Heart defenseless]]
* Shademan, Darkman, and [[strike:Erase]]Killerman in ''{{Mega Man Battle Network}}''.
* Gan[[strike:[[GannonBanned n]]]]on[[spoiler:dorf]] in ''{{The Legend Of Zelda}}''.
** Midna, a type-2 {{Deadpan Snarker}} from Twilight Princess.
* Good ol' Dracula and Death in ''{{Castlevania}}''. Dracula uses #4, Death uses #1.
** Not to mention various other monsters in the series, who between them make liberal use of all four varieties.
* Used as part of ElementalRockPaperScissors in ''FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' and ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2''. Curiously, DarkIsNotEvil--in fact, the subject is never even brought up.
* While he doesn't have an element, Diablos in ''FinalFantasyVIII'' seems to integrate darkness into his attacks, even though his "element" is, strictly speaking, Gravity. In this case, dark has a homicidal temper, but becomes a summon if you beat him up.
** In ''FinalFantasy'' in general, Dark elemental spells and weapons tend to be {{awesome but impractical}}, because Light elemental enemies are few and far between, but Dark enemies, [[NightOfTheLivingMooks undead mooks]] aside, which absorb Dark attacks, are ''everywhere''.
* In ''LegendOfDragoon'' Rose is the Dark-elemental dragoon, [[spoiler:and the black monster.]]
* Tir and Ted, the known holders of the Soul Eater Rune in ''{{Suikoden}}'', as well as the people who possess its child runes, the aptly named Darkness Runes. While heroes, they tend to be broody types since the Soul Eater is guaranteed to bring tragedy to ones life.
** As well as the "Rune of Punishment" in ''{{Suikoden IV}}'' and it's child rune, the "Condemnation Rune" in ''{{Suikoden V}}''.
* Marlowe in ''[[VisionsAndVoices Visions & Voices]]'' specializes in Necrotic spells.
* Jackie Estacado from the video game adaptation of the aforementioned ''TheDarkness''. Despite being a nice guy, his powers include types 2-4: his ability to form a shield of darkness and somehow ''breath 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''!!
* Death/darkness spells from the ''ShinMegamiTensei'' series, which are OneHitKill attacks.
* ''CityOfHeroes'' has 'Darkness' as a stock [[ElementalPowers elemental damage type]], and a very common powerset. Its flavour text mainly involves 'drawing power from the Netherworld', draining souls and such, but [[DarkIsNotEvil it's equally available and used by heroes as well as villains]]. In game mechanics, Dark sets actually tend to be along the lines of ComboPlatterPowers, but are very powerful when used right.
* Dark Jak in [[JakAndDaxter Jak II]] 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.
* The elemental affinity of the main protagonist of BlazBlue, Ragna the Bloodedge, is darkness.
* The Darkness element mage skill set in ''{{Dragon Age}}''.
* In ''{{Arcana Heart}}'', 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.
* Shade from ''{{Secret Of Mana}}''.
* The "Sorcery" and "Necromancy" schools of magic in ''{{Romancing Saga}}'': Minstrel Song deal with spells of this nature, and is mostly used by monsters and evil sorcerers who attack your party. However, it can be also be used by a character who [[GuestStarPartyMember temporarily joins your party,]] [[spoiler:though it turns out said [[TheMole character]] is a [[BadPowersBadPeople minion of the Big Bad.]]]]
* The god [[MeaningfulName Charnel]] in ''{{Sacrifice}}'' gives your wizard access to dark magic if you choose to follow him.

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* Shadowmancy in ''CatLegend'' seems to be a mixture of 2 and 3, with some additional, potentially creepy elements such as entering others' dreams. The most prominent user, Mercutious Nymndemise, is an unusual case, since despite initially being set up as an antagonist he's actually a pretty decent guy.
* The Midnight Crew of ''MSPaintAdventures'' can do this. Although they mainly just use it to look cool; they generally fight by hitting things with blunt objects.
* The main character in ''TheBurned'' can manipulate shadows, despite being a good guy. He primarily attacks with shadow needles, which are hard to detect when it's dark out.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* There seem to be a number of these in the WhateleyUniverse right now. Nacht is a DeadpanSnarker with a {{Supervillain}} mother, but she seems (so far) to be neutral. Sabbath is definitely in it for the crime. Blacklight may be a villain in training. They don't all have the same weaknesses, and {{Canon}} has it that some of them with Type 2 powers got the powers from a magical source, so rules of physics need not apply.
* Several characters have these abilities in the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse''. Nearly all of them fall under Category Two. Nocturne, Eclipse (who can also [[LightTheWay manipulate light), Shadowcloak, Night Vision, Raven, Tatterdemalion, Moonshadow (who, like Eclipse, can also [[LightTheWay control light]]), Zmierzch (Polish for "Twilight"), Bloody Mary, Muerte Oscura, Shadowspawn, and Obsidian.

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* Shadow Khan from the ''DoubleDragon'' cartoon used the Black Flame. His attacks were a combination of #1 and #2 (darkness based attacks that are fueled by death, fear, hate, etc) and he could create/imbue minions which darkness as well.
* [[DarkMagicalGirl Raven]] of ''TeenTitans''. Her powers take the form of darkness, and her inherent demonic nature is ChaoticEvil, but she manages to be one of the good guys anyway through sheer HeroicWillpower (just don't [[SuperpoweredEvilSide make her angry...]]).
* In his introductory episode Ebon from ''StaticShock'' refers to himself as a "Master of Shadows and Darkness." Not to mention his [[LivingShadow general appearance...]]

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<<|StockSuperpowers|>>
<<|MagicAndPowers|>>

[[caption-width-right:408:Yes, I serve the [[BigBad Lich King?]] Why do you ask?]]

This "Darkness" usually comes in 2 forms, sometimes overlapping:
# Unholy or Negative Energy. The antithesis of LifeEnergy. Depending on the setting, it may be demonic in nature, associated with death and decay, or a corrupted form of some positive energy. It's commonly depicted as fire, lightning, or beams of light [[PaintItBlack painted black]] and labeled accordingly (dark fire, dark bolt, dark light). This power may be accessed through BlackMagic, and its use often requires/precipitates a fall to the {{Dark Side}}, though others wield it intuitively. [[BadPowersBadPeople Expect those who use these to be pretty unpleasant.]] LifeDrain attacks often fall under this element. When it burns, it's {{Hellfire}}.
# Shadow Control. May include the ability to manipulate shadows, move through shadows, engulf an area in darkness, or create [[LivingShadow living shadows]]. The darkness may also take the form of a solid, in which case it has a strange tendency to take the form of [[CombatTentacles tentacles]]. [[YouFailPhysicsForever It should be noted that this completely bastardizes the laws of physics.]] Darkness is simply absence of light, and is no more capable of causing harm than a dark room. Additionally, the "creation" of darkness would involve the destruction of light, violating thermodynamics. One could say that those using these powers draw their power directly from the {{Rule Of Cool}}, and heaven help them if they aren't enough of a {{Badass}} to do so. Fortunately, [[RequiredSecondaryPowers they often are]]. Can be explained as the darkness being a form of {{Applied Phlebotinum}}. Again, expect people using these to be [[DarkIsEvil evil]], or at the very least, creepy. Or maybe even [[{{NINJA}} ninjas!]]

!Examples:

!!Type 1: Unholy/Negative Energy
[[AC:{{Videogames}}]]
* TreasureOfTheRudra uses Type 1
!!Type 2: Shadow Control

* Certy from ''{{Durarara}}'' is a [[HeadlessHorseman Dullahan]] capable of manipulating shadow and giving it physical form. The uses of this ability range from creating weaponry and restraining enemies to [[MundaneUtility instantaneously dressing herself and letting her type faster]]
* Pride from ''FullmetalAlchemist'' slices, dices and [[ImAHumanitarian eats]] with his extensible shadows. [[spoiler: He's powerless in complete darkness, though. Shadows cannot exist without light.]]

** Subverted in the comic ''TheDarkness''. He manipulates the dark, but broadly speaking he's a good guy. For a mob hitman. Well, he's better than the wielder of the [[LightIsNotGood light powers]], anyway.

** The Khaibit bloodline from the successor game ''VampireTheRequiem'' gets a toned-down version of Obtenebration, complete with the power to interact with ghosts and spirits, teleport through shadows, and turn into a shadow. Between this and their fluff (which paints them as worshippers of Set who work to keep back even darker monsters), they are ''quite'' popular in play.

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* The main character in ''TheBurned'' can manipulate shadows, despite being a good guy. He primarily attacks with shadow needles, which are hard to detect when it's dark out.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* There seem to be a number of these in the WhateleyUniverse right now. Nacht is a DeadpanSnarker with a {{Supervillain}} mother, but she seems (so far) to be neutral. Sabbath is definitely in it for the crime. Blacklight may be a villain in training. They don't all have the same weaknesses, and {{Canon}} has it that some of them with Type 2 powers got the powers from a magical source, so rules of physics need not apply.
* Several characters have these abilities in the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse''. Nearly all of them fall under Category Two. Nocturne, Eclipse (who can also [[LightTheWay manipulate light), Shadowcloak, Night Vision, Raven, Tatterdemalion, Moonshadow (who, like Eclipse, can also [[LightTheWay control light]]), Zmierzch (Polish for "Twilight"), Bloody Mary, Muerte Oscura, Shadowspawn, and Obsidian.

!!Type 1&2: Overlap
[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* Shadow Khan from the ''DoubleDragon'' cartoon used the Black Flame. His attacks were a combination of #1 and #2 (darkness based attacks that are fueled by death, fear, hate, etc) and he could create/imbue minions which darkness as well.
!!Unsorted
[[AC:{{Anime}} And {{Manga}}]]
* ''CodeBreaker'': The Prince's power is this, featuring literal edges.
* Blackbeard from ''OnePiece'' has the literal "Darkness" power. Oddly, he mainly uses it to crush his opponents with ''gravity'', the chain seeming to go "dark->black->black hole->super gravity." This is fairly typical of the superpower logic in ''OnePiece''.
** [[spoiler: It appears to have the ability to do some [[MegaManning sort of power vampirism as well]]]]
** Or rather, as Blackbeard's explanation to Ace goes, his power is gravity (according to fansub). Apparently, the darkness is only a result of his power being able to absorb even light, which likely caused the fruit's name... which would appear to the human eye as darkness. [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum As far as One Piece powers go,]] his is one of the less fantastical.
*** Basically, just think of him as a living black hole, and it makes sense.
** Gekko Moria has power have shadows; mostly he steals them from people and uses them to reanimate zombies, although he can absorb them himself to become more powerful or just use it to attack directly as well.
* Takane Goodman in ''MahouSenseiNegima'', #2 Darkness (Shadow) as a form of GreenLanternRing. Prone to getting stripped, as the series has stripping disarm attacks; and when she tried to counter that by making her clothing out of Shadow, she ran up against Asuna and her magic cancel power. She usually uses her power to create golems for attack and defense, the other shadow user who has appeared used his power more like a Green Lantern, forming blades, etc. She's is definitely one of the good guys, if a little over serious.
** The Magic World Arc introduces Kagetarou, who ''acts'' like an antagonist at first [[spoiler:but turns out to be a buddy of Rakan's]]. There's also [[BigBad Fate Averruncus']] accomplice [[spoiler:Dynamis, who: can summons swarms of Invincible Minor Minions and a humongous EldritchAbomination; is stated to be almost as powerful as Fate himself; and tried to kill Nodoka and came damn close to succeeding, killing two of her friends who tried to protect her the first time, and only being driven off the second time by Setsuna (who hacked his right hand off at the forearm) & Kaede]].
* Hayate Yagami of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', the Queen of the Night Sky who has Diabolic Emission, a SphereOfDestruction that envelopes the land in pure darkness, as her signature spell. Oh, and [[DarkIsNotEvil she's the cheerfully optimistic]] BigGood of the series. [[ArtifactOfDoom The Book of Darkness]], [[SuperEmpowering the one she inherited her powers from]], probably fits the personality type a bit better.
* In ''DigimonFrontier,'' darkness is just one more element, and not inherently evil. The original Legendary Warriors - the warrior of Darkness included - were all good guys, and the new one, like every bad guy in the first half of the series, was corrupted by Cherubimon [[spoiler: and eventually got better, joining the team]]. More of his attacks than not have "Dark" or "Shadow" or some other darkness-related word in the name, and involve black energy.
* Doryu, from ''RaveMaster''
* From ''YuYuHakusho''
** Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame could be considered a mixture between fire and type four above. He's a ''DeadpanSnarker'' though, so it's ok.
* Kageyama, Jose, and Zero from ''FairyTail'' are all users of this type of magic, the first one weaker than the other two.

[[AC:{{Comic Book}}]]
* [[TheDCU The DCU's]] shadow wielders, by and large, draw their powers from an alternate dimension known as the Shadowland (or Dark Zone). Much like their Marvel counterparts, they range the gamut from hero to villain.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Not evil, just cruel. The Dark court in ''WickedLovely'' are a combination of types one and two. They are emotional parasites, and at the hight of their power can manipulate shadows and form strange 'shadow creatures', which follow their leader of the time, although they serve little purpose. Generally, the edginess comes from the darkly seductive nature of them- one subspecies, the gancanagh, are addictive to mortals and the embodiment of DeathBySex. They also like tatoos, although this half-apllies to all the fey in Melissa Marr's work. It's AuthorAppeal, as Marr herself has several tatoos.
* In ''The WheelOfTime'', the [[SealedEvilInACan Dark One]] manifests an [[GodInHumanForm avatar]] with the power to create black fire, a "sphere of black light", and generalized darkness in rooms. This may be [[JustifiedTrope analogous]] to its other unique ability, to block access to the One Power: it can destroy physical light as it can the magical [[LightIsGood Light]].
** Myrddraal are terrifying, though that just may be because of their EyelessFace, extraordinary combat abilities, and love of rape. They possess the ability to teleport through shadows.
* In ''TheSilmarillion'', the Unlight of [[EldritchAbomination Ungoliant]] falls somewhere between DarkIsEdgy and the PowerOfTheVoid.

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]
* One of the power sources for ''DungeonsAndDragons'' 4th Edition is Shadow, which is the dark half of arcane magic. (This is mirrored with the ''ForgottenRealms'' own Shadow Weave in lore.) So far, assassins are the only class released that makes use of this power source. Necromancers and hexblades have also been rumored.
* The [[DarkIsNotEvil Darklings]] from ''ChangelingTheLost'' have a buy-in with the Contracts of Darkness. They don't involve shadow manipulation, however, as much as they play on some of the stereotypical qualities of darkness (creepy, unnerving, etc.).

* In his introductory episode, Ebon from ''StaticShock'' refers to himself as a "Master of Shadows and Darkness." Not to mention his [[LivingShadow general appearance...]]

!!Type 1&2: Overlap
!!Unsorted

* ''CodeBreaker'': The Prince's power is this, featuring literal edges.

* Blackbeard from ''OnePiece'' has the literal "Darkness" power. Oddly, he mainly uses it to crush his opponents with ''gravity'', the chain seeming to go "dark->black->black hole->super gravity." This is fairly typical of the superpower logic in ''OnePiece''.
** [[spoiler: It appears to have the ability to do some [[MegaManning sort of power vampirism as well]]]]
** Or rather, as Blackbeard's explanation to Ace goes, his power is gravity (according to fansub). Apparently, the darkness is only a result of his power being able to absorb even light, which likely caused the fruit's name... which would appear to the human eye as darkness. [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum As far as One Piece powers go,]] his is one of the less fantastical.
*** Basically, just think of him as a living black hole, and it makes sense.
** Gekko Moria has power have shadows; mostly he steals them from people and uses them to reanimate zombies, although he can absorb them himself to become more powerful or just use it to attack directly as well.
* Takane Goodman in ''MahouSenseiNegima'', #2 Darkness (Shadow) as a form of GreenLanternRing. Prone to getting stripped, as the series has stripping disarm attacks; and when she tried to counter that by making her clothing out of Shadow, she ran up against Asuna and her magic cancel power. She usually uses her power to create golems for attack and defense, the other shadow user who has appeared used his power more like a Green Lantern, forming blades, etc. She's is definitely one of the good guys, if a little over serious.
** The Magic World Arc introduces Kagetarou, who ''acts'' like an antagonist at first [[spoiler:but turns out to be a buddy of Rakan's]]. There's also [[BigBad Fate Averruncus']] accomplice [[spoiler:Dynamis, who: can summons swarms of Invincible Minor Minions and a humongous EldritchAbomination; is stated to be almost as powerful as Fate himself; and tried to kill Nodoka and came damn close to succeeding, killing two of her friends who tried to protect her the first time, and only being driven off the second time by Setsuna (who hacked his right hand off at the forearm) & Kaede]].
* Hayate Yagami of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', the Queen of the Night Sky who has Diabolic Emission, a SphereOfDestruction that envelopes the land in pure darkness, as her signature spell. Oh, and [[DarkIsNotEvil she's the cheerfully optimistic]] BigGood of the series. [[ArtifactOfDoom The Book of Darkness]], [[SuperEmpowering the one she inherited her powers from]], probably fits the personality type a bit better.
* In ''DigimonFrontier,'' darkness is just one more element, and not inherently evil. The original Legendary Warriors - the warrior of Darkness included - were all good guys, and the new one, like every bad guy in the first half of the series, was corrupted by Cherubimon [[spoiler: and eventually got better, joining the team]]. More of his attacks than not have "Dark" or "Shadow" or some other darkness-related word in the name, and involve black energy.
* Doryu, from ''RaveMaster''

** Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame could be considered a mixture between fire and type four above. He's a ''DeadpanSnarker'' though, so it's ok.

* Certy from ''{{Durarara}}'' is a [[HeadlessHorseman Dullahan]] capable of manipulating shadow and giving it physical form. The uses of this ability range from creating weaponry and restraining enemies to [[MundaneUtility instantaneously dressing herself and letting her type faster]]
* Pride from ''FullmetalAlchemist'' slices, dices and [[ImAHumanitarian eats]] with his extensible shadows. [[spoiler: He's powerless in complete darkness, though. Shadows cannot exist without light.]]
* Kageyama, Jose, and Zero from ''FairyTail'' are all users of this type of magic, the first one weaker than the other two.

* Subverted in the comic ''TheDarkness''. He manipulates the dark, but broadly speaking he's a good guy. For a mob hitman. Well, he's better than the wielder of the [[LightIsNotGood light powers]], anyway.

* [[TheDCU The DCU's]] shadow wielders, by and large, draw their powers from an alternate dimension known as the Shadowland (or Dark Zone). Much like their Marvel counterparts, they range the gamut from hero to villain.

* Not evil, just cruel. The Dark court in ''WickedLovely'' are a combination of types one and two. They are emotional parasites, and at the hight of their power can manipulate shadows and form strange 'shadow creatures', which follow their leader of the time, although they serve little purpose. Generally, the edginess comes from the darkly seductive nature of them- one subspecies, the gancanagh, are addictive to mortals and the embodiment of DeathBySex. They also like tatoos, although this half-apllies to all the fey in Melissa Marr's work. It's AuthorAppeal, as Marr herself has several tatoos.
* In ''The WheelOfTime'', the [[SealedEvilInACan Dark One]] manifests an [[GodInHumanForm avatar]] with the power to create black fire, a "sphere of black light", and generalized darkness in rooms. This may be [[JustifiedTrope analogous]] to its other unique ability, to block access to the One Power: it can destroy physical light as it can the magical [[LightIsGood Light]].
** Myrddraal are terrifying, though that just may be because of their EyelessFace, extraordinary combat abilities, and love of rape. They possess the ability to teleport through shadows.

* In ''TheSilmarillion'', the Unlight of [[EldritchAbomination Ungoliant]] falls somewhere between DarkIsEdgy and the PowerOfTheVoid.

** One of the power sources for ''DungeonsAndDragons'' 4th Edition is Shadow, which is the dark half of arcane magic. (This is mirrored with the ''ForgottenRealms'' own Shadow Weave in lore.) So far, assassins are the only class released that makes use of this power source. Necromancers and hexblades have also been rumored.

* The [[DarkIsNotEvil Darklings]] from ''ChangelingTheLost'' have a buy-in with the Contracts of Darkness. They don't involve shadow manipulation, however, as much as they play on some of the stereotypical qualities of darkness (creepy, unnerving, etc.).

** The Khaibit bloodline from the successor game ''VampireTheRequiem'' gets a toned-down version of Obtenebration, complete with the power to interact with ghosts and spirits, teleport through shadows, and turn into a shadow yourself. Between this and their fluff (which paints them as worshippers of Set who work to keep back even darker monsters), they are ''quite'' popular in play.

* TreasureOfTheRudra uses Type 1

* The main character in ''TheBurned'' can manipulate shadows, despite being a good guy. He primarily attacks with shadow needles, which are hard to detect when it's dark out.

* Several characters have these abilities in the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse''. Nearly all of them fall under Category Two. Nocturne, Eclipse (who can also [[LightTheWay manipulate light), Shadowcloak, Night Vision, Raven, Tatterdemalion, Moonshadow (who, like Eclipse, can also [[LightTheWay control light]]), Zmierzch (Polish for "Twilight"), Bloody Mary, Muerte Oscura, Shadowspawn, and Obsidian.

* Shadow Khan from the ''DoubleDragon'' cartoon used the Black Flame. His attacks were a combination of #1 and #2 (darkness based attacks that are fueled by death, fear, hate, etc) and he could create/imbue minions which darkness as well.

* In his introductory episode Ebon from ''StaticShock'' refers to himself as a "Master of Shadows and Darkness." Not to mention his [[LivingShadow general appearance...]]

This "Darkness" can come in 4 forms. In no particular order:
# Death, hate, anger, fear, disease, negativity, etc. and other general nastiness associated with these. [[BadPowersBadPeople Expect people who use these to be pretty unpleasant.]]
# Directly manipulating darkness itself. [[YouFailPhysicsForever It should be noted that this completely bastardizes the laws of physics.]] Darkness is simply absence of light, and is no more capable of causing harm than a dark room. Additionally, the "creation" of darkness would involve the destruction of light, violating thermodynamics. One could say that those using these powers draw their power directly from the {{Rule Of Cool}}, and heaven help them if they aren't enough of a {{Badass}} to do so. Fortunately, [[RequiredSecondaryPowers they often are]]. Can be explained as the darkness being a form of {{Applied Phlebotinum}}, possibly taking the form of a solid, in which case it has a strange tendancy to take the form of [[CombatTentacles tentacles]]. Often explained through AWizardDidIt.
** Other manifestations of "darkness" are depicted like other elemental types except "dark"; "dark fire", "dark light", "dark ooze". Take some kind of "energy" and PaintItBlack.
# Things or forces associated with the dark and/or night. Again, expect people using these to be [[DarkIsEvil evil]], or at the very least, creepy. Or maybe even ninjas!
# Evil, or possibly even demonic in nature. Unless coming from a [[FunSize diminutive]] {{Deadpan Snarker}}, get out your {{Infinity Plus One Sword}} or '''run like [[IncrediblyLamePun hell]]'''. Use of these powers often requires/precipitates a fall to the {{Dark Side}}. May taste like {{Hellfire}}.

!!Examples:

** Myrddraal are terrifying, though that just may be because of their EyelessFace, extraordinary combat abilities, and love of rape. They are rumored to be able to teleport through shadows, and at least one Myrddraal (the above avatar) seems actually able to do this.

** The Magic World Arc introduces Kagetarou, who ''acts'' like an antagonist at first [[spoiler:but turns out to be a buddy of Rakan's]]. There's also [[BigBad Fate Averruncus']] accomplice [[spoiler:Dynamis, who: can summons swarms of {{Invincible Minor Minions}}s and a humongous EldritchAbomination; is stated to be almost as powerful as Fate himself; and tried to kill Nodoka and came damn close to succeeding, killing two of her friends who tried to protect her the first time, and only being driven off the second time by Setsuna (who hacked his right hand off at the forearm) & Kaede]].

** The Magic World Arc introduces Kagetarou, who ''acts'' like an antagonist at first [[spoiler:but turns out to be a buddy of Rakan's]]. There's also [[BigBad Fate Averruncus']] accomplice [[spoiler:Dynamis, who: can summons swarms of [[Invincible Minor Minions]]s and a humongous EldritchAbomination; is stated to be almost as powerful as Fate himself; and tried to kill Nodoka and came damn close to succeeding, killing two of her friends who tried to protect her the first time, and only being driven off the second time by Setsuna (who hacked his right hand off at the forearm) & Kaede]].

If the character is a protagonist, the forecast is for an {{Anti Hero}} with a 50% chance of [[Wangst whiny self-loathing]]. May have or even be a {{Superpowered Evil Side}}, but even if not, [[UnstoppableRage never, EVER piss them off]]. Of course, both villains and (anti)heroes may disregard the preceding completely in favor of being a {{Badass}}. Villains who take this option have an odd tendancy to become a {{Cultured Badass}}.

** The Magic World Arc introduces Kagetarou, who ''acts'' like an antagonist at first [[spoiler:but turns out to be a buddy of Rakan's]]. There's also [[BigBad Fate Averruncus']] accomplice [[spoiler:Dynamis, who: can summons swarms of {{InvincibleMinorMinions}}s and a humongous EldritchAbomination; is stated to be almost as powerful as Fate himself; and tried to kill Nodoka and came damn close to succeeding, killing two of her friends who tried to protect her the first time, and only being driven off the second time by Setsuna (who hacked his right hand off at the forearm) & Kaede]].

If the character is a protagonist, the forecast is for an {{Anti Hero}} with a 50% chance of [[ImHavingSoulPains whiny self-loathing]]. May have or even be a {{Superpowered Evil Side}}, but even if not, [[UnstoppableRage never, EVER piss them off]]. Of course, both villains and (anti)heroes may disregard the preceding completely in favor of being a {{Badass}}. Villains who take this option have an odd tendancy to become a {{Cultured Badass}}.

* In ''LordOfTheRings'', the [[TheDragon Nazgul]] generate terror in their enemies and are most powerful in the darkness.

* Not evil, just cruel. The Dark court in ''WickedLovely'' are a combination of types one and two. They are emotional parasites, and at the hight of their power can manipulate shadows and form strange 'shadow creatures', which follow their leader of the time, although they serve little purpose. Generally, the edginess comes from the darkly seductive nature of them- one subspecies, the gancanagh, are addictive to mortals and the embodiment of DeathBySex. They also like tatoos, although this half-apllies to all the fey in Melissa Marr's work. It's AuthorApeall, as Marr herself has several tatoos.

* In ''TheSilmarillion'', the Unlight of [[EldritchAbomination Ungoliant]] falls somewhere between DarkIsEdgy and ThePowerOfTheVoid.

** {{Warhammer}} had a minor chaos god named Obscuras whose powers were maninly based on shadow, and who could grant to his followers the ability of seeing without requiring light. Some people can sttill obtain powers based on shadow without worshipping him, however.

** One of the future power sources planned for ''DungeonsAndDragons'' 4th Edition is Shadow, which is the dark half of arcane magic. (This is mirrored with the ''ForgottonRealms'' own Shadow Weave in lore.) Assassins, necromancers, and hexblades have been rumored for this power source.