History Main / DarkParody

* ''Webcomic/GarfieldMinusGarfield'' is a webcomic where Garfield strips remove the eponymous character, leaving Jon Arbuckle imagining he has the cat and making the same dialogs and reactions but alone. A dark and depressed version of the original one but PlayedForLaughs and even [[ApprovalOfGod approved by Jim Davis, Garfield's creator nonetheless]]. And this goes UpToEleven with ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield''.

* ''[[http://www.darksimpsons.com/ Dark Simpsons]]'' does this to ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', but in what ways varies between comics/videos. Either RealityEnsues on a particular throwaway gag, or a happy, friendly character is recharacterized as a murderer or a rapist (or even just suicidally depressed).

** They showcase a "[[RealityEnsues realistic]]" epilogue to ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'' that has the whole cast of nerds arrested, sentenced for multiple crimes including sexual harassment and rape, and slaughtered in jail.

** The Impossibles are this to the ComicBook/FantasticFour. Professor Richard Impossible (ComicBook/MisterFantastic) is an abusive sexist who ultimately becomes a villain, Sally's (ComicBook/InvisibleWoman) skin becomes invisible whenever she's not actively concentrating to keep it visible, Cody (ComicBook/HumanTorch) flames on in contact from oxygen but can't turn them on and can feel the burns despite being impervious to them, and Ned (ComicBook/TheThing) is more like a giant callous than a giant rock.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''' take on Hanna-Barbera classics like ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' and ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' is absolutely merciless, the former by way of constantly deconstructing how living a life like Jonny's is highly traumatizing (even showing a grown-up Jonny at one point, who had turned into a nerve-wrecked drug addict) and the latter by having an Expy group show up who were quite visibly supposed to be the Scooby gang but also were composites with well-known scumbags of the Seventies like Patty Hearst (a kidnapped "Daphne" suffering from Stockholm syndrome), Valerie Solanas (a violent misandrist radical feminist lesbian "Velma"), David "the Son of Sam" Berkowitz (a "Shaggy" who is the only one who can "hear" what "Scooby" said) and Ted Bundy ("Freddy").

* If two characters are in a romantic relationship, the parody might have them break up or turn one into an abusive partner or adulterer, or both.

* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'': The show is very vulgar and a lot of the jokes are to cross as many lines as possible while referencing a lot of western media which include high school movies, ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'', ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', Creator/{{MTV}} songs, ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' with the artsyle looking like ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''.

* A popular online comic based on ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' involves Calvin taking pills which cause him to stop imagining Hobbes.

* With a heavy emphasis on dark, the first segment of ''WesternAnimation/WhereTheDeadGoToDie'', "Spoiled Milk", was intended to be a BlackComedy parody of ''Series/{{Lassie}}'', with the Lassie parody being... outright demonic in nature. However, when it turned out to actually terrify viewers, the rest of the film was made as a straight horror flick.

* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'': The show is very vulgar and a lot of the jokes are to cross as many lines as possible while referencing a lot of western media which include high school movies, ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'', ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', Creator/{{MTV}} songs, ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''.

* Music/{{Koit}} did a dark parody of "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" by revealing at the end that the body parts were disembodied.

** One opening sequence of the annual ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' episode has the Simpsons standing in for ''Series/TheMunsters''... who subsequently are all [[TorchesAndPitchforks lynched by the people of Springfield]] because [[VanHelsingHateCrimes they are monsters]]. The only one who survives is Lisa, who is standing in for the TokenNormal member of the family, Marilyn.

** A classic Chris Farley sketch parodies the "switcheroo" advertisement used in brands like Folger's. Normally, the people who get told that they had their order switched would either be delighted or would be angry and would ask to not be used in the ad. [[HairTriggerTemper Farley's]] [[UnstoppableRage character]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfR1TwosYQg well...]]

* ''Series/TheBoys2019'' plays up the BlackComedy side of [[ComicBook/TheBoys the original graphic novel]] (a DeconstructorFleet for superheroes and the comic book industry) to prevent it from turning ''too'' grim, and becomes this in the process.

** ''WebVideo/FriendshipIsWitchcraft'' is a parody of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' where, among other changes, Twilight is a narcissistic sociopath who has a crush on her [[NotBloodSiblings step-brother]], Spike is a universally-hated ButtMonkey, Fluttershy not-so-secretly leads an apocalyptic cult that worships "the Smooze", Pinkie Pie is a StepfordSmiler who was raised by "gypsies" after her parents died in a fire and who dabbles in the dark arts and sings [[LyricalDissonance upbeat songs with dark lyrics]], and Sweetie Belle is a robot.

* If two characters are in a romantic relationship, the parody might have them break up or turn one into an abusive partner or [[YourCheatingHeart adulterer]], or both.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykieEE1j9eA Super Bad Transmittable Contagious Awful Virus!]]" by Daniel Matarazzo is a parody of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (of ''Film/MaryPoppins'') describing [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic how awful the COVID-19 coronavirus is and to please keep social distancing]].

* ''WebVideo/FiftyPercentOff'' is a parody of ''Anime/{{Free}}''. While the original anime does occasionally tackle dark topics, it remains a relatively optimistic anime about four friends forming a swimming club. Notable changes in the parody include giving the main character SplitPersonalities, turning the optimistic and cheerful {{Cloudcuckoolander}} onto a trash-talking {{Gayngster}}, and characterizing the ComicallySerious new recruit as a SerialKiller.

** In their parody of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin [[SelfMadeOrphan kills his parents]] and blames it on Hobbes.

* ''WebVideo/PlanetDolan'''s nursery rhyme parodies are often dark:
** Their parody for "Hickory Dickory Dock" involves spooky things such as green goo and ten thousand Krakens.
** Their parody for "I'm a Little Teapot" involves the teapot turning its water corrosive unintentionally and accidentally injuring a dog and [[AccidentalMurder killing]] another teapot.

* PETA has made a few parodies of popular Video Game franchises, taking an innocuous, family-friendly work and turning it into a gory story about animal abuse. Examples include "[[VideoGame/{{Pokemon}} Pokemon Black and Blue]]", where the Pokemon are abused and trying to escape from their cruel owners, "[[VideoGame/CookingMama Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals]]", where you play as Mama slaughtering a dead turkey, or "[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario Kills Tanooki]]", where you play as the skinned Tanooki trying to get their pelt back from the evil Mario.

* "Music/HatsuneMiku created X", a,meme where a controvertial figure who created a popular property is {{Unperson}}ed and replaced by the much more beloved character, has two common dark parodies: either Miku is credited for heinous acts as well (ex: UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper was controversial, so it was really Miku who killed all those prostitutes) or Miku develops a CultOfPersonality that credits her with ''everything''.

* "Music/HatsuneMiku created X", a,meme where a controvertial figure who created a popular property is {{Unperson}}ed and replaced by the much more beloved character, has two common dark parodies: either Miku is credited for heinous acts as well (UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper was controversial, so it was really Miku who killed all those prostitutes) or Miku develops a CultOfPersonality that credits her with ''everything''.

Other things that happen a lot in dark parodies include [[InnocentInaccurate a character mistakenly thinking nothing bad is happening]] and goofy characters continuing to act goofy even when serious things happen. See also DarkFic, which can overlap with this trope if it's a ParodyFic. For dark things that happen in the work itself, see CerebusSyndrome, DarkerAndEdgier, and UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode. Also see SubvertedKidsShow, which is a dark parody of a whole genre, and CorruptedCharacterCopy for cases where a character darkly parodies another. Compare FracturedFairyTale, although do note that the original versions of some fairy tales were pretty dark and not all Fractured Fairy Tales are dark.

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yon2ObRg0O8&list=PLMLshkzyQnTk-cp8NZ7SE6qjDERMq5gv2&index=20 this]] so-called LiteralMusicVideo for "Something There" from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'', everybody is trying to murder one another.

** The "After Ever After" series, which pokes dark fun at Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, as the characters sing about what happened "after" their films ended. The jokes often mirror modern-day issues, such as Simba's pride going extinct, and they're all sung to the tune of an actual Disney song: like, in ''Disney/TheLionKing'''s case, "I Just Can't Wait to Be King". Some of them instead discuss what happened during the time period the film is set.

* If a character is very cute and/or virtuous, the parodist might [[KillTheCutie kill that character off]] or [[RonTheDeathEater rewrite him/her as evil]]. Stock ways of rewriting characters as evil include turning them into mass murderers, having a pet turn out to be sapient and evil, and making them prejudiced (antisemitism is a common one due to the association with Adolf Hitler). Also, characters who are antagonists but not all bad (such as the HeroAntagonist, AntiVillain, or HarmlessVillain) will be made more evil.

** Combined with ExpyCoexistence, in the episode "Brother's Little Helper" a FacialCompositeFailure of Bart's description instead creates a drawing of ''ComicBook/DennisTheMenaceUS''. Chief Quimby then mentions that the Dennis Mitchell drawing reminds him of "the kid that hurt the Wilson widow".

** The episode "Fear of Flying" has a scene in which Homer, looking for a new bar to drink, enters ''{{Series/Cheers}}''. The whole cast is [[TookALevelInJerkass just a little bit more jerkish]], with Norm getting the worst of it, being a hostile and barely-coherent drunk. For bonus points, several actual ''Cheers'' cast members provided the voices for their dark analogues!