History Main / FantasticNoir

* The SharedUniverse of ''Creator/{{ProjectMoon}}'''s games (''VideoGame/LobotomyCorporation'', ''VideoGame/LibraryOfRuina'', and ''VideoGame/LimbusCompany'') all have this as a unifying quality, blending {{Cyberpunk}}, DungeonPunk, UrbanFantasy and NewWeird all in a blender and putting it in a corporate dystopia of intrigue, murder and grit where the secrets runs thicker than the blood, and if the various [[EldritchAbomination supernatural horrors]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou don't kill you]], the [[MegaCorp Wings of]] [[OneNationUnderCopyright the World]] most certainly ''will''. Predictably, it's also firmly on the 'cynical' end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, being a CrapsackWorld where the best you can hope for is [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu a broken arm]] and BittersweetEnding.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Film/{{Atlantics}}''. The setting is mostly LikeRealityUnlessNoted, but a major subplot is police officer's attempts to solve a series of seemingly impossible crimes, which are eventually revealed to be supernatural in nature [[spoiler:and involve ghosts possessing people to start fires and extort money]].

* ''Film/CoolWorld'' features an animated/real life blend with human detective Frank Harris trying to catch doodle (cartoon) Holli Would.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' is mostly known as a DungeonPunk setting, but its basis in NewWeird "pulp fantasy" means it can readily support this playstyle as well. Indeed, the setting is often described as "noir inspired", and there's even an in-universe term for detective analogues: ''inquisitives''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Primordia}}'' follows a pair of world-weary friends who’re forced to play detective in a CityNoir, and qualifies as this by virtue of being set AfterTheEnd with a cast made up entirely of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots robots]].

* Both Ryohgo Narita's works ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' and ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' sort of fall under this trope. They both have several FilmNoir elements (such as organized crime) that are often integrated with supernatural elements (the former has [[{{Immortality}} immortal]] characters and the latter features a [[HeadlessHorseman Duallahan]] as one of the main characters).

* Both Ryohgo Narita's works ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' and ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' sort of fall under this trope. They both have several FilmNoir elements (such as organized crime) that are often integrated with supernatural elements (the former has [{{Immortality}} immortal]] characters and the latter features a [[HeadlessHorseman Duallahan]] as one of the main characters).

[[caption-width-right:250:Being a private Dick in this town was hungry work... and he was all out of bananas. [[note]]It should be noted that ''she's'' the private investigator, he's a comic artist.[[/note]] ]]

* The ''ComicBook/MarvelNoir'' line, including ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'', has this feel, especially for Spider-Man. ''Iron Man: Noir'' is a bit misnamed, since it's more of a [[TwoFistedTales pulp action story]].

A sister trope of "neo noir" or {{cyberpunk}}, fantastic noir is a relatively small {{subgenre}} that blends the setting, characters (it usually stars a HardboiledDetective who sometimes doubles as an OccultDetective), and plot structure of a FilmNoir mystery story with the more colorful elements of {{fantasy}} and ScienceFiction. The genre seemed to arrive all at once in TheEighties and remains strong today, with the publication of such books as ''Literature/AnonymousRex'', ''Literature/WhoCensoredRogerRabbit'', ''[[Literature/GarrettPI Sweet Silver Blues]]'', ''[[Literature/AFableOfTonight Stalking the Unicorn]]'', and ''[[Creator/RobertRankin The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse]]''.

Compare CyberPunk, DarkFantasy, DungeonPunk, UrbanFantasy. AndroidsAndDetectives is a specific variant.

* Both ''Anime/DevilmanLady'' and ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'', PsychologicalThriller anime adaptations of the ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'' manga franchise could qualify as such.

* Pictyred above is DC's ''Comicbook/AngelAndTheApe'', which is about a beautiful human HardBoiledDetective and a gorilla comic artist in New York City. Given that they're in an universe where all the other DC characters exist, the most "fantastic" aspect is probably that people don't freak out when they see Sam walking down the street (there ''are'' other intelligent gorillas in the DC universe, but the most famous one is Gorilla Grodd, a supervillain... and Sam's grandfather). This is eventually explained as Sam having a psychic power that causes people to see him as human.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} stories will sometimes contain elements of this, particularly in ''Detective Comics''.

* ''ComicBook/BlackMagick'': Rowan Black is a police detective in Portsmouth, a town in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. She's also a practicing Wiccan, with real magical abilities, though she keeps this fact private from her fellow officers. [[TheWitchHunter And somebody has just started hunting witches...]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Blacksad}}'' is a series of noir stories based around 1950's US, but in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, with the animal usually being related to the character's profession and/or personality (the chief of police is a German Shephard dog, a hitman seen in the first issue is a snake, etc). The hardboiled detective protagonist, John Blacksad, is a black cat.
* ''ComicBook/CyrusPerkinsAndTheHauntedTaxiCab'' is about a man whose taxi is haunted by the ghost of a boy who recently died in the backseat. Cyrus needs to help him solve the mystery of his murder so he can find peace and move on.

* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' is a fairy-tale noir series about a werewolf (or more accurately, a wolfwere and TheBigBadWolf himself) whose job is to keep the peace among his fellow Fables and keep them from killing each other, as well as keeping things in Fabletown from spilling over into the mundane world.
* ''ComicBook/{{Fatale}}'': It's set in the 1950s with a bunch of detectives investigating a series of ritualistic murders, with a supernatural FemmeFatale at the center of it who's fighting demonic eldritch forces.

* ''ComicBook/{{Jessica Jones}}'', particularly in the original MAX run ''{{ComicBook/Alias}}''.
* The ''ComicBook/MarvelNoir'' line, including ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'', has this feel, especially for Spider-Man. ''ComicBook/IronManNoir'' is a bit misnamed, since it's more of a pulp action story.
* ''ComicBook/{{Powers}}'' involves two homicide detectives who investigate cases involving Superheroes and Supervillains.
* Creator/JeffSmith's ''ComicBook/{{RASL}}'' is a science fiction series with significant noir influence. RASL's an art thief on the run from his past, but he's running to alternate universes -- and that's just the beginning.

* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' short "A Detective Story": a private detective on a seemingly routine case starts to discover that his entire world is a lie.

* Downplayed in ''Film/{{Atlantics}}''. The setting is mostly LikeRealityUnlessNoted, but a major subplot is police officer's attempts to solve a series of seemingly impossible crimes, which are eventually revealed to be supernatural in nature [[spoiler: and involve ghosts possessing people to start fires and extort money.]]

* ''Film/CastADeadlySpell''. [[Creator/HPLovecraft Phillip Lovecraft]] is a detective who doesn't use magic in a world where everyone else does. Also its sequel, ''Witchhunt''.
* ''Film/DarkCity'' initially seems like a normal FilmNoir, but then TheReveal happens and it shoots straight into this trope. [[spoiler:Also something of an InvokedTrope, since [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens the Strangers]] seem to have consciously modeled the fake CityNoir that humanity inhabits on the sort of cities you see in old detective movies.]]
* Likewise, ''Film/TheExorcistIII'' blends some classic murder mystery elements into the DemonicPossession story you would expect from the franchise. Creator/GeorgeCScott's HardboiledDetective AntiNihilist protagonist is a classic noir hero.

* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'' is a film noir set in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' universe, so it applies for this even if you leave out the fact that one of the detectives is a talking Pikachu.

* ''Literature/AnonymousRex''. The detective Vincent Rubio is a velociraptor in a world where dinosaurs aren't dead [[HesJustHiding but hiding]].
* Tad Williams ''Literature/BobbyDollar'' series about an angel advocate caught between the forces of Heaven and Hell.
* ''Literature/BoneSong'' is a detective/conspiracy novel which takes place in a CityNoir where humans live side by side with mages, witches, [[RevenantZombie zombies]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent wraiths]], FelineFolk, [[OurGargoylesRock gargoyles]], and other fantastic creatures.
* ''Literature/CityOfDevils'' and its sequels, ''Literature/FiftyFeetOfTrouble'' and ''Literature/WolfmanConfidential'', are noir mysteries crossed with a MonsterMash. The cops are all werewolves, the studio heads are crawling eyes, the machinists are gremlins, the blue-collar folks are zombies, the actors are doppelgangers, and so on.

* Many of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' books — especially the earliest ones. Hard-boiled detective monologue running smack up against wizards, faeries and vampires. Results in many tons of awesome.
* Alex Bledsoe's ''Literature/EddieLaCrosse'' books are basically hard-boiled detective novels in a sword and sorcery setting.

* ''Forests of the Night'' by S. Andrew Swann (part of the Literature/MoreauSeries) is a near-future murder mystery tale featuring anthropomorphic animals, genetically-altered humans, and aliens. The hard-boiled detective protagonist is an anthropomorphic tiger.

* Creator/RobertRankin's ''Literature/TheHollowChocolateBunniesOfTheApocalypse'' takes place in a ClockPunk world where nursery-rhyme characters are real and [[LivingToys toys are alive]], but only in Toy City. The protagonist ends up getting recruited by a jaded, hard-drinking private detective who just happens to be a teddy bear to solve a series of murders, including the bear's late partner, Wee Willie Winkie.
* In ''Literature/TheImaginaryCorpse'', the debut novel from Tyler Hayes, detective Tippy, a stuffed triceratops, is on the trail of a serial killer of imaginary friends. It contains many of the noir trappings, but with an extra layer of heart and hope- a hard-boiled detective who hits the (root) beer hard, in the Stillreal, where imaginary friends go when they are no longer needed.

* The ''Literature/LeagueOfMagi'' novella ''Coldheart'' in the collection of the same name, is a noir story that uncovers monsters, mages, possessed people.

* ''Literature/MrBlank'' and the sequel ''Literature/GetBlank'' feature little green men, chupacabras, brainwashed super-killers, and pretty much every conspiracy under the sun.
* Idriel Ramirez spends all of ''Literature/NerveZero'' in a noir plot. Despite being in the distant future on a false planet with no gravity.

* ''Literature/NurseryCrime'' blends [[FairyTale fairy tales]] with a PoliceProcedural / '70s-style CopShow aesthetic. To a degree, ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' qualifies, too.
* ''The Resurrected Man'' by Creator/SeanWilliams is a noir detective story set in a futuristic world with teleporters, artificial intelligences, and [[spoiler:brain uploading]].

* Nigel Findley's Dirk Mongomery, a PrivateInvestigator in over his head in two ''TabletopGame/ShadowRun'' novels, ''[=2XS=]'' and ''House Of The Sun''. Both are set in a GenreBusting world of CyberPunk, {{Magitek}}, and [[FilmNoir Noir]].
* ''Literature/AStudyInEmerald'' has Sherlock Holmes in a world stalked by Lovecraftian monstrosities. ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' isn't noir, technically speaking, but this short story is a near-perfect snapshot of this subgenre.
* Simon Kurt Unsworth's ''Literature/ThomasFool'' series follows the titular character, an "Information Man" (essentially a police detective) employed by Hell's [[CelestialBureaucracy Bureaucracy]].

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' was very much this, especially the first four seasons when the eponymous vampire was running his own private detective agency.
* ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' starts off leaning towards more mundane noir (bar the presence of Matt's super-powered radar-like "vision") and gradually introduces the more fantastic Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse elements like [[spoiler: the [[{{Yakuza}} Japanese gangsters]] actually being undead ninjas, and a [[TriadsAndTongs Chinese drug baroness]] who's ''possibly'' from an extradimensional city of mystical kung-fu masters.]]
* ''Series/TheDefenders2017'', which is a crossover of the Marvel Netflix shows, is also fantastic noir as [[spoiler:those two syndicates are actually part of the same organization, the Hand.]]
* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' has a Noir style detective story with definite fantasy elements in the episode [[Recap/FringeS02E20BrownBetty "Brown Betty"]].

* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' combines - among other genres - a murder mystery with some MindScrew supernatural events. Although not much happened in a big city until the third series, there was definitely a noir sensibility right from the start, perhaps most noticeably in the jazzy soundtrack.

* ''TabletopGame/CityOfMist'' has all the trappings of Film Noir (the main characters are detectives, play largely revolves around solving cases, and sessions even start with a voiceover monologue by the players), but with the twist that the people involved have magical powers.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}} Noir'' is a spinoff of the original ''Deadlands''; as you might guess from the title, it's meant to evoke classic noir. Player character options include "grifter" (think addiction-powered wizard) and MadScientist, and multiple published adventures involve [[VoodooZombie voodoo zombies]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' is mostly known as a DungeonPunk setting, but its basis in NewWeird "pulp fantasy" means it can readily support this playstyle as well. Indeed, the setting is often described as "Noir inspired", and there's even an in-universe term for detective analogues: ''inquisitives''.
* There's a Noir sourcebook for ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' 2nd edition which discusses how to mix Noir themes with superhero protagonists, although it leans pretty hard on Noir "thematic purity" in the process.
* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' is made for this trope. Most of the gamelines are very suited for GothicPunk noir, with ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' probably being best for it (due to the BadassNormal nature of the [=PCs=]), and ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' going straight into {{cyberpunk}} territory with an, even more, noir-influenced style.
** There's a historical supplement for ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' called ''Mage Noir'', set during the immediate aftermath of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, which aims to evoke classic noir and goes into detail on how the war affected both the [[{{Muggle}} Sleeeping]] and Awakened worlds, for good and for ill.

** The DownloadableContent ''BioShockInfinite/BurialAtSea'' [[spoiler:a [[StealthSequel Stealth Prequel]] to the original VideoGame/{{BioShock 1}}]] is even more this, especially in the first chapter, which heavily emphasizes the HardboiledDetective aspect.

** ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' is set in a dark and gritty setting, and Corvo is on a quest for vengeance against people who betrayed him. He's the "fall-guy" and patsy who's in over his head. The Daud DLC is even more Noir-esque, complete with FirstPersonSmartass narration, a VillainProtagonist uncovering a mystery, and an unexpected and shocking betrayal around the corner, with the villain being a FemmeFatale witch.

* In contrast to [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas the previous game’s]] WeirdWest aesthetic, ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' has heavy film noir overtones, especially in the Far Harbor expansion. One of your companions is even a HardBoiledDetective, and you can play as one yourself.
* ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' is Creator/LucasArts' take on the noir genre, as set in a Land of the Dead inspired by Mexican folklore and Myth/AztecMythology. Especially Year 2, which has Manny doing his best Creator/HumphreyBogart impression while investigating what is effectively a murder mystery.
* ''VideoGame/TheJourneyDown'' crosses an otherwise typical HardBoiledDetective story with heavy doses of Afro-Caribbean culture and imagery, alongside {{Steampunk}} technology and, by the time of Part 3, ancient {{Magitek}}.
* ''VideoGame/KatanaZero'', the tale of a HitmanWithAHeart caught up in a GovernmentConspiracy who just happens to possess time-wrapping PsychicPowers.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has Noir influences all over it, right from the introduction of the Illusive Man and Miranda. But it's especially prominent in pretty much everything you do on Omega and Ilium. Both places are corrupt hotbeds of organized crime and gang violence lit up by neon lights. As one character puts it, Ilium basically ''"Omega, just with fancy shoes"''.

* The ''VideoGame/TexMurphy'' series by Access Software starred the titular HardBoiledDetective in a PostApocalyptic San Francisco as he dealt with mutants and aliens.

* ''WebAnimation/DimensionalProphecyOfZoharRedux'' features Neo Noir lighting mixed with CyberPunk and Horror

* ''Podcast/BlakeSkyePrivateEye'' starts as your typical noir story but then takes a turn into cosmic horror, complete with old forbidden tomes, costly spells, and eldritch beings.

* A few episodes of ''Westernanimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' use this genre, especially with Numbah Two playing the role of the detective. Given the strange happenings the KND deal with on a normal basis, Hoagie's cases will often include cases such as the murder of a Rainbow Monkey or a series of pink-eye infections caused by [[spoiler:the school nurse so [[{{Squick}} their eye crumbs can be used as crust for her desserts]]]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' strays into this sometimes, usually if the episode in question features Broadway (who's a fan of Film Noir) or Matt Bluestone.
* Episode 50 of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', "The Tale of X9," distinctly follows this route despite it set in the far future. X9 is a robotic assassin wielding a laser Tommy and driving a hover-Hudson who, by gaining sentience, grew disillusioned with his job and was the first of Aku's robots to quit. The episode begins when Aku forces him out of retirement to fight Jack, X9 knowing he won't make it out alive.

* Both ''Anime/DevilmanLady'' and ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'', PsychologicalThriller anime adaptations of the ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' manga franchise could qualify as such.

* The ''Marvel Noir'' line, including ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'', has this feel, especially for Spider-Man. ''Iron Man Noir'' is a bit misnamed, since it's more of a pulp action story.

* ''Forests of the Night'' by S. Andrew Swann (part of the Literature/MoreauSeries) is a near-future murder mystery tale featuring anthropomorphic animals, genetically-altered humans, and aliens. The hard-boiled detective protagonist is an anthropomorphic tiger.

[[caption-width-right:250:Being a private Dick in this town was hungry work... and he was all out of bananas. [[note]]It should be noted that ''she's'' the P.I., he's a comics artist.[[/note]] ]]

* DC's ''Comicbook/AngelAndTheApe'', about a beautiful HardBoiledDetective and a gorilla comics artist in New York City. Given that they're in a universe where all the other DC characters exist, the most "fantastic" aspect is probably that people don't freak out when they see Sam walking down the street (there ''are'' other intelligent gorillas in the DC universe, but the most famous one is Gorilla Grodd, a supervillain... and Sam's grandfather). This is eventually explained as Sam having a psychic power that causes people to see him as human.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' brings in this trope with the side-story featuring Ivo Sharktooth, [[PrivateDetective Private]] [[SuperSoldier Jäger]], who is hired by Agatha and Vanamonde to investigate the theft of a trophy.

A sister trope of "neo noir" or {{cyberpunk}}, fantastic noir is a relatively small {{subgenre}} that blends the setting, characters (it usually stars a HardboiledDetective who sometimes doubles as an OccultDetective) and plot structure of a FilmNoir mystery story with the more colorful elements of {{fantasy}} and ScienceFiction. The genre seemed to arrive all at once in TheEighties and remains strong today, with the publication of such books as ''Literature/AnonymousRex'', ''Literature/WhoCensoredRogerRabbit'', ''[[Literature/GarrettPI Sweet Silver Blues]]'', ''[[Literature/AFableOfTonight Stalking the Unicorn]]'', and ''[[Creator/RobertRankin The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse]]''.

* ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'', an ''Manga/AstroBoy'' story arc [[GenreMashup reimagined as a hard-boiled noir tale]]. The detective is a superpowered robot out to find out why his fellow super robots are being murdered one-by-one.

* One ''ComicBook/BeastWarsUprising'' story is written in the style of hard boiled noir stories, following a cynical detective as he investigates a strange case. Given that all the characters are [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} robots that turn into cars and vehicles]], it qualifies as this.

* ''ComicBook/CyrusPerkinsAndTheHauntedTaxiCab'' is about a man who's taxi is haunted by the ghost of a boy who recently died in the backseat. Cyrus needs to help him solve the mystery of his murder so he can find peace and move on.
* ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' becomes this during one of the volume 2 storylines involving a drug that grants super powers to people, which leads to the titular hero to stop the distributor of it.

* ''ComicBook/TheGoon'' take a FantasyKitchenSink approach, but the core of the story's aesthetic comes from 1930s crime pulp. The two main characters are a pair of cartoon gangsters taking on zombies, robots, mutants, vampires, and more.

* ''Film/LordOfIllusions'' is an adaptation that Creator/CliveBarker did based off his Harry D'Amour stories. Here, Harry is an OccultDetective who has been involved in exorcisms and has to stop an EvilSorcerer from returning from the grave.

* ''Literature/CityOfDevils'' and its sequels, ''Literature/FiftyFeetOfTrouble'' and ''Literature/WolfmanConfidential'', are noir mysteries crossed with a MonsterMash. The cops are all werewolves, the studio heads are crawling eyes, the machinists are gremlins, the blue collar folks are zombies, the actors are doppelgangers, and so on.

* Vlad Taltos in the ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' novels is an (ultimately former) human assassin in a fantasy world where [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]] are in charge, and narrates in a hardboiled FirstPersonSmartass tone. The plots of all of the novels involve mysteries solved through detection, and Vlad has the traditional SassySecretary in two nontraditional forms, his Dragaeran (elf) sidekick Kragar and his pet jhereg (more or less a ShoulderSizedDragon), Loiosh, a sapient animal that snarkily communicates with Vlad telepathically.

* The ''Literature/ElementalAssassin'' novels are about a magic-wielding ProfessionalKiller who operates out of a WretchedHive in a version of modern day earth that includes elementals, vampires, dwarfs and giants.
* ''Stalking The Unicorn'' and the other books in the ''Literature/AFableOfTonight'' series by Mike Resnick. Many of the stock noir characters are given a fantasy twist. For example [[HardboiledDetective John's]] partner, who often acts as TheWatson, is a famous semi-retired monster hunter, his "secretary" who also plays the part of the classic FemmeFatale is a CatGirl, and John's persistent enemy and local crime boss The Grundy is a demon.

* In ''Literature/TheImaginaryCorpse'', the debut novel from Tyler Hayes, detective Tippy, a stuffed triceratops, is on the trail of a serial killer of imaginary friends. It contains many of the noir trappings, but with an extra layer of heart and hope- a hard boiled detective who hits the (root) beer hard, in the Stillreal, where imaginary friends go when they are no longer needed.

* Idriel Ramirez spends all of ''Literature/NerveZero'' in a noir plot. Despite being in the distant future in a false planet with no gravity.

* ''Literature/NurseryCrime'' blends [[FairyTale fairy tales]] with a PoliceProcedural / 70's-style CopShow aesthetic. To a degree, ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' qualifies, too.
* ''The Resurrected Man'' by Creator/SeanWilliams is a noir detective story set in a futuristic world with teleporters, artificial intelligences and [[spoiler:brain uploading]].

* ''Literature/WhoCensoredRogerRabbit'' has human detective Eddie Valiant solving crimes in a world where cartoon characters are a living, breathing people (some of whom happen to work in comic strips, television and movies) [[FantasticRacism discriminated against]] by the more numerous humans.
* ''Literature/TheWitcher'' is a StandardFantasySetting with an outcast professional being dragged into doing the dirty work of powerful people while trying to cling on to his sense of decency.

* ''Series/TrueDetective'' may or may not qualify depending on where you fall on the MaybeMagicMaybeMundane fence. Either its just a typical detective story, or its a CosmicHorrorStory about dysfunctional detectives coming into contact with Lovecraftian horrors beyond their understanding.

* ''Webcomic/WalkingInTheDark'' fits this perfectly. Ben Westford is a vampiric tabloid reporter/detective in a '30s-style city; he spends his nights solving supernatural mysteries along with his sidekicks, an overenthusiastic Tengu and a journalism professor-turned-witch.

* A few episodes of ''Westernanimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' use this genre, especially with Numbah Two playing the role of the detective. Given the strange happenings the KND deal with on a normal basis, Hoagie's cases will often include cases such as the murder of a Rainbow Monkey or a series of pink-eye infections caused by [[spoiler:the school nurse so their eye crumbs can be used as crust for her desserts]].

** In a sequel, "The Trouble with Barrymore", the same gumshoe gets involved in the hunt for an ArtifactOfDoom.