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2%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.
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8[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/{{Wondermark}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wondermarkfart_1592.jpg]]]]
9[[caption-width-right:300: ProperLady [[{{Pun}} my ass.]]]]
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11This is what happens when the story or themes behind a cartoon, {{comic|s}}, or such don't match their art style. It can be intentional (a specific way for the author to get their point across) or unintentional, in which case it is often jarring. It is often used to portray [[ShowWithinAShow a work of fiction within another]], so the audience doesn't mistake it for "reality". In such instances, StylisticSuck may come into play. Alternatively, a DisguisedHorrorStory and/or SubvertedKidsShow is likely to use a cutesy artstyle to hide the dark and disturbing content.
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13A SuperTrope to GrotesqueCute and SugarApocalypse, and a SubTrope of MoodDissonance. It can lead to WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids or WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids if the art style is cartoony or kid-oriented. Compare CrapsaccharineWorld. Compare ArtStyleClash, where the art doesn't clash with the work's tone or themes, rather the work uses clashing art styles within it to highlight those themes.
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15----
16!!Examples:
17
18[[foldercontrol]]
19
20[[folder:Advertising]]
21* The gimmick behind ''Advertising/ItsHappyBunny'' is that Happy Bunny is a sweet-looking character who spouts insults.
22* The advertisings of the insurance company, Advertising/MetLife, which used the ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' characters, as it was confusing for young children to see the cartoon characters talking in "grown-ups" insurance terminology of which they could understand close to nothing.
23* [[https://youtu.be/Z3qSBOL0uOk A UK advert for Heineken]] purported to be a scene from ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''. The civil conversation, decorative style, and dress are very period appropriate. The fact that Mr Darcy, Elizabeth, and Mrs Bennett are having a pitched gunfight throughout (culminating in Darcy producing a ''bazooka'') is not. The result is absolutely hilarious.
24* The ''Advertising/DumbWaysToDie'' PublicServiceAnnouncement from Metro Trains in UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw Cute, colorful, blob-things singing happily... until they get horribly mangled, ripped, burned, explosively decompressed... and continue to sing, even though some of their heads/entire bodies are missing.]]
25[[/folder]]
26
27[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28* The cast of ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'' is full of {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s drawn in a simple, cute art style, as expected from [[Creator/{{Sanrio}} a company known for its kawaii products]]. However, unlike most of Sanrio's properties, the series is primarily aimed at adult women; as such, it explores a modern office lady's frustrations, like sexism, workplace abuse, and societal expectations. The main character's primary method of stress management is venting her rage in MetalScream while making ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''-esque rage faces that would give [[Characters/BerserkGuts Guts]] a run for his money, BlankWhiteEyes and VolumetricMouth included. And she isn't above getting wasted on alcohol either.
29* ''Manga/BarefootGen'' looks like a Saturday morning cartoon in the vein of ''Manga/AstroBoy''. It ran in the pages of ''Magazine/ShonenJump'', the bastion of idealism, for Pete's sake. It isn't. It's about the Hiroshima bombing, its immediate aftermath and all the things Gen is put through when trying to survive in a scenario where everyone else is suffering at least as badly as he is, if not worse, and most of the people who're slightly better off refuse to give him more than nominal aid.
30* ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'' looks like a normal shonen mecha series but it's far, ''far'' darker than normal and is a seinen.
31* ''Manga/BokuraNoHentai'' looks like a series aimed at young girls, but the content itself is a rather dark {{Seinen}} based around a DysfunctionJunction trio of middle schoolers.
32* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': The art style is very Shoujo-ish with lean, tall and handsome big-eyed male characters (well, most of them), whose designs were made by Creator/{{Clamp}} themselves, which would probably make you think that this is a Shoujo series if you only look at the [[http://image.phimmoi.net/film/4371/poster.medium.jpg promotional posters.]] However, the story itself is very dark Shounen, with battles between masterminds that will make [[Manga/DeathNote Light and L]] proud.
33* ''Manga/CrayonShinChan''. This family-aimed anime is drawn in a very [[StylisticSuck crude]], [[{{Pun}} "crayon"]] style reminiscent of children's drawings. However, in the original language and the two English dubs, the series is written to be raunchy in its humor and [[ParentalBonus references]], despite airing on various kids' timeslots and channels internationally.
34* ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool'' has a very sharp-edged, heavily-shaded style that makes it look like a fighting anime in the vein of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''. It's actually a high school sketch comedy, even if they still react to everything as seriously as an action series would.
35* ''Anime/DayBreakIllusion'' comes pretty close to being a horror series. The art style is reminiscent of ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}''.
36* ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'': With the original manga's cartoonish art style, you wouldn't think it would be full of graphic and disturbing imagery.
37* ''Manga/DollsFall'': SuperDeformed, cutesy character designs (when they've got their clothes on, at least); sexualized, psychological, gory horror story.
38* ''Fist of the North Star: Strawberry Flavor'' keeps the gritty, {{Testosterone Poison|ing}}ed look of the [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar original manga]]... and gives it to a bizarre, lighthearted gag series.
39* ''Literature/{{Gosick}}'' has a cute {{moe}}-esque style reminiscent of ''Manga/RozenMaiden'' and a cheerily-colored opening, but is a murder mystery through and through.
40* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
41** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'' has a children's cartoon art style with the tone of the story remaining dark and mature.
42** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' employs an art style consistent with most kid-friendly shonen anime, but with a degree of [[TruthInTelevision brutal realism]] and [[WarisHell real-life conflicts]].
43* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' draws the girls in a cute, innocent style when they're [[ChildSoldiers child assassins]]. The original anime has an distinct muted art style that fits the noir tone of the series but ''Teatrino'' plays it even more straight than the manga. The girls are even more {{Moe}}, even the Handlers are adorable, and everything has a bright pastel style.. While still revolving around middle school aged girls torturing and killing people.
44* ''Manga/HappySugarLife'' has a [[DeceptivelySillyTitle seemingly cute title]] and a pastel art style that looks like it came straight out of a ''Magazine/MangaTimeKirara'' series, but it's actually a psychological horror about kidnapping, abuse, and all the nasty complications a loveless life can leave on a person.
45* ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' easily has the most stylized and cartoony art style out of any series in the ''Anime/PrettyCure'' franchise (courtesy of Yoshihiko Umakoshi, who previously did very similar character designs for ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'') despite being one of the [[DarkerAndEdgier most serious]] of series in the franchise.
46%%* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', too.
47* ''Manga/HenZemi'' is illustrated in the PuniPlush style, with a cast of big-eyed, soft-faced characters. It's about an average college girl taking a course in abnormal sexuality with a class so jaded they think nothing of giving practical demonstrations of the study material.
48* The cute character designs of ''Manga/HibikisMagic'' hide a series of very bittersweet stories about the price people pay for using magic and its unintentional consequences on those around them.
49* ''Manga/InThisCornerOfTheWorld'''s characters are drawn in a cute and somewhat cartoony art style. While this isn't so bad at the beginning of the story when it's more of a historical SliceOfLife, it gradually becomes this trope as the story's tone [[CerebusSyndrome becomes more serious]].
50* Creator/JunjiIto is a noted horror manga artist with a distinctive style that fits very well with the genre of his work, which doesn't change in the slightest for ''Manga/JunjiItosCatDiaryYonAndMu'', an autobiographical SliceOfLife manga about his cats. This is PlayedForLaughs, as Ito is clearly [[SelfParody parodying himself]] by still using his typical creepy art style for such a mundane series.
51* ''Anime/{{Kaiba}}'''s art style and character designs look like something Creator/OsamuTezuka or Creator/DrSeuss would draw. The actual subject matter of the anime is darker and more mature than its colorful and cartoony style would suggest.
52* A slight version with ''Manga/{{Kaiji}}''. Looking at the exaggerated artwork and overdramatic facial expressions one could easily assume that this series is partly comedy. In reality there is almost no comedy to be found in ''Kaiji'', and those high-stakes gambles that Kaiji is making mangled faces over are played ''completely seriously'', making for one of the tensest and suspenseful manga of all time.
53* ''Anime/KanColle'' juxtaposed bright colors, cute girls, and lighthearted fun with an almost jarring dark plot about war with monstrous life forms, [[spoiler:senseless deaths of innocents, and the corruption that creates their enemies.]] In fact, it was so jarring that the series suffered in sales because of the dissonance.
54* When promotional artwork for the ''Manga/{{Karneval}}'' anime came out, it received a lot of flack by those unfamiliar with the original manga for being another "{{Bishonen}}" or "[[{{Yaoi}} fujoshi]]" series. In actuality, it's a rather dark BioPunk {{Josei}} manga set in a CrapSaccharineWorld and just happens to have a [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys predominately male cast]] and colorful artwork. The first chapter alone includes the near-rape of a child by a [[HumanoidAbomination monster woman]] who then goes on to gruesomely [[ImAHumanitarian devour]] a bunch of thieves who break into her mansion.
55* ''Manga/MadeInAbyss'' has characters done in a very PuniPlush art style, in stark contrast to the lush backgrounds and visceral horrors. Despite the cutesy looks of the main characters, don't be fooled for even a second, the manga has very frequent graphic content and BodyHorror that's realistic.
56* ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'' isn't quite as cutesy as some of the examples on this list, but it's unusually stylized for such serious subject matter. This works in its favor, softening the blow of the most traumatic scenes.
57* ''Manga/OruchubanEbichu'': Cute art style reminiscent of ''Manga/ChisSweetHome'' or ''Anime/{{Hamtaro}}'', and the main character is an adorable talking hamster. Full of raunchy jokes, violent gags and ''on-screen sex scenes''.
58* ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'': While the [[Manga/OsomatsuKun original manga]] is a Shonen and the characters in ''-San'' are still drawn as wacky and cartoonish as it gets, the anime airs [[OtakuOClock late at night]] in Japan and most episodes have enough sex/nudity jokes that wouldn't let it pass as a kid's show.
59* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' is uniquely drawn in a toony, thick-lined art direction heavily inspired by ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls''. However, while ''Powerpuff Girls'' is a kid-friendly show, ''Panty & Stocking'' is an AnimatedShockComedy akin to either ''Franchise/SouthPark'' or ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether''.
60* After the art style got a more cartoony overhaul in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', the darker episodes and themes can come off as this. ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon'' had two episodes about death and an arc exploring Lillie's PTSD.
61* ''Anime/PrincessTutu''. A MagicalGirl show that takes place in a whimsical town of pastel colors, ballet, and {{fairy tale}}s. Unfortunately for the characters, their fairytale has not been [[{{Disneyfication}} Disneyfied]], and they are the [[CosmicPlaything cosmic playthings]] of an AxCrazy [[TrueArtIsAngsty tragedy-loving]] [[RealityWarper writer]].
62* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has characters done in the PuniPlush style of ''Manga/HidamariSketch'' (by [[Creator/UmeAoki the same artist]], even) to tell a CosmicHorrorStory that is frequently compared to ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
63* ''Manga/RankingOfKings''' art style looks like something you'd find in a children's picture book, with everything from the characters to the backgrounds being minimalistic and colorful. It's also about the ''only'' thing childish in this story, which includes brutal fights, political wars, and horrific backstories, among other things.
64* ''Manga/SchoolLive'' has the normal {{Moe}} art style of an early 2010s SchoolgirlSeries, but it actually takes place in a ZombieApocalypse. This is intentional, as the art style is meant to fool the audience into thinking it's a typical schoolgirl series until the FirstEpisodeTwist kicks in.
65* Some of the more serious or adult work by Creator/OsamuTezuka, such as ''Manga/ApollosSong'' and ''Manga/BlackJack'', can look at odds with his cartoony, Disneyesque style.
66* Hitoshi Tomizawa. His art is cute, which makes sense since his characters tend to be fairly young. As for his manga itself, it's usually [[HarmfulToMinors very violent]] and [[MindScrew weird]]. He even did the art for ''Literature/BattleRoyale II: Blitz Royale'', which is every bit as violent as the original novel.
67* The anime adaptation of ''Manga/ViolinistOfHameln'', originally a parody manga, removes all the humor and plays the DysfunctionJunction for its full angst value, but keeps the art style.
68* ''Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero'' had an adorable art-style that makes it look like any normal MagicalGirl anime or SchoolgirlSeries. It has a lot of dark elements [[spoiler:including a character ''attempting suicide'' on-screen]]. The light novels aren't much better as, unlike in the original anime, [[spoiler:characters can die]].
69* While the show's art style and anthropomorphic animal cast wouldn't look out of place in an anime aimed at [[{{Kodomomuke}} young children]], ''Anime/OddTaxi'' is definitely not aimed at that demographic, as it has a much darker and more serious and grounded tone than the colorful art style would suggest, in addition to all the violence that occurs throughout.
70* Although aimed at young children in Japan, the OVA and anime adaptations of Anime/TamaAndFriends delved into dark territory. There were episodes focused on themes such as bullying, death, and even war.
71* The mangaka Wayama Yama has a mature art style with rather dark coloring reminiscent of horror stories such as Junji Ito's mangas, such as [[https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/76420480 in this example.]] However, all of her mangas so far are comedy.
72* Hideo Azuma wrote the autobiographical manga ''[[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/house-of-1000-manga/2012-02-16 Disappearance Diary]]'', talking about the period in his life when he was a depressed alcoholic, quit his job and turned into a homeless bum. But he illustrated it using the same rounded cutesy style as his earlier works ''Manga/NanakoSOS'' and ''Anime/LittlePollon'', as it would be too unappealing and gloomy otherwise.
73[[/folder]]
74
75[[folder:Comic Books]]
76* ''ComicBook/ArchieVsPredator'': The series has the cute, friendly ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' style we all know with {{gorn}} and horror.
77* ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'': The flashbacks to ComicBook/JessicaJones' past when she got her powers and her life as the superhero "Jewel" are drawn in the style of ''ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumber15'' (the debut issue of ComicBook/SpiderMan) and 90s superhero comics. However, the scenes are also filled to the brim with profanity since this is an adults-only Marvel MAX series.
78* ''ComicBook/BatmanBlackAndWhite'': The series, being all about artistic experiments, had a few of these. For instance, "Two of a Kind" is a very dark, horrifying Two-Face story written and illustrated by Creator/BruceTimm in the cartoony style he developed for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. Timm did an even nastier story, "Red Romance", for the non-Batman title ''Flinch''; see DestructiveRomance for the details. And it's ''still'' in the BTAS house style...
79* ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'': Holocaust memoirs -- with the characters portrayed as {{Funny Animal}}s. "Funny" absolutely not being the operative phrase. Creator/ArtSpiegelman introduced the story in the underground comic ''Funny Animals'' with the mice actually having WesternAnimation/{{Mickey| Mouse}} ears, so he actually toned down the trope in the decade it took turning it into a graphic novel.
80* ''ComicBook/{{Persepolis}}'': The series and its 2007 AnimatedAdaptation by extension, is drawn in a simplistic and stylized manner akin to newspaper comics such as ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' and ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''. However, the actual comic itself deals with mature subjects such as war, religion, oppression, sexism, racism, and prostitution.
81* Much of Creator/JasonShiga's comics have a serious tone that contrasts with his cartoony artwork. His characters are big-eyed and usually have GenericCuteness; his plots involve [[ComicStrip/BusStop searches for missing parents]], [[ComicBook/DoubleHappiness gang wars]], [[ComicStrip/{{Fleep}} terrorism]], [[ComicBook/{{Bookhunter}} over-the-top police action]], or [[ComicBook/{{Meanwhile}} the death of every human on Earth]]. His self-proclaimed magnum opus ''Webcomic/{{Demon}}'' takes the cake however, with lots of gore and adult themes such as suicide, murder, nihilism, drug use, and even [[BestialityIsDepraved camel sex]].
82* ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'': The series has the typical look of a colorful superhero comic book, but make no mistake, it's a DeconReconSwitch story filled with tons of {{Gorn}}.
83* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': The stories drawn by Jon Gray have this in ''spades'', only the weird thing is, it ''works'' really well. Gray's hyper-exaggerated, hyper-expressive cartoony style makes comical moments [[spoiler:like Knuckles meeting his baby half-brother]] all the funnier, but it also lends full emotional weight to more serious moments [[spoiler:like Sonic and Sally's breakup argument]].
84* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': ''ComicBook/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' #86 was published during Assistant Editor's Month, so the gimmick of that issue was that Bob [=DeNatale=] threw out Al Milgrom's artwork in favor of that of Creator/FredHembeck, whose style is far from realistic. The issue's storyline was that the Fly realised he was losing his humanity and sought revenge upon J. Jonah Jameson and Spider-Man, and the humor is limited to Spidey's usual wisecracks (apart from the humor stemming from Hembeck's art, like the Fly having Xs for eyes when Spider-Man punches him). After the Fly is defeated, Danny Fingeroth (the actual editor of the comic) returns and puts an end to the cartoonish artwork. You can see images from this issue [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/peter_parker_the_spectacular_s_73.shtml here]].
85* ''ComicBook/TheUmbrellaAcademy'': The series uses the bright, clean style of Gabriel Ba, while the plot is a mix of dramatic confrontations, violence, and absurdist humor.
86* ''ComicBook/TheUnfunnies'': A Creator/HannaBarbera-esque comic series with extremely dark subject matter. Eventually, the corruption of this once idyllic world is explained, but the shock of seeing {{Funny Animal}}s involved in child pornography, murders, and drug abuse is hard to forget.
87* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'': The series has a loose, cartoony style that wouldn't (and didn't) look out of place in ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', with each cast member a FunnyAnimal. That said, it's a fairly straight JidaiGeki, and there is ''much'' FamilyUnfriendlyViolence, and at times a frankly astonishing body count.
88* ''ComicBook/WhenTheWindBlows'': The series is a grim depiction of the futile efforts of an old British couple in the countryside trying to live through a nuclear holocaust, as illustrated by [[Creator/RaymondBriggs the guy]] that gave us the children's classic ''ComicBook/TheSnowman''.
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Comic Strips]]
92* On the opposite side of the spectrum, one Sunday strip of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' had Calvin and Susie PlayingDoctor -- [[ArtShift in the art style of]] a "serious" strip like ''ComicStrip/RexMorganMD'' to showcase just how ''weird'' Calvin is.
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:Eastern Animation]]
96* ''Animation/SquirrelAndHedgehog'', a UsefulNotes/{{North Korea}}n children's cartoon. [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Cute]] {{Funny Animal}}s alternate between frolicking in the idyllic paradise of Furry North Korea and waging war on American Wolves, Japanese Weasels, and South Korean Mice. Even without characters getting shot and killed on-screen, the blatant militarization of Furry North Korea is pretty disturbing.
97[[/folder]]
98
99[[folder:Fan Works]]
100* [[http://rinjapine.deviantart.com/ Rinjapine]] is known across ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' fandom for her PurpleProse WallsOfText, elaborate stories, and [[TangledFamilyTree complex family trees.]] Her art style on the other hand is SoOkayItsAverage.
101* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' fics:
102** ''WebVideo/KoishiKomeijisHeartThrobbingAdventure'' at first glance looks like a happy series with a cute character design of Koishi going on daily adventures. [[BloodierAndGorier Except that it isn't]]. And it gets [[AnyoneCanDie far, FAR worse]].
103** ''Manga/AtChirei'' has the same cutesy PuniPlush style the author uses in their light-hearted {{Shipping}} and SliceOfLife doujins, and tells a story of a broken family where one member is struggling with mental illness and another is beginning their [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable]] journey FromNobodyToNightmare.
104** Works by the artist Imizu tend to be drawn in a very serious, half realistic and highly detailed style that usually contains absolute comedic madness.
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
108* ''{{WesternAnimation/Alma}}'' is a seemingly cute, innocent short by a former Pixar animator...that ends with [[spoiler:the main character becoming trapped inside the body of a doll, alongside numerous other children who have met the same fate]].
109* ''WesternAnimation/AnimalFarm1954'' is animated in a cute style reminiscent of an older Disney cartoon. However, it retains all the violence and political themes of [[Literature/AnimalFarm its source material]].
110* ''Bad Cat'' (the AnimatedAdaptation of the comic ''ComicBook/SerafettinTheBadCat'') looks like a CGI animated family friendly funny animal movie. While it does feature funny talking animals, it is not appropriate for children with all the swearing, drug use, alcoholism, blood and gore, and sexual content.
111* ''WesternAnimation/BirdBoyTheForgottenChildren'': A Spanish animated movie with an art-style lifted from children's storybooks... It's also a horror movie not at all meant for children. It has a cast mostly consisting of cutesy anthropomorphic animal children, but they live in an isolated island ravaged by a nuclear crisis and want to run away due to feeling disconnected from their society. The titular Bird Boy is drawn in a similarly cute manner, but he also has a horrifying OneWingedAngel form that he has to control by taking drugs which give him terrible nightmares, and at one point he uses the form to gorily tear apart a ''cannibal tribe'' that was going to eat his friends.
112* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rElMstA1kSI Born Under Fire]]'' is a Colombian animated movie that looks like an animated series like ''WesternAnimation/CharlieAndLola'' or ''WesternAnimation/PinkyDinkyDoo''. It is actually a dramatic documentary about the on-going war conflict in Colombia told from the perspective of children who have witnessed the events, incorporating their drawings into the film.
113* You'd be forgiven if you thought ''WesternAnimation/EightCrazyNights'' was a kids' movie just by looking at its {{Disneyesque}}/Creator/BradBird/Creator/DonBluth art-style, especially since most of the animation team had just come off working on ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant''.
114* Along with the AnimationAgeGhetto trope, this could be one of the reasons why some viewers make the mistake of thinking that ''WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}}'' is a movie for kids due to its cartoonish, almost cute characters designs. And also the fact the main characters are talking cats.
115* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheHauntedWorldOfElSuperBeasto'' may look like it was done by Spumco, but it's not at all appropriate for anyone under 18. Then again, neither was [[WebAnimation/TheGoddamnGeorgeLiquorProgram a lot]] [[WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon of Spumco's]] stuff.
116* "Gahan Wilson's The Kid" is a direct-to-video animated anthology film about a 10 year old boy conquering his fears, it looks like a Saturday morning cartoon and features children as the main characters, but it has a lot of foul language including quite a few f-bombs, blood and gore in the boy’s fantasy sequences, and nudity, one segment is about the boy and his friend trying to figure out what naked women look like, so after they watch pornography and look at a pornographic magazine they see naked women wherever they go.
117* The extremely simplistic and cartoonish character designs from the CGI movie ''WesternAnimation/KillerBeanForever'' would make any viewer think that it is some kind of silly comedy for kids, but it is actually a serious action film with almost no comedy (except for a couple of BlackComedy moments) and lots of killings, as the title suggests.
118* The animated documentary ''WesternAnimation/MyDepression'' has a cute, cartoony style all while talking about crippling depression.
119* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Girl Once Upon a Girl]]'' is animated in the style of the family friendly Creator/HannaBarbera[=/=]''Creator/{{Filmation}}'' cartoons, but it is absolutely not appropriate for children in any way, as it is a collection of fairy tale parodies in which each segment ends with the characters having sex, with plenty of nudity and foul language scattered throughout.
120* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/RingingBell'' (''Chirin no Suzu'') looks like a cute children's movie and, while it [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids is a children's movie]], it is a very dark film about a [[SweetSheep baby lamb]] seeking revenge on [[SavageWolves the wolf]] who killed his mother. The original book by Creator/TakashiYanase also has a cute art style despite dealing with the same theme as the movie. Even as the story enters darker territory, it still retains its beautifully water-colored art style.
121** Another animated adaptation of a children's book by Takashi Yanase is ''The Gentle Lion''/''Anime/TheKindlyLion'' (''Yasashii Lion'') from 1970 by Creator/MushiProductions. It involves [[https://malkavanimes.fansubs.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Yasashii-Lion-00.jpg a female dog named Muku-Muku adopting an orphaned lion cub named Buru-Buru]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UfpDaqTb7A While the story starts out cute and a bit somber]], it quickly enters darker territory and ends [[spoiler: with said dog and lion getting killed by an army.]]
122* ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'' looks like something one would expect out of either Creator/{{Pixar}} or Creator/DreamworksAnimation, but it's in no way appropriate for children given the film's dark humor, rampant profanity, sex jokes, and religious themes.
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
126* ''Film/{{Hulk}}'': The film is notorious for its use of IdiosyncraticWipes and split-screen meant to emulate the feel of a comic book, a style that clashes with its somber and serious tone.
127* ''Film/TheWorldOfKanako'': Although the story of this movie is infested with cynicism, there are still a lot of bright lights and colors, flash cuts and fast-paced editing that give the movie a unique atmosphere, especially during Kanako's appearances and the narrator's MushroomSamba.
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Literature]]
131* The [[http://www.gyldendal.no/Barn-og-ungdom/9-13-aar/Phenomena covers]] of the book series ''Literature/{{Phenomena}}'' tend to be colorful and bright. But they're about two [[TheChosenOne chosen]] {{child|Soldiers}}ren who eventually have to kill to protect themselves; slavery is a major theme that is not ever played for laughs; there are horrid betrayals and suicide; a character kills his brother; and the story indirectly refers to rape. Despite this, most of the artwork is colorful and seems lighthearted. The spin-off picture books are much worse - they have happy colors and soft lines but are about scalping, the murder of innocent slave children, insanity and more, and are meant for children younger than the audience for main books.
132[[/folder]]
133
134[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
135* Done InUniverse on ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Joey was cast in a play whose dialogue and setting suggested something similar to a play written by Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams. The final scene revealed that it was actually cheesy science fiction.
136* ''Franchise/KamenRider'': is mostly geared towards children and usually looks the [[MerchandiseDriven part]], too. Don't be fooled, it often crosses into WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids and the goofier the graphics are, the darker the story may be to balance things out.
137** ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'': Animal themed, bright colored IdiotHero fighting monsters that feed on human desire should be enough of a family friendly set up, right? Yeah, it would be if ([[GoodIsNotDumb presumed]]) IdiotHero was not traumatized by civil war, which he indirectly caused while trying to help local people. And that's just a single backstory.
138** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': You would be forgiven for thinking it's a happy, family-friendly show judging by the fruit-themed design and the protagonists being dancing teams. The CosmicHorrorStory part comes up only later anyway.
139** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Video game fighting mechanics, cartoonish effects and the hot pink colored design of the main hero can easily detract from the fact that ''Ex-Aid'' is a medical drama that takes ethics of care, value of life and WhatMeasureIsANonHuman ''extremely seriously''.
140** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' doesn't have a dissonance between design and story because of the design being bright and cheery (it isn't most of the time, anyway), but because of how it questions identity, use of violence and governmental corruption. Not to speak about {{Dehumanization}} and the war that breaks out early in the story.
141* ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' shares the goofy graphics like bright colors or cartoonish zord design of its source material, ''Series/EngineSentaiGoonger''. Unfortunately, its setting is a cross between ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' and ''Film/MadMax'' and it starts with a RobotWar wiping out most of humanity.
142[[/folder]]
143
144[[folder:Podcasts]]
145* The caricatures of the two hosts of ''Podcast/FatFrenchAndFabulous'' have a distinct, cutesy animesque art style that belies the dark, disturbing comedy of the podcast itself.
146[[/folder]]
147
148[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
149* ''TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning'': Played according to the rules it's gothic ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''- a bunch of scared people fighting a threat they don't understand who are going to get very quickly and bloodily slaughtered without a lot of cunning, firepower, caution and careful planning. Played according to the artwork it's gothic ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}''- a kickass action story about manly heroes gunning down hordes of {{Mooks}}.
150* ''TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'' is widely considered by fans to have suffered in its early days because the artist then responsible for all the illustrations apparently perceived more BodyHorror in the high-biotech setting than the writers quite intended. On top of that, none of the images actually illustrate ''anything'' in the text. It's like they are from an entirely different book.
151[[/folder]]
152
153[[folder:Video Games]]
154%%* Many platforming games fall into this when it comes to how hard they are, especially the older crop from the '80s and early '90s. One just wouldn't expect the cute cartoon video game to have controller-breaking difficulty!%%Generic example.
155* ''VideoGame/AbomiNation'' has a very pastel and cartoony art style, with virtually all Abomis being some form of cute, even [[BigBad Furcifume]]. The plot covers extremely dark themes of death, loss, and war.
156* The first ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'' is a serious Lovecraft inspired survival horror game, but the graphics are quite colorful and cartoony.
157* ''VideoGame/AvengingSpirit'' has a colorful theme and an adorable ghost protagonist and cartoonish enemies, but the story is pretty dark to begin with, as [[FirstEpisodeResurrection the hero of the game is resurrected as a ghost by his girlfriend's father after being killed by evil syndicate organization members who kidnap his girlfriend.]]
158* ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'' looks like a SugarApocalypse at first, but it eventually becomes clear that the world (or at least the main character's nation) was pretty messed up even before the Calamity.
159* This is one of the criticisms often aimed at the ''VideoGame/BattalionWars'' games: their art style is [[WarHasNeverBeenSoMuchFun a little too cute for the combat involved]], but not quite cute enough for the characterization of the units and commanders.
160* The original version of ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' mimics ThickLineAnimation, and has a protagonist who looks very baby-like despite apparently being at least kindergarten-age. Edmund [=McMillen=] has said this was a deliberate design decision--the grotesqueness of what Isaac goes through would not be bearable if drawn realistically. And even with the art-style used, some of the bosses are ''still'' flat-out disgusting and horrifying, such as Blighted Ovum, The Wretched, or Super Lust.
161* In the Creator/AdultSwim game series ''VideoGame/CandyMountainMassacre'', a virus has turned the inhabitants of a SugarBowl setting into trigger-happy psychos with guns and bombs. The second game turns things in this direction, with the Cake Queen having turned her land into one of dread for both the Cupcakes (the only inhabitants unaffected by the virus) and any humans unfortunate enough to set foot in the place -- and one level has you blasting your way through what is for all intents and purposes a ''torture chamber''. Yikes!
162* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'':
163** It appears at first to be a simple PlatformGame filled with [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter endearingly cute creatures]] - including a race of friendly and hospitable [[BunniesForCuteness rabbit people]] - but is actually a story about [[WarIsHell war]] and [[FinalSolution genocide]], topped with horrific evils that rival the [[CosmicHorrorStory tone and style]] of Creator/HPLovecraft. The [[GraphicsInducedSuperDeformed in-game graphics]] just make it even more jarring.
164** [[spoiler:A scientific expedition to a floating island went ''totally'' awry when [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate the doctor that came with them]] turned out to be a [[TheSociopath sociopathic monster]] of a man with [[AGodAmI delusions of godhood]]. He only came along to steal the [[NamesToRunAwayFroomReallyFast Demon Crown]]: a magical artifact with [[ArtifactOfDoom seemingly infinite dark power]] that ''he'' knows was used years before in an act of casual genocide. [[FromNobodyToNightmare He gets it, instantly becoming a threat to literally every living thing in the world.]]]]
165* ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'' takes place in a gorgeous FairyTale land with a host of literally colorful characters. It also [[DownerBeginning opens with a child being murdered]], [[YouCantGoHomeAgain ends with a town being destroyed]], and has [[CrapsaccharineWorld a whole lot of unpleasantness in between]].
166* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. Brightly-colored, often hand-painted visuals, and come on, ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' was so fun! Cue DarkerAndEdgier MindScrew storyline featuring copious NiceJobBreakingItHero and FantasticRacism, which also {{retcon}}s the ending of CT into something a lot darker.
167* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' could best be described as the video game equivalent to ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. Death, sex, drunkeness, scatalogical humor, swearing... not a kids game. But Creator/{{Rare}} made it with the same adorable art style that characterized their family friendly fare like ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' (which itself has some occasional dark humor and jokes, more so its sequel). This is because ''VideoGame/TwelveTalesConker64'' was originally going to be a family-friendly game, not too dissimilar from ''Conker's Pocket Tales'' for Game Boy Color, but then Rare caught on that it would've been too similar to their own ''Banjo Kazooie'', so they turned it into the more adult final version, while keeping the art style intact.
168* ''VideoGame/CorpseParty: Book of Shadows'' has a surprisingly cutesy art style for a game about people being murdered in gruesome ways.
169* ''VideoGame/CultOfTheLamb'' is a game filled with adorable little chibi-fied animals that wouldn't look out of place in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''...worshipping a demonic entity and trying to take over the world.
170* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' has a fun, colorful art style based off of 1930s era cartoons a la WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse or WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat. That said, the main storyline is a literal deal with the devil and it has already become well-known for its high difficulty curve.
171* ''VideoGame/DeadCells'' goes for the opposite tack to a lot of other games, going for a fairly serious (if pixelly) portrayal of a dead kingdom full of zombies and monsters, but having a keen sense of humour and a main character who's a bit of a comic dim bulb who [[TheSpeechless communicates entirely through exaggerated gestures]] and has a very flippant internal monologue.
172* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' and its sequel, ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. The cutesy, chibi-style sprites? Prepare to watch as they get incinerated, beaten to death frozen, or more! In fact, in the first few minutes of the second game, you get to see a [[spoiler: bloody train crash, WITH the main trio alongside the other corpses.]]
173* The ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series starts off pretty campy and cutesy, but overall takes itself seriously. This is what makes certain games like ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' so unusual, because they're quite depressing and dark (respectively) given their cutesy Creator/AkiraToriyama art-style.
174* ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'' is a tragic story with a genocidal army trying to exterminate an entire race of people. It's also rendered in a very colorful and cartoonish style with a cast of {{Funny Animal}}s, where even older male characters (including the BigBad) have huge Disney eyes.
175* ''Edna & Harvey'':
176** ''VideoGame/EdnaAndHarveyTheBreakout'' shows the protagonist Edna and her surroundings in a cartoon-y style that initially seems to reflect well her whackiness and how everything seems a bit nonsensical and just for giggles. It fits less the more the story is about how deep Edna's psychological issues actually go and what a dark past lies behind her.
177** ''VideoGame/EdnaAndHarveyHarveysNewEyes'' is about a very idealistic little girl, and the art style reflects how she views things. This makes it all the more jarring when her illusions begin to slip, and she starts to see blood and dead bodies.
178* The ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'' series has a bright, colorful, cutesy {{animesque}} art style. It also has plenty of BlackComedy, sex jokes, mild swearing, Nazi-like imagery, Satanic-like imagery, and in the fifth game there's [[FlippingTheBird bird-flipping]] and [[DungFu a poo attack (from the Bears, thankfully not from the party members).]] By the fifth game, it became possible to [[AdjustableCensorship remove the raunchier elements]] and play a more all-ages version.
179* The world of ''VideoGame/{{Eversion}}'' starts out bright and cheerful, but becomes gradually less so as you evert to higher levels, and it's not long before the game reveals its [[{{Mordor}} true]] [[CosmicHorrorStory colors]].
180* Some of the worlds in ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' come across as this. The Platform/GameBoyAdvance entries are mostly this due to the artstyle being bright and colorful as a result of the SP model not being standardized for most of the runs (not so much in 8). ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'' is interesting, despite being one of the DarkerAndEdgier titles, the SNES original used very colorful, bright and cartoonish graphics. However, the DS remake of the game used a much darker color scheme and less stylized art style.
181* ''VideoGame/ForeverHome'' uses Kaduki and RTP style sprites that are in many other RPG Maker games, which look fairly saccharine, but it still doesn't shy away from showing dead bodies, mangled corpses, pools of blood, and suicide.
182* ''VideoGame/FromTheDepths'' mixes cartoonish, simplistic voxel-based graphics with advanced ballistic calculations, fluid drag characteristics, naval fleet tactics, and detection equipment to make one of the most complex DesignItYourselfEquipment ''engineering'' games, only being surpassed by the ultra-hardcore space combat simulator ''VideoGame/ChildrenOfADeadEarth''.
183* ''VideoGame/GretelAndHansel'' features very cutesy, childish drawings undergoing ''horrible'' twisted FairyTale torments.
184* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'':
185** ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'' is probably the darkest game in the entire series, dealing with some fairly deep thematic stuff (like aging, losing one's friends, cheating, etcetra). But it still has the same cuddly, {{puni plush}} aesthetic as the other games (albeit with more muted colors than other games).
186** ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon64'' has [[SuperDeformed simplistic]], childish character models and cutesy anime character portraits. But the game deals with alcoholism, implied abuse, stagnating marriages, ParentalAbandonment, and death among other things.
187* ''VideoGame/HometownStory'' has a GenericCuteness art style but the story can be pretty dark. [[spoiler:A character dies]], for example.
188* ''VideoGame/{{Indiecalypse}}'': The "Calarts" style (used for cartoons such as ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'') depicted in this game is deliberate because WordOfGod says that he wanted to create this striking contrast between a cartoony art style versus adult themes, gore, and black humor.
189* ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' is a game about cartoonish LittleGreenMen who try to launch themselves into space atop rockets. While there's nothing ''actively'' trying to kill you in the game, it more than makes up for it by [[UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay being unexpectedly faithful to actual physics]]. If you don't know what you're doing or are expecting the game's flight model to be as cartoonish as the art style, your rockets ''will'' crash.
190* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
191** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' introduced a cartoony and very brightly colored art style very different from the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' era's more realistic art. However, its storyline has many dark undertones: [[spoiler:A GreatFlood that reduced the world to a handful of islands that were once mountaintops]], and the final battle culminates in [[spoiler:Ganon being stabbed ''[[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice in the forehead]]''.]] There are also various dark elements like the destruction of Greatfish Isle and the subsequent curse of the Great Sea, and the presence of dangerous creatures like Seahats and Big Octo.
192** Zigzagged with ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''. While not as consistently cartoony as ''The Wind Waker'', it's still very brightly colored and cheery-looking compared with ''Ocarina of Time'' or ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', even though the setup involves the Kingdom of Hyrule having been destroyed by an EldritchAbomination incarnation of Ganon and the land still being threatened by him and his minions. However, it's also a bit of a CozyCatastrophe, as a century later many of the surviving settlements are flourishing and most civilians don't seem to care that an apocalyptic event has occurred beyond wistful longing for the good old days when the Kingdom was still around. The fact that Ganon was sealed away during that century, and is only now [[LeakingCanOfEvil starting to break free]] when Link reawakens, is a major factor. Plus, Ganon himself and the Blight Ganons he uses to control the Divine Beasts have {{Non Standard Character Design}}s that ''do'' look like the kind of gruesome monstrosities that could cause such carnage.
193* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' has a bright, anime-style aesthetic with chibi sprites that look like your favorite Platform/PlayStation JRPG. The protagonist is a GenkiGirl with her [[TheComicallySerious grumpy adopted brother]] helping people and making friends. Its themes match said art style at first...sure, the first game has a backstory of war and the heroine once recounts how [[spoiler:her mother died protecting her under a pile of rubble as they were bombarded with shells]], but it's only briefly described, much less shown. Then [[WhamEpisode the ending completely changes everything you were led to believe]] with the threat of darker things to follow. Come its two sequels, it delves into ''very'' dark territory for an RPG, such as betrayal, manipulating friends for the greater good, government conspiracy, brainwashing children through repressed trauma, the merciless slaughter of a community as a political scapegoat, survivor guilt, psychological dependence on addiction and the collapse of a civilization, and the hardships of two child soldiers. The worst offender is the reveal that one of the aforementioned children was driven to murderous insanity when [[spoiler:her parents sold her into prostitution at the age of 5 to cover their debts.]]
194* ''VideoGame/LegoCityUndercover'' is seemingly just another Lego game. However, it has many references to [[ParentalBonus adult movies and books]] that children aren't supposed to watch/read (''Franchise/JamesBond'', ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'', ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'', ''Film/GoodFellas'' etc.). You get points for breaking things, a crime boss gets frozen to death (he is rebuilt, but still), a mook loses both hands, TheHero tortures a mook through brain freezing, and more. It is nicknamed ''Lego VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' for a reason and probably would have the same ratings if not for the LEGO style. The fact that the hero is a cop [[PoliceBrutality doesn't make it much better]].
195* Video games by Spanish developer [[http://www.mangoprotocol.com/ Mango Protocol]] have a cutesy cartoonish art style, vaguely reminiscent of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' (lampshaded when the protagonist of one of them has a BMO plush on her bed) but their attitude and humor is quite cynical and sarcastic. There are some wildly inappropriate elements as well, such as the girl who made up the "Carnivorism" religion, represented by a crucified pig with its intestines hanging out.
196* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' looks like a harmless children's toy at first glance, until you play Survival mode. [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly Constant threat of starvation]] as well as brutal [[NightOfTheLivingMooks undead creatures]] and [[DemonicSpiders otherwordly monsters]] out for your blood that are ''far'' more threatening than their blocky, cartoonish designs could ever suggest are what awaits in this bright and colorful Lego Land. Needless to say, if ''Minecraft'' is a playground, it's an ''evil'' playground that [[DeathWorld shows no mercy and wants you dead]].
197** This trope goes double for certain [[GameMod mods]], since those mods generally keep to the same cute, blocky art-style as vanilla Minecraft while sometimes having much darker content. A few notable examples include ''VideoGame/{{Witchery}}'', which allows the player to perform BloodMagic and HollywoodSatanism among other things, and ''VideoGame/MiskatonicMysteries'', which is centered around bringing the mind-shattering [[EldritchAbomination alien gods]] of the ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'' to Minecraft.
198* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
199** The series is colorful, cartoony, and filled with beautifully subtle details. The battle screens suggest you're fighting during a psychadelic trip-out, and the characters almost look like they're from a stylized ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} comic. And, implicitly and thematically speaking, it's probably the darkest Nintendo has ever gotten.
200** ''VideoGame/Mother3''. For the first 15 minutes, it's averted, but after that it takes a swan dive into the depths. Compared to the art style, the story gets so dark, you would need the light of a thousand suns to be able to see three feet ahead. Though, admittedly, there are comic relief sections, it's still one hell of a contrast.
201* The setting in ''VideoGame/NaughtyBear''. Even before the main character goes on his killing spree, the whole place is populated by tremendous {{Jerkass}}es.
202* ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'' is rendered in a flat, paper cutout style, of the sort used in school decorations and children's books, with FunnyAnimal characters inspired by the works of Creator/RichardScarry. It delves into depression, mental illness in general, sociopolitical issues, and [[spoiler:an EldritchAbomination that may or may not be real.]]
203* ''VideoGame/OdinSphere''. The bright and colorful visuals belie the very dark and serious story that effectively explains [[spoiler:TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and how TheMagicGoesAway.]]
204* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' has the darkest narrative in the series while it has the most colorful design and environment. In contrast, ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'''s settings are rather barren and darker, but the story is shonen anime-like and characters crack a joke and tease each other frequently.
205* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'' is a bit [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] compared to the above titles. However, it still retains a fairly cartoony anime artstyle, and the hub areas can be quite colorful. However, it becomes clear early on that this world is ''not'' friendly at all, being full of horrifying, hostile creatures and a [[spoiler: SealedEvilInACan]] responsible for all the destruction and death. Many early quests have light-hearted moments, but soon, it becomes overwhelmingly tragic, with quests frequently having unhappy endings.
206* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', especially with titles such as ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Platinum]]'', ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', and ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''. With the cutesy look and the bright colors who would expect such a series to be so darn right horrific and depressing? The ''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon Mystery Dungeon]]'' spinoffs are especially bad, as they center around the incredibly cute Pokémon in an apparently idealistic land but are in a league of their own.
207* The ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series, which has a cute and quirky art style... and yet often features topics such as revenge, government coverups, tragic pasts, implied murder, and the loss of loved ones. In one of their games for the iOS, ''VideoGame/LaytonBrothersMysteryRoom'', it isn't even implied murder anymore. All their cases deal with [[AlwaysMurder homicides]] (among other things) but it still remains its cheery, bright art style though at least it has a 12+ age rating.
208* ''Quest Arrest'' is an RPG game by TheRetroRoomRoo where you take the role of recently-promoted detective Allison Bennett as she tries to save the city of Strange Meadows from Athena and her gang. Although the graphics somewhat resemble classic Game Boy RPG games like ''Pokemon'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'', it has some strong language, a dead body must be examined after a murder occurred, and [[spoiler: a person is contemplating suicide unless they are talked out of it.]] These are some of the examples in the game among others.
209* ''Raze's Hell'' features mostly cutesy art... since you play as a monster bent on fighting the [[CuteIsEvil cuddly]] EvilArmy bent on [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute destroying ugly creatures]].
210* The bootleg games ''Mario 3: Around the World'' and ''Mario 4: Space Odyssey'' are odd examples of this. They're styled like the official games, even ripping graphics from some installments, yet they have a distinctly creepy atmosphere: the music is dark and electronic, Mario screams when he falls down a [[BottomlessPits bottomless pit]], and the continue and GameOver screens are [[SurprisinglyCreepyMoment jarringly]] [[NightmareFuel morbid]].[[note]]This means such lovely images as a piranha plant bursting out of Mario's stomach, a bigger piranha plant finishing the bloody remains of Mario, and a skull wearing Mario's cap, even though the actual gameplay is no more violent than a typical Mario game.[[/note]]
211* The characters of ''VideoGame/SpudsAdventure'' are adorable anthropomorphic vegetables with cute chibi sprites, but the story is surprisingly serious, especially when [[spoiler:Arnie and Devi die]].
212* Some of the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games fall into this. All of the ''Mario'' games utilize bright colors and cutesy character designs, but NightmareFuel abounds in this series and whenever there's anything more than an ExcusePlot, it tends to be pretty dark or scary. Especially ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', which has one of the brightest art styles of the series, but one of the darkest stories of any Nintendo franchise.
213* The whole ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' is like this:
214** Both ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' and the original ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'' used adorable chibi sprites and bright and colorful worlds. These games also featured traitors, genocide, racism, [[EldritchAbomination eldritch abominations]], and abusive parents galore.
215** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''. The cute-looking visuals contrast the genocide, {{fantastic racism}}, {{black and grey morality}}, and a {{Woobie destroyer of worlds}}.
216** ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth'' is one of the more cynical Tales games, focusing almost completely on racism, ParentalAbandonment, and genocide, and having a [[BittersweetEnding less than happy end]]. The art style is extremely bright, colorful, and cute.
217** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' is one of the darkest entries in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''. The character designs may be a bit less colorful than some of the other games, but the graphics still remain fairly cute, even when they're depicting [[spoiler:a child drowning in poison, trapped under his father's corpse]].
218* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is a class-based first person shooter where a group of mercenaries (most of whom probably have varying degrees of mental instability) are continually fighting a frankly pointless fight over a worthless piece of land thanks to rather ruthless (and [[AntiHero somewhat]] [[AffablyEvil evil]]) contractors. The artistic style? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lbhHle-3V8 It looks like a cartoon.]] This is complete with ridiculous animations (a building/upgrading Sentry, for starters) and LudicrousGibs. This was because during development, Valve was having trouble producing something that would give players a WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, so they decided to make it look like a universe where ridiculous things are ''supposed'' to happen in it, such as how certain abilities (such as rocket jumping) are possible, or why some seemingly arbitrary rules are in place (like, for some reason, you can't jump over a 3 foot high fence that leads out to a sprawling field), hence the reason why they chose a more "stylized" art direction: so that you won't ask yourself these questions in the first place. This also helps it fit in with Valve's dark, irreverent, and somewhat... silly sense of humor. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhOnX8qt3I This]] sums it all up nicely.
219* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' takes much the same philosophy as ''Minecraft'' and gives it the backdrop of a cutesy cartoon style. Want to build that nice, big 8-storey house filled with expensive furniture and decorations and gold bricks? Well, then be prepared to face those [[NightOfTheLivingMooks zombies and skeletons]] and DemonicSpiders that made ''Minecraft'' a living hell, only this time with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s thrown into the mix.
220* The ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' fangame ''VideoGame/KoumajouDensetsu'' features a very dark artstyle, but the story and characters are every bit as nutty as the main series.
221* ''VideoGame/{{Transistor}}'' tells a bleak story of death and devastation, set in a SceneryPorn-laden city and accompanied by soothing music.
222* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' goes the ''Earthbound'' route of goofy, childish graphics (to the point that one of the very first characters you see upon starting the game is a ''talking flower'') juxtaposed with dark themes [[spoiler:such as horrific scientific experiments, suicide, killing children, going insane after living life trapped in a body incapable of love and stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop, and potentially genocide and the destruction of all of existence]]. It says a lot that the same game allows the player to outright ''commit genocide'', and that doing so permanently changes your game, even if you start a new save file and play a different route; the game itself [[KarmaMeter refuses to forgive you]] for your actions.
223* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles''. Anime characters colored in a beautiful faux-watercolor style, on top of a story about [[WarIsHell the horrors of war]] where AnyoneCanDie (yes, even [[{{Permadeath}} your squad members]].)
224* ''VideoGame/WildStar'' has Nexus, the bright, colourful, vibrant, and lush planet of wonders and extremely dangerous predators, plants, and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs predator plants.]] Not counting the locals who would love nothing more than to kill and/or eat you, you also have [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores the Exiles]] and [[TheEmpire the Dominion]] who are waging an all-out war on each other, plus the numerous criminal cartels and third parties rushing to the planet to get a piece of the "homeworld of the Galaxy's most advanced civilization" pie. [[spoiler:There's also what killed the said most advanced civilization, who are still lurking around...]]
225* ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' is set in a brightly-colored school populated with the usual assortment of cute technicolor-hair and eyed anime students... who you can kill in gruesome ways to prevent them from [[MurderTheHypotenuse taking your Senpai]].
226* ''VideoGame/{{Yesterday}}'': The artstyle is rather dark and cartoony, in contrast with the game's content.
227* ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'' does this intentionally. Kiyuduki Satoko's PuniPlush art style helps to conceal the dark nature of the game until [[WhamEpisode the player gets whacked in the face with it]].
228* ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'': The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFdrqakwIvk&feature=related#t=56s Pink Sea]] has pastel colors, balloons, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB64Sp2LMks gentle BGM]]... how could this area - [[NightmareSequence of all the other areas in the game]] - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFdrqakwIvk#t=7m25s be so scary]]?
229[[/folder]]
230
231[[folder:Visual Novels]]
232* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'''s cute character designs and the upbeat soundtrack juxtaposes with its morbid scenes and the genre it falls under: psychological horror. You are greeted with a warning upon game startup: "This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed".
233* ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'''s art style fits its quirky humor, but is about you being a ghost wondering why he died and saving people who might know from dying. It has people being shot, crushed, executed, and even dying from a terrifying and even realistic heart attack. Yet the art style is colorful and cartoony with almost no black and gray.
234* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': Almost every character has colorful, theatrical designs and colorful, theatrical personalities. The games are loaded with cute assistant girls and quirky, lighthearted humor. They're also biting satires of the Japanese legal system that revolve around solving cold-blooded murders.
235* Some have said that the contrast between the cute {{moe}} art and the bloody, psychological horror plot is part of what makes ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' so creepy. It's even worse in the original visual novels, whose [[http://www.uk-anime.net/images/higurashi-shots.jpg art style]] can best be described as "Weird looking chibi-PuniPlush mix". Hard to imagine that cute little style is from one of the darkest series to come out of Japan in TheNoughties. The remakes make it look like a normal romance, possibly harem, visual novel but there's not a lick of sexual content and any romance isn't the focus at all.
236* ''VisualNovel/LiarLiar'' is a very cute looking, PuniPlush style visual novel with lots of bright colors. It's also a gory game about a [[VillainProtagonist middle school girl]] trying to kill her boyfriend.
237* The main ''VideoGame/LivePowerfulProBaseball'' games tell slice-of-life Baseball stories with chibi doll-like characters. The ''Pocket'' sister-series, however, went on a DarkerAndEdgier route with nebulous crime conspirations, horror-themed stories and characters dying with depressing epilogue[=/=]game over scenes if you played badly. Most notable was the Happiness Island story from ''VideoGame/PowerProKunPocket6'', where the protagonist is sent as a slave to a [[PuttingOnTheReich not-nazi]] camp for 100 days to pay off outstanding debts and finds the officers performing human experiments and executing underperformers via firing squad. Every game got an All Ages[=/=]CERO A rating in Japan regardless of content.
238* ''VisualNovel/LongLiveTheQueen'' is about an adorable pink-haired magical girl princess... in a world filled with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, VillainousIncest and more assassination plots than you can count. The death images take it further, featuring cute SuperDeformed Elodies being [[TheManyDeathsOfYou shot, stabbed, strangled, poisoned, blown up...]] It tends to be marketed with warnings that this is really, ''really'' not meant for kids.
239* ''VisualNovel/MyHaremHeavenIsYandereHell'' lives this trope. If you were to check it out yourself, you wouldn't know offhand that a brightly-colored and upbeat novel like this will turn into a horror mystery novel, featuring some gruesome death scenes.
240* ''VisualNovel/PurrfectApawcalypse'' has an extremely cutesy art style for its adorable cat and dog characters. It's also filled with graphic (if cartoonishly depicted) violence as some of these adorable characters happen to be CuteAndPsycho killers who you will almost certainly die a gory death to a ''lot'' in each game.
241[[/folder]]
242
243[[folder:Web Animation]]
244* ''WebAnimation/AFatherSonStory'' is a tragic, ''Series/BreakingBad''-esque series of shorts...made in Platform/GoAnimate.
245* ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'' looks like a show from Creator/DisneyXD with its colorful art direction and fairly cutesy designs... but the rampant swearing, raunchy jokes that many times CrossesTheLineTwice, and general BlackComedy makes the show feel closer to ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' than ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''.
246* ''WebAnimation/CharlieTheUnicorn'' was established as being here once. [[spoiler:Charlie's kidney was stolen at the end of the first film.]] Anything made by Creator/FilmCow really.
247* The music videos for ''WebAnimation/EdEddNEddy20YearsLaterEP'' feature the cute, cartoony art-style of ''Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy'' combined with dark visuals and lyrics.
248* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' inflicts [[CruelAndUnusualDeath horrific deaths]] on cute anthropomorphic woodland critters.
249* Invoked and Defied by ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', whose creators deliberately wanted to make sure their poppy, surreal all-ages cartoon didn't turn into another adult series with a deceptively silly art style.
250* The short ''WebAnimation/JimmyNeutronHappyFamilyHappyHour'' has a rather... inexplicable art style for its three characters -- Jimmy looks like a realistic adult man with brightly-colored hair and clothes attached to him, Hugh looks like an amateur modeler designed him, and Judy is just a picture that moves around. ''None'' of these fit well with the [[RandomEventsPlot plot]] of the short, involving [[spoiler:Hugh shooting Judy, then forcing Jimmy to watch TV with him at gunpoint before an aggressive pizza they ordered decapitates him]].
251* ''WebAnimation/ObjectTerror'' may look like one of those corny ObjectShows you'd commonly find on Platform/{{YouTube}}. But however, it's actually chock-full to the brim of extreme gore, vulgar profanity, and, even though it's not very common, ''object sex''. You heard it right there.
252* ''WebAnimation/PrettyBlood'' has a bright, colorful, cutesy and {{animesque}} artstyle, but it's mixed with bloody, dark and disturbing themes.
253* ''WebAnimation/SockSeries'' is cutesy, stylized, and absolutely chock full of human misery and BodyHorror.
254* Despite the cartoony art style, ''WebAnimation/StoryBooth'' has several very dark stories that deal with controversial real-world issues like bullying, mass shootings, body image problems, underage drug abuse, pedophilia, and much, much more. {{Justified|Trope}} as each story comes from an actual person.
255* RanZar's ''Tanktoons'' has a cutesy and cartoony artstyle featuring lots of cute and cartoony tanks, but everything else seems to be a whole other story as tanks would die only to come back to life. Other times there will be plots based on war.
256[[/folder]]
257
258[[folder:Webcomics]]
259
260* ''Webcomic/AxeCop'' uses a slightly-exaggerated but fairly realistic style à la most mainstream comic books. But since the plots are written by a six-year-old, the actual content of the comic is ''completely insane''.
261* ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'' has bold colors, rounded character designs with goofy facial expressions, and is indeed in theory a comedy. This not only belies the occasional outright creepiness and BodyHorror, but the sheer amount of ExistentialHorror to boot. [[spoiler:Half the galaxy have been kidnapped and replaced with robotic doubles who ''don't know they're any different from the original'' but can be deactivated at any given time, and that's just for starters.]]
262* ''The Complex Adventures of Eddie Puss'' is about a young anthropomorphic cat who has an [[ChildSupplantsParent oedipus complex]], and it's drawn with a very cartoony art style reminiscent of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''. That last part is justified, given that both works were created by the [[Creator/ChrisSavino same guy]].
263* ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness'' focuses mainly on MindScrew or VulgarHumor comparable to ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', yet the comics [[WebAnimation/TheCyanideAndHappinessShow and animations]] are drawn in an incredibly simplistic stick-figure style. The [[ArtEvolution simplisty lessened over time]], but they still kept the cartoony stick-figure designs.
264* ''Webcomic/{{Dolan}}'' comics are poorly drawn comics with horrible spelling that look like they were made by a three-year-old. But don't let that fool you; they're actually [[BlackComedy blackly comedic]] comics about an AxCrazy WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck.
265* ''Webcomic/EverythingIsFine'''s pastel colors and cute character designs clash immensely with the creepy atmosphere of the comic. Apart from some WhamShot moments, everything is always deceptively bright and chipper.
266* ''Webcomic/TheGuyUpstairs'': Like Hanza’s [[Webcomic/MyDeepestSecret previous series,]] this story has some very cute artwork and character designs, all while being a thriller with plenty of blood.
267* ''Webcomic/HoovesOfDeath'' takes this trope and trots away with it. Even when zombies are being cleaved in two and a human child is succumbing to infection before the unicorn Glitter's horrified eyes, the art style never stops being clean, colorful, and cutesy.
268* ''Webcomic/IDontWantThisKindOfHero'' has bright colors, clean art, and while it's generally humorous, it touches on topics like slavery, human trafficking, obsession, and more.
269* ''Webcomic/JackDavidHopkins'' is a ''very'' dark, serious and gory comic set in the BloodyBowelsOfHell, and yet the characters are cartoon animals with squishy and exaggerated designs that look like they came right out of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''. Unsurprisingly, many readers find it hard to take seriously.
270* ''Webcomic/{{Kagerou}}'' starts out this way, with extremely bright colors and cartoonish art contrasted against the dark plot and tendency towards gore. Eventually, though, the art [[ArtEvolution evolves]] into a more realistic but still brightly colored style.
271* ''Webcomic/KaitenMutenmaru'': The cutesy art style of the series belies at least one backstory featuring social inequality, StarCrossedLovers, civil war, and the DeathOfAChild.
272* ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell''. A cute, quirky world of FunnyAnimal characters... where fangs are more powerful than ideals and savage instinct triumphs over reason and empathy. By the world's local ethos (it's ok to kill as long as you eat it) ethnic cleansing could just be another name for a BBQ.
273* ''Kit N Kay Boodle'' is drawn in a cute cartoon style, yet features near constant furry sex. Many readers find this extremely jarring.
274* ''Webcomic/LearningWithMangaFGO'' is a cute chibi gag series with all the brightness and cheeriness such a spin-off would imply, right? It is, if you consider [[BitingTheHandHumor constant complaints about the game]], raunchy dialogue, a sociopath Master that cares more about rolling the gacha than taking care of her servants, and so much infighting it actually causes an inter-service Grail War "cheery".
275* ''Webcomic/NanasEverydayLife'' has very cutesy, somewhat [[SuperDeformed chibi]]-like art. It is also based on ''Manga/ElfenLied'', starts out as a BlackComedy, then gets worse.
276%%* ''Webcomic/MarriedToTheSea''.
277* ''Webcomic/{{Niels}}'' has the same cutesy style as ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'' by the same author, despite having much darker subject matter. The author's [[Webcomic/LoveAndTentacles third comic]] is in a different style, so this is clearly a deliberate choice
278* ''Webcomic/NinasMagicChest: Despite its bright colors and cute art style, it is a horror/thriller comic.
279* ''Webcomic/NineteenNinetySomething'' is designed to resemble newspaper comics from the 1990s, with its actual art direction being reminisent of comics such as ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' and ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}''. However, NNS is clearly aimed at a more mature audience with its [[ClusterFBomb colorful language]], {{fanservice}}, references to drugs and sex, and rampant usage of pop-culture that no kid would likely understand.
280* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has a cartoony, stick-figure art style that befit the joke-a-week ExcusePlot that the early strips had. However, it soon began to develop an actual story, and once it began undergoing CerebusSyndrome, things got dark fast.
281%% * ''The ComicStrip/PerryBibleFellowship''.
282* ''Webcomic/PurplePussy'' is a super cutesy drawn webcomic for girls... featuring an unending supply of {{Cluster F Bomb}}s and ToiletHumor that will burn your eyes out.
283* ''Webcomic/RomanticallyApocalyptic''. Its art is frighteningly realistic and grim. The actual comic? A hilarious BlackComedy.
284* ''Webcomic/{{Skadi}}'' is filled to the brim with BlackComedy and [[{{squick}} disturbing content]] that's not in any way appropriate for children ([[NauseaFuel or anybody with a weak stomach for that matter]]). However, the comic's art direction definitely ''looks'' like it would be for children, given how expressive, cutesy, and overall cartoony the designs are.
285* ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}''. This incredibly disturbing webcomic has art that looks like it was drawn by an elementary-schooler.
286* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'' has gorgeous, vibrant art... for a {{crapsack world}} filled with casual FantasticRacism and rampant nationalism. It's all the more horrific for how accepted it is.
287* ''Webcomic/{{Wondermark}}'' is a CutAndPasteComic made from sophisticated Victorian art. The jokes tend to be either very silly observations on modern neurotics or very silly poop jokes.
288* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' is surprisingly smart for its limited art style.
289[[/folder]]
290
291[[folder:Web Original]]
292* The Bad Webcomics wiki has [[http://badwebcomicswiki.shoutwiki.com/wiki/The_Cute_And_Cuddly_Cast a very negative view of this trope]], or more specifically, the use of a "cute and cuddly cast" for dramatic webcomics.
293* Justified in the {{Creepypasta}} ''The Little Pink Backpack''. Read it for yourself to see the disturbing content.
294[[/folder]]
295
296[[folder:Web Videos]]
297* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXvsl8xgRxc&feature=share Adam Buxton's Counting Song]] has the cute visuals of a music video for little kids but quickly devolves into a lament about how GrowingUpSucks.
298* ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'' is about three colorful ''Series/SesameStreet'' style puppets experiencing SanitySlippage, BodyHorror and MindRape as a variety of saccharine teachers indoctrinate them.
299[[/folder]]
300
301[[folder:Western Animation]]
302* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has a simple and childish cartoon design, with generally idealistic and upbeat characters. However, it is also [[NightmareFuel/AdventureTime violent]], set AfterTheEnd, and has adult humor and BlackComedy throughout.
303* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' is much more lewd, shrewd, and crude than its sleek '60s look would have you believe.
304* The 2003 animated short, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGA0YZ2UfpY Boys' Night Out]]'', is smoothly animated and the stylized and relatively simplistic art direction is strongly reminiscent of the works of [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons UPA]]. The actual short itself, however, involves a man sneaking his underage stepson into a ''strip club''.
305* ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'' is an animated TeenDrama parody featuring clones of real-life historic figures, rated TV-14 and for good reason given its rampant crude humor and sexual references. This despite the show sporting a geometric art style akin to the kid-friendly ''Powerpuff Girls'' and ''Dexter's Laboratory''.
306* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', to a degree. It sometimes wants to be taken seriously as an action cartoon, but its stylized design, reminiscent of the less-than-serious ''[[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Fairly OddParents]]'' [[note]]Both shows have the same character designer[[/note]], can make this difficult for non-[[FanCommunityNicknames phans]].
307* ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' has a fairly simplistic art style. However, it is a ''very'' [[BlackComedy dark adult comedy]], filled to the brim with [[{{Squick}} content that's not entirely for the faint of heart]].
308* ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'' was an AllCGICartoon using Creator/DreamWorksAnimation's usual artstyle, and it starred a family of white lions. It was also a TV-14 AnimatedShockComedy that contained jokes like "[[UnusualEuphemism mounting time]]" or [[AssShove stuffing poker winnings into a zebra rug's rectum]].
309* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' looks like something straight outta Creator/WarnerBros with its bouncy animation and cutesy designs with a hint of Creator/{{Disney}}. However, the show's satanic themes and setting, black comedy, sexually suggestive content, coarse language, and nightmarish imagery proves it's not exactly kid-friendly material. The same applies to the show's sister series ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'', which is drawn in an identical art direction.
310* ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'' has a bright, colorful art style akin to the early seasons of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', but just like [[ComicBook/{{Invincible}} its source material]], it's incredibly violent and visceral.
311* ''WesternAnimation/MakingFiends'' has a very simple, childish design but it's about an EnfantTerrible who lives in a [[CrapsackWorld bleak and depressing]] town where everyone is afraid of her and the monsters she makes. It's rather dark for a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids kids series]], though the original web shorts are a bit ambiguous on whether it was even meant to be one.
312* Creator/TerryGilliam's animations for ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' married images collated from early 20th Century shopping catalogs and similar found art from the period 1890-1920, with some very distinctly 1960's-70's surrealism. The collision of style and content makes them oddly memorable.
313* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' is definitely this. Despite having a claymation style similar to that of WesternAnimation/DaveyAndGoliath, with the titular NiceGuy heading the show, the story also has him live in a DysfunctionJunction of a town, in which [[spoiler:his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] is the mayor]]. The show itself contains lots of mature humor, which includes Orel injecting his semen into other women so that he can masturbate without disobeying God. The third season takes this trope to another level, with the show exploring topics such as trauma, abortion, and the cycle of abuse.
314* ''WesternAnimation/PeepoodoAndTheSuperFuckFriends'' has a bright, colorful art style similar to most children's shows. However, the title should clue you in on what kind of show it is.
315* As part of its SubvertedKidsShow nature, ''WesternAnimation/{{Pibby}}'' juxtaposes bloody violence and frightening imagery with a cutesy and cartoony art direction. The many cartoon styles featured in the show are all generally child-friendly, not at all suited for an action horror series centering on an EldritchAbomination devouring entire worlds.
316* Downplayed with ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998''. The show has the same cartoony art style and TV rating as ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' (which most of the show's major staff members previously worked on), but it has a ''lot'' of FamilyUnfriendlyViolence (complete with minor blood spurts). This was moreso in earlier seasons, while later seasons and the [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 2016 series]] tend to downplay the violence in favor of comedy.
317* ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' has distinctive character designs from Creator/JhonenVasquez, who is well-known for specializing in BlackComedy. The show itself is a fairly conventional action-comedy series.
318* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' uses the angular graphic styles of [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation cartoons]] of TheFifties and TheSixties, evoking memories of longtime kid favorites such as ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones''. However, it features some of the most graphic violence imaginable outside late-night TV (for instance, skin being ripped off and disemboweling), as well as some [[SlasherSmile horrifying]] and [[GrossUpCloseUp grotesque]] facial expressions, tonnes of dirty innuendo, and enough ToiletHumor to clog the New York sewers. Like ''The Simpsons'' above, it was all the more shocking when it premiered back in 1991... on a ''[[Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} kid's network]]'' no less.
319* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndSteveTheHappiestGayCoupleInAllTheWorld'' is a stop-motion series built using LEGO-like blocks. It's also a very adult DarkComedy themed around gay couples.
320* There's also ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', which has a very cartoony artstyle that lacks straight or parallel lines. The show itself, however, had {{demographically inappropriate humour}} by the boatload (possibly even more than ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'', one of its contemporaries) and a fair amount of BlackComedy compared to most kids' shows out at the time.
321* While cartoons aimed at more adult audiences are not really all that unusual today, when ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' first aired in 1989 it raised many eyebrows. This is because audiences were so used to the AnimationAgeGhetto that it seemed bizarre and ironic that Springfield is a bright and vibrant town with an AmazingTechnicolorPopulation consisting mostly of yellow people, with [[HumansAreMorons idiotic]], [[ApatheticCitizens apathetic citizens]], [[PoliceAreUseless an incompetent police department]], [[SuckySchool a deplorable, low-rate school]], a shady and lecherous mayor, and an evil, possibly satanic CorruptCorporateExecutive.
322* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is notorious for its vulgar, black-humored style, coupled with crude, primary-colored cutout animation.
323* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
324** ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' is drawn in Sean Galloway's [[TimmStyle simplistic, yet stylized]] art direction. As a result, the young-skewing show is often cited to be one of the most fluidly animated interpretations of the webslinger to date. Yet, despite receiving additional praises for its surprisingly [[DarkerAndEdgier dark high school and family themes]] and [[UltimateUniverse combination]] of past Spider-Man mythos into a tightly-knitted storyline, viewers felt the show's content would have been better reflected with a more serious-looking aesthetic.
325** Ironically, its successor, ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', had the opposite reaction from viewers. The show's art direction features detailed character designs and background art, but the episodes are far [[DenserAndWackier less grounded]] in reality compared to ''Spectacular'', with {{Cutaway Gag}}s and [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]-styled stories. While the show does ([[CerebusRollercoaster occasionally]]) lend itself to tackling dark themes, its bread and butter deals with [[LighterAndSofter kid-friendly]] tales with minimal continuity.
326* The animated short ''WesternAnimation/SpriteFright'' has a cute art style (especially Ellie and the titular sprites) done in Blender (3D animation is more attached to the AnimationAgeGhetto than traditional animation is). The short itself is a HorrorComedy SlasherFilm with swearing and death.
327* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' is a very bright, colorful cartoon series with simplistic character designs, gentle pastel backgrounds, and is mostly a very idealistic show from a young boy's perspective. But it doesn't take long for the series to start delving into the nastier sides of [[DysfunctionJunction its well-meaning characters]], and include suggestive dancing, frank discussions of consent, trust issues, multiple instances of impalement (albeit [[BloodlessCarnage bloodless]]), the difficulties of relationships between its characters, psychological complexity, abuse, parental neglect, several clear parallels to racism and a backstory with war, genocide, and [[GreyAndGrayMorality ambiguous]] [[WhiteAndGreyMorality morality]]. [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie The movie]] and the follow-up series ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' use a slightly more refined version of that art style and contain much of the same, with ''Future'' in particular focusing heavily on trauma and how the protagonist deals with it.
328* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' is a brightly colored, chibi-style cartoon spinoff that seems like a LighterAndSofter reboot to the 2003 ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003''... So why the TV-PG rating, especially since the original was TV-Y7? Watch a few episodes and you'll quickly notice that, while it is more comedic than the original, it also lacks NeverSayDie, thrives on BlackComedy, and has a lot more risqué content.
329* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' has a bright, colorful art style not unlike the ones found in Saturday morning cartoons, which is at complete odds with some of the heavier themes that the show is not afraid to discuss and the onscreen violences it displays. Not to mention it gets dark pretty quickly near the middle of the first season alone.
330* ''WesternAnimation/UnicornWarriorsEternal'' is a dark supernatural fantasy about a team of heroes who are reincarnated throughout history to battle an ancient evil, yet the character designs are cartoonish and pay homage to the rubber-hosed style of Creator/FleischerStudios.
331[[/folder]]

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