Line #75 Main/FantasticNoir


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9	[[quoteright:250:[[ComicBook/AngelAndTheApe https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jluangelandtheape1_7087.jpg]]]]
10	[[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, [[ActuallyThatsMyAssistant he's a comic artist]].[[/note]] ]]
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12	->''"TheButlerDidIt! With a death curse! From space! Take him away, Troll Patrol!"''
13
14	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]]''.
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16	Compare {{Cyberpunk}}, DarkFantasy, DungeonPunk, UrbanFantasy. AndroidsAndDetectives and VampireDetectiveSeries are specific variants.
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18	----
19	!!Examples:
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21	[[foldercontrol]]
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23	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24	* ''Anime/TheBigO'': Roger Smith is a hardboiled private investigator in a futuristic CityNoir city. His SassySecretary is a robot. He also pilots a HumongousMecha to fight monsters.
25	* Both Ryohgo Narita's works ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' and ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' sort of fall under this trope. They both have several FilmNoir elements (such as organized crime and private eyes) 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).
26	* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' is a gritty detective story about [[BewareTheSuperman sociopathic superhumans]].
27	* Both ''Anime/DevilmanLady'' and ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'', PsychologicalThriller anime adaptations of the ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'' manga franchise, could qualify as such.
28	* ''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.
29	* ''Manga/TheWitchAndTheBeast'' has witches, magic and other fantastical creatures set in an {{Art Deco}}-inspired world with {{MagiTek}}. All of the characters wear appropriate period clothing of the 1920s to 1940s and smoking is prevalent everywhere. The plot is also centered on a dark and gloomy mystery with various conspiracies and sub-plots spread throughout the setting. It is Fantastic Noir to the tee.
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31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* ''ComicBook/{{Absalom}}'' features an alcoholic DefectiveDetective who is charged to uphold the pact between the British crown and the forces of Hell.
34	* Pictured above is Creator/{{DC\|Comics}}'s ''Comicbook/AngelAndTheApe'', which is about a beautiful human HardboiledDetective and a gorilla comic 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 Franchise/TheDCU, but the most famous one is [[Franchise/TheFlash Gorilla Grodd]], a supervillain... and Sam's grandfather). This is eventually explained as Sam having a {{psychic power\|s}} that causes people to see him as human.
35	* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' sometimes drifts into this trope, such as in "The Tarnished Angel" storyline, which follows a retired ChromeChampion supervillain as he investigates a string of murders targeting his fellow villains.
36	* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' stories will sometimes contain elements of this, particularly in ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics''.
37	* 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.
38	* ''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]]...
39	* ''ComicBook/{{Blacksad}}'' is a series of noir stories based in the U.S. around the 1950s, 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.
40	* ''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 [[GhostlyGoals so he can find peace and move on]].
41	* ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' becomes this during one of the volume 2 storylines involving a drug that grants superpowers to people, which leads to the titular hero stopping the distributor of it.
42	* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' is a FairyTale 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.
43	* ''ComicBook/{{Fatale\|2012}}'' is 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.
44	* ''ComicBook/TheGoon'' takes 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.
45	* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' involves the title character investigating supernatural mysteries and occurrences, and Mike Mignola's artwork helps give it that noir feel.
46	* ''ComicBook/TheHumanTarget2021'' is framed through the lens of a traditional detective noir mystery, but all of the suspects happen to be members of the ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica. The protagonist, Christopher Chance, has no superpowers whatsoever, but his partner and local FemmeFatale, Tora Olafsdotter, is AnIcePerson, he gets regularly harassed by Guy Gardner, an [[DirtyCop abrasive "cop"]] of [[SpacePolice the Green Lantern Corps]], and the mystery is trying to find out who tried to kill [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] -- a well-known supervillain -- [[WhodunnitToMe and ended up fatally poisoning Chance instead]].
47	* ''ComicBook/JessicaJones'', particularly in the original MAX run ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'', which was dubbed "Comic Book Noir" by Creator/JephLoeb in the introduction to the first trade paperback.
48	* 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 [[TwoFistedTales pulp action story]].
49	* ''ComicBook/{{Powers}}'' involves two homicide detectives who investigate cases involving superheroes and supervillains.
50	* 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 Universe}}s -- and that's just the beginning.
51	* ''ComicBook/MuktukWolfsbreathHardBoiledShaman'' are classic noir stories following a jaded detective solving mysteries. The twist is that the "detective" is a shaman in the Siberian Taiga and his cases involve keeping peace between mortals and the SpiritWorld.
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54	[[folder:Fan Works]]
55	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'' fanfic [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/25680730 "Bolt Noir"]] by Creator/{{Plonq}} is a spoof of FilmNoir style mystery films and TV shows. After watching episodes of ''Series/PeterGunn'', Bolt imagines himself as a detective with a needy dame for a client (Mittens) and a helpful sidekick (Rhino). There's no murder to contend with, however -- just a hankering for cat treats and a point to prove.
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58	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
59	* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'': In the short "A Detective Story", a private detective on a seemingly routine case starts to discover that his entire world is a lie.
60	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' is basically a WholePlotReference to ''Film/OutOfThePast'', but with Batman instead of Creator/RobertMitchum.
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63	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
64	* ''Film/Anon2018'': Of the {{Cyberpunk}} variety. The world is a place with a corrupt police force, the entire world under surveillance with their own eyes, privacy extinct, and everyone seemingly living drab meaningless lives with the protagonist no exception. Furthermore, there's a serial killer on the loose that the government doesn't care about the murders of due to them being more interested in how they're spoofing the system.
65	* {{Downplayed\|Trope}} in ''Film/{{Atlantics}}''. The setting is mostly LikeRealityUnlessNoted, but a major subplot is a 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]].
66	* Preeminent on the SF side, ''Film/BladeRunner''. In a future CityNoir city, a hardboiled detective complete with a PrivateEyeMonologue tracks down rogue androids.
67	* ''Film/CastADeadlySpell''. [[Creator/HPLovecraft Phillip Lovecraft]] is a detective who doesn't use magic in a world where everyone else does. Also its sequel, ''Film/WitchHunt''.
68	* ''Film/CoolWorld'' features an animated/real-life blend with human detective Frank Harris trying to catch doodle (cartoon) Holli Would.
69	* ''Film/DarkCity1998'' initially seems like a normal FilmNoir, but then TheReveal happens and it shoots straight into this trope. [[spoiler:Also something of an InvokedTrope, since [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien the Strangers]] seem to have consciously modeled the fake CityNoir that humanity inhabits on the sort of cities you see in old detective movies.]]
70	* ''Film/TheExorcistIII'' blends some classic murder mystery elements into the DemonicPossession story you would expect from the franchise. Creator/GeorgeCScott's HardboiledDetective [[TheAntiNihilist Anti-Nihilist]] protagonist is a classic Noir hero.
71	* ''Film/LordOfIllusions'' is an adaptation that Creator/CliveBarker did base on 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.
72	* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'' is a FilmNoir 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.
73	* ''Repeat Performance'' from 1947, probably the UrExample. The main character is a woman who murders her husband on New Year's Eve and wishes for a chance to relive the preceding year to avoid making the mistakes that led to that moment.
74	* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''. Eddie Valiant is a private eye in a version of 1940s Los Angeles where living cartoons exist and work alongside humans.
75	** ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022'' acts more as a spiritual successor to ''Roger Rabbit'' than a direct adaptation of its [[WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers source material]]. Set in a similar world of cartoons and humans, the film sees the duo as a pair of AnimatedActors on the titular series who must make amends when one of their co-stars is kidnapped.
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78	[[folder:Literature]]
79	* The ''Literature/AnitaBlake'' series starts out as this and still has elements of it in the later works.
80	* ''Literature/AnonymousRex''. The detective Vincent Rubio is a velociraptor in a world where [[LivingDinosaurs dinosaurs aren't dead]] [[{{Masquerade}} but are in hiding]].
81	* ''Literature/AzothExpress'' combines the classic [[ThrillerOnTheExpress mystery on a train]] with fantastic elements, starting with the detective himself, who is a wolfman.
82	* Tad Williams' ''Literature/BobbyDollar'' series is about an angel advocate caught between the forces of Heaven and Hell.
83	* ''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]], {{cat folk}}, [[OurGargoylesRock gargoyles]], and other fantastic creatures.
84	* ''Literature/BubblesInSpace'': The series is a combination of cyberpunk dystopia and noir detective series with many references to classic Noir detective fiction. Our protagonist, barely-functional private detective Bubbles, has a cybernetic arm and frequently solves cases related to everything from AI to cloning.
85	* ''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.
86	* ''Literature/DanShambleZombiePI'' adds horror motifs and a hefty dose of humor into the mix.
87	* ''Literature/DirkGently'' by Creator/DouglasAdams' series is a parody of this genre. Dirk Gently doesn't believe in the supernatural, but he's happy to pretend he does in order to fleece people who do, and then it turns out that the supernatural does believe in Dirk Gently.
88	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' stories involving Sam Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch tend to edge into being these, especially ''Literature/TheFifthElephant''.
89	* 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.
90	* Many of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' books, especially the earliest ones -- HardboiledDetective [[PrivateEyeMonologue monologue]] running smack up against [[UrbanFantasy wizards, faeries and vampires]]. Results in many tons of awesome.
91	* Brian Parker's ''Literature/{{Easytown}}'' take place in 2060s New Orleans where the city has embraced technological vice like sex bots, virtual reality porn, and designer drugs to appeal to the tourists while keeping it segregated in a specific crime-ridden part of the city. Zachary Forest is the one honest cop in the city [[spoiler: who later becomes a private detective]] and treats it as his personal beat.
92	* Alex Bledsoe's ''Literature/EddieLaCrosse'' books are basically hard-boiled detective novels in a SwordAndSorcery setting.
93	* 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.
94	* ''Literature/EvenThoughIKnewTheEnd'' is set in 1941 Chicago and the detective, Helen Brandt uses magic spells to investigate crime scenes and track leads to catch the [[SerialKiller White City Vampire]] who is killing people and using their blood for BloodMagic and [[spoiler:the killer is an angel trying to get back to Heaven.]]
95	* ''Literature/AFableOfTonight'' series by Mike Resnick, particularly ''Stalking the Unicorn''. 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.
96	* ''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.
97	* The ''Literature/GarrettPI'' series is practically a TropeCodifier for this one, telling hard-boiled detective stories in a world of classic fantasy races.
98	* ''Literature/GunWithOccasionalMusic'' is a hardboiled private eye novel set in a future where {{Uplifted Animal}}s are common, and the PI's role as the outsider who asks the uncomfortable questions is exaggerated by the circumstance that in this society asking a direct question is a major social taboo, so ''all'' questions are uncomfortable; police and detectives have Inquisitor's Licenses permitting them to ask questions in the line of duty, but they tend to make people uneasy all the same.
99	* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's works:
100	** The novella "Literature/MagicInc" directly deals with an investigator's pursuit into the workings of a sinister organization, in a parallel version of the modern urban world where magic is commonplace -- including flying carpet taxicabs.
101	** "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" surrounds a man-and-wife PI team investigating the titular character, although the magic in that story is more of the divine sort. (Sort of.)
102	* ''The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse'' by Creator/RobertRankin 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.
103	* In ''The Imaginary Corpse'', the debut novel from Tyler Hayes, detective Tippy, a stuffed triceratops, is on the trail of a SerialKiller of {{imaginary friend}}s. 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.
104	* ''Literature/{{Joyland}}'' by Creator/StephenKing blends this with MagicRealism as it's about a search for a serial killer at a haunted amusement park.
105	* The ''Literature/LeagueOfMagi'' novella ''Coldheart'', in the collection of the same name, is a noir story that uncovers monsters, mages, and possessed people.
106	* ''Literature/MrBlank'' and the sequel ''Literature/GetBlank'' feature aliens, {{chupacabra}}s, [[ManchurianAgent brainwashed super-killers]], [[ConspiracyKitchenSink pretty much every conspiracy under the sun]], and a few garden-variety unkillable mobsters.
107	* ''Literature/NerveZero'''s Idriel Ramirez spends his time in a noir plot, despite being in the distant future on a false planet with no gravity.
108	* Creator/KimNewman:
109	** "The Big Fish" takes an unnamed 1940s gumshoe, heavily implied to be Literature/PhilipMarlowe, and pits him against the [[Literature/CthulhuMythos Esoteric Order of Dagon]].
110	** In a sequel, "The Trouble with Barrymore" (part of the ''Literature/SevenStars'' sequence), the same gumshoe gets involved in the hunt for an ArtifactOfDoom.
111	** "Castles in the Air" has the ''Literature/AnnoDracula'' counterpart of the same character on a missing person case connected to a vampire cult.
112	** ''Literature/SomethingMoreThanNight'' is set in 1930s Hollywood and has a private eye (with the assistance of Creator/RaymondChandler himself) investigating a case that involves psychic powers and inadvisably-applied mad science.
113	* Creator/SimonRGreen's work, particularly his ''Literature/{{Nightside}}'' and ''Hawk & Fisher'' novels, has elements of this.
114	* ''Noir Fatale'' by Creator/BaenBooks, focusing on stories containing noir aspects and {{Femme Fatale}}s, with various genres added into the blend from pure fantasy to science fiction.
115	* ''Literature/NurseryCrime'' blends {{fairy tale}}s with a PoliceProcedural[=/=]'70s-style CopShow aesthetic. To a degree, ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' qualifies, too.
116	* ''Literature/ObsidianAndBlood'' by Aliette de Bodard is a noir mystery trilogy in the Aztec Empire at its height.
117	* ''The Resurrected Man'' by Creator/SeanWilliams is a noir detective story set in a futuristic world with {{teleport\|ation}}ers, {{artificial intelligence}}s, and [[spoiler:{{brain uploading}}]].
118	* Creator/CTPhipps: Several of his series deals in this.
119	** ''Literature/AgentG'' is the story of a professional assassin and cyborg who works for MurderInc. He finds himself ALighterShadeOfBlack than his employers but can't turn to the authorities or anyone else to do better. FemmeFatale characters aplenty.
120	*** ''Literature/TheCyberDragonsTrilogy'' appears to be a science fiction action thriller but the protagonist soon finds themselves wrapped up in conspiracies, detective work, and dark pasts they want to forget.
121	** ''Literature/TheBrightFallsMysteries'' is inspired by the works of David Lynch despite being set in a town full of werewolves and spirits. Jane Doe is an amateur detective in a town utterly filled with secrets, lies, and real world evils alongside the supernatural ones.
122	** Literature/MorganDetectiveAgency is a series about a HardboiledDetective who just so happens to walk the beat of a city filled with supernatural horrors. Ashley Morgan is a BrokenAce and struggles to rebuild herself after her trauma as a vampire's slave.
123	** ''Literature/RedRoom'' is a spy story about a morally ambiguous conspiracy that keeps the world ignorant of the supernatural. Its protagonist is an assassin that is aware the organization may do more evil than good. [[spoiler: It also ends with the hero dead and most of the cast.]]
124	* ''Literature/ShadowPolice'': {{Occult Detective}}s patrol a horrifying hidden London.
125	* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has Nigel Findley's Dirk Mongomery, a PrivateInvestigator in over his head in two novels, ''[=2XS=]'' and ''House Of The Sun''. Both are set in a GenreBusting world of {{Cyberpunk}}, {{Magitek}}, and [[FilmNoir Noir]].
126	* ''Literature/AStudyInEmerald'' has Sherlock Holmes in a world ruled by the [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Great Old Ones]]. ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' isn't noir, technically speaking, but this short story is a near-perfect snapshot of this subgenre.
127	* Simon Kurt Unsworth's ''Thomas Fool'' series follows the titular character, an "Information Man" (essentially a police detective) employed by Hell's [[CelestialBureaucracy bureaucracy]].
128	* ''Literature/UndeadOnArrival'': Noir with Zombies.
129	* The anthology ''Weird Detectives'' is all about this.
130	* ''Literature/WhoCensoredRogerRabbit'' has human detective Eddie Valiant solving crimes in a world where cartoon characters are living, breathing people (some of whom happen to work in comic strips, television, and movies) [[FantasticRacism discriminated against]] by the more numerous humans.
131	* ''Literature/TheWitcher'' is a StandardFantasySetting with an outcast professional being dragged into doing the dirty work of powerful people while trying to cling to his sense of decency.
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133
134	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
135	* ''Series/{{Andor}}'' has this feel, with the first arc following a morally grey AntiHero on the run from the private security force of a MegaCorp.
136	* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' is very much this, especially the first four seasons when the eponymous [[VampireDetectiveSeries vampire]] runs his own private detective agency.
137	* ''Series/Daredevil2015'' 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 [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Chinese drug baroness]] who's ''possibly'' from an extradimensional city of mystical kung-fu masters]].
138	* ''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]].
139	* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' has a [[NoirEpisode noir-style detective story]] with definite fantasy elements in the episode "[[Recap/FringeS02E20BrownBetty Brown Betty]]".
140	* ''Series/TrueDetective'' may or may not qualify depending on where you fall on the MaybeMagicMaybeMundane fence. Either it's just a typical detective story, or it's a CosmicHorrorStory about dysfunctional detectives coming into contact with Lovecraftian horrors beyond their understanding.
141	* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' combines -- [[GenreBusting among other genres]] -- a murder mystery with some MindScrew supernatural events. Although not much happens in a big city until the third series, there's definitely a noir sensibility right from the start, perhaps most noticeably in the jazzy soundtrack.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Podcasts]]
145	* ''Podcast/BlakeSkyePrivateEye'' starts as your typical noir story but then takes a turn into {{Cosmic Horror\|Story}}, complete with old forbidden tomes, costly spells, and eldritch beings.
146	* The Juno Steel storyline of ''Podcast/ThePenumbraPodcast'' is a noir story set centuries in the future in Hyperion City, the largest city on Mars. Some cases are more traditional, while others deal with things like mind-reading pills, bionic eyes, and ancient alien superweapons.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
150	* 'TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'' 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 also 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 [[{{Muggles}} Sleeeping]] and Awakened worlds, for good and for ill.
151	* ''TabletopGame/CityOfMist'' has all the trappings of FilmNoir (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.
152	* ''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 AddictionPowered wizard) and MadScientist, and multiple published adventures involve {{Voodoo Zombie}}s.
153	* ''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''.
154	* 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.
155	* The style is workable (albeit spookier) in ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'', if one stays in the more urbanized cities.
156	* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' in general lends itself to this style of campaigns, being set in a world that blends {{Cyberpunk}} with magic.
157	* ''TabletopGame/UrbanJungle'' by default is just noir in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, but the "Occult Horror" and "Astounding Science" supplements allow one to run a LovecraftLite or AlienInvasion campaign.
158	* ''TabletopGame/WretchedNewFlesh:PostcardsFromAvalidad'' is an indie OSR RPG described as ''future-noir''. Characters are usually investigators of some kind in a fictional, near future Moroccan city-state dominated by various corporations producing biotech implants and psychic power inducing drugs. There is also an element of horror, as most of these advancemets are the result of secret alliances made with supernatural creatures straight out of a Clive Barker novel.
159	[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Video Games]]
162	* ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2024'' is set up by its previews as a horror mystery game. The player faces a cast of monsters while solving a mystery with a jazz soundtrack.
163	* Invoked by one NPC in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'': Malta, a cat in the titular city. Talking to him with the Speak With Animals spell has him narrate your encounter in the style of a HardboiledDetective.
164	-->'''Malta:''' It was another day in the city of lies. Baldur's Gate - where the people begged for justice...until they starved.
165	* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' qualifies with its {{Steampunk}} flying city that the jaded private-detective protagonist didn't even know existed. The DownloadableContent ''[[VideoGame/BioShockInfiniteBurialAtSea Burial At Sea]]'' [[spoiler:(a [[StealthSequel Stealth Prequel]] to the original ''VideoGame/BioShock1'')]] is even more this, especially in the first chapter, which heavily emphasizes the HardboiledDetective aspect.
166	* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'': A DefectiveDetective faces conspiracies, mysticism ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane maybe]]), and his own crippling flaws in an eerie ConstructedWorld where various continent-sized isolas, each made up of separate oceans, islands, and nations, are divided by growing regions of pure nonexistence which can only be traversed by specially designed airships.
167	* ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'' is a more humorous take on the entry, as you'd expect from the [[Literature/{{Discworld}} source material]].
168	* The ''Franchise/{{Dishonored}}'' series is perhaps the definitive video-game embodiment, combining DieselPunk, UrbanFantasy, and LovecraftLite:
169	** ''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.
170	** ''VideoGame/DishonoredDeathOfTheOutsider'', has a pair of reformed criminals pulling a series of heists to unlock artifacts to KillTheGod of their world, the Outsider.
171	* ''VideoGame/ElPasoElsewhere'' is a very deliberate homage to the original ''VideoGame/MaxPayne1'', and its story centers around a love story between an OccultDetective and vampire turned sour, as the latter tries to end the world through a ritual and the former tries to stop her.
172	* In contrast to the WeirdWest aesthetic of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', ''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.
173	* ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' is Creator/LucasArts' take on the noir genre, as set in a Land of the Dead inspired by [[{{Calacas}} 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.
174	* ''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}}.
175	* ''VideoGame/KatanaZero'', the tale of a HitmanWithAHeart caught up in a GovernmentConspiracy who just happens to possess time-warping PsychicPowers.
176	* 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.
177	* ''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 [[WretchedHive corrupt hotbeds of organized crime and gang violence]] lit up by neon lights. As one character puts it, Ilium is basically "Omega, just with fancy shoes".
178	* ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'' is described by its Introduction video as a “Lucid-Noir” game. The trailers indeed present a cyberpunk setting and an amnesiac young detective-in-training working with a ghost to solve crimes through supernatural methods.
179	* ''VideoGame/Primordia2012'' 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]].
180	* Like [[TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}} the pen and paper game]] it's based on, ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'' blends {{Cyberpunk}} with HighFantasy concepts like elves and dragons.
181	* ''VideoGame/TheSinkingCity'' revolves around a hardboiled and mentally unstable OccultDetective with PsychicPowers investigating a city that has been flooded by perpetual rains and haunted by hideous monsters ever since a cult stirred an oceanic deity of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos.
182	* The ''VideoGame/TexMurphy'' series by Access Software stars the titular HardboiledDetective in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] San Francisco as he deals with mutants and aliens.
183	* The ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series is a classic example of this and gets quite creative with some of the associated tropes.
184	* ''VideoGame/TheWolfAmongUs'' is a noir tale set in the ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' universe, focusing on Sheriff [[TheBigBadWolf Bigby Wolf]] as he tries to solve a series of murders.
185	[[/folder]]
186
187	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
188	* ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'' veers a little more towards BuddyCopShow in some spots, but the central premise is very much a ''Series/MiamiVice'' style neo-noir story [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace in space]].
189	* ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', heavily inspired by the above-mentioned ''Film/BladeRunner'', follows the story of a hard-boiled detective and his RobotBuddy as they investigate a conspiracy involving cyborg monsters [[KillAndReplace killing and impersonating]] the citizens of a neon-drenched MegaCity.
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Web Animation]]
193	* ''WebAnimation/DimensionalProphecyOfZoharRedux'' features neo-noir lighting mixed with {{Cyberpunk}} and horror elements.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Webcomics]]
197	* ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'' mixes this with a WorldOfChaos and a flavorsome combination of awesome and weirdness.
198	* ''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.
199	* ''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.
200	[[/folder]]
201
202	[[folder:Web Videos]]
203	* ''WebVideo/ThereWillBeBrawl'' is a mix of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', and many others all in the Nintendo universe.
204	[[/folder]]
205
206	[[folder:Western Animation]]
207	* 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]]]].
208	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' strays into this sometimes, usually if the episode in question features Broadway (who's a fan of FilmNoir) or Matt Bluestone.
209	* Episode 50 of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', "[[Recap/SamuraiJackS4E11TheTaleOfX9 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, [[HitmanWithAHeart 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.
210	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FantasticNoir