Basic Trope: A terrible setting to live.
- Straight: The world is full of corruption, betrayal, despair, hopelessness and angst, and villains are often Karma Houdinis. And there is always a traffic jam.
- Exaggerated: Everyone in the universe, be they good, evil or neutral, endures intense suffering - almost every waking moment consists of pure torment.
- Downplayed:
- The area where the setting takes place is know for violence and a low standard of living. However, characters note that there are better places in the world, and they're only in the worst part of it.
- Wretched Hive in an otherwise benign setting.
- Justified:
- Inverted: Sugar Bowl.
- Subverted: A World Half Full.
- Double Subverted: At the last moment, the writers Yank the Dog's Chain and snatch away the happy ending the heroes had worked so hard for - Craptown ends up just as crappy as ever.
- Parodied: Everyone is either an extreme Jerkass or a Butt Monkey.
- Zig Zagged: The heroes earn their happy ending, but then Yank the Dog's Chain leads it to be taken away. Then they discover a section of the world that's a great place to live, until it turns out to be a Crapsaccharine World.
- Averted: The world in question isn't a particularly good or bad place to live.
- Enforced:
- The author is living in a real-life Wretched Hive, which warped the worldviews that became the model for his fictional worlds.
- The author's a pessimist.
- The author is creating a horrible place as a part of his sociopolitical commentary.
- The author knows that these kinds of worlds produce lots of conflict, and thus plot.
- Lampshaded: "This place sucks."
- Invoked: A villain declares that Dystopia Justifies the Means and starts to work to turn the Sugar Bowl into a crapsack world.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alice and Bob immediately start working to make the world better.
- Discussed: "Why does this place have to suck?"
- Conversed: "Hey, 'realism' does not necessarily mean 'ugly hellhole full of crime.'"
- Deconstructed:
- Because life in the world is so terrible, many people fail to see the point in living and are Driven to Suicide as a result. Those that aren't Driven to Suicide simply end up loathing the world more, and are further entrenched in their hopelessness.
- The government running such a Hellhole find keeping everybody oppressed and miserable much harder than they thought, with constant rebellions, strikes, and people just wanting happiness or just a square meal on the table.
- The horrible conditions of the world makes the tiniest glimmers of the most ephemeral happiness treasured beyond anything. The people of the world are driven to become hedonistic, unfettered Ubermensches, caring little for what happens to other people or a world beyond saving, just so long as they can be happy for just one moment.
- Reconstructed: The heroes tries their hardest to make the world a better place, and after a long time of hardships they actually do make it better... But not without great sacrifices and casualties.
Welcome to Suckyville, population, ''you''.
