History YMMV / TheDarkness

* CatharsisFactor: After seeing Paulie blow up the orphanage Jackie grew up in, and then going the extra mile by [[spoiler:executing Jenny in front of Jackie]], getting to [[spoiler:kill Paulie]] at the end of the game is incredibly fulfilling.

* MoralEventHorizon: Paulie Franchetti [[spoiler:blowing up an orphanage with a bazooka]] is [[EvenEvilHasStandards what causes the rest of the mob to turn on him]]. He crosses it again in the video game where he [[spoiler:murders Jenny in cold blood to spite Jackie]].

* AcceptableTargets: In the game, you are sent after drug dealers selling to kids (because they are encroaching on the Family's territory).
** More generally, all of the people Jackie ''has'' to kill in the game are either mobsters, corrupt cops, mob affiliates, or [[spoiler:zombies]].

* PlayerPunch: I see you're near the end of the first chapter. Better prepare some raw steak for your eye, and possibly a stretcher.

** So Jackie just found out that if he ever sires a child, he'll die the instant it is conceived. His immediate conclusion is that this means he can never have sex again, which means that life isn't worth living. You'd think he would at least ''consider'' sterilization as an option. Using protection might help, too. Of course, there is no form of contraception that is 100% effective save total abstinence.
** Or, if sex is so important, he could just find himself a bottom boyfriend.
** Isn't he [[MistakenForGay straight tho?]] The thing is he can't impregnate a woman.
** Why not find a transgender prostitute? Zero chances of impregnation.

* CompleteMonster: The BigBad of each game:
** First game: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] adopted [[PlayerCharacter Jackie Estacado]] so he could mold him into a hitman loyal to the family. The game starts with him sending Jackie on a suicide mission to kill a business rival because Jackie started questioning the way he does business, but Paulie has already killed the business rival and strapped his corpse full of explosives as a birthday present, leaving a tape to mock Jackie before he died. When Jackie survives the blast, Paulie [[DisproportionateRetribution gets revenge]] by [[BurnTheOrphanage blowing up the orphanage]] that Jackie grew up in, [[WouldHurtAChild killing all the orphans]] and nuns inside and then telling Jackie over the phone [[NeverMyFault it was all his fault]]. When Jackie starts to ruin Paulie's business dealings, Paulie retaliates by kidnapping Jackie's girlfriend Jenny, bringing her to the orphanage, and then murdering her right in front of Jackie, blaming it all on Jackie for not blindly following orders. Even at the end he shows no remorse for his crimes, telling Jackie that Jenny was a weakness and Jackie shouldn't have cared about her death.

** First game: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] adopted [[PlayerCharacter Jackie Estacado]] so he could mold him into a hitman loyal to the family. The game starts with him sending Jackie on a suicide mission to kill a business rival because Jackie started questioning the way he does business, but Paulie has already killed the business rival and strapped his corpse full of explosives as a birthday present, leaving a tape to mock Jackie before he died. When Jackie survives the blast, Paulie [[DisproportionateRetribution gets revenge]] by [[BurnTheOrphanage blowing up the orphanage]] that Jackie grew up in, [[WouldHurtAChild killing all the orphans]] and nuns inside and then telling Jackie over the phone [[NeverMyFault it was all his fault]]. When Jackie starts to ruin Paulie's business dealings, Paulie retaliates by kidnapping Jackie's girlfriend Jenny, bringing her to the orphanage, and then murdering her right in front of Jackie, blaming it all on Jackie for not blindly following orders. Even at the end he shows no remorse for his crimes, telling Jackie that Jenny was a weakness and Jackie shouldn't have cared about her death. Furthermore, Paulie also has a good number of Off-screen villainy mentioned by characters in the game, such as getting revenge on a woman who left him for another by torturing said man to death, chopping off a character's big toe over a disagreement over a baseball game, and blowing up a bus full of kids because one of the kids' parents "crossed" Paulie.

** [[SerialRapist Ramon Estacado]], from the January 2011 issue ("High Noon") and ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}: Day of the Outlaw'', is an especially vile ancestor of Jackie Estacado from TheWildWest. Using his newfound powers and gang to RapePillageAndBurn entire towns, Ramon at one point has his former henchmen transformed into demons and left to die. Robbing a train full of gold and slaughtering all its guards, Ramon eventually managed to take back control of his gang by killing two of its members, and decided to continue the pillaging of the town they were in. Later arriving at another town, Ramon immediately has his men wreak havoc on the streets and drag women out to be raped.

** ''ComicBook/PainkillerJane vs. ComicBook/TheDarkness: Stripper'', by Creator/GarthEnnis et al.: "[[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname The Stripper]]" is a sadistic SerialKiller who loves to kill her victims by [[FlayingAlive removing their skin while they are still alive]]. Having already managed to kill this way around a dozen of people, including [[SelfMadeOrphan her parents]], the Stripper finds herself a new victim in lowly conman Terrence J. Flannery. Initially saving him from a mob of angry ninjas, she drives him to her house. As Jackie Estacado and Jane managed to track down Terrence in her house, they find him alive with most of his skin removed. The Stripper attacks them, intending to skin them alive as well.

** First game: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] adopted [[PlayerCharacter Jackie Estacado]] so he could mold him into a hitman loyal to the family. The game starts with him sending Jackie on a suicide mission to kill a business rival because Jackie started questioning the way he does business, but Paulie has already killed the business rival and strapped his corpse full of explosives as a birthday present, leaving a tape to mock Jackie before he died. When Jackie survives the blast, Paulie [[DisproportionateRetribution gets revenge]] by [[BurnTheOrphanage blowing up the orphanage]] that Jackie grew up in, [[WouldHurtAChild killing all the orphans]] and nuns inside and then telling Jackie over the phone [[NeverMyFault it was all his fault]]. When Jackie starts to ruin Paulie's business dealings, Paulie retaliates by kidnapping Jackie's girlfriend Jenny, bringing her to the orphanage, and then murdering her right in front of Jackie, blaming it all on Jackie for not blindly following orders. Even at the end he shows no remorse for his crimes, telling Jackie that Jenny was a weakness and Jackie shouldn't have cared about her death. Furthermore, Paulie also has a good number of Off-screen villainy, such as getting revenge on a woman who left him for another by torturing said man, chopping off a character's big toe over a disagreement over a baseball game, and blowing up a bus full of kids because one of the kids' parents "crossed" Paulie.

** First game: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] adopted [[PlayerCharacter Jackie Estacado]] so he could mold him into a hitman loyal to the family. The game starts with him sending Jackie on a suicide mission to kill a business rival because Jackie started questioning the way he does business, but Paulie has already killed the business rival and strapped his corpse full of explosives as a birthday present, leaving a tape to mock Jackie before he died. When Jackie survives the blast, Paulie [[DisproportionateRetribution gets revenge]] by [[BurnTheOrphanage blowing up the orphanage]] that Jackie grew up in, [[WouldHurtAChild killing all the orphans]] and nuns inside and then telling Jackie over the phone [[NeverMyFault it was all his fault]]. When Jackie starts to ruin Paulie's business dealings, Paulie retaliates by kidnapping Jackie's girlfriend Jenny, bringing her to the orphanage, and then murdering her right in front of Jackie, blaming it all on Jackie for not blindly following orders. Even at the end he shows no remorse for his crimes, telling Jackie that Jenny was a weakness and Jackie shouldn't have cared about her death.

** First game: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] adopted [[PlayerCharacter Jackie Estacado]] so he could mold him into a hitman loyal to the family. The game starts with him sending Jackie on a suicide mission to kill a business rival because Jackie started questioning the way he does business, but Paulie has already killed the business rival and strapped his corpse full of explosives as a birthday present, leaving a tape to mock Jackie before he died. When Jackie survives the blast, Paulie gets revenge by [[BurnTheOrphanage blowing up the orphanage]] that Jackie grew up in, [[WouldHurtAChild killing all the orphans]] and nuns inside and then telling Jackie over the phone [[NeverMyFault it was all his fault]]. When Jackie starts to ruin Paulie's business dealings, Paulie retaliates by kidnapping Jackie's girlfriend Jenny, bringing her to the orphanage, and then murdering her right in front of Jackie, blaming it all on Jackie for not blindly following orders. Even at the end he shows no remorse for his crimes, telling Jackie that Jenny was a weakness and Jackie shouldn't have cared about her death.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The mental hospital sequences in the second game offer an extremely interesting view of the story, making the player and Jackie question which is real; the city or the hospital? [[spoiler: But the rejection ending utterly obliterates any ambiguity the idea had, ruining what could have been a very interesting AmbiguousEnding.]]

* CompleteMonster: ''ComicBook/PainkillerJane vs. ComicBook/TheDarkness: Stripper'', by Creator/GarthEnnis et al.: "[[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname The Stripper]]" is a sadistic SerialKiller who loves to kill her victims by [[FlayingAlive removing their skin while they are still alive]]. Having already managed to kill this way around a dozen of people, including [[SelfMadeOrphan her parents]], the Stripper finds herself a new victim in lowly conman Terrence J. Flannery. Initially saving him from a mob of angry ninjas, she drives him to her house. As Jackie Estacado and Jane managed to track down Terrence in her house, they find him alive with most of his skin removed. The Stripper attacks them, intending to skin them alive as well.

** Why not find a transgender prostitute? Zero chances of impregantion.

* UncannyValley: A lot of the artwork lives there.
* JustForFun/XMeetsY: ''The Darkness'' is pretty much ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' meets ''Film/TheGodfather''.

** First Game: [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]] adopted [[PlayerCharacter Jackie Estacado]] so he could mold him into a hitman loyal to the family. The game starts with him sending Jackie on a suicide mission to kill a business rival because Jackie started questioning the way he does business, but Paulie has already killed the business rival and strapped his corpse full of explosives as a birthday present, leaving a tape to mock Jackie before he died. When Jackie survives the blast, Paulie gets revenge by [[BurnTheOrphanage blowing up the orphanage]] that Jackie grew up in, [[WouldHurtAChild killing all the orphans]] and nuns inside and then telling Jackie over the phone it was all his fault. When Jackie starts to ruin Paulie's business dealings, Paulie retaliates by kidnapping Jackie's girlfriend Jenny, bringing her to the orphanage, and then murdering her right in front of Jackie, blaming it all on Jackie for not blindly following orders. Even at the end he shows no remorse for his crimes, telling Jackie that Jenny was a weakness and Jackie shouldn't have cared about her death.

as the BigBad of each game:

* CompleteMonster:
** [[TheDon Paulie Franchetti]], the BigBad of the first game, adopted [[PlayerCharacter Jackie Estacado]] so he could mold him into a hitman loyal to the family. The game starts with him sending Jackie on a suicide mission to kill a business rival because Jackie started questioning the way he does business, but Paulie has already killed the business rival and strapped his corpse full of explosives as a birthday present, leaving a tape to mock Jackie before he died. When Jackie survives the blast, Paulie gets revenge by blowing up the orphanage that Jackie grew up in, [[WouldHurtAChild killing all the orphans]] and nuns inside and then telling Jackie over the phone it was all his fault. When Jackie starts to ruin Paulie's business dealings, Paulie retaliates by kidnapping Jackie's girlfriend Jenny, bringing her to the orphanage, and then murdering her right in front of Jackie, blaming it all on Jackie for not blindly following orders. Even at the end he shows no remorse for his crimes, telling Jackie that Jenny was a weakness and Jackie shouldn't have cared about her death.
** ''VideoGame/TheDarknessII'': [[FauxAffablyEvil Victor Valente]] is an EvilSorcerer and [[BigBad the leader]] of [[ReligionOfEvil The Brotherhood]], an organization that originally intended out to capture and control the Darkness. The Brotherhood uses organized crime as the front of their operations, and uses a brothel as a base. The game opens with Victor sending a hit squad to attack a restaurant, killing innocent people in the crossfire, as an effort to get Jackie to stop suppressing the Darkness. When Jackie first confronts Victor, he is captured in crucified as Victor tries to extract the Darkness from him. He also sends his men to Jackie's penthouse to kill Jackie's men and kills his Aunt Sarah. Ordering an attack on Sarah's funeral, Victor lures Jackie into a trap, having him sealed in an Iron Maiden. After extracting the Darkness from Jackie, Victor declares that now that he controls it, [[OmnicidalManiac the world will burn]] and kneel before its [[AGodAmI true God]].

* CatharsisFactor: After seeing Paulie blow up the orphanage Jackie grew up in, and then going the extra mile by [[spoiler:executing Jenny in front of Jackie]], getting to kill Paulie at the end of the game like the scumbag he is will no doubt satisfy many.