History DarkerAndEdgier / WesternAnimation

** Darker still was its follow-up series, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', set in a gritty {{Cyberpunk}} future Gotham City. It was ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' UpToEleven: more mature stories, edgier violence, and an even bleaker tone. And to think the network originally wanted it to be a "kid-friendlier" Batman show.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooProject'' was a short that Creator/CartoonNetwork ran during a marathon in the 1990s. It's an AffectionateParody of the found-film genre of horror films. It's darker than the norm for the franchise. The monster is real, Mystery Inc argues a lot, there's an unusual amount of [[SoundEffectBleep implied profanity]], and [[KillEmAll everyone dies]] (or so it seemed, until the extended version showed they caught the guy and were accused of ripping off ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' according to Fred in the Big Game 2000).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoysPresentsDiabolical'' was never, by any means, light and fluffy, being based on [[Comicbook/TheBoys one of the darkest deconstructions]] [[Series/TheBoys2019 of western comic super heroes ever penned]], but most of the anthology retains a darkly humorous tone throughout with tales of laser-blasting babies, sentient feces, and pissed off supes killing their parents. The seventh episode of the anthology, "[[Recap/TheBoysDiabolicalS1E07JohnAndSunHee John and Sun-Hee]]", is an outlier, being a tragic tale of a husband whose attempts to save his wife from illness have unforeseen consequences that is PlayedForDrama from start to finish.

** To a lesser extent, the fourth season as a whole, while still overall remaining optimistic and upbeat, seems to be more liberal when it comes to using black comedy, and the stories of some episodes may count too, in particular Phineas' controversial snapping in [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbMissionMarvel "Mission Marvel"]].

* 2010s' WesternAnimation cartoons: Compared to their more comedic, lighthearted past counterparts, these cartoons are darker, with more cartoons covering more mature stories, most of its humor being based [[ComedicSociopathy mostly on violence]], and their characters being [[AdaptationalJerkass arguably malicious]]. WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo is a ''textbook'' example.

** The "Red Sky" seasons in the 1987 series is this compared to the light-hearted show before. The last 3 seasons (starting with Season 8) were dubbed the [[FanNickname "Red Sky"]] seasons by fans, [[RedSkyTakeWarning because the sky was always red, giving the show a more post-apocalyptic feel]]. There was a greater focus on action and less on {{Slapstick}} and BreakingTheFourthWall. The turtles were also designed to look less LighterAndSofter. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdi5weTxPT4 Here's a clip]] for those who aren't familiar with these seasons.

* ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' saw the show get darker is Season 2, with more serious plots; darker colors; and Tony gaining more of the manipulative, secret-keeping, self-destructive personality traits he had in the comics.

** Action cartoons in general tend to be this, as even some of the lighter ones can have their heavy moments.
** Action cartoons have undergone something of an AudienceShift starting with this decade and going into the next, with many being geared towards older viewers and having more violent content and mature themes, something extremely rare in past decades. In some cases, [[GrowingWithTheAudience shows that were once aimed at children are now aimed at adults]] (WesternAnimation/YoungJustice and WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack being prime examples). This is thanks in part to the rise in streaming services, where most action cartoons have migrated. Though it should be noted that even some action cartoons geared towards younger viewers in this era can also be a bit heavier in tone (i.e. ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'', the various Star Wars cartoons).

* ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsInTheLandWithoutFeelings'' is not only the first but easily the darkest installment of the Franchise/CareBears franchise, centering around the titular Bears trying to save a boy from a symbolic pedophile who keeps several children as transformed slaves in an IcePalace in a cold, dead landscape. Professor Coldheart is portrayed as a humorless villain with no bumbling sidekick who revels in the misery he causes his victims who sought the SafetyInIndifference he pedals.

** Action cartoons in general tend to be this, as even some of the ligher ones can have their heavy moments.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Spawn}}'': Compared to the comic or the movie, the animated series is a lot more lacking in humor, and has an overall far grimmer tone.

** The "Red Sky" seasons in the 1987 series is this compared to the light-hearted show before. The last 3 seasons (starting with Season 8) were dubbed the [[FanNickname "Red Sky"]] seasons by fans, [[RedSkyTakeWarning because the sky was always red, giving the show a more post-apocalyptic feel]]. There was a greater focus on action and less on {{Slapstick}} and BreakingTheFourthWall. The turtles were also designed to look less LighterAndSofter. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSpwzYGasiw Here's a clip]] for those who aren't familiar with these seasons.

* Despite being funny and preschooler-friendly, ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'' started introducing more serious plots in Season 4 onwards. One example includes the PJ Masks forcing to team up with Luna Girl to stop Romeo using their stolen crystals [[spoiler: to drain the PJ Masks powers and memories, destroy their own bases, or else he rapidly clones his flying factories and uses them to destroy the entire globe!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' got noticeably DarkerAndEdgier in its second season (even the opening credits!). Sometimes it worked, by averting AngstWhatAngst and letting the kids actually show the emotional pain they would logically be feeling due to their circumstances. Other times, it drifted into {{Narm}} and seemed like a lot of cheap angst for its own sake. The third season pulled back to a tone midway between the first two.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'': Season 5. It had several scary and adventurous episodes, and most episodes involved violent crashes. Nothing too gratuitous of course (it is a kids show after all), though an unnamed engine was shown ''falling to its death on-screen''.

* ''WesternAnimation/MastersOfTheUniverseRevelation'': Compared to the original and '02 reboot. The latter had its share of dark moments too but still kept itself balanced. This one goes much more in the darker terrain with the situation being much more grave, a lot more serious complications, and death being more likely.

* While ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' is funny and light-hearted in its own right, [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension the movie]] is this. It involves the first time where [[CheerfulChild Phineas]] is [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness truly mad at someone]], as the story involves [[spoiler:him being upset when Perry is revealed to be a secret agent, as he feels like Perry never regarded him and Ferb as friends]], we have a dictatorship where every character has DarkerAndEdgier counterparts, and the first time the main characters have been faced with someone trying to kill them.
** To a lesser extent, the fourth season as a whole, while still overall remaining optimistic and upbeat, seems to be more liberal when it comes to using black comedy, and the stories of some episodes may count too, in particular Phineas' controversial snapping in [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbMissionMarvel "Mission Marvel".]]

* DarkerAndEdgier/StarWars

** In the episode Super Zeros, where the girls try to act like their favourite heroes, they poke fun at this trope. Buttercup at one point complains, "And we're not all dark and tormented!".

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Green Eggs and Ham|2019}}'': From a book where the main conflict was an annoying little guy trying to get a bigger guy to eat an unappetizing-looking dish to a sprawling chase story full of bonafide danger and mortal peril where one of the main character is [[spoiler: a VillainProtagonist]].

** ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' was perhaps one of the darkest shows of its era in Creator/CartoonNetwork history. In fact, this show is a straight up example of DarkerAndEdgier in comparison to most Creator/CartoonNetwork shows at the time, which were mostly pure cartoonish comedy while Samurai Jack is a {{dramedy}} with some elements of {{thriller}} and {{action|Genre}}. Then we have dark themes which are rarely played in an animated series for children at the time, such as apocalypse, genocide, mass murder, slavery, torture, and episodes entirely built around NightmareFuel. Surprisingly, it was Cartoon Network's first original program not to be a part of the Creator/CartoonCartoons brand, presumably for this reason. Then comes the [[SamuraiJack/TropesSeason5 fifth season]] (pictured above), set 50 years after the previous seasons featuring more violence and a grittier, darker story. Jack is now willing to kill humans who serve Aku, along with the use of [[BloodierAndGorier actual blood]]. It's also on Creator/AdultSwim / Creator/{{Toonami}} instead of Creator/CartoonNetwork.

** ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' was perhaps one of the darkest shows of its era in Creator/CartoonNetwork history. In fact, this show is a straight up example of DarkerAndEdgier in comparison to most Creator/CartoonNetwork shows at the time, which were mostly pure cartoonish comedy while Samurai Jack is a {{dramedy}} with some elements of {{thriller}} and {{action|Genre}}. Then we have dark themes which are rarely played in an animated series for children at the time, such as apocalypse, genocide, mass murder, slavery, torture, and episodes entirely built around NightmareFuel. Surprisingly, it was Cartoon Network's first original program not to be a part of the Creator/CartoonCartoons brand, presumably for this reason. Then comes the [[SamuraiJack/TropesSeason5 fifth season]] (pictured right), set 50 years after the previous seasons featuring more violence and a grittier, darker story. Jack is now willing to kill humans who serve Aku, along with the use of [[BloodierAndGorier actual blood]]. It's also on Creator/AdultSwim / Creator/{{Toonami}} instead of Creator/CartoonNetwork.