History Main / DarkFantasy

* ''DragonAge'': Kinda like Claymore, but the DemonSlayers are genuinely trying to win and one can play as a guy. The Grey Wardens are all {{Death Seeker}}s, because they drink Darkspawn body fluids and risk AndThenJohnWasAZombie. Magicians constantly fight against the whispers of demons from the Fade trying to take them over (little wonder many of them choose to be lobotomized). Elves are a SlaveRace destinguished from humanity only by their long ears and the fact that they produce magicians slightly more. The Dwarves cower in their single fortress-city. An invasion of Heaven ticked God off, so he's abandoned humanity and it's allies. The [[OurOrcsAreDifferent local flavour of Orcs, which resemble black, muscly elves, called Quinari]] are gearing up for an invasion. In fact, it may be the TropeQuantifier.

* ''DragonAge'': Kinda like Claymore, but the DemonSlayers are genuinely trying to win and one can play as a guy. The Grey Wardens are all {{Death Seeker}}s, because they drink Darkspawn body fluids and risk AndThenJohnWasAZombie. Magicians constantly fight against the whispers of demons from the Fade trying to take them over (little wonder many of them choose to be lobotomized). Elves are a SlaveRace destinguished from humanity only by their long ears and the fact that they produce magicians slightly more. The Dwarves cower in their single fortress-city. An invasion of Heaven ticked God off, so he's abandoned humanity and it's allies. The [[OurOrcsAreDifferent local flavour of Orcs, which resemble black, muscly elves, called Quinari]] are gearing up for an invasion. In fact, it may be the tropeQuantifier.

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

* ''DragonAge'': Kinda like Claymore, but the DemonSlayers are genuinely trying to win and one can play as a guy. The Grey Wardens are all {{Death Seeker}}s, because they drink Darkspawn body fluids and risk AndThenJohnWasAZombie. Magicians constantly fight against the whispers of demons from the Fade trying to take them over (little wonder many of them choose to be lobotomized). Elves are a SlaveRace destinguished from humanity only by their long ears and the fact that they produce magicians slightly more. The Dwarves cower in their single fortress-city. An invasion of Heaven ticked God off, so he's abandoned humanity and it's allies. The [[OurOrcsAreDifferent local flavour of Orcs, which resemble black, muscly elves, called Quinari]] are gearing up for an invasion. In fact, it provided many of the TropeQualifiers for yhis page.

* ''{{Claymore}}'': the {{Demon Slayer}}s (all psychologically damaged young women) are vulnerable to TheCorruption and are running a MonsterProtectionRacket (they're just as ignorant of this double-cross as the terrorized peasants).

* ''DragonAge'': Kinda like Claymore, but the DemonSlayers are genuinely trying to win and one can play as a guy. The Grey Wardens are all {{Death Seeker}}s, because they drink Darkspawn body fluids and risk AndThenJohnWasAZombie. Magicians constantly fight against the whispers of demons from the Fade trying to take them over (little wonder many of them choose to be lobotomized). Elves are a SlaveRace destinguished from humanity only by their long ears and the fact that they produce magicians slightly more. The Dwarves cower in their single fortress-city.

* Some ''DungeonsAndDragons'' settings (Ravenloft springs to mind), and it really depends on the player's CharacterAlignment and the DM's mood when he cooked up the campaighn weather it stays HeroicFantasy too).

* ''{{Drowtales}}''. Murder and DemonicPossession are very common. One character whos life is in danger comments that she doesn't want to end up Undead. Cannibalism is completely legal due to a resource shortage, as is rape, incest, paedophilia, and JackBauerInterrogationTechnique. Schools don't mind the students killing each other, as long as they do so quietly and dispose of the bodies themselves. And that's just the "good" guys (magic is fairly neutral though, but some are allergic to BloodMagic).

* ''DragonAge''

* The very best you can count on is an {{AntiHero}}ic KnightInSourArmor. There is a high chance of (likely more than a bit of WellIntentionedExtremist) {{Designated Hero}}, who will probably [[DownerEnding lose or end up as]] HeWhoFightsMonsters or involve AndThenJohnWasAZombie. {{The world is always doomed}}. One may have to EarnYourHappyEnding.

* {{Diablo}} has elements of it. Moreso in Diablo II, where TheLegionsOfHell have TheHorde of Undead and mutant wildlife (and DealWithTheDevil {{Cat Girl}}s and AmazonBrigade-type NaughtyNuns) Vs. a morally ambiguous {{Necromancer}} or a {{Paladin}} who belongs to a CorruptChurch. And it's all up to that one person, plus any minions [=s/he=] may [=hire/summon=].

* ''{{Claymore}}'': the [[Demon Slayer]]s (all psychologically damaged young women) are vulnerable to TheCorruption and are running a MonsterProtectionRacket (whom are just as ignorant of this as the terrorized peasants).
* ''{{Berserk}}'': Take Claymore and replace the army of hot DemonSlayer chicks with one musclebound {{Cyborg}} JerkAss and pet fairy vs. a CorruptChurch.

* ''{{Claymore}}'':
* ''{{Berserk}}''
* Most {{Hentai}} set in a fantasy world, if only because TheWomenAreSafeWithUs and SexSlave FetishFuel is pandered to. Some don't, but most do.

* Some ''DungeonsAndDragons'' settings (Ravenloft springs to mind).

* The very best you can count on is an {{AntiHero}}ic KnightInSourArmor. There is a high chance of (likely more than a bit of WellIntentionedExtremist) {{Designated Hero}}, who will probably [[DownerEnding lose or end up as]] HeWhoFightsMonsters. {{The world is always doomed}}. May be a "bad guy" press-ganged into being a "good guy." If a video game, one may have to EarnYourHappyEnding.

Dark Fantasy is, generally speaking, a DarkerAndEdgier subgenre of fantasy. This kind of stories can be pretty much described as StandardFantasySetting [[XMeetsY meets]] CrapsackWorld, as opposed to the usually-lighthearted regular fantasy setting. Oftentimes, as befitting GRIMDARK, common fantasy elements are [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] or played in the darkest way possible, and the best you can hope for is GrayAndGrayMorality.

* ''{{Drowtales}}''. Murder and DemonicPossession are very common. Cannibalism is completely legal due to a resource shortage, as is rape, incest, and paedophilia. Schools don't mind the students killing each other, as long as they do so quietly and dispose of the bodies themselves. And that's just the "good" guys.

* ''{{Drowtales}}''. Murder and DemonicPossession are very common. Cannibalism is completely legal due to a resource shortage, as is rape and, paedophilia, and schools don't mind the students killing each other, as long as they do so quietly and dispose of the bodies themselves. And that's just the "good" guys.

* ''{{Drowtales}}'', where murder and DemonicPossession are very common. Cannibalism is completely legal due to a resource shortage, and schools don't mind the students killing each other, as long as they do so quietly and dispose of the bodies themselves.

* {{Wretched Hive}}s of cities and TheDungAges in the coutryside is what you should expect of society. The lower classes are MedievalMorons, while the upper prove that AristocratsAreEvil. The slave trade is the main source of income, both in terms of taxes and population. Expect the cute, fuzzy, WeakWilled ones to be targeted, such as PettingZooPeople or {{Hobbits}}. Conscription into the army may be present, overlapping with an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores.

* Any organized religion which is not a CorruptChurch or ReligionOfEvil, is PathOfInspiration. What else there is tend to be {{cult}}s, paganic {{Scary Amoral Religion}}s, or even more radical offshoots of the big ones. Often led by a SinisterMinister. Expect TheInquisition to burst in at any given oppourtunity, and we don't mean the funny kind that lampshades the fact that no-one ever sees it coming.

* DrowTales. Murder and DemonicPossession is very common. Cannibalism is completely legal due to a resource shortage, and shcools don't mind the students killing each other, as long as they do so quietly and despose of the bodies themselves.

* The very best you can count on is an {{AntiHero}}ic KnightInSourArmor. There is a high chance of (likely more than a bit of WellIntentionedExtremist) {{Designated Hero}}, who will probably [[DownerEnding lose or end up as]] HeWhoFightsMonsters. {{The world is always doomed}}. May be a "bad guy" press-ganged into being a "good guy."

* DrowTales. Murder and DemonicPossession is very common. Cannibalism is completely legal due to a resource shortage, and shcools don't mind the students killing each other, as long as they despose of the bodies themselves.

Sibling trope to DungeonPunk.

* ''{{Claymore}}'': In which the titular {{Demon Slayer}}s are running a MonsterProtectionRacket.

* ''{{Claymore}}''

* Any organized religion which is not a CorruptChurch or ReligionOfEvil, is PathOfInspiration. What else there is tend to be {{cult}}s, paganic {{Scary Amoral Religion}}s, or even more radical offshoots of the big ones. Often led by a SinisterMinister and/or PedophilePriest. Expect TheInquisition to burst in at any given oppourtunity, and we don't mean the funny kind that lampshades the fact that no-one ever sees it coming.

* {{Diablo}} has elements of it. Moreso in Diablo II, where TheLegionsOfHell have TheHorde of Undead and mutant wildlife (and DealWithTheDevil {{Cat Girl}}s and AmazonBrigade-type NaughtyNuns) Vs. a DarkIsNotEvil {{Necromancer}} or a {{Paladin}} who belongs to a CorruptChurch. And it's all up to that one person, plus any minions [=s/he=] may [=hire/summon=].

* MagicIsEvil, at best relatively neutral. Often TheCorruption. there is a good chance it's directly obtained through a DealWithTheDevil, powered by BloodMagic or involves HumanSacrifice. Individual wizards tend to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity go mad with power]] (or just the [[MadScientist possibility of it]]) and are [[VainSorceress full of themselves]]. This is likely why BurnTheWitch is a popular pastime of the lower classes.

* The gods [[JerkassGods are all jerks]] who pass the time [[PassThePopcorn eating prayer chips and drinking soul-booze while placing bets]], and TheLegionsOfHell are mere days away from digging into the Mortal Realm, or are there already. GodOfEvil is probably [[VillainsActHeroesReact the only active one]], unless the point of the story is that people will jump at any opportunity to do harm. DemonicPossession is quite common. If the gods aren't even there, the CelestialBureaucracy has more red tape than a ribbon factory. May even have DevilButNoGod.

* {{Diablo}} has elements of it. Moreso in Diablo II, where TheLegionsOfHell have TheHorde of Undead and mutant wildlife (and DealWithTheDevil {{Cat Girl}}s and AmazonBrigade-type NaughtyNuns) Vs. a DarkIsNotEvil {{Necromancer}} or a {{Paladin}} who belongs to a CorruptChurch. And it's all up to that one person, plus any minions s/ he may hire /summon.

* The gods [[JerkassGods are all jerks]] who pass the time [[PassThePopcorn eating prayer chips and drinking soul-booze while placing bets]], and TheLegionsOfHell are mere days away from digging into the Mortal Realm, or are there already. GodOfEvil is probably [[VillainsActHeroesReact the only active one]], unless the point of the story is that people will jump at any opportunity to do harm. DemonicPossession is quite common. If the gods aren't even there, the CelestialBeuraucracy has more red tape than a ribbon factory. May even have DevilButNoGod.

* {{Diablo}} has elements of it. Moreso in Diablo II, where TheLegionsOfHell have TheHorde of Undead and mutant wildlife (and DealWithTheDevil {{Cat Girl}}s and AmazonBrigade-type NaughtyNuns) Vs. a DarkIsNotEvil {{Necromancer}} or a {{Paladin}} who belongs to a CorruptChurch.

* Most {{Hentai}} set in a fantasy world, if only because TheWomenAreSafeWithUs and SexSlave FetishFuel is pandered to.
Some don't, but most do.

Some don't, but most do. Notable aversions are QueensBlade (Rule34 nonwithstanding) and F3.

* Some ''DungeonsAndDragons'' settings.