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3%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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6[[quoteright:249:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dkg5.jpg]]
7[[caption-width-right:249:And this is when he's NOT pissed off.]]
8
9->'''Jenny''': What's this ''Darkness'' you keep going on about?\
10'''Sonatine''': I'll try and put it in idiot's terms. Have you seen ''Star Wars?''\
11'''Jenny''': Well... yes.\
12'''Sonatine''': The Darkness is the Force on crack.
13
14What do you get when you cross a well-dressed Mafia hitman with an ancient demonic power that gives him the ability to summon tiny foul-mouthed gremlin thingies to do his bidding?
15
16[[RuleOfCool A whole lot of badass, that's what]].
17
18''The Darkness'' was one of Creator/TopCowProductions's crown jewels of the [[TheNineties 1990]]s' DarkerAndEdgier trend, created by Marc Silvestri, along with some assistance from Creator/GarthEnnis (who wrote the first comic arc) and David Wohl. The hitman in question is known as Jackie Estacado, adopted son of don Frankie Franchetti, and from the first few panels of the first issue, was obviously not disturbed by the lifestyle into which he had been brought, and actually relished it. However, as soon as his [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday 21st birthday]] came to fruition, he inherited the evil known as the Darkness, which granted him abilities beyond his wildest blood-spattered dreams, the most infamous being the Darklings, the aforementioned little gremlin bastards that act somewhat as his multiple tiny alter-egos that are mostly interested in spouting off politically incorrect commentary and humor, but can disembowel an enemy at a moment's notice if Jackie commands it.
19
20Jackie's enemies consisted of not only rival families, but other supernatural beings in the Top Cow Universe that had axes to grind with the Darkness itself, or just happened to cross paths with him at some point or another. Among them were [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]], ComicBook/{{Witchblade}} and the Magdalena. His main foe was the Angelus, basically the antithesis of the Darkness, being a female entity and born of light, it wants to eradicate Jackie at any turn, and innocent casualties are of no concern to it.
21
22The series itself has a pair of [[VideoGame/TheDarkness Video Games]], as well as an upcoming LiveActionAdaptation that is on the fast track, which is being directed by The Pang Brothers, and rumored to be starring Channing Tatum as Jackie himself.
23
24Not to be confused with ''Music/TheDarkness'', the [[{{Camp}} zany]] British hard rock band of the same name.
25----
26!!The comic series contains examples of:
27
28* AffablyEvil:
29** Butcher Joyce. He and Jackie have friendly chats while disposing of bodies.
30** Mister Vespasian the TortureTechnician that takes breaks to offer his victims tea.
31%%* AlasPoorYorick: [[spoiler:Kirchner]]
32* AmbitionIsEvil: Subverted in the third series' first arc where the Darkness says that Jackie's ambitions with his enhanced power are incredibly banal, amounting to being a petty dictator when he could have saved or conquered the world. It doubles as a ReasonYouSuckSpeech.
33* AndIMustScream: Jackie threatens to seal an immortal murderer/meth-head in a septic tank for all eternity.
34* AndShowItToYou: Jackie once ripped out some dude's ''skeleton'' and showed it to him. Pop.
35* AntiHero: Jackie goes back and forth between this and VillainProtagonist. He's a horrible murderer who gets people killed via collateral damage but in the first Witchblade Crossover is genuinely horrified at the prospect of having killed an innocent man. In the Batman crossover, he actively refuses to kill Batman despite their power discrepancy, since it was completely different killing a good man rather than the mafia scum he normally works with.
36* AppropriatedAppellation: [[spoiler:After knocking over a country, the citizens]] refer to Jackie as "Ocaso," Spanish for "sunset" or "decline."
37%%* AxeCrazy: Jackie (and pretty much everyone else).
38%%* BadassInANiceSuit: Jackie
39* BadassLongcoat: Jackie is frequently seeing wearing a long black trenchcoat that almost touches the ground.
40* BigBad: Frankie, Paulie, Sonatine, The Sovereign, The Darkness, The Doppelgänger.
41* BigNo: When Jackie learns about the whole [[CelibateHero celibacy clause]]. Called into question somewhat when it turns out he can make his own fun.
42* BlackAndGrayMorality or EvilVersusEvil: Jackie is a merciless bastard whose only redeeming feature is love for his adoptive sister and a vague preference for being a [[NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters stylized mobster]]; Drugs? Fun and profitable. Mass slaughter of rival families and/or cops? Fun and profitable. Killing someone outside of the business? No thanks.
43** Jackie bounces back and forth between being a comically psychopathic mass murderer versus a nuanced killer who is weary of all the killing.
44* BlackComedy: More prominent in the first few story arcs which featured jokes at expense of over-the-top deaths and violence.
45* BloodyHilarious: The Darklings are [[ComedicSociopathy psychopathic]] {{CloudCuckooLander}}s.
46%%* BodyHorror
47%%* BottomlessMagazines
48* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Deconstructed. Jackie finds out that one of his random hits was the fiance of an FBI agent. When he discovers this, the murder suddenly deeply bothers him.
49** When Dr. Kim Fang was in medical school, and deeply in debt, she agreed to have sex with Jackie in return for settling it. Jackie does not remember the encounter, but it badly scared her, later resulting in her becoming a sex addict and needing therapy. When Jackie finds out he is disturbed by his actions and tries to make amends.
50%%* ButtMonkey – Wenders
51* TheCanKickedHim
52-->'''random security mook:''' [[TemptingFate You may dump in peace]].
53* CantHaveSexEver: It is stated that if Jackie ever sires a child, he will die, making each and every one of his sexual encounters after he becomes the Darkness a game of RussianRoulette; even non-vaginal sex is an incredible risk as it's repeatedly stated that the Darkness is carried in his ''sperm'' meaning if one errant spurt could still kill him, a vasectomy would be quickly nullified by his enhanced healing, it's entirely possible that his blasted demon sperm could regenerate a woman with tubal ligation...
54-->...You know of a form of contraception that is '''one hundred percent''' effective?
55** However, he's told that he can eventually create {{Artificial Human}}s as good as any woman - given enough time to practice his powers. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a bad idea]]. Later it changed so that he will not die until the baby is born - evidenced in that his grandfather tried to kill his grandmother to prevent his own death.
56%%* CartwrightCurse
57* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Jackie in the first volume is almost unrecognizable from the second and neither resembles the third. Arguably, this is CharacterDevelopment since [[spoiler: Jackie went to hell between the second and third volumes.]]
58%%* CombatTentacles
59%%* ContractOnTheHitman
60%%* CoolOldLady: Jackie's Aunt Sarah.
61* CoolVersusAwesome: The Darkness vs. Dracula! This version of the Count is so badass that it dismisses Jackie and The Darkness as something below him and gets the better of Jackie in their brawl.
62* CreepyChild: "Miss Happy" from the crossover with ''Darkchydle'', and the Legion of Cherub Hostile for a more malevolent version.
63* CrossOver: Many. ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}, Magdalena, and [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] (same universe), ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} (same writer), ComicBook/GhostRider, [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk The Hulk]], ComicBook/DoctorStrange, ComicBook/{{Batman}}...
64* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Too many to count, though one that deserves mention is when Jackie rips out a guy's skeleton ''through his nose''.
65* CursedWithAwesome: Played with a lot in the first comic story. After using the Darkness to take revenge on a rival mob boss, Jackie is cheerful about his awesome new powers. Then he learns about the celibacy clause, and immediately lapses into suicidal depression.
66* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: Or rather, 21st birthday, because it's on that day that The Darkness manifested from Jackie.
67%%* DarkAgeOfSuperNames
68* DarkAndTroubledPast: Jackie Estacado was born to a good-for-nothing psychotic hitman and a prostitute who died in childbirth, he was given up to a orphanage where he turned into a problematic child and was adopted by a ruthless mobs boss who molded him into his enforcer.
69* DatingCatwoman: To the Witchblade; she is a police officer, he is a hitman that works for the mob. You do the math. [[spoiler:He ends up fathering her child later on]].
70* DefectorFromDecadence
71--> "We used to have honor in this Family. Codes!"
72* DemonicPossession: Jack is the current host of The Darkness, the manifestation of darkness. Now that he has it, it's not going anywhere until he dies.
73%%* DistressedDamsel: Jenny
74* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Jenny kicks Sonatine's ass.]]
75%%* DracoInLeatherPants: Seen ''in universe''.
76* DudeShesLikeInAComa: A very literal and disturbing example with [[spoiler: Don Franchetti kissing his daughter, Appolonia while she's comatose.]]
77%%* DrugsAreBad: [[spoiler:Nightfall]]
78* DysfunctionJunction – the Franchettis. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial One Big Happy Family.]]
79* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Sonatine's lair [[RefugeInAudacity under the Statue of Liberty]].
80* EldritchAbomination: The Darkness (evil cosmic power), the Angelus (good cosmic force) and the Witchblade (YinYangBomb BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil).
81%%* EnemyMine: At times with Sarah Pezzini and the Magdelena.
82* EnemyWithin: The Darkness, the same entity that provides Jackie with his powers, is a malevolent being in its own right that [[spoiler:subtly plots to get rid of its users by exploiting their carnal desires]].
83* EnfantTerrible: [[spoiler:Jackie and Elle's "son."]]
84** The Legion of Cherub Hostile is an entire army of them. Granted of the Really700YearsOld variety. One of Jackie's contracts for [[JerkassGods The Sovereign]] was also a child warlord.
85* EnforcedColdWar: [[spoiler:Paulie keeps Jackie under his control for a while with the threat that he would off the only family (Jenny) ever had.]]
86%%* EvenEvilHasStandards
87* EvilMatriarch: Jackie's grandmother, Adrienne Estacado, is revealed to be the mastermind behind the multiple assassination attempts he experienced in Issue #20. She wants to kill him to steal the power of the Darkness from his body.
88* EvilOverlord: The Empire arc.
89** Also, in a possible [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic far future]], [[spoiler:Jackie rules over a dying CrapsackWorld and [[SealedEvilInACan is holding back something far worse]]]].
90** Previous Darkness users that were actually competent enough and didn't turn self-destructive like Danny Estacado had the potential to become this trope such as Lord Cardinale from ''Medieval Spawn / Witchblade'' that terrorized the Iberian peninsula during Medieval Times with his armies of Darklings.
91%%* EvilutionaryBiologist: Kirchner
92* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: A dark comic with a dark AntiHero in dark situations is called ''The Darkness''. How subtle is that?
93%%* EyeScream: With CHOPSTICKS!!!
94* FaceHeelDoorSlam: [[spoiler: Jackie gets this one after a long redemption arc. He turns states evidence in on his Uncle Frankie only to need to run away from Witness Protection to save a stewardess' son from his mobster father. As a result, his Uncle gets out and promptly kills Jenny. Jackie KILLS HIMSELF in a suicide attack on Frankie only for the Darkness to raise him from the dead with the help of Lucifer. He also spent two days in hell, which felt like a million years.]]
95* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: It is most definitely not for kids.
96* FemaleAngelMaleDemon: The human host of The Darkness is always male, and the human host of The Angelus is always female. Also, even though angels are predominantly female and demons are predominantly male, a few exceptions are occasionally shown, like the male cherub angels.
97%%* FreudianExcuse
98* FromASingleCell: Jackie was once blown apart by a time bomb, reduced to ashes except for a single tooth... and recovered.
99* GenreShift: Creator/GarthEnnis wrote the first story arc, which is why it's more of a comedy action book than a horror action one. The characters were far more violent and the dialogue was laced with SeinfeldianConversation's and frequent references to pop culture. Furthermore the stories were more eccentric and quirky, standing in stark contract to the realism of later issues.
100%%* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Jackie, and any of his enemies of a supernatural persuasion.
101%%* {{Gorn}}
102* GroinAttack
103--> "Wenders, this is Darkus."\
104[[spoiler:"THERE'S A DEMON IN MY PANTS!"]]
105** Jackie receives quite a few of these throughout the series. His usual response is to complain about his groin being a target when he CantHaveSexEver anyways.
106* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy
107%%* GunsAkimbo
108%%* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe
109%%* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Apollonia. Sort of.]]
110* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler: Jackie gets this, after a fashion, when he's sucked back into the mob after escaping it.]]
111%%* HearingVoices: The Darkness.
112* HeroicHost: The Darkness is the personification of all evil, and wants to spread chaos. Jackie is certainly capable of such chaos, but tries to keep his casualties to a minimum out of respect for mob code.
113* HitmanWithAHeart: Jackie intentionally avoids killing innocent people, both because of PragmaticVillainy and because the code he follows won't let him. Also, Jackie looks out for an adopted daughter for a time.
114* HolyIsNotSafe: From a regular human's point of view, the Angelus can be just as cruel and alien as the Darkness.
115* HypocriticalHumor: Jackie's Sexaholics Anonymous meeting proves counterproductive [[UnwantedHarem as he gets hit on by all the girls there.]]
116** Amusingly, all of them are blindingly beautiful sexpots while the lone male member is a huge fat guy.
117* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: A bit of a subversion in the Empire arc, where he tries to assure the girl with him that [[spoiler:he isn't like the last dictator their country had and that "the rape-closets are closed" and that for various reasons he couldn't even if he wanted to. Doesn't really help her, since she's killed when the rebels attack]].
118* ImAHumanitarian: From the Empire arc:
119---> '''Darkling:''' It's been so long since I've had decent ''Italian''.
120%%* JamesBondage: In one crossover with ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}''.
121* JerkassGods: Both the Darkness and the Angelus, as well as The Sovereign. The latter even gets called on the fact that he has basically [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betrayed everyone he's ever visited]] for [[ForTheEvulz no real reason]].
122* JumpedAtTheCall: '''"Darkness likes you."''' Awesome dark powers... Sweet.
123* KickTheDog – {{Lampshaded}}
124--> '''Jackie''' (to Appolonia): [[EvenEvilHasStandards You know, you didn't have to kill your cat just to prove you're a ruthless bitch.]]
125** A note on the above quote, Jackie said this because he ''already knew'' she was one.
126** Jackie gets a number of these with how callous he is to his dates getting killed as collateral damage.
127** Jackie's biggest one to date is in the Empire arc where he enslaves an entire nation with super-heroin.
128%%* AssholeVictim: Applies to many of Jackie's hits.
129* KillYouLast
130--> '''Jackie:''' You know what? I'm starting to like you.\
131'''Kirchner:''' But you're still going to kill me.\
132'''Jackie:''' Oh, yeah.
133%%* LetsYouAndHimFight: Often.
134* LightIsNotGood: While the Darkness is just... the Darkness, its counterpart [[KnightTemplar The Angelus]] is far, far worse. [[spoiler: In one alternate future, it nukes the Earth with light to get rid of the Darkness.]]
135%%* LivingShadow
136* LonelyAtTheTop: For all of his money, wealth and power, Jackie feels alone without [[spoiler:Jenny there by his side]].
137* LovecraftianSuperpower: The Darkness allows Jackie to manifest long spiked tentacles, and spawn eldritch horrors to combat his enemies.
138%%* LudicrousGibs
139%%* MadScientist: Kirchner
140%%* MadeOfPlasticine
141* TheMafia: Jackie's one of the old school mobsters who believes in following a code. Some of his enemies are just mobsters that are even worse than he is.
142* MindRape: Sonatine on some [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished poor helpful bouncer]]. "I rewrote his memory. Tremendous fun."
143** Sonatine also made Franchetti's bodyguards think they raped their mothers. They took it [[DrivenToSuicide badly.]]
144** Jackie also encounters a MonsterOfTheWeek witch / EldritchAbomination who does this for a living, psychically feeding off people's desires and memories... [[spoiler:this, uh... backfires [[BrownNote when she tries to do this]] [[EvilerThanThou on Jackie]]]].
145** Frankie did a mundane version of this trope by tying down his wife to a chair and forcing her to watch him ''blowtorch her lover to death''. The trauma rendered her completely catatonic for many years.
146%%* MobWar
147* MoralityChain: Jenny. Not that Jackie shows much restraint in the first place, but the series' flashbacks and flash-forwards go out of their way to demonstrate how excessively much worse a Darkness user could be. [[spoiler:And then she's killed. Predictable things happen next]].
148%%* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: The Darkness.
149%%* MrViceGuy: Jackie
150%%* MuggingTheMonster: HilarityEnsues.
151* MundaneUtility: [[LetsYouAndHimFight After a bout of fighting and a team-up]] with the second Magdalena, Jackie sends the Darklings to his apartment to pick him up a tuxedo to impress her.
152%%* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast
153* NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters: Jackie actually ''believes'' that the mob is supposed to be Film/TheGodfather films. He's NiceToTheWaiter, he would NeverHurtAnInnocent, and when he says IGaveMyWord, he ''means'' it. Doesn't mean he's not a vicious killer, an unrepentant pervert, or a greedy, narcissistic BastardBastard -- it just means he refuses to hurt anyone whom he doesn't feel deserves it. That's a vague guideline, too.
154* NiceJobBreakingItHero: TheChosenOne kid in the post-apocalyptic future [[spoiler:that unleashes the Angelus and [[EarthShatteringKaboom dooms the world]]]].
155* NighInvulnerability: The Darkness lets Jackie survive some truly incredible amounts of punishment, and even gives him dark armor to further increase his durability.
156%%* NightmareSequence: In the game and in the comics.
157* NinetiesAntiHero: A mafia hitman with demonic powers, making him one of the most extreme examples.
158%%* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown
159* NobleDemon: Jackie may be a cold-blooded mobster, but he's not without his ethics. He won't kill innocent people though mobsters are fair game), and is shown to have a softer side with those he cares about.
160%%* NotBloodSiblings: Jackie and Appolonia.
161* OhCrap: Probably too many to list individually:
162** A rival mob boss in TheCanKickedHim scene.
163** [[spoiler:Paulie and his goons when Jackie comes for them.]]
164** [[spoiler:The army guys when he smashes head-on into their helicopter.]]
165** ...and just about anyone about to be splattered all over the walls - which happens quite frequently...
166%%* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Kirchner
167* OrificeInvasion: Combined with StrippedToTheBone *pulls a guy's skeleton out* "POP!"
168%%* OutOfTheInferno: In the "Empire" arc.
169%%* PersonOfMassDestruction: Jackie
170* PetTheDog:
171** Jenny, Jenny's sister, the Magdalena, Marisol...
172** Jackie (seemingly out of nowhere) often does something noble.
173* PluckyComicRelief: The Darklings are [[ComedicSociopathy foul-mouthed imps with a talent for evisceration]]. Until [[spoiler: his return from Hell.]] Then they stop being so funny.
174* PowersDoTheFighting: The Darkness can frequently use his powers to produce shadowy masses of tentacles, in order to drag, mutilate, or capture his foes.
175* PsychoLesbian: The Angelus. It seems to be something within the Angelus itself since the second Angelus hints at creating female sexual partners.
176* PublicDomainCharacter: Compare the Darkness with [[Creator/HPLovecraft the Haunter of the Dark]] of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos.
177* PuttingOnTheReich: Sonatine's {{Mooks}} look like golden Klan members.
178* PygmalionPlot: Besides [[MookMaker creating living constructs to serve them]], both the Darkness and the Angelus had the power to create concubines to satisfy their romantic and sexual desires. Angelus is shown surrounded with an all-female harem and several Darkness users made their own since having sex with normal females would lead to their deaths, as their powers would pass to their offspring at cost of their own lives. Jackie is pulled out of his HeroicBSOD after being told he CantHaveSexEver when hearing about this ability, though its very hard to learn and takes practice: he tries creating female darklings, but botches the attempts several times and ultimately needs outside help to successfully create the perfect woman for himself. [[spoiler:Its revealed that this was all part of the Darkness itself, who deliberately designed these women so their users could breed a pure Darkness being devoid of any humanity]].
179* RealityWarper: Jackie, to a [[KryptoniteFactor limited degree]], since they can do anything they want in the complete absence of light.
180* RetCon: It was originally established that as soon as Darkness users had a woman impregnated with their seed, they would drop dead. Later issues changed this to their deaths only happening the moment their own children is born.
181* RevealingHug: [[PsychoticSmirk when Appolonia is introduced]] and is reunited with [[ArchnemesisDad dear old dad.]]
182* RightHandCat: Appolonia is introduced with one, it’s {{Lampshaded}}, and [[DefiedTrope Defied]]
183%%* ScaryShinyGlasses: Kirchner
184* ScrewYourself: [[spoiler:Elle has elements of this. Jackie made her from the Darkness using ''himself'' as a template.]]
185%%* SecretLegacy
186* ShoutOut:
187** "[[Franchise/StarWars The Darkness is like the Force on crack]]."
188** Volume 1, Chapter 15, page 15: ''Every girl's crazy 'bout a [[Music/ZZTop sharp dressed man]]''.
189* SiblingRivalry: Jackie and Appolonia, though its more of an adopted siblings rather than blood related. It later escalates into CainAndAbel scenario.
190* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Go on. Guess which end this series is on.
191%%* SmugSnake: Apollonia.
192* SnarkyNonhumanSidekick: The Darklings are a bunch of goblin-like creatures that serve Jackie and have "smartass" as default personality.
193* SociopathicHero: Jackie feels nothing at all when killing mobsters or members of the Brotherhood that are out to get him. He mentions this in the second video game, saying that he killed his first man and slept like a baby later that night.
194%%* StayingAlive
195* StrawFeminist: Appolonia's father ''thinks'' she's one of these.
196%%* {{Stripperific}}: The Angelus
197* SuperPowerLottery: Jackie can manipulate shadows, summon beings of darkness, teleport, is extremely durable to damage and very strong and that is just in his ''inexperienced'' state. Previous Darkness users were capable of even more with enough practice.
198* TakeThat:
199** In one scene, the Magdalena holds up an Elmo doll (from ''Series/SesameStreet'') and asks what kind of sick and twisted mind could create such a thing. Subverted with the fact she's biding for time by saying something insane in hopes of distracting Jackie long enough [[spoiler: to shoot him.]]
200** Jackie finds a ''Franchise/StarWars'' toy (Darth Vader) that says, "You don't know the power of the Dark Side." Annoyed, Jackie says it knows nothing and smashes it.
201* TakingYouWithMe: "I don't suppose you'd let me have OneLastSmoke... [[StuffBlowingUp Say, do you smell gasoline?]]"
202%%* TallDarkAndSnarky: Jackie
203* TheTeetotaler: Jackie is somewhat unique amongst his mafioso brethren in that he doesn't drink alcohol at all.
204* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: As of the third volume, Jackie has eliminated no less than four entire crime families.
205* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness:
206** After coming BackFromTheDead, Jackie begins to hallucinate seeing his associates as rotting corpses.
207** In the game, this happens often in flashes so brief they are nearly subliminal, putting the ''player'' in the position of feeling like ''they'' are hallucinating. The first couple times it happens can result in throwing-the-joystick-and-screaming moments depending on how immersed in the game you are at the time...
208* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: In Issue #71, Jackie was attacked by [[EldritchAbomination The Witch in the Walls]] who tried to feed on his memories. Jackie's memories, those that included actions by and against him, were so horrendously vile that they actually poisoned and killed The Witch.
209%%* TortureTechnician: Mister Vespasian.
210* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Even before a certain traumatic FreudianExcuse-worthy event Appolonia is displaying [[TheSociopath sociopathic behavior]] with her dolls... It becomes FridgeBrilliance and FridgeHorror when you realize that her father [[spoiler: was probably molesting her, kissing her on the lips when she's comatose.]]
211* TheTunguskaEvent: ...was caused by a fight between the Darkness and the Angelus.
212* TheUnderworld: According to Danny Estacado, a previous host of the Darkness Entity, and Nick (who is actually the true Devil that religious stories of Lucifer and The Devil are all based on) all souls - whether they were good or evil in life - eventually fall into Hell. A rather disheartening side note is that there actually is a Heaven in the series but no human soul has ever been seen to enter it due to the fact only "beings of light" are allowed entrance.
213* VillainousLineage: Depressingly for Jackie's lineage, he descends from a black and twisted line of men that followed destructive paths. His father was a hitman just like him, albeit one completely devoid of sympathetic qualities that Jackie possess and even disturbed a mobster like Don Franchetti. He's damned by both nature and nurture;
214** His nature is a genetic talent for killing -- and ''winning'' through killing -- even ''before'' he received his Darkness powers;
215-->'''Frankie Franchetti''': First guy you whacked for me, you was ''sixteen.'' Thing I saw about you early on was, you always knew just who to hit an' how hard to hit 'em. You got ''exactly'' the right result. Short time I had you with me, I went from a little guy to the toppa the heap. Just about boss of bosses, I guess, an' we didn't have to wipe out whole families, or act like savages, or make a damn ''mess...'' All we hadda do was kill all the right people.
216** His nurture was insane; specifically ''none'' -- every Darkness host dies upon conceiving the next and the birth usually kills the woman who carried him, meaning Jackie is descended from an unbroken chain of orphans -- which is ''not'' conductive to emotional stability.
217* VillainsOutShopping: Quite frequently...
218* VillainsWantMercy: Cousin Paulie sure did in the comics when Jackie unraveled his plans and cornered him. To say he didn't get it is an understatement.
219* VirginPower: Much to Jackie's dismay, he can't have proper intercourse with a woman out of a guarantee that they'll get pregnant and produce a male heir.
220* WeaksauceWeakness: [[CaptainObvious The Darkness' weakness is light]].
221** In the comic, only daylight and its supernatural equivalent works, whereas in the video game, even a night light makes your powers fade. Justified, since 99% of the game takes place at night, and you'd be near unstoppable otherwise.
222*** More recent comics have gone with the game's version, forcing Jackie to create special darkness-formed lights for his complex in ''Empire''.
223* WeirdnessCensor: "He's wearing some kind of (high tech) body armor" - the army guys when Jackie's manifesting the full demonic exoskeleton and CombatTentacles.
224** FridgeBrilliance when you realize that this is the same universe as a bunch of cybernetic ninjas.
225%%* WhatTheHellHero: Often
226* WhosLaughingNow:
227** Don Franchetti's wife. [[spoiler: [[ForcedToWatch Franchetti made her watch him take a blowtorch to her lover]] and she was so horribly traumatized that she was rendered catatonic. [[OhCrap Then she becomes]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds the Angelus]]]] [[IronicEcho "Let me show you how much I love you."]]
228** Subverted by [[spoiler: Appollonia. After several encounters with the Angelus, she ditches her plans of revenge.]]

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