Line #49 Main/DarkerAndEdgier


1	%%
2	%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' threads:
3	%%
4	%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1338749456004688300
5	%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1571910362001747600
6	%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16913759740.28698500
7	%%
8	%% DO NOT start a new thread for this page without a replacement suggestion.
9	%% DO NOT remove the permission notice.
10	%% The artist's dA page is technically NSFW; do not add a direct link.
11	%%
12	[[quoteright:349:[[Franchise/TheSmurfs https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_smurfs___hardcore.png]]]]
13	[[caption-width-right:349:IT'S SMURFING AWESOME!\
14	[-[[https://www.deviantart.com/ryankinnaird/art/Smurfs-HARDCORE-51485384 Image]] by [=RyanKinnaird=]. Used with permission.-]]]
15	%%
16	->''"You look around these days... it's all different. It's all changed. [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]]'s ''killing'' people, for God's sake! Did I miss something? Was I away when they changed the rules?"''
17	-->-- '''[[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]]''', ''ComicBook/SecretOrigins'', "[[Creator/NeilGaiman When Is a Door]]"
18
19	A ToneShift that seeks to make a work of fiction more [[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness serious]], [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]] or [[SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty gritty]].
20
21	In theory, this means that archetypes which we are accustomed to see acting in a more noble setting will have to act in one where they must think and act grimly in order to make progress, thus forcing [[{{Deconstruction}} re-examination]] of the tropes involved, or the use of new tropes and expansion of the setting, utilizing different sorts of characters and stories. In practice, however, writers can be too lazy to realize all that potential and end up randomly "spicing up" a work with [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence gratuitous gore]], [[ClusterFBomb cursing]], and {{sex\|IsCool}} to make it more "adult" -- often overdoing it in the process. This is not to be confused with ToughLove.
22
23	When done right, Darker and Edgier works are a case of Administrivia/TropesAreTools. When a show uses this trope as a tagline, you can expect a mixture of: [[ColdBloodedTorture awful things]] [[BreakTheCutie happening to the characters]], [[DarkAndTroubledPast twisted backstories]] [[TraumaCongaLine giving them a reason to angst]], [[BlackAndGrayMorality good]] and [[GreyAndGrayMorality bad becoming less obvious]], and the [[CrapsaccharineWorld setting becoming]] [[CrapsackWorld much bleaker]]. However, this all works '''IF''' it's done right.
24
25	As one could predict, this is fairly easy to screw up, and poor use of these tropes may just result in TooBleakStoppedCaring if the setting gets too hopeless, or {{Narm}} if the edginess becomes just silly. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This doesn't make it a bad trope, though]]-- when used subtly, such as in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, it can create the effect of a series growing up with its audience.
26
27	In fact this is often the purpose of a Darker and Edgier turn. Just as a LighterAndSofter tone is typically part of an attempt to bring a fictional world to children or to younger children, a "darker" tone is often intended to make a setting appeal to older children or adults. But unlike its opposite, a Darker and Edgier shift is often intended not to reach a new audience, but rather to keep an existing audience as it grows up. It can also be a result of child fans growing up as its [[PromotedFanboy creators]] and continuing to think of the setting as something aimed at themselves and their peers instead of the original target age group.
28
29	This trope became extremely popular in ComicBooks as a rebellion against MediaNotes/{{the Silver Age\|of Comic Books}} but also led to more than a decade of a lot of clumsy attempts by many writers to show that comics are "[[MaturityIsSeriousBusiness not kid stuff anymore]]." See MediaNotes/{{the Bronze Age\|OfComicBooks}}, MediaNotes/{{the Dark Age\|OfComicBooks}}, and NinetiesAntiHero for more details about how this worked.
30
31	The excessive version is often known as "Grimdark" (one word), derived from the tagline of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. ("In the grim darkness of the far future, there is ''only war.''") Sometimes justified with the phrase "SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids". Usually shows up in DarkFic. If a pre-existing show undergoes a {{Retool}} under the guise of making things Darker And Edgier, expect JumpingTheShark, especially if there was ExecutiveMeddling involved. Blog/TheUnitedFederationOfCharles wrote an essay called, [[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-is-grimdark.html What is Grimdark?]] which explains some of the history of the subject. WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions has [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=PQAWBeFnkg8 a video on this subject as well]]. "Grimderp" has in many parts of the Net become popular as a term for Grimdark that goes so far that it becomes {{Narm}}. When a specific character rather than the work as a whole is perceived as having become excessively Darker And Edgier, a popular term is "Edgelord". Which also gets applied to fanfic writers who produce exclusively Grimdark (or especially Grimderp) works.
32
33	As with LighterAndSofter, this practice tends to go better if the change was planned in advance to keep the tone from shifting too abruptly.
34
35	This is a common result of an ongoing work suddenly becoming subject to less censorship than it had been previously (as was the case with the Comics Code fading away). When the writers had previously been scarcely allowed to depict any violence, swearing, or innuendo at all, but are then finally given permission, you can fully expect them to go wildly overboard with it for a while. This will of course attract some audience members and repel others, but eventually both the viewers and the writers will likely want to scale things back to some level ''between'' the original squeaky-clean version and the later R-rated version. [[note]]If the standard metaphor is a franchise trying to "grow up," one may compare this to a young adult getting a first taste of freedom, and then gradually learning self-restraint.[[/note]]
36
37	Note that [[Administrivia/NotADeconstruction this is not the same]] as a {{Deconstruction}}. A Deconstruction plays out the genre's conventions to their logical conclusions in order to criticize the initial genre conventions. This does not have to be dark (see for instance DeconstructiveParody) and it does not prevent things from turning out well. Darker And Edgier just adds "dark" elements to try and get the same effect. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but often a Deconstruction can cause a work to ''seem'' darker because it's calling attention to dark aspects already implied but previously glossed over; see also AscendedFridgeHorror.
38
39	Opposite of LighterAndSofter, YoungerAndHipper, DenserAndWackier and RevisitingTheRoots. Often found alongside BloodierAndGorier, HotterAndSexier, RuderAndCruder, SequelLogoInRuins, NotWearingTights, and RealIsBrown. Often a by-product of the franchise growing [[SequelEscalation bigger and more epic]].
40
41	Compare {{Grimmification}} and FracturedFairyTale for when this is done with fairy tales and AmericanKirbyIsHardcore for when this is done with boxart. See also SugarApocalypse, and CerebusSyndrome. For when it applies to a single episode, see UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode and for when it applies to a parody, see DarkParody.
42
43	[[noreallife]]
44	----
45	!!Examples:
46
47	[[index]]
48	* DarkerAndEdgier/AnimeAndManga
49	* DarkerAndEdgier/ComicBooks
50	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/TheDCU''
51	*** ''DarkerAndEdgier/{{Batman}}''
52	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/MarvelUniverse''
53	* DarkerAndEdgier/FanWorks
54	* [[DarkerAndEdgier/AnimatedFilms Films — Animation]]
55	* [[DarkerAndEdgier/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
56	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/MarvelCinematicUniverse''
57	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/StarWars''
58	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/XMenFilmSeries''
59	* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Literature}}
60	* DarkerAndEdgier/LiveActionTV
61	** ''[[DarkerAndEdgier/{{Arrowverse}} Arrowverse]]''
62	** ''[[DarkerAndEdgier/KamenRider Kamen Rider]]''
63	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/MarvelCinematicUniverse''
64	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/PowerRangers''
65	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/StarTrek''
66	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/SuperSentai''
67	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/UltraSeries''
68	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/{{Whoniverse}}''
69	* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Music}}
70	* DarkerAndEdgier/ProfessionalWrestling
71	* DarkerAndEdgier/TabletopGames
72	* DarkerAndEdgier/VideoGames
73	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/BioWare''
74	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/FinalFantasy''
75	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/TheLegendOfZelda''
76	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/{{Pokemon}}''
77	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/SuperMarioBros''
78	* DarkerAndEdgier/WebAnimation
79	* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Webcomics}}
80	* DarkerAndEdgier/WebOriginal
81	* DarkerAndEdgier/WesternAnimation
82	** ''DarkerAndEdgier/DCAnimatedUniverse''
83	* DarkerAndEdgier/OtherMedia
84	[[/index]]
85

Context Main / DarkerAndEdgier