Line #29 UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode/WesternAnimation


1	----
2	[[index]]
3	* ''UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
4	* ''UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode/TheSimpsons''
5	[[/index]]
6	----
7
8	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has several episodes like this.
9	** "Holly Jolly Secrets pt II", "I Remember You", "Simon and Marcy", and "Evergreen". The first three deal with the backstory of Ice King, generally a comic relief villain, and reveal him to be a TragicVillain with [[WasOnceAMan a sympathetic backstory]]. [[spoiler: He used to be an antiquarian and scholar named Simon Petrikov, before trying on the Ice Crown drove him briefly insane and scared off his fiancee Betty. The power of the crown helped him survive "the Mushroom War" and then protect a young Marceline as they tried to survive the aftermath together. But using the crown slowly transformed his body and mind, driving him more and more crazy, even when he wasn't wearing it. Eventually he no longer remembers who he used to be and barely remembers Marceline or Betty, just an instinctive need to find his "princess" (as he used to call Betty).]] The fourth reveals the origin and history of Ice King's crown and has a DownerEnding that explains why it drives him mad: [[spoiler: the crown was made by a powerful ice elemental named Urgence Evergreen to stop a comet that was going to destroy [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} a pre-human civilization]]. However, his stubbornness and bad treatment of his apprentice Gunther caused it to backfire, and instead of using the crown's powerful [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor "wish magic"]] to destroy the comet, Gunther wished to be like his master. Now, the crown turns whoever wears it for too long into a twisted parody of Evergreen, whom Gunther admired as a great and powerful wizard but also feared as a strict and bad-tempered master.]]
10	** In "Bad Timing" Lumpy Space Princess falls in love with a guy who returns her affections. She becomes convinced he's going to leave her though, and accidentally kills him trying to use time travel to revert him back to the time he loved her. PB explains what happened to her and LSP is so distraught that she begs to be reverted using the same technology to before she met him, effectively mind wiping her of the whole thing.
11	** "Princess Monster Wife" has the Ice King creating a Frankenstein-esque bride for himself made of body parts of other (living) princesses. The Ice King is a surprisingly sensitive and caring romantic partner and they are happy together, but the bride becomes depressed after realizing she is a monster made from other people's parts and commits suicide by disassembling herself and giving the parts back to the rightful owners.
12	* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'':
13	** In "[[Recap/AmericanDadS3E2TheAmericanDadAfterSchoolSpecial The American Dad After School Special]]", Stan becomes self-conscious after realizing he is overweight and takes it to extremes to become thin, resulting in Stan developing anorexia and becoming severely malnourished.
14	** "[[Recap/AmericanDadS3E12ATTheAbusiveTerrestrial A.T. the Abusive Terrestrial]]" has DomesticAbuse played completely straight, with Roger being repeatedly abused by a nine-year-old boy named Henry.
15	** In "Hot Water", Stan buys a living hot tub who alienated Stan from his family, then kills Lewis, Marguerite, Francine and Stan in that order and while the episode was eased with some humor, TheBadGuyWins this time and the living hot tub is actually a KarmaHoudini. If the series had not been renewed after this episode, [[SuddenDownerEnding this would have been the end of the series]].
16	** Roger-centric episodes are darker than usual (to the point of being [[SurprisinglyCreepyMoment downright creepy]]), but one that deserves special mention is "Love, American Dad Style", where you could say Roger finally crosses the MoralEventHorizon (if he hasn't already) by developing an extreme obsession with Hayley, and reacting badly when she rejects him. He shoots her, ties her to a mattress in an ice factory, and tries to rip off her skin and wear it over himself to be "closer" to her. Jeff shows up in the nick of time, but things still end badly, since Roger [[TheBadGuyWins decides to wear Jeff's skin instead, leaving him in a tub full of ice.]] Roger ''immediately'' loses interest in Hayley after this, and matter of factly offers Jeff his skin back. The episode ends with him as a total KarmaHoudini because StatusQuoIsGod.
17	** The episode "[[Recap/AmericanDadS7E2SonOfStan Son of Stan]]" also deserves a mention, especially in the climax of the episode, where Stevearino (Steve's evil clone) reveals what's BeneathTheMask: He has dedicated himself to kill cats ForTheEvulz, later he tries to kill his own brother and his father. Unlike Roger, he's played seriously.
18	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'':
19	** The first season episode "Toad Tax" marked the point the series turns DarkerAndEdgier, introducing the Frogs vs. Toads argument and Anne making a life-risking decision whose side she is on. The absence of the opening theme even shows how serious the situation is.
20	** "Reunion", the Season 1 finale, is much worse; Anne discovers her friend Sasha was not as nice as she thought, and is leading the rebellion against the toads. Worse still, Hop Pop was almost devoured alive, and Sasha escapes with the toads in the end.
21	** The Season 2 finale "True Colors" ''totally'' changed up the status quo, with TheReveal King Andrias is not TheGoodKing, but an evil, genocidal tyrant coming from a line of galactic conquerors, Marcy revealed to be the one responsible for the girls ending up in Amphibia in the first place, Marcy being fatally stabbed when she tried to help Anne and the Plantars escape, and Anne and the Plantars winding up on Earth. It gets even more serious in "The New Normal" when they are persued by one of Andrias' deadly robots who won't stop chasing them until ''Anne is dead.''
22	* In ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'', the ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' segment "[[Recap/Animaniacs2020Episode8 Mousechurian Candidate]]" has Brain running for Senator as a stepping stone to the Presidency. To increase his appeal to voters, he transforms an ordinary mouse into Julia, his super-intelligent potential first lady. However, Julia's [[NiceGirl compassionate, idealistic nature]] makes her so popular that the voters choose her as the candidate instead! So far, so satirical, but then Brain, previously an AntiHero, grabs the VillainBall and reveals that his current TakeOverTheWorld plan involves [[WouldHurtAChild forcing children to build bombs]]. When Julia refuses to go along with this, Brain uses a MindControlDevice to make her obey him. However, it malfunctions during a televised debate, resulting in Julia [[FreakOut snarling at the audience]], making several {{Nightmare Face}}s, and running off with her hair on fire! In the end, we learn that Julia is okay (at least physically), but is now obsessed with getting {{Revenge}} on Brain; her future appearances show that she's undergone a FaceHeelTurn and seeks to TakeOverTheWorld herself.
23	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' is mostly a kids' show focusing on a group of FunnyAnimal third-graders, and, to a lesser extent, some preschoolers, animals, babies, adults and occasionally teens. It is mainly comical with a few {{Aesop}}s thrown in, but a few episodes got a bit dark:
24	** "April 9th" focuses on the school that Arthur and his main group of friends attend (Lakewood Elementary)'s teacher's office burning down, which quite understandably spooks the kids. One scary subplot involved the fact that Arthur's dad, a caterer, was in the fire at one point, which scared Arthur and made him worry he was going to get hurt or die during work in the future. What made it especially dark was that it aired right around the time of the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror September 11 attacks]] in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, making it a VerySpecialEpisode.
25	** "The Great [=MacGrady=]" has Mrs. [=MacGrady=] (the friendly lunch lady) getting, [[TheTopicOfCancer of all diseases]], ''cancer'' [[note]] What kind of cancer she had was left ambiguous. [[/note]]. She does recover by the end of the episode, but it's still creepy. The episode was created to help kids deal with having cancer or a loved who has it; sadly, it was banned solely because Lance Armstrong guest-starred in the episode, in the wake of the doping scandal, though it did get rewritten with a different celebrity.
26	** "Shelter From the Storm" is a BigStormEpisode which focuses on several plots regarding said big storm. [[SpoiledBrat Muffy]]'s house is damaged so she must stay with another girl whose house is one step away from being ruined and will take a while to rebuild, [[TheSmartGuy The Brain]] has developed [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes a phobia]] of the wind and must see a [[TheShrink psychologist]] (voiced by Creator/IdinaMenzel, who even slips in an underhanded reference to ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013''), [[BigEater Ladonna]] is afraid that her dad (who's helping clean up) won't be back in time for her ninth birthday, and the ice cream shop is damaged.
27	** In "The Chips Are Down", Arthur's little sister D.W. and his friend [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Binky]] both eat green potato chips and fear they're going to die from their "poison". That might seem funny on paper, but it seems somber when they get poetic about life being a gift. It does end on a light note, however, with D.W. and Binky friends and no longer worried about poison.
28	** "So Funny I Forgot to Laugh" has Arthur telling jokes about Sue Ellen's sweater making her look like a sheepdog. At first, she finds them funny, then she grows bored of them, then they start to annoy and eventually offend her, but Arthur [[JerkassBall continues to make the jokes and accuses (even in his apology letter) her of "overreacting".]] This leads to all of Arthur's friends, even ''Buster'' (his best friend), being mad at him in the passive-aggressive, [[SilentTreatment not-talking-to-him]] kind of way, and it even leads to Sue Ellen trying to swap schools.
29	** In "To Eat or Not to Eat", a candy bar is released that makes people lethargic and dizzy and is addictive. It sounds like, and is treated as, a GRatedDrug. Buster is skeptical about eating it and discovers some weird ingredients he doesn't recognize.
30	** "Grandpa Dave's Memory Album" focuses on Arthur and DW dealing with the fact that their grandfather has an unspoken memory disorder.
31	* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'':
32	** "No Hope For Courtney" mainly for its SuddenDownerEnding. The episode was supposed to end with Mrs. Gordon coming out of retirement. But her voice actress Kathleen Freeman DiedDuringProduction, so they had the final scene of the episode announce that [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim Mrs. Gordon had passed away]] right before returning to work. Carl, the show's rascally troublemaker, bursts into tears.
33	** "A Lesson in Tightropes" from the third season is already quite dramatic by featuring Darren's break-up with Ginger, but then it has Ginger suffering from a ruptured appendix and having to get surgery. It's emphasized that Ginger nearly died, and lays on the worries and concerns from Lois quite heavily.
34	** "Wicked Game" deals with Ginger's best friends resorting to RelationshipSabotage to try and break her and Darren up. It has a huge DownerEnding, with Dodie and Macie being exposed, going MyGodWhatHaveIDone and Dodie leaving a tearful apology on Ginger's answering machine.
35	* The Netflix series ''WesternAnimation/AskTheStorybots'', while viewed as a harmless kids show to teach the young audience about very important issues, has shown that it’s not afraid to touch upon dark topics, like in ‘How Do People Catch a Cold’ where the audience learn just how destructive a simple cold can be from the inside. Another example is ‘Why Do We Have To Recycle?’, where the characters end up in a Mad Max-esque environment (in this case a landfill) where they see the horrid repercussions of not recycling frequently..
36	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' is a light and humorous interpretation of the Dark Knight. But in "Chill of the Night", Batman goes after his parents' killer, Joe Chill, and the tone is much more serious than usual. Batman behaves at times more like the modern version of Bruce rather than the Silver Age-based version he normally is, the Batsuit is colored with darker colors, and [[spoiler:ComicBook/TheSpectre kills Chill after Bruce refuses to do it (and Bruce stops his own villains from doing it)]].
37	* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' episode "Transmutate" centers on a bot who is malformed but possesses incredible power. Unfortunately said power makes her a danger to herself and others. Much of the episode is a moral discussion on what would be best for her. The Maximals cannot allow her to join their team as she is too unpredictable but they cannot let her fall into the hands of the Predacons who would exploit her as a weapon (or be destroyed for being "useless"). Two of the characters, Silverbolt and Rampage, feel a kindred spirit with her and both attempt to save her for their own reasons, however the episode ends with them coming into conflict and [[spoiler: Transmutate is killed in the crossfire as she attempts to stop them from shooting each other.]]
38	* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' is generally a lighthearted comedy, but [[CerebusRollercoaster dark episodes tend to creep in now and then]], especially whenever [[VileVillainSaccharineShow Chip Whistler]] shows up.
39	** "Blood Moon" has the animals turn into zombies on Halloween during a blood moon, and the Greens were almost ''[[EatenAlive eaten alive.]]''
40	** "Reckoning Ball" marks the point in the series Chip Whistler crosses into full-on BigBad territory; what's dark about it is he reveals in the final scene [[BaitTheDog he only tricked the Greens and his dad into thinking he changed]] so he can take over as CEO for Wholesome Foods, and now that his dad is out of the picture, he has all the power he can to run the Greens out of Big City. It gets even worse once you realize [[InnocuouslyImportantEpisode Cricket forgiving Chip in the climax]] lead to what happens listed right below, [[ItsAllMyFault and boy was he sorry for that.]]
41	** "Chipwrecked". Sure things are crazy at first, Cricket no longer taking Chip seriously and [[TheChewToy treating him like a failing joke.]] But things get ''very'' bad in the last 4-5 minutes when Chip takes his dad's advice too well: he fires his two henchmen and replaces them with a bouncer squad, dismantles the cafe and prevents Cricket from attacking, bribes Ms. Cho into handing Big Coffee over to him, fires Cricket and Gloria leaving them jobless, taunts Cricket over the way he treated him and claims none of this would've happened if he didn't think he changed in the first place, and to make matters worse, his new Wholesome Foods expansion plan will be right where the Greens' house stands. Uh-oh.
42	** "Chipocalypse Now" is even darker than the previous, and about ''five times as dark as the past episodes mentioned'', given that both Big Coffee and the apartment complex are blown up to bits and replaced with a Wholesome Foods Megastore right over the Greens' house, and as if things could get worse, the house itself is going to be knocked down and replaced with a parking lot, and Bill loses all hope, which could put an end to the family's legacy forever if they don't fight back. Shane Houghton even said on his Twitter posts this episode will be "intense", and completely dives away from the show's usual formula. Things get ''much'' worse in the climax, where Chip goes completely psycho and Cricket and the Greens nearly ''die.''
43	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'':
44	** "Granddad" reveals that the Heeler sisters' grandfather, Mort, has recently had surgery for heartworm. His daughter Chilli, the girls' mother, relentlessly follows him around begging him to lie down for a while, and it's implied she's afraid he will die since she mentions she "needs" him.
45	** Downplayed for "Onesies", which is mostly a funny episode about Bingo running rampant pretending to be a cheetah, but it also involves the girls' aunt Brandy visiting after being estranged from her sister Chilli for years. There's also [[ComedicWorkSeriousScene one sombre moment]] where Chilli explains that the reason Brandy is feeling so awkward is because she wants something she can't have, which is implied to be [[LawOfInverseFertility kids]].
46	* ''WesternAnimation/BobbysWorld'' has "The Music", which like the "I Remember Melville" example below has Bobby dealing with the death of the crossing guard, Abe. "The Music" also has a BittersweetEnding.
47	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'', "[[Recap/BravestarrS1E26ThePrice The Price]]": You think you're in for another preachy DrugsAreBad episode, but then the ending hits you like a nuclear blast of feels. The episode deals with a kid who is turned onto a topical controlled substance called Spin. The perps are caught but the tag is tainted: The boy is found in his treehouse, dead of a Spin overdose. The episode ends with the boy's mother in agonized hysteria, with the final "pro-social message" scene showing Bravestarr laying a wreath at the boy's grave.
48	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'' episode "Caillou is Getting Older", Caillou is afraid to get older after seeing a bird that died of old age.
49	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' features several episodes which are darker than the rest of the series as well as children's animation in general. Linka's cousin dies of a drug overdose in "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS2E1MindPollution Mind Pollution]]", a drive by shooting of a family is shown in "Utopia", "Formula For Hate" covers the topic of AIDS, a teacher and a friend of Gi gets shot in a gang shoot out in "Teers in the Hood" (and the episode also shows realistic images of victims of gang violence, including a dead child), Wheeler's friend is killed in "Talkin' Trash", and throughout the series, the deadly effects of pollution are shown.
50	* ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000'':
51	** "Big Robot on Campus" explores [[StepfordSmiler Philly Phil's]] self-esteem issues to a greater extent than "Free Philly" did, and has a surprising level of realism for the series.
52	** "Take a Hike!"; Tamika and Madison get stranded in a dark forest overnight. The other kids, especially Eddie, are visually despondent throughout the episode.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' is already often dark and disturbing for Cartoon Network standards, but several episodes go farther.
54	** Episodes featuring Katz are significantly more disturbing than the majority of the show, as he's basically a SerialKiller in a kids show.
55	** The episode "The Mask", which had a realistically portrayed domestic abuser in the form of villain Mad Dog.
56	** The final two episodes of the series also count. in "Remembrance of Courage Past" we were introduced to the worst villain in the show, an evil vet who was responsible for the fate of Courage's parents, while "Perfect" revolves around psychological abuse and despair, and includes absolutely horrifying nightmare sequences.
57	* ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'': "Daniel's Fish Dies" is about just that-- a fish dying. This makes the whole family (except Margaret, who is too young to understand) very sad, and the moral of the episode is "if a pet dies, asking questions about it might help".
58	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'':
59	** Several episodes that focuse on Tom and his relationship with Jane and Daria have a darker tone.
60	** The final episode, entitled "Boxing Daria". It is probably the most serious and dark episode of the entire series and has a significant TearJerker. The creators had this to say about it:
61	---> "Daria's journey was wrapped up in... [this] episode. Daria realizes that her isolation isn't just about being different - she likes being isolated. It may be painful for her, but she's better off trying to interact with the others. She's pretty realistic. She's smart and articulate yet unsure of how the world will accept her."
62	* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' may have been DarkerAndEdgier by the standards of WesternAnimation/TheDisneyAfternoon, but it's a Disney show; even with the characters averting NeverSayDie it's still lighthearted by most shows' standards. Then we get "[[Recap/DarkwingDuckS1E50TimeAndPunishment Time and Punishment]]", an episode in which Gosalyn visits a BadFuture caused by Darkwing reinventing himself as a KnightTemplar called Dark Warrior Duck after she disappeared. While Dark Warrior has a fairly humorous ideal (based largely on DisproportionateRetribution for crimes like jaywalking) the episode he is in, for the most part, takes itself seriously.
63	* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' is mostly a light-hearted kids show, but it has a few dark episodes:
64	** One of the Beagles turns the nephews into gold statues in the GrandFinale. That is, they were basically ''murdered''.
65	** "The Curse of Castle [=McDuck=]" is pretty dark too. Not only is it atmospheric thanks to the old castle setting for most of the episode with a vicious hound, but it's far more personal for Scrooge, as it's part of "my heritage" to retake Castle [=McDuck=].
66	** The alien robots in the episode "Money to Burn" not only steal Scrooge's money bin, so they could melt down the coins to make new robots. But they also are really close to melting Scrooge and Launchpad into grease. Not to mention the FridgeHorror that these robots had probably killed off the alien race, who had once created them in the first place...
67	** The mites in "[[Recap/DuckTalesAttackOfTheMetalMites The Attack of the Metal Mites]]" are played ''very'' seriously, despite the fact that they are tiny insects. After all, they were designed to eat metal! So they cause plenty of damage all over the city, and they even devour Fenton's otherwise indestructable Gizmoduck suit.
68	* TheMovie of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' reveals that [[spoiler:Eddy's brother, who Eddy spoke highly of throughout the series, is a bully who was and is physically abusive to Eddy. This physical abuse is treated dead seriously as opposed to the series' usual {{Slapstick}}, with the Eds, the cul-de-sac kids, and even the other antagonists [[EveryoneHasStandards horrified]].]]
69	* ''WesternAnimation/DragonsTheNineRealms'': In the sixth episode of season 6, [[spoiler:Thunder gets poisoned and spends most of the episode in critical condition, nearly ending up dying. Later, after Tom gets captured by [[{{AxCrazy}} the local lunatic with a hatchet]] Buzzsaw, the latter voices his desire to use the same poison on Tom, just to see how the poison would affect a human. He is literal seconds away from [[{{WouldHurtAChild}} shooting a dart drenched in said poison at Tom]] when his friends arrive and stop him.]]
70	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'':
71	** "Action Packed" is an example of this. Even the physics of the animation get DarkerAndEdgier when Timmy wishes to be in an action movie.
72	** TheMovie titled ''WesternAnimation/AbraCatastrophe''. Crocker is much more evil than in other episodes, even crossing the MoralEventHorizon when he kidnaps and tortures Wanda for use as a power source. In fact, the consequences are so threatening, Timmy has no choice but to face Crocker head-on during the climax.
73	** Any episode featuring a villain [[VileVillainSaccharineShow who is really evil]], such as Miss Doombringer (a crazy woman who is definitely worse than [[AntiVillain Mr. Crocker]]) from "No Substitute For Crazy" and The Destructinator from the three-part special, "Wishology".
74	** In the WhamEpisode "Hassle In The Castle", we're introduced to Maryanne, who, despite being a one shot character, is probably one of the most evil characters ever to appear in a children's cartoon. She used Cosmo and Wanda's magic to have Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife assassinated in Sarajevo ForTheEvulz and caused UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne, which led to the formation of the Soviet Union, Adolf Hitler rising to power, UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, the deaths of millions, the creation of nuclear weaponry, the Cold War, 9/11, ISIS; if there's a huge problem with modern society, it can be laid at Maryanne's feet. None of this gets elaborated on, of course, but Wanda mentioning in passing that Maryanne's wish was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand gives way to ''lots'' of FridgeHorror.
75	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
76	** The episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS12E6LifeOfBrian Life of Brian]]" is probably the darkest episode in the series so far. [[spoiler: Brian is suddenly KilledOffForReal, and it is really PlayedForDrama. Though the blow is lessened because he comes back two episodes later. DeathIsCheap, indeed]].
77	** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E2SeahorseSeashellParty Seahorse Seashell Party]]" also falls under this, especially regarding Brian's hallucinogenic trip, which has been considered to contain some of the most disturbing animation in the show.
78	** "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E3ScreamsOFSilenceTheStoryOfBrendaQ Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q]]" is also quite dark, as it takes DomesticAbuse, a trope normally played for laughs on this show, and treats it deadly seriously with Quagmire's sister Brenda trying to escape her abusive boyfriend Jeff (something which was shown previously in "[[Recap/FamilyGuy8E7JeromeIsTheNewBlack Jerome is the New Black]]" as a throwaway side bit) and Quagmire, Peter, and Joe all agreeing to ''murder'' Jeff so he can't hurt anyone ever again.
79	* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'':
80	** The PilotMovie ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfBloos''. There are much more serious and [[TearJerker tear-jerking]] moments dealing with Mac and Bloo possibly losing their friendship. The next episodes become LighterAndSofter when that conflict is resolved.
81	** ''WesternAnimation/GoodWiltHunting'', while not without comedy, gets very heavy in revealing Wilt's DarkAndTroubledPast.
82	%%** The GrandFinale titled ''WesternAnimation/Destination Imagination''. It is even rated TV-PG. - ZCE
83	* The ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'' episode "Franklin and the Fire" is about fire safety. A hardware store is burned down and fire is played very seriously. Franklin's friends talk about how their houses could burn down and all their stuff burning up.
84	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is usually a comedy, albeit with a few BlackComedy jokes. However...
85	** One episode, "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E7JurassicBark Jurassic Bark]]", is very serious. Fry finds a fossilized dog that used to be his dog before he [[HumanPopsicle accidentally froze himself and ended up in the future]]. They try to bring him back to life, but fail. There is a minor sad moment with Bender worrying he's not Fry's best friend anymore, but that pales in comparison to the ending, which is the real kicker: it's revealed that Fry's dog never forgot about him and spent years waiting for Fry until his implied death.
86	** Fry appears to die within the first few minutes of "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E12TheSting The Sting]]", and you wonder just how he'll be revived. Only as the episode continues [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome every expected solution turns out to be a dead end]], a guilt-stricken Leela takes a FantasticDrug to cope and undergoes severe SanitySlippage, [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness and the entire story gradually descends into a maelstrom of hallucinatory madness]]. [[spoiler:Even TheReveal that [[AdventuresInComaland all of this happened in Leela's coma dream after being injured]] doesn't do much to lighten the mood, as we also find that [[BreakTheCutie an utterly shattered Fry]] has been [[UnbrokenVigil sitting by her side for two whole weeks]], tearfully begging her to wake up.]]
87	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' has had several examples.
88	** The final two episodes of season 1, "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E19Dreamscaperers Dreamscaperers]]" and "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E20GideonRises Gideon Rises]]", are a whole lot darker than the rest. The former introduces the mind demon Bill Cipher. [[spoiler:Things take an even darker turn when he gets mad. "EAT NIGHTMARES!"]] This is actually symbolized by the picture on Mabel's sweater, a sunset over a lake. "Gideon Rises" has much higher stakes than other episodes in the show, with [[spoiler:the threat of Stan losing the Mystery Shack and Dipper and Mabel having to be sent home]], and the climactic fight scene is surprisingly intense.
89	** "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E10NorthwestMansionMystery Northwest Mansion Mystery]]" is also pretty harsh, featuring a [[{{Revenge}} vengeful]] lumberjack ghost as the antagonist, a scene with blood oozing from taxidermy animals (which was cut from some re-runs), [[spoiler:and revelations about the true nature of Pacifica's [[AbusiveParents vile father]]]].
90	** The short series ''[[Recap/GravityFallsDippersGuideToTheUnexplained Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained]]'' is mostly a short, lighthearted comedic bit of animation. However, the last episode, "The Hide Behind", features a real lumberjack legend (which is disturbingly similar to Slenderman), and even [[spoiler:ends with him being real and stalking Dipper on the way home]].
91	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' gives us "Who Killed Who?" The episode starts off with Mandy going into a supposed haunted house to get Billy and Irwin's game dice back. The house was said by Grim to be haunted by the ghost of a woman named Mrs. Doolin who he claims murdered kids who entered her property. When Mandy meets the owner, things seem to be fine and Doolin mentions that she knew Grim and claimed he was upset for all the times she had beaten him in the past; after hearing that Mandy was excluded from Billy's game for being a girl, she helps Mandy scare him as payback. The episode looks like it's going to end until Mandy turns around [[spoiler: to see the house that was tidy a second ago is now aged and ruined -- revealing that Grim really was telling the truth about the house being haunted. Doolin is implied to have lived on past her natural life due to beating Grim on multiple occasions. However, this is undone when Mandy defeats her in a fencing match and slices a medallion off her neck, the same medallion that appears in a painting of her after beating Grim.]]
92	-->'''Mandy:''' [[spoiler:Wow, Mrs. Doolin beat Grim. She BEAT Death.]]
93	* The majority of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' is campy and hard to take seriously even in its more serious moments. "The Problem With Power" revolves around Skeletor tricking He-Man into thinking he killed an innocent man during a fight, causing Adam to give up his power until he learned what happened. Originally the episode would've been even darker, with He-Man actually killing an innocent bystander by accident.
94	* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'':
95	** The show is usually a fairly light-hearted SliceOfLife cartoon with the occasional {{parental bonus}}, but one episode called "On The Lam" was pretty dark as well as hilarious. It involves Harold, Sid, and Stinky [[spoiler:believing to]] blowing up an old police station with a rocket and they bound and gagged Arnold so that he wouldn't tell anybody. Not helping is that the episode originally aired in 2002...
96	** The infamous "Cheese Festival" episodes. They usually start in a lovey-dovey valentine style, with Arnold going to the cheese festival with his love interest, and Helga doing whatever she can to ruin the date. No matter how hilarious the episode is, they always have the same, depressing, dark ending: Arnold doesn't get the girl while Helga is left completely alone at the festival without a lover or even a friend, making a very miserable face just before all the lights go out.
97	** There are also the episodes addressing Arnold's parents ("Parents' Day" and "The Journal"). "Parents' Day" is just straight up sad for the most part, given the subject matter. "The Journal" does have its fair share of comedic moments, but the ForegoneConclusion that Miles and Stella will eventually go missing and be unable to properly raise their son makes the whole thing kind of sad. [[spoiler: The two parter does end on an optimistic note given that Arnold finds a map detailing where his parents actually went. This was supposed to be a hook for the second series movie, which unfortunately never got made... until 2017, that is.]]
98	** "Helga on the Couch" has Helga being sent to a therapist. The episode delves into Helga's character and deconstructs it. It also showcases Helga's harsh home life, such as her parents [[ParentalNeglect ignoring her]] so much that she had to walk to pre-school by herself in the rain.
99	** "Dino Checks Out" is about the famed singer Dino Spumoni faking his death to boost record sales. The subject matter wouldn't be out of place in a more mature series like ''The Simpsons'' or ''Duckman''.
100	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' usually focuses on friendship and romance melodrama, however it has several dark episodes:
101	** "The Princess and the Singer" is about Kimber meeting a princess who is her {{Identical Stranger}}. The two get switched, which is especially bad since there's an assassination attempt against the princess. The episode is one of the few times ''Raymond'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards helps]] the main characters.
102	** "Father's Day" deals both with Kimber's sorrow over her father's recent death and Pizzazz's troubled relationship with her own father. It's one of the few episodes to end on a BittersweetEnding.
103	** "The Fan" revolves around The Misfits accidentally {{gaslighting}} Jem while trying to find out her real name. Jem almost has a mental breakdown because she doesn't understand what's going on.
104	** The drug VerySpecialEpisode "Alone Again" has the [[LongLostUncleAesop oneshot protagonist]] being a teenage girl who was recently orphaned. She ends up befriending a boy at her high school that gets her hooked on drugs. This spirals into an addiction and at one point she almost jumps out a window trying to fly.
105	** "Out of the Past" revolves around Jerrica's pain over her mother's death a decade prior. In it, it's revealed that Jacqui Benton died in a plane crash. Jerrica has {{Parting Words Regret}}s because she was angry at her mother that day.
106	** "Video Wars" is an unfortunate SwanSong for antagonist Clash; although she was often seen hanging around The Misfits and involved with their schemes, the group really don't consider her a friend and repeatedly mocked and threatened her throughout the episode if she fails to ruin The Holograms once and for all. Once she does indeed fail to deliver, the last speaking role of her for the series has her desperately begging The Misfits to give her another chance, only for them to reject her and drive off leaving her sad and alone.
107	** In "A Change of Heart", Minx almost drowns and decides to [[HeelFaceTurn turn over a new leaf]]. Her bandmates disagree and kick her out over her new, nicer personality. Minx is left so distraught that she tries to [[DrivenToSuicide jump off a roof]]. Rio [[InterruptedSuicide stops her]], which leads to Minx becoming indebted to him for the entire episode. Eventually Minx gets fed up of everyone's ingratitude and goes back to her old ways.
108	** "Riot's Hope" reveals The Stingers, and especially Riot's, {{Freudian Excuse}}s. Riot has an abusive father who disowned him for becoming a musician because he believes that only "women and sissies" are into music. The stress of her family's bad relationship later causes Riot's mom to be hospitalized. In the same episode, one of the musical numbers reveals that The Stingers are so selfish and cruel because they spent their early days together being homeless street musicians.
109	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
110	** Episode 204 starts with the main four having a fun snowball fight together, and Kaeloo and Stumpy note that Mr. Cat is a DefrostingIceKing and he's acting much nicer than he used to. They mention this to Mr. Cat, who starts freaking out and having an identity crisis because he perceives the meanness as a core part of his identity. He spends the rest of the episode traumadumping to Quack-Quack about how his DarkAndTroubledPast shaped him into the person he is today, explains that his cruelty is caused by a desire to appear stronger and not be bullied himself, and laments the fact that he was constantly forced to fend for himself throughout his childhood and [[WiseBeyondTheirYears became the wise and mature person he is today]] because he's jealous of how other children his age can be so carefree and happy.
111	** Episode 236 involves Kaeloo forcing Stumpy to participate in a televised talk show, with his little sisters present to debunk any lies he may tell. The episode starts off comedic but takes a darker turn when Kaeloo starts asking about Stumpy's family. The sisters reveal that their father was an [[AlcoholicParent alcoholic]] who [[DisappearedDad ran out on them]] and due to the [[MassiveNumberedSiblings large size of their family]], [[StrugglingSingleMother their mother had to take up three jobs to support them all]], and even then they continue to live in poverty, but they try to stay happy by reminding themselves that there are other people out there who have it worse than them.
112	* The GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' could probably qualify. Not only are all the main locations of the series destroyed, but the TakeOverTheWorld scheme is more destructive than any other, and on top of that, the hero comes closest to dying. It also contains the only real time when the villains of the episode are KilledOffForReal. Granted, they were more dangerous than the other villains that the series showed and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman they weren't humans]], but still.
113	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' has:
114	** The episode "Pigmalion". Luanne gets a job at the wealthy owner of a pork product company's house and moves in with him. At first, things are fine, but after a while he starts to get very obsessive and creepy. He dyes her hair to match the girl in his company's ads and won't let her wear anything but the girl's dress. This turns out to be part of an insane plot involving his vision of "the perfect family" as depicted in the ads: a husband and wife in traditional Swiss clothes and their pet pig. With himself as the ''pig''. This scares Luanne and he chases her into the slaughterhouse where he takes her onto the pig slaughtering machine so they can be TogetherInDeath. She escapes, but he remains on the machine intending to kill himself anyway. He then gets an electric shock from the machine, which cures his insanity and gives him ''just'' enough time to [[OhCrap realize where he is and what's going to happen to him]] before he is killed by the machine.
115	** Before that, there was "Pretty, Pretty Dresses", a Christmas episode where Bill's holiday depression over his abusive wife leaving him constantly drives him to suicide and his friends try to stop him from killing himself. Things get worse when Hank yells at the emotionally-unstable Bill for being a burden and Bill snaps and starts dressing in drag and believing he's his ex-wife.
116	* Dark undertones had already been creeping in to ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' since "The Rise of Scar", in which the demonic spirit of Scar becomes the show's BigBad. But it was nothing ''too'' serious until "The Scorpion's Sting", where [[spoiler: Scar sends a scorpion to lethally poison Simba, and then sets a trap for the Lion Guard when they come for the cure that includes siccing all of his Outlander forces on them within a volcano, with a climax where it continuously looks like the Lion Guard and/or Simba are doomed. It's only at the last minute that they escape and cure Simba, and even then they now know that a war is brewing.]]
117	* ''WesternAnimation/LittlePrincess'': While it's only a snail that dies, "I Want My Snail" still stands out because it's the only episode that focuses on death. In addition, it was the Princess that had [[AccidentalMurder accidentally killed]] the snail, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone causing her a lot of guilt]].
118	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'':
119	** "A Grave Mistake" downplays this. A rooster named Ricky dies, and while there are slapstick and BlackComedyPetDeath jokes, such as Lincoln belatedly realising that chicken nuggets are improper to serve at a chicken's funeral, it is also played somewhat seriously. For instance, Principal Huggins, who is usually stern and no-nonsense, is reduced to InelegantBlubbering by Ricky's death, and Luna writes a sad song for Ricky that is a lot slower and more serious than her usual songs.
120	** "Middle Men", "Senior Moment", and "Friends in Dry Places" are episodes that focus on the theme of growing older, and while they are largely comedic, they sometimes veer into serious territory. In the former, it's revealed that Lynn had a terrible time in middle school which changed her behaviour, in "Senior Moment", Lori feels like she's wasted her high school life not doing certain "rites of passage", and in the latter, Lincoln fears that he will lose his friends when he goes to middle school.
121	** While "Geriantics" still has some jokes, it still focuses on Lisa (who's a ChildProdigy but still a little girl) finding out that her Pop-Pop will be dead by the time she herself is elderly, and being saddened by this. She invents a high-tech suit, which she hopes will prolong his lifespan, and makes changes to things like his diet and the temperature of his surroundings, but he rejects them despite knowing he will eventually die since he wants to live his life to the fullest.
122	* ''Literature/MillyMolly'''s cartoon adaptation is mostly happy, but when it gets dark, it ''really'' gets dark.
123	** In "Grandpa's Oak Tree", it starts like a fun episode about the title girls being on a trip with their elderly friends, but then the Grandpa dies, there's drama as a [[SoulfulPlantStory special tree might have to be cut down]], and eventually [[spoiler: Granny dies.]]
124	** In "Goodbye, Alf", Alf and his grandmother might have to move away. They don't, but before that, one of the horses, Pepper, gets very ill and needs treatment.
125	** In "Wags", Wags the dog (no, not [[Music/TheWiggles that one]]), is stolen by a couple who ''don't even feed him properly''. Thankfully, Wags comes back, but still.
126	** "Aunt Maude" deals with Aunt Maude [[InjuredLimbEpisode breaking her leg]] and [[spoiler: a lot of the town ending up in hospital]]. Thankfully, things clear up.
127	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Milo}}'' episode "Prickly the Porcupine" deals with the porcupine's death.
128	* The ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'' episode "The Island of Lost Dakotas" is this for the comedic time-traveling duo of [[StraightManAndWiseGuy Balthazar Cavendish and Vinnie Dakota]], revealing that [[spoiler:Cavendish has died countless times over the course of their adventures and has no idea that Dakota has been repeatedly time-traveling to rescue him. All of the redundant Dakotas created by this reckless lifesaving have exiled themselves from society and are living on a remote island with no other company, considering their HeroicSacrifice worth it.]]
129	* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', a normally lighthearted kids show, has the episode [[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS03E22CatBlanc Cat Blanc]], in which [[spoiler: one of the protagonists turns evil and ends up destroying all of Paris, killing everyone in it including the other protagonist and the BigBad, ends up spending months alone in the desolate remains of the city, slowly losing his mind, and threatens to destroy the universe]].
130	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'':
131	** The fourth episode, [[Recap/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePoohS1E4FindHerKeepHer "Find Her, Keep Her"]], while not particularly dark, has a BittersweetEnding and is far more emotionally complex than any other episode of the show, or any animated show at the time, for that matter. It revolves around Rabbit saving a young bluebird named Kessie during a snowstorm, his growing bond with her as the seasons pass, and his growing anxiety at her needing to [[HibernationMigrationSituation fly south]] when winter returns.
132	** "Cleanliness Is Next To Impossible" has Crud. He may be a cartoony blob of slime but in a series where every villain is a HarmlessVillain ([[NoAntagonist if it even has a villain]]), this guy stands out.
133	** "Sorry, Wrong Slusher", which spoofs ''slasher movies'' of all things and, even though there ultimately is no real threat, contains some legitimate NightmareFuel.
134	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
135	** "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!" has Candace succeeding at busting her brothers, and they get sent to a military school where they are broken down, [[KickTheDog physically abused, mentally tortured]], and stripped of their identities and creativity. Such scenes included being forced to watch propaganda films ''[[Film/AClockworkOrange Clockwork Orange]]''-style, working on a chain gang and ''faux-waterboarding''. ItWasAllADream in the end, but ''still''. Poor Perry, how many nightmarish things does he even dream about?
136	** The episode "Quantum Boogaloo" has Future Candace stealing Phineas and Ferb's time machine to bust her brothers, when she does, Linda and parents ban all creativity and go as far as [[WouldHurtaChild stuffing them in human-sized tanks and jars]] and this allows Doof to take over when Perry gets injured. Forcing future Candace to go back in time again to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong stop all of that from happening]]
137	* While ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is no stranger to darkness, it's usually balanced out by some comedy or sweetness for levity. This is not the case in "Hollow Mind", [[spoiler:where Luz and Hunter spend the entire episode trapped in the Emperor's mind and see first hand that he's a serial killer with genocidal aspirations.]]
138	* The pre-school claymation series ''WesternAnimation/{{Pingu}}'' includes a [[OldShame shameful]] BannedEpisode that terrified many toddlers: "Pingu Runs Away". In this episode, Pingu misbehaves, runs way from home in the dark of night and comes across some scary ice sculptures (a skull, a dinosaur and a devil). The episode does have a happy ending, and is designed to teach young children about the dangers of running away, but it can easily make toddlers cry and/or give them nightmares. Even the scene of Pingu being punished at the beginning of the episode is pretty dark; Pingu actually gets ''spanked'' by his mother, with him crying in pain.
139	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':
140	** The episode "Knock it Off" has them sell the formula they were created with to Dick Hardly, a villain who, despite having no superpowers, is thought by most fans to be the worst villain they ever fight, even worse than Him. He is an unscrupulous and cruel man who uses the stuff to start cranking out "EXTREME" Powerpuff Girls. He uses more Chemical X and less of the other ingredients resulting in malformed girls, whom he abuses or callously destroys, and for no reason other than greed. Later when he won't give up the Chemical X, he drinks it, and turns into a monster and nearly sucks the life out of the girls, leaving them sickly green and covered in spots. The professor and their clones are just barely able to save them. It's little wonder that Dick is the only originally-human villain on the show who was KilledOffForReal.
141	** The "Speed Demon" episode where the girls travel to a [[BadFuture grim future]] where Ms. Bellum has turned into a Mayor-hat obsessed wretch [[spoiler: because the Mayor had been killed]], the teacher is so traumatized that she keeps repeating a MadnessMantra about the girls leaving, and the professor is a shallow shell of his former self, not even going into the list of people who blame them, having suffered possibly even worse things. And it's all caused by [[spoiler: Him]] who has reduced the town to an apocalyptic wasteland and becoming a [[PhysicalGod literal Satan]] himself.
142	* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': In the episode "My Fair Jet," Jet wants to go to the Deep Space Array's Open House. However, Sean and Sydney won't let him go because they are afraid he will expose his alien identity. They make Jet go through training to act like a human kid. The episode starts out seeming light-hearted, but then it takes a turn for the bleak when it is revealed that if the Open House doesn't go well, the Deep Space Array will lose all its funding. Sean gets carried away by a weather balloon and is put into serious danger. Jet saves him and performs a song about he's Bortronian. Although WeirdnessCensor is in effect, and the episode has a happy ending, this episode is still quite dreary.
143	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', despite being a light-hearted show about group of kids and their adventures at school, has a few dark and serious episodes:
144	** "Prickly Is Leaving". We are introduced to Dr. Slicer, the most evil villain in the series, who [[WouldHurtAChild employs cruel and unusual tactics]] to control the school and, unlike Finster or Prickly, only cares about power without regard for the students' welfare. His behavior [[EvenEvilHasStandards even disgusts Miss Finster]], and TJ (who was never afraid to stand up to adults before or since) is completely scared of him. He is ousted in the end, but [[FridgeHorror consider this]]: Third Street wasn't the first school he was principal of, and likely would not be the last.
145	** "The Biggest Trouble Ever" is a WhamEpisode for the series. It involves the gang accidentally breaking the statue of Thaddeus T. Third III and become the town's most hated people. Ms. Finster punishes them by making them work menial jobs. But the real reason why the episode is so dark is what happens later: Mayor Fitzhugh, the mayor of Third Street, decides to [[MoralEventHorizon send the Recess Gang to six separate schools]], even though they are remorseful and [[EvenEvilHasStandards even Prickly and Ms. Finster object]]. Throughout the episode, Fitzhugh looks very gleefully sadistic about the whole thing, and only relents when Third's own grandson, demanding that they be pardoned, threatens to expose Fitzhugh's own (deliberate) past misbehavior regarding the statue.
146	** The Halloween special is really quite creepy, especially for a show aimed at kids. It's presented in an anthology format (similar to the WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''): One story features a recurring character becoming a werewolf and attacking various citizens, the second (in a {{homage}} to Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{Christine}}''), has the kids' bicycles coming to life during a storm, causing fear and chaos (this even ends with a sinister cliffhanger, as the bus the school escapes on is revealed to be similarly alive), and the final story features the gang being pursued by zombies, very creepy ones at that.
147	* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' is already generally a bit more adult and risqué in its humor and situations than other Creator/CartoonNetwork shows, but even considering that, "The Christmas Special" in season 4 stands out. [[BigBad Quillgan]] [[spoiler:gets his hands on a present he created and wishes for the destruction of Christmas forever, which then causes bombs to be placed on anything Christmas-ish, including snow. Thankfully, we never see how powerful the bombs were, but it's very likely they would've done serious damage. This would've likely caused no one to want to celebrate a holiday that goes hand in hand for a global scale bombing.]]
148	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' had:
149	** The episode "Mother's Day", which reveals that [[ShrinkingViolet Chuckie]]'s mother Melinda died of an [[SoapOperaDisease undefined illness or injury]] and he almost forgot she existed but his dad still misses her. What drives it home is that, aside from a few moments, this episode lacks humour.
150	** "I Remember Melville", another episode centered around death, has the eponymous potato bug dying. Even though it's only a potato bug, the babies still treat it very seriously.
151	* While ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' was never such a lighthearted show, the episode "Jack and the Haunted House" is without doubt the most unsettling episode of the series. Much in contrast to the rest of the episodes, this one contains [[ArtShift some really dark and frightening imagery]], and the main villain is a sadistic, [[KnightOfCerebus humorless]] demon [[UncannyValley with a disturbingly detailed design]], almost resembling a [[{{Satan}} certain creature]]. Of course, this sounds a hell of a lot like a Lovecraftian horror story.
152	* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' is already pretty dark for a ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' series (barring some of the films), but "The Devouring" takes special mention since it's mostly a comedic filler episode involving a demon that eats anything with gluten in it and ends a [[TemporaryBulkChange morbidly obese]] Shaggy and Scooby beating the bad guy in a sumo wrestling match. All this goes on while Mr. E and Professor Pericles struggle for control against each other, until the very end of the episode reveals Pericles has injected Mr. E with mutated cobra venom and can kill him with a single press of a button.
153	* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' is a generally lighthearted and optimistic show, but the movies after the pilot take a much darker turn of events.
154	** "The Floating Palace" has Cedric disguising himself as a sea monster kidnapping Oona, Sofia's mermaid friend, and a ''child'', in order to get her special comb. If Sofia doesn't get her back, the family ship will be sunk. While the pilot movie emphasized more of his comedic and bumbling traits, he's much more serious and determined, to the point of trying to willingly hurt Sofia (although she doesn't recognize him) rather than indirectly persuade or blackmail her.
155	** Things really get dark in "The Curse Of Princess Ivy". It involves the titular antagonist wanting to get rid of Sofia's amulet so she can stay in Enchancia to rule it forever. She has special butterflies that can erase people's memories to varying degrees, leaves Sofia and Amber, two children, in a chasm ''to die'', and her VillainSong implies that she wanted to ''murder her sister''.
156	** "Elena And The Secret Of Avalor" really cranks it up a notch, thanks to its antagonist Shuriki, the GreaterScopeVillain for the series and the primary antagonist of ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor''. Let's review what she's done, shall we? Right off the bat, we see that she ''murdered'' Elena's parents, trapped her in the amulet for ''41 years'', and ruled Avalor with an iron fist. She also imprisoned the family in her dungeon when she was exposed. [[spoiler:The ending shows that we haven't seen the last of her.]]
157	** In "The Mystic Isles", we're introduced to Prisma, a seemingly kind Crystal master who helps Sofia and Amber on their journey, only to be revealed to not be who she claims to be. Her plan is to be seen as the greatest Crystal master ever over her sister, which involves destroying the Ever Realm, which is what civilization needs to survive. While Ivy and Shuriki's plans were bad, they at least only affected one place. Prisma wants to spread herself everywhere regardless of who gets hurt, meaning everyone from all the worlds.
158	** The series finale, "Forever Royal", ''really'' qualifies for this. Vor is by far the deadliest villain for the series. She possessed Prisma so she can regain physical form, tries to ''murder'' Sofia, uses mind control and a robot army to force people to do what she wants, takes sadistic glee in emotionally torturing Sofia, and even [[spoiler:pulls her into her amulet to make sure she suffers the same fate Elena did.]]
159	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is mostly a BlackComedy, but some episodes are more dark and serious than usual:
160	** "[[Recap/SouthParkS5E4ScottTenormanMustDie Scott Tenorman Must Die]]" has Cartman having Scott Tenorman's parents murdered, then ground into chili and then fed to Scott himself -- [[DisproportionateRetribution all over being scammed out of $16.12]]. At this point, Cartman is now declared as a full-on [[TheSociopath sociopath]] rather than just a typical {{Jerkass}}.
161	** In "[[Recap/SouthParkS5E13KennyDies Kenny Dies]]", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Kenny dies]] from a muscular disease with Stan and the others (even [[{{Jerkass}} Cartman]]) being absolutely devastated by it. Unlike [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Kenny's other deaths]], this death is [[PlayedForDrama played completely straight]] and Kenny gets KilledOffForReal, at least [[DeathIsCheap until the end of Season 6]].
162	--->'''Stan:''' Did [Kenny] say anything before he went?\
163	'''Kyle:''' He just said, "Where's Stan?"
164	** "[[Recap/SouthParkS5E14ButtersVeryOwnEpisode Butters' Very Own Episode]]" has Butters' mom going through a SanitySlippage upon finding out her husband's infidelity and goes as far as to ''have Butters killed by sending him into a lake with her car to drown''. Butters' parents then go on to convince the public that their son was killed by a Puerto Rican man. Fortunately, Butters survives the murder attempt and makes it back home on his own, though not without his parents [[KarmaHoudini getting away with their actions]].
165	** In "[[Recap/SouthParkS10E1TheReturnOfChef The Return of Chef]]", Chef gets brainwashed by the [[ChurchOfHappyology Super Adventure Club]] into becoming a pedophile and then gets [[CruelAndUnusualDeath brutally killed]] when the boys try to help him escape the club. Unlike with Kenny, Chef's death is ''[[KilledOffForReal permanent]]''.
166	** While Cartman is often LaughablyEvil, his DomesticAbuse of Heidi in Season 21 is PlayedForDrama.
167	** In the two-parter "[[Recap/SouthParkS22E6TimeToGetCereal Time To Get Cereal]]" and "[[Recap/SouthParkS22E7NobodyGotCereal Nobody Got Cereal]]", [=ManBearPig=] goes on a killing spree across South Park and [[spoiler:Satan]] gets KilledOffForReal.
168	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', despite being a mostly comical cartoon series, has a few episodes that manage to be rather dark:
169	** "Dying for Pie" is about Squidward thinking that he has doomed [=SpongeBob=] because he accidentally gave him a bomb disguised as a pie. He then tries to comfort [=SpongeBob=] on his last day on Earth. [[spoiler:Thankfully (although much to Squidward's outrage), [=SpongeBob=] turns out to be alright in the end — that is, until he accidentally splatters the pie bomb in Squidward's face, blowing up all of Bikini Bottom in the process.]]
170	** "Nasty Patty" is about [=SpongeBob=] and Mr. Krabs trying to poison a health inspector since they think he's a fake. After the health inspector swallows a fly and goes unconscious, [=SpongeBob=] and Mr. Krabs think that they killed him. They then spend the rest of the episode trying to hide the body. [[BlackComedy It’s all]] PlayedForLaughs, but still…
171	** "A Pal For Gary": In this episode, [=SpongeBob=] adopts a new pet which transforms into a monster that attacks Gary, and [=SpongeBob=] does nothing about it.
172	** "Demolition Doofus": Mrs. Puff enlists [=SpongeBob=] to be in a demolition derby in order to kill him as revenge for severe injuries she sustained from a recent failure, but his bad driving ironically makes him a racing superstar and she's furious when he does not get hurt.
173	** "One Coarse Meal": Mr. Krabs finds out that Plankton [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes is afraid of whales]]. Sensing this opportunity, Krabs uses the knowledge of Plankton's phobia to [[DrivenToSuicide drive him to suicide]] by willing wanting to be run over by a bus. [[KarmaHoudini Mr. Krabs ends up getting away with it in the end.]]
174	** In "Are You Happy Now?", Squidward has no happy memories and develops symptoms that seem very similar to clinical UsefulNotes/{{depression}}. There are even two BaitAndSwitch moments which look like he wants to die but [[StabTheSalad he's really doing something mundane]].
175	** The educational short "The Endless Summer" is ''not'' PlayedForLaughs, and ends with everyone but [=SpongeBob=] leaving Bikini Bottom thanks to multiple causes of global warming.
176	* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'': In "Yesteryear", Spock goes back in time to save his younger self and succeeds, but younger Spock's pet has to be put down.
177	* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'':
178	** "Storm of the Castle", the first season finale, is significantly darker than the previous episodes - comic relief villain Ludo is ([[DisneyDeath temporarily]]) killed by his more competent and dangerous [[TheStarscream Starscream]] Toffee, it ends with Toffee [[TheBadGuyWins getting what he wants]], and Star's wand is only saved thanks to a unicorn's HeroicSacrifice. Even then, a piece is stuck in the monsters' realm, and is now glowing green. From Season 2 and onward, dark episodes [[CerebusSyndrome are no longer unexpected.]]
179	** "Saint Olga's Reform School" was the only previous episode to change the usual tone of the series to a darker, scarier one, with Star and Marco finally going to the dreaded St. Olga's, which turns out to be home to a brainwashing program being run by a creepy, psychotic headmistress who wants to remove all individuality from the princesses attending to school so that they can be made into ideal princesses, with Marco (crossdressing as a princess) being made to endure a ''[[Literature/AClockworkOrange Clockwork]] [[Film/AClockworkOrange Orange]]''-style brainwashing first hand. It gets better though, Pony Head and Star rescue Marco, and they rally all the princesses to rebel against their captors, putting an end to the school's tyranny.
180	** Season 3 shifted the series' central focus to Mewni, and things got even ''much'' darker from there, such as TheReveal that Ms. Heinous is Meteora Butterfly and Eclipsa's true daughter, Star and her parents are not truly royalty because Meteora was switched with a peasant girl at birth, and Mina Loveberry's true nature.
181	* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' occasionally went into this. The first episode dealt with Virgil being given a gun to earn his way into a gang. Later episodes would deal with racism ("Sons of the Fathers"), homelessness ("Frozen Out") and school shootings ("Jimmy").
182	* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', the episode "On the Run" involves Steven and Amethyst running away for a day. Things look fairly goofy, until Amethyst decides to show Steven her "home", which turns out to be a barren canyon filled with holes where Gems were made called the Kindergarten. Pearl arrives and is horrified that Amethyst showed Steven "such a horrible place" and insists that he "isn't ready" to know the truth. This pushes Amethyst's BerserkButton and she starts attacking Pearl, revealing to the audience (and Steven) her deep self-hatred for being made in the same Gem invasion that would have destroyed the Earth and all the life in it. The episode also for the first time shines light on the brutal process of creating Gems and Gem colonization.
183	-->'''Steven:''' Pearl? Was Amethyst really made here?\
184	'''Pearl:''' ''(accusingly)'' How much did you tell him?\
185	'''Amethyst:''' What? You mean about the ''bad'' thing? How this bad place is where bad Gems came to grow more bad Gems? Is ''that'' what you're talking about?\
186	'''Steven:''' They grew other Gems here?!\
187	'''Pearl:''' Amethyst, he's not ready!\
188	'''Amethyst:''' Oh, but don't worry, Steven. Everything's just fine now.\
189	'''Pearl:''' Amethyst!\
190	'''Amethyst:''' It all worked out. [[GreatOffscreenWar We won!]]\
191	'''Pearl:''' Stop!\
192	'''Amethyst:''' And we shut this place down so the Earth would be safe from parasites like ME!
193	* "The Fear", an episode of ''[[{{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}} The Super Powers Team]]'', deals with similar themes as the Scarecrow forces Batman to reenact the murder of his parents.
194	* While it does have its occasional dramatic moments, ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'' is still pretty lighthearted. Usually.
195	** Then came "Queen for a Day", in which Rapunzel is forced to make some tough decisions in order to save her kingdom from a blizzard, the King, Queen and Pascal nearly ''die'', and most importantly, [[spoiler: Varian -- who, up until now, has been portrayed as a sweet, adorable alchemist -- suffers a ''major'' case of BreakTheCutie and ends the episode by making a FaceHeelTurn]]. ''Yikes.''
196	** Then came “The Quest For Varian”, where the black rock spires start appearing everywhere, and end up destroying the tower where Rapunzel was raised. To be worse, it is followed by “The Alchemist Returns”, [[spoiler: in which Varian betrays Rapunzel and steals the magical flower, only to discover it lost all its magic and it all exists in Rapunzel now, so he’ll be coming back for her, which happens in the by-now ''expectedly'' dark season finale.]]
197	** Seasons 2 and 3 are ''much'' darker than the first, and are common to have dark episodes. The most notable moments have Rapunzel learning the Moonstone's Decaying Incantation that destroys anything in its path, Cassandra pulls a FaceHeelTurn and reveals her jealousy over Rapunzel, and the arrival of Zhan Tiri.
198	* Even though ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' has had a [[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS1E3TheSadStoryOfHenry lot]] [[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS3E21Escape of]] [[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS4E1Grandpuff dark]] episodes over the years, one episode that really takes the cake is "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS5E13StepneyGetsLost Stepney Gets Lost]]". In this episode, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Stepney ends up getting lost]] in Sodor's scrapyard and is unable to flee from diesel twins 'Arry and Bert ([[CharacterizationMarchesOn who are portrayed here as two psychopaths with a desire to see a steam train melted down]]) when they push him up to a claw that would've dropped him into a smelting pot, something that is only stopped by [[BigDamnHeroes the Fat Controller]] saving him at the last minute.
199	* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'':
200	** The short "WesternAnimation/HeavenlyPuss" is a lot darker than most ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons. Tom is killed trying to catch Jerry, and is told that if he wants to get into Cat Heaven, he has one hour to make amends with Jerry... otherwise, he'll be condemned to eternal torment by a demonic bulldog. Tom ''[[YankTheDogsChain just]]'' [[YankTheDogsChain misses the deadline]], and is literally dropped into Hell, where demon Spike dunks him in a cauldron of boiling water. Fortunately for Tom it was AllJustADream, but it was still a harrowing experience for him, and for young children watching, too.
201	** The short "WesternAnimation/BlueCatBlues" is just as dark. Both Tom and Jerry are driven to suicide in this episode after their hearts are broken, and though it is never shown, it is implied, as they sit on the train tracks as the sound of an oncoming train is heard just before the episode ends.
202	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': Though generally a light-hearted series, a couple of episodes are far darker than others:
203	** "Ragnarok and Roll": Features a young man named Jeremy who was rejected by his fiancée and decides that the world is too much of a painful place to exist after that. Jeremy discovers a supernatural flute that can end the world and transforms himself into a HumanoidAbomination. Jeremy begins to play the flute, and cities across the world are destroyed by natural disasters and demons. The episode features pretty graphic images of the apocalypse.
204	** "[[Recap/TheRealGhostbustersS3E12TheGrundel The Grundel]]": Features a supernatural parasite that preys on children and encourages them to commit bad deeds so that the Grundel can corrupt them and transform them into Grundels. The episode shows the worry that parents feel when their kids go missing and the Grundel's dialogue sounds similar to things said by real-world predators who prey on children.
205	** Downplayed in "The Thing in Mrs. Faversham's Attic" -- while not much different from a regular episode, there are fewer jokes than the average episode, and there's a subplot of Peter feeling that he didn't spend enough time with his mother, who's implied to be dead.
206	* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' is normally lighthearted, but:
207	** "The Golden Lagoon" ends on a bleak note, with the title lagoon destroyed in a battle between the Autobots and Decepticons over its resources.
208	** "Dweller In The Depths" was essentially a zombie movie, featuring some characters being turned into "energy vampires" by the title creature, and slowly chasing the others around to turn them as well.
209	** The trope-naming HatePlague from "Return Of Optimus Prime" was not ''quite'' as dark as "Dweller", but was close, and much further-reaching.
210	** “Dark Awakening” has the Qunitessons revive Optimus as a half-alive zombie, it ends with him sacrificing himself.
211	* The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' episode "Sweetpea Beauty" was a tad darker than other episodes, featuring a nightmarish climax and a villain more threatening than [[LaughablyEvil most others in the show]].
212	* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' became prone to this when it underwent CerebusSyndrome in its second season, starting with the season premiere "The Greater Hater", where the characters encounter the ArcVillain Lord Dominator who is twice as worse as Hater is, and they end up shaking in fear in the finale. It gets even worse when Dominator is revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac who isn't up for conquering planets, and would rather just ''destroy the entire galaxy''.
213	* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'':
214	** "Burrito" plays like a normal comedic episode where Grizz clings to a huge burrito instead of eating it. When Panda and Ice Bear try to keep it away from Grizz and accidentally destroy it, Grizz ponders why he got so attached to it. The SuddenDownerEnding reveals that [[spoiler:Grizz was trapped on top of a tall tree as a cub and was rescued by a fireman. The fireman had a safety band around his arm for Grizz to hold on to, which is what the warm burrito reminded him of when he hugged it.]]
215	** "Primal", the episode right after, has the three bears trapped in the wilderness after Grizz tries to help them live out their natural ways instead of living at home with technology. Panda and Ice Bear end up reverting to their primal bear natures and actually attack Grizz, their own brother, because they aren't anthropomorphic anymore.
216	** "Hurricane Hal" is an episode about each of the bears doing separate activities with different characters during said hurricane. Towards the end, Ice Bear and Chloe [[spoiler: are almost killed by a subway train after they try to escape the hurricane by going underground, and only survive because of a coincidental chain of events unknowingly caused by the other bears that lead to the city's power going out, making the train stop before it hits them]].
217	** "The Island" is a baby bears episode where they end up on a deserted island and meet a human man and woman who were also stranded there. [[spoiler:The man turns out to be a {{Yandere}} who was intentionally hiding an inflatable raft that would have let them escape so they could stay together forever, and [[WouldHurtAChild tries to kill the bears]] to prevent his plan from being discovered.]]
218	** There's also "Googs", which has the bears on tour of the company after winning a competition, starting with a presentation on virtual reality headsets. After, Panda gets mad at Grizz and Ice Bear for touching various items when they were told not to, and the two eventually cause so much trouble that they're asked to leave. Then the company's owner shows up and tells Panda of her plan to send people into space - starting with him. When he disagrees, she forces him into it, and it turns out Grizz and Ice Bear are also there. When trying to control the ship to go back to Earth, they accidentally turn it in the direction of ''the sun''. They go to the escape pod, [[spoiler: but there's only room for two of them, [[HeroicSacrifice so Panda stays behind and goes into the sun]]. Then they are asked to take off their virtual reality headsets. It turns out it was [[AllJustADream all just a shared simulation]] that the company's owner subjected them to for "research purposes."]] [[DudeNotFunny Instead of laughing it off and being relieved, the Bears found it very traumatic]] and become so angry about it [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere that they decide not to continue with the tour]].
219	* ''[[Westernanimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'' starts off fairly well, with two lighthearted and idealistic AlternateUniverse episodes. The third veers for a dark path, as the alternate part is Film/{{The Avengers\|2012}} being killed before they could assemble, though it has a BittersweetEnding with some hope. But then the fourth is outright pure gloom and desperation: it starts with Film/{{Doctor Strange\|2016}} losing his girlfriend, [[spoiler:and ends with the universe tearing itself apart because saving her is RealityBreakingParadox.]]

Context UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode / WesternAnimation