Some possible causes of Too Bleak, Stopped Caring:
- Movies and TV shows with Shoot the Shaggy Dog, Diabolus ex Machina and Everybody Dies Endings can have this effect on cynical viewers, since it means that all hope for the characters is lost when they were doomed to their fates.
- Somewhat related to the above point, works that overuse, misuse, or abuse the Hope Spot, Yank the Dog's Chain, and Cruel Twist Ending tropes can sometimes also lead to bleakness. While these tropes can create interesting plot twists if used correctly, they can also come across as cruelly taunting and teasing the characters and audience if not. If the audience feels like the author is just pulling another cruel Bait-and-Switch on them repeatedly, then they may lose interest or stop caring about what happens next. In other words, the audience feels like the author/creator is the one kicking the dogs or yanking the chains by constantly putting characters through the wringer. Especially if it always ends up with a Downer Ending and/or gets too predictable. Or, if the author relies on too many ass pulls just for the sake of making the characters suffer. (Example: Oculus)
- Even shows where the heroes win a Pyrrhic Victory can devolve into this, especially if the heroes are whiny, ineffective or too slow to act. Sure, the villains get defeated in the end, but their deaths seem like a small compensation for all of the havoc and death they caused. And if the villains corrupted the heroes or turned them against their ideals during the course of the story, the heroes' victory seems even MORE meaningless. This can also overlap with works that invoke Vengeance Feels Empty if the hero doesn't gain anything for avenging the victims and, since the victims are dead either way, things are still no better off than they were before. (Examples: War of the Worlds (1988) TV Series, Army Men: Sarge's War)
- Works that use Joker Immunity and Cardboard Prison heavily can often fall into this. This is especially the case if every time the villains come back from the dead/break out of jail they kill people. It can make it seem like the hero isn't really making a difference and that the villains will never truly be brought to justice. Bonus points if the story uses Thou Shalt Not Kill as an excuse to have the hero pass up a chance to remove the threat permanently, with no justification beyond moral absolutism. (Example: Halloween)
- Throwing in controversial scenes or topics such as rape (either for comedic or dramatic purposes), Cold-Blooded Torture, discrimination (even on the fictional races), genocide, or any form of Fate Worse than Death can also invoke this trope; particularly if the said scenes or topics were gratuitous, executed poorly, or cause a lot of Unfortunate Implications. (Examples: Men Behind the Sun, Cannibal Holocaust, The Painter)
- Abusing the Humans Are Bastards/Humans Are the Real Monsters trope can easily result in this. Aside from the tendency of being overbearing, the end result is just another kind of Evil Versus Evil, and at that without any differentiation between them (since, well, all of those sides act as humans). Even variants with a few sympathetic characters can fall into the trap of making their failure on account of being good a Foregone Conclusion. (Examples: Elfen Lied, the "Second Renaissance" segment in The Animatrix, The Last of Us Part II)
- In general, issues with bleakness were a common criticism with the '90s Anti-Hero craze back in The Dark Age of Comic Books. Many of these "heroes" (particularly the ones from independent publishers) were so evil that it was hard, if not impossible, to care whether they would come out of their adventures alive. (Examples: The Boys, Youngblood (Image Comics))
- Games that provoke this reaction may still get their player base, mostly consisting of players that are perfectly happy to play the game and skip the story. For example, if the game requires the player to pick a faction to play as, they would simply choose sides with no interest other than the technical or aesthetic interest of playing one side or the other (or, such as in MMORPGs, the interest in teaming with real-life friends). However, if this crosses into gameplay, then these games may fall into "It's Hard, So It Sucks!" reactions.
- If the work in question is a comedy, it can avoid this trope even if it has Evil Versus Evil; the viewer doesn't have to care too much for the characters to enjoy watching them, and can have a fun experience watching entertaining villains. Weirdly enough, this is a trope that is actually encouraged in the horror genre, particularly in a Cosmic Horror Story. There's a common (though not ubiquitous) school of thought that says that despair is one of the critical components of a horror story. Therefore, giving the protagonists any hope of a happy ending will take away from the essential bleakness, and ruin the entire point of a horror story. That said, this tactic is a double-edged sword because giving up and not caring about the characters sucks a lot out of the fear factor and tension that the genre is based on. Dystopian fiction, particularly of the After the End variety, is another genre that's quite vulnerable to this trope for largely the same reasons.
- A World of Jerkass and/or Crapsack World played to their straightest is a very easy way to get this response. If the story is filled with unlikeable, unsympathetic characters (even the supposed "heroes") in a hopeless or cruel setting without some leeway or improvement over time, expect the Eight Deadly Words to pop up among audience reactions. Cast Full of Crazy also counts, especially in Darker and Edgier works, or if said setting isn't Played for Laughs. (Examples: Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale, Metalocalypse, Bloodstorm, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Brickleberry)
- Black Comedy, Gallows Humor, Comedic Sociopathy, Kafka Komedy, Vulgar Humor, or Cringe Comedy that is needlessly cruel, harsh, and mean-spirited to the point where the audience finds it Sick and Wrong instead of funny. Or if the work is extremely tactless and makes a mockery of serious issues instead of taking those issues seriously (such as rape, suicide, and/or domestic abuse). Especially if the so-called "comedy" involves innocent victims being genuinely tormented, humiliated, or killed for the sake of a so-called "joke". A Sadist Show is particularly vulnerable to this due to its very nature. Can sometimes overlap with Shock Fatigue as well if it just gets more and more disgusting for no reason and the audience becomes apathetic to it. Also overlaps with World of Jerkass if all the characters in the black comedy are totally unlikeable, obnoxious, and irredeemable. (Examples: Allen Gregory, Mr. Pickles, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", Family Dog)
- Although it's rare, works (and video games that force you to do immoral things) with irredeemably evil Villain Protagonists can also fall into this, especially when there's no positive Character Development and the Villain Protagonist is much more overpowered than the Hero Antagonist. (Examples: Hatred, EvilQuest, American Psycho)
- Works with a high body count or an overly bleak Anyone Can Die setting also fall into this, especially when lots of named major and minor protagonists and redeemable villains are killed off for little to no reason and their souls/ghosts don't appear at all/no hopes for revival, like there's no (physical) afterlife in the setting. (Examples: The Walking Dead, Threads)
- Works with Doomed Protagonists can also fall into this, if there's no positive subversion of said trope.
- Works with genre deconstructions, especially Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction (except Puella Magi Madoka Magica) can also fall into this, especially when there are no positive outcomes. This trope can be averted/defied if they end with more positive aspects than negative ones without triggering esoteric happy endings. (Examples: Magical Girl Site, Magical Girl Raising Project)
- If a video game has Multiple Endings and they are all downers or there are no truly happy endings, expect this trope and Angst Aversion from the players. (Example: Dying Light 2)
- Works with an Invincible Villain as the Big Bad can fall under this, as if the villain can never be defeated and ultimately wins, fans will blame the failure of the story fully on the villain. This also can be magnified if the Invincible Villain is a Complete Monster or Villain Sue who constantly does extremely and unbearably horrible things, gets everything they want, and then faces no comeuppance for their heinous actions. Also, there's even more bleakness if the Invincible Villain's actions end up creating an extremely nihilistic world and/or setting where there is no hope or justice and there is nothing but death, suffering, and misery. (Examples: The Authority stable and angle, Re:CREATORS, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Shaman King, Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force, Gunsmith Cats BURST, Paranormal Activity)
- In addition to bad guys never losing, sometimes the Too Bleak trope can be invoked by good guys who never win. Basically, no matter what the hero (or the most sympathetic character) does, they never accomplish anything and things never get better for them. This is especially true if the hero character is a Failure Hero, Straw Loser, Butt-Monkey, Chew Toy, or Cosmic Plaything who is constantly abused in particularly cruel ways by the World of Jerkass / Crapsack World they live in. This can also happen if The Woobie is constantly tormented with no break or relief whatsoever. Also happens if the hero is constantly making boneheaded decisions that guarantee their failures. At the least, it can get tiresome for the audience to see a hero character never win and demoralizing at worst when the said character suffers dearly for their failures (especially if the audience can see it coming every time). Furthermore, audiences won't get emotionally invested in heroic characters who never win regardless of how good, likeable, or sympathetic they are; because if they don't win then there is no point in doing so. (Examples: Tom Goes to the Mayor, Haven: Call of the King, Final Destination, BlazBlue, Sheep in the Big City, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown)
- Works that explore Fantastic Racism while (intentionally or
unintentionally) giving people valid reasons to discriminate against certain groups often fall into this. If viewers have to choose between supporting genocide and supporting threats to society, the only other option is to support neither and switch off the TV. (Examples: True Blood, Blood & Chocolate, Tokyo Ghoul,) - Values Dissonance can cause this, even if it's deliberate. It's difficult to sympathise with protagonists who commit what we now view as atrocities, especially for readers and viewers who have experienced prejudice and hate crimes. This is why Politically Correct History is so common - writers of historical fiction often have to choose between breaking Willing Suspension of Disbelief or risking this trope. (Examples: The Birth of a Nation (1915), 300)
