History Main / ADarkerMe

* ''WesternAnimation/Tangled'': Flynn Ryder is a ChronicBackstabbingDisorder GentlemanThief who thinks of himself as a LovableRogue but really is more like a SmugSnake who [[SmallNameBigEgo is not as cool as he imagines himself to be]]. He merely adopted a Childhood Hero persona [[AdultChild (A fourth grader idea of someone cool)]] to cover for [[EmbarrassingFirstName Eugene Fritzherbert]], a guy who suffered an OrphansOrdeal and considers himself a ThisLoserIsYou protagonist who whenever is afraid, becomes Flynn Ryder to cover for his HiddenHeartOfGold.

A Darker Me is one of the main appeals of the Internet in that it allows users to leave behind their normal fears and speak their minds. Most posters eventually learn that too much A Darker Me by those involved derails even the most steadfast discussions and begin to revert to their mundane selves, in action, if not persona.

See also: {{GIRL}}, {{GIFT}}, BeneathTheMask, {{Troll}}, {{Griefer}}, and MeanCharacterNiceActor. Closely [[StealthPun related to]] WhatYouAreInTheDark. Compare BecameTheirOwnAntithesis and MaddenedIntoMisanthropy. Not to be confused with the [[RaceLift other kind of Darker You]]. Or the ''other'' [[EvilTwin other kind]] for that matter.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' has a group of players of the eponymous {{MMORPG}} that go around killing other players. What makes this a lot worse is that all of the players are [[WinToExit stuck in the game until they beat it]] or die, which would kill them in real life. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Kirito remarks that online players [[{{GIFT}} act very different]] from how they would in real life. [[spoiler: That said, a couple of the [=PKers=] end up becoming murderers IN real life. Turns out, they weren't just GIFTS after all...]]

* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod:'' Bam's new identity Viole. It is because he fears things worse than death.

* After its second retcon, the ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote makes its hosts more aggressive and less inhibited, which can range from being [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown a little rough]] on crooks to outright [[IAmAHumanitarian devouring them]].

* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod:'' Baam's new identity Viole. It is because he fears things worse than death.

** Perdita is this to Agnes Nitt in ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'' and later books. [[Discworld/LordsAndLadies Originally]] just a silly AwesomeMcCoolname she adopted, she turns into a full-formed split personality by ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum''.

!!Media examples:

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

* ''Manga/XXXHolic'' featured a sub-story about a woman in Hideki's school who, thanks to a winged parasite, slowly lost her inhibitions. Instead of being nice and sociable, she became progressively more angry and violent until she nearly killed a person.

[[folder:{{Comic Book}}s]]

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* The red pills of ''Film/TheMatrix''. Before their introduction to the Real World, they were hackers, geeks, and other freaks. This makes it obvious why, when they go back into the Matrix, they all wear [[BadassLongcoat longcoats]] and [[CoolShades sunglasses]].
* The Dark Princess in ''Film/MirrorMask''.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

[[folder:{{Manhwa}} and {{Manhua}}]]
* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod:'' Baam's new identity Viole. It is because he fears things worse than death.
* Lan, who is a fairly normal girl in real life in ''Literature/HalfPrince'', is infamous in the game world for being a bloodthirsty maniac.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{Music}}]]
* Music/{{Eminem}}'s "Slim Shady" [[AlterEgoActing alter ego]], a violent sadist who frequently engages in ComedicSociopathy.
** On "The Real Slim Shady", he comments on this trope and describes himself/Shady as, basically, a Darker Me for his fans as a whole, the guy who says and does all the awful things that they fantasize about but are too afraid to actually do for fear of the consequences.
-->I'm like a head trip to listen to, cause I'm only giving you\\

And whether you like to admit it, I just shit it

[[folder:VideoGames]]

-->'''Shadow Ray:''' ''(When you first meet her)'' I, am you. But you are not me.
-->'''Shadow Ray:''' ''(after being given a correct answer)'' You... are me.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

* A Darker Me is basically the point behind the [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/evil-kermit Evil Kermit]] meme.
* The novelty Website/{{Twitter}} account @dril is a parody of this. The character is (in {{Kayfabe}}) an 'Internet tough guy' type who thinks he's presenting himself online as being very edgy, with occasional self-deprecating humour. Unfortunately, he reveals himself as being a depraved, idiotic nerd with no perspective on reality at all.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* Same goes for the Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses crew. Doug, Noah, Lewis and Lindsay are all much nicer and much more well-adjusted compared to WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]], [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] and WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, respectively.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': When the Tiger Talisman splits Jackie between Yin and Yang, his "bad half" is closer to A Darker Me as a BloodKnight JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' has a group of players of the eponymous {{MMORPG}} that go around killing other players. What makes this a lot worse is that all of the players are [[WinToExit stuck in the game until they beat it]] or die, which would [[KilledOffForReal kill them in real life]]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Kirito remarks that online players [[{{GIFT}} act very different]] from how they would in real life. [[spoiler: That said, a couple of the [=PKers=] end up becoming murderers IN real life. Turns out, they weren't just GIFTS after all...]]

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' has a group of players of the eponymous {{MMORPG}} that go around killing other players. What makes this a lot worse is that all of the players are [[WinToExit stuck in the game until they beat it]] or die, which would [[KilledOffForReal kill them in real life]]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Kirito remarks that online players [[{{GIFT}} act very different]] from how they would in real life.
** [[spoiler: That said, a couple of the [=PKers=] end up becoming murderers IN real life. Turns out, they weren't just GIFTS after all...]]

-->'''Shadow Ray''' (When you first meet her): I, am you. But you are not me.
-->'''Shadow Ray''' (after being given a correct answer): You... are me.

** "Stan" is about a LoonyFan who mistakes the Slim Shady persona for Eminem's real personality, and proceeds to [[spoiler:drive off a bridge with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk]] in order to be more like his idol. When Eminem reads the letters Stan sent him, he is horrified.

* The red pills of ''Film/TheMatrix''. Before their introduction to the Real World, they were hackers, geeks and other freaks. This makes it obvious why, when they go back into the Matrix, they all wear [[BadassLongcoat longcoats]] and [[CoolShades sunglasses]].

** Perdita is this to Agnes Nitt in ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'' and later books. [[Literature/LordsAndLadies Originally]] just a silly AwesomeMcCoolname she adopted, she turns into a full-formed split personality by ''Literature/CarpeJugulum''.

* Even ignoring ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'', Professor Xavier [[http://www.uncannyxmen.net/character-related-topics/the-road-to-onslaught-the-darker-side-of-xavier has a very bad history]] of his dark side taking on a life of its own and coming into conflict with the Franchise/XMen. And the aforementioned ''Onslaught'' was a CrisisCrossover.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s "Slim Shady" [[AlterEgoActing alter ego]], a violent sadist who frequently engages in ComedicSociopathy. On "The Real Slim Shady", he comments on this trope and describes himself/Shady as, basically, a Darker Me for his fans as a whole, the guy who says and does all the awful things that they fantasize about but are too afraid to actually do for fear of the consequences.

** The song "Kim" notably averts this, to horrifying effect. The murder and debauchery that Eminem frequently gets up in his songs can't be taken seriously, since he's usually in his goofball Slim Shady persona while rapping about it. On "Kim", however, he's very much ''not'' playing a character -- he's rapping, as Marshall Mathers, about murdering his wife. The result has been described as quite possibly the most stomach-churning song he's ever written, especially in comparison to "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", which had similar subject matter but played it for BlackComedy (as a parody of Creator/WillSmith's "Just the Two of Us").

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': When the Tiger Talisman splits Jakie between Yin and Yang, his "bad half" is closer to A Darker Me as a BloodKnight JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

** Perdita is this to Agnes Nitt in ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'' and later books. [[Discworld/LordsAndLadies Originally]] just a silly AwesomeMcCoolname she adopted, she turns into a full-formed split personality by ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum''.
** The Hiver in ''Discworld/AHatFullOfSky'' is an EldritchAbomination that is considered extremely dangerous to the humans whose minds it possesses. It actually tries to help them gain [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor what they wish for]], but it doesn't understand the difference between dark desires that are suppressed because the person knows they are not right and those that the person on the whole really wants fulfilled. Its victims are eventually driven insane and destroyed, but before that, they will presumably have become darker themselves, so to speak.

* ADarkerMe is basically the point behind the [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/evil-kermit Evil Kermit]] meme.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': When the Tiger Talisman splits Jakie between Yin and Yang, his "bad half" is closer to ADarkerMe as a BloodKnight JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

* The novelty {{Twitter}} account @dril is a parody of this. The character is (in {{Kayfabe}}) an 'Internet tough guy' type who thinks he's presenting himself online as being very edgy, with occasional self-deprecating humour. Unfortunately, he reveals himself as being a depraved, idiotic nerd with no perspective on reality at all.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s "Slim Shady" AlterEgo, a violent sadist who frequently engages in ComedicSociopathy. On "The Real Slim Shady", he comments on this trope and describes himself/Shady as, basically, a Darker Me for his fans as a whole, the guy who says and does all the awful things that they fantasize about but are too afraid to actually do for fear of the consequences.

!!General examples:

* Many internet {{troll}}s. Do not get us started on [[Website/FourChan Anon]], [[Website/SomethingAwful SA Goons]], and various others.
* The ResidentFreak may not be entirely lying about the crazy things they do and believe - which just makes them even weirder.
* Pretty much the entire purpose of VideogameCrueltyPotential; you can choose to be a complete and total, uninhibited psychopath, with no consequences.
* {{Griefer}}s and {{Munchkin}}s. This is pretty much everything that motivates/enables both types.
* In FanFiction, overlap this with a failed AuthorAvatar and you get a MarySue. A JerkSue or possibly even a VillainSue, if they're heavy on the "darker" and/or "ruder" parts; emphasizing the "cooler" part can result in any kind of Sue.
* Very common in music genres, for instance metal and gangsta rap, where someone will put on a persona of being evil and tough in their songs, because they are too nice to do it in real life.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/WeaponsShopDeOmasse'', where PirateGirl Malibu acts in person with the intimidating, butch, LargeHam personality you'd expect from a lady pirate, but her posts on the {{Twitter}}-{{Expy}} [[LevelGrinding Grindcast]] are written in a ValleyGirl style and mostly about her love life.