History Main / DarkerAndEdgier

* [[DarkerAndEdgier/AnimatedFilms Films -- Animated]]

This trope became extremely popular in ComicBooks as a rebellion against UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} but also led to more than a decade of a lot of clumsy attempts by many writers to show that comics are "[[MaturityIsSeriousBusiness not kid stuff anymore]]." See UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}}, UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age|OfComicBooks}}, and NinetiesAntiHero for more details about how this worked.

When done right, Darker and Edgier works are a case of Administrivia/TropesAreTools. When a show uses this trope as a tagline, you can expect a mixture of: [[ColdBloodedTorture awful things]] [[BreakTheCutie happening to the characters]], [[DarkAndTroubledPast twisted backstories]] [[TraumaCongaLine giving them a reason to angst]], [[BlackAndGrayMorality good]] and [[GreyAndGrayMorality bad becoming less obvious]], and the [[CrapsaccharineWorld setting becoming]] [[CrapsackWorld much bleaker]]. However, this all works IF it's done right.

As one could predict, this is fairly easy to screw up and poor use of these tropes may just result in TooBleakStoppedCaring if the setting gets too hopeless, or {{Narm}} if the edginess becomes just silly. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This doesn't make it a bad trope, though]]-- when used subtly, such as in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, it can create the effect of a series growing up with its audience.

Opposite of LighterAndSofter, YoungerAndHipper, DenserAndWackier and RevisitingTheRoots. Often found alongside BloodierAndGorier, HotterAndSexier, RuderAndCruder, SequelLogoInRuins, NotWearingSpandex and RealIsBrown. Often a by-product of the franchise growing [[SequelEscalation bigger and more epic]].

Opposite of LighterAndSofter, YoungerAndHipper, DenserAndWackier and RevisitingTheRoots. Often found alongside BloodierAndGorier, HotterAndSexier, RuderAndCruder, SequelLogoInRuins, and RealIsBrown. Often a by-product of the franchise growing [[SequelEscalation bigger and more epic]].

As one could predict, this is fairly easy to screw up and poor use of these tropes may just result in TooBleakStoppedCaring if the setting gets too hopeless, or {{Narm}} if the edginess becomes just silly. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This doesn't make it a bad trope though]]-- when this is used subtly such as in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, it can create the effect of a series growing up with its audience.

In fact this is often the purpose of a Darker and Edgier turn. Just as a LighterAndSofter tone is typically part of an attempt to bring a fictional world to children or to younger children, a "darker" tone is often intended to make a setting appeal to older children or adults. But unlike its opposite, a Darker And Edgier shift is often intended not to reach a new audience, but rather to keep an existing audience as it grows up. It can also be a result of child fans growing up as its [[PromotedFanboy creators]] and continuing to think of the setting as something aimed at themselves and their peers instead of the original target age group.

%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16913759740.28698500

%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16913759740.28698500
%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1338749456004688300
%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1571910362001747600

%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. Any thread without an image suggestion will be closed immediately.

%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1338749456004688300
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1571910362001747600
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

Note that [[Administrivia/NotADeconstruction this is not the same]] as a {{Deconstruction}}. A Deconstruction plays out the genre's conventions to their logical conclusions in order to criticize the initial genre conventions. This does not have to be dark (see for instance DeconstructiveParody) and it doesn't prevent things from turning out well. Darker And Edgier just adds "dark" elements to try and get the same effect. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but often a Deconstruction can cause a work to ''seem'' darker because it's calling attention to dark aspects already implied but previously glossed over; see also AscendedFridgeHorror.

As one could predict, this is fairly easy to screw up and poor use of these tropes may just result in TooBleakStoppedCaring if the setting gets too depressing, or {{Narm}} if the edginess becomes just silly. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This doesn't make it a bad trope though]]-- when this is used subtly such as in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, it can create the effect of a series growing up with its audience.

This is a common result of an ongoing work suddenly becoming subject to less censorship than it had been previously (as was the case with the Comics Code fading away). When the writers had previously been scarcely allowed to depict any violence, swearing, or innuendo at all, but are then finally given permission, you can fully expect them to go wildly overboard with it for a while. This will of course attract some audience members and repel others, but eventually both the viewers and the writers will likely want to scale things back to some level ''between'' the original squeaky clean version and the later R-rated version. [[note]] (If the standard metaphor is a franchise trying to "grow up," one may compare this to a young adult getting a first taste of freedom, and then gradually learning self-restraint.)[[/note]]

This trope became extremely popular in ComicBooks as a rebellion against UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} but also led to more than a decade of some clumsy attempts by a lot of writers to show that comics are "[[MaturityIsSeriousBusiness not kid stuff anymore]]." See UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}}, UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age|OfComicBooks}}, and NinetiesAntiHero for more details about how this worked.

This trope became extremely popular in ComicBooks as a rebellion against UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} but also led to more than a decade of clumsy attempts to show that comics are "[[MaturityIsSeriousBusiness not kid stuff anymore]]." See UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}}, UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age|OfComicBooks}}, and NinetiesAntiHero for more details about how this worked.

->''"You look around these days...it's all different. It's all changed. ComicBook/TheJoker's ''killing'' people, for God's sake! Did I miss something? Was I away when they changed the rules?"''
-->-- '''ComicBook/TheRiddler''', "[[Creator/NeilGaiman When Is a Door]]"

This is a common result of an ongoing work suddenly becoming subject to less censorship than it had been previously (as was the case with the Comics Code fading away). When the writers had previously been scarcely allowed to depict any violence, swearing, or innuendo at all, but are then finally given permission, you can fully expect them to go wildly overboard with it for a while. This will of course attract some audience members and repel others, but eventually both the viewers and the writers will likely want to scale things back to some level ''between'' the original squeaky clean version and the later R-rated version. [[note]] (If the common metaphor is a franchise trying to "grow up," one may compare this to a young adult getting a first taste of freedom, and then gradually learning self-restraint.)[[/note]]

This is a common result of an ongoing work suddenly becoming subject to less censorship than it had been previously (as was the case with the Comics Code fading away). When the writers had previously been scarcely allowed to depict any violence, swearing, or innuendo at all, but are then finally given permission, you can fully expect them to go wildly overboard with it for a while. This will of course attract some audience members and repel others, but eventually both the viewers and the writers will likely want to scale things back to some level ''between'' the original squeaky clean version and the later R-rated version. [[note]] (In keeping with the common expression of a franchise trying to "grow up," one may compare this to a young adult getting a first taste of freedom, and then gradually learning self-restraint.)[[/note]]

This is a common result of an ongoing work suddenly becoming subject to less censorship than it had been previously (as was the case with the Comics Code fading away). When the writers had previously been scarcely allowed to depict any violence, swearing, or innuendo at all, but are then finally given permission, you can fully expect them to go wildly overboard with it for a while. This will of course attract some audience members and repel others, but eventually both the viewers and the writers will likely want to scale things back to some level ''between'' the original squeaky clean version and the later R-rated version. [[note]] (In keeping with the oft-cited expression of a franchise trying to "grow up," one may compare this to a young adult getting a first taste of freedom, and then gradually learning self-restraint.)[[/note]]

This is a common result of an ongoing work suddenly becoming subject to less censorship than it had been previously (as was the case with the Comics Code fading away). When the writers had previously been scarcely allowed to depict any violence, swearing, or innuendo at all, but are then finally given permission, you can fully expect them to go wildly overboard with it for a while. This will of course attract some audience members and repel others, but eventually both the viewers and the writers will likely want to scale things back to some level ''between'' the original squeaky clean version and the later R-rated version. [[note]] (In keeping with the oft-cited expression of a franchise trying to "grow up," one can compare this to a young adult getting a first taste of freedom, and then learning restraint.)[[/note]]

This is a common result of an ongoing work suddenly becoming subject to less censorship than it had been previously (as was the case with the Comics Code fading away). When the writers had previously been scarcely allowed to depict any violence, swearing, or innuendo at all, but are then finally given permission, you can fully expect them to go wildly overboard with it for a while. This will of course attract some audience members and repel others, but eventually both the viewers and the writers will likely want to scale things back to some level ''between'' the original squeaky clean version and the later R-rated version. [[note]] (In keeping with the oft-cited expression of a franchise trying to "grow up," one can compare this to a young adult getting a first taste of freedom, and then needing to learn restraint)[[/note]]