History Main / DarkerAndEdgier

The excessive version is often known as "Grimdark" (one word), derived from the tagline of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. ("In the grim darkness of the far future, there is ''only war.''") Sometimes justified with the phrase "SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids". Usually shows up in DarkFic. If a pre-existing show undergoes a {{Retool}} under the guise of making things Darker And Edgier, expect JumpingTheShark, especially if there was ExecutiveMeddling involved. Blog/TheUnitedFederationOfCharles wrote an essay called, [[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-is-grimdark.html What is Grimdark?]] which explains some of the history of the subject. "Grimderp" has in many parts of the Net become popular as a term for Grimdark that goes so far that it becomes {{Narm}}. When a specific character rather than the work as a whole is perceived as having become excessively Darker And Edgier, a popular term is "Edgelord". Which also gets applied to fanfic writers who produce exclusively Grimdark (or especially Grimderp) works. Future writers beware! Using this trope without knowing ''when'' to stop is a quick road to DarknessInducedAudienceApathy.

* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Advertising}}

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

When done right, Darker and Edgier works are a case of Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad. 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]] [[DeusAngstMachina 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.

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, RunningTheAsylum as {{Promoted Fanboy}}s, and continuing to think of the setting as something aimed at themselves and their peers instead of the original target age group.

Compare {{Grimmification}} and FracturedFairyTale for when this is done with fairy tales and AmericanKirbyIsHardcore for when this is done with boxart. See also SugarApocalypse, and CerebusSyndrome. For when it applies to a single episode, see UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode.

When done right, Darker and Edgier works are a case of TropesAreNotBad. 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]] [[DeusAngstMachina 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 DarknessInducedAudienceApathy if the setting gets too depressing or {{Narm}} if the edginess becomes just silly. [[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.

%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1338749456004688300

[[caption-width-right:350:IT'S SMURFING AWESOME!]]

[[quoteright:250:[[Franchise/TheSmurfs https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smurfs_hardcore.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:IT'S SMURFING AWESOME!]]

* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Music}}
* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Mythology}}

* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Radio}}
* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Roleplay}}

* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Theatre}}

* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Pinball}}

* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Toys}}

* [[DarkerAndEdgier/{{Film}} Live-Action Films]]

* Film
** DarkerAndEdgier/AnimatedFilms
** [[DarkerAndEdgier/{{Film}} Live-Action Films]]

Compare {{Grimmification}} and FracturedFairyTale for when this is done with fairy tales and AmericanKirbyIsHardcore for when this is done with boxart. See also SugarApocalypse, and CerebusSyndrome. For when it applies to a single episode, see UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode. FriendlyFranchiseSomberSpinoff is a SubTrope.

Compare {{Grimmification}} and FracturedFairyTale for when this is done with fairy tales and AmericanKirbyIsHardcore for when this is done with boxart. See also SugarApocalypse, and CerebusSyndrome. For when it applies to a single episode, see UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode.

* DarkerAndEdgier/{{Fandom}}

In theory, this means that archetypes which we are usually accustomed to acting in a more noble setting will have to act in one where they must think and act grimly in order to make progress, [[{{Deconstruction}} thus forcing re-examination of the tropes involved]] or the ability to use new tropes and expand the setting making for different sorts of characters and stories. In practice, however, writers can be too lazy to make use of what most of those words mean and ending up randomly "spicing up" a work with [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence gratuitous gore]], [[ClusterFBomb cursing]], and {{sex|IsCool}} to make the work more "adult" -- often overdoing it in the process. This is not to be confused with ToughLove.

-->-- '''The Riddler''', "[[Creator/NeilGaiman When Is a Door]]"

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

-> "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?"

The excessive version is often known as "Grimdark" (one word), derived from the tagline of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. ("In the grim darkness of the far future, there is ''only war.''") Sometimes justified with the phrase "SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids". Usually shows up in DarkFic. If a pre-existing show undergoes a {{Retool}} under the guise of making things Darker And Edgier, expect JumpingTheShark, especially if there was ExecutiveMeddling involved. Blog/TheUnitedFederationOfCharles wrote an essay called, [[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-is-grimdark.html What is Grimdark?]] which explains some of the history of the subject. "Grimderp" has in many parts of the Net become popular as a term for Grimdark that goes so far that it becomes {{Narm}}. Future writers beware! Using this trope without knowing ''when'' to stop is a quick road to DarknessInducedAudienceApathy.

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]] [[DeusAngstMachina giving them a reason to angst]], [[BlackAndGrayMorality good]] and [[GreyAndGrayMorality bad becoming less obvious]], and the [[CrapsaccharineWorld setting becoming]] [[CrapsackWorld much bleaker]].

Note that [[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.

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

[[caption-width-right:250:[-IT'S SMURFING AWESOME-]!]]

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, RunningTheAsylum as {{Promoted Fanboy}}s, and continuing to think of the setting as something aimed at themselves and their peers instead of the original target age group.

As with [[LighterAndSofter Lighter and Softer]] this practice tends to go better if the change was planned in advance to keep the tone from shifting too abruptly.

-->-- '''The Riddler''', "[[Creator/NeilGaiman When Is A Door]]"

A ToneShift that seeks to make a work of fiction more [[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness serious]], [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]] or [[SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty gritty]]. In theory, archetypes which we are usually accustomed to acting in a more noble setting will have to act in one where they must think and act grimly in order to make progress, [[{{Deconstruction}} thus forcing re-examination of the tropes involved]] or the ability to use new tropes and expand the setting making for different sorts of characters and stories. In practice however, writers can be too lazy to make use of what most of those words mean and ending up randomly "spicing up" a work with [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence gratuitous gore]], [[ClusterFBomb cursing]], and {{sex|IsCool}} to make the work "more adult" - often overdoing it in the process. This is not to be confused with tough love.