History Main / EvilIsNotWellLit

* Taken to an extreme in ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel''; a spinoff for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor. The villain Marionette Owl [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway can see well in dark areas]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMansionsOfTheGods'': Caesar's palace is huge and gloomy, with the regularly placed lamps barely providing any illumination.

** Lampshaded in Oh, Spirits!, when the leader of an as-yet unnamed group rises to leave a meeting and slams their foot into the leg of a table.

* Deconstructed in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/9172/between-day-and-night Between Day and Night]] when Princess Luna [[LighterAndSofter nefariously tries to get her sister married]] [[RedStringOfFate to her student]]

Luna rubbed her forehead.\\

* ''VideoGame/{{Visage}}'' The house you are in gets progressively darker as the game goes on as paranormal activity keeps destroying the lights.

* In ''VideoGame/WarioLand: Shake It'', the throne room the Shake King stays in through about 90% of the game is literally completely dark. As in, the bit Wario enters from is pretty much just a black screen and the rest of it seems like only half the lights are on, to the point where you can see the villain's eyes glowing in the dark.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', the ''AWE'' expansion [[spoiler: a StealthSequel to ''Alan Wake'']] has light and darkness as the main gameplay element. The overall goal of the segment is to [[PuzzleBoss turn on all the lights]] so the evil entity has nowhere to hide.

Often the setting for the OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness. Glowy orange or purple colors are optional. Compare EmpathicEnvironment, SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty, and FaceFramedInShadow. See also DarkIsEvil, DarknessEqualsDeath, and NocturnalCrime for why this trope is employed, and {{Chiaroscuro}} (and the page image) for another reason why. Compare '''AND''' contrast DaylightHorror and LightIsNotGood. Compare TheFutureIsNoir, a setting trope for the Sci-Fi genre.

* ''Film/TheWitch'': Despite all the use of DaylightHorror, the only time we ever see the Witch in her true form and not some form of {{Glamour}} is in very dim lighting. [[spoiler:And when Black Phillip takes his human form to talk to Thomasin in the penultimate scene, it's so dark all we can make out is the outline of his face, the brim of his hat, and a quick glance of his boot as he walks towards her.]]

* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'', when just prior to TheReveal, TheMole calls his employer, a sinister face in a green glowing darkness... who turns out the be TheMole's poker buddy who was sleeping in bed with a digital alarm clock with a green display, and TheMole apologizes for calling the wrong number. Then we get the BigBad [[HijackedByGanon from a previous arc]], cheerfully answering the phone in a brightly lit kitchen, cooking dinner and wearing a "Kiss the Cult Leader" apron.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes ...except]] [[GlowingEyesOfDoom the eyes.]]]]

** Justified in ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}'': the Mars base has suffered from bureaucratic meddling since its founding, so it was never fully installed with proper lighting and is now severely behind repair anyway. Furthermore, the secret teleporter experiments are wreaking havoc with the power grid, resulting in short circuits, blackouts and outright burn-outs across the base.

* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': The interior of Ganon's castle has absolutely no light at all; just a featureless black void crawling with Force Ghosts of defeated foes!

* All evil plotting in ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' takes place in almost complete darkness.
* Alucard's room in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' is particularly dark, although it could be said that not much of ''Hellsing'' could be considered bright. Possibly justified because Alucard is a vampire, and vampires are typically nocturnal.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' is interesting in that as the plot gets darker, so does the environment. [[SchmuckBait Go on,]] [[TooDumbToLive see for yourself]].
* Father from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' plays it straight with his dark subterranean throne room.

* The senators in ''Anime/EurekaSeven''. (Points for a dramatic green light in the center of the room.)

* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' has Precia and most of the areas in her [[OminousFloatingCastle Garden of Time]].
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', Light Yagami's room, where he does most of his evil planning in the earlier part of the anime, is always dark.

* ''ComicBook/SinCity'' is dark almost everywhere you go, but then again, it's a [[CrapsackWorld bad place.]]

* Inverted with ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'', and ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', who use the darkness to make themselves scarier to their foes.

* Parodied in ''ComicBook/AlanFord'': Vampire Baron Wurdalak owns a decrepit castle which is dark and creepy because he didn't have the money to pay the bills.
* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': The interior of Ganon's castle has absolutely no light at all; just a featureless black void crawling with Force Ghosts of defeated foes!

* ''Fanfic/BecomingATrueInvader'': [[BigBad The Employer]] likes to keep his personal chambers completely darkened in order to make himself feel more mysterious.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' features this frequently with its villains: Gravemoss, the most vile member of the HYDRA alliance, initially skulks in the Catacombs of Paris, before moving to the poorly lit basement of HYDRA's main base; the Red Room favour attacks in the dark and at night (though at the same time, they're perfectly happy to act in broad daylight, flaunting their believed impunity); [[VampireMonarch Dracula]] (for obvious reasons) acts at night as do his minions, instigating a massive blackout of New York (as the Heirs of Kemmler do in Chicago at the same time) to add to the fear factor, along with a massive storm to blot out all natural light; the Elder Wyrm lives in darkened catacombs beneath [[spoiler: the Hogwarts Lake]] and its Wights hunt among the tunnels, being happy to keep to the shadows (though it is also perfectly happy to break out into the sunlight); even Surtur ([[spoiler: the original Dark Phoenix]]) despite his fiery associations is often cast in shadow, being referred to as a being 'of shadow and flame'.

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'' has several of such locations.
** The Black Fortress, true to its name, is a dark place bound to the will of its mistress, [[ArcVillain Olga Discordia]]. Its hallways are always dimly lit with torches.
** [[EldritchLocation The Malys Estate]] is the domain of the Leaping Lizards [[spoiler:and later Shamuhaza, who not only experimented on the former group to produce more mutated troops, but also became an EldritchAbomination himself]]. The estate is so dark that the three hunters attacking the place have to use a lantern and a couple of torches to advance. The fact that their company launches the attack at night only serves to deepen the darkness within.
** The place where [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness an unnamed group of nobles and clergymen]] are plotting at the end of Chapter 10, remastered version is an undisclosed location in the dark.

* This is why Nightmare Moon worked alone!*

* ''Film/{{Martyrs}}:'' The torture dungeon is consistently dimly lit, when it might make more sense for it to be brightly lit when the torturers are working, and for the lights to be turned off when the prisoner is alone.

* In the ''Literature/FearStreet'' series Fear Streat itself is always gloomy and overcast, even on summer days.
* In [[Series/{{Animorphs}} The Ellimist Chronicles]] the [[SatanicArchetype Crayak]] has a mobile planetoid he uses as a spaceship/house. At one point it's described as "dark and gloomy"

* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'' depicts Hell as a gloomy, underlit, shadowy, place. Heaven, by contrast, is so brightly lit that the intense white light and lack of shadows makes it equally opressive and unpleasant. Ironically, the earth-bound Angel Aziraphile prefers his home, a second-hand bookshop, to be underlit and a little gloomy; the earth-bound demon Crowley's home is spacious, sunny and well-lit.

* Rita Repulsa (and later Zedd)'s palace in ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' is noticeably darker than Rangers' Command Center and in sharp contrast to the colorful Ranger suits.

* Wrestling/TheUndertaker is famous for putting out the lights just by showing up. One of his trademarks is to slowly raise his arms, causing the lights to come back on.

* In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', Flood-infected buildings and Covenant ships are dimly lit.
* Count Bleck's Castle in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' is [[DeliberatelyMonochrome completely black]], with only the walls, floor, and other features [[http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/778606/images/8-1/034.jpg bordered with white lines.]]
** In ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'', the two main rooms of Peach's Castle are a lot darker when under Bowser's control; this [[StealthBasedMission works out to Peach's benefit]]. Most of the side rooms are still well-lit, though.
** In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', when you reach the room where [[spoiler:the Shadow Queen appears]], the plethora of candles go out and a darker flame appears on each.
* Taken to an extreme in ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel''; a spinoff for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor. The villain Marionette Owl [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway can see well in dark areas]].

* [[BigBad Morphix]]'s [[AppliedPhlebotinum GLOPP]] factory in ''VideoGame/DukeNukem: Manhattan Project'' is really dark, especially at the start. The only light you get at that point is the SicklyGreenGlow of the GLOPP far below.
-->'''Duke:''' [[LampshadeHanging Jeez, you'd think Morphix could afford a few light bulbs]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', sims will get a negative moodlet without proper lighting. Sims with the [[CardCarryingVillain evil trait won't.]]
* In the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries'', [[ReligionOfEvil Brotherhood of Nod]] bases tend to have very minimal, very stark [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver red lighting]], such that 80% of any given shot is black and the rest red (see the page pic for DarkMessiah for a typical example).

* The [=BlackCastle=] in ''VideoGame/AnUntitledStory''. Not only is it [[MeaningfulName black]], it also has a room [[BlackoutBasement with faulty lighting]].
* In ''VideoGame/WarioLand: Shake It'', the throne room the Shake King stays in through about 90% of the game is literally completely dark. As in, the bit Wario enters from is pretty much just a black screen and the rest of it seems like only half the lights are on, to the point where you can see the villain's eyes glowing in the dark.
* In the final confrontation in ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', where the room is entirely in darkness, and only the tiny pillars of light are seen, as well as Dr. Neurosis, Fritz, and Lance.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' when going into the corruption, the sun will become dim.
* Pirate stations in ''VideoGame/StarMade'' are very sparsely lit with red lamps, while the standard generated stations are lit brightly lit with standard white lamps.
* ''Videogame/EndlessLegend'''s Broken Lords, a [[TragicVillain tragic society]] of honorable knights who [[AnimatedArmor bound their souls to armor]] to survive the [[EndlessWinter end of the world]], must [[LifeDrinker drain Dust from living creatures to sustain their bodies]]. Their once beautiful capital is now a barren wasteland cloaked in endless night, where the only sources of light are the ominous blue glow [[GlowingMechanicalEyes emanating from the eyes]] of Broken Lords and the vast beacon atop their castle.
* Inverted in ''Franchise/MassEffect''. Compared to the portrayal in the [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 first]] and [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 third]] games where it's an Alliance ship the Normandy is extremely bright in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' where it's being operated by Cerberus, a terrorist group. Also, one of your crew in the third game even justify why having the lights up is a bad idea - in case the ship is attacked then it's harder for the crew's eyes to adjust to the shift into complete darkness. [[IncompetenceInc This is only one of many issues the retrofitting team had with Cerberus' engineering choices.]] Pilot Joker mentions they also made other civilian-friendly changes like making the chairs comfortable.

* This is very much the case in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'', although oddly enough the ''most'' evil locations - the Courtyard and the Darkest Dungeon itself - are somewhat better lit than the Weald, Warrens, Ruins, and Cove. All four cases are justified: the Ruins are a twisted knot of warped corridors with only a few above-ground windows; the Warrens are long-buried ruins that are inhabited by pig-monsters (pigs have pretty bad eyesight in real life); the Cove is mostly a cave network covered in ancient, eldritch ruins; and the Weald is a claustrophobic forest with an incredibly dense and dark canopy. (As for the exceptions, the Courtyard is mostly an above-ground swamp where there is at least ''some'' daylight, and the Darkest Dungeon is given reduced torch consumption as one of the game's few AntiFrustrationFeatures.)

* ''VideoGame/{{Visage}}'' The house you are in gets progressively darker as the game goes on as paranormal activity keeps destroying the lights.

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' both plays straight and lampshades this one with sinister corporation Hereti-Corp, whose "Evil Room" is kept dark. Lampshaded [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20011111 in its initial appearance]] and again when the company is dismantled and [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20020824 its leaders take over a fast-food franchise from the bottom up.]] The rebuilt corporation of later years plays it straight.
* Lampshaded via a RunningGag in ''Webcomic/PebbleVersion'' is the (presumably) BigBad's search for adequate lighting in his office. When he does get a lamp, it is blindingly bright.

* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'', when just prior to TheReveal, TheMole calls his employer, a sinister face in a green glowing darkness... who turns out the be TheMole's poker buddy who was sleeping in bed with a digital alarm clock with a green display, and TheMole apologizes for calling the wrong number. Then we get the BigBad [[HijackedByGanon from a previous arc]], cheerfully answering the phone in a brightly lit kitchen, cooking dinner and wearing a "Kiss the Cult Leader" apron.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Lord Tedd is shown to be in a dark room in [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=244 two out]] [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-01-06 of three]] of his appearances. The [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-11-07 third appearance]] is in well-lit rooms. He seems far more evil in the dark room than in the well-lit rooms to the point of seeming to be a different person entirely (which is not out of the question given the multiversal setting).

* In ''WebVideo/TheLegendOfNeil'', not only is Ganon's lair poorly lit, but also commonly under the effects of fog machines (fog = power), making it damn near impossible to find anything.

* In ''WesternAnimation/CyberSix'', the only sources of light to be found in any of [[BigBad Von Reichter's]] lairs is the glow from computer screens and tubes filled with [[AppliedPhlebotinum Sustenance]], as well as the occasional flash of lightning.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'', when Cobra Queen dramatically welcomes her old foe Atomic Boy to her lair... only for Freakazoid to awkwardly identify himself. An apologetic Cobra Queen admits she made the mistake because there's so little light in her sewer hideout. Freakazoid suggests that she could brighten the place up with some Japanese paper lanterns ("Japanese paper lanterns? Are they expensive?" "Nah, my dad got a bunch of them for the backyard."); the next time we see her lair, she has taken his advice.

* The TV adaptation of ''Literature/GoodOmens'' depicts Hell as a gloomy, underlit, shadowy, place. Heaven, by contrast, is so brightly lit that the intense white light and lack of shadows makes it equally opressive and unpleasant. Ironically, the earth-bound Angel Aziraphile prefers his home, a second-hand bookshop, to be underlit and a little gloomy; the earth-bound demon Crowley's home is spacious, sunny and well-lit.

* On ''Series/TheOrville'', [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Krill]] ships are dark inside. {{Justified}} as they evolved on a planet that doesn't get any sunlight and are therefore used to darkness. They require tinted helmets and full-body protection to operate in what humans consider natural lighting; exposure to enough UV light to give a human a sunburn is instantly fatal.
* ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'': averted with the Goa'uld, the Ori, and the Asurans, as all of them had pretty well-lit ships. Played straight with Replicators and the Wraith. Seemingly inverted in ''Series/StargateUniverse'', as the ''Destiny'' (and presumably the other very old Ancient ships) was darker than the hostile alien ships were so far.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Federation starships are definitely better lit than Romulan, Borg, or Klingon ships (even after Klingons became good guys).
** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' carried on the tradition with the Cardassians, but also played with it a bit in one episode where [[TheExile Garak]] complains that from ''his'' point of view the public areas of the station are bright enough to cause him considerable discomfort; presumably he's too proud to replicate a pair of sunglasses.

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. In "Living Witness", a historian has given the 'Warship Voyager' a HistoricalVillainUpgrade; in his holographic simulation all Voyager's internal lights are dim and Captain Janeway is introduced with her FaceFramedInShadow, monologuing on how MightMakesRight.

* The levels in the Playstation and Saturn ports of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' are quite a bit darker than their console counterparts thanks to the use of colorized sectors and shadows to give the levels a more foreboding feeling. This was carried over into ''VideoGame/Doom64''.
* The monsters in the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' mod ''Lasting Light'' thrive in the dark: the Screecher can pounce on you with impunity in the dark, the Creeper hates the light and will attack you if lit by your lantern for more than a split second, and the Stalker doesn't need light to see you by.
* Justified in ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}'': the Mars base has suffered from bureaucratic meddling since its founding, so it was never fully installed with proper lighting and is now severely behind repair anyway. Furthermore, the secret teleporter experiments are wreaking havoc with the power grid, resulting in short circuits, blackouts and outright burn-outs across the base.

* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/010308 here]], [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/020307 here]], and [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/040422 here]].

* Rita Repula (and later Zedd)'s palace in ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' is noticeably darker than Rangers' Command Center and in sharp contrast to the colorful Ranger suits.

-->-- '''[[Literature/TheFourGospels John 3:19-20]]''', ''Literature/TheBible''