History Main / LightDarknessJuxtaposition

* ''Fanfic/SurvivorsOfTheCalamity''. Its first installment, ''Fanfic/BreathOfTheWild'', features Zelda and Calamity Ganon, with their same roles as in canon, with Calamity Ganon's dark Malice contrasting Zelda's golden light of her sealing powers. But it goes one step further. [[spoiler: There are a grand total of four spirits that Link, Zelda, Impa, and the truly heroic Ganondorf are supposed to wield against Demise's curse. The spirits all glow brightly in different vibrant colors in contrast to the encompassing darkness of the manifestations of Demise's curse.]]
* It is called out in ''Fanfic/SlyCooperAndCarmelitaFoxAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'' how similar Sly and Carmelita are while maintaining this type of dynamic; both have rich family legacies (Sly's family being master thieves, Carmelita's being in law enforcement), have created a family book passed on from parent to child that hones their skills (the Thievius Racooonus and the Guardius Vulpinus), only for the Fiendish Five to come and orphan the both of them and take their books because they saw them as a threat, leading to Sly and Carmelita to wind up in the same orphanage and form the gang to reclaim their heritage and defeat the Fiendish Five.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': The inability Of Galadriel and Sauron to distinguish light from darkness is a recurring theme in their dynamics. Galadriel is often associated with the light, while Sauron is a TinTyrant nicknamed the Dark Lord. But the juxtaposition also signifies the characters' inner struggles. Galadriel is a KnightTemplar struggling with her own darkness, but her hatred for Sauron pushes her to threaten Adar with the genocide of the Orcs to the point where Adar tells her that the search for Morgoth's successor should have ended in her mirror. Sauron begins his journey for penance as Halbrand. At first he aims for a HumbleGoal such as becoming a blacksmith in Numenor and spent the rest of days there, but Galadriel rekindles his thirst for power and order and genuinly belies that he wants to do is going to be good for Middle-earth. He wants to earn the forgiveness of the Valar by binding himself to Galadriel's light, while she thinks he would turn her into a tyrant. There is not a coincidence that the first Season starts with child Galadriel in the Eden-like Valinor, and ends with a shot of Sauron heading for the hellish {{Mordor}}.

* ''Fanfic/TheTriforceTrilogy''. Its first installment, ''Fanfic/BreathOfTheWild'', features Zelda and Calamity Ganon, with their same roles as in canon, with Calamity Ganon's dark Malice contrasting Zelda's golden light of her sealing powers. But it goes one step further. [[spoiler: There are a grand total of four spirits that Link, Zelda, Impa, and the truly heroic Ganondorf are supposed to wield against Demise's curse. The spirits all glow brightly in different vibrant colors in contrast to the encompassing darkness of the manifestations of Demise's curse.]]

A contrast between {{Heaven}} and {{Hell}} will likely have some of this mixed in, as will one between a GodOfLight and a GodOfDarkness. CueTheSun functions as this, with the daylight symbolizing a new beginning after an arduous night. See also NiceDayDeadlyNight. The EvilCounterpart might be the "dark" version of something. LightFeminineDarkFeminine is this trope applied to femininity. NightAndDayDuo is another related trope which pairs a light-themed "day" character with a (usually) dark-themed "night" character. %%See also Fire Light Contrast for another common dichotomy between light and another element.

* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': Twin brothers Koji and Koichi wield the Spirits of Light and Darkness, respectively. They were SeparatedAtBirth and at first fought on opposite sides, with Koichi having been brainwashed into evil. When Koichi snaps out of it, he awakens the good forms of the Darkness Spirit and fights alongside his brother. At one point, to comfort Koichi, an angel Digimon tells him that light and darkness are siblings, since there can't be one without the other.
* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': The Light and Dark cards form a pair who must be sealed together. They appear as regal women and have the powers you expect; Light is a white-colored woman with black accents and Dark is the opposite.

* ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'' has this in the {{Meaningful Name}}s of its two main characters in order to further contrast them. Friendly, warm Hinata (written with the kanji for "sun") is the polar opposite to cold, aloof Kageyama (written with the kanji for "shadow").

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Kirito gains this dynamic with the first two {{Big Bad}}s, Heathcliff/Kayaba and Oberon/Sugou, with Kirito being DarkIsNotEvil while the villains being LightIsNotGood. Kirito is TheHero who always dresses in black, earning him the name the "Black Swordsman" and has swords named after dark themes like "Dark Repulsor" and "Night Sky Sword". Heathcliff is a [[ThePaladin paladin]] with his attacks including the "Holy Sword" and "Spiritual Light". Meanwhile Sugou made himself into the King of the Fairies and the God of Alfheim Online, giving himself a divine appearance with blonde hair and ornamented with gold.

*** Pharaoh Atem is a beacon of hope and commands the light-themed Winged Dragon of Ra. Thief King Bakura is a shady thief who plunders and murders; he uses Diabound as his monster which has several darkness based abilities such as turning invisible in shadows and walking through walls.

*** This inverted with Yugi and Kaiba's ace monsters, the Dark Magician (a Spellcaster-type monster with a Dark attribute) and the Blue Eyes White Dragon (a Dragon-type with a Light attribute). In this case the heroic Yugi wields the dark monster while the (initially) villainous Kaiba wields the light monster.

* It is called-out in ''Fanfic/SlyCooperAndCarmelitaFoxAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'' how similar Sly and Carmelita are while maintaining this type of dynamic; both have rich family legacies (Sly's family being master thieves, Carmelita's being in law enforcement), have created a family book passed on from parent to child that hones their skills (the Thievius Racooonus and the Guardius Vulpinus), only for the Fiendish Five to come and orphan the both of them and take their books because they saw them as a threat, leading to Sly and Carmelita to wind up in the same orphanage and form the gang to reclaim their heritage and defeat the Fiendish Five.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' contrasts the brightly-lit, beautiful Pride Lands with the Elephant Graveyard, a shadowy, miserable wasteland. Simba and Mufasa's rule is generally associated with light (eg. the NaturalSpotlight when a new heir is born, the the warm light that surrounds Simba when he arrives to reclaim the throne, their own red-and-gold color scheme); meanwhile, when the dark-colored [[EvilUncle Scar]] usurps the throne, the Pride Lands are cast in shadow.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' fairly straightforwardly associates the heroes with light and the villains with darkness, despite some instances of LightIsNotGood. The heroes are guided by Gandalf the White and aided by Galadriel, the Lady of Light, who gives Frodo a phial who can light up dark places. Meanwhile, Sauron rules over shadowy, dark Mordor and Gollum revels in the anonymity of darkness.
* The ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' has a whole mythology built on light and dark. The light is represented by the Tiste Liosan, who have light-themed powers and worship Father Light, while the dark is represented by the Tiste Andii, who have dark-themed powers and worship Mother Dark. Additionally, there are the Tiste Edur who have [[CastingAShadow shadow]] as their [[PlanetOfHats hat]] and are considered to be unwanted bastards due to their admixture of light and dark. Mythologically speaking, Mother Dark is thought of as ''the'' primordial force that brought order and the concept of existence to what was pure chaos and nonexistence before her. She may have, depending on the InUniverse source, created light which brought justice, although the series makes the point that Father Light's justice is a harsh and unforgiving thing. LightIsNotGood and DarkIsNotEvil are out in full force in this series.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' sets up this dynamic between [[TheHero Oliver Queen/Green Arrow]] and [[BigBad Damien Darhk]]. Darhk operates using BlackMagic, empowered by [[BloodMagic blood]] and capable of LifeDrain. To counter this Oliver is taught light magic known as "Light of the Soul", which allows Oliver to ward off darkness based magic using goodness. Darhk's magic becomes stronger with death and fear, while Oliver's magic is empowered by hope and selflessness. This is what leads to Darhk's defeat, with Oliver rallying the entire city against Darhk, which depowers his darkness magic.

* Originally, the Site of Ascension in ''Roleplay/NothingIsSacred'' was a purely light-aligned mountaintop where a dragon attained enlightenment long ago. Its inner workings remained a mystery for many years, until a touch of darkness was introduced to the site which provided something for the light to be contrasted against and granted those who studied the area additional information on the nature of enlightenment.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Of the five colors, two are this: white (represented by a sun) represents light, life and order; black (represented by a skull) represents darkness, death and chaos.

** [[SeriesMascot Artix von Kreiger]] is a [[ThePaladin Paladin]] who fights ForGreatJustice as well as a MagicKnight associated with [[LightEmUp light based magic]]. In every game there's almost always a [[CastingAShadow darkness based]] villain to serve as his EvilCounterpart. In ''[=DragonFable=]'' he is mirrored by Vayle the Necromantress, who has the exact same DarkAndTroubledPast and being empowered by the Darkness Orb, however while Artix chose to turn away from the darkness she embraced it and walked its path. In ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', his darkness foil comes in the form of Sepulchure the [=DoomKnight=] and his daughter Empress Gravelyn, both of whom lead the Shadowscythe which are an army of TheUndead and seek to conquer and enslave.

*** The [[PlayerCharacter Hero]] and [[BigBad Sepulchure]] are both in possession of a legendary dragon, the dragons from the White Dragon Box (a dragon of light prophesied to save the world) and the Black Dragon Box (a dragon of darkness prophesied to destroy a world). However the irony is the Hero acquired the dragon from the Black Dragon Box, while Sepulchure ended up with the dragon from the White Dragon Box. NatureVersusNurture comes into play on whether the dragons would act out the prophesy.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' has the Umbra Witches representing darkness and the Lumen Sages representing light, although in this case you're playing the side of darkness and LightIsNotGood.

--> '''Orc you just dominated''': Eh, Bright Lord, Dark Lord, same thing, really.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': the God of Light is the older brother and responsible for the creation of life, which the God of Darkness despised and set about destroying, even creating the Creatures of Grimm to achieve this. While they formed a truce by creating humanity together, Light receives the worship and adoration of humanity while humanity fears and avoids Dark. The two domains in which they dwell reflect their differences. Light lives atop a mountain, surrounded by golden plants, and is a welcoming place to visit. Dark's domain in a realm of endless darkness where fearsome Grimm roam and skeletons of humans who died lie scattered. The God of Darkness's jealousy over the God of Light's relationship with humanity leaves him vulnerable to [[BigBad Salem's]] manipulations, setting the world of Remnant on course for a tragic catastrophe.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': The light and dark side themes of the Force are exaggerated in "Ghost of Mortis". The Jedi encounter physical personifications of the Force: The Daughter represents the Light side; she is pure, kind, and gives off an ethereal glow. The Son represents the Dark side; he is selfish and corrupt, possessing red Force lightning and is ObviouslyEvil from his [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] and the dark markings all over him. The Father serves as a perfect balance between the two sides and keeps both of his children under control. The planet itself also reflects this, with the day time bringing all plants and vegetation to life, while nightfall casts a shadow across the land and everything withers and dies.

* In ''Manga/YuGiOh'' this dynamic is seen several times in "Dawn of the Duel":
** Pharaoh Atem is a beacon of hope and commands the light-themed Winged Dragon of Ra. Thief King Bakura is a shady thief who plunders and murders; he uses Diabound as his monster which has several darkness based abilities such as turning invisible in shadows and walking through walls.
** The parallel is once again seen with the Pharaoh and Zorc's guardian spirits: Hasan the Spirit of the Tablet who gives off an ethereal glow, and Akhenaden the High Priest of Darkness who serves as Zorc's minion and is able to project [[CastingAShadow dark energy blasts]].
** To defeat Zorc in the FinalBattle, the Pharaoh summoned the three Egyptian Gods: Obelisk, Slifer, and Ra, who [[FusionDance fused together]] into Holactie the Creator of Light. He was able to smite the dark demon Zorc with one devastating light blast.
** This inverted with Yugi and Kaiba's ace monsters, the Dark Magician (a Spellcaster-type monster with a Dark attribute) and the Blue Eyes White Dragon (a Dragon-type with a Light attribute). In this case the heroic Yugi wields the dark monster while the (initially) villainous Kaiba wields the light monster.
** In the Battle City arc, Yugi and Kaiba dueled against two of [[BigBad Marik's minions]] whose names in both the Japanese and English versions were themed around light and darkness (Lumis/Mask of Light and Umbra/Mask of Darkness).

A contrast between {{Heaven}} and {{Hell}} will likely have some of this mixed in, as will one between a GodOfLight and a GodOfTheMoon. CueTheSun functions as this, with the daylight symbolizing a new beginning after an arduous night. See also NiceDayDeadlyNight. The EvilCounterpart might be the "dark" version of something. LightFeminineDarkFeminine is this trope applied to femininity. NightAndDayDuo is another related trope which pairs a light-themed "day" character with a (usually) dark-themed "night" character. %%See also Fire Light Contrast for another common dichotomy between light and another element.

** Uriel and Anduriel. ArchangelUriel, whose name translates to "God is my Light", is one of the strongest soldiers in God's army and strategist. A cunning being who will always aim for three birds with one stone. His purview is the protection of humanity's Freewill from forces who would corrupt or lie to humans. He is also Heaven's wetwork agent. If a job needs to be done and it comes down to pushing the line of Freewill, it is his job because he knows where the line is.[[note]]In one story he doesn't commit to knowing whether or not a human spirit who helps him was deliberately vague and made a lie of omission to Harry to spur Harry into action. This resulted in several dominoes falling that stopped a very evil human from coming back to life and sent him to hell, helped a man who saw himself as a coward find courage to save a young girl, saved a young girl from her own guilt, saved some street orphans from their cruel leader, and placed Harry in a place of strength when dealing with Queen Mab. Uriel acts offended and shocked, but it isn't clear if he just looked the other way to make sure he doesn't know.[[/note]]. His opposite, Anduriel, is one of the Fallen who served Lucifer in the War. He holds the moniker the Master of Shadows, and the spymaster for his side. He exists in the shadow of his human host, Nicodemus Archleone, and can control it too.

** In ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', this trope is taken UpToEleven in the "Doomwood Saga" where it's established that each of the elements possesses [[TheChampion champion]], with Artix being one of said Champions. But in an ironic twist, [[spoiler:it's revealed Artix is the [[DarkIsNotEvil Champion of Darkness]] and he was created to end the world (though [[AntiAntiChrist he refused this destiny]]). Further revelations then establish that Sepulchure's daughter, Gravelyn, who stepped up as Empress of the Shadowscythe after her father's demise, is the [[LightIsNotGood Champion of Light]]. NatureVersusNurture again arises, where both Champions defy their chosen destines and choose to go in the opposite direction, with Artix fighting for good and Gravelyn continuing her path of evil.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', the light and dark side themes of the Force are taken UpToEleven in "Ghost of Mortis". The Jedi encounter physical personifications of the Force: The Daughter represents the Light side; she is pure, kind, and gives off an ethereal glow. The Son represents the Dark side; he is selfish and corrupt, possessing red Force lightning and is ObviouslyEvil from his [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] and the dark markings all over him. The Father serves as a perfect balance between the two sides and keeps both of his children under control. The planet itself also reflects this, with the day time bringing all plants and vegetation to life, while nightfall casts a shadow across the land and everything withers and dies.

* Originally, the Site of Ascension in ''Roleplay/NothingIsSacred'' was a purely light-aligned mountaintop where a dragon attained enlightenment long ago. Its inner workings remained a mystery for many years, until a touch of darkness was introduced to the site which provided something for the light to be contrasted against and granted those who studied the area additional information on the nature of enlightenment.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'', this trope is used to emphasize the LifeDeathJuxtaposition between the forest's forces of life and rot. Life is associated with daylight, growth, and bright colors, rot is associated with shadows, decay, and dark colors.

* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': The Light and Dark cards form a pair who must be sealed together. They appear as regal women and have the powers you expect; Light is white-colored woman with black accents and Dark is the opposite.

* ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'' has this in the {{Meaningful Name}}s of its two main characters in order to further contrast them. Friendly, warm Hinata (written with the kanji for "sun") is polar opposite to cold, aloof Kageyama (written with the kanji for "shadow").

** The main Fey Courts are those of Summer and Winter. The lead Summer Queen Titania is called the Queen of Light, while her opposite, Queen Mab is called, among other names, the Queen of Air and Darkness. Summer is seen as a warm and inviting court. Winter is filled with darker creatures, the monsters of nightmares. That said, while Mab can be a vicious monster who would destroy a whole town if one person dares to draw a weapon against her, she is [[TheSpock cold, calculating, and logical]]. If one has a good logical reason to act and she sees it is in her best interests, then she won't take issue with it. Titania is a follower of her [[TheMcCoy emotions and heart]]. If one injures her or one she cares about for a logical reason, she won't give a shit and seek to kill the person. Even if that injury had to happen to save the world.
** Uriel and Anduriel. ArchangelUriel, whose name translates to "God is my Light", is one of the strongest soldiers in God's army and strategist. A cunning being who will always aim for three birds with one stone. His purview is the protection of humanity's Freewill from forces who would corrupt or lie to humans. He is also Heaven's wetwork agent. If a job needs to be done and it comes down to pushing the line of Freewill, it is his job because he knows where the line is.[[note]]In one story he doesn't commit to knowing whether or not a human spirit who helps him was deliberately vague and made a lie of omission to Harry to spur Harry into action. This resulted in several dominoes falling that stopped a very evil human from coming back to life and be sent to hell, a man who saw himself a coward find courage to save a young girl, saved a young girl from her own guilt, saved some street orphans from their cruel leader. And placed Harry in a place of strength when dealing with Queen Mab. Uriel acts offended and shocked, but it isn't clear if he just looked the other way to make sure he doesn't know.[[/note]]. His opposite, Anduriel, is one of the Fallen who served Lucifer in the War. He holds the moniker the Master of Shadows, and the spymaster for his side. He exists in the shadow of his human host, Nicodemus Archleone, and can control it too.

** William Moriarty: the darkness of London. Sherlock Holmes: the light of hope of London. Or at least, to hear ''everyone in the series'' talk about it, that's true. Milverton says it outright, but it had been made clear long before that William believed Sherlock would illuminate the shadows in which the Moriartys work with the truth. Never mind that William is the fair blond and Sherlock is the brooding raven-haired detective.

* Originally, the Site of Ascension in ''Roleplay/NothingIsSacred'' was a purely light-aligned mountaintop where a dragon attained enlightenment long ago. Its inner workings remained a mystery for many years, until a touch of darkness was introduced to the site which provided something for the light to be contrasted against and granted those who studied the area additional information on the nature of englightenment.

* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' and its sequels have the cosmic-level ideological conflict between the [[SinisterSapientSun Judgments]], the living suns who create and enforce what lesser beings like humans consider laws of nature everywhere that their light shines, including laws like "[[FantasticRacism everyone who isn't a star is a lesser being]]", versus the [[TheStarsAreGoingOut Liberation of Night]], who seek to extinguish ''the concept of light'' to [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilised eliminate its use as a tool of oppression]]. ([[WeAREStrugglingTogether Neither of these broad groups is cohesive.]])

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[Literature/BookOfGenesis [God] separated the light from the darkness.]]"[[note]]The Creation of Light", Gustave Dore (detail)[[/note]]]]

A contrast between {{Heaven}} and {{Hell}} will likely have some of this mixed in, as will one between a GodOfLight and a GodOfTheMoon. CueTheSun functions as this, with the daylight symbolizing a new beginning after an arduous night. See also NiceDayDeadlyNight. The EvilCounterpart might be the "dark" version of something. LightFeminineDarkFeminine is this trope applied to femininity. NightAndDayDuo is another related trope which pairs a light-themed "day" character with a (usually) dark-themed "night" character. See also FireLightContrast for another common dichotomy between light and another element.

A contrast between {{Heaven}} and {{Hell}} will likely have some of this mixed in, as will one between a GodOfLight and a GodOfTheMoon. CueTheSun functions as this, with the daylight symbolizing a new beginning after an arduous night. See also NiceDayDeadlyNight. The EvilCounterpart might be the "dark" version of something. LightFeminineDarkFeminine is this trope applied to femininity. NightAndDayDuo is another related trope which pairs a light-themed "day" character with a (usually) dark-themed "night" character.

* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'': William Moriarty: the darkness of London. Sherlock Holmes: the light of hope of London. Or at least, to hear ''everyone in the series'' talk about it, that's true. Milverton says it outright, but it had been made clear long before that William believed Sherlock would illuminate the shadows in which the Moriartys work with the truth. Never mind that William is the fair blond and Sherlock is the brooding raven-haired detective.

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A contrast between {{Heaven}} and {{Hell}} will likely have some of this mixed in. CueTheSun functions as this, with the daylight symbolizing a new beginning after an arduous night. See also NiceDayDeadlyNight. The EvilCounterpart might be the "dark" version of something. LightFeminineDarkFeminine is this trope applied to femininity. NightAndDayDuo is another related trope which pairs a light-themed "day" character with a (usually) dark-themed "night" character.

The examples on this page have been alphabetized.

* In ''FanFic/QueenOfBloodSirWill'' the God of Light and the God of Darkness are ''the'' most powerful gods in the FantasyPantheon of ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''. Everything went to hell when the God of Light, Solin and the God of Darkness, Dracul, fought and hated each other. It's met with a lot of relief and hope that the new Goddess of Darkness, Taylor and the Goddess of Light, Dragon are perfectly willing to work together.

* In ''FanFic/QueenOfBlood'' the God of Light and the God of Darkness are ''the'' most powerful gods in the FantasyPantheon of ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''. Everything went to hell when the God of Light, Solin and the God of Darkness, Dracul, fought and hated each other. It's met with a lot of relief and hope that the new Goddess of Darkness, Taylor and the Goddess of Light, Dragon are perfectly willing to work together.

* It is called-out in ''Fanfic/SlyCooperAndCarmelitaFoxAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'' how [[NotSoDifferent similar Sly and Carmelita are]] while maintaining this type of dynamic; both have rich family legacies (Sly's family being master thieves, Carmelita's being in law enforcement), have created a family book passed on from parent to child that hones their skills (the Thievius Racooonus and the Guardius Vulpinus), only for the Fiendish Five to come and orphan the both of them and take their books because they saw them as a threat, leading to Sly and Carmelita to wind up in the same orphanage and form the gang to reclaim their heritage and defeat the Fiendish Five.

* ''Fanfic/BreathOfTheWild'' features Zelda and Calamity Ganon, just as in canon, with Calamity Ganon's dark Malice contrasting Zelda's golden light of her sealing powers. But it goes one step further. [[spoiler: There are a grand total of four spirits that Link, Zelda, Impa, and the truly heroic Ganondorf are supposed to wield against Demise's curse. The spirits all glow brightly in different vibrant colors in contrast to the encompassing darkness of the manifestations of Demise's curse.]]