Writers like to play with our perceptions and subvert our expectations, especially when it comes to the innocent. Things associated with purity, happiness, and joy are frequently warped and twisted into something more sinister, either for humour, drama, horror, or eroticism. These are the tropes that make you sit back and think, "Well, thanks for ruining my idyllic childhood."
Related to Evil All Along and Hidden Evil. Contrast with Obviously Evil, which doesn't even bother with hiding any malice, and Index with a Heart of Gold, which is basically the inverse example of this index in tropes about subverting malice.
Tropes:
- Abandoned Playground: A disrepaired playground induces nervousness.
- Abusive Parents: Parents are meant to be who children go to for support, but these ones abuse their kids.
- Adorable Abomination: An incomprehensible nightmare that looks deceptively cute.
- Affably Evil: Someone who has a polite and friendly personality, but they are actually a scheming villain.
- Affectionate Pickpocket: Using sweet gestures as a cover for robbing the person they are directed at.
- Age-Inappropriate Art: Art that is inappropriate for the intended target audience.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: An A.I. is created to be benevolent and subvervient to its creators, but this version is evil and Turned Against Their Masters.
- Ambiguous Innocence: It remains skeptical as to whether someone is innocent or not.
- Amusement Park of Doom: An amusement park turns out to be really scary.
- Apocalypse Maiden: An innocent character is destined to bring about The End of the World as We Know It just by existing.
- Artistic License – Child Labor Laws: Kids are shown working despite being too young to work in real life.
- Art-Style Dissonance: Art style doesn't match the story.
- An Ass-Kicking Christmas: A day of Christmas filled with intense action-packed adventure.
- Backstory Horror: A horrific backstory told in canon or by Word of God.
- Badass Adorable: Very cute, yet can kick some serious ass.
- Badass Bystander: A surprisingly competent random bystander.
- Badass Santa: Santa Claus can kick ass.
- Bad Habits: A villain disguises themselves as a religious figure.
- Bad Humor Truck: Ice cream trucks are used by horrible people.
- Bad Santa: Santa Claus turns out to be evil (or he at least has an Evil Counterpart).
- Balloon of Doom: A party balloon is a symbol of evil.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Someone seems nice but can be mean sometimes.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Just because someone is a goofball doesn't mean they can't be a threat.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Quiet does not equal being a pushover.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Someone who acts sweet on the outside, but is really bitter on the inside.
- Black Comedy: Something that's both dark and funny.
- Black Comedy Pet Death: A pet dies and it's played humorously.
- Blood-Splattered Innocents: Innocent Bystanders are exposed to horrific violence.
- Break the Cutie: Sweet and innocent character is put through hell.
- Bright Is Not Good: Being associated with brightness does not make you morally righteous.
- Broken Ace: The Ace has scars on their reputation.
- Broken Pedestal: Your mentor/idol is everything but heroic.
- Carousel Kidnapping: An unsuspecting child is snatched off a carousel.
- Catholic School Girls Rule: Catholicism, schools, and young girls are associated with chastity, but here Catholic school uniforms on girls are portrayed as sexy.
- Cats Are Mean: Cats are supposed to be soft and cuddly, but here, they're complete meanies.
- Cats Are Snarkers: Cats are portrayed as mouthy.
- Cerebus Call-Back: A light moment gets alluded to in a dark way.
- Cerebus Retcon: Something that was originally just a joke is revealed to be for a dead serious reason.
- Cerebus Syndrome: A light work gradually gets darker.
- Children Forced to Kill: A child is forced to take someone's life.
- Child Soldiers: Children in the military, forced to experience (and participate in) all the horrors of war.
- Circus of Fear: A disturbing circus.
- Cocky Rooster: Chickens (especially roosters), even as livestock, can be complete meanies.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: A person accepts horror as a part of their daily routine.
- Corruption by a Minor: When a child is a bad influence on an adult.
- Corruption of a Minor: An adult encourages a child to engage in bad behavior.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Sweet and innocent character becomes a much more negative person after hanging around a toxic influence.
- Covert Pervert: Innocent character has a touch of perversion.
- Crappy Holidays: Christmas break was such a letdown.
- Crapsaccharine World: A Crapsack World that pretends to be a Sugar Bowl.
- Creepy Ballet: Ballet is normally seen as pretty and delicate...until it's twisted by something horrific.
- Creepy Child: A child with disturbing behavior.
- Creepy Children Singing: Something is off-putting about the vocals of a child choir.
- Creepy Circus Music: Circus music that's less than innocent.
- Creepy Doll: A doll with disturbing features.
- Creepy Dollhouse: A dollhouse is unnerving.
- Creepy Mascot Suit: Mascot performers, or anyone who puts on a mascot suit, are either unintentionally terrifying to kids or even adults or outright evil.
- Creepy Stalker Van: Unmarked vans are driven by creeps and kidnappers, sometimes luring in kids with candy.
- Cute Bruiser: A cute person can kick ass.
- Cute and Psycho: Someone who is adorable and unstable at the same time.
- Cute as a Bouncing Betty: Weapons with cute names.
- Cute Creature, Creepy Mouth: A creature that is cute... until it opens its mouth.
- Cute Is Evil: The villain is also adorable.
- Dangerously Garish Environment: A brightly-coloured place is actually dangerous.
- Darker and Edgier: A light work makes a Tone Shift into darkness.
- Dark Fic: The work is fun, the fanfic of it is serious.
- Dark Parody: A lighthearted work has a parody of it that's anything but.
- Deadly Remote Control Toy: A toy turned to deadly purposes.
- Death by Newbery Medal: A cute or nice character dies and the story wins an award.
- Death of a Child: A young child dies.
- Accidental Child-Killer Backstory: ...and all it took was one mistake.
- Deceptively Cute Critter: An animal pretends to be sweet and innocent to manipulate human characters.
- Deliberately Cute Child: A child uses their endearing nature as a manipulation tactic.
- Delusions of Parental Love: A child innocently believes that their Abusive Parents are actually loving.
- Demographically Inappropriate Humour: Dirty or drug-related jokes in a kids' work.
- Demonic Dummy: An evil ventriloquist's dummy.
- Depraved Kids' Show Host: The friendly host of a children's TV show turns out to be a rather repugnant person offstage.
- Dirty Kid: When even children can be perverts.
- Dirty Old Monk: A monk who's a pervert.
- Disguised Horror Story: A work starts off normal and gets progressively creepier without warning.
- Dissonant Serenity: Calmly and eerily smiling in a terrible situation.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The villain was the one you least expect.
- Dreaded Kids' Party Entertainer Job: Your kid's party may be fun for the attendees but not for the entertainer.
- Dystopian Oz: The Land of Oz isn't as perfect as it seems.
- Empathy Doll Shot: Seeing a plushie or doll on the floor means that either a kid died or a kid's innocence was lost evacuating from a war.
- Enfant Terrible: An evil child.
- Enlightened Antagonist: They have achieved greater wisdom and understanding of the way the world works... just don't expect them to behave like some sort of peaceful monk.
- Entertainment Above Their Age: A child enjoys fiction intended for older audiences.
- Evil All Along: Someone pretending to be a good guy was actually a bad guy this whole time.
- Evil Orphan: A parentless child is downright malicious.
- Evil Puppeteer: A puppeteer who is deranged.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Someone who looks adorable or beautiful but is completely deranged and psychopathic.
- The Fake Cutie: The Cutie turns out to have faked their innocent ego this whole time.
- Fallen Cupid: Cupid imagery played as sinister.
- False Friend: Your so-called friend is not really your friend.
- False Innocence Trick: A prisoner pretends to be a good person to fool others into freeing them.
- False Utopia: It's really a dystopia in disguise.
- Faux Affably Evil: Somebody's friendliness is a completely fake mask designed to hide how cruel and twisted they really are.
- Fighting in the Playground: Kids brawl in the playground.
- Fille Fatale: An underage Femme Fatale.
- Fluffy the Terrible: A creature with a cutesy name that is actually scary.
- Foul Ball Pit: Ball pits may look like simple, childish fun, but in fiction, they are often disgusting and/or horrific.
- Foul Flower: Flowers are used to symbolize evil.
- Fractured Fairy Tale: A parody of a fairy tale or other classic children's story.
- From the Mouths of Babes: Obscenity comes from an innocent child's mouth.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: A work (usually a kids' show) manages to slip objectionable (usually adult) content right under the censors' noses.
- Girl Scouts Are Evil: Girl scouts are portrayed as villainous.
- Good Is Not Nice: Heroes are supposed to be nice, but here they're rude.
- Grotesque Cute: Cuteness meets Gorn.
- Hair-Raising Hare: "That rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide!"
- Happy Marriage Charade: When two characters seem Happily Married but aren't even in love.
- Harmful to Minors: Children are exposed to something disturbing that only adults would understand.
- Hide-and-Seek Horror: A game of hide-and-seek is played for horror.
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Horror plots occur on the holidays.
- Horsing Around: Horses who have bad attitudes.
- Hostile Animatronics: Animatronic characters (often used to entertain children) gone bad.
- Hot Librarian: Being prudish and intellectual is sexualised.
- Inappropriate Speak-and-Spell: A simple childhood toy involves swear words and/or sexual innuendo.
- Infantilization Retaliation: A character treating someone or something like a baby directly results in pain or an attack for said character.
- Innocent Inaccurate: A serious situation seems all the more serious because a naïve character (often a kid) thinks it's not.
- Ironic Birthday: Something bad happens on someone's birthday even though birthdays are meant to be a time for happiness.
- Ironic Nursery Tune: A nursery rhyme is used to portray creepiness.
- Kids Are Cruel: Children who are outright mean and nasty, (though not necessarily evil).
- Kill the Cutie: Sweet and innocent character ends up dying.
- Killer Rabbit: A cute animal with murderous tendencies.
- Killer Teddy Bear: A teddy bear with murderous tendencies.
- Knew It All Along: A character lies that they knew something all along, which they obviously didn't.
- Laser-Guided Tyke-Bomb: Kids who were raised and trained to kill a specific person.
- Lethal Joke Character: Someone seems like a total joke but they're not.
- Light Is Not Good: Being associated with the light does not make you morally righteous.
- Little Girls Kick Shins: Little girls are seen as innocent by virtue of being young, but watch out— they can kick you in the shin if you're not careful!
- Little Miss Badass: This little girl knows how to kick ass.
- Little Miss Con Artist: A cute little girl who is also a thief.
- Little Miss Snarker: Not all little girls are innocent; some are snide.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: When someone is dreaming or hallucinating their own perfect fantasy world. But sooner or later, they have to wake up from this illusion.
- Mature Work, Child Protagonists: Although it may feature children, this is not a work for them.
- A Mischief of Mice: Mice that are portrayed in a slightly more negative light than their Nice Mice counterparts. They can be mischievous, scheming, greedy, sneaky or even evil.
- Mister Muffykins: A usually adorable and friendly little dog turns out to be a mean Angry Guard Dog instead.
- Monster Clown: A downright evil clown.
- Music/Age Dissonance: Children listen to music unsuitable for their age.
- Nature Is Not Nice: Many see nature as beautiful and pure, but it can be dangerous.
- Naughty by Night: Someone seems innocent but they get wild and raunchy in the evening.
- Naughty Nuns: Nuns are sexualised.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: They play the role of a good and wholesome character onstage, but they're actually rather nasty and unpleasant in real life.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: A coloring book with disturbing imagery.
- Nightmarish Nursery: A childish setting such as a nursery or playground played for horror or suspense.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: A normally ineffectual villain suddenly become a big threat.
- Nun Too Holy: Nuns that missed the memo on needing to act sacred and holy.
- Obsessively Normal: Someone who's so obsessed with normality that they immediately turn down anything remotely abnormal.
- Ominous Music Box Tune: A music box tune that's creepy because it sounds off somehow (like it's too sad or it's happy but playing at a bad time).
- Parent Service: Titillation exists in a kids' show.
- Peace & Love Incorporated: A corporation with a pleasant image that is actually creepy.
- Pedophile Priest: A religious leader pervs on children.
- People's Republic of Tyranny: A brutal dictatorship that pretends to be a liberal democracy.
- Perverse Puppet: When the reason why the doll/dummy/puppet is evil is because it's possessed.
- Pervert Dad: A father-daughter relationship should be sweet and pure, but this guy's attracted to his own daughter!
- Pesky Pigeons: Pigeons are supposed to be sweet and pure, but instead, they are Feathered Fiends.
- Pleasure Island: A seemingly carefree place for fun activities proves to be a nightmare.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Adults with child-like or adolescent-esque temperaments are usually seen as endearing and/or harmless, but some adults with these same characteristics can be frightening and often dangerous.
- Psycho Poodle: A little poodle who's completely deranged.
- Psycho Pink: A seemingly innocuous pink-themed character is psycho.
- Pure Is Not Good: Being pure-hearted doesn't mean you are noble or innocent. Some people are pure evil after all.
- Raincoat of Horror: Raincoats are colorful and often worn by children. That makes them perfect for horror works that subvert their innocence.
- Razor Apples: Food with dangerous objects hidden inside.
- Relax-o-Vision: Showing something saccharine... to cover up something gory.
- Repulsive Ringmaster: A ringmaster with a creepy factor.
- Ron the Death Eater: The character is good, but in the fanfiction, they're evil.
- Rousing Lullaby: This ain't yer grandma's lullaby, kid. This is Crazy Uncle Bob's lullaby.
- Rule 34: There's porn of everything, even the most innocent things you can think of.
- Santabomination: An incomprehensible nightmare that resembles Santa.
- Santa's Sweatshop: Santa's workshop is a dangerous work environment to say the least.
- Scary Jack-in-the-Box: A jack-in-the-box that evokes fright instead of childhood fun.
- Screwball Squirrel: Squirrels and chipmunks look cute, but here, they are animal-hurting Sadists.
- Sealed Evil in a Teddy Bear: Evil is contained inside something cute.
- Sexy Priest: Religious leaders are sexualised.
- Sexy Whatever Outfit: When it comes to costumes, anything can be sexualized.
- Sinister Minister: Evil clergy.
- Sinister Sweet Tooth: Liking sweets is villainous.
- Sinister Whistling: A whistle that signals something creepy or unnerving, or a villainous character.
- Slipping a Mickey: A drink actually contains poison/sleeping potion/etc.
- Smuggling with Dolls: Dolls are used to smuggle illegal goods.
- Snow Globe of Innocence: A snowglobe symbolizing lost innocence and/or joy in the face of tragedy.
- Snow Means Death: Snow is generally seen as fun and beautiful, but here someone dies in the snow.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: A soundtrack that doesn't fit the rest of the scene — in this case, a cheerful, beautiful, or otherwise feel-good soundtrack accompanying a disturbing scene.
- Special Person, Normal Name: The person with an average name isn't average.
- Stepford Smiler: The Pollyanna isn't as happy as they seem.
- Stepford Suburbia: A seemingly perfect suburban city inhabited by a community of Stepford Smilers.
- Subverted Kids' Show: It (intentionally and misleadingly) looks like a kids' show at first glance, but it's actually meant for adults.
- Subverted Sitcom: The wholesome sitcom aesthetic misleads the audience before the work reveals itself to actually be dark, surreal, or violent.
- Subverted Suspicion Aesop: It looks like there'll be An Aesop about not being too suspicious, but the character who was suspicious was right all along.
- Sugar Apocalypse: When a genuine Sugar Bowl suffers a horrifying disaster that destroys its peaceful innocence.
- Super-Fun Happy Thing of Doom: Something with a happy-seeming title but which is actually creepy.
- Surprisingly Creepy Moment: A non-horror work has a surprisingly horror-like moment or section.
- Sweets of Temptation: Candy, cake, and other sweet food is used as symbolism for temptation and hidden danger.
- Too Broken to Break: A character seems normal, but inside is so broken that nothing can affect him/her.
- Town with a Dark Secret: A town seems nice, but it actually has a dark secret.
- Tragic Stillbirth: Stillbirths are pretty close to Death of a Child.
- Trojan Ambulance: When it looks like an ambulance, don't assume anything!
- Troubled Toybreaker: An abused, neglected or otherwise troubled child vents their anger by destroying toys.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Child engages in age-inappropriate behavior.
- Twisted Christmas: It's the most horrible time of the year!
- Tyke Bomb: Kids who were born and bred to kill.
- Uncanny Village: A small town in the countryside that is the rural equivalent of a Stepford Suburbia.
- Undead Child: A kid comes back from the dead but horribly wrong.
- Unexpectedly Dark Episode: An episode of a normally lighthearted series is dark.
- Unnervingly Heartwarming: A superficially sweet moment made deliberately unsettling or even horrifying.
- Valentine's Day Violence: A day of hearts and chocolates and roses is filled with action- and horror-packed ruckus.
- Vengeful Abandoned Toy: A sentient toy turns evil after being abandoned or forgotten.
- Very Special Episode: An Unexpectedly Dark Episode exists for the purpose of teaching an important lesson.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: A cute, kid-friendly, lighthearted show with a menacing villain.
- What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: A kids' show gets away with disturbing content that makes the audience question its innocence or suitability for young children.
- What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: An adult show that looks like (or is mistaken for being) family-friendly makes viewers question how it's not appropriate for kids.
- What Do You Mean, It's Not for Little Girls?: A work that looks cute and saccharine but isn't.
- Wicked Heart Symbol: Heart motifs used to portrayed subverted innocence.
- Wicked Toymaker: The toymaker is completely insane.
- Wise Old Folk Façade: An evil old person intentionally comes off as being wise and loving to fool others (especially naïve youths).
- A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Someone who's dangerous pretends to be something more harmless.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Someone pretends to be a victim to frighten others.
- Yandere: Going to deranged lengths in pursuit of love.
