The Dark Days (Season One image)
The Dark Days is an animated apocalypse web series made by YouTube user Crowbar Productions, produced entirely on the game Garry's Mod, and is based on the Half-Life game franchise, both developed by Valve Corporation.The series features a complex and in-depth story of a group of people struggling to survive in an apocalyptic world with zombies, mutants and parasites.
The series only lasted 3 Seasons (with the third split into separate episodes), and is currently incomplete, after being officially canceled by the creator.
The Dark Days provides the following tropes
- Machinima: The series is completely animated in Garry's Mod, using camera tools and animation addons.
- Limited Animation: In the first parts, the ragdolls were posed statically and without moving their mouths when they speak.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Andrew/Jake, John/Gasman, Gray-Skinned Creature/Observer and Bud:
- Andrew didn't remember his real name, so he was named Jake by Harry, until his name was later revealed in the first episode of Season 3, but preferred to continue being called Jake.
- Gasman only revealed his real name, John, in one of the Season 3 episodes.
- The Gray-Skinned Creature was later discovered as an Observer in the events of Season 3.
- It was never revealed what Bud's real name was, he is only called by his nickname throughout the series, being the only nicknamed character whose real name is not identified.
- The Leader: Observer is the one who commands the waves of parasites and zombies and seems to be able to summon them. Jake most often takes charge of calming down and commanding the other survivors in certain situations, although the group doesn't actually have anyone in charge.
- The Quiet One: Gasman and Hope. It is mentioned that Hope lost her voice at some point before joining the group, it is unknown if this same issue applies to Gasman, or he just doesn't want to show his voice.
- Silent Antagonist: The Observer, the gray-skinned creature, is the main antagonist of the series and is completely mute, although he can still make screaming sounds.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Harry is a bit of that, both in his purposefully stupid voice and in his lines.
- Big Bad Friend: Tony, sort of, first he threatened Gasman, Tony and Harry out of pure rage, and shot Harry in the leg when he was attacked. He is later possessed by the Observer, and pursues the survivors for a long time, albeit with a part of his soul still appearing to be conscious while being possessed, seeking revenge on Harry and Tony for abandoning him.
- Big Bad Ensemble: The Observer (the main one), Jericho, Luke and Tony when possessed by the Observer.
- Mad Scientist: Olivia's father is one.
- The Reliable One: Gasman for sure, and Harry.
- No Full Name Given: None of the characters have a last name, they are all called only by their first names.
- Dead Sidekick: Bud's death in Season 3 definitely affected Jake's anger at Jericho.
- Symbiotic Possession: Tony is possessed by the Observer in Seasons 1 and 2, and begins chasing the survivors and trying to kill them.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Toby is remembered only once, right after his death, and is never mentioned again by survivors.
- Asshole Victim: Jericho at the end of Season Three.
- Recruiting the Criminal: Season 3 reveals that Tony was actually a criminal.
- Asshole Victim: Jericho at the end of Season Three.
- Recruiting the Criminal: Season 3 reveals that Tony was actually a criminal.
- Unknown Character: The crazy guy in the hospital found by Jake and Gasman.
- Seasons: The series is divided into 3 Seasons, but with the first two being full movies with all parts/episodes together.
- Episodes: Only Season 3 is divided by episodes/parts.
- Declaration of Protection: Jake and Harry have the greatest friendship of all the survivors.
- Butt-Monkey: Harry and Olivia's dad are a bit of that.
- The Virus: The main element of the story is about a kind of epidemic, with killer parasites and zombies.
- Zombie Infectee: Bud, Jake and probably the guy at the hospital went through this. Bud however did not hide his infection from the other survivors like Jake in Season 3.
- Kill Him Already!: Jericho orders Hank to kill one of the survivors so he can regain his trust in him.
- The Klutz: Harry, at least in Season 1 when he accidentally destroys Gasman's car.
- Nice Guy: The survivors in Jake's group in general, but especially Harry.
- Zombie Apocalypse: The story takes place in an apocalyptic world, with various types of monstrous creatures, which include zombies.
- Apocalyptic Gag Order: Apparently something like this happened in moments before the beginning of the story, shown in flashback in Season 3.
- Zombie Gait: The zombies used are like this, although this is by default in Garry's Mod.
- Liar Revealed: Jake in Season 3, although the other survivors had already wondered at his many coughs before he revealed he was infected.
- Out of Focus: The insane hospital resident never appeared again, although he was still mentioned by Jake in a part of Season 3.
- Attention Whore: Toby is a bit of that, though not in a bad way.
- After-Action Healing Drama: Harry is shot in the leg by Tony in Season 1 after Gasman attacks him, and is injured for most of Season.
