Dark Magical Girl (DMG) is an archetype exclusive to the Magical Girl (MG) genre (hence the trope name). This antagonistic character has a dark and angsty personality, has issues, and contrasts the main heroine. She initially antagonises said main heroine before turning good. The problem with this trope is that a majority of the examples ignore the MG requirement, making them misuse. A wick check is conducted to gauge misuse. The following are the results:

• 4/50 (8%) wicks pass the MG test.
• 19/50 (38%) wicks fail the MG test. They fit the characteristics but are not MGs / are not present in a work of the MG genre. Simply being a young female character with magical powers and angst doesn't make her a DMG.
• 1/50 (2%) wicks are other types of misuse unrelated to the above.
• 23/50 (46%) wicks are ZCEs and contextless potholes.
• 3/50 (6%) wicks are unclassified.

Suggestion: Cut. Disambig it into one or more "angst" tropes (e.g., Anti-Villain, Dark and Troubled Past, Freudian Excuse, etc.).

1. Characters.Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Fate Testarossa: Character is from a work of the MG genre, though this example needs more context on the "Foil / rival" and "angst" parts (PCE).
   1. Dark Is Not Evil: Fate's Barrier Jacket is black and frequently includes a Dracula-esque high-collared black and red cape. Black is even stated to be her favorite color and she fights with an axe/scythe. While she was a Dark Magical Girl, after her Heel–Face Turn she became the nicest and most lawful member of the entire cast.
   2. Dark Magical Girl: Trope Codifier. Since the series covers over a decade and a half of time, it's able to explore the long term effects that such a role would have on a girl's psyche.
   3. Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Even during her tenure as a Dark Magical Girl, she was depicted to be kind and innocent. She then grows up to become the most good character in the series.
   4. Right Handed Mirror: Firstly, she is a right-handed Dark Magical Girl to the left-handed Nanoha.
2. Characters.Puella Magi Madoka Magica Homura Akemi - Dark Magical Girl: She starts the main narrative as a stoic and antagonistic Magical Girl opposing our friendly protagonist, Madoka. The truth is closer to a inversion as she was on Madoka's side from the start as her Mysterious Protector and began the story as her shy friend. Character is from a work of the Magical Girl genre, though this example is a subversion, not an inversion.
3. Fanfic.Skylight Pretty Cure - Dark Magical Girl: Cure Crow is the dark magical girl of the Sanctuarians, having been emotionally corrupted by them. Character is from a fanfic of a MG work (Pretty Cure), though this example needs more context on how she is "emotionally corrupted" (PCE).
4. Manga.Tokyo Mew Mew - Dark Magical Girl: Retasu begins as more of a Chaotic Neutral Magical Girl; motivated by loneliness and fear, the same emotions as the classic DMG, she strikes out at anyone who might learn or expose her secret and hates herself for it. In the 4Kids dub, Renee (Zakuro) pretends she's a Dark Magical Girl and siding with the aliens only to turn on them, though this doesn't make sense upon examination. Character is from a work of the MG genre. Has the "angst" part but no "foil / rival" part.

1. Western Animation - DuckTales (2017): Magica's Living Shadow was a oneshot villain in the 1987 series who proved to be Eviler than Thou, necessitating Magica to pull an Enemy Mine with Scrooge. Their 2017 counterpart Lena on the other hand, is an abused Dark Magical Girl who is only working as The Mole due to being bound to Magica's will, and she ultimately pulls a Heel–Face Turn (in addition to being Webby's best friend). The work is not of the MG genre.
2. BrokenBird.Video Games: In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, there's Brigid of Jungby, Ishtar of Friege, Altena of Thracia (or, better said, of Leonster); either Tailtiu or Ethnia of Friege (by the end of their Kill the Cutie years); Silvia's daughter Lene, her expy Laylea, Larcei's expy Creidne (but not Larcei herself) fit in as well. In the meantime Tailtiu's daughter, Tine/Ethnia's daughter Linda, mix this with Shrinking Violet, but ultimately they get much better. Fire Emblem is not of the MG genre. Doubles as a Broken Bird ZCE.
3. Characters.Aladdin The Series - Dark Magical Girl: She's a foil for Jasmine as a strong-willed and ambitious young woman who's in love with Aladdin but she's the heir to magical power instead of political. Ultimately she does a Heel–Face Turn. The work is not of the MG genre.
4. Characters.Buffyverse Faith Lehane - Dark Magical Girl: She's a loner foil for the friendly and perky Buffy. She looks up to an arc villain as a father-figure. She's redeemed from evil with The Power of Friendship. She even managed to be close friends with Buffy for a short while. Not an MG.
5. Characters.Child Of The Storm Harrys Friends - Dark Magical Girl: With Psychic Powers instead of magic, but otherwise a textbook example, and a Tyke Bomb to boot. Tyke Bomb with Psychic Powers. Misuse.
6. Characters.Doctor Strange Supporting Characters - Dark Magical Girl: Not as dark as Dormmamu, but still warped although not evil. Disqualifies the "foil" and "MG" aspects of the trope.
7. Characters.Elfen Lied Lucy - Used to Be a Sweet Kid: She started out as a kind-hearted, but shy little girl, but through enough torment, crippling loneliness, and a psychotic inner voice, became an Ax-Crazy mass murderer bent on killing all humans. Potholed to "crippling loneliness", emphasizing only the "angst" part rather than the MG part (the primary requirement).
8. Characters.Kiss Of The Rose Princess - Dark Magical Girl: She's working for The Dark Side, and is able to use the same abilities of summoning her knights just like Anis. "MG" part is not present in the example.
9. Characters.Lady Death - Dark Magical Girl: A magical girl in service to the Big Bad? Check. Endures some emotional abuse from her mother? Check. Ultimately pulls a Heel–Face Turn and helps the heroes out at the end? Double check. The character is not from a work of the MG genre. Just "female character with magic".
10. Characters.Naruto Gaara - Dark Magical Girl: Gender Inverted. He's a lonely antagonistic foil for Naruto who becomes a good guy and a friend after his defeat in Part I. Just "antagonistic foil who later becomes an ally".
11. Characters.One Piece Nico Robin - Dark Magical Girl: While first appearing as a Dark Action Girl, an essential part of her Freudian Excuse for the more morally ambiguous things she did was the fact that she has been alone, hunted and constantly in fear of betrayal for about 20 years before the series began. The fact that the Straw Hats expressed unconditional love and friendship towards her made her into a better, less treacherous person. A non-MG has a Freudian Excuse. Misuse.
12. Characters.Steven Universe Spinel - Dark Magical Girl: Is a cute, young-looking gem who can beat up the Crystal Gems in just the span of a one minute song despite not being designed to be a fighter. She also initially starts out as an antagonist who tries destroying the Earth and is revealed to have deep-seated abandonment issues from being left behind to rot in Pink Diamond's garden for 6 millenia. Check the bolded part of the example.
13. Characters.The Owl House Amity Blight: Character is a witch / girl that can use magic.
    1. Dark Magical Girl: Fits the bill pretty well: Lonely Rich Kid? Check. Dark and Troubled Past, specifically related to her family situation as a bonus? Check. Sour Outside, Sad Inside? Check. Craves approval from the Big Bad? Not directly, but her desire to join the Emperor's Coven counts. Sees the light because of her Magical Girl Foil? Ooh, double check. Yup, she passes the test.
    2. Foil: She is one to Luz, specifically the Dark Magical Girl to her Magical Girl both start the series as insecure, lonely, and miserable young bookworms with a love of magic who eventually find happiness over the course of the show, but otherwise the two of them are in many ways complete opposites, Luz found happiness after leaving her old life behind for something new, while Amity finds hers by reevaluating the life she already had, while Luz is an out and proud nerd, Amity is something of a Closet Geek, Luz is very much a Genki Girl Cloudcuckoolander troublemaker while Amity is much more restrained, despite her own issues and status as a witch "normal" and initially rather uptight, and when it comes to magic Luz is the Performer to Amity's Technician. It's actually these differences that make them such a great team as they are able to teach each other a number of valuable lessons, with Amity learning how to relax and enjoy life along with not blindly trusting, obeying, or following authority.
14. Characters.Yu Gi Oh ZEXAL Tron Family - Dark Magical Girl: Not in the literal sense, but plays this narrative role to a T, being a gentle but tragic figure forced into rivalry with the protagonist due to his horrible circumstances. The first sentence is a misuse, non-MG red flag.
15. ContrastingSequelAntagonist.Western Animation: DMG potholes refer to what the character goes through regardless of whether they are an MG or not.
    1. Steven Universe': Lapis Lazuli was the antagonist of a two-part Wham Episode that begins the show's Cerebus Syndrome. While extremely powerful, she was a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds who took the Dark Magical Girl path of being redeemed by Steven's friendship. She started off lashing out in anger, but once good she proved to be something of a Deadpan Snarker.
    2. Star vs. the Forces of Evil: While all the previous villains were monsters (or half-monster in Meteora's case), the fourth season's villain, Mina Loveberry, is a Fantastic Racist who wants to genocide them all. She also doesn't really have any motives to benefit herself, instead being devoted to the Mewni royal family (or at least, its ancestress, Solaria)—given her backstory, she's more like a Dark Magical Girl without the redemption arc.
16. Film.Thor - Dark Magical Girl: Gender-inverted; Loki is a sorcerer who Desperately Craves Affection and who believes that his father loves him less than Thor. Loki yearns for Odin's approval while also being envious of his brother, who is a shining example of Asgardian manhood. Loki's strengths, cunning and magic (the latter is, appropriately for this trope, linked with femininity on Asgard), juxtapose Thor's brute force, and he utilizes them to antagonize his elder sibling. Foil character has angst, is envious of main character, and antagonises said main character. Both characters are not MGs.
17. VideoGame.Persona 3: Non-MG characters with fantastic powers / a dark motif.
    1. Chidori, a telepathic Gothic Lolita whose power is to heal others by draining her own life, and who has known the day she would die since gaining her Persona.
    2. Although a heroic example, Metis from The Answer gets extremely unhappy when it is even suggested she be left alone. It helps that her main color motif is black.
    3. Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: While Elizabeth isn't evil, she is still one of the most deadly foes in the game and the motivations of her and Igor are left highly ambiguous. However in the Updated Re-release, the protagonist has the delightful option of escorting the princess of darkness around town on several innocent dates where Elizabeth's lack of knowledge on human social behaviour causes hilarity to ensue. For bonus points, you even get to sleep with her, and unlike the other romance options, there is no doubt whatsoever what happened during the Fade to Black.
18. Wrestling.Angela Fong - Dark Magical Girl: Black Lotus, who isn't physical enough to be an Action Girl, but is dark and manipulative enough to fill this role. She also has personal motivations for her actions. A wrestler persona, not a Magical Girl.
19. Wrestling.Ember Moon - Dark Magical Girl: Her heel persona as Athena fit quite close to this. There are also certain supernatural elements to her character on NXT that evoke this too, even if she is presented as a face. A wrestler persona, not a Magical Girl.

1. Fanfic.Pretty Cure Balls To The Wall - Dark Magical Girl: Dietricha, otherwise known as Cure Reich, is a Nazi Pretty Cure. Context boils down to "this magical girl is evil". However, according to the trope description, the character is required to be sympathetic or an Anti-Villain, so the example is misuse.

1. AChildShallLeadThem.Western Animation: 13-year-old Elyon Brown aka Queen Elyon from W.I.T.C.H. becomes this after a brief stint as a Dark Magical Girl. Contextless pothole
2. Anime.Cyber Team In Akihabara - Dark Magical Girl: Tsubame Commented out ZCE.
3. Anime.Fairy Musketeers - Dark Magical Girl: Gretel Commented out ZCE.
4. Anime.Mahou Shoujo Taisen - Dark Magical Girl: One appears in Rin Kobari's story arc, hinting that it's not all fun and games in this world. ZCE
5. BFS.Literature: In Nick Perumov's Keeper of the Swords cycle, Dark Magical Girl Sylvia gets to wield a Flammberg that has magic that in Sylvia's hands gives it a properties of a Laser Blade, including near-zero wielding weight (but not for the ones hit). Contextless pothole.
6. Characters.A Game Of Gods Infinities Champions - Playing with Syringes: As Magical Amber. Commented out ZCE + contextless pothole.
7. Characters.Blackbird 2018 - Dark Action Girl: A textbook example. Also technically a Dark Magical Girl, though the more sympathetic elements common to that trope are so far not in evidence. ZCE + contextless pothole.
8. Characters.Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade The Eight Legends - Chekhov's Gunman: He defeated the leader of the dragons, but sealed her away instead of killing her since she was an Anti-Villain. Said leader? None other than Idunn. To say nothing of his role in Champion's Sword... Contextless pothole.
9. Characters.Game Theory Lyrical Nanoha:
   1. Dark Magical Girl: Can be thought of as an inversion. Fate convinces Nanoha to join her and Precia, and then Nanoha is almost completely separated from her friends and family. ZCE
   2. Dark Magical Girl: Defied; the fic's premise revolves around the fact that Precia acts nicer to Fate, which prevents most of the standard DMG tropes. There's also the fact that Fate convinces the hero to join her side. ZCE
10. Characters.Harry Potter And The Methods Of Rationality - Dark Magical Girl: Parodied. She imagines herself to be this and plays up the role after staging a fake dark ritual and "sacrificing her soul" to Harry Potter. ZCE
11. Characters.Jellyneo Random Roleplay - Dark Magical Girl Commented out ZCE.
12. Characters.Quiz Nanairo DREAMS - Dark Magical Girl Blank ZCE
13. Characters.The Princess 99 - Dark Magical Girl Commented out ZCE.
14. Characters.Yuru Yuri - Dark Magical Girl Commented out ZCE.
15. ComicBook.Scion - Dark Magical Girl: Mai Shen Commented out ZCE.
16. Film: The Dazzlings from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks. Sunset Shimmer from the first movie is often thought of as this, as well though since her Heel–Face Turn at the end of EQG and its confirmation in Rainbow Rocks, she no longer counts. Then you have Midnight Sparkle in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games... Contextless, chained potholes (or sinkholes). Doubles as an Evil Is Sexy ZCE.
17. EvilerThanThou.Western Animation - Ben 10: Hex ended up being betrayed by his niece and Bastard Understudy Charmcaster in her debut appearance. Contextless pothole.
18. Fanfic.Oneiroi Series - Dark Magical Girl: Yes, Deirdre's this too. One of the rare examples where one character has both sides, though she leans further towards being a Dark Magical Girl. Commented out ZCE.
19. Literature.Magical Girls 2018 - Dark Magical Girl: Rico. Commented out ZCE.
20. Manga.Pretear - Dark Magical Girl: In the anime - Fenrir, aka Takako, aka Mikage; also, to some extent, Mawata while under her influence. In the manga - anyone possessed by Takako, especially her main host, Natsue. ZCE
21. Series.Magic X Warrior Magi Majo Pures - Dark Magical Girl: Shiori is a villain for the first part of the series. ZCE
22. VideoGame.La Pucelle: ZCEs
    1. Dark Magical Girl: Princess Eclair.
    2. Dark Magical Girl: Demon Overlord Prier.
23. VideoGame.Magical Chaser Stardust Of Dreams - Dark Magical Girl: Princess Meteor and Bibin, just as they were in their respective shows. ZCE

1. Main.Always Female - Dark Magical Girl Found in an index.
2. Main.Stock Japanese Characters - Dark Magical Girl: A Magical Girl, or rival thereof, who is quite often a Broken Bird with a Dark and Troubled Past. Found in an index. Reliance on potholes.
3. Main.Womanliness As Pathos - Dark Magical Girl: A pretty girl with magical powers but is overcome with loneliness and other terrible emotions. Found in an index. Wrong definition.

So from this two things: Dark Magical Girl can't exist if there isn't a Magical Girl and for us to be able to clearly define what is a Dark Magical Girl / what makes up the Dark Magical Girl archetype, we need to be able to define / point out what makes up the Magical Girl archetype.

And here lies the problem that Rise was getting at in their wick check and OP. Specifically, that examples of "Dark Magical Girl" are showing up in works without even a Magical Girl present / it's questionable whether one is present. These four characters have Dark Magical Girl examples in the wick check, all of them listed under "Not A Magical Girl":

• Lena de Spell from DuckTales (2017), a work that doesn't have a Magical Girl in it for Lena to even be a foil of (though there is an Evil Sorceress)
• One Piece: Nico Robin, which doesn't have a Magical Girl counterpart to be a foil of nor is the work part of the Magical Girl genre
• Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which would mean Buffy is a Magical Girl and the show is part of the Magical Girl genre. Not here to debate that, just pointing out this is the implication of using this trope with these characters
• Sadira from Aladdin: The Series, which implies that Jasmine is a Magical Girl

The only thing that connects these examples is that they're all angsty, brooding girls / young women with magical/superpowers, which isn't a unique archetype as much as it is a collection of traits shared by most Anti Villains.

Why Dark Magical Girl is attracting these examples of seeming misuse is best showed by the inclusion of Faith and Buffy: we do not have a clear definition on this site of what a Magical Girl even is. Our current page never actually defines the Magical Girl archetype outside of "Magical Girls are empowered by various means with fantastic powers that both assist and complicate their lives, but manage to persevere despite this." By this definition, Buffy, Tangled's Rapunzel, and Raven Baxter would all count. Since the Magical Girl archetype is poorly defined and unclear, Dark Magical Girl also suffers.

Even more confusing is that Magical Girl's description ends by noting

...still without giving any specific traits of the Magical Girl that would help distinguish one from other magic/super power using teen girl and thus what distinguishes a Dark Magical Girl.

This lack of clarity in our Magical Girl description has been brought up before in a previous TRS thread (as well as the fact that Dark Magical Girl has been hit with a mountain of Trope Decay [1]) but never dealt with and is what I think is part of the root cause of the issue with Dark Magical Girl. We can't really fix Dark Magical Girl without first fixing Magical Girl