Noblebright

"Why does the third of the three brothers, who shares his food with the old woman in the wood, go on to become king of the country? Why does James Bond manage to disarm the nuclear bomb a few seconds before it goes off rather than, as it were, a few seconds afterwards? Because a universe where that did not happen would be a dark and hostile place. Let there be goblin hordes, let there be terrible environmental threats, let there be giant mutated slugs if you really must, but let there also be hope. It may be a grim, thin hope, an Arthurian sword at sunset, but let us know that we do not live in vain."

– Sir Terry Pratchett, “Let There Be Dragons” (A Slip of the Keyboard)

NobleBright is an adjective derived from the term often used to describe Warhammer 40k: Grimdark. Just as every hero has a "mirror opposite" version that is evil, it's supposed that there must be a mirror opposite version of the heroes of WH40k where everything goes RIGHT. It can also be used to describe artwork that has a noble/bright feel, even if the setting itself would not normally be considered noble or bright.

Where the GrimDark tag usually describes a setting in a slow, painful decline, the NobleBright tag usually describes a setting emerging from a dark age and either returning to or in the midst of a golden age.

Example: WarHammer vs. BrightHammer

"We do not need a Warmaster in this age. A Warmaster would fail us. We need a DADDY." - Custodes showing their appreciation to Captain-General Kitten

This alternate universe setting, BrightHammer40k, comes with the tagline "In the Noble Brightness of the far future, there is only HIGH ADVENTURE!" This is as opposed to the original tagline of Warhammer 40k, which stated, "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war." BrightHammer40k's setting has strong 1920s-1940s pulp fiction themes, crossed with an "age of myth" bronze age culture.

Differences between WarHammer 40k and BrightHammer 40k include:

• The setting is loosely divided into city-states united by race, religion, philosophy or just simple common sense, rather than singular empires defined by paranoia.
• There is a wide variety in the type of characters, nations, flora and fauna, and major characters in the setting.
• Speaking of wide varieties of characters/nations, relations between different groups, whether cultural, political, racial, etc. are usually positive. Conflicts are either out of just cause or have the option of being resolved peacefully. (Unlike Grimdark, in which "conflict resolution" is usually genocide)
• There is an overall "pulp fiction" feel. Just like real life.
• The universe is old, in the process of rediscovering a forgotten golden age.
• Low level conflicts such as raiding are considered common, but war is not. Just like Mongolia.
• When a Noblebright universe has a war, it's usually for a well defined, just cause. Wars are usually fought with "smart" technology, and massive, endless slaughters are rare. (Grimdark usually devolves technology in some form, then throws in massive slaughters for the fun of it)
• Technology is wildly inconsistent. Just like Alaska.
• Villains are over the top, campy, and rarely played seriously. Very much like North Korea.
• Leaders are usually diplomats or wise "philosopher-kings" like in North Korea.
• Heroes do most of the heavy lifting in society, and there are heroes, great and minor, at every level of society.
• There is a strong emphasis on individual strength. (Grimdark focuses on the massed collective. Individual strength is insignificant in the enormous Grimdarkian Machine)
• Good guys can be jerks, but are still good guys.
• Over-the-top heroism usually carries the day.
• Obvious, thinly disguised Secret Agents everywhere.
• The setting is entering a technological renaissance.
• Everything is bright or vividly colored.
• As seen on TV!

Compared to Warhammer40k, Brighthammer40k is generally brighter and a nicer place to live, but is by no means peaceful, always in a low level state of conflict, internal and external, never quite turning into war. The skull motif is replaced by wings, and colors are often brighter.

MidHammer 40,000

Strikes a balance between Noblebright and Grimdark. Basically, you don't matter much, but if mankind can put their back into it hard enough, it'll turn out okay in the end:

• Big E is alive, and regenerating.

• Primarchs still exist

• There is hope for a better future. Even if you don't live to see it, your children may well.

• While the AdMech got buttfucked twice, it's slowly getting it back together.

8chan Explanation of the Grim/Noble and Dark/Bright Spectrum (by anons)

An alignment chart.

Grim/Noble asks whether there are heroes that exist, may appear to change the world for good or ill.

• A noble setting isn't one where everyone is good, more like one where people are active. The actions of a single hero can change the world, and a single big villain can ruin it: there are important people, who are so either by birth, rank or sheer willpower, and every single one of these people MATTER.
• In a grim world, no matter what you do, an individual can't secure more than an individual victory, if even that, because the rest of the world is too big/scared/powerless/selfish to act upon his impulse.

Something like Morrowind or Berserk is noble (bright and dark, respectively) because it is about one man forcing destiny's hand and changing the world.

• Now, a bright world is one full of opportunity, of wondrous sights to behold. It doesn't mean that it has to be MLP, it can be dangerous, but your first instinct when looking at a new location should be awe and wonder: people may adventure to save the world, but they leave town with a smile upon their face, eager to see what comes next. The shadow of Risk is largely erased by the glint of Adventure. In a bright world, it's quite possible for people to go on adventure just for the hell of it, since the journey is its own reward. Resurrection, or at least means to heal grave injuries, is usually accessible, to counterbalance the fact that the risks out there are real.
• A dark world is one where life sucks, and something or someone is poised to kill everybody else in the story - whether it be demon overlords, 'nids, or even the lack of water, if this threat has its way everyone dies and they die for good. If you lose an arm, you play a cripple. In the extreme cases, even when you win a fight, your career is over (i.e. gangrene). This means that, even though people may be ready to help (noble), they'll need a damn good reason to do so, since stepping out of line is so dangerous (dark).

Given is an example of each type of setting to show how the combinations of noble/grim and bright/dark work;

• 40k is (grim)dark because, no matter where you go, there is only war, and heroism's only reward is usually a notch on a gun or a corpse in a trench. No matter who you are, most of the galaxy probably wants you dead, and staying home today is the best choice you can make. Even if you make it to the end, you may have to sacrifice everything to save everyone, if you haven't already done so.
• Berserk is (noble)dark because, while there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, it takes men and women of insane willpower to get there: no matter whether you are big or small, even when you have nothing, the only thing that may save the world is the will within you screaming, "Go on!" And if hope was to fail, you're getting a book-long bloodbath-orgy, and all its consequences.
• Morrowind is (noble)bright because, even though the world is fraught with dangers, you can fix everything. The reason it isn't dark is because there is so much to see, so many interesting people to meet, so many cool things to experience that, at the end of the road, you'd do it all over again if given the chance to see it once again with virgin eyes.
• Sandman is (grim)bright because the incredible vistas and interesting people are all that can distract Dream from the dullness of his existence. He will tire of them all, but even he has to admit that he saw some cool shit. Also, notice how the relative freedom from consequences (people can get somewhat rezzed/healed/characters don't die much), a bright trait, reinforces the futility of the struggle in a grim world.

In short, grimdark and noblebright worlds both exist, and both are interesting to play in. So do grimbright (perhaps these are the most narratively counterintuitive and hardest to pull off, but simultaneously they can be the most interesting worlds to run in) and nobledark (seems to be enjoying a big surge in popularity these days - people like the aesthetics and adult nature of dark worlds, but not the crushing nihilism; in nobledark, most things suck, those rare moments of genuine nobility and decent change are all the more poignant, even if they come at great cost). Every type allows for evil and struggles to exist, and for stories to be told. Evil can even triumph: it's less of a matter of who wins, and more of a matter of tone. In a bright world, the BBEG can win, but he won't skullfuck to death everyone the PCs know in front of a crowd without the mood turning to dark.

I'll leave you with some examples:

Grimdark : WHFB, W40K, Game of Thrones, Oedipus, E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy, Gears of War 1-3, Killzone 2-3.

Grimbright : Sandman, The Sims, most Tycoon games, Mass Effect series, The Commonwealth Saga, Eclipse Phase, The Culture novels, Deltarune, most of Zeus' flings with mortals (from the gods' perspective).

Nobledark : Berserk, LotR, Starcraft, Dark Sun, Terminator, Fallout, the Iliad. Also arguably WH40k in the more recent editions.

Noblebright : Morrowind, D&D/PF (usually), Magi, Warcraft, Star wars, Trine, the Odyssey, and of course, Star Trek.

More examples of works and their ranking

Please be aware that the following list is a product of many different Fa/tg/uys personal opinions.

Noblebright struggles have heroic sacrifices, copious amounts of bravery, and a just cause to fight for.

Grimdark wars are usually directionless, brutal, and the reasons for fighting are very obscure (When there is one, it's usually thrown away in the face of reality).

NobleBright	...and GrimDark
BrightHammer 40k OR Age of Sigmar	WarHammer 40k
WarHammer 40k 8th ED, but more like Nobledark	Xeelee universe OR Age of Sigmar 2nd Edition (sorta. Could be considered approaching Noblebright->Dark)
Exalted (Well, Zig-zags between the two)	Vampire:tM, Werewolf:tA (oWoD)
Changeling:tD (oWoD)	Changeling:tL (nWoD)
Geist: The Sin-Eaters (nWoD)	Wraith: The Oblivion (oWoD)
D20 Modern	Call of Cthulhu
Steven Spielberg	Quentin Tarantino
The West Wing	House of Cards
Special Unit 2	Delta Green
Star Trek (in general)	Babylon 5 (closer to Nobledark)
Star Trek (in general)	Star Trek Picard (or even Discovery)
Star Trek: Voyager	Red Dwarf
Andromeda Ascendant	Farscape
Stargate SG-1	The First Wave
Firefly (maybe not, see Discussion)	Blake's 7
Battlestar Galactica (1978)	Battlestar Galactica (2004)
Temeraire Series	Game of Thrones
Robocop	Judge Dredd
ReBoot	.hack
.hack	Sword Art Online
Previous season of Sword Art Online	Next season of Sword Art Online
Rogue Trader	Dark Heresy
Osamu Tezuka	Go Nagai
The Wizard of Oz	Soul Eater
MACROSS (Robotech)	Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam	Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion	Bokurano
7th Sea	Poison'd
Zoids	Gundam
Spirit of the Century	Don't Rest Your Head
Traveller	Eclipse Phase
Dragonlance	Dark Sun
Avatar (not Cameron's furfic)	Kaze no Stigma
Warcraft	Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Alara, Theros, Lorwyn	Innistrad, New Phyrexia, Shadowmoor
Neverwinter Nights	Dragon Age
The Elder Scrolls (Well, somewhat, if you ignore Kirkbride's EU-thing)	Gothic
Final Fantasy	Megami Tensei
Persona	Shin Megami Tensei
Guin Saga	Berserk (more Nobledark)
Forts	REDCON
Persona 4 & 5	Persona 3
Red Alert 3	Red Alert 2
Red Alert 2	Red Alert
Wolfenstein	MachineGames Wolfenstein games
Command and Conquer: Red Alert series	Command and Conquer: Tiberium series
Animorphs	Terraformars
Fate/Stay Night	Fate/Zero
Starcraft II	Starcraft: Brood War
Diablo III	Diablo I & II
Grand Theft Auto 1	Saints Row 1
Saints Row 3	Grand Theft Auto 4
Fable III	Dark Souls
Cowboy Bebop	Black Lagoon
Undertale	LISA
Kid Icarus	God of War
God of War 2018	pre-2018 God of War
Mass Effect 1	Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect universe	Halo universe
Halo universe	Dead Space universe
Dead Space Trilogy	Halo: Forerunner Trilogy
Spore	Darkspore
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann	Getter Robo Armageddon
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann	Kill la Kill
Rebuild of Evangelion (Well, Zig-zags between the two)	Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neo-Hunter Casshern	Casshern Sins
Dragon Ball	Hunter X Hunter
Mai-Otome	Mai-Hime (last 10 episodes at least)
Cardcaptor Sakura	Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Puella Magi Madoka Magica	Magical Girl Site
Power Rangers in General	Power Rangers RPM
Super Sentai	Kamen Rider (especially the Showa Era ones)
Kamen Rider (most Heisei Era ones)	GARO
Batman: the Brave & the Bold	Batman: TAS (first two seasons only)
Star Wars Episode I, IV, VI, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Movie and Season 1, and a decent portion of the Expanded Universe	Star Wars Episode II, III, V, VII, Star Wars: The Clone Wars from Season 2 onwards, and the other half the Expanded Universe, especially The New Jedi Order and Legacy
Little House on the Prairie	Deadwood
Full House	Married With Children
The Green Zone	The Hurt Locker
The Sarah Jane Adventures	Torchwood
Pirates of the Caribbean	Black sails
Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag	Risen 2: Dark Waters
Justice League	Watchmen
Twilight Saga	Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
Lois and Clark or the 80's Superman Movies	Man of Steel
Planetary	The Authority
Cyanide and Happiness	pictures for sad children
The Silver Age of Comic Books	The Dark Age of Comic Books
Steampunk Genre	Cyberpunk Genre
Raspberry Pi	OpenPandora
South Korea	North BEST Korea
Discworld	A Song of Ice and Fire
A Wizard of Earthsea	The Tombs of Atuan
Guilty Gear	BlazBlue
Mega Man (Classic, Legends, Battle Network, ZX, Star Forces 1 and 2)	Mega Man (X, Zero, Star Force 3,), The Protomen
The Chronicles of Narnia	His Dark Materials
Anthem	Halo
Halo	Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2	Resistance
Resistance	Gears of War (The first game especially)
Gears of War	Killzone
Just Cause 2	Spec Ops: The Line
Plants VS Zombies	The Last of Us
The Last of Us	The Last of Us Part 2 (10% Grimdark, 90% Grimderp)
Mirror's Edge	Assassin's Creed
Iron Kingdoms MKii	Iron Kingdoms MKi
Marvel Comics films	DC Universe films
DC comics	Marvel comics
Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Hellsing (any medium)
Hellsing (2001 series)	Hellsing (manga and OVA)
Marvel comics	Watchmen comics
Watchmen comics	Wanted comics
Warehouse 13	The SCP Foundation
Eberron	Dragonmech
Planescape	Ravenloft
Wilderlands of High Fantasy	Forgotten Realms
InFamous	Prototype
Harry Potter 1-3	Harry Potter 4-7 (ESPECIALLY 7th)
Deus Ex 1-2	System Shock 1-2
RoboCop	Terminator
Homeworld 1 and 2	Homeworld: Cataclysm (when the Beast make their first appearance)
Fist of the North Star	Violence Jack
The Simpsons	South Park
The Glaive	Conan the Barbarian
The Hobbit	The Children of Hurin
American Revolution	Vietnam War
Mordheim	Malifaux
Civilization:Beyond Earth	Alpha Centauri
The New Testament	The Old Testament
Overwatch	Team Fortress 2 (Especially Mann vs. Machine)
Team Fortress 2	Team Fortress Classic
Ghostbusters films and Real Ghostbusters	Extreme Ghostbusters
Metal Gear (in general)	Metal Gear Solid V
Girls und Panzer	Panzerfraulein Alteseisen
Far Cry 1	Far Cry 2 and 3
Overstrike	Fuse
Pokemon Franchise	Digimon Franchise
Digimon Adventure	Digimon Tamers
Digimon Tamers	Shadow Star Narutaru
Bakugan	Kiba
Fallout series	S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series	Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light
Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light	Metro 2033 (novel), Metro 2034 (novel), and Metro 2035 (novel)
Slayers	Bastard!!
Fast And Furious	Death Race
Death Race	Mad Max
Twilight	Underworld
Y:the last man	Children of men
Battlefield Bad Company	Call of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy
Call of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy	Call of Duty Black Ops III
Dead Rising series	Left 4 Dead series
Left 4 Dead series	Dead Island series
Dead Island series	World War Z movie
World War Z Movie	World War Z novel
World War Z Novel	The Walking Dead comics
Super Robot anime	Real Robot anime
Real Robot anime	WAT Robot anime
The Go-Betweens	The Birthday Party/Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
League of Legends	Dota 2
Rome: Total War	Total War: Attila
Freespace	Freespace 2
Street Fighter franchise	Mortal Kombat franchise
Star Wars Jedi: Outcast duology	Star Wars: Battlefront 1 & 2 (2000's)
Minecraft	7 Days to Die
Blood Diamond	Lord of War
Naoki Urusawa's Monster	ERASED
Casa de mi Padre	Sicario
GammaWorld	The Mutant Epoch
Konosuba	Re:Zero
Log Horizon	Overlord
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?	Goblin Slayer
This Means War	Savages
Brave New World (more like GrimBright, really)	1984
Sailor Moon (old censored american dub)	Sailor Moon (original version)
Sailor Moon (original version)	Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon	Revolutionary Girl Utena
Revolutionary Girl Utena	Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Egan's Diaspora	Dukaj's Perfect Imperfection
Touhou Project	Crimzon Clover
Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, and White Lantern Corps	Red, Orange, Yellow, Black, and Ultraviolet Lantern Corps
Pod Save America	Chapo Trap House
Jimmy Neutron, Back to the Future	Rick and Morty
World War II: Western Front	World War II: Eastern Front
World War II: Eastern Front	World War II: Pacific Theatre
World War II: Pacific Theatre	World War I: Western Front
World War II: French Resistance	World War II: Polish Resistance
Pork Chop Hill	Tae-Guk-Gi
Death Korps of Krieg	Interim Coalition of Governance
Parasyte	Devilman
Disney Channel	Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network	Toonami
Toonami	Adult Swim
E.T.	IT
Homo faber	Lolita
Maple Story	Made in Abyss
Ready Player One	20th Century Boys
My Hero Academia	ONE PUNCH MAN (more like Grimbright, really)
Grand Theft Auto	Mafia
Metropolis	Gotham City
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.	Jak 2 and later
Axis Powers Hetalia	Polandball
Soren Kierkegaard	Friedrich Nietzsche
John Stuart Mill	David Benatar
Noam Chomsky	Michel Foucault
Jean-Jacques Rousseau	Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes	Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche (before Thus Spoke Zarathustra)	Friedrich Nietzsche (after Thus Spoke Zarathustra)
Friedrich Nietzsche	Mark Twain (Best example being the Mysterious Stranger)
Classical Philosophy (e.g. Naturalism, Aristotelianism)	Contemporary Philosophy (e.g. Existentialism, Postmodernism)
The American Revolution	The French Revolution
The French Revolution	The Russian Revolution
The Settlers	Civilization
Civilization	Tropico (Can be Grimbright if you are a "benevolent" dictator)
Sgt. Frog	Invader Zim
Adventure Time	Tigtone
Zootopia	Beastars (actually closer to Nobledark)
Beastars	Kevin and Kell (The setting is Grimdark, but the story is not due to Plot Armor and being comedy focused)
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (the video game)	I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (the book)