Noblebright
"Why does the third of the three brothers, who shares his food with the old woman in the woods, 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)
"People always say they want things dark, but if you don't have a plan to draw people out of that and show how these people overcome it, then you just leave your audience in despair."
- – Dave Filoni
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 wider 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.
An lo, behold, canon 40k 9th edition has actually moved into this direction, with Big E actually starting to do shit again, Guilliman working to fix the Imperium, and Cawl developing technologies to reverse the damage done by Chaos and the Tyranids.
TL;DR of the Spectrum
- Noble/Grim = whether the future prospects of the setting look positive/negative, and more importantly whether anybody can accomplish anything significant for good or evil without arbitrary cosmic forces making all their struggles ultimately meaningless. Hope vs. despair.
- Bright/Dark = determines the current state of things. Is it generally a good place to live or a bad one? More specifically, how cynical and low trust, if at all, are the characters in the setting behaving in response to the negative aspects of their world. Solidarity vs. dysfunction.
8chan Explanation of the Grim/Noble and Dark/Bright Spectrum (by anons)
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 and, more importantly, impactful in the grand scheme. 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 build upon his impulses and influence.
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 squarely matched by the gleam of Possibility. 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 on top of the usual hazards, 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. As the Sandman example shows, these setting work best as backgrounds for contemplative/psychedelic journeys through the ennui of what might be called “comfortable nihilists.”) 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. Noblebright is not (usually) utopian or down to shiny, pleasant aesthetics (after all Adventure Time looks textbook Noblebright but is actually sugarcoated Grimdark) and 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.
Some Examples of the Categories
Grimdark:
- Warhammer, both kinds - Warhammer 40000 coined the term Grimdark from its tagline, so goes without saying.
- A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones
- Oedipus
- E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy
- Gears of War - Basically a world in which humanity has been at war with itself and genocidal mutants for over a century. The world is apocalyptic and everyone uses chainsaw bayonets to saw their enemies in half.
- Killzone 2-3 - If Space World War Two met Gears of War, Killzone is the product: A genocidal war between humanity and a mutated version of them on a wasteland planet. Both sides commit war crimes incessantly.
- The MachineGames Wolfenstein series - It's 1960, Jim, but not as we know it. The Nazis used crazy super-technology to win World War II and grind the Free World into dust by 1947. The games pull no punches in its depictions of the Nazis' ideology and the kind of waking nightmare they would turn the world into if they were free to reshape it as they saw fit.
- Dark Souls
- Conan the Barbarian - Takes place in a fictional time period after the sinking of Atlantis but before the historical record began. There are monsters and villains everywhere, all magic is black, and the few cities are run by maniacal sorcerers and other unsavory types. Conan usually only barely survives his stories through wit and dumb luck rather than might, and he certainly cannot change the world, not at least until he becomes the good king of Aquilonia.
- Dark Sun
- Ravenloft
- Delta Green - Earth and mankind exist in a tiny flickering firelight of sanity and civilization that can (and inevitably will) be snuffed out by alien gods and forces of madness. You play as the clandestine agents of the US government tasked to investigate and combat this phenomena. Few people in Delta Green live to retire, and the most common retirement plan usually involves a bottle of whiskey and their service pistol.
- Dwarf Fortress
- Undertale (genocide route): The player character is a psychopathic murder seemingly on a quest to kill every last creature in the Underground, along with reality itself. No matter what your enemies do, you are an unstoppable killer who comes back from death, the only obstacle towards omnicide being boredom or frustration. Inevitably, they achieve such a willingness to commit violence and slaughter that they obtain total power, and destroy the universe.
- Nineteen Eighty Four / I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream / Xeelee Sequence - All three are strong contenders for the most Grimdark story ever put to paper, experts are currently divided. The first takes place in a (possibly) post-apocalyptic Earth split between three totalitarian superpowers that are constantly at war despite sharing the same nihilistic ideology with unaffiliated nations serving as the battlegrounds/prizes, and the hero is an ordinary man who gets captured, tortured and thoroughly mindfucked by the police into accepting the rule of the Party. The second takes place in a post-apocalyptic underground city where a psychotic supercomputer tortures the last five living people while keeping them alive and from killing each other; the protagonist "wins" by mercy-killing the other four but his moral victory is tempered by the fact he is trapped forever at the mercy of the machine. The third takes place in a nightmare hellscape where the entire universe is dying between a cosmic war of two god-like races, whilst the human race has degenerated to such levels of bastardry, that the actions of stripmining entire galactic superclusters or committing a xenocidal killing-spree across the universe that stretched for millions of years is a mere dip in the ocean. There is no hope or salvation, heroism is not only dead but outright outlawed, absolute surveillance and total control due to mass time-travel usage, as an incalculable amount of human child soldiers would die for nothing. Meanwhile the surviving races are fighting tooth and nail, killing each other as they are trying to escape a reality that is collapsing in on itself.
Grimneutral:
- Most episodic sitcoms like The Simpsons, Family Guy and Ed, Edd and Eddy. Although the setting usually won't be downright awful to live in, any changes or breakthroughs that charactes make will almost never make a difference in the grand scheme of things in order to maintain the show's status quo. May slip into grimdark if it's an adult show reliant on black comedy.
Grimbright:
- Sandman
- The Sims - Pretty self-explanatory. The world is generally nice to live in and stories are more about your Sims' living one day at a time than anything else.
- Most Tycoon games
- The Commonwealth Saga
- Eclipse Phase
- The Culture - Futuristic novel series by Iain M. Banks, set in a utopian society based on socialist and anarchist principles achieved by post-scarcity technology (space hippies whose words are backed by star-system busters, this lot are probably the only fictional sci-fi civilization that would beat the Imperium hands-down in a war). The protagonists are usually Special Circumstances, agents of the closest thing they have to an intelligence division given license to operate outside of their laws and morals to uphold the Culture way of life.
- Deltarune
- Scarred Lands
- Spelljammer
- Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: A soft sci-fi/slice of life manga from the turn of the millennium. The story follows Alpha Hatsuseno, a gynoid that claims ownership of a cafe in the titular Yokohama Shopping District after a devastating flood. As refugees and vagabonds trickle in and out of her turf, the reader discovers the flood was merely the last in a series of global calamities, chief among them was the sterilization of the entire human race. All surviving humans have completely made peace with the destruction of civilization and their immanent extinction, and have resolved to spend their remaining time living idyllic pioneer lifestyles. So resigned is the human race that the focus of the story isn’t even the on the implications of the demise of the species or the fate of the fallow Earth, but on the side characters helping Alpha to recognize her own blooming humanity as she decides with her fellow robot buddies to become a living record of the humans she encountered in their final days, the “Age of the Calm Evening” when ‘the whole world, which had been like a festival, slowly calmed down.’
- RWBY - The result of Sailor Moon and Bloodborne having a drunk fling, it subsists on a steady diet of Rule of Cool. You take four cute teenage heroines and watch as the grim, behind-the-scenes reality of their glamourous high adventure world beans them over the head repeatedly. Because they are just rookies who don't matter much in the grand scheme of things. Then they come back with a vengeance and it becomes pure Noblebright instead.
- Doctor Who - It's a time travel show where the protagonist is a millennia-old alien who has seen and done some truly incredible shit in his time, but cannot overtly alter the flow of history or even build close relations with his human companions. He just saves the day and goes off to another planet.
- Most of Zeus' flings with mortals (from the gods' perspective)
- Touhou - Despite Gensokyo being a fantastical setting and the characters all being quirky cute girls, ultimately the majority of folk are powerless to change the status quo and everyone is kind of stuck in a system that forces humans and youkai to be at odds. The relationship between the two is slowly growing more peaceful, but its unlikely true harmonious co-existeence could ever be achieved.
- Mirror's Edge - In the end, you can take home a few personal victories, but you can't change the wider status quo. The oppressive government still controls the City of Glass's flow of information, the anti-courier assassin program is still going strong, and security is only getting tighter with each passing day. But at least you've saved your sister from being unjustly convicted for murder and got your revenge on the bastards who tried to frame her. The City itself is also quite cool to look at, and there's a sense of constant adventure in the form of courier jobs passing information the government doesn't want people to know from Runner to Runner (classical Bright traits).
Nobledark:
- The Lord of the Rings - If Warhammer is the platonic ideal of Grimdark, LOTR is the platonic ideal of Nobledark.
- Mass Effect - Galactic civilization is not a united front, humanity is the upstart new kid on the block and looming over all are the Reapers bringing Lovecraftian levels of Grimdark, but while it takes a monumental effort heroes can save (or ruin) everything.
- Berserk
- Eberron
- Starcraft
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Terminator - "No fate but what we make" vs a genocidal global army of machines.
- Fallout - The world may be a nuked-out hellhole full of monsters, cannibals, bandits, and power-hungry psychopaths, but even one person can make grand, sweeping changes with enough fortune, skill, and grit. Especially New Vegas, oh boy, New Vegas; the Independence ending is basically the story of how a wasteland courier dug their way out of their own grave and brought down two post-apocalyptic superpowers through sheer force of will and character.
- The Iliad
- Skyrim
- Undertale (mercy route): The people of the Underground were locked beneath Mount Ebott in ages past, and long ago gave up their thoughts of freedom, with their only distant hope being gaining seven human souls from the victims who fall into their prison to break free. Despite this, the PC’s sheer force of determination and empathy results in them befriending all, even the soulless main villain, freeing the Underground and heading a new era of peace and unity.
- Firefly - Humanity is settled in star systems caught between an authoritarian interstellar Alliance, interplanetary crime syndicates and space pirates who are pretty much Dark Eldar with alien advancement swapped for cannibalism and radiation sickness... but the motley crew of one outdated freighter ship dance between the raindrops and strike blows against these three that actually improve life for humanity.
- Most Batman stories - Yes, Gotham sucks and yes, Batman is a dark character, but he is also a deeply idealistic hero (refuses to kill, believes in the inherent good of people and the human spirit). Which is why putting Batman in Grimdark tends to really not work.
- Warhammer novels like Ciaphas Cain and Gaunt's Ghosts. Especially ones where the protagonists are ordinary people like the Imperial Guard rather than the superhuman, galaxy-bestriding Space Marines.
- Exalted - Encapsulates the nobledark spirit for RPGs. "The world sucks. You have the power to fix it. Try not to fuck it up worse."
- Naoki Urasawa's Monster - A psychological thriller manga about a neurosurgeon setting out to stop a former patient of his who turns out to have become a serial killer, committing murders in the surgeon's name. Said serial killer might also be the next Hitler, or even the antichrist, we're not sure. Despite that, the surgeon is a genuinely good person, and most of the series is about how a good person can make a difference despite the corrupt world around them.
Noblebright:
- The Chronicles of Narnia
- Morrowind
- Forgotten Realms
- Greyhawk
- Magi
- Warcraft
- Star Wars
- Pokemon
- Trine
- Most Marvel movies, except the one that is really infamous for not being this
- The Odyssey
- And of course, Star Trek - The platonic ideal of Noblebright.
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 | ...and GrimDark |
|---|---|
| BrightHammer 40k OR Age of Sigmar | WarHammer 40k |
| WarHammer 40k 8th ED onwards, but more like Nobledark | WarHammer 40k 3rd Edition or Age of Sigmar 2nd Edition (sorta. Could be considered approaching Noblebright->Dark) |
| AoS Broken Realms saga/3rd edition Dawnbringer Crusade | AoS 2nd Edition Necroquake (seems GeeDubs is finally learning to balance out the Grimderpitude) |
| Entire Warhammer Franchise (Both 40k and Fantasy/AoS) | Xeelee universe |
| 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 |
| Code Lyoko (not that the show isn’t still dark on its own) | ReBoot |
| 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 |
| Transhuman Space | 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 |
| Attack on Titan Chapter 139 | Attack on Titan pre-Chapter 139 |
| Death Note universe | Code Geass universe |
| Personae 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 |
| Ghost in the Shell | Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade |
| Rebuild of Evangelion (Well, Zig-zags between the two) | Neon Genesis Evangelion |
| Neo-Hunter Casshern | Casshern Sins |
| My Neighbour Totoro | Spirited Away |
| Spirited Away | Laputa: Castle in the Sky |
| Laputa: Castle in the Sky | Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Film) |
| Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Film) | Princess Mononoke |
| Princess Mononoke | Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Manga) |
| 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 (with a helping of Grimderp on the side) |
| Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story | Puella Magi Madoka Magica |
| 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 |
| Regular idol series | Zombieland Saga |
| 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 |
| Castlevania | 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 | |
| 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 |
| Cyberpunk 2020 | Cyberpunk Red |
| 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 |
| Marvel comics | Watchmen comics |
| Watchmen comics | Wanted comics |
| Wanted comics | Crossed comics (1% Grimdark, 99% Grimderp) |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Hellsing (any medium) |
| Hellsing (2001 series) | Hellsing (manga and OVA) |
| Warehouse 13 | The SCP Foundation |
| Eberron | Dragonmech |
| Planescape | Ravenloft |
| Wilderlands of High Fantasy | Forgotten Realms |
| InFamous | Prototype |
| Subnautica | Iron Lung |
| Harry Potter 1-3 | Harry Potter 4-7 (ESPECIALLY 7th) |
| Deus Ex 1-2 | System Shock 1-2 |
| RoboCop | Terminator |
| Terminator 2 and Terminator Salvation (no fate but what we make) | Terminator 1 and 3 (there was no system core; it could not be shut down) |
| 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 |
| Chivalric Romances | Icelandic Sagas |
| American Revolution | Vietnam War |
| Vietnam War | World War I |
| 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) |
| Bethesda's Fallout 3 and onwards | The first two Interplay games |
| Slayers | Bastard!! |
| Alice in Borderlands | Gantz |
| Fast And Furious | Death Race |
| Death Race | Mad Max |
| Spaghetti Westerns | Deadlands |
| Dracula | 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 |
| Animal Crossing | Cult of the Lamb |
| League of Legends | Dota 2 |
| League of Legends | Netflix's Arcane |
| 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 |
| Overlord, Re:Zero, any Isekai ever | Now and Then, Here and There |
| 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 |
| Chapo Trap House | The Daily Shoah |
| 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 |
| Thomas Aquinas | Augustine of Hippo |
| 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) |
| Arthur Schopenhauer | Emil Cioran |
| Emil Cioran | Philipp Mainländer (How Grimdark is he? Mainländer is the only philosophical pessimist to take his own life.) |
| Classical Philosophy (e.g. Virtue Ethics, Stoicism) | Contemporary Philosophy (e.g. Existentialism, Postmodernism) |
| Jean-Paul Sartre | Albert Camus |
| 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, but not the story) |
| Call of Duty | Homefront |
| Tom and Jerry | Maus |
| I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (the video game) | I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (the book) |
| Stellaris (when you play Egalitarian, Xenophile or Federation Builder) | Stellaris (whenever you play Xenophobe/Fanatic Purifier or Psionic Ascension) |
| Care Bears | Happy Tree Friends |
| Almost everything made by Sanrio, with a few exceptions | Gudetama (Grimbright), Aggretsuko (Nobledark), Ringing Bell (Grimdark) |
| Kid vs Kat | Mr. Pickles |
| Power Metal | Thrash Metal |
| Thrash Metal | Death Metal |
| Death Metal | Black Metal |
| Black Metal | Doom Metal/Sludge |
| 2019 | 2020 |
| Trigun | Gungrave |
| Cheers | It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia |
| Most Nintendo Properties | Metroid (more like Nobledark) |
| One Piece | Black Lagoon |
| COVID-19 | Spanish flu |
| Spanish flu | Black Death |
| Battle For Dream Island | ONE |