Dark Elves
Dark elves are one of the standard elf varieties. They tend to have most (if not all) of the following characteristics:
- Dark-grey skin and white hair
- Overtly supremacist ideology ("You are but beasts of burden that can use tools that we shall use as we wish, disobey our dominant will and face agony that, if you are lucky you will quickly die from", most regular elves generally don't go beyond "You short lived members of younger races are foolish, short sighted and lack grace and perspective, go along living in squalor as is your way well away from us if you must but leave the important decisions to us if you know what's best for you")
- An economic system based on slavery
- A system of promotion based on social Darwinism (i.e. killing one's superiors to take their position)
- A fondness for spikes in everything, from fashion to architecture
- Underground dwellings
- A BDSM theme
- Skills at sneaking about
Dungeons and Dragons
In the various Dungeons and Dragons games (and their spin-offs, like Pathfinder), Dark Elves are usually known as Drow.
Warhammer Fantasy
In the long past of the Warhammer Fantasy world, the Dark Elves were once just elves. Then, heir-apparent Malekith found himself passed over when it came time to choose the Phoenix King, and he started a civil war. When he lost got bored, he and his followers (called the druchii in their language) were exiled left across the ocean.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, in usu dicam semper. Mutat quaestio platonem cu mea, duo ut melius dissentiunt. Apeirian recusabo sit in, ea quo essent omnium. An est fastidii quaestio contentiones, an vix dicta omnesque, eam animal maiorum ea. Justo nonumy fabulas per in. Te patrioque reprimique usu, mea fuisset aliquando deterruisset te.
Vim an quis necessitatibus, error iudico sensibus ei duo, id dolore numquam tractatos vix. Pri ad fastidii definitionem, minim electram ea per. Pri ut aperiri virtute euismod, posse sonet libris te eos, mei eros graeci expetendis ex. Affert eripuit at nec, ea harum dicant iuvaret pro. Liber ignota no usu, his consulatu voluptatum ad.
Then we have the shades, a bunch of hosers that live in the wilderness full of beasts that Chaos dragons think twice before fucking with.
The Dark Elves are also the biggest dicks in the universe- The War of the Beard? Oh, we raided the dwarven caravans that started it all! *Mad cackle* JUST AS PLANNED!
Males are forbidden to use magic since Malkeith's mum Morathi said that he would one day be killed by one. Not like anyone cares, but it's probably a plot by her to take the throne.
Among their traits are that their nobles ride exothermic carnivorous reptiles into battle. This is weird since their homeland is quite chilly, so you would think that they would be sluggish and inefficient mounts (hence why they have the rule 'Stupidity').
Warhammer 40,000
In Games Workshop's quest to give every WHFB race a counterpart in the grim, dark future of Warhammer 40,000, they created the Dark Eldar -- all the hedonistic fun of the Dark Elves, but in space!