this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2023
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Fantasy books, stories, &c

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What defines dark fantasy?

Is it just elves that wear black or is there more to it? Maybe a mood or setting? Maybe it's an antihero thing? Im curious as to what it means and what some of the defining/seminal works of dark fantasy might be.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

The best definition I've heard of Grimdark, which has a certain overlap with dark fantasy, is that morally good decisions lead to bad outcomes. Not every good decision leads to a bad outcome and not every bad outcome is due to a good decision. But as a rule of thumb, doing the right thing is a bad thing.