fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2462 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2462 ⌋

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I was wondering about reasons/patterns for that fic trend where it becomes popular to write a "dark" version of a character. It's not the same as Ron the Death Eater, because the writers always know full well the character isn't really like that, but for some characters, it becomes like a whole subgenre.

The first time I saw it was in Sherlock Holmes (mainly the 2009 movie), with Dark!Watson (which quickly became a joke meme on the kinkmeme), but there's also Dark!Doctor from Doctor Who, Dark!Harry Potter, Dark!Hermione, Dark!Wilson from House, Dark!Ron Stoppable, Dark!*insert any superhero here*, etc.

So...does anyone have any theories about why this is a thing, and why it's a popular thing with only certain characters?

They just want to explore the possibilities of what that character would be capable of without morals. That, or they think it's sexy.

To be fair though, Dark!Ron Stoppable is canon.

Possibly an experiment to make the character in question more ambiguous, less one-dimensional. [an awkward one, IMO, but whatever]. Watson is such a good brave fellow, it's boring. Let's make him more villanous, that might help.

It's a way to explore aspects of a character (existing in canon and exaggerating them or by completely inventing them) you won't get to see in canon.

As for why it's a popular thing with only certain characters, I'm not sure that it is. I see it more often in larger fandoms, but that's true of every trope, kink, trend or whatever.

I think there's a bit of "hey, seeing how much Holmes depends on Watson for companionship, it's lucky Watson isn't a horrible person to Holmes, huh? BUT WHAT IF HE WAS????"

Basically, I think it comes from looking at the way main characters' traits, especially their positive traits, like loyalty or heroism, have such a big impact on the story, and then feeling the itch to remove those traits and see how far things fall apart.

As for why it happens with some characters more than others -- dark versions of some characters are either a) more creepy b) hotter or c) both than dark versions of other characters. Mostly b). I think it frequently happens to the characters who are thought of as trustworthy or dependable or predictable, because that makes the "what if" the most jarring.

A lot of fanfic tropes can be explained by ficwriters' addiction to the question "what if...?" tbh.

There's something interesting about the idea of the serial killer or assassin or what-have-you who looks and acts like a completely normal person and not even in a "cool" way but in an "of average attractiveness and not particularly smartly dressed" way. For some of these characters, like Wilson or John from Sherlock, it can be fun to imagine an AU where they're hiding something terrible under their fairly unremarkable exteriors.

There's also something kind of... well, I'm not sure "romantic" is the right word, but it's as close as I can think of, but this interesting, "romantic" notion that people can do horrible things and enjoy it, but still be nice people in other ways. It's like the gang member who is nice to old ladies, or hardened murders beating up child-rapists in prison because molesting children is going beyond the pale, or people being attracted to "bad boys" because if they're terrible to others but kind to you (or, at least, you think they're kind) that means you're ~special~. Or consider someone like Dexter - and I have not kept up with this show and only watched the first couple of seasons sporadically - who kills people, but only according to a code and not randomly. So, I think there's something kind of intriguing about a character who can be complex enough to do bad things without remorse, but not be outright evil either, and who may have limits to what they think is acceptable behavior and therefore it's possible to be safe with them, and something romantic about a horrible person who can chose certain people to be worthy of their love because (I guess) that means the love must be really, really strong.

Honestly I usually hate Dark!Harry Potter fics. Because a lot of the ones I see do the same thing. Dark!Independent! Harry, Dumbledore is Satan, and the Weasleys are bashed. Always.

It annoys the fuck outta me.

[ SECRET POST #2462 ]

The whole "Dark!Character" trope

Re: The whole "Dark!Character" trope

Re: The whole "Dark!Character" trope

Re: The whole "Dark!Character" trope

Re: The whole "Dark!Character" trope

^good comment

Re: The whole "Dark!Character" trope

Re: The whole "Dark!Character" trope