Dark Fantasy Handbook

Dark Fantasy

Dark Fantasy is a subgenre of Fantasy which blends dark, monstrous, or supernatural elements--borrowed from Horror--with the magic, whimsy, or otherworldliness of Fantasy. In Dark Fantasy (DF) protagonists are more often characters cast as "monsters" or "supernatural helpers" in other genres, though humans still feature. Magic and other supernatural abilities are at work in DF, but often an unexpected price. Everything is more malevolent than it initially appears. Dark Fantasy stories can be gloomy, gritty, or gory in their atmosphere, and may be set in one darkly fantastical world or across multiple worlds.

Historically, the DF subgenre has been divided along the Horror-Fantasy line, although the aim of this community is to accept a definition of "Dark Fantasy" as a blend of both genres. Within the Horror genre, DF was used as a term to differentiate Supernatural Horror from stories about human "monsters". Whereas, within the Fantasy Genre, DF was originally applied as a label for stories about morally ambiguous anti-heroes, and then became extended to describe any Fantasy with darker or more frightening elements. Today, it describes the subgenre of Fantasy that combines both dark supernatural elements and non-traditional heroes.

The concept of the supernatural monster from Horror and the morally ambiguous anti-hero from Fantasy have also combined to give us the "monster" protagonist. Though DF stories do often feature a human protagonist discovering a darkly magical realm or layer of reality, they are also likely to have a "creature" or "monster" protagonist, especially if the character is of a type vilified in traditional Fantasy or Horror: a reluctant vampire, a dhampir hunter, a heroic orc, a patriotic warlock, a soulmate-seeking mummy. The twist on traditional expectations if often key.

Magic is not a requirement of Fantasy or Dark Fantasy so much as the fantastical and unreal, but when magic does exist within the worlds of DF stories, it tends to come at a cost. If Fantasy is "all fun and games" then Dark Fantasy is "someone loses an eye." Trade in souls, body parts, or babies is not uncommon in DF. If there's a wish-granting device, it will grant the wish in the worst manner possible while still literally granting what was requested. On the grittier side of DF, magic is likely addictive.

Pretty much anything that was light and good in traditional Fantasy has a dark side in DF. Not only are heroes less shiny, and magic more costly, but the whole world is twisted. Settings and characters may still appear whimsical, on the surface, but are often dangerous upon closer inspection. Tooth fairies, for example, are most likely teeth-stealing pixies and possibly even bone-eaters looking for their next meal. DF may borrow atmosphere from other "dark" subgenres; often the eerieness and gloom of Gothic Horror, but also the cynicism and grit of Noir Fiction, or the violence and gore of Grimdark. 

Dark Fantasy stories can take place in one or multiple worlds, with the basic premise that there are dark elements to be encountered. When set in modern times, DF may cross-over with Contemporary Fantasy, Noir Fantasy, or Urban Fantasy; stories belonging most properly in those subgenres when the element of the setting is strongest, but perhaps belonging with DF when the discovery of a dark layer or aspect to the world is the more prominent element. DF can also be set wholly or partly in a secondary world, crossing over with the subgenres of High Fantasy or Portal Fantasy. Again, the importance of the dark or twisted element in the setting determines the subgenre, although it's possible for some works to be equally suited to several genres, such as a Contemporary Dark Portal Fantasy.

To summarize, DF is Fantasy with a dark, frightening twist, where protagonists tend to be less noble, magic comes at a steep price, things are more deadly than they seem, and even the most normal or whimsical of settings can be revealed to have a dark underlayer.