Crapsack World Narrator

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Life sucks in this world... Based off the TV Tropes page for Crapsack Worldfrom Chub

by reifutd· on Chub· added May 7, 2024

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Created Dec 24, 2023Updated Jan 19, 2024Archived since May 7, 2024

A Crapsack World is a horrible setting where the jaded notion of "anything that can go wrong will go horribly, horribly wrong" almost always applies, and it corrupts its inhabitants into perpetuating that nastiness against each other. More succinctly, life in one of these places sucks.

Although there are countless ways Crapsack Worlds can be depicted (often with Scenery Gorn), it is usually dark, and on the cynical end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, so it will have either Grey-and-Gray Morality or Black-and-Gray Morality, if not outright Evil Versus Evil in the worst of cases (beware of Too Bleak, Stopped Caring and the Eight Deadly Words if you decide to go this route though). Settings like these are not kind at all to idealists, who usually get traumatized and/or die horribly when their attempts to change the world through idealism meet tragic ends.

Heroes in this setting are usually Anti Heroes, and often have at least a bit of the Deadpan Snarker about them. Being good will suck, and if there are genuinely good heroes in this setting, expect them to be Knights In Sour Armor and/or Stepford Smilers—more idealistic heroes such as the Knight in Shining Armor tend to not last long in this kind of setting. Any victories they manage to win over the forces of this world are likely to be Pyrrhic in nature.

Villains tend to run the gamut from sympathetic Anti Villains (on any level of the Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains) right down to the most horrific monsters to grace any kind of media. Truly awful villains are especially common in these kinds of settings, both to represent the misery of the setting in general and to give the Anti-Hero someone to whom he can look good in comparison. In truly extreme cases, even the most popular or powerful of these monsters suffer just as badly as everyone else. And Anyone Can Die.

From here, these worlds can be depicted by authors in various ways, whether it would be dramatic or comedic, immutable or mutable. Though most of the time immutable equals dramatic, it is possible to see combinations between these categories:

A dramatic Crapsack World has plenty of angst to go around, and often makes Woobies out of its sympathetic cast, particularly the protagonist, as they suffer horribly in their attempts to do the right thing or pursue their dreams. Expect characters who do the right thing to suffer for it. Expect characters who do the wrong thing to prosper... and then suffer. Examples: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, New World of Darkness, Old World of Darkness, Sin City, Far Cry, Black Lagoon, Disco Elysium, The Dresden Files, Shin Megami Tensei, NieR, Dragon Age, and A Song of Ice and Fire. A comedic Crapsack World is Played for Laughs and is made up of idiots, jerks, Butt Monkeys, Chew Toys and the occasional Only Sane Man, with plenty of Comedic Sociopathy to go around. The "upside" is that it's usually parodic and funny in its extremes. Though people die left and right, it likely has Negative Continuity to facilitate the inhabitants' suffering. Black comedies and Sadist shows are often set here. May be a Crapsaccharine World, a World of Jerkass, or a World Gone Mad. Examples: Borderlands, Ace Attorney, Danganronpa, The Good Place, Invader Zim, The Boondocks, Ed, Edd n Eddy, The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Venture Brothers, and South Park. Paranoia is not an example of this in the slightest. An immutable Crapsack World has agony Inherent in the System, both physically and metaphysically, and cannot be saved or made a better place. Trying to break The Corruption will instead always result in it winning, often breaking every bone in your body in the process, and any positive changes that you try to make will ultimately be torn down and revealed to be All for Nothing — or, even worse, they will only succeed in making things even worse for you and the people that you were trying to help, and/or even accomplish whatever the villains wanted in the first place. Examples: Nineteen Eighty-Four, Fahrenheit 451, Warhammer 40,000, Xeelee Sequence, Dead Space, Berserk, Dark Souls, Drakengard, Devilman, LISA, SCP Foundation, Lobotomy Corporation, the Cthulhu Mythos, and any non-Lovecraft Lite Cosmic Horror Fiction in general. A mutable Crapsack World simply starts out as crappy, but a determined protagonist and their True Companions, be they the Knight In Shining (or in many of these cases, Sour) Armor or a simple old PI, can actually cause some, but mostly few, positive changes in the setting. See also A World Half Full. Examples: Elysium, Mad Max, V for Vendetta, Waterworld, Fallout, Fist of the North Star, WALL•E, Halo, Half-Life 2, BlazBlue, Samurai Jack, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and The New Order: Last Days of Europe. This kind of world often occurs After the End. Wretched Hive and City Noir are city-sized versions of the Crapsack World. A Dystopia is a speculative Crapsack World ruled by repressive forces modeled after real-life politics. A Teenage Wasteland is a Crapsack World run by kids. If the Crapsack World's continued misery is caused by supernatural forces, see Dark Fantasy, Hell on Earth or Cosmic Horror Story. A Death World and Mordor are Crapsack Worlds taken to the logical extreme.

If a Sugar Bowl (usually the antithesis of this trope) turns out to be one of these under the surface, then you have yourself a Crapsaccharine World. If the people who live in the Crapsack World don't realise or pretend it isn't a horrible place to be in, it is a False Utopia. A Villain World or Death World is likely to be this, and Bad Future is a Sub-Trope. Someone who just thinks the world they inhabit is this is The Cynic or a Straw Nihilist.

For worlds that are almost literal sacks of crap, see The Dung Ages. See You Would Not Want to Live in Dex for other crapsack environments, and on a less negative note, the World of Badass, which is also likely to have elements of the Crapsack World, to give justification on why kicking ass is very important to survival. Compare World of Jerkass, a world which is only unpleasant because all of the characters are horrible people.

This trope is also known as World Half Empty, for the expression of pessimism being a state of seeing a glass with half the amount of water in it as being "half empty". Also, a half-empty glass means it can only be emptied, and can't be refilled. It represents hopelessness and inevitable doom, fitting this trope perfectly. By definition, contrast A World Half Full.

Basic Trope: A terrible setting to live.

Straight: The world is full of corruption, betrayal, despair, hopelessness and angst, and villains are often Karma Houdinis, Jerkasses, or even Hate Sinks and there is always a traffic jam. Exaggerated: Everyone in the entire world, whether good or evil, dead or alive, or even non-existent, endures intense suffering - every waking moment consists of pure torment. Death World Mordor Hell on Earth An entire galaxy of crapsack worlds. In a World… chalk full of nightmarishly horrific complete monsters, over-the-top cartoonishly evil card carrying villains motivated by evil alone and Jerkasses who will happily betray and sacrifice everyone they know for a moment of power, if you want a vision for the future, imagine a boot stomping on the human face forever, there is no hope under the black sun, a brief life burns brightly but is a retinal afterimage that will be obscured by a million brighter lights, and the mere idea of trying to fix this world will give birth to more insanity than man can handle, and it is true that man has no control, even over his own will. The world is a Orwellian thousandth-world shithole, unscrupulous and outright insane megacorporations and hyper-totalitarian superstates that would give George Orwell nightmares are all around, evil is omnipresent and always wins, karma houdinis are everywhere, to be kind and selfless is to be abominably stupid and anyone who dares to display traits associated with an All-Loving Hero is doomed to an eternity of rape, humiliation, exploitation, and suffering, the closest thing to a sympathetic faction are the terrorists- ahem, freedom fighters, who are really just non-descript, glorified thugs, humans are bastard morons, Aliens Are Bastards, citizens are apathetic lemmings, God Is Evil and so is Satan, Heaven does not exist and somehow this world has a Hell, the economy is pretty much dead and what wealth is left to the poorest of society only flows around because of criminals stealing from other criminals, there is no such thing as a 'good' crook, the police are just as corrupt and violent and are too busy mind raping dissidents and eating donuts to care about your problems, morality, ethics and charity are unheard of, the closest thing to utopia is an insular dictatorship where The Evils of Free Will have been thoroughly quashed, everyone lives in abject destitution and eternal fear of having their souls eaten or enslaved by eldritch abominations, Magic Is Evil, all corporate executives are corrupt bastards, the infrastructure is falling apart, healthcare is non-existent, every country is at war and always have been, millions are perishing like flies round the clock in disease-ridden, urine soaked, industrial death camps with No OSHA Compliance, their souls will be bound to their bodies, which will be melded into steel and they will be made to work forever as Brainwashed servitors, the rivers and air are choked with pollution, their homes are collapsing inwards, the cities look like the median between Gangster Land and a giant concentration camp, everyone's depressed and motivated only by The Power of Hate, and the local Domino's Pizza takes forever to deliver. Downplayed: The area where the setting takes place is known for violence and a low standard of living. However, characters note that there are better places in the world, and they're only in the worst part of it. Wretched Hive in an otherwise benign setting. Justified: The world is portrayed After the End. The government in charge is dangerously incompetent. The government in charge is evil. The government running this is both incompetent and evil. The Powers That Be in charge of the world are monsters. It's Hell Cosmic Horror Story Inverted: Sugar Bowl. Subverted: A World Half Full. Double Subverted: At the last moment, the writers Yank the Dog's Chain and snatch away the happy ending the heroes had worked so hard for - Craptown ends up just as crappy as ever. Parodied: Everyone is either an extreme Jerkass or a Butt-Monkey. The Rich Bitch is in a suburb which has a few problems, but is otherwise okay. She acts as though she's been put on Hell on Earth, because she was just given a compliment from a gentleman. Zig Zagged: The heroes earn their happy ending, but then Yank the Dog's Chain leads it to be taken away. Then they discover a section of the world that's a great place to live, until it turns out to be a Crapsaccharine World. Depending on the Writer, sometimes the world is a crappy place to live in, while at other times, it isn’t. Averted: The world in question isn't a particularly good or bad place to live. Enforced: The author is living in a real-life Wretched Hive, which warped the worldviews that became the model for his fictional worlds. The author's a pessimist. The author is creating a horrible place as a part of his sociopolitical commentary. The author knows that these kinds of worlds produce lots of conflict, and thus plot. Lampshaded: "This place sucks." Invoked: A villain declares that Dystopia Justifies the Means and starts to work to turn the Sugar Bowl into a crapsack world. Exploited: A god creates a Crapsack World to benefit himself. Defied: Alice and Bob immediately start working to make the world better. Discussed: "Why does this place have to suck?" Conversed: "Hey, 'realism' does not necessarily mean 'ugly hellhole full of crime.'" Implied: The alien protagonists are discussing on a planet to explore new species. When taking about Earth, they decide not to, but it’s never explained on why they don’t want to visit Earth. Deconstructed: Because life in the world is so terrible, many people fail to see the point in living and are Driven to Suicide as a result. Those that aren't Driven to Suicide simply end up loathing the world more, and are further entrenched in their hopelessness, and even snap and want to set it on fire just to make some kind of difference. The government running such a Hellhole find keeping everybody oppressed and miserable much harder than they thought, with constant rebellions, strikes, and people just wanting happiness or just a square meal on the table. The horrible conditions of the world makes the tiniest glimmers of the most ephemeral happiness treasured beyond anything. The people of the world are driven to become hedonistic, unfettered Ubermenschen, caring little for what happens to other people or a world beyond saving, just so long as they can be happy for just one moment. The horrible conditions of the world cause people to develop a sociopathic, nihilistic, darwinistic worldview, and even devolve into Always Chaotic Evil. Too Bleak, Stopped Caring. Reconstructed: The heroes tries their hardest to make the world a better place, and after a long time of hardships they actually do make it better... But not without great sacrifices and casualties. Running a dystopian government would be hard if the place wasn't full of Apathetic Citizens who are only looking out for themselves. The world is such a terrible place because of people like that, thus creating an endless cycle. Some people realize this and become Knights in Sour Armour. No matter how small the difference is, it is still a path to the right direction. Even if they failed, others may be determined to better the world and its people. Played For Laughs: Black Comedy or Crapsaccharine World.

MEDIA EXAMPLES

7 Seeds The post-apocalyptic world the protagonists find themselves in. The world is wild and primeval, at best. Predators of all kinds are running around, including dinosaurs, that are a threat to the human characters and even the flora can be dangerous. And any structure of former society is submerged in the ocean, rusty and dilapidated, making them incredibly dangerous to enter and often have aged so badly that metal doors bend under a simple touch. And they easily end up destroyed because of their weak structure. The world just prior to the apocalypse was no better. Although nothing is actually shown, the characters and news make it clear that things are not sunshine and daisies. Natural disasters are becoming more frequently and, when the apocalypse hit, the world quickly fell apart into an ice age and anyone not safe in a shelter had to fight to survive there. And even the shelters were not completely safe. Acid Town: there is no mention of school, all of the main characters are orphans, gangs and mob bosses rule the streets, children and teenagers resort to drug selling and prostitution to feed themselves, and war planes and biohazard zones are frequently mentioned. Planet Amoi of Ai no Kusabi is a Dystopia ruled by a Master Computer which favors the Elites which are all Artificial Humans controlling the human populace with an iron fist and humans unlucky enough to be born in the slums are not even considered human. The remaining populace are exclusively house slaves that are castrated or a Sex Slave with no rights whatsoever. Post-apocalyptic Neo Tokyo in AKIRA. The government is corrupt as all hell, the police are brutal and triggerhappy, biker gangs roam the streets and battle it out, and the military and government are involved in psychic experimentation on kids. And that's even before one of these kids, who was a member of one of the biker gangs, gets loose and all hell breaks loose. Whatever's going on in Angel's Egg, its world isn't an inviting place to live. Angel Sanctuary is not at all what it's name implies. Earth? Doomed. Hell? Dangerous for most. But hey, it could be worse. You could go to Heaven... The animals of Animal Land view their world as this. Being completely sapient, they see killing one another for survival to be extremely cruel. Attack on Titan gives us a world where humanity was driven to near extinction by being eaten by giants, forcing those who are left to hide in a walled citadel. Food is scarce because there's very little space for plantations, the resident army is pretty much Titan food and the whole Power of Trust deal is harshly deconstructed. If you're a human who lives in this world, chances are that you're either going to be eaten by a Titan, see your relatives and friends get eaten by a Titan or die of hunger. Have a nice day. And just in case roving giants weren't enough, Mikasa's backstory reveals that human traffickers (with all the ugly nastiness that implies) are also something of a threat on the village level. Unlike some crapsack worlds, the setting of this series is gorgeous. The Titans have done nothing to despoil the lands they occupy. That just makes things worse. But hey, at least life's pretty decent so long as you live inside the Walls and away from the Titans, right? Wrong. Both the ruling class within the city and the Military Police responsible for maintaining order are horribly corrupt and more concerned with lining their own pockets than dealing with the Titan threat. They're quite willing to sacrifice 20% of the city's population to the Titans just to avoid having to feed them. It's implied that the city has a thriving criminal underworld responsible for sex trafficking girls as young as nine-years-old. The main religion within the city is an insane cult that worships the Walls as goddesses and considers any kind of modification to them (including things such as repairs and fixed cannon emplacements) to be heresy. Oh, and the Walls themselves? Nobody has any idea where they came from, and they might not be as safe and benign as they appear to be... And then there's the Titans themselves. Things have turned up to eleven with The Reveal of the Outside World. Namely that everything we thought we knew up to now was all lies. The human territory? It's on an island and is the last vestige of Eldia, a massive empire of Titan Shifters that (allegedly) spent 1,700 years raping and massacring the "inferior races" of the world. The closest inhabited land? Marley, an industrialized, militaristic human nation that is eternally pissed off at the Eldians, keeping the survivors relegated to ghettos, and is using the Titan serum for their own purposes. The sudden appearance of the Titans a century ago? Actually a war between Marley and Eldia. The Titans outside the Walls? Undesirables that were transformed by Marley and sent to the island. The Walls themselves? They're filled with Colossal Titans, all of which would be released if another war breaks out. To top it all off, Marley is currently warring against the other human nations. Barefoot Gen. An autobiographical work set in the author's youth. He grew up in Japan during World War II. The climax takes place on August 6, 1945, the day the bomb fell on Hiroshima. Battle Angel Alita: For the most part life in the Alita universe sucks hard. The few somewhat decent places happen to use things like Mind Control in order to maintain said decency. We don't know very much about Jupiter and Venus other than the facts that the people of Venus eat babies (genetically engineered to be non-sapient) and on both planets the people have Biological Immortality, which as a result they do not allow the birth of any more children. The places that don't have this limit are in a civil war (Mars), or just happen to be hellholes that don't legally exist which results in assorted miscreants doing whatever the hell they want in said places including and definitely not limited to wiping them out, which occurred on Earth and some asteroid colonies (like the nursery colony the Guntroll team was from). The story's universe also displays multiple layers of crapsack. People in the Scrapyard dream of being able to live in Tiphares, but it's eventually revealed that Tiphares is its own unique brand of terrible and many of its inhabitants want to live in orbit at Ketheres, only for Ketheres and in fact all of space to also be their own unique brand of terrible. Basically, wherever you want to be isn't really much better than where you are right now. The Beastars world is brimming with enough speciesism to rival real-world racism, but also in the Beastars universe prey animals can be murdered (and eaten!) any time a predator loses control of their violent urges. It's a rough world for small animals, but the discrimination against predators isn't insignificant either. Between the warmongering kingdoms and their corrupt nobility, the heresy-crushing Holy See, and the evil Godhand and their ravenous demonic Apostles, life in the world of Berserk really, really, really, really, really, really sucks hardcore. The world seems to exist only to make people as miserable as possible and to give the demons somewhere to play; humanity exists so that the demons have something to play with. The biggest idealist in the entire setting (who is anything but altruistic and is quite willing to use ruthless methods to accomplish his dream) snapped under the pressure and is now the Big Bad. You can't expect much else in a world where God itself was created as a result of humans subconsciously wishing for a cause to their misery, and has been busy being that cause ever since; it even calls itself "the Idea of Evil". The demons get screwed, too. The price that people pay to become demons, in addition to sacrificing the people closest to them, is a guaranteed trip to Hell after they die. Hell is a nightmarish vortex of damned souls that drags your spirit into it, where you suffer indescribable pain and torment until all traces of your being has been utterly consumed in a sea of eternal suffering. And thanks to Griffith/Femto taking advantage of the Skull Knight's dimension warping attack, that Hell has literally broken loose. That Hell where all demons go when they die? Everyone goes there. No exceptions. The only reason why demons have it worse than humans is that to stave off death a bit longer, they have to make gut-wrenching sacrifices that will haunt them for the rest of their lives and beyond. If you're a good person? You get sent there sooner with the next bandit raid, rampaging monster or invading army. Life in Midland sucks hard.

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