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DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Blackground

 Blackground
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Blackground
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The use of empty, pitch-black backgrounds in games for artistical (or visibility) reasons rather than technical limitations. Used exclusively in games that have the possibility of implementing colorful and detailed backgrounds, yet they still choose this kind of background.
Nothing says "dark" like a videogame screen with a black background. It's simple looking, easy to implement, and in the 8-bit era allowed artists to use negative space to draw the darkest lines on certain sprites.note After all, if they're standing in front of a black background, who will notice? As time went on and graphical capabilities improved, the use of more colorful and varied backgrounds began to be implemented, however, even in the 16-bit era, this simple type of background would occasionally serve as dramatic flair, or nice contrast to a bright foreground. At other times, in a game normally rife with colorful and complicated background textures, Nothing Is Scarier.
Compare White Void Room, a polar opposite of sorts to this trope. Contrast Serendipity Writes the Plot when technical limitations dictate the black background rather than artistical choices.

Examples
 Blackground
fetched
2023-07-01T01:14:04Z
 Blackground
parsed
2023-07-01T01:14:04Z
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processingComment
Dropped link to CaptureTheFlag: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Blackground
processingComment
Dropped link to DonkeyKong: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Blackground
processingComment
Dropped link to EldritchLocation: Not an Item - FEATURE
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processingComment
Dropped link to ExpansionPack: Not an Item - FEATURE
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processingComment
Dropped link to FadeIn: Not an Item - FEATURE
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processingComment
Dropped link to MegamanClassic: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
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processingComment
Dropped link to SuperCastlevaniaIV: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
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processingComment
Dropped link to VillainSong: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Blackground
processingUnknown
MegamanClassic
 Blackground
processingUnknown
DonkeyKong
 Blackground
processingUnknown
SuperCastlevaniaIV
 Blackground
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Blackground / int_2e1df124
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_2e1df124
comment
Wreck-It Ralph: Fix-it Felix, the game where Ralph lives, has a black background. It contrasts nicely with more advanced games like Hero's Duty or Sugar Rush, which have more elaborate and colorful environments.
 Blackground / int_2e1df124
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_2e1df124
featureConfidence
1.0
 Wreck-It Ralph
hasFeature
Blackground / int_2e1df124
 Blackground / int_3d3a4e34
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_3d3a4e34
comment
In Blaster Master, when you enter a boss fight room, the stage starts flashing before cutting to an open, pitch-black room containing only the boss.
 Blackground / int_3d3a4e34
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_3d3a4e34
featureConfidence
1.0
 Blaster Master (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_3d3a4e34
 Blackground / int_45501b8c
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_45501b8c
comment
Super Metroid:
Backgrounds played a big part in the graphical merit of the game, so it is a bit surprising that one room in the game plays this completely straight - Draygon's chamber in Maridia. There are some other boss rooms in the game that start off like this, but usually have a background Fade In after a short while.
The trope is however enforced any time the X-ray scope is used. Backgrounds turn completely black to allow the player to better see hidden secrets in the foreground.
 Blackground / int_45501b8c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_45501b8c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Metroid (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_45501b8c
 Blackground / int_4bc11202
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_4bc11202
comment
Quake III: Arena: The so-called "space maps", despite some of their names and classification, are ambiented in a pitch-black void with no stars or planets to be seen to actually be called "space maps". In fact, there aren't even ambient sounds, outside of those sounds emitted by the players as well as jumppads and teleporters.
The main game has q3dm16 ("The Bouncy Map"), q3dm17 ("The Longest Yard"), q3dm18 ("Space Chamber"), q3dm19 ("Apocalypse Void"), q3tourney6 ("The Very End Of You") and q3ctf4 ("Space CTF"). An update introduced a Capture the Flag adaptation of q3tourney6 as q3tourney6-ctf.
The Expansion Pack Team Arena adds mptourney6 ("Vortex Portal") and a Capture the Flag version for q3tourney6 (mpq3tourney6 "Beyond Reality") as well as another version of q3ctf4 ("Chaos in Space"). A Downloadable Content piece added a reversion of q3tourney6 for team games (mpteam9, "Beyond Reality II").
 Blackground / int_4bc11202
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_4bc11202
featureConfidence
1.0
 Quake III: Arena (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_4bc11202
 Blackground / int_579695c
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_579695c
comment
At the start of the first two arcs of Exit/Corners, there's a scene where Ink seems to talk with someone, however the screen is black, apart from the text and Ink.
 Blackground / int_579695c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_579695c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Exit/Corners (Visual Novel)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_579695c
 Blackground / int_5d92e0a5
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_5d92e0a5
comment
This is the only background in the original Mario Bros. game, however Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 use it as the background for their underground/inside-the-pipe, dungeons, night-time stages, and boss stages (as well the original Mario Bros. mini-game in SMB3).
 Blackground / int_5d92e0a5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_5d92e0a5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mario Bros. (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_5d92e0a5
 Blackground / int_6f649498
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_6f649498
comment
Conjoined: As part of the game's nature as a homebrew on the Atari 2600, everything is presented against a black background.
 Blackground / int_6f649498
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_6f649498
featureConfidence
1.0
 Conjoined (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_6f649498
 Blackground / int_70788a5
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_70788a5
comment
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom: Patricks dream is a completely black space with nothing in it but a door back to Spongebob's dream, Patrick himself, and a golden spatula.
 Blackground / int_70788a5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_70788a5
featureConfidence
1.0
 SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_70788a5
 Blackground / int_802ca7b
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_802ca7b
comment
One of the bonus levels in the N64 adaptation of GoldenEye has 007 face off against Baron Samedi in an Egyptian Temple no less than three times. Once Samedi has been killed twice, the level's normal blue distance fog fades to an ominous black, both signifying the final battle and an attempt to intimidate the player with his voodoo powers.
 Blackground / int_802ca7b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_802ca7b
featureConfidence
1.0
 GoldenEye (1997) (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_802ca7b
 Blackground / int_8258e260
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_8258e260
comment
Super Mario Bros.:
In Super Mario World, most bosses are fought in this type of setting. The absence of a background allows for certain elements to be treated as a background, and thanks to the Super Nintendo's Mode 7, this allows them to be stretch and rotated, such as the "Reznor" sign, the platform Iggy and Larry are fought on top of, and Bowser himself.
This is the only background in the original Mario Bros. game, however Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 use it as the background for their underground/inside-the-pipe, dungeons, night-time stages, and boss stages (as well the original Mario Bros. mini-game in SMB3).
 Blackground / int_8258e260
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_8258e260
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Mario Bros. (Franchise)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_8258e260
 Blackground / int_91b1b8a6
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_91b1b8a6
comment
James Pond 3: Operation StarFI5H, which is set on the moon, has mountain backdrops over a space background in most of the levels, but some boss levels and a few normal levels just have a space background with stars. It's not background of outright nothing, as the stars do have some animation, but it still fits the trope. (At least in the original Sega Genesis and Super NES port, the Amiga version actually has ONLY the space background, even in cave levels.)
 Blackground / int_91b1b8a6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_91b1b8a6
featureConfidence
1.0
 James Pond (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_91b1b8a6
 Blackground / int_998dbd3b
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_998dbd3b
comment
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link had background textures for nearly every environment in the game, except for two rooms: one at the very beginning, and the other at the very end. Considering that every room in every dungeon previous has had some sort of a background, you should know you're in for trouble when you enter the final room of The Very Definitely Final Dungeon and suddenly this is no longer the case. Of course, this was also likely because the background turns bright red - It has to in order for the player to even see the final boss.
 Blackground / int_998dbd3b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_998dbd3b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_998dbd3b
 Blackground / int_cdd64e32
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_cdd64e32
comment
Over the Moon: When the characters first arrive on the moon, they find that it looks just like it does in real life — a landscape of white rock and a sky of empty blackness. Then they cross over into the dark side of the moon, where everything is pitch black until they reach Lunaria, a colorful and cartoonish city.
 Blackground / int_cdd64e32
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_cdd64e32
featureConfidence
1.0
 Over the Moon
hasFeature
Blackground / int_cdd64e32
 Blackground / int_cf3d284a
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_cf3d284a
comment
Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure:
Unlike the rest of the film, the scenes taking place in the Taffy Pit and Looney Land have completely black backgrounds. This highlights how unsettling and uncomfortable they are.
King Koo Koo, ruler of Looney Land, gets a black background with only a single spotlight on him during his Villain Song, "It's Not Easy Being King When You're Short."
 Blackground / int_cf3d284a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_cf3d284a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure
hasFeature
Blackground / int_cf3d284a
 Blackground / int_d0a5a846
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_d0a5a846
comment
Curiously, Gradius II continued to employ the stark background for boss battles, but did not remove the game's HUD.
 Blackground / int_d0a5a846
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_d0a5a846
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gradius (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_d0a5a846
 Blackground / int_d5c7346f
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_d5c7346f
comment
Trine 2: The Final Boss battle takes place in a dungeon with a pitch-black background, allowing it to be seen clearly.
 Blackground / int_d5c7346f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_d5c7346f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Trine (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_d5c7346f
 Blackground / int_d8520b74
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_d8520b74
comment
Sam & Max: Freelance Police: Upon inputting a virus that shuts down Reality 2.0, Sam & Max find themselves transported to a black void with nothing but text to interact with.
 Blackground / int_d8520b74
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_d8520b74
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sam & Max: Freelance Police (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_d8520b74
 Blackground / int_de276825
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_de276825
comment
Quake: Scourge of Armagon has the Secret Level "HIPDM1: The Edge of Oblivion", a repurposed Deathmatch level set in a multi-level floating platform whose background is completely pitch-black.
 Blackground / int_de276825
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_de276825
featureConfidence
1.0
 Quake (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_de276825
 Blackground / int_ebd9895f
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_ebd9895f
comment
Alice in Wonderland (1951): Many of the backgrounds are kept pitch black (most notably in scenes with a lot in the foreground such as the Mad Tea Party), allowing the color to stand out and hint at the subtly hinting how uncomfortable, abnormal, and unsettling the situation actually is.
 Blackground / int_ebd9895f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_ebd9895f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Alice in Wonderland
hasFeature
Blackground / int_ebd9895f
 Blackground / int_fb8d5c36
type
Blackground
 Blackground / int_fb8d5c36
comment
In Super Mario World, most bosses are fought in this type of setting. The absence of a background allows for certain elements to be treated as a background, and thanks to the Super Nintendo's Mode 7, this allows them to be stretch and rotated, such as the "Reznor" sign, the platform Iggy and Larry are fought on top of, and Bowser himself.
 Blackground / int_fb8d5c36
featureApplicability
1.0
 Blackground / int_fb8d5c36
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Mario World (Video Game)
hasFeature
Blackground / int_fb8d5c36

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Blackground
processingCategory2
Darkness and Shadows Tropes
 Blackground
processingCategory2
This Index Does Not Exist
 Conjoined (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Donkey Kong (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 GoldenEye (1997) (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Gradius (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Half-Quake (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Legacy of the Wizard (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Mario '85 (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Mega Man (Classic) (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Quake III: Arena (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Sabre Wulf (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Sam & Max: Freelance Police (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Super Castlevania IV (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Super Mario Bros. (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Super Mario Bros. 3 (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Super Mario World (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Super Metroid (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Trine (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Video Game) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Proxima64 (Web Animation) / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Alice in Wonderland / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground
 Wreck-It Ralph / int_5fc7ab41
type
Blackground