Dark Harry (One Direction trope)

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Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)Dark!Harry, Asshole!Harry
Related tropes/genresCupcake Harry
See alsoHarry Styles, Larry Stylinson
Related articles on Fanlore.

Dark Harry in One Direction refers to characterization of Harry Styles as having a dark side, in contrast with his respectful, cheerful, charming public persona.

The trope occurs mostly in Larry Stylinson fanworks, as well as in het self-inserts.

See AO3 tags and sort by fandom: Dark Harry[1] (268 uses as of January 29, 2023) and Asshole Harry (186 uses as of January 29, 2023). Sorting by #darkharry and #onedirection on Wattpad produces 906 results as of January 29, 2023.[2]

See also dark harry Tumblr tag. In 2021, Sophia Andrade wrote an article for Slate about the trend titled, "The Unbelievable Version of Harry Styles That Only Exists Online" (Originally titled: "In Harry Styles Fanfic, He's a Depraved Sex Monster.")

Note that some thoughtful and well-written explorations of Harry's darker side exist; however they tend not to be tagged with "Dark Harry" as the term has come to be associated with OOC-ness or badfic.

Examples

  • After, by Anna Todd, an incredibly popular Harry/OFC story posted on Wattpad. Reminiscent of 50 Shades of Grey both in themes and in the fact that its rights have been sold for publication and a movie adaptation.
  • Psychotic, by weyhey_harry, a Wattpad American Horror Story Asylum AU with 59+ million hits, 858,270 votes and a 4.6 rating on Goodreads (as of Sept 27, 2014).[3]
  • "Dark" Movie Trailer - Harry Styles Fanfiction by Lauren Smith: a trailer for a Wattpad fanfic, posted Jan 3, 2013.
  • Deranged Harry flipagram, posted by dirtymouthgirl on Tumblr, August 2014. Moved to Facebook May 20, 2014.
  • Duplicity by julez, a Wattpad Harry/OFC story about a band called Duplicity that is not all it seems. Went viral for revealing that "Harry Styles" in the fic was just some guy named Sebastian the entire time. 90.1 million hits and a 4.7 on Goodreads as of January 29, 2023.[4]

Ironic Use

The term is also used ironically by some fans to underline other fans' eagerness in seeing Harry's dark side, or the OOC-ness of the trope:

What's dark Harry?

(MAJOR trigger warning for rapey-ness/dubcon/noncon)

http://www.wattpad.com/17872945-~dark~-harry-styles-fanfiction-chapter-1

That’s fanfic dark!Harry. Dark Harry on camera messes up a room by knocking a couple water bottles over.[5]

Harry: I roll and I roll til I'm out of luck

harry girls: DARK HARRY HAS A GAMBLING PROBLEM[6]

Harry Styles, lothario and womanizer extraordinaire, the darkest of them all. Hide your kids, hide your wife![7]

Criticism

Okay, i love dark harry, i do, but when you describe the main character as submissive, scared and nervous and unwilling to harry, that the main character does everything harry says and stays because he’s /special/, then i get REALLY uncomfortable. Because girls out there will think that it is romantic, but it isnt, its fucked up[8]

References

  1. ^ http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Dark%20Harry/works Note: AO3 has caused this to redirect to "Dark Harry Potter." Sorting out the fandom "Harry Potter" produces these numbers.
  2. ^ https://www.wattpad.com/search/darkharrystyles%20%23darkharry%20%23onedirection
  3. ^ Psychotic goodreads page.
  4. ^ https://www.wattpad.com/story/138202651-duplicity-h-s
  5. ^ lsmoments, anon ask and reply, posted on Tumblr Sept 22, 2014 (retrieved Sept 27, 2014.)
  6. ^ harwy, Tumblr post, Sept 8, 2014 (retrieved Sept 27, 2014.)
  7. ^ thatdarkharry.tumblr.com bio
  8. ^ tomlinstar, Tumblr post, Sept 7, 2014 (retrieved Sept 27, 2014.)
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