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Warhammer 40,000 is undoubtedly one of the darkest and one of the most morbid universes in all of fiction. But is there a fictional universe that is much worse? Whether it's sci-fi or fantasy what is this universe?

Not that I can think of.

We're talking about the universe that coined the term "grimdark"

Maelstrom's Edge?

The end of the universe is coming to your corner of the woods, and we're going to fight over your trancendence....

The role-playing series, Rifts, is definitely a dark multiverse as well. That could give 40K a run for its money on pain, suffering, and evil.

Whatever is on the other side of the FTL drive in Event Horizon must be pretty darn horrid, or at least on par with the Warp.

 NoiseMarine with Tinnitus wrote:
Whatever is on the other side of the FTL drive in Event Horizon must be pretty darn horrid, or at least on par with the Warp.

Indeed.... that gak is fethed up.

I think this universe might be just as fethed up... we don't know much about it and even our tiny planet is home to many unspeakable things.

1984?

2000AD seemed pretty dark to me...

Typo wrote:
2000AD seemed pretty dark to me...

Good call, especially seeing how much 40k was influenced by 2000AD. The latter is more willing to embrace the more humorous aspects of its genre and setting, however.

Nineteen eighty four, in the sense that living standards are deliberately kept squalid rather than it just being a consequence of desperately trying to maintain a large empire. Also at least in 40k there are somewhat pleasant planets around here and there. In Nineteen eighty four it doesn't matter where on earth you go, there is absolutely no relief from the nightmare.

Serious answer, Mass effect (prior to third one), a race of god-like machines are coming to wipe out all space-faring life in the galaxy, and worse they are using your extinction to procreate. Their motives are unknown, they are ancient beyond comprehension, their might can't be denied, and your insignificance is only reinforced by how many times this cycle has been carried out before. Sovereign said it best:

Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything.

Strong aspects of body horror, eldritch creatures from beyond the stars, and of course indoctrination. I'd argue that the reapers are way more terrifying than the warp because the warp is just our subconscious made manifest, and thus inherently understandable, the reapers slap us in the face with our own insignificance, mock us for our inability to understand them, and go about our extinction without a hint of malice or interest.

Less serious answer Star trek, the galaxy is rotten with capricious beings of godlike power, In a TNG episode, one such being casually committed xenocide on a species with quadrillions of sentient members, for the sin of killing his favorite pet. No consequences from the other god-like beings, no one in the alpha quadrant is even the wiser except for Picard and crew, who are in such awe of the act that they say they are not fit to stand in judgment of this being.

None that I know of.

In many other settings, there are factions, or some kind of alien, or something that is the main force of the horror.

That isn't the case in 40k. Reality itself is hostile to life. The Warp is a nightmare realm that not only exists, full of indescribable terrors, but it's fundamentally tied to all of existence, as both driving it and being driven by it.

This is a universe where Hell itself exists, and it was created by, perpetuated by, and depended on by the beings that live there. And that last point is what drives it home. The people of 40k need the Warp. Not just for space travel, but their very souls are tied to it.

No theological argument is necessary, souls exist as a fact of 40k, just like bolters do, and nearly every soul only exists to be devoured by the endless hunger of laughing gods. For all practical purpose, life may suck in 40k, but it only gets worse when you die.

What are the options out of that horrible fate? Necrons and Tyranids are the only thing immune to it, and they're both anti-life abominations. The Eldar solution is like trying to put out a forest fire with spit.

There's a galaxy of people in 40k. They are all doomed to an eternity of torment.

In a very literal sense, the battleborn universe is darker, as, I believe, the game's story is that you're fighting to save the last star in the universe.

That one simpson's episode where Donald Trump became President.

Oh Wait.

But in all seriousness, not many are as crappy as 40k. This is in part because 40k gleefully borrows things from many other universes and puts it's own spin on it, so by default 40k is going to be a lot darker and more miserable because it tends to start out where most other universes end.

Like the closest I can think of is the "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" universe, and even that is quaint compared to 40k.

Eclipse Phase. Shadowrun. The World of Darkness.

 AnomanderRake wrote:
Eclipse Phase. Shadowrun. The World of Darkness.

Ahh Eclipse Phase where (trans)humanity is going through a state of post-scarcity and innumerable hedonism in the face of something that either they themselves will kill themselves off with their inability to stop messing with forces and technology they cannot understand, whether exhumanity itself will consume itself or a robotic adaptive alien race will return and destroy all of transhumanity.

C'thulu.

 ZebioLizard2 wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:
Eclipse Phase. Shadowrun. The World of Darkness.

Ahh Eclipse Phase where (trans)humanity is going through a state of post-scarcity and innumerable hedonism in the face of something that either they themselves will kill themselves off with their inability to stop messing with forces and technology they cannot understand, whether exhumanity itself will consume itself or a robotic adaptive alien race will return and destroy all of transhumanity.

The name of the game actually gives you the answer to humanities ultimate fate, it means it's already too late, and humanities destruction is already in the system. But yeah that's one of my faves as well,

Revelation Space.

At least in the 40k universe there are some worlds that are pleasant to live on, and there are a bunch of spacefaring species, some nicer than others. You're not fleeing from a terraforming weapon gone haywire that's going to turn the entire universe into asteroid sized mossballs that kill you if you attempt to create anything past stone-age technology. And that terraforming weapon was created to stop weapons created by a race that intended to wipe out any spacefaring race for billions of years, leaving the galaxy a relatively sterile wasteland.

This one.

Storm Shadow beat me to the punch, but a lot of Lovecraft's Eldritch horror worries me. I like there being some semblance of order in the universe.

Also, since I've just finished the book, I'd be mortified of the Star Wars universe if the Sickness from Death Troopers became widespread (perhaps a derelict drifts inwards through the galaxy and crash-lands on a major trade hub or core world?).

 Storm Shadow wrote:
C'thulu.

My vote go to H.P Lovecraft work too.

Those Primal Gods make Khorne piss itself in despair and fear.

40k is a conglomeration of stolen dystonia ideas.
It is basically the foundation gone wrong as a base + all the popular nasty stuff they liked thrown into it Lovecraftian horrors included. Setting like world of darkness, event horizon, alien etc. don't even come close just because they utilize only one of the many facets that have been stolen by GW.
Even the horrible tech virus plagued setting of "revelation space" have their equivalents in 40k. And if they didn't it would not be hard for them to claim that it was always part of the mixture. ; )

I feel that "canticle for leibowitz" should get an honorable mention just because of the seer horror and doom it induces with such limited resources. It is an alternative 40k universe that was too grim dark to make it into the space age. Not that it could not be incorporated in the background story of 40k as a pre IoM story.

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Off topic

I feel that we might be feeding a weird sort of troll by commenting on these spammed "you have to pay the troll toll" threads that ask our opinion, and are abandoned by op once he releases them. His threads started posts posted ratio sure seems suspicious. Not that I mind it too much since the weird thing is that these threads are a pleasant change from all the this game is horrible and so is GW threads that are usually floating to the top.

 oldzoggy wrote:

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Off topic

I feel that we might be feeding a weird sort of troll by commenting on these spammed "you have to pay the troll toll" threads that ask our opinion, and are abandoned by op once he releases them. His threads started posts posted ratio sure seems suspicious. Not that I mind it too much since the weird thing is that these threads are a pleasant change from all the this game is horrible and so is GW threads that are usually floating to the top.

If those are troll threads, I aggre that they spark interesting debates

Early Middle Earth during the time of Morgoth is pretty dark and depressing. Just read The Children Of Hurin to get an element of the despair. Although I suppose there is light at the end of that tunnel...

 oldzoggy wrote:

I feel that we might be feeding a weird sort of troll by commenting on these spammed "you have to pay the troll toll" threads that ask our opinion, and are abandoned by op once he releases them. His threads started posts posted ratio sure seems suspicious. Not that I mind it too much since the weird thing is that these threads are a pleasant change from all the this game is horrible and so is GW threads that are usually floating to the top.

I feel that 'youhavetopaythetroll' is someone who is relatively new to the setting but loves the 'darkness' of it... But doesn't have a great deal of knowledge of the background or has many people to talk about it with. So these threads come up and he can soak up some info and doesn't post much because he actually doesn't have the insight to post anything constructive..

While it is spammy he is trying to learn

 Imperial_grunt wrote:
Nineteen eighty four, in the sense that living standards are deliberately kept squalid rather than it just being a consequence of desperately trying to maintain a large empire. Also at least in 40k there are somewhat pleasant planets around here and there. In Nineteen eighty four it doesn't matter where on earth you go, there is absolutely no relief from the nightmare.

That's just like 2017.

I can only think of Alien. Very depressing atmosphere, capitalism has taken over everything, enterprises have taken the power of states and sacrifice you for some random profit opportunity. When 1984 is a dystopia that exaggerates stalinism, Alien exaggerates today's capitalism - and that's obviously even worse

Also I think 40K is basically more of a caricature of other dark franchises. Everything is just so absolutely over the top that it becomes ridiculous more often than not - and I'm not just talking about the Orks. The Space Marines are hilarious in that they try to be the awesomest of the awesome - however they fight for the worst oppression you could ever imagine. They want to be superheroes but are actually SS-villains and it doesn't matter if they fight for the Imperium or Chaos. The whole "middle ages in space" vibe 40K has also makes it hard to take it seriousely for me.

Just open a history book and you'll easilly find it.

Jumanji