Not every story can be all 'butterflies and puppy dogs' all the time, in fact, some stories are actually a lot better when they're dark. Isekai stories, however, are rarely all 'that' dark, as the core idea of most isekai is to create a power fantasy that the viewer or reader will be able to 'self-insert' into. All that said, that doesn't mean that darker isekai don't exist, it's just a bit difficult to find them. Manhwa in particular seems to have a knack for nailing a darker atmosphere for an isekai setting.

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So, let's take a look at some of the best isekai manwha out there that are darker in terms of their storytelling, atmosphere, or even violence. Keep in mind that the definition of 'dark' in this context can vary from person to person, so not every manwha on here will match everyone's expectations for a darker story.

8 Player Who Returned 10,000 Years Later

Written by Butterfly Valley & Illustrated by Copin Comics

First up is a story called The Player Who Returned 10,000 Years Later and right off the bat this one is pretty unique for an isekai setting. In this manwha, the protagonist by the name of Oh Kangwoo is suddenly dropped into Hell one day. And, as one would expect, Hell is an incredibly difficult place to survive in, so Oh Kangwoo has to basically become a demon himself (AKA killing and even eating all the demons around him) in order to live. After managing to eventually become the actual king of Hell (all of this taking about 10,000 years), Oh Kangwoo returns back to Earth to find that it's only been about 5 years in Earth-time, and in that time things like dungeons and hunters have become commonplace on Earth.

In general, this story isn't all that dark, most of the dark aspects of it come from Oh Kangwoo himself. When this guy decides not to show mercy or decides to really go 'all out' he's truly demonic, and this makes it a very fun read.

7 Reincarnation Of The Suicidal Battle God

Written & Illustrated by Blue-Deep

While this might seem sacrilegious to some, this next series is actually relatively worthy of being compared to Berserk in terms of its worldbuilding, the ambition of its art, and the depths of its darkness. Obviously the scale, quality, and so on between this and any of the all-time greats are vastly different, but the comparison between the two is still relatively apt. Reincarnation of the Suicidal Battle God and/or Doom Breaker is a series where the 'hero' of a fantasy world doesn't manage to win at the end. Instead, the God of Demons Tartarus beats the hero (named Zephyr) pretty one-handedly. But, this isn't the end of Zephyr's story, as the gods who aren't fully entertained by his struggle are willing to send Zephyr back in time to try things again.

So, Zephyr takes them up on this offer (while insulting them, understandably so, the entire way) and returns to the pass with all his memories and a handful of overpowered perks from the gods. Now that might not sound all that dark, but Zephyr's world is cruel, the gods are cruel, and even the church in this setting is cruel. It's a very bloody series that's nihilistic by design, as it makes it even more impressive when Zephyr manages to overcome all odds and come out on top.

6 Returning With Nothing

Written by Mogma & Illustrated by Puppy Master

Next up is a unique series, even compared to how unique different isekai settings tend to be already. Returning With Nothing (also known as Worthless Regression) is both a regression story and an isekai story, as the main character Lee Sungmin was brought into a new world (called Eria) and barely survived each day there before finally dying after lasting around 20+ years as a mercenary. However, an item he had recently found in a dungeon ended up being something that brought him back in time, so now he's back to the very first day he popped into Eria with all his memories intact.

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People in this setting are transported to Eria from all sorts of different 'worlds', and those who are brought there with no previous training in magic, martial arts, or anything else are defined as a 'no class'. Lee Sungmin is one of those no classes, so he knows just how cruel this fantasy world can be. The story surrounding Lee Sungmin isn't horribly dark, but just about everything else is such as:

• The treatment of 'No Classes' in this world.
• Everyone is out to backstab each other.
• There are a lot of different 'gods' in this world, a lot of which are incomprehensibly horrifying.
• Lee Sungmin's own karma has been twisted by his regression, meaning the guy has an eternity of torture waiting for him after he dies in this new life.
• Lee Sungmin's mental state, while it leads to positive results with his martial arts, is very dark. The guy commonly compares himself to trash or a grub in the ground, and it's clear his mental state isn't the best.

5 Hero Has Returned

Written by Narack & Illustrated by Fungback

This next series needs an extra disclaimer more than any other series on here in regards to the horror, gore, and all-around adult themes it has in it. Hero Has Returned is an incredibly unique concept about a boy (named Min Soo Kim) who gets transported to another world and goes through the standard isekai story of training to defeat the Demon Lord, traveling together with a party of different adventurers, and returning home victorious as the hero. Heck, Min Soo even manages to make it back home to Earth afterward. However, in the time he is gone, the hero's parents have died tragically, mostly as a result of his being missing. As a result of this and a few other things, the hero fully 'breaks' and decides to make everyone as sad as he is by using his powers gained in the other world to put an end to everyone and everything.

Not only that but a year after his initial rampage, Min Soo Kim has new comrades, all of whom are different heroes from different isekai worlds with different powers who have returned and have a similar viewpoint to him. Now, it's up to Jung Soo Park to be the only hero worth that title as he fights against the other 'heroes', with Min Soo Kim being the primary target of his revenge.

4 Pick Me Up: Infinite Gacha

Written by Cho Wooneh & Illustrated by Redice Studio

As far as interesting isekai settings go, Pick Me Up: Infinite Gacha might have one of the most interesting ones around. Instead of being pulled into a fantasy world or even being pulled into a world that's exactly like the game the protagonist was playing, the MC in this manhwa was literally pulled into the phone game itself. This isn't just a world identical to the phone game, he's actually inside the game.

Now, the protagonist here has another name in the community of Pick Me Up, he's known as Loki, the 5th best Pick Me Up player in the world and he'd probably be first if he ever got a 7-Star Summon. Loki, now inside of the very thing he thought was just a game (as a 1-star character no less) as a 1-star named Han Islat has to fight tooth and nail every day just to survive. Pick Me Up isn't a very dark story in terms of the characters or the drama between characters, but it's dark due to the world these characters have to survive in. If any of the characters in Townia are lazy, they'll likely be synthesized in order to make another character stronger. If they don't train enough, they'll probably die on the next floor they explore. And, if they're at all lazy, they'll be left behind and will get a lot fewer benefits as a result.

3 Surviving The Game As A Barbarian

Written by Jung Yun-kang & Illustrated by Midnight Studio

Surviving the Game as a Barbarian is a story relatively similar to Pick Me Up: Infinite Gacha. Both stories feature protagonists who are the best of the best at the game in question, both stories are about incredibly cruel worlds where it's difficult to make it through each day, and both stories have that same legendary protagonist pulled into the game they played to experience it firsthand.

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However, whereas Loki in Pick Me Up has to sort of incentivize the master of Townia to do what he wants, Bjorn Yandel in Surviving the Game as a Barbarian is completely in control of himself. But, if Bjorn doesn't get stronger and go into the labyrinth to earn money, he'll die pretty quickly as no one will hire a barbarian and his taxes will keep increasing each year. Surviving as a Barbarian is a very dark setting because the world of the game Bjorn is trapped in, Dungeon and Stone, is so incredibly harsh.

2 Tyrant Of The Tower Defense Game

Written by Ha Jung, Ryueun Garam & Illustrated by Gyong

It's funny how many of these darker stories tend to be similar yet incredibly different at the same time. For example, Tyrant of the Tower Defense Game has a setup that's incredibly similar to Surviving the Game as a Barbarian, even though the worlds both of these manhwas take place in are nothing alike. In any case, in this story, a retro-game streamer by the name of Retrotaku has just finished beating a game he's been working on for a long time, a game called Protect the Empire. Not only that, but he also beat the game on the hardest difficulty with Ironman Mode turned on.

However, after beating the game on stream, the developer of said game comes into his chat and says it's time for him to come help them now that he's proved his qualifications. Right as Retrotaku confronts this supposed 'developer' he suddenly passes out, only to wake up in the body of one of Protect the Empire's most hated characters, Ash 'Bornehater' Everblack, one of the princes of the Everblack Empire.

Now, Retrotaku has to not only survive in this brutal world where monsters are trying to attack the base he's desperately defending every day, but he also needs this city at the end of the world called Crossroad, manage his party of misfit soldiers, and prepare for the upcoming wave of brand-new (and more difficult) monsters. While the conversations and jokes in this story are pretty light, everything else is very dark, whether it's the violence of war, the tragedy of the Lake Kingdom, or even just the backgrounds of his party members.

1 The Beginning After The End

Written by TurtleMe & Illustrated by Fuyuki23

Last up is a story called The Beginning After the End. Unlike a lot of other isekai stories, the main character of this one (known as Arthur Leywin) didn't originally come from Earth. Instead, Arthur (who went by Grey in his first life) was a king of a seemingly medieval world different from the Earth that we know. One day, Grey's body felt heavy and he laid down to sleep, only to be surrounded by darkness. As it turned out, he had died in his sleep, and before he could even come to terms with this, Grey is born into a new world as a newborn baby to a new family. Now going by his new name, Arthur Leywin has to make a new life for himself in this new world that has all sorts of magic and fantastical aspects to it that weren't part of his old world.

While The Beginning After the End starts relatively 'stereotypically' and could be compared to something like Jobless Reincarnation, the story only gets darker and darker as it goes on. In fact, by the time readers reach around chapter 100, they'll realize the amount of trauma this reincarnated king (now a teenager) has gone through is more than anyone should realistically be able to handle.

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