Top Ten Darkest and Most Mature Kids Shows
The Legend of Korra is an American animated television series that aired on the Nickelodeon television network from 2012 to 2014. It was created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino as a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender. One of the best examples of The Legend of Korra's disturbing storytelling and imagery is the episode Korra Alone. This is one of the most depressing, disturbing, and dark episodes of the show, which is saying a lot, considering all of the intense material that came before it.
In this episode, Korra is constantly stalked by a spirit of herself, which actually causes physical harm to her. As she runs away from her life, not even caring that she's the Avatar, this hallucination follows her. The visions become so severe that she finds herself being dragged down into a large pool of mercury - the same poison that led her to this terrible state. Even after she gets the poison out, and even when she thinks she's regained control of herself, it takes her more than half of the season to make a full recovery.
Long story short: PTSD can really screw up someone's life. Korra went from being my least favorite character to my most sympathized and favorite character. It's not often that the main character is my favorite, but The Legend of Korra pulled it off.
Gravity Falls is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation that first aired on Disney Channel, and then on Disney XD from June 15, 2012 to February 15, 2016. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines and his twin sister Mabel in the fictional town of Gravity... read more This show is incredibly bizarre and has some dark, wacky humor. But in contrast, this is what makes the show great.
Andi Mack is an American family comedy-drama television series created by Terri Minsky that aired on Disney Channel from April 7, 2017 to July 26, 2019. The series stars Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Joshua Rush, Sofia Wylie, Asher Angel, Lilan Bowden, Lauren Tom, and Trent Garrett. It follows 13-year-old Andi... read more This show talks about teen pregnancies and sexualities.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in an Asiatic-like world in which some people are able to manipulate the classical elements by use of psychokinetic variants of Chinese... read more Although Korra is much more mature, Avatar did deal with death in a similar way, and there were many heavy topics.
Korra is dark, but so is this! All the airbenders died, and the villain Ozai is intent on killing everyone. There's even a bloodbender!
Steven Universe is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. The show's based around a young boy by the name of Steven Universe, who is a hybrid of a gem and a human. He lives with his gem friends, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. This show has more plot than humor (though it still has a lot of humor). Usually, the plot has to do with something disturbing involving Steven, like aging faster than a fly.
This is dark. Steven thinks his mother is dead, and the final episode is very dark!
Teen Titans is an American animated television series created by Glen Murakami, based on the DC Comics characters of the same name. No, not the Go version. I don't know what Teen Titans was trying to do. There are episodes like Haunted, Birthmark, and Aftershock, which are amazing but also quite dark.
On the other hand, there are episodes like Bunny Raven, Employee of the Month, and Fractured, which are just silly, weird ones. But this TV show is great any way you slice it.
There's this one moment in Birthmark where Slade tortures Raven about her destiny, shreds her clothes, and tosses her unconscious body off a rooftop.
Teen Titans is the BEST (not Teen Titans Go!). It handles darkness in a good way and is mature.
Fillmore! is an American animated television series created by Scott M. Gimple for ABC and, later, Toon Disney. This show was my go-to on Disney! It tackled mature issues like bullying and school violence.
Invader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim from the planet Irk, and his mission to conquer Earth and enslave the human race along with his malfunctioning robot servant GIR. Despite how great Invader Zim is, the show uses dark and horrifying humor. For instance, in the episode "Dark Harvest," Zim steals organs to become more human-like. To take it a step further, he replaces the organs of his classmates with random objects, disfiguring them in the process.
It was dark, but the darkest episode was Dark Harvest, when Zim and Gir were collecting organs.
Girl Meets World is an American coming of age television sitcom. The series made its debut on Disney Channel on June 27, 2014.
Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated horror comedy television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network as part of the network's Cartoon Cartoons block. You have jumpscares and implied prostitution in this show. Know any other shows that have that?
This should be number 1. There's a blood-sucking bug in one episode, the Starmakers episode is super dark, and the mole eats a bunny. There's also a creepy head-stealing chicken. The shadow episode is the darkest - the shadow shows Muriel taking her head off, and blood drips out!
The Newcomers
Amphibia is an American animated television series created by Matt Braly that aired on Disney Channel from June 17, 2019 to May 14, 2022.
Ready Jet Go! is a CGI animated television series created by Craig Bartlett which premiered in the United States as part of the PBS Kids block on February 15, 2016 . The series is produced by Wind Dancer Films and Snee Oosh, Inc. in cooperation with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The show is aimed... read more Okay, so this show is not as mature as The Legend of Korra, and it doesn't contain deaths, but it does contain innuendos, lore, mystery, some drama, and depressing scenes. Heck, some scenes are not even meant to be depressing, but they are.
Episodes like Sunspot and the Great Red Spot, Jet 2, Tiny Blue Dot, Beep Has the Blues, Visit to Mom's Office, Solar System Bake Off, and Kid Kart Derby have at least one of the elements I mentioned above. Keep in mind that this show is intended for little kids.
Adventure Time is an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada) and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio)—a dog with the magical power to change shape... read more I'm so in love with Marcy, and my lacrimal ducts know that very well.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is an American 3D CGI animated television series created by George Lucas and produced by Lucasfilm Animation with the division Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, Lucasfilm and CGCG Inc. One guy gets his neck snapped, and five guys are turned into decapitated corpses in the span of about 45 seconds.
There was so much death for a kids' show. At least 800 on-screen deaths.
This is much darker than The Legend of Korra, especially seasons 4-6.
Rocko's Modern Life is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian-immigrant wallaby named Rocko as well as his friends: the gluttonous steer Heffer, the neurotic turtle Filburt, and Rocko's faithful... read more It is a much more adult-like show than anything else that aired on Nickelodeon at the time.
Regular Show is an American animated television series created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network that premiered on September 6, 2010. The series revolves around the lives of two friends, a blue jay named Mordecai and a raccoon named Rigby—both employed as groundskeepers at a local park. Fact: Regular Show was originally meant to be on Adult Swim, but they had to move it because there wasn't enough space on the schedule.
That explains a lot.
This show shouldn't even be for kids.
Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. Remember this show if you were a kid in the 1990s? (If you are 10 or younger, then you won't know this show, so I recommend you see it. Best Batman TV show ever.)
Great memories. It gets dark and mature at times but is still awesome.
The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. The main characters of this show are Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. The show is about the Professor Utonium creating three little superhero girls that save the day from villains... read more This should be in the top ten. How are more kid-friendly shows above this?
This show has blood and monsters getting their eyes pulled out and body parts chopped off, which I haven't seen in any other shows on this list. The intro is enough proof - Buttercup kicks Him in the mouth, and blood and teeth fly out. The girls die at one point but get revived, just like The Rowdyruff Boys. A character in the show actually died from exploding, and it was emotional. This show has deaths, despite what some people think, and those deaths are disturbing.
Also, episodes like Tough Love and Speed Demon scared many people and horrified them, though I was one of the few not to be horrified. There's even an episode where a magician dies in an iron maiden, comes to life as a zombie, and tries to kill the girls, but then one of the girls throws him back into the iron maiden. Doesn't that sound dark?
How are shows like Dexter's Lab and Rugrats above this? They might have adult humor, but they are not as bloody and violent as this show. Most of the shows on this list aren't even that violent compared to this, though The Legend of Korra might be an exception.
This show is really cool and awesome, and I like it. However, it is not very kid-friendly, but I wouldn't go as far as recommending it to adults.
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator the late Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It is currently the most popular animated television show on Nickelodeon and is world-renowned by children and adults alike due to its humor, high-quality... read more This show isn't that dark on the surface, but if you dig deep, there are many adult jokes and dark moments, like Mr. Krabs fighting the dead or burying an inspector with SpongeBob and passing the test. In contrast, though, this show is just meant to be for kids and is not truly a dark show.
This show contains dark, violent, and disturbing moments. Plankton tries to kill himself, SpongeBob has a gory splinter, Squidward is depressed, and SpongeBob opens his heart in Dying for Pie. Gary gets neglected and leaves, and Nasty Patty is the darkest episode, where they think they've killed a health inspector and end up burying him!
Over the Garden Wall is an American animated television miniseries created by Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network.
Goosebumps is a Canadian-American horror anthology television series based on R. L. Stine's best-selling Goosebumps book series.
Hey Arnold! is an American animated television series created by Craig Bartlett that aired on Nickelodeon from October 7, 1996 to June 8, 2004. The show centers on a fourth grader named Arnold, who lives with his grandparents in an inner-city boarding house. The Pigeon Man episode is very dark. Kids get bullied by jerks, and there are scary legends. Phil said he will die in one episode, and he even had a funeral! And don't forget Mr. Wynn's dark backstory!
The Animals of Farthing Wood is a children's animated series commissioned by the European Broadcasting Union between 1992 and 1995, and is based on the series of books written by English author Colin Dann.
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (also known as Billy & Mandy) is an American animated television series created by Maxwell Atoms for Cartoon Network, and is the 14th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons (albeit namely when it was part of Grim & Evil; the show is considered separate from Cartoon Cartoons... read more I saw this show as a kid and still like it.
Grim is the best character.
This is very creepy, but is there any gore?
I remember this show. I wish I hadn't.
Recess is an American animated television series created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, with animation done by Grimsaem, Plus One Animation, Sunwoo Animation, and Toon City.