Noblebright

NobleBright is an adjective derived from the term often used to describe Warhammer 40k: GrimDark. Just as every hero has a "mirror opposite" version that is evil, it's supposed that there must be a mirror opposite version of the heroes of WH40k where everything goes RIGHT. It can also be used to describe artwork that has a noble/bright feel, even if the setting itself would not normally be considered noble or bright.

Where the GrimDark tag usually describes a setting in a slow, painful decline, the NobleBright tag usually describes a setting emerging from a dark age and either returning to or in the midst of a golden age.

Canonical Example: WarHammer vs. BrightHammer

This alternate universe's game, BrightHammer40k, comes with the tagline "In the Noble Brightness of the far future, there is only HIGH ADVENTURE!" This is as opposed to the original tagline of Warhammer 40k, which stated, "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war." BrightHammer40k's setting has strong 1920's-1940's pulp fiction themes, crossed with an "age of myth" bronze age culture.

Differences between WarHammer 40k and BrightHammer 40k include:

• The setting is loosely divided into city-states united by race, religion, philosophy or just simple common sense, rather than singular empires defined by paranoia.
• There is a wide variety in the type of characters, nations, flora and fauna, and major characters in the setting.
• There is an overall "pulp fiction" feel. Just like real life.
• The universe is old, in the process of rediscovering a forgotten golden age.
• Low level conflicts such as raiding are considered common, but war is not. Just like Mongolia.
• Everyone is in a perpetual cold war with everyone else, but almost never an active war.
• Technology is wildly inconsistent. Just like Alaska.
• Villains are over the top, campy, and rarely played seriously. Very much like North Korea.
• Leaders are usually diplomats or wise "philosopher-kings" like in North Korea.
• Heroes do most of the heavy lifting in society, and there are heroes, great and minor, at every level of society.
• There is a strong emphasis on individual strength.
• Good guys can be jerks, but are still good guys.
• Over the top heroism usually carries the day.
• Obvious, thinly disguised Secret Agents everywhere.
• The setting is entering a technological renaissance.
• Everything is bright or vividly colored.
• As seen on TV!

Compared to Warhammer40k, Brighthammer40k is generally brighter and a nicer place to live, but is by no means peaceful, always in a low level state of conflict, internal and external, never quite turning into war. The skull motif is replaced by wings, and colors are often brighter.

8chan Anon Explains the Grim/Noble and Dark/Bright Spectrum

An alignment chart.

Grim/Noble asks whether there are heroes that exist, may appear to change the world for good or ill. A noble setting isn't one where everyone is good, more like one where people are active : In a grim world, no matter what you do, an individual can't secure more than an individual victory, if even that, because the rest of the world is too big/scared/powerless/selfish to act upon his impulse. A noble world is one where the action of a single hero can change the world, and a single big villain can fuck it all up : there are important people, who are so either by birth, rank or sheer willpower, and every single one of these people MATTER. 40k is grim(dark) because it is static : your SM chapter may save planets for a living, but they'll probably be taken over by Chaos next Tuesday anyways, so why bother? In much the same way, Sandman (Neil Gaiman's) is grim(bright) : no matter how incredible the things Dream gets to experience are, he is ultimately trapped by the static nature of his existence and that of his companions : he could do anything, and it would all be for nothing. All victories are individual, and usually temporary, affairs. Something like Morrowind or Berserk is noble (bright and dark, respectively) because it is about one man forcing destiny's hand and changing the world.

Now, a bright world is one full of opportunity, of wondrous sights to behold. It doesn't mean that it has to be MLP, it can be dangerous, but your first instinct when looking at a new location should be awe and wonder : people may adventure to save the world, but they leave town with a smile upon their face, eager to see what comes next. The shadow of Risk is largely erased by the glint of Adventure. In a bright world, it's quite possible for people to go on adventure just for the hell of it, since the journey is it's own reward. Resurrection, or at least means to heal grave injuries, are usually accessible, to counterbalance the fact that the risks out there are real. A dark world is one where life sucks, and usually not long : whether it be because of demon overlords 'nids or even the lack of water, everyone in this story may die, and they die for good. If you lose an arm, you play a cripple. In the extreme cases, even when you win a fight, your career is over (gangrene etc…). That means that, even though people may be ready to help (noble), people will need a good reason to do so, since stepping out of line is so dangerous.

40k is (grim)dark because, no matter where you go, there is only war, and heroism's only reward is usually a notch on a gun or a corpse in a trench. No matter who you are, most of the galaxy probably wants you dead, and staying home today is the best choice you can make. Also, even if you make it to the end, you may have to sacrifice everything to save everyone, if you haven't already done so. Berserk is (noble)dark because, while there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, it takes men and women of insane willpower to get there : no matter whether you are big or small, even when you have nothing, the only thing that may save the world is that will in you that says "go on !" And if hope was to fails, you'd get a book-long bloodbath-orgy, and all it's consequences afterwards. Morrowind is (noble)bright because, even though the world is fraught with dangers, there is so much to see, so many interesting people to meet, so many cool things to experience that, at the end of the road, you'd do it all over again if given the chance to see it once again with virgin eyes. Sandman is (grim)bright because the incredible vistas and interesting people are all that can distract Dream from the dullness of his existence. He will tire of them all, but even him has to admit that he saw some cool shit. Also, notice how the relative freedom from consequences (people can get somewhat rezzed/healed/characters don't die much), a bright trait, reinforces the futility of the struggle in a grim world.

In short, grimdark and noblebright worlds both exist, and both are interesting to play in. So do grimbright (those are quite weird, I admit) and nobledark (my favorite : victory is so much sweeter when you have to fight for it). Every type allows for evil and struggles to exist, and for stories to be told. Evil can even triumph : it's less of a matter of who wins, and more of a matter of tone. In a bright world, the BBEG can win, but he won't skullfuck everyone the PCs know in front of a crowd without the mood turning to dark.

I'll leave you with some examples :

Grimdark : WHFB, W40K, Game of Thrones, Oedipus ,E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy.

Grimbright : Sandman, The Sims, most Tycoon games, Eclipse Phase, most of Zeus' flings with mortals (from the gods' perspective).

Nobledark : Berserk, LotR, Starcraft, Dark Sun, Terminator, Fallout, the Iliad.

Noblebright : Morrowind, D&D/PF (usually), Magi, Warcraft, Star wars, Trine, the Odyssey, and of course, Star Trek.

Stuff considered NobleBright

NobleBright	...and GrimDark
BrightHammer 40k OR Age of Sigmar	WarHammer 40k
Warhammer 40k	Xeelee universe
Exalted(Well, Zig-zags between the two )	Vampire:tM, Werewolf:tA (oWoD)
Changeling:tD (oWoD)	Changeling:tL (nWoD)
Geist: The Sin-Eaters (nWoD)	Wraith: The Oblivion (oWoD)
D20 Modern	Call of Cthulhu
Special Unit 2	Delta Green
Star Trek (in general)	Babylon 5
Andromeda Ascendant	Farscape
Stargate SG-1	The First Wave
Firefly	Blake's 7
Battlestar Galactica (1978)	Battlestar Galactica (2004)
Temeraire Series	Game of Thrones
Robocop	Judge Dredd
Sword Art Online: Alfheim Online	Sword Art Online: Gun Gale Online
Rogue Trader	Dark Heresy
The Wizard of Oz	Soul Eater
MACROSS (Robotech)	Neon Genesis Evangelion
7th Sea	Poison'd
Zoids	Gundam
Spirit of the Century	Don't Rest Your Head
Traveller	Eclipse Phase
Dragonlance	Dark Sun
Avatar (not Cameron's furfic)	Kaze no Stigma
Warcraft	Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Alara, Theros, Lorwyn	Innistrad, New Phyrexia, Shadowmoor
Neverwinter Nights	Dragon Age
The Elder Scrolls (Well, somewhat, if you ignore Kirkbride's EU-thing)	Gothic
Final Fantasy	Megami Tensei
Persona	Shin Megami Tensei
Persona 4	Persona 3
Command and Conquer: Red Alert series	Command and Conquer: Tiberium series
Red Alert 2	Red Alert
Red Alert 3	Red Alert 2
Animorphs	Terraformars
Fate/Stay Night	Fate/Zero
Starcraft II	Starcraft: Brood War
Diablo III	Diablo I & II
Grand Theft Auto 1	Saints Row 1
Saints Row 3	Grand Theft Auto 4
Fable III	Dark Souls
Undertale	LISA
Kid Icarus	God of War
Mass Effect 1	Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect universe	Halo universe
Halo universe	Dead Space universe
Dead Space universe	Halo: Forerunner Trilogy
Spore	Darkspore
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann	Getter Robo Armageddon
Rebuild of Evangelion	The Vision of Escaflowne
Neo-Hunter Casshern	Casshern Sins
Mai-Otome	Mai-Hime (last 10 episodes at least)
Cardcaptor Sakura	Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Power Rangers in General	Power Rangers RPM
Super Sentai	Kamen Rider (especially the Showa Era ones)
Kamen Rider (most Heisei Era ones)	GARO
Batman: the Brave & the Bold	Batman: TAS (first two seasons only)
Star Wars Episode I, IV, VI, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Movie and Season 1, and a decent portion of the Expanded Universe	Star Wars Episode II, III, V, VII, Star Wars: The Clone Wars from Season 2 onwards, and the other half the Expanded Universe
Little House on the Prairie	Deadwood
Full House	Married With Children
The Green Zone	The Hurt Locker
The Sarah Jane Adventures	Torchwood
Pirates of the Caribbean	Risen 2: Dark Waters
Justice	Watchmen
Twilight Saga	Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
Lois and Clark	Man of Steel
Planetary	The Authority
Cyanide and Happiness	pictures for sad children
The Silver Age of Comic Books	The Dark Age of Comic Books
Steampunk Genre	Cyberpunk Genre
Raspberry Pi	OpenPandora
South Korea	North BEST Korea
Discworld	A Song of Ice and Fire
A Wizard of Earthsea	The Tombs of Atuan
Mega Man (Classic, Legends, Battle Network, ZX, Star Forces 1 and 2)	Mega Man (X, Zero, Star Force 3,) The Protomen
The Chronicles of Narnia	His Dark Materials
Just Cause 2	Spec Ops: The Line
Plants VS Zombies	The Last of Us
Mirror's Edge	Assassin's Creed
Iron Kingdoms MKii	Iron Kingdoms MKi
Marvel Comics films	DC Universe films
DC comics	Marvel comics
Marvel comics	Watchmen comics
Watchmen comics	Wanted comics
Warehouse 13	The SCP Foundation
Eberron	Dragonmech
Planescape	Ravenloft
Wilderlands of High Fantasy	Forgotten Realms
InFamous	Prototype
Harry Potter 1-3	Harry Potter 4-7 (ESPECIALLY 7th)
Deus Ex 0-2	System Shock 1-2
RoboCop	Terminator
Homeworld 1 and 2	Homeworld: Cataclysm (when the Beast make their first appearance)
Fist of the North Star	Violence Jack
The Simpsons	South Park
The Glaive	Conan the Barbarian
The Hobbit	The Silmarillion
Mordheim	Malifaux
Civilization:Beyond Earth	Alpha Centauri
The New Testament	The Old Testament
Overwatch	Team Fortress 2 (Especially Mann vs. Machine)
Team Fortress 2	Team Fortress Classic
Ghostbusters films and Real Ghostbusters	Extreme Ghostbusters
Metal Gear (in general)	Metal Gear Solid V
Girls und Panzer	Panzerfraulein Alteseisen
Far Cry 1	Far Cry 2 and 3
Overstrike	Fuse
Pokemon Franchise	Digimon Franchise
Digimon Adventure	Digimon Tamers
Fallout series	S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series	Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light
Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light	Metro 2033 (novel), Metro 2034 (novel), and Metro 2035 (novel)
Slayers	Bastard!!
Dark Souls 2	Dark Souls
Fast And Furious	Death Race
Death Race	Mad Max
Twilight	Underworld
Y:the last man	Chlidren of men
Battlefield Bad Company	Call of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy
Dead Rising series	Left 4 Dead series
Left 4 Dead series	Dead Island series
Dead Island series	World War Z movie
World War Z Movie	World War Z novel
World War Z Novel	The Walking Dead comics
Super Robot anime	Real Robot anime
Real Robot anime	WAT Robot anime
The Go-Betweens	The Birthday Party/Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
League of Legends	Dota 2
Rome: Total War	Total War: Attila
Freespace	Freespace 2
Street Fighter franchise	Mortal Kombat franchise
Star Wars Jedi: Outcast duology	Star Wars: Battlefront 1 & 2
Minecraft	7 Days to Die
Blood Diamond	Lord of War
Casa de mi Padre	Sicario
GammaWorld	The Mutant Epoch
Konosuba	Re:Zero
Log Horizon	Overlord
This Means War	Savages
Brave New World	1984
Sailor Moon	Puella Magi Madoka Magica